I Wish Not
A/N so Dawn wouldn't have been in the wish episode even if she had been there because Buffy died in that universe before she could've existed but I've decided to have a little astral projection type thing. Could be fun.
Sunnydale, WishVerse 1998
I wandered alone. Somehow I knew this wasn't my world. Everything was darker, crisper round the edges. I felt like nothing, like energy floating. I guess I was energy. I am energy. Energy from which I became. I saw something I recognised, Cordelia walking through the parking lot confused. I understood the rules of this world, I felt an undeniable force pulling at me. Her dress was green. Cordelia's dress was blue. Too bright, everything was too bright.
The world got darker, Cordelia ran through the streets into Xander. Xander? This was not my Xander. this was a dark incarnation. I was scared of this dimension, it turned my friends into demons. Willow emerged from the shadows, her fingernails black and running over her lip. A drop of blood swelled inside her mouth and she tasted it gladly. She looked at Xander, lust in her eyes, she broke my heart and kissed him. Her nails clinging to his cheek threatening to cut him. This was vampire foreplay I couldn't yet understand. But time was in passage. I felt futures coming to me, timelines converging. Cordelia running. Teeth sinking into her vulnerable flesh. A vehicle appearing by the side of the road, Oz sweeping out and pulling Cordy's bleeding body inside the white van. So he'd had to paint over his once popular Dingoes look.
Nothing was as it seemed. Where was Buffy I kept asking myself? Wasn't she supposed to be here saving the day? What about Faith? I didn't know how this world had started and I didn't know what would make it stop. Where was the big bad? I patrolled the street under Willow and Xander left, they couldn't see me. Nobody could, they just carried on by. Someone even ran through me, screaming at the top of their lungs. What's going on? A vampire hot on their tail, leather flaring out behind him, boots clapping against the concrete. He wasn't even walking fast, just pacing himself as a young girl ran. A cigarette hanging from his lips.
I followed a young vamp into the Bronze, the place was a hive of activity. The Master was lounging in the corner. I'd never seen him before and yet I knew it was him. Buffy's killer. Fruit punch mouth. Willow was sidling up to him, preening like a well oiled cat. She walked to the dungeons, I followed like a sick ghost. There was a damp smell and an air of grease about the place. And then I saw him, cowering on the floor in his cage like a good little puppy. Angel was tied up in chains. I thought he was gone. Buffy hadn't talked about him much since she came back. Maybe everything was different in this reality.
It was like I blinked and a whole day went by. A whole day and a whole dimension. I found myself lying on the bathroom floor, my toothbrush still in my hand. Mom calling me from downstairs, telling me I was going to be late. Buffy had already left for school.