Part 16
"Wh-Who are you?" Buffy managed to stutter. She tried to step back, but was unable to with her vanity directly behind her. No escape. She doubted that she could escape through the window—even if it weren't on the other side of her room.
"What do you mean, 'who are you'? You know who I am and there'll be no fooling me. I'm over eleven hundred years old, child, so don't think you can fool me," the she-creature said in a slightly hissing voice.
"Uh, I *really* don't know who you are. Am I supposed to? I know I don't know any eleven hundred year old...anythings. What *are* you?"
"That's Anyanka to you, thanks. No calling me 'you' or an 'anything'. I'm the friggin' Patron Saint of Scorned Women, for the Devil's sake," Anyanka raged, closing in on a shaken Buffy Summers.
"Anya?" Buffy squinted, recognising the girl's face in amongst the folds of her demonic skin.
Anyanka ran a sharp fingernail along Buffy's cheek, "Ah, yes, my human guise. I can't believe I have to act like a ditz to get attention."
"What—wh-why...?"
"Why you? Oh, nothing, just that it'll be more fun with you. Oh, and you have something I want," Anya had Buffy against the wall by the neck. She was quivering with fright, not quite sure what was going on with this Anya/Anyanka girl.
"Now, what was it that I wanted?" Anyanka pretended to scratch her chin in thought. "I remember now—my necklace! Where is it?"
"Wh-what necklace?"
"It's shiny, and green, and priceless. You have it. I want it back."
"I don't have it!" **And if I did, I wouldn't have remembered it. I'm too scared to think. Someone, help! Where are big strong fellas when I need 'em?**
"You made a wish, and granting it has screwed me over. Telling me that won't save you. In fact, I think killing you and finding it by myself is a good plan," Anyanka squeezed at Buffy's throat even tighter.
"Please! I really don't know."
Anyanka scrutinised her intended victim. "You really don't, do you?" She let go of Buffy's throat when she replied with vigorous nodding. "Then where the fuck is it?"
"Um, um," Buffy scrambled to grab her box of necklaces, "you can check here. It could be there. If it isn't, then I don't have it." She thrust the heavy box towards Anyanka and pressed her back into the side of her vanity table, sinking to the floor.
Buffy watched as the demon pawed through her large collection of chains, pendants, chokers, and various other neck accessories. She flickered her eyes around for another route of escape. Her eyes were caught by something green, and extremely shiny—the exact same necklace she had dropped when Anyanka had appeared so suddenly. It was hidden by the stool at the same vanity table she was leaning against...just put of arm's reach.
Anyanka went through the jewellery and felt frustration building. If it wasn't here, she could either kill the girl and still not find it, or still not find it and kill the girl. It was pretty much a lose-lose situation, if such a phrase even existed.
Buffy discreetly crawled towards the stool and grabbed the necklace. She hid it behind her back and stood up with it clutched behind her back. Shaking slightly, she asked, "What was my wish?"
"I can't remember. Something about being a normal, All-American girl. I'm not *that* boring, so I twisted the wish a bit. Now you really *are* an All-American girl," she chuckled. "Of course, it didn't quite turn out as I intended. You turned out too normal. And I think something went wrong, cos you remember, like, nothing, right?"
"Yeah," Buffy replied uncertainly. "So what are you trying to find your necklace for?"
"To change you back," Anyanka said, bluntly giving her the truth. "I'm not known for subterfuge. Lying is not in my character."
"So why should I help you find your necklace? What was I like before?"
Anyanka stared into Buffy's frightened eyes. "You mean you really don't remember anything?"
"Well, I get déjà vu a lot..."
"That's part of you previous memory, then," Anyanka said with a frown. She paused and looked back up at Buffy. "You were the Slayer—the Chosen One. The one girl in the entire world picked by the high and mighty blippity-boos to fight against vampires and evil stuff. You loved and lost and then went down the deep end. Now, where is my necklace?"
Buffy would believe anything at this point. There was a demon in her room, looking for a necklace which she currently held in her hand. "Is that why I always feel déjà vu when I'm with Angel? Is he the one I loved and lost?"
"Yeah, poor guy. He was a vampire with a soul and you went and had a relationship with him anyway and there was lots of angst. Too bad; he was so much more interesting when he was evil..." Anyanka drifted off and snapped back when she realised that she still had to look for her necklace.
"So...what would happen if your necklace were to be broken or smashed?"
Anyanka perked up, inadvertently changing into her human visage, "Are you starting to remember where it is, by any chance?"
"Sort of," she lied.
"If it were smashed, the last wish I granted would be revoked and something—I *don't* know what—happens to me. Not something pleasant, which is why I need to find it *now*. So, do you know where it is or not?"
"It's coming back to me. I think that I...I don't know. I think I hid it under the bed, near the headboard," Buffy said, pointing to her bed. "So, what was the last wish you granted?"
"This woman in Boston wished that a computer dropped on her husband and killed him, but since I didn't have the necklace with me or on the woman, it didn't work very well and it only gave him a concussion," she shrugged casually, "which is exactly why I need the necklace." Anyanka slipped her head underneath the bed in search of her precious necklace. "You know, it's weird. You're too easy to talk to. Must be one of those flaws I so stupidly put in."
