Through Thick and Blood

Kenah was shaking in terror when the man caught up to her. He seemed even worse than Xander and she shook, feeling herself being crying. But she felt no bite - she felt him being taken off of her and she shook at the sight of Xander. He was pissed off. She could tell. He was going to be so mad at her. And her head was pounding. She laid back, feeling exhausted.

The vampire caught up to her quickly. He saw her and within a second he pounced on her. It was hard to focus and all he wanted was her blood. "My sweet treat," he teased before his fangs slipped out - but there was a yelp as Aidan caught on to him and they rolled in a ball of growls. "who said you could touch what's mine?!" He knew the man. And that angered him even more. He looked up at Kaycie, giving her a threatened look.

The vampire stared up at Xander, surprised. "Your property?" he repeated, but by now, he didn't care. He had been so close to getting some of that blood that his entire body was burning with bloodlust. "She's not yours!" Xander growled before he and the vampire went at each other, trying to rip each other apart. Xander refused to let anybody have her blood. It was his!

Kaycie could feel tears streaming down her cheeks, though she found herself staring at the scene. Seeing the look that Aidan gave her frightened her and it made her want to stand up and run again while he was distracted. She knew she couldn't, though. Her ankle hurt too much and she wouldn't be able to go far.

Kenah just sat by, closing her eyes. She thanked god that she was alive, but she knew she was going to be in for it - if Xander even survived this right now though... Well, if he didn't, neither would she. She turned away from the fighting. It was so feral and terrifying but she couldn't move. She couldn't get away. She was too broken right now.

The man that was below Aidan rolled his eyes and Aidan growled. Even this slight disobedience was enough to make Aidan want to tear his throat out. Kaycie's blood wasn't something he wanted to mess around with. He growled. "She belongs to me - I caught her!" The man growled and Aidan couldn't help but attack. Not when this was his girl that the man was threatening.

Snarls and growls could be heard between the two vampires as they fought and, though this man had once been a friend of Xander's, Xander didn't waste any time with tearing his head off. He was furious, far more than he had ever been before. He wasn't sure which he was angriest at, though - Kenah for running away or this vampire for trying to claim her as his own.

Kaycie found herself burying her face in her hands as she tried to block out the noises, not wanting to see the fight. She hated it, hated hearing all the frightening noise. Her tears were still falling from her eyes, smearing against her palms every now and then, but she refused to look up.

(?)

Kenah sat there shivering in the cold, sore from the running and in pain from her injuries. She knew he would be furious and she was terrified of that. What would he do to her now? She was scared of him for that and she just sat still, trying not to cry, waiting until she had to beg for mercy or something...

Aidan finished off the guy and looked back to Kaycie, shaking his head. He was so angry about all of this. He wasn't sure who he wanted to be more mad at, but he didn't know what to say. He was so angry that he was blinded by this angry and it all just sucked. No one claimed his property - and she shouldn't have tried to run away.

Xander frowned deeply, though the scent of her blood filled his senses and he made his way over. He knew he couldn't feed from her, not in her frightened state - it would only increase the amount of blood flow and he wasn't sure that he could control himself with how angry he was. "Where did you injure yourself?" he asked simply, anger still in his voice, though he was trying to calm down.

Kaycie didn't bother moving from where she was - not that she really could anyways since her ankle still hurt. She just stayed where she was, her face hidden behind her hands as she tried to stop her crying. She wasn't even sure if she should be glad or frightened that the noises had stopped and didn't dare look to see who had survived.

Kenah blushed a little, feeling her head pulsing and herself growing dizzy from all of this. "I..." She started, scared of him. Why didn't he just kill her? It would be easier. "I cut my arm when I tripped back there... And my head really hurts too." She frowned. She didn't even bother saying sorry, he wouldn't consider that in mercy or pain....

Aidan looked at her for a long time and studied her, wondering what he should do. He had an intense urge to feed, but maybe that was just from the rush of blood that he was smelling from her. He was pissed off honestly, but he didn't know how to handle her. "What did you do to yourself?" He asked, asking about where she was hurt.

Xander frowned and nodded slightly before he sighed. Looking to his shirt, he tore off part of it and shifted to wrap it around her arm, where it was cut. "I'll have the others leave," he told her before sighing, "We'll get your arm properly cleaned and bandaged when we get back to the house. I'll also grab you some pain medicine for your head. Can you stand?"

Kaycie stared at him for a long moment before she looked down to the ground. "I skinned my knee," she murmured quietly, not daring to look at him again. He was obviously angry and she didn't want to make it worse for fear of him actually ending up killing her. "I think I might have sprained my ankle, too."

Kenah looked down and then was surprised by the way he didn't yell or anything. He actually seemed quite nice about it - but she couldn't expect that forever. "I... I think so." She said nervously, but as soon as she stood, she wobbled slightly and went back down to her knees. "Ow," she sobbed harder. She had lost so much blood - and her head was pounding. "Why don't you just finish me off here? I've lost so much blood... Why don't you drink me dry and leave me here dead? Take out your anger on me?"

Aidan shook his head slightly at her in a disapproving glance. She shouldn't have been so careless and tried to get away, but he wasn't going to scold her for now. For now - not when he had to make sure she got home safely at least. "I'll clear the house - and then we should really get those wounds cleaned up..." He covered the bleeding wound with a ripped off part of the dead vampire's shirt.

"Will you shut up?" Xander snapped, staring at her with annoyance. "Do you really want to die?" Shaking his head, he moved to pick her up with a frown. "Honestly, you humans are always ready to throw away your life. You should learn to cherish it more, rather than trying to get yourself killed by running away." He sighed before he adjusted her in his arms and began making the way back home, knowing he'd have to get rid of the guests at his house.

