Chapter Two

Willow soon came around to find herself slung over the ox's shoulder, she bit back a wave of nausea and carefully opened her eyes to try and figure out where she was. The floor yielded no clues, it looked like stone and the only thing she was sure of was that she was underground. Carefully she tried to loosen her body so that she could slip forwards, but the ox seemed to sense that she was awake and he stopped so that he could stand her upright. Willow looked into his twisted face in horror, her legs twitched to run but he grasped her upper arms tightly.

"Run and I will kill you." His voice was deep and reverberated throughout the tunnel which was dimly lit with candles.

"Y – You'll d – do that a – anyway," Willow pointed out and the ox only laughed at her.

"I give you my word little lamb; it will not be me who ends your pitiful life." Tears burned Willow's eyes and she looked behind the ox to see if there was any escape route close by, but there was only a suffocating blackness.

"Please," she whispered, shaking her head. "I…" But she couldn't think of a reason for him not to kill her, why would he care if she lived or died? Sniffing she turned around and walked forwards, flinching at the sound of his heavy footsteps behind her.

"Stop," her feet stopped automatically and she reached out to rest her hand against the wall and stop herself falling. The ox grasped her upper arm and pulled her towards a source of light, she stumbled down a set of steps into a cavern filled with candles and what looked like broken pieces of wooden furniture.

"Ah Luke, you have returned to me." Willow's eyes darted around nervously trying to find the source of the voice which seemed to fill the cavern. "And you have brought me a gift?" The ox, Luke, pushed Willow forwards and she tripped down the remainder of the steps and landed on her hands and knees. She gasped as her hands grazed against the jagged floor and she winced as she looked at the broken skin on her palms. She moved to stand up but a hand pressed down roughly on the back of her head keeping her in place.

"I must give Darla credit for her, she pointed the mortal out to us." Highly polished and pointed black shoes stepped into Willow's eye line and a withered hand slipped under her chin.

"Look at me mortal." The hand forced her chin up and she stared in horror at the ruby red eyes, crinkled face, pointed ears and hideously sharp fangs. The hand continued to point her chin upwards until her neck was painfully arched and she was forced to rise to alleviate the pain. "Pretty." Willow blushed and cringed as the monster before her seemed to sniff the air, as if he had caught a whiff of a delicious scent. Releasing her chin he grabbed her hands and turned her palms over so they faced upwards, revealing the small cuts from her fall. The monster's right hand reached up to her cheek and she gasped as he drew his fingernail across her cheek, cutting into the skin. She recoiled in horror as he dabbed a fingertip to his mouth and smiled. "Pure," he studied Willow intently and she fought back the urge to wipe her cheek where she could feel a slight trickling sensation. "Do you have a name, mortal?"

"W – Willow," her voice came out as no more than a whisper and she flinched backwards as the monster pressed his lips against her cheek, licking where he had cut her.

"Darla has outdone herself, exceptional." The cavern was filled with the sound of several pairs of feet running down the tunnel, laughter echoing. Willow couldn't help looking over her shoulder and the scream she had fought to hold back broke free. The blonde woman was practically skipping, but her face was no longer serene and innocent but that of the two monsters beside her. The two men she had seen earlier now accompanied her, and over their shoulder was a figure she recognised. The ox clapped a hand over her mouth, muffling her screams, but still they came. Tears streamed down her face and she tried to break free from the ox's grip. Glancing down she lifted her foot and stamped down with as much strength as she could muster on the ox's foot. She wore a pair of thin plimsolls so her impact was barely noticeable, but she knew the ox let her go more from shock than pain.

"Xander!" She cried running towards the figure slung over one of the men's shoulders. "Xander!"

"Ssh, he can't hear you sweetie." The blonde woman's face softened and she smiled warmly at Willow, there was something red around her lips and Willow shuddered as she realised it was blood.

"What did you do to him?" Willow cried, she was terrified to see how pale Xander was and that he didn't appear to be breathing. She tried to run towards him but Darla latched onto her arm and pulled her roughly around.

"I spoke to him, like I told you I would. I wouldn't get too near him right now; it might upset you a bit." Willow looked at her pleadingly, forgetting about the ox and leather-clad monster behind her.

