His stomach lurched so hard that Cameron thought he was going to puke. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the screen again. But the images were still there. With a trembling hand, he reached into his pocket for the cell phone that Jerry had given him. At the time, Cam thought that Jerry was being overdramatic when he’d given him it with one number keyed into its memory – all very cloak and dagger – but now he wasn’t so sure.
“Cameron?” Jerry’s voice rattled tinnily in his ear.
“Y-yeah, it’s me. I need to see you. I’ve—”
“An hour – the place we discussed."
Cameron’s blood ran cold. This was serious shit. “Okay,” he replied then disconnected.
A glance at his watch told him that the only way he could get to the rendezvous was to cut class. After reading what he had, he didn’t think he could concentrate at school anyway. He stuffed the disk into his bag alongside the others – Jerry had told him to keep them with him at all times – and took it and his jacket downstairs.
“Morning, Cam,” said Craig, who was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal.
“Hi.”.
Cam nodded at his mom when she placed some toast in front of him. “Thanks.”
Looking at them, he wondered if they could tell how hard his heart was beating. He smiled weakly – how did spies do it?
As soon as he could, he made his excuses and hurried away in the direction of the school building. After a couple of blocks, he took a right and headed for the coffee shop. Jerry was already there. A coffee and a Coke sat on the table, and Cam nearly knocked them over as he lurched against the table when he sat down.
For a moment, they just stared at each other. Jerry took in the boy’s wild-eyed look and knew that his hunch had been right. Now it was time to learn how right he was.
“So,” he said gently.
Clutching his rucksack as if his life depended on it, Cameron took a hasty sip at his soda before meeting Jerry’s eye again.
“It’s about Spike,” he said, “but you knew that, didn’t you?”
“Suspected it.”.
“I printed it out.” Cam rummaged in his bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers. His eyes were glistening with unshed tears when he added. “They killed him. Why did they do it?”
Jerry didn’t want to tell Cameron that he strongly believed that Spike was currently working out of the new London facility. Better to wait for the facts before he got anyone’s hopes up.
“What did you find?”
“It-it’s all there.” Cam put his fingers on the papers. “There are samples of all of our handwriting.” He pulled the relevant sheet of paper out. “Look – why have they got that? How did they get it?”
Taking the paper from Cam’s hand, Jerry read it. The handwriting for Cam was part of a school project, for Craig, a note saying he’d be late home for dinner, for Buffy, it was a section of one of her patrol reports and Spike’s… Jerry closed his eyes momentarily. Spike’s was a little poem of his love for Buffy.
Christ! Vampires aren’t supposed to be like that.
He wondered if Spike had ever shown it to Buffy or had it been stolen without her seeing it?
“Jerry, I’m scared. It’s got plans to our house and says they have keys. And…” he leaned forwards and shuffled more pages, “do those symbols mean what I think they do?”
“Oh, crap,” breathed Jerry.
“Cameras!” said Cam. “They’ve got cameras in our home!”
“Give me the disks,” said Jerry, sharply.
“What? No way!”
“Cameron. Hand them over.” He pointed to the plan of the house. “There’s one in your bedroom – they could have seen you working on these disks!”
Shaking his head rapidly, Cam said, “No, they can’t. Not now.”
Jerry frowned. “What do you mean?”
“See where the camera is…I don’t know when it was put in but I changed my room round a couple of weeks back and there’s no way they can see the screen from that angle.”
“They could hack into your computer,” replied Jerry, running his hand over his face. “Oh, shit, what have I gotten you involved in?”
“That’s one thing they’ll never be able to do – not without direct access to my computer and several hours.” Cameron smiled for the first time since he entered the coffee shop. “It took me a week to crack their code. I’m good at this stuff, Jerry. Trust me – if they could do it at all, it would take them a long time to access anything I’ve protected.” He leaned forwards and added quietly. “But, why did they kill him? What harm was he doing? They faked that letter from him – didn’t they? He didn’t want to leave us.”
“No, I’m sure that he would never have wanted to leave you guys.”
Cameron stood up. “I’m going to the library – there’s free wi-fi there for students, so it’ll jut look like I’m doing some research – I need to see what else is on these disks. There are three more. Why should they need three more when he’s…when he’s dead?”
“Be careful, for God’s sake. Your mom will slay me if you get hurt because of me; retired or not!”
“I will be. I’ll call when I get more decoded.” With that, Cameron turned and walked briskly out of the café.
Jerry sat there for a while longer. He hoped to God that the kid could handle what was likely to be on those disks. Like Cam – he needed to know why they had done it. It’s not like there was a shortage of vampires for them to use. It seemed vindictive.
After Cameron left for school, Buffy sat down opposite her eldest son. She hated how awkward things were between them these days. They used to be so close – the three of them against the world after their father left, and then when Spike joined the household, once he’d settled in, he’d made them all get even closer.
“Craig…” She hesitated when she saw his jaw tense. “We need to talk.”
He stood up abruptly, gathered up his dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher without a word or even looking in her direction.
