Brave New World

Chapter 5
Six months had passed.
Six months of hiding her secret, enduring horrendous degradation and pain, all the while pretending to be insane. At least she thought she was pretending.
She was beginning to worry about the various personas that would flit about in her mind. At first they had been simply a means of distancing herself from the daily horrors that she had to endure, but as time went by and they each became more distinctive and separate. In the same way that the Barbie dolls she had once played with as a child had been given names, she gave each one of her personalities their own identifying name. Only these names were not as pleasant or happy as those had been.
The primary persona that she exhibited for all to see was 'Little Lunatic' Buffy, who would hold conversations for hours with 'Mary'. Then there was 'Victim' Buffy, who did little in the outside world except allow herself to be beaten, but inside Buffy's mind she was essential in keeping the demon and slayer instincts from rising up and fighting back whenever Willow was allowed to torture her. Allowing her demon some freedom had been necessary for the creation of 'Slut-Vamp' Buffy; who, to the outside world, delighted in being the Master's sexual plaything and striving to please him or whom ever he would pass her to, while on the inside she was seething with rage and disgust. Finally, there was 'Secret Agent' Buffy who never was seen by the outside world but was always watching from the inside, patiently plotting and waiting.
It was the 'Slut-Vamp' personality that had, of late, begun to worry Buffy the most. She had begun to feel that 'Slut-Vamp' was starting to enjoy herself entirely too much the past few weeks. Buffy knew that a good portion of her sexual behavior was from her demon's desire to please its sire. At first, she had pushed her sexuality solely to avoid being whipped or tortured by Willow, to whom the Master would frequently hand her if he were otherwise occupied. But to Buffy's dismay she found herself welcoming the sexual attentions of the Master or one his underlings, coming on to them as if she was a bitch in heat and performing in bed with them as if she were a high-price call girl. The Master had even commented on how "maybe she wasn't such a waste" after one session where she had worked very hard to please him. Even with Willow, she found herself having the occasional hot sex fantasy. Although these fantasies mostly involved 'Slut-Vamp' Buffy tying up Willow and whipping her, it was still disturbing to her that she was dreaming about it at all.
Willow. Never had Buffy imagined that she could ever hate anyone as much as she hated that bitch. For first week after Merrick's death, Buffy was given to Willow every night after the Master had enjoyed her pleasures. Willow, having been given strict instructions, went about devising tortures that would not permanently mark or disfigure the Master's new toy. She would use leather belts, cat-o-nine tails, bull whips, holy water, matches, needles, electricity... She'd had over two years of experience with torturing Puppy so she knew what would last and what would fade on a vampire. The only item the Master had specifically forbidden her from using was a crucifix. He had been enraged when he discovered the mark on Buffy's brow from Merrick's crucifix.
+++++ (The Day after Merrick's Death) +++++
"What is this?" said the Master grabbing Buffy's chin and tilting her head.
Buffy had just been given a shower to clean her hair and body of the blood from Willow's cruel torments. Her hair was wet and slicked back against her head. And the Master was looking intently at her brow.
"WILLOW!e bee bellowed down the corridor. Be 10 10 seconds had passed, the red-haired vampiress stood in the Master's doorway.
"Yes, Master?" she inquired tentatively.
"Willow," said the Master in an tightly controlled tone of voice, "did I not tell you that you were not to use crucifixes on her unless I so instructed?"
"You did, my Lord," she looking directly at him.
"Well then, could you explain what this mark is doing on her brow?!" he demanded angrily.
"No, Master, I can not," she looked at Buffy's brow and frowned. "Did she say I caused it?"
"No," he looked at Buffy. "Well, Childe, who defiled your face with acificifix?"
Buffy had just been through 8 hours of the most horrendous torture and torment she had ever experienced. All from Willow. And here was a chance to strike back. But at this moment she was terrified about to being caught in a lie. "M-Master, it was not her, it was Merrick, my-my former Watcher. He had one in his pocket, when I attacked him he tried to get away from me, and hit me on my forehead with it. I'm sorry. . ."
"Yes, yes," said the Master waving her to silence. "My apologies Willow. I should have known better than to think you would have defied me. It was hidden in all that hair of hers. Damn! Now it will be weeks before that mark is gone."ActuActually, Master, there maybe another way," Willow offered. "A simple modification of the healing spell you had me researching for Druscilla. It should fix that mark within 24 hours. It will only require a small amount of your blood."
