Chapter Fourteen
They were too late.
Those words repeated through Buffy's head again and again.
When they made it to the abandoned train station it was just that, abandoned. There was no sign of the army or Emily or Dawn.
They were too late.
"They can't have gone far," Giles noted. "Dawn only had twenty minutes on us."
"They must've taken Emily with them," Darwin said, his eyes raking across a table top full of bloodied sharp instruments in disgust. "No ashes."
"Isn't there a way to track them?" Vi asked worriedly. "A locator spell or something?"
They all turned to Willow who was chewing on her thumbnail nervously.
"I can try but if they're still blocking me like before…"
She didn't finish –she didn't have to. Instead she found herself a spot and began centering. Kennedy stayed by the Wicca's side for support.
They were too late.
Buffy shoved the words away and scanned every inch of the station with her sensitive eyes. Something, anything. It didn't have to be a giant neon Eat at Joe's sign pointing the way to where those monsters had taken her sister. All she needed was a clue.
That's when she spotted the blood. At first she'd breezed over it –there was blood all over the place; especially in the back room behind the ticket counter -but this particular patch seemed different.
Deliberate.
"Guys."
Everyone but Willow and Kennedy came to Buffy's call as the Slayer crouched by the droplets.
"Is that blood?" Xander asked in a tone that suggested he already knew the answer.
"Who's do you think it is?" Vi asked uneasy.
Before Buffy's imagination could overwhelm her, Darwin crouched down beside her and said, "They wouldn't risk harming the Key. And unless they've got another hostage…"
He pulled a glass bottle from an inner coat pocket. Popped the cap and poured a bit of water onto the blood. Steam puffed up and the water bubbled.
"It's Emily's."
Was it wrong to feel relieved? Relieved that she wasn't staring at evidence pointing to Dawn being dragged off somewhere with these monsters hurt?
"There's more leading in this direction," Xander observed, shinning a flashlight into the grass outside. "I think it's a trail."
Something was wrong -Buffy could feel it in her bones. A cold shiver of electricity was shooting up her spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.
Before Buffy could give the okay to follow, Kennedy called out to her, "Buffy, get over here!"
Kennedy was holding onto Willow who looked like she was about to throw up.
"Something's wrong," Willow panted. "There's energy building –dark, dark energy. I can't tell where but I can feel it. Buffy, I think it's…"
"Dawn," the Slayer finished.
They were too late.