Synopsis: Buffy reveals to Dawn her true identity while
Spike helps Dawn from being kidnapped by Glory's minion Dreg.
Also in this episode, Dawn learns about Spike's intentions for
her sister; as Buffy and Spike searches for Glory's mansion.
Note: This short story is the second of 5 on a series of
fiction called 'the Vampyr Pentateuch' starting with '
Date: Wednesday, 27 December, 2000 : 09:20:07 PM
Written by:
Credits:
Characters in play: Buffy Xander Willow
Anya Dawn Tara Glory Ben
Dreg Spike Giles
Inside Glory's mansion she and her brother, Ben, sat staring
at each other. Their servant, Dreg, watched closely.
"Tell me dear brother. Do you know anything about the last
demon that was summoned in Sunnydale?"
Ben looked away and didn't say anything. He knew he couldn't lie
to Glory. And it's wrong, dead wrong to think that he could just
take away a life, even if it's as evil as Glory. He looked back
at her. Glory was his sister, no matter what. Maybe she will
agree to the spell if it's just temporary. Yes, the spell that
could cure her headaches.
"Okay, if that's how you wanna play it, I will forget
everything that has happened these past few weeks. Glory
got up from her seat and started pacing the room. I'm your
sister and I plan to keep it that way...unless you do something
that's absolutely stupid again."
See, she's not that bad after all, she's willing to forget
everything. But in return for what? Ben thought.
"Since you're fairly good at summoning demons and you have a
gift for spells, I want you to do me a favor by sharing your
talent with our good boy Dreg here who voluntarily placed himself
in a position of finding the key for me. Dreg looked at Ben and
nodded his head slowly
"Why don't you do the spell yourself?" asked Ben.
"I did! Don't you remember, you blind moron!" her head
was spinning again from a headache. "That damned little
snake failed me! Now, if you could do that to Dreg, maybe we're
home free! And maybe I won't have this splitting headache!"
Ben realized that finding the key and opening the door was not
the answer. But what if Glory's right. What if it's the only way
to fix her head. They've been searching for that energy for
almost their entire lives. They stumbled upon it once, yet they
always seemed to fail to get a hold of it.
"So, what about it?" asked Glory, wickedly rubbing her
hands together.
Buffy was searching for the Dagon Sphere she had left in Dawn's
room last night right before she performed the de-invited spell
for Spike. She was on hiatus from the Scooby Gang, and had been
for weeks now. She purposely avoided them at the Magic Box, and
even at school. The Scoobies noticed the change in Buffy ever
since she was possessed by the Wraith demon and right after her
break-up with Riley. Her temper always got the better of her, and
her bubbly effervescence was gone. They asked her on several
occasions if she needed help with patrolling, but she always
declined. Being her friends, they understood that Buffy needed
time and space to process what she was feeling. She'd been
through a lot lately, and even though it wasn't an excuse
for avoiding them, they still supported her no matter what.
Right now, she was determined to find out where the Dagon Sphere
was. She remembered placing it under Dawn's bed, but it
wasn't there anymore.
"Are you looking for this?" asked Dawn, who was
standing behind her holding the Sphere.
"Yes. I misplaced it the other day," Buffy answered
defensively. "I thought I placed it in my bag but it
probably rolled out," Buffy mentally groaned. What kind of
excuse was that? she thought. She attempted to grab the orb from
Dawn's hands.
"Uh-uh, not unless you tell me what it is," teased
Dawn.
"Don't be such pain in the ass Dawn." Buffy reached out
and took it away from her. "This is not something you can
play with."
"So, what is it?" asked Dawn.
"Where did you find it?" demanded Buffy.
"I asked you first," Dawn replied, getting a sharp look
from her sister. She realized that Buffy would not tolerate
anymore protesting from her. "Ok, I was sleeping last night
and I thought I heard something moving under my bed. I looked
under and there it was," Dawn explained "So, what is
it?"
"It's called the Dagon Sphere." Buffy finally told her.
"It's used as a protection from certain evil."
"Evil? Like the demon that attacked you?"
Buffy suddenly realized that the Dagon Sphere must have caused
the destruction of the Wraith demon. She looked at Dawn and put
the pieces together. Buffy said, "Where were you when that
evil demon attacked me?"
