Summary: Now that they’ve reached their destination, Willow’s real Training can begin, meanwhile the search for her continues.
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“Where are we?” Willow asked somewhat woozily as she sat up and
rubbed her eyes.
“We’re here luv.”
“Where, the motel?”
“Well yeah for now, but tomorrow night we’ll be moving into our new place. This is the last dank motel room, I promise.”
“I’m confused. This is where we were going? We’ve been driving for days without you telling me where to, and this is it?! We’re in the middle of nowhere!” she exclaimed
“Calm down pet. We’re just outside the city is all” he responded in a pacifying tone.
“What city?!”
“It’s Salem baby,” he said calmly, “I thought you might get a kick out of it. You know, being a witch and all.”
“Salem, Massachusetts? Wow, I didn’t realize we had gone that far,” she said a little bit stunned, “and you do know that this was where they killed witches, right? Well accused witches anyway, there probably wasn’t a real witch in the whole bunch. I can’t believe you brought me to a place of slaughter. But then again maybe that’s the sort of thing vampires find romantic…”
Spike grinned to himself as he listened to her babbling, it had been way too long since he had heard her ramble, although he suspected she did it in her head all the time by the way she would stare off into space. Dru used to do the same thing, only half the time she would be talking to Miss Edith. He loved to watch her chatter away, as long as it wasn’t about her stupid poof of a ‘Daddy’. But now he had a new princess, and he would be her daddy. He smiled again at the thought of having this rare beauty all to himself as he brought their few belongings from the car, and set about waking up the proprietor of the last crappy motel they would see for awhile.
Once in their room he went about blacking out the windows and getting rid of the phone. He no longer tried to block all routes of escape, he felt fairly certain she wouldn’t try to run, at least not with him there, but he still wasn’t ready to risk the phone. He didn’t want her to get homesick while he was sleeping and try to call her little mates.
Willow watched him as she undressed and headed into the bathroom to start the shower. They had reached an unspoken understanding about her staying with him, but obviously he still didn’t trust her. She wasn’t offended, it wasn’t really in his nature to trust, but he really didn’t need to get rid of the phone. She had no desire to call her friends.
Friends, the word just didn’t seem to fit the people she had seen at the Bronze. Maybe it did in the past, but too much had happened since then. It wasn’t like anything major had gone wrong between them, not counting the Xander kissage; it had just been lots of little things. They had made her feel like a doormat, taken her for granted, but their obvious lack of concern for her after she had been kidnapped, again, was just too much. She assumed that by now they would be looking for her, probably feeling guilty, but it was too late, the damage was done. She was tired of always having to be good and dependable. She was just plain tired of everything.
Spike had noticed her watching him, but now she was staring off into space again. She looked sad. He wondered what was going through that beautiful head of hers. He loved how smart she was, but sometimes the girl just had too many notions.
“Penny for your thoughts luv?”
“What? Oh, I’m just thinking how nice it will be to stay put for a change,” she lied.
“Uh huh. Why don’t you go hop in the shower and I’ll be in, in a minute to wash your back,” he said waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
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Later, as the sun crept higher into the sky, the pair of them lay exhausted from their coupling, with limbs intertwined. Willow watched Spike intently for any signs of life. It was fascinating to her and more than a little bit creepy how when he was sleeping he gave off no signs of life at all. He was cold to the touch, no heartbeat, no breathing, nothing more than a corpse, a corpse that she had been having sex with less than an hour before. ‘Does that make me a necrophiliac?’ she wondered.
She knew such thoughts should repulse her, but they didn’t. The breathing is what struck her the oddest, because when he was awake he did breathe, well after a fashion. She suspected it was more of an unconscious habit than anything else, since he obviously didn’t need the oxygen. Spike rolled in his sleep, grasping hold of Willow’s waist and pulling her tighter against his cold body, as if he was trying to pull her heat into himself.
“Mine.” he mumbled possessively.
