Reptilian Goddess: I try to be careful about letting things slip too early. Not to mention that I usually get new ideas. I will say that Faith will be playing a bigger part than she use to, originally she was just a cameo. ;) Thank you, I really enjoyed writing the dream, you'll see more of it when we get back to the others and maaayebe some of the hints are popping up in the Spike chapters. ;) Anselina knows men, or at least sees a familiar thread that Drac and Spike share. As for the task, well you may have to wait for that one...
Merenwen: Faith has grown up a lot and has become a great slayer/leader. I think given some time away from Buffy would make her more confidant. While she doesn't have all the answers yet she is working on it. You will be seeing more of Elsa and Anselina but the other brides won't have a big role in the story.
TanyaPotter: It really depends on a lot of things if I can get chapters up fast. To answer your response to William Restored: don't feel too bad for Spike, Angel has issues too. Spike will have something else to deal with soon that has nothing to do with Angel.
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It was funny how one instant would forever change things for both William the Bloody and the self proclaimed lord of the vampires. It was a situation out of both of their control that neither had anticipated. Spike had been pondering his companion, the strange Anselina, when the blood curdling screams echoed down the hall. The pair reacted without thinking heading towards the disturbance, an act Spike would blame on his soul when he could have used the moment to escape. Instead they found the source of the racked only to be frozen in place by the sight that greeted them.
Bodies of dead guards littered the carpet, limbs twisted into unnatural ways and faces with blank sightless eyes staring out at nothing. Fine pieces of art lay in ruin covered with the same arcs of blood that were sprayed over the walls. Spike could still hear the heartbeats of the living most caught in a frantic pace calling out to both the demon and man in him with their urgency. In the middle of the onslaught was a vampire clutching sobbing woman in her grasp. If not for the cheesy bracelet that Spike recognized he would never have guess that this haggard looking woman was Madam Drake.
The formerly haughty housekeeper was hysterical sobbing and screaming out nonsense in different tongues that he didn't even try to piece together. All he took note of was where she was staring at when she cried and it was enough to snap Spike into action. Peter was out cold on the floor in a odd looking heap but still alive if his hearing was correct.
"Now now, didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with your food?" Spike quipped catching the vampire off guard as he landed a sharp hit to it's face with a loud snap only to feel a stab of pain shoot through his system. The impacted threw the creature back enough to release Madam Drake who instantly fell towards her child ignoring all else. He had just returned his lightheaded gaze to his foe when he was throw almost causally against the stone wall and then lifted before he could recover. Smacking into the floor face first didn't help his dizziness much.
"Lord Miahi will not suffer the old ways that have plagued our lands! All must be cleansed before the new reign!" The rogue demon screamed as it tore through the area like a bull in a china shop.
Catching a glimpse at Anselina he knew that she wouldn't be much help in their situation. Her previously inscrutable face now showed shock as she watched the scene apparently too stunned to move. It was this reaction that ended up costing her previously flawless face to be ruined as the attacker chose that instant to brutalize her. A lip split, and a unknown bone snapped as the gypsy bride of the vampire lord was tossed perilously close to an already broken window.
The slowly building agony in Spikes' body was starting to overwhelm his sense at that point. He didn't understand why this was as he had hardly been hit to the degree that would merit this type of pain. The familiarity of the situation came back to him even as he went after the vampire trying to ignore the increasing pain that came with his offensive moves. Memories of his throbbing headaches when he was violent towards humans–his chipped days–came back with a vengeance as he fought back. With a horrible realization Spike saw the silver bands that he had been cuffed with glow as they heated up.
The Count had chipped him once again, where technology had been restricted magic expanded upon. It had been the Count Crapula that had stabbed him in the back to be sold off for a vampire experiment in the first place now it seemed that the old boy was using that to his advantage. If he had not been in the midst of discovering this new anguish he would have laughed at the irony.