"In your room, I-I was...praying that you be saved from
that-- that-- thing," said Dawn, a bit frightened as she
remembered how the demon started draining Buffy away. It had been
the most frightening moment of her life. Dawn started to get
teary-eyed.
"I'm sorry if I upset you," Buffy said, wanting so much
to tell Dawn about being the key and her connection with the
demon's destruction. "Dawn, I have to tell you
something."
Dawn looked at Buffy, worried.
"Promise me you'll be brave enough to hear what I have to
say, okay?"
Dawn nodded.
Xander and Anya were sitting in a corner at The Bronze as Willow
and Tara walked up to them. They had just come from the dance
floor.
"Didn't Buffy say she would come by around this
time?" asked Willow.
"I believed she said that, only I don't think she meant
it," said Xander bluntly.
"Why do you say that?" asked Willow.
"I mean, if she really wanted to be here, she'd have shown
up an hour ago. And since my hunch is correct, you owe me ten
bucks," said Xander showing his hand to Willow, ready to
accept his reward.
"I'm serious," Willow insisted, a worried expression
crossing her face. "Do you think she's still mooning over
Riley?"
"I don't think so," said Anya brightly. "See, if
my boyfriend was cheating with a whore, a vampire whore no less,
I'd be out of that relationship in a second. No wonder she
trashed that vamp nest." She placed her hands on
Xander's knee. "But luckily, I have my sweetie here,
who couldn't care less for vampires."
"Yeah, I have to agree, I only like my
womendemon-like," Xander cuddled Anya.
"Maybe Buffy just needs a little more time by herself,"
considered Tara.
"And she's probably out patrolling and stuff," said
Willow.
"And patrolling without us lately," added Xander,
reminding them all of how long it had been since they had helped
Buffy.
"We should give Buffy a break, she just needs to get that
slayer instinct all pumped back up again, maybe a few
kills," said Anya. "And it wouldn't hurt if she had a
new man in her life," she stopped, then added
"Actually, if I were Buffy, I'd look for a more mature man,
someone who would understand my true nature, someone
like..."
***
Spike stood in front of Buffy's house, not smoking, but wanting
to. He hadn't seen or talked to her in a couple of days now.
He tried to follow her during one of her patrols but she was too
stealthy for him. He wondered if it was part of the predatory
nature of a slayer that she had developed. He knew that some of
them were more of a hunter and a killer than just a slayer and a
protector. He thought about paying Buffy a visit in her bedroom
and telling her something, anything. He just wanted to see her.
I'd loose one of my body parts for sure, maybe two, if I get
in there without a good reason, but I gotta do something, before
I lose the privilege of entering her house. Which he had,
Spike thought, after Buffy used that de-invite spell on him
during the Wraith demon debacle. But now everything was back to
normal, and he could enter Buffy's house once again thanks to her
kid sister.
***
Dawn was visibly upset and speechless after hearing explanation
of her origins. She, wasn't real? Not a part of this
family? But an energy? A thing? She had doubts about what
strangers are told her about not belonging to this world, but not
this. Not some...thing! Buffy faced Dawn as they sat on the bed,
and waited for her to say something. Instead, Dawn got up and
walked away from her.
"Dawn..." said Buffy, standing up.
"I want to be alone please," said Dawn, on the verge of
tears. She turned her face towards the window.
"Dawn, we need to talk about this. It's not as bad as you
think."
"And mom, does she know about it, about me?" asked
Dawn, still facing the window.
Buffy let out a sigh, "Yes, she knows. But she doesn't know
the details."
"The details?" Dawn's voice shook. She turned
around to face Buffy, full of mixed emotions. "The details
that I'm not her daughter? Or the details that I'm a
thing?!"
"Look, I know you're freaked out, but we need to figure
out how to stop this demon that's after you," Buffy had to
convince Dawn that this was the right thing to concentrate on
now. "I need to protect you, but I also need to know how to
stop Glory," Buffy considered. "Dawn, you're still my
sister, mom is still your mom. It doesn't change anything. It
doesn't mean that you're not part of our lives."
"And how do you figure that? You don't even know how I play
out in this whole thing?" Dawn protested.
"Dawn."
"Please leave," pleaded Dawn.
Buffy tried to reach out to her. "Da---"
"J-Just leave..." Dawn said without looking at her. She
couldn't look at her, not now, or anytime soon for that matter.
