Once again, Eris went out slaying vampires every night to help control her rage. The whole situation with Spike, Buffy and Riley really pissed her off. She thought that her friendship would matter to him enough to keep only to venomous glares and harsh insults, but no, it seemed it didn't matter to him at all because he tried to kill the one person she loved most in the entire world. There was one thing that she hated more than anything, and that was people using her, betraying her. All throughout junior and senior school she was used by people to gain popularity, she was the pretty one, the rich one, and everyone thought they could gain something from her.

To have Spike completely disregarded their friendship stung like a vampire bite to the heart, she knew she shouldn't have been surprised considering his history but that doesn't mean it hurt any less. She opened her heart and allowed him to place a notch there and he decided to rip it off and pour lemon over it.

During the day, she was helping Buffy around the house as Joyce was too sick. Buffy was grateful for her help, but Eris could still see the jealousy she held for her younger sister, who seemed to have a closer bond to Joyce than she did. The Slayer had reverted to her 'I wish I was an only child' thoughts, and whilst Eris sat back and tried to be supportive, she had her own jealousy towards Dawn. She wished that she wasn't an only child, she wanted a little sister she could get angry at and argue with, she would cherish that. Sure, Buffy and Dawn were her cousins but it wasn't the same as sisters, that closeness would never truly be there.

After having a rant and going out for patrol for the night, Buffy had returned not long after and told her about the security guard she had talked to the night before when he checked on her after she killed a vampire. That very sane and kind man had become insane within a few short hours and was sprouting off warnings to the Slayer about her family being in danger, "could there be someone making Joyce like this?" she asked in fear.

"I think so, I should go back to the abandoned building, see if somethings in there," Eris nodded and headed to the Magic shop to speak to Giles.

After countless hours of researching what could possibly be making Joyce sick and making random people go mad instantly, they came down to a simple 'see spells' spell that would allow Buffy to see any magic or demon that could be doing something to her mother.

Riley come over to help her perform the ritual, which he didn't really need to but it was Buffy's way of making him feel needed and wanted. After what happened with his heart she worried he could get hurt, she knew it was silly but she just couldn't help it. He was no longer superhuman, and she needed to keep him safe.

After getting his help she finally sat down and closed her eyes in concentration. She forced her mind to leave her body, to connect with the other side and the powerful magics that hold the world together. She felt nothing at first, but she was patient. Her mind began to slow down and soon she felt a cold chill wash over her, like the atmosphere in the room shifted. The spell was ready.

Opening her eyes she saw that the room was swirling and shifting, like it was solid yet transparent at the same time. Knowing what she needed to do, she left her room and walked downstairs, looking for her mother. It took a moment but she eventually found her mother and spoke to her to see if anything would happen. But as her mother replied she became disappointed when nothing happened, no magic or any demonic presence surrounded her. It was a good sign, yet it made her anxiety worsen at the thought that her mother's suffering was not supernatural and could not be cured by magic. In heavy denial, she went to look around Joyce, maybe the magic was hidden behind her head, instead however what she saw Dawn disappearing on all the photos she was in, almost like she was an illusion, never meant to be there in the first place.

As she gazed at all the photos, Eris walked into the dining room and called out for the Slayer, checking to see if the spell had worked. As the Slayer turned to stare at her cousin she narrowed her eyes when she saw that Eris looked completely different. Her skin was an ashen grey, and her eyes were completely blackened, as if no light could penetrate them. Even her hair was abnormal, like it was made of blackened ink that endlessly dripped onto the floor and sunk into the ground. The Slayer moved her gaze to Eris' body and saw that it had cracks all over and was leaking blackened smoke, nothing about her cousin looked normal. Eris asked again her if the spell worked, and that somehow made Buffy snap out of her staring and completely forget about the form that Eris appeared in. Even when she looked back at Eris that form was gone, and with it the memory of is strangeness.

The Slayer had muttered that it worked and wandered up to her Dawn's room to look at her sister once she remembered the strangeness of their family photos. She walked into her sister's room and saw it flashing and changing into a room full of supplies and paintings, which confused her as Dawn had always occupied that room. Feeling a whirlwind of different emotions, she went to leave but stopped when she saw her sister flashing in and out of existence like all the photos did. It was then she realized something that changed her life.

Dawn was not her sister.

After the spell had worn off, Buffy had grabbed Eris and dragged her out of the house, they were going to get away from Dawn so Buffy could explain what she saw. It had terrified her and made her think that maybe Dawn was the one who was doing something to Joyce.

When they were out on the lawn the Slayer felt safe to talk until an unpleasant smell wafted into her nose, "What is it?" Eris asked with a tilt of her head.

