AN: Thank you to all of you wonderful, blessed people who took some time out of their day to make mine wonderful! Thanks to: C. Wilhoite (I'm so glad that you like!), Night Goddess (I most certainly will continue! Happy that you're enjoying it), *~Keller~* (Yipees for plot! And thanks for checking out my site!), kitty_katt (Thankee thankee thankee! You're so sweet!), Keya (Ooh, lucky you. You have a study hall to do things like that in.), fallen dark angel( I'm so glad that you like it!), Starwisher (oh, I *like* you're name! Thanks for your wonderful comments), and Kori Handerson(::giggles:: the girl of many names;-D Those are the stories that I like best as well!)
*~* Any or all comments would be completely adored! Cookies to those who do! Oh my, I'm bribing. ::shrugs:: Oh well. Cookies to all that tell me what they think! (I think I have enough cookie dough...::wanders off to cook fresh cookies for her special friends::* I meant special in a good way! *)
*~*~*~*
Chapter 4:
Lei was in the kitchen when he heard the first scream. By the time the second scream cut off abruptly, he was already halfway down the hall and could clearly see what had happened. Avalon was pressed against the wall, staring out of wide eyes over a hand pressed tightly over her mouth. His brother was standing in front of her, lips pulled in a vicious snarl that clearly revealed sharp shiny teeth that were still slightly pink with his last meal. Meanwhile, Lei noticed that the shrieks hadn't exactly stopped, had just been muffled. **Oh god**, he thought to himself, hurrying down the last few feet of the hall to where they stood.
Avalon stared at him, pale waxen skin showing starkly against the green of her irises and the tan hand covering the lower half of her face. Those eyes were currently pleading with him to do something.
Lei sighed wearily and crossed his arms in front of him.
"What happened?" he asked his brother impatiently. Still facing his captive, Lei's brother, Ashyr, growled out an answer.
" She interrupted me when I was feeding. I thought you said she was staying in your room!" This last was said with a dirty look shot at Lei. He scowled, ignoring a twinge of guilt at the look of betrayal on Avalon's face. She obviously thought that Lei was helping a monster who was going to kill her.
" She was supposed to stay there. I can't help it if she wandered out while you were stupid enough to feed in plain sight."
"Don't annoy me little brother. Not while I have your little friend within fang's reach," Ashyr warned in a tightly controlled voice. Lei sighed but said nothing. Taking that as a consent, Ashyr continued. "Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it? What are we going to do with her?" Lei sighed again, sadly this time, gazing at Avalon. He knew she could see pity residing within his strange purple eyes and knew she wouldn't like it.
"I guess we'll just have to mind wipe her. Not really anything else we can do," he said, matter of factly. ~But I had better do it~ he added telepathically so she wouldn't hear. ~Somehow I don't think she'll trust you much~
His brother nodded slowly, thinking it over. ~Okay,~ he finally sent. ~You take her, I need to get that blonde girl out of here before you finish~ Out loud he said in a gruff voice, "make a single sound when I take my hand away, you won't have a throat to scream with. Got it?" She shook her head quickly, eyes widening again. Grinning rather nastily, Ashyr took his hand away slowly. When she didn't say a thing, he moved away so Lei could grab her, making sure to keep an iron strong grip on her arm to prevent her form running away.
Lei took a hold of her firmly and led her back to his room. Faintly behind him he heard his brother picking up his meal and carrying it out the back door. Avalon was strangely silent. Well, perhaps not so strangely, he thought wryly. He would be rather quiet in her position as well.
He closed the door behind them and led her to the bed. Only when they were both sitting on it did he change his grip so he was holding her hand instead of her arms and looked into her face.
Hate. Pure, unadulterated loathing and rage. Lei couldn't help flinching back a bit from that ferocious gaze.
"How could you be all chummy with that monstrous murderer?" she spat at him. " He killed my..." she drifted off, uncertainty flickering like lightening through the clouds her fury built. But like lightening, it was gone in a sparkle of light. " I thought you were good!" she continued instead. Lei brought one hand up to his temple, rubbing the headache that had begun away. This was **not** how he had envisioned this night to happen. All he wanted to do was sleep and dream of his mother.
