A Vampire's Eye View

A Vampire’s Eye View

Chapter Three

Spike was almost dancing on the spot as he waited for Giles to grab his jacket. But soon enough, the pair were off, and much to Spike’s chagrin, they took Giles’ car.

“You have to get a new set of wheels, man. This is embarrassing to be seen in and so slow.”

“Well, it’s a whole lot cleaner than that heap you drive.”

“Hey, watch it mate. Don’t insult the De Soto, she’s my baby. We’ve been a lot of places together and sun-proofing isn’t easy to achieve any other way.”

“I suppose you’re right but we’ll stick with mine for now, thank you very much. Now is it this track you want me to follow?”

“Yeah, this is the one. Just drive between those trees and then we’ll get out and walk.”

Giles parked under the trees the they both got out and headed in to the deeper part of the woods. As they walked in, Giles looked over at Spike and saw him enter ‘hunt’ mode. He wasn’t disappointed. The sparkle in Spike’s eyes was bright and they wehinihining a vivid blue and if it would have been possible, he would have sworn he saw Spike’s ears twitch as he attuned his senses to the woods around him and honed in on where the Nerekra was hiding.

Spike crept forward stealthily, making no noise and not disturbing a single leaf in his progression. Giles followed, using his Watcher skills to keep to the shadows and move as quietly as he could, but still not up to Spike’s standard, of course. They moved on until they saw a cave ahead of them. Spike gestured for Giles to circle round to the left and wait, whilst Spike himself would go to the right and draw the Nerekra out.

Giles was quite happy to allow Spike the main role because then he would be better placed to watch the vampire in action.

Spike edged forward slowly until he reached the rim of the clearing in front of the cave. He crouched down and threw a stone carefully so that it hit the back wall of the cave to make the demon think there was someone in there and to lure it out.

They heard a squeal like a rutting pig, which was, in fact, what the Nerekra resembled. It was like a shaggy boar walking on two legs but its tusks were more like an elephant’s. They stuck out at least a foot from the corners of its bottom jaw and were lethally sharp.

They could hear it rustling around inside the cave, and then, when it could obviously not find any trace of a creature inside, it came charging out, its piggy eyes swivelling rapidly to take in the surrounding forest. When it turned in Giles’ direction and started making towards where he was hidden, Spike jumped out behind it and grabbed it around the neck, being careful to keep his arms low to avoid the nearusksusks.

The Nerekra spun round, taking Spike with it and tried tossing its head in an attempt to shake Spike off. Spike merely held on and with one hand yanked at the nearest tusk trying to snap it off to lessen the beast’s potential danger. The Nerekra snorted and squealed and shook Spike about even harder, trying to get free.

Giles wasn’t watching the Nerekra’s struggles, however, he was concentrating on Spike. The vampire was positively glowing with energy and vitality, with a gloriously excited expression of glee in his yellow eyes. His fangs caused his grin to appear even more wicked than normal with his sexy lips pulled back taut against them and his tongue held between his teeth.

By now, Spike was leaning around to one side and by using his whole body weight, he managed to crack the tusk and as it snapped off in his hand, the Nerekra howled and it swirled violently, dislodging Spike who fell, banging his head against a tree.

Spike lay there, stunned for a moment and Giles saw the Nerekra bend its head, ready to charge. So he leapt out from his hiding place and shouted and waved his arms to distract the demon and give Spike a chance to recover.

The Nerekra saw Giles and redirected its charge towards him. He waited until the beast was almost upon him and then sprang away to the side furthest from the remaining tusk. He executed a neatly performed tuck and roll and came up behind the Nerekra and sliced deeply into the back of the demon’s calf wits ous outstretched sword. The demon’s leg bowed and it was now emitting an almost continuous squeal.

Spike was up again, and after shaking his head to clear it, had stood back a moment to watch Giles and had seen the acrobatic attack, impressed despite himself, at the grace and agility that Giles displayed.