Without saying a word, Buffy marched over to a tree and grabbed whatever was behind it, with a strong yank a bleach blonde vampire that neither of the girls wanted to see revealed himself, "Spike?" Eris asked in annoyance as she walked closer to him and crossed her arms.

"Hi Eris," he said, looking at Eris more intently than the Slayer.

"Don't take this the wrong way but-" Buffy reeled back and without any hesitation punched Spike right on the nose, making him stagger back and clutch his it in pain. Eris flinched in reaction to seeing him in pain but when her mind reminded her of what he did she managed to stop herself from checking on him, "What are you doing here? Five words or less."

Spike glared at the Slayer, anger taking over the pain of being punched, "Out. For. A. Walk…Bitch" he held up five fingers before changing it to flipping the bird.

"Out for a walk outside our house? No one has time for this William."

Spike eyes widened slightly in surprise by the venom in Eris' voice, he hadn't heard her speak to him like that for a while, "On your Merry way then, you know, contrary to one self-involved, your house happens to be directly between…parts and and, other parts of this town, and I would pass by in the day but I'm outgrowing my whole bursting into flame phase."

Buffy shook her head, not believe it for a second, "Fine, keep going, I'll cut you a break."

"Yeah ok lemme guess, you won't kill me? Ooooh, oh crowd pleasing threats and swagger routine to impress the cousin, outstandingly original. I'm just passing through, satisfied?" neither looked impressed nor satisfied, this was not what they wanted to deal with, "you know, I really hope so, cause God knows you need some satisfaction in life beside shagging captain cardboard, and being a vein little brat," Eris looked offended but he didn't care, he was on a roll, "and and, I never really liked you anyway and and and you have stupid hair," with that he walked away, leaving the girls standing there in bewilderment.

"What?" Eris said as she watched the strange vampire walk down the stree.

"I don't know," Buffy said as her eyes looked down and saw the small pile of used cigarettes, which meant Spike was there for quite some time, "We need to go," Eris nodded and followed the Slayer, not wanting to think about Spike or his weird behaviour.

They arrived at the abandoned warehouse, stakes at the ready. With a flashlight in their offhand they wandered into a large room and noticed a metal door completely torn off the wall and laying on the floor completely destroyed. It was dented and looked like someone punched it so hard it exploded, "what could have done this?" Eris asked hesitantly, she did not want to go against whoever had the strength to break a metal door.

"I really don't want to find out-" they Slayer cut herself off when she noticed something further into the room, "Eris a person," they rushed to what they now saw was a man tied to a chair and beaten within an inch of his life. Buffy knelt down to take off his binding whilst Eris knelt in front of him, looking at his swollen face, "hey, it was you who planted the Dagon sphere right?" the man didn't reply to the Slayer, his throat was swollen from what looked like being choked, "I got it, don't worry, I'm stronger than I look," as she ripped off a binding, neither girl noticed a woman in a red dress sneaking up behind them, well, that's what the woman thought. Instead, Buffy turned around and wrapped her hand around the woman's throat, "I'm not stupid," the woman scoffed and ripped Buffy's hand away, and without using barely any strength, she punched Buffy so hard she flew across the room and hit the wall behind her.

Eris gasped and took action, punching the woman in the solar plexus. She managed to get in a few hits before the woman repeated her attack that she used on Buffy, causing Eris fly and crack the wall even further. Buffy was in pain, but she could handle it, being the Slayer and all, Eris on the other hand was human, the moment she hit the wall she nearly blacked out. Black spots started dotting her vision and she could barely stand herself up, the pain started to overcome her mind which made her stagger as she tried to stand.

Buffy turned and looked at the smug woman, unsure of what to do next, "you sure about that last part?" the crazy woman asked in a taunting manner. The same thing happened to Buffy again, she went to attack the red dressed woman only to be smacked against the wall, "and another thing, I just want you to know," the woman grabbed Buffy and began to beat her up relentlessly, "this whole beat you out of life thing I'm doing is wasting valuable time I'm not going to get back", they continued to battle, Buffy got the upper hand for a few short minutes but the red woman got the upper hand back, it was as if nothing could phase her, "you know I just noticed something, you have super powers, that is so cool, can you fly?" the woman grabbed her and threw her across the room, causing her to land beside the nearly unconscious Eris.

"Jump out of the window with me!" Buffy shouted so Eris could understand her through her pained thoughts. As the Slayer grabbed the man and ran them both through the window, Eris followed shortly behind and jumped to the ground, landing on her feet before crashing to the ground and landing on her arm. She yelled out in pain but knew she needed to get up and head over to Buffy.

The man the Slayer saved had collapsed at the fence, unable to go any further as the life ebbed away from his body. With his last moments alive he began telling Buffy about this key and how she needed to protect it, the key was once energy before it was given a form and turned into something that Buffy would protect with her life.

Dawn.