It was always the hunt. That was the true drive, the thrill of the hunt.
Searching and finding something to try for, then the pursuit. Then
came two options, he would catch his prey or it would get away. The
end result sometimes didn’t seem to matter, it was the hunt that
called to him.

Tonight Spike’s prey was a small blonde slayer. He had seen her with
her friends, dancing in that noisy club. He watched as the music flowed
through her body which seemed to move with liquid grace that he had
hardly ever seen in a human being. He had watched her sway, moving her
hips enticingly. He had watched, hidden in the shadows as numerous boys
had attempted to join her but she had shaken them off easily. She was an
outstanding creature, as unique and outstanding as if she had been
basked in a golden spotlight.

He had been entranced. He remembered the year before, fighting with her
had been wonderful. Her muscles rippled beneath her skin with a grace
that surpassed even those slayers he had fought before. The thrill and
exhilaration had been unparalleled, and he had never wanted that dance to
end.

Now he had returned and he was enthralled once more. He had come back
to Sunnyhell to find her and had become engrossed with her in the process,
like a fly caught inexorably in the beautiful webbing of the spider, only he
wasn’t trying too hard to escape.

Spike caught her scent as he wandered through the third cemetery that
night, the scent of apples and sweat laced with power. He approached
and could hear the sounds of a fight not too far away. He settled into
the shadows to watch.

The slayer had come across a newly risen fledgling, dirt still clinging to the
navy blue suit the corpse had been lovingly buried in. The vamp was
clumsy and uncoordinated as he fought, and defeat was inevitable. The
slayer moved gracefully, her leg swinging around to hit the tiny vamp in
the side of the head. She followed through with the momentum and
aimed a potent right punch at the creature’s mid-section. As the vamp
stumbled back the slayer drew out a stake and threw it with deadly precision.

The vamp never had a chance. As it crumbled into dust the slayer noted that
there was still the tingling at the back of her neck that signaled the
presence of the undead. Usually after she dusted one the feeling would
go away since most other vamps would run from an encounter with the
slayer. She checked around, looking intently for the vamp that had stayed
to fight the slayer.

Spike could see her looking around and knew that she had sensed him. He
watched her intently, wondering what she would do now that she had sensed
him. He wondered if she could sense that it was him, if there was any
familiarity flowing towards her through her slayer senses. But yet again, she
was still young, her senses might not be that refined yet.

Finally she seemed to give up, since the vamp was not presenting itself she
doubted that it was even aware of her presence, so she walked off towards
the center of the graveyard to continue her patrol. She remained unaware
of just how erroneous her assumption had been. He watched her with
fascination from the shadows and moved silent as the wind after her once she
left.

The tingling in the back of her neck didn’t cease as she sauntered through
the graveyard. However no vamps crossed her path that would allow her to
ease the tension that had permeated her being with the feeling of the
vampire. Now she could no longer ignore the feeling and she had an acute
sense that she was being followed.

She proceeded to the center of the cemetery and stopped in an area with only
low-lying tombstones about, the trees bordering the area parting for a few
meters to allow minimum coverage for anyone in the ce try trying to hide. She
turned around in the center, trying to find the source of the tingling in the vamp
she was sure was following her like the poisonous exhaust fumes from an old car.

Spike looked on from the shadows of the trees bordering the clearing, and
smiled to himself. She knew that she was being followed and had gone here
trying to draw him out. She was clever. She was looking around her and she
hadn’t spotted him and he knew that she still didn’t know it was him. He decided
that it was time to announce his presence.

He emerged from the trees, a part of the shadow detaching itself to draw itself
into the halo of the moonlight. It glinted off his white hair and made it take on
a bluish tint and cast shadows on his handsome face. He stood there in the
moonlight, the stars glittering above his head, waiting for his prey to notice.

Finally her sweep brought her eyes to him and she jumped, as it seemed to
her that he had materialized from the night air, made of fairy dust and
assembled miraculously right before her gaze. Her surprise however, turned to
one of fear, anger, and finally stony determination. Spike smiled, that was his
slayer, always ready for what the world had to throw at her. “What are you doing
here, Spike?”

He sauntered forward towards her, not surprised when she didn’t back down,
“Now, now, luv, is that any way to greet a friend?”

