*Buffy's Dream*

Buffy looked up at the house that stood before her. "What are we doing here?" She asked.

"Do you not remember what happened here? What happened on this night?"

Buffy looked confused for a moment, and then it hit her. All of a sudden she could smell it. Blood. And she could hear the screams. She looked back at him, shaking her head vigorously. "No. You didn't... Why did you bring me here?"

"Because, Love. You need to see this."

"Why?"

He walked closer and reached out to cup her face. "To remember who you are. Who you really are."

Buffy turned away from him, looking back at the house. She closed her eyes for a moment, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to see. Opening them, she started walking toward the house. Once she entered the smell of blood, fear and pain became almost unbearable.

"This way, Love." He pointed to a room on the right.

Buffy followed him into the room and gasped at what she saw. Standing in the middle of the room was another Buffy and Klaus. "What... What is this?"

"Shh... Just watch." He pointed to the middle of the room.

"Just tell me why!" The other Buffy cried. "Why do you hate me so much? You treat Faith like a daughter. You show her love and kindness. And you treat me like a burden. I want to know why!"

"You want to know why I hate you? Is that what you're asking for?" Hank Summers asked.

"Yes."

"Fine. I'll tell you. I hate you because you're not mine."

"Wha... What?"

"You are not my daughter! You're whore of a mother spread her legs for another. She thought that I didn't know. Thought that I wouldn't find out. But I knew. I saw them together. I saw the looks that they gave one another."

"Who was he?"

"Your father?" The other Buffy nodded. "My older brother. Rupert Giles Summers. There. Now you know. I hate you because you're that bastards daughter! Not mine. I had to allow you to live here, had to raise you, and you're not even mine! My dear brother couldn't claim you. How would that look? What would his wife say?"

The other Buffy had tears running down her face. "It wasn't my fault. I never knew!"

"That doesn't matter!" Hank snarled. " I had to feed you. I had to cloth you. I had to introduce you to the public as my daughter. He never offered to help pay for anything. No, he would rather act as if nothing's wrong. As if he had done nothing. He would rather pretend as if I'm not raising his bastard child!"

"You beat me. My entire life, you never loved me. Never said a kind word to me. Not once."

"If you're expecting me to apologize, don't bother. I am not going to do so." The other Buffy was shaking with uncontrollable anger. Her face suddenly changed and she growled low in her throat. Hank gasped and tried to back away. "What are you?" He asked, looking at her in fear and disgust.

"Vampire." The other Buffy said before she rushed forward and sank her teeth into his neck. She dropped the body to the floor and looked up at him, her mouth covered in blood.

He walked over to her and looked down into her eyes. "How was it?"

"I killed him."

He nodded and glanced down at the body by his feet. "Yes. Your first kill. How do you feel?"

"I'm still hungry."

He chuckled. "You're newly turned. That's normal. We'll find you someone else to eat, hmm?"

"Do we always have to kill people?"

"No. Not always. We can take just enough and then compel them to forget. I'll teach you all of that. Ok?"

The other Buffy looked up at him and nodded. "Ok."

Suddenly, the other Buffy and Klaus disappeared, as did Hank's body. However, the smell of blood still lingered. "I can still smell it." Buffy said. "The blood. The fear. I can still taste it."

"This is who you were meant to be." Klaus said. "This is who you were always meant to be."

"A murderer?"

"No. A vampire."

"Why did you bring me here? Why show me this?"

"You've been suppressing your true nature, Love."

"Why? Because I'm not killing people?"

"Because you're not feeding off of them! Don't you remember what it feels like? To smell their fear? To taste it in their blood? And then make them forget it ever happened?"

"I remember."

"You need to prepare yourself, Love."

Buffy narrowed her eyes. "Prepare myself for what?"

"To come back to me."

*End Dream.*


Buffy made her way downstairs, the dream and Klaus's voice still playing in her head. She tried to shake it off and headed toward the library. She walked in and found Rose sitting on the couch alone, staring off into space. "I see you're still here." Buffy commented. Rose didn't move. Buffy walked over and sat down next to Rose. "Hey, everything ok?"

"I was born in 1450. That makes me 560 years old." Rose said, more to herself than to Buffy.

"Oook... Well if you're trying to impress me, you'll have to do better than that because I've got you beat on the whole age thing."

"So I can die. I've lived long enough."

"Is this a maudlin thing? 'Cause if so... You might want to shut it down around Damon." Buffy sighed. "Ok. What's going on, Rose?"

