Dawn's First Gleaming

INT. SUMMERS HOME - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

The room is lit with candles now.

We HEAR the ANIMALISTIC BREATHING AGAIN.

Dawn sits on the ground, calmly crushing something in a mortar and pestle.

DAWN

(to the breathing)

I hear you, filth. I know you're 

there.

(casually)

Demon filth. I will cast you out.

My mother needs to talk to me.

And she reaches into the potion and flings it off her fingers like a priest scattering holy water-

AN ANIMAL SCREAMS.

And I haven't even started to chant 

yet. I learned magicks from a kick-

ass witch.

Something unseen KNOCKS DAWN back against a wall. She recovers fast. Starts chanting:

I cast you from this place. It is 

your poison and your bane...

Dawn FLINGS more of the potion.

THE ANIMAL SCREAM SOUNDS AGAIN. A LASH, AS IF FROM A WHIP, SLASHES ACROSS DAWN'S FACE -- the flesh splits wide.

It is your nettles and your scouring 

heat. It is the blade that cuts the 

skin from your flesh...

A LOUD WIND begins, whipping Dawn's hair. The wind SCREAMS.

ALL THE PICTURES AND DECORATIONS FALL OFF THE WALLS.

ALL THE WINDOWS BLOW OUT.

Dawn is huddled in a corner. Her clothes are torn, her face and body are bloodied -- more LASH MARKS ALL OVER HER.

The wind is howling and whipping everything around the room.

She has been chanting over this noise for a long time.

DAWN

(shouting hoarsely)

I cast you out with every prayer from 

every god that walks the earth or 

crawls beneath.

She flings more potion.

ANOTHER SCREAM, MORE ANGUISHED.

Something unseen GRABS DAWN'S HEAD AND SLAMS IT BACK INTO WALL, OVER AND OVER, as she continues:

I cast you out with the strength of 

those who love me. I cast you out 

with the strength I have inside me--

DAWN SPITS BLOOD FROM HER MOUTH...

The WIND BLOWS LOUDER!

And I cast you out into the void!

And she THROWS the entire container of potion.

WE HEAR HORRIBLE DEATH NOISES.

That's right! Die, you bastard!

THE WALLS ARE SUDDENLY SPLASHED, EXLODED-ONTO WITH BLOOD, THICK CLOTS OF IT UP TO HEAD-HIGH. THEN IT VANISHES, SUCKED AWAY, AS THE DEATH-SCREAMS RATTLE AWAY TO NOTHING.

And it is QUIET. The wind has stopped. Everything stops blowing around.

Dawn, realizing she's won, collapses to the ground.

The LIGHT CHANGES... suddenly there's a golden glow. Dawn looks up, blinking into the light. We see that Dawn's wounds have healed, but her hair is tangled, her face is wet with tears and streaked with blood.

DAWN'S POV: IT'S JOYCE...

She's ethereal, glowing from the inside, translucent even. She's wearing something flowy and white.

Dawn starts to cry and shake with the relief of everything.

DAWN (cont'd)

(a whisper)

Mom.

JOYCE

Things are coming, Dawn. Listen. 

Things are on their way. I love you. 

And I love Buffy. But she will not 

be there for you.

DAWN

What? What are you--

JOYCE

There will be choosing to be done. 

And when it is very bad, Buffy will 

not choose you. She will be against 

you.

Joyce is FADING AWAY, leaving Dawn in darkness.

DAWN

No! Don't go! God! Don't go!

But Joyce is gone.

BIG WIDE SHOT OF DAWN on the ground, rumpled and tangle-haired, tear-and-blood-streaked, in the dark and devastated room - broken TV, smashed CD player, broken lamp, broken windows, and a big heap of disturbing advice.