"Excellent then. Begin the preparations immediately." He turned to Buffy, "Now as for that hair... Sit there, Childe." Buffy moved to a chair as the Master rummaged through a drawer. When he turned towards her with a pair of long scissors in his hand, her eyes went wide.
"Master . . . please, not my hair," visions began to fill Buffy's head. Memories of watching WWII movies with her dad where certain women in France would have their hair chopped off by members of the resistance as a sign that they were collaborators with the Nazi occupation force. It was a mark of shame, like a scarlet letter. The Master silenced her with a glance and began to cut at her hair.
She sat in silence as the Master proceeded to cut off her long hair. She knew it was futile but inside she wanted to protest some more. It was at this moment that 'Victim' Buffy emerged and took control. She would do whatever was necessary to avoid punishment, and so what if her hair was gone. It wasn't as if she would be looking in anymore mirrors. **Shit, I haven't given a damn about what I looked like in years, why should I care now?** she wondered. But inside, the remaining vestiges of what had once been Buffy Anne Summers cried at watching every clump of her hair that fell into her lap or on the floor. She felt as if she herself was being trimmed away with every snip of the scissors, and that she was being replaced with someone new.Someone she didn't want to be, but had no choice. And as the Master finished, she came to the realization that it was true. She had become somebody else. Now and forever Buffy Anne Summers, beloved daughter and Slayer was dead.
Long live . . . who?
+++++ +++++
Every day, Buffy was presented with a minimal amount of blood in a bowl. The Master would set the bowl on the floor, and she was expected to wait for him to give permission before feeding. Most days, the Master would wave his hand and allow her to feed immediately. On some days though, he would withhold permission for her to feed for up to an hour. One lengthy punishment session was enough to teach Buffy to hold her demon back from grabbing the bowl.
Sometimes, the Master would pet her head and tell her he was pleased with her, and to her shame she could not stop her demon from purring its pleasure at his display of affection.
In her mind, she knew that the Master was training her to view him as the source for everything she needed. He began to have Willow meet out any punishment that he deemed necessary whereas he would only provide the 'treats'. He was the source of her food and pleasure and if her response pleased him she was rewarded. What frightened her wasn't the knowledge that she was being trained to perform like an animal, but rather, the idea that when the time came for her to stop behaving like a trained dog, she might not be able to.
She had been given a tiny room where she was instructed to stay "when she was not needed", and the Master had personally handed Mary back to her, with the warning that should Buffy behave badly, Mary would be taken away. Buffy pretended to be concerned, making promises to obey, begging him not to take Mary from her. In order to add a new twist to 'Little Lunatic" Buffy's personality, she would only treat Mary as if she was real. When she was given other dolls, Buffy would say that she hated dolls. If the person referred to Mary as a doll, Buffy would look blankly at them as if she did not understand. This simplified matters for Buffy as she occasionally had a hard enough time maintaining a two-way conversation with Mary, she did not want to have to work on a multiple conversation with three or more dolls.
In spite of everything, she was secretly pleased that her deception had been successful. She knew that in her current weakened condition, there was no possible way that she could have fought Willow, let alone the Master. Frequently, it was only her "Victim" Buffy persona who would keep the demon inside of her from lashing out at Willow. She was, however, growing tired of waiting and watching. She silently prayed every night for the opportunity to get her revenge, and wondered at the same time whether God would even listen to her, now that she was a demon.
Then one day her prayers were answered, although, at first, she had no way of knowing it.
*****
Someone was coming.
She had overheard whispered comments regarding 'Him'. She wondered about all the contradictory comments about him. He was, by all accounts, a vampire who cared nothing for authority figures in the vampire world except himself, and yet he had gone to LA for the Master to establish control over the various vampire gangs which had sprung up. It was talked about how viscous and powerful he was, and yet he apparently had chosen a weak, Vampiress for a mate and whom he had treated as gently as a kitten. However, she had wasted away, and it was rumored that he was going to make a request of the Master for a new mate, possible even Willow, as payment for the job he had done in LA.
The Master was agitated and concerned. He had no desire to lose Willow and yet, at the same time, he could hardly refuse such a request ight ght of what had been done for him in exchange. He therefore had been quicker to anger lately and Buffy had been the one to suffer for it, enduring extensive whipping sessions from both the Master and Willow. Then, the day before the guest was to arrive, she was shocked when the Master brought TWO bowls of blood for her to feed on. He re-enforced to her that she was to obey him at all times and never question his orders. He then commented to Willow, about wanting her cleaned up for the party tomorrowter ter that night, she was even more surprised when she was brought another two bowls of blood and a group of Vampiresses under the direction of Willow, came and took her measurements.
