Lilith swept into the main room of the cellar, the look of pure evil on her face, giving the lie to her beauty. She was wearing a long, white robe, transparent enough that Spike could see that she was naked underneath. The cellar was laid out so that the barred doors of every cell looked out onto the central area. Spike got the impression that Lilith liked to perform. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach; he just knew that this would be bad.

* * * * *

Lily stood in the centre of the circle, looking at the Rune stone. Everybody had told her not to do this. Consider the baby. After all, they said, Spike has the Gem of Amara.

She’d been to see Dalton. The quiet, studious vampire had been holed up in his room at Lorne’s, since the first attempt on his life. Lily had knocked on his door and explained, without him opening it, who she was and why he shouldn’t be afraid of her.

He’d let her in. Once he’d checked her for weapons, he switched on the light, gallantly losing his major advantage. Lily had looked around the room - he’d re-decorated.

Lily’s first thought was that he must have been a fan of ‘The Omen’. Like the paranoid priest in that seventies film, he’d papered his walls with pages from the bible.

“I wanted crosses.” He had said, holding up his hands to show the gloves he was wearing. “It would have cost too much. This was easier, too.”

“No one can do any kind of violence, in this building. You must know that.” Lily had replied, reassuringly. “Tell me about Lilith.”

He had.

She had then had a long chat with Lorne. He’d done readings for both her and Spike, in the past but it was the things he hadn’t said, that interested her. She wasn’t stupid; from the moment she’d found out there was a baby, she’d been uneasy. She knew that most mystical births tended to go badly for the mothers. She’d asked about Darla’s pregnancy.

Lorne was certain that Jennifer Anne would be born healthy. That, to Lily’s mind, gave her a little over four months of guaranteed life. She’d attended to some important things and now, she was going to get Spike back. She climbed up, onto the stone and stepped into the shimmer.

There was a flash but, as she looked around, her first thought was that nothing had happened. Then she realized that she was facing the other direction, as if she had been turned around. Weird.

She hefted her axe and headed off towards the house...

* * * * *

“Spike.” Lilith purred. “Such an evocative name, tell me, ‘Spike‘, why did you choose it?”

“Why did you choose Lilith?” Spike countered.

“Why, she was the first feminist, darling. Why else?”

“She has other connotations.”

“So does ‘Spike’. You seem to have little in common with my limp, docile, Master William.” She used ‘master’ in a patronizing way, as though referring to a young boy. “I just know that your ‘spike’ gets plenty of use. With the slayer, it seems. I’m fond of slayers, myself. Must run in the family.” She said, in a playful tone, that may have been intended to be flirtatious but which Spike found sickening.

He wanted to ask her what her plans for him were but he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. Besides, his mind was still reeling from the things that William had told him.

“Did William tell you of my fondness for slayers? I put you boys in adjoining rooms, so you could talk. I hope you’ve been getting along.” She made it sound as if they were having a sleepover.

“Mummy’s got a special treat for her boys.”

Did Spike imagine it, or did he hear a sigh of despair from the grating that connected him to William’s room?

Lilith heard it too and her features changed instantly, into her hideous, demon face. Spike looked at her, feeling strangely detached - he’d dusted her once, he could do it again. He had never regretted staking her. All of his guilt and regret had been over siring her, in the first place. Nothing compared to the horror of seeing his mother’s sweet face, perverted this way.

He looked beyond her, as he heard someone else come into the main room. She was stark naked, clearly in a deep thrall and looked a lot like Lily. Spike caught her scent, definitely slayer. A few things marked her as this dimension’s Lily and not Spike’s - scars that his Lily didn’t possess, a brutally short haircut and, most importantly, she wasn’t pregnant.

Lilith lovingly chained her to the stone wall, with manacles to her wrists. She tenderly ran her fingertips over the well-muscled young slayer’s body, eliciting a small moan of pleasure. Spike knew that the sexual response was part of the thrall and not a sign of consent. He looked away.

“Not enjoying your treat?” Lilith said, turning to Spike, while still caressing a very compliant Lily. “You will watch.” She continued, coldly and Spike found that he couldn’t help but turn back to the spectacle.

This Lily had clearly been a prisoner for some time and, judging by the various bite marks on her, had been enjoyed many times. Lilith bent to suckle on her erect little nipples, sinking her fangs hard into the breast tissue and drinking deep. Lily arched her back against the cold stone, groaning as though in the throes of approaching orgasm.

Spike could smell the girl’s arousal as Lilith pushed her fingers into Lily’s wet little slit, plunging deeper as her legs parted, to make access easier. He winced inside, as Lilith produced a large wooden stake from the pocket of her robe and gently introduced the pointed end into the dripping hole that her fingers had just vacated.

Lily was writhing shamelessly as her orgasm built, her wrists straining at the metal that bound them. The stake wasn’t in far enough to harm her and the slow twisting motion that Lilith was using, was obviously pleasurable. Abruptly, with a hideous smirk on her face, Lilith drove the stake all the way in. Lily screamed, her agony clearly breaking the thrall that she’d been under. With a final vicious twist, Lilith withdrew the stake, now dripping with blood and, discarding it, grabbed Lily’s ankles. With a practiced move, she flipped the girl’s legs over her shoulders, grasped her buttocks and dipped her head so that she could drink from the now free flowing, scarlet fountain she’d created.

Spike looked into Lily’s eyes. They were already starting to glaze, from shock and blood loss but it was still obvious that she was trying her best not to cry out. Not wanting to give Lilith the satisfaction.

Spike knew that look. He’d seen it on both of the slayers that he’d killed, along with a weary acceptance that, for them, the harsh life of a slayer was over. The look of peace was starting to descend, when Lilith released Lily’s legs and stood back from the feast. Blood was coursing down her chin and she licked it, absently as she opened her robe and ran a fingernail down her naked breast. She pressed Lily’s mouth to the wound and forced her to drink.

