Venom
"We're out of blood packs," Iris said, falling over into Izzie's lap.
"What? I got three months' worth last time we were out."
"Yeah, well Vexen wanted to do some type of experiment and took a bunch of them."
"Ugh, I'm gonna kill him," Izzie sighed. "Alright, I'll ask Saix if we can run and restock in the next couple days."
"Restock what?" The man in question asked as he came into the Grey Area. Izzie looked up at him as she stroked Iris's hair.
"Vexen used up most of the blood packs meant for us," She replied. "We're gonna have to get more soon." Saix frowned.
"I'll have to hide them better next time. Alright, I'll run it by Xemnas and get back to you later."
"Thanks." He continued to his usual spot and began organizing the mission briefs for the day. Iris watched him for a moment, then craned her head to look at Izzie.
"So…a few days ago, I heard-"
"Iris."
"What? I'm speaking so only you can understand me."
"Still. I'm not telling you anything he wouldn't want you to know."
"I wasn't gonna try to make you tell me anything. I just wanted you to know that I don't think he can be fixed by just being loved by you."
"I know that, and I don't expect to fix him. All I want is for him to know he's not alone."
"Well, as long as you're not naïve about things."
"It's so weird having a nine-year-old lecture me about being naïve." Izzie said this with a smile, and Iris reached up, lightly pushing at her face.
Saix became highly resistant to Izzie being with him every night, and she was always met with a cold attitude, so-while she knew it was in poor taste-she snuck into his room shortly after he fell asleep to shield him. As she lay beside him, she watched him, wary of another nightmare. His impossibly long eyelashes fluttered against his skin, and his jaw began moving, like he was chewing something. Izzie smiled a bit, and reached out to pull a couple strands of his hair out of his mouth; his chewing stopped. She was relieved that the pain she always felt while shielding him was less pronounced while he was sleeping. Even though it was still uncomfortable, it was much easier to ignore. Quietly, very quietly, Izzie sang to him.
"Like the moth flies to the light, captured at first sight. I can't deny, I'm taken by the beauty in your eyes. I can't focus when I hear you, do you notice, that I can't focus?" Saix stirred a little, his mouth twitching…into a smile. Izzie stopped singing abruptly, her eyes widening. This smile was nothing like the others he'd shown her-or anyone else. His usual smiles were mean, mocking, and never with any sort of positive emotion behind them, but this smile was soft, tender, and more natural on his face.
"Don't stop." He murmured.
Izzie let out a gasp and flew into the bathroom, thinking she had woken him up. She waited for a moment, but didn't hear him move, and hesitantly, she peered back out to the bedroom to see his eyes were still closed, his chest expanding slowly and deeply. Oh…he was talking in his sleep. Izzie's shoulders relaxed, and she stepped further out into the room, her face softening.
"How could I not love you?" She asked him, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. Yeah, in just two short months, Izzie had fallen in love with Saix. She sat down next to him, running her fingers over his soft, warm cheek; instead of turning away from her cold touch, he leaned into it. Kind of sucked that she couldn't tell him while he was conscious. She didn't want to put any more pressure on him than there already was, and she was nearly one hundred percent positive she wouldn't be able to tell him she loved him until he was human again. She pulled her hand back. "I love you, Saix."
…
"Why can't I go with Axel?"
As Izzie walked into the Grey Area the next morning, Iris was complaining to Saix, demanding to go with Axel on his mission.
"Because I said so, that's why," He replied flatly, not even looking at her. Izzie perched herself on the back of one of the chairs, crossing her arms as she watched.
Iris gripped Saix's clipboard and snatched it from his hands, hiding it behind her back. He glared at her as Axel quietly chuckled.
"Give that back," He growled.
"Let me go with Axel."
"Iris, I swear…"
"What? What? You wanna fight? Well c'mon, let's go, tough guy."
"You're being extremely childish,"
"Well, duh!" Iris gestured at herself, her eyebrows high on her forehead. Izzie shook her head, a small smile on her face as Saix took a step toward the nine-year-old. Axel ducked away, covering his mouth to stifle his snickers.
"Give it back."
"Let me go with Axel."
"Give it back."
"Let me go with Axel." Izzie stood and swiped the clipboard from Iris, walking past her and handing it to Saix. "Hey!" She whined.
"You two would be here all day if someone didn't intervene," She told her as he took his clipboard back. "And Saix, you should let Iris go with Axel. She hasn't been out of the castle for a month, and vampires are designed to be active." He let out a heavy sigh.
"I said no,"
"It's only Twilight Town!" Iris protested. "I've been there before, and I'll be good, I promise!"
