[Flame]

Raven grumbled silently to himself; yes, of course he had better things to be doing right now other than babysitting someone, namely in the form of a rather large stack of books awaiting him in his room. He’d made another one of those regular runs to the bookstore the other day to further build upon his growing collection of books, and at this rate, he would soon have enough of them to build a small library of his own. As it was, he already had more of them than he had space to put them in. However, he knew that there was likely no luck for him tonight; either his father or his conscience would give out first, and he could foresee the rest of the night (and probably most of tomorrow as well) spent keeping Miriam company, if only for her own safety. For the moment though, he remained silent, preferring to let his parents, ever the kind, diplomatic hosts, handle the situation.

It seemed like Sole beat his morality to the chase when it came down to forcing him to take care of the young woman. Raven reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged aside by his father. “Yeah, yeah, I know, dad. I kinda saw all this coming as soon as I saw your face when I got home.” He sighed in exasperation. “And I don’t understand why I can’t even just read. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Sit and stare creepily at her while she sleeps? Gods, that’s so awkward, dad. Do you want her to think that I’m some freak Twilight vampire or something?” He snorted contemptuously; oh, all the sci-fi novels out there these days. They could really give people like him a bad rap, and he couldn’t believe that there were actually people out there who believed all that pile of osik. Yeah, although he wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of having to keep close watch on Miriam for an extended period of time, he didn’t exactly want her thinking that he was some sort of creep either. At the comment about Rai, Raven couldn’t help but snort. “Well, maybe it’ll do him some good to be knocked off his high-horse every once in a while. You know, to keep him firmly planted in reality and all.”

As Sole made his way upstairs to inspect his room, Raven wandered back over to where Miriam was talking to his mother, standing a little off to the side as he listened to their conversation, as taciturn as he always seemed to be. “Oh, there’s really no need to worry about it, my dear,” Astraea replied kindly to her, her voice and expression warm and she smiled down lightly at Miriam. “You know, we don’t get all that many visitors nowadays, so we welcome any company that happens to drop by. I blame it on the boys; they can be a little…difficult to deal with sometimes.” She chuckled lightly, ignoring the look which her son shot her. At the young woman’s sudden concern about getting their furniture dirty, Astraea gently set her back more comfortably against the support that the couch provided with a firm hand on her shoulder. “Don’t sweat it; right now, I’m more concerned that you don’t overexert yourself. A little blood should come out pretty easily with some stain-remover and a little persistence. Raven can take care of that tomorrow.” She chuckled lightly again, patting Miriam gently on the shoulder. “And there’s no need to get so paranoid about it. Just…try not to go wandering about alone in the dark next time. I’m sure you’ll be just fine if you confine your walks to the daylight hours. This city’s not always the safest place at night, especially not for a pretty young lady such as yourself.”

At Sole’s comment as he strolled back in, Astraea shot him a look which clearly said that if not for the fact that they had a house guest, he would definitely not be sitting as pretty as he was right now. She simply rolled her eyes, and with a quick ‘shooing’ gesture of her hands, ushered her husband and son out of the room, leaving her to tend to Miriam in peace. “Alright, so since tackling the stairs right now would probably be like a death sentence to you, we’ll go ahead and make do with the downstairs bathroom for now.” Offering a hand, she helped the young woman out of her seat, and gently wrapping an arm around her back to help hold her up and steady her, led her slowly to the bathroom, where she presented her with a clean towel. “Why don’t you go ahead and get started on cleaning up while I go and grab some clean clothes for you? I’ll be back in a jiffy.” And with that, she ducked around the entrance and up the stairs, heading off to rustle around in her closet for something Miriam could borrow. She soon returned with a few articles of comfortable, loose-fitting clothing and set to work helping her to clean off the blood which had encrusted on her skin. “So, if I may ask, what were you wandering about at this hour of the night for?”

As silent as ever, Raven allowed himself to be steered into the kitchen by his father, already getting used to the fact that he would probably spend most of the rest of the night being lectured. And while he wasn’t, he would be keeping an eye on Miriam. He sighed, sitting back on his heels as he steeled himself for another talk from Sole. “Well, do you want me to be all uncharacteristically nice and bubbly with her? Sorry, dad, but that’s just not who I am. Seriously, I just saved her life. You can’t ask me to do that and fake enthusiasm, all in the same night.” He grumbled lightly, but nevertheless, set to work on cooking up something quick and simple (it looked like eggs and bacon were on the menu tonight) for their guest. At his father’s comment about Rai, he snorted lightly. “Yeah, if I know anything about Rai, it’s that if he hasn’t come back by now, he won’t be back anytime tonight. Thank the gods.”

[MillietheWarrior]

Sole leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest as he scrutinized Raven. He’d always had high hopes for the darker and broodier of his two sons. Rai was a loose canon, and Sole had long since given up hope of ever seeing him settle down. Raven was the Sole’s only hope; at least he was normal enough and quiet enough to be family material. Yet it seemed that all his silent son wanted to do was read books and shun the female population. For Manda’s sake, he had a beautiful woman in his arms, and he barely even blinked an eye. Sole wondered if Raven was even interested in females at all, then quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. He didn’t need to wonder about that right now. But he had high hopes for this Miriam woman; if she could attract enough of Raven’s attention for him to step in and save her., then maybe it could turn into something more. Raven was never around females, and he’d never brought one home. This was a monumental first, and ole mentally crossed his fingers and hoped it would lead to something more.

Besides, he and Astraea always wanted a daughter, and she’d probably fit right in with their odd little family. “I know you want to read, son,” he said at last, filling the silence that had stretched on between them. “But she’s a lot more important than a book. You don’t need to stare at her like a creep; just watch her. Why not talk to her? I’m sure she’d have a lot to say. She seems like a nice girl, after all. And it’s high time you stopped nosing about in those books all the time and paid attention to something other than book stores and libraries. It’s not healthy for you.” Sole snorted, shaking his head at his son. His dark eyes watched Raven’s every move, keeping track of what he was cooking and making sure it wasn’t something stupid (Like a peanut butter sandwich or something).

“Sheesh, son. You act like being a polite human being is a terrible waste of time. Okay, so maybe you’re not human, but you can be polite. I don’t expect you to hop around with smiles and flower petals, but you could at least be a little more civil than you usually are. One word answers and monosyllabic retorts are not good conversation motivators. All I’m saying is that it doesn’t hurt to try, all right? Rai is over social, but you’re anti-social, and I don’t like that combination in my sons. I’d like grandchildren sometime in the future as well, so if you could see fit at some point to stop being ‘Icy McFrostbite,’ maybe you could, you know, get to the grand-baby making. Miriam seems like a nice girl.” He smirked, and raised an eyebrow, tilting his shoulders at an angle as he leaned forward. “She’s cute too. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice. Must’ve been one of the factors in your little ‘rescue’ stunt, eh? And she’s got manners and she’s polite. Seems like the perfect daughter-in-law. So you know…give it a shot?”

---

Miriam, meanwhile, felt like a sack of potatoes. She could barely even manage to stay standing on her own (Though through some great effort and willpower, she did), and she was being hauled around by an incredibly strong woman. Miriam didn’t think much of it; Astraea was a doctor, and probably used to dealing with patients whom she had to lug from one gurney to another. But the way she steadied Miriam beside her, as if she weighed nothing at all, was perplexing. Miriam shot her a sideways glance, noting the smooth texture of her skin, the almost porcelain look to it, and then remembering how similar Raven’s skin looked. Maybe he'd inherited it? But then, Sole’s had been the same as well and he was Astraea's husband. These people were all either incredibly healthy, or they didn’t get much sun, even though Sole and Raven were much darker than Astraea. It was a weird, almost polished look, and Miriam had to tear her gaze away from the woman beside her, lest she be thought rude for staring.

When Astraea left her in the bathroom with a towel, Miriam went to work, furiously scrubbing at her arms and neck. She peered at herself closely in the mirror, realizing how pale she’d become in the past few hours. She also noticed, with a confused hesitancy, that her wounds on her wrist and neck had…healed up. Completely. There were no band-aids, no stitches, no gauze. The only thing left to remind her she’d been injured at all was the red stains on her shirt and hands. She'd need to ask them about that later. She stared down at her shirt, suddenly fascinated by the sight of the dark red blood. Her stomach growled loudly, and Miriam had the strange and disgusting urge to find something that looked a lot like that blood and sink her teeth into it. A rare steak sounded nice and…Wait, what? Where did that thought come from? She scrunched up her nose, looking confused and somewhat grossed out when Astraea returned, startling her from her thoughts. Heart racing in surprise, Miriam allowed the other woman to scrub at her skin and help remove what blood she could.

“Oh, uh, well, I just…I like the night. I mean, it’s always so quiet and pretty and just…clean feeling. I went out into my backyard and I…well, I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I thought it would be a good idea to go for a walk. Turns out, it wasn't.” She rolled her eyes, grumbling furiously under her breath as she finally removed the last of the blood from her skin. She felt much cleaner, and reached for the clothes Astraea had brought with a grateful smile. “Thanks,” she said with a nod, slipping her old shirt and pants off in record time and throwing the other ones on. Sole had been right; Astraea was smaller than she was, despite how baggy the shirt and sweats were. She was a little longer in the body than Astraea, and the shirt exposed her stomach, much to Miriam's embarassment. She tugged lightly at the clothes, a little uncomfortable in something that was too small for her, but decided it was better than nothing, and especially better than blood soaked clothing. She crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously, and then turned to slowly make her way from the bathroom back to the living room, using the wall for support; she didn’t feel right asking Astraea for help. The woman had already been kind enough to her.

When she reached the living room, she could smell the food, and her stomach growled again, louder this time. She blushed, and glanced at her hostess, wincing in embarrassment. “That smells good,” she admitted with a faint, half-smile. She moved closer to the kitchen, hovering in the doorway and using the wall to keep her upright as she discreetly observed Raven and his father, and she waited for Astraea to give her the okay to enter the kitchen. Raven moved with a strange, fluid grace she hadn’t noticed before; he almost seemed ethereal, unreal, not…human. Her eyes narrowed just slightly as she watched him, a thoughtful frown on her face. She hadn’t noticed in the dark, but he was rather…well, handsome. And she’d been too loopy to comment on it before. His dark, close-cropped hair looked almost identical to his fathers, and his eyes were almost the same light, peach red. His skin was a shade between pale and tanned, and his face was angular, smooth, and looked almost cruel in the right light. But she knew he wasn’t what he seemed. She blushed and quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught staring at the man who had saved her life.

[Flame]

Raven studiously ignored the hovering of his father behind him as he set about compiling the materials he needed to stir up something quick for their guest. Miriam would probably be ravenous after going through the ordeal she’d been put through tonight, especially considering all of the blood loss she’d managed to sustain. Raven had learned a thing or two from his mother when it came to the kitchen, so luckily for their guest, he wasn’t half bad with a frying pan and spatula…not that bacon, eggs, and toast really required much skill on his part. There was no point in trying to pull anything fancy right now, especially considering the fact that she just needed something substantial to put in her system, not some sort of fancy eight-course meal that was more for show than sustenance. After all, he was a man of practicality, and he planned to stick to that mentality, although that wasn’t to say that he would necessarily neglect his charge.

Raven had heard so many similar lectures from his father before that he essentially zoned him out while he worked, knowing almost all of the points which would be used to argue against him. “Dad, she’s a human. It’s night time. And unlike you and me, I’m sure she actually needs sleep. Would you rather I kept her up talking the whole time instead of giving her a chance to recuperate?” As he set the bacon to sizzle in the pan, he turned to fix his father with a level, almost sardonic look. “Oh, so this is what it’s all about. I see it now. Dad, what is it with you and kids? I mean, seriously, they must have accidentally spliced some rabbit genes into you or something while they were creating you.” Raven snorted lightly, turning back to the stove to prod at the bacon as it fried. “And no, believe it or not, it wasn’t. I didn’t even get a proper look at her until after I chased our lovely gatecrasher off first. Plus, for all we know, she could already have a boyfriend. But fine…I’ll try to be nicer to her if it’ll get you off my case.” He sighed in exasperation at Sole’s shameless mentality, going back to ignoring him as he worked.

