WARNING: This fic will include violence, torture, bondage, character death,
bloodplay, etc...
 

**********
Part 4

**********

Riley honestly never thought it would end like this. On the rare times when he
did contemplate his death it had always involved one of two scenarios. Either he
would slip away peacefully in his sleep after reading bedtime stories to a
gaggle of grandchildren, or he would go out in a blaze of glory, fighting ?til the
very end for the ideals he had believed in his entire life.

But, instead of either of those fantasies, he was just standing there, waiting.
The whole thing felt unreal. This wasn?t him. This couldn?t be him. As Riley
waited for his skin to be sliced open he just knew this had to be happening to
someone else.

He could almost feel the air move as the creature sprang towards him, but
there were no fangs or claws, just a high pitched squeal and the sharp tang of
ozone. As quickly as it had come over him, the paralysis was gone. Riley opened
his eyes and sagged with relief. The deformed vampire was crumpled on the
floor, and Forrest was standing off to the side, weapon still up, eyes wide with
fright.

Forrest moved closer to his friend. ?What the...Riley, you were just standing...
What the hell??

?I c-couldn?t move. I just couldn?t...?

?Ri!? Forrest snapped. ?Now is not the time or place for a breakdown, you hear
me? You gotta keep it together. We need you.?

They needed him. His men needed him. That simple statement cut through the
residual fog in his brain. He gave his friend a short nod, and glanced around the
room assessing the situation.

He stared to activate his comm-link, but thought better of it. He was sure all
channels were being monitored, and he really didn?t want certain people to hear
this next order. ?Spread the word. Walsh has got her subjects. Kill the rest.?

Forrest looked at him in surprise, then smiled grimly and nodded. Regardless of
what just happened, Riley was back, and in his opinion, the boy was actually
starting to make some good decisions. Forrest began to move through the main
room of the club, stepping around various bodies, dusting vampires, and telling
every soldier he could about the change in plans. He loved the way their eyes lit
up. You don?t ?capture? in the middle of a massacre, you kill, and they were more
then ready to do a little avenging.

Out of the corner of his eye, Forrest saw a couple vamps running towards the
back. They were gonna get a not so pleasant surprise in the form of a waiting B
team. Forrest rolled his eyes. Why did Graham always get the cushy gigs?

*****

?New puppy?s all feisty.? Willow smiled as her new toy tried to squirm out of
her grasp. Oh, yes, this one was going to be fun to train. She just knew it.

Graham was desperately prying at the hand around his throat. Black dots were
already swimming in front of his vision, and with each successive second without
oxygen, they were getting bigger. His lungs were on fire. The girl, thing, in
front of him was tiny, but her grip was like iron.

?Ooh, pretty.? She said brightly. ?You?re turning such nice colors. All purpley.?
Then she sighed as Graham?s eyes rolled back in his head. Humans and their silly
breathing issues. Willow pulled him close, then struck out, propelling him across
the length of the small cage.

Graham hit the wall hard, his teeth rattling from the impact, but as he slid to
the floor, his lungs gratefully accepted oxygen again. Quickly gathering his
wits, he knew this was just a slight reprieve and he needed to move. Fast. He
blinked, trying to clear the haze from his eyes, and find an escape route. His
chest felt like an elephant had kicked him, and his neck felt dented, but he
wasn?t just going to roll over and play dead for this bitch. He was going to get
out of this... if he could just remember how to use his legs.

Willow licked her lips at the sight sprawled before her. She pounced. The air
whooshed out of Graham?s lungs as her weight landed on top of him. As he tried
to get his wind back, again, she grabbed his arms, pinning them to his side.
Graham struggled, trying to buck her off, amazed that something so small was
so heavy.

Willow giggled at his movements, confusing his intentions. ?Puppy wants to
play?? She ground herself into his pelvis. It had been so long since she found
someone who was willing to actively participate.

Graham gritted his teeth, face scrunching in disgust. He wasn?t getting paid
nearly enough to go through something like this. The thing was gonna use him to
get off? What the hell ever happened to just ripping out his throat and being
done with it? Graham shook his head, his muscles straining to break from her
grasp, refusing to just lie back and take this treatment.

?Oh, yes.? Willow looked adoringly down at him squirming beneath her, oblivious
to his repulsion. ?You?re gonna be a good puppy.? She frowned slightly. ?Not
that I don?t like our old puppy. I mean, he?s okay. Still screams and sizzles and
everything, but he?s gotten kind of boring, you know??

She smiled again. ?But you. We?re gonna have fun with you. Not too much fun
yet, though, ?cause you?re all human... Hey, I could take care of that right now,
couldn?t I??

?I *suppose* I should wait for Xander.? She rolled her eyes. ?But he plays with
things all the time without asking me, so...? She released his arms, but
immediately put one of her hands hand in the center of his chest, holding him
down, while the other grabbed his short hair. She yanked his head to the side,
exposing a soft expanse of neck. ?Yum.?

Willow lowered her head slowly, savoring the fear in the air, the resignation in
Graham?s eyes. The seconds before the kill were always so perfect. Lost in the
rapture, the vampiress didn?t hear the flurry of movement behind her until it
was too late. Willow hissed in surprise as a chain was slipped over her head and
tightened around her throat. She was yanked backwards off the human, the iron
digging painfully into the immortal, yet still delicate tissue.

Graham watched all this in shock. His own death had been preempted by the
resurrection of the burned man on the floor. But that was impossible. Nothing
could have survived what he obviously went through. Nothing human anyway.

The question of the other man?s species was answered when the redhead
elbowed him sharply in one of his wounds. He yelped and his face shifted in
response to the pain. It was a vampire, and evidently it was pretty well pissed
at the redhead... not that Graham could really fault it for that.

They struggled a bit more, and just as Graham was realizing he should actually
stop watching and try and do something the male looked at him and said, ?Run.?

Run, right. Good idea. But Graham had a better one. He frantically glanced
around the cage looking for... There! He dove for the corner coming up on his
knees, his taser in his hands and aimed before he could even consciously think
about it. He pressed the trigger, hitting the female vampire square in the chest.
The electricity moved through her body and into the male?s. They both
immediately dropped to the floor, out cold.

Using the wall for support, Graham shakily got to his feet, and headed out of
the cage toward the stairs. Someone else could figure all this out later, he had a
mission to complete.

*****

From his perch, Xander had watched as many comings and going as he could with
an unusually avid interest. This was better then those real life video things on
Fox.

At first it had been boring, and Xander began to worry that the vampires had
won and the idiots were feasting on those hard, young bodies without him. The
very idea was almost enough to make him want to be loyal to his peers... almost.

Then, thankfully, vehicles began to rumble through the streets. Large, green
vehicles. Transports. And Xander?s attention was piqued again. He didn?t have
the best vantage point in the world, but he was able to discern basically what
had transpired. The humans had won, and evidently, a vampire consolation prize
was to be tied up and loaded onto one of the vehicles.

That was different.

Xander watched as the vehicles were filled, then secured, then turned around to
rumble back the way they came. The soldiers left too, though Xander could tell
there were less of them then there had been.

He wondered if it would be safe to enter the Bronze now, or if there would be
sentries posted. It?s not like he really *needed* anything from his room, he just
wanted to salvage some of his stuff. Not the phone though. Darla might get
worried if he stopped answering altogether, but as much as he loved his Sire, he
didn?t care to hear her input on the situation. She would probably order him to
leave town. To hop the next freighter even if it was carrying horse shit to
Siberia.

He didn?t want to receive such a command because, in all honesty, he didn?t want
to leave Sunnydale anymore. Why would he? As far as Xander was concerned,
this town had just gotten interesting.

**********