Through Thick and Blood

[yes, that would be good!]

When the next night came around, Xander was already on his way to the Johnson house as soon as he had awoken from his sleep. He had grabbed a quick "snack," before arriving on the right street, not wanting his hunger to fuel his anger. If that happened, he'd probably rip those pathetic humans' heads off. Once he got to the right house, he decided to be polite and knocked on the door.

Kaycie had been trying to convince herself that the night before had just been a frightening nightmare. So far, she was doing fairly well with it - except that the bite mark on her neck was still there. It was already starting to heal, though, and she was sure that she could fully convince herself once it was gone. It wasn't like it would ever happen again, anyways.

Kenah had spent the next whole day confused on whether it was a dream or a reality. There were bite marks still punctured on her neck, though fading fast, but everything was just a blur still. She could hardly remember what she had been doing, and she felt as if she must've been in a daze if it was reality... She was still fearful about it still, and she was going to make sure it never happened again... She didn't like the pain and the fear.

Aiden had made his way back to the Harwood house and was ready for some negotiations. He had remained quite satisfied through the night on that blood, so he had to take another snack to try to get it off of his mind...even though it didn't taste nearly as satisfying. Now all he wanted was to settle this debt with the Harwood family - and then find that blood that he was addicted to once again...

Xander knocked on the door once he got to the house and simply waited for the Johnson's to answer the door. Of course, he made sure to stay clear of any windows or anything as to not be seen by them, as he knew that they wouldn't answer once they recognized him. They usually tried to avoid him, after all. And, who could really blame them when they knew of his nature as a vampire?

Kaycie looked towards her parents, noticing how the two were busy cooking at the moment. She could smell the food and it made her feel rather hungry. Of course, she wanted to avoid eating with how afraid she felt at the moment. She didn't want to have to worry about getting sick with all the fear she felt.

Kenah had stayed in her room all day but came down for dinner. She had just sat down - nervous still from the previous night - when there was a knock on the door and she looked to her parents in fear. "Answer it," she told them first before they could tell her to. She was rather nervous, even though the monster that had attacked her couldn't be knocking on the door...

Aiden growled softly as he made his way back to the Harwood house. Fuck, he hated that place and he really wished this deal could just be over with... Still, as he knocked, he couldn't wait to see fear on their faces... And then he would have to ruin them for their debt to him.

Xamder smirked slightly when he saw Mr. and Mrs. Johnson answer the door. Without even bothering to care about their suddenly frightened faces, he stepped inside, having been allowed in years ago. "Well, it's been a while," he said before he leaned against a wall, eyeing the two adults. "You do know that you still owe me what is rightfully mine, correct? I would like to receive that payment now."

Kaycie froze at the sound of the knocking and looked to her parents. "I'm not getting it," was her simple statement as they eyed her expectantly. The two frowned, but didn't say anything else. Her father departed to the living room and opened the door, though he ended up staring wide-eyed at the unexpected visitor.

Kenah's parents were very frightened when they saw Xander coming into the house. What was he doing in here so soon?! "We can't pay you just yet!" Said her mother. "Mom, who's at the door?" Kenah asked as she heard the frightened voices. She came out into the hallway and stopped in fear. Why did this man frighten her so?!

Aiden leaned against the door and smirked as he waited for the door to open. When he saw Mr. Harwood, he smiled with an evil growl and pushed him aside to step in. "I come for my payment!" He said in an evil voice. He wasn't letting them turn him down this time. "No bargaining me to stay away any longer!"

Xander scowled at the woman's words, almost wanting to knock her at the feet for denying him the money that he deserved. Though, a new voice distracted him at his attention turned to the figure in the hallway. A smirk soon crossed his features at the sight, as he recognized the girl. It was the one with that delicious blood that was so very addicting - the very one that he was going to go out and search for after leaving there for another quick bite. Now this made things easier for him. Turning his attention back to the adults, his smirk grew. "How about we make a deal, then?" he asked, arching an eyebrow slightly.

Mr. Harwood's eyes went wide at the sight of the vampire, his mouth opening and closing a few times as if he was trying to say something. He couldn't quite get it out, though. Soon, Mrs. Harwood came in, though she immediately became frightened, and that restored Mr. Harwood, as he didn't want to seem weak and pathetic to his wife. "We don't have your payment," he explained, trying to sound reasonable, "Surely, you must understand, what with having to pay bills and take care of our daughter." Kaycie could hear the conversation from the kitchen and frowned, silently standing up and making her way to the living room. Once she was there, she froze, a fear running through her that she didn't expect to ever feel. She didn't understand it, but stayed silent in hopes that she would go unnoticed - she even began to silently make her way to the stairs to try to creep up to her room.

