-'Master of Puppets.'-
Pairings: Vampire B/A/Dru, implied vamp B/X and Dru/X. Hints of F/X possibly.
A/N: 5th in the "Ecstasy of Gold" series. Master of Puppets is pulling your strings, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams. Be warned, this part is very dark.
A/N 2: God knows you can't write more unless you get reviews. And I know that this is getting darker as it progresses, and you know what they say, it's darkest before the dawn. But its also darkest when there's no dawn also come to think of it... oh well. Not any of Faith and Wesley's road trip for right now. You can look forward to it in the next installment. I've got a lot going on this week, so probably no more until next weekend. Sorry.
Disclaimers: I don't own anything relating to Buffy, Angel, or Metallica.
Timeframe: S2 AU. Hell on Earth. And I'm stealing more from S3's "The Wish."
Dedicated to the ones you can't save, and to the ones you can.
//////////////////////////
Xander sat alone in his cell. Motionless. Restless. Staring at the same dark spot on the other side of the room. It captured his imagination. The only light in the room was just outside his cell and what Drusilla called the 'happy rack.'
Xander looked over to where the rack sat on the wall and cringed. He shook his head and looked down at his feet.
Still, something about the other side of the room always captured his imagination. He turned his face up and stared at the darkness with curiosity. What was on the other side? Was there even another side to this damned room? Would there be another set of torture instruments, another cell, or the bodies of his dead friends? Oh the excitement never ended.
He sighed and continued boring a hole into the darkness with his eyes. It would be feeding time in a while. He hoped Ed would bring his food this time. All of the other minions would make fun of him, taunt him, and yell at him, while he ate his food. Ed would just give him his food, stand over by the door, and wait until he's done.
He rubbed his face and lay back down. He needed to do something new today. Something to keep his brain occupied. Every time that his mind wandered images would flash through his head.
-Giles' beaten and mutilated body.-
-Cordelia's lifeless eyes as her body slumped to the ground.-
-Buffy's face as she vamped out from pleasure.-
-Angelus' smirk watching from the near left corner of the room the first time he let the two vampires 'play' with him.-
Xander shook his head and started beating on his temples. The images burned into his brain continued to play out one by one.
He had to think of something. Something new, something new. What had he done already?
He squeezed his eyes shut and started concentrating. He had every inched of his cell memorized and mentally recounted everything. He had twenty-seven rungs on each chain that connected his wrists to the wall and eighteen rungs for the chains on his ankle. There were a total of one hundred and fifty-eight vertical bars on his cell separated by three horizontal...
"Human, your food is ready."
Xander snapped out of his count and looked over at the doorway. A large baldheaded vampire walked over to his cell in game face with a tray of food. The vampire unlocked the door placed the tray a few inches inside.
"Eat."
Xander sighed, knowing where this was going. "I can't reach that far."
The vampire rolled his eyes and pushed the tray an inch further into the cell. Xander raised his eyebrows and sighed, "Scared of little old' me?"
The vampire growled. "Watch your tongue filthy meat bag. Master Angelus has ordered that no one lay a hand on you."
Xander groaned and started picking up his food. "I guess no one told Buffy and Dru."
The vampire cracked his knuckles and bared his fangs. "Do you _want_ to die?"
Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, but its better than the alternative."
The vampire growled and snapped out his hand at the sixteen-year-old's neck. "If it were not for my loyalty to my sire, you would be in a boneless heap at my feet."
Xander grinned and latched on to the vampires arm with his hands. "I'll have to thank old fang-face next time I see him."
The vampire's face dropped as Xander twisted the undead creature's arm around and flung him to the ground. The vampire growled and charged the human. Xander pulled back his arm and had one thing to say before he went to work. "Tell them to send Ed next time."
/////////////////////////////////////
Angelus frowned as he saw two of his lieutenants pull a minion before him and dropped the vampire at his feet. Angelus dismissed them with a wave of his hand and looked down upon the minion. "I thought I told you better James."
James lifted his head up, revealing multiple bruises and cuts along his face. His left eye was completely swollen shut. "I am sorry master."
