TITLE: Penance
AUTHOR: Regina
E-MAIL:
Penance
All the old clichés aren?t true, just for future reference. There was no devil with a pointy stick, there were no evil hooded minions beating people. Apparently hell is a very personal experience. Buffy?s was anyway. She sat alone, huddled on a large rock, watching flashes of her life. Everything was there, her childhood, her parents, the scoobs, me. When I came on screen, she would huddle further into herself, sobbing quietly.
This part wasn?t quite as vivid as the rest. Everything was slightly blurry, and I couldn?t FEEL anymore, I was more like an observer. I suppose that was a good thing, because I think if I could have felt her pain, it would have killed me. The fact that I was causing her pain was enough. It was then that I realized that wasn?t why I was there. It wasn?t me being punished, it was Buffy. She was punishing herself for all her regrets. The images on the screen became sharper, and I saw she was reliving not just her life, but her self perceived failures. They were all there, every time a vamp got away, every time someone died. Angel. Myself. Everything that had ever caused her pain was replaying in a continuous stream in front of her eyes. This would drive her crazy. I couldn?t let her stay there.
I went to her, but the moment I reached out to touch her, I was snapped rudely back to reality. Standing at the grave of my one true love, a tiny drop of blood trailing from my neck, I regained my sanity. Well, for a moment anyway, because I thought I was going totally crazy when the voice from the sky began speaking to me.