Half an hour later, Spike came in again, followed by Willow and Tara.

"Are we...?" Tara asked, but she knew the answer by the looks on their faces.

"I'm so sorry," Willow said as she put the Orb down on the table.

"It's not your fault, we will..." Giles sighed very deep as a tear slipped from his eye. He swallowed before he continued: "We will perform the… the second ritual. Spike… any thoughts on when she will… resurrect?"

"I'd guess around midnight; it's a full moon, no better time for a vamp to come to."

"Of course. We'll need to take precautions; vampires who rise during a full moon are stronger." Giles' face tightened as he referred to Sarah as 'vampire'.

"Then we have about three hours left." Xander, being practical, said. Buffy nodded and thought aloud.

"If she'll be stronger because of the full moon, we'll... well, we'll have to... tie her up," she said.

"Yes," Giles answered, swallowing down a lump in his throat. Buffy pulled Spike's shirt.

"Come," she softly said, seeing that even Spike was troubled by all this. They took some shackles from the weapon chest and carefully put these around Sarah's ankles and wrists. Then they connected the shackles to the wall.

"It's not enough," Spike said, eyeing Sarah. He took some other shackles and tied those around her middle onto the camp bed.

"Is that really necessary!?" Buffy said, a little disgusted.

"Yes," was all Spike said.

Later, all was set for the ritual. All they had to do now was call up her soul and wait for Sarah to resurrect. By now it was nine thirty, two-and-a-half hours to go. Giles, who would perform the ritual, aided by Willow and Tara, sat next to the camp bed on which Sarah lay. The others hung around the backroom and the back end of the shop.

Giles, Willow and Tara then called up Sarah's soul and trapped it in the Orb. The whole procedure didn't take more than ten minutes.

The remaining two hours crept by at a snail's pace but finally the clock hit twelve. By now all were gathered in the back-room. Giles, Willow and Tara sat in the circle, everything ready to start the moment Sarah would come to. Spike and Buffy stood next to Sarah to keep her in check and to keep her down if the shackles wouldn't be strong enough. Xander, Dawn and Anya stood between Sarah and the ritual space to make sure they wouldn't be disturbed.

After a few more minutes, just when light of the full moon hit the bed through the window, Sarah began to stir and suddenly she opened her eyes. She gnarled at Buffy and her face turned.

"Now!" Buffy shouted as Spike's face also turned.

"Why am I shackled?" she called to Spike, her vampire mind recognising him as the same species.

"For your safety, doll," he said, closing in.

In the background, Giles held hands with the two witches and started chanting the spell. After a few lines, the spirit came over him; he stiffened and started speaking in some ancient language. His eyes were pitch black and looked at nothing.

Meanwhile, Sarah was pulling her shackles on the bed and had almost loosened one from the wall. Spike sat on the side of the bed and pushed her back as Buffy tried to push the shackle back into the wall.

Just as it slipped out of her hand and out of the wall, Sarah pushed Spike back and shoved her fist in his stomach, making him fall backwards. She ripped her other arm loose and punched Buffy so that she fell into Anya and Dawn who almost fell into Willow; what would have disturbed the ritual. Luckily, Xander pushed them out of the way just in time.

Then, at the same moment Sarah had loosened the shackles from her middle and legs, Giles finished the ritual. Sarah stood up, on her way to attack the others when it hit her. She fell to the ground in agony and screamed. She grasped her head in her hands and rolled over on her side, moaning softly. After a few minutes she stopped and slowly came to.

As she looked around, she saw Giles, Buffy and Willow around her, worried. She was still confused and slowly tried to get up. Quickly they helped her get unto the bed, where the shackles had been removed.

After a little while she seemed to realize what had happened and inhaled sharply.

"I am... a... a vampire?" she uttered. Giles nodded.

"With a soul," said Buffy, "like Angel."

"I am so happy that you live," Giles said, seeing in her eyes she hated the idea of being a vampire.

Sarah and Giles were left alone to recover from the shocking events of the night as the others gathered in the back-end of the shop. Buffy and Spike decided to wait for Giles and Sarah, as the others made preparations to go home. Willow and Tara would take Dawn home and so all five others left the Magic Box.

Meanwhile in the backroom, Giles and Sarah were talking.

"Don't get me wrong," Sarah said, her eyes still red from crying, "I'm glad I live, as far as I can speak of living, but I don't know if I want to be a vampire."

"How so?" asked Giles, "you haven't done anything bad, we returned your soul before you had the chance."

"It's just the idea of being the creature I disgust. I've spent a great deal of my time studying vampires and since I'm here I have hunted them, and now I am one of them." She sighed heavily and sniffed, rubbing at her eyes with one hand.

"I shall never feel sunlight again, I… I'll have to drink blood," she said, with clear disgust in her voice, "and, most importantly, I will, if I'm careful, outlive you all and will be forced to see all my friends die while I don't age and don't die."

"I know that is hard on you," Giles said, "but you will learn to live with that. The same as you will learn to live without sunlight and with blood. But most importantly, I will still love you, even though you are a vampire, I do not care. Ever since I lost you, I yearned to get you back, and now that I have you back, I prefer to have a daughter who happens to be a souled vampire than no daughter at all."

Giles became emotional too. Sarah smiled, a short smile that didn't really reach her eyes, and they hugged each other tightly.

"I guess I will get used to it, eventually," she continued, on a more serious tone, "But it will take time."

And time it took. When Giles and Sarah were back home, she seemed fine for a day or two but then she broke. She locked herself in her room and refused to come out. She had blinded her windows and didn't answer when talked to. This went on for two days and then Giles called for the gang to help but she didn't answer to them either. After another two days of silence, they didn't know anymore what to do.

"I don't know what to do anymore," Giles said. He sat on the couch, his head in his hands.

"I could magic the door open," Willow said, "maybe she's hurt in some way."

"What about Angel," Buffy offered.

"Angel?" Xander asked.

"Yes, he's a souled vampire too, maybe he can help her."

"We can try," Giles said, lifting his head and regaining his strength. He stood up and headed for the phone. He dialled Angel Investigations and talked to the souled vampire for a while. When he put the phone down, he nodded.

"He'll be here in the evening."