Chapter 17

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Ben was aware that he was alive because of Buffy's wish. It was because of her interference that he had found that exorcist. It had been a difficult battle, but Glory had been defeated, he was finally free to live his own life. Ben helped repay Buffy by helping her and her friends whenever they were wounded, when they didn't want official records. He also had a theory, about whether or not it was possible to stop a person's transformation into a vampire if the process had already begun. Tonight, Buffy was going to help Ben put this theory to the test. As Best as Ben understood the process a vampire drained the human of almost all their blood, and then gave the dying human some of their blood. The demonic blood then took over the person, and they became a vampire. Ben had theorized that if they could remove the vampire blood in time, and give a transfusion of human blood to fight the vampire blood, the human might not turn into a vampire. Ben had never had the chance to put this theory into practice, but now Buffy was desperate enough to let him try, and save Dawn's soul. She called Ben and brought Dawn's body to his house. Buffy also called Xander, asked him to bring the special mirror from her house. If Dawn rose as a vampire, this mirror would confirm whether she still had a soul or not. If she cast no reflection, Willow could still restore her soul. At the moment Willow was out of town, she and her mother went on some sort of bonding trip. If necessary, Willow could restore Dawn's soul when she returned, as long as they could keep Dawn contained before then. She was chained in Ben's basement, if she woke with no soul this would only be temporary. One thing Giles couldn't understand, if Bianca and her pack wanted revenge, and didn't care about their own existence, why flee after they turned Dawn. They blamed Buffy for their grief, but most likely they blamed Kakistos as well. Perhaps their vengenace wasn't complete. That was a question for another day. Today, they had to deal with Dawn's awakening. But, as if things were too easy, another complication arose during the time they were waiting for Dawn to wake up. Angel and Spike brought an unconscious Drusilla to Buffy. Ben was hesitant to allow any of the vampires into his home.

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Spike: Where's Willow?

Buffy: With her mother, they should be back in a day or two.

Angel: We need to keep Dru contained until Willow can restore her soul.

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Ben looked at them in the special mirror that Xander brought over. Angel and Spike cast reflections, Drusilla did not. Then Ben saw something else in the mirror. Buffy saw it too, it was what she had feared. Maybe if she had gotten her to Ben faster, but that was academic now. Dawn woke up, as her reflection dissapeared.

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Dawn: Buffy, why am I chained up?

Buffy: Do you remember what happened?

Dawn: We were at the Bronze, then those vampires attacked, am I a vampire?

Buffy: Yes, but don't worry. As soon as Willow comes back she can restore your soul.

Dawn: I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Buffy: Well obviously I'm not going to let a new vampire run free. And I won't even consider the alternative.

Dawn: I'm willing to take the president's amnesty, but I do kind of like not having to deal with guilt.

Buffy: Too bad. Hungry?

Dawn: I never thought I would say this, but I could really use some blood.

Buffy: I ordered some pigs blood from Willy. It should be here soon.

Dawn: I'm sure Ben could get some human blood from the hospital.

Buffy: Probably, but it might be best to not give you an appetite for human blood.

Dawn: I already have an appetite for human blood.

Buffy: Learn to live without.

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As promised, Willy brought over pigs blood for Dawn and Drusilla. He also had some information for Buffy as well.

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Willy: You guys ever hear of the Draconian Order?

Buffy: I don't think so.

Giles: I have, they are a secret organization. They have no known ideology, but they seek to gain power by any means necessary.

Willy: That's about right. My sources in the Underground...

Giles: Underground?

Willy: Yeah, things that live under the ground. Anyway, the rumor is they're coming to town. I take it you've heard of this mystical child, the final slayer who will soon be born.

Buffy: I've heard the rumors.

Willy: I don't know who the mother is, but these guys seem to think she's in Sunnydale. Thought you'd want to know, and if they're coming I'm leaving. A few years ago this deserter came to me for help getting away. For a fee I tried to help. For whatever reason some of the higher ups didn't like him, and he fled for his life. But they found him, they let me live, but they showed me exactly what they did to this guy. This guy was no saint, but noone deserves to die like that.

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After dinner Dawn and Dru were taken to Ben's basement. As they waited for Willow to come back Drusilla and Dawn talked to each other.

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Dawn: I haven't been a vampire that long, so I haven't really done anything to feel guilty about yet. But you get your soul back, that would be a lot of guilt.

Drusilla: Yes, not looking forward to that.

Dawn: How long you been a vampire? 150 years?

Drusilla: 145 years. Why, do I look 150?

Dawn: You don't look a day over 130.

Drusilla: Thank you. We could escape, if we worked together.

Dawn: Interesting. Buffy would still try and save me, no matter what I do. But you're not guaranteed the same.

Drusilla: To avoid the guilt that Angel has, I'll take my chances.

Dawn: Fair enough. I have a little experience picking locks, and I swiped Ben's pen when he brought us down. I might be able to pick my lock and then yours.

Drusilla: Good girl, get going.

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Dawn was able to pick both locks, and they were as quiet as possible in sneaking out. It wouldn't take Buffy long to realize that they had escaped, and it was entirely possible that Willow would soon be back in town, would soon restore both of their souls. But they could enjoy a girl's night out before that came.

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Dawn and Drusilla went to a local vampire den, led by a vampire known as Whip. In a vampire den humans paid vampires to feed off of them. The humans enjoyed the rush, vampires got money and blood, and if they didn't create corpses it was less likely to attract slayers or other hunters. Whip and the others here figured that accepting amnesty would ensure their own survival, and this would still get them human blood, and money, especially now with vampires becoming trendy. Dawn and Drusilla asked Whip if they could join his "staff." Whip figured he could always use some more workers, especially with Holtz on his anti-demon rants, greater numbers could help him defend themselves against Holtz and his fanatics. But it was clear to Whip that Dawn was a new vampire, he had to watch her, make sure she didn't get carried away her first time. Dawn also speculated that Whip enjoyed watching this, but he also might be right. A teenage boy, not much older than Dawn, came and wanted to let Dawn feed off him. Dawn obliged, and began losing control, until Whip made her stop. In his line of work he had become a bit of an expert on when a new vampire was taking too much. She began feeling kind of bad about nearly killing this boy. This young thrill seeker decided he'd had enough of this kind of excitement and wanted to go home.

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Dawn: I am so sorry.

Whip: You okay Dawn?

Dawn: I nearly killed him.

Whip: That's normal for your first time. But most vampires don't feel guilty, its not our thing.

Dawn: Oh God, I think Willow restored my soul.

Whip: She's not going to try that with me, is she.

Dawn: Probably not. Okay, I haven't done anything too bad yet. But if Willow restored Dru's soul, she could be in for some bad times.

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Within a minute Dawn's reduction came true. Drusilla let out a deep cry. It was clear to Dawn that the memories of 145 years of murder and mayhem, and the corresponding guilt, all came flooding to Drusilla at once. Dawn agreed to take Dru home. She was not looking forward to Buffy and Giles scolding her for leaving like that.