"What are you?" Willow whispered as Darla guided her back down the steps into the cavern.

"You'll find out soon enough," Darla patted her cheek in a patronising fashion and skipped over to the leather monster. "Master, do you like her?"

"She is exquisite Darla," Willow flinched as the "Master" rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "The harvest is in two days' time, while you are all out enjoying yourselves she will bring me some pleasure." Willow felt her legs buckle and the Master grabbed her firmly by the upper arms keeping her upright. "Mortals, they always associate pleasure with one thing." He rolled his eyes in disdain, "I have no intention of knowing you carnally mortal. It would spoil you."

"Master…may I talk to you about her?" Darla nodded her head towards Willow and as the Master released her she hugged herself tightly. She turned around to try and locate Xander but could see him nowhere, quietly she stepped back towards the steps but her exit was quickly blocked by the ox. He glowered down at her and Willow turned away once more. It was just herself, the ox and a second monster who was standing close by looking bored. Willow paced around the cavern, her eyes looking around in interest. Despite her perilous situation her curiosity couldn't help being piqued, they were obviously underground but she had never heard of a place like this in Sunnydale. From the candles and broken furniture she assumed it was some form of church and she cast her mind trying to work out if she had ever heard about a church being destroyed.

"Where are we?" She asked, looking between the ox and the other man but neither acknowledged her.

"A church," Darla waltzed back over to her with a wide smile on her face. "It was destroyed in an earthquake in nineteen thirty-seven." Willow's hand brushed along a golden candle stem and she looked at the flickering flames sadly.

"Why did you kill Xander?" She asked quietly as Darla stepped beside her and studied the same flame.

"Who said I killed him?"

"He wasn't breathing…"

"Death is not always final, little mortal." Willow looked over her shoulder startled to see the leather-clad monster approaching.

"Respect The Master," Darla whispered, "he rewards respect and loyalty." I don't want to be rewarded by him, I want to go home. Willow felt tears sting her eyes and she blinked them away rapidly.

"Walk with me." The Master held out his hand, his eyes capturing Willow's. Strangely she found herself obeying the silent command and slid her hand into his deathly-cold one. "For three score years I have slept beneath the depths of this town, in two days' time I will finally walk the earth once more."

"Why in two days? Why can you not just go up now?" Willow asked without meaning too, but even she knew there was something binding this monster to the depths of darkness. The ground vibrated with a power, with some mystical force. She could feel it penetrating the soft soles of her shoes, pounding against her skin.

"Because I am bound here by powers which far exceed my own. But Luke will soon act as my vessel, he will drain the blood of the mortals above and through him I will regain my power. As Luke releases them from their worthless existence, they in turn will release me from this prison." Willow's blood ran cold and she tried to pull her hand free from his grasp, to turn and bolt, but he grasped her hand in an iron vice-like grip. "I have not tasted something so pure for so long." He murmured brushing his clawed hand through Willow's auburn hair, his fingernails grazing against her neck. As he brought her hand to his mouth Willow tried to break free, but her legs were rooted to the spot and her body felt as if it had been encased in a block of ice. She tried to scream as he turned her hand so that the inside of her wrist was exposed to him, but her lips had been sewn shut. She was powerless to move, even her eyes could not break free from his gaze.

Run you idiot, run! A voice in her mind screamed, but she couldn't obey it. Tears streamed down her face as The Master bit down into the inside of her wrist, his lips pulling at the wound and sucking more blood from it. The pain was excruciating and although all of Willow's instincts told her to run she could only watch as the monster drank her blood. His ruby red eyes were closed and he slowly sunk to the ground as he sucked greedily at the wound on her wrist. Nausea swept through Willow, finally she was able to move but it did her no good. Her legs buckled, but before she could sink to the floor he was back on his feet and scooping her into his arms. She stared with her eyes half-open at the blood smearing his lips, her blood.

"You fear me now," The Master's voice sounded distant, as if he were standing at the opposite end of a tunnel. "But soon you will grow to love me. And from that love you will serve and obey me."

"I would rather die." Willow murmured without thinking, she wasn't even sure where the strength to speak had come from.

"My dear, that is exactly the idea."