Title: Soul Cages
Author: Crux
Email: crux@toast.com
Part: 2/? - Morning Glory
Rating: R
Summary: Very AUish, Buffy/Spike. In the late 1800s in England, the current Slayer Elizabeth Anne Giles has to fight against the most vicious vampire of Europe, the Council of Watchers and finally herself in order to live her life the way she wants to. Yeah, I may suck at these summaries, but read it anyway ;).
Disclaimer: Not mine (except the plot), so don't sue. No infringement intended.
Distribution: Really? *blush*
Feedback: Would be highly appreciated. So, people, show me some R&R :)!
Author's Notes: My first published fic ever, and yeah, English isn't my native language, so bear with me :). The story is based on a dream I had one night.
The sentences written like **this** are someone's thoughts and the ones like this are said with an emphasis. The text written only in cursive means someone's having flashbacks.
*****
Part Two - Morning Glory
*****
Elizabeth woke up with a start.
Panic rose in her throat and she instinctively reached for her stake she always kept under her pillow while she was sleeping, just for her own security. But her hand found nothing, absolutely nothing. It wasn't there!
She jumped into a sitting position, alert and ready for a fight, but had to immediately lie down as her head felt like it would split in two. Lights were flashing behind her eyes and she whimpered in pain. It was as if thousands of mean little dwarfs were marching all together inside her skull, banging their mean little hammers against her temples to make her feel as bad as possible. And it was working just fine. She felt quite horrible.
**What happened!?!** her mind screamed. She wasn't quite sure, but it felt like... No. No, it couldn't be. She couldn't still be alive. She was supposed to be dead right now! Why was she still alive?
Inevitably, the the memories from last night flooded back into her mind. The master vampire she had met, her almost desperate wish to die, the suggestion he had made to her and her consent to it. She remembered it all. She remembered everything...
As soon as the cabin door had closed, the vampire made his move. He captured her both hands, pinning them above her head, and pressed her against the wall with his own hard body. He used his free hand to grab her jaw and tilt her head to the other side so that he had easier access to her neck and the rapidly pulsing vein there.
Elizabeth didn't try to stop him, didn't try to break free, didn't try to plead him for mercy, didn't even try to move. She wanted this. She wanted to die and he was the one to fulfill her need. She had accepted her faith. She would die tonight.
He pressed his stony lips to her cheek and gave the corner of her mouth a slow lick. "Why so quiet, pet?" he teased as he nibbled his way down to her shoulder and then back up again. "Certainly you must have something to say to your... How shall I put it? The one who finally sets you free?"
Elizabeth eyed him with an unfathomable expression on her face. "No. And don't play. Just do it."
The vampire smirked nastily, but a look of what was almost respect crossed his handsome face. Elizabeth was baffled. This killer respected her? His next words made her doubt it, though.
"Do it? That's how you regard your savior? I expected something more of you, Slayer," he sneered, his eyes once again as cold as ice.
"I don't care what you expected," Elizabeth retorted. "Do it."
Without another argument from him, the vampire's fangs sank into Elizabeth's neck. Despite her brave facade, she stiffened and pressed her palms against his chest, in order to get away from him or push him away from her. But he wouldn't budge, so she gave up the unnecessary resistance. She was, after all, willingly in his arms.
He drank greedily and Elizabeth felt a wave of nausea and weakness wash over her. She closed her eyes and waited for the death to come.
Elizabeth was startled as she heard someone walk past the cabin, that someone's shoes making a faint knocking sound against the wooden deck. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and to understand what had really happened.
She pressed her left palm against her heart. No, it was still beating strong and even. She definitely was not dead. Why wasn't she dead? The vampire was supposed to kill her last night... Why hadn't he done exactly that?
Suddenly, the vampire wrenched his fangs away from her neck and took a deep, unneeded breath, as if he was trying to calm himself down. Elizabeth had kept her eyes closed, but she wasn't unconscious -- he hadn't drank even nearly enough to kill her.
"Wonderful, bloody wonderful," he gasped, cradling Elizabeth's now limp body in the circle of his arms. Her head lolled from one side to the other and she had serious problems in concentrating on any rational thought rushing through her head at the moment.
Why was he still playing with her? Why didn't he just drink until there was no blood left in her veins and her soul could finally be free from the restraints of her useless body and fly up, up high and away from all the pain down here on Earth? Dozens of questions ran through her mind, but she could answer none of them. So she just decided wait for him to make his move. Surely he couldn't control himself too long?
But the vampire swooped Elizabeth up into his arms and stepped away from the wall, towards the small bed in the corner of the cabin. He tossed her down to it and leaned against the wall, his other hand supporting his weight. He stared down at her face, his eyes void of any emotion.
