Part 15
Cynthia watched the witches set up their location spell. She had seen the Master's witches perform spells before, but only from peeking around corners, and behind doors. Seeing open magic before her was kind of spectacular.
A pentagram was set out on the living room floor, made with white stones. The room itself was lit entirely with candles. Incense was burning. A pretty typical magical scene, really. In a new territory, for Cynthia it was...something.
"How long is this going to take?" Cynthia asked as Willow lit the final candle.
"Shouldn't take more than five minutes," Willow answered.
"Here's the map." Xander breezed past Cynthia with a map of Sunnydale in his hand which he spread out over the pentagram.
"And the scrying crystal." Tara handed Willow a diamond on a gold chain.
"Anyone home?" A cultured British voice came in from what sounded like the kitchen.
Cynthia frowned, noting several annoyed glances passing between everyone.
"In the living room," Tara answered.
Cynthia frowned. "Am I missing something?"
The male who came into the room was tall, strikingly attractive in a pale, ice-cool way. He eyed her with undisguised distaste. "Who's she?"
"She's Cynthia, the new Slayer. Are you here for any reason other than to annoy us? No? Go annoy someone else."
Cynthia frowned at Xander noting the coldness of his tone despite the sarcasm of the comment. She guessed there was some sort of rivalry between Xander and Captain Platinum. She didn't like the way Captain Platinum was glaring at her, like she was an irritating fly that had to be squashed immediately.
"That's Spike. He - " Willow started to explain but Spike cut her off before she could finish the sentence.
"We need to talk, now. Dawn."
"What has that girl done with herself? She's in for a severe *talking* to," Anya grumbled. "My feet are covered in blisters."
It had become clear to Cynthia that this Spike person didn't want to talk about anything relating to Dawn in front of Cynthia. "If you've got something to say, say it." She was tired of all the secrets and dancing around her.
"Oh for crying out loud," Anya snapped impatiently. "Spike's a vampire. He's probably worried a new Slayer will dust him."
"This is the love sick puppy with the chip in his head?" Cynthia asked, remembering her earlier conversations with Xander and Anya when they had been looking for Dawn that afternoon. Anya nodded. Cynthia turned back to Spike. "Xander, Anya and I spent all afternoon looking for Dawn, practically five minutes after I got here. Start talking." Her arms were folded, but she was ready to move at a moment's notice if she had to, though she probably didn't look or sound scary at all.
"Spike if you know something about Dawn, tell us," Tara piped up.
All this standing around and stalking was starting to bug the hell out of Cynthia. If this was how they had worked with the last Slayer, no wonder she was dead.
"Dawn's...in my crypt. There...there was an incident and Dawn became...vampish."
A heavy silence fell. Cynthia didn't see how it was done but the lights of the living room came on and the candles went out.
"What'd you mean Dawn's gone *vampish*? What did you *do*?" Xander started forward, fists clenched, ready to swing.
"Found her in an old hang out of some friends almost dead. I didn't - I didn't want her to die." Spike was looking at the floor, rather than the faces in the room.
"So you made her a monster, well that's just brilliant," Xander snapped.
"Vampires are *not* the same people they were when they were human," Willow put in. "You of all people should know that, Spike."
"There was no other choice. No other way she would have lived. Unless you start raising the dead." Spike's voice held a hint of bitterness.
Willow and Tara exchanged glances. Cynthia guessed this was a discussion they'd had before. She didn't care about the moral ethics of raising the dead. That wasn't the issue right now. "Okay, okay. So Captain Platinum here has clearly done something stupid and left us with a newly made vampire around somewhere. And let's not forget our demon girl upstairs." She paused. "Has anyone seem Mr. Giles?"
"He stepped out to get some books from the Magic Box," Tara answered.
Again they were left with an impossible situation to resolve. Cynthia wanted to scream.
"Can someone come invite me in? I can't get into my own house! This sucks."
This voice came from the front door. Standing in the open doorway was a strikingly pretty girl with an almost marble-like complexion. Shiny long brown hair hung almost to her waist. Dark eyes glittered with hidden depths. Her expression was - if anything, a little - pissed off. Her head tilted as she frowned at Cynthia. "You must be Cynthia."
"Yeah. That'd make you Dawn?" Cynthia eyed her doubtfully.
"Yeah. You gonna invite me in or leave me standing here?"
Cynthia smiled humourlessly. "It's not my policy to invite newly made vampires."
"I'm not like other blood suckers," Dawn said dismissively. "They'll tell you." She gestured at the others gathering behind her. Dawn looked at her friends, arms folded. "Well, come on guys."
Cynthia looked back at Willow, ho seemed the most rational of the group.
"You have some explaining to do first," Anya said, shoving her way to the front of the group.
"Is it true? What happened?" Willow asked.
"I got jumped by a vampire. Spike saved me."
Cynthia didn't buy this innocent girl act. Her instincts were telling her to stake the vampire. Unfortunately, something told her the morons behind her weren't going to let that happen, at least not right away.
"But if you're a - a - vampire, then why aren't you feeding?" Tara had her own question.
"I fed already. Spike had some blood left in his crypt," Dawn answered, sounding impatient. "Look, this whole vampire thing is different on different people. Like I would even *want* to kill any of you when I know what you're all capable of."
"Come on in, Dawn."
Dawn smiled brilliantly. "Thanks Xander. At least someone's on my side." Dawn brushed past Cynthia and went into the house with her friends. Cynthia found herself sharing a look with Spike, who had hovered behind with her. Something told her both she and Spike were thinking the same thing.
