Chapter 14:
About half an hour later, her face changed to that of it's new vampiric form and her eyes shot open.
Spike had watch as Dawn's perfect face had grown ridges around the forehead and her blunt canine teeth extended into sharp fangs. Her eyes had opened to reveal golden eyes that had once been a bright baby blue. Spike watched in awe. She was absolutely gorgeous. In all his time, he had never seen anyone, human or vampire, look as beautiful as she did at this moment.
Dawn sat up straight right away, and the first thing she saw was Spike sitting next to her with his hand resting on hers. She immediately jerked her hand out of his and started shaking. Her eyes were searching around the room frantically. The only other time she had felt this disoriented, was the night Willow had brought her back and she had to crawl her way out of her own grave. The last this she could remember was Drusilla torturing her and Spike just barely showing up...and then...nothing. Her vision was sharper in contrast, the room was dark except for one lone candle on the other side of the room, but even through the darkness, she could still see everything perfectly clear. And she figured that she should be in more pain than she was actually in. She looked down to her abdomen, where she had been stabbed twice, and found that there was nothing there, not one mark that showed how bad she had been beated. At first she thought that she had had a horrible nightmare, but judging by the place she was in, proved otherwise. True, it was not the same room that she had suffered in, but it was still the same place. "Dawn, pet, are you a'right?" Spike asked softly. Her head shot in his direction and she stared wide-eyed, "Spike?" she lisped slightly. As she spoke, she could tell that something was different. Her tongue grazed over her teeth, then she lifted her thumb to touch her fangs and pulled it back to see that she had cut herself, then she reached up to trace the rest of her face with her hands. She gasped as she felt her demonic features and started breathing heavily, not yet realizing that she no longer need the oxygen. Tears pricked her eyes, "What happened?" she asked in shock. Spike moved to sit directly in front of her, "You don't remember, luv?" Dawn shook her head, as the rest of her body continued to shake, "Where's Drusilla?" she questioned crying hysterically. She was so confused and scared out of her mind. She didn't know what to think. Was this some kind of cruel game that Dru had planned? Are they in on this together? Was I dying, and they just weren't through having their fun with me yet? "She's dead, pet." No. This couldn't be right! He wouldn't kill the love of his life, or unlife for me... It was a joke. He is just messing with my head. "Get away from me!" she screamed at him, then raced for the door and out of the mansion.
Spike didn't know what to do. He thought she hated him for what he did to her. He came out of the bedroom to be met with Angel, "What happened?" Angel asked. Spike shook his head, "I don't know. When she realized that she was a vampire, she asked me where Dru was and when I told her she was dead, she started screaming for me to get away from her, then she ran off." he said panicked. Angel nodded, "I saw her run out, she didn't see me though. You have to go after her." he ordered. Spike was already out the door before Angel had finished his sentence. He had picked up on her scent right away and followed it.
As soon as the night air hit her, it felt as if all her senses were on overload. She could see, for what felt like miles, and she could hear every quiet sound. She could hear voices from people talking, which had to be at least a couple blocks over, all the insects moving in the bushes, and the sounds of the leaves rustling on the ground had been amplified times a hundred. And her smell... She could smell every scent from the flowers to the dirt in the woods she was currently running through bare footed. But only one scent overpowered all the others...the smell of blood. It was so strong, but she knew it had to be from the people living in a nearby neighborhood. She wanted it, craved it. And that was what scared her the most.
She kept running as fast as she could, which now was pretty damn fast. She had never possessed speed this great before. She didn't even know where she was at, her feet were the only things guiding her. She had already ran through the woods and into a cemetery, when she realized that she had ended up at Spike's old crypt. The intoxicating smell of blood had intensified. She could even hear the faintest sounds of heartbeats in the distance of people strolling along on the streets. It wasn't until now that she truely realized just how incredibly hungry she was and it was driving her crazy. She couldn't think straight. She just wanted it to stop. She pushed the concrete door open with ease, and made her way down to the bed. Dawn tried to concentrate on anything but her growing hunger. Her feet were hurting and bleeding from running so hard through the woods, but that didn't even begin to compare to the pain in her stomach.
