I woke suddenly after landing hard on cold wet pavement. I could feel the bruise forming on my face from the fall. I slowly sat up, all the sounds were muffled and a blurry figure stood before me, it lifted one leg and a boot came into focus. Before my shallow depth of vision and my sluggish thoughts had time to put two and two together, a blinding white hot pain cracked through my left leg. I bit my lip hard, and tried to breathe through as the firey pain licked through my calf and up to my knee.

Retreating footsteps slapped through nearby puddles. A car door slammed and moments later there were no sounds but my ragged breathing. I gasped and gulped at the air before realizing how much noise I was making. I held my breath for a few drawn out moments, when silence prevailed I chanced a glance around to get my bearings. Was I alone, or had he stayed behind to silently monitor my behavior? The alley appeared to be empty, other than myself, in between two brick houses. There was a street lamp where the alley met the sidewalk, and a dumpster across from where I sat. My leg was hot from my ankle to just above my knee, I could feel my skin becoming tighter.

I was thankful to still have my clothes, incomplete as they were. My gumption, though, was fading. I did my best to use my intact leg to push myself into the wall on the far side of the dumpster away from the light. With my hands scraped to bits, ears ringing, and leg throbbing I managed to reach the wall. I stilled and listened hard. What if someone had heard me? Fear descended and settled in the pit of my stomach. Several tense minutes passed, but noone came. I remained alone.

The relief I felt, fleeting as it was, took me by surprise. Without warning my muscles all seemed to give up at the same time. Gradually, I became aware of the pain in my head, and the hollow ache of my stomach. I reached a hand up to touch my cheek, just above my jaw. I touched where I assumed my head had collided with the pavement. Blood stuck in my hair and stained my fingers. Exhaustion took hold of me, and against my better judgment I fell asleep.

I woke with a start to footfalls. Quickly, and without thinking I tucked myself into a more defensive position. My leg sent ripples of searing pain as I jostled it from its position. I winced and hissed in response, and as soon as I had, I knew I was done for.

I broke the rules: silence especially in the presence of pain was a must. Unless you preferred being beaten in, and then out of, silence. They hit me to show me what I deserve. The expectation was to be met with silence as I respectfully accepted the reminder. But sometimes Bishop would undo me. He would beat me until I was able to silently comply. But then, he wouldn't stop, saying that he'd 'give me a reason to scream,' and he did. He always did. I usually wound up gasping and pleading in between strokes of the whip or jabs of the prod. Stupid, so stupid, I knew better than to make a sound.

I felt the color drain from my face as whoever approached stopped and called, "Somebody there?"

It was a man, not Bishop, but maybe Aiden? I knew I was to be sent to him soon but it hadn't occurred to me that this could be his first test of my fitness as his slave. He wouldn't be pleased that his gift couldn't sit silently, or that his goods had arrived damaged. I held my breath. The steps continued to approach.

Josh pov:

With my flashlight held in front of me, I cautiously looked for the the bum in the alley. Assumedly drunk as usual, I wanted to know what state he was in before I asked him to move along.

"Hey man, you gotta get outta here" I said exhausted as the light hit a small heap of ripped and wet clothes. The figure next to the dumpster began to stir. A face turned away from the bright light. The movement brought with it the smell of blood, not a lot, and not fresh, but blood. Enough that I was picking it up a week out from the full moon.

"Are you hurt?" I continued to approach, becoming more concerned as I went. I could hear sputtering and what sounded like a frantic whisper. "Do you want me to call someone?" I finally mustered up the courage to crouch a few feet away from the shaking body. It wasn't a man at all, but a young woman. Her thin arms still obstructed her face, both her forearms were covered in dried blood, and streaked with rain.

"Shit." I thought as the ragged circles that marked each wrist came into focus. The outline or sharp fangs evident on the border of each repeated ring. Vampires, of course, this was vampires. "Can you hear me?" her arms fell slowly but her glassy eyes just looked through me. "We're gonna go inside, I'm gonna help you ok?"

"yes sir" erupted out of her and immediately she began clawing her way up the brick to a standing position. One leg hung loosely, the other bearing all her weight. "whoa hey, its ok, take it easy." I shot up and reached for her shoulder as she began to pitch forward. Her eyes widened and she slammed herself back into the brick, to be sure she was out of reach. "Sorry! I…I won't hurt you." I uttered, slmost as shocked as she was. "I Just wanna help," I reassured her and held my palms out.

"Come inside with me. My wife's a nurse, she…" I trailed off as her shaking arm extended towards me with her fist clenched. She was trying to hand me something. Into my hand she dropped a small wet piece of cardstock the edges of the print running.

To Aiden, with love.

-Bishop

I stood stunned silence for a moment the rain still spitting, it's droplets blurring the print as I read it again. "Aiden? … You know Aiden?...What is this?" As if I had said some magic word, her eyes snapped up and she looked me dead on.

"Are you Aiden, sir?" Her hands both balled into fists as she continued to balance in the alley on one leg.

"No… that's my roommate." I said uncertainly.

"Where is he?"

"Oh he's at work, he works at the hospital, he's a nurse t…"

"how do I get there?" She swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before looking through me again.

