Chapter 5-Sunnydale

"Spike?" Dawn called. "Spike, are you down here?"

Dawn walked down the stairs into the school basement. She looked at the cobwebs; so many for such a new school. She looked around and quickly noticed that Spike wasn't there. There wasn't any evidence that he had been there at all.

Dawn trailed her fingers over the dusty desks, and boxes. He definitely wasn't in the basement. Nor had he been in a long time. She pulled out the cell phone Buffy had given her on the first day of school.

"Hey, it's me. No, he's not here. Home? Okay, I'll meet you there. Yeah, I know, I'll be careful. Bye," Dawn said, hanging up the phone and putting it back in her bag.

A little while later she was sitting in the living with Willow, Xander, Buffy, and Anya. Though, Anya was almost halfway across the room.

"Where could he have gone?" Willow asked, sitting on the plush couch.

"I don't know, but wherever he is, he's had four days to get there," Buffy answered, almost worrisome.

"And with his strength and speed he could be halfway across the country," Anya threw in. Everyone shot her mean looks. "What? It's the truth. Hey, I didn't ask to come to your little Scooby meeting here. You asked me."

"Sorry, An," Xander apologized.

Anya nodded. "You should be," she said, straightening her shoulders.

"Why would he leave?" Dawn asked. "Except for the obvious reason."

"You mean me?" Buffy asked, turning to Dawn.

"No, I didn't- I mean- Buffy-" Dawn tried to explain, sitting straight up. "Well, sort of."

"That's okay, Dawnie," Buffy said sadly. "I knew that's probably why."

"We don't know," Dawn said, trying to make Buffy feel better. "Maybe he's visiting relatives."

"Dawn, he's a vampire. His only relatives are Angel and Dru," Willow said gently. "I gave Angel a head's up, since Spike specifically said his name, but I highly doubt he went back to Dru."

"Oh, right. Well, why else would he leave?" Dawn asked.

"Because of me," Buffy said, her eyes filled with sadness. "He left because of me."

"Buffy, you don't know if that's true," Willow told her, reaching out to touch her arm.

Buffy shrugged her off. "I have to go patrol," she said, leaving the house.

"You know she's right," Anya said, from her chair. "He did leave because of her."

Dawn whirled in her chair. "What do you know about why he left?" she asked, her eyes like fire.

"All I know is that when he came back with a soul Buffy rejected him," Anya said, not wavering under the three's gaze. "He got his soul back for her, and she acted like she didn't care."

"Anya," Willow warned, watching as Dawn's eyes got wide.

"All I'm saying is that you've never felt pain until the one you love leaves you hanging," Anya said, looking at Xander.

"Well, I really need to get some sleep," Willow piped up, changing the subject.

"Fine, I know when I'm not wanted," Anya replied, standing and leaving.