It gave new definition to the term tortuous but Spike couldn't allow himself to stop his attacks in fear of the lives of those still living. Peter was just a kid, he didn't deserve this kind of life. He should be running outside playing in the sun with his mates not hiding in the dark with the monsters that went bump in the night. The lad had already seen and been harmed more than someone of his tender age should have been. Spike wouldn't let this harpy take anymore from Peter. Not the boys' life, not his mother nor anymore of his innocence. Yeah the kid might be part of Dracs' merry band but that didn't matter to Spike at the moment.
His sight began to blur, his limbs were heavy and his punches were less on target but Spike still fought on. He made his opponent feel his pain lashing out even as the burning sensation turned into a new type of blaze.
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Irritation and fury coursed through Draculas' body poisoning his temper making the lord impatient even with his own men. The answers were becoming harder and harder to come by despite their best efforts. It was unacceptable to have his own household overruled by an outside force that was terrorizing those he protected.
It is a direct insult to me--this "Lord Miahi" seeks to ruin my reputation. If he manages to belittle me in the process all the better for his cause.
The familiar hunt was in full swing making the predator within howl for his bloodlust to be sated by this elusive prey. His senses were almost overloaded by the bizarre scents and powers mixing in the air. It was a powerful amalgam of the primal nature of ancient beasts and the magic derived from the potent gypsy clan.
Paying no mind to the sentinels that attempted to flank him the Count followed the sounds of a not so distant battle. Brushing off the concerns of the men he reminded them who was in charge. Once he was certain that no arguing would be brooked (even know he knew that his men were smarter than to challenge him by now) Dracula went on alone to deal with the disturbance himself.
What was the old saying about not trusting others to do your work? He pondered. It mattered not anyway for his ego had taken a serious beating and was in need of some self assurance. Just a little of course, he reasoned, it has been very trying as of late.
It had been much easier in the old days when he could inspire more fear and respect with so much as a sneer. Count Dracula was once a name that by merely mentioning inspired terror. He could kill his men when they failed at a whim. (This had especially had his butlers on their toes to the point that they never forgot his favored wine again.) Now? He had to have patience with his minions because good help really was so much harder to come by these days. And he truly was tired of having antique rugs ruined by the bloodstains (which the new staff were hopeless at cleaning.)
Hollywood had been on his list of mortal and immortal enemies for some time. After the last Van Helsing movie they had earned themselves several more black marks. Dracula refused to even think upon the other media and products that parodied him. (The chocolate cereal product in particular never ceased to make him shudder.)
Dealing with a new upstart as well as Spike was already taking it's toll on him to the point where he barely took pleasure in any of the delights he usually partook in. Perhaps I should make more of an effort to personally deal with Spike once this brazen vandal is dealt with. If nothing else it was sure to uplift his faded spirits as the suffering of his enemies tended to do.
As if his thoughts had been made into reality the Count suddenly found himself facing an injured Spike fighting some unknown aggressor. Bodies of dead guards littered the hallway, Madam Drake in a hysterical state he had never seen her in before clutching at an unmoving Peter. Beyond them laying in a unresponsive heap to was Anselina though why she was there in the first place he could not say. Nor for that matter why Spike his prisoner was out and about.
Just when Dracula was about to bring his attention back to the fight before him he noted something amiss. Someone he knew for a fact did not work at his manor nor was currently one of his prisoners. A short round man with his limps broken at odd angles with a disconcerting grin on his wide face. A familiar victorious smile much like the one of his vampire foe in the courtyard had before he staked himself.
If this is who we were searching for than who is– Frowning Dracula turning shocked eyes to the display before him trying to deny it with every fiber of his being. It can not be...The image did not change despite his wishes and his heart filled with a deep ache. "Elsa," he called out but the figure did not heed his call.
Somehow Elsa, one of his beloved brides had betrayed him and now was fighting Spike. But how? Why? It made no sense to him, Elsa had enjoyed her role and wanted his protection for her family. Another glance revealed to him the fear that Madam Drake had for Elsa now. Did she harm her own flesh and blood? To say that the dark lord was confused was an understatement.
