Chapter III: Progress

A/N: Before this Chapter begins I just want to thank all of you who read and gave feedback on the first two Chapters of Heritage virtually overnight. I honestly didn't think it would get this popular so fast, so thank you for the support.

Anubis P.O.V.

I awaken to the teenage human and his subconscious mutters and winces from meters away.

Perking up, I crawl into the room he resided in silently, creeping up unto the foot of the large bed.

Waves of heat were emanating from his body and I didn't have to smell for his fear to know he was terrified.

I crawl forwards until I'm directly over him, tilting my head slightly.

'Kno-' I start but he bolts up screaming, I jerk back falling off the bed.

He catches his breath realizing he was just dreaming and then looks at me.

"What are you doing in my room?" He asks breathlessly.

I slowly crawl back onto the bed. 'I heard you in distress. I came to see what was wrong.'

"I'd prefer...If you weren't in here Anubis." He says in between gasps.

'Oh don't be so insipid Knox,' I creep forwards grabbing his leg chuckling. He kicks my hands away.

I growl as I jump on him pinning him to the bed. 'Come on, loosen up tight-ass." Suddenly his head jerks forwards into mine and I hiss as his fists slam against my head. I fall sideways onto the floor and he gets up planting his foot on my chest.

"If we're going to be 'partners' there needs to be a lot of progress concerning our relationship." He states and I merely give him a smirk.

Five Hours Later

Knox P.O.V.

I straighten my shirt around the waist of my jeans, looking into the floor to ceiling mirror I had in the extended hallway of a closet that jutted out from the side of my room, sighing heavily.

Anubis waited for me outside the doorway and he follows me down the stairs dutifully. I walk into the kitchen, the cold tile floor tickling my feet and soon the soft flow of the cold air against my lower body as I open the refrigerator.

I pull out a carton of milk and take some cereal from the cabinet lazily pouring myself a bowl. I sit down and Anubis looks at me curiously. I scoff subtly and drop my spoon in my bowl.

"Sorry." I grunt as I get up and open the fridge again sorting through all the food.

"Dammit Rachel you're such a vegan." I mumble to myself when I suddenly feel something in between my legs.

"Hey what the hell?!" I see Anubis's elongated head push past my legs and into the refrigerator. His inner mouth pops out grabbing a raw t-bone that had been hidden at the bottom of the fridge.

He slinks back into the corner making quick work of the saran wrap covering the meat. I hear guttural noises and snarling as he devours the meat in the corner, blood and juices spilling out making a mess.

He turns to me grinning, red dripping from his mouth. Nothing was left, not even the bone.

'Want some?' he asks, revealing a hunk of meat in his palm, still dripping with blood and saliva.

I shudder.

"No thanks." I say rubbing my arm suddenly cold. 'Suit yourself.' he eats the meat, still grinning. I dump my cereal into the sink having lost my appetite.

Later

I tape the piece of paper to the wall in the living room where Anubis sat. What did the paper have written on it you might ask?

House rules. Like I said, Anubis and Me had a lot of progress to make.

"Rule Number 1, try to keep the house clean, I don't want anyone to come over and have this place looking like a Jackson Pollock painting." Anubis snickers and I merely skip to the next on the list.

"Rule Number 2, there will be absolutely no unauthorized entrance of my room unless I say so, and that is final." Anubis gives a growl but then smirks.

'What about unauthorized entrance of other places?' he gives a deep chuckle and I frown.

"Alright so I'm going to ignore that sexual innuendo and continue on with the last rule," I turn back to the paper. "There is to be no sneaking out during the daylight hours, which, at the moment, happen to be 6:00 in the morning to 5:00 at night," I turn to Anubis.

"Is all of that understood?" I say and he salutes me. I nod and turn to the clock, it was about 7.

"Alright, I'm going to the store, I'll be back in a few hours okay? Yeah okay." I say in a patronizing voice as he gives me a dismissing look.

I turn to open the door and my heart nearly jumps out of my throat. Millie stands there smiling, and I shut the door within half a second of opening it. I didn't have time to wonder if she'd seen Anubis I just planted my back against the door.

"Hide! HIDE!" I say a harsh whisper and Anubis looks around and clumsily climbs into the closet next to the backdoor. I straighten my shirt before turning to the front door.

I open it slowly only to find that Millie was gone. I poke my head out looking around and then close the door, figuring that she probably just left after having seen that I was alive and well.

She sure proved me wrong.

I hear a knock at the back door and turn to see her on the porch smiling. She waves and I have no choice but to walk to the door and let her in.

"Hey Knox, I just wanted to check up on you." She says and I glance at the closet as she leans on its door.

"Uh...yeah I...I'm good." I say awkwardly as she smiles puffing her chest out slowly. I find myself trailing down to her breasts.

She catches this and giggles provocatively starting to inch forwards until her nose is touching against mine. She smirks and grabs the back of my head kissing me.

