Markus was sitting on the sofa. His fist clenched in front of his face. He needed to calm down. His vampire side, who he named Vlad, was screaming for blood. Someone had taken their mate and they wanted the guy's head on a stick. He groaned again and flopped down onto his side. The rest of the class stared at the young vampire in concern. They looked at each other while gesturing to the older teen. Finally, Izzy huffed in annoyance and stomped to the couch and sat on Markus.

(Yes, on him, not next to him.)

Markus let out a huff of breath and looked at his mate's meister.

"Yes, Isabelle?"

"You good? Or nah?"

Markus turned and glared out of the windows.

"I...It's hard. My vampire is screaming for blood. He wants out and he wants to tear the bastard apart for taking our mate. I want to tear his throat out and watch him bleed to death. But, I also want to drain his blood and watch the life seep out of him."

Izzy looked at him and frowned.

"Damn, that's really gory dude." She raised an eyebrow at him.

Markus sighed again. "I know. But that's why having a mate is a sacred thing in vampire culture. Their precious to a vampire, that's why a death penalty is the only punishment for a vampire if they mess with someone else's mate."

"Damn...then there's no need to worry. We'll get your mate back and then you don't have to go all feral vampire on us."

Markus chuckled and looked at Izzy in appreciation. "So long as Alex isn't hurt, then no feral vampire for you to deal with."

"A WHAT?!"

The teens turned around and saw the adults standing there with shock on their faces. The only non-shocked face belonged to the parent of their missing friend.

"Well shit..."

/

After a very lengthy explanation of vampire lore and the concept of mates (and the rather embarrassing tale of how Alex and Markus got together) the adults finally calmed down and tried to think of what to do next. Keiran hopped up onto the couch and laid down next to Markus and purred up a storm. The vampire smiled and pet the ragdoll. He was Death's familiar, but he had protected Alex and had grown especially attached to the older teen. Markus looked down at the familiar in question and quickly picked him up.

"KEIRAN!"

The ragdoll puffed up and looked at Markus in shock. He purred and settled down.

"What?"

"Can't you find a way to bring Kai here? Does Alex need to summon him? Or can you bring him here?"

The cat perked up and jumped down and ran from the living room. Markus stood up and followed him, almost slipping on the floor from the house slippers.

(Alex made everyone wear house slippers in the house instead of shoes to keep the floors cleaner. He threatened to hit anyone with the broom if they didn't. No one tested that theory.)

He followed the cat to the study and watched him dig around for something. He popped back up with paper in his mouth and gave it to Markus. Keiran jumped up onto the bookshelf and grabbed an old looking book and meowed at Markus to carry it. Keiran hopped onto Markus' shoulder and the vampire walked back to the living room. When they got back, the table and couches were pushed to the side.

After a 20 minute rushed explanation, the young vampire drew the runic circle and drop of his blood and the cat's blood in the middle.

"Protectors of the world, hear my plea. I summon thee in this time of need. I summon thee to search for thine master. Come onto me, Kaius, the gray tabby; familiar to Alexander Death."

A cartoonish 'pop' sounded through the room as everyone started coughing. A tiny pained meow resounded through the room. The windows flew open and the smoke cleared from the room. In the middle, was the chonkiest gray tabby cat anyone has ever seen. A sharp intake of breaths were heard and Markus got down onto his knees in front of the cat.

"KAI! Kai, are you alright? What happened?"

The cat mewled and struggled to open his eyes. Keiran jumped off of Markus' shoulder and transformed back to his human form and ran from the room. Markus gently picked up the cat and laid him on his lap.

"Kai, please, you need to tell us what happened."

The cat's eyes remained closed, but he spoke softly to his master's mate.

"I..i tried. The man he tortured my master. The blood. The types of torture. The master is holding out as long as he can, but you need to hurry. He...he's trying to perform a blood ritual with the young master's blood. You need to save him."

Keiran ran back into the room with the first aid kit just as his son passed out. He gently took his injured son out of the vampire's arms and laid him on a cushion. He began healing him as best as he could, wrapping the smaller injures in bandages and sighing softly.

"I did my best to heal him. What my son needs is to have his master here. The further the connection, the painful the injuries. We can try to peek into his mind to get the location, but I don't know what kind of affect it'll have on him."

The silence rang through the room and the others sat looking at the vampire. The room began to shake and the windows rumbled, eventually breaking.

"Oi, Markus! You're gonna pay for those you know. Not to mention, Alex is gonna kick your ass to hell and back for that."

They turned to look at the vampire, who slowly looked up. His fangs were poking out and he had a murderous look on his face.

"I am gonna end their damn lives."