Elizabeth's eyelids flew open when her back hit the soft material of the bedsheet. She was flabbergasted. "What are you doing?" she whispered, almost inaudibly, gazing up at him and frowning in confusion. "Why did you stop?"
But he didn't answer her. Instead, he took off his coat and tie, draping them over the back of a black chair. When he started with the buttons of his white shirt, his intentions became clear to her. She could suddenly see right through his head and into his mind, as if it was made of glass. And what she saw, terrified her.
"N-no," she stuttered nervously and tried to sit up, but his fingers wrapped themselves tightly around her throat and forced her to lie back down.
"Don't move," he growled menacingly as he struggled to free himself from his shirt, using only his other hand. The other one was still curled around Elizabet's neck, making sure she would stay right where she was. "Stay."
As soon as he had gotten his shirt off, his half-naked body landed on top of her, knocking the wind out of her. He stroked softly her cheek and kissed her, and for a fleeting moment, Elizabeth felt relieved. Maybe she was wrong after all, and he would only kill her.
But suddenly, he ripped the bodice of her dress and bared her flushed, heaving breasts. "Not bad, pet!" he murmured and gave a low whistle. "Altough I have to admit, I thought you'd be more of a corset with laces kind of girl. But you surprised me, all naked under that prudish dress of yours. Makes you feel naughty, doesn't it?"
He bit the soft globe of her right breast and licked away the blood that trickled from the wound. His tongue on her flesh made Elizabeth's skin rise into goosebumps.
Tears of humiliation and pure terror clouded her emerald eyes. "Please, why are you doing this?" she pleaded weakly. She hiccuped and shut her eyes so that he wouldn't have the pleasure of seeing her cry. "Just kill me and be done with it. Isn't that what you wanted?"
But the vampire looming above her in his gameface just chuckled, pressing soft kisses across her chest, neck and jawline, gently licking the tiny puncture wounds his fangs had made. "Why would I want to kill you, pet," he chided her as he sucked her breast rhythmically, her heavenly blood once again flowing into his waiting mouth, "when you are so much more beautiful when you're suffering like this?"
Elizabeth sucked in her breath as she came to from her trance-like state. She turned her head to look down on her body and saw the little holes on her other breast, made by his deadly teeth. They were almost healed already, thanks to her Slayer -healing skills, but the wound would scar, always reminding -- taunting -- her of the beautiful vampire she herself had asked to bite her.
When she tried to move, a stabbing pain sliced its way across her abdomen and made her gasp in agony. She rose very carefully, grabbing the wall for support, until she was sitting straight on the bed, leaning her back against the headboard. Only then did she dare to open her eyes to survey the rest of her appearance. Her eyes widened and she almost fainted as she saw the damage done to her.
Her underwear was in shreds and there was blood literally splashed all around her dress and her petticoats, her skin and the bed. She saw two, similar teeth-marks on her inner thigh and when she touched them, the started to leak blood. Elizabeth closed her eyes, wanting to sink into oblivion.
How could she have been so stupid to trust a vampire's word? She had wanted to die, wanted to give up her own life and succumb into his bite. Instead, she had got raped by her most dangerous enemy yet.
Elizabeth felt his cold hand reach under her petticoats and tried futilely to struggle against his strong hold. But it was no use, she was too weak from the bloodloss, while he was in the shape of his unlife. Her blood had made him twice as powerful as he had been before and he had no trouble holding her trashing body down under his own, bigger one.
"No..." Elizabeth sobbed brokenly, turning her head from side to side, not wanting to believe what was happening to her. "Don't... Don't do this to me. Please, just kill me. I'm begging you to..."
But the vampire cutted her words by pressing his mouth savagely against hers. He kissed her with all his might, until she thought she would suffocate if he didn't soon release her so that she could draw some oxygen into her aching lungs. When he at last let her go, her lips were already turning blue and she shivered uncontrollably under him while breathing fast and deep, unable to help herself from crying freely now. She rather felt than heard her underwear being ripped away from her body, and it made her cry even harder.
"Don't cry, luv. I'm sure this is going to be a lovely memory for you to carry on your petite little shoulders, right?" he asked her, stroking her body everywhere with his cool fingers. "This way you'll always remember me."
Then he kissed her again, his fangs cutting her lip. Her blood filled both of their mouths. His knee forced her thighs open and ignoring her muffled wails, he impaled her with his hard shaft and made Elizabeth scream in pain.
"No. No!" she panted as she stumbled away from the bed until she was standing on the floor of the small cabin. She looked at the bed in horror, trying to forget the mental image she had in her head.
