Status: I feel as though this needs a warning since there wasn't one... So- SLOW PROGRESSING SLASH. There we go~

Sweet Surrender

Chapter 10

Heading quickly to her room Venerra opened her dresser drawers and removed five different outfits and four different pajamas; stuffing all of them into her pack. Pushing them down, she worked the zipper until it zipped shut and then she left her room heading to the bathroom across from her room in the hall.

Slipping through the door, she went up to the sink and stood on her tip toes, stretching to grab her toothbrush and hair brush. Once they were firmly in her grasp, Venerra turned and skipped out of the bathroom, heading outside towards the barn, smiling and humming to herself.

But she wondered how Varian was doing. Was he getting better? How long was he going to be sick? And just what sickness did he have?

"Changed vampires don't get sick....Varian told me that. They're supposed to get better right away." she whispered to herself, entering the barn and heading for the horses.

Cana was always first. Walking up to his stall she unbolted the latch and opened the bottom door. Cana's resounding whinny made her heart leap with joy, and Venerra reached up for him and he lowered his massive head, blowing her in the face from his nostrils in greeting.

"It's nice to see you too Cana!" Venerra exclaimed, holding his snout and nuzzling his cheek. His big brown eye looked her right in the eye, shiny and warm. Kissing his cheek, Venerra pulled away and let him go and answered with a friendly snort.

Backing up, Venerra held her hands behind her back and smiled up at Cana as he stepped out of his stall and walked out to the pasture. Turning to the next horse, she made her way all the way down the aisle, letting each horse out to go to pasture.

Turning away from the last stall, Venerra looked up to see Nathan striding into the barn.

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After cleaning up the mess in the house, Nathan had decided to walk outside to see how Venerra was. Upon seeing her, he figured she didn't look any different than usual. At least she didn't seem to be too put off by all the blood.

He glanced over to where all the horses were making their way slowly to the pasture before turning back to Venerra and sighing. "So, do they need to be fed or anything before we go?"

"They each need two scoops of food. Except Cana. He gets three." she responded. Nathan nodded back slightly before looking around and frowning.

"... Where exactly is the food?"

Venerra grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the storage area in the back of the barn while skipping. She stopped in front of a large bin, which Nathan recognized from the time he'd helped Varian. The two cups for the food were on the shelf beside the bin.

"You take one cup and start on the end with Cana, and I'll start here." Venerra directed. Nathan nodded and grabbed one of the cups, filling it with food from the bin and going down to where Cana's stall was, beginning to fill the food areas. He couldn't remember what they were called, but he knew they had a specific name...

He was pulled away from his thinking when he heard humming, turning to Venerra. She was indeed humming, nothing in particular, but still. She also greeted each horse by it's name and kissing their snout or petting them. Nathan watched her for a minute with a slight smile when the sudden onslaught of a headache caused him to turn back and wince, pressing a finger to his temple before shaking his head and continuing his job.

Venerra stopped and turned to him, her eyes changing to an aqua color. "Your headaches must be getting awful being away from big brother for so long." she said.

Nathan nodded with a quiet snort before he frowned, turning to her. He didn't remember telling her about his headaches. "... Did I tell you about my headaches?" he questioned anyway. Maybe Varian had told her. Or maybe she was just really perceptive or something.

Venerra smiled innocently, eyes shifting to a metallic gold, "No, but Varian gets them when you aren't around, so naturally you'd have them too. Didn't you know that?"

"...I knew. I just find it unfair that you're only in first grade and know more than I do." he responded quietly, glaring at nothing in particular and sighing.

Her face fell, pausing as her eyes turned green. "Did you know that your soul is bigger than average by half?"

Nathan frowned slightly. "... No. Though out of curiosity, what does my soul have to do with this?"

"It's one of the reasons why you're so upset without big brother. Your soul is green, but that extra part is navy. Big brother's is navy too, but he is broken. You have too much soul." she explained.

Nathan stared back blankly, attempting to process what was just said and failing. So he decided to go back over this one thing at a time. However, the first thing that stuck out at him was blurted out first.