Kenah had stopped herself in the hall when she saw the dark, looming figure in the doorway. He seemed to be somehow important considering the way that her mother's knees quaked in a way of fear and they were both huddled together. She kept her eyes away from the man though, since every look made her even more sick with fear just as well - and she didn't even know who this was.. "Go up to your room, honey!" Her mother told her and she walked forward, sneaking around the man to get to the stairs that were right by the door. Then in a lower voice, her mother addressed. "What type of deal?!" She asked in a terrified manner. "What do you want?!"

Aiden stood looming in the doorway and just rolled his eyes at the pathetic attempts of Mr. Harwood. They had made him wait long enough, and now he was getting angry - especially because he couldn't get that girl off of his mind and he was growing increasingly thirsty for her again. When he heard another set of light footsteps, he looked up, and a smirk crossed over his face. That was her...the one that was stuck in his head, and he could almost smell her blood calling to him and he had to do everything to stay away from it for now... But a new plan hatched in his mind. "Fine," he said, quite cordially if he did say so himself. "How about we make a deal?" He asked softly. "But, I would prefer that we speak in private...and I was offered to come in." He needed the girl away from him for the time being - otherwise he could barely think.

Xander smirked as he watched the girl pass by him. Her blood was so tempting and he had to force himself not to sink his teeth in already. No. He could wait, if even for a few minutes. Looking back to Mrs. Johnson, his smirk grew. "I want her," he said, gesturing to the stairs where the girl had previously been. "If you give me her, then all of our previous arrangements and your previous payments will be null and void." Arching an eyebrow, his smirk was still obvious.

Kaycie blinked before looking at her parents, as if they would provide some sort of answer. Instead, her mother simply said, "Go to your room." Nodding, Kaycie quickly made her way to her room, wanting to get out of the room and into her own as soon as possible. Mr. Harwood frowned, looking at the vampire. "Then, come in," he said simply, "What is this deal that you want to make?"

Kenah stood upstairs in her bedroom. She was overcome with fear and she didn't know why... There was just something about that guy that scared her senseless and she hated it about him. He made her shiver and go numb. She jumped when she heard her mother scream but only covered her ears, too scared to see what had happened now. "No!" Her mother protested. "Not my baby! There has to be another way!" She fell into Kenah's father for support and lay there, crying at the very thought.

Aiden smirked as he was allowed into the house, but he only entered a few steps. The way he saw it, he wasn't going to be here very long since he already knew what he wanted - and he wasn't going to let them bargain their way out of this one. "Her." He said simply to Mr. Harwood's question. "I want her. It's as simple as that! You give me her and all of this looming doom will just disappear."

Xander scowled in annoyance with the words the woman had screamed, rolling his eyes. "There is no other way. You've refused to pay me for years now. It's only fair that I get something that I want as my payment and I want her," he said simply before smirking a bit, "Or I could simply kill you both and take her anyways. The choice is yours." He shrugged a bit, obviously indifferent about the topic of the adults' deaths.

Mr. Harwood frowned and quickly shook his head. "Definitely not!" he yelled, frustrated with this option, "Why would we give you our own daughter? It's crazy! You're crazy!" Mrs. Harwood stood silent, though her eyes were wide with fear - not only for herself and her husband, but now for their daughter as well. Kaycie could hear her father yelling, but couldn't quite understand his words from her room. What was going on down there, anyways?

Mrs. Johnson reeled back in fear and she constantly shook her head, trying to tell herself that this was only a nightmare that she was going to wake up from. She certainly didn't want to die, but she didn't want Kenah facing Xander's wrath either. "Anything... I'll do anything, just not her!" She cried. "Why do you want her?!"

Aiden took pride in watching the two adults squirm under the situation and he loved him, almost as much as he loved the thought of having her all to himself so that he could use her as he pleased. The thought of her blood was mouthwatering. "I'm not crazy - but you're out of options!" He smirked. "Either you give me her now, or I will take her after I kill you!"

Xander smirked slightly, arching an eyebrow. "Because her blood is the most delicious thing that I've ever tasted," he mused in a sing-song voice, as if the very thing was obvious. Not that they would know that he had even tasted her blood - much less what her blood tasted like - but it made everything even more amusing. "I don't want anything else besides her."

