Chapter 458
After Dawn was turned Buffy began experiencing a new version of the old dream. She still swam to the top, as if everything would always be okay, if only she could reach the top, and this mysterious figure. Then she saw Dawn at the bottom. Buffy didn't know what to do. Could she even bring Dawn to the top? Would the sunlight hurt her? Maybe they were both stuck down in the water forever. Buffy never placed absolute trust in these dreams, but she realized that things were very complicated right now. Buffy was a vampire slayer now, one of only two currently active and alive. Vampires were suppossed to be her enemy, but that would include her little sister. Maybe Buffy was deluding herself, believing that Dawn, her Dawn, was still in, side there somewhere. But she couldn't kill Dawn, not now, not ever. Faith made her own rules, why not Buffy? She was young enough, arrogant enough, to believe she was in control of events. Dawn hadn't returned to school just yet, likely never would. Perhaps Dawn could finish online, Joyce wanted that. It seemed odd to Buffy that their mother still wanted her child to finish highschool, even after becoming a vampire and possibl being damned. But Joyce felt that Dawn still deserved something normal, something that could still make Dawn feel human. That was why Buffy allowed Dawn to come with her to Dracula's vampire ball on Saturday night. This could be as close to a highschool prom as Dawn ever got. Maybe it was crazy. But as the three Summers women were shopping for dresses they all felt normal again, for the first time in too long.