"Okay, let's backtrack a little bit here... My soul has a color?"

Venerra smiled so wide that it sort of scared Nathan, showing the gap in her teeth. "Everyone's soul has a color. It represents their will. Green means your will is strong, but faltering without another color to blend with."

Nathan actually snorted that time, rolling his eyes. "Oh, that's nice. 'Faltering will'. Alright, whatever, moving on- My green soul has an extra navy part to it? How does that happen?"

Venerra tilted her head, pausing. "Varian told me a story once saying that if something really bad happens to a person, it can break their soul. And that broken part is usually stolen in another person."

Nathan shook his head at that. For all this, he would've preferred his delusion about being human. "Oh, so now I'm a soul stealer.... Jesus... Alright, um... So Varian's soul is navy... And I supposedly stole part of it... I guess the Grant thing was the whole breaking part... How do I... Get rid of it? Or give it back? Or something?"

Venerra's bottom lip protruded out slightly, "You didn't steal his soul, you saved it." she corrected, sounding slightly hurt.

Shaking his head, Nathan held his hands up. "Okay, fine, alright, 'saved' his soul... God that sounds cheesy... Anyway, you didn't answer the question. How do I... Give it back? Can I do that? Or am I stuck with it?" he asked curiously. He hoped the last part didn't come out wrong, but... It was an odd thing. Having someone else's soul, saved or not, was too science-fiction for his taste.

She paused again, biting her bottom lip. "The only way a soul can be exchanged is, 'when the two; one with too much and one with too little, are at the peak of their love and come together in either a bond of heart or a bond of flesh'." she quoted. Nathan nodded slightly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"... What exactly is a 'bond of flesh'? Interesting quote by the way, where did you hear it?"

"Varian told it to me once in a story. I don't know what 'bond of flesh' means. I asked him and he said I was too young to know that kind of thing yet."

Nathan thought about it for a minute, before getting an idea and really hoping that wasn't it. He frowned before sighing, "Alright... Interesting..."

He was curious if this would help Varian. He wasn't sure since Venerra said 'peak of love', and, well, you can't really be 'peak of' anything if you're in a coma. Looks like he'd have to talk to people anyway...

Damn...

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Uselessly trying to organize his desk, Dr. Nhik gave up and shoved the papers over off to the side. He still hadn't picked up anything new on Rejection, and Nathan had yet to call him with any information. Sighing, he got up and pulled his lab coat on and walked hastily to Varian's room. Whenever he needed time to calm down he always went there. At this hour there weren't very many people coming in and out of it.

Sliding the curtain back, Dr. Nhik smiled upon seeing Varian's still face. No improvements. Walking over, he fixed his gaze on his face, searching for any signs of wakefulness.

Leslie had kicked him out of his own bedroom for the very reason that he knew this patient, and she didn't want to let go of something that had just come back to her. Although, technically, he should resign from treating Varian. Doctors that know their patients shouldn't be working with them. Emotional attachments could hinder the process of a necessary surgery.

Sighing, he reached out and cupped Varian's cheek, the boy making no objection.

"How can you resist when you're comatose?" he asked Varian without expecting a response. Of course there wasn't one.

Sliding his hand down to the curve of his neck, Dr. Nhik searched for the tiny twin scars left from the bite he'd received six and half years ago. Every Changed Vampire had them. Usually on the neck, but wrists and thighs were common too.

Running his fingertips over the needle-like puncture marks he smiled remembering.

"So young and naive, but so wise all at the same time. Where has that scrawny innocent little boy gone?"

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As soon as lunch began and everyone was seated at Varian's table, Nathan got up and made his way over there.

Not that he really wanted to go over, but, well... He had to.

Everyone at Varian's table, including that Jecklynn girl, all looked up expectantly, and a boy he couldn't remember the name of arched an eyebrow and flashed a lopsided grin at him. "Well looky here. Aren't you just all all scrumptious looking....?" he asked, ending it with a chuckle.