“A friend, no. You, yes. Why did you come back? You said you wouldn’t see
me again. Problems with your crazy ho?”

He smirked, “Language slayer. You’re supposed to be a paragon of virtue or
what all, and good girls don’t swear like that.” He paused for a moment to
look at her now, his prey, so beautiful basked in the moonlight. “Dru had
some issues she needed to work through. Missed her daddy, and I got sick
of hearing ‘bout it. Left her with a chaos demon who I hope can deal with her.”

She tossed her hair back, her eyes flashing with annoyance. “That still doesn’t
explain why you came here Spike. What’s here that’s so special?”

He pretended to looked shocked at this one, “Why pet, I thought you would
have figured it out by now.” He took a step towards her, “I came back for you.”

She felt the world spin around her. This was it, he had come back to kill her,
make her his third slayer. He had always been stronger than her, their
previous fights she always survived only because someone would intervene
or he would find something else to catch his more immediate attention. Now
that he was back he had nothing to distract him from accomplishing his task.
Her fear wrapped itself around her but she managed to gather herself together,
“All right then Spike, let’s go.” She dropped to a fighting stance.

Spike smirked at her before he turned his head to gaze at something else beyond
her, “Maybe later, slayer. I don’t like company. I’ll return to finish the hunt later.”
With that he faded back into the trees, once again becoming part of the shadows.

From behind her she heard a sound and she turned to see Angel emerge from the
trees behind her, thankful for his interruption not sure of the outcome of the
upcoming fight. She walked over to her protector, who remained oblivious to the
presence of his childe and the encounter between him and the slayer as only the
tingle of some vamp's presence registered, which he quickly disregarded.

*~***~~**~~*~**~~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Three days had passed since she had last seen him and she was on edge. She
hadn’t yet told her friends that Spike was back in town. She feared that doing
so would only cause them to panic, and she wanted to avoid causing them any
pain. She certainly wouldn’t tell them that he had come back with the express
intent to see her, they would go into a frenzy, and that she did not need.

She hadn’t even told Angel, any mention of Spike would send him into his
over-protective mode which, although it was cute, could often get in her way.
No, better let him find out on his own. He’d probably be furious with her when
he found out that she had known but she was willing to risk that in order to
avoid his domineering attitude now.

Now she was in the third cemetery she had visited that night without any sign of
the blonde haired vampire that so irked her. However halfway through the
cemetery she felt the familiar prickle that meant a vampire was near. She looked
around and saw no vamps anywhere, and she knew immediately that it was
Spike. “Come on out, Spike; I know you’re there.”

Once again he seemed to materialize from the shadows, his hands clapping slowly,
“Bravo slayer. Didn’t take you as long this time. Other night I thought I’d spend
the entire night in those trees.”

She fell into a fighting stance, raising a stake in her right hand, keeping it at the
ready to drive straight into his undead heart and send him scattering in the wind,
another clout of sand from a beach no one had ever seen. “Cut the small talk,
Spike. If we’re gonna fight let’s get it over with.”

That smirk never left his eyes as he allowed his muscles to prepare for the
confrontation about to occur. His body loosened itself out, preparing to counter
any tricks that the slayer might throw his way. Slowly he started circling, planning
up his first move. He was still the hunter, planning how to approach his prey.

She saw him begin to move and decided to make the first attack. If her past fights
with Spike were any indication she would have to get him quick if she was going to
live to fight another day. She lunged forward, aiming a hard left to his face and
rejoiced when it connected, causing his head to momentarily snap back. She tried
to take advantage of the blow she had struck and thrust her right arm towards his
chest, the stake towards his heart.

It was not to be, however. Spike’s left hand whipped up and knocked away her wrist,
causing her to drop the stake that she had been holding. He followed that up with a
punch with his right, which she blocked, his arm now trapped by hers. He grabbed
her other arm and pulled her close, head-butting her and causing her to stumble back
a few steps and release his arms.

Her shock was short-lived though as she recovered quickly from the blow he had given
her. Quickly she straitened up just as he was coming towards her. He threw a punch
that she able to evade quite easily, countering it with one of her own. However her
attack failed as he caught her wrist in his hand and twisted her arm around so her back
was pressed against his front. He caught her free hand and pinned it to her side as he
brought his face down to her neck.