In the meantime, Astraea kept a close eye on Miriam, making sure that she didn’t pass out on the floor and hurt herself in the process, or something. She could sense the young woman’s curiosity in, well…just about everything. However, not wanting to make her feel awkward or uncomfortable, she acted as if she simply didn’t notice and went about scrubbing the dried blood from Miriam’s skin in the spots that she either couldn’t see or couldn’t reach. If this girl had half a brain (and Astraea was quite certain that she did), she would start wondering – if she hadn’t already – how she’d gone from being on the brink of a painful death to being completely unscarred and as good as new, except for a little blood lost in the process. That would raise some awkward questions, although she couldn’t be sure of whether the young woman would actually ask about them, if only for the sake of politeness. Either way, Raven would have to address those at some point, whether he decided to tell her the truth or otherwise. For now, she was just glad that Miriam had pulled through without suffering any lasting damage; they could worry about the details later.

Astraea chuckled good-naturedly at Miriam’s reply. “I know what you mean,” she agreed with a small smile. “It’s so peaceful out there at night, if you know where to go, and it seems as if you have the whole, entire world to yourself.” She paused thoughtfully for a moment, glancing over at the girl. “Unfortunately though, that’s not always true, as you discovered first-hand tonight. The city’s been less safe than usual, recently. If I were you, I wouldn’t go out alone, especially at night, unless you at least have someone who looks like they could beat the snot out of anyone who tries to mess with you.” She chuckled lightly again. “Sometimes, appearances can work miracles. Do you have, perhaps, a brother, friend, or boyfriend who can play the part? It would certainly ease my mind a little to know that you have someone to take care of you.”

She tilted her head slightly as Miriam put on the clothes she had borrowed, as if considering the effect. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything that fits better, my dear. I hope that they’ll at least suffice until you can get something else a little more suitable? If you’d prefer it, I’m sure Raven has a shirt or two he could lend you, if you’d be more comfortable in that.” She smiled encouragingly. “Just ask him, and I’m sure he’d be happy to oblige. He’s really not as harsh and uncaring as he might seem at first glance. It just takes him a little while to warm up and open up to people, not that he really makes a habit of doing it on a regular basis. He probably likes you more than he lets on; you’ve just got to be patient with him. He’ll eventually come around, I’m sure.” As they left the bathroom and headed in the direction of the kitchen, Astraea remained close at hand, keeping an eye on Miriam and ready to catch her at a moment’s notice, should her strength unexpectedly falter.

At her words, Astraea chuckled lightly. “Yes, Raven isn’t half bad in the kitchen, although I claim credit for that. We’ll have some food in your system before long; I’ll bet that you’re ravenous, about now. Blood loss will really take it out of you.” There was a brief moment of silence, but Astraea’s sharp, perceptive gaze didn’t miss the quiet, almost contemplative look which Miriam fixed on Raven. That caused her to raise an eyebrow as she glanced between the unlikely pair, although a faint hint of amusement seemed to dawn on her visage at the sight. Was it possible? Could this pretty, seemingly normal young woman be interested in their dark and broody son? Like her husband, Astraea shared the same worry that Raven would end up alone for the rest of his life; after all, he expressed no interest whatsoever in getting to know anyone outside of the family, and at that rate, she had fretted that there wouldn’t be a woman out there who would take an interest in him either, if only because he never showed his face to the world, more often than not.

However, despite her doubts, it seemed like there might be hope for him yet, in the form of this young woman whom he had inadvertently taken into his care. Astraea knew that it wasn’t her place to interfere with his relationships…but it wouldn’t hurt to give the two a nudge in the right direction, right? After all, from what she had heard of his conversation with Raven, it sounded like Sole had the same idea, and if that look was anything to judge by, it seemed like Miriam already had the right idea in mind as well. “There’s a kind heart under all of his bluff and bluster, you know. He might gripe, complain, and act all sullen most of the time, but despite everything he says, he’d jump in there to save you again without so much as a second thought.” She smiled lightly, then gave Miriam a gentle nudge in the direction of the kitchen. “But I’m sure you’ll discover that for yourself. In the meantime, it looks like he’s almost done, and you look like you’re going to keel over if you don’t eat anything. Come along, there’s no need to be shy. Our house is your house now.”

Raven, on the other hand, didn’t need to turn around to know that Miriam was there. He could sense her very presence; hear her, smell her distinct, floral fragrance as it drifted through the house, the delicate scent now less tainted by the heavy smell of blood. It seemed so different, so foreign compared to his otherwise familiar surroundings. He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about this intrusion on his otherwise unchanging lifestyle; while on one hand, it felt as if she was interfering with his life and its rigid, inflexible tempo, at the same time, he didn’t regret doing what he’d done. He was just cracking the eggs into the pan when she and Astraea wandered in, and there was a brief moment of hesitation before he turned to face them, his expression quiet and somewhat impenetrable, although not unkind. As his gaze fell upon Miriam, considerably less disheveled-looking now that she’d cleaned off the blood and donned clean clothes, he couldn’t deny that what his father had said had been true (although he’d noted it himself earlier as well); Miriam was pretty, but Raven was as stubborn as he’d always been, and seemed determined to convince himself that it meant nothing to him. Maybe Rai could be easily swayed by a pretty face, but he prided himself in being less shallow than his wilder brother.

As he addressed her though, his voice seemed to have lost its slightly harsh edge, his deep baritone now more mellifluous as he spoke, his tone sounding considerably more agreeable. “I hope you don’t have anything against breakfast at this hour,” he commented mildly, his words both a statement and a question at the same time. “How do you take your eggs?” he asked, gesturing at the pan on the stove behind him lightly, although his gaze remained fixed steadily on hers.

[MillietheWarrior]

Sole shrugged faintly, looking more amused than disapproving. “Yes, she is human. But perhaps not entirely.” His gaze darkened then, and the amusement faded. He looked thoughtful; he could hear his wife and Miriam walking towards them, and quickly stepped closer to Raven, lowering his voice so only his son could hear. “I don’t know what that venom might’ve done to her. For all we know, she’ll have her own set of fangs or an incredibly long life span. Or worse…a craving for blood. It could’ve ruined her for good, son. I know you don’t think much of this situation, but think about it from her standpoint. She has no idea what she was attacked by, she has no idea what we are, and she has no idea what she could become. It could change her life or destroy it. If the side effects are too drastic, if she has a taste for blood…Then you may be forced to change her. We can’t allow her to leave if she poses a threat to the normal human populace.” He chuckled then, leaning forward on the cabinet and shooting his son a wry glance. “Rabbits, eh? That’s a new one. But I think it’s every parents dream to have their children have children of their own and move out of the house. I’d given up hope when it came to you and Rai. But now, it seems, that you have a chance after all. Whether or not anything comes of it, I’m proud of you for at least showing you aren’t a heartless jerk.” He patted his son’s shoulder affectionately, then reached up and grabbed a glass out of the cupboard.

----

Miriam gave a little start; Astraea walked so quietly that she was difficult to keep track of. She turned, a flush lighting up her cheeks, before she glanced down. “Oh, Yes, well…I’ve most definitely learned my lesson about going out at night. I won’t be doing that again.” She chuckled lightly, then tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her gaze shot back to the couch, where her bag sat undisturbed, Sunny resting soundly inside. “No, I don’t have a brother or a boyfriend…I don’t have many friends either. I work a lot so I don’t have much time for socializing. So it’s just me and Sunny…uh, that’s my rat.” She motioned towards the couch and her bag, before hastily folding her arms over her stomach. “And don’t worry about the clothes. I’ve already put you out enough; I don’t want to bother him by asking for a shirt.” She punctuated the remark with a smile, tugging the ends of the shirt down as best she could. She glanced back at the kitchen, where Raven worked efficiently at preparing a meal, and felt even worse than she did before. These people were so kind; they’d gone out of their way to help her.

They’d practically brought her back to life, cleaned her up, clothed her and even fed her and offered a place to sleep. She felt like she was mooching. Maybe a taxi and a long ride home was exactly what she needed. She hated having to keep putting them out the way she was; Raven seemed ill-tempered and unhappy at having to look after her, even if his parents were nothing but kind. Astraea’s soft voice startled her out of her thoughts, and Miriam wondered if she’d ever stop being surprised by this quiet, soft-spoken woman. She felt the blush returning, and this time, she felt it creep all the way up into her hairline. “Oh! Well, yes. I mean, he is a very good person. I doubt he’d have helped me if he wasn’t, deep down, at least. It’s just…” She hesitated, even though Astraea had welcomed into the kitchen. “I don’t want to, you know, intrude. I feel like I’ve not only ruined your couch, but your entire evening.” Her fingers fisted in the hem of the shirt, twisting uncomfortably. Despite how uncomfortable she felt for intruding, she stepped into the kitchen nonetheless, raising her eyes to meet Raven’s as he turned to regard her silently.

His face was no longer as…well, troubled and unhappy as it was before. It was still as harsh as it had been, still full of a feral, dangerous edge, but that edge had…softened, somewhat. Miriam could see it. His eyes were no longer sharp, and his voice was considerably kinder. Though perhaps not by much. “No, anything is fine,” she said hastily, before she added. “Oh, and…um…scrambled? Anything is fine by me.” She blinked as Sole crossed the kitchen and set a glass of milk down on the table, eyeing her with mild amusement and hoping the clothes would at least do something to attract raven’s attention. Sole was worried it would take nothing short of Miriam running around in the buff to get him to notice her for the woman she was. Sole pulled the chair out for Miriam, and motioned towards it, watching as she sidled slowly towards him and slid into the seat. She looked embarrassed and slightly uncomfortable, but smiled up at him gratefully.

“You sure? ’Cuz Raven would be quite happy to cater to your needs.” He stepped around her, winking conspiratorially, before he grinned at Astraea. “Shall we go and grab a few extra blankets? And perhaps we could wash her clothes for her. I’m sure you know a thousand different ways to get those bloodstains out.” He smirked, obviously referring to the fact that she’d probably done it a hundred times herself. He grabbed Astraea’s hand, nodding to her; he knew she’d feel the same way as he did about giving the two some privacy. He practically dragged her out of the kitchen with a cheery; “We’ll be back to check on you later! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!” He headed towards raven’s bedroom, and the hall closet where they kept extra blankets. “So?” he asked in a soft voice, well aware that Raven would hear if he spoke too loudly. “Any idea about what could and should happen between the two little misfits? What information did you glean, eh? And by the way…did you see anything weird about her? I’m still worried about that venom.” He furrowed his brow as he reached down to pull a blanket from the top of the closet, holding it in his arms as he shot his wife a worried look.

Miriam, meanwhile, was fidgeting somewhat nervously in her seat. It was a little awkward now that it was just her and Raven. She tapped her finger against the milk glass, then thought better of it; the last thing she wanted to do was annoy Raven with some little noise. He already seemed somewhat unhappy; she certainly didn’t want to make it first. “Uh…” she began, her voice soft. “I just wanted to say thank you…again. I’m sorry about all this. I should’ve never went out for a walk. It was a stupid, stupid idea. If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have to worry about all this and you’d probably have been, you know, much happier without having to deal with me.” She smiled faintly, tilting her head. Her hair fell over her shoulder in gray and tan curls. “But I do appreciate it. And I really do want to repay you. Is there anything that you want at all?”

[Flame]

Raven’s back was turned to his father as he talked, but despite the appearance he gave of completely ignoring him, he knew that Sole knew him well enough to be aware of the fact that he was indeed listening to every word he said. Although he would never admit it, he knew that there was logic and rationality in his father’s words, and what they implied worried him. It could turn into a very real and undeniable problem if Miriam really did begin to exhibit some signs of a darker, more bloodthirsty nature. He hadn’t thought that the rogue vampire had been able to get but so much of the venom into her system, and although he hadn’t done it before, Raven had been fairly certain that he had gotten the majority of it out of her bloodstream. However, it was true that there was always the off-chance that her body had taken in more of it than they had bargained for.