Buffy grinned and placed the necklace on the ground. She picked up the box that used to contain all her necklaces and dropped it onto the pendant, effectively smashing it into bits that went flying, finally turning into a puff of green smoke and light. Buffy lifted the box again and found that nothing remained from the necklace. Not even the gold chain that it was on.
Anyanka's eyes rolled back in their sockets and she collapsed against the cold wooden floorboards. She was halfway underneath the bed, reminding Buffy slightly of the Wicked Witch of the East in the 'Wizard of Oz'.
//And he said: Take my handLive while you can
Don't you see your dreams
Are right in the palm of your hand?
In the palm of your hand//
Buffy looked over at her CD player in surprise. **Weird. Maybe she froze time or something. Good, now I don't have to worry about being late for my date with Angel.**
"Anya?" Buffy asked as cautiously approached her bed, peering underneath at the slackened form of the demon/saint known as Anyanka.
"Achoo!"
Buffy nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise at the sound of the sneeze.
//Please come with meSee what I see
Touch the stars for
Time will not flee
Time will not flee
Can you see?//
"What did you do to me?" Anyanka screeched angrily. She got back to her feet and tried to hold her against the wall again, but was easily refuted by Buffy's counterattack. "What the—? You're a measly mortal; you're not strong enough to fight back."
Anyanka spun angrily and paced back and forth, scrunching her face up in an attempt to change back into her demon façade. All she got was strange looks from Buffy.
"You made me mortal," Anya cried, clenching her fists and breathing heavily to subdue her rage.
"Don't forget the 'measly'."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"Uh," Buffy paused and wondered if it was such a good idea to insult her when she was already so apparently angered, "no."
"Good. Cos I'm going to fix this and when I get back, I'm going to kill you. Horrifically," she bit out, and with a flick of her curly, honey blonde hair, she had disappeared out the door.
//Just a dream,Just an ordinary dream
As I wake in bed
And the boy,
That ordinary boy
Or was it all in my head?//
Buffy collapsed on the floor with shock. **Right, well my life is a sham. How peachy...** She curled up into a ball and cried her mascara away until it blackened her cheeks in watery streaks. She looked like a mess, but she didn't care. Angel could see her like this—it didn't matter. What mattered now, anyway? If this life was all fake, then why shouldn't she let him see her like that? She wasn't real. He wasn't real. None of them were real.
//Did he ask if I would come along?It all seemed so real//
She sat down at her vanity table and wiped away the mess on her face with a tissue. Picking up a brush, she ran it through her hair and stared blankly at her own reflection. **Did I even look like this in my other life?** Buffy put it into her drawer and shook her head lightly. **Does it matter? Fuck...this song is too appropriate. It all seems too real to me that I never questioned anything. And it turns out it really is all a sham. A big, fat, shammy...sham.**
//But as I looked to the doorI saw that boy standing there with a deal//
Buffy head her head in her hands and bit her lip. **If only it were true. If Angel were here, he'd know what to do.** She looked at the door, wanting desperately to see his face, smiling at her. But the doorframe was empty. After all, he wasn't expected to arrive until later. They had a date. One which she was going to be late for if she didn't get it together. **And if Giles finds out that we're more than friends, he'll chuck a fit...or something. I can't imagine him chucking a fit, actually. Don't come home yet, Giles, please don't get home early. Run extra errands or something.**
She pressed 'pause' on her CD player and wiped the last traces of her tears from her cheeks. They were shiny because of her tears and had turned a healthy, rosy colour.
Staring at herself in the mirror, she realised she didn't have a clue what she was doing. She was dressed, her hair was done, her make-up hadn't screwed up THAT bad and she was ready to go. So she just sat there. And waited. And thought about what Anya had said to her.
She was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of the phone ringing. **Please let it be Angel!** She picked it up and timidly said, "Hello?"
"Buffy?" It was Angel. "Is anything wrong? I just had the feeling that something was wrong and I felt the need to call you," he said hesitantly. "I know, it sounds stu—"
"It's not stupid. I need to talk to you," Buffy said softly. "As soon as possible."
Angel panicked. She wasn't pregnant, that was for sure—they hadn't even gotten to that stage yet. And he knew she wouldn't cheat on him. He had faith in her loyalty—and she to his. "Of course. I'll be there in under a minute." **So what could it be?**
"Okay, bye," Buffy said almost too late as he slammed down the phone in his rush to see her. She put down the receiver and wondered what exactly she planned to tell him. She sighed and pressed the 'pause' button again on her CD player.
//And he said: Take my handLive while you can
Don't you see your dreams
Are right in the palm of your hand?
In the palm of your hand
In the palm of your hand//
Buffy crossed the room to look out the window. She could see Angel running through the gates, giving the guard there a polite nod as he passed by. Buffy smiled. **My life may be a sham, but at least I have Angel.**
//Just a day,Just an ordinary day
Just trying to get by
Just a boy,
Just an ordinary boy
But he was looking to the sky//