Banner by Spikes Slayer2
Chapter 2
AN: I’m glad people weren’t too put off with this evil Buffy (though its going to get a bit worse before it gets better); some people even liked it, lol. I hope those who like evil Buffy won’t bail on me when she becomes good! Hehe And the next chapter (Ch3) will have torture, just a warning, and probably some non-con. So just skim that one if that squicks you.
And the first chapter and this one were short even though I usually try for longer, of course, so don’t expect them all to be that way if you like longer chapters; that was just where it seemed like a good place to stop both times.
Thank you to Zoe as usual, as well as my betas Ruth and Dreams of Spike.
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When William finally managed to claw his way out of the ground, Elizabeth was sitting on the tombstone across from him, idly checking her nails. Her eyes slowly rose to meet his and she gave a falsely sweet smile.
Finally.
The little bastard had taken forever to rise and she wasn’t exactly a very patient person. She was not used to having to wait for what she wanted.
“Good morning, little Willy,” she said as she stood up and walked over to him. “Did you enjoy the dolly I left for you?”
He glanced up at her and then away as he brushed himself off, letting his hair fall down to cover his eyes. She knelt and caught his chin to make him look at her.
Hmm, he’s almost handsome. I don’t know why I didn’t notice that the other night. It was probably the spectacles.
“What have you done to me?” he asked her, his voice cracking from the after effects of dying.
“I made you like me, obviously.” Her tone was kind, but something in it made William feel more than a little unsure about trusting it. “You are my childe now and my companion. No longer the pathetic weakling that you were before, the butt of your society’s jokes. Now, you can get your revenge and go make those same people who mocked and tormented you pay for your humiliation.”
William’s eyes widened at that, but he held his tongue. He did not particularly want to make those people pay. He just wanted to be left alone. Suddenly, he found himself wondering what exactly she meant about his being her companion.
Surely he would not be expected to...to have relations with her?
“I suppose you must be hungry, being newly risen and all,” Elizabeth said, her head tilted as she gave him a speculative gaze. She straightened and arranged her skirts before holding out a dainty hand to him. “Come. Let us go find a warm meal together. We can begin there with your lessons on being a vampire.”
William took her hand and got to his feet, brushing more dirt from himself, mostly to avoid looking at her. “By finding a warm meal, you mean for me to...attack someone?”
“Well, of course, silly!” She gave a pretty laugh that still managed to have a sinister edge to it. “Animal blood is hardly a worthy substitute for human. It tastes horrible and makes one sick to drink it. Do not worry, though, that is just the remnants of your humanity speaking; you only have to follow your natural instincts, and you will find that the kill shall not be as hard as you think. There can even be a certain measure of fun in the hunt.”
“Is that...is that what you were doing at the party last night?” William swallowed hard as he asked the question. “Hunting?”
“You think I was there because I enjoyed the company of those boorish cads?” Her voice dripped with disdain. “Though, I was hoping for some entertainment before my meal, but alas, the dinner show was lacking.”
“I was to be dinner,” William realized with quiet surprise.
“You volunteered so nicely when you walked into me on your way out the door,” she confirmed his guess with a raised brow before turning toward the exit from the graveyard, fully expecting him to follow her without question. “But luckily for you, your birthmark has destined you for greater things.”
William hurried to follow her, not because he was looking forward to harming someone, but because he was curious. “You never explained what that meant. Why is my birthmark so special?” he asked her.
“It means that you are a descendant of the human family of the Master. He was the first vampire, created just after the dawn of man. The story of his beginning has become myth by now. The Old Ones—the primordial demons that ruled this world when it was still cast into darkness—fled to the depths of the Earth when all that changed. There are places called Hellmouths, where it is still possible for them to breach the barriers into our world—and some do try, such as The First.”
Elizabeth stopped and turned back towards him as she continued, “Apparently The Master and his human family lived on one of these first Hellmouths, and somehow a demon was able to pass into the human world—and into the blood of The Master. This demon took him over, and he was consumed by an intense bloodlust, killing the other hunters who had been traveling with him and drinking their blood—sharing his own blood with a few—making them like him. As he turned others, the bloodlust eased somewhat and voila—you have the first vampires, and the founts of the major vampire bloodlines.”