She didn’t know why this one word made her so happy, but it did. She still wasn’t in love with him, in fact she wasn’t sure she even believed in such a thing as love, but she craved the attention he gave her. She liked the feeling of being possessed, even if she would never admit it. The way he hardly let her out of his sight, as if she were some treasure that he didn’t want to slip away, made her feel special. Sure she had the constant nagging of her mother’s psycho-babble in her head telling her she was falling into a classic co-dependent / abusive relationship, but she just didn’t care anymore.
She hungered for the darkness in him, ever since she had first tasted his blood. It called to her, with its power, and promise of eternity without pain or loneliness. It had become a common part of their coupling for her to bite him, unable to resist the call of his blood. While Spike on the other hand had resisted the urge to taste her even once since the first time he had bit her. She absently traced her finger across the bite mark low on her throat, near her shoulder; it was healing fast, but would undoubtedly leave an obvious scar.
Why had he not fed from her since then? Was she not tasty enough? Insecurity
flooded her mind, but she fought to push it back down. She was no longer
Willow the doormat, she didn’t need validation. She was a new Willow, full
of darkness. She was the human lover of a master vampire, and would soon
be his mate for eternity. ‘That’s right,’ she thought defiantly, ‘I’m bad
ass now!’ She giggled and then blushed at her own boldness, ‘if only Xander
and Buffy could see me now.’
“What do you mean no one’s heard anything?!” Buffy exclaimed in exasperation.
“Just that. No one’s heard anything. I’m telling you, I think we’re on the wrong track here. I’ve talked to all my contacts, and have questioned more than a dozen vamps. A few of them knew who Spike was, but no one has heard anything about him coming to town.” Angel replied with a sense of defeat.
“Well, what does that mean? If they’re not in L.A. then where did they go?”
“I’m not sure; Spike’s generally not too sneaky. He tends to get bored quickly while waiting for a plan to come together, plus he always loved to show off. I think he’ll slip up and let us know where they’re at soon enough. But for now I’m heading back to Sunnydale, it sounds like you’re going to need some help with the mayor’s ascension. I’ll leave word with my contacts to let us know if they hear anything about Willow or Spike.”
“Ok, drive safe, the sun will be up soon.” Buffy said before hanging up the phone.
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Buffy paced the tiny office where Giles spent most of his time. It was all her fault she thought. If she hadn’t been spending all her time wrapped up in her own shit, she may have noticed that Will was gone right away. But no, she was too worried about trying to patch things up with her demon lover. Now she had Angel back, but Willow was gone.
By now she was probably Spike’s undead plaything. She shivered at the thought. How could she ever forgive herself for letting this happen to her best friend? She had to find her, if it was the last thing she ever did, she would find Willow and save her, unless of course it was already too late and she had been turned. Willow would never want to go on as a vampire. If it happened, Buffy would have to kill her. She tried to shake off the dark thoughts, wiping at the tears that were coming to her eyes, and turned to focus again on the book in front of her, looking for anything related to the upcoming ascension.
As Giles entered the library, he was surprised to find his slayer still there. They had all been putting in a lot of overtime the last few days, what with Willow’s disappearance, and the possible upcoming apocalypse. Giles had tried to get the group of youngsters to ease up a little. He knew their situation was dire, but if they kept on at this pace, they would be of no use to anyone.
“Good lord Buffy, what are you still doing here? It’s almost sunrise.” Giles admonished gently.
“I couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d get my research on. This stuff always went so much faster with Will here, she always was the research girl,” she said with a slight sob, “besides Angel was checking on a new lead tonight, and I wanted to be here in case he found anything.”
“I take it by your manner, that he didn’t.”
“He said no one’s heard anything. He thinks that maybe Spike took her somewhere else entirely.” She said with defeat.
“Well, I was afraid that may have been the case. But I believe I may have come up with a different tack on all this. I’ve contacted a couple of my friends on the council, since they have a much farther reach than I do, and asked them to get word out to all the reputable magic stores in the US and England. It will take some time, perhaps several days to reach them all, but once it is done, if either Willow or Spike sets foot in one of those stores, then the proprietor is to give us a call as soon as they leave.”
“And how exactly is that supposed to help? I mean first of all, we’re supposed to rely on the same council that nearly got me killed, to put this plan into action. Then assuming they do follow through with their part, we’re supposed to just sit around and wait for someone to spot her, assuming she or Spike gets the bug to go shopping! Giles, what kind of plan is that?!”
