The air was cold, but with all things considered, Buffy welcomed it without second thought. She zipped her sweater up more than half way, but left a small space open, just in case. The heat was coming soon, whether it came from nature, or from her body. Looking out into the distant road that she and her friends had been traveling on for what seemed like days, she refrained from crying, placing a hard, emotionless face in its place.

I failed.

Aside from the altercation that would serve as the last interaction the two of them would have, the thought of failure was the only thought that had stayed in Buffy's mind since Dawn disappeared. Her friends had remained hopeful that dawn would come back after she calmed down, but since the moment Dawn stormed out of the Summer's home, hours became days. Days became weeks. Weeks became months.

And months became death.

"I hate you Buffy. I'd kill you just to have mom back," was the last thing Dawn had said to Buffy as she stormed out of house. Usually Buffy would throw a snide remark back to show Dawn that her words had no effect on her, but this time was different. It wasn't just her words, it was her eyes. Buffy always knew when Dawn was lying or when she was speaking out of emotions, but this time Buffy knew this was something Dawn truly meant. How long had Dawn contemplated killing her, Buffy had no idea. And by the looks of it, she would never know.

"Hey Buff. You ok?"

Buffy was startled by the voice, but her body didn't show it. She knew she was in no danger, for the voice was as soft as a mouse's squeak yet held much power in it.

"If that's what you want to call it," Buffy responded, remaining motionless as Willow stood next to her. Sensing that it was necessary, Willow placed her head on Buffy's shoulder softly and held onto Buffy's arm. From slaying vampires to killing gods to destroying hellmouths and everything in between, Buffy wouldn't have imagined that her and Willow would come this far with their friendship still intact and stronger than ever. It was definitely unbelievable, but Buffy was grateful that even the superhero, as many would deem her, had a shoulder to cry on.

"I miss her so much," Buffy whispered, refusing to let her voice tremble. "This is entirely all my fault Will."

"Buffy…" Willow started then stopped. Dawn had now became a touchy subject to speak about and had to choose her words carefully. "Buffy, we all miss her. But don't count her as dead. She is alive. I can feel it."

"Does this feeling come from magic or intuition?"

"Ummm…both?" Willow lied. Horribly.

As much as Buffy didn't want to, her lips cracked and formed the tiniest grin that only Willow would catch. "Willow, you suck," Buffy sighed, as she rested her head on top of Willow's. With no words necessary, the energy that each other was giving off relayed gratefulness and appreciation of one another.

"Hey gang. We should be up and running pretty soon," came a sudden voice. Not necessarily destroying the moment, but contributing to it. "Do any of you gals need to use the potty or want anything to munch on?"

"No Xander," both Buffy and Willow answered at the same time.

"Ok then. Well Old Reliable seems to be ready to go. Just filled him up and he is full!"

Breaking off of Buffy, Willow walked towards Xander giving him a playful shove, attempting to lighten up the mood a bit more. "As a matter of fact, I could use a snack. But then again how far do we have left?"

"Well I just asked the clerk inside and he said that we still have an hour left before we finally get to Bon Temps. So unless you're really hungry, you should be fine with something small."

"Bon Temps..." Buffy thought, feeling her face go back to the cold and strong face it had held previously. Not sure if it was evil or Dawn, as Buffy so hoped it would be, Willow's magic had insisted that something awaited the gang in Bon Temps.

"Whatever it is, it better be ready," Buffy said just above a whisper. Taking two steps backward, Buffy executed a swift about-face and headed towards her friends, leaving her guilt behind her and embraced the Slayer in her.

"Racist fucks."

Tara became enraged at her thoughts as she reflected on her day that was coming to a close. Although this day had not been one out of the normal, she maintained the thought that when it came to the people in Bon Temps, it was either friend or foe.

And not many she would give the pleasure of being called friend.

There was one except though: Sookie Stackhouse. Her best friend since they were children. And no matter how many times Sookie would find trouble in her path, whether she was asking for it or not, Tara would always be there to help Sookie. The only problem was that Sookie was a lone warrior in a sense. You could tell her not to do something, but Sookie does what Sookie feels needs to be done. Period.

"I swear that girl gets on my nerves," Tara said out loud, not ashamed to express her thoughts vocally. She was originally planning on going to what she called her home, but thought better and changed her mind to go see Sookie. No doubt that by the time she got there, Sookie was already in trouble, or going to knock on its door. Shoving her thumbs inside of her jean pockets, Tara let out a deep breath and looked up into the sky. When did the sun go down?

"Fuck."

Surely, the vampires would be out and about by now. Not that they had been a big problem in Bon Temps before. But ever since Sookie began to involve herself fully with Mr. Bill Compton, the quiet town of Bon Temps seemed to be getting a bit louder every day. Coincidence?

Not to Tara.

Refusing to show any sort of fear, Tara continued on the usual path she took to Sookie's, determined to get to her destination unscathed. All these years, she had been lucky in avoiding unnecessary altercations with vampires and was definitely not about to allow her luck to just run out on her. Keeping this mind frame as her stroll became one step away from a jog, her heart was lightened as she began to see Sookie's house in the distance. But just as she was about to call out thanks to the lord above, a snap of a twig behind her stopped her immediately.

"Alright," She began in an irritated voice as she quickly looked behind her. "I don't have time for the shit. So just come out right the fuck now."

"You really need to watch your fucking mouth.

Catching her off guard, a deep, feminine voice that came out of nowhere crept up on her and caused her fall. In one smooth motion, she rolled around and moved backward to place space in between her and her assailant. Recognizing her face, she had only had one face to face with her and she had hoped that that would be the only time.

"Look, if you're going to do something, be a real woman and get it over with. Don't try that glamour shit on me."

"That would be a waste of my time. You need to give your little friend Sookie a message."

Feeling more insulted than scared, Tara scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh hell no. You can tell her your own damn self." Deciding to end the conversation on her last note, Tara walked past Pam fearlessly and eager to be out of his icy cold stare. But before she could take the first step past him, Tara felt Pam's hand around her arm holding her in place.

"Look, I could drain you right here and now and not give two shits about it, but I have better things to do with my time than argue with a worthless human. So shut up and listen. You tell Sookie Eric is looking for her and Bill. They know where he will be."

"Hmmm. How does it feel being the messenger bitch?"

Scoffing, Pam flicked Tara back a few feet away, causing the wind to blow of out Tara as he back collided with the dirt floor. Pam took the opportunity and stood over Tara, pulling her up to her own face as she exposed her fangs.

"Next time, don't forget who you're fucking talking to." Pam ended with a hiss and shoved Tara back onto the ground. And in a blink of an eye, she was gone.

Dazed from being thrown to the ground multiple times, Tara managed to find her way to her feet and looked at the trail of dust Pam left behind her.

"I fucking hate this town." She spat. "Fucking vampires."