"Saix, let the kid come with me," Axel said. "I'll watch over her."
"Fine, fine! If it gets you people to shut up, fine." He yanked Axel's mission brief from his clipboard and flung it at him; he had to scramble to catch it before it fluttered to the floor. Iris bounced up and down on her tiptoes as Axel conjured a dark corridor, and the second it swirled open, she darted inside.
"Hey, wait a minute!" He called, hurrying after her. As it dissipated, Izzie looped her arms behind her back, looking up to Saix.
"Alright," He sighed, setting his now empty clipboard on one of the end tables. "Let's go to Blackfoot Creek."
Saix, hating the hike it took to get to the manor, set the dark corridor's coordinates to drop them off on the driveway, glad he decided to do that. Izzie bounced up to the house and punched in the code to unlock the door. She was in and out before the door could swing closed.
"What did you need in there for?" Saix asked her. She held up a pair of keys, the logo matching the one on the car next to him.
"I can't go to the blood bank by running. It's in the middle of town, and if I run there it'd cause some problems." She opened the door and slid into the car to start it; it barely made a sound as it turned over. As she cranked the heat all the way up to defrost the windows, she got out and closed the door, leaning against it. "You're sleeping better now," She said, sounding pleased. Part of that was because she knew why he was sleeping better. Saix nodded.
"I told you it was just a spell," She smiled a bit.
"Right."He regarded her with suspicion, but didn't say anything back. "Are you going to come with me?" She asked him after a few minutes.
"No, I think I'll wait here." He replied, looking up to the house.
"Don't wanna be alone with me?"
"That is not what I said." She giggled and floated up to him, reaching up and patting his cheek.
"I was teasing." He stared blankly down at her, lifting a hand and pushing hers away. She merely lifted it again and brushed her index finger against his nose. "Alright. It'll take about fifteen or twenty minutes. The code to get into the house is 75627. I'll be as quick as I can." Saix nodded, and she got into the car. He watched as it smoothly rolled down the driveway, disappearing into the trees. He turned to the house, stepping onto the ledge in front of the door to punch in the code.
7, 5, 6, 2, 7. The little thing beeped and the door unlocked. Saix opened it and made to step inside-
Suddenly goosebumps raised on his skin, the same way they did when he picked up on Izzie's aura the day they met. Saix stopped moving, his foot hovering over the threshold. He was more hesitant to look over his shoulder as this energy didn't seem angry, but rather, just plain malicious. As the hair on the back of his neck stood up, Saix slowly turned around, his eyes sweeping the area.
The forest surrounding him was dark, the sun obscured by the heavy cloud cover. There was a silence in the air, no wind, no birds chirping…no sound at all. Saix kept his eyes moving as he slowly walked forward. Left, right, left again…He couldn't see anything. He knew that bears, mountain lions, coyotes and wolves made their home in Montana, but he figured if any of those were nearby, he'd have at least heard them. Not to mention wild animals like that usually made themselves known.
Saix stopped moving when he got about thirty yards from the house, a wicked aura making the very air seem heavy. His body reacted instinctually, forcing him to stand still. It felt like he was being watched, like eyes were boring into his back, and when he looked over his left shoulder, he saw someone standing at the tree line about fifteen feet from him.
It was a man, dressed casually-dirty, tattered jeans, a loose-fitting white T-shirt that had suspicious dark stains on it, and no shoes. His dirty blond hair was tousled, and there was scruff on his rather unimpressionable face. At best, he looked like a drifter.
"I was beginnin' to think I wouldn't find anythin' 'round here," He said, his voice thick with an accent Saix had never heard before. "Been travelin' for days now." He turned his eyes to the opulent mansion on his right, his expression amused. "Never would've thought one of us would have a permanent abode," He looked back to Saix. "Or a human pet." Saix's eyebrow twitched at that.
"I am not a pet." The man tilted his head.
"Then what? A companion?" He then laughed, shaking his head slightly. "That's cute. Why would a vampire want a weak little human?" Hands balling into fists, Saix had to stop himself from correcting the term "human", even though it irritated him to no end. But there was one thing he couldn't keep quiet about.
"I am her companion. She needs me." The weight of his own words took him by surprise. She does need me, doesn't she? Just as much as I…need her.