“Right now it’s the best one I can come up with. Now I know you’re upset, but just try to think about it logically, Spike took Willow for a reason…”
“Yeah and that reason was to hurt me and Angel, so he’s already succeeded.” Buffy interrupted.
“On the contrary, I believe that if all Spike wanted was to hurt you, he could have best accomplished this by killing her outright and leaving the body for you to find. But if Angel is right and he is actually looking for someone to replace Drusilla, then I think his reasons probably ran deeper. For example, she is quite beautiful, and as you already pointed out, he knew it would cause you pain to take her. But Willow also has many talents that would be of great benefit to him later on and would also add to his status as a vampire; such as her remarkable intelligence, her ability with computers, and her growing talent with witchcraft. It would be in his best interest to nurture that talent, and to do so he would need to get her books and supplies.”
“But we can’t just wait around hoping to hear something! By the time we do, it’ll probably be too late!”
“Buffy, I know you’re upset, but this wasn’t your fault, and at this point, until we hear something, the only thing we can do is wait. You need to stop being so hard on yourself and get some rest. You will need all your strength for the upcoming ascension, plus if we do hear something about Willow, you’re going to need a clear head. Now I absolutely insist you go home and get some rest.”
He raised his hand to silence her as she opened her mouth to protest.
Then grabbing her coat whisked her out the door to give her a lift home.
“Evening luv, did you sleep well?” Spike asked, noticing the bags under Willow’s eyes.
“Enough,” she yawned, “So when do we leave? I’m ready to be done with the whole motel thing.”
“Well, first I have to get a few things in order, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to stay here for now.”
“What do you mean? What kind of things?”
“Well, first I have to find us a decent place to stay, and then do a little shopping.”
“Well, maybe I can help. Buffy always took me shopping with her ‘cause I could always hunt out the best bargains.” She offered, not wanting to be left behind.
“I’m sure you’re a great help baby, but I’m going shopping for minions, and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt. But don’t worry, if all goes well, I should be back long before dawn.” He said, brushing her hair behind her ear and lightly tracing the bite mark on her neck, causing her to shiver.
“What do you mean ‘shopping for minions’?”
“Well, you didn’t think I was going to do everything for myself, did you? I need a few vamps to help me run things,” he answered with a sly smile.
“But they’re not going to be staying with us right?” Willow was getting scared again. She had resigned herself to being Spike mate, and was even coping quite well with her impending death, but she couldn’t stomach the thought of any other vampires touching her.
“No worries luv, I promise they won’t be allowed to lay a single digit on you. I’m not the sharing type. And if any of them so much as gives you a sidelong glance, I’ll tear their throat out, I swear.” He said seriously, responding to her obvious apprehension.
“Alright, but no pretty girls,” she said teasingly trying to cover her remaining uneasiness, “I hate competition.”
“As if anyone could compete with you,” he said whisking her off the bed and into his strong embrace before setting her back down again and giving her a gentle shove toward the bathroom, “Now go do whatever you need to while I run to the vending machine to get you some food. Oh, and keep in mind that the chains won’t be long enough to reach the bathroom, and it may be awhile before I’m back, so shower or whatever now.”
“What?!” Willow asked, frozen in place, “Chains?!”
“Well, I can’t exactly leave you running loose now can I? I mean up till now we haven’t needed them, but I’m not about to leave you alone all night without a little security.” He said matter-of-factly, pulling a set of shackles out of their bag.
“You don’t trust me.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“It’s a little soon for that pet. Besides, you might as well start getting used to them now, before long you’ll be begging me to chain you up, I promise.” He replied with a devilish grin.
“And I suppose you’re going to gag me to.”
“Wasn’t planning on it. You won’t be able to go anywhere, and if you call for help, I’ll be forced to kill anyone who gets involved. But if you would like a gag, I’d be happy to accommodate.” He said giving her a pointed stare to be sure she hadn’t missed his obvious threat.
