Bat Country

“Syn…” he sighed. “Or Brian, whatever you choose to call him…” Matt wasn’t sure how to continue. Alexis grabbed his hand. For some reason he was sad and it was creeping through her. It lightened a tad when she held his hand and he lightly grabbed back onto it.
“I’m not…I’m no upset or anything, I promise. There’s just so much I’m missing and I want to understand.”
“And you’re right. You should know.” Matt sighed again. “Syn hates himself for having this life.”
“But why?”
Matt tilted his head towards Alexis again, but his eyes didn’t meet hers. “He hates killing. He hates it, and he hates himself for doing it.”
“But didn’t you just say you don’t--”
“Everyone tells him that, but his self control is…lacking. So instead of that, he runs off and starves himself. He hides in areas humans don’t come around. When a vampire doesn’t eat…they change back into a more simple version. We call them the unperfected.” When Matt looked over, Alexis was hanging on every word. He swallowed and continued. “The unperfected are incredibly blood thirsty. This basically makes sure that they eventually do everything in their power to find something to feed from. Their eyes glow, and for humans, this acts like…a lure of sorts. Hypnotizes them into letting the vampire feed from them. Unfortunately, the unperfected don’t usually stop until they drain their victim dry. It’s violent, it’s messy, but…you get my point.”
“So he was…he was an unperfected and he…”
“You were too close, and he attacked you.” Matt finished the sentence for her. “You were barely alive when we caught him, and I don’t even wanna guess what kind of luck was on your side when Rev caught the scent of your blood and it turned out to be Syn.”
“Why your blood? Why not someone else’s?”
Matt cringed slightly. “Maybe we can save this for another time. There’s no way to say this without sounding…like a giant fucking asshole.”
“I don’t fucking care! Tell me! Why did you use your blood to make me what I am?!” Alexis was surprised by her own sudden anger. “Sorry.” she whispered.
“It’s okay. You have every right to be angry.” Matt held her hand in both of his. “Isabel begged me to save you.”
A surge of sadness washed through Alexis’s mind. “But…why would she do that?”
“Because the same thing happened to her that happened to you. Syn attacked her and when he came to again, she was still alive. He felt so guilty about it that he made her like us. You were even worse than she was, and I was the only one whose blood could have turned you then. That’s why it was my blood.”
“Thank you.” Alexis whispered. She turned around to face the stream instead of Matt, but she didn’t let go of his hand. They sat in silence together.
“Do you miss your human life?” Matt broke the silence. He was scared Alexis would be angry with him.
“Everything is so hazy. I can sometimes see faces…but I don’t know who they are. Can you miss a life you don’t remember?” Alexis asked, her eyes wide and her expression blank. “The blonde, Callie, I think you called her…What has she done wrong?”
“Nothing that I’m positive of. I’ve made some enemies, and we believe she’s helping them out.”
“Why would she help your enemies…aren’t you the leader?”
Matt chuckled. “Yes, I guess you could call me the leader.” he finished his laugh with a sigh. “She’s mad because I yelled at her about you.”
“You yelled at her over me? What’d I do?” Alexis looked over at Matt, not sure if she should begin panicking or not.
“Your kind is stronger than my kind. She thinks you’re dangerous and that we shouldn’t keep you in the nest. It’s not her decision, you aren’t her concern. You’re mine.”
Something exploded inside Alexis and she jumped into Matt’s lap and was smashing her lips to his. He had one arm around Alexis’s back and the other around her hips. He used the ones around her hips to push them into his. Alexis ran her hands over his short brown hair. It wasn’t particularly soft, but she didn’t expect it to be. She pulled away from his lips and looked down and studied his face. She traced her fingertips over his cheeks and lips and what felt like a heartbeat, Matt laid her on her back and was propping himself on top of her. His chest released short bursts of a soft rumble similar to a big cat purring. Alexis was whimpering and Matt pulled Alexis’s head to the side. He dipped his hips to hers and she wrapped her arms and legs around him and braced for a bite. Her stomach fluttered when she felt the lips softly graze her skin. She ran a hand up his arm and over his shoulder and used a finger to push his face to the side and Alexis lightly pressed her lips to his again. Matt returned it and reached between their hips to fiddle with his belt and zipper but moments later he stopped. He sniffed the air and looked down at Alexis. “What does it smell like to you?”
Alexis leaned up close to his chest and threw her head back. She pulled her head back up and scrunched her nose. “Like shit.”
“Werewolves found the bodies. We have to go. Alexis hold my hand and don’t fucking let go.” Before Alexis could even agree, Matt yanked her up and they were flying back through the woods. The strange smell was following them and it was close.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Now they’ve found us!”
“Werewolves?!” Alexis asked to be positive she heard right. What the fuck else existed?
“Yes, werewolves and if we don’t get out of their way they’ll kill us.” Matt held onto Alexis’s hand as they jumped the ravine and landed perfectly. When Alexis turned around she saw 6 wolves staring at her with green eyes that cut through the night like a knife. They were going to jump now. Alexis’s brain jumped into overdrive and instead she took control and grabbed Matt’s hand harder, following their scent they left earlier back to the nest.
Alexis ran even faster after feeding than she did before. Matt was barely keeping up. If she didn’t have his hand he would have lost her. But at least he couldn’t smell the wolves anymore. Alexis stopped and reached for the spot in the ground that hid the hatch and pulled it up. She pushed Matt through it and before going in herself, she smelled the air and discovered the wolves were catching up. Before she could even turn around Matt had his arms around her and was pulling her back through the hatch and sealing it shut again.
Alexis stayed frozen in his arms and eventually Matt examined her for any signs of injury.
As he was looking her over everyone rushed to them.
Except there was someone new. He was an older man with long dark hair streaked with silver. He had a short beard and he was just as built as Matt but when Matt saw him he fell to his knees.
“Rise, my child.”