Something was burning. The stench of it flooded Faith's nostrils and made her want to retch. Instead, she lay perfectly still, recalling the memory of the attack on their hideout, filled with dread. Her hands were bound behind her back, the coarse rope cutting into her wrists so her fingers were slick with blood. The pressure on her ankles assured her that her feet were similarly bound. Faith tested the strength of the bonds, but it was clear that whoever had confined her knew what they were doing. 'Makes sense, seeing as how they're all a bunch of Slayers themselves.'
Faith took a brief moment to be glad she was alive. It was amazing really. She had never expected to draw breath again when she saw the wave of Slayers coming through the window, clearly out for blood. Yes, she was caught, and some or all of her friends-or maybe the right word was allies?-may have been killed, but she had gotten out of tighter situations than this, hadn't she?
'Yeah right.'
On the other hand, it made no sense whatsoever that she was alive. Faith knew she had lost count of the number of Abbey's army that she had killed; she knew it was well over a dozen. The look of disgust and hate on the face of the Slayer to finally take Faith down was enough to convince her that Abbey wasn't looking to win Faith over to her side. Since Abbey had never shown signs of mercy before, maybe being alive wasn't such a good thing.
"Wake up, bitch!"
Someone backhanded Faith hard across the face and she tasted fresh blood.
'Of all the times I had to be right, it had to be now. No sense in pretending I'm out anymore.'
Faith opened her eyes to find Abigail herself towering over her. Amazing how, up close, Abbey didn't look so frightening. She looked like a girl-an angry, frightened girl. There was so much hate and fear in her sunken hollow eyes, a softer person might have been tempted to pity her.
'Uh huh. Pity the bitch that has murdered countless innocents and allied herself with soulless vamps and baby-eating demons? Not a chance. Never was a sucker for sob stories anyway. I'll leave that shit to Angel.'
Abigail sneered, and all semblance of a damaged girl disappeared. "Hello, Faith."
"Where are the others?" Faith demanded. She was in no mood to play polite, hopeless situation or not. If Abbey was going to kill her, she may as well trick Abbey into doing it quickly.
Abbey cocked her head to the side. "Others?" she asked, though the cruel smirk on the rogue Slayer's face told Faith the younger girl knew damned well who Faith meant.
"Is this why you kept me alive and went to the trouble of bringing me here?" Faith spat. "To play games? Because listen up, girlie. I'm not interested in playing games with you. I won't cooperate for your entertainment. You may think you're the big shit now, but I'm here to tell you-you're nothing. You've allied yourself with demons that will use you, then spit you like a pig and roast you over a fire once you've outlived your usefulness. So if you're gonna kill me, just do it. So I'll ask you again-where are my friends?"
Faith expected more blows or maybe an arrogant laugh in response. The last thing in the world she expected was for Abbey to simply nod in agreement. "You're right, Faith. Some of your friends have been demons-Anyaka, Kevlorne, Angelus, William the Bloody, Clem. Though all of my demon allies aren't evil, many are. I know that Eventually they will overpower me."
Faith was so surprised by the admission that she could only just sit there and stare dumbly at Abbey for several moments. "Then why the hell are you allying yourself with them?"
The smirk was back on Abbey's face, and she kicked her prisoner hard in the ribs for no other apparent reason than the sheer pleasure of it. Faith grunted, but refused to give more of a reaction than that.
Abbey laughed. "Tough girl, huh?"
Faith glared at the girl through narrow eyes. "Tough enough that I don't need to keep someone tied up for me to beat 'em."
Abbey's eyes narrowed to slits and she kicked Faith hard enough that the elder Slayer felt one of her ribs snap.
'Yeah, girl,' Faith thought as the pain exploded across her chest. 'Getting that dig in was really worth it.'
"The vampire is right over there." Abbey stepped to Faith's side, yanked the elder Slayer's head up by a handful of matted hair, and gestured to the other side of the darkened room.
'Holy shit...'
Now Faith knew what was burning, and it took everything she had to keep herself from heaving.
Spike lay on the other side of the room, his naked body tied with the same coarse rope that bound Faith's limbs to a cross resting on a raised platform. His skin crackled as steam and smoke rose into the air. Water trickled down from the ceiling to land on his exposed chest. From the sizzle, Faith surmised it was holy water. Bile rose in her throat as she realized it wasn't just water trickling down the platform and puddling on the floor-it was also his melting skin. The bleached-blonde vampire did not move, though his pain must be tremendous. For a moment, Faith forgot her bonds and on pure instinct tried to jerk forward to the vampire's aid. She only succeeded in dislocating her shoulder from the force of her own strength, and in making the coarse ropes cut more deeply into bloody wrists and ankles.
