The next morning came quickly. The Angel was furiously playing an organ, stopping every once in a while to write the notes down. Despite all the noise the organ blared out, Buffy slept peacefully. She was awakened to the gentle sound of a paper-mâché music box next to her. A small monkey on top of it played cymbals. Buffy was partly in a trance as she woke up. She looked around, and said to herself, "I remember there was mist, swirling mist upon a vast, glassy lake. There were candles all around, and on the lake there was boat. And in the boat there was a man . . . "
She arose from the bed and walked slowly over to the hunched figure at the organ. "Who was that shape in the shadow? Whose is the face in the mask?" Several times she tried to take off the mask, but each time he moved away, almost catching her. Finally, she tore the mask from his face. With a small smile, she waited for him to turn to her. But a face wasn't what she saw. The Angel's eyes went wide, and he began to yell out.
"Damn you! You little prying Pandora! You little demon! Is this what you wanted to see?!" He thrust his face towards Buffy; she backed away. "Curse you! You little lying Delilah! You little viper! Now you cannot ever be free!" Buffy fell to her knees, crouching into a ball. "Damn you! Curse you!" The Angel collapsed to the floor. He sat there for a second, breathing heavily. Then he began to sing in a soft voice.
"Stranger than you dreamt it.
Can you even dare top look
or bear to think of me?
This loathsome gargoyle who
Burns in Hell, but secretly,
secretly,
Yearns for Heaven, secretly,
secretly . . . But Buffy,
Fear can turn to Love,
You'll learn to see, to find the man
behind the monster:
This repulsive carcass who
Seems a beast, but secretly,
secretly,
Dreams of Beauty, secretly,
secretly . . .
Oh, Buffy,"
The Angel held out his perfect hand to Buffy. She handed the mask back to him, and he carefully put it back on his angelic face. Then he rose silently. The candlelight flickered on him, casting a shine from the mask. The other half of his face, so perfect and beautiful, stared down at her. "Come, we must return. Those 2 fools who run my theater will be missing you."
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