It was a dark evening; the sky was a deep navy with twists and swirls of dark purples and opaque black, blending and mixing together creating exotic shapes in the sky. Along the landscape of the vast skyline a manor stood solitary and alone; the only blemish in an otherwise perfect canvas. The top of the magnificent building stood tall and proud, reaching up as if it was trying to capture the stars and moon, which sparkled just out of its reach. Light filled up the gigantic windows of the castle giving it an eerie yellow glow which contrasted greatly with the shadowy night sky. The lights could be seen across the hills and fields surrounding the building looking very much like two sinister eyes. From this grand manor a long, thin, bendy road ran from the front of the mansion and down towards the small town of Sunnydale.

Along this road a young girl walked, her feet dragging along the ground in an effort to keep moving along the muddy path. A dark, velvet, green cloak was wrapped around her shoulders to keep her body warm from the piercing cold wind and hung around her ankles the bottom of it was covered in mud, her golden hair lay matted against her shoulders from the rain and occasionally whipped round into her face. Her white dress was ripped along the hem and on her left shoulder; the rest of the garment was covered in blood and mud staining the beautiful lace.

She walked with a wavering determination along the narrow pathway up towards The Crawford Mansion and away from the town of Sunnydale stopping every now and again, the moonlight illuminating her way. The Crawford Mansion was a place that the people of Sunnydale dared not travel to or call upon, for horrific rumours circled the manor causing great fear. It was said that a large amount of peculiar people lived there. People that did not venture outside the mansion during the day and chose to remain secluded from the townsfolk.

The young girl of course knew the truth behind these rumours and knew the true identity behind the mansion’s inhabitants. Vampires. It’s true they do exist, they’re not some magical creature that the parents of the town made up in order to stop their children from being naughty and causing trouble. She should know, because she was also one. A vampire herself. Realising this train of thought was only going to cause her grief she kept on walking making her way slowly up to the manor so that she could tell the people residing inside her troubles and ask them to help her.

The wind struck her face hard; she could almost hear him on the wind ‘Filthy little whore.’ ‘You’re a pathetic excuse for a childe.’ The combined pain of her old sire’s voice and the brutal sting of the wind caused her emerald eyes to water. Tear tracks slowly made their way down her face mixing with the rain and her blood from where he cut her face.

She reached the rusty iron gates which guarded the mansion, she pushed them forward and after hearing the cliché screeching of the hinges she walked through them and up towards the entrance of the mansion where she was greeted by the door man.

He was your average man, brown haired and medium height. Average except of course the fact that he was a member of the undead. He led her into the entrance hall of the enormous house, the heat of the room spread across her skin like fire, warming her lifeless skin, warming the muscles after being in the freezing cold night. She looked around the room she was in, it was exquisite; high ceilings, plush blood red carpet and a rich mahogany staircase leading to the next floor.

“How may I help you” the doorman enquired after closing the door behind the girl, he was dressed in a crisp black and white suit with white gloves adorning his hands which were folded in front of him, the very picture of an attentive servant.

The girl replied in a small tentative voice “I’m here to speak with the Master.”

“Very well, if you would just follow me” he then proceeded to lead her through several doors and hallways, his footsteps making little noise of the thick carpet. They came to a set of large double doors at the end of a corridor “Please wait here.”

The door man then continued through the doors alone leaving the young girl on the other side. She glanced at the empty hallway around her, the deep moss green gave the hallway a cramped, suffocating feel that made her feel as if she was in a completely different world to the one she was raised in as a child. She was startled out of her thoughts when she heard the door open and the voice of the doorman “If you will please step in here Miss”.

She did so, feeling very much like a lamb going into the wolf pen despite the fact that these wolves in the room were the same as her. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the vampire in the middle of the room, he radiated power and strength, practically demanded it. He sat in a high-topped wooded chair; he was in game face, his bright red eyes stood out against his pale white skin. A red headed woman rested at his feet, stroking his leg, too suggestively for it to be innocent. There must have been at least ten vampires in the room and all of them had their eyes trained on her. She swallowed trying to relieve pressure on her dry throat.

“Welcome childe, to my home.” The Master said “Please tell me why is it you have come here?”

The young girl hesitated, thinking of how to put her plight into words, at a loss she just replied “My name is Buffy and I am in need of a new Sire.”

The room was silent, not a single movement could be heard, not even the rain that she knew was pouring down outside could be heard. Every single vampire in the room had their eyes on her and she felt terrified.

“Just so I completely understand you” the Master said “You need a new Sire.”

