Chapter 3

The Magic Box. The Slayer and her friends are inside. The Watcher is pacing in the back of the store searching for information on me. The only thing that they have to work with is the fact that I know how to use a sword and that I can jump extremely high; while maintaining my grace and charm.

I know them all by name and face; for I can see their body heat which shapes their faces and bodies. The Scoobies; the name of their "group." Alexander Harris, the friend who does no good but tells lame jokes. Anya. I knew her once, but not on the greatest of terms. I just know what she has done in her demon days, Anyanka; now she is house-broken, an ex-demon. Rupert Giles, the Watcher; always rummaging through old texts and training the Slayer. Dawn Summers, the Slayer's sister; a Scooby wannabe. Willow Rosenberg; one who uses her newly found powers for miniscule obstacles. Tara Maclay; Willow's girlfriend and the love of her life. Tara is also a witch, but more of a sorceress.

It was Tara whom I fear most. I have been attracted to her since the moment I found out of her powers and her name. She has the power of a goddess, the strength of a hundred Slayers; she is my cousin, and she doesn't know it.

I need supplies for my ritual. I need to get into the Magic Box, but I cannot go like this. The Slayer will attack me as soon as I walk into the place. I fine a nearby bush and hide behind it for a moment. After making sure nobody is around me, I transform my body into a high school-aged teenage girl. Actually, I just change my hair color, my clothes, and my face. Instead of my long brown hair, it is a short strawberry-blonde, and my face becomes more toned. I wear a pair of tight blue jeans, a light green tank top and white sandals. It is a perfect outfit for the first week of summer.

The purse I carry on my shoulder holds four simple things; a cell phone, a wallet, a mirror, and a locket. Only one of these things is important for now; my wallet. I walk into the store and immediately the group becomes uneasily quiet, but only for a moment.

"Hello. Welcome to the Magic Box. I'm Mr. Giles. If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to ask," says an English man. Rupert Giles; a fine man indeed; a little rough around the edges, but still fine.

"Actually, I was hoping you could help me find some ingredients that I need. I'm afraid that I know the ingredients well, but I am never able to find them," I say. Actually I know exactly what I am looking for and I know exactly where to find it. Although I know where everything is, I want to stall for time to take in my surroundings and the people in it. It is my own recon mission, yet I actually need more than information; I need the supplies.

"Very well," said Giles, "what are you looking for?"

I rattle off the ingredients that I need and even go out of my way to mispronounce some of them for sake of not making myself seem suspicious. The prices of the ingredients that I need are extremely expensive, and I wonder if the group behind me wondered why a teenager would have so much money. Giles wraps up my supplies and hand me the bag of items. I smile and turn around.

"Well, is this some sort of magical book club where you get together and find neat nifty spells to do?" I ask.

"Actually we hunt down the forces of evil and make sure they don't come back," says a woman. Everyone hisses at her.

"Anya! Shush!"

I laugh, "So what's the big bad demon this week? Giant snake creatures that you give sacrifices to which makes you become rich? How about invisible people running around making chaos? What about powerful demons that use a sacrifice to open a portal between dimensions?"

The entire time that I talk about their past incidents, I laugh about them as if I made them up. The group, I know for a fact, are completely dumbfounded and they just chuckle along with me.

I walk out of the store with a wicked smile on my face and a bag of ingredients in my hand. Oh how menacing I can be. Wait. I stop in my tracks a few blocks away and remember something that I have just realized now. Tara wasn't there. I was so sure she would be there but I did not see her now that I remember it. My memory is like a photo album, and I do not remember her being in there. The bag of ingredients drops from my hand and spills onto the ground.