Ravyn is ushered into the living room of a large brownstone with a huge bay window. It's at this moment, looking out of that big window, that she learns that Vampiro lives in the city on the opposite side of town from her home. His home is a five story brownstone. Three of those floors are subterranean and fully functional during daylight hours. The other two are only used after the sun goes down. AJ had tried keeping an eye on her as best he could during the kidnapping. He had ridden in the back seat of her car with her while James drove them to Vampiro's home. James guides her by the shoulder, turning her away from the window to taker her down to the first underground level.
As her feet touch the ground on the middle level of the house she's slammed up against the wall opposing the steps. Desmond manages to pin both of her arms above her head with one of his hands. His free hand caresses her cheek and trails down her neck. He presses himself up against her body while she squirms to try and get free.
"Don't bother," he laughs coldly. "I'm way older, and way stronger than you."
She struggles against his grip and he moves his free hand down along her side and to her lower back. His fangs grow longer and a hunger takes over his eyes. James just chuckles from the base of the staircase. Desmond leans his head down to nip at her neck. She tries everything she can to get away from him, but he just overpowers her. Before Desmond can do any damage a blur appears from down the hallway. It knocks Desmond into the wall next to Ravyn. It's AJ. His fangs are barred and he's unleashing on Desmond. They trade a few more blows before James pulls them apart.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Desmond hisses.
"Don't touch her," AJ demands. "She's mine."
Desmond's gaze shifts between AJ and Ravyn, "I don't see anything marking her as yours. If your going to claim her you'd better hurry up."
"I didn't get a chance before you attacked her," AJ spit venomously. "Get out of here."
Desmond brushes his shoulder, "Next time I see her she had better be marked. Or she's mine." Desmond and James both retreat to their rooms down the hallway.
AJ looks Ravyn in the eye and puts a hand behind her head gently. "Are you ok?" He asks worriedly. She nods a timid yes and he pulls her into a tight hug. It takes her a few moments to get over the shock of what had just happened before she can manage to hug him back. "Come on, let me show you to the spare room."
He leads her down to the next level. The hallways are ornately decorated with rich colors and intricate woodwork. The home is the epitome of opulence. The spare room is nice. But the room across the hall catches her eye. Cerulean blue walls and black wood furniture.
"This is your room," she observes. He nods confirmation. "May I?" She asks his permission to check out his room.
He gestures for her to go ahead into the room. She takes her time looking at the trinkets and trophies he has on display. Admiring how human he still seems. She stops to admire a piece of artwork on the wall when he steps up to her side.
"Really," he asks. "Are you ok?"
"As okay as I can be." She sighs. "Physically I'm fine. But mentally I'm a wreck. And I'm worried about Shannon."
AJ nods understandingly, "I'm sure The Prince is much more concerned with your well being. I'm sorry for ignoring you guys all night. I was trying not to let Vampiro think that there was anything going on with us. I didn't want to get kicked out and leave you alone with these dicks."
"We knew something wasn't right," she admits. "Just didn't know what."
He shakes his head, knowing exactly the feeling she describes. "We should be getting to sleep soon though," he suggests.
She nods and he leads her across the hallway to the spare room. It's not as ornately decorated as the rest of the house. Simple dark wood furniture and linens with deep hues. Ravyn tenses up as she explores the spare room. AJ notices and turns to find Vampiro looking over his shoulder. AJ goes to stammer out an answer for a question that has yet to be asked, but Vampiro speaks first.
"You keep an eye on her," he demands. "I've got enough to keep me busy." AJ nods. "Don't fuck this up kid," Vampiro turns to walk away but stops himself. "And if you don't want the others all over her you'd better lay claim to her soon."
"Yes sir," AJ says solemnly.
When Vampiro seems satisfied he continues down the hallway to the last set of descending stairs and disappears. AJ turns back to Ravyn and lets out a huge sigh of relief.
"Looks like we're having a sleep over," Ravyn tries to smile.
AJ smirks, "Guess so. You can stay in my room if you'd like. This bed is horribly uncomfortable. And there's no TV in here."
She smiles, happy to not have to be alone in Vampiro's house. She follow AJ back across the hallway to his room and he closes his door behind him. He turns the TV on for some mindless background noise. They lay across his bed short ways with their feet dangling off of the side. AJ tells her all about growing up in the south and she teaches him about the true north. They cover almost every subject they can think of. Ravyn finally touches on a subject that AJ is uncomfortable with.
"Hey," she starts. "What were the other guys talking about earlier. Claiming me?"
He shakes his head, for the first time looking genuinely upset. "It's this fucked up thing Vampiro made up," he says angrily. "He has the guys lay claim to a vampire we've recruited. And I use that phrase loosely. He has us claim humans too. But in your case he either wants me to sleep with you or scar you permanently. Claiming you as mine. Once I claim you the other guys can't. They can't touch you. They can't hurt you. You're basically off limits to them."