Kaycie winced slightly at the contact between the ripped fabric and her skinned knee. She wiped at her eyes slightly, trying to get rid of the tears she had been crying moments earlier, before she glanced to the dead vampire. "I-I... I'm sorry," she muttered quietly, unsure of if she was apologizing to Aidan or the dead vampire - because this vampire surely wouldn't be dead if it weren't for the fact that she had run off and he had chased her.

Kenah broke out in tears when he snapped at her and she felt like a fool, blubbering like a baby. She shook a little with her tears and then was surprised when he just picked her up. "Why aren't you killing me...? I disobeyed you... Th...thank you..." She gasped out in surprise.

Aidan growled a little as he looked up at her face and he shook his head. "Please don't speak - I'm not in the mood for you right now." He said as he picked her up in his arms, holding her like a baby. He needed to get her back home and then get rid of the guests.

"Do you want me to kill you?" Xander snapped, rolling his eyes a bit before he sighed and tried to calm down as he made his way back home. "You humans are insane. Why would you try to run away when there are vampires all around? That doesn't make any sense at all." Grumbling to himself, he frowned as he saw his house up ahead.

Kaycie closed her eyes tightly once she felt herself being lifted. She didn't say anything else, though she honestly didn't want to be taken back there. She just wanted to be free and away from him and every other vampire. Was that so wrong?

Kenah pouted lightly and shivered in his arms, feeling herself blubbering like a baby. This was so dumb... She felt so ridiculous for being caught. It wasn't right. "I'm sorry... I just shouldn't have done anything. I'm sorry." She blushed. This was going to be bad - she knew t.

Aidan growled even more and held her tightly, shaking his head. "Why would you even try to get away? Don't you deny that I'm good to you!" He hated that. It wasn't like he was bad to her.

"Exactly, you shouldn't have," Xander said bluntly, though he couldn't help but to sigh. Did she really think so horribly of him that she had tried to run away, even whilst knowing that several vampires were in his home? It didn't make sense to him at all. Shaking his head, he approached his home, frowning as he made his way inside. The moment they were inside, several vampires had caught the smell of Kenah's blood, but a simple glare from Xander warned them off and he made his way upstairs with her, figuring it was best to get her to proper safety before sending them away.

Kaycie flinched at the sound of his growl, but it took her a few moments to respond to him. "Nobody wants to be a prisoner," she finally said, though her voice was quiet, almost broken. "Especially when they have to give away their blood against their will because their parents made a stupid deal." She hated it. Why did she have to be traded off to repay whatever debt her parents owed this vampire? She hadn't done anything wrong, hadn't done anything to deserve to be some walking blood bank.

Kenah cried as he yelled at her still and she shook her head. "I just don't want to do this - I don't want to be your blood donor like this... You don't understand what that's like! It's not fair!" She yelled as he took her upstairs and she cried even harder, leaning into his shoulder. She didn't want to be like this anymore. She was depressed and she didn't want to pretend like this was okay anymore.

Aidan sighed a little and shook his head, growling even more as she yelled lightly in anger. He shook his head and growled as he walked upstairs to take care of her before he got rid of his guests. "You can't be angry at me for that - I think it was a good deal. And come on - I take care of you here. You get whatever you want, for a very small price. You should be grateful!"

Xander sighed in response. It was honestly becoming a hassle to deal with her. "It is plenty fair. Your parents made a deal with me and they didn't hold their end. As punishment for them, I got you. That's fair," he said simply as he walked into her room and moved over to the bed, setting her down carefully. "You could be happy here; the problem is that you choose not to be."

"I should be grateful?" Kaycie repeated quietly, shaking her head as she teared up again, his growling frightening her. "Thankful for what? You feed off me, you use me, you drain my blood so much that I can't stand most of the time without feeling dizzy. How is that worth being grateful for? If you were in my place, would you feel grateful?"

Kenah crossed her arms and shook her head. "that is not fair!" She sat up and pouted. "No... The problem is that I'm a blood bank for you! That's not fair at all!" She screamed and cuddled up into her pillow, looking away from him and making a "hmph" noise.

Aidan rolled his eyes and growled. "You watch your tone with me, Kaycie!" He shook his head and bared his teeth at her. "You have a place here - a purpose. I take care of you! You don't need to do anything around here and let me feed off of you a few times a day - that's nothing!"

Xander frowned as he glared at her. "Fair? You don't think it's fair?" he hissed out with annoyance, "Blame your parents if you don't think it's fair! They're the ones who abused my kindness and this is the consequence they receive! Besides, it's not like I treat you cruelly, I've never once harmed you aside from feeding. You're lucky compared to other humans who get taken by vampires, you should remember that!"

Kaycie whimpered quietly, closing her eyes as she covered her face, not wanting to see the way his teeth were bared. It only reminded her of what happened in the woods and she was afraid that what happened to that vampire out there might happen to her. "You don't understand..." she murmured out, "You don't understand because you're not human. You don't have to be some blood slave - you don't understand how I feel at all."

Kenah kept an angered look on her face and shook her head. "Of course you don't understand - you're not human. And I get it - there is much worse that I could have, but I know that being treated like a slave for you is not good for me either. Don't pretend that it is." She still looked away from him, closing her eyes and wanting to look away forever. She wished she could disappear.

Aidan tried to relax. It wasn't like he was going to hurt her - he treated her pretty good around here and that wasn't going to change! He was quite good to her really. "It's not like we're all that different. I still feel loneliness - and pain - and hurt. Maybe not in the petty human ways that you do, but I do feel it. We're not that different at all!"