Chapter Three

The first thing he noticed when he entered was the scent of tears.

Merle froze as he entered the room he shared with his baby brother to find the fledgling curled up on him mattress asleep, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Fresh bruises marred his slender frame, healing slowly because of his refusal to feed, and his cheeks and nose were flushed showing just how long he'd been in this state.

He frowned at the marks, kneeling beside the teens to get a better look at the bruises. When he'd began to distance himself from Daryl, to keep the kid from getting mixed up with the twisted ass humans he associated with, he hadn't expected his old man to hit the kid. Sure his father was a hard ass but Daryl was a sweet kid, sometimes too sweet, and he knew the boy hadn't done anything to deserve the shit William Dixon put him through.

Unfortunately, unlike the human law, there wasn't shit he could do to keep the kid from being hurt. Vampires always took care in the matters of interfering in another's nest, especially in the discipline of fledglings as young as Daryl, who had yet to hit the end of his eighth decade. Their father, a former commander in the Vampire King's army, was well respected among their kind, had been for nearly a millennium, so others made sure not to offend him.

Daryl stirred, drawing him from his thoughts.

"Merle?" He rasped sleepily and he allowed a soft smile to cross his lips.

"Hey, lil brother. Why ya cryin'?" The fledgling swallowed, heartbreak flashing in his eyes.

"P-Pa, he knows bout Rick. Said I gotta break it off or he'll kill him."

Merle's eyes widened.

He'd known about his brother's little human since the night they'd gotten together. Daryl had come home from work with a panicked look in his eye and when he'd asked him about it, the childe had gone on a tangent about how pa would kill him if he found out his True Mate was a man, a human man at that. At the time, he'd managed to encourage him to pursue the human regardless of Pa but now it seemed that the kid was screwed.

A vampire that met their fated never lived long after being separated from them. Among their kind they called them the Perditae, The Lost Ones. They were those that were slowly consumed by the blood lust of vampirism due to the loss of their mate, It was a slow, cancerous process in which the afflicted gradually loses their mind, their morality and everything in between. Their appetites deteriorate until their non-existent and they simply...exist. It was not a fate he wished upon anyone especially his little brother. Especially not when their father was already suffering its affects having lost his mate, their mother, shortly after Daryl's birth.

"He knows what that'll do to ya." He hissed angrily and Daryl nodded, staring down at his hands.

"Said it don't matter, ain't no son o' his allowed to be a bitch for no human." He replied softly, voice desolate.

Merle gritted his teeth angrily, grey eyes flashing a molten argent color.

"You didn't chose yer mate!"

Daryl sighed.

"Do you honestly think it matters to him? Either way, I'm a dead man."

An angry, helpless snarl left the older vampire and he punched the wall 9in frustration. "So what are you gonna do?"

The childe shrugged. "What else? I'm gonna break things off with- with Rick and try to resist the illness as long as possible."

Merle nodded slowly. Both he and Daryl knew that the chances of him resisting the Illness, the call of the perditae were slim to none but Merle also knew that if anyone could do it, it would be Daryl. The youngest Dixon had a will of titanium and it would take more than this to break him.

And if he just happened to hear his brother's voice crack, just the slightest bit when he said the human's name, well, that was Daryl's business. No one had to know.

*^RICKYL^*

Rick frowned as he observed Daryl from the corner of his eye.

His boyfriend had been unusually quiet since he'd arrived at Fuscia that night for his shift and hadn't said more than ten words to him since they'd left the bar an hour previous. Even now as they sat in their favorite clearing, the blonde had yet to speak, staring up at the sky with a strange, pensive look in his eyes. It made his heart pound and dread pool in his stomach. Something was wrong.

Something was wrong.

"What is it?" He asked softly and the younger male jumped, startled.

"What?"

"Something is wrong, Daryl. What is it? You've been quiet all evening."

His lover stared at him, aquamarine eyes full of too many emotions for him to name. For a moment, everything was silent, then his hunter spoke in a soft monotone.

"We have to break up."

Rick's heart stilled in his chest and he stared at the other teen blankly, hoping he'd heard him wrong.

"W-what?"

Daryl looked away, turning his piercing gaze back to the sky.

"We have to break up." He repeated softly and the older teen shook his head numbly.

"No, no! We- is this because of your parents? Why?"

The blonde licked his lips. "Rick-we can't be together anymore. Pa knows."

Rick frowned.

"Is it because I'm human?"

His lover stiffened and scowled at him.

"What?"

"You honestly didn't think I didn't notice you weren't human? Normal humans don't heal the way you do, plus you eyes glow when you're angry. I don't know what you are, but you aren't human."

Daryl stared at him, wide-eyed.

"I-no. It's not because you're human. We- It's not safe for you, Rick. Just listen to me, for once. We can't be together anymore."

The human shook his head stubbornly.

"Tell me why."

"No."

"Tell me, Daryl."

"No"

"Tell me!"

"You'll be killed!" The vampire yelled at him, his voice breaking. "My pa will kill you if we stay together and by our laws he would be well within his rights."

Rick stared at him, then cupped his cheek.

"So there really is no way for us to stay together?"

Daryl shook his head and the hand fell from his cheek.

"No."

"Take me home."

"Rick-"

The brunette raised a hand cutting him off. "You say we're over...then we're over. Take me home."

Daryl nodded and took a shuddering breath, hoping that his human wouldn't be able to see the heart break in his eyes.

They drove in silence, each locked in their own thoughts. When they arrived at Rick's home, his parents were sitting on the porch waiting. They looked up at the trucks arrival, but didn't approach the vehicle.

"Thank you." Rick murmured softly and the blond shook his head.

"No, thank you. These past few months have been the best times of my life." He blushed but continued, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. "Move on, Rick. Ain't no use wallowin' in what we coulda been."

The brunette nodded slowly and pressed a chaste kiss against Daryl's lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too. I'm sorry."

"Me too." He replied, climbing from the truck. Daryl sent him one last sad look then sped off. Rick stood in the driveway staring after him until he could no longer see the trucks tail lights, pretending that he couldn't feel the tears burning his eyes and his heart shattering in his chest.

TBC...

perditae- Lost Ones

The Perditae are vampires whose mates have either died or abandoned them. They are affected by a disease called Venenum Sanguinem (blood Poison) which causes them to slowly go insane because mated Vampires only feed from their mates. Older vampires are able to resist the sickness because of their age and strength but it tends to take younger vampires within the first year or so.