“We can’t go on like this,” Buffy said softly. “You can’t carry on like this.”
“Leave me alone, Mom, please,” he said desperately, screwing his eyes tight shut.
“I’ve tried giving you space and it hasn’t worked, has it?” Buffy slid off her chair and stepped closer to him.
“Please…”
“No, Craig. I need you to talk to me – tell me how you feel.”
Whirling around so that he faced her, Craig glared at his mother. “Trust me. You really don’t want to know how I feel.” He went to move past but she blocked his way and stood there arms folded across her chest, glaring right back at him.
Without realising he was doing it, Craig rubbed his left palm over his damaged right elbow.
“Okay,” he said. “I wish you’d never brought him home!” Buffy flinched as if he’d slapped her but didn’t take her eyes off his. “Christ, Mom! You were the slayer and you brought a vampire home to be our freaking nanny!”
“I thought you loved him,” she whispered.
“What were we supposed to do? We saw more of him than we did of you! And then you started screwing him.”
Lightning fast, Buffy’s right hand flew out and she slapped her son’s face barely able to contain her still considerable power. Even so, Craig reeled backwards and grunted as his back hit the edge of the counter.
Buffy got in close to him and he felt a thrill of fear race through him. She might be tiny, but his mom could rip him in two if she wanted to.
“I never screwed Spike.” Buffy’s voice was so calm and controlled that Craig realised just how close to losing it she was. “I made love to him. I loved him despite the fact that he was a vampire. He was a good man.”
“But he didn’t love you like that, did he? Probably just too scared that you might send him back to the Initiative to say no – did you ever think of that?” Craig’s lip curled as he sneered. “Just fucking you ‘cause it was better than going back!”
This time it wasn’t an open hand that met his face but a fist and he slid sideways to the floor. His mother loomed over him, suddenly looking much taller.
“Don’t you ever say that,” she hissed. “He loved me and he loved you too.”
Craig shuffled backwards shaking his head, “No he didn’t!” His voice shrill. “If he did he wouldn’t have done what he did. He wouldn’t have done it knowing Cam would find the dust. And…” His voice hitched. “I wouldn’t have been home from college and…and…”
As his face crumpled, Buffy was at his side in a heartbeat. Her son wrapped his arms around her and sobbed, reminding her of that horrible day when she’d found Cam on the floor and she’d held him while he’d sobbed too. She wouldn’t let her tears fall though. Enough had been shed and maybe Craig was half right. Spike hadn’t loved them enough to carry on, had he?
Spike bounced on the balls of his feet, half hard cock jiggling as he did. He couldn’t believe it. For the first time since he’d been assigned here, he was going on a hunt unclothed, but for the thin sneakers they always were given to wear. Glancing at Mark, he saw his handler roll his eyes at his antics, but it didn’t dim the excitement.
“Come on, let’s get to the transport,” said Mark gruffly.
Spike grinned and took up position at his shoulder. He wished his handler would walk faster.
“Where are we going, sir?” As far as he could remember there was precious little wilderness near London.
“Dartmoor. So shut up. It’s a long journey and I don’t need to hear your voice again.”
Wisely, Spike complied and remained silent as he was strapped into his chair. He wished that he still had his old handler – the one from when he was a tracker – that one always reclined the seat when the journey was a long one, but Mark never did. A tech with a scanner in one hand and a latex glove covering the other leaned in and grasped Spike’s penis. He pulled the penis out and held the unit to it until it beeped once when the barcode tattoo had been successfully scanned and Seventeen logged out of the facility, then he stood up and closed the door.
As soon as the vehicle pulled away, Spike’s sight switched to night-vision and heat sensing only. A soft moan escaped his lips as his eyelids froze in the open position. The techs ran through the series of grids that could be used on the hunt and Spike let his mind float away. As always it drifted to the hunt, or rather, the reward at the end. His cock twitched at the thought, and biting back a moan, Spike wished that Dartmoor was much nearer.
Finally they were there. The cold night air enveloped him and he suddenly wished for the clothes he normally loathed. He growled softly. Why couldn’t he have stayed in warm California? He picked up a scent, something unlike anything he’d ever smelt before. He looked over at Mark and opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again without uttering a word.
“You can already smell it, can’t you?” said Mark.
Spike nodded. “Sir?” he said tentatively.
“Permission to speak, Seventeen. What’s on your mind?” Mark couldn’t help but smile as the vampire dropped his head and looked at his cock. “Yeah, apart from that, you slut.”
“There’s something here – not a demon though, sir.”
“Think you can follow its trail?”
“Yes, sir!”
“One thing you need to know…when you find the creature – kill it.”
This time when his cock twitched, he did moan.
“Go on then,” said Mark, waving his arm. “Go hunt!”
Spike needed no more encouragement and he sniffed the air before racing off as fast as he could.
“I can kill.” He couldn’t believe that he’d be allowed to kill.
A furious growl in some stunted bushes to the left of him told Spike that he’d found his prey. Then the noise was repeated almost behind him and Spike realised that maybe the prey had found him. Given no information of what he might be hunting, Spike froze when a large black creature stalked into view.