“Fine, but I better be able to still use the remote.” She said coldly and with that she stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
There was that fire again! He was so looking forward to getting them into their new home where he could start teaching her all the subtleties of pleasure and pain, but first he had a lot of work to do, and people to kill.
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First task was to find a suitable place to live. He drove through town and headed for the harbor, wanting a place that overlooked the water. It wasn’t long before he found the perfect house, set away from everything else. Secluded was always good, and it was large enough to easily house him and Red, plus a half dozen minions, comfortably. It was old and beautiful with a wrap around porch, shutters on most of the windows, a nice sized garden, and a view of the harbor through bay windows that he assumed went to the living room. Willow would love it.
Fortunately, the owner, a middle-aged man who looked like he had just walked out of a GQ magazine, saw Spike prowling around the outside of the house and came out to confront him. Spike smirked to himself. This was going to be too easy.
“Can I help you with something?” the man asked with false confidence.
“Yes, I was wondering, do you rent this place or own it?” Spike asked casually.
“We own it.” the man quipped.
“You and your family?”
“My wife and I, Yes. What do you want?” the man was clearly losing his patience.
“And is your wife at home?” Spike was trying not to jump the gun. His instinct was to kill this moron from the beginning, but if there were others who lived there, then it would be more difficult to get in the house without an invite, especially if they called the police. He cursed the day 911 was invented.
“Why do you ask?” the man inquired, starting to back up, clearly sensing now that he was in danger.
Spike sprung into action before the man could run or cry out. He grabbed him quickly, and with his hand over Mr. GQ’s mouth he broke his neck with a good jerk and dropped his limp form to the ground. Yes, a secluded home was definitely a plus, he had just killed this guy practically on the front lawn, and no one had seen a thing. He drug the body around to some bushes toward the back, and dumped it out of sight. He would have to do something with it before he left, but first he needed to take care of the wife.
He bounded up the front steps, and gave a good knock on the door. He hoped the lady of the house was actually home; otherwise he would have to come back later, which could be risky if she were to get worried about her absent husband and call the police. But he was in luck, because a moment later a blonde woman peeked out the curtains, before opening the door and staring at him suspiciously through the screen. Her hair was wet and she had one hand clasping her bathrobe tightly closed, while the other firmly held the screen door handle in case this potentially dangerous man decided to burst in on her.
“Good evening,” Spike started smoothly, “I was hoping you could help me. My car broke down, and I can’t seem to get a signal with my cell phone. Would it be possible for me to use your phone to call my auto club?” he finished with his most charming smile.
“Um, my husband seems to have stepped out, so you can’t come in, but I suppose it would be ok for you to use the phone out there.” She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to help this man at all. At first glance she thought he was nothing more than a criminal, but there was something about him. Maybe it was his sexy British accent, or the way he looked at her, but before she knew it she had opened the door and reached across the threshold to hand him the phone.
“That was a mistake luv.” He said grabbing her wrist instead and jerking her outside. He drained her almost dry before biting into his wrist and feeding her a few drops of his blood. Then as her last breath escaped her lips, Spike tossed her body over his shoulder and carried her inside his new home.
The inside was as nice as he had expected. Taking a quick look around, he counted five bedrooms, with the master bedroom on the second floor. It was perfect with a king sized bed and a master bath attached. There were two more, smaller, bedrooms on this floor and then another two on the main floor and fortunately all had shutters on the windows.
There was also a good sized kitchen, dining room, and living room, once again with shutters on most of the windows, the exception being the large bay window in the living room and the heavy curtains around it could easily block out the sun. It was almost as if the place was made for vampires. Plus, while looking around he was pleased to find a door to the basement, through which he tossed the bodies of the former Mr. and Mrs. GQ. Definitely the place for storing bodies, and it was even large enough for a training area and a torture area. It was obvious that he and Red would need to redecorate, but otherwise he was quite pleased with their new place.
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His next stop was at a bar down town. He had driven around until he had spotted one of the seedier places and then stood outside smoking while he watched drunks filing in and out. He wanted guys that were good sized and not too bright looking, plus he wanted them ugly, not that he was insecure, but he didn’t want Willow getting any ideas about any other vamps.
