Xander couldn't believe it. His friends had all abandoned him. Worse, they had pretended to ignore his very existence! They didn't answer his questions, they didn't listen to his answers, and whenever he had a good idea they acted like he was in another room.
Xander stormed through the house, trying to find a way out. Trying to avoid his former friends. Trying to find out why he was being ignored. Finally, he found a room where he could sit and ponder his problems.
'Pondering. Not brooding. I am not brooding, I am thinking. Mediating, even. Anything but brooding.'
There was a door in front of him, a lamp to his right, and a skeleton next to the lamp. Xander looked around the room, trying to ignore both his unhappiness and the very realistic-looking rotting skeleton. But when he looked to his left, he noticed something strange.
He looked back at the lamp. It was still on. It was low enough to cast a big shadow of his chair on the opposite wall. But something was missing…
"I'm not casting a shadow."
He double checked. He could still see himself, but not his shadow.
Xander had a sudden revelation, like a light bulb turning on in his head.
"Holy shit, I'm invisible!"
He had figured out why he was being ignored, and suddenly he wasn't afraid anymore.
The spirit that governed the house wasn't pleased by this, and began to dig deeper. It found another fear to use. A fear which was much less recent, and less fresh, but far stronger. Xander was more familiar with this fear, so it wouldn't shock him as badly.
But being unable to shock you makes little difference, when it can terrify you…
Xander was no longer afraid of being ignored. He knew that this wasn't his friends' fault, that invisibility was the result of the same spell that had animated the skeleton and killed other partygoers. He decided to stop hiding, to search the house until he had found and stopped whatever witch or demon was playing this mind game. After all, that's what heroes do.
He burst out of the room, ready to fight, or at least distract, whatever had done this. But to his surprise, he didn't see the same hallway he had expected. This hallway was more of a house of mirrors. He could see a hundred reflections, all trying to figure out where the door was. This also surprised him, because why would he cast a reflection but not a shadow?
He looked down, and saw that he actually did have a shadow. Maybe one of the others had ended the spell. But when he looked back up, something was different.
He walked over to the closest mirror. His reflection stared back at him. It was wearing ordinary clothes, a vast difference from the tuxedo Xander knew he was wearing. It was also wearing a very predatory grin.
The second mirror showed a reflection wearing black leather, and the hideous distorted face of a vampire.
Xander ran over to the third mirror. It showed him with the wild hair and big teeth of a werewolf.
Xander ran through the mirrored hallway that had suddenly become a maze. He saw reflections wearing strange golden armor and glowing eyes. He saw dozens of mirrors with demons staring back at him. He himself as a clown in a purple suit. He saw himself with a hockey mask and a chainsaw. He saw himself with the wrinkled face and black cowl of a sith. He saw himself wearing a tattered cloak and a scythe.
When Xander reached the end of the maze, he tried to open the door. But the handle broke off, and the door turned into another mirror. Xander's final reflection was himself as his father, beating a small child who somehow managed to look like every friend he ever had. The mirror seemed to be leaning in on him, but it was no illusion. It fell over, shattering when it collided with Xander's head. Xander collapsed under it, not noticing that the other mirrors had also shattered, and that all the shards were melting into a pool that he slowly sank into.
/Xander stood on the balcony, on top of his mountain fortress. This was an unassailable stronghold. It stood miles from any other civilization, and the maze of halls together with the tall cliffs could repel any army. Beside him were massive carved pillars, behind him were expensive coloured tapestries. He gazed in pleasure at the throngs of worshippers below. They were totally captivated, hanging on his every word. And why not? He was certainly the most impressive person they had ever seen, clad in magnificent armor and standing hundreds of feet above them./
/ /
/He took another moment to revel in the feeling of the unmatched power of such worship, before he addressed the multitude. "The Day of Doom is here!"/
"Doom? What doom?"
That shocked Xander awake. He lay there for a few moments, trying to figure out what his dream was. His memory of it drained away quickly. He knew it involved Darth Vader and the Terminator, but all the important bits slipped away whenever he tried to focus on them.
Xander forgot all about any strange dream when he felt his head. The last time he'd had a headache like this, the night before had involved three vampires and a large, very hard tombstone. But when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was in a house, not a graveyard.
"Don't move too quickly, Giles thinks your brain is broken."
Xander started to protest, ready to say that his brain was fine compared to his skull. But then he caught sight the speaker. "Anya, why are you wearing a rabbit costume?"
Anya looked defensive, but quickly retorted. "I don't know why people keep asking that. It's Halloween. I'm supposed to wear a scary costume. And I did a pretty good job, too. Nobody complains when they see a vampire costume, and vampires are pathetic. You see them all the time. How many times have you seen a horrible vicious rabbit?"
Xander grinned at that. "Not often, at least not in Sunnydale. In fact, I've never managed to kill a rabbit, not even the less vicious ones. Maybe they are worse." Then he grimaced, and grabbed for the glass of water Anya was carrying. She gave it to him, then left.
Xander tried to get up, lost his balance, swore, and fell on his ass. He just managed to crawl back onto the sofa when Anya returned. With painkillers. And Giles. And also, more importantly, the painkillers.
Giles looked at him carefully. He noticed with relief that Xander's eyes were focusing, and that his head had stopped bleeding. "Hello Xander. I'm glad you're alright. Buffy managed to defeat the demon in the house, but afterwards we found you unconscious in a doorway. What happened?"
Xander looked pained, but decided not to tell Giles about his reflections. "When the house started working its magic, I turned invisible. I got separated from the others, and I think I ran into a door. What demon was it?"
"A fear demon, that causes your worst nightmares to manifest. Buffy forced it to manifest, which stripped him of his powers. Then, she crushed him."
Xander looked surprised. "She crushed him? Usually she goes for the pummelling. And the floating like a butterfly. I didn't know she could actually crush anything."
Giles gave him a wry grin. "When he manifested, the fear demon was only about 6 inches tall. Actually, I think Buffy was glad to be the tall one for once."
Xander smiled back, then winced. "The painkillers didn't help much. I don't think I have a concussion, so I can probably sleep. Do you mind if I stay on your couch for the night?
"Stay as long as you want. No-one else is using it." With that, Giles walked out.
Anya stayed for a moment, looking disappointed. "Well, I'd like to stay here too. But I've been reading, and apparently headaches always prevent sex. I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe I'll be wearing a different costume." With that she left.
Xander lay back against the cushions, and finished the water. Then he closed his eyes, and dreamed.