"You coward," Faith hissed, eyes hazing over with rage as Abbey stepped smirking back into her sight, blocking the tortured vampire from view. "You fucking cowardly bitch."
"But he's just another vampire, isn't he?" Abbey asked sweetly.
"Don't you fucking mock me! I told you-No games! You know what he is! You know he has a soul!"
"Yes," Abbey said with that awful arrogant smirk that Faith wanted to tear from her face. "Yes, I know he does. But you won't for much longer."
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Faith demanded, though she honestly didn't much care.
"What you said is true. I know that, sooner or later, the truly evil demons that are currently among my...allies...will turn on me. I need to be stronger. I need more power. What your witch friend awoke in me isn't enough. I know she's been trying to take it back, and so far you've been successful in hiding her from me. I need enough power to be sure that no one can ever defeat me-that no one can ever make me or my followers helpless again."
"Awww," Faith said mocking, ignoring the voice of reason in the back of her head once more. "Does somebody have issues?"
Abbey's face darkened and she punched Faith hard in the face. Faith's nose shattered, and she fell back on her back almost hard enough to knock the breath out of her lungs, but she still managed to laugh.
"You're right, Abbey. If that's the best you got, you do need more strength."
Abbey again yanked Faith up-why did it always have to be the hair?-glaring at her with eyes full of hate. The elder Slayer watched as the girl composed herself with visible effort. "Did you know that, even among vampire kind, it's forbidden to turn a Slayer?"
"No, I really didn't, and I really don't care," Faith said irritably. She could smell Spike burning. It was enough to drive her mad.
"I don't need to tell you of the power vampires have, and the power of The Slayer is stronger still. Legend has it that combining the two would create a force so great and terrible, it could lead to untold destruction-assuming the Slayer-turned-vampire's body could even survive the experience of harnessing that much power."
'Oh shit.' Faith definitely did not like where this was going.
"It's never even been attempted. Can you believe that? All these centuries-millennia even-of Slayers and vampires locked in never-ending combat, and not one of the bloodsuckers has ever even tried to Sire themselves a Slayer childe! I mean, granted, the vampire lucky enough to kill a Slayer may have been too busy trying to save himself from the business end of a stake to worry about procreating, but still!"
"Yeah, it's really fascinating," Faith said distractedly. Her eyes scanned the room unable to find a means of escape. Her wrists struggled furiously against her bonds, but they only seemed to get tighter.
"But you see, since it's never been done, I need a test case first, to see what happens. I'm not willing to destroy myself in the process." Abbey gestured, and a young vampire whose frilly costume suggested he read far too many Anne Rice novels came to her side. "Faith, this is Simon. He's barely a decade old-old enough to turn you, but young enough not to care about outdated superstition."
Simon leaned in and pulled Faith's head to the side.
"We have, of course, a whole coven of witches working their magic on you as a precaution. If the power does rise in you successfully, they will hold you in check and kill you once I'm satisfied. If the power doesn't rise, I'll just kill you myself." Abbey shrugged, a cruel smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Either way, you'll be dead."
'No, no, no, no, NO!'
Simon's teeth sunk into Faith's exposed throat and he began to drink. Even as the darkness started to take her, Faith imagined she could feel something crawling beneath her skin, like an electric spark.
'No...no, no, no'
It was all so wrong. The whole world felt damaged. None of this should ever have happened. She should be in prison, serving her due time, paying her penance-not out here, watching Spike cook across the room while this stupid fang boy with his goddamned frilly collar drained the life out of her, before turning her into a monster-an abomination.
'If you're waiting for the last possible moment for a dramatic rescue, B-now would be a good time.'
But there was no last minute raid, no spells from Willow or Giles, no Angel to break down the door.
'Just as well,' Faith thought with a touch of hysteria as her vision faded and her body grew cold. 'I was never cut out to be the damsel in distress needing rescue anyway.'
Faith thought she heard Simon say something. 'It's probably some line from a horrible movie,' she thought. She felt her head tip back as Simon pressed his wrist against her lips. She tried not to swallow his blood, but she was too weak from her own blood loss to spit let alone resist. His blood trickled down her throat and he released her. All she could do was fall bonelessly to the floor, as twilight became true darkness and claimed her. The fallen Slayer hoped, once more, that she would never again open her eyes-for the sake of the whole world.