I didn't know whether I should be more shocked about the fact that the sweet, shy neighbor girl that I'd known since I was 4 had suddenly become so open...or the fact that her saliva tasted like...oil.

Suddenly the closet door bursts open and Anubis hisses as he grabs her by her neck throwing her into the wall.

"Anubis what the fuck!? I told you to stay in the closet!" I'd never seen him like this, he was more...territorial.

'The bitch isn't secreting any pheromones.' He says as she gets up her face blank now. No shock, no fear, emotionless.

"So. The beast uncaged at last." She says, her voice monotone. She holds her fingers behind her ears. "We have the boy and xenomorph. Go for reacquiring," She says and Anubis hisses.

She pulls a knife from her boot and chucks it with pinpoint accuracy, it heads straight for my chest. Suddenly with reflexes I'd never previously tapped into, I grab the knife, toss it into my other hand, and throw it into her neck.

My eyes widen at what I'd just done but what was more surprising was that a white, milky substance starts pouring out of her neck. She falls to the ground as electricity surges through her, and I growl.

"Fucking droid. I've been set up." I say not even fazed that I'd just gotten a knife thrown at me.

Anubis turns to me and suddenly grabs me. 'You're mine. I don't want anyone else taking you away from me. Like I said, we're partners.' I shrink in still uncomfortable with his close contact.

"Yeah fine okay, just don't take it literally." I shudder, but this time Anubis doesn't smirk or grin or show any sign of enjoyment towards my displeasure.

He lets me go and I start towards the door but a light shines through and hear knocking at my front door.

"Knox Ryker! You have to the count of ten to come quietly, or we'll have to remove you by force. The countdown starts now! One!" Horror flashes in my eyes as I hear cop sirens and helicopter blades chopping through the air.

"Shit shit shit!" I say and Anubis hisses protectively. 'Too many to rush. 40, maybe 50 surrounding the house, not including reinforcements already on the way.' I run my hands through my hair.

"Three!" I hear shouting outside. "Okay, okay. There's a fallout shelter beneath the house, it has a vault door leading to the cities' abandoned subway system. We can escape through there. Follow me." I rush to the basement door, hearing the count of five behind me.

I run down the stairs hearing the clatter of Anubis' claws on the ceiling. I run until I get to what looks like a curved manhole cover in the corner of the room. When I open it, it flips outwards revealing a ladder that sank down into a hole about 4 feet in diameter.

I get on it and start climbing down but when I hear the kicking open of a door upstairs, I slide down. I'd climbed about 20 feet down, and as soon as Anubis had gotten into the hole and closed the hatch, darkness enveloped me.

I stop sliding and crack a glow-stick I'd grabbed off a shelf from the basement and drop it down the hole. Only a few meters left. I go the rest of the way shakily and pick up the glow-stick I'd dropped when I get down.

Anubis jumps down next to me, wanting to stick close obviously. I hear pounding on the locked hatch above us and wave the glow-stick around the room until the light shines on a vault door at the far end of the room.

"Yes!" I exclaim as I pull on the door, only moving it a few inches. Anubis races to my side helping me pull the door until it's open enough for us to slip through. Again, he closes the door behind us and we race through the tunnel before us. I was surprised I hadn't fallen what with all the darkness.

Anubis suddenly slows down. 'Let me carry you, you're not fast enough and I can see better in the darkness anyways.' I hesitate at first but he had a point and I nod. I sense he takes some satisfaction in this, although if he was smirking I couldn't see it because of all the darkness.

This time he picks me up bridal style instead of how he'd thrown me over his shoulder the night before.

'Comfortable?' He asks, this time I could hear the smirk in his voice. "Shut up and keep going," I say slightly embarrassed that I was, in fact, comfortable.

After a long while of darting through tunnels until Anubis was sure they wouldn't be able to find us, he finds a crack in the wall just big enough for his body to fit that led into a larger cavern, about twice the size of my room.

He lets me through first and then follows behind me. "Perfect. We can stay here for the night." I say as I drop the glowstick I'd been carrying in the corner.

Anubis simply curls up in the corner, and I sit down, laying against the small backpack of supplies I'd taken with me. I hadn't realized how cold I was until I sat down. I shiver, my teeth chattering.

I could just barely see Anubis' form in the corner, the dying light of the glow-stick dim against his leathery black skin. I look at him thinking of how warm he was when he was carrying me.

I gulp and then raise my shaky voice. "C-can I...I mean...do you mind if I?..." I could hardly see Anubis' subtle grin but it was there as he sat up opening his arms welcomingly.

I crawl the small distance to him and sit down awkwardly as he encases me in his arms, warmth washing over me. I finally rest my body laying against his chest, a small purring erupting from him.

I didn't know if I felt uncomfortable or satisfied, but I didn't have time to wander as sleep starts to take hold of me.

Before I fully fall unconscious however I hear the soft cooing of his voice.

'What can I say Knox? We've made progress.'

TO BE CONTINUED