"He's my brother," he started in way of explanation, but she cut him off before he could continue.
"He's a monster! A vicious vampire!" Lei looked at her sardonically.
"First off, he's not vicious, although he can be a monster at times," she snorted giving him a scathing look. Defensively, Lei continued. "Second of all, what's so bad about vampires?" She stared at him incredulously.
"What's so bad about them?" she cried, " They drink blood in case you hadn't noticed Lei. That's disgusting! How can you stand to live with a parasite?"
" I am a 'parasite'! It's kind of hard not to live with one," he replied angrily. He hated it when people called his race parasites just because they took blood from humans. What exactly did the vermin think lamb chops were? Fluffy little pieces of cloud?
Avalon froze, realization dawning in her luminous green eyes. She obviously hadn't realized that Lei was a vampire as well. Frantically she tried to jerk away, but he had a strong grip around her delicate wrist and her struggles were only hurting her. With a growl of impatience, he grabbed her other arm and forcefully pushed her back onto the bed.
"I'm not going to hurt you for god's sakes! Calm down!" he hissed at her. Abruptly, she stopped moving, staring at him with even more revulsion than before.
"So does that mean you're going to kill me now that I know?" she asked haughtily, facing him with false bravery. Lei laughed bitterly.
"I suppose I really should but no, I'm not. I'm just going to erase your knowledge of what we are. Don't worry, it won't hurt." He tried to sound comforting, hating that he had to do this. She watched him silently for a moment and then spoke.
"Have you ever done this to me before?" she asked quietly. He shook his head and she asked another question, hesitantly as if she didn't really want to know the answer. "Have you ever taken my blood?"
"No!" he said, shaking his head emphatically. "Never and I never would." She nodded, looking just a bit more relaxed. "Look, if I let you go, will you promise not to run? I swear I won't let anyone hurt you," he said.
" I'm not going to run," she said. "Or kick your ass just yet," she added as an afterthought. Lei grinned. His Avvie was back.
"Good, I appreciate that." Lei let go of her and dropped his hands into his lap. Despite her word, he knew if she did try anything, he would be ready to stop her.
"How old is your brother?" she asked, the tones in her voice hinting there was a reason for her question.
"Nineteen. You know that," he answered, not getting what she meant. She shook her head.
"No, I mean really. Vampires are supposed to be immortal, aren't they? I mean he could be hundreds of years old, couldn't he?" Lei laughed.
"Yeah, I suppose. However, Ashyr really is only twenty three and I really am only sixteen." She nodded, suddenly looking much more relieved.
"Are you sure? Because he looks so much like the man in my dream." At Lei's uncomprehending look she quickly outlined the dream that had sent her running to him earlier.
Lei was appalled and disturbed by the vividness of her dream. He had never heard the tale before but something about it ran a shiver of familiarity up his spine where it came to a rest inside his heart, niggling its way into it like a cat trying to get comfortable.
" I guess now that I really think about it, the man in my dream was older. I just saw the resemblance in your brother and freaked." She smiled wryly. " I suppose it didn't really help that he was feeding at the moment either." Lei chuckled and agreed. Avalon had relaxed by now, obviously once she got used to the idea of what they were, it didn't bother her as much. Suddenly she frowned.
"How is it that you could be a vampire? You've grown up along with me," she asked suspiciously. Lei groaned, knowing that would come up sooner or later.
" My brother and I are what you would call lamia. Born vampires. We age just like humans do but we can stoop the aging process at anytime."
"Hmn," she murmured, taking that in as she chewed absently on a fingernail. Avalon was a chronic nailbiter and none of her nails were very long. She looked back up at him. "So if vampires are real, are other things real as well? Witches? Ghosts? The Easter bunny?" Lei smiled but inside his stomach was sinking. If he told her about the nightworld, he could really put her in danger.
** You're going to be mind wiping her in a minute anyway** his mind argued, ** it won't really matter for long anyway** Somewhere deep inside he knew that he was just making up an excuse to finally share his secret with his best friend, but he pushed that part even deeper within him and ignored it. Taking a big breath, he began.
