Buffy fastened the clasp of the necklace she'd received and smiled. The jewels, stones, whatever they were, glittered like magic, not witchcraft, not spells, but twinkled, sparkled like Tinkerbell and fire flies in the dark. She rubbed one of the stones, then in turn, the other one. She smiled. Where had she seen the necklace before, it wracked her mind. Maybe it was in the Macy's catalog she got once a month. A song came on the radio in the house and she began to sing along, but, instead she wanted to sing her own.
"Lately" She sang and went down the stairs to the living room where Riley was waiting.
"I've been thinking about us,
Together,
Again,
Is it luck,
Is it real,
Could I be dreaming?
This seems to good to be true,
Since I mistreated you,
I've been in the dark so long,
Hiding from the things I feel,
Blinded by the love I'm full of,
Supposedly." She winked.
"Everybody says,Gee, Buffy's such a puzzle,
And they've been working on it forever,
When are they going to find all the pieces?
Do I just wait here,
Wait to get puzzled out?
My mystique,
Or whatever it is,
It sends some people,
Example: You,
To insanity,
Deep dark places in the alley,
Where cold chicks'll, Well,
Drain ya for a penny,
Or a dime,
Or a Quarter." Riley turned away in shame.
"Was it good?Did it make you feel alive?
'Cause I wouldn't know,
The breath of death has been my friend,
Since I was 'Chosen'." She started to cry.
"You'll never know,
What it's like,
To disguise yourself for the world outside,
To act like a normal person,
When you're not,
When your kindred spirit,
To some extent,
Is in prison,
Crawling from the dark place,
When there's no escape,
An endless climb,
Strength,
What can I say,
Much in the muscle department,
Not very much in here." She wept as she pointed to her heart.
"Lately"
"I've been thinking about us,
Together,
Again,
Is it luck,
Is it real,
Could I be dreaming?" She sang out the last verse and fainted.
"Buffy, are you awake?" Riley held the ice bag to her forehead.
"Yes." She said softly.
"You gave me a scare, there."
"What happened?" She got up.
"You sang a nice little song about my addiction, and yours to the darkness, and then you wept and fainted."
"How nice?" She asked.
"Not very." He said and turned away. KNOCK! KNOCK!
Riley went to the door and opened it. A man-like creature with a wooden face said to him "My master demands the presense of the Slayer at the Bronze. Sweet the entertainer, would like to see she who summoned him."
"Summoned? Queen of the Underworld?"
"She is wearing the talisman." Sweet's minion pointed to Buffy's necklace. Then it clicked, she had seen this necklace when they all broke out into song, she had gone with Dawn to the pawnshop, to get some money to reimburse Anya.
"Not Again!" Buffy exclaimed.