The vampire cracked up at that, throwing his head back as his shoulders shifted. "Oh, no! This is too much! Oh! Does she love you, too?" He somehow managed to laugh harder, then waved his hand. "No, don't answer that. I won't be able to take it. Ah-ha-ha-ha!" Each laugh only served to alienate Saix even more, and he gnashed his teeth together, his lips pursing into a thin line. "Oh…oh, that was a good laugh. Well, if that little girl is that quirky, I'd like to meet her. Seems she'd be more fun to play with than you." He began sauntering forward, walking along the tree line to follow the driveway. Saix inhaled sharply, his own body lurching forward to follow. Some part of him knew this was exactly what the vampire wanted; he was taunting Saix, playing with him the same way a cat played with a mouse before killing it. Still, he marched forward, walking as fast as he could without breaking into a run.
"What are you talking about?" He demanded. The vampire turned back to him, smiling widely.
"I like the strange and unusual. And of course, you know that one such as myself ain't usual. Stranger still is to find one of us who—pfft-who enjoys the company of…well," He gestured up and down at Saix, one of his eyebrows raised. "Seems like she'd be a fun toy to play with." He turned again.
Saix stiffened, an old instinct rising from the pit of his stomach. It was one that demanded he throw himself between the hostile vampire and Izzie, that he do any and everything in his power to keep her safe. Even if it meant risking his own wellbeing. "You're not going anywhere near her!" He yelled.
He swung his right arm, and as he did, his claymore materialized in his hand. He sent the weapon hurdling at the vampire, who spun just in time to get slammed in the stomach. The claymore bent around his waist, but Saix had put so much strength behind his throw that it managed to knock the vampire off his feet, sending him crashing to the ground a few feet away. The weapon fizzled out of existence, and he gave it a moment before he summoned it again-it was repaired.
As Saix positioned his body to fight, the vampire leapt to his feet, his once smug expression giving way to a fierce scowl.
"You little worm!" He snarled. Saix knew what was coming. He threw himself into the air the moment the vampire finished speaking, and managed to avoid when he went to tackle him.
But as he came back down to earth, a pair of steel cables wrapped around his waist, and they went tumbling to the ground. Saix swung his arm, landing a punch on the side of the vampire's face-it felt like punching a brick wall. The hit shocked him long enough that Saix was able to wiggle out from under him and yank himself to his feet.
In ten years, he had never tapped into his berserk stage so fast.
It was instantaneous. His body levitated off the ground like it normally did, but in the next second, he let out a burst of power, hurdling down at the vampire and swinging his claymore with all his strength. It caught him off guard, putting him on the defensive, as Saix went absolutely insane. He moved faster than he ever had before in his life, swinging his arms so hard and so quickly that the muscles within them screamed in protest. But he didn't falter. He didn't stop. He couldn't stop. If he slowed down even a little, the chances of him being overpowered would skyrocket, and he couldn't let this man get to Izzie. He had to take him down. Somehow, he had to take him down.
But even though Saix was a powerful Nobody, he still fell woefully short in terms of the speed and strength of a vampire. His enemy regained his bearings, and before he could react, the vampire was behind him, grabbing him around the back of his neck and swinging him around as easily as he would have a ragdoll. Saix's body hit the grassy ground hard and rolled uncontrollably until something stopped him-a huge rock. His back slammed into the hard stone and his head snapped back on his shoulders, ramming into a sharp edge on it. The impact knocked him completely out of his berserk state, warping his vision and confusing him momentarily as something warm and wet spread at an alarming rate on the back of his head.
On instinct, a hand went to the large gash on the back of his head, pain singing out all around his skin as his fingers brushed it. When his mind finally caught up to what happened, a pair of bare feet entered his vision. He turned a sharp glare at the vampire he had been fighting; he was wearing a smug grin.
"Well gee, I thought you'd actually prove a worthy opponent," He said as he kneeled in front of Saix. "Gotta admit, you had me goin' for a minute there what with the levitatin' and all, but it looks like you're all bark and no bite, huh? Ya got cocky, man." Then the vampire sighed, his hand flying out in a blur to grab Saix's wrist, keeping it in an iron tight grip as he observed the blood smeared on the black leather of his glove. "Too bad your little friend couldn't just turn you. Instead she kept you this pathetic little human. It's cruel, really." Growling, Saix wrenched his wrist from the vampire, hiding it behind him as he tried to muster up the strength to summon his weapon. His hand began tingling.
However, in the next moment, he felt something come down on his leg. There was a loud, sickening snap, and before Saix's mind could even comprehend what happened, he let out a loud, agonized shout, his body working in autopilot and pivoting his torso up, his blood-stained hand reaching for his leg. The vampire had snapped it, broken it.
He watched with a joyous gleam in his eye as Saix's fingers brushed his broken leg, smiling as he flinched.
