Chapter 5 – Even Good Girls Get Punished


Sunnydale, 2000


Spike returned to the Summers’ home the next night and was surprised when Buffy opened the door and not Joyce.

“I thought you’d be out patrolling already,” he said, noticing the small bags under her eyes. “Where’s your mum?”

“She’s at the police station, filling out a missing persons form,” she answered quietly. “Usually they want people to wait a couple of days, but there’s no way Dawn would run away. Not on her own volition, at least.”

“So there hasn’t been any word on her?” he asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his duster.

“Nothing,” Buffy affirmed, looking away. “We know nothing.”

“What are the Scoobies doing?” he asked. “Are they out looking for her?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “Giles organized everyone and said he’d call if they discovered anything. I think they’ve been out all day, for that matter.”

“What about you?” he asked quietly, taking a step back when she narrowed her eyes at him. “Why aren’t you going around town, too?”

“Mom asked me to stay back in case Dawn returns, even though we both know that probably won’t happen,” Buffy replied. “What, you think I haven’t been worried? That I haven’t wanted to go out there and hunt down the sick creature who took her away from us?”

“I know,” he said, looking down. “What about Captain Cardboard? What’s he doing to help?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, sighing. “I’ve been trying to talk to him all day, but the best I’ve been able to do is leave messages on his voicemail.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have his cell phone around him,” Spike said.

“Yeah, maybe,” she murmured, shaking her head. “I just wish he was around, you know? I need all the help and support I can get. Mom and I both do.”

“We will find her, Buffy,” he replied. “She’ll be okay.”

“I want to think that, but I have a sick feeling in my stomach that I’d be lying to myself if I continued to believe that,” she said, looking at him. “Dawn’s just a young girl – she doesn’t know all of the things we do. I’ve always tried to keep her away from the slaying part of my life, thinking she’d be better off not knowing, but maybe that was a bad idea. Maybe I should’ve taught her things, taken her out once or twice on patrol-”

“You can do those things when she’s back,” he said. “Maybe I can even help you with talking to her about vampires and demons and how to respond to situations if she ever finds herself in them.”

“That would be nice.” She gave him a small smile and sighed. “It feels like a week has gone by since she disappeared. Every minute is an eternity to me.”

“I know how that feels,” he replied. “Well, I think I’ll go to the demon bars in town and see if I can dig up anything.”

“You’ll let me know if there’s any word about her?”

“You know I will,” he said, nodding. “I’ll check back in soon.”

“Be careful,” she said in the same tone she had the day before, meaning it even more than she had the previous night.

“I will,” he replied. “You, too.”

She closed the door as he turned and walked away, trying to ignore the tears in her eyes and the helpless feeling that had been a part of her for nearly twenty-four hours.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn was half-asleep when Tessa returned to the room she was being held in. Tessa walked over to her and grabbed her chin, studying her face intently and noticing the drying tear tracks on her cheeks.

“Crying won’t help you get out of here,” Tessa said, smiling. “Nothing will, Dawnie.”

“Don’t you dare call me that,” she replied in an angry tone, her voice hoarse from not drinking anything since she had been taken away.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to tell me what I can and cannot do.” Tessa let go of her chin and took a step back.

“Let me leave,” Dawn said, trying to move her arms around in an attempt to ease the ache in them. “I’m worthless to you. Why keep me here when I can’t do anything for you?”

“Because it’s so much fun to have a young girl around,” Tessa replied. “You never know when you’ll need one… or have a craving for one.”

Dawn paled at the thought of being bitten, never considering what other types of cravings Tessa could be alluding to. “Are you going to kill me?”

“Maybe,” Tessa answered. “Maybe not. I guess it depends on if you’ll cooperate or not.”

“Why would you keep me alive?” Dawn asked, knowing she was risking her life as she spoke but figuring she’d rather be dead than stay chained to a wall and in the possession of an obviously psychotic vampire. “I’m not of any use to you.”

“Maybe not to me, but there are some male vampires a couple of rooms away who have been dying for a taste,” Tessa said, smirking. “I’m afraid I’ve been keeping them away from girls lately, only giving them my cast-offs. They’ve been thirsty for some youthful, feminine blood for days. And what do you know? You’re filled with exactly what they’re looking for.” She walked to the door of the room. “In fact, I’m sure they’ll find other uses for your body… and I’ll let them.”

“What?” Dawn asked, her eyes widening as two tall, muscular male vampires walked in, heading straight for her as their faces changed, studying her hungrily through golden eyes. “Please don’t let them do this! Please let me leave!”