Buffy nodded her head “Yes that is correct sir.” Her eyes wandered around the room, desperately avoiding the older vampire’s intense gaze, taking in the other vampires present. There was of course the Master of the clan situated in the middle of the room and the redhead at his feet, behind on his left there was a beautiful blonde female and a handsome male. They stood close to each other the male's hand curled round the woman’s waist and resting on her hip. The dim lighting in the room played across his face highlighting his angelic features but at the same time making them look almost demonic, despite the fact he wasn’t in game face. To their left a fairylike woman was laying on a deep red chaise longue, one arm placed high above her head, the other stretched out beside her. Her enchanting blue eyes unfocussed and her lips slightly moving as if she was humming, the deep red of her gown blending in with the material of the furniture.

“What became of your old Sire childe?” the Master said interrupting her thoughts and bringing her back to her plight.

Buffy faltered. Did she tell them the truth? What if they decided she wasn’t worth their time and sent her away? Where would she go then? Deciding to just divert from the question she answered “He’s no longer with me.”

The Master nodded in understanding but she could see in his eyes that he didn’t believe her. His eyes wondered over her, she felt as if he was looking into the very heart of her. “So you have come to us in hope that we will give you a new Sire. If what the little you have told us is true then we are of course obliged to aid you.”
Buffy let out a tiny sigh of relief, she would be safe. Safe from him and out of harm’s way. She only hoped that her new Sire would be kind to her.

“What! She could be lying.” A vampire on the right of the Master shouted out. A deathly silence filled the room, even Buffy who knew nothing about this clan realised that the vampire had made a crucial mistake in questioning the vampire in charge. The vampire who called out immediately realised his error and lowered his eyes in submission, his floppy light brown hair falling in his face as if he was hiding.

“Do you really think I came to be this old and powerful by allowing some rouge fledgling vampires into my house, that I didn’t to some degree trust Luke?” Although the Master didn’t raise his voice you could sense the malice and authority seeping out.

“No, Sire. I-I-I meant no disrespect, I simply-“

“Silence! I will talk to you later. Now Willow my dear, go and fetch Spike. I do believe that he shall be of some use” the redhead on the floor stood gracefully and exited through the door behind Buffy.

Spike? What was that, some sort of dog? Why did he want a dog? Buffy thought.

No one spoke, the only sound was coming from the woman who was humming earlier, the couple behind the Master looked as if they were having a sort of silent conversation occasionally looking at Buffy. Self consciously she ran her hand through her hair trying to tame it, but it was useless. Blood and rain had tangled within it making it too hard to manage.

Suddenly a soft gasp was heard from the humming woman “Ohhh look at you” she made her way up of the chaise longue and half danced half walked towards Buffy. “Little Golden girl with all her secrets all locked up in her head. Shhhhh! mustn’t tell.” She laughed manically. When the vampire lifted and arm to stroke her hair Buffy stepped back a few paces startled and weary of anyone touching her. Just before the vampires hand made contact another voice spoke

“Dru. Come over here.” It was the brunette male, he held out his hand towards this ‘Dru’ vampire.

“Yes daddy.” She replied and danced over to the couple grabbing his hand. All throughout this strange encounter the Master watched evaluating her.

Footsteps could be heard through the door and a few seconds later the redhead- Willow came through the door. Trailing behind her was not a dog but a man. Buffy thought he was beautiful. His body clad in black jeans, boots and t-shirt with a red shirt hanging open. His face was handsome, with prominent cheekbones and piercing cerulean blue eyes. Willow went to stand beside the vampire the Master called Luke and the newest arrival spoke. There was a pause.

“Yeah.”

“Spike!” the male behind the Master said with a scolding tone.

“You ought to have more respect for your elders boy” said the Master “Perhaps we need to instil a sense of responsibility into you. You are 120 years old and yet you have still not taken a childe. Is this correct?”

“Yeah, what of it?” The man called Spike questioned.