Spike found her at his old home just several minutes later. She was sitting on the bed with her legs pulled up to her chest and screaming incoherently as she pulled her own hair out. Spike quickly grabbed her arms to still her movements and pulled her body close to his as he rocked her. He was whispering to her to try and calm her down, when he felt her fangs pierce the side of his neck. Spike moved slightly to get into a better position, but she gripped his head tightly to hold him in place, thinking that he was trying to get away, as she continued to drink greedily.
Dawn had never tasted anything like this before. It was amazing...and oh, so satisfying. Soon, she felt her hunger start to subside, and slowed her pulls on his throat. When she could finally think straight, she released him and hurriedly tried to move away from him. But his strong arms kept her in place. She instinctually knew what she had just done was wrong. Knew she shouldn't have taken blood from her sire without permission first. Dawn nervously looked up into his eyes, expecting to find anger there, but all she found was love in his eyes. "Feel better now, pet?" he asked with concern. She gently nodded her head and glanced away.
"Look at me, luv." he told her quietly, and she did. He could see the hurt swimming in her beautiful golden eyes, as fresh, cold tears streamed down her cheeks. Dawn looked him in the eye and asked, "Why did you do this to me?" Spike looked down, she does hate me for what I did to her. "Because, I love you, and I couldn't bare the thought of losin' you again. I know it was selfish, and maybe I shouldn't have done it, but I don't regret my decision and I never will. I couldn't just let you die again, please understand that." he pleaded. Dawn was taken aback, maybe he does really love me and it's not just some sick joke. "What about Dru?" she asked again. Spike looked at her confused, "I a'ready told you, pet. She's dead. I killed her. She can't hurt you anymore. No one will ever hurt you again, I promise." he explained. Dawn wrapped her arms tightly around him and sobbed harder, "She said you wouldn't help me, she said you would only come to kill me. That you never really loved me in the first place, said it was her, that it had always been her you wanted, and you would kill me for her! I thought you only turned me to mess with my head. To keep me alive longer so you and her could hurt me even more." she wailed out. Spike now understood why she had been so terrified of him, he hated that she could honestly believe that he would ever hurt her. But he knew just how persuassive Dru could be. She could see people greatest fears, and she used it to her advantage. Spike cupped the side of her face in his palm and looked her in the eyes, "No, Dawn, listen to me. I would never ever hurt you. Don't ever let anyone else convince you of that. I love you more than anything, I always will. Nothing can change that. A'right?"
Dawn looked back down and causiously asked, "Do you hate me?"
That shocked Spike to the core, "Hate you?? Why on earth would I hate you?"
Dawn shrugged, "Because of Drusilla, you said you killed her."
Spike nodded "I did. She hurt you, luv. There was no way she was gettin' away with it." he said.
"You killed her for me. How could you not hate me now? She was the love of your life." Dawn stated.
Spike shook his head, "Wrong, pet. I used to think she was, up until I met you. Nothing I had with her even remotely compares to what I have with you. In over a century, I never loved her like I do you." he told her truthfully.
Dawn leant into him again, "I love you." she said as felt her demonic face melted away and her human face return. Spike stroked the back of her hair and kissed the top of her head, "I love you, too, kitten. Always will." They two sat holding each other in silence for several minutes. "Spike?" she asked timidly. "Yeah, Bit?" Dawn bit her lip before asking, "Do I have a soul?" Spike laughed slightly, "Yes, pet, you have your soul. If you even have to ask that, then that should tell you somethin', don't ya think?" Dawn looked a little embarrassed, "How?" "Tara," came the simple reply, "and before you start askin', no, it's not like Angel's, there is no catch." Dawn took that as an answer and decided not to ask anything more about that right now, that could wait for later.
"So, I take it you don't hate me for turning you?" Spike asked her hoping and praying that she didn't. "I could never hate you for anything. I thank you, for giving me this gift. I wasn't ready to die again." Spike searched her eyes for any hint that she didn't mean what she just said. He could always read her like an open book just by looking into those eyes, now was no different and he could see she meant every word. Spike tilted his head down and captured her lips with his in a passionate kiss, then pulled back a bit, "Happy birthday, luv."
Dawn was taken by surprise, she hadn't expected him to remember. She could barely remember herself, given everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours. It was strange, really, she had never been able to call her birthday her own. She wasn't actually born on that day, and no one knew exactly what day she came into existance. But now, it was like she was born all over again, now she could really call today her birthday and mean it. "Thank you." she smiled before kissing him back.
AN: Thanks for reading and to those of you who review. Again...please review.