"What can you do now, tough guy?" He asked pleasantly, putting his foot on Saix's leg and pressing down. Saix screamed again, his upper half collapsing back to the ground. He could feel the corners of his consciousness being pulled, his vision dimming slightly as the pain threatened to pull him under. His heart was pounding painfully against his ribcage.
He was going to pass out.
No! Not here. I am not going to die here.
With sheer will alone, Saix broke through the haze clouding his mind and swung his arm, his claymore materializing and blindsiding the vampire, knocking him back a few feet. The sudden movement coupled with the blood loss made Saix's head swim, and he collapsed back onto the ground, his claymore fizzling away. His leg throbbed painfully as he landed. The vampire leapt to his feet, snarling like a wild animal.
"That. That was a big mistake, buddy." He quickly closed the distance between them, taking long strides, and got down on one knee, snatching up Saix's wrist and shoving the material of his coat down, revealing his skin. "Do you want it to hurt more? 'Cause there are always ways to do that." He growled, pulling his lips back to reveal his fangs, glistening in a silvery substance.
Saix yanked on his wrist, managing to move it all of three inches, but the vampire's hand constricted so tightly against him that he could actually feel his bones grind together. Quicker than lightning, the vampire's mouth latched onto Saix's wrist, his fangs sinking through his skin as easily as if it were butter. The initial pain felt like two large needles slicing into him, but what followed was mind-boggling.
Starting from the point of entry, something thick sank into his veins, causing hot, hot, hot pain. It felt like someone poured boiling water into his body, like corrosive acid was being injected into him. Like grabbing the wrong end of a curling iron, Saix's reaction was to try and whip his hand away, get away from the hot thing. But he couldn't get away from it if it was inside him. A scream filled with more torture and agony than when he had his leg snapped tore from Saix's throat, scaring some birds into the sky. All coherent thought he had vanished. The only thing his mind could comprehend was the pain.
The vampire let go of his hand-it fell limply to the ground, as if weighed down by lead.
"Hurts, don't it?" He asked, resting his arm on his leg and tilting his head. "You know that stuff turns people into vampires? Bet that sounds appealing right now. Bet you'd love to be strong enough to take me on." Through his writhing, Saix glared up at his attacker, grinding his teeth in an attempt to stifle his cries. "But here's the deal with you, my friend-I ain't gonna let you turn. I'm gonna keep the venom right in your arm, prolong it for as long as I can. You should've just died quietly."
As he smiled, a blur of white slammed into him, throwing him back against a tree, the force ripping it up by its roots. It shuddered to the ground, the vampire falling with it. The blur landed on its feet, and there stood Izzie, crouched and ready to spring. She turned a panicked gaze to Saix, who was twisting and thrashing and contorting, his back arching unnaturally off the ground as his heart took off like the beating of helicopter blades. It felt like someone had grabbed his heart and yanked it upward. His chest hovered like that in the air for a long time before he collapsed back to the ground, when he managed to roll his head and look at her. Even through his warped vision, he could still see when her shocked expression changed to one of rage, and she looked back to the vampire who was attacking him as he yanked himself to his feet.
The two of them flew at each other, crashing into each other with a sound like crashing boulders. They wrestled in such a quick way that Saix's dizzy mind couldn't keep up with it. Not to mention he was completely out of control of his body.
His muscles bunched, arched, spasming as his body struggled to process feeling of the venom. His head wouldn't stay where he wanted it to. His back arched, his legs curling in on themselves, and the hand that wasn't bitten dug into the ground next to him. The only thing that wasn't moving was his left arm. It couldn't move. The fight was a mess of blurred clothing and growls and snarls. Saix rolled his head right as they slowed down enough so he could see-the male vampire was shoving Izzie to her knees, wrapping his fingers around the bottom of her jaw.
Something ran through Saix's body at that moment. Something that seemed to overpower the impossible pain slowly crawling up his arm. Something old and unfamiliar yet at the same time very much identifiable.
Fear.
Fear so intense that his breath stopped and the rushing of blood deafened his ears. He couldn't lose Izzie. He'd lost enough in his life.
He rolled onto his stomach, his body fighting him the whole time, trying to twitch him onto his back again. He clawed at the dirt as he struggled to pull himself up, jerking back toward the ground as he did. He groaned, hissing as his broken leg screamed in protest. Using his left leg, he pulled himself to his feet, leaning nearly all of his body weight onto one foot as he curled his fingers into the shape they needed to be to wield his claymore. He staggered a bit, but stayed standing, and focusing all his remaining energy, conjured the weapon.
The moon shines down.