“Did my little princes enjoy their treat?” She asked, when she’d finished.

“Yes, Mother.” William replied, in a dead sort of voice, that said he’d seen it all before.

“Yes, mother.” Spike heard himself say, obviously Lilith was still controlling him.

He squirmed with self-loathing, hating his weakness. She was not his mother, she was only Lilith.

“I’m so glad you had fun,” Lilith purred, her cheeks flushed with stolen blood. “When the new slayer arrives, I’ll see what other games we can play.”

She went off, up the stone steps, her robe heavy with blood.

“She’s gone to ..er.. sleep with some of her favourite slayer minions.” William said, awkwardly. “How are you feeling?”

“Like if I’d lost both eyeballs, before I saw that, I could have died happy.” Spike replied, fighting nausea.

“I know just what you mean.”

“She does that often? Sires slayers?”

“Yes. She has a harem, she only beds females and she prefers slayers. They’re considerably more willing, once they’ve been turned. Did Dalton tell you how she flies into a rage whenever Buffy is mentioned?”

“Yeah, something about burning tongues.” Spike replied, wondering where this was going.

“Buffy was the unattainable prize. She was the slayer who killed The Master, died and came back to life. Thwarted all attempts at capture. None of the minions that were sent to collect Buffy, returned. Lilith had to make do with Buffy’s replacement, Kendra and later, Faith. Lily’s the latest in a long, almost unbroken, line. The next potential to be called, will have already been located. Minions will bring the poor unfortunate, here.”

“How does she know who’ll be next?” Spike asked, hoping to take his mind off what he had just witnessed.

“The same way the watcher’s council used to. When she got her first taste of slayer, she hunted down members of the council. They used a powerful seer to locate potentials. Lilith sired her and, now she locates them for her. The council tried to interfere, now there’s no council. So… no guidance for newly called slayers, these days. They’re mostly easy prey.

“Buffy, though, was different. For some reason, the seer didn’t locate Buffy until after she was called; not just in this reality, either. Buffy was a surprise, in every human dimension.

“And now, Lily.” He gestured at her poor violated body, “She was family; direct descendent of cousin Julian. One slayer amongst many, in your world. The Slayer in this and quite a few others. She knew what she was, grew up with the story of what happened here. She was tough, she killed two of Lilith’s slayers, before she was thralled and defeated.” William said, admiringly.

They both fell silent, as they heard footsteps on the stairs. Spike watched in surprise as Nikki Wood came down, carrying a blood pack. She went to the door of William’s room and pushed the pack through a specially made hatch.

“Thank you.” He said, politely, picking it up off the floor.

“Oi, Nikki, where’s mine?” Spike shouted, as she turned to leave.

“Lilith’s orders, yer starve ‘til yer learn manners. And how do you know ma name?”

“In my reality, I killed you, back in ‘77.” Spike saw no reason to lie to the girl. “Oh and your Robin tried to kill me, a while back. I let him live.” He added, watching her face.

“Why?” She asked, with a puzzled look.

“Why what, love? Why’d he try to kill me or why’d I leave him alive?”

“Either. And I ain’t your love.”

“He tried to kill me because I killed you. I let him live… I suppose, for the same reason.” Spike told her, smiling as he remembered the other Nikki objecting to him calling her ‘love’.

“He was a man, grown?”

“Yeah, strong for a human, good fighter. I suppose you lost touch with him when you were turned.”

“He was ma first meal.” She left, without looking back.

Spike sat in silence, listening to William suck on his daily ration of pig’s blood. He didn’t begrudge him. It’s not like he could share it - Spike’s chains wouldn’t reach that far. He wondered how long Lilith was planning on starving him. He certainly wouldn’t be persuaded by hunger, to play any of her sick games.

“She seems strong, for a minion.” Spike said, to William, once the sucking sounds had ceased.

“Slayers always are. Lilith found that out, the hard way. If you try to make anything stronger than a minion, out of a slayer… let me just say, there’s a reason she chains them first. If they can’t break the chains when they first rise, then they’re safe but if the chains are broken…” He pointed to the ceiling above Lily’s body.

Spike looked, there was a sprinkler.

“Holy water.” William said. “Triggered to come on instantly if the newly turned slayer, escapes. It’s never been used, though. Lilith’s careful.”

“You said there’s a reality where Buffy…”

“Is a vampire. Yes. She’s in love with her sire, she would never harm him.”

“I’m guessing she’s not a minion, though.”

“No. Spike didn’t actually choose to sire her. He was wounded, she latched onto his wound and drank until she died. She’s extremely powerful. Her thrall is at least equal to Lilith‘s.”

“Do they all get that?”

“To a certain degree. Aurelians, thrall is one of their traits. Not Angelus, though.”

“No,” Spike chuckled, “I had to keep my abilities well hidden.”

“Yes. I really admired that about you. You endured so many abuses, at his hands, without ever revealing your power.”

“Don’t much use it. It’s cheating.”

“Yes, you had a strong sense of fair play - for an evil soulless thing.”

“You’d know.”

“Yes.” William said, sadly. “I have no soul and no soul mate. You, on the other hand, have both and a child on the way.”

Spike started thinking about his Lily, something he was trying to avoid doing; while her doppelganger hung, naked and dead, from the wall outside his cell. He knew it was irrational but he felt he was dirtying her, thinking about her after what he’d seen Lilith do. He hoped she was being sensible, staying at home and looking after herself and Jennifer Anne.

A quiet sound on the steps made him look up. He cursed, under his breath. Lily was creeping down, carrying a large axe.

She’d come to rescue him.