Spike groaned at the sensation of Dawn's blood filling his mouth. He'd wanted to turn her ever since the first twinge of love had begun to pull at his heart. This was better than love... better than sex...to turn her would be the ultimate form of possession, and as a vampire, possession was everything. He drank and drank until he thought he would float away from the sheer euphoria of it all.

Still feeding, he cut open his wrist with his fingernail. If he could coax her into drinking from him before she was completely drained, they could create a cycle of feeding that would allow her to become much more powerful than a new fledgling could normally be.

But the moment he placed his bleeding wrist against Dawn's mouth, he felt something change. Instead of the constant influx of pleasure that normally accompanied the creation of a childe, he began to feel as though he were approaching something dangerous. His mental link with Dawn flared, suddenly much more intense, and he felt true, mind-numbing fear for the first time in over a century as he observed the awesome power locked away inside of Dawn. His mind made the eerie analogy of two opposite ends of a magnet approaching each other, the pressure building until it was too much, and both objects being flung violently apart.

Perhaps the mental image was a warning, because soon Spike found himself in a world of pain. White light suffused his body, and he could almost swear he heard Dawn's frustrated cry of "No!" echo through his mind as his body was flung from her. Glory must have meant it literally when she said the Key "can't be a vampire." Spike didn't have time to ponder that thought further though, because he was now crashing through the door of Dawn's room like it was made of paper. Luckily, the hallway wall was made of slightly sterner stuff, and it abruptly stopped his flight, causing him to bounce roughly off its now-cracked surface before he collapsed to the ground.

Spike stared up at the ceiling with a stunned look on his face, struggling to remain conscious despite the fact that every inch of his body was throbbing in pain. He was fairly certain that it was only Dawn's blood coursing through his veins that allowed him to suffer so much damage and remain awake. Then, through blurred vision, he saw a feminine figure dressed in tattered male attire emerge from Buffy's room.

"What's all the racket?" Glory complained in a whiny tone. "Can't a girl kill someone in peace?"

"You!" Spike moaned as he attempted to force himself into a sitting position.

"Would you look at that!" Glory exclaimed. "Mommy's pet vampire has come home to her! And you smell all like my Key."

"Yeah, speaking of scents," Spike said nervously, trying to stall for time while he regained his strength, "why is it that you smell like the Slayer? Never figured her for one to bat for both teams. She always seemed to get her jollies from driving stick."

Glory stalked towards Spike, her voice full of arrogance. "Men are so weak at the point of release. Really quite the design flaw, to have a moment where you're completely vulnerable. While Ben was getting his rocks off, I just slipped past the defenses and took control. Now I'm tingly all over...there are such perks to having a human body."

Spike cringed at the details of Glory's ramblings but kept trying to stall. "So, Buffy decided to go for a toss with the wanker that passes for your alter ego. Yeah, tall, dark and stupid, that seems more her M.O. I need to have a talk with that girl about her choice in men."

"Silly vampire, you're never going to have the chance to talk to any of your little friends again. See, I keep forgetting that you vampires have different brains. Poor Slayer, she had no idea why I was suddenly on top of her instead of my sorry excuse for a mortal half. She had such a cute, scared look on her face before I knocked her unconscious. I was just about to pop her head off her body when you had to go and release some mega cosmic energy. That wasn't very polite, you know." Glory began to look slightly crazed. She put her hands up to her head and began to scream.

"You stay away! It's my turn now! Dammit...if only I could brain suck vampires. I'm so hungry! Pretty boy, go get me some food."

Spike and Glory both turned as they heard a noise coming from the stair. From around the landing crept Tara, a baseball bat clutched tightly in her hands. "B..Buffy? Dawn? Are you ok? I heard a crash."

Tara reached the top of the stairs and stopped dead in her tracks. "Gl…Gl…Glory!" she stuttered, dropping her baseball bat in fear.

"Run you stupid bint!" Spike yelled, lurching to place himself between Glory and the frightened girl.

Glory batted Spike away with a flick of her hand, and he went flying into the wall yet again. She slowly approached Tara and began running her finger's through the poor girl's hair. "Such a pretty little victim. All innocent and sweet. But I smell a darker side, don't I precious? Little girl likes to play with magic. Tsk. Tsk. But don't worry, I'll make it all better."

"No, no, no! Please, no!" Tara cried in fear.

"Shh...shhh. It's ok. It's ok." Glory cooed as her fingers sunk into Tara's skull. From behind her, someone let out a strangled cry.

Smirking, Glory stared into Tara's vacant eyes. "Did you hear that? Your friend doesn't like the idea of you being all empty and insane. We don't want to upset your friends, do we?" With a twist, Glory snapped Tara's neck and sent her broken body flying down the stairs. "See, all better now." From below, a mournful wail could be heard, but Glory was more concerned with who was behind her. She turned around with a crazed smile on her face and said, "Now who is it making such a big fuss?"

Dawn's mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out. Wildly she looked around her, trying to find some place she could run, but it was too late.

"You...I know you." Glory said as she approached Dawn. Her eyes fixated on the blood dripping from Dawn's neck. Ignoring Dawn's obvious disgust, Glory leaned forward and licked her neck. "Yes!" she cried, pulling Dawn into a tight embrace. "You're my Key. I've finally found you!"

Dawn struggled feebly against Glory's hold, still very weak from the blood loss. "Spike...Buffy! Somebody help!" she screamed.

Buffy staggered to the doorway of her room, supporting herself against the wall. "Dawn?" she said in a small, frightened voice that made her seem much more like a young girl than the mighty Slayer.

"Sorry, Slayer. You're too late." Glory said. And with that, she flung Dawn over her shoulder and grabbed the unconscious form of Spike off the floor, shattering the nearest window and leaping outside before Buffy could even make another sound of protest.

Buffy sank to her knees as the stress overwhelmed her. Some part of her knew she should chase after Glory before she got away, but her body was unwilling to cooperate. Her mother was gone, and now her sister was gone, and all she ever seemed capable of doing was standing by and watching it happen. Her mind began to retreat within itself, unable to cope with the reality she was faced with. She could faintly hear the sound of somebody's voice yelling at her, asking her what had happened, but the voice was distant and muted. It was much easier to just let it fade into the background as her sanity slipped away.