Angelus got up from his throne and walked down to where the minion kneeled. He smirked as he walked around the pledgeling. "I gave you my orders not to touch the human and yet you did. Why is that?"
James shuffled on his knees. "The human, sire, he..."
"IS ONLY HUMAN!" Angelus grabbed James by the neck and lifted him into the air. His cold eyes burned as he watched the fear in the young vampire. "You are a VAMPIRE, a CREATURE of the NIGHT. They are our FOOD! Are you saying that FOOD beat you?"
James couldn't manage a response as Angelus squeezed his throat tighter. The Master vampire smirked and dropped him to the floor. The minion rubbed his throat. "It will not happen again Master Angelus."
The master vampire turned around to watched the dust settle from James' remains. "I guess it wont."
Buffy smiled as the dust settled infront of her. "Aww, is the help bothering you again Angel?"
Angelus vamped out backhanded Buffy across the face. "NEVER CALL ME THAT NAME!"
Buffy smiled as a droplet of blood ran down her cheek. She slowly wiped it off with her index finger and carefully caressed her lips with it. "Mmnn, harder baby, you know how I like it."
Angelus shook his head and smiled. "Buffy, how many times do I have to tell you...Don't...." Angelus punched her in the chest.
"Call."
Buffy grinned in pain and ecstasy as she bent over from the blow.
"Me"
The Master vampire grabbed her hair tightly and pulled her into his chest.
"ANGEL!"
The blond vampiress grinned as the blood smeared her lips from the impact. Her eyes danced hungrily and forcefully as she kissed her sire. In the background a lone figure walked back into the darkness.
//////////////////////////////////////////
Drusilla sat on the bed and played with her dolls. Nobody else wanted to play with her. Daddy and the naughty girl were off somewhere having fun without her. The minions were a little restless since Daddy punished the puppy's new friend.
She sighed wistfully thinking about her puppy. He was the only one that would play with her when no one else would. He would sit and stay and do all of the wonderful tricks that a good puppy should do. Oh she really wanted to play with the puppy. But he was being such a bad boy, hurting one of Daddy's babies like that. She giggled as a small voice began whispering to her.
"Oh Miss Edith, that's such a naughty thing to say."
Drusilla's frown etched into a grin as Miss Edith told her some new tricks she could teach her brown-eyed puppy. She would always be a good little girl and listen to what Miss Edith told her. Miss Edith liked the puppy too. She would always say when the puppy needed a little lesson or when the puppy was being a bad little thing.
Drusilla sighed. There was only one thing wrong with the puppy. The puppy wasn't Daddy.
Miss Edith nodded and smiled. No one could take the place of her Daddy. No one could take her Daddy from her, not even the horrible Buffy person. Daddy would get tired of her soon enough. She should just play with the puppy for now.
After all, she did like the noises he could make.
Drusilla smiled. "Oooh, Miss Edith, do you wish you could play with the puppy?"
Miss Edith only bared a steel wire of a smile. No, it was just fun enough watching her play with the puppy.
Silence ensued for several seconds as Drusilla looked into the eyes of her small brown haired doll.
"I really do miss my Daddy Miss Edith, the puppy _is_ fun, but I wish I had my Daddy back."
Drusilla smiled in wonder as the lovely Miss Edith told her about the shape of things to come.
///////////////////////////////////
Xander sighed and looked back into the darkness of the other half of the room. The darkness was his only real friend left he supposed. It didn't ask anything of him. It listened to him as he yelled and screamed at it for the first few months. It watched him and felt sad with him when he couldn't take any more of the beatings, of the torture. He found an odd comfort in the darkness.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me again."
Xander chuckled as he realized what he was doing and put his head in his hands. "Oh God, I'm talking to myself."
A small voice from inside the darkness whispered back. "You're not talking to yourself if someone's really there."
Xander shot up like a bullet and growled into the darkness. "Who's there?!"
He looked back and forth across the room. "Come on, show yourself!"
Silence ensued for several minutes as Xander stared at the Darkness.
"Hello?!"
