Author's Note: OK, as you all know I don't own Dawn, Xander or any of the
other Mutant Enemy characters. This fan fiction takes place after Season
Five but ignores all continuity after it.
*****
It was the dream again. More of a nightmare then a dream actually. And it always ended the same. She jumped to save the world. To save the people she loved.
*****
Dawn stared at her reflection in the mirror. She went through her checklist. Hair? Check. Makeup? Check. Clothes? Check. She grabbed the cross that dangled from her mirror and put it around her neck, making sure that it was hidden beneath her shirt. The cross belonged to her sister so she always made sure that she wore it, but it was a little too ghetto for Dawn's style so she kept it hidden under her shirt. It made her feel safe though. It reminded Dawn of all the times that her sister had saved her.
It was three months since Buffy had died saving Dawn's life. Everyday was hard, especially without her mom. But Dawn realized that Buffy was in Heaven now, with her mom. Buffy lived a hard life. She saved the world. A lot. And now Buffy was getting what she deserved after a lifetime of giving everything she had to the world. Dawn knew that she would never truly "get over" the death of her family so close together, but whenever she felt like she couldn't take it she remembered the last words her sister left her with. All Buffy wanted was for Dawn to live in this world, and that's what Dawn was going to do.
"Dawn! Hurry up! You're going to be late for your first day!" Anya called through the apartment. "I've made you a special breakfast. Xander said that is a motherly thing to do!"
Dawn smiled to herself. Buffy had somehow arranged for Dawn to live with Xander and Anya if anything had ever happened to her. She wasn't really sure how all of this came to pass, but she was sure that Willow probably had something to do with it. Dawn was glad to have Xander and Anya.
She walked into the dining room to see that Anya had in fact made Dawn pancakes. Somewhat burnt pancakes, but pancakes nonetheless. Anya and Xander were both sitting at the breakfast table eating before work. This wasn't something that happened a whole lot since Xander tended to leave for work earlier than Anya did. Xander had a very good construction job and he was making a lot of money now. Since Giles left a month ago Anya has taken over the Magic Box.
"Morning Dawnie," Xander said looking up from his breakfast. "All ready for your first day of High School?"
"Yeah," Dawn said as she sat down at the table. "I'm excited." Dawn was really excited. Xander's construction company had built the new high school right over top of the old high school. Dawn was always excited for school, but now that she was going to school over the Hellmouth she was really excited. She knew about all the adventures that Buffy had had there and she was hoping that she would get a chance to have her own. She never said this to anyone though, because she knew they would all worry about her.
"I've packed you a nutritious lunch," Anya said handing Dawn a grocery bag instead of the conventionally small brown paper bag. "All five food groups are properly represented."
"Thanks Anya," Dawn said as she grabbed the lunch form her and was surprised by the weight. Lifting it back up form the table, she added "I'm sure it will be filling."
Xander raised his eyebrows at Dawn. "Are you ready to go?" Xander was going to take Dawn to school since he was going there to work anyway.
"Yeah I just have to wait for Aaron," Dawn said. Dawn had known Aaron O'Malley from her honors classes in school but didn't really start hanging out with him till her moved in with Xander and Anya since he lived two apartments down from them. Over the summer the two became closer friends.
"Hmm," Anya said looking annoyed, "Oh yes we must all cater to Aaron. He can't work for me while he's at school so we must of course drive him there too." Dawn had gotten Aaron a job at the Magic Box over the summer. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
Just then Aaron did knock on the door. Dawn went over to open it and greeted him. Aaron was slightly taller than Dawn. He had dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He had broad shoulders and his face was most often in a smile. He was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a Reel Big Fish t-shirt.
"Hey what's up?" Dawn asked.
"Nothing much," Aaron said walking into the apartment. "Ever notice that that is the most pointless greeting? A simple hello is more than enough." Aaron turned to Xander and Anya. "Hello."
"Good morning," Anya said cheerily, and then added "bad employee" under her breath.
"So are we already to go?" Xander asked getting out of chair.
*****
"The new high school looks really good," Aaron said to Xander.
"Yeah but we still need to finish some things up," Xander said back. "I wish the school board would have agreed to give up a few more weeks without students."
"Don't we all," Aaron said with a smile.
"It's kind of funny that the same guy that helped to blow up the old school is building the new school," Dawn said as Xander parked his car.
"It's the circle of life," Xander said. They all got out of the car and walked towards the school. "If you guys need a ride home you can stick around for about half an hour after school and I can give you a lift."
"Thanks," Aaron said.
"Thanks Xander," Dawn said as she gave him a hug.
"Have a good first day," Xander told them as she split off to go to the part of the school that his construction crew was working on.
*****
Jordan Clarke hated first days. This was his first time at a new school though, so he expected it to be about a hundred times worse. He sat in the guidance office and studied his schedule. He wished that he would have been able to get his schedule earlier than today, but at the same time he wondered what the point of that would have been. It wasn't like he could compare his schedule with his friends. He just wished that the guidance counselor would hurry up and get to him. It was going to be bad enough starting at a new school and getting the new kid looks, but he didn't want to have to walk in late and get it full force.