Nathan stared back, trying not to glare. "I'm choosing not to address your... odd word choice in the hopes that you never say that to me again. Now before anyone says anything else, this is serious. It's about Varian."

Everyone at the table all stopped what they were doing and met Nathan's gaze in total silence, looking a little uncomfortable, minus the other boy.

After a moment, he too looked up and said: "How bad is he?"

Nathan hesitated before speaking. "Honestly, he's... I don't know. The doctors don't know anything, and they've estimated five... Well, four now I guess, days before he..." he trailed off uncomfortably.

They all looked down at their food, The first guy biting his lower lip. Nathan figured he should probably learn their names if he came over here next time.

The second boy rose his gaze to meet Nathan's again and said: "I'm not sure if I can do much, but can I help in some sort of way? I'd like to, he's...he's my friend."

Nathan nodded and said, "I'd appreciate it. You have no idea how much. I just need... The doctors need some information on him. How long he's been sick, how he's been acting I guess, things like that."

"He seemed a little out of it before, probably just hungry, but then he was fine. The next thing we knew he looked like he hadn't had any kind of sustenance. He picked at his food a lot." The guy replied, recalling how often Varian would shove his food over to Evan.

"... Do you know what it usually means? When that happens?"

He frowned and sighed. "Normally I'd just say he hadn't had any blood and suddenly got some, but you don't get as awful as he was after. You'd revive and stay well."

Nathan sighed and rubbed his neck, "So... Bad blood, maybe? Is it possible for blood to do that?"

He fixed Nathan with a confused stare. "Any Changed vampire knows to get blood from a live source. They'd instinctively avoid bad blood."

"... So why would he get worse all of a sudden?"

Furrowing his brow in thought, the boy responded with "The only thing I can think of that would do that amount of damage is Rejection, but he was bitten a long time ago wasn't he?"

"Six years, yeah."

"Isn't that how old his sister is?"the first one asked, piping up suddenly.

Nathan frowned, "Six or seven I believe, yeah..."

The talking boy shot the first one a harsh glare at his sudden rabbit-trail. "Stay on topic. His sister doesn't have anything to do with this." then turning back to Nathan: "I know he hadn't had much blood lately. I asked him once and he said he just couldn't find the time. Not sure if that's useful...."

"It might be, actually. Maybe the doctor can figure out what went wrong. Thank you. Very much."

Before he had the chance to reply, the first guy leaned forward and grinned at Nathan again. "Hope to see you around soon." he said, winking at him.

Nathan glared. "You could at least attempt to restrain yourself." he said before walking back to his table. But not before he heard an audible "smack!" from Varian's table and the one guy hissing something to the first one, along the lines of "Pick on someone that's your own kind!"

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"Dr. Nhik? What are you doing?"

Dr. Nhik jumped and whirled around to face Nurse Gale, his heart thumping so hard in his chest it felt like it was about to explode from his rib cage. "Um. I was just checking to see if he had any new bite marks. I didn't find any, just the ones on his neck from when he was bitten six and a half years ago."

Nurse Gale frowned, an expression she hardly ever had.

"His file never said when he was bitten. Just that he was Changed. How do you know how long ago that happened?"

Dr. Nhik felt his throat constrict. "You can tell by how new the bite looks. His looks newer compared to other people's." he tried to explain.

"Everyone's bite looks the same no matter how long ago they were bitten...you know him! Dr. Nhik, you know you can't treat a patient that you know."

Exasperated and extremely irritated at this point, Dr. Nhik trained a deathly serious glare on Nurse Gale. "And if you mention anything that you saw or know I will personally see to it that your license is removed. You're just as bad as me and you know it. The child you carry isn't even your husband's. It's some random stranger's that you hooked up with when you were strung out heroin the last time."

Nurse Gale's face blanched. "H-how do you know about that?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"Because I saw the results of the DNA test you did. You shouldn't leave important information like that open on your desk. Somebody might just come along and read it." he snarled.

She held up her hands in defeat. "Okay. I won't say a thing. Just please, don't tell my husband." she pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Go." Dr. Nhik said.