“Even good girls get punished sometimes,” Tessa said to herself as she closed the door, grinning when she heard Dawn’s screams and the sound of cloth ripping in the other room.

~~~~~~~~~~


London, 1880


Angelus returned to the hotel room with a blonde woman at his side, his arm wrapped around her waist as she came through the door. William stood up from his seat, putting down the book he had been reading.

“Well, you must be William,” the woman said, smiling. “Angelus has been telling me about you and your childe. I am Darla.”

“It is nice to meet you,” William said, taking her hand in his and bringing it to his lips as he kissed the top of her hand.

“And where is the young girl?” Darla asked, trying to mask the excitement in her voice as best she could.

“I am afraid she is asleep,” William answered. “She was in bed when I returned from feeding. Drusilla is with her.”

“That sounds like her,” Darla said, walking towards the bedroom and looking at the two vampires in bed. “She is a beauty, just like you said, Angelus.”

“She is a wonderful girl,” William replied.

“It will be nice to have a young girl with us,” Darla said. “You never know when you might need one.”

Tessa stirred in bed and instantly felt the soreness between her legs as she began to wake up, wondering where it had come from and frowning as she slowly opened her eyes, noticing Angelus and William in the doorway of the room with a blonde woman in between them.

“William?” Tessa asked quietly, getting his attention.

He walked to her and sat on the edge of the bed, kissing her forehead. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes,” she answered, sitting up and trying to ignore both the ache in her head and in her lower body. “I do not feel well, though.”

“Maybe you need to rest more,” Angelus suggested. “You were very tired after we played that game before.”

“We played a game?” Tessa asked, confused. “I do not remember it.”

“That is probably because you were exhausted,” he replied. “Go back to sleep.”

“Who are you, miss?” Tessa asked, turning her attention to the blonde.

“My name is Darla,” she answered, smiling warmly. “And you are Tessa?” The young vampire nodded her head. “We can talk more when you wake up later. It is best to rest when you are tired.”

“They are right,” William said. “Goodnight, poppet.”

She lay back down on her pillow and closed her eyes as William stood up and walked with Angelus and Darla into the parlor of their room.

“She is a sweet child,” Darla said, sharing a look with Angelus. “I look forward to getting to know her.”

~~~~~~~~~~


Sunnydale, 2000


As Spike walked to Buffy’s house after leaving Willy’s Bar, he tried to wrap his head around the new information he had discovered, and even though it didn’t involve Dawn, he knew Buffy would want to hear it. She needed to know.

He knocked on her door and tried to collect his thoughts as Buffy opened the door with a hopeful expression on her face. “Did you find something?”

“Yes, but it’s not what you think,” he said. “Buffy, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What?” she asked, her eyes widening in fear. “Is Dawn dead?”

“No,” he answered quickly, shaking his head to emphasize the word. “It’s not about the Nibblet.”

“Then what is it?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“I saw Riley at Willy’s a few minutes ago,” he said, his mind racing as he figured out how he wanted to tell her the news. “He was by himself at the counter, drinking, when I came in, and I saw a vampire come over to sit next to him.”

“Did he stake her?” she asked, frowning when Spike scowled.

“Have you ever implemented an ask first, stake later policy?” he asked.

“What happened, then?” she asked. “What haven’t you told me?”

“She started talking to him, and after a few minutes, I saw them get up and leave together,” he said, sighing. “I overheard her saying something about how great the effects of having vampires bites can be, and Riley said that he had been bitten a few times before and always enjoyed it.”

The color drained out of Buffy’s face as his words began to sink in, gripping the doorframe as she felt nauseous at the thought of Riley letting himself be bitten for pleasure.

“I’m sorry, luv,” Spike said. “I know things are really bad right now and that I could’ve probably waited to tell you all this after we find Dawn, but you should know about what I heard.”

“Did you follow them?” she asked. “Did you see where they went?”

“No,” he answered. “I was too busy listening to a group of vampires who were talking about a new vampire that arrived in town recently.”

“And?” Buffy asked expectantly. “Could the new vamp be who took Dawn?”

“They didn’t say anything about a girl being kidnapped,” Spike said. “All they said was that this new vampire seemed to be on a mission and was trying to gain allies in town.”

“A mission?” she asked. “To do what?”

“I didn’t catch that part,” he replied. “I came to tell you about Riley, instead.”

“That’s where he’s been, then,” she murmured, looking down at her bare feet. “He’s been with vampires the last couple of nights, hasn’t he?”

“Some people get their rocks off by being bitten,” Spike said, shrugging.

“Not normal people,” she replied, angry. “Did you know about this?”

“It’s been happening since the dawn of time,” he answered. “You’ve never heard of people seeking vampires in hopes to be bit? Not to be turned or to die, but to feel the surge of power run through them when they know that a vampire needs blood to survive? When they realize what power they have over vampires?”

Buffy stared at him for a long moment before quickly putting on shoes and moving past him, running down the porch’s stairs and the front walk, ignoring Spike as he called out her name, telling her to stop.

He watched her until she disappeared from sight, clenching his jaw and cracking his neck before he followed her, hoping that she’d realize it was time to lose Riley and that maybe he’d be dead by the time she found him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tessa stared at the young girl’s body as it hung limply from the chains fastened around her wrists, holding her to the wall.

“I thought I told you not to drain her,” she said angrily, looking at the two vampires beside her. “She wasn’t supposed to die. Not yet, at least.”

“We were hungry, and she was so sweet,” one of the vampires said, shrugging. “We couldn’t help it.”

“You two are so lucky that I don’t stake you right now,” she replied. “Now I’ll need to figure out a new plan to bring both the Slayer and William to me.” She motioned to the body. “Get her down and tell Harmony I need to speak to her.”

“Alright, boss.”

“Don’t call me that,” Tessa replied, smacking the vampire that said it before turning to look at the girl once more. “I’m sorry, Dawnie- I guess it was your time to go.”