The ancient spell book flew across the room to the melody of a stinging string of very British swearing. It hit with a dull thud & dropped to the floor atop a pile of similarly disposed of books in a cloud of foul smelling dust. The blonde vampire responsible for the books disrespectful treatment glared at the growing pile of rejected books & swore again. "Bloody useless sodding books! Never got the right spell when you need it." So saying, Spike grabbed a dark red leather bound book from the diminishing pile next to him & glanced at the title. A Vampire's Guide to Binding, Mating & Summoning. The flaking gold leaf letters looked slightly more promising, but Spike didn't get his hopes up. Flicking impatiently to the index, he ran a long, pale finger down the columns. Body Swapping; no, Hate Potions; no, Lust Spells; no, Mating Rituals; not yet, Soulmate Location & Summoning; YES! Page…1453. Flipping about halfway through the thick tome, he licked his thumb, grimacing at the dusty taste, then thumbed through the thick pages. Spotting the bold title, he stopped & set the book on the old archive table. The writing was cramped & the lighting in the underground archives was poor, so Spike had to squint to see the ornate words.
"Vampires, unlike humans, have known for millennia that every being has a perfect Mate, but are generally unaware of the means with which to locate their other half. The term humans have coined for this wonder: 'Soulmates' is inaccurate; (we Vampires prefer 'Unlife Companions') But describes crudely the purpose of one's 'significant other'.
The function of Unlife Companions is to provide perfect balance; to be a match in every way. A Companion is usually a match for the other's sexual prowess, abilities in torture, cruelty, manipulation & violence, but on rare occasions, Companions may be the complete opposites of each other.
Fighting between mated Companions is common due to the strong emotion involved with such bonds. Such energy is usually described as passionate hatred; & such explosive situations are often best resolved through frequent, violent, animalistic mating sessions (see our companion volume; A Vampire's Guide to Karma Sutra, Bondage, D/s, S&M, Punishment & Bloodplay for appropriate remedies.)
Situations involving Vampires being paired with human Companions often arise & mating of any kind is not recommended until after the instigation of Binding Spells (see pages 205-238), Blood Bonding Ceremonies (see pages 273-291) & Mating Rituals (see pages 1013-1046), among others. Failure to suitably prepare human Companions for existance as an Unlife Companion may result in permanent physical or psychological damage resulting, in extreme cases, in lasting insanity & occasionally, death.
True to popular belief, there is only one Unlife Companion in the world for each select individual. The following two chapters are dedicated to spells, rituals & potions used for locating & summoning a Vampire's Unlife Companion.
The location search has no effect on either party. The Summoning is used to call one's Companion to the side of the instigator & mostly incites compliance or willingness to comply, but in the case of a human, will result in a burning need to be close to their chosen partner. Human Companions will uproot their lives instantly & move to their Mate's side without being aware of the reason. They will be unable to deny their future Mate anything & restraint should be exercised on the part of the Vampire in order to avoid aforementioned consequences.
In the case of a Vampire's Companion being human, there are steps which can be taken in order to continue one's blood line via Breeding rather than Siring (see our companion volume; A Vampire's Guide to Siring, Bloodlines & Breeding.) In short, the ability of a Vampire to procreate may be temporarily restored.
Reader, good luck in your search for your Unlife Companion. Remember; restraint is the key. An eternity of bonded bliss awaits ye of patience; eternal solitude for ye of haste."
Spike, having lost Dru, decides to find himself his soul mate. (Buffy obsession so didn't happen, nor did chip (yet)) He researches until he finds a ritual that will enable him to find her & draw her to Sunnydale. When she comes, she is befriended by Buffy & the Scooby Gang after getting into deep conversation with Giles on the merits of several books containing the supernatural, much to Spike's disgust. He visits her at her home & she lets him in because the soul mate spell is working as a mild mind control/inhibitor. He takes her to a warehouse where he has set up an alter. He performs a spell to enable him to have a child & they make love on the alter. He turns her, knowing the spell prevents her from crossing into the unlife & receiving a demon until the baby is born. Unfortunately, Buffy shows up & prevents him from completing the spell & she goes comatose. Spike is seriously hurt, but as his unlife is tied to his new soul mate's, he doesn't die from the arrow to the chest. (he escapes over a wall & she cant see if he dusts or not, though she finds the arrow later) He escapes to lick his wounds, leaving his beloved on the alter where she stops breathing for Buffy to find a moment later. She appears dead, so she is buried & Buffy awaits her rising from the grave. Her Slayer hearing detects screaming & Buffy digs her up, seemingly alive. Except now she is no longer a vegetarian; they go to a diner & she orders rare steak. She begins exhibiting other vampire traits; sunburn after ten minutes in the sun, sharper teeth.
She is violently sick for three days, then she collapses during class & wont wake up. In hospital, she seems to be losing blood mysteriously, so she is given regular blood through a drip while the doctors puzzle over her unique condition. She begins to show visible signs of pregnancy, but the growth seems to be accelerated. After another week, talk of miracles & media surfaces, so the Scooby Gang break her out of the hospital to prevent anyone discovering the truth. They keep her at Giles place where they continue the blood after she has a fit from blood loss. Giles is unable to find a reason for her coma or accelerated pregnancy, nor can they find out who the father is (buffy didn't arrive until after the smexing). Meanwhile, Buffy, remembering she was found on an alter, revisits the warehouse. Giles matches the symbols on the alter to an ancient Vampire language, but is unable to translate them. When she begins to jerk & shudder, they think for a while it's a fit, then, when it continues, a miscarriage. Giles' minimal medical knowledge is exhausted, the net & library books don't cover it &, desperate, they call Angel for help. While they're gone, Spike pays her a visit & his presence revives her long enough to welcome him into Giles' home. She & the foetus calm down in the presence of their daddy (in both ways; as father & sire). He continues to visit later down the track, preventing any further prolonged fits. Angel comes, but is at a loss. He cannot read the Vampire language either, & suggests they find Spike who has a knack for languages.
The Scooby Gang say he is dead, but Angel knows better. He tracks Spike down, but it has interesting consequences; because Angel is related to Spike by blood, as his grand sire, & the ritual recognises its own & it links Angel into the Soul Mate Spell when he bites Spike, drawing him to the comatose girl, despite Spike's protests & violent curses (why is it all the chits I like, Peaches has to interfere? Bloody hell I hate sharing). She awakens long enough for them to create another child before lapsing back into unconsciousness. Angel, unable to handle being in Buffy's presence, goes back to the manor. Spike disappears from the radar, but continues to watch his beloved from afar, listening in on the Gang whenever possible. Unaware of the new developments with Angel, the Gang continue to research her condition. After five months, she wakes up & goes into labour. (Giles comes home after a day at school to find her water already broken) Unable to take her to hospital, Angel is called to deliver the babies (his child's growth has accelerated to make up for the time between conceptions). Buffy tries to question her, but Angel tells them all to get out & go home. Giles, hearing her screams, goes quite green & polishes his glasses so hard they snap. After that he starts drinking until he passes out. Spike, seeing Giles has passed out, enters just in time for the birth. Angel, unaware of the finer points of the spell, is devastated when she dies moments after the birth. The babies don't cry, but they are alive, or rather unlife; they have no pulse. Spike explains. Giles wakes up during the explanation & is horrified by the undead children. He is overpowered by the vamps & tied up. He asks Angel if he still has his soul & Angel answers yes bitterly.