3.
Giles woke, disoriented. His eyes were open but the darkness was complete, he couldn't see, he'd gone blind…… He jerked reflexively as the memories poured into his mind. Jenny, coming back, Changing, the warm, coppery taste of blood in his mouth. A single explosive sound escaped him. "Ah!"
Her voice was like oiled silk, hiding secret amusement, low and husky. "You're finally awake, Rupert. I thought you'd never rise…… You must be hungry."
He sat up slowly, pulling the thick, dark cloth from his eyes, looking round. Pipes ran in a thick bundle along the wall, disappearing through holes, or branching up through the ceiling. It was dim and dark, the only light provided by a hurricane lamp filled with golden liquid, the flame burning steadily on top. A few abandoned desks and chairs littered the room, and a crude flight of stairs led to a single door which was wedged shut, a chair holding the handle firmly in place. And in the corner, a teenaged girl struggled, chained to the convenient pipes, gagged, legs bound at the ankles, eyes wide with fear. Jenny sat on the edge of a desk a few feet away from him, smiling lazily, eyes shining with the reflected lamplight. She rose to her feet and walked over to him, reaching a hand down to pull him easily to his feet.
They stood close together, almost touching. "I thought you'd be hungry," she said softly. "So I brought you a – snack." She looked at his face for a moment, then reached up and removed the glasses he still wore, dropping them to the floor, grinding them beneath her bootheel. "You won't need those anymore."
"Jenny," he murmured. He caught her hair and pulled her head back so her pale throat was arched towards him, lips parted as she gazed up, no fear in her expression. He kissed her hard, lips melding for a few moments, then suddenly let her go. She fell back a step and watched him stalk towards the chained girl.
He could smell the warm blood, could hear the girl's pulse beating in his head. Jenny smiled in delight as his features Changed, no humanity in the cold green eyes, no soul, no mercy. He caught roughly at the young woman's frantically twisting body and looked into her eyes for a moment, then smiled, listening as she tried to scream through the thick gag, revelling in the muffled, urgent sounds. The sharp fangs caught what little light there was and shone wickedly, sharp and curved. With an abrupt snarl he lunged forward and pressed his mouth to her throat, to the warm blood pulsing through her veins, feeding, trying to satiate the hunger that gnawed deep inside.
He finished feeding and gave the girl's lifeless body a contemptuous look, turning to Jenny, lips stained red with blood. He eyed Jenny for a moment before moving over to her, cupping her chin roughly in his hand, tipping her head up. "Rupert. That was before." He paused for a second. "Don't ever call me that again. That belongs to the poxy Watcher, not me. I'm Ripper. Got it?" He looked round the room again. "Where the bloody hell are we anyway?" He frowned up at the door. "That looks familiar, but where?"
"Yes…Ripper. We're in the storage basement underneath the library," she said, pleased with her quick thinking. It hadn't taken much to drag his lifeless body here afterwards, either, when he'd finally died. She stood on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his, licking the blood from his lips, sinking back down. "Now lets go play, huh?"