Jordan sighed and set down his schedule. He leaned his head back up against the wall and closed his eyes. Everything would be so simple if his parents would have never moved. Jordan had lived in Ohio all of his life. Now he was in Sunnydale California. What kind of a name was Sunnydale anyway? Jordan opened his eyes and looked at into the hall. It happened in a flash. One second there was teenagers everywhere and the next second there was no one except for a swirling ball of green energy. Jordan blinked and everything was back to normal. He looked to where the ball of energy was but all that was there were a boy and girl walking down the hall talking to each other.
The weird thing was that this stuff had been happening ever since Jordan moved to Sunnydale a few days ago. He had always had weird things happen to him though. Ever since he was young he would hear people talking even when they weren't talking and things like that. In that last few days though it had gotten a lot worse. He would see flashes of things. People in trouble. Weird things like monsters and vampires. If this kept up Jordan would have to admit to himself that he was insane.
"Mr. Clarke?" The secretary said looking at Jordan. "Mrs. Hodges will see you know."
Jordan took one last look at the boy and girl in the hall and then entered Mrs. Hodges office.
*****
Gym Class. Dawn always hated gym class. She couldn't believe her unbelievably bad luck. How did she get stuck with gym class first period? Luckily, they wouldn't have to actually start changing for class for about a week. Plus, even when they did have to change it wouldn't be that bad. There were a lot of good looking guys in the class.
"Hey Summers! Think fast!" Dawn heard as she turned her head to see a basketball coming towards her. She reacted quick and caught the ball in front of her. She looked to see where the ball came from. A girl with hair that was so dark that it was almost black which contrasted with the red highlights smiled at Dawn. She was a little bit shorter than Dawn, but most girls in her grade were.
"Nice try Colleen," Dawn said with a smile and tossed her the ball. Colleen Danvers was another person who Dawn got to be better friends with over the summer. All Colleen really thought about was basketball. She noticed how tall Dawn was getting over their 8th grade year and her mission for this summer was to turn her into the new center for the girls' basketball team. Almost everyday Colleen would drag Dawn to her house to play basketball. Dawn was actually getting pretty good.
"Come on," Colleen said, "Let's shoot some hoops. Get some practice for tonight." Colleen was talking about the Freshman Exhibition. Basically, it was a chance for the freshman to socialize while the boys' team played the girls' team. Dawn and Colleen would both be starting.
Dawn was pretty good, but definitely not as good as Colleen. Dawn was fairly certain that Colleen had been playing since she was in the womb. Colleen was taking another practice lay-up when from out of no where Mike Dalton came from behind her, stole the ball, and made his lay-up.
"Try doing that tonight," Colleen said when Mike tossed her the ball back, "and see what happens to you."
Mike just smiled at her. Mike was the kind of guy who was incredibly attractive and knew it.
"We'll just have to see about that," Mike said, and then walked off to where his friends were hanging out on the other side of the gym.
Completely unnoticed by the others, a girl with very pale blonde hair and wearing all black watched Mike the entire time from her vantage point at the top of the bleachers.
*****
Aaron had a study hall first. This was his nightmare first period for him, because it was always so tempting just to go back to sleep. Study hall teachers don't like that though. He took the seat that he usually took in every class if he could. He tried to stay in the middle but still in the back of the room. This way, he could pay attention without having to be too ostentatious about it.
To prove just how much of a nerd he was, Aaron pulled out a book to read before the teacher started class. This book wasn't his though; he just kind of borrowed it from work. An Introduction to the Modern Warlock. Aaron had always been completely fascinated by magick. He always went to the Magic Box when he was younger but never really got up the nerve to buy anything. However, after he had become friends with Dawn and started working at the store, he found that he couldn't resist his curiosity any longer. Living in Sunnydale, you hear stories about magick and demons, but no one ever really believes them. After getting to know Dawn though, and hearing her stories, he wondered if he studied really hard that maybe he could do some of that stuff too.
"Interesting book?" an unfamiliar voice asked from Aaron's right. Aaron set down his book and turned to him. He was a little embarrassed.
"Oh I was just kind of just flipping though it. It was a gift from." Aaron tried to make excuses for the unconventional behavior. The boy smiled.
"Don't worry," he said, "I don't think you're weird or anything. I'm Jordan."
"Hi," Aaron said, "I'm Aaron. Yeah, it's just kind of an interest I have." Aaron was still slightly uncomfortable with talking about it. He was bringing it on himself though, reading the book in class.
"Are you a warlock?" Jordan asked with a slight grin.
"Nah," Aaron said, "but I do work at a magick shop. You're new right?"
"Yep," Jordan said, "I just moved here from Ohio."
"How do you like it so far?" Aaron asked.
"It seems nice," Jordan told him. "It's really different from Ohio."
"Yeah Sunnydale is really different," Aaron laughed. He talked to Jordan for the rest of the first period and tried to get to know him. Having lived in Sunnydale all of his life, Aaron never knew what it was like to be new, but he guessed that it had to be hard. As the bell rang, Aaron decided that he was going to try to help Jordan make some friends.