And the Darkness stared back.
Pairings: Vampire B/A/Dru, implied vamp B/X and Dru/X. Hints of F/X possibly.
A/N: 5th in the "Ecstasy of Gold" series. Master of Puppets is pulling your strings, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams. Be warned, this part is very dark.
A/N 2: God knows you can't write more unless you get reviews. And I know that this is getting darker as it progresses, and you know what they say, it's darkest before the dawn. But its also darkest when there's no dawn also come to think of it... oh well. Not any of Faith and Wesley's road trip for right now. You can look forward to it in the next installment. I've got a lot going on this week, so probably no more until next weekend. Sorry.
Disclaimers: I don't own anything relating to Buffy, Angel, or Metallica.
Timeframe: S2 AU. Hell on Earth. And I'm stealing more from S3's "The Wish."
Dedicated to the ones you can't save, and to the ones you can.
//////////////////////////
Xander sat alone in his cell. Motionless. Restless. Staring at the same dark spot on the other side of the room. It captured his imagination. The only light in the room was just outside his cell and what Drusilla called the 'happy rack.'
Xander looked over to where the rack sat on the wall and cringed. He shook his head and looked down at his feet.
Still, something about the other side of the room always captured his imagination. He turned his face up and stared at the darkness with curiosity. What was on the other side? Was there even another side to this damned room? Would there be another set of torture instruments, another cell, or the bodies of his dead friends? Oh the excitement never ended.
He sighed and continued boring a hole into the darkness with his eyes. It would be feeding time in a while. He hoped Ed would bring his food this time. All of the other minions would make fun of him, taunt him, and yell at him, while he ate his food. Ed would just give him his food, stand over by the door, and wait until he's done.
He rubbed his face and lay back down. He needed to do something new today. Something to keep his brain occupied. Every time that his mind wandered images would flash through his head.
-Giles' beaten and mutilated body.-
-Cordelia's lifeless eyes as her body slumped to the ground.-
-Buffy's face as she vamped out from pleasure.-
-Angelus' smirk watching from the near left corner of the room the first time he let the two vampires 'play' with him.-
Xander shook his head and started beating on his temples. The images burned into his brain continued to play out one by one.
He had to think of something. Something new, something new. What had he done already?
He squeezed his eyes shut and started concentrating. He had every inched of his cell memorized and mentally recounted everything. He had twenty-seven rungs on each chain that connected his wrists to the wall and eighteen rungs for the chains on his ankle. There were a total of one hundred and fifty-eight vertical bars on his cell separated by three horizontal...
"Human, your food is ready."
Xander snapped out of his count and looked over at the doorway. A large baldheaded vampire walked over to his cell in game face with a tray of food. The vampire unlocked the door placed the tray a few inches inside.
"Eat."
Xander sighed, knowing where this was going. "I can't reach that far."
The vampire rolled his eyes and pushed the tray an inch further into the cell. Xander raised his eyebrows and sighed, "Scared of little old' me?"
The vampire growled. "Watch your tongue filthy meat bag. Master Angelus has ordered that no one lay a hand on you."
Xander groaned and started picking up his food. "I guess no one told Buffy and Dru."
The vampire cracked his knuckles and bared his fangs. "Do you _want_ to die?"
Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, but its better than the alternative."
The vampire growled and snapped out his hand at the sixteen-year-old's neck. "If it were not for my loyalty to my sire, you would be in a boneless heap at my feet."
Xander grinned and latched on to the vampires arm with his hands. "I'll have to thank old fang-face next time I see him."
The vampire's face dropped as Xander twisted the undead creature's arm around and flung him to the ground. The vampire growled and charged the human. Xander pulled back his arm and had one thing to say before he went to work. "Tell them to send Ed next time."
/////////////////////////////////////
Angelus frowned as he saw two of his lieutenants pull a minion before him and dropped the vampire at his feet. Angelus dismissed them with a wave of his hand and looked down upon the minion. "I thought I told you better James."
James lifted his head up, revealing multiple bruises and cuts along his face. His left eye was completely swollen shut. "I am sorry master."
