AN: This is a story about what if Dracula wanted the Key instead of the Slayer. I changed around the whole timeline of Buffy, so please read this so you won't become confused. Dawn's 16, almost 17. She did a thing in season 6 and snuck out and got with Justin (All The Way). Buffy is with Riley. Hmm, and though this talks about the key, no one knows what it is. And I don't think I'm going to go into it. And please excuse the wayy out of character-ness that is Joyce.

Um, I think that's about it. I know I should be working on Kidnaped, but I'm really stuck, le sighe. Anyway, enjoy!

It had been three days since she last saw Dracula. Every night since he came into her room, she slept with Spike. He didn't ask, promised he never would, but he was worried. Dawn wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat, and she was beginning to become pale. Sometimes, in the few hours she would rest, he could hear her whisper names, but they were always so muffled that he couldn't make it out.

Though Dracula hadn't come to visit Dawn, he did pursue Buffy. It almost hurt her deep inside to know he traded her off. The blonde slayer would come to the Magic Shop with stories of the night before, going into explicit details about her trysts with the count. Dawn would sit in her chair and try to block out her mind. Either that or just shut down her brain which would lead to Spike noticeably fret at her catatonic behavior.

"Get up, love," Spike told her. She whimpered as if in pain, but continued to sleep. His cold hand touched her exposed arm and she tried to kick him off.

"Ugh," she cried and sat up in bed, panting. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Spike's hand brushed away the sweat beaded at her forehead and tucked hair away from her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, fret written on all his features.

She gave him a horrible replication of a reassuring smile, but the corners of his lips turned up anyway.

"Have to go to the Magic Box. Got some news bout Drac."

Hearing his name, her body became stiff and the bite he gave her started to throb. She nodded her head and quickly got dressed and walked to the store with Spike.

"Well, I think we have Dracula factoids," Willow smiled while throwing some paper on the table. "We knew a lot of it already."

Tara gives her girlfriend a secret glance and grabbed her hand.

"Turnoffs: wood, fire, crosses, garlic. Turn ons: nice duds, minions, long slow bites that last for days," her voice becomes wistful as her eyes clouded over. She could just picture what it would feel like...

"He likes to live in style," Spike supplied. "Means we can rule out the crypts."

Willow shook her head, and penciled the information into her notes.

"Continue, Willow," Giles suggested.

"Um, okay. His modus operandi is different from other vampires. He will kill just to feed, but he'd rather have a connection with his victims. And he has all of these mental powers to draw them in."

Dawn's eyes looked around hastily. She could have sworn she heard his laugh behind her.

"What do you mean?" she asked nervously, trying to act normal though it wasn't working.

Willow grabbed the papers and searched through them. Chewing at her lips, she knew she saw it in there somewhere. Dawn anxiously tapped her foot on the ground. She didn't know if she could handle the answer.

"Um... He can read and control minds, appear in dreams, create and manipulate recollections, and sometimes he can posses the person if they're weak enough. "

Dawn's eyes closed as she let the information wash over her. What if everything he told her was false? What if he forced her into doing those things that she saw in her memories? So many questions were running through her mind and she couldn't handle it.

"He also has this special, uh, trick, I guess you would call it. It's like a vampire bite, but it's his trade mark. It doesn't exactly say what it does," the redhead admitted with a sheepish grin.

"What does it look like?" Dawn asked her heart pounding in her chest.

Willow turned around a big book and pointed to different pictures.

"This is what a normal vamp bite looks like. Rough, thick, deep. Leaves a thick scar. But Drac's... his is thin, tiny, hardly leaves a thick scar. All you see are two pin holes."

Dawn nodded numbly, a somber look on his face.

Giles coughed and placed his glasses back on his head.

"Anyway, the point is though he goes through the motions of an intimate seduction, the end result is the same. He turns them into vampires," he stated.

A couple of gulps were heard around the room. But all Dawn could think of was her as a vampire. He never mentioned that before.

"Just be aware that he, uh, he tends to form a relationship with his prey," Giles continued. "It's not enough for him to take her. She must want to, uh, be taken." He took off his glasses and started to clean them. "She must...burn for him."

Dawn heard enough. She stood up and knocked over her chair by accident. All attention was drawn to her.

"Sorry," she muttered. "Sorry. I'm just...hot."

Picking up her chair, she raced towards the door, needing air.

He followed her. The Scoobies just chalked it up to hormones, but he knew better. She had been acting weird ever since the beach. Her trail was still warm and he picked up a good scent. She was heading towards his crypt. Picking up the pace, he caught her in no time.

She was caught up in her own world that surrounded with Dracula. She learned so much about him. About what he could do. To control her. To manipulate her. What if he used it on her? What if he had done things to her while she was sleeping? What if she had done things to others while she didn't know. Was she a killer yet? Looking at her hands, she didn't find any traces of blood. What if he washed it off?

"God," she screamed and dropped to her knees. She let her calves support her weight until she fell back and laid against the middle of the road. Spreading her arms, she wondered what it would be like if a car just ran over her. What would it take to kill her. Running all the way over? Just to the hear? Or just over a couple of limbs.

"Holy shit," she cursed, her hands going straight to her chest as she opened her eyes to see Spike standing straight above her. "You scared the hell outta me," she admitted and rested her head, finally able to breath.

Spike held out his hand and the brunette accepted. He tried not to notice how light she had gotten when she used him as leverage to pull herself up.

"Thanks," she gave a small smile.

"No problem love," he grinned and put his arm around her waist as they continued to walk.

"Stay with me tonight," he commanded in a soft tone which she shook her head at.

"I'm really tired," she told him. "I just want to go to bed."

"Hmm, I think I can handle that," Spike smirked and suddenly swept her up into his arms. She gave a giggly shriek and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"Don't let me go," she whispered unto his neck while relaxing his arms.

"Trust me, 'bit. I won't."

He carried the small girl in his arms all the way to his crypt. By the time he got to his bed, she was squirming a little. But she calmed when he placed her in bed. Stripping his clothes, he snuggled in bed with her, draping a hand over her waist.

I'm tired. Le sighe (registered trademark of miss ryan ;-)) Read and review, please.