" Well, once upon a time there were two women named Hellewise and Maya..."
*~*~*
Thanks for reading! Next part will hopefully be out next...::stops to calculate:: next Thursday! I'm going to my G-parents house till Wednesday so it won't be before then. See yas!
Kisses n' kittens,
Kaelyn (yes, I like the letter 'K', don't you?)
*~* Any or all comments would be completely adored! Cookies to those who do! Oh my, I'm bribing. ::shrugs:: Oh well. Cookies to all that tell me what they think! (I think I have enough cookie dough...::wanders off to cook fresh cookies for her special friends::* I meant special in a good way! *)
*~*~*~*
Chapter 4:
Lei was in the kitchen when he heard the first scream. By the time the second scream cut off abruptly, he was already halfway down the hall and could clearly see what had happened. Avalon was pressed against the wall, staring out of wide eyes over a hand pressed tightly over her mouth. His brother was standing in front of her, lips pulled in a vicious snarl that clearly revealed sharp shiny teeth that were still slightly pink with his last meal. Meanwhile, Lei noticed that the shrieks hadn't exactly stopped, had just been muffled. **Oh god**, he thought to himself, hurrying down the last few feet of the hall to where they stood.
Avalon stared at him, pale waxen skin showing starkly against the green of her irises and the tan hand covering the lower half of her face. Those eyes were currently pleading with him to do something.
Lei sighed wearily and crossed his arms in front of him.
"What happened?" he asked his brother impatiently. Still facing his captive, Lei's brother, Ashyr, growled out an answer.
" She interrupted me when I was feeding. I thought you said she was staying in your room!" This last was said with a dirty look shot at Lei. He scowled, ignoring a twinge of guilt at the look of betrayal on Avalon's face. She obviously thought that Lei was helping a monster who was going to kill her.
" She was supposed to stay there. I can't help it if she wandered out while you were stupid enough to feed in plain sight."
"Don't annoy me little brother. Not while I have your little friend within fang's reach," Ashyr warned in a tightly controlled voice. Lei sighed but said nothing. Taking that as a consent, Ashyr continued. "Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it? What are we going to do with her?" Lei sighed again, sadly this time, gazing at Avalon. He knew she could see pity residing within his strange purple eyes and knew she wouldn't like it.
"I guess we'll just have to mind wipe her. Not really anything else we can do," he said, matter of factly. ~But I had better do it~ he added telepathically so she wouldn't hear. ~Somehow I don't think she'll trust you much~
His brother nodded slowly, thinking it over. ~Okay,~ he finally sent. ~You take her, I need to get that blonde girl out of here before you finish~ Out loud he said in a gruff voice, "make a single sound when I take my hand away, you won't have a throat to scream with. Got it?" She shook her head quickly, eyes widening again. Grinning rather nastily, Ashyr took his hand away slowly. When she didn't say a thing, he moved away so Lei could grab her, making sure to keep an iron strong grip on her arm to prevent her form running away.
Lei took a hold of her firmly and led her back to his room. Faintly behind him he heard his brother picking up his meal and carrying it out the back door. Avalon was strangely silent. Well, perhaps not so strangely, he thought wryly. He would be rather quiet in her position as well.
He closed the door behind them and led her to the bed. Only when they were both sitting on it did he change his grip so he was holding her hand instead of her arms and looked into her face.
Hate. Pure, unadulterated loathing and rage. Lei couldn't help flinching back a bit from that ferocious gaze.
"How could you be all chummy with that monstrous murderer?" she spat at him. " He killed my..." she drifted off, uncertainty flickering like lightening through the clouds her fury built. But like lightening, it was gone in a sparkle of light. " I thought you were good!" she continued instead. Lei brought one hand up to his temple, rubbing the headache that had begun away. This was **not** how he had envisioned this night to happen. All he wanted to do was sleep and dream of his mother.
"He's my brother," he started in way of explanation, but she cut him off before he could continue.
"He's a monster! A vicious vampire!" Lei looked at her sardonically.
"First off, he's not vicious, although he can be a monster at times," she snorted giving him a scathing look. Defensively, Lei continued. "Second of all, what's so bad about vampires?" She stared at him incredulously.