Buffy stiffened in his arms as she felt his ridges against her neck. It had all been over
so quickly, and now she was helpless, about to have his fangs suck the life out of her.
The fight had been over so quickly, she had barely begun to fight when it was over.
Now he had finally won. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

At her neck he could smell the fear wafting off of her in waves. He chuckles softly into
her neck, he knew what she was expecting, but the hunt wasn’t over yet. The most
enjoyable part was going to come later. Quickly he shifted his face and sank his fangs
gently into her neck.

Warm Slayer blood filled his mouth, carrying her essence into him like water burst from a
dam. He saw her, little girl Buffy with her blonde hair bound into two pigtails bounding
down the stairs into the waiting arms of her mother with her father laughing next to her.
He saw elementary-school Buffy wearing a long-sleeved Care-Bears T-shirt with her hair
falling freely around her shoulders shining with the lights in the arena watching ice-capades
with her father sitting next to her. He saw Buffy after she had first been called tears running
down her face as she watched the fire she had set to destroy the vamps within claim the life
of her watcher. He saw her a few months later huddled in a ball inside the bathroom crying
as the sounds of her parents’ shouting floated up to her. He saw her smiling with her friends
at Sunnydale High. He saw her face when she found Angelus by the bed she had made love
to Angel the night before. He saw her whole life through her blood.

He took a few slow sips of the intoxicating wine that was her blood before slipping his fangs
from her neck. He drew his tongue across his fang, cutting it and allowing the blood to well
up, and licked the wound closed muttering “HANC FEMINAM VINDICO, EA EST MEUS AC EI
PARENDUM EST MIHI.” The wound immediately stopped bleeding, the blood forming a webbing
that would clot and he smiled, knowing it would scar.

With his words Buffy felt as though her entire body suddenly caught fire. It felt as if her blood
was boiling, her blood was liquid fire running rampant through her veins, as every nerve
ending in her body seemed to explode causing her to want to scream in agony and moan in
ecstacy. She felt everything around her and her body was assaulted with so much feeling as
all she could hear was the rushing of blood through her ears and the galloping of her heart.
All this swelled up inside her until the dam seemed to burst as she reached her climax, trapping
the air in her throat and silencing her scream to the stars. She came down as the fire in her
blood lessened and focused on the bite on her neck and finally disappeared, leaving only a
pleasant tingling at the mark on her neck.

From his position nuzzling his mark on her neck Spike smirked. He knew what had just happened,
he could hear how her heart rate had skyrocketed and the change in her scent filled the air like
an exotic spice. He knew that it sometimes happened to a female that when they were claimed
they would reach an orgasm, but it was not overly common and it still gave him a sense of pride.
If he could do that with just a bite, what else could he do to her?

Buffy slowly came down from her peak in a fuzzy haze as she felt Spike’s cool lips on her
neck, soothing the tender wound on her neck with his gentle touch. Suddenly she came
shooting back to herself with unparalleled speed. It was as if she had been punched
in the gut. She realized that Spike was no longer drinking from her and she could still
hear her heart beating in her chest. Why wasn’t he draining her now?

Spike felt her body, which had been loose and relaxed following his initial bite, become
taut as a bowstring in his arms. Inwardly he sighed, knowing this brief reprieve was
about to come to a screeching halt. He had enjoyed having her in his arms and it was
a shame that he would have to let go, even for a moment.

The slayer began to struggle against him, her body twisting against his as it attempted
to free itself. Spike felt himself reacting to her movements as he growled into her ear,
“None of that now” and her body instantly stilled as a dancer grabbed in the middle of a
move.

Buffy was disturbed by her body’s unquestioning obedience. What had he done to her?
She was scared that he would have such power over her. Was it not enough that he
had beat her, that he had to control her too? Buffy felt herself teetering, “Please, let me
go.” As he released her she fought back the tears. When he let her go it was as if she
lost something inside of her. She wanted to jump back into his arms and never leave.
Her eyes welled up as she turned away from him and bolted through the cemetery
towards her house.

Spike watched her as she ran off, himself torn. It hurt something inside him to see her
in tears. But the larger part of him was thrilled at the completion of his claim. The hardest
part was done, now the real hunt would begin. He would make the Slayer his in all ways.
He turned and once again became part of the night.
***********************