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| Longer, Then Forever - Chapter 16 by Demonica Mills (22 Reviews) | | - abc + + |  | | | 
Chapter 16
She was standing in a circle of mirrors. Every mirror showed a reflection that was hers but not hers at the same time. Dawn spun around watching the reflections mimic her.
“What’s going on?”
The question echoed around her.
“Where am I?”
Nothing but the echo.
The true image of her was not mirroring her movements like it should have, but stared straight at her.
“Who are you?” Dawn asked.
“I am you. We are all you.” The mirror replied, its voice multiple layers of male echoes over her own timbre.
“I don’t understand.”
“We are the essence of the Key. We are you. You are us. We are one.”
“Why am I here?”
“To explain. Time grows short for your current vessel. We have all been vessels for the Key. When our time ends, we join the essence of the Key. As the Key, we are immortal. We protect this realm.”
Dawn took a step forward and faltered. “I thought the Key was evil.”
The images around her hissed. “The Key is neither evil nor good. The Key is an essence. An essence may not choose sides. An essence is chosen.”
“But, but who chooses?”
“The protectors. For longer then a millennia the Key has been protected by an order of monks. Their time is at an end. The new protectors have been chosen, but have not accepted their calling.”
Dawn licked her lips. “What does that mean?”
“It means the Key is vulnerable. You are the current vessel. You must protect the Key from those that would seek to use our power to do harm.”
“Why me? I just want to be normal!” Dawn shouted.
“You are not normal. You were created as a vessel for the Key. This is your destiny. You have no other.” The reflections disappeared leaving Dawn in an empty room.
“Wait! Come back!” Dawn spun around only to find her normal reflection staring back at her. “Please! Come back!”
“Dawn! Wake up, you’re totally creeping me out!”
Dawn sat up with a start and banged her forehead into Brianna. “OW!”
“Dude, what was that about?” Brianna asked, rubbing her head.
Dawn tucked some hair behind her ear. “N-nothing, bad dream.”
XXX
The scent stopped. Spike growled in frustration and tried to trace Dawn’s scent back and pick it up again, but it didn’t work.
“What’s wrong?” Buffy asked.
“Her scent, it just stops.”
“What do you mean? How does a scent suddenly stop?”
Spike spun on his heel to face her, his hand running through his hair. “It doesn’t. A scent may fade or-or trail off, but it doesn’t just end. It’s like bloody aliens just zapped her right from the spot.”
Buffy looked around thoughtfully. She paused when she noticed an apartment complex half a block away from them. “Spike, could Dawn have gone over there?” She pointed at the buildings.
His glance followed her finger. “Possibly…or she could have been beamed to bleedin’ Mars. The scent isn’t anywhere.”
Buffy reached out and took his hand. “Let’s go check it out.”
The moment that Buffy’s hand touched his, Spike picked up Dawn’s scent again. “Wait, scent’s back.” He paused and sniffed the air. “Yer right. She’s over there. Probably in one of those flats.”
In synchronized movements, Spike and Buffy headed toward the apartments.
XXX
“Okay, here’s what I’ve got. In the past several months three girls from Dawn’s class have gone missing; Lindsey Brown, Diana Laudner, and Brianna Taylor.” Xander threw the pad of paper on the research table.
Willow stretched across the table to reach the notebook. She studied it for a moment. “Oh my goddess!” Willow’s eyes opened wide and she leaned over to Giles. “Look! Look at the date that girl went missing.”
“Good lord,” Giles muttered. “Xander, have you called this girl’s parents?”
“Huh? Which one?”
“Xander,” Willow said, exasperated. “Did you not notice anything coincidental about the date that Brianna Taylor went missing? Like, say, it was the date that Buffy jumped into the portal?!”
XXX
Dawn curled up on the bed. She was hot and cold all at the same time. “I think I have the flu,” Dawn muttered.
“Do you?” Brianna asked.
“I don’t know. Can-can you call my sister?”
“Now, why ever would you want me to call your sister?” Brianna asked, coming to kneel on the bed beside Dawn. “You told me yourself that she doesn’t really care about you.” Brianna smoothed Dawn’s hair away from her face. “She’s not even really your sister, is she?”
“What are you talking about? Of course, she’s my sister.” Dawn’s eyes started to droop.
“Aw, you look tired. Are you tired, Dawnie?”
“Why…why are you…talking…funny? What’s…going…” Dawn trailed off, fast asleep.
Brianna continued stroking her hair. “Aw, poor little Key. All tired out.”
A noise outside caught her attention and Brianna looked out the window. “Oh dear, our company has arrived to soon, little Key. I think we should go now.”
XXX
“She’s in there,” Spike said, pointing to the apartment in front of them. “Do we knock or just go in?”
“We go in,” Buffy said.
“A’ight, let’s go.” Spike kicked the front door in. “Knock, knock, anybody home?”
Buffy walked in the apartment and look around. “She’s not here anymore.” She turned to look at Spike who still stood just outside the door.
“How do you know, luv?”
Buffy rubbed her arms and walked through the empty apartment. The place was dirty as though no one had lived between its walls for a long time. “I don’t know. I just do. Can’t you feel it?”
Spike rubbed his chest absent-mindedly. “She was here though. Recently.”
“But not now.”
“No, luv. Not now.”
XXX
Giles rubbed his eyes tiredly as he watched Brother John finish off the salad that Tara had prepared for him.
“So, tell us about the white vampire,” Giles said as Brother John pushed his bowl away.
“For a millennium, my order has watched over the Key. We have carefully guarded it against good and evil-“
“Why guard it from good?” Willow interrupted. “Why not let the good side use it to fight the evil side?”
“Because the Key is too powerful for either side. Someone might think they are using the Key for good, but it will not remain so. The power would consume them. It is inevitable. It is the same reason that there is only ever one Slayer. Too many Slayers would upset the balance of the Universe,” Brother John explained.
“How do you know about Slayers?” Giles asked.
“Our order was there when the Slayer was created.”
“You know how the Slayer was created?!” Giles exclaimed.
“Yes,” Brother John hesitated. “I am not sure what you want me to tell you. Do you wish to hear about the Key, the Slayer, or the White Vampire?”
“Can’t you tell us about all of them?” Willow asked.
“Perhaps you should start at the beginning,” Giles said.
“There is no time,” Brother John insisted. “The Key is dying and she will take its essence if we do not stop her.”
“She? She who?” Willow asked.
“You guys are not going to believe this,” Xander said walking into the room. “That Brianna girl…she vanished into thin air. Her parents can’t explain it. They said that one minute they were in the car driving home; a dog ran in the street, the father swerved and hit a tree. When the police arrived, the parents were the only ones in the car. Time of disappearance was the exact time that Buffy closed the portal.”
XXX
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