Chapter 4 : The Escape!
Spike leaned over the bathtub and tried to calculate how much noise he would make if he slipped over the edge. He figured that if he rolled out of the tub he could keep his chains from hitting the floor by holding his hands and legs out stiff. It would hurt a little when he hit the floor but he had endured worse than that often enough. He reached and put his hands on the edge of the tub and pulled himself up into a squatting position. Then he put his hands over the edge of the tub and started to tip his head out for the roll when he realized his mistake.
As the chain connecting his feet to his hands dragged across the edge of the tub it made a loud grinding sound. "Bugger", Spike whispered, as he lifted his head up listening for any noise coming from upstairs to indicate that Giles had heard him.
Hearing only silence he went back to his escape. He thought of several ways of rolling out of the tub but each would mean that his chains would hit the edge of the tub. Finally he lay back in the tub to contemplate other options. While he lay there he decided to pull the comforter back onto him. He had pulled it up as far as his chains would allow when he got an idea. He would have slapped his head, if he could have reached it, for not thinking of it sooner. The bloody comforter, if he put it along the edge of the tub he could use it to buffer the sound of his chains dragging across the tub.
Since it was a fairly large comforter he had enough to put across the edge of the tub and some left over to drape on the floor. He could use the extra to cushion his fall. He wasn't soft but there was nothing wrong with trying to avoid some bruising if you could. It wasn't easy to maneuver it into the right place. 'You just don't appreciate being able to spread your arms to do things until they are tied together', he thought.
Once he finally got it into position he rolled out of the tub. He miscalculated a bit and hit his head against the side of the tub as he fell, giving himself a nasty whack. After hitting his head he forgot to hold his hands and feet out stiff and the chains rattled quite loudly when he hit the floor. He alternated between cursing under his breath and laying quietly listening for Giles. He heard the bed upstairs squeak a few times then grow silent again. He didn't know if Giles had gotten out of his bed or had just turned over in his sleep so he lay there for a good ten minutes listening for footsteps or more squeaks from the bed. He heard neither.
As a vampire he could sense Giles' presence if he concentrated but he couldn't sense where he was exactly or what he was doing. Was Giles still asleep or was he laying up there listening for more sound coming from him? Either way it would be pointless wasting the whole night to find out.
He had only planned his escape from the bathtub he hadn't actual planned anything after he was out of the tub. Now what should he do? He thought about crawling down the hallway but quickly dismissed that idea as being undignified and quite possibly very noisy. So instead he decided to attempt walking down the hall. He pushed himself up into a squat then stood up. If he stretched his arms straight down in front of him he could stand erect. If he bent forward a little he had enough slack in the chain between his feet to allow a very small step. Again not very dignified but better than crawling.
It took a quite a few of his small steps to get to the door and a great deal of concentration to keep from trying to take a step that was too big which might cause him to fall. He finally made it to the door and tried to remember if the door had squeaked when he had opened it before. He couldn't remember so he bit his lower lip and pushed. The door opened silently. He should have known the watcher wouldn't have squeaky doors in his house.
On his long walk down the hallway he tried to think of places the Watcher might have left the key to his chains. A couple of times he was so distracted by his thoughts that he over stepped the length of the chain and had to wobble back and forth to regain his balance and once he had to fall against the hallway wall to keep himself from hitting the floor. After what seemed like an eternity he made it to the living area and looked around for likely places the Watcher would have left the key. He certainly didn't want to have to wonder all over the place trying to find it.
He looked over at the desk near the stairs and decided that was probably the most likely place for it. He made a slow arduous journey over to the desk, conscious of the fact that now that he was in the living area any noise he made would be easily heard by Giles who was just up the stairs. It was dark in the living room but his eyes were well adjusted to seeing in the dark and everything was clearly visible to him. Good thing because he had to navigate the length of the room without tripping over any of the furniture.
Once at the desk he searched the desktop for any sign of the key. When he saw a key sitting towards the back of the desk Spike wanted to screamed for joy, but managed not to because of Giles' close proximity. 'That has to be it', he thought. His joy was short lived when he realized that he couldn't reach it with his hands. "Bloody Hell could anything else go wrong?", he muttered. A question that once asked is usually quickly answered with a resounding yes.
Spike moved the rolling desk chair as quietly as possible away from the desk. He then stood in front of the desk and leaned as far over it as he could and tried to reach the key with his mouth. Still the key was too far for him to reach. He stood back up and took in the situation. He could move the desk away from the wall and slip in around the back to get the key. He would have to lift the desk so it would not scrape the floor. He easily had the strength to do that but he didn't think he had the maneuverability to do it quietly. He would have to grab someplace lower on the desk because he could not raise his hands high enough to lift it from the top edge. With his feet being chained together he didn't think he would be able to walk the desk around holding it in this manner. He racked his brain trying to find a solution. It was infuriating to be stopped when the prize was so near.
He finally settled on a plan, one that he thought should easily work. He pushed the chair so the back was against the desk. Then he kneeled on the chair and scooted forward until he was leaning against the back of the chair. All the while trying to hold his chains to keep them from rattling too loudly. Twice he had to stopped moving after a loud rattle and listened for any sign that Giles had heard him and twice he was met with reassuring silence.
Once he reached the back of the chair he leaned forward believing that the chair gave him the extra height he needed to reach the key. He was so close now that he could taste it. 'Just a little more', he thought, 'and I'll have it.' He leaned a little farther and managed to grab the key with his mouth. At the same moment he picked up the key the chair rolled away from the desk and he and the chair flipped over. He landed on the floor with a loud bang and the chair landed on top of him with a louder bang. With the realization that the gig was up he went ahead and released his first emotion. "Oww!" he hollered.
