Chapter 9

The next few weeks went by without incident. Alex began her vampire defense training with the gang, they went to school, and she spent time with Yami every other day. One Thursday though, Alex didn't see Yugi or Yami at all. Granted, they only had a couple of classes on Thursdays and they were late in the afternoon. Yugi texted her right before class to tell her that Yami had gotten a lead on the kidnapping vampires so he wouldn't be in class or be there to walk her home after gymnastics tonight. A second text came in right after the first, one that she suspected was not from Yugi, telling her to go straight home from gymnastics and make sure a couple of the girls walked with her.

She sighed and tucked her phone back into her pocket after replying. At least he knew better than to suggest that she skip practice. He'd only made that mistake once and she doubted he'd be looking for a repeat any time soon.

Alex was surprised to walk into the gym later that day and find more than half the team missing. "Where is everyone?" she asked her friend Kate as she started warming up.

"Well I don't know about everyone, but a few people texted me saying they were super sick," Kate replied. Alex nodded, she'd gotten a bunch of them too. Apparently the cold snap that week had put a lot of people out of commission.

"Coach is not going to be happy," Alex said. Kate groaned in response.

Alex bit her lip as a couple more people trickled in. None of the people she sometimes walked home with were there. In fact all the people present lived in the opposite direction of her apartment. She pushed her predicament to the side as Coach started practice. She'd have to think about it later, since as she'd said to Kate, Coach was Not Happy about the lack of attendance.

Come the end of practice though, Alex still hadn't found a solution. Well, she thought to herself, I could always walk home alone… It's not like Yami would ever have to know… And honestly if I were targeted by the vampires I doubt a couple of human girls would be able to help me fight them off.

Decision made, she hiked up her backpack and started to make her way home.

She almost made it all the way home without incident. A couple blocks from her apartment she heard hissing and crashing coming from the alleyway beside her. Déjà vu much.

But this time she didn't hesitate. She darted into the alley to find two men grappling with each other, one facing her, one with his back to her. Thankfully Yami was the man who had her in his field of vision. Alex didn't really think about what she did next. She ran and jumped on the mystery vampire's back.

It was all the distraction Yami needed. He ripped his hands away from the other vampire's and punched him hard enough to make him see stars as Alex slid off his back. He fell down but didn't fall unconscious until Alex's boot connected with his face.

Yami and Alex both stood panting over the man for a minute, watching to make sure he was really out. Then their eyes locked and they were in each other's arms.

"Are you hurt? What happened?" Alex asked patting him down for injuries.

Yami laughed and pulled her in for a kiss. "I'm fine," he said when they came back up for air. "I'm perfectly fine. Thanks to you Alex. You were amazing!"

Alex blushed slightly. "Well I did learn from the best."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't teach you that," Yami snorted.

"Who said I was talking about you?" Alex teased.

Yami laughed and kissed her again.

Abruptly he pulled away though. "Who walked you home? Are they alright?" he asked worriedly looking around for other people.

He didn't miss Alex's grimace and the way she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, see about that…"

"You walked home alone didn't you?" Yami's eyes narrowed.

"I had to!" Alex cried throwing her hands up and pulling away from him slightly. "About half the team was out sick today, including everyone else who lives in this direction!"

"Why didn't you call Kaiba then and ask him for a drive home?" Yami demanded.

"Mokuba dragged him home earlier because he's been working too hard lately. He's asleep right now and it'll be the first decent sleep the man's had in weeks! I'm not waking him up on my account," Alex explained frustrated.

"A cab then! Why not take a cab?" Yami growled at her.

"Do you have any idea how expensive cabs are? I don't carry that kind of cash on me," Alex said folding her arms together.

"Dammit Alex!" Yami shouted punching the brick wall behind him. He left an indent in the shape of his fist. "You can't jeopardize your safety because you might inconvenience others!"

"If I hadn't walked home I wouldn't have been here to help you!" Alex shouted back at him.

"I would've survived!"

"Oh yeah? Like the first night we met? If I hadn't woken you up would you have survived that stab wound?" Alex sneered.

A groan from the ground beside them interrupted them before the fight escalated further.

"Go home Alex. I have to take care of this," Yami said tiredly turning away from her.

"I'm your girlfriend, not your pet Yami," Alex said quietly.

"Well maybe I should get a pet instead then. A pet would actually listen to me," Yami said exasperated. Alex gasped and her eyes widened and filled with tears. Then he realized what he said. "Alex-" he tried his eyes widening at his realization.

"Don't," she whispered backing away from him. "Just don't." Then she span and ran away from him towards her apartment building.

He watched from the alley's shadows to make sure she was alright before going back to the unconscious vampire. While he waited for the vampire to wake up so he could question him the image of Alex's tears burned into his mind and he wallowed in self-loathing and guilt.

Alex sobbed as she threw her apartment door closed behind her and flopped on her bed. She knew deep down that Yami didn't mean what he said. He wasn't going to replace her with a pet, or a girl who acted like one, but the words still stung.

After a few minutes she was able to calm herself down enough to be hiccupping. I just need to sleep, Alex thought to herself. I'll talk to Yami in the morning after we've both had a little more time to cool off and rest.

Decided, she wandered out to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before getting ready for bed. She was muttering to herself when she came out again with a peanut butter sandwich. "Stupid, ridiculous, paranoid man…"

"Sounds like there's trouble in paradise."

Alex's head snapped up. Lounging beside her door was a man she'd never seen in her life. When he smiled she could easily see his fangs.

"What do you want?" Alex asked calmly despite the fear pooling in her gut.

The man shrugged. "Me? Nothing. My boss on the other hand…"

Alex backed away as he started stalking towards her. "And your boss would be…?"

The man just grinned and tensed to jump at her. Thanks to Alex's new training though she realized what he was going to do. She pulled her sandwich apart and lobbed the two pieces at his head.

He dodged the first slice, which splatted against the wall and stuck there, but the second slice nailed him in the face. Immediately she ran to her room where her phone was but suddenly he was blocking her way. Changing directions she grabbed the lamp off the side table behind her and hurled it at him, running to the window on the other side of the room as soon as she did.

The wind was knocked out of her though when she was tackled into the couch. She struggled against the hands that pinned her wrists. "Will you quit it?" The vampire hissed. She stopped long enough to glare at him and spit in his face before using his surprise and every ounce of strength she had to push backwards on the couch and make it topple over flipping him over her head.

She scrambled to her feet running for her bedroom again when a hand wrapped around her ankle. She reached out grasping for anything to stop her from falling but all she managed to grab were a bunch of papers off her coffee table. They didn't do much when she threw them at him. But they did distract him from the other foot that she kicked out at his face. She got on her feet again as he cursed his now broken nose.

As she ran the tipped all kinds of chairs and tables over behind her trying to make it as difficult for him as possible. This time she did make it to her room where she slammed the door closed and locked it before diving for her phone on her bedside table.

Her fingers trembled as she tried to unlock it and something thumped against her door. She crossed her fingers hoping he would pick up as a fist slammed through the door. Please. Please answer, Alex prayed.

She screamed in frustration when the vampire grabbed her and pinned her against the wall. "Get off me you brute!" she snarled.

"After you broke my fucking nose? I don't think so bitch," he hissed back at her.

He let go of one of her wrists but she didn't have time to take advantage of it before he slammed a fist into her face and her world faded to black. Neither of them noticed the phone Alex dropped when she fell unconscious or the frantic voice coming from the device.