Dawn was terribly excited. It was the night of the big sleepover at Janice's house for her birthday. She went over the things she had on her bed; sleeping bag, pillow, her cool pajamas, Janice's birthday present, the warding charm that Tara had made for her, both of her throwing knives (her dad had finally ok'd her carrying them outside of practice), her box of rock salt (which she carried at Dean's insistence because she'd never heard of a vengeful spirit in Sunnydale, although she had heard about the school's poltergeist one year), her holy water and stake (she wasn't stupid enough to leave the house without those), and her outfit for the next day. She sat down on her bed and packed it all into her bag. She hoped that everyone would be alright this weekend. Dean and Sam were out of town taking care of a job. Sam had a vision and they had taken off to take care of the problem. With them out of town; Buffy skipping patrol tonight to help out with the party, Giles taking care of Grandma through her last bout of chemo (and wasn't that something to celebrate!) and Elizabeth working with Willow and Tara on figuring out just where they were in their witchcraft, her dad and Xander were on their own for patrol. Wes had forbidden Faith to even think about going out slaying, she wasn't ready physically much less mentally. Of course they would be she told herself. Everyone carried cell phones and knew that all they needed to do was call for help if they needed it. Tonight she was going to have fun that had nothing to do with the supernatural, even if she did have to do the exercises her dad and Elizabeth had started her on.
"Hey, are you ready to go?" Buffy asked from the doorway.
"Yeah, I just need to get my stuff from the bathroom." With that quickly accomplished Dawn proceeded to give Buffy a do and don't list of what would be acceptable behavior at the slumber party. "I don't want to be pushy or anything, it's just that it's bad enough you're going to be there in the first place. I know you have a little trouble seeing me as a grown up sometimes, but I really can do this by myself."
"Don't worry, I plan on hanging out with Janice's mom and help with passing out cake and ice cream. Her mom thinks I'm there just so Giles and Mom can have quiet night together. I promise to stay out of the way, at least unless you have the same problem I have with celebrations and something bad happens." Buffy pulled Dawn into a hug. "I'm just there as backup in a just in case fashion, nothing more."
The party was in full swing and Buffy was having fun hanging out with Janice's mom. She had really needed the extra help in the kitchen, although Buffy had pointed out that she couldn't cook anything that resembled edible. She had laughed and put Buffy to opening jars and handing out food as it came out of the oven. With fifteen teenaged girls running through the house, the kitchen was in almost constant use.
"So, let me get this straight." Kit said. A group of five of the girls, including Dawn, was upstairs in Janice's room. "You're adopted, but it was screwed up."
"Uh huh," Dawn said through a mouth full of ice cream.
"And your mom went and found your real dad, who moved here so he wouldn't wreak your home life?" Tracy asked. Dawn nodded again.
"And your sister, Buffy, the one downstairs helping my mom, is dating your dad!" Janice asked with an expression akin to horror.
"It's not that bad. They don't have a blood link or anything. Buffy has always liked older guys, and this way at least she gets a good one. My dad's a lot better than hers." Dawn said calmly. She'd known that her friends would be freaked over her parents dating. "Besides, this way I can call Buffy, Mom and get away with it." She said smugly. The idea sent the girls into gales of laughter, which intensified when Buffy brought in a tray of snacks. She looked at the girls strangely, but true to her word to Dawn, did nothing but set the tray down and returned to the kitchen.
When the girls had calmed down enough to grab the snacks off of the tray, Erica asked Janice, "When are you going to open your presents?"
"After everyone dances themselves out; I know we're on a sugar rush but it has to run out sometime!" She giggled. Just then the shutters on her window slammed shut and locked themselves. "What the hell?" Janice yelped.
Dawn jumped up and tried to open the shutters. She couldn't move them, they were being held with something other than just a simple latch. "Let's go downstairs." She had to get to her mom; it seemed the Summers celebration curse had hit her full force. If I have to get hit with a family curse, she wondered, why couldn't it be psychic powers or the Jekfoontar demons? She much preferred the Winchester curses to the Summers ones.
Buffy was looking out the kitchen window when it happened. All of the doors and shutters slammed themselves shut. Hell, couldn't there be one party that a Summers girl went to without it turning into a disaster? She tested the handles but they weren't moving. Janice's mother tried them as well. "Why won't they open?" She tried to break down the door.
"I don't know, but it can't be good. I'm sorry, but I have to get to Dawn." Buffy said. Her instincts which had been quiet throughout the party were now screaming at her to find her daughter and tear whatever was threatening her to pieces. It only took a second to center herself and then she kicked the door off its hinges.
"Don't worry about it. I wish I could learn to do that. Are you taking one of those karate classes the college has?"
"Private teacher, I've studied with him for years." Buffy said, seizing on the excuse gratefully; she'd never been able to come up with good ones quickly. Even the cover story they were using for Dawn wasn't hers. Joyce had been the one to come up with it. They rushed into the living room together and found the girls were pinned to the walls. There was a strange dead looking little girl dragging a doll spinning in the center of the room. Buffy didn't even think, she simply attacked; only to find that she went straight through the spirit. Janice's mother swiftly joined the girls on the wall next to the kitchen door. Buffy was sent up to the ceiling. Very faintly Buffy could hear the little girl singing some kind of song, but not even her slayer hearing could make out the words.
