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thank you so much for all the amazing reviews. hope you enjoy this chapter
Spike automatically tried to protect himself from the sunshine and it took a few moments for him to realise that it wasn’t burning him up.

‘Protected glass; we developed it for use in any room a vampire may enter. I think there are just a couple of storerooms we still have to renovate yet,’ Thynne explained as he signalled the guards to leave. Spike still felt bruised and broken; the physical wounds were minor compared to the wounds in his heart from Dru’s betrayal. Selling him to a group of people he had no knowledge of, and now he was to be trained up as some sort of gigolo. Could his life get any worse?

Thynne watched the emotions play across the vampire’s face. He hoped that the lady in charge of this mission knew what she was doing. One quarter of the Scourge of Europe let lose with nothing but his conscience to guide him could leave the world a blood bath. He signalled for Spike to turn round and, when the vampire had moved, Thynne undid the cuffs and pointed to the desk and chair. Spike rubbed his wrists almost unconsciously as he slumped in the chair and finally started to look around him.

The room was an eclectic mix of old and new: a state of the art computer stood next to a very old fashioned teacher’s desk and there were three globes on a nearby table. Two were the traditional earth and stars; the third was worth closer inspection. It seemed to be highlighting mystical hotspots all over the world. Spike knew he would like to see it more closely later but he knew he ought to pay more attention to the man in front of him for a while.

‘This is your classroom, and through there is a library and sitting room for you; on the other side of that is a bedroom and shower. There is everything you need, this is the only doorway, and it won’t allow you through it without escort, so try all you want. Your teachers will mostly come to you, but there will be a few subjects for which you will need to leave this area and use other facilities. Blood will be provided: it will be bagged, of course.’

‘Not cow, please, I can’t stand cow.’ Spike spoke for the first time since entering the room.

‘Pig, then?’ Thynne asked and Spike nodded his acceptance. Pig would have to do, he’d prefer human but one look at Marcus’ face told Spike that he’d better not ask for that. Thynne nodded a farewell to Spike and closed the heavy door behind him, leaving Spike alone.

Alone: totally alone. He reached out for his sire and again couldn’t feel Dru; there was something there, a presence in the back of his mind, but no Dru. He stood up and stretched, looking around his prison cell: well, it was better than his previous one.
The walls were covered in educational posters, strange educational posters. They seemed to show every kind of demon and angel possible; most, Spike had heard of but some he hadn’t. Books on magic, demonology, all the things expected but also subjects that were highly unexpected. Cookery. Why on earth would he need a cookery book? Child care...for a vampire? Car maintenance, weaponry, those should at least be reasonable reading. Etiquette, who wanted a book on etiquette? And dancing… Spike ran his fingers along the spines of the books. The first few shelves were all teaching texts. There was a whole shelf of books on languages ancient, modern, demonic…and tape after tape of language courses.

Spike made his way into the library; he might as well see what that was going to be like. He was actually pleasantly surprised by what he found. It was a spacious modern room with comfortable furniture and even a nice electric fire. Spike felt impressed; his demon was looking for a way out. He tried the window but it was an illusion: there was no outside, just solid concrete. There was a small fridge hidden behind the curtain; Spike opened it and was pleased to see packets of blood as well as a large stock of beers. The English part of his mind was a little upset that the beer had been chilled, but what the hell, it was beer. There was a microwave (no cold blood) and a few glasses but best of all there was a whole box of smokes, and his brand.
Spike looked at the cigarettes almost reverently; he took carton up and just savoured the smell of all that nicotine. His Zippo lighter was on the shelf as well, so Spike lit a cigarette and took a deep, long drag on it. The nicotine hit him like a steam train and he felt the stress just drain away. He needed that.

Spike took an ashtray and made his way into the bedroom. So far this little apartment seemed to be reasonably comfortable. It was decently furnished, if a little simply for his tastes. Better than that mine he’d been trapped in with Darla, Dru and Angel one time. He looked around and saw the bedside table, then a large wardrobe filled with jeans, jackets, and suits. The shirts were expensively made and it looked like the rest had been made for him at his old tailors. Gieves and Hawks must have kept his templates on file. Spike put the beer and ashtray on the bedside table and went into the shower room. It was huge. There was a mirror over the sink that showed his reflection. Spike reached out to touch the image in the glass: it had been years since he’d seen himself and he hardly recognised the bleached blond man with incredibly short hair. He stripped off his clothes, dumping them into the hamper, and turning up the heat stepped into the shower, washing off the blood and stench that seemed to accumulate. After a long, luxurious shower he walked back into the library and chose a book of Victorian poetry to read. It was one love that had stayed with him throughout the years. Spike wondered where his large array of books had ended up. There were some nice first editions in the collection. It would be nice if he could get them back.

A good book, fags and a beer: what more could he want? Spike spent a couple of hours just relaxing and settling his mind; he had needed the time to come to terms with everything that had happened. He reached out through the childe/ sire link again and got a wave of acceptance back down it. Finishing his beer and fag he flopped down on the huge double bed and pulled the thick cover over himself and fell deeply asleep.





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