She needed to be alone.
Buffy left the room closing the door behind her, Dagon Sphere in
hand. She understood what Dawn was going through, not knowing
where you stand, and not knowing where to belong. She had a
similar crisis when she found out she was the Slayer, back
when.
***
When I was just a baby, I clearly remember mom singing me
those lullabies, Dawn recalled. But why is it that I
can't I remember being a keeper of the gate? What am I supposed
to do? I don't even know how that Dagon Sphere works? An
idea entered Dawn's mind. Maybe Giles knows.
Dawn opened her window and quietly slipped out. She headed to the
Magic Box to look for Giles, who would hopefully be able to
explain this whole thing to her. Not far away, a shadow followed
her.
She stood very still as her heart fluttered in her chest. She had
lived in Sunnydale long enough to know that things really did go
bump in the night. She turned around and began to trace her path
back home. After a couple of steps, she heard it again. Only this
time it was a few feet closer. She stopped, but before she could
turn around to see, a demon attacked her.
It was Dreg. Dawn screamed, but it was quickly muffled by a large
hand over her mouth. She broke away and tried to run but Dreg was
much faster than her. He caught her, throwing a sack over her
head, and dragged her back towards the mansion.
***
Thump! Something hit Dreg on the back. He fell hard. With her now
free hands, Dawn ripped the sack off her head and turned to see
who had rescued her. She couldn't quite recognize the dark
figure in the shadows. He seemed familiar to her though. In fact,
she might be able to tell who it was, if only he would step into
the moonlight.
"Are you okay?" the shadowy figure asked.
"Uh-" Dawn gasped as he moved in closer. "You're
-" Dawn started to say, but was interrupted.
Dreg was on his feet, lunging at Dawn. Spike stepped forward and
grabbed him around the neck. He held him until the other demon
could hardly breathe. "Pu--leee-z--" gasped Dreg. Spike
choked him even harder, then slowly released him. He wasn't
sure why he did that, maybe it had to do with Dawn being there
and not wanting her to witness him kill a demon. Or was he going
soft? He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but he decided to
let go of the demon. With one hand on his neck trying to breathe,
Dreg ran off.
"You're a -" Dawn was still recovering from the attack.
Spike eyed her, making sure she was alright.
"Spike. We've met," he said cautiously.
"You saved me," Dawn didn't know how to react. He's the
vampire who tried to get into their house, a vampire, an enemy,
she thought, and yet he saved her.
Spike pursed his lips agreeably, "I've been known to help a
certain Summers every once in a while."
"Buffy..." Dawn replied, thinking how Buffy would react
if she knew what had happened and why she left the house in the
middle of the night to look for answers.
"Yeah, that sweet young slay--" Spike suddenly stopped.
Dawn looked at him questioningly.
"What I meant to say was, that crummy big sister of
yours," he changed his tone of voice.
"Are you going to bite me?" Dawn asked warily, not
trusting the vampire in front of her.
Spike chuckled, "I do recall telling you that I am a friend
of your sister, but I may have forgotten to add that I'm a
vampire without a bite. Satisfied?"
"By the way," Spike changed the topic. "Shouldn't
you be at home with your family instead of walking around here in
the middle of the night, by yourself?"
"You're right. I shouldn't be here talking to some stranger
and getting kidnapped by another," Dawn said, finally
deciding that this was not a good idea.
***
Buffy was on the phone talking to Giles, who was in his apartment
getting ready for bed. She told him how she revealed to Dawn the
truth about her being the key. Giles was surprised that Buffy
decided to tell her this soon, with no answers to their questions
yet. He was still not finished reading through the manuscripts
about the Dagon Sphere, or the Key, or with his research about
Glory. He had been so busy lately with the shop. He needed help
with the research, true, but he wasn't ready to tell Willow
and the rest of the Scoobies about this. They needed more time,
but time was not on their side.
"Buffy, do you know what this means?" asked Giles.
"I know," said Buffy. "And I'll be responsible for
the consequences. I'll talk to her as soon as she's ready, but
right now, we need to know where Glory is and what her plans
are."
***
Dreg came rushing inside Glory's mansion to tell her that he
traced the key to a hideout. In fact, he had almost taken a hold
of her, if it hadn't been for a pesky vampire.
