“He wasn’t so tough,” said Buffy as she cleaned the blood and little bits of flesh off her hands. There was so much blood. “I don’t get what the big deal was.”
Dawn just stood there staring at the gore soaked room she found herself in.
“People were so scared of this guy they were afraid to even say his name,” said Buffy, shaking her head. “I don’t get it. I swear they must be the biggest bunch of wussies this planet has ever seen. I mean . . . Pleeeaze. I’ve killed bigger bads in my sleep. I swear at the end he looked like he was gonna cry.”
Dawn just looked horrified, looking around at the darkened room with wide eyes. It was like she didn’t even know what to say.
She finally looked over at her older sister. “Did anyone ever tell you that you have issues. Oh, my god . . . I wish I could wash out my brain. What the hell did he do that pissed you off that much . . . that you’d do . . . that . . . to him. I mean my nightmares will have nightmares.”
“He threatened me.”
“He threatened you. What did he do, try to stab you with his little stick?”
“No,” Buffy answered sheepishly. “He just . . . he tried to point it at me.”
“He pointed it at you.”
“Well I felt threatened.”
Dawn stared at her sister for a few long moments, dumbfounded. She blinked a few times and suddenly seemed to shake the thoughts away. “Buffy . . . seek help.” She unconsciously gestured emphatically with her hands. Dawn glanced back at the blood soaked room all too briefly. “I know everything we read said this Voldemort dude was a really bad guy, but that’s just disgusting. And I really don’t wanna know whatever the hell that was that is dangling from the chandelier.”
“Okay, okay . . . so I might have gone just a little over the top. I mean I was frustrated. He like, barely even put up a fight.” Buffy sighed, “It’s just I miss . . .”
Dawn let out a breath. “I know you miss him. I . . . We all thought you were dealing. It’s been a while, and England is a long way from Sunnydale. But we never would have sent you out if we thought you weren’t . . .”
“I am.” Off the look Dawn gave her she repeated, “I am.” Buffy glanced at her sister again and sighed. “I just never said that I was dealing well.”
Buffy took a few moments to wring the blood out of her hair. Raking her spread fingers back through her hair she suddenly stopped and picked a few limp little pieces of flesh from the top of her head. She looked at them, wrinkled her nose, and tossed it away. “I swear it’s going to take forever to get this guy out of my hair.”