Sweet Surrender

Homework was a bitch, Nathan officially decided, after over an hour of working on Calculus. Venerra had fallen asleep, as he had expected. He glanced over at her from his desk, watching her for a minute before turning back to his text book.

He was too distracted to do homework. He honestly didn't know why he even attempted it. He shut the book, leaning back in his seat and instead taking this rare, peaceful moment to think over how the past week had gone.

He had met a Vampire, for one. That in itself would be enough to give some a heart attack.

To make things worse, he found out that apparently he was one as well. Well... Sort of. The whole 'Changed, Mortal' thing still confused him.

Why hadn't he known? Because his mother and professional doctors told him he just had a disorder, that's why. But surely the doctors would have known there was more wrong than just a pigmentation disease? Come to think of it, he had never even really heard the term before.

He was five when he had noticed his eyes change color, showing it to Elle, who had taken him to the doctors the next day. The doctor explained what was wrong, and all was fine again. She didn't seem the slightest bit surprised. Which was odd, to him.

Nathan shook his head. He was getting off topic. Besides meeting a Vampire, he found out he could make it rain. And hail. And snow. And probably a bunch of other things.

That was weird as well. Whenever he read about Vampire's when he was younger, they were always creepy, blood-sucking demons that only came out at night and turned into bats. Which raised the question- weren't Vampires supposed to burn in sunlight? Yet he and Varian seemed fine; Varian even had a tan. He'd have to ask about it later.

On top of all that, he just had to like said Vampire. After barely knowing him. He just felt sort of... Pulled to Varian, in an odd way. It was hard to describe. And he didn't like that it happened so suddenly. Then again, his mother had always said that you can't choose who you fall in love with.

But he wasn't in love with Varian. He was just... Attracted to him. Highly.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead lightly. It was all giving him a headache; the entire situation. He was curious as to what would have happened had he not accepted the job offer from Millie. He wouldn't be concerned with Varian, and would ignore Justin's ramblings about him completely, as Andrea did.

Of course, then again, there also wouldn't be six year old laying in his bed. Nathan was curious about what would have happened to her if he hadn't agreed to watch her. Oh, she'd probably be with Millie or Jecklynn, he figured.

Jecklynn... He didn't like her very much for some reason. He had a slight feeling it was jealousy, which considering the circumstances, wouldn't make much sense. He liked Varian, Varian liked him, so nothing to worry about. Though, it had been a while since he'd done something that made sense.

Andrea was acting weird as well, with all the touching, and blushing. He really did need to find out why.

Glancing at the clock, he realized it was almost eleven and sighed. He'd have to be up early to take Venerra to school. It would be interesting trying to get there at such an early hour. He was already curious as to how many traffic violations he'd make.

Shaking his head, he changed into his pajama pants, yawning quietly before slipping into the bed beside Venerra and turning off the lamp.

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"Rejection: the state of which the body rejects its own tissues caused from an allergic reaction of Changed blood on the cellular level ."

Flipping the page, Dr. Nhik leafed through the next few of the medical text book. So far he wasn't learning anything new. Gritting his teeth, he dropped the book open and glanced fleetingly at it, not really wanting to deal with all the research he was doing.

But what he saw made him pause. "The most common form of Rejection is where a Mortal drinks the blood of a Changed and has an allergic reaction. The signs of this include extreme nausea, fainting spells, and insomnia due to moderately severe headaches."

Frowning, Dr. Nhik turned away from the book to look up at his wife, Leslie. Her red hair spilled down her back in waves, reaching all the way to her hips, the tips curling back up towards her face. But what drew his attention the most was the way her belly curved out, covered by a navy blue night-dress. He'd been overjoyed when he'd found out she was expecting about five months ago. He still was.

"Is your new patient a victim of Rejection?" Leslie asked, watching Dr. Nhik grab the book from the floor and close it, setting it on the coffee table with a defeated sigh.

"Yes and no."

Leslie walked over and sat next to him on the couch, her expression curious. "Are they going through Rejection or not? I didn't think it was a situation where it could be both yes and no."

"That's the thing, Rejection isn't an issue like that. But he's exhibiting signs of Rejection and not at the same time."

Leslie pulled hair back from her face and fixed her gaze on him. "Your patient is a boy?"

Dr. Nhik looked away from his wife then, rubbing the back of his neck absently. "About that...." he trailed off.

"What is it?" Leslie asked suspicious.

"His name's Varian. Varian Joll."

Leslie looked at Dr. Nhik then, her ruddy brown red tinted eyes piercing and focused. "I trust you'll make good judgments." she said, getting up and disappearing in the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

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American History was relatively relaxed, thank God. Nathan had barely managed to get to homeroom before the bell rang, so he was glad he wouldn't have to do much thinking too soon.

Until Andrea slammed her books down on the desk next to his at least.