"The bite is fatal. The legend is true."

"You probably just need to drink more blood. Have you had any today?" Rose shook her head no. "See, that's the problem." Buffy walked out of the room. When she returned she held a glass of blood in her hand. "Here." She said, handing Rose the glass of blood. "Drink up." Rose took the glass. "Blood heals."

Rose took a small sip. "Yeah. It does feel like it's working."

"Let's have a look." Buffy pulled Rose's shirt away from her shoulder to reveal the bite wound. The wound was much larger than before and it looked infected.

"How is it?" Rose asked.

"Definitely... Better." Buffy lied. "Right, Elena?"

"Umm..." Elena stuttered shocked, both from being caught and from the severity of Rose's wound. Elena was standing in the doorway of the library. Rose turned around and looked at Elena expectantly. "It's not bad."

"Where's Stefan?" Buffy asked.

"He left. I need you and Damon to talk to him. He's convinced that he has to find Isobel. But I think that's going to upset Elijah."

"No can do." Damon said, as he walked into the room. "I'm with Stefan on this one. But if you could play nurse for a little while..." He grabbed ahold of Buffy's arm and pulled her toward the doorway.

"It's not necessary." Rose protested.

"It is necessary." Buffy said.

"Elena's a do-gooder. It's in her nature. She just can't resist." Damon said, as he and Buffy walked out of the room.

Elena smiled sadly at Rose and then followed after Buffy and Damon. "Hey." Elena called. Buffy turned around to face her. "Is she going to die?"

Buffy looked away sadly and nodded. "Probably." She whispered. "The wolf bite caused some kind of infection. It's getting worse."

"Like poison?"

"Something like that."

"I'm sorry."

Buffy nodded and looked away. Damon looked back at Elena and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Death happens. We come, we go. Sooner she dies, the better. It's gloomy as hell in here." He and Buffy turned and walked out.


Buffy and Damon walked into the Grill and immediately spotted Jules. She was sitting at a table, just like Alaric said whenever he called Damon. "Well, would you look at that. The bitch is still here." Buffy commented dryly.

"Not for long." Damon said. He and Buffy started to walk over to Jules, but Stefan blocked their path. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been waiting for you." Stefan said. "Although I wasn't expecting you to be here." He looked at Buffy.

"That bitch tried to kill both Damon and myself and instead she poisoned Rose. Rose has been on the run for 500 years. She deserves to know what it's like to not live in fear. She doesn't deserve to die because some wolf bitch bit her. Jules is going to tell me how to cure her or I'm going to rip her heart out." Buffy said.

"Listen, there's a lot of people here."

"Well, damn. There goes our plan to rip her spleen through her back." Damon said sarcastically.

"We're not stupid, Stefan." Buffy said. "If it looks like we're going to have to resort to torture, we'll take her back to the house."

"Listen. I know you're upset about Rose." Stefan said.

"Yes, I am upset. I know that sometimes vampires die. But this time it really sucks. No pun intended. Now, I'm going to have a friendly chat with ladywolf." Buffy walked away from Stefan and sat down at Jules's table. Damon followed behind her and sat next to her.

"Well. If it isn't the two I meant to kill." Jules said without looking up. "I'll have to get that right next time."

"Next time? You think there's going to be a next time?" Buffy asked. "You won't live to see another full moon. Unless... You tell us how to cure a wolf bite. And then I won't kill you."

"Promise?"

Buffy clenched her fist and jaw. "Yes." She gritted out.

"Bite me." Jules smiled as she got up. Buffy growled and caught her arm in a vice grip. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Then you are very, very stupid." Damon said.

"I agree." Buffy said, nodding to Damon. "You're very stupid. You should be afraid of me. I'm stronger than a normal vampire, it's daylight and there's no full moon tonight. Add it all up and it spells, you're screwed."

"How's your friend? Rose. Is that her name? Have the chills started? The unbearable pain." Jules asked.

Buffy tightened her grip, causing Jules to wince. "If there's a cure, tell us. I mean, I can torture the answer out of you. Or, you could just tell me. Your choice."

"Did I mention the dementia? It'll eat away at her brain. Soon she'll be rabid."

"You never shut up do you? What part of 'give us a cure' do you not understand?"

"You want a cure? I'll tell you the only cure that exists. Take a stake and drive it through her heart."

Buffy stared at Jules for a few minutes. "Watch your back." She growled, as she let her go.