"What's so bad about them?" she cried, " They drink blood in case you hadn't noticed Lei. That's disgusting! How can you stand to live with a parasite?"
" I am a 'parasite'! It's kind of hard not to live with one," he replied angrily. He hated it when people called his race parasites just because they took blood from humans. What exactly did the vermin think lamb chops were? Fluffy little pieces of cloud?
Avalon froze, realization dawning in her luminous green eyes. She obviously hadn't realized that Lei was a vampire as well. Frantically she tried to jerk away, but he had a strong grip around her delicate wrist and her struggles were only hurting her. With a growl of impatience, he grabbed her other arm and forcefully pushed her back onto the bed.
"I'm not going to hurt you for god's sakes! Calm down!" he hissed at her. Abruptly, she stopped moving, staring at him with even more revulsion than before.
"So does that mean you're going to kill me now that I know?" she asked haughtily, facing him with false bravery. Lei laughed bitterly.
"I suppose I really should but no, I'm not. I'm just going to erase your knowledge of what we are. Don't worry, it won't hurt." He tried to sound comforting, hating that he had to do this. She watched him silently for a moment and then spoke.
"Have you ever done this to me before?" she asked quietly. He shook his head and she asked another question, hesitantly as if she didn't really want to know the answer. "Have you ever taken my blood?"
"No!" he said, shaking his head emphatically. "Never and I never would." She nodded, looking just a bit more relaxed. "Look, if I let you go, will you promise not to run? I swear I won't let anyone hurt you," he said.
" I'm not going to run," she said. "Or kick your ass just yet," she added as an afterthought. Lei grinned. His Avvie was back.
"Good, I appreciate that." Lei let go of her and dropped his hands into his lap. Despite her word, he knew if she did try anything, he would be ready to stop her.
"How old is your brother?" she asked, the tones in her voice hinting there was a reason for her question.
"Nineteen. You know that," he answered, not getting what she meant. She shook her head.
"No, I mean really. Vampires are supposed to be immortal, aren't they? I mean he could be hundreds of years old, couldn't he?" Lei laughed.
"Yeah, I suppose. However, Ashyr really is only twenty three and I really am only sixteen." She nodded, suddenly looking much more relieved.
"Are you sure? Because he looks so much like the man in my dream." At Lei's uncomprehending look she quickly outlined the dream that had sent her running to him earlier.
Lei was appalled and disturbed by the vividness of her dream. He had never heard the tale before but something about it ran a shiver of familiarity up his spine where it came to a rest inside his heart, niggling its way into it like a cat trying to get comfortable.
" I guess now that I really think about it, the man in my dream was older. I just saw the resemblance in your brother and freaked." She smiled wryly. " I suppose it didn't really help that he was feeding at the moment either." Lei chuckled and agreed. Avalon had relaxed by now, obviously once she got used to the idea of what they were, it didn't bother her as much. Suddenly she frowned.
"How is it that you could be a vampire? You've grown up along with me," she asked suspiciously. Lei groaned, knowing that would come up sooner or later.
" My brother and I are what you would call lamia. Born vampires. We age just like humans do but we can stoop the aging process at anytime."
"Hmn," she murmured, taking that in as she chewed absently on a fingernail. Avalon was a chronic nailbiter and none of her nails were very long. She looked back up at him. "So if vampires are real, are other things real as well? Witches? Ghosts? The Easter bunny?" Lei smiled but inside his stomach was sinking. If he told her about the nightworld, he could really put her in danger.
** You're going to be mind wiping her in a minute anyway** his mind argued, ** it won't really matter for long anyway** Somewhere deep inside he knew that he was just making up an excuse to finally share his secret with his best friend, but he pushed that part even deeper within him and ignored it. Taking a big breath, he began.
" Well, once upon a time there were two women named Hellewise and Maya..."
*~*~*
Thanks for reading! Next part will hopefully be out next...::stops to calculate:: next Thursday! I'm going to my G-parents house till Wednesday so it won't be before then. See yas!
Kisses n' kittens,
Kaelyn (yes, I like the letter 'K', don't you?)