Mr. Harwood quickly shook his head, though Mrs. Harwood spoke before he could. "You could just take our house or something!" she tried to reason with the vampire, tears rising to the woman's eyes, "Why would you want her, when you can have whatever you want?! If you just give us a little more time, we can even pay you back!"

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's faces both contorted to ones of horror and pain as they realized what this meant for their little baby girl. "You did what to her?!" Mr. Johnson asked and hung his head. He couldn't believe they had let Kenah get hurt like this and he didn't know how to get out of this mess. "Just give us some more time," he pleaded. "We can get what we need to pay you back - just not her..." He said in denial.

Aiden's face turned into an evil one of a smirk as he saw the pain in their faces. "You poor, poor things!" He said in an evilness. "You see, I don't want anything but her, because I have to admit...her blood is the most delicious I have ever had! And I'm in no mood for any more bargaining now - we can do this the easy way or the hard way!"

Xander smirked even more as he arched an eyebrow and shook his head. "Surely, it couldn't be that bad to give her to me. It's not like I'll even kill her!" he explained, chuckling darkly at how desperate they seemed to be. It was far too amusing. But, it was also growing to annoy him. "Stop testing my patience and just give her to me. Trust me, this is better for her, in the end. You could just give her to me and you can still live. Or I can kill you and she'll be without parents. Which would you prefer?"

Mrs. Harwood quickly shook her head, the tears now falling from the woman's eyes. "You.. You drank from her?" the woman stuttered out, the disbelief and horror obvious as the tears continued falling. Mr. Harwood buried his face in a hand, shaking his head in frustration. "We can't give her to you! She's our daughter, not your property!"

Kenah heard the continual screaming and finally decided to descend the stairs. She couldn't take it anymore and she was really about to tell this guy that he had to leave, even if she was all tongue tied when she saw him. Her parents stopped her on the stairs though and shook their heads at her. "Do we get to see her?" Her mother asked and she ran back upstairs, unsure if she wanted to know what was going on. Mrs. Johnson asked it on a whim and knew it probably wasn't possible, but she had to ask still before she would agree. As long as her baby was okay, that was all that she could ask for.

Aiden smiled at the way that Mrs. Harwood seemed so repulsed by the idea that he had used their daughter as a snack. "Oh yes, I did!" He said with a triumphant chuckle. "And I'm damn glad I did too! Otherwise I would've never been able to taste that delicious blood of hers." He licked his lips lustfully. "And you will give her to me. You owe me, and this will be your payment. It's your choice... You can live and let me have her or you can die and I will keep her!"

Xander sighed with annoyance at the woman's words and frowned deeply. "I might allow you to see her on holidays, but that would be the only time," he said simply before he smirked again, knowing that he was winning this. Obviously, he would win it, anyways. In the end, he always got what he wanted. There was no way that he would even allow for himself not to get what he wanted.

Mr. Harwood frowned and shook his head in frustration once again - something that was habitual for him when he was being overwhelmed with thoughts. He knew there was no way out of this, though. Instead of offering anymore words, he simply bowed his head in defeat. There was nothing that either he or Mrs. Harwood could do to protect their daughter and they hated it.

[sorry, I've been really busy]

Mrs. Johnson's shoulders shook as she stood clinging to her husband. "Kenah," she called, knowing that there was no good way out of this and this was his final deal... They had kept him off for long enough, but they couldn't change it now. Kenah came out the stairs softly, taking two stairs for a step. "What's wrong, mom?" She asked softly.

Aiden smirked as he watched Mr. Harwood's expression. "Come on... Time is a-wasting!" He threatened. He wanted to get moving here since he was seriously getting hungry, especially for the girl that he could really smell now. It was making his mouth water and he wanted her.

(It's fine! :))

Xander smirked slightly, looking over at her and arching an eyebrow in amusement. "You'll be living with me from now on," he announced, "Go pack only what is necessary. You have ten minutes to pack and say your goodbyes to your parents, since I'm being generous at the moment." After all, he could have denied the family a chance to say goodbye to one another and all that disgusting human tear-filled crap that he didn't care about.

Mr. Harwood frowned slightly to the vampire's words. There was no way out of this and now the parents would be losing their only child. "Kaycie, come here, please," the man called out to his daughter. Kaycie could hear him from her room and heard a different emotion in his tone that she wasn't used to and couldn't describe. Was it fear or something? Slowly, she made her way downstairs and stopped on the last stair, looking at everybody in confusion. "What's going on?"