“This young woman here is in need of a Sire and you are in need of a childe. As far as I can see it’s a perfect match. Buffy meet your new Sire. Spike.”

~~~ Flashback~~~

‘I’ll see you later guys!’ Buffy called to her friends Kimberly and Jennifer as they left the club. It had been a good night filled with drinks and dancing. She even got a guys phone number! But now that it was closing time and all Buffy could think about was going home, taking her makeup off and climbing into her warm bed with Mr Gordo. She walked down the path crossing her arms silently scolding herself for not bringing a coat. She walked quickly remembering her mother’s warning about walking home alone, but she was only a half hours walk from the club and didn’t want to fork out money for a taxi. She was jealous of Kimberly and Jennifer who lived so close and within five minutes of each other. Humming a tune she crossed the road and took a right.

He came out of nowhere. A hand seized her wrist forcefully and before she could react she was pulled into the shadowy alleyway she just walked past. Her attacker spun her around and slammed her against the wall her cheek scraping at the bricks, dazed she clutched at the crumbling wall trying to stay upright but failing in her too higher heels. She slumped on the floor, her dress hitched up. Before she could get a good look at the man, he hauled her up and pressed himself against her, his hands threading through her golden hair and pulling hard so that she cried out. He pushed his face into the curve of her neck pressing her hard against the wall. Struggling, she felt his hot tongue leave a wet, slimy, trail of saliva on her throat. He moved upwards and when he reached her ear he gave the lobe a hard bite.

‘What have we got here then? A little lost lamb without a shepherd, just waiting for me to herd.’

His breath smelt rank and rotten making her want to throw up. Leaving his left hand in her hair his right trailed down her top and roughly squeezed her breast whilst his knee lifted and squashed itself between her thighs. She could feel his hard erection rubbing against her. She felt like being sick.

He gently took a hold of her face caressing her injured cheek and said ‘Yes. You will do nicely.’

With that his face changed and before Buffy had a chance to scream he bit savagely into her neck. Pain exploded within her, she could feel her life being slowly pulled out of her and all she could hear was him slurping down the blood. Her last thought was of the tiny droplet of blood that she could feel falling down from her neck and onto her chest.

Previously: “This young woman here is in need of a Sire and you are in need of a childe. As far as I can see it’s a perfect match. Buffy meet your new Sire. Spike.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike was stunned silent, which was a rarity indeed for the talkative vampire. “Let me get this straight. You want me to be this girl’s sire?”

“What part of what I said was unclear to you childe?” the Master questioned.

“No, it’s just that, why me? What happened to her old one?”

Buffy didn’t know whether she should reply to this, the man seemed to be angry at being chosen to be her new sire, she hoped that if he was to look after her he wouldn’t continue to be displeased. Thankfully she was saved from having to answer the question as the Master then said “No longer of concern apparently. Enough of your complaining Spike, we’ll start the ritual in a moment. The sooner the better I think.”

Spike nodded, still unsure of what was actually happening. He was really getting a childe! He had never had one before, never really seeing the need for one, it always seemed too much of a hassle and he had all the family he needed here at the mansion. It was a lot of responsibility to have a childe, to have someone completely dependent on you, someone who was completely yours. He didn’t know if he could handle it. He looked in the direction of the girl standing next to him. She was alright, pretty good looking under all that dirt and blood, how did she get like that anyway? Her face was angled down though so he couldn’t get a good look at her.

“You all right with this pet?” he asked her.

She gave a slight nod “Yes sir” her voice sound soft like a whisper to him.

‘Sir’ thought Spike. Huh, that was new. He wasn’t sure if he liked her calling him sir.

“Very well then. We will go down to the basement and get this over with. Angelus, Darla if you would follow me” said the Master and to the rest of the room he said “You are all dismissed for the night” and with that he got up and left.

“You coming then?” Spike said to the girl next to him and then proceeded to follow the Master out of the room.
Buffy hesitated, realising just how much her life would change, a sudden fear came over her, what if he changes his mind? What if he doesn’t want me anymore after he finds out what happened? What if the Master was lying and they were just taking her back to him? She heard a little cough and realised that it was the blonde and brunette couple – Angelus and Darla. They were standing right behind her, obviously waiting for her to walk ahead of them. Angelus nodded in the direction of the door, whether in encouragement or sarcasm she didn’t know. With a deep breath she walked out of the room and followed Spike and the Master.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The corridor was cold, despite the velvet cloak she was wearing. Every step she took on the stone echoed around her. They were in the basement of the huge mansion; the doors on every side of her all looked identical, wooden and heavy with metal locks. The Master came to a door on his left, opened it and went through. Spike followed with Buffy behind him and Angelus and Darla at the rear.

The room was huge! A vast space, that had heavy black velvet curtains, mahogany furniture and thousands of candles all different sizes that decorated the room. In the middle there was a ritualistic oval table and on it was a golden goblet encrusted with jewels and a sharp looking knife. The Master went directly to the table and slowly traced his pale finger along the edge. Darla came up behind her, unclasped her cloak and took it away.

