Bat Country

Alexis had pulled the child on top of her as she curled her arms and legs around his near lifeless body, her fingers hooking into the fabric of his clothing. She was practically moaning as the hot liquid poured into her mouth. Even if the boy could fight, he didn't and Alexis fed until the young man's heart stopped beating and he fell slack against her body. Alexis stopped and pushed her victim off of her, and panted for a moment on the ground for a moment before Brian was suddenly on top of her, covered in blood. Snatching out at him, she pulled him against her body and he became even more vigorous before, but he was needy enough to not care about the power, crashing his blood coated lips against hers. Alexis used her legs around his hips to push him deeper, and they both growled with pleasure until Brian finally finished, collapsing on top of her. Laying there for a moment in silence, Brian finally got up and Alexis rolled onto her stomach then pulled herself up. Looking herself, she was filthy and covered in small bruises. Laughing slightly, Brian's face was different than her own. His expression was fearful and filled with regret.
"What's wrong?" Alexis asked delicately.
"We can't come back here again. 3 people disappearing in this area is going to attract attention." Brian sighed. "And we have to get rid of these bodies."
Nodding, Alexis quickly retrieved her clothes and dressed, picking up the still warm body of the poor man she had drained. When she turned around, Brian had done the same. Brian took off, and Alexis followed him. Running up a hill, Brian seemed to have an idea of what he wanted to do with these bodies. He chose a place that seemed close enough these kids could have walked comfortably enough from where they found them, so that if the bodies were ever discovered, it would seem an accident. On an edge of the ravine that they rarely, if ever traveled, Brian, rather carelessly, threw his victim over the side. He turned to Alexis and gestured for her to do the same, and although this seemed disrespectful, she did it too. Brian was better at this and she trusted his judgement. Brian stomped on the edge twice, sending a large chunk of earth careening down with the bodies. A landslide was a good idea, Alexis thought. They peered over the side and the earth caved beneath their feet.
Full and drained at the same time, they decided to walk home instead of run, their feet moving silently over the ground.

Alexis's emotions were all over the place, although Brian was as blank as a fresh sheet of paper. She considered asking him what was wrong, because obviously he was not as thrilled as she expected. Instead, she stayed quiet, trailing behind him.

Arriving back at the nest, they entered quietly, Brian allowing Alexis to go first. Standing awkwardly, her eyes traced over him, watching carefully. Having reached the bottom of the ladder, he turned and nearly ran into Alexis. He gazed at her for a moment before shying to the side and began to walk towards his room. Alexis again followed him, noticing that aside from Matt's gentle hum pulsing through her, the nest seemed to be otherwise empty.

"Brian." she called, walking quickly to keep up with him. She didn't understand why he wanted to avoid her so suddenly.

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, Brian sighed and his head fell forward. He didn't respond though, and kept walking.

"Brian, please! What's wrong?" Alexis walked up fast enough to catch up with him and grabbed his hand, holding it in both of hers. The urgency of her voice showed that she was becoming desperate for an answer. Scared she had hurt him in some way, she wanted to know what had happened and how the situation might be fixed.

The gentle squeeze Brian gave her hand made her relax a little, but he didn't stop moving, instead pulling Alexis along. Getting to his room he opened the door and gestured for Alexis to enter it, which she was both happy and confused to oblige to. Stepping in behind her, Brian closed the door gently and moved to a closet at the other end of his room. Not knowing what he was doing, Alexis just watched and waited to see. Eventually he turned around holding an interesting looking guitar which was black and covered in multiple, thin white stripes. Alexis was never musically inclined, so as he moved around his equipment and plugged things in, she stood simply looking at the floor. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he put the strap over his shoulder and looked over at Alexis.

"Sit with me." He said softly, his chocolate brown eyes looking at her with a mixture of sadness and innocence.

Not lifting her eyes from the ground, she sat beside him so gently even Brian could barely feel it.

