Chapter 7

Dawn entered the house with a smile after Charles dropped her off. He was majorly sexy for a vampire. With his long, dark hair, and pale skin that basically glowed in the moonlight. He had a young face, probably turned in his early twenties. She wouldn’t hold that accent against him, either. Dawn normally cringed at the sound of it, but it wasn’t so bad coming from him. It also reminded her a bit of her mother, who was raised in England. That wasn’t a reminder she needed at the moment, it would just make her feel guiltier for leaving, even though it was the right thing to do. If her mom knew about what Dawn was now, she probably would have kicked her to the curb, anyway. Or would have believed she was possessed, and called their family priest for an exorcism. No matter how much her life may have sucked right now, there was no way she could go back to living like that. If it was possible, her mother got even worse after Buffy went missing.

“Where have you been?”

She stopped in the foyer, turning to her Watcher. “I was just out patrolling.”

He moved closer to her. “You know better than to go off by yourself. There are a lot of nasty things in this world, just waiting for a girl like you. I know you’re still new to all of this, but I’m only trying to keep you safe. I wish you would see that, Dawn. Everything I’ve done is for you, and this is the thanks I get?”

Dawn took in a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, knowing it would be worse for her if she didn’t cooperate with him. “Sorry, Ethan, it won’t happen again.”

He grinned, holding his hand out to her. “Come along, darling, it’s time for bed.”


* * * * *


“I’m telling you, mate, I got a bad vibe from that house. I don’t think Dawn is safe there.”

“Did you see anything?” Spike wondered.

Charles shook his head. “Nothing out of the ordinary, it was mostly just a feeling. All I know is that I hated leaving her there, I had her laughing at one of my jokes, but the second we reached her house, she got really quiet. Something doesn’t seem right.”

Spike gave that some consideration. “I’ll ask her about it the next time she comes over, but I don’t want you telling Buffy anything about your fears just yet. It could be nothing, and she doesn’t need to worry unless it’s completely necessary.”

Charles agreed, but there was something about this girl that was bringing out the protective side of him, and it had nothing to do with her being a Slayer.


* * * * *


“Okay, what’s wrong? You keep checking your watch every few minutes; do you have somewhere to be?”

Dawn let out the breath she’d been holding. “My Watcher is out on business, but he should be home soon. I need to get back before he does.”

Buffy raised her eyebrows. “Why? Don’t tell me you’re stuck with some stuffy prick that doesn’t even let you have a life of your own? Spike told me about the Council.”

“It’s not like that. He just worries about me.”

There was something in Dawn’s tone that told Buffy she wasn’t exactly being truthful, exchanging a glance with Spike to see that he looked just as concerned. “What’s going on, Dawny? You can tell me. I know I’m a vampire now, but I’m still your sister.”

She shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “He just likes things done a certain way, and I don’t always listen. It’s my own fault for not being the perfect Slayer.”

Buffy shook her head. “You’ve only been a Slayer for a little while. No one should expect for you to be perfect, but something more is going on here. Why won’t you look at me?”

Dawn focused back on her sister, feeling tears in her eyes. “I can’t give him a hard time or he’ll throw me out. I don’t have anywhere else to go; Ethan said I had to leave Mom because I would put her life at risk. He told me that he was the only one I could trust.”

Buffy jumped when a glass broke, turning her gaze on Spike to see the angry glint in his eyes.

“Bloody fuck, are you talking about Ethan Rayne?”

Dawn nodded, not knowing what else to say.

Spike cursed a few more times before giving the girls his full attention. “Ethan’s not a bloody Watcher, love. He used to be years ago, but they discharged him when he got wicked hooked on the black arts. They stripped him of his powers after he killed the man in charge, Quentin Travers, and Rayne swore vengeance on them, but no one’s heard of him since. The one thing he’s always wanted was to control a Slayer, and it looks like he finally got his wish.”

Dawn paled at that revelation.

Buffy stood, heading over to the door, but Spike yanked her back.

“Where are you going?”

She ripped her arm out of his grasp. “Where do you think I’m going? I’m gonna make sure that bastard never uses my sister again.”

Spike shook his head. “I know you’re upset, but you can’t go out there like this. You’re too angry, pet; anyone who even thinks of getting in your way is as good as dead. You need to calm down, and then when Charles returns, we’ll all go after him together. Your sister needs you right now.”

Buffy gazed at Dawn to see that she was close to breaking down in tears, and that was all it took for the rage to drain out of her. She hurried over to her side, taking her distraught sister in her arms. “Could we have a moment alone?” she asked Spike, relieved when he left without argument. “You’re not going back there, all right? Spike and I have an apartment not far from here; you’ll be staying with us. I won’t let that jerk anywhere near you again.”

Dawn pulled away, wiping at her eyes. “He won’t let me go.”

“Oh, we’ll see about that. I can be pretty damn persuasive.”

“There’s something else, but I don’t want you to think any less of me,” Dawn explained. “I was so scared of doing something wrong and having him kick me out in the streets, that I was determined to do anything he said. I’ve been having a hard time sleeping, and sometimes he was there. He…He would come into my room late at night. I didn’t know what to do, so I didn’t try and stop him.” The tears wouldn’t stop coming, and by the look on her sister’s face, she knew exactly what Dawn was getting at.

“Did he touch you?” Buffy asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

Dawn nodded, lowering her gaze. “He made it sound like he was protecting me. Since I’m a Slayer, I wouldn’t be able to have a normal relationship, but he wanted me to experience things that other girls did. And then one night, he told me I was ready and that he was proud of me. He…He told me to just lay there and take it, that it would all be over soon and I could finally be a woman. God, I feel so disgusted with myself. I’ve never had a Watcher before, so I didn’t know if that was how things were supposed to be, but now I know it’s not. He just wanted to use me for his own twisted revenge against the Council. That means someone else was assigned to me. I don’t even want to think about what Ethan did to whoever it was.”

Buffy was seething all during her speech, but tried to keep her temper in check. She comforted her sister some more, and then let her get some much needed rest. As soon as the sun went down, she left the mansion without alerting Spike that anything was wrong. Not only did that bastard lie to her sister about who he was, but he took her innocence as well, and that was not something she could forgive. This ended now.


* * * * *


Ethan rushed to the front door when he heard a noise, hoping Dawn had finally returned. The girl would pay dearly for making him wait around like this; it seemed she needed to be taught another lesson about respecting your elders.

When he finally reached the door, it wasn’t the person he expected. A pretty blonde was standing there, wearing barely anything, and giving him a seductive grin. “Well, what do we have here? Are you lost, love?”

“My car broke down; could I possibly use your phone?”

He licked his lips, leering at her appreciatively. “Please, come in, you can use whatever you like.”

Buffy vamped out as soon as she crossed the threshold, throwing him back against a wall. “Pathetic, any real Watcher would know not to invite a vampire into their home. A bit out of practice, aren’t you?”

Ethan glared up at her. “Stupid bitch, I’ll make you pay for that.”

“No, I don’t think you will. This is the end of the road for you, Rayne. You made one very big mistake when you decided to prey on my sister and now, all bets are off.”