Periodically he would spot someone who was alone, that looked like what he wanted and he would drag them off down the alley before they could make it inside. After he had gotten four good soon-to-be minions, he drove them back to the house and tossed their bodies downstairs with the others. Then he headed back to the motel to collect his princess.
On the way back he started to get a stomach ache, he had eaten too many people for one night, and it had left him feeling a bit sick. ‘I’ve got to be careful, or I’ll lose my girlish figure’ he thought, rubbing his slightly distended belly, but it was worth it for his Red. She would appreciate the sacrifice he had made in having to feed from all those filthy biker types. Not even the chit back at the house had made a decent meal, she was much too old, and tasted funny. After he ate her he had felt a bit numb and wondered if she had had any botox injected recently. ‘Well at least I won’t wrinkle’, he thought with a smirk, wishing he had room left to eat a fresh young girl to get the awful taste out of his mouth.
He sighed, thinking about how many things he had put himself through over the years in the name of love. The countless tea parties, being forced to play with dolls, putting up with that bastard Angelus, not to mention that bitch Darla. Willow was worth this much and more. He couldn’t wait to show her the house, and became giddy thinking about how happy she would be to see him, but upon arrival he found Willow watching some infomercial and wearing a deep scowl. The minute he walked in the door she started in on him with her seething anger.
“Unchain me right now! I have to pee!” she hollered at him.
“Easy there pet, don’t forget who you’re talking to.” He warned as he undid her bindings. He could tolerate a lot of things, but ingratitude wasn’t one of them.
“I know who I’m talking to,” she spat back as she headed to the bathroom, “You’re the one who chained me up and left me for six hours with nothing to watch but infomercials!”
As she came back out again she was taken by surprise when Spike backhanded her across the face, sending her flying. She landed in a heap on the floor several feet away, and didn’t move for some time. She was in shock, she had forgotten who she was talking to, Spike was a killer, why wouldn’t he do something to hurt her. She had done such a good job of becoming numb to the notion of death that she had already forgotten about the possibility of pain.
Yet it was her pride that had been hurt more than anything. Growing up on the hellmouth she was accustomed to getting knocked about now and then, but this was different, she was the new Willow, stronger, darker. She hadn’t expected to go from doormat to punching bag. Spike was the one who had freed her to be who she wanted and now she realized that she had been duped. Sure he wanted her to be her own woman, so long as that woman was subservient to him. She felt betrayed, and stupid for believing that he had ever even cared about her in the first place.
Spike watched her reaction to his ‘discipline’, and became a little worried when she didn’t move right away. He hadn’t meant to hit her so hard, but he was nauseous and grumpy from overeating. Plus he was always forgetting how delicate humans really were. He wished he could take it back and then became angry again at himself for being soft. He was the master, and the sooner she learned that the better off she would be, but the demon in him was hoping she didn’t learn too quickly because he was looking forward to a little torture.
Still, it wasn’t the time for lessons in pain, she needed to be worked up to that level and right now he needed to hurry and get them to their new home, so maybe it was time for a little soothing.
“Willow baby I’m sorry,” he said softly as he crossed the room to help her to her feet, “I know my temper can get the better of me sometimes, but you need to learn that I’m the master here, and you must show me respect. If I let you talk to me that way in front of my minions without severe punishment, they would see me as weak and try to dust me, not to mention making you into a snack or worse.”
He hoped she would understand his excuse; there was so much about vampire culture that she still needed to learn. He tried to get her to look at him, but she pulled away. He sighed and grabbed her a little more forcefully, lifting her chin so he could see her face. A large bruise was quickly forming across her left cheek, and there was a trickle of blood running down her chin from where her lip had been slightly split. He leaned closer and licked the blood from her chin, causing her to shudder, before kissing her hard. She tried again to pull away as he forced his tongue into her mouth, but Spike tangled his hand in her hair, holding her firmly in place.
Her jaw ached from the impact of the blow and her lip burned with the raw pain of an open wound. Willow pounded on his chest with her tiny fists, but if anything it seemed to turn him on more, until finally she just broke down sobbing. She hated him, but she wanted him. He made her feel powerful and helpless all at the same time, and the wear and tear on her sanity was becoming too much. She collapsed in his arms, unable to do anything more.