The vivid memories made her almost scream. Her breathing was fast and hard and she thought she would throw up. "Stop it, stop it, stop it!" she chanted, twisting her hair between her fingers and holding her stomach to relieve the pressure there.
She had heard the tales of some women she had saved from death, but not before the demon had had time to rape them, and she had always thought they were going mad when they only cried and told her she should just have let them die. Only now did she understand what they had meant.
She let out a hysterical giggle that turned into sobs. What if she was pregnant? What if she would have to bring a little vampire into this world? But then she mentally slapped herself and told herself to calm down. She knew better. She wouldn't have to disgrace her father's good name by bringing a bastard into this world. Vampire's couldn't conceive children, nothing alive could come from their dead bodies. But it was a cold comfort to her.
Nothing could comfort her pain now.
The vampire stood up and gazed down at her battered body. She was lying on her back, her arms still above her head and legs open with her skirt thrown up to her waist. Her eyes were closed and silent tears were running across her cheeks and towards her hairline. Her skin was as pale as pure, white snow and quite frankly, she looked dead. But he knew better. He had not killed her, which had in fact been his intention right from the start. He didn't want her dead, he wanted her alive and remembering.
She painted an exquisite picture and he smiled to himself, a proud, masculine smile, full of satisfaction. "You are quite lovely, pet," he purred throatily as he turned to pick up his shirt in order to dress himself again.
Elizabeth's eyes opened and she looked at him with tears of humiliation and utter horror in her gaze. She didn't say a word -- she didn't have to, because he could read her like she was an open book. Her every feeling, even the tiniest ones, were visible to him.
"Oh, don't look so desperate, pet," he whispered as he kneeled down to the floor and placed his elbows beside her head. He brushed a stray lock of her blond hair behind her ear and gave her a chaste, hard kiss. "It's not like we won't meet again."
He stood back up and opened the door. "Until the next time, luv," he smirked.
Then he was gone.
Elizabeth's fisted hands slowly clenched and unclenched. She had serious troubles controlling her emotions that were raging behind her otherwise so calm exterior. Even the breathing exercises her father had taught her were no use. She was shaking, her tears were once again falling to the ground and without noticing it, she had bit straight through her lower lip, the one he had hurt earlier.
She pressed her fingernails into the palms of her hands until she felt the blood dripping from her fingertips. But the physical pain couldn't relieve her mental agony. It only doubled it as it reminded her of all the terrible things he had done to her.
"Goddamn you, William the Bloody!" she got out, pacing the cabin around and around, like a caged animal. She stopped suddenly, threw her head backwards and screamed, long and loud. "Goddamn you, you spawn of Satan!"
She crumbled to the floor, sobbing pitifully and holding her head in her hands.
"Goddamn you... Goddamn you... Goddamn you..."
Elizabeth didn't know how long she sat there on the floor, her knees drawn against her chest, swaying slowly forwards and backwards like a little, scared child. She thought about her father, about how he used to sit beside her bed and pet her hair whenever she was feeling lonely or she was in pain. She thought about his gentle smile that always made her feel like there was still something left in the world to fight for.
It was all gone now. If she had been hopeless last night, her feelings now were at least thousand times worst. She hadn't even known the meaning of the word before. But something had changed in her mind. Yes, she still wanted to die, but more importantly, she wanted to kill something. No, she wanted to kill someone. Preferably a blond, pale master vampire, who went by the name William the Bloody.
She stood slowly up, trying her best to fix the damage he had done to her clothes. She knew it was an useless job, but she welcomed anything that would take her mind off from the events of previous night. Her skirt was beyond repairing, she noticed, the torn bodice hanging on her by threads. Her purse, with her stakes still in it, was also gone. Probably taken by him. Something to show as a sign of his victory over her.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and took a calming breath. She didn't want to look at the mirror, didn't want to see what he had done to her. She just wanted to get away from the little cabin with too many bad memories in it. So she just smoothed her hair back and hoped there were no visible bruises in her face. She could wash herself as soon as she got to her own cabin, but right now the only thing in her mind was getting away from there.
This time, her eyes were dry, though. She didn't cry anymore. She could not let her personal feelings get in the way of her revenge, not now. Not while he was still alive -- or more like it, undead -- and walking wandering through the same land as she. She would kill him, as excruciatingly slow and painful as possible. Only then she could afford herself the luxury of thinking about her own wish to die again.
Murder in her mind, Elizabeth sneaked out from the cabin and walked into the morning sunshine.
TBC
Wow, this was a hard one. It's really quite impossible to imagine what a raped woman is feeling afterwards. But... Well, if you think it was worth reading, drop me a line and I'll continue :).