“So…where do you wanna hunt tonight?” I ask her as we wander along the road leading up to the Bronze.”
“Umm…near the old highschool?” she suggests.
“Grave yard it is.” I say just to get her all riled up. I love it when I can make her mad. It’s the power to make her feel something…anything…even if that happens to be hate. I love having some power over her, as little as it may be. Most of the time I feel I’m in her power, like she has me trapped in her spell, and there’s not a goddam thing I can do about it. I’m destined to be under her command, always wanting…always waiting for the day that it can be returned.
“My mum told me you came over today.” She attempts idle chitchat.
“Oh yeah, we watched that episode of Passions where…”
“I really don’t care.” She interrupts.
“You know, you could stand to be a little more polite.” I tell her.
“Excuse me?” she almost laughs. I hate it when she laughs at me…more like a scoff really. She thinks I’m a joke. I’ve always been a joke!
“You’re always so bloody rude!”
“I’m getting advise on my manners from a vampire? A vampire who wreaked havoc on the lives of many a civilian in his time without ever saying please?”
“Hey! What did I ever bloody do to you…I mean, aside from the ‘trying to kill you’ stuff.”
“Spike…”
“Really? Can’t we just try and be friends. Is that so much to ask?” I wait in hopeful anticipation.
“Spike, we’re mortal enemies, what makes you think that we could ever be friends?” not exactly what I’d hoped for.
“I have a chip.” I offer. I was always using that excuse. I have a chip. Truth is that the chip isn’t what is keeping me from hurting her. I never tried to kill her before I had it. I always admired her…I always lo…
“And I have a pain in my ass, namely you.” She retorts, moving closer to the crypt. My crypt.
“What are you doing lurve?” I ask.
“We’re getting some weapons.”
“Couldn’t have gotten any from your place eh?”
“We’re here aren’t we?” I follow her into my crypt, butterflies going crazy in my stomach. Butterflies aren’t something that happens very often once you’ve entered the plain of the walking dead. Vampires just don’t have much to get all tingly about! We have no fear…not much any way, and have nothing to be nervous about. And love isn’t exactly something that develops among us. We’re too filled with hate to love. Therefore we rarely find ourselves with sweaty palms and a rapidly beating heart. Yes, we do biologically lack the human heart, but that doesn’t mean we don’t feel it, beating away, blood pulsing through our veins. Ever since I started spending time with the slayer though I feel almost as I did when I was human. Sometimes I even feel, almost…innocent, as strange as it sounds.
Buffy yawns and rubs her temples with her fingers, interrupting my thoughts.
“You tired? I didn’t think it was possible for the slayer to get tired.” I say.
“It’s very possible.” She sighs, closing her eyes for a moment.
“You know, maybe we should skip the fighting of evil things for tonight, and you could get some sleep.”
“No, I’m fine, we’ll just get some weapons and…”
“Buffy.” I interrupt, turning her around to face me. She looks so worn out, so completely spent. It must be a tough job saving the world. I immediately feel horribly sympathetic towards her. Just seeing her look so unhappy and worn out is tearing at my heartstrings.
“You don’t happen to have anything to eat do you?” she sighs as she accepts my invitation to rest and takes a seat on my couch. I open the fridge to see. Blood is the real food of vampires. When you’re hungry it’s what you crave, it’s all you crave. Food does absolutely nothing for the appetite, but some of it tastes bloody well good!
“I have some fruit.” I offer. She stares at me in surprise before nodding her head. I take the platter of fruit over to her and place it on her lap. She immediately digs in. I watch her lips wrap around the grape she has in between her slender fingers and I cringe as my thoughts wander. I imagine those lips pressed against mine, those fingers roaming my body. It’s all I can do not to scream. As that thought transpires someone is reading my mind as from somewhere in the graveyard, a scream erupts.
Buffy jumps, her eyes wide. I hold myself still for a moment, praying the scream had not come from my lips. When Buffy jumps to her feat and heads for the door, I know it didn’t. I follow her to outside the crypt and another shriek is heard. This time it’s the voice of a baby. Buffy begins to run in the direction of the screams and there’s nothing I can do but follow.
As we get closer I can smell the fresh scent of blood and I know it’s too late. All that’s left to do now is kill whatever mongrel did it. Buffy stops short and I almost slam right into her. She seems to be frozen in shock so I follow her eye line, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever it is that is making her react in this way. My blood ran cold as I saw those familiar figures standing there in the dark.
“I’m back.” His cold voice echoes into the night.