Part 03
Willow waved her hand distractedly and a fire roared into life in the fireplace. Tara loved the fire, even though the temperature in the Sanctum was controlled so it was warm enough for them, in particular Tara, to sleep naked without needing to be covered, as they were wont to do if they were too exhausted after hours of lovemaking.
I feel so tired, bone tired. Even more tired than all those times put together.
She must have drifted off because when she opened her eyes the fire was flickering on the edge of extinction. She watched the dying fire in a trance, and tried to gather her thoughts.
Suddenly a sharp bang jolted her awake, she shook her head in annoyance that she must have fallen asleep again. She was about to make her way to the chaise lounge when she felt a gust of wind blow a chill through her, like a needle through silk. She felt bile creeping up at the back of her throat. Tried to shout out but no sound came out. Tried to summon her magic but there was just raw terror washing over her. She blacked out.
When she regained consciousness she was lying face down on the sidewalk of an unknown street. Her mind was a cottony jumble that stopped her from wondering why she was where she was. She pushed herself up and mentally tested her muscles and joints, satisfied that she wasn't hurt, and was still a vampire. She followed the streetlights down the street, having faint thoughts that she normally wouldn't need streetlights. Just as well because she turned a corner and was smothered in a blanket of darkness so thick she couldn't see beyond her outstretched hands. She turned back but was greeted by the same thick darkness that seemed to close in on her.
Unfamiliar fear grew inside her, threatening to break into the deathly quiet.
I must be entering some kind of hell.
Her feet mechanically brought her forward, till she reached what seemed to be a gate. She felt around it, eventually finding the catch and it opened with a creak.
Beyond the gate was a lighter space. Her extra-sensory senses told her that she was in a pentagonal room, not unlike her own Sanctum.
Spotlights came on with a clang, and she saw a small figure on a stage at the far side of the room. She squinted and realized it was a girl with an eerie resemblance to herself. Though she had no reflection, she had the technology to take photo images of herself, and since Tara loved those, they utilized that software frequently.
She was rooted to her spot, but she gradually became aware of her doppelgänger, who seemed ... human .. and seemed to be answering questions that an unseen interrogator was throwing at her. The questions were soundless, but Willow could hear the girl's answers inside her head, she could feel the emotions and thoughts of the girl, as if they were her own.
"Yes," she said, perhaps it made them feel tall.
"Yes," she said, in her state of soundless shock.
"Yes," she said, perhaps it'll undo the lock.
"Yes," she said, though she can't remember why.
"Yes," she said, and then she began to cry.
At the last answer, the girl turned and looked at Willow with sad, sympathetic eyes. She stretched out her hands in mock greeting, and then her face changed.
Into Tara.
Willow screamed.
shadows
nightmare
echo
crisis
panic
HYSTERIA
silence
vacuum
SCREAMing
cracked mirrors
demon killers
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
And she was falling ...
... down ...
... down ...
... down ...
... down ...
She sat up, covered in sweat, shivering from the cold, the scream from the nightmare fresh on her lips.
*****
Willow stumbled into the kitchen, looked at the clock. 9.08pm. There was no life in the mansion. Angel was probably taking Giles back to his hotel. Harm and her boys were out, creatures of the night that they were.
She grabbed a bottle of water and drank it in one gulp.
"Tara, I just had the worst nightmare," she said to the empty room.
*****
