The Summers Home, now.
Everyone stared in stunned silence as Tara continued to hug Dawn tightly. While they gasped with their mouths wide open, they wondered how it was that Dawn, a vampire, already had her soul intact. A stunned Giles thought to himself that it flew in the face of everything he learned as a watcher; a vampire was created from a demon taking over a dead body after being sired.
'It's not possible,' Giles thought to himself as a cautious Willow approached Tara and Dawn. Tara, whose back was to Willow, sensed the redhead and then pulled away from Dawn while placing a hand on her cheek, "it's there, Dawnie. I can see it." Tara then stepped back and then to the side while she glanced at Willow, who locked eyes with her for an instant, before turning back to Dawn. Willow reached back and slipped her hand into Tara's, squeezing gently, before letting go and hugging Dawn.
"I trust Tara," Willow whispered into Dawn's ear. The brunette smiled in relief as tears welled in her eyes at the thought of still not being accepted; at the thought of being killed. But the very person who meant more to Dawn than anyone else still hadn't said anything yet; Buffy just stood there behind the group as Xander patted her shoulder. Then Anya blocked Dawn's line of sight at Buffy when she came up to her after Willow pulled back from her hug.
Dawn stared at Anya who, after pulling back, looked her up and down curiously before saying, "there's still something not right about you, Dawn." Xander was about to say something to Anya, but she continued before he could say anything, "there's something seriously wrong here. This couldn't have happened, it's not supposed to happen."
"What's not supposed to happen?" Spike asked.
"This," Anya motioned at Dawn while her head faced Spike, "a vampire's not supposed to have a soul when they first become a vampire. You know that, Spike."
"Which means that Dawn's unique," Spike said while he strode around Anya and towards Dawn protectively as Tara and Willow stood on the brunettes left side.
Anya then sighed before shaking her head and faced Dawn, "you're not …"
"Stop," Buffy whispered loud enough for Anya to hear. Buffy glared at Anya; the Slayer shared the former vengeance demon's concerns about the Vampire Dawn. Buffy was one of two people who saw Dawn up close when she was a vampire, and what she saw was something she didn't recognize- the hunger in Dawn's eyes was manic. Buffy faced newly risen amperes before, and she was able to dust them without much trouble especially thanks to them being confused about what happened to themselves. That effect lasted for a few seconds before they became hungry… but the hunger she'd seen in the eyes of normal vampires didn't even come close to the hunger that was in Dawn's eyes.
What Buffy saw hours earlier was a look of crazed hunger. Buffy knew she was lucky to have knocked away Dawn, 'but she's still my sister. Oh God, what if.. What if this is a trick and… no. I trust Tara. She says that Dawn has a soul then… then I believe her.' Buffy turned to Giles while Xander hugged Dawn and asked, "Giles, have you ever heard anything about this?"
"If you mean a dead human being who was somehow magically transformed after having been turned into a vampire?" Giles asked while he stared at Dawn as Spike stood protectively by her side. Giles turned his head to look at Buffy who nodded her head at him before saying, "no. I have not, Buffy. This is completely new to me as well."
Buffy then turned her head back to Dawn who locked eyes with her and gave a nervous smile, "find something that explains this, Giles." She whispered before taking a step towards Dawn, "discreetly. She's still my sister." Buffy walked towards Dawn while her mind was arguing with her heart- the mind was saying that Dawn was dead. But her heart was telling her to trust Tara, that this was indeed her sister, 'except she's a bloodthirsty vampire'.
Buffy shook her head before stopping in front of Dawn. She saw into Dawn's eyes and could only see fear now; fear that Buffy would kill her. Buffy reached out and gently placed her hand on Dawn's cheek, 'it's warm' Buffy thought as her eyes widened at her sister, 'Angel's cold, and so's Spike when I… stop don't even when think about it'. Buffy pushed away the thoughts of the last time she and Spike had meaningless sex while reaching around Dawn with her arms and pulling her in. Buffy hugged Dawn tight, and it wasn't before long that she felt wetness streaking down her neck. At first, Buffy thought that maybe it was all a trick, and that Dawn somehow managed to get her fangs through her skin. But Buffy never felt the familiar pain of being bit into, instead, she heard sobs coming off the trembling body she was holding tight.
"I'm so sorry, Buffy," Dawn whispered as the Slayer closed her eyes and ran her left hand through Dawn's hair. The cracking in Dawn's voice brought Buffy to tears as well. And those tears that she had been holding back ever since Dawn 'died' was released as the two sisters cried in one another's arms. While Willow and Tara walked in and hugged the two young women while Anya and Xander looked on, Spike crept past them towards Giles who simply stared at Buffy and Dawn.
"What did you see, Spike?" Giles whispered as the bleached haired vampire stood next to him.
"We can talk about that later," Spike spoke in a serious tone. Giles turned to the Vampire upon recognizing the tone which said that there was no time for kidding around. Giles saw Spike look back at Dawn, and then back at him before saying, "it's about Dawn's friend, Janice."
