Saving Dawn

Voices. Barely discernible voices.

"We have to get this portal open soon, sir."

Who was that? What were they talking about?

"The ritual can only be completed if she is awake. We have no choice." A second voice.

Ritual?

Dawn blinked her eyes slowly open. She was in the middle of a vast, empty room. It looked like the building had suffered some sort of disaster in its lifetime, and someone had forgotten to finish the repairs.

She tried to move her arms, soon realizing they were tied above her head to a metal beam that hung suspended in the air by nothing she could distinguish. Her feet were free to move, though that didn't help her problem any.

"Master, she's awake." The owner of the voice was a green-skinned, scaly demon with a horn in the middle of his head.

The cloaked figure stepped into her field of vision, hands clasped behind his back in a menacing fashion. "Yes. I guess she is."

Dawn looked down. She didn't like not knowing who was under that cloak.

She realized that beneath her was a pentagram. Not good. "What do you want with me?" She could hear desperation in her voice.

A sinister cackle came from inside the hood. "Why, just your blood." He stepped closer. "All of it."

"Dawn?" Tara said, opening the door to Dawn's bedroom. The first thing she saw was the open window. "Oh, no. Okay, okay. What do I do? God, I need Willow! She'd know. Okay…I have to find Dawn. Locator spell…. I'll use a locator spell."

She grabbed a shirt from Dawn's closet and ran down the hall and into her room. She rummaged through drawers for the needed items and threw them next to her as she kneeled on the floor, beginning the ritual.

She sprinkled some burgundy powder onto the shirt, striking a match and tossing it onto the powder. "Goddess of Night, show me the way! Guide me to the essence of her being." The powder began to spark, each granule separating and spreading to form an image. They collected in patterns, creating a rough but accurate representation of Sunnydale. A few glowing specks of powder gathered in a square that symbolized a building downtown.

She soon realized the building was the very same one she had just visited. "Oh God, I have to hurry!"

"You're not going to get away with this!" Dawn shouted at them.

The cloaked figure held a silver dagger in his hand, gently caressing the tip with his index finger. "And why won't we?"

"B-because! Tara's coming. She'll save me."

The green-skinned demon and a slimy demon next to him smiled. The cloaked figure turned to them. "Would you two please go and intercept this Tara whom our captive was so gracious as to inform us about?"

They were out the door before he finished the sentence.

"No one to save you now," came a voice from behind her.

She strained to look, but couldn't see past her arms.

"The little sis, eh? I wonder if your sister's taught you any tricks in bed."

"Spike," she growled.

"The one and bloody only."

Tara entered the dark alley, silence instantly surrounding her. It was like a completely different world from the cheerily lit street behind her. She breathed in slow deep breaths, preparing herself for what she might find. A soft shuffle came from ahead of her, but she couldn't make out anything in the dark.

She clicked on her flashlight, thankful that she'd decided to bring one this time around. The alley ahead was brightly illuminated, and she could see the door about ten yards away.

She heard another shuffle behind her, and spun around to face a demon with slime dripping off its skin.

There's no time for this! "Bind!" she shouted, thrusting out her arm. A green glob of liquid splashed onto the demon, circling his waist and temporarily paralyzing him.

"Well, that was easy," she admitted, proud of herself.

"Not for long."

Behind me. Her instincts told her to duck, but she wasn't quick enough. She was hurled forward, sprawling on the alley floor and sliding a few feet.

Her arms and legs burned from newly acquired scratches, but she forced the pain into the back of her mind and stood up.

A green-skinned demon advanced, but she quickly repeated the bind spell and had him taken care of. "It's hard not to think that you guys weren't prepared," she said sarcastically. She could feel the magic coursing through her veins, understanding why Willow enjoyed the rush.

Understanding why it was so addictive.

And I made her deal with it on her own.

She shook her head, getting rid of her thoughts. "I have to save Dawn."

The door was a few feet away, so she crossed the distance, opened the door, and walked in.

Dawn hung suspended in front of the stairs, feet a few inches off the ground.

And Spike had his teeth once again in her neck.

"Dawn!" Tara called, unsure what to do. I'm out of binding powder, what do I do? Do I kill him?

Spike lifted his head up, a ring of blood around his lips and dripping down his chin. "Well, if it isn't the girl-humper."

Yea, I think I'll kill him.

She ran forward, grabbing a metal bar on the way.

Spike charged as well.

Dawn's eyes were blurry. She could hear fighting, but couldn't see what was going on. She felt a dull pressure on her neck, unable to make out what was causing it. Blackness took over.

Blood pumped slowly from the thin holes in her neck, dripping onto the pentagram on the floor.

Sparks formed on the staircase behind Dawn, and a glittering portal appeared.