Spike leaned over the bathtub and tried to calculate how much noise he would make if he slipped over the edge. He figured that if he rolled out of the tub he could keep his chains from hitting the floor by holding his hands and legs out stiff. It would hurt a little when he hit the floor but he had endured worse than that often enough. He reached and put his hands on the edge of the tub and pulled himself up into a squatting position. Then he put his hands over the edge of the tub and started to tip his head out for the roll when he realized his mistake.
As the chain connecting his feet to his hands dragged across the edge of the tub it made a loud grinding sound. "Bugger", Spike whispered, as he lifted his head up listening for any noise coming from upstairs to indicate that Giles had heard him.
Hearing only silence he went back to his escape. He thought of several ways of rolling out of the tub but each would mean that his chains would hit the edge of the tub. Finally he lay back in the tub to contemplate other options. While he lay there he decided to pull the comforter back onto him. He had pulled it up as far as his chains would allow when he got an idea. He would have slapped his head, if he could have reached it, for not thinking of it sooner. The bloody comforter, if he put it along the edge of the tub he could use it to buffer the sound of his chains dragging across the tub.
Since it was a fairly large comforter he had enough to put across the edge of the tub and some left over to drape on the floor. He could use the extra to cushion his fall. He wasn't soft but there was nothing wrong with trying to avoid some bruising if you could. It wasn't easy to maneuver it into the right place. 'You just don't appreciate being able to spread your arms to do things until they are tied together', he thought.
Once he finally got it into position he rolled out of the tub. He miscalculated a bit and hit his head against the side of the tub as he fell, giving himself a nasty whack. After hitting his head he forgot to hold his hands and feet out stiff and the chains rattled quite loudly when he hit the floor. He alternated between cursing under his breath and laying quietly listening for Giles. He heard the bed upstairs squeak a few times then grow silent again. He didn't know if Giles had gotten out of his bed or had just turned over in his sleep so he lay there for a good ten minutes listening for footsteps or more squeaks from the bed. He heard neither.
As a vampire he could sense Giles' presence if he concentrated but he couldn't sense where he was exactly or what he was doing. Was Giles still asleep or was he laying up there listening for more sound coming from him? Either way it would be pointless wasting the whole night to find out.
He had only planned his escape from the bathtub he hadn't actual planned anything after he was out of the tub. Now what should he do? He thought about crawling down the hallway but quickly dismissed that idea as being undignified and quite possibly very noisy. So instead he decided to attempt walking down the hall. He pushed himself up into a squat then stood up. If he stretched his arms straight down in front of him he could stand erect. If he bent forward a little he had enough slack in the chain between his feet to allow a very small step. Again not very dignified but better than crawling.
It took a quite a few of his small steps to get to the door and a great deal of concentration to keep from trying to take a step that was too big which might cause him to fall. He finally made it to the door and tried to remember if the door had squeaked when he had opened it before. He couldn't remember so he bit his lower lip and pushed. The door opened silently. He should have known the watcher wouldn't have squeaky doors in his house.
On his long walk down the hallway he tried to think of places the Watcher might have left the key to his chains. A couple of times he was so distracted by his thoughts that he over stepped the length of the chain and had to wobble back and forth to regain his balance and once he had to fall against the hallway wall to keep himself from hitting the floor. After what seemed like an eternity he made it to the living area and looked around for likely places the Watcher would have left the key. He certainly didn't want to have to wonder all over the place trying to find it.
He looked over at the desk near the stairs and decided that was probably the most likely place for it. He made a slow arduous journey over to the desk, conscious of the fact that now that he was in the living area any noise he made would be easily heard by Giles who was just up the stairs. It was dark in the living room but his eyes were well adjusted to seeing in the dark and everything was clearly visible to him. Good thing because he had to navigate the length of the room without tripping over any of the furniture.
Once at the desk he searched the desktop for any sign of the key. When he saw a key sitting towards the back of the desk Spike wanted to screamed for joy, but managed not to because of Giles' close proximity. 'That has to be it', he thought. His joy was short lived when he realized that he couldn't reach it with his hands. "Bloody Hell could anything else go wrong?", he muttered. A question that once asked is usually quickly answered with a resounding yes.
Spike moved the rolling desk chair as quietly as possible away from the desk. He then stood in front of the desk and leaned as far over it as he could and tried to reach the key with his mouth. Still the key was too far for him to reach. He stood back up and took in the situation. He could move the desk away from the wall and slip in around the back to get the key. He would have to lift the desk so it would not scrape the floor. He easily had the strength to do that but he didn't think he had the maneuverability to do it quietly. He would have to grab someplace lower on the desk because he could not raise his hands high enough to lift it from the top edge. With his feet being chained together he didn't think he would be able to walk the desk around holding it in this manner. He racked his brain trying to find a solution. It was infuriating to be stopped when the prize was so near.
He finally settled on a plan, one that he thought should easily work. He pushed the chair so the back was against the desk. Then he kneeled on the chair and scooted forward until he was leaning against the back of the chair. All the while trying to hold his chains to keep them from rattling too loudly. Twice he had to stopped moving after a loud rattle and listened for any sign that Giles had heard him and twice he was met with reassuring silence.
Once he reached the back of the chair he leaned forward believing that the chair gave him the extra height he needed to reach the key. He was so close now that he could taste it. 'Just a little more', he thought, 'and I'll have it.' He leaned a little farther and managed to grab the key with his mouth. At the same moment he picked up the key the chair rolled away from the desk and he and the chair flipped over. He landed on the floor with a loud bang and the chair landed on top of him with a louder bang. With the realization that the gig was up he went ahead and released his first emotion. "Oww!" he hollered.