Spike felt her go limp in his arms and simply scooped her up, carrying
her out to the car. He knew she was having a hard time knowing how to feel
or what to do, that was the whole point, to break her down, to make her
question everything but his love for her. Looking down at her small frame,
wracked with sobs, he felt a little guilty, but he tried to shake it off.
He may have gone easy on her up till now, but now that they were settled,
it was time to start teaching her properly. Tonight however, he would hold
off. All he wanted to do was get her into that big bed and shag her senseless.
Angel arrived back at the mansion moments before dawn. He was at a loss as to what to do. He knew that Willow’s disappearance was tearing Buffy apart, not to mention that annoying twit Xander. Giles at least seemed to be holding it together, but he had been looking rather tired lately. What had surprised him was how hard Oz had taken the news.
After the whole incident with Xander, Oz had dropped Willow like a hot potato and found a string of groupies to keep his mind off her, but the moment he heard she was missing, he had become obsessed with finding her. Buffy had found him several times in the cemeteries the last few days while on patrol, trying to track down any demons or vampires that may have had any new information. Angel was worried about what would happen at the next full moon. Willow had always managed to keep Oz calm, but since they had broken up it had gotten worse, probably the stress. Last month he had almost broken out of the book cage, and now with Willow gone, maybe it was time to look for a sturdier place to lock him up. He would have to remember to talk to Buffy and Giles about it.
Angel opened his refrigerator and looked at the bags of blood within before closing it again. He wasn’t hungry. In fact he had barely slept or eaten over the last three days. He knew Buffy blamed herself for what was happening, but really it was his fault. He was the one who had turned Drusilla, tortured her and twisted her into a creature more loyal than a dog and more brutal than a pack of hyenas. If he had let her be last year when he had lost his soul again, maybe none of this would have happened. After all, Spike wouldn’t have come for Willow if Dru had never left him in the first place. The boy always did need someone to ‘look after’. Actually, if he was to be completely honest with himself, he had created Spike as well.
The poor pathetic poet didn’t stand a chance against Dru, but when he found the two of them in the alley that night, he had stopped her from feeding William her blood. He knew that in those days he was often ruled more by superstition than logic, but even as Angelus, he was a little afraid of what type of vampire Drusilla would sire. Of course Dru began to wine and cry about wanting a brother to play with and how the stars had said he would make a great knight. So, in the end he had finished the job of turning him just to shut her up.
At the time he had thought it was a good idea. He had fed the boy enough of his blood to make him a strong vampire, not some mere minion. He had wanted someone to help care for Drusilla, and in truth Spike took great care of the beautiful lunatic, in fact he was often the only one who could calm her during one of her fits. Angelus also took great pleasure in teaching the boy the finer points of torture.
However, while a very adept pupil at learning to inflict pain, Spike always had a problem with not wanting to hurt Drusilla. During his days as Angelus he loved to make Spike watch as he would torture Dru for hours. Angel cringed just thinking about it. Spike would try to look away, once he had even tried to stop him, but it was hopeless, he just couldn’t understand that no matter how brutal he was to Dru, she loved him even more for it. Of course he would take great delight in pointing out to the boy how soft he was, and Spike would in turn take on whole mobs, sometimes slaughtering half a village in one night to prove he wasn’t. Spike never could stomach being thought of as weak, and countless people lost their lives proving this point.
Of course then Angel had gotten his soul back and lost track of the
two of them for nearly a century. He knew Spike had had plenty of time
to perfect his torture techniques; he had to of if he was to keep Drusilla
happy. Still, when he lost his soul temporarily the year before, Dru had
come back to him like he hadn’t been gone a day. Spike was beyond jealous,
it tore him up inside and Angelus had delighted in watching him seethe.
Now it was apparently time for payback. It was no accident that he had
taken Willow, Spike knew she was the one who had returned Angel’s soul
to him. Angel owed her everything, and he would do anything he could to
help her; he just hoped it wasn’t already too late.