Raven wasn’t sure how he felt about the idea of having to turn her, especially the possibility of having to do the deed himself. Although he had been born into vampirism, and was used to living by its ways – however unconventional they were – he wouldn’t will it upon another person, especially someone who seemed as normal…as innocent as Miriam. He knew well enough how painful and traumatizing the process could potentially be, and despite his ‘I couldn’t care less’ attitude, he didn’t want to put her through it, if it was at all possible. Back in the park, he had fought for her right to remain human, and he wasn’t about to simply just undo all of his work now, not after everything that they had been through in just the past hour or so. If anything, she deserved the right to choose her own fate, but if Raven had his way, it was one that she wouldn’t have to decide at all – that she could simply walk away and go on with her own, normal life after this entire ordeal. However, he was painfully aware of the fact that he had no power over that; all he could do was simply hope for the best for her, and that she would walk away from this no worse for the wear.

Astraea observed their guest closely the entire time she was under her care; she had the same worries as her husband, and was concerned that perhaps the young woman’s body might not have been as resilient against what venom it might have absorbed as they had hoped. However, she didn’t seem to exhibit any trouble behaviors or tendencies, and her guard relaxed, if only marginally so. Miriam seemed like such a sweet individual, what with her politeness and constant worry about being a bother to them. Astraea couldn’t help but wonder how the young woman didn’t have a large following of devoted friends, what with her seemingly gentle and agreeable personality, but she supposed she didn’t know enough about her to make any assumptions.

She chuckled lightly as she ushered Miriam into the kitchen where Raven and Sole were, knowing that they would be expecting them. “There’s no need to be shy, sweetheart,” she said kindly, gently guiding her towards the seat Sole offered with a brush of her hand. “We rarely ever get any decent visitors in the house as it is, what with company as surly as Raven here and as unruly as his brother, Rai. Believe me, it’s nice to get some reprieve every once in a while. It can be rather trying when you’re the only woman – and therefore, the only rational mind – around the house 24/7.” Her blue eyes twinkled in amusement as she winked lightly at the young woman before making her way back over to her husband’s side once again, passing a critical eye over Raven’s handiwork briefly to ensure that it lived up to her standards, especially considering the fact that he was cooking for a guest (and a lovely, charming one at that).

“Yes, don’t be afraid to let Raven know if there’s anything that you need. After all, our home is your home now, at least until we know that it’s safe for you to leave.” She chuckled mildly. “You know how we doctors are; we like to be able to keep close tabs on our patients while they’re healing up.” Astraea caught the sly expression on her husband’s face as he shot a conspiratorial wink at her, and she grinned lightly in reply as she caught on to exactly what it was he was trying to do. Perhaps some ‘alone time’ with a girl was just what Raven needed to open up a little; as a mother, she could at least hope that he would be able to find himself a beautiful and capable wife and move out to start a family of his own. She was already long past the ‘babying’ stage of her motherhood with her two ‘boys’ (although they were already fully-grown men – if only in body and not in mind), and she concurred with Sole on the fact that it was about time for them to fly the nest.

With a small, reassuring smile for Miriam and a ‘you’d better be on your best behavior or else’ look for Raven, she allowed herself to be towed out into the hall after Sole. She had a good idea of what her husband had in mind, and she had to admit that at this point, she had begun to think the same, since it seemed the boy was somewhat incapable – or simply too reclusive – to ever find a family of his own without some help. “Maybe telling him “not to do anything you wouldn’t do” wasn’t the best idea. After all…there isn’t much that you wouldn’t do.” Astraea chuckled, shooting her husband a sly smirk as she linked her arms playfully around his waist when he reached up to grab a blanket. “Speaking from personal experience, of course.” She eyed him for a moment, one eyebrow slightly arched as she seemed to peruse him. “Needless to say, I can pretty safely guess exactly what it is you have in mind for them,” she said with a laugh, keeping her voice hushed as well, so as to keep the ‘kids’ from hearing, and so that she could keep tabs on what was going on in the kitchen simultaneously as well.

“Well, in his favor, it appears that she’s single, and doesn’t have that many friends, which frankly, I’m quite surprised to hear. She is quite a charming young woman, and so incredibly polite, almost to a fault. Perhaps that might be lucky for Raven, that she doesn’t have all too many acquaintances; less people to compare him to and less competition for him, after all.” She chuckled lightly again. “And how is Raven taking to her? As dourly as he takes to just about everything else, I assume?” She raised a questioning eyebrow, wondering what Sole’s take on the whole situation was. “Do you think that there’s a chance there for them at all?” At the mention of the venom, her expression became slightly more serious once again, her eyes somewhat brooding. “Well, besides a little wooziness from the bloodloss and the shock, I didn’t see anything immediately wrong with her or her personality. Perhaps she’ll be alright after all, but I’ve never dealt with one of these cases before. It’s probably for the best that we’re keeping her here for the night so that we can keep an eye on her condition.”

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Raven found himself alone with Miriam once again. As requested, he made quick work of scrambling the eggs in the frying pan, then tipped them carefully onto the plate with the bacon. Grabbing a fork out of a nearby drawer, he walked over to the table where she currently sat, fidgeting somewhat nervously, and set the plate and fork down before her. “Eat up,” he said, not unkindly, his eyes resting on hers for a moment. “You’ll feel much better for it, believe me.” He turned, then, after a brief moment’s deliberation, took a seat across the table from her, studying her intently with his light peach gaze. For the first time, it seemed like he was appraising her as an individual, and not as a faceless person he had just happened to rescue. His gaze seemed slightly curious as he watched her; he got the feeling that she was somewhat afraid, or perhaps intimidated by him, and he couldn’t figure out exactly why she would be. It wasn’t as if he was deliberately trying to frighten her. Perhaps his father was right; maybe he did just tend to be a little harsher around people than he intended to come across as…but that was just who he was.

At her thanks, he seemed slightly discomfited, glancing away for a moment as he tried to figure out how to respond to it. “Don’t mention it,” he replied, his voice somewhat gruff with embarrassment as he spoke. “It wasn’t the best time to be out walking by yourself, that’s for sure. But I suppose it was also just bad luck on your part. There’s no need to repay me for doing what should have been done. Doing what’s just requires no reward.” He shrugged lightly, feeling more awkward by the moment. How was he supposed to hold a conversation with a young woman with whom he had nothing in common? Nevertheless, he felt as if it were rude to simply let the awkward silence drag on. He chanced a glanced up at her once again, this time his eyes more searching, concerned. “So, how are you feeling?”

[MillietheWarrior]

Miriam stared down at the plate Raven had set in front of her. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and something deep down couldn’t help but wish it was a very rare steak instead of scrambled eggs. Miriam still thought it was a weird craving or something, and certainly hoped she could chalk that up to the myriad of strange experiences she’d had tonight. Maybe her body was just craving protein to a weird absolute. She could feel raven’s gaze, but hesitated to look up and meet it. She wasn’t sure what she’d see there, and wasn’t quite sure she wanted to know. And then…she wasn’t sure why she cared so much. He obviously had no love for her, and barely seemed able to tolerate her, despite the forced kindness he’d shown. She had a feeling it had more to do with his sense of responsibility and his parents’ urging than any desire to impress her or be nice to her. He was just obligated, that was all. She picked up the fork, and took a tentative bite of the eggs. She was surprised to find that they were better than she’d first thought, and it didn’t take her long to polish off what was on her plate. She was hungrier than she’d thought she was. Raven was right; she did feel a whole lot better.

She sighed, and lightly pushed the plate away, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms loosely across her belly. She still seemed to refuse to meet Raven’s gaze, and instead, took to gazing around the kitchen, taking in the cozy atmosphere and the well-coordinated decoration; no doubt, raven’s mother was responsible for this. Miriam idly wondered how it was that women fell in the nurturing, motherly role so very easily. She couldn’t imagine having kids of her own; she’d probably have no idea what to do with them. She knew she’d panic within the first few months of actually having them. All the more reason why certain people just should not be parents. Like her, for instance. Miriam sighed, and finally lifted her eyes to meet Raven’s. She saw the scrutiny there, and wondered if he assessed her as readily as she assessed him. They were simply two people, sizing one another up, deciding the best way to deal with one another. But still, she couldn’t deny the little flip-flop her stomach did when she finally met his gaze. He’d swooped in and saved her like some knight in shining armor. What woman could resist that? What woman would try? Miriam didn’t deny that she wasn’t trying to resist all that hard. It was easy to let herself fall for this man, when all rational thought said she should steer clear of him.

He didn’t really want anything to do with her, after all, no matter how kind he seemed to be. He was just pretending, forcing his kindness as per his parents instructions. She was sure of it. “Yeah, I know. I realize that now…and I think I’ve realized it a hundred times over tonight. Your family has been infallibly kind to me. I can’t thank you all enough. Even if you felt obligated, I still want to say thank you. You didn’t have to save me…you could’ve walked away, easily. Just like every other person in this city would’ve done.” She shrugged nonchalantly, turning away to rub absently at her neck, still wondering at the fact that there was no mark to show anything had happened at all. When she turned back, she was somewhat startled to see the softening in his eyes, the concern written there quite plainly for her to see. For a moment, she didn’t speak, before she nodded her head.

“I’m fine. Amazed that I’m all in one piece. I swear that whacko literally took a bite out of me. I mean, who does that? Who…who bites people? I think I would’ve been less disturbed if he’d just used a knife or something. That was just…it had ‘freak’ written all over it. And whatever kind of poison he used…whew, I don’t think I’ve ever been that loopy.” She chuckled lightly, then tilted her head to regard him across the table. She leaned forward slightly, but the action drew her shirt up along her back. She quickly leaned back, but the same happened to her front. She grumbled under her breath, and sighed; might as well give it. “I have two questions for you, Raven,” she said sweetly, using her best ‘I’m-such-an-adorable-woman’ voice. “One; how come there’s no cuts or marks where he scratched and bit me? And two…could I bother you for one of your shirts please?”

--------

Sole cackled gleefully, keeping his voice quiet as he folded the blanket over his arms. “I’m hoping he takes after me in the ‘initiative’ category. I think I did pretty well when it came to getting what I wanted, right?” He winked at her, flashing her a fanged smile, and leaned back a bit. The collar of his shirt rode down just slightly, reveling the small necklace he wore at all times; a vial of blood, courtesy of his wife. He flicked it with a finger, and wiggled an eyebrow. “I’m just hoping when Raven finally gets what he needs, she won’t have as much trouble with the first few days that I did. Thank heavens I have a massive amount of willpower…most of the time.” Sole shrugged, glancing around the corner, as if waiting for one of his sons to burst into the hallway and accuse his parents of plotting against them…which they sort of were. “Now if only we could figure out some way to force his interest in her. I mean, there’s a shadow of it there, but not enough to spark more than a little flame. We want a forest fire here. If I could figure out some way to lock him in a room with her or something, that would be…”

He raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. “If our dear Miriam shows ‘signs’ of the venom, we could always convince raven that there’s nothing else to do but kiss it out of her.” He smirked, looking fairly pleased with himself, and prodded Astraea’s shoulder. “What do you think? Have any ideas? From what I hear-” He paused and canted his head, listening. “-they at least seem to be conversing civilly, if not in a friendly manner. Do you think locking him in a room with her would work? Or shall we try something equally drastic?” He made a face, looking like a child who’d just discovered something yucky. “Rai and Raven are ready to fly the nest, so to speak. I’m tired of sharing my space and my wife with two moody and out of control vampire boys. I’m ready for them to get out and start their own families. They’ve got the money, they just need the girls. If we can hook the two of them up, maybe Rai would follow suit and we’d be free…until the next batch comes along, of course.” He grinned wickedly, waggling his eyebrows at his wife. “If Raven wasn’t super strong, I’d handcuff the two of them together and let them work that out themselves…but then, if he wants to keep his secret, he’d probably refrain from breaking free…Oh, ideas, ideas.”