"Hey," Aaron said, "What are you doing tonight?"
"Umm, other than sitting in my house staring at the wall?" Jordan asked.
"Yeah other than that," Aaron said.
"Nothing," Jordan replied, "Why?"
"Well there's this Freshman Exhibition tonight," Aaron began. "It's the boys' basketball team versus the girls' team. It should be really cool. A lot of people are going to go. My friend is on the girls' team so I'm definitely going to go. If you want you can come with me."
"Yeah that sounds cool," Jordan said. He took out a piece of notebook paper and wrote on it. "This is my number."
Aaron took the paper. "OK cool," he said, "I'll call you later on. See ya."
"Yeah see ya," Jordan said. He gathered his stuff up and watched as Aaron left the room. As he began to walk he suddenly had another flash. This time it was the same girl that Aaron had been walking with earlier, only it was night time and she was face to face with what Jordan could only guess was a vampire. And then there was another flash and as quickly as it had happened it had ended. Jordan tried to shake off the sudden light headed feeling he got and hoped that no one noticed him spacing out.
"If I'm ever going to figure what's going on with me," Jordan thought to himself, "Those two are probably going to be the ones to give me the answers I need."
*****
"So are you all ready for the game?" Xander asked Dawn as she was packing the rest of her stuff into her gym bag in the family room.
"Yeah I think I have everything," Dawn said as she zipped up the bag.
"We made a sign," Anya said as she showed Dawn her sign. It had 'Dawn is far better than the other players' written in red letters.
"Thanks," Dawn said with a smile.
*****
"Wow," Jordan said, "Is the turn out always this big?"
"Pretty much," Aaron said, looking at the fairly packed gym, "sometimes there are better turnouts. A lot of the upper classmen didn't come since it is just freshmen."
"Yeah that makes sense," Jordan said. He scanned the gym trying to look at all the different people. He recognized some but it was mostly just a sea of unfamiliar faces. As his eyes wandered across the gym he caught the eye of a girl wearing black who had very pale blonde hair. As he looked at her she looked back at him. He had the strangest sensation. It wasn't another flash, but it was a feeling.
"Hey Aaron," Jordan said to him after she had looked away, "Who's that?" Jordan pointed to the girl.
"Holly something." Aaron said. "Maybe Nils? Yeah I think that's it. Holly Nils. She's in our grade."
"I take it you don't know her very well," Jordan said to Aaron.
"Nah not really," Aaron said. "She keeps to herself a lot. Is she in one of your classes or something?"
"No," Jordan said, "I was just wondering."
"Wow," Aaron said, "A crush on your first day. You work fast."
"No, that's not it," Jordan said with a chuckle. "I don't know what it is."
"OK sure," Aaron said, "Tell yourself whatever you want."
*****
"Nervous?" Colleen asked as she couldn't stop rocking back and forth or playing with her water bottle.
"Yeah," Dawn confirmed as she tied her shoe. "You?"
"Are you kidding?" Colleen while still rocking back and forth.
"Yeah I didn't think you were," Dawn said with a smile.
"It's just," Colleen began, "Did you see how many people are out there? There weren't that many people for a junior high game if you add up the attendance of every game. It's just a lot of pressure."
"Don't worry," Dawn said, "You're like the best player Sunnydale has had in a long time. You're going to do great."
"Yeah," Colleen said, "and even if I don't I can at least foul Mike."
*****
"It's starting," Aaron said as he watched the players come out of their locker rooms. The boys came running out first and were lead by Mike, their point guard. Of all the players, Mike's name got screamed the loudest. Next came the girls. Aaron screamed Dawn's name loud enough that he hoped she would hear him. She looked like she was really concentrating and wouldn't be able to hear him if he was the only person in the crowd.
Jordan watched all the players as they warmed up. He looked at Dawn and tried to figure out what it was about her, or even Aaron for the matter, that was giving him these flashes. He looked back across the gym at Holly. Aaron said that she kept to herself so it made him wonder why she was there. She seemed to be watching something very closely. He followed her glance to see that she was staring at Mike. This wasn't really weird though because most of the girls were staring at Mike. Jordan looked back over to the girls' side and watched as Dawn talked to Colleen, who Aaron had pointed out to him in lunch. Yet again his vision flashed, but this time it lasted longer.
Dawn was still being grabbed by a vampire, and it looked like she was about to be bitten. Suddenly, from no where, a hand came in and pushed the vampire with incredible strength. Dawn fell to the ground and said, "Oh my God! You're a-"
Just as quickly as it happened the vision ended.
*****
There was only thirty seconds left in the game and the score was tied at 36. Dawn had done very well for her first game and hadn't really left the game at all. She managed to score 4 points. Colleen on the other hand hadn't left the game once. She managed to score 23 points for the team too.
The boys had the ball, and Colleen had Mike. Mike managed to spin past Colleen and score another two points for the boys' team. There was only 18 seconds left and the girls' coach called a timeout.
"OK," she said, "We have one chance. Danvers? I want you to take the shot."