Buffy and Damon returned home to find the front door wide open. "That can't be good." Buffy muttered. They walked into the house and found Elena clutching a stake. Elena turned around and screamed. "You ok?"

"Where's Rose?" Damon asked, as he looked around.

"I don't know." Elena said.

"Yep. Definitely not good." Buffy said.


"Hi." Damon said, walking up to Liz. Buffy walked next to him, while Elena hung back with the crowd.

"Thanks for coming." Liz said.

"No problem. We were close by. Liz, what happened?"

"A vampire. Luckily one of my deputies discovered the body before anyone else saw him."

"You have to secure the area." Buffy said.

Liz nodded. "Don't cause a panic, but let's move this party into the cafeteria." She called out to her deputies. "I'll take the east side of the school, you two go west?" She said to Damon and Buffy.

"Sure." Damon agreed and Buffy nodded.

They walked back over to Elena, who was leaving a message for Stefan on his voicemail. "Hey, Stefan, it's me. I don't know where you are, but please call me. It's important." She hung up and looked over at Buffy and Damon. "Hey. Have you heard from him? Do you know what he's up to?"

"Baby brother's not exactly out priority right now." Damon said.

"Take this." Buffy said, handing Elena a stake. "Come on, let's go."

"How are we going to find her? There's people everywhere." Elena said.

"If I can get away from the crowd, I can track her." Buffy said. "All of this blood and all of these people are making it difficult." They walked away from the crowds and Buffy stopped. She closed her eyes and blocked out all of the noise going on around her. She took a deep breath. Her eyes snapped open. "This way." She took off running, with Damon and Elena following behind. They heard a girl scream and just as they arrived, they found Rose feeding. "Rose, Stop!" Rose let go of the girl and rushed toward Buffy. Buffy waited until Rose got close enough and then she grabbed onto her shoulders and flipped Rose. Buffy slammed Rose onto the ground, rolling on top of her, Buffy pinned her there. "Rose, Rose! It's me. It's Buffy. It's Buffy. It's Buffy. Calm down! It's Buffy."

Rose stopped struggling and looked around. Her face returned to normal. Her eyes found the body of the girl she had been feeding on. "Did I do this?" Rose asked. "No! I didn't mean to." She sobbed. She looked up at Buffy, crying. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anybody."

"I know, I know." Buffy nodded.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Come on, let's get you home." Buffy stood up.

"No, I don't have a home. I haven't had a home in so long!" Buffy tried to help her up, but Rose fell back to the ground screaming. "Oh, make it stop! Please, make it stop!"

Buffy looked to Damon, with tears in her eyes. Damon nodded and walked over. He bent down and scooped Rose up in his arms. Buffy looked at Elena and motioned toward Damon's car.


Once they arrived back home, Damon placed Rose in his bed and she had fallen asleep. Buffy was sitting on the bed when Rose opened her eyes. "Hi there."

"I'm sorry." Rose said.

"You went on a murderous rampage. It happens." Buffy joked.

Damon and Elena entered the room quietly. "I'm sorry, Elena." Rose said. "I don't like taking human life. I never have."

"You shouldn't be here." Buffy said, looking at Elena.

"That's the worst part about death... The hunt. The need to kill. The thirst. The pleasure it brings you afterwards." Buffy turned back to Rose. "I wasn't meant to be evil. It hurts."

"Well, then stop talking about it." Damon said. Buffy shot him a glare.

"Damon's a lot like me. He wants to care, but the minute he does, he runs away from it. I'm sorry for what I've done today."

"I know." Elena said.

"And you need to fight. I know that you're scared, but you have to do it anyway." Rose started coughing violently. Elena bent down and put her arm under Rose's neck. "Why are you so nice to me?"

"Us humans." Elena smiled.

"You can never forget it. What it's like to be human. It haunts me. It's the only thing that's kept me going. It doesn't hurt as much anymore." Suddenly Rose closed her eyes and gripped her abdomen and screamed.

Elena looked back at Buffy and Damon. "What do we do?"

Buffy climbed back onto the bed next to Rose and pulled her close. Damon walked up to the other side of her and looked at Buffy. "Go." He said to Elena.

"Damon..."

"Just go. We've got this." Elena turned and rushed out of the room.

"Oh, my God! Make it stop! Make it stop!" Rose cried. Buffy held onto her as she screamed and tossed and turned in pain. "I can't take this anymore, make it stop!" Buffy looked helplessly at Damon, but he just looked at Rose in pity, at a loss he didn't know what else to do. Buffy stroked Rose's hair once she was finally asleep. "Who'd have thought you'd be a nice guy?" Rose asked, keeping her eyes closed.