[Flame]

Raven had to fight the urge to fidget in that awkward moment of silence after he’d sat down at the table, concentrating diligently on trying to be polite and not staring awkwardly at the woman across from him. He couldn’t help but think that perhaps he wasn’t being the best host for her, but in his defense, he generally didn’t have company all that often; at least, not company that was here on his account. Albeit she hadn’t exactly come here to visit him, per se, and although he’d all but dragged her here without her knowledge, he still felt responsible for her as his guest, and inclined to treat her as such (at least as much so as he knew how to). He couldn’t imagine how difficult this must be for her as well; like his father had said, she had no idea what had just happened to her, and for all she knew, she had just been taken to the home of a man whom she hardly knew at all and kept there while she was ‘getting better’ after sustaining an attack, the nature of which she could merely guess at. If he had been in her place, he would probably have been more than a little freaked out, and likely not half as calm as she apparently was.

However, she finally seemed to pluck up her courage and dig into the eggs, seeming comfortable enough around him now not to watch his every move with a suspicious eye. He found that fact alone somewhat reassuring, and that perhaps he might not do such a terrible job of taking care of her after all. A hint of amusement seemed to flicker through his gaze as he watched her out of the corner of his eye, taking a faint amount of pride in his cooking prowess when it was evident that the eggs were a welcome indulgence to her. Maybe it was simply because the blood loss had made her ravenous, but whatever the case was, he seemed slightly more relaxed, now that the proverbial ice had been broken. “Would you like anything else to eat?” he asked mildly when she had finished, his gaze considerably less harsh and more curious and amused than anything else. “After all, there’s plenty more where that came from, and I’m sure you must be ravenous.”

If anything, she was like an enigma to him; he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out exactly what was going through her head at the moment, and her expression wasn’t about to give away any of her thoughts without a fight either. If anything though, she seemed just as curious about him as he was about her, but neither of them seemed inclined to broach a more personal subject in their conversation. To be entirely truthful, she somewhat intimidated him, although he’d never let it show. Simply the fact that she was a stranger, he’d never had much experience with people outside his family, and of course, the fact that she was a woman (it was only now that that particular detail hit him with any force) made her almost alien to him, and he was probably more daunted by her than she him. However, his pride kept a vice-grip on that particular emotion and stubbornly kept it from showing on his face as he studied her, trying to keep his expression somewhat smooth and impassive as his gaze caught hers.

“Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to tell that my family – my parents, at least – seem to adore you. They love it when we have company over, but for some particular reason, they seem to exceptionally like you.” He blinked at her, his expression still guarded, but his eyes curious as he sought out whatever it was in her that his parents so liked. Now that he had the chance to get a proper look at her, it became clearly evident to him that she was exceptionally pretty, especially by human standards. I wonder how she’d look as a vampire… The thought crossed his mind before he could actually consider what it was that had just gone through his head. Wait, as a vampire? Where had that thought come from? The fact that he had thought it was slightly unsettling, but he chalked it up to the fact that she had almost been turned by the rogue. Yeah, that had to be it; he was simply imagining what she might have looked like had he not stepped in to save her.

“Well, I couldn’t have just walked away…I couldn’t stand by and let you be…exploited by that filthy excuse for a creature.” Raven felt a light flush of color rise to his unusually pale cheeks as he spoke. What she said was true; he could have simply walked away from the situation. After all, vampires generally didn’t interrupt each other while they were feeding. Albeit this one had been trespassing on their territory, and he’d wanted to make it very clear that the interloper wasn’t welcome, there had been something undeniable that had drawn him there and led him to save a life which he might otherwise have discounted or never have given a second thought. Although he’d never had much experience with women, as soon as he heard the change in her tone of voice, instinct warned him to be on guard. Despite the fact that he’d been expecting the first question, he still looked faintly surprised when she asked, and as for the second…well, she might as well have asked him if he’d grown a second head or something.

Borrow his shirt? …His shirt? The thought didn’t quite seem to compute for a moment as his mind raced to catch up with her words, somehow managing to trip over itself several times in the process. He was silent for just a little too long as he sorted out the many different trains of thought that now ran rampant through his head, trying to figure out how to best go about answering her. “Well,” he finally said, sounding rather hesitant, as if afraid that his tongue might run away with him, and he’d say something that completely didn’t make sense, or that he wasn’t supposed to say. “Let’s just say that I’m a really good doctor. It…runs in the family, so to speak. It’s just that we generally prefer to keep to ourselves, so we like to keep our methods private, if you catch my drift.” Again, Raven was a convincing liar when he set his mind to it, and now, he danced around the subject artfully, not telling Miriam the entire truth, yet not outright lying to her either. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable with the concept of deceiving her.

“And oh…uh, shirt. Right. I’ll go and grab one for you, yeah.” With that, he somewhat awkwardly excused himself from the table and all but took off towards his room, completely ignoring his parents as he breezed by them on the way there. Inside, he pulled his closet open and selected a clean, plain blue t-shirt (although he might have worn it once or twice, he couldn’t remember) and returned to the kitchen once more, somewhat hesitantly offering it to Miriam. “I hope that’ll work for you, or that it’ll at least be a little more comfortable than what my mom gave you.”

---

Astraea chuckled lightly, rolling her eyes in mock exasperation at her husband’s comment. “I can’t deny that…although you went about it in the most roundabout way possible.” She snorted lightly in amusement, but her tone was affectionate as she spoke, shoving his shoulder playfully. “If Raven does change her, I wouldn’t be too worried about her somehow getting the best of him. I think he’s too paranoid to let something like that happen. Plus, Miriam seems like a polite and cautious girl, for the most part. She just needs someone to keep an eye on her and protect her, and if we can somehow kindle that instinct in Raven, they’d be perfect for each other.” She chuckled, her eyes somewhat thoughtful. “I suppose that could work…but I swear, if he tears that door down to get out – which I wouldn’t put past him – both of you are going to pay for it. And not just for a new door either.” There was a teasing warning in her gaze as she fixed a stare on her husband, one eyebrow quirked in an almost amusing manner.

“But indeed, that is a possibility. He’s too naïve and innocent to know better, but you’d better be ready to run if things don’t go as planned and he finds out that it’s all a hoax.” She laughed, then fell silent for a moment as her son came dashing around the corner to disappear into his room, waiting quietly before he rushed back out again, this time with one of his own shirts, no doubt for his lady-friend. As soon as he was out of earshot once again, Astraea snickered quietly, clearly amused by this turn of events. “Well, it certainly seems like the two of them are getting along just fine right now as it is.” She snorted lightly at the latter part of Sole’s comment. “You know, sometimes I have to agree with Raven on the fact that it seems like you aspire to turn me into a baby mill.” She laughed, amused by her son’s analogy. “Maybe the next time around, we’ll get a girl instead. I have the feeling that they’re much easier to deal with than sons, but who am I to say? Never know until you try, right? But back to our current situation; what do you suggest would be the best way to go about setting this plot of ours into action?”

[MillietheWarrior]

Miriam was well aware that the entire situation had spiraled past awkward territory into somewhere between ‘meeting the in-laws uncomfortable’ and ‘the worst sunburn you ever had painful.’ Why was he staring at her like that? Miriam kept her gaze on the table, careful not to meet his anymore than she had to. He kept giving her weird looks. Miriam put a hand to her forehead, and peered up at him from beneath her fingers. “No, that’s all right,” she said, smiling lightly. She finally forced herself to raise her gaze to his face. He looked thoughtful, but not angry or upset. She still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was thinking about more than he could ever let on, or the fact that the looks he’d been giving her had been uncomfortably intense. Maybe he was just that way with everyone. Either way, it made her stomach a little queasy. Or was that the food? Miriam pressed a hand to her tummy, and tried very hard not to think about why her stomach would rebel at eating something it desperately needed.

“I’m not as hungry as I thought. I think my stomach is already protesting. Maybe the adrenaline hasn’t ebbed completely from my body, and it’s making me a little nauseous.” She smiled prettily, and tried to laugh it off, but the feeling that something was wrong kept nagging at the back of her mind. She tried to ignore it, and instead, focused on the conversation. Or what little of it there was. “Well, your parents are exceptionally nice. I’ve never met anyone who was so willing to open their home for a complete stranger, you know. I quite like them.” This time, the smile didn’t feel forced, but genuine, and she lifted her head to flash a tooth-filled grin his way. Her eyes suddenly turned serious, and she stood, tugging her shirt down to cover what modesty she had left. “Yes,” she murmured, shaking her head as she skirted around the table. “-but you could’ve walked away. Thank you. Really, Raven. You saved my life, and I could never, ever thank you enough.” She reached out and gently set her hand on his, before she pulled back, looking somewhat perplexed at the sudden freezing and seizing his body had done at the mention of borrowing a shirt.

Had she overstepped her boundaries with him? “Uh, if it’s not-” she began, but he cut her off with a hasty explanation and a mad dash to his room. Miriam was left standing stupidly in the kitchen, blinking at the chair he’d just occupied with a dazed expression on her face. The man could move, that was for sure. But his explanation for her lack of cuts and bruises or any sign of injury was…perplexing. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she mulled it over; no doctor on earth was that good. Not even these kind people. She wondered if she’d stumbled into some bizarre cult or fairytale where they could use magic to heal people and left no trade behind whatsoever. If that was true, she decided, she’d probably lost her mind ages ago to have invented something so ridiculous. The only thing she still felt was an ache in her stomach that bordered on painful, and a strange desire for raw steak. Miriam barely had time to form another thought when Raven rushed back in. he shoved a shirt towards her, and Miriam leaned back a little, examining it, before taking it lightly in her hands, fingers brushing against his as she did so, though she didn’t seem to notice. “Thank you, Raven. It’s just what I needed.”

Sole shrugged lightly, looking amused. “What can I say? I’m pretty awesome.” His cheeky grin and punctuated eyebrow waggle emphasized his words as he reached around to smack Astraea lightly on the bottom, not seeming to mind that the house was currently occupied. Very little could stop Sole when he wanted to do something, except Astraea, of course. His face turned serious though, and he leaned back against the wall. “Shouldn’t be too hard. The boy is mine, so the whole protective business should be hardwired into his very nature. If not, I can give it a kick start.” He flashed a fanged smile at his wife, looking like a kid who’d just been told he could have cookies for dinner. “Oh, he won’t. he knows better. And maybe not a baby mill…But I’d like more than these two ridiculously clingy children, you know. Maybe new kids every couple of years or so? They grow up so fast.” He sighed dramatically, wiping away a nonexistent tear, before he bounced on the balls of his feet. “I have plans all right. And if I’m not mistaken, it’s the perfect time to implement them.” With that, he flung the comforter through the door of Raven’s room and took off for the kitchen. He made it just in time to see Raven hand Miriam the shirt, and grinned wickedly, before he schooled his face into a neutral expression. “Come on you two. Time for Miriam to get some rest. No use keeping her up any longer than we need to.” He quickly ushered the two down the hall, flashing Astraea a smirk as he passed her, and practically shoved the two into Raven’s room. “Play nice, and get to bed. Sleep is very important, you know.” With that, he slammed the door in Raven’s face and locked it from the outside. “My work here is done,” he said happily, clapping his hands together and nodding with a self-satisfied chuckle.

Miriam wasn’t sure what was happening. One moment they were in the kitchen, the next they were in a bedroom filled with books and sparse decorations. She stared at the door as it slammed in Raven’s face, then down at the shirt in her hands. “What just happened?” she muttered to herself, before she remembered that she’d asked for the shirt for a specific reason. “Don’t turn around," she ordered softly, before she shrugged and hoped that Raven would be  wise enough not to turn around. Miriam sidled to a corner and stripped the small shirt Astraea had loaned her over her head. She carefully folded it, taking a little longer than she probably meant to or should have. “So,” she said over her shoulder, setting Astraea’s shirt on a nearby dresser. She unfolded the large, pale blue shirt, giving it a once over before she continued. “I can sleep on the floor, if you like,” she told him as she slipped the blue shirt over her head. The collar was small, and she had a bit of a hard time forcing her head through it when she realized the top of her head was stuck. Stupid small men’s shirt neck holes. “Um…” she began, feeling a flush of embarrassment color her entire face and was very glad he couldn’t see it. She had not meant to take this long; it was supposed to be a ‘slip out and then in’ with the shirts, and she hadn’t meant Raven to see her. At all. Ever. But now she seemed to…have no choice. “I’m kinda…stuck…could you maybe…Give me a hand?” she squeaked form within the confines of the tangled shirt.