"A pesky vampire, eh?" said Glory curiously.
"A nasty one too, but I think he lost the power to kill. He
didn't even try finish me off," said Dreg.
"Well, I will...if you don't bring the key here
tonight!" warned Glory. "Yes, I want the key. How I
would love to get a hold of that key and open the doors of
hell... "
"So, how did you and Buffy meet?" started Dawn.
Spike thought that it wouldn't hurt either to have a conversation
with the sister of his current object of affection. In fact, it
would be to his advantage to know more about Buffy. What better
way to get it first hand than from her sister?
Spike smiled. "Let me see, it was three years ago that I met
her. She was dancing gracefully... with her long, blonde hair...
those expressive eyes, and those arms..."
Spike remembered fondly his first encounter with Buffy. She asked
him who he was and his only response was to meet him on a
Saturday so that he could kill her. Yes, kill her, the ultimate
trophy, kill yet another slayer. Only this time, a different
kind. A special kind. He'd never met a Slayer like her before.
Full of passion, aggressiveness and darkness that was equal to
his.
The truce with Buffy two years ago was the turning point in their
relationship. It didn't cross his mind at the time that they
could work together as allies, and never imagined that it could
turn into something more, something greater. Somehow his hatred
for her had evolved into something stronger...stronger than
obsession, stronger than desire. He still doesn't fully
understand what Angel meant when he said "...to kill this
girl, you have to love her..." All he knows right now is
that he loves her and he doesn't want to kill her.
"You mean to say, you've fought all these years, yet you
haven't killed her and she never killed you?" asked Dawn
"No offense," she quickly added.
"Well, yeah," said Spike. Quite true in fact.
"That's weird. I've never heard such a thing, well except if
you're-- " Dawn paused. "Or you two...um," Dawn
was getting an idea.
"Well, I haven't given her any reasons to kill me, have
I?" Spike changed the direction of the conversation. I am
not going to give out every single detail of my love life, he
thought. "Actually, that's not true. I have, on a lot
of occasions," he considered.
"Maybe, she sees you as a harmless thing...an object... a
key..." Dawn's train of thought seemed to be lost.
***
Dreg lurked in the background and followed the Key and the
vampire. Glory had kicked him out of the mansion and warned him
not to come back unless the Key was with him. He would do
anything for Glory, he had served their family for centuries and
this was his chance to prove himself to his master; that he was
not only a slave but someone who should be treated with respect
and dignity, and maybe even more. He followed them as they
approached the Summers' home.
It had been hours since she had heard anything from Dawn's
room. Maybe she's gone to sleep, Buffy thought. She decided
to patrol for the night while she worked on resolving this thing
with her sister. I'll probably stumble into something while
patrolling, maybe find Glory's hide out. Buffy knocked on the
door outside of Dawn's room. No answer. She's probably sleeping,
Buffy thought. She was about to open the door when she heard
noise at the front porch.
***
Dawn is scaling the front wall of their house towards her opened
window as Spike watched. He was about to leave when Buffy opened
the front door door.
"Spike!"
Spike looked as if he'd been caught red-handed with his hand in
the cookie jar. "Before you say anything, I didn't come to
steal any of your stuff in your basement or your room,
or....um" Spike babbled, unsure why he was so
flustered.
Buffy stared coldly, waiting for him to finish.
"Look, I came here for a visit," Spike started over.
"I-I just wanna know how you are. You got me worried on New
Year's, you know?" Seeing her expressionless face, he
changed the topic. "Did you know that there is a demon out
loose that's been preying on small kids?" He looked up at
Dawn's window to see if she'd already climbed inside.
Buffy noticed his glance and looked in the same direction,
curious as to what Spike was looking at. She saw Dawn's window,
dimly lit from one of her bedroom lights. She looked back at
Spike and decided that this might be a harmless visit after all.
"Is there anything else?" asked Buffy.
Spike shook his head. He noticed that Buffy was dressed for going
on patrol. "Ok, a demon. How did you know about this?"
asked Buffy.
"Story travel fast for us vampires, you know that. If you
want, I can show you where," he was pretty proud of himself.
"Fine." Buffy said quietly.