Nurse Gale hurriedly escaped the room and Dr. Nhik stepped out onto the balcony. He supposed he should call Nathan and see how things went today.

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Nathan sighed, hearing the phone ringing and rolling his eyes. He knew it was probably Dr. Nhik, but he had just walked in- he could wait a minute.

All the worrying about Varian had brought Nathan's grades down drastically- he'd gone from B's to D's in several classes, and one he was just outright failing. "Goodbye college..." he mumbled to himself, finally picking up the phone and answering. "Yeah?"

"Nathan? Anything on Varian?"

Sighing, Nathan rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh... Yeah, I spoke to one of his friends today..." he said, squeezing his eyes shut to ward off the impending headache. They were really pissing him off. "There was something about him looking really bad one day, and then looking fine the next. But then he looked really bad... Again..."

He heard Dr. Nhik sigh on the other line, pausing before responding. "Is there any more information to back it up? It sounds like he was just hungry and fed. It would explain the getting better part."

"Um... Not really... I was told he picked at his food and stuff, but that's about it."

"... Picking at his food?" Dr. Nhik asked curiously, "Changed Vampires always eat their human food, even after they've fed."

"Well apparently he's not." Nathan mumbled. Why did all Doctors feel the need to repeat things?

"Then there's something he ingested that didn't make him feel the need to eat. That doesn't explain him getting sick though. Changed Vampires never throw up." Nhik said earnestly.

Nathan sighed again, sitting on the couch and glancing to Venerra, who was at the table doing homework. "He did. A lot, apparently."

Venerra glanced over just as Dr. Nhik asked a new question, in a tone that suggested he had just thought of it; "What did it look like?"

"Eh... Gross. Dark. Clotted."

"... Wait, where did you see it?"

"At his house. We had to go pick up some of his sisters things."

"You said there was a lot? Where exactly was it?"

Rolling his eyes, Nathan stood up, walking over to Venerra and glancing over her work before going into the kitchen. "On the floor, and around in the bathroom, from what I saw. There might have been more."

The other line remained silent, making Nathan slightly irritated. He wanted to know what was going on. Unfortunately though, there were more things to worry about than just Varian. "Well, that's all I have today, so if you don't mind, I need to go to work."

Nhik sighed again. "That's fine, thank you."

"Bye."

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Ending the call, Dr. Nhik sighed and turned back to look at Varian. With every second that went by, he was getting worse and worse. Sighing, Dr. Nhik looked at his phone dejectedly in his hand. He needed to do something. Anything to vent off some steam.

Dialing his colleague's number, he waited patiently for Roger to pick up.

"Is there a problem Grant?"

"I just thought that I should inform you on the real results of your wife's DNA test." Dr. Nhik said.

Silence on the other line. "Negative?"

"Negative." Dr. Nhik stated.

"Thank you Grant." Roger replied, sounding relieved.

"Anytime."

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"You're late!" Millie complained as Nathan stepped into the store with Venerra behind him, walking past her to grab his apron from the storage room and hang up his jacket

"I was talking to a doctor."

"About what? Boy you better not be getting sick on me, it's getting closer to the holidays, and I have too many customers!"

"It wasn't for me, Millie."

"Well good- you're on register- and when you get home tell your mother to call me, I have a bone to pick with her."

Nathan rolled his eyes, stepping over to the register and ringing up a Womans items as Millie went on.

"And you know that I won't be lenient on you! If you keep coming in late I'm gonna fire you."

"No you won't." Nathan responded.

"Oh yes I will! I can find another worker easily. One who actually wants the job too."

Nathan smiled slightly to himself, glancing out the corner of his eye to see Venerra, who was following Millie while glancing around. Millie seemed to suddenly take note of her, frowning.

"Haven't seen your brother around in a while. That birdhouse list is growing." she said, but not commenting further. Nathan faltered, nearly dropping an item and sighing.

He was glad he had off tomorrow.
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Guess what guys! CHAPTER TEN!
Hell Yes.

Eleven will be up not next weekend, but the weekend after that. Sorry people, gotta work with what I have...