Dark Before the Dawn
Dawn tiptoed silently through the house. It was gone three in the morning and she did not want to wake her parent's up. She poked her head in Buffy's room on her way up to her third floor bedroom. To her surprise her older sister wasn't in there. Dawn shrugged and carried on her way upstairs, Buffy was probably in Spike's room anyway.
Dawn collapsed down on her black duvet, the buzz of the club music still running through her mind. She didn't notice the note pinned to her ceiling for a few minutes.
She stood on the bed and reached up for it. Her name was written on the front in Buffy's hand writing.
She unfolded it and read it.
Dear Dawnie
I have to go. Well, I don't want to but Dad is making me leave because I love Spike. I'm so sorry that I couldn't tell you in person but I wasn't allowed to wait. I want you to know that I still love you and that I'll always be here for you. Anytime you want me just phone me on my cell or at Willow's house, that's where we're going to stay.
Please don't say anything to Mom and Dad, I don't want you getting into anymore trouble.
Love You
Buffy
~~~~
Dawn dropped the note in pure shook. How could her parents do that? How could they possibly throw out their oldest daughter and the man they'd agree to let live with them for a year?
She tapped the on button on her CD player and cranked up the volume to maximum. The new Placebo album filled the house with drums and guitar. Dawn didn't care if she woke her parents up. Music made her feel alive and happy and right now she needed it that loud to drown out the thought in her mind.
The thought of those little black stamps that Faith had given her a while back; tads, she had called them. After promising Buffy and Spike that she would never take drugs again she had shoved them in the back of a draw. But they weren't here and wouldn't know if she took them.
She slowly opened the draw and rummaged around the draw until she found the little clear packet the stamps were in.
The little spider pictures on them glared at her as if they knew she was doing something wrong. Dawn shook off the bad feeling and placed one of the little squares on the tip of her tongue. It instantly melted away.
Dawn stood completely still. She didn't think it worked, she felt completely normal; not even a little dizzy.
*Maybe it was too old to work?* Dawn thought. She shrugged and flopped on the bed, letting the music wash over her and take her in to a new world of pain and drums.
The drums grew louder and louder until all she could hear was the steady beat. It sounded almost tribal, the kind of drums you get on old cowboys and indians movies. She didn't recognise the track on the CD at all. She tried to sit up back when she did the colours went all swirly and the posters covering every inch of the walls all merged.
The posters not only merged into one and other but into life as well. The monsters and demons, the Slipknot and Mushroomhead faces, they all jumped out at her, bringing out a new side of darkness the Dawn had never seen before. The scary side.
The faces grinned evilly. Some glaring at her, some bearing weapons, knifes and bodies. The sound of their cackling laughter filled the room. The drums grew faster and faster and the demons nearer and nearer.
Dawn didn't know what to do. She couldn't run, the world was too bendy and unreal. She tired to close her eyes but the images were still there. They were everywhere, surrounding her, swallowing her in a mass of evil and death and dark.
"Help!" She cried out, but no one heard not even Dawn herself.
There was nothing she could do. The demons would take her and it would be the end. She curled up into a tiny ball, her hands shielding her head from the din of the laughing and drums.
Dawn had no idea how long she sat there with nothing to do but listen to the terrifying noises going on all around her. But when the drums softened and the demons died and Dawn finally peaked up from her arm protection the early morning sunlight was just starting to pour through the open curtain.
Dawn tiptoed silently through the house. It was gone three in the morning and she did not want to wake her parent's up. She poked her head in Buffy's room on her way up to her third floor bedroom. To her surprise her older sister wasn't in there. Dawn shrugged and carried on her way upstairs, Buffy was probably in Spike's room anyway.
Dawn collapsed down on her black duvet, the buzz of the club music still running through her mind. She didn't notice the note pinned to her ceiling for a few minutes.
She stood on the bed and reached up for it. Her name was written on the front in Buffy's hand writing.
She unfolded it and read it.
Dear Dawnie
I have to go. Well, I don't want to but Dad is making me leave because I love Spike. I'm so sorry that I couldn't tell you in person but I wasn't allowed to wait. I want you to know that I still love you and that I'll always be here for you. Anytime you want me just phone me on my cell or at Willow's house, that's where we're going to stay.
Please don't say anything to Mom and Dad, I don't want you getting into anymore trouble.
Love You
Buffy
~~~~
Dawn dropped the note in pure shook. How could her parents do that? How could they possibly throw out their oldest daughter and the man they'd agree to let live with them for a year?
She tapped the on button on her CD player and cranked up the volume to maximum. The new Placebo album filled the house with drums and guitar. Dawn didn't care if she woke her parents up. Music made her feel alive and happy and right now she needed it that loud to drown out the thought in her mind.
The thought of those little black stamps that Faith had given her a while back; tads, she had called them. After promising Buffy and Spike that she would never take drugs again she had shoved them in the back of a draw. But they weren't here and wouldn't know if she took them.
She slowly opened the draw and rummaged around the draw until she found the little clear packet the stamps were in.
The little spider pictures on them glared at her as if they knew she was doing something wrong. Dawn shook off the bad feeling and placed one of the little squares on the tip of her tongue. It instantly melted away.
Dawn stood completely still. She didn't think it worked, she felt completely normal; not even a little dizzy.
*Maybe it was too old to work?* Dawn thought. She shrugged and flopped on the bed, letting the music wash over her and take her in to a new world of pain and drums.
The drums grew louder and louder until all she could hear was the steady beat. It sounded almost tribal, the kind of drums you get on old cowboys and indians movies. She didn't recognise the track on the CD at all. She tried to sit up back when she did the colours went all swirly and the posters covering every inch of the walls all merged.
The posters not only merged into one and other but into life as well. The monsters and demons, the Slipknot and Mushroomhead faces, they all jumped out at her, bringing out a new side of darkness the Dawn had never seen before. The scary side.
The faces grinned evilly. Some glaring at her, some bearing weapons, knifes and bodies. The sound of their cackling laughter filled the room. The drums grew faster and faster and the demons nearer and nearer.
Dawn didn't know what to do. She couldn't run, the world was too bendy and unreal. She tired to close her eyes but the images were still there. They were everywhere, surrounding her, swallowing her in a mass of evil and death and dark.
"Help!" She cried out, but no one heard not even Dawn herself.
There was nothing she could do. The demons would take her and it would be the end. She curled up into a tiny ball, her hands shielding her head from the din of the laughing and drums.
Dawn had no idea how long she sat there with nothing to do but listen to the terrifying noises going on all around her. But when the drums softened and the demons died and Dawn finally peaked up from her arm protection the early morning sunlight was just starting to pour through the open curtain.