The following evening, the same group of Vampiresses brought her another two bowls of blood, then marched her to the showers and bathed her. Next, they did her hair and manicured her nails, before marching her naked to Willow's room.
She was then dressed in a very old-fashion style full-body dress. The dress was made from dark blue velvet, and had intricate silver beaded designs. It was gorgeous, and for the first time in months she was slightly depressed that she was no longer able to see herself in a mirror. When they had finished with her, she was ordered to sit in a chair and wait. She was startled when Mary was handed to her dressed in a matching outfit. As she waited, she watched as Willow was dressed and primped by the Vampiresses in immeimmering green silk gown. It was a shock to see her in something other than her normal leather pants and bustier but Buffy had to admit that she looked stunning.
When they were finished, the group of Vampiresses left to go make their own preparations, and Willow ordered Buffy to follow her to the Master's chambers. The Master was still wearing black leather, but his outfit seemed to gleam with polish. He looked up from a book he was reading as Willow entered his chambers.
"Willow, My Dear, you look absolutely ravishing," he declared. "Truly you are fit to be the consort of only a Great Vampire."
Willow smiled with pleasure at his compliment and said, "Thank you, My Lord. I seek only to please you." He then turned to inspect Buffy.
"Yes. Very good, Child. You will do very nicely," he murmured as he rose and circled her.
"Yes," murmured Willow, "I know what you mean. Even I wouldn't mind playing nicely with her for a little while. She looks so edible." Willow moved up to press herself against Buffy's right side, leaned forward, took Buffy's earlobe into her mouth and gently sucked on it for a minute. Buffy closed her eyes with a moan, reveling in the erotic sensation of having her earlobe sucked on, even if it was by Willow. She groaned in bitter disappointment when Willow stopped and backed away for the Master.
"Now listen to me very closely," he said in a firm cold voice, while grabbing her chin in his hand and looking into her eyes. "The vampire who is coming here tonight is very important to me. You will not do anything to embarrass me in front of him or I will teach you that what Willow has done to you in the past is nothing compared to what I can do. And Mary will end up in the furnace."
"Yes, Master," Buffy replied, her eyes round with fear. "I'll be good. Please don't hurt Mary. She'll be good too."
For the next hour, Buffy sat and was ignored as the Master and Willow discussed a number of different items; from the operations of the factory at which Buffy had been captured, to the need for more humans to be shipped in from outside of Sunnydale. Finally, a knock at the door, and a vampire announced that the Master's Guest had finally arrived. Taking Willow's hand, the Master proceeded to the main room where they were awaited. Buffy followed close behind them.
Conversations quieted when they entered the main room, and all eyes were on them as they proceeded across the floor to the Master's throne. It had been positioned on the stage with another ornate chair near-by and at a slight angle to it. A small table with two crystal goblets sat between the two chairs. The Master sat down on his customary throne whilst Willow stood on his left-hand side and slightly to the rear. Buffy was instructed to sit to the right of the Master's feet so she knelt into position, her back ramrod straight, the Mr rer resting his hand on her head.
Buffy was very nervous and felt as if she weadyeady to jump through the roof. The last time she had been in this type of position was when Merrick had been brought in.
A murmuring commotion began by the door, and all turned to observe the vampire entering the Bronze. Buffy watched as the crowd parted to admit him.
Dressed in a black leather jacket, her first thought was that he looked like a punk rocker, and with his bleached blond hair and sharp angular features he looked very much like that '80's singer, Billy Idol. But he was far sexier looking and Buffy knew that if she had had a pulse, it would have been racing a-mile-a-minute. 'Slut-Vamp' wanted to come out and play, and she had to clamp down hard to keep from letting her out. Something important was going down here tonight, and 'Secret Agent' Buffy was on full alert, watching everything. As he drew closer to the Master's throne, Buffy felt sure that had she been alive, she would have been panting. She made a mental note to keep her mouth tightly shut, so she wouldn't be seen drooling like an idiot. She was startled when the Master arose to greet him as he ascended to the stage.
Stretching out his hand in greeting, the Master finally spoke, "Welcome back from LA, Spike."