Spike. This surely must be his doing. Once his gaze fell on the younger vampire however Dracula was stunned at what he saw. Even though the bands of binding, forged by Magda herself, were burning him for daring to harm those of Draculas' house Spike fought on. That was NOT by any means a small feat. Dracula recalled all too well how those bands had been described all those years ago:
No creature that wears these will be able to lift a finger on any under your protection without feeling the full wrath of my spell nor let the wearer step foot outside the boundaries you set. Pain wreaks the body making the mind unable to form thought beyond the agony. Only someone with an incredible will can be able to withstand the torture for long. It was one of her strongest spells that never failed before. Knowing her powers as well as he did Dracula did not believe for a second that the bands were faulty.
Not noticing his new audience Spike threw himself into the fight throwing Elsa off-balance away from the humans he was obviously protecting. The anguish of the spell was etched on Spikes' face the stress of it beginning to take it's toll making the vampire waver for a moment. For the first time since they met Dracula felt amazed by the other vampire. Such tenaciousness was hard to find, and seeing it in a souled being was not something he had expected. Wasn't a soul suppose to make a vampire less than he was? Such contradictions...it was fascinating.
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Spike couldn't see what was happening, not clearly anyway. His vision was blurred making the strange shapes around him sway about. Not that his body was helping him out much either as his legs had given out on him and his arms felt like lead. The banshee was still hollering about but her rage seemed to turn to another. The dark figure she approached seemed ready for her though and dropped the unsuspecting woman with one punch.
"Yeah, well I softened her up for you." Spike muttered. The dark shadow appeared to sharply turn towards him. The staring felt much longer than it should have. Maybe to size him up for something either way it made Spike feel cranky. "Take a sodding picture git to make it last longer and move on. There are people bleeding to death, not that a self-righteous prat like you would care, right?"
The shape called out for the guards proving Spikes' hunch on the identity was correct. Stupid pounce, all high, mighty and twelve feet tall. Thinks he's so great just 'cuz he can stretch his arms 'cross the room. He squinted--bugger--and promptly passed out.
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"Elsa, what am I to do with you?" Her unmoving form offered no answers not that he was surprised, still he had hoped...
"Master, what are we to do with her?" The human asked steadily even though his right hand twitched towards the wooden stake sheathed in his belt. Dracula was tempted himself to respond in kind to the threat to one of his family but he sensed the wisdom of the gesture.
"It is too soon to decide and I do not wish to make a hasty choice. We have to know if this can be undone. I will have to have an audience with the elder." It would be tricky to discover her whereabouts as her people had moved her to safety from the rebel forces. If anyone would know it would be llie. Madam Drake and her son were being taken care of, bodies were being moved yet Draculas' gaze fell on the blenched blonde menace.
"Sir, what would you have done with--"
"Just put him in some out of the way place where he can be kept busy." The Count waved the comment off imperiously.
"I meant--uh what about Mistress Anselina?"
Caught momentary off-guard his attention snapped back to his other bride who he had completely forgotten about. Feeling annoyed at having this human remind him of his lover he curtly ordered him to get to work stating that he would take care of her. Anselina indeed had much to explain.
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"You disappoint me Anselina, I expected far more from you." From his seat behind his desk Dracula narrowed his eyes at his usually responsible and obedient lover. Unlike the others Anselina rarely questioned his motives. It was not to say that she was not willful in her own way she was just more respectful than most. At least she used to be but on a day likes this nothing was as it appeared. "You have taken a prisoner from his confinement without permission and without security measures. You did this at the height of a crisis when we had in the castle looking for the rebels and you did not just take any prisoner. You took Spike--William the Bloody--the my ever lasting bane and set him loose!"
Dracula stared at the woman before him who calmly regarded him yet made no move to protest his charges. "Have you nothing to say in your defense?" He asked incredulously.
"Only that I did what was willed of me, my lord. I have been taught to trust my instincts and the order as the elder is teaching me. All pointed to Spike and I feel that he was suppose to be present in the hallway today. I believe that he may be the one that we have been waiting for."