"So is this something that only happens for women?" Ravyn starts asking questions as the list grows in her head. "How does he expect to scar me? Vampires don't scar."
"Well, somehow he has figured out a way," AJ starts to lift up his shirt. He pulls it up over his head and leans back so she can see the small "V" scarred into his side at the top of his rib age under his left arm.
She reaches out and runs a finger over the scar, "But how?"
"It's some ridiculous concoction of Holy Water, liquid silver and some other things," he explains. "It hurt like a bitch when he did it. It's healed a bit since then. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be permanent."
Ravyn gulps, "So what should we do?"
"I'm not going to ask you to sleep with me. And I'm not about to force you to either," he assures her. "If you want me to scar you I can. And I can understand if you want no part of it."
"But without it there's nothing to stop the others if you aren't around," she takes the words out of his mouth.
"Unfortunately," he concludes.
Ravyn puts a hand on top of his, "I can't fight them off on my own. If a bit of pain and a little scar can improve my chances of survival here... I'll do it."
"You sure?" AJ asks.
Ravyn shakes her head in agreement. He stands up and rummages the trough his closet for a few minutes coming back with a small leather case. He unravels the string keeping it shut. He dumps the contents onto the bed revealing a small metal dish, a bottle of liquid and a foot long miniature branding iron with AJ's initials on it. The initials were even kind of cute. The right side of the uppercase A continues to become the hook of the J.
She picks up the iron and examines it closer, "You've never even used this."
"No," AJ admits. "I've never felt the need to claim someone. Vampiro thrives on power and ownership. I'm sure your friends told you that he intends on ruling this area."
"They may have mentioned that," she tells him.
"Well, they weren't imagining it," AJ confirms. "He's not afraid to hurt or even kill to advance his power." AJ lights a candle , sets the small metal dish next to it and squirts a bit of the silver liquid in after shaking the bottle sufficiently. "Where do you want it?" He asks nervously.
She watches him heat the iron over the candle flame while she tries to decide. She lifts her shirt off the same way AJ had earlier. "Right here," she points to almost the same spot as his. Directly below her bra at the top of her rib cage.
"That's probably the most painful spot you can pick," he warns her.
"We'll match," she insists.
He half smiles with a twinge of guilt, "Okay, lay down and get as comfortable as you can. I'm probably going to have to hold you down. And it IS going to hurt."
She gets close to the edge of the bed so he doesn't have to go as far with the hot iron. He twists the iron in the flame and when he feels that it has reached the appropriate temperature he dips it into the dish containing the silver liquid. Ravyn swallows nervously as he stands over her. He swings a leg over her and leans down into her so she can't squirm. Before either one of them can hesitate he presses the glowing iron into her cold flesh. She starts to wiggle and has to lean forward to hold her shoulders down with his spare hand. Her fangs extend and a pain induced rage fills her eyes. He struggles to keep the iron in place, hating to see her in pain like this. A few seconds later he flings the rapidly cooling piece of steel across the room in anger. It clangs noisily to the floor in the corner. He climbs over her into the center of the bed and pulls her close to him. He kisses her forehead and holds her tightly, telling her how sorry he is over and over again.
The door to AJ's room swings open just after sundown the next night. Edge stands in the doorway with hungry eyes. Ravyn jumps out of bed defensively, realizing AJ is nowhere to be found. Edge stalks into the room and stands in front of her. He reaches a hand to her face and tilts her chin up to look at him. She bares her fangs, warning him to leave her alone. He snickers, knowing that he could easily over power her. AJ walks in a moment later with a glass of red liquid. He immediately puts himself between Edge and Ravyn. She stands close behind him, relieved that she showed up when he did. He reaches his free arm behind him to hold her hand.
"You two look awfully friendly," Edge smirks.
"She's not a prisoner," AJ spits. "Vampiro told me to watch her."
"Maybe it's time for you to take a break," Edge laughs. "Time for someone else to have a go at her."
AJ's fangs emerge, "Back off. I've already claimed her." He pulls her in between them and lifts the side of her shirt to show the scar he had burned into her the night before.
"Be ready in two hours. We're going out," Edge huffs turning and leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Sorry," AJ apologizes handing her the glass. "I got you breakfast."
She smiles in appreciation siping the warm liquid. "I think I have an idea," she tells him. "I think we should pretend that we're together. We've got to make it really convincing though."
The thought clearly makes him feel uneasy, "What about The Prince?"
"I'd like to think that he trusts me," she hopes. "But in case we're too convincing I've always got this." She lifts the small green pendant to show AJ. "He gave this to me."