“Oh, fuck,” muttered Spike, as the panther leapt at him.
His reflexes weren’t as sharp as they’d once been – he hadn’t been put in any danger for years, but the lethally sharp claws that slashed at his arm as he staggered backwards were incentive enough to hone them again.
Hissing and snarling the big cat pounced again, and this time its full weight hit the vampire and he went down. The night air was rent with inhuman growls and roars, as vampire and panther rolled on the springy moorland grass. Hampered by his missing left thumb, Spike struggled to get a good enough grip on the creature to break its neck, but managed to keep it far enough away so that its snapping jaws couldn’t sink into him.
Tiring and in desperation Spike head-butted the cat and though slightly disorientated by the vision of his left eye going black, he managed to pin the stunned animal down. He bent low and sank his teeth into the spine at the base of its skull, which prompted a shriek and the cat thrashed wildly. Spike’s fangs had only partially regrown since the last time they’d been snapped off but his remaining teeth were still razor sharp and with a last shake of Spike’s head, they snapped together and the panther went limp.
Panting with exhaustion, Spike rolled off the still living but paralysed cat. He pushed it so that it was lying on its side and sank his teeth into the jugular vein. The surge of warm blood that pulsed into his mouth had Spike’s cock fully hard and he groaned with pleasure as he steadily drank the life force out of the cat. How long had it been since he’d had the thrill of the blood rushing warm into his mouth instead of having to suck at it cold from bags or bottles? He couldn’t remember and at this moment he didn’t really care. When he felt the panther’s heart stop beating, he put his head back and howled as an unprompted orgasm ripped through him, streams of come spurting stickily onto his victim’s pelt.
Only then did his he become aware of his own injuries. The creature’s claws had raked him in many places. The blood helped soothe them and fully sated, he waited for the team to come to pick him up. Thoughts of escaping into the night never even crossed his mind.
Mark hopped down from the helicopter and jogged over to his vampire, accompanied by a couple of local police.
“Christ!” exclaimed Detective Inspector Benson, when he took in the sight before him. “Which one is the wild animal?”
Although disgusted by the state that Spike was in, Mark felt the need to defend him. “He’s done in a couple of hours what you guys have been trying to do for years. Hell, the thing was thought of as more of a legend than a reality. He’s just rid you of the ‘Beast of Dartmoor’.
“Takes a beast to catch one, I suppose,” replied DI Benson.
“Seventeen,” said Mark. “On your feet.”
Up to this point, Spike had shown no sign of knowing they were there. His torso was half over the body of the panther as he sought the warmth the slowly cooling corpse could offer. Wanting to impress the officers at how obedient Spike was, Mark activated a brief shock from the chip to get his attention.
Spike yelped and turned to look at the men. His face was covered with blood, both his own and the big cat’s.
“Bloody hell!” gasped the second officer, taking a step back. “His eyes!”
Spike’s eyes, never very easy to look at, were even more shocking with the left hanging halfway out of the socket.
Mark glanced at him. “Strictly speaking they’re not his eyes. We replace them with cameras so we can see what he sees while on the hunt. He can see the images too though.”
“You replace their eyes?” said Benson weakly. He looked over to his colleague and both men shuddered.
“On your feet!” commanded Mark, fed up of listening to the men’s comments. “We haven’t got all night.”
Spike immediately pushed himself off the panther and struggled to his feet. He swayed a little but managed to remain upright. With his right hand, he held a large wound in his abdomen closed.
“Sorry, sir,” replied Spike, hanging his head low.
Mark helped the vampire walk to the helicopter. With his charge securely strapped into his seat, Mark had a look at the wound on his stomach. At almost eight inches long and gaping widely now that Spike was now longer holding the edges together, the wound was a serious one, even for a vampire.
“Hey, Freddie, call base and see if we can transport him by helicopter – he needs some attention in the OR,” Mark asked the pilot.
“Will do.”
Spike turned his head and looked up at Mark. “Did I do well?” he asked weakly.
“Oh, man! You’re not seriously wanting a reward in the state you’re in?”
Nodding, Spike said, “Please.”
“Reward?” asked Benson as they settled in their seats as the helicopter began it’s flight to be take them back to where the hunt began.
Oh, aren’t they just gonna love seeing this? Mark smiled. “Yes. They can’t ejaculate without us stimulating their penises and we only do that at the end of the hunt.” His smile broadened as the two officers paled. “Keeps them eager. Okay, Seventeen, here goes.”
Mark pushed the button and the Englishmen watched with fascinated horror as Spike’s cock began to fill and he shifted in his seat. A couple of minutes later, Spike came to completion and let his head loll back against the headrest. He still couldn’t close his eyes but he drifted in a semi conscious state for the short flight back to the officers’ car. Then the helicopter was in the air again; permission had been received to transport him back to base as there was still enough time before dawn broke.
Link to the legend of the Beast of Dartmoor - http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/beast_dart.htm
(sorry don't know how to make it clickable!)
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