^Bad idea,^ Cynthia thought. ^Very, very bad.^
* * *
Cynthia watched the witches set up their location spell. She had seen the Master's witches perform spells before, but only from peeking around corners, and behind doors. Seeing open magic before her was kind of spectacular.
A pentagram was set out on the living room floor, made with white stones. The room itself was lit entirely with candles. Incense was burning. A pretty typical magical scene, really. In a new territory, for Cynthia it was...something.
"How long is this going to take?" Cynthia asked as Willow lit the final candle.
"Shouldn't take more than five minutes," Willow answered.
"Here's the map." Xander breezed past Cynthia with a map of Sunnydale in his hand which he spread out over the pentagram.
"And the scrying crystal." Tara handed Willow a diamond on a gold chain.
"Anyone home?" A cultured British voice came in from what sounded like the kitchen.
Cynthia frowned, noting several annoyed glances passing between everyone.
"In the living room," Tara answered.
Cynthia frowned. "Am I missing something?"
The male who came into the room was tall, strikingly attractive in a pale, ice-cool way. He eyed her with undisguised distaste. "Who's she?"
"She's Cynthia, the new Slayer. Are you here for any reason other than to annoy us? No? Go annoy someone else."
Cynthia frowned at Xander noting the coldness of his tone despite the sarcasm of the comment. She guessed there was some sort of rivalry between Xander and Captain Platinum. She didn't like the way Captain Platinum was glaring at her, like she was an irritating fly that had to be squashed immediately.
"That's Spike. He - " Willow started to explain but Spike cut her off before she could finish the sentence.
"We need to talk, now. Dawn."
"What has that girl done with herself? She's in for a severe *talking* to," Anya grumbled. "My feet are covered in blisters."
It had become clear to Cynthia that this Spike person didn't want to talk about anything relating to Dawn in front of Cynthia. "If you've got something to say, say it." She was tired of all the secrets and dancing around her.
"Oh for crying out loud," Anya snapped impatiently. "Spike's a vampire. He's probably worried a new Slayer will dust him."
"This is the love sick puppy with the chip in his head?" Cynthia asked, remembering her earlier conversations with Xander and Anya when they had been looking for Dawn that afternoon. Anya nodded. Cynthia turned back to Spike. "Xander, Anya and I spent all afternoon looking for Dawn, practically five minutes after I got here. Start talking." Her arms were folded, but she was ready to move at a moment's notice if she had to, though she probably didn't look or sound scary at all.
"Spike if you know something about Dawn, tell us," Tara piped up.
All this standing around and stalking was starting to bug the hell out of Cynthia. If this was how they had worked with the last Slayer, no wonder she was dead.
"Dawn's...in my crypt. There...there was an incident and Dawn became...vampish."
A heavy silence fell. Cynthia didn't see how it was done but the lights of the living room came on and the candles went out.
"What'd you mean Dawn's gone *vampish*? What did you *do*?" Xander started forward, fists clenched, ready to swing.
"Found her in an old hang out of some friends almost dead. I didn't - I didn't want her to die." Spike was looking at the floor, rather than the faces in the room.
"So you made her a monster, well that's just brilliant," Xander snapped.
"Vampires are *not* the same people they were when they were human," Willow put in. "You of all people should know that, Spike."
"There was no other choice. No other way she would have lived. Unless you start raising the dead." Spike's voice held a hint of bitterness.
Willow and Tara exchanged glances. Cynthia guessed this was a discussion they'd had before. She didn't care about the moral ethics of raising the dead. That wasn't the issue right now. "Okay, okay. So Captain Platinum here has clearly done something stupid and left us with a newly made vampire around somewhere. And let's not forget our demon girl upstairs." She paused. "Has anyone seem Mr. Giles?"
"He stepped out to get some books from the Magic Box," Tara answered.
Again they were left with an impossible situation to resolve. Cynthia wanted to scream.
"Can someone come invite me in? I can't get into my own house! This sucks."
This voice came from the front door. Standing in the open doorway was a strikingly pretty girl with an almost marble-like complexion. Shiny long brown hair hung almost to her waist. Dark eyes glittered with hidden depths. Her expression was - if anything, a little - pissed off. Her head tilted as she frowned at Cynthia. "You must be Cynthia."
"Yeah. That'd make you Dawn?" Cynthia eyed her doubtfully.
"Yeah. You gonna invite me in or leave me standing here?"
Cynthia smiled humourlessly. "It's not my policy to invite newly made vampires."
"I'm not like other blood suckers," Dawn said dismissively. "They'll tell you." She gestured at the others gathering behind her. Dawn looked at her friends, arms folded. "Well, come on guys."
Cynthia looked back at Willow, ho seemed the most rational of the group.
"You have some explaining to do first," Anya said, shoving her way to the front of the group.
"Is it true? What happened?" Willow asked.
"I got jumped by a vampire. Spike saved me."
Cynthia didn't buy this innocent girl act. Her instincts were telling her to stake the vampire. Unfortunately, something told her the morons behind her weren't going to let that happen, at least not right away.
"But if you're a - a - vampire, then why aren't you feeding?" Tara had her own question.
"I fed already. Spike had some blood left in his crypt," Dawn answered, sounding impatient. "Look, this whole vampire thing is different on different people. Like I would even *want* to kill any of you when I know what you're all capable of."
"Come on in, Dawn."
Dawn smiled brilliantly. "Thanks Xander. At least someone's on my side." Dawn brushed past Cynthia and went into the house with her friends. Cynthia found herself sharing a look with Spike, who had hovered behind with her. Something told her both she and Spike were thinking the same thing.
^Bad idea,^ Cynthia thought. ^Very, very bad.^
* * *