Thanks to Vampire Mistress for the review. Okay, here's the next chapter. Please review it!!
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Chapter Five: Pain
A feeling of dread came over Angel quickly and landed right in his gut. It felt like someone just punched him right in the stomach. And hard.
"Something's wrong," Angel announced worriedly.
"Huh?" Dawn asked. "How do you know?"
"I can just feel it," Angel replied. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He just needed to go and help her. But the daytime didn't help him one bit. He shook his head. "Cordy, can you go with Xander and see what happened to them?"
"No problem," Cordelia replied, seeing the deep concern on Angel's face.
Xander cocked an eyebrow at Angel. "Your making *the* Cordelia Chase go out there where there might be dangerous demons?"
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Angel taught me how to fight. I've changed over these last three years since high school. Grown more mature. Unlike *some* people."
"Cordelia," Angel warned with a deadly glance. "I'm serious," He told both Cordelia and Xander. "Buffy's in trouble."
"Okay, okay," Cordelia got up from her seat. "I'm going."
"I left them both on Crawford Street," Angel told them. "Work your way backwards from here to there."
Cordelia nodded, and left the room with Xander to get some weapons before heading out of the Summers house.
After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence, Dawn sighed. "Come on, if Cordelia's allowed to fight, how come I'm not?"
"Because you're too young," Willow said.
"I'm sixteen!" Dawn argued. "The same age Buffy was when she was called."
"Buffy just doesn't want anything to happen to you, Dawn," Angel told her sympathetically. "You're the only real family she has left... well, not including your father, and she wouldn't be able to stand it if she lost you."
"What about me? I deal with seeing my older sister leave each night to battle demons of the dark, never knowing if she'll come back again!" Dawn said, tears starting to show up in her eyes. "And I just hate feeling so helpless and weak. Just watching Buffy fight, not able to do anything to help her except research."
"Buffy has supernatural powers," Angel reminded her. "She can hold her own."
"Research is important," Willow said, trying to make Dawn feel better. "Without it, we wouldn't know what we're dealing with, and how to defeat it. It's just as important as the actual fighting, Dawnie."
"But I want to do more!" Dawn cried. "Can you teach me how to fight, Angel?"
"Like how I taught Cordelia...?" Angel asked. Dawn just nodded, and tried to hold back her tears. She closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths. Angel looked to Willow to see what he should say. But Willow just simply shrugged. "Umm, sure... of course. After we do the research thing. Should we call Giles over?" Angel asked Willow, party trying to avoid the subject.
"If you want to pay for the plane ticket from England to California," Willow said.
Angel looked at Willow for a second, totally confused. But then, realisation hit him. "Giles... left? Why?"
Willow shrugged. "Felt like he was just getting in the way of Buffy's growing up. Like she needed to learn to do things on her own."
Angel didn't say anything. He was just quietly thinking to himself. Giles left. Another reason why Buffy didn't want Dawn involved. Giles was like a father to Buffy, but now, he's gone. He left her. Like Angel had once done too. Buffy must be thinking that everyone she loves will leave her eventually. Thank God Willow and Xander are still here for her.
"But we could give him a call, and see if he knows anything?" Willow told Angel.
"That would be good," Angel said. "Having a former-watcher on this case could make the researching easier."
"What about Wesley?" Willow asked.
Angel gave her a deadly stare, full of anger and pain. "What about him?" He growled at her in a bitter tone. "Uh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap," Angel apologised, an expression of remorse on his face.
"No, it's okay. Is everything okay?" Willow asked, more concerned about him. It wasn't like Angel to just explode like that. Wesley must of done something *really* wrong.
Angel didn't say anything. He didn't want to lie to them, but he didn't want to tell them what happened. Not before he told Buffy, anyways.
* * *
"Buffy!"
Xander called out to her as he ran with all the speed he could. Buffy was just standing there, the pain painted all over her face. She couldn't move. She couldn't do anything. Buffy just had to deal with it. It felt like somebody was screwing a metal spike inside her head. Slowly. She didn't even notice Xander and Cordelia running towards her.
Buffy gritted her teeth and willed for the pain to stop. She closed her eyes and tried to seek for any strength left in her. She just had to deal with the pain. Wait until it was over. But until then, she wasn't going to give this demon the satisfaction of seeing her suffer. She wouldn't scream. No way.
She promised herself before that she wouldn't let *any* demon hear her scream.
*
Spike looked at her up and down, and moved closer. Too close for her liking. He was barely an inch away from her. He roughly whispered into her ear, "I'm going to make you scream, Slayer. Cry out my name. I'll make you scream."
*
Buffy whipped open her eyes, trying to escape those thoughts. The hooded demon smirked at Buffy. "Hurts doesn't it? Enough to make you *scream*!" It threw its head back and let out a laugh.
Buffy just glared at the demon, too afraid that if she opened her mouth she would let out a scream.
"You know," The demon let out a sigh. "I thought you'd put up more of a fight since you are the Slayer and all. But then again, you did *come back wrong!* That's what made you so afraid, isn't it? That the person your sister and all your friends brought back isn't the same person."
Buffy shook her head and just kept glaring at the demon, hoping that looks really could kill.
"Of course not," The demon smirked at her. "You're too upset from being torn out of 'heaven' to go to this place. Been too busy thinking of yourself to think and care about other people. You used a friend who loved you to make you feel, and neglected your sister who turned into a klepto. And your best friend became addicted to magic."
Buffy had to say something. He could go on forever. She opened her mouth slightly and mumbled, "I couldn't stop those things from happening."
"Really?" The demon cocked an eyebrow. "Believe what you want, but I'm just telling you what I see," It simply told her. "And what you will lose eventually," It added with a smirk.
Buffy couldn't think anymore. The pain was getting to an unbearable point. She closed her eyes, and bit onto her bottom lip. She bit too hard. The taste of blood filled her mouth. It was all she could taste. The pain didn't slow down, or go away. It just kept on growing. Buffy couldn't hold it in anymore.
She screamed out in pain.
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How's this? Need more explaining? If you're still confused about some things that I might have missed out on, just tell me. I'll explain it in the next part, hopefully. Please review. Even if it's crap, just tell me what needs fixing up on. Thanks!