[Flame]

Well…that wasn’t a good sign. If Raven knew anything, it was that Miriam should have been feeling better after eating, not worse. He was quite certain it wasn’t the quality of his cooking – he’d cooked plenty of times before without any problems whatsoever (although the food might have been a little bland or slightly burnt, the first few times he tried) – but he was almost afraid to consider what the other possible causes could be. Best case scenario: like she said, he hoped that it was just the aftermath of her rather traumatic experience and the remaining effects of the adrenaline he was sure had been coursing through her system, not so long ago, but for some reason, he just instinctively knew that that alone wasn’t the cause. Of course, with his luck, there was no way that it would have been that simple.

Now he was genuinely starting to get worried about her and her condition; perhaps his parents had been right. Maybe she had taken in too much of the venom after all, and it had just taken a little longer than anticipated to kick in. He didn’t want to consider it, but right now, the most plausible explanation was that her body was beginning to rebel against normal ‘human food’, and if that was the case, it meant that she was already too far gone to be saved now. Once the changes had gotten this far, there was no more going back; her life as a human being was gone, behind her, a door which had closed on her with her on the wrong side. “Yeah…maybe that’s it,” he said, but even to him, his reply sounded weak and uncertain. He hoped that she would just chalk it up to the fact that he wasn’t as experienced in these fields as his parents were. When she moved off of that topic, he gladly did the same, preferring not to consider that particular possibility for the moment.

“Yeah, well…they’re nice people at heart, I suppose. I guess living with them for as long as I have makes you rather jaded about it all in general.” He shrugged indifferently, choosing not to try and judge his parents from the standpoint of a stranger. “Well, they like you too, if you haven’t already noticed,” he said mildly, a light shrug accompanying his words. He was about to reply to her thanks – probably something else along the lines of not needing to thank him – when the sensation of a small, delicate hand on his stopped him dead in his tracks, and he found that all he could do was stare, his gaze flickering between her face and the hand on his own, wearing an expression of mild, barely-concealed surprise at her boldness and the simple unexpectedness of the gesture. Besides his parents when he was extremely young, no one had ever held his hand before, and the sensation was both startling and decidedly odd…although not necessarily in a bad way. He was just…surprised.

Even after he made his momentary escape, the next few minutes were a bit of a blur as his mind raced to catch up with what was happening. It was only after he returned to the kitchen with a shirt for her that he had regained some semblance of coherency and control over his own thoughts, but that was wiped from his mind again just as quickly when her fingers brushed gently against his as he handed the shirt to her, a feather-light touch, but one which seemed to both immobilize and disarm him at the same time, although he fought to hide that feeling from her. He wasn’t sure if it was luck or misfortune, but he didn’t get the opportunity to react before his father came bursting back into the kitchen unannounced. Raven could immediately tell that he had something up his sleeve; he didn’t know what it was, but he was fairly certain that he wasn’t going to like it. He’d had enough of Sole’s ideas over the years to know that much by now.

“Wait, sleep? …what?” He was clearly completely bewildered, but his father didn’t give him a chance to protest or even ask any questions before he found himself shoved unceremoniously into his own room along with Miriam. “Hey!” he called, regaining enough of his senses to feel indignant about being pushed around. “I think I’m old enough now not to be bodily hauled into my own room!” However, the only reply he received was the unceremonious slam of the door in his face, followed by a deft click which announced the fact that he had effectively just been locked in his own room with this young woman, completely against his will. “This has to be against some sort of law!” he protested, but he knew that his efforts would be in vain. He should have known that Sole would have something like this up his sleeve. Although Raven could theoretically take down the door, albeit by brute force, he dared not to, one, for fear of giving something that he wasn’t supposed to away to Miriam, and two, because he was terrified of his mother’s wrath, and he knew that if he were to do something like break down a door in her house…well, he didn’t even want to stop to considering the consequences in store for him.

Astraea, on the other hand, seemed to be amused by this entire situation. After giving her husband a teasing warning glare for his mischievousness, she had been content to simply sit back and watch the show unfold. Sometimes, it was worth having two sons; after all, she was sure that she wouldn’t have gotten to see all this rather amusing drama take place had she had two daughters instead. As the unlikely pair rushed by her, clearly being herded towards Raven’s room by Sole, she flashed them a small, if somewhat secretly wicked smile as her husband set his diabolical ‘plan’ into motion. When he finally returned, alone, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, if you’re sure that you don’t mind playing this little game of yours with each batch of children that we have, then I have nothing against having more children either. Of course, you’ll be changing the diapers too, right?” She flashed him a sly grin, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. “So, how do you think this’ll work out? Should we be worried about leaving the two of them alone in there?”

Raven was close to giving himself an aneurysm with the agitation he was going through. How dare his parents lock him inside his own room! It was like being sent to time-out all over again, except this time, he had long since already outgrown that particular mode of punishment, and this time, there was a woman – who was effectively a complete stranger to him – involved as well. He growled, letting one fist drop against the door, but he knew that resistance would get him nowhere in this situation, and that knowing his parents, there wasn’t much to it but simply to sit and wait it out until they finally decided to take mercy on him. At Miriam’s question, he simply sighed. “Well…in the simplest terms, we’ve pretty much been barricaded in here together.” He shrugged. “Guess that means we’re here for the night.”

He was just about to turn and head over to flop down hopelessly on his bed when he heard Miriam’s clear warning not to turn around. For a moment, he was highly confused, and almost turned around to look when the rustling of clothes caught his attention. Ah, of course…she was changing into his shirt. Glad that he hadn’t let his curiosity get the better of him, he waiting patiently, his gaze still fixed stolidly on the unmoving door as he waited, somewhat curious as to what was taking her so long. He wondered if all females changed this slowly, but he certainly wouldn’t have been one to know. “Nah, it would be terrible manners for me to make my guest sleep on the floor,” he replied simply to her offer to crash on his floor. “You take the bed and I’ll be fine on the floor. I have some extra pillows and stuff that I could make myself a makeshift bed out of.”

There was another moment of silence as more rustling and struggling ensued, and for a moment, he wondered if perhaps she was having an issue with his shirt. Then, the sounds stopped, and he almost turned around again, assuming that she’d finally figured out how to put a shirt on. “I’m kinda…stuck…could you maybe…Give me a hand?” Oh dear lord. She hadn’t-…he finally turned and glanced over at Miriam. Oh yes, she had. If the tangle of blue cloth was anything to judge by, she had somehow managed to get herself caught in the seemingly simple article of clothing, and quite thoroughly as well, from what he could see. With a small sigh, he brushed aside his own misgivings and padded across the room over to her where she stood, clearly awaiting his assistance. For a moment, Raven seemed perplexed as he studied her conundrum. His head wasn’t…that small, was it? And he hadn’t thought her head had been that big either…He was confused for another moment, then suddenly felt torn between laughing and empathy. Well, perhaps the fact that she had been trying to force her head through a hole meant for an arm might have had something to do with how she had managed to get stuck.

“Alright, just hold still for a moment,” he said, biting back a quiet chuckle as he tried to figure out how to most strategically extricate her head from the constricting hole. Finally, he just grabbed ahold of the shirt and pulled upwards, hoping that that little bit of force would dislodge it. Well…it seemed like his little experiment worked. A little too well. As he yanked on the shirt, it came up almost entirely over her head, and for a split second, he got a full-on, extremely revealing glance at her clearly well-endowed chest and torso. His breath seemed to hiccup in his throat for a moment and his face turned a brilliant shade of bright red as he simply blinked stupidly in shock for a brief moment (which wasn’t entirely his fault, considering the fact that this was the most he’d ever seen in his entire life), and it was all he could do not to be reduced to gushing blithering gibberish. Then, in a rapid, almost awkward motion, he pulled the shirt back down on her once again – this time putting her head through the right hole – and hastily took a step or two away from her, still trying to stop his mind from whirling and somehow drain the bright flush which now colored his face as he fastidiously avoided her gaze, blurting out something that sounded somewhat like a hasty apology.

[MillietheWarrior]

Miriam was pretty sure her face would permanently be stained beet red. Not only did she feel like the biggest idiot on the face of the earth, she also felt like a very exposed idiot in a very small room, with a very good looking man. She didn’t so much mind the last part, but the other parts…she wasn’t fond of those. How many women could honestly say they were stupid enough to get stuck in the arm-hole of a shirt of all things, when the last thing they wanted to do was look stupid in front of some knight in shining armor? She managed a muffled “Sorry,” before she felt his hands take hold of the shirt. She just hoped some kind force on earth would find it in their forgiving nature to kill her before she turned into a pile of tomato red embarrassment. She felt a sharp tug and the cool air suddenly hit her abdomen and whole LOT more than that. Miriam was hoping she could just die on the spot at that point, because this was one of the most humiliating moments in her life.

As soon as he tugged the shirt down for her, Miriam grabbed it as if her life depended on it and tugged forcefully, her face the color of a bright red apple. “Oh, uh, I am so sorry about that!” she squeaked, hand fisting in front of her mouth as she bit her lip and tried to keep the nervous giggling from escaping her lips. Worst. Night. Ever. Now he thought she was a total idiot. “I…uh…I guess I’m not so good with shirts? S-sorry about that eye-full. I didn’t mean to scar you for life.” She closed her eyes, trying very hard not to meet his gaze, and quickly crossed to the bed. Her stomach was fluttering nervously, rumbling in protest and angrily rebelling against her nerves and her dinner. She had no idea that Raven’s concern over her stomach ache was entirely founded; the venom from the rogue had indeed been able to penetrate her system, and it had begun to turn her body…Miriam was half vampire, and she didn’t even know it. Her stomach ache was her body rejecting human food, and her desire for rare, bloody steak was it’s newfound craving for an O-Positive lifestyle.

Miriam quickly sat on the bed, rubbing at her stomach absently as she winced. “You-you know,” she began in a very small voice. “I’m not…I’m not really feeling all too well. I guess I wasn’t as hungry as I thought and…maybe it wasn’t a good idea to eat that food…Not-not that it wasn’t good!” she amended hastily. “I just…Don’t feel so great.” She made a soft whimpering sound in the back of her throat as her stomach gave a sudden, violent lurch, and she pressed a hand to her mouth, holding back the wave of nausea that threatened to overcome her. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she groaned, trying very hard to keep her dinner where it belonged: in her stomach. Miriam looked up at Raven, her eyes bright and wide, looking almost frightened in the dark. “Wh-what if…what if that poison or whatever he injected into me…what if it’s not gone?!” she practically yelped, panic creeping into her voice. Her mind and gut twisted wildly at the thought, and Miriam suddenly felt a sharp pain in her lip when she shut her mouth.

She let out a sound reminiscent of a kicked puppy, and her hands flew to her lip, feeling the first, small drop of blood trickle down onto her fingertip. Miriam suddenly forgot about the ache in her stomach, or the fact that she’d just bitten through her lip with what were clearly two very sharp, very prominent fangs. She stared at her finger, transfixed by the sight of the small, crimson dot floating on the pale skin. Her eyes followed it hungrily as it dripped off, and fell to the blanket silently. Her eyes stayed riveted on the spot it landed, soaking up the stain as the fabric of the comforter soaked up the small spot of blood. A sound that resembled a whimper filled the room, and Miriam dimly realized that it was her, though she didn’t quite remember making the sound. Her gaze slipped up to Raven, wide, and confused, and pleading as she stared at him, suddenly drawn to the scent of what lay beneath his skin. “What’s-” she began, her voice soft, but loud in the silence of the room. “-what’s wrong with m-me? What…what just…happened…?”