Play resumed. Colleen took the ball down the court and passed to a girl on her left. Mike was playing heavy coverage on her. She looked at the clock. There was only 6 seconds left. Colleen pushed with all her strength and tried to push past Mike towards the basket. She saw the ball passed to her and managed to get it without Mike stealing it. She went up at the same time Mike did. She could feel his weight on her but for some reason it didn't seem like that much weight at all. She knew that he was fouling her but it really wasn't stopping her. She pushed with an amount of strength that didn't even seem like a lot and managed to score despite Mike's foul.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Not just for Colleen's points, but also for the ref calling a foul. Colleen didn't even realize when she won the game by sinking her foul shot. There was only one thing going on her mind at this point.
"What the Hell was that?"
*****
"That was exhilarating!" Anya said. "At no point was I confident that either team would win."
"And that's the point of the close game," Xander said. "Aaron!" Xander caught Aaron out of the corner of his eye. "Hey we have to leave but could you please tell Dawn that she did great tonight and to call us with her plans?"
"Sure," Aaron said, "I'll give her the message."
*****
Everyone had congratulated her, but she didn't really hear any of it. Her mind was somewhere else. She was the slowest to shower and get changed. By the time she was done, the only person who was still in the locker room with her was Dawn, and that was just because she waited for her.
"Hey are you sick or something?" Dawn asked her friend with concern. "You look out of it."
"Sick?" Colleen asked, somewhat considering it, "No. I don't know. I feel good actually."
"Then what's up?" Dawn asked.
"I'm not sure," Colleen said, "Maybe I'm just in shock from beating the boys' team."
"Yeah," Dawn said, "But I don't know why you would be shocked. It was obvious that we were going to win. And did you see the way Mike looked at you at the end of the game? That was priceless."
Colleen smiled slightly and let out a little laugh.
*****
"So what do you guys want to do?" Dawn questioned the group, the group being her, Aaron, Colleen, and Jordan. They were walking down the street from the school with no real destination.
"I think you should get to decide," Aaron said, "this is your victory night."
"Bronze?" Colleen suggested.
"Yeah that sounds cool," Dawn said.
"I could go for a little Bronze action," Aaron added.
"What's a Bronze?" Jordan spoke up for the first time tonight other than 'hello' and 'you were good.'
"It's the dance club," Colleen explained. "It's not the greatest but it's not that bad."
"It's where pretty much everyone hangs out at," Dawn said.
"Dance club?" Jordan questioned, "There was no dancing back home."
"The dance part is just for the girls," Aaron said. "We're there just for the club part."
"So what did you guys do for fun back in Ohio then?" Colleen asked, but Jordan didn't answer. It happened again. Everything just flashed and now he saw a girl who was being attacked by two vampires.
"Over here!" Jordan said as he ran off into the field across the street.
"What?" Dawn said. And then they heard the scream.
*****
"Please," the young woman said as she backed into an old jungle gym "I have money. Just please don't hurt me."
"Oh we're not going to hurt you," the first vampire said.
"No," the other vampire joined in. "We just want to take you out to dinner."
"Yeah," the first vampire said, shifting into his game face, "we just want a little bite."
The young woman screamed as the vampire approached and prepared to bite her neck. He just sunk his teeth in when Jordan, using all of his weight, knocked the vampire off of the woman and onto the ground. The woman looked shocked and backed up against the jungle gym holding her neck.
"Run!" Jordan said as he took his eyes off of the vampire and looked at her. She did as she was told and ran for her life. The vampire who was still standing went after her but he was stopped by the cross that Dawn shoved in his face.
"Jordan!" Colleen screamed as the vampire who Jordan attacked grabbed him from behind.
"Oh you're going to pay for that kid," the vamp said as he prepared to bite his neck. Dawn tried to run over to use her cross trick again but this time the other vampire grabbed her. The vampire who had Jordan decided to let his friend go first.
Colleen watched as the vampire had Dawn and prepared to bite her. That's when suddenly, like a flood gate opening up, the whole night made sense. Everything her mind was trying to cope with suddenly became clear. With speed that was almost inhuman, Colleen grabbed a wooden sign that was in the ground, pushed the vampire who was holding Dawn to the ground, stood over him, and shoved the stake through his chest.
Colleen then turned her attention toward the vampire who was holding Jordan. The vampire decided that he would rather have Colleen than Jordan and threw him to the ground by where Aaron stood. Colleen, to her own surprise, found herself going blow for blow with the vampire and actually winning. She got a punch to the face in followed by another before kicking the vampire in the stomach. The vampire went flying back and Colleen took her stake and before she even really understood what she was doing she dusted the second vamp.
"Oh my God," Dawn said. "You're a slayer."
"Slayer," the last word was said by both Dawn and Jordan. No one knew what to say. Colleen didn't really know what was going on with herself. Jordan was puzzled by his visions coming true. Dawn was startled by Jordan knowing the word slayer. Aaron was alarmed by something else.
"Um guys," Aaron said, "I think that wasn't the end of our problems." The others looked where Aaron was staring and saw six pairs of glowing yellow eyes.
*****
Author's note: OK, I would really like to know what everyone thought of this. Any comments about what you thought of any of the characters would be really appreciated, especially if it has to do with the original characters. Please leave me some feedback because it will encourage my lazy ass to right some more.