Saix twisted his body, trying to keep all his weight on his left leg, his left arm dangling uselessly, and launched himself forward, positioning his claymore over his head in preparation to swing. The vampire looked up just in time to get a face full of claymore. He staggered and Izzie leapt to her feet, climbing up his back and settling one knee on his shoulder, hooking her fingers under his jaw this time and pulling. The claymore disappeared from Saix's hand as he clumsily stumbled forward, turning his body so his shoulder rammed against the back of the male vampire's knees, knocking him off balance. Saix himself hit the ground, his right arm instinctively stretched out to catch himself. But he landed on his broken leg, and the sharp, agonizing pain it sent through his body had his arm buckling, and he collapsed onto his stomach. He pushed himself more to the left, looking up as the male vampire's body fell to the ground.
Izzie planted her feet and hooked her left arm under his head. With a sound like breaking porcelain, the vampire's head was detached from his shoulders and went rolling toward the line of trees several feet away. Seeing this, another very old, once thought dead emotion rose from inside Saix-relief.
Izzie spun around toward him. "Saix!" She cried as scrambled over to him, gently rolling him onto his back. He fought to keep his eyes open, to look at her, even as his expression twisted in agony.
"Isa-bella…" He croaked. You're safe. That's good.
"Oh god, Saix, I'm so sorry!" She stroked his cheek, her eyebrows scrunched so tightly it looked like the wrinkles that formed there would be permanently etched in her skin. Saix noticed her face was warping, blurring, as his consciousness threatened to blink out. "I can fix this," She whispered. "I'm not going to let you turn."
She moved her hands, coming under his left wrist and pushing the sleeve of his coat up. Her cold fingers did nothing to soothe the burning from the licking flames on his skin. As the grey sky above him swirled and contorted, he watched Izzie cover the bite marks with her mouth. She screwed her eyes shut, and then, the fire inside Saix's forearm began receding, drawing up toward his hand. And, while the absence of pain there was most welcome, it increased in his hand, got worse the closer it got to the surface. His eyes rolled in his head, forgetting how to breathe as his body thrashed, flailing about like a fish out of water.
However, in the next moment, all the pain was gone, disappearing as if it had never existed in the first place. He sucked in a greedy breath as his brain began functioning again, his body relaxing. Before Izzie ripped her mouth from his wrist, he finally fell into unconsciousness.
…
The next thing he knew, Saix was waking up in a familiar room, the window to the right of the bed, a dresser by the door, and a TV with a black screen across from him. His room? He took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut as his head began pounding. It felt like the inside of his skull was a drum. His body ached a little, his muscles stiff from hours asleep.
Slowly, he pulled himself to a sitting position, reaching a hand back to touch his head-he felt the bumps of several stitches along the length of the cut. Faint pain echoed around it. He sighed, and as he moved his left wrist, he noticed it was stiff with a dull yet somehow sharp pain.
Bringing it down in front of his face, he saw it was wrapped snugly with white gauze. Remembering that he had been bitten, he lifted his other hand to begin unwrapping it.
"Don't do that." The voice from beside him caught him off guard, making him jump, but sitting there was Izzie, her hands resting on her lap. He glanced around and saw that it was only them, though on the end table next to her were some medical supplies.
"How did you get me back to the castle?" He asked. She pointed to the cellular phone next to a new pack of gauze.
"Called Axel. Vexen used all that green stuff on your leg when we got back." When she said that, Saix remembered that the vampire had snapped his leg, and he reached down and touched it-it felt perfectly fine, like it was never broken to begin with. "That's why you have stitches on the back of your head. He ran out of that goo," Izzie continued. "They can come out in a few weeks. You had to have a blood transfusion, too-you're lucky you can receive any blood type-you're bruised up pretty good, and as for your wrist…well you're gonna have a scar." He looked back down at his bandaged wrist and moved it around a little. "What were you doing? Why were you fighting him?"
Saix looked away from Izzie and toward the window. Outside was an inky, starless sky. He remained silent. "Saix. Come on. I've told every single one of you that the only being that can fight and have a chance to win against a vampire is another vampire. You couldn't have picked a fight with him for no reason."
"I didn't," He replied, irritated.
"Then why would you-"
"To keep him away from you." Izzie blinked, taken aback by the words Saix snapped at her. He glared down at the blanket covering him, but even though he looked so cross, she could see just the tiniest bit of pink dying his cheeks. "I knew I didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell against him," Saix growled. "But he wanted to play with you. He thought it was funny that a vampire would associate with a "human" like me. At first he didn't pay much attention to me, but he taunted me, dangling you over my head. And I couldn't just let him get to you, so I attacked him. I didn't put a second thought into it. I didn't stop to think what would happen to me. I didn't care."