Sole leaned against the wall outside the door, head canted to the side as he listened to the conversation taking place in the room. His diabolically evil scheme was working quite well, although he was a bit concerned to hear the soft sounds of distress from the young girl. It bothered him, certainly, but he knew Raven could not only handle it, but needed to as well. He should learn to take care of his own problems, and this was certainly a big one. If his parents crashed in and saved him every time, he’d never learn to survive on his own. Sole’s brows drew together and he turned to Astraea, all traces of teasing or amusement gone. “I was right,” he said quietly. “That venom did more than just make her a little loopy. It was in her too long not to cause permanent and irreversible damage. Raven doesn’t have much of a choice now. I feel…a bit bad for the poor girl.” He frowned, his forehead creasing as he reached out to wind an arm around Astraea.

“On the bright side, maybe we’ll have a daughter-in-law, now? Raven will do the right thing, I’m sure. And if not, then you and I will have to take care of it. We can’t just let her starve in between the worlds, can we?” Sole was a lot smarter than he looked, and he’d had his worries and suspicions about that venom. He knew it had caused some damage to the girl’s body, but he hadn’t known the extent until only a few seconds ago. It had taken the venom some time to travel all the way through her, speeded up with each massive pump of her little heart. Sole hadn’t known what kind of side effects it would have, but apparently, she could no longer eat human food without getting sick. That was not only frightening, but a bad sign. It meant she was stuck between worlds; if she hadn’t attacked Raven for his blood, then she didn’t have a true craving for it.

But if she couldn’t eat human food, then she couldn’t process anything else. She could never be human again, but she could be…a vampire. Sole touched his forehead to Astraea’s, and frowned. “I think we should give the two of them some privacy. At least we can go into the kitchen and clean up. And then perhaps we can go hunting…I don’t like the idea of this rogue harming people the way he harmed Miriam.”

[Flame]

For a good while – it felt like an eternity for the mortified Raven, although in reality, it had really only been a few seconds – he was unable to speak coherently, his thought process completely fried as he struggled to kick his stunned mind back into proper functioning order. Whatever Miriam (and many other women) might have believed, he’d never really had much, or any, experience with femalekind before, mostly due to his somewhat reticent lifestyle, especially in comparison to his much more ‘socially’-inclined brother. Needless to say, this unexpected encounter was more than just a little startling for him, and it took all of his effort to wrestle his mind back to reality and not simply let it remain dumbly blank as he stared away from Miriam, clearly shoved out of his comfort zone for the first time tonight.

He didn’t dare look up at her, even when he heard her voice as she addressed him. If anything, she sounded just as flustered as he did but that still didn’t give him the courage to meet her gaze once again. “No, no…” he replied, somewhat awkwardly, knowing that he probably sounded just as stupid as he felt. “It…it was entirely my fault,” he managed to stammer, his voice still sounding terribly embarrassed as he stuttered. For someone who seemed – and was – so difficult to faze, it seemed like Miriam had done quite an efficient job of throwing him completely off-kilter within a matter of hours of meeting her. Albeit it had been completely unintentional, but it didn’t really help that they just happened to be locked in his little room together at rather close quarters until his parents finally deemed that it was appropriate to let them out once again. They could be assured that they’d be getting more than just an earful for this.

However, that suddenly became the least of his worries when her attention suddenly snapped back to her stomach and she made her way over to his bed, cradling her offended belly in her hands. No. No, no, no…this was not a good sign. He’d hoped that her queasiness and discomfort would pass given a little bit of time, but it didn’t seem like they would be doing that any time soon. In fact, it seemed quite the contrary. If anything, it sounded as if her discomfort was only growing worse by the minute, and that fact alone instantly sent warning bells going off in his mind. His gaze finally shot back up to capture hers as he quickly crossed the room in just a few long strides, growing concern emanating from him as he deftly dropped to one knee in front of her, his bright, now somewhat worried gaze fixing unwaveringly on hers as he studied her carefully. He also grabbed the small trash can on the way over…just in case.

Things definitely weren’t looking good for Miriam. At first, she hadn’t shown any signs of infection at all, but now, it seemed that the effects of the venom were finally hitting her, and apparently in one big wave. Now, he was glad that they’d kept her here so that they could keep an eye on her overnight; only the gods knew what might have happened to her had they simply sent her back on her own way home, or even if he’d chosen to take her to the hospital instead. However, the thought of the fact that the rogue on their territory had done this to her both irritated and angered him, and Raven knew that if he ever saw the loner again, he would not go as easily on him as he had tonight. Nevertheless, his main concern right now was tending to Miriam, and hopefully seeing if there was anything he could do to reverse the damage and at least somehow ensure that she would still be able to lead a semi-normal lifestyle.

It seemed though, that tonight was not her lucky night. Raven’s expression instantly darkened and turned grim as he caught the one, tell-tale sign of the venom; the unmistakable pair of fangs which suddenly protruded from her otherwise normal teeth. By this point, she was beyond saving. There was no chance in the world that she would ever be able to go back to that normal human life she was so used to living, and the sad thing was, right now, she didn’t even know it. Raven knew that now, the only way she would be able to stay alive was to be turned into a full vampire; she couldn’t survive in that stage between the two, as her organs weren’t developed enough for either lifestyle, and inevitably, she would die a slow, torturous death if left to fend for herself. Although his eyes were grim, there was a hint of pity and apology in their depths as he looked up at her, steeling himself for what he knew he had to do. He hadn’t originally wanted to divulge his family’s well-kept secret to her, but now, it appeared her had no choice but to do so.

Seeing the panic written plainly in her face, he reached up with only brief hesitation to place his hands on either side of her face, steadying her head and fixing her gaze on his. “Miriam,” he said, his voice firm and almost commanding in quality as he tried to capture the entirety of her attention with his eyes and voice alone. “Miriam, calm down. Everything’s going to be alright, I promise.” He was a complete stranger to comforting other people, so he was essentially playing this whole situation by ear, hoping that he would succeed in reassuring her and talking her through this process, although he was just as new to it all as she was. “There’s…something that I need to tell you that might make all of this a little more clear to you, although I’d hoped that I wouldn’t have had to explain it to you in the first place.” His gaze was apologetic as he held hers. “It will probably be a bit of a shock to you, but…just try to bear with me and believe what I'm telling you. It’s the only way we’ll be able to ensure your health and safety, even if you don’t necessarily approve of it.”

Astraea’s expression had turned concerned as well as soon as she had heard the whimpers of distress from Miriam. The last thing she wanted was for the young woman to suffer unnecessarily, and this happened to fall right under that particular criteria. It sounded like she had been more affected than they had originally hoped after all, and she could tell simply by the conversation that Miriam was too far gone to simply be fixed by a good meal and a night’s rest. At Sole’s words, she nodded lightly, her expression rather brooding as she mulled over the situation, looking somewhat anxious about where this situation was going. “Yes, you were indeed,” she said, sounding a little troubled as she let his arm wrap around her, her own circling him to pull him close. “Something like this should never have happened to her, but now it seems like it’s not really up to her. Raven knows what he has to do; he’ll just have to work up the courage to actually do it. He’s never changed anyone before, and I know how difficult that first time can be, speaking from personal experience.”

She sighed lightly, pressing her forehead gently against his as she considered the current predicament. “No, we can’t just leave her the way she is now, but I trust Raven to do what he has to. I’m sure he’s capable of taking care of himself by now, even faced with a newly-changed fledgling. If he's not, he certainly needs to learn how to, and there's no better way than through a crash course in real life like this.” Astraea managed a light, half-hearted chuckle as she nudged her husband. “Keen on going out and hunting down this trespasser now all of a sudden, are we?” She grinned at him, her gaze teasing. “C’mon then. We’ll give the two of them a little time together to sort things out, and we can help them figure out whatever issues they run into after we get back, when we check on them. I wonder how the poor girl will take to the idea of our existence…”

[MillietheWarrior]

Miriam was very acutely aware of the painful ache in her lower abdomen and the overwhelming hunger that overtook her. She clutched at her stomach, soft sounds of distress issuing from between her lips. Her eyes was fuzzy and unfocused, and she could barely keep her head up to meet Raven’s gaze. The look on his face was enough to send a shiver down her spine; if Raven was worried then there was something wrong. Something terribly, terribly wrong. Her heart raced, head spinning and stomach protesting again and again until she was forced to grab the trash can from his hands. Her stomach purged itself of the human food she had just consumed, body convulsing violently as she shivered and leaned forward again, setting the waste basket back on the ground. “What-” she managed to choke out, but the question died on her lips when Raven took her face in his hands.

She was forced to meet his gaze, but all her fogged up mind could think about was the sound of his steady heartbeat and the blood that she knew pulsed beneath his skin. She was suddenly achingly hungry, and a fierce desire to sink her newly acquired fangs into his neck and taste the blood beneath hit her with such force, it almost sent her backwards. But his grip remained firm on her cheeks, and Miriam could only stare at the strong pulse she saw racing at his neck. Her hands absently reached up to cover his own, then began yanking softly, trying to tear his grip from her face, trying to break free so she could give into to the strangely provocative idea of sinking her fangs into his flesh. Heart hammering in  her chest, Miriam’s gaze darted to his face, then back to his neck, and then to his face again. She made a soft whimpering sound of distress as she struggled to break free. She didn’t seem to care that she had fangs when she was not supposed to, or that her body craved something unholy, or that she could no longer live like a human. She didn’t understand what was happening, nor did she know what it was.

All her mind registered now was that she was achingly hungry, and there was potential food sitting only inches away from her, just waiting to be tasted. She continued to struggle against his firm grip, hand grasping at his, trying to pry them from her face and neck, then reaching out to try and draw him closer. She might as well have been trying to move a rock; Raven didn’t budge, but Miriam’s struggles were not completely in vain. She managed to break free of his hold, staring at him for a few moments, before she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and dragging herself closer to him until her nose was buried in the crook between neck and shoulder. She inhaled deeply, the scent of soap and musky male mingling with the scent of his blood. It was intoxicating and alluring, and Miriam suddenly wondered why she’d been thinking of resisting getting close to him. He smelled…delicious.

She opened her mouth, instinct driving her when her mind and thoughts had nearly shut down from shock and pain and confusion. She made a soft mewling sound, one of distress and hunger, before her tongue darted out to trace his skin, and her fangs scraped lightly along the same path it had taken. Her instincts told her to sink her fangs in, to draw the life giving blood from him that she so desperately craved. But her body rebelled, and in it’s ‘in-between’ stage, it could process neither the blood or human food, one of which she would need to live. She was too far gone to still be human, but not yet far enough along to be completely vampire. She froze, unsure what to do when so many different desires and hungers coursed through her, confusing her instincts, her mind and her body. Her fangs dug into his skin with enough pressure to puncture, but the smell of blood, the coppery tang of it on her tongue, made her mind rebel, and she nearly flung herself away from him in an attempt to get away from the harsh reality that she refused to accept. Her eyes were wide with panic as she clutched a hand to her heart, feeling it racing in time with her mind and thoughts as it hammered in her chest.

“Raven,” she whimpered softly, something inside her telling her that she should not have been so hasty to retreat, and should have sunk her fangs deeper, while another side rebelled in disgust and horror. Her human mind warred with the vampire mindset that tried to invade, and she was wholly confused, and more frightened than she’d ever been in her entire life. “Raven, what-what is this? What’s happening? I don’t…I don’t understand!” Her voice had reached a fever-pitched whisper, panic seeping into her as she glanced at the door and wondered how difficult it would be to knock it down. “Please,” she pleaded softly, her gaze straying to his desperately. “Tell me what’s going on. Why…why…is this…h-happening?”



“Don’t worry,” Sole assured his wife, pressing a kiss to her temple as he pulled her close to him. “I’m always right about these kinds of things, you know. Or at least, about most things. Raven isn’t a coward, nor is he cruel. He won’t let her suffer needlessly. And he won’t kill her, that’s for certain. He’s never killed a thing in his life, not even a fly, I’d wager. If we give them some time and space, he’ll do what needs to be done, and have everything under control when we get back.” He let go to grab Astraea’s coat from beside the door and hold it out for her, before he slipped into his own black leather jacket. He shrugged it over his broad shoulders, and chuckled. “Lucky for him, she’s not an already super strong ARC trooper, or he’d have one hell of a problem with his fledgling, am I right?”