"I'm not nice." Damon said. "I'm mean. I like it."

"You lie."

"Shh, shh. Just sleep." Buffy whispered.

"You are golden." Rose sighed. "The light inside of you. It's gold. There's so much light in you. You have such a big heart. But you're afraid."

Buffy sighed. "Yes. I am afraid. Apart of me likes the dark. Klaus said that to me once."

"Don't be afraid to love."

"You should sleep." Buffy ran her fingers through Rose's hair gently. Rose fell asleep after a couple of minutes.

"What are you showing her?" Damon asked.

"She's human." Buffy said, looking down at Rose. "Her hair, it's longer and she's in the sun. There's trees and a meadow. And horses. She's happy. It was her favorite place when she was human. She's finally free and happy." Buffy looked up at Damon, tears falling from her eyes. "I don't think I can do it."

Damon walked over to the bed and sat down on the other side of Rose. "I'll do it." Damon said, gently.

Buffy shook her head. "No. I should do it. Klaus and Elijah made her life hell. I should set her free."

Damon nodded in understanding. "Do you want me to help you?" Buffy looked at him and nodded. "All right." Damon handed Buffy the stake. She took it in her hand and slowly positioned it above Rose's heart. Damon wrapped his hand around Buffy's and the stake. "Together." Damon whispered. "On the count of three." Buffy nodded, tears falling down her face. "One... Two..." They shoved the stake in before he said three.

Buffy stared at Rose's body as it began to turn grey and wither. "This shouldn't have happened."

"She can't suffer anymore, Buffy."

"This is all that wolf bitch's fault."

"Buffy..." Damon reached out to touch her, but Buffy bolted from the bed and rushed out of the room. Damon raced after her. He found her in the library.

Buffy was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. She was muttering to herself. "You need to prepare yourself... Apart of you likes the dark... Don't fight it... This is who you were meant to be... Murderer... No, not a murderer... A Vampire... Come back to me... I can still taste it... Don't be afraid... You're a demon!... You're an angel... You're not her!... You're not Buffy!... Stop suppressing your true nature... You are golden... Vampire... Blood... Pain... Fear..." Buffy squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed the sides of her head with both hands.

Damon walked toward her, slowly. "Buffy." He whispered. "Buffy, look at me."

Finally, Buffy opened her eyes and looked at Damon. "Damon?"

"Yeah. What happened?"

Buffy shook her head and sighed. "Klaus."

"What about him?"

"He was in my dream the other night. He... Showed me my first kill."

"That's it?"

"It was my father."

Damon's mouth shut and his eyes widened. "Who... Wow."

"Yeah." Buffy looked away.

"Hey, it's ok. So your first kill was your dad." Damon shrugged. "Stefan's first kill was our dad."

"He wasn't."

"He wasn't what?"

Buffy sighed and turned to face Damon. "My father. He wasn't my real father. That's what he told me. I confronted him. Asked him why he hated me. He said I wasn't his daughter. He told me that my mother cheated on him with his older brother." Buffy laughed bitterly.

"Why would Klaus make you re-live that?"

"I asked him the same thing in my dream."

"Did he answer you?"

Buffy nodded. "He said that I needed to remember who I am. Who I really am. He said that he showed me that night because that is who I was meant to be. A vampire."

Damon looked confused. "But, you are a vampire."

Buffy smiled. "He said that I've been suppressing my true nature. Because I'm not feeding off of people directly. He showed me that night, because he wants me to remember how I felt after. He said that I need to prepare myself."

"For what?"

"To come back to him."

Damon growled. "That's not gonna happen."

"You should, uh... We've got to get rid of the body. Call Liz, let her know that we took care of her vampire problem."

"Buffy..."

"I'm fine, Damon."

"You're not going back to him. Elena is not going to die. He's not going to win."

"We can do this another time."

"Buffy..."

"Damon!" Buffy snapped. She sighed. "I'm sorry. Can we please just... Not. Not now."

Damon nodded. "Yeah. Ok. I'll deal with the body and Liz."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You just stay here." Damon rushed upstairs before Buffy could say another word.

Rose's words played in her head. 'The hunt. The need to kill. The thirst. The pleasure it brings you afterwards.' Buffy shook her head, trying to clear her mind. 'Don't be afraid to love.' Echoed throughout her mind.


*Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you guys think =)*