***
Dawn finally reached her open window and started to climb in. She
closed it after her and saw her sister with her vampire friend in
the front yard. She could hardly hear what they were saying, but
it looked as though they are getting along. Well, almost. He
seemed to be diverting her attention to himself, but her sister
looked unconvinced. There was something else she noticed. Spike
looked concerned and worried as he spoke with her sister. His
glances towards Buffy were almost pleading. She'd seen this
expression many times, being a fan of such teen-oriented shows
like Dawson's Creek and Roswell and other
angst-filled teen shows. Anyways, she had seen enough to know
what his body language was saying, and actions speak louder
than words, Dawn thought.
Then Spike looked Dawn's way, checking to see if she was already
inside. Dawn hid behind the curtains when Buffy looked up as
well. After a moment or two, Dawn watched Buffy and Spike leave.
She was glad that he didn't seem to have mentioned anything about
her being outside that night. She kind of liked this vampire guy
already, she smiled to herself.
Dawn turned away from the window after making sure Buffy and the
vampire already left. She was about to change into pajamas and
get ready to sleep when something from behind grabbed her and
covered her mouth. She couldn't even scream.
Buffy and Spike carefully searched the park where Spike had seen
the demon. Buffy couldn't believe she followed him again in
search of a demon that could be just a figment of his
imagination.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Buffy.
"Yes. I'm pretty sure this is the spot." Spike knew
that this was indeed the place where he saw the demon that
dragged Dawn.
"And you know this because?" trailed Buffy.
"Because...I was here, I saw him attack some kid."
"Some kid that's walking alone at night, in the middle of
nowhere," said Buffy. It was more of a statement than a
question.
"Well, um, yeah," Spike didn't want to say exactly
what happened because that meant ratting out Dawn.
"And you did nothing?"
"No, I helped the kid, and I scared the hell out of the
demon," said Spike, unable to keep the pride out of his
voice.
"You helped the kid, out of the goodness of your heart, but
you didn't kill the demon. Is that right?" Buffy asked,
unconvinced.
"That's what happened, Spike nodded affirmatively.
This is getting nowhere, thought Buffy. "Let's
assume what you're telling me is correct. What happened after
that?"
"Well, I left."
"You left," Buffy repeated his answer. "You mean
to tell me that after saving a kid's life from a demon, whom you
allowed to get away, because you're not the kind of a person who
enjoys killing demons for fun, that you just walked away?"
"If you put it that way, yeah," agreed Spike.
"Uh-huh, and you actually think I'm going to believe
that crap? You could've done better than that Spike," Buffy
was exasperated.
"Wait! Do you think I'm lying to you? Tell me, how many
times did I lie to you in--" Spike stopped himself short. His
mistake, he'd always been bad right? Maybe, but not recently,
he thought. "--in thein the couple of weeks that I've
been helping you?"
"N-never," reflected Buffy. "But perhaps you have
some ulterior motive for bringing me here."
Spike held his hands palm up in a gesture of innocence, "No
motives on my part. Pfft. I just wanted to help you, Buffy,"
said Spike seriously.
Buffy looked at him, and was startled to realize that he was
telling the truth. She looked around once more but was convinced
there wasn't anything to investigate. She decided to leave.
"Look, I'm out of here."
She turned on her heel and left, failing to notice the huge
mansion up the hill from the park, right behind her. Spike was
left standing alone, facing a huge wall a few meters in front of
him. He looked up, but he could not see what was up there.
"Bugger," Spike sighed and walked away.
***
Up in the park, a huge mansion stands. Glory's mansion. Inside,
Glory was wearing a bright plum colored dress that she picked up
earlier that day. It was a new favorite. She was talking to her
twin brother Ben, excitedly telling him that Dreg has a good news
to share.
Dreg had been waiting for this moment. This time he captured the
one true thing that his master was searching for.
"My lady, I present to you," Dreg made it short and
simple. "The Key."
He dragged a fully chained Dawn into the room. Ben took one look
and inhaled sharply as he recognized her as the Buffy's
sister. He couldn't believe that Dawn was the Key. He had
always thought that it was an energy and not a human being. Dawn
was past crying at this point, she was just making little
sniffling noises. Glory approached her.
"So, we finally meet," said Glory wickedly.
"Again."
Sheer terror overtook Dawn, for she had no idea what would happen
next.
Next on the series, "