:Author's Notes:
Just like with my Pirates story, I never get to update this one as much as I'd like. Please please please submit feedback!
Bsktballchik: Thanks for your continued support! And hey-this was almost all Faith! ^_^
Faith took a brief moment to be glad she was alive. It was amazing really. She had never expected to draw breath again when she saw the wave of Slayers coming through the window, clearly out for blood. Yes, she was caught, and some or all of her friends-or maybe the right word was allies?-may have been killed, but she had gotten out of tighter situations than this, hadn't she?
'Yeah right.'
On the other hand, it made no sense whatsoever that she was alive. Faith knew she had lost count of the number of Abbey's army that she had killed; she knew it was well over a dozen. The look of disgust and hate on the face of the Slayer to finally take Faith down was enough to convince her that Abbey wasn't looking to win Faith over to her side. Since Abbey had never shown signs of mercy before, maybe being alive wasn't such a good thing.
"Wake up, bitch!"
Someone backhanded Faith hard across the face and she tasted fresh blood.
'Of all the times I had to be right, it had to be now. No sense in pretending I'm out anymore.'
Faith opened her eyes to find Abigail herself towering over her. Amazing how, up close, Abbey didn't look so frightening. She looked like a girl-an angry, frightened girl. There was so much hate and fear in her sunken hollow eyes, a softer person might have been tempted to pity her.
'Uh huh. Pity the bitch that has murdered countless innocents and allied herself with soulless vamps and baby-eating demons? Not a chance. Never was a sucker for sob stories anyway. I'll leave that shit to Angel.'
Abigail sneered, and all semblance of a damaged girl disappeared. "Hello, Faith."
"Where are the others?" Faith demanded. She was in no mood to play polite, hopeless situation or not. If Abbey was going to kill her, she may as well trick Abbey into doing it quickly.
Abbey cocked her head to the side. "Others?" she asked, though the cruel smirk on the rogue Slayer's face told Faith the younger girl knew damned well who Faith meant.
"Is this why you kept me alive and went to the trouble of bringing me here?" Faith spat. "To play games? Because listen up, girlie. I'm not interested in playing games with you. I won't cooperate for your entertainment. You may think you're the big shit now, but I'm here to tell you-you're nothing. You've allied yourself with demons that will use you, then spit you like a pig and roast you over a fire once you've outlived your usefulness. So if you're gonna kill me, just do it. So I'll ask you again-where are my friends?"
Faith expected more blows or maybe an arrogant laugh in response. The last thing in the world she expected was for Abbey to simply nod in agreement. "You're right, Faith. Some of your friends have been demons-Anyaka, Kevlorne, Angelus, William the Bloody, Clem. Though all of my demon allies aren't evil, many are. I know that Eventually they will overpower me."
Faith was so surprised by the admission that she could only just sit there and stare dumbly at Abbey for several moments. "Then why the hell are you allying yourself with them?"
The smirk was back on Abbey's face, and she kicked her prisoner hard in the ribs for no other apparent reason than the sheer pleasure of it. Faith grunted, but refused to give more of a reaction than that.
Abbey laughed. "Tough girl, huh?"
Faith glared at the girl through narrow eyes. "Tough enough that I don't need to keep someone tied up for me to beat 'em."
Abbey's eyes narrowed to slits and she kicked Faith hard enough that the elder Slayer felt one of her ribs snap.
'Yeah, girl,' Faith thought as the pain exploded across her chest. 'Getting that dig in was really worth it.'
"The vampire is right over there." Abbey stepped to Faith's side, yanked the elder Slayer's head up by a handful of matted hair, and gestured to the other side of the darkened room.
'Holy shit...'
Now Faith knew what was burning, and it took everything she had to keep herself from heaving.
Spike lay on the other side of the room, his naked body tied with the same coarse rope that bound Faith's limbs to a cross resting on a raised platform. His skin crackled as steam and smoke rose into the air. Water trickled down from the ceiling to land on his exposed chest. From the sizzle, Faith surmised it was holy water. Bile rose in her throat as she realized it wasn't just water trickling down the platform and puddling on the floor-it was also his melting skin. The bleached-blonde vampire did not move, though his pain must be tremendous. For a moment, Faith forgot her bonds and on pure instinct tried to jerk forward to the vampire's aid. She only succeeded in dislocating her shoulder from the force of her own strength, and in making the coarse ropes cut more deeply into bloody wrists and ankles.