“But, why am I so special just because I am related to him?” William was looking around him, a bit distracted, marveling at how everything was so different now, with his newly enhanced night vision.
“There are those who say that the descendants of the Master, if turned, will become a new breed of vampire. A better breed. I am now the Sire to a turned descendant of the Master. Do you understand now?” Elizabeth took his chin and guided his gaze back up to her.
“I understand.”
“Good. Now how about we go fill our bellies.” She linked her arm through his, so that to any passers-by, it seemed as if they were nothing more than a couple walking along the street on an evening stroll. “I should make your first time something not very challenging. A child should do.”
William was appalled at the flippant way she spoke of committing murder—and the murder of a child, no less. Still, he followed numbly, unsure of what, if anything, he could actually do about his predicament. She had said that he was a vampire now and that he would be driven by his very nature to kill—so would he not be only putting off the inevitable if he fled?
The two walked a few city blocks before Elizabeth stopped in front of a dark building. William nearly whimpered at the sign proclaiming that it was an orphanage, as he realized that she really did intend to steal him a child to kill. Before he could protest, she was forcing the front door open and slipping inside.
It wasn’t long before she returned, carrying a sleeping child in her arms. The vampire gave him a sweet smile as she held out her offering to him, unaware of his mutinous thoughts. He looked down at the little girl, shuddering at the thought of what she wanted him to do.
“No. I cannot. I cannot murder this child...or anyone.” His voice came out barely above a whisper, but she could still hear him clearly.
“Little Willy, I think you need to try harder, or Mummy will be cross with you.” Her demeanor instantly changed. Though her voice remained deceptively soft, the expression on her face was suddenly thunderous with rage. He looked up to catch her eyes and flinched at the deadly anger he saw there. “You need to get used to feeding sooner or later, so you might as well just do as I tell you and drain this child.”
“This is wrong. There has to be a way to feed without killing!”
Her demon guise slid into place and with a savage growl, Elizabeth tore into the child’s neck herself. Blood flowed freely as she looked up at him with glowing amber eyes, her mouth smeared with crimson.
“Now, she’s already dead anyway, so you might as well not let her blood go to waste. Maybe your hunger will finally get the better of you at the scent,” she sneered at him.
He had to admit, for some reason the scent tugged at him—but not enough to cause him to forget what was going on—what she had just done. “No!”
Elizabeth snarled and grabbed him by the neck, dragging him close so that she could force his face into the wound. “You. Will. Drink!”
There seemed to be some undeniable power behind her command, and all at once William found himself swallowing the thick liquid. After a few swallows, he started gagging and finally tore away from her grasp. He bent over the road, heaving, with tears streaming down his face.
The child got tossed to the side before Elizabeth yanked him back up by his hair. Her eyes searched his fearful ones, and her lips curled in disgust.
“I thought you were supposed to become a better vampire,” she said nastily. Her grip tightened until he cried out in pain. “You seem to have retained your soul, and I will not stand for a weakling of a childe! Do you hear me? We will try this hunt somewhere else, and then you will please me by feeding properly.”
“I do not want to kill. Please, do not make me.” His voice trembled in the face of her rage.
She flung him away and turned her back to scream at the sky. For a moment, he thought she was letting the issue drop, but that was only wishful thinking, for she immediately spun on him again, grabbing him by the arm and nearly tearing it from its socket as she dragged him down the road.
At a large and wealthy looking house, he was pulled inside and through the foyer, down a darkened hallway to a wooden door. Behind the door was a set of stairs that led down to the basement, and when they reached it, she once again tossed him to the ground. Looking up, William noticed with a sinking heart that there were chains attached to bolts in the wall—which she immediately used to shackle his wrists above his head.
“I suppose I shall have to do something about this soul,” she said as she walked across the dark room to pick up a dagger. “I will have to torture the thing out of you, or at least break you so completely that it does not matter whether you have one or not.”
“Please! PLEEEEEEEE!”
William’s screams filled the basement, as Elizabeth began to enact her sinister plot to do something about her unexpected problem. If she had known that turning William would be such a disappointment, she would have killed him instead—but now that she was stuck with him she would have to make the best out of what had been given to her.
There had to be a way to mould him into the perfect childe she had hoped for, a killing machine worthy of her status in vampire society.
And if there was a way, Elizabeth was determined that she would find it.