A/N- just a general thanks to all reviewers; i enjoyed all your, er, views! Here's chapter 2 earlier than planned because i thought you deserved it... to some it may be pretty short, but hey! You ain't writin it! (lol)

"Bryan?" His cool voice cuts through my thoughts like a hot knife through snow. "You okay? Did you get the blood?"

I do not answer, for fear of being thought weak, since I could not get past even mortal men… even with senses that surpass even the most advanced being and speed and reflexes that even a cheetah cannot match.

"Bryan." He stands in front of me, glaring with red eyes. "Talk."

"Hiwatari," I begin, "Move out of my way now or when you wake up, you'll have two holes in your neck and less blood in your body than a premature ant." He still hasn't moved. "Kai…" I growl.

"Bryan, you may threaten me all you like, but you could never bring yourself to bite me; you said it yourself. Now I know something's wrong, so tell me." I avert my eyes from his as they burn into my soul with an intense gaze. I sense him soften. "You didn't get any, did you?"

I shake my head. "High security now…" I sigh and rub my eyes. "I don't know where I'm going to get any from…"

"You know… you are a vampire, so-"

"No." My tone was firm and final. "I will not stoop to that low a level. That's what Boris would want me to do; to hurt even more people. That's why he set that other vampire on me! Because I lost, but also because I wanted Kon to survive and get better as soon as; even straight after our battle!"

Taking advantage of his surprise, I stride past him and into my room, slamming my room door. I slump against it… even now, I can feel my power draining slowly…

Kai never knew that fact; the one that I wanted Ray to win and survive. He only thought it was because I had lost, since that's what Tala had told him…

Speaking of the redhead…

"Kai, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

I can sense frustration and fear radiating off Tala, even through this thick wooden door… but why fear?

"Kai, even though I'm not a vampire, I feel that you're hiding something from me…" Ouch… that hurt, Red. "Usually, by this time, you and the Falcon are sitting on that couch with your fifth bottle of tequila running down your throats and you reaching for your sixth!"

He's such a mother hen…

"Tala," I say with a sigh, standing and opening my door, "everything's okay. I just felt tired when I came back…" I smirk. "Unless you want me to get Hiwatari drunk… you never know-"

"-it could go even further than kissing this time." Kai finishes with a devious smirk.

Tala groans and moves over to the living room of our apartment. Kai and I chuckle; once, we (meaning the Phoenix and I) got absolutely pissed and started making out on the couch; Tala happened to walk in just as it heated up…

Hm? Yeah, we're both gay… your point?

But we're not together… just a one off; a one night stand, just without the sex… yeah, he's with that idiot, Tyson Granger… I don't know what he sees in that kid; he's a total berk, but I guess he needs someone like Kai to direct him in life…

I know Kai's been with a lot of people, I just don't know who exactly. I know he's been with Kon, for one… Tala, most definitely; I still hear their sounds in my nightmares…

I'm not the one for relationships… not even one night stands… Kai and I flirt a lot around each other (mostly to piss Tala off) but it's all in fund and games… nope; nothing with Tala… hey, I'm a vampire; I can read minds, and yours is like a book!

I glance over at the couch to see Kai and Tala mucking around, the widescreen T.V showing some kind of 'horror' movie… they want horror? I'll show 'em horror; just lend me a knife and that BEGA team…

As I turn round to move into my room, I hear Tala's voice.

"Bryan? You not joining in with us?" He asks me.

I smirk, throwing a look over my shoulder. "I'm not one for threesomes, sorry."

I feel Tala roll his eyes and hear him move from the couch, but I continue into my room. As I go to shut my door, Tala barges in, carrying two bottles of vodka. Now I roll my eyes.

"Come on in, your majesty." I mock bow and slam my door. I see him lie back on the pillows that rest against the headboard. "Comfortable?"

"Very; thanks."

I crawl onto my bed too, leaning against the footboard, crossing my arms over my chest; but I'm forced to unravel them when Tala throws me a bottle of the sweet stuff. Russian vodka; by far the best drink in the world… although, when you have a hangover, the best drink in the world is water, with some paracetamol dissolved in it…

I watch as Tala opens his bottle and take a swig, watching me too. His flame red hair stands out against the pure black wall behind him… I love his hair… it defies gravity and it's unique with its colour…

The colour of…

My chest suddenly becomes restricted and the unopened bottle of vodka falls off the bed and onto the bouncy carpet. I sit up, grasping my t-shirt, trying to fill my lungs with oxygen…

This is normal for a hungry vampire… it's one of the symptoms… one of the many symptoms… it means I'm… dying…

I can hear and feel and sense Tala beside me, a hand over my hand that's on my shirt. He's whispering something under his breath, but it's incoherent to me in this state… I have to resist the vampire instincts… I will not hurt Tala…

I start to be able to breathe again and, upon habit, my eyes close in exhaustion. I feel Tala cradling me to his frame, his face buried in my messy lilac hair. I just want to sleep… let me sleep…

And that's all I remember…