Spike didn’t stand back for long, however, the blood enhanced energy flowing through him was just begging for release and he dived back into the action, landing again on the back of his wounded prey. They both rolled around on the forest floor for a while, kicking and punching as they went, with first one on top and then the other.

The Nerekra, however, was starting to slow down from all the blood it was losing from its deep leg wound. Its response times to Spike’s attacks had slowed and its kicks weren’t quite so forceful.

Spike could feel the beast weakening and moved in for the kill. He straddled the Nerekra, and avoiding the tusk that was aiming in his direction, he grabbed it at the base and used it’s momentum to help him turn the beast’s head and with a sharp twist, he snapped the Nerekra demon’s neck and its arms collapsed to its sides as it died on the spot.

Spike leapt up and almost howled out his victory he was so hyped. His eyes were glowing, a deep gold and his lips curled in a triumphant smirk, as he looked towards Giles, who had been revelling along with the vampire, thrilled to see him so euphoric.

“Did you see that, Watcher? Wow, what a rush. Did you see how I cracked its neck, just twisted it and it snapped. Used his own tusk against him, I did.”

“Yes, I saw. It was indeed an exhilarating fight.”

“And you were pretty nifty too mate. That roll and slash move was very tasty. You kept him off me right proper.”

“Well, I have to keep my skills honed for when I’m training with Buffy. I like to think I’m not in too bad condition for my age.”

“There’s nothing wrong with yer age luv, you’re still a youngster to me.”

Giles was a little taken aback at that. He had always assumed that Spike considered him a bit staid and long in the tooth as the rest of the Scoobies did. It was nice to think that Spike didn’t think of him that way and it gave his ego a heartening boost.

Giles walked over towards the vampire, his eyes on Spike’s face, which was still alight with triumph, and as he stepped over the leg of the dead Nerekra, he didn’t see the half hidden tree root protruding out. He caught the toe of his boot under the root and twisted his ankle at an awkward angle and let out a harsh groan as he started falling towards the ground at a great rate of knots. From out of nowhere, a muscled arm reached out, halted his forward momentum, and grabbed his shoulders, lowering him gently to the ground.

“Are you alright, pet?”

“No, not really. I appear to be unable to move my foot. I think I might have foolishly sprained my ankle.”

“You’re jokin’ mate!”

“I fear not.” Giles tried to bend his ankle and move his foot but stopped instantly when pain shot up his leg and he winced and groaned deeply. “It’s painful to even move, I don’t think I can weight bear on it.”

“Never fret, luv. The Big Bad can help you. Give us yer arm.”

“Yes, perhaps if I leant against you, I could hop back to the car.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll be the white knight and you can be the damsel in distress!” *Wait a minute, what am I saying – white knight? I’m not the whelp! Broodinenacenacing black knight, that’s me! – well, not too broody, wouldn’t want to be mistaken for the Poof either!*

“What are you suggesting, Spike?” Giles looked towards the vampire, not liking the evil gleam which had leapt into Spike’s eyes when he had said ‘damsel in distress’ – which, of course, he was nothing like. Mind you he was blushing madly, looking up at Spike and feeling helpless with his leg in such pain. But he still wasn’t a damsel he stressed to himself.

“Just this, luv.” And with that, Spike put Giles’ arm around his own shoulders and effortlessly lifted the Watcher off the ground to nestle snugly in his arms. Giles gasped and flailed his arm a little, not feeling comfortable with his arm around Spike, and being held way up in the air.

“Well, Spike, really. Isn’t there another way. I’m sure I could manage if you just…”

“You’re never gonna make it through this forest on one leg. Just relax, ol’ Spike has got you. I won’t let you fall, luv.”

Giles spluttered a bit more but Spike just ignored him and started back towards the car, carrying Giles almost like a bridegroom carrying his bride over the threshold of their new home. *Now, where on earth did that thought come from!*


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tbc...

A big thank you to Druffine for all her help and suggestions, what would I do without you, babe.