Angelus got up from his throne and walked down to where the minion kneeled. He smirked as he walked around the pledgeling. "I gave you my orders not to touch the human and yet you did. Why is that?"
James shuffled on his knees. "The human, sire, he..."
"IS ONLY HUMAN!" Angelus grabbed James by the neck and lifted him into the air. His cold eyes burned as he watched the fear in the young vampire. "You are a VAMPIRE, a CREATURE of the NIGHT. They are our FOOD! Are you saying that FOOD beat you?"
James couldn't manage a response as Angelus squeezed his throat tighter. The Master vampire smirked and dropped him to the floor. The minion rubbed his throat. "It will not happen again Master Angelus."
The master vampire turned around to watched the dust settle from James' remains. "I guess it wont."
Buffy smiled as the dust settled infront of her. "Aww, is the help bothering you again Angel?"
Angelus vamped out backhanded Buffy across the face. "NEVER CALL ME THAT NAME!"
Buffy smiled as a droplet of blood ran down her cheek. She slowly wiped it off with her index finger and carefully caressed her lips with it. "Mmnn, harder baby, you know how I like it."
Angelus shook his head and smiled. "Buffy, how many times do I have to tell you...Don't...." Angelus punched her in the chest.
"Call."
Buffy grinned in pain and ecstasy as she bent over from the blow.
"Me"
The Master vampire grabbed her hair tightly and pulled her into his chest.
"ANGEL!"
The blond vampiress grinned as the blood smeared her lips from the impact. Her eyes danced hungrily and forcefully as she kissed her sire. In the background a lone figure walked back into the darkness.
//////////////////////////////////////////
Drusilla sat on the bed and played with her dolls. Nobody else wanted to play with her. Daddy and the naughty girl were off somewhere having fun without her. The minions were a little restless since Daddy punished the puppy's new friend.
She sighed wistfully thinking about her puppy. He was the only one that would play with her when no one else would. He would sit and stay and do all of the wonderful tricks that a good puppy should do. Oh she really wanted to play with the puppy. But he was being such a bad boy, hurting one of Daddy's babies like that. She giggled as a small voice began whispering to her.
"Oh Miss Edith, that's such a naughty thing to say."
Drusilla's frown etched into a grin as Miss Edith told her some new tricks she could teach her brown-eyed puppy. She would always be a good little girl and listen to what Miss Edith told her. Miss Edith liked the puppy too. She would always say when the puppy needed a little lesson or when the puppy was being a bad little thing.
Drusilla sighed. There was only one thing wrong with the puppy. The puppy wasn't Daddy.
Miss Edith nodded and smiled. No one could take the place of her Daddy. No one could take her Daddy from her, not even the horrible Buffy person. Daddy would get tired of her soon enough. She should just play with the puppy for now.
After all, she did like the noises he could make.
Drusilla smiled. "Oooh, Miss Edith, do you wish you could play with the puppy?"
Miss Edith only bared a steel wire of a smile. No, it was just fun enough watching her play with the puppy.
Silence ensued for several seconds as Drusilla looked into the eyes of her small brown haired doll.
"I really do miss my Daddy Miss Edith, the puppy _is_ fun, but I wish I had my Daddy back."
Drusilla smiled in wonder as the lovely Miss Edith told her about the shape of things to come.
///////////////////////////////////
Xander sighed and looked back into the darkness of the other half of the room. The darkness was his only real friend left he supposed. It didn't ask anything of him. It listened to him as he yelled and screamed at it for the first few months. It watched him and felt sad with him when he couldn't take any more of the beatings, of the torture. He found an odd comfort in the darkness.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me again."
Xander chuckled as he realized what he was doing and put his head in his hands. "Oh God, I'm talking to myself."
A small voice from inside the darkness whispered back. "You're not talking to yourself if someone's really there."
Xander shot up like a bullet and growled into the darkness. "Who's there?!"
He looked back and forth across the room. "Come on, show yourself!"
Silence ensued for several minutes as Xander stared at the Darkness.
"Hello?!"
And the Darkness stared back.