Spike carried Willow’s shaking body over the threshold, into their new home. This wasn’t how he wanted it to be, he wanted her to be happy. The whole way over, she wouldn’t even look at him. He let out a heavy sigh, he knew at some point it would get like this. She had to be taught what it meant to be mated to a master vampire. There were certain etiquettes to be upheld.
Then he thought of Darla and how she had betrayed the Master to be with Angelus, so much for etiquette. Well, he was not going to have that problem with Red. She would be loyal, like Dru was to Angelus. He just had to be strong. Things may have been exceptionally pleasant up till now, but he knew it was going to be a bit rough once they arrived. It would all be worth it in the end. Surely she would come to understand that, he hoped.
As these thoughts ran through his head, he carried his new princess up to the master bedroom, and laid her on the bed. He then went about blacking out the windows. He would have to start taking extra precautions again for awhile, he didn’t want her trying to escape, or maybe trying to stake him while he was sleeping. He removed anything he thought was potentially dangerous from the room, before going into the bathroom to run a bath in the enormous Jacuzzi style tub, noticing as he went about his business, the odd way Willow was staring at him from where she was laying.
Willow’s mind was still reeling in confusion. She felt lost, and wanted to run. Maybe she should, maybe she should just make a mad dash for the door right now. But Spike would probably just hit her again, although maybe that’s what he had planned for her anyway, so what would be the harm in trying right? No, it would be better to wait until he was asleep, then she would have a better chance. As she was making up her mind Spike came back into the room.
“The bath’s ready, get undressed and come on.” He said, but Willow continued to lay there as if she hadn’t heard him. Spike growled, somewhat frustrated, before heading over to get her. He roughly stripped off her clothes and carried her into the bath.
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While their previous experiences with bathing had been generally pleasant, this one certainly was not. Her refusal to communicate with him, or even follow simple instructions was thoroughly pissing him off. He was her master, and she should behave accordingly. As he thought about this he scrubbed her skin harshly as if he could wash away her defiance, making her wince and try to pull away, but he held her tightly in place.
She wanted to cry or scream, but was determined not to give him the satisfaction, it was obvious her zombie routine was getting to him; she just needed to keep her anger under control. But just as she thought this he dumped a pitcher of ice cold water over her head, causing her to let out a startled shriek.
“You bastard!” she yelled, slapping him hard across the face.
“Oh, baby wants to play, does she? Alright let’s play.”
As he said this he got a crazed evil look in his eyes, sending a jolt of terror through Willow before he hauled her out of the tub by the hair, and headed back to the bedroom. He threw her roughly on the bed, and loomed over her as she cowered before him. He grabbed her roughly and kissed her hard, forcing his tongue into her mouth and causing her lip to start bleeding again as he covered her body with his own. His intentions were clear, but Willow was determined however to fight back.
She was no longer the mousy computer geek who needed a slayer to protect her. If he was going to hurt her, she was going to hurt him back. She reached her hand up and clawed at his eyes as hard as she could, leaving four bloody trails across his face. But Spike barely flinched, in fact he pulled his head back and smiled cruelly before reaching down to force her legs open. However, before he got the chance, she brought her knee up into his balls full force.
Spike howled in pain, and curled into the fetal position, giving Willow a chance to make a break for it. She ran from the bedroom, stark naked, and headed for the stairs. She had just made it to the dining room when she heard Spike leave the bedroom to chase after her, swearing loudly as he went. In her panic she looked back toward the stairs, not seeing the fledgling vampire standing just inside the living room, until she ran headlong into him.
The newly risen vamp couldn’t believe his luck. He was just thinking how much he wanted a pretty young girl to eat, and just then a cute, naked, little redhead threw herself into his arms. But just as he was going to feed, she let out a blood curdling scream, and the vamp that had sired him, game face on and also naked, came hurtling through the doorway straight at them. The fledgling just had time to think about what a strange way this was to wake up, when Spike grabbed a decorative piece of drift wood from the coffee table and shoved it through his chest. Willow fell to the floor, covered in dust, and began sobbing again.
“Willow, baby are you ok?! Did that bastard hurt you?!” he asked, frantically checking her for injuries.
