Chapter 28 - Rescued

I'm clinging onto Buffy, and we're watching the remains of the window where we got out of the inferno. I know Buffy's hurt, her arms and hands cut from the glass, but neither of us can take our eyes off the opening, both of us willing Spike to come out. I know she's torn, wants to go back and make sure he's ok, but she's also scared for me - that there's something else waiting in the wood for me.

I've been so scared. Willow came in not long after Buffy and Spike left. At first, she seemed normal, well, sort of. She hasn't really been normal since she got back. Not that I've paid too much attention to her anyway. After what happened before, I've got to say, she's not been my favourite person.

I was sitting at the research table, trying to do my homework, and Giles was restocking the shelves while Anya counted the money. She waited until no one was watching, and the next thing I know, Giles and Anya can't move. It was like they'd been paralysed, except they could still stand, and their eyes could look around.

Then, I saw she'd changed. She was dark again, and I screamed. She smiled, that awful smile I remembered from the last time she wanted to kill me. And I knew that's what she wanted this time. Surprisingly, she didn't just do it. She started with telling me how much she hated me. She told me that before I came, Buffy was her best friend. That they used to do things together. That they were closer than sisters. Then there was me, and Buffy needed to keep me safe. She wasn't properly grateful for being brought back from the dead. She wouldn't admit Willow's power. Then when Tara died. Buffy didn't want her to take revenge, wanted to stop her. Buffy and Giles ganged up on her to stop her last time. Sent her out of the country like an exile, so she could learn to be a good little witch. She said she was waiting for them to get there before she killed me. She wanted Buffy to see me die.

The tirade went on forever. Or it seemed that way. My attention was pulled away from Willow to the door which flew open, and there was Spike. I was so relieved to see him, but he didn't come in. It took me a moment to realise that it wasn't that he stopped, he just couldn't come in. The look in his eyes when he realised there was nothing he could do was so sad, I felt my breath hitch, although that may have been pure terror.

Then, she grabbed me, and started to chant. I know she intended to kill me, but something happened. I don't know why, but the spell didn't work. She tried it again, and it still didn't work. Then, she put her hands round my neck and tried to choke me. Somehow, she couldn't do it. It wasn't lack of strength, I know that. Maybe it was just getting too close to things. It's one thing to kill someone with magic, another to do it with your bare hands.

She shrieked then, and picked me up, running for the basement. I don't remember the journey through the tunnels, I really don't. Just a blur, and jolting as she somehow carried me. I mean, I'm taller than she is, it can't have been easy, and it certainly wasn't comfortable.

She literally dropped me when we got to the cabin. I must have knocked my head, because I was out of it for a while. When I came to, I saw things around me that I recognised. Tara's things. Clothes, a quilt, some other things I recognised from their room. Willow was chanting, and there was a line of sand across the single room, separating us from the door. I tried to stand, hoping to get away before she could stop me, but I was momentarily dizzy, and by the time I recovered, there was a wall of flame in front of me. The heat was tremendous, and Willow was grinning. Like she'd done something amazing.

The door opened then, and I saw them. My rescuers, but I thought they were too late. Then we heard Buffy breaking the glass of the one window our side of the flames. Willow threatened to burn me if Buffy came through. The next thing I knew, Spike was jumping through the flames wrapped in a blanket. Willow pushed me towards the flames, but Spike stopped me, redirecting me towards the window. Then she lunged for Spike, and I moved closer to the window, eventually managing to get out. Looking back in the window it wasn't possible to see them any more, the smoke was so thick.

Then the wait began. And it's still going on. I want to go back, help him, but I know there's nothing I can do. I'm scared he's not coming out, and I know Buffy's feeling the same. Her eyes haven't left the window either.

Then there's the noise, someone hitting the wall close to the opening, and Buffy scrambles to help. Spike hands Willow to Buffy. I don't know what's happened, but she's horribly burnt, and I can't take my eyes off her as Buffy carries her a safe distance from the cabin before putting her down on the ground. I look back to the cabin, and he's lying there, just outside, fallen where he dropped, and I see he's been burnt too. His hands, and arms are visible, and I start to cry again when I think of how much pain he must be in. Buffy runs towards him, picking him up and taking him away from the cabin.

I'm sitting beside him now. He's not moving, and I'm wondering if he's even alive. Thing about being a vampire, it's pretty obvious. They're either there or they're dust. Kinda hard to miss. Buffy's found her cell phone, and despite everything, it seems to be working. She dials a number, and there's relief in her voice when Giles answers. She tells him what happened, and gives some indication of where we are, but it sounds kind of vague. I shout over that it's where Willow was keeping Tara's things, and that must mean something, because, after a short delay, the call ends.

Buffy calls 911 then, asking for an ambulance, and giving directions she must have had from Giles. Then she collapses beside me, and tries to take Spike's hand. I gasp as I see Buffy's hands and arms properly. They're cut, hundreds of little cuts, many of them deep, which she must have had when she broke the glass. She changes her mind when she sees how badly burned his hand is, and she starts to murmur to him, telling his he's safe, that everything's going to be ok. I don't know who she's trying to reassure most.

Giles must have broken several speed limits, because he gets here before the ambulance, and he and Buffy carefully lift Spike into the back seat. He moans as they do that, and, although it's a pain-filled sound, I'm relieved to hear it. At least he's alive. Giles tells Buffy he's asked Xander to come and take us home, but we've got to stay for the ambulance. He adds that Anya knew from Xander roughly where this place was.

"No, I'm coming with Spike," I tell him.

"Dawn, you can't. We need you here. You're basically uninjured, aren't you?"

I nod. A few bruises are nothing compared with Spike.

"Then, Buffy might need you when the ambulance comes for Willow. We don't want her being forced into going to hospital, it's too dangerous."

I can see his point, and I nod, but it just fuels the anger I already feel for Willow.

He drives away, and within minutes, the ambulance arrives, quickly followed by Xander. Buffy keeps out of sight while the crew load Willow, and Xander promises to go straight to the hospital after he's taken me home.

We drive back to Revello Drive in silence. I'm filled with dread, scared that Spike might die before we can get back. I don't want him to die, and certainly not alone, and without saying goodbye. That's what Mom did, and, I couldn't bear it if it happened again.