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

**********
Part 6

*****

Their car was only parked half a block away, but Riley, Forrest, and Graham
didn?t cover one hundred feet of the distance before they knew something was
wrong. They couldn?t see, or hear anything that might be considered a threat,
but nevertheless they knew one was out there. It was an instinct each human
was born with but only a select few ever cultivated It was like a giant neon
sign had lit up in each of their brains, screaming ?DANGER?.

Very subtly, almost everything about the young men changed. Their postures,
the way they stood, the way they carried themselves, all shifted in response to
the, as yet, unidentified threat.

Riley silently cursed as his suddenly shrewd eyes scanned the surrounding area.
His hand unconsciously drifted under his jacket, needing to feel the reassuring
bit of plastic stuck into the back of his jeans. The question of whether they
should take any weapons with them on this little jaunt had been a no-brainer,
but their usual equipment was a bit too obvious to go with their civilian attire.
The tiny, hand held tasers each man had grabbed and subsequently concealed on
their person seemed like perfect alternatives. Each one only had enough power
to take a single vamp, but after their performance at the club the previous
night, what would be the chances of them meeting up with one, let alone, three
vampires?

The thought of retaliation hadn?t even entered their minds, until they were
standing on a darkened Sunnydale street, with dinky little weapons and without
a whole platoon behind them.

Of course, they could easily summon the rest of the team. Each of their cell
phones had a ?panic button?, preprogrammed to send a direct alarm to the nerve
center of the Initiative base. But, what if it was just a vampire, or even two?
They could surely handle two vampires. Besides, the embarrassment factor
present in three senior agents calling out the calvary over what would most
likely amount to just a couple of hostiles was more then enough to keeps their
phones securely holstered.

A shuffling sound drew the Marine?s attention to a nearby alley. Switches were
flipped and a low electrical hum filled the air. They were ready, as ready as
they could be, and any vampire that they encountered that night was going to
be facing one hell of a fight... Unfortunately, for the Marines at least, the
creature that ambled out of the alley wasn?t a vampire.

In fact, it wasn?t anything the humans had ever seen before. Though, Forrest
did manage to come up with an appropriate greeting for the unidentified beast.

?What the fucking hell?!??

*****

The wyvern cocked it?s head and blinked. What was this? Humans? But, that
wasn?t right. It had been drawn to the Sunnydale Hellmouth by the stories, the
wondrous stories, of a town virtually free from the human pestilence. But, then
to simply see three of them on the street. Unattended, unshackled, unmarked...
how utterly disappointing.

And one of them was saying something, rather rudely, by the sound of it. Oh,
that wouldn?t do.

The small dragon stepped forward as the lower beings stepped back. At least
the humans had enough where-with-all to be properly afraid of such an
advanced being... or, so it thought. But then, one of the glorified primates
raised its hand. It was holding something. A weapon of some kind? What
complete and total impudence! This situation needed to be dealt with.

With a loud bellow, the wyvern sprang, startling the humans. A strong,
serpentine tail swung around sending one man flying, and clipping another on his
shoulder. Cries of pain and alarm sprang up. They were like music. The Wyrven
concentrated on the third human. Its beak snapped at the air, anxious to tear
into flesh.

Then, a bright light. Pain. PAIN. It screamed. Wings flexed. Its chest puffed
in outrage. What was that?! The human had done that! His blood would flow.

The Wyrven started to lunge but was caught by another blast. More pain.
Seizing its central nervous system. Not stopping it, but going a long way
towards slowing it down. It was confused, staggering slightly. Humans with the
ability to call lightning itself? That was unheard of, but both of the apes that
were still standing seemed to have that ability. The Wyrven lashed out in the
general direction of the mortals, then hastily retreated before either human
could call their magics again.

No, the Hellmouth was definitely not all it was cracked up to be.

*****

?What the hell was that? What the hell *was* that?!? Forrest?s wide eyes
darted around the once again deserted street, adrenaline still pumping harshly
through his veins.

More than a bit shaken himself, Riley merely shook his head at the question.
?Are you o...? The word ?okay? died on his lips as Riley really *looked* at his
friend. No, Forrest was not all right, though the endorphine rush was probably
keeping him from feeling any pain... yet.