“What do you care?” she replied coldly, shoving him away, “Afraid he would kill me and spoil all the fun of you getting to torture me?”
“No,” he said tensely, “I didn’t want him to hurt you.”
“Of course, you want that pleasure all to yourself.”
“As a matter of fact pet, I do.” He said, his anger returning somewhat, “But right now I’m tired so I think it would be best if we just went to bed.”
“Whatever.” She said in disgust, heading up the stairs. She knew there was no point trying to run with him standing right there, plus she didn’t know how many of his minions might be lurking about. As they got back to their room she headed into the bathroom, telling him she wanted to wash the dust off her, before shutting the door.
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Once she was alone she sat on the edge of the tub, running a damp cloth over her body, trying to wipe away how dirty she felt. If it had only been vamp dust she would have been fine, but she felt dirty inside and didn’t know how to wash it away.
She took a few deep breaths and tried to get her shaking under control. She was determined not to cry. She was tired of all her own sobbing and carrying on, she needed to be strong. Alright, she thought, Spike wants to torture me, ‘train’ me, but not kill me, well not yet anyway. He also doesn’t want anyone else to hurt me, how chivalrous. Ok, so until he’s ready to turn me, my life must be worth something. This gave her an idea, ‘what the heck’, she thought, ‘it’s not like I have anything to lose anyway’. She took another deep breath, and headed back out into the bedroom.
“We need to talk,” she began mustering up all her courage.
“I’m tired, we’ll talk tomorrow.” Spike relied, already not liking the direction this was going.
“I know you want to hurt me, it’s obvious you get off on it,” she continued as if she hadn’t heard him, “…and maybe after I’m turned I’ll like it too, but for now I don’t.” She gave him a hard look before continuing.
“I know I’m not strong enough to fight you, and I’m sure you’ve probably come up with a hundred ways to keep me from running by now, but you still don’t control me.”
“I do now pet,” he started, but she didn’t let him finish.
“Actually, you don’t. You see, it’s true I can’t fight or run. But if you ever try to rape me, or beat me again, I’ll kill myself, and then you wouldn’t have your little prize anymore.” She said with deadly calm.
“You’re bluffing,” he responded somewhat uncomfortably.
“Try me.”
“Well then,” he said standing and walking towards her, “maybe I should just kill you myself now and be done with all this.” He threatened, trying to gauge how serious she was.
“Either way I would be free of you.” She replied, not backing down.
“So let me get this straight,” he said, gently running his hand across the bruise on her cheek causing her to flinch slightly, “If I do any thing to hurt you, you’ll kill yourself.” She nodded solemnly. “But what if you want me to hurt you?” he asked, now running his hand across the bite mark at the base of her throat.
A shiver ran through her, and damn it all if he wasn’t turning her on! What was wrong with her?! She hated him. All night she had wanted nothing more than to shove something pointy and wooden through his heart, and all he had to do was run his hand over her neck, and she was losing all her resolve. She swallowed hard and tried to regain her composure.
“Well then, that’s different I guess.” She said trying not to look at his mouth, but choosing to look instead at the long scratches across his face that had already begun to heal.
“Alright then,” he breathed in her ear, “I agree to your terms. I swear not to lay an unwanted hand on you, for now.”
And with that he turned and got back into bed, switching off the light as he went. Willow stood there for minute, unsure what to do. Had she won that one? She didn’t know, but felt pretty confident that it wasn’t quite over yet. ‘Oh well’, she thought, she could see light creeping under the bedroom door and knew dawn had arrived. She was exhausted. She would worry about her fate later, for now she needed sleep. But as she climbed into bed with her enemy lover, a horrifying thought stuck her.
“Um, Spike?”
“Yes luv?” he answered without opening his eyes.
“I don’t have to worry about any of your new bitey friends coming in here while were sleeping, do I?”
He rolled towards her, and brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. “Nah pet, that one was just an early riser. Chances are the rest of them won’t be up until tomorrow night at the earliest. And even if one did wander in here, you’re perfectly safe with me. So go to sleep now baby.”
‘Yeah,’ she thought, ‘perfectly safe’, about as safe as a baby in a nest of rattlesnakes.