"Just like with the Heartless." Izzie muttered. "You protected me. But Saix, you can't do that again."
"You don't get to tell me what to do." He told her as he turned a glare at her. She crossed her arms.
"That's so funny because I think I just did."
"I will do whatever I want whether you like it or not."
"Saix!" He started a bit as Izzie raised her voice so loud it reverberated off the walls. She leaned forward, planting her hands next to him and got mere inches from his face. "You were nearly tortured to death. Stop being Billy-badass and understand that there are some beings you just will not win against. You wanna fight a bunch of Heartless? Fine. Go ahead. You can fight them because they're not overwhelmingly stronger than you. Stupido uomo!" He frowned at her. He didn't know the second word she said, but he certainly recognized the first.
As her frustration with Saix's impossible stubbornness flared, Izzie yanked herself to her feet and paced around, moving from the side to the foot of his bed and back again, raking a hand through her hair. "Do you get that I could kill you?" She demanded. "If we weren't connected the way we are and we got into a life or death fight, I would have literally no problem bringing you down. Hell, Iris could take you on! You can prolong the process by fighting back, but in the end, you would be the one dead! Do you not get that, Saix? Or do you and you're just suicidal?"
"I'm not suicidal." He growled.
"Then you're just stubborn. Well knock it off. Because I'm not gonna have this discussion with you again, got me?"
"It's not really a discussion, Isabella, you're just yelling at me."
"Because you're being stupid!"
"Am I?" Now, Saix flipped the covers off himself and stood, ignoring when the sudden rise made his head foggy.
"Yes, you are," Izzie hissed.
"I don't think so," He walked up to her, a part of him pleased that his once broken leg didn't so much as ache, but the rest just plain irritated. "Tell me something. Wouldn't you do the exact same thing if you were in my shoes?" Izzie had her mouth open, but she slowly closed it when she saw what he was getting at. "What's the difference?"
"The difference, Saix, is I'm not as easily broken as you are. That man…he snapped your leg in three different places! He split the back of your head open, gave you a mild concussion, broke four of your ribs, and bit you." Izzie shook her head slightly and reached a hand out, extending up and smoothing some of Saix's hair down. "Nothing can hurt me like that. My bones can't be broken. My skin can't be split open. I can't be tortured like you were."
"You can still be killed though,"
"Not easily." Saix sighed. He could see that neither one of them would falter in their opinion. He turned without a word and sat back down on his bed, his body thanking him when he did. "Look, all I'm saying is, just…be careful," Izzie said softly, sitting down beside him. "I'm not always gonna be there."
He sighed. How is it she was always going on about their connection, but couldn't understand that he couldn't just sit back if something was threatening her? For a minute or two, the sound of the clock hanging over his bed was the only sound in the room.
"How did you know what was going on, anyway?" He asked her. "You had to have been miles away when it happened." When he looked back to her, he saw a haunted look take over her face, and he wondered if he shouldn't have said anything.
"I heard you screaming," She whispered. "There's nothing like it, that feeling I got. It was like someone had taken my heart and crushed it. I would rather die than ever, ever, hear that sound come out of you again." Saix blinked, a little embarrassed, then changed the subject. "You got the venom out," She nodded. "How did you stop? Iris told me-"
"Oh, she did, did she?" Izzie's face darkened a little, but then she shook her head. "I guess you'd find out eventually." She turned to look at him and smiled a bit. "I was able to stop because you mean more to me than your blood does."
If Saix had been embarrassed before, he was even more so now. He stiffened a bit, his cheeks lighting up with an uncomfortable heat he hadn't felt in a long time. He stared at her, frozen, unable to look away, and croaked out, "I…mean…more…to you?"
Izzie giggled, extending a hand and placing it on top of his. This was the first time he'd felt her skin on his ungloved hand, and the sensation different than it was when she touched his face. Her skin was cold, that was a given, and hard, but at the same time, it was soft, like satin. Her fingers felt light, fragile, but he'd seen the power she held in those dainty hands. What was really strange was the sensation her touch sent through him-it gave him the same feeling he got when her shield surrounded him. From the tips of her fingers, through the cold, a warmth radiated around his skin, sinking into his hand and traveling up his arm, twirling into his stomach. It was nice.
"You mean more to me than you could ever know, Saix." She told him softly. "I mean, of course you do. How could you not?" He stared dumbly at her for a minute before she patted the top of his hand and stood. "You should get some more rest. Xemnas authorized you to have tomorrow off so just take it easy."
