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I smell fear.

It warms my dead heart and makes it sing. I can feel it as I stare out of the window and into the night.

The door to the dining room opens and Dru, my dark princess, comes in dragging a body. She walks past the big dining table and enters the living room. The skirts of her black and red gown make that familiar swishing sound that I love so dearly. But of course I had caught her sweet scent long before she arrived at the door.

"Dru? What's that?" I ask as I sit down on a comfortable armchair.

She seems to like my question and smiles secretly.

"The moon sang to me and told me my lovely Spike deserved a present." she coos in her soft and melodious voice. She steps aside and I finally get a good look at my gift.

It's a young girl, not much older than seventeen. Her hands and feet are tied and a silk scarf is gagging her. She is trembling and I can see tears rolling down her cheeks.

Dru's smile widens at the girl's distressed whimpers. She tilts her head and licks her lips, also sensing the fear emanating from the young red-head lying on the floor. Suddenly she snaps out of her reverie and starts to walk away.

"Where are you going, pet?"

She turns around with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I'm having a tea party with Miss Edith. You are also invited, but only after you open your present."

"Whatever you say, Dru. Anything for my princess."

She grins happily and exits, closing the door behind her and leaving me alone with the girl, a thing she had never done before. A lot of times Dru and I have sex with the girls she brings home and then we drink their blood, but never has she left me alone with one of them. Must be why she was calling her a 'present'. She's mine to enjoy.

I study her face. Her skin resembles the whitest and most expensive porcelain in the world, and I begin to wonder if it is as smooth as it seems. I get up from my chair and walk over to her, and can't help but smirk a little at her reaction. She trembles even more and her bright green eyes fill with dread.

Does she think I'm going to kill her? Or worse, that I'm going to ravish her?

"You're very pretty, like a precious gem." I say calmly as I stare down at her. "It's a real shame to see such a beautiful creature in this state." I take off her gag and she gasps for air. Then she looks at me imploringly, more tears falling from her eyes.

"Please, let me go." she whispers.

I crouch in front of her to inspect her alabaster neck and I am glad to find no puncture wounds. Dru gave me an untouched one. Pure. Untainted. An innocent.

Her white dress strengthens that idea. She is the innocent, the lamb living in a world infested with wolves, the one who is forced to pay for the faults of others.

I am so close to her that I can hear her heartbeat ringing in my ears, I can feel her blood running through her veins. The sound of her pulse is so delightful it's addictive.

"I won't hurt you." I tell her and take a dagger from the inside of my coat to free her.

"No! Don't kill me! Please, I beg you!" she pleads, thinking I'm going to stab her.

"I'm a good soul." One of my fingers gingerly traces the outline of her lips and then I cut her ropes. Her emerald eyes stare into my azure ones but she looks too afraid to even speak. I guess I'll have to do it. "Run."

"W-what?" she blinks.

"Run!"

She doesn't wait any longer, picking up her skirts and fleeing to the door. Just as she is turning the doorknob, the door bursts open, revealing a slightly angry-looking Drusilla who is holding a blindfolded doll in her hand.

"Naughty, naughty girl." she tuts. "Trying to get away from my Spike. You should be punished."

The girl gasps as Dru's face changes; ridges appear on her brow and her canines grow considerably longer. Her dark eyes turn into a fiery shade of amber while she cuddles her doll.

"Miss Edith says she is very displeased with you."

The girl glances around her, trying to find a way to escape or maybe a weapon. Bah, humans. They never seem to lose hope, do they? She turns around, probably asking for help, but thanks to my vampire speed I am right beside her. Her eyes widen as she sees my own face has changed.

"Stupid girl. Vampires have no soul, love."

I don't give her a chance to answer as I rapidly sink my fangs into the tender and soft flesh of her neck. She sobs, finally realizing that all this time I've been lying to her and that it was all a game. It feels so good when their hope is destroyed.

She is the innocent, the one whose blood tastes sweeter.

I hear her heartbeat going slower…and slower…and slower…until it just stops. She falls dead in my arms and I let her body sink to the ground.

My face returns to my human mask and I look up at my beloved Dru, who has also changed back but she just frowns and puts Miss Edith on a chair.

"You didn't open your present." she says with a little pout, obviously referring to the fact that I didn't take away the girl's purity. In a strange way I did; I drank from her, and that's enough to taint an innocent like her.

"It's no fun when you're not around, pet. How about we go find someone else to play with?" I take her in my arms and we dance a twisted version of a waltz. "You can get me another present if you like, and I'll get one for you. Then we can share it and double the fun! I'll even torture them if you want."

We stop dancing and Dru smiles brightly and claps her hands.

"Oh, yes, Spike! Make them scream, make them bleed! The blood will flow like rivers and the darkness will call to me!" she shapes her hands like claws and closes her eyes. "Oh, I can almost feel them in my grasp!" she begins to dance again and twirls around the room.

I laugh because I like to see her enjoying herself. I live for my Dru. If something makes her happy I'll do it, no matter what the cost.

Always the perfect gentleman, I open the door for her. She hums a little song and continues her one-person waltz as she goes out into the dining room.

I spare one last glance at the corpse on the floor. The innocent, too weak to fight back, too fragile, too easily broken. The one who was made to be sacrificed.

Funny. For a moment there I almost felt sorry for the girl.

Almost.

THE END