"What about her?" Giles asked recalling the girl he saved from a vampire back at the park. He then left to search for Dawn, but hadn't checked to see if the girl made it out safe and sound. Suddenly, from the look on Spike's face, Giles knew that that there was news coming that none of them would like, and he suddenly felt sick as his heart pounded in his chest, "Spike? Where's Janice?"
"She's dead," Spike whispered as Giles' eyes went wide.
An hour later.
"Hunger took me over," Dawn said as she sat on the couch in the living room after being invited into the house. "I saw red, there was this loud ringing in my ears, I.. I smelled blood." Dawn looked over at Buffy, "when I saw you, Buffy, I.. I was so hungry. So hungry that it took over my whole self. Like I was being pushed to feed on blood. Spike tried to stop me and… and he did save a couple of old people." Dawn then looked away from Buffy while hearing Giles on the phone as he talked to Janice's mother about the two-young woman having been attacked at the park by members of a gang.
Dawn listened as Giles lied on the phone while his heart raced in his chest- it was something that Dawn could hear pounding away. She then looked back at Buffy and continued, "they drove off, but I was so hungry Buffy. Spike had me pinned down and… well… I attacked him."
"I like that part," Xander piped in while Spike growled at the young man before turning to Buffy.
"She did," Spike whispered while nodding his head before he turned his head to Dawn and remembered what she had done to get him off-balanced, and it was something he couldn't describe to Buffy or the others, "and she cheated to get me distracted."
"Distracted?" Buffy asked curiously.
"Doesn't matter," Spike said, "I was distracted and Dawn beat me. By the time I managed to get back on my feet, I lost sight of her. But I followed her scent."
"But it was too late," Dawn whispered while she fidgeted with her fingers looking away from Buffy and the others, "I was running on pure hunger. I couldn't think, I couldn't stop. All I saw when Janice ran towards me was food… I heard her heart, I smelled her blood, and… and I ran at her." Dawn then sniffled and wiped her nose while Giles put the phone down after telling Janice's mother that he would be taking a group to find her daughter, and that they would join the police who Janice's mom said she would be calling, to meet at the park which was the last place Janice was seen.
Giles then walked back into the living room at the tail end of Dawn's revelations of the night, "when I fed on her, the hunger started to go away. I started to actually think. I... I stopped seeing red. The ringing that made me want to scratch my ears off stopped. And… and then I saw what I was doing. I… I tried to wake her up. I thought it was a dream… I thought…" Dawn shook her head as Tara rose up from sitting next to Willow and sat down next to her while Buffy looked up at Giles, and then at her sister.
And as Tara sat down next to Dawn, Buffy could see that Dawn felt alone. 'She was sitting there alone and I was sitting her. I left her alone and… damn it' Buffy thought as she got up and sat next to Dawn and gently grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers together. Dawn turned her head back to Buffy seated next to her and started to sob as she leaned sideways and placed her forehead on Buffy's shoulder, "I'm sorry Buffy. I… it was like I had no control. I tried to save Janice, I was screaming for her to wake up. I was shaking her body, and…"
"I saw the aftermath, Slayer," Spike whispered as he remembered how distraught Dawn had been while she shook Janice's body, "Dawn was devastated by what happened."
Buffy nodded her head before she looked back at Giles, "what happens now?"
"This is something that could come back to Dawn given she was with Janice," Giles said fixing his glasses, "I suspect the police would want to have a word with Dawn, so we need to have a story in place."
"Gangs?" Buffy said after having heard the conversation between Giles and Janice's mother, "Giles, remember what happened to me and the cops?" Buffy then had a flashback about being arrested for the murder of the former Slayer, Kendra Young, back in the old Sunnydale High library. "Did we really have to get the police…"
"Janice's mother knew that her daughter and Dawn were going to be together since they covered for each other," Giles said after a sigh as he sat down on an armchair, "there's a story I've come up with that Dawn needs to remember, because she will be asked about it. Then, Xander, Spike, and I will meet with the police and Janice's mother, who will be bringing along her husband and older son, to scour the park."
"She'll blame me," Dawn said.
"I am afraid so," Giles answered leaning forward, "but the story is that the both of you were scared. The both of you encountered a gang when you reached the park, and the gang accosted the two of you. The gang then deliberated split you up as you ran away, but you managed to run away from them and came home immediately." Giles continued to give quick details of the story forming in his head before saying, "she'll eventually understand that two scared girls ran away from a gang because they were afraid for their lives. But I'm afraid she may not forgive." Dawn sniffled and nodded her head with a sad expression on her face, "and you won't forget this either, Dawn."
"I know." Dawn replied.
"Memorize the story, I know you're nervous, Dawn... but... but we will figure out what is happening to you," Giles said while standing up, "in the meantime, the police may come to talk to you while we're out, so…"
"We'll go through the details, Giles," Buffy whispered looking up at the Watcher. Giles nodded his head before getting up and then leaving the house with Spike and Xander.
TBC.