As she began for the door, Saix, without thinking, called, "Wait."
She turned back to him, and he scoffed internally. He didn't know what to say to her. She smiled gently. "Don't worry about it," She said.
"But I…am…worrying," He mumbled, hating how stupid he sounded, how unsure he was. But he didn't want to hurt her. In nearly ten years he never once took anyone else's feelings into consideration-granted, all the people he saw on the regular didn't have feelings to hurt-so he was a little beyond rusty with decorum and tact. And even if he had a heart, even if he was around normal people, the only person who ever cared anything for him was Lea. And that was just friendship.
Lea wasn't his soulmate. According to Izzie, she was. And she'd grown to care so much for him, that much was obvious. Why she had wasn't, but still, she did. If he hurt her…
"Just relax for now," She told him. "Get some more sleep. If it's still bothering you in the morning, we can talk then." She turned again, and reached for the doorknob, and Saix blurted out,
"Stay." Immediately she turned back to face him, a surprised look on her face. Sure, she had spent a few nights in his room before, but that was at her insistence, because she was worried about him not sleeping well, and-as far as Saix knew-she left after he'd fallen asleep. He never asked her to stay with him.
"You…want me to stay with you?" She asked quietly.
Saix, awkward and self-conscious, muttered, "Yes."
He tried to act oblivious when Izzie's face lit up with joy, and he turned his eyes down as she fluttered back over to him. He didn't protest when she ushered him to lay back down, and he didn't complain when she pulled the covers over him and tucked them around him. He remained quiet as she lay next to him, propped up just a little above his head and stroking his hair. Before he knew it, he was asleep.
…
The next morning, Saix woke up feeling absolutely hideous. His body was sore, his head was pounding, and his left wrist was even more stiff than it was a few hours ago. He groaned, rolling over onto his back and staring up at the ceiling for a while before looking for her. His room was empty. It was just him.
He rolled onto his left side, situating his body to swing his legs over the side of the bed. As he propped his left arm under him, it screamed in protest, a pain like a thousand needles poking him making him wince. But he couldn't jerk himself up like he wanted as his ribcage ached too much, forcing him to move slowly. "God," He groaned, rising slowly to his feet.
Saix had had broken ribs before, and he had hit his head before, but he hadn't had multiple traumatic injuries like he had now before. Strictly speaking, he probably shouldn't have been walking around yet. He probably shouldn't have even regained consciousness yet.
But Saix was stubborn. He didn't like thinking of himself as weak. And he absolutely needed aspirin.
He trudged into the bathroom, switching on the lights and squeezing his eyes shut when their florescence nearly blinded him. Raising a hand, he fiddled for the medicine cabinet and yanked its door open, grabbing the bottle of Aleve and popping the cap. He shook several pills into the palm of his hand, not even bothering to count how many there were before swallowing them all. He then twisted the faucet on and dumped his toothbrush out of the cup he kept it in, shoving it under the running water. He gulped three cups of water down without taking a breath before slamming the cup down on the counter, an action he instantly regretted when the sound made his headache worse. Rubbing a hand over his face, Saix moved to sit on the toilet, his body aching the whole time.
When he pulled his hand back, he looked at the gauze wrapped around his wrist. He stuck his finger under the tape holding it in place and jerked, loosening it and unwrapping it. As it revealed the skin underneath, Saix was shocked at the extent of the injury. Vampires had narrow fangs. The worst he expected was two little puncture marks.
But on the side of his wrist were two large, angry, deep red holes, newly scabbed over and surrounded by blue and purple bruises, some just random splotches, some finger-shaped. Extending from the wounds were thin, black vein-like lines that crawled up toward his thumb, index, and middle fingers, down toward the crease of his elbow, and all around his wrist, nearly encircling it. As he stared, flabbergasted, a movement out of his peripheral vision caught his attention, and when he looked, he saw Izzie standing at the door, her eye on his wrist and a stone expression on her face.
"How is it this bad?" He asked, clearing his throat when he heard how rough his voice was.
"Well, when I was getting the venom out, some of it stayed stagnant on your skin and…corroded it," She replied quietly as she came to stand next to him. She sank to her knees and gently took his forearm in one of her hands, the fingers of the other barely brushing over the black lines on his skin. "And these are from how far the venom traveled inside you. The bruises are from how hard his grip was." Saix watched her face as different emotions ran across it. First, there was anger, then guilt, then shame, then more anger. Saix stared down at her, a strange burning in his chest.
