Under your Spell by Marianne
Chapter 3.
Groaning, Buffy woke; finding herself sitting slumped over, her wrists held at shoulder level, chained to a wall. She was in a small chamber with grim, dank, stone walls, the small grille in the door opposite her the only source of light. She struggled and heaved on the chains, but they were too strong to break. Suddenly the memory of how she was captured made her look around – no sign of Spike. She remembered the screams she'd heard before the darkness had claimed her and she had to assume that he was now under the control of someone, or something, else.
Cold fury filled her and she again struggled fiercely to snap the chains, but after a few minutes had to admit defeat. Buffy leaned back against the wall and tried to remember the details of their capture. Who was the target of this kidnap? What did they (whoever they were) expect to gain from this? Despite herself, she was worried about the vampire. The control spell wasn't likely to be for his benefit, what would they make him do? If he was under the control of his enemy, there was no knowing what would happen to him. Buffy shook her head in despair and then stiffened as she heard sounds echoing down the passageway.
First there was yelling and then, strangely, wailing. A single, female voice.
Savos smiled as he looked upon the woman he loved. At least he assumed it was love, the feeling wasn't something he was accustomed to – his one life-long love affaire had been with himself. But he found that all he wanted to do was to please her, give her anything that she desired.
He had been sired over three centuries before. He had been one of the privileged few, born into an enormously rich banking family in Venice. Even then, although people flinched away from his ugliness, they had still gathered around him like vultures, hoping for handouts. He had been pathetically grateful at the time for any attention. Niccolo, the vampire that had bitten him, had decided he would make a better vamp than meal, and he was lucky that Niccolo had taken the time to show him how to survive. He, of course, had killed his sire eventually, once Niccolo had shown him everything he could. Savos, over the years, used the family's wealth wisely and he was now probably the richest being on the planet. But also probably the loneliest. But now, he had found another person that he wanted to share his life with.
She was the only being he had encountered who was totally unafraid of him, which, at first, had filled him with rage. Then as she danced around smiling at his anger and he registered her beauty, he began to soften towards her, stopping his creatures from attacking and destroying her. He supposed that, at first, it was the novelty that attracted him towards her, but it was more than that now – she was like a drug – he couldn't get enough. She seemed not to see his ugliness, or if she did, it made no difference. Of course, he'd had women before, but they'd either been hard-faced bitches only interested in his money and power; or soft, stupid women, only interested in his money and power. This one was different, she obviously had no idea who or what he was and he had had to do all the running. When she had shown the ability for second sight, he was totally won over.
"I have a gift for you my love." He smiled again, as she clapped her hands together with excitement. "The cost was great, but I would give anything for your pleasure." He wondered whether she knew how fortunate she was – he had never given anything away before, that was after all, how he'd managed to accumulate his enormous wealth. But of course she didn't - she was oblivious – accepting his generosity as if it were her right.
"What is it? What is it?" She was charming in her enthusiasm.
He motioned to one of his servants, who in turn gestured to another beyond the open door.
She stared at the figure that entered. "Spike, it's my Spike!" Drusilla ran up to the vampire and pulled him into her arms. When he made no response, she cried, "What's wrong with him, there's something wrong with him – he's like a statue – he won't move!" She began to wail.
A/N Thanks again for the feedback – sorry this is such a short chapter, but it was a hard one to write for some reason.