"I know you think I'm mad at you." He laughed almost inaudibly. "I think it's in your nature to think everyone is mad at you." Looking over at Alexis, his face seemed blurred by the soft light in the room and Alexis' eyes came up to meet his. "I hate taking a victim so violently. It makes me feel like the monster I've been trying not to be since this part of my life started. And..." Turning his face away for a moment, Brian licked his lips then turned back, nearly pouting. "After I was done with you...I thought you would feel like I used you. I mean, right there on the street? You deserve better than the dirty street I killed you on."

Alexis' face was blank for awhile before she erupted into laughter. Brian watched her, furrowing his brow in confusion, not understanding why she was laughing. Eventually the laughter turned to tears and Alexis looked back up at him, her bottom lip pouted out. For a moment Brian could have laughed himself because she looked so much like a young human girl than the predator he knew she was, but contained himself.

"But I started it." Alexis sniffled and again Brian choked back a laugh. "Why would you feel bad?"

Brian nearly blurted out a million reasons why he felt bad about it, but held it back. His brown eyes hovered over Alexis for a moment.

"Has anyone ever made love to you, Alexis? And I mean has anyone made love to you, not just fucked you. Anyone ever made you feel special?"

Alexis gazed up at him for a moment, stray crimson tears falling down her cheeks. Letting her eyes fall she shook her head.

"No." She croaked.

Brian pursed his lips and let his eyes swivel to the ground as he adjusted his guitar. Looking back up at Alexis he sighed.

"You deserve to have someone make love to you. Not bending you over on a filthy street in an abandoned part of some town. You're not a whore, Alexis. You shouldn't be treated like one. Stop crying. Go rinse your face, clean up and come lay back down. I'm going to play for you."

At his words, Alexis' cries grew stronger, and she took a minute to try and correct herself, but the more she tried, the harder it became. Eventually Brian ran his hand along her back before slipping them over her hair. After a few minutes, Alexis got up and walked across the floor, kicking off her shoes before she stepped in the bathroom and flipped the light on. Looking in the mirror briefly, she was a bit shocked by how disheveled she looked. Running the water she quickly rinsed her face and neck free of crusted blood. Her eyes fell to the pink water that had filled the sink and beaded onto the sides and she sighed before turning the water off, drying her face on a towel and leaving the bathroom, turning the light back off.

Crawling back into Brian's bed, she curled into a ball and he positioned himself to almost face her. Watching each other quietly, Brian slid his hand along the neck of his guitar and his pick rested in the other hand.

"I didn't even know you played guitar." Alexis murmured.

Brian smiled. "I don't do it often anymore."

As he began to play, Alexis closed her eyes, blocking out everything else except the sound of his guitar which sent vibrations through her body, almost shutting Matt's hum out completely. The more he played, the more she seemed lost completely in it. The valleys and peaks of his music making her body rise and fall in tune to it. There was such a sadness and pain to it, that it seemed to stab through her and she found herself once again crying. It was soft, but it touched, and he would bring it to such a sharpness that it could cut the same as it had touched before.

He changed it so fluidly that she didn't even notice that the sadness had stopped and he had replaced it with a more powerful and uplifting tune and she sighed happily as the noise pierced through her, crashing against her in waves.

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Brian and Alexis hadn't noticed the others who had returned from a group trip into the city to lure and hunt. Brian's music pentrated through their nest quietly, but it was perfectly picked up by their strong sense of hearing.
"He hasn't played his guitar in years." Miranda whispered to Johnny who nodded.
Jimmy smiled and turned his head up as if he could smell the scent of the music, and even Zacky closed his eyes, a deep rooted desire in him rising to the surface.
Isabel let tears fall from her face. Whether or not they were of joy or sadness were unknown to her. She knew Brian rarely touched his guitar. Even in her 80 years, she had only heard him play a handful of times, and he only did so in his happiest moments. Covering her face in her hands, she let the reality of why Brian was playing his guitar sink in. She should have known by how happy she was what had happened.