"What the Hell were you thinking, exactly? What business did you have, leaving the cafeteria to go to that damn guy when we all know he's nothing but trouble? And why didn't he come back?" she asked quietly, glaring with her hands on his desk as he raised an eyebrow.

"I was thinking, Andrea, that he was sick, and needed help. That 'Damn Guy' is currently in the fucking hospital, thank you. And why do you care so much anyway?" he responded. 

"Because all you're doing is messing with things that you need to stay out of! No one cares about him, Nate, ever think that it might be for a reason?"

Nathan stared back, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest, warding off a headache in favor of shaking his head. "I don't understand why you can't just leave him alone."

"Then why don't you!" she replied loudly, gaining some attention from various students and Mr. Rollins, who cleared his throat.

"Right... Everyone to their seats, and get out your text books..." he said. Andrea glared one last time before taking her seat.

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"And how are you today Venerra?" Mrs. Kelly asked, taking Venerra's backpack and hanging it up on the hook under her cubby.

Venerra looked up at her teacher. Mrs. Kelly was tall, but much shorter than Varian. And she was slim and wore knee length pleated skirts and dressy tops that Varian had informed her were basically beautified polo shirts designed for women.

"My brother is sick, but Nathan is watching me!" she said happily, and turned and hurried to her seat, knowing her eyes would be silver with worry; swirled with green for sadness.

Opening her desk, Venerra got out her alphabet work book and picked up her pencil. But try as she might, thoughts of her brother haunted her mind all through the school day.

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Nathan had been stupid enough to think he'd get some peace during lunch. He would openly admit it had been the dumbest thought to cross his mind all day.

It was tense, and Andrea kept glancing at him, only to glare and scowl down at her food as Justin turned a convenient blind eye to it all. Nathan's head was in his hand, with his elbow resting on the table as he stared down. He was constantly worried about Varian and hoping that Venerra was doing alright, and the drama the twins were adding was highly unneeded. 

"So... Biology was boring..." Justin mumbled. Nathan glanced over as Andrea snorted. 

"No farm boy today?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as Justin shook his head.

"... He has a name."

Andrea and Justin's gaze switched from each other to Nathan, Justin with a slight smirk and Andrea with a glare.

"You keep calling him everything but his name. If you're gonna be ignorant enough to talk about someone behind their back, at least say their name." he finished. She shook her head slightly, glancing to Justin who ducked his head and pretended to be interested in his food.

"... You guys are impossible." she mumbled to herself.

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Throwing his Rejection book in the recycle bin, Dr. Nhik stormed out of his office and walked into Varian's room. As usual, he was still and comatose, though he was a little healthier looking today, there were no other improvements.

Turning to Nurse Gale, he looked up expectantly. "Any new information for me?"

"There's been a decrease in his vitals. He's slipping, and we haven't found anything to help him with." she said gravely. "If we don't figure out soon what's causing him to go through Rejection, he'll die for sure."

Snarling, Dr. Nhik bit his lower lip. "How long does he have?"

"It's uncertain, but we've estimated about five days, if that. I'm sorry Dr. Nhik, but there isn't anything we can do for him without more information."

Grabbing his cell phone, Dr. Nhik walked out of the room and out onto the balcony he'd used before. Dialing Nathan's number, he waiting impatiently for him to pick up.

"Hello." was the reply he got when the other line was picked up. Nathan sounded irritated and exhausted, and Dr. Nhik immediately wondered if he was alright.

"Nathan? This is Dr. Nhik, I'm calling with some news on Varian."

"Oh! W-what about?"

Hesitating, he bit his thumb, wondering just how to break the news.

"... Good news, bad news? Is he getting better, is he dying? No offense, but I'd like to be off the phone by the time my mom get's back, so... Quickly, please?"

"Bad news I'm afraid. His health is declining much faster than we thought. At the rate it's going, he might not even have five days left." Dr. Nhik responded, hating how shaky his voice was.

There was a pause on the other line and then the sound of the phone dropping followed by swearing that would make a sailor keel over with embarrassment. The the static sound of the phone being retrieved and finally words. "W-wh-what.... F-five days, but... D-do you have any.... Idea as to w-what is wrong with him? I mean, five days... Just..." Nathan trailed off with a sigh.

"We know his body is being put through extreme levels of Rejection, but I know it's impossible for his body to be Rejecting itself now, he was bitten six and a half years ago. If we knew what was going on we'd be fixing it." Dr. Nhik angrily growled to no one in particular.

Nathan paused and cleared his throat."Um... How can you tell how long ago he was bitten?" he asked.

Dr. Nhik paused now too, but only for a moment. "They give us very detailed files on our patients." he finished, hoping Nathan wouldn't ask any more questions about it.

"... Right.... You seem very... Attached."

Nearly dropping his phone, Dr. Nhik swore to himself and continued talking to Nathan. "No doctor likes to see their patients die."

"Understandable, but I doubt that constitutes taking out your anger on the person who's trying to help. You know, I'd rather not see him die either."