"I'm sorry." He whispered to her, wondering when the last time he'd apologized to anyone was. He wasn't even sure what he was apologizing for; for torturing her by forcing her to drink his blood, for fighting the damn vampire in the first place, or for nearly taking himself away from her forever. Maybe it was all three. Izzie sniffed, then turned her eyes back to his wrist, her cool fingers tracing the lines twisting toward his elbow. He wasn't sure he liked the look on her face. "What are you thinking?" He asked. She was quiet for a beat too long before replying,
"While you were sleeping, you moaned a lot. Every time you twitched you would cringe and make some sound,"
"Is that why you left?"
"Of course not. I left because Axel wanted to know how you were doing. I was only gone for maybe five minutes when you woke up." She went silent for a moment, then continued. "But I was thinking that, if it weren't for me, you never would've been hurt. I was thinking that…maybe it would be better for you if Iris and I went home." Izzie felt when Saix went unresponsive, and she lifted her head to look at him. His eyes were wide, and burning with anger, his eyebrows furrowing so deeply a small dimple formed next to his left eyebrow, and his right hand was clenched so tightly the skin over his knuckles was turning white.
"I don't think you know how bad of an idea it is to piss me off this early in the morning," He growled.
"I'm not trying to make you angry," Izzie told him. "I'm just saying-"
"Well don't!" She started a bit as he yelled, his voice vibrating off the walls. His head throbbed in response to his shouting, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.
"Saix, I just don't want you to suffer because of me again."
"But I will if you leave. That's how this works, right? If we're separated, it'll hurt us, right?" Izzie gazed silently at him, speechless, and he repeated, "Right?"
"Well…yes…but-"
"No buts. You're not leaving." As he spoke, he flipped his left hand over and clenched his fingers around her forearm, the panicked strength he was using surprising her.
This…was something she didn't think she'd see before Saix became human again. He had a habit of repressing everything he felt, other than rage, cynicism, or apathy. But now, as his fingers clasped so tightly against her skin, she saw he had finally let some of his walls down. She covered the back of his hand with her free hand.
"Okay." She breathed. "Don't panic. I won't do anything you don't want me to." Saix swallowed tightly, shaking his head a little.
"I'm not panicking," He lied. "Just…you can't say things like that to me." Well how would she know she couldn't suggest that to me? I'm lukewarm at best to her. Saix thought to himself.
"I just want what's best for you," Izzie said.
"What's best for me is for you to stay."
"That concussion's got you talking crazy, huh?" She said with a grin. Saix narrowed his eyes at her.
"Making fun of me is a bad way to try and distract me."
"I was only kidding." She waited, but his grip on her arm didn't loosen. The strength Saix possessed never ceased to amaze her-she was fairly certain if any of the other Organization members went toe to toe with one of her kind, they'd lose, and lose fast. Even now, weakened and battered, Saix's strength was so significant that Izzie was sure that he had some supernatural ancestry. Werewolf, demon, angel…something. There was no way his bloodline was purely human. "You know," She told him after a couple minutes. "Your fingers are gonna get stiff if you don't relax. I'm not going anywhere."
He watched her for a moment, as if to make sure she was telling the truth, and then, his fingers loosened. She lifted her hand, smoothing down the hair on the top of his head. "I told Xemnas the missions to Blackfoot Creek need to stop," She said. He frowned at her.
"Why?" She gave him a look.
"You're seriously asking why? The teams that go there never have me or Iris with them. If any of them came across a hostile vampire, your numbers would drop fast. You're lucky I was with you this time."
"Wasn't this just a freak accident, though?"
"Saix, vampires are everywhere in my world. While it's true that there aren't that many in Montana, the majority of my kind are nomadic in nature. They go from place to place, never growing roots. The chances of running into a nomad are low, but never zero. It's just not a risk I'm willing to take anymore." He sighed, looking back down to his wrist.
"What is it?"
"Xemnas will find a way to work around your logic," He told her. "He'll probably decide to send you with whatever team he dispatches to Blackfoot Creek, so get ready for that."
Izzie let out a breath, shaking her head slightly. "I don't know what he thinks he's gonna accomplish. No other vampire will be willing to lend him their strength. He needs to let it go."
Saix snorted. "Like that'll ever happen."
"Well, no one's going to Blackfoot Creek for a long while," Izzie said, her voice suddenly hard. "Iris and I will refuse to go along, and we'll do everything in our power to keep every one of you from going."
"That will be tough." Saix said with a bitter smile.
"I don't think it will. If Xemnas has a problem with it, he can fight me about it," She leaned forward, her green irises smoldering, swirling like turbulent vortex. "I will never let you get hurt again."
…