The logic defying angle of Forrest?s right arm was enough to snap Riley out of
any lingering shock. He finally hit the panic button on the phone, knowing that
within ten minutes a full team, including medical personnel, would be at their
location.

?Okay, help?s gonna be here soon, Forrest.? Riley struggled to keep his voice
even. ?Do you need to sit down, or... something??

?Sit down? Why??

?Uh. No reason.?

Forrest?s brow furrowed as some of his more adamant nerve impulses finally
began to be heard. ?Ri... I think there?s something wrong with my arm.?

Riley swallowed. ?Um. Yeah. But, you?re gonna be fine. The medics are coming,
and everything?s-?

?Riley?? Forrest cut him off, suddenly realizing something more important than
hearing false assurances.

?Yeah??

?Where?s Graham??

*****

Everything hurt. No, that was an understatement. What Graham was feeling was
beyond normal words like ?hurt?, and ?ache?, and ?ow?. For this pain he needed big
words. Dictionary words. But, he had to shake it off. Had to get up and finish
the game. It was the playoffs and Graham couldn't afford to be hurt. He had to
get up. Couldn?t be the hero, guy with the ball was the hero, but he could help
that guy get to the endzone, and that was enough. He just had to get up.

But... he couldn?t. Something was wrong. His arms were behind his back and
there was something... something... wrapped around his wrists. He couldn?t move
his legs either. His ankles were tied together. Tied?

There was something covering his mouth too. And, his eyes...

Graham physically shook his head trying to clear the fog. He just needed to get
his bearings. He wasn?t in high school. The football game where he had gotten
knocked out had happened over five years ago. He was a Marine. He was part
of the Initiative. They were in Sunnydale fighting demons, like that thing that
had come out of the alley. That big, lizard thing with the long tail. The tail had
come right at him. He had gotten hit. He had gone down. And, obviously, he had
been found by something with arms, though, the coarse material binding his
hands and feet together pretty much guaranteed it wasn?t a friendly.

Graham began to test his bonds, trying to find some slack. There wasn?t any. He
tried again, ignoring the pain as the restraints bit into his wrists.

*****

Xander?s eyes flickered from the form on the bed to the drivers license in his
hand. The other contents of the human?s wallet had been filed away either in
Xander?s pockets or the trash can, but he had kept the license out. An impassive
face stared up at him from the laminated surface. Beside the typical lamentable
DMV photo there was the average information. Date of birth, social security
number, address... Xander ran his thumb across the smooth surface and
wondered if there was anyone there, maybe waiting for a nightly phone call. A
mother? A brother? He idly imagined what they might do when they realized
that phone call hadn't come. How long would it take, how many calls would be
missed, before panic set in? And, then, how long would it take for their hope to
die? How long before the cold, stark, realization that they?d never see their
son again. He imagined copious amounts of tears. Quiet tears, though. People of
their stock didn?t grieve out loud. Trophies and mementos would be packed...
No. No, they would be kept out, put on display. Maybe in a long unused
childhood bedroom. A shrine to their lost, little boy. Xander smirked. Part of
him wished he could see it. He briefly reveled in the fact that his actions in
Sunnydale could cause such drama thousands of miles away. His gaze turned
back to the human. For the second time in as many days, fate been on his side.
Xander had been content to simply follow the three solders, knowing that the
right moment to strike would come along, but not thinking it would happen so
quickly. But, with the lizard-type-thing distracting the others, and this one
knocked out cold, the vampire would have been a fool to miss the opportunity.

For a while Xander was a bit worried that the soldier had been seriously
damaged, and dragging the body back to his new lair had been pointless. That
just wouldn?t have been fair at all. But the human was awake now, and already
struggling. Xander grinned. He might have to break out the chains for this one.

But, first, it was time for introductions.

Xander leaned forward and gently removed the blindfold. Dilated blue eyes
blinked up at him rapidly. Confusion was quickly replaced by recognition, and
then an almost grim realization.

?Hello, Graham.? The vampire smiled, showing teeth. ?My name?s Xander. I?m
going to be your captor this evening... and the rest of your probably very short
life.?

**********