*****
It was the dream again. More of a nightmare then a dream actually. And it always ended the same. She jumped to save the world. To save the people she loved.
*****
Dawn stared at her reflection in the mirror. She went through her checklist. Hair? Check. Makeup? Check. Clothes? Check. She grabbed the cross that dangled from her mirror and put it around her neck, making sure that it was hidden beneath her shirt. The cross belonged to her sister so she always made sure that she wore it, but it was a little too ghetto for Dawn's style so she kept it hidden under her shirt. It made her feel safe though. It reminded Dawn of all the times that her sister had saved her.
It was three months since Buffy had died saving Dawn's life. Everyday was hard, especially without her mom. But Dawn realized that Buffy was in Heaven now, with her mom. Buffy lived a hard life. She saved the world. A lot. And now Buffy was getting what she deserved after a lifetime of giving everything she had to the world. Dawn knew that she would never truly "get over" the death of her family so close together, but whenever she felt like she couldn't take it she remembered the last words her sister left her with. All Buffy wanted was for Dawn to live in this world, and that's what Dawn was going to do.
"Dawn! Hurry up! You're going to be late for your first day!" Anya called through the apartment. "I've made you a special breakfast. Xander said that is a motherly thing to do!"
Dawn smiled to herself. Buffy had somehow arranged for Dawn to live with Xander and Anya if anything had ever happened to her. She wasn't really sure how all of this came to pass, but she was sure that Willow probably had something to do with it. Dawn was glad to have Xander and Anya.
She walked into the dining room to see that Anya had in fact made Dawn pancakes. Somewhat burnt pancakes, but pancakes nonetheless. Anya and Xander were both sitting at the breakfast table eating before work. This wasn't something that happened a whole lot since Xander tended to leave for work earlier than Anya did. Xander had a very good construction job and he was making a lot of money now. Since Giles left a month ago Anya has taken over the Magic Box.
"Morning Dawnie," Xander said looking up from his breakfast. "All ready for your first day of High School?"
"Yeah," Dawn said as she sat down at the table. "I'm excited." Dawn was really excited. Xander's construction company had built the new high school right over top of the old high school. Dawn was always excited for school, but now that she was going to school over the Hellmouth she was really excited. She knew about all the adventures that Buffy had had there and she was hoping that she would get a chance to have her own. She never said this to anyone though, because she knew they would all worry about her.
"I've packed you a nutritious lunch," Anya said handing Dawn a grocery bag instead of the conventionally small brown paper bag. "All five food groups are properly represented."
"Thanks Anya," Dawn said as she grabbed the lunch form her and was surprised by the weight. Lifting it back up form the table, she added "I'm sure it will be filling."
Xander raised his eyebrows at Dawn. "Are you ready to go?" Xander was going to take Dawn to school since he was going there to work anyway.
"Yeah I just have to wait for Aaron," Dawn said. Dawn had known Aaron O'Malley from her honors classes in school but didn't really start hanging out with him till her moved in with Xander and Anya since he lived two apartments down from them. Over the summer the two became closer friends.
"Hmm," Anya said looking annoyed, "Oh yes we must all cater to Aaron. He can't work for me while he's at school so we must of course drive him there too." Dawn had gotten Aaron a job at the Magic Box over the summer. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
Just then Aaron did knock on the door. Dawn went over to open it and greeted him. Aaron was slightly taller than Dawn. He had dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He had broad shoulders and his face was most often in a smile. He was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a Reel Big Fish t-shirt.
"Hey what's up?" Dawn asked.
"Nothing much," Aaron said walking into the apartment. "Ever notice that that is the most pointless greeting? A simple hello is more than enough." Aaron turned to Xander and Anya. "Hello."
"Good morning," Anya said cheerily, and then added "bad employee" under her breath.
"So are we already to go?" Xander asked getting out of chair.
*****
"The new high school looks really good," Aaron said to Xander.
"Yeah but we still need to finish some things up," Xander said back. "I wish the school board would have agreed to give up a few more weeks without students."
"Don't we all," Aaron said with a smile.
"It's kind of funny that the same guy that helped to blow up the old school is building the new school," Dawn said as Xander parked his car.
"It's the circle of life," Xander said. They all got out of the car and walked towards the school. "If you guys need a ride home you can stick around for about half an hour after school and I can give you a lift."
"Thanks," Aaron said.
"Thanks Xander," Dawn said as she gave him a hug.
"Have a good first day," Xander told them as she split off to go to the part of the school that his construction crew was working on.
*****
Jordan Clarke hated first days. This was his first time at a new school though, so he expected it to be about a hundred times worse. He sat in the guidance office and studied his schedule. He wished that he would have been able to get his schedule earlier than today, but at the same time he wondered what the point of that would have been. It wasn't like he could compare his schedule with his friends. He just wished that the guidance counselor would hurry up and get to him. It was going to be bad enough starting at a new school and getting the new kid looks, but he didn't want to have to walk in late and get it full force.