“Now Buffy, if you and Spike would like to kneel here before me we can begin.”

Buffy looked towards Spike, unconsciously seeking his reassurance. When he began to move forward, she did so as well. Once they were both kneeling on the cold floor, Angelus and Darla came and stood either side of the Master and the ritual then began.

“We stand gathered here on this night, to welcome this wayward childe into our home and family” as the Master said these words he picked up the knife on the table, held it against his wrist and made a thin cut. He held it over the goblet and let a few drops of his blood fall into the cup.

“With our blood, she will become ours. Ours to care for, ours to look after.” He then held out for Darla’s hand and proceeded to cut her wrist, this time letting more the female’s blood into the cup.

“We take her into our fold, thus relinquishing her of her old vampire family.” He once again repeated the action but this time with Angelus, letting even more of his blood flow into the goblet.

“Let it be seen that the blood of the Aurelians flows within this cup and once drunk will bind the drinker to the family line.”

Buffy gave a tiny shiver, the tense and heavy atmosphere made her feel nervous and she was very aware of her blood soaked hair trailing against the collar of her dress.

“Spike, you need to now bite Buffy” said Angelus.

“What!” said Spike as Buffy gave a slight flinch.

“You need to so that her blood can be replenished with ours” Angelus replied calmly.

“Oh, yeah, right” said Spike. He moved himself so that he was on his knees directly in front of Buffy. He noticed how she was trembling and reached out his hand to push her hair back and then reach round the back of her neck to bring her closer. His other hand came up to rest of her shoulder; he shifted into game face and brought her neck closer. He could see where her old Sire had bitten her, the sight making his demon growl in possessiveness. She was his childe now. No one else’s! With that he opened his mouth and sank his teeth into her neck, slowly pulling on her blood and destroying the previous mark. Her blood tasted sweet and spicy, but there was something there that didn’t belong. Some under note that made her blood just shy of being perfect. His hands moved so that they were clasped behind her back holding her tightly to him as he continued to drain her blood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She watched as the blood from the elder vampires was poured into the goblet and when the Master said that Spike now needed to bite her she couldn’t help but flinch at the idea. Whenever he had bitten her it had always made it hurt. He always bit too deep and took too much too fast so that she was left unaware of her surroundings. She braced herself, hoping that Spike’s bite would be different. When he moved his hand up and held her neck she was expecting him to be rough, like his way of speaking, but was surprised to find that it was gentle. She watched him as he shifted, ridges forming on his face and his intense blue eyes merging into bright yellow ones. He started to move towards her neck and she closed her eyes, awaiting the pain. But to her astonishment there was none. She felt his fangs enter her neck and the sucking sensation as he drank her blood. She couldn’t help but release a little gasp, it felt right. Spike taking away his blood and making her his instead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“That’s enough childe!” Angelus commanded. Spike gave a little growl, not wanting to stop but he soon released his fangs from her neck. Her body was limp and she was half lying half sitting on Spike.

“Spike, will you provide for this child and give her protection?” The Master continued with the ritual.

“I will.”

“Very well, with the blood in this cup and the blood of her new Sire she will become an Aurelian. Spike if you will” the Master held out the goblet to Spike and he took it, placed the rim of the cup at Buffy’s mouth and poured the thick, red liquid down her throat. Once the chalice was empty he handed it back to the Master and was given the sharp looking knife that was used to cut the previous vampires.

“Spike, your blood is now needed to seal the transformation” said Darla.

He took the knife, while still holding Buffy and made a deep cut at his neck. He knew that this was strange, most vampires would feed their new children from their wrist but hey, he was a rebel. Dropping the knife to the floor with a clatter he held Buffy’s head in his hands and moved her so that her head was near his neck. He felt her start to lap at the blood made from the cut and he shifted his hands so that they were stroking her hair in encouragement. He felt her shift into game face against his neck and bite down. The feeling was indescribable! He felt his blood move within her body, tying them together and creating a bond that would run so deep.

They stayed in that position, Buffy suckling on Spike’s neck and Spike holding her close until Angelus intervene “Spike. She’s had enough now” only just hearing his own Sire over the pleasure he was feeling Spike slowly brought his hands round to the front of Buffy’s shoulders and started to slowly move her away from his neck. He could hear soft whimpering noises coming from her throat and his heart swelled. He felt her face shift again and was slightly disappointed that he didn’t get to see her demon face.

“Welcome Buffy to the clan of Aurelius” said the Master. The ritual was finished.

Buffy lifted her head and looked into her new Sire’s eyes, the connection she felt with him ran deep, like a part of him was there hidden inside of her so that she would never have to feel alone again.

Spike ran his fingers down Buffy’s face and whispered to himself “My childe.”