"You coward," Faith hissed, eyes hazing over with rage as Abbey stepped smirking back into her sight, blocking the tortured vampire from view. "You fucking cowardly bitch."
"But he's just another vampire, isn't he?" Abbey asked sweetly.
"Don't you fucking mock me! I told you-No games! You know what he is! You know he has a soul!"
"Yes," Abbey said with that awful arrogant smirk that Faith wanted to tear from her face. "Yes, I know he does. But you won't for much longer."
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Faith demanded, though she honestly didn't much care.
"What you said is true. I know that, sooner or later, the truly evil demons that are currently among my...allies...will turn on me. I need to be stronger. I need more power. What your witch friend awoke in me isn't enough. I know she's been trying to take it back, and so far you've been successful in hiding her from me. I need enough power to be sure that no one can ever defeat me-that no one can ever make me or my followers helpless again."
"Awww," Faith said mocking, ignoring the voice of reason in the back of her head once more. "Does somebody have issues?"
Abbey's face darkened and she punched Faith hard in the face. Faith's nose shattered, and she fell back on her back almost hard enough to knock the breath out of her lungs, but she still managed to laugh.
"You're right, Abbey. If that's the best you got, you do need more strength."
Abbey again yanked Faith up-why did it always have to be the hair?-glaring at her with eyes full of hate. The elder Slayer watched as the girl composed herself with visible effort. "Did you know that, even among vampire kind, it's forbidden to turn a Slayer?"
"No, I really didn't, and I really don't care," Faith said irritably. She could smell Spike burning. It was enough to drive her mad.
"I don't need to tell you of the power vampires have, and the power of The Slayer is stronger still. Legend has it that combining the two would create a force so great and terrible, it could lead to untold destruction-assuming the Slayer-turned-vampire's body could even survive the experience of harnessing that much power."
'Oh shit.' Faith definitely did not like where this was going.
"It's never even been attempted. Can you believe that? All these centuries-millennia even-of Slayers and vampires locked in never-ending combat, and not one of the bloodsuckers has ever even tried to Sire themselves a Slayer childe! I mean, granted, the vampire lucky enough to kill a Slayer may have been too busy trying to save himself from the business end of a stake to worry about procreating, but still!"
"Yeah, it's really fascinating," Faith said distractedly. Her eyes scanned the room unable to find a means of escape. Her wrists struggled furiously against her bonds, but they only seemed to get tighter.
"But you see, since it's never been done, I need a test case first, to see what happens. I'm not willing to destroy myself in the process." Abbey gestured, and a young vampire whose frilly costume suggested he read far too many Anne Rice novels came to her side. "Faith, this is Simon. He's barely a decade old-old enough to turn you, but young enough not to care about outdated superstition."
Simon leaned in and pulled Faith's head to the side.
"We have, of course, a whole coven of witches working their magic on you as a precaution. If the power does rise in you successfully, they will hold you in check and kill you once I'm satisfied. If the power doesn't rise, I'll just kill you myself." Abbey shrugged, a cruel smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Either way, you'll be dead."
'No, no, no, no, NO!'
Simon's teeth sunk into Faith's exposed throat and he began to drink. Even as the darkness started to take her, Faith imagined she could feel something crawling beneath her skin, like an electric spark.
'No...no, no, no'
It was all so wrong. The whole world felt damaged. None of this should ever have happened. She should be in prison, serving her due time, paying her penance-not out here, watching Spike cook across the room while this stupid fang boy with his goddamned frilly collar drained the life out of her, before turning her into a monster-an abomination.
'If you're waiting for the last possible moment for a dramatic rescue, B-now would be a good time.'
But there was no last minute raid, no spells from Willow or Giles, no Angel to break down the door.
'Just as well,' Faith thought with a touch of hysteria as her vision faded and her body grew cold. 'I was never cut out to be the damsel in distress needing rescue anyway.'
Faith thought she heard Simon say something. 'It's probably some line from a horrible movie,' she thought. She felt her head tip back as Simon pressed his wrist against her lips. She tried not to swallow his blood, but she was too weak from her own blood loss to spit let alone resist. His blood trickled down her throat and he released her. All she could do was fall bonelessly to the floor, as twilight became true darkness and claimed her. The fallen Slayer hoped, once more, that she would never again open her eyes-for the sake of the whole world.
:Author's Notes:
Just like with my Pirates story, I never get to update this one as much as I'd like. Please please please submit feedback!
Bsktballchik: Thanks for your continued support! And hey-this was almost all Faith! ^_^