"What? No, no we've gotta get you cleaned up. You're coming inside," perhaps it was the firmness with which I said it but she looked as if she was about to cry, her face scrunched "it's okay." I said trying to reassure her. Maybe she needed to talk to him? But the note… to Aiden "he'll be home later, I can have Nora take a look at you, get you cleaned up," I took chance, "get you something to eat" I paused to measure her reaction. Her eyes flashed with excitement before immediately filling with fear. Her gaze snapped down to the ground. Interesting…. "and when Aiden gets home we'll let him know you're here. Does that sound alright with you?" She nodded feverishly, eyes still glued to my feet.

Getting her inside was a task all it's own. I half carried her up the front steps and across the threshold. I tried my best to support her while also keeping my grip from bruising her further. As soon as we were inside I could hear Nora's reaction "Josh? What… who is that?"

"She's hurt I need to get her upstairs,"

"What?!" Her voice raised "No, she needs to go to the hospital!"

"It's vampires." I said as matter of fact as I could manage. She stared at me blankly for a moment, understanding dawning. still supporting the full weight of the girl from the alley. "Will you

take a look at her?"

"I'll get my stuff." She sprang to action taking the stairs two at a time. We, however, made it only halfway up the staircase before her body went limp and her eyes were closed. Had she fainted? I took the opportunity to scoop her up behind her knees and carry her the rest of the way. Nora was laying down towels on Sally's bed, "right here." Nora gestured to the center of the mattress.

I set her wet and grimey body on the bed, her eyes were still closed. Nora didn't waste any time. Her stethoscope already off her neck and in her ears, she held the drum to the girl's chest.

"She's breathing."relief colored her tone. I watched as Nora put two fingers on the girls throat opposite of the wound. She was counting silently "her pulse is steady and her lungs sound clear." she turned to me her eyes blazing, "call Aiden. You have to tell him. He should be here, this is his mess he should have to clean it up." My brow furrowed, my brain trying to catch up. What was she saying?

"He didn't do this, he would never d.."

"no, but he'll know who did."

"Actually… I might know who …She handed me this." I pulled the soggy note out of my pocket. As Nora read it she looked incensed. The wolf, a week early shown in her eyes.

"Bishop." she growled, glowering at me. "Aiden better get his ass here and clean up his mess!."

"We don't know that he even knows about this." My voice raised defensively.

"The note says TO AIDEN! Of course he does." She shot back.

I sighed defeated "...You know he's on a double"

"Tell him I'll cover for him." She shook her head deescalating. "He should be here." Her gaze was back on the girl, "I'll do what I can here. Call him."

I walked back downstairs and into the kitchen before I dailed his number. He answered on the first ring.

"Ive got a break in 20. Can it wait?" He sounded tired. There was no easy way to say this.

"It can't. I found a girl in the ally, Aiden."

"Wait…you found what? You can't just call me to bail you out of awkward social int…" I cut him short, I'd missed the mark.

"No s-she… she's hurt! It was vampires! Bishop.."

"Bishop?!" now I had his attention.

"Yeah he left her with this weird note: 'to Aiden with love' do you know what that's about?" there was a long pause.

"Oh no…"

" 'oh no'? 'Oh no' what? What does that mean? Did you know about this?! My voice steadily raised.

"Of course not!"

"Well you said 'oh no' like you might know something about it. We have a severely injured woman currently bleeding in Sally's bed who seems to know who you are. So I would very much like to know what you DO know!"

"...Did she say anything to you?"

"Not much. She asked if I was you, where you were. She was pretty freaked out"

"That's all .. she didn't say anything else?" I could tell he was probing, so I tried to consider again, what had she said?

"...When I told her she couldn't go find you at the hospital she called me sir?"

"Damnit."

Aiden's pov:

My eyes closed. And I took a long slow breath in. He intended her as a gift.

" You have to understand. Bishop isn't like other vampires. He wasn't happy with the way we were running things. See blooddens were our main source of food. It was a long established system, a few willing and discreet, the rest compelled before during and after. Utterly unaltered by the experience. Bishop wasn't satisfied, He thought we deserved willing blood slaves, who didn't need to be compelled or tracked and disposed of if something went wrong. That it was a waste of our resources. So he started a training regimen he claimed would yield trackable willing slaves who lived with us, always available to satisfy our every need. He started abducting girls, and implementing his "program". After 3 weeks of systematic abuse the girls would offer us anything we wanted without hesitation. It's what woke me up, it's why I got out. He wanted me to learn from him and train my very own, and I refused." My voice lowered,"I guess he took matters

into his own hands."

There was silence on the other line,"...Josh?"

"The note… is this his sick way of. .. winning you back?"

"That's definitely what it looks like."

"You've got to come home. I think my wife might come for you next moon if you don't show up soon."

"Josh I'm on a double.."

Nora said she'll cover you.

"Ok, I go on break in 20, I'll head home then."

"She uh got her vitals but shes not conscious, she said you should get them again when she wakes up. I'm gonna make her some food. Looks like it's been a while since she ate."

Suddenly I wasn't talking to Josh.

"Aiden, hey." Nora's voice came tense and professional. "I can leave now and take over for you when I get in. She needs an exam, I cleaned her up some but her leg looks like it might be fractured… I'm not sure. And we will need her vitals again when she wakes up. I'll have Josh do that, if she comes to before you get back."

"Ok sounds good. I'm on my way."

"Aiden?" Her voice was softer, but still serious, "She'll need a rape kit too... I can do that and a full pelvic when I get off." I could hear the hidden desperation in her voice . It was bad. She was trying to warn me. It was really bad.

"Please just get here." And the line was dead.