Dawn and the other girls had managed to break out one of the panels in Janice's bedroom door. Hurrying down the stairs they started to turn the corner at the bottom and froze at the sight of the cake knife, now decorated with a fake tail, floating around the room. Seeing the ghostly girl still spinning in the center of the living room, Dawn made the connection. "Janice! Has anything like this happened here before? Have you had flickering lights, scratching noises, anything ghostly like?" Janice frantically shook her head. Ok, then it had to be something imported to the site, Dawn thought. She peeked around the corner to get a good look at the girl. Kit peered over the top of her head.
"What are we going to do?" She whispered.
Dawn was studying the girl. She was wearing an old fashioned pinafore set and seemed to be fairly healthy, despite the dead look of being a ghost. She was old enough for the body to have stopped smelling at least, so there wasn't going to be any help there. "Janice did your parents buy anything new recently, anything old that is? Like an antique of some kind, or an old chest or something? Or have they done any home improvements lately?"
"Dawn what is up with these questions? We've got to do something!" Janice whispered harshly at her.
"I am doing something!" Dawn whispered back. "If we don't know where the ghost is coming from we can't stop her."
"Ghost?" Erica asked.
"Oh, please! That is sooo a ghost!" Kit exclaimed also keeping her voice down.
"Focus people! Janice, do you know if your parents have done anything like that?" Dawn asked again, trying to have patience. None of these girls were Scoobies or anything after all.
"Dad went and bought that large cedar chest for my birthday. He said that we'd have to have the lock fixed but it was such a nice chest he had to buy it for me." Janice answered, hoping that Dawn knew what she was talking about. "That's it, there's nothing else."
"Ok, um, you'll probably want to burn the chest if what I think is in there actually is. If it isn't we may have to do it anyway, sorry." Dawn said, knowing that Janice had been thrilled to get the cedar chest.
"That's ok; I don't want it if it's haunted." Janice quickly answered.
"Tracy, your arms are longer than mine. Can you reach my bag?" Dawn asked. The girls quickly traded places and Tracy just managed to snag Dawn's bag and drag it back around the doorway and over to them. Dawn grabbed her bag and pulled out the container of rock salt. "Ok, we need more salt and lighter fluid or something like that and someway to light it."
"My dad keeps starter fluid in the basement for the barbeque, and Mom's got some salt down there too." Janice said. Dawn seemed to know what she was doing.
"Good. Here, all of you take a handful." Dawn passed out some of the rock salt. "If the ghost gets near you, throw it at her. I mean right through her. It'll make her break up for a little while. Janice, where's the basement door?"
"Right here under the stairs. It's got my mom, Dawn!"
Dawn grabbed her friend in a hug. "Don't worry; this is what my new family does as a hobby. They check out hauntings all over the US. Dad's been teaching me the ropes so I'll know what to do." Janice was suddenly very glad her friend had met her real father, even if he was a cradle robber and was old enough to know better like her mother was always saying about men who dated so far outside their age bracket.
Janice led the way down the basement stairs and the starter fluid, a box of kitchen matches and several canisters of salt were quickly gathered up. Then Dawn led the way back up the stairs and to the doorway to the living room. The floating knife was now slamming into the walls not far from the girls. If they didn't end this quick someone was going to die. Dawn desperately wanted another member of her family there, but somehow this ghost had taken Buffy out. She didn't know what the ghost had done, but there was no way Buffy would have left without being forced, and that was the only reason Dawn could see for her mother not to be there. Hopefully, Buffy had gone for help.
"Ok, now we're going to go in there and throw the salt. That should disrupt the ghost for a few minutes. When she disappears, cover me and I'll go for the cedar chest." This was a good time to put her lock picking lessons from Spike to good use, she thought. With a deep breath, the five girls charged into the room, throwing the salt. Caught by surprise, the ghost vanished. The force holding the knife up and the people to the walls (and ceiling) vanished as well. Buffy dropped to the floor and hit it with a thud. She was on her feet in an instant, but Dawn was already at the chest. "Buffy! I need you to break this open, NOW!" Buffy didn't bother to ask. She just put her hands on the chest lid and heaved. The sight inside was what Dawn had been expecting; a mummified body of a little girl. She was still holding the doll. Dawn quickly covered the body with salt and the others joined in. Then she grabbed the started fluid and started squirting.
The ghost girl materialized in front of Kit and she threw the salt she had grabbed another handful of. She was lucky and caught the ghost right in the face. "Hurry Dawn, she came back!"
"Tracy light it!" Dawn exclaimed.
Tracy lit the match and dropped it on the mummy's dress. The body quickly went up in flames and Buffy heaved the chest through the window into the backyard. "That's it?" Janice asked. Dawn nodded, she had grabbed hold of Buffy and wasn't about to let go for a while.
"Mom, I don't think I want another cedar chest." Janice's mother quietly agreed. That wasn't what she'd had in mind either.
"Where did you learn that?" Buffy quietly asked Dawn.
"I learned it from Dad and Dean." Dawn said. She hoped her mom wouldn't get mad at them.
"It's a good thing you listened."