Sole shot his wife a cheeky grin, remembering the day she’d turned him into one of her own kind; he hadn’t regretted a second of that choice, except maybe the first few minutes, when he’d lost control and nearly drained her dry. That he regretted, most definitely. “Yes, quite keen. Although I’m tempted to let Raven go after him; after this, the poor boy is going to want to reek his revenge on the interloper. But we can’t just let him wander about the city unchecked. Who knows how many people he could kill or how many lives he could ruin? I don’t want anyone else ending up like Miriam.” He fell silent for a moment, before he opened the door to let the chilly night air hit their faces.

Sole breathed in the crisp, clean scent, and caught the taint of the intruder on the wind; it wouldn’t be difficult to trace him back to the scene of the crime, and then go from there. The scent trail or Miriam’s blood was strong, and it would provide the link they required to rid themselves of a dangerous nuisance. “Come on. It’s been ages since I’ve gone on a real hunt. I’m itching to get to kill something again…Just like the good ol‘ days.” His eyes glowed in the dark, an eerie red and black as he turned to smile at his wife, fangs flashing in the moonlight. It was time for a hunt.

[Flame]

If anything, Raven was just as worried and anxious as Miriam was, but the difference was that he knew exactly what was happening to her, although whether that was worse or better than her not knowing what was going on was questionable. When he had left the house a few hours ago, he hadn’t expected anything of any particular interest to happen, let alone this. Now, he was more deeply embroiled in a clash between two warring worlds than he could have ever imagined, armed with absolutely no experience, yet with the responsibility for a human life on his consciousness. Mentally, he cursed the trespasser who had triggered this whole disastrous chain of events; it was probably a good thing that it was his parents going after the culprit (he could still hear them talking, even through the door) and not him, as he couldn’t honestly say that he knew what he would have done to the rogue when he finally caught up to him. If one thing was for sure though, it was that it wouldn’t have been pretty. Albeit he’d never been pushed to kill anyone or anything in his life before, but the misery and suffering the intruder had caused Miriam was more than enough to drive the young vampire to extreme measures.

However, for the moment, his anger took a backseat to the concern that was still written plainly in his features. For one who was normally so seemingly impassive and detached, he seemed particularly worked up in this situation, whether that was due to the gravity of the issue, or perhaps just his worry for Miriam. He honestly wasn’t sure why he felt so responsible for her condition, or even why he cared so much about what her fate was; the only thing that was important to him now was somehow getting her through this ordeal, no matter what means he had to use. Raven felt small hands cover his as she tugged against his grip, and after a moment or two, relented and released her, thinking that he was likely making her uncomfortable with his uncharacteristic familiarity. A light flush returned to his cheeks once again at the thought, but he pushed his own embarrassment aside for a moment, refusing to let it get in the way of him doing what was best for her.

Raven had expected her to make a hasty getaway and withdraw from him after he had released her, but she completely caught him by surprise by flinging her arms around his neck instead and pulling herself against him, catching him completely off guard. His first instinct was to push her away and put as much distance between them as possible, but something stopped him, and instead, all he could do was stare down at her in shock for several long moments. He’d never really talked to many women in his life, let alone have one throw themselves at him, so to say that he was surprised would have been a major understatement. He wasn’t entirely sure about how he…felt about this situation. While on one hand, the sudden breach of the personal space he usually guarded so jealously both disconcerted and unsettled him, at the same time, it made him feel…odd inside. Not necessarily a bad ‘odd’, but more of a different ‘odd’. He quivered imperceptibly as the warm, feathery touch of her breath ghosted across his skin, feeling his breathing quicken slightly, his pulse racing in response to her proximity and the way her body pressed against his.

He seemed confused, unsure of why he suddenly felt how he did, but again, he refused to dwell upon it. He wanted to move, to push her back again so that he could actually talk to her, but when he tried to resist, he found himself unable to, held transfixed in place by some unseen force. Raven opened his mouth, about to speak, somehow protest against her actions, but he suddenly felt the unexpected sensation of her tongue trailing lightly against his neck, instantly striking him dumb once again as he instinctively tilted his head back slightly, allowing her easier access. A moment later, he felt the sharp, unmistakable jolt of fangs sinking into his flesh, and his entire body shuddered suddenly at the unanticipated feeling, his eyes closing as they darkened to a deeper, smokier hue, feeling his mind go blank as all rational thought fled him for a moment.

However, as quickly as it had happened, she was gone once again, tearing herself away from him in a frantic attempt to flee, escape what was rapidly becoming her new reality. At her sudden absence, his eyes snapped open once again, and acting on instinct, his arms flashed out to catch her as she sought to escape, grabbing her to pin her down beneath him on the bed. His grip was gentle but firm and unyielding, his hands pinning her wrists on either side of her head and keeping her from going anywhere as his gaze locked on hers. For a moment, he seemed slightly confused and conflicted, as if he wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he quickly shook himself to clear his mind once again. “Focus,” he growled, his voice suddenly deeper, more commanding, although it seemed as much an order for himself as it was for her. A warm trickle slowly worked its way down his neck, and from the scent, he could tell that it was his own blood that was slowly seeping from the two puncture marks that Miriam had left in his neck. For the moment though, he ignored it.

“Miriam, you were right when you said that your attacker was a ‘freak’. This might be difficult for you to believe, but the man who gave you those injuries tonight wasn’t human. It’s true, he did inject a poison of sorts into your blood, but it’s nothing of the likes you could have imagined.” Raven looked down at her, his gaze unwavering as it bore into hers, as if trying to read her reaction in her eyes alone. Briefly, he wondered how this news might hit her, but either way, he knew he would have to tell her. The paused stretched on for a moment as he tried to figure out the best way to break the unlikely facts to her, but finally, he settled for the most honest and straightforward approach possible and hoped for the best. “Do you want to know why your injuries looked the way that they did? It was because they were caused by fangs. Your attacker was a vampire.” There, the cold, hard fact was out in the open.

Taking a deep breath, he plowed on, hoping that Miriam would be open enough to take in what he was saying. “My guess is that he was trying to turn you into one of his own kind, most likely to enslave you or build a coven of his own, so he tried to bite you to put the venom that would do just that into your system. However, I stopped him before he could get quite that far. The bad news though, is that he seems to have gotten enough of it into you to begin to transformation, which explains your body’s rejection of ‘normal’ food and triggered what I assume to be your sudden craving for human blood. However, he didn’t inject enough to make the full change, so right now, you’ll caught somewhere between being a human and a vampire, and unable to live either lifestyle, since your body hasn’t fully developed either system.” He paused again, his gaze almost apologetic as he looked down at her, afraid of how hard the facts would hit her. “I’m afraid that once the transformation has begun, there’s no going back. The only way you can survive is to make the full change to being a vampire…The choice is entirely your own.” Here he fell silent, finally giving her a chance to absorb the information, waiting to see how she would take it.



“Mmm,” Astraea murmured in mild agreement against Sole’s shoulder as she cuddled against him, seeking comfort from his firm embrace. “I know he’ll be fine…but I can’t help worrying about them anyways. I guess it’s just what we mothers do.” It was true; although she knew that her son was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and would have no problem handling the situation, she was still concerned for him, even despite her own sound logic that told her otherwise. It seemed to just be hardwired into her; she tended to worry about those who were nearest and dearest to her, always had, and probably always would. As Sole went to fetch their coats, she reluctantly let go, deftly slipping into her jacket as he held it out for her. “And I suppose that’s true. Plus, she probably shouldn’t be too difficult to manage; after all, her new strength won’t kick in for a while, and since Raven’s considerably older than her, he’s probably proportionally stronger than she is as well.” She managed a small, faintly-amused smile as she too thought back on the day that she had changed him. “If anything, they should have an easier time of it than we did.”

At his comment about letting Raven take on the intruder for himself, Astraea snorted lightly. “I would hate to be that rogue right now, especially if we were to set Raven loose on him. I can only imagine what would be left of him when he was finished with him. But yes, I agree that we don’t have any time to waste, having seen what this trespasser is capable of.” She shook her head, tutting in mock disapproval. “No manners these days, these rogues. We’ll just have to take care of this little…problem ourselves this time around. We’ll teach him a thing or two about messing around on our turf…and a lesson he’ll learn quite well, I’m sure.” She smirked lightly, her blue eyes glinting darkly in the half-light. “Let’s just say that I’m sure it’s a mistake he won’t be making again. Ever.”

With that, she took off into the night, knowing that her husband was not far behind her. It was just like the old days, when they would track and hunt down bounties together, an invincible team that never failed to take down their assigned target. After all, there was very little out there that could stand against a deadly, highly intelligent and elusive vampire bounty hunter and a dangerous, well-trained, and extremely powerful ARC who also just happened to be a vampire as well. Anyone who made their hit list was assured to be either dead or captured within the week, and they never failed an assignment. The scent trail of Miriam’s blood was so clear to Astraea’s highly-attuned senses that it might as well have been a line of flashing lights that led straight to the scene of the crime, a spot in the middle of the now-deserted park. Here, her scent, mingled with Raven’s, crossed paths with one that was entirely foreign to her; the intruder. “So, how do we plan to interrupt our uninvited friend’s night of fun?” Astraea raised a questioning brow as she turned to face Sole, her eyes glittering in the dark in anticipation of the hunt, a small smirk adorning her sharp features.

[MillietheWarrior]

Miriam yelped as she was launched backwards onto the bed, 200 pounds of instinct driven vampire plowing into her and pinning her wrists beside her head. She struggled against his grip, body writhing and legs flailing as her head tossed back and forth, fighting in vain to break his grip. She made a low, keening whine in the back of her throat, her eyes squeezing shut for a brief moment as she was assaulted once more by his scent and the heady aroma of his blood. It hit her full force, and he was so close, she could practically taste it. His voice though, froze her in place, chest heaving with the effort to escape as she stared blankly up at him, body instinctually responding to the stronger of her species as she fell silent and submissive beneath him. The instinctual part of her mind said that it was to the stronger of her species that she must submit and obey, but the panicking side nearly outweighed both instinct and common sense. She wanted to run, to get away from the strange and warped reality which was slowly beginning to make sense to her. “O-okay,” she squeaked. “I’m focused, I’m focused.”

She wriggled her hands against his own, feeling as though she was held in place by iron bonds and not flesh and bone. She didn’t know if her words were meant to quell her rising panic, or appease the larger, stronger vampire that hovered over her. Everything inside of her screamed to run, but another part screamed to stay, and yet another warred with the desire to try to sink her fangs in and feast. “What do you mean?” she cried, her tone bordering on hysteria. “What do you mean he was a vampire?! That…that’s impossible! They don’t exist! They’re…they’re just figments of Hollywood’s imagination!” But even as she said it, she knew it was absolutely true. It all made sense; the fangs, the venom, the sickness, and her sudden, overwhelming desire to drink blood. And her sudden knowledge that this man above her was a more powerful member of her species…or soon to be species. She didn’t know how she knew, but his scent was suddenly crisper, sharper, and she was certain that the power she felt tightly coiled inside of him marked him as a vampire, as her possible creator, marked her as his fledgling, as his possible mate, or prodigy, and something inside of her recognized that he would not hurt her. She didn’t understand the new rush of knowledge and emotions and they overwhelmed her until she wanted to cry with frustration.

She could hear clearer, smell better, taste more vividly; everything was spinning out of control, her world was tilting on it’s axis until it didn’t make sense, and her mind snapped and shut down. She swiped her tongue across her lips, across the sharp points of her fangs, and felt the minute traces of his blood still lingering there. There was no coppery taste, no revulsion; just the thick, sweet taste of fine wine and spice. The rest of his words, of his explanation, was drowned out as a sudden rush of desire and hunger washed over her, nearly drowning her in their toxic sensations. She writhed against his grip again, arching her body to get closer to him, to his blood. She watched the droplets of the dark, crimson liquid seep down his neck to land on her borrowed shirt, staining it a deep burgundy, with riveted hunger. She whimpered in the back of her throat, before she finally managed to lift herself high enough to reach his neck (Which was a feat of acrobatics in and of itself). Her tongue darted out to slowly clean off the blood that had trailed down his neck, following it’s path up to the two small puncture marks she’d left in his skin and swirling her tongue over it to close them, though it was done purely on instinct. Her saliva was not enough to heal them, and they remained open and vivid against the darkness of his skin.