AJ agrees that they can make it work, "Let's go see what kind of bullshit we have to deal with tonight."
He leads her up the stairs only to be stared down by the others. Vampiro looks them up and down, skeptical of their apparent bond.
"So are you going to share your new toy with your family?" Vampiro jokes, expecting to see that he has yet to claim her.
"No," AJ pulls her in from of him roughly and lifts her shirt just enough to show the others his mark. "This one is all mine."
Vampiro's face is a mixture of disbelief and smugness, "About time you finally laid claim to something. Get her something new to wear. We leave in an hour."
AJ leads her through the center of the group as if to show off his catch. They make some snarky comments about AJ finally having a piece of property. Ravyn ignores them , just happy to know that they won't touch her. She reaches her hand up to touch the scar. It's still tender. AJ opens the door to a large walk in closet and flicks a switch on the wall.
"Take anything you want," he tells her. "Everything is clean. The owners.. Won't be needing them back.
She shakes her head at his silly joke and begins browsing the racks. She picks out a few things and they head back to AJ's room to get changed. He offers to leave and let her get changed in private, but she just brushes him off. They get dressed. AJ in jeans and a blue shirt with a zip up hoodie. Ravyn ends up in a cute corset top, short vinyl skirt and a pair of fishnets with her platform boots. AJ stifles a giggle.
"I look like food, don't I?" She half laughs.
"Yep," he chuckles. "Not to say that you don't look great. But you definitely look like food."
She tosses a pillow at him playfully. "We're really going to have to be convincing tonight," she reminds him. "I don't think your family quite believes us."
"Don't worry. We'll make it believable," he states. "Just tell me if we're taking it too far. I'm probably going to have to be an asshole."
She assures him that she will. Vampiro sends them down to Ravyn's car with James as a chaperone. Still not quite trusting them. James is appointed as their driver to ensure that Ravyn doesn't just try to go home. Her and AJ climb into the back seat, sitting as close as possible. James turns the key and revs the engine a few times. He chuckles to himself, enjoying the chance to drive. He peels out of the parking spot and Ravyn has to grab for AJ's hand. She grips it tightly as James speeds recklessly through the streets.
"Easy, Cowboy," she cautions. "I happen to like this car."
James just laughs and continues to zip between traffic towards the club. They pull into the lot before Vampiro. James parks the car and they get out. He's leaning against the trunk when Vampiro finally pulls in.
He walks up to James angrily. "This is why I don't let you drive!" He fumes. "Don't do it again."
James' face falls, "Sorry boss."
Vampiro leads them into the club to to their usual booth. AJ pulls Ravyn close to him roughly and Vampiro smirks with approval. Shortly after they settle in Ravyn's friends appear in the doorway. Ravyn's eyes lock onto Shannon. He looks terrible. He hasn't even bothered to spike his Mohawk. Instead he's hiding under a backwards baseball hat and dark sunglasses. AJ has to pinch Ravyn to keep her attention off of Shannon.
Shannon sits down next to Shane, who is busy doodling something on a napkin. Shannon doesn't even try to look for Ravyn. He's too upset knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from running to her. Matt wanders over and sets a hand on his shoulder. He tries to give him some sort of comfort. Shannon looks up at him sadly. Watching Jeff and Jenn together isn't helping his somber mood.
"Whoa," Shane gasps. "Looks like you've been replaced Prince."
"Huh?" Shannon looks at him, perplexed.
Shane points across the floor to Vampiro's table. Shannon's heart drops at what he sees. Ravyn is sitting on AJ's lap with her fingers in his hair, letting him kiss her. Shannon is half a breath away from jumping over the table in a fit of rage when AJ makes eye contact with him. AJ gently kisses her neck making sure that Shannon can see that she's still wearing his necklace. With a wink AJ returns his attention to his own table. Shannon smiles to himself, laughing a bit, his friends have concerned looks creeping across their faces.
"You okay, Prince?" Jeff asks carefully.
"Perfect," Shannon grins. When everyone looks confused he realizes that he will have to explain. "Don't you guys see?" He subtly motions to Ravyn and AJ. "She's still wearing my necklace." They still looked lost. "They're acting," he says bluntly.
When they all see that he's right they relax a bit. "She probably has more freedom if she pretends to be one of them," Shane concludes.
"You picked a smart one, Prince," Matt chuckles.
The group discusses their plan of attack. They has promised The Council that they would try to resolve the issue civilly. Determined to try and make things work with Vampiro they make a plan to talk to him. If being civil didn't work they would have to come up with something else.
Matt and Shannon stand up. "We're going over there," Matt states. "If we don't get her back tonight.. Then it's us..." He looks over at Vampiro's table dramatically. ".. Versus them." They turn and cross the busy club.