Jordan sighed and set down his schedule. He leaned his head back up against the wall and closed his eyes. Everything would be so simple if his parents would have never moved. Jordan had lived in Ohio all of his life. Now he was in Sunnydale California. What kind of a name was Sunnydale anyway? Jordan opened his eyes and looked at into the hall. It happened in a flash. One second there was teenagers everywhere and the next second there was no one except for a swirling ball of green energy. Jordan blinked and everything was back to normal. He looked to where the ball of energy was but all that was there were a boy and girl walking down the hall talking to each other.
The weird thing was that this stuff had been happening ever since Jordan moved to Sunnydale a few days ago. He had always had weird things happen to him though. Ever since he was young he would hear people talking even when they weren't talking and things like that. In that last few days though it had gotten a lot worse. He would see flashes of things. People in trouble. Weird things like monsters and vampires. If this kept up Jordan would have to admit to himself that he was insane.
"Mr. Clarke?" The secretary said looking at Jordan. "Mrs. Hodges will see you know."
Jordan took one last look at the boy and girl in the hall and then entered Mrs. Hodges office.
*****
Gym Class. Dawn always hated gym class. She couldn't believe her unbelievably bad luck. How did she get stuck with gym class first period? Luckily, they wouldn't have to actually start changing for class for about a week. Plus, even when they did have to change it wouldn't be that bad. There were a lot of good looking guys in the class.
"Hey Summers! Think fast!" Dawn heard as she turned her head to see a basketball coming towards her. She reacted quick and caught the ball in front of her. She looked to see where the ball came from. A girl with hair that was so dark that it was almost black which contrasted with the red highlights smiled at Dawn. She was a little bit shorter than Dawn, but most girls in her grade were.
"Nice try Colleen," Dawn said with a smile and tossed her the ball. Colleen Danvers was another person who Dawn got to be better friends with over the summer. All Colleen really thought about was basketball. She noticed how tall Dawn was getting over their 8th grade year and her mission for this summer was to turn her into the new center for the girls' basketball team. Almost everyday Colleen would drag Dawn to her house to play basketball. Dawn was actually getting pretty good.
"Come on," Colleen said, "Let's shoot some hoops. Get some practice for tonight." Colleen was talking about the Freshman Exhibition. Basically, it was a chance for the freshman to socialize while the boys' team played the girls' team. Dawn and Colleen would both be starting.
Dawn was pretty good, but definitely not as good as Colleen. Dawn was fairly certain that Colleen had been playing since she was in the womb. Colleen was taking another practice lay-up when from out of no where Mike Dalton came from behind her, stole the ball, and made his lay-up.
"Try doing that tonight," Colleen said when Mike tossed her the ball back, "and see what happens to you."
Mike just smiled at her. Mike was the kind of guy who was incredibly attractive and knew it.
"We'll just have to see about that," Mike said, and then walked off to where his friends were hanging out on the other side of the gym.
Completely unnoticed by the others, a girl with very pale blonde hair and wearing all black watched Mike the entire time from her vantage point at the top of the bleachers.
*****
Aaron had a study hall first. This was his nightmare first period for him, because it was always so tempting just to go back to sleep. Study hall teachers don't like that though. He took the seat that he usually took in every class if he could. He tried to stay in the middle but still in the back of the room. This way, he could pay attention without having to be too ostentatious about it.
To prove just how much of a nerd he was, Aaron pulled out a book to read before the teacher started class. This book wasn't his though; he just kind of borrowed it from work. An Introduction to the Modern Warlock. Aaron had always been completely fascinated by magick. He always went to the Magic Box when he was younger but never really got up the nerve to buy anything. However, after he had become friends with Dawn and started working at the store, he found that he couldn't resist his curiosity any longer. Living in Sunnydale, you hear stories about magick and demons, but no one ever really believes them. After getting to know Dawn though, and hearing her stories, he wondered if he studied really hard that maybe he could do some of that stuff too.
"Interesting book?" an unfamiliar voice asked from Aaron's right. Aaron set down his book and turned to him. He was a little embarrassed.
"Oh I was just kind of just flipping though it. It was a gift from." Aaron tried to make excuses for the unconventional behavior. The boy smiled.
"Don't worry," he said, "I don't think you're weird or anything. I'm Jordan."
"Hi," Aaron said, "I'm Aaron. Yeah, it's just kind of an interest I have." Aaron was still slightly uncomfortable with talking about it. He was bringing it on himself though, reading the book in class.
"Are you a warlock?" Jordan asked with a slight grin.
"Nah," Aaron said, "but I do work at a magick shop. You're new right?"
"Yep," Jordan said, "I just moved here from Ohio."
"How do you like it so far?" Aaron asked.
"It seems nice," Jordan told him. "It's really different from Ohio."
"Yeah Sunnydale is really different," Aaron laughed. He talked to Jordan for the rest of the first period and tried to get to know him. Having lived in Sunnydale all of his life, Aaron never knew what it was like to be new, but he guessed that it had to be hard. As the bell rang, Aaron decided that he was going to try to help Jordan make some friends.
"Hey," Aaron said, "What are you doing tonight?"
"Umm, other than sitting in my house staring at the wall?" Jordan asked.