Her mind had blanked out, overwhelmed by hunger, by panic, and by instincts, and she was no longer thinking clearly, no longer able to resist what her body had begun to crave. “More,” she whispered against his neck, her breath fanning across his skin, warm and inviting. Her eyes had darkened to a deep, smoldering blue, no longer the bright, sky colored orbs they were moments ago. Using every last ounce of her strength, she used her legs to lever herself up higher, and sunk her fangs deep into the side of his neck, drawing a mouthful of blood in one long, deep pull, and feeling her heart nearly stop in her chest.

--------------

The night air was cool and crisp, and the mist of the fog clung to his hair and eyelashes as Sole glided along behind his wife, his eyes narrowed darkly. What Astraea said was true; Sole was out to make this rogue pay. “It’s the last lesson he’ll ever learn,” he growled, loud enough for his wife to hear the venom dripping from his voice. It took them only a matter of minutes to locate the scene of the crime and pick up the rogue’s trail. Sole sniffed the air, a low growl rumbling in his chest; he sounded like a dog on the hunt, ready to track down his prey and tear it limb from limb with whatever weapons he possessed. And Sole intended to do just that. “I have a few plans that involved ripping limbs and ruining his evening,” he mumbled, briefly turning his gaze to his wife with a faint flicker of amusement crackling through them. “He won’t be difficult to find. His scent is everywhere.” he sighed.

“Rogues these days; don’t they know when to get out of Dodge? You’d think this one would’ve been repelled by the boundaries we set up or at the very least, the scent of a small coven. Apparently, his hunger got the best of his common sense. Too bad for him.” Sole turned and strode off into the darkness, following the scent the loner left behind; it wasn’t difficult to track him. When the scent thinned and moved to a darkened alleyway, Sole glanced briefly at his wife. “He went up,” he murmured, his voice soft lest their quarry hear them. With a well executed leap, he soared up to the fire escape, landing with a feather light touch that barely sent the metal shaking. Sole mentally rejoiced at his vampire skills; he’d never had anything like this when he was a normal human ARC. He might’ve been good, but he’d never been this good. With another rwell aimed leap, he’d scaled the rest of the fire escape and landed lightly on the ledge of the rooftop. The wind buffeted his form, and Sole briefly glanced down at his wife to make sure she was following, before he turned a dark, smoldering gaze on the person they’d been searching for.

The rogue seemed startled to see Sole, his cold, granite features twisting in confusion and shock. “Who…Are you?” he managed, and instinct had him backing away from this lone vampire who radiated anger and hostility. He had no idea there was another one right behind him. “What do you want?” Sole tilted his head,  narrowing his gaze for effect, and flashed the rogue a fanged smile. “I believe,” he drawled darkly. “That you are trespassing. You see, this here is our town. Everything in and around it belongs to us. And we don’t take kindly to interlopers who cause our family grief and prey on innocent victims. And we certainly don’t take kindly to vampires who harm their prey unnecessarily. So, as much as it pains me to say it…I’m afraid you have to be destroyed. We can’t risk you running around terrorizing the people in our territory. So if you promise not to make this difficult-”

Sole stepped off the ledge, cracking his knuckles as he stalked towards the rogue. “-I’ll promise to make it nice and painless.” The rogue took one look at Sole, turned, and fled in fear across the rooftops. Sole rolled his eyes, glancing over his shoulder at his wide, whom he knew had arrived in time to see the fleeing rogue. “Oops. Looks like I can’t keep my promise… “ He flashed her a fanged smile, holding out a hand in front of him; Astraea was the faster of the two. She’d catch him easily. “I love it when they run…After you, dear.”

[Flame]

Raven’s grip was unyielding as he held her down, unsure of exactly what she might do should he happen to risk letting her go. His hold tightened slightly as she writhed beneath him, clearly trying to escape his grasp, although he wasn’t about to simply let her get away without a fight, and one that he had no doubt he could win. He didn’t like the idea of forcing her against her will, but in reality, he knew that Miriam wasn’t entirely herself right now, and it was his job to keep her from somehow unintentionally hurting herself. His own welfare he wasn’t particularly concerned about; he was certain he could handle anything she could dish out, whether human or vampire, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still potentially dangerous in this half-frenzied, half-panicking state. His expression was firm and impassive, laced with an undercurrent of grimness as he bore down on her, his grip and countenance brooking no protest.

He was half surprised when he felt her suddenly fall still and submissive beneath him, his expression half perplexed as he studied her almost curiously. If anything, he certainly hadn’t been expecting her to turn so docile all of a sudden, and he almost released her in surprise before he caught himself, knowing that this abrupt change in behavior might only be temporary. For a moment, he seemed lost, as if unsure of what he was supposed to do, now that he had achieved authority and dominance over her; he had expected her to put up a much bigger fight against him. Some instinctive part of him that he hadn’t known existed before suddenly seemed to stir to life, and he could hear it whisper in the back of his mind, telling him that this was exactly where he wanted her, that he now held complete and utter control over her (at least physically, if not mentally), and that he could do whatever he so desired without so much as a protest from her.

For a moment, he looked thoughtful, mulling over this strange new revelation as he stared down at her, his expression suddenly distant, almost foreign, a new, unfamiliar glint in his now-dark eyes. He seemed like a completely different person for a moment, not the man who had come to her rescue or the one who had been so concerned about her welfare; instead, a creature only concerned with its own gain and what it wanted seemed to have taken over his mind for a moment, an unfathomable hunger glimmering deep within his gaze. However, she suddenly writhed against him again, and just as quickly as it had come, the strange fog which had overcome his senses was gone again, leaving him somewhat perplexed as he blinked, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Raven was caught by surprise when he felt her tongue brush lightly along his neck, and he started slightly, glancing down at her, half marveling at the fact that she had managed to get that far, despite the vice grip he had on her wrists. He felt his body react, completely against his own accord, to her touch, trembling slightly as his hold on her tightened almost warningly, a low growl rumbling softly in his chest. He could sense that whatever rational thought she had was slowly slipping away, giving in to the feral, animalistic vampire side that was steadily taking over her mind. “Stay with me, Miriam,” he growled, his voice deep and commanding, although exactly what he meant by those words, even he didn’t know. Perhaps he meant the sane part of her mind that still just barely clung on…or perhaps something entirely different. However, a moment later, he knew that she was beyond his reach, the Miriam that he had known completely consumed by the monster that now raged inside her, screaming for release.

He knew exactly what he had to do; it just didn’t sit right with him though, that it wasn’t a decision for her to make, but either way, she had no choice but to turn, or die in agony, and if there was one thing that he couldn’t do, it was to watch her suffer and slowly waste away, trapped between two irreconcilable worlds. He only hoped that she wouldn’t hold it against him for turning her, and that she would soon come to terms with what she had become, once she came back to herself once again. A half-muffled moan of pain tore from his throat as a sudden agony ripped through the side of his neck and he flinched away, only to find that whatever it was was lodged deeply in his flesh, unyielding and unforgiving in its hold. The realization that Miriam had sunk her fangs into his neck hit him as a simultaneous, inexplicable wave of hunger and desire crashed over him, almost overwhelming his senses with a consuming mixture of pain and pleasure. Because she wasn’t fully vampire yet, her bite was still half agony for him, and he fought the urge to tear himself away from her. A deep growl that was both tormented and possessive rumbled in his throat as he all but crushed her between himself and the bed, fighting to keep ahold of his mind and his thoughts as a whole slew of new and undeniable emotions flooded over him.

Raven knew that if he didn’t do what he had to – and soon – he would lose what control he still held over himself, and whatever hope was left for Miriam would be lost. He could feel his heart racing, the draw of the blood leaving his body as her hunger took over her actions. “I’m sorry,” he whispered faintly against her ear, pity and apology in his voice for the choice that wasn’t hers, the future she would have the face, and the pain that she would have to go through. Putting hesitation behind him, he let his instincts guide him to her neck, drinking in the fresh scent of rain and the aroma of flowers that hardly masked the warm, tantalizing perfume of her blood. Without warning, he struck, his fangs plunging deep into her neck as he sank them into her flesh, feeling the venom that would fully change her into one of his kind seeping from his fangs into her blood. He could taste the alluring taste of her blood on his tongue, and it took all the control he had not to drain her right there and then. Instead of releasing her after he’d injected the venom though, his fangs remained firmly lodged in her neck, holding her down, refusing to let her go. He wanted to ensure that he had full control of her as she underwent the transformation, both to ensure that she wouldn’t hurt herself in the process and to give himself the opportunity to subdue her should she try to attack him.

---

Indeed, the scent of the rogue seemed to be everywhere she turned as Astraea stood where Raven had first come across him. “Sloppy, sloppy,” she said disparagingly as she shook her head in mock disappointment. “The newer fledglings these days are really letting go of themselves,” she commented mildly. She nodded in agreement with her husband as they set off on the trail that the intruder had so blatantly left behind him, her pace a sauntering gait as she loped after their prey, moving with the practiced grace of a dancer. “No manners these days, all of them. I swear, you’d think he’d have high-tailed it out of here after Raven made it clear that his presence wasn’t welcome.” She rolled her eyes in exasperation, but in reality, she was almost glad for the rogue’s stupidity. It gave her an excuse to go out hunting once again. “Well, I suppose it’s up to us to reinforce that message then, huh?”

They tracked the vampire to a dark alleyway, and Astraea watched as Sole took off up the fire escape after the culprit, following closely behind him. As she made her way up behind him, he could hear his deep, daunting voice as he addressed their unwanted guest, and the higher-pitched, slightly frightened tone of the other. A small smirk crossed her features as she listened to their dialogue; Sole had a way of striking terror into the very hearts of those he spoke to without having to move a finger, and she loved it (not to mention the fact that she found it highly amusing as well). That alone was usually enough to get the target in question to cooperate, take off running in panic in the other direction, or on occasion, wet themselves. As Astraea emerged onto the rooftop behind her husband, she saw the rogue sprinting away from them, clearly under the impression that he could somehow elude them in their own territory.

She snorted lightly in cynical amusement as she watched him, obviously not too concerned with the challenge of catching him again. “You might,” she said in response to Sole’s words, “but personally, I find them rather boring. After all, I’ve yet to find anyone who’s been able to give me as good of a run as you did. Takes all the excitement out of the hunt when they’re dead before you can even get started.” She chuckled lightly, flashing him a dark grin, her sapphire eyes catching the moonlight as she winked teasingly. “With pleasure,” she replied before taking off across the rooftops after their runaway target, navigating them with the ease of someone who had been doing so for her whole life.

He wasn’t difficult to keep up with, as expected; naturally, Astraea was built for speed and agility, not to mention the fact that she’d been around the block a few times more than their unfortunate friend, so she knew a thing or two more about the layout as well as her own abilities. At one point, she seemed to break off the chase, but instead of following the rogue, she chose to take the higher ground, taking a detour which quickly allowed her to overtake him and swing around in front of him without him seeing her. As he rounded a corner, she dropped down directly in front of him, effectively cutting off his path as he skidded to a halt to avoid colliding into her, his eyes darting frantically back and forth, seeking another escape. “It seems we haven’t been properly introduced, my friend,” she said, her tone almost lazy as she flashed him a wicked smirk. “But it seems you’ve met both my son and my husband. Seems only fitting that you acquaint yourself with me as well, no? I’m afraid, though, that it might be the very last thing you ever do, so let’s make this worthwhile, shall we? But perhaps not, you seem like you’re in a hurry to get somewhere. Maybe you don’t have time for niceties after all. What a shame.” She slowly began to approach the intruder, her gait slow and unhurried, which only seemed to make him even more uneasy as he turned to retrace his steps and get away from her.