"Then do something for me? Time is critical, so please?"

".... Yeah. Fine. What is it?" Nathan said.

"I need you to talk to everyone that Varian talked to and get as much information out of them as possible. If they know something, I can save him."

Nathan sighed on the other line and remained quiet for a minute. ".... Alright. I can do that."

Smiling, Dr. Nhik tried to mask his relief. "Start as soon as possible and write down the information. You can tell me the information over the phone." And with that, Dr. Nhik didn't even wait to hear Nathan's answer. He shut off his phone and pocketed it. This was going to be a very long five day stretch.

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Nathan stared at his cell phone, sighing for a minute before shaking his head, biting his tongue. Earlier on the phone he had let some choice words slip out, but he'd rather not swear with Venerra anywhere near him. Hopefully she hadn't heard his short outburst.

Going into the kitchen, he glanced over to the table, where Venerra was coloring and working on some homework- something about the alphabet, he was pretty sure. She needed clothes, and her own pajamas. Nathan figured that meant they'd have to go back to her house. Maybe he could start finding some things there.

He didn't really like going around and asking people things, since that meant he'd have to be social, but... He didn't want to imagine Varian dying when he could have done something to fix it.

Pulling his keys out of his pocket, he figured now was the best time. "Alright Venerra, you'll have to stop what you're doing for now. We need to go to your house. Get some more clothes, and probably your toothbrush. And I guess I should look over the horses and make sure they're alright."

Venerra paused, looking up. "Can I help?"

"Yeah, that's fine," he responded with a nod and a quiet sigh, rubbing the back of his neck, "Go get in the car."

She got up, eyes purple and sparkling as she ran to the car as she giggled. Nathan smiled and followed her out, locking the door behind himself before sliding into the car and leaning back in the seat. "We shouldn't be too long, so just go and get some things for... About four or five days, alright?”

Venerra stopped while strapping herself in, a huge grin crossing her face as she looked at Nathan. "Varian's going to get better that soon?" she asked. Nathan remained quiet for a minute, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he thought over an answer. Finally he turned around to face her, smiling slightly.

"... Something like that."

She didn't buy it obviously, her eyes turning spring green and her lower lip trembling. "... You're not telling me something."

His smile dropped quickly, and he reached back to place his hand on her arm lightly. "I'll tell you later... But right now, I need you to cooperate, okay? It's not that bad, really." he responded. Yes, it was a small lie, but in all honesty, it wasn't that bad. There was a chance that Varian would get better.

Her eyes turned silver, ringed with gold and making Nathan's head hurt with trying to remember what all the colors meant. "Okay. I trust you Nathan." she whispered with a nod. His smile returned for a few seconds before he took his hand back, turning to sit correctly in his seat.

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

Turning on the car, he frowned when it stalled for a minute before catching, biting the inside of his cheek. It was an old car, he supposed. He'd need the battery looked at.

He pulled out of the driveway, glancing into a few mirrors before driving down the road, heading south for the farm. Glancing into the rear view mirror, he could see Venerra sitting calmly, her hands folded in her lap and humming softly as he eyes turned a whitish color.

Nathan looked around as he drove. Last time he had gone to the farm he was carsick, and when Elle had taken him home he was too tired to see what was around. As expected, there wasn't much. A few houses spread around, but other than that it was just field. It wasn't a bad view; simply repetitive. He was close to sighing in relief when he pulled into the driveway of the house, putting the car in park before turning it off. "Alright..." he mumbled. He assumed he didn't need to tell Venerra anything other than that.

Apparently he didn't as she hopped out of the car, running into the house as he slowly got out himself. He figured he should check the horses first before trying to find anything inside. He was about half way to the barn when he jumped, hearing a scream coming from the direction of the house. Pausing for a second, he frowned, walking toward the house for a minute before breaking into a run, stepping inside and glancing around.

He paused when he noticed Venerra, standing with her arms over her chest and shuddering as she cried loudly. She was staring at something, making him frown as he stepped over to her and looked in the same direction, putting a hand over his mouth to hide any surprised or disgusted sounds he probably would have made otherwise.

There was blood practically everywhere- if it was even blood. It was dark, almost black, but where the light shined on it it had a red tint. There were also several places that had small lumps- clots, he supposed, since it made the most sense- and after inhaling deeply he had to force himself not to cough.

The smell was horrible. Like something had died and was rotting. If that was Varian's blood, it was no wonder he was sick. He leaned down to be the same height as Venerra, putting his hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"... Go get your things, then go outside and check on the horses." he mumbled. She nodded, stepping around the mess to get to where he assumed her room was as he glanced around. He needed to clean this up. Then he would need to look for more things; Nhik was already aware that Varian was throwing up and had apparently very severe nose bleeds.

Going into the bathroom, he frowned, seeing more of the 'blood' and sighing. He might be cleaning for a while.