"Yeah other than that," Aaron said.
"Nothing," Jordan replied, "Why?"
"Well there's this Freshman Exhibition tonight," Aaron began. "It's the boys' basketball team versus the girls' team. It should be really cool. A lot of people are going to go. My friend is on the girls' team so I'm definitely going to go. If you want you can come with me."
"Yeah that sounds cool," Jordan said. He took out a piece of notebook paper and wrote on it. "This is my number."
Aaron took the paper. "OK cool," he said, "I'll call you later on. See ya."
"Yeah see ya," Jordan said. He gathered his stuff up and watched as Aaron left the room. As he began to walk he suddenly had another flash. This time it was the same girl that Aaron had been walking with earlier, only it was night time and she was face to face with what Jordan could only guess was a vampire. And then there was another flash and as quickly as it had happened it had ended. Jordan tried to shake off the sudden light headed feeling he got and hoped that no one noticed him spacing out.
"If I'm ever going to figure what's going on with me," Jordan thought to himself, "Those two are probably going to be the ones to give me the answers I need."
*****
"So are you all ready for the game?" Xander asked Dawn as she was packing the rest of her stuff into her gym bag in the family room.
"Yeah I think I have everything," Dawn said as she zipped up the bag.
"We made a sign," Anya said as she showed Dawn her sign. It had 'Dawn is far better than the other players' written in red letters.
"Thanks," Dawn said with a smile.
*****
"Wow," Jordan said, "Is the turn out always this big?"
"Pretty much," Aaron said, looking at the fairly packed gym, "sometimes there are better turnouts. A lot of the upper classmen didn't come since it is just freshmen."
"Yeah that makes sense," Jordan said. He scanned the gym trying to look at all the different people. He recognized some but it was mostly just a sea of unfamiliar faces. As his eyes wandered across the gym he caught the eye of a girl wearing black who had very pale blonde hair. As he looked at her she looked back at him. He had the strangest sensation. It wasn't another flash, but it was a feeling.
"Hey Aaron," Jordan said to him after she had looked away, "Who's that?" Jordan pointed to the girl.
"Holly something." Aaron said. "Maybe Nils? Yeah I think that's it. Holly Nils. She's in our grade."
"I take it you don't know her very well," Jordan said to Aaron.
"Nah not really," Aaron said. "She keeps to herself a lot. Is she in one of your classes or something?"
"No," Jordan said, "I was just wondering."
"Wow," Aaron said, "A crush on your first day. You work fast."
"No, that's not it," Jordan said with a chuckle. "I don't know what it is."
"OK sure," Aaron said, "Tell yourself whatever you want."
*****
"Nervous?" Colleen asked as she couldn't stop rocking back and forth or playing with her water bottle.
"Yeah," Dawn confirmed as she tied her shoe. "You?"
"Are you kidding?" Colleen while still rocking back and forth.
"Yeah I didn't think you were," Dawn said with a smile.
"It's just," Colleen began, "Did you see how many people are out there? There weren't that many people for a junior high game if you add up the attendance of every game. It's just a lot of pressure."
"Don't worry," Dawn said, "You're like the best player Sunnydale has had in a long time. You're going to do great."
"Yeah," Colleen said, "and even if I don't I can at least foul Mike."
*****
"It's starting," Aaron said as he watched the players come out of their locker rooms. The boys came running out first and were lead by Mike, their point guard. Of all the players, Mike's name got screamed the loudest. Next came the girls. Aaron screamed Dawn's name loud enough that he hoped she would hear him. She looked like she was really concentrating and wouldn't be able to hear him if he was the only person in the crowd.
Jordan watched all the players as they warmed up. He looked at Dawn and tried to figure out what it was about her, or even Aaron for the matter, that was giving him these flashes. He looked back across the gym at Holly. Aaron said that she kept to herself so it made him wonder why she was there. She seemed to be watching something very closely. He followed her glance to see that she was staring at Mike. This wasn't really weird though because most of the girls were staring at Mike. Jordan looked back over to the girls' side and watched as Dawn talked to Colleen, who Aaron had pointed out to him in lunch. Yet again his vision flashed, but this time it lasted longer.
Dawn was still being grabbed by a vampire, and it looked like she was about to be bitten. Suddenly, from no where, a hand came in and pushed the vampire with incredible strength. Dawn fell to the ground and said, "Oh my God! You're a-"
Just as quickly as it happened the vision ended.
*****
There was only thirty seconds left in the game and the score was tied at 36. Dawn had done very well for her first game and hadn't really left the game at all. She managed to score 4 points. Colleen on the other hand hadn't left the game once. She managed to score 23 points for the team too.
The boys had the ball, and Colleen had Mike. Mike managed to spin past Colleen and score another two points for the boys' team. There was only 18 seconds left and the girls' coach called a timeout.
"OK," she said, "We have one chance. Danvers? I want you to take the shot."
Play resumed. Colleen took the ball down the court and passed to a girl on her left. Mike was playing heavy coverage on her. She looked at the clock. There was only 6 seconds left. Colleen pushed with all her strength and tried to push past Mike towards the basket. She saw the ball passed to her and managed to get it without Mike stealing it. She went up at the same time Mike did. She could feel his weight on her but for some reason it didn't seem like that much weight at all. She knew that he was fouling her but it really wasn't stopping her. She pushed with an amount of strength that didn't even seem like a lot and managed to score despite Mike's foul.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Not just for Colleen's points, but also for the ref calling a foul. Colleen didn't even realize when she won the game by sinking her foul shot. There was only one thing going on her mind at this point.
"What the Hell was that?"
*****
"That was exhilarating!" Anya said. "At no point was I confident that either team would win."
"And that's the point of the close game," Xander said. "Aaron!" Xander caught Aaron out of the corner of his eye. "Hey we have to leave but could you please tell Dawn that she did great tonight and to call us with her plans?"
"Sure," Aaron said, "I'll give her the message."
*****
Everyone had congratulated her, but she didn't really hear any of it. Her mind was somewhere else. She was the slowest to shower and get changed. By the time she was done, the only person who was still in the locker room with her was Dawn, and that was just because she waited for her.
"Hey are you sick or something?" Dawn asked her friend with concern. "You look out of it."
"Sick?" Colleen asked, somewhat considering it, "No. I don't know. I feel good actually."
"Then what's up?" Dawn asked.
"I'm not sure," Colleen said, "Maybe I'm just in shock from beating the boys' team."
"Yeah," Dawn said, "But I don't know why you would be shocked. It was obvious that we were going to win. And did you see the way Mike looked at you at the end of the game? That was priceless."
Colleen smiled slightly and let out a little laugh.
*****
"So what do you guys want to do?" Dawn questioned the group, the group being her, Aaron, Colleen, and Jordan. They were walking down the street from the school with no real destination.
"I think you should get to decide," Aaron said, "this is your victory night."
"Bronze?" Colleen suggested.
"Yeah that sounds cool," Dawn said.
"I could go for a little Bronze action," Aaron added.
"What's a Bronze?" Jordan spoke up for the first time tonight other than 'hello' and 'you were good.'
"It's the dance club," Colleen explained. "It's not the greatest but it's not that bad."
"It's where pretty much everyone hangs out at," Dawn said.
"Dance club?" Jordan questioned, "There was no dancing back home."
"The dance part is just for the girls," Aaron said. "We're there just for the club part."
"So what did you guys do for fun back in Ohio then?" Colleen asked, but Jordan didn't answer. It happened again. Everything just flashed and now he saw a girl who was being attacked by two vampires.
"Over here!" Jordan said as he ran off into the field across the street.
"What?" Dawn said. And then they heard the scream.
*****
"Please," the young woman said as she backed into an old jungle gym "I have money. Just please don't hurt me."
"Oh we're not going to hurt you," the first vampire said.
"No," the other vampire joined in. "We just want to take you out to dinner."
"Yeah," the first vampire said, shifting into his game face, "we just want a little bite."
The young woman screamed as the vampire approached and prepared to bite her neck. He just sunk his teeth in when Jordan, using all of his weight, knocked the vampire off of the woman and onto the ground. The woman looked shocked and backed up against the jungle gym holding her neck.
"Run!" Jordan said as he took his eyes off of the vampire and looked at her. She did as she was told and ran for her life. The vampire who was still standing went after her but he was stopped by the cross that Dawn shoved in his face.
"Jordan!" Colleen screamed as the vampire who Jordan attacked grabbed him from behind.
"Oh you're going to pay for that kid," the vamp said as he prepared to bite his neck. Dawn tried to run over to use her cross trick again but this time the other vampire grabbed her. The vampire who had Jordan decided to let his friend go first.
Colleen watched as the vampire had Dawn and prepared to bite her. That's when suddenly, like a flood gate opening up, the whole night made sense. Everything her mind was trying to cope with suddenly became clear. With speed that was almost inhuman, Colleen grabbed a wooden sign that was in the ground, pushed the vampire who was holding Dawn to the ground, stood over him, and shoved the stake through his chest.
Colleen then turned her attention toward the vampire who was holding Jordan. The vampire decided that he would rather have Colleen than Jordan and threw him to the ground by where Aaron stood. Colleen, to her own surprise, found herself going blow for blow with the vampire and actually winning. She got a punch to the face in followed by another before kicking the vampire in the stomach. The vampire went flying back and Colleen took her stake and before she even really understood what she was doing she dusted the second vamp.
"Oh my God," Dawn said. "You're a slayer."
"Slayer," the last word was said by both Dawn and Jordan. No one knew what to say. Colleen didn't really know what was going on with herself. Jordan was puzzled by his visions coming true. Dawn was startled by Jordan knowing the word slayer. Aaron was alarmed by something else.
"Um guys," Aaron said, "I think that wasn't the end of our problems." The others looked where Aaron was staring and saw six pairs of glowing yellow eyes.
*****
Author's note: OK, I would really like to know what everyone thought of this. Any comments about what you thought of any of the characters would be really appreciated, especially if it has to do with the original characters. Please leave me some feedback because it will encourage my lazy ass to right some more.