[ToxicShadow]

"Such a shame that you wont join me. It's much more comfortable on this side of the room, I can assure you," Sadriel said with a smile toward the hunter. It was obvious that his tactic hadn't worked to the degree that he had wanted it but there was no doubt in his mind that some of his comments agitated the hunter. That was one small step forward. Any points that he could gain in his favor, in any amount, were cherished things. He could smile easily now, his masking of his true emotions coming easier now that he had given his mind the time to work against his instincts. He couldn't afford to do anything irrational.

For a few moments, Sadriel's gleaming red eyes stared right into those belonging to the mortal whom so recklessly chose a lifestyle of hunting his natural predator. When it came to control, it seemed that the two were in a stale-mate. The hunter felt as though he had the upper hand, but the vampire had another way of looking at it. He waved his hand once causally, speaking, "I suppose that you go on, since you seem so anxious. I just have to tell you, that I despise quick and painless. I'm afraid I'm a tad sadistic so, if I'm going to die, I'd much rather member how I died while I'm burning in the pits of hell."

"Actually," he raised his hand up suddenly, pointing one finger up as though he'd just remembered something. "Even though you currently have a joker in your hand, I happen to believe that you're not a very good player. That joker is only of use to you so long as it is not spent. If you spend it, then I, the better player, will have the upper hand. Now, how about you stick that in that cocky head of yours, before I decide I'd rather not die and rip your head off." All the while, Sadriel began making hand gestures common with his speaking, shifting his weight back and forth. If he remained still, it would have been easier to read his moves if he decided to attack. If he kept moving naturally, it would be harder to tell just what he was about to do next. "Now, if you can accept that I'm still the stronger player, letting you win, then I'd be more then happy to get this deal moving."

[Flame]

”I can certainly arrange that, if it’s what you’d like,” the hunter sneered in reply. He certainly had all the tools to make the vampire’s death a very long, drawn-out, and agonizing one indeed, and right now, he was extremely tempted to. Torturing this silently furious vampiress just didn’t have the same effect. Now, if he could only draw Sadriel in close enough…but how? ”Yes, I am impatient. After all, I don’t have all of eternity to sit around and waste my time waiting for you.” This vampire was really starting to grind on his nerves: at first, it was all in good fun, but now that his plans weren’t going exactly as he had hoped or expected, he was beginning to get frustrated. He tried to cool his irritation, but after all, he was only human, and emotions tended to be unruly things.

”Well it doesn’t matter who it is that’s the better ‘player’,” he snapped back, annoyed. ”I have nothing to lose, whereas you seem to have very much to lose indeed, in this situation.” He jerked his thumb in Juliette’s direction, his sneer now permeated with annoyance. ”Now, stop dallying and playing your fancy word games. I grow tired of this nonsense. Make your decision, or else I’ll make it for you.” He took a warning step towards the female, blade lifting slightly in a mute threat. ”After all, if I can at least take one of you monsters with me should I die, then it won’t be in vain.” He would prefer that the one vampire that he took with him be the male, but should worst come to worst, he wouldn’t be too picky. After all, he knew very well the imminent danger of being in such close proximity to these creatures, but it was what he did for a living. ”So frankly, it doesn’t matter who’s better at your little logic game. Either way, you lose, whether it’s her life or yours.” That merciless smirk was back on his face once again as he stared back at Sadriel, his ice-blue eyes challenging. ”So now, make your move…or I’ll make mine.”

[ToxicShadow]

All of his talking had seemed not to go to waste, though he hadn't managed to get the hunter to act out toward him hastefully. Sadriel had opted for the hunter to do so. His not doing so went against the vampire's plans. In fact, this whole thing was really against the vampire's plans. He hadn't initially intended to allow himself in being found out, not in any way, shape or form. The hunter wasn't supposed to see him coming in the first place. Keeping his manners, even as loosely as he was now, was a most difficult task. He was being forced to play his cards differently if he wanted to win without any losses. He nearly spoke out against Juliette being of value to him but, if he did, he feared that she would be injured just so that the hunter could prove him wrong. It was such a delicate situation... How annoying it was to have some attachment to another creature. This was why he'd never grown close to anyone. But... it was too late to back out now. He was already attached to having the vampiress around him on his ventures.

Sadriel sighed, seeming as though he had given in to the hunter's threats. "Fine. You have your lack of a heart to blame for your not understanding anything between us," he eyed Juliette only briefly, his eyes apologetic. "I will be yours, once I know she is safe. Only then. I cannot place my trust in you to uphold our end of the deal if I'm already in your custody." This was his one last chance to get the hunter's attention slightly swayed so as to make his move. He just needed him out of Juliette's reach so he could attack. He was willing to take the hit, but she was too weak to withstand much of one.

[Flame]

The hunter seemed to consider Sadriel’s offer for a moment. This was certainly not the situation he had wanted to put himself in, but there was nothing he could do to change that now: all he could do was to make the best of the situation, and salvage what he could. Perhaps, if he played his hand just right, he could still kill two birds with one stone, and be done with both of these creatures. There was a moment’s pause as he pondered over his options. There weren’t many. Either he could go with the male vampire’s suggestion…or he could do things his way. On second thought though, trying to force the deal through violence could turn out to be a very bad decision on his part. If it came down to a hand-to-hand battle, as experienced as he was, the hunter was not certain that he could – in fact, he was fairly sure that he couldn’t – win against the physically stronger immortal.

”Fine,” he finally replied, after a drawn-out period of silence. ”We’ll play this your way.” There was a brief glint of metal catching light as he procured a small key, holding it in one hand while the other remained firmly wrapped around his knife. ”I will free your precious pet, on the condition that you put yourself in her place as soon as she is unbound.” His eyes were piercing as he fixed a sharp gaze on the vampire. ”Try anything funny, and I can guarantee you, she’ll be deader than undead before she ever leaves this room.” With that said, he sidled over to Juliette, who graced him with a venomous look, but ignoring her, he set about unchaining her. His hands were busy and his back turned to Sadriel, but he hoped that if the male decided to make a move, he’d still be close enough to take out the female before being terminated himself. If nothing of the sort happened, his plan was to keep Juliette at hand until he was certain that Sadriel was secure before releasing her. She was too weak in this condition to pose a serious threat to him, and after all, she would not be difficult to hunt down once again and kill in the future, in comparison to her male counterpart. For now, the hunter's main focus was to put an end to the ancient, once and for all.

[ToxicShadow]

"For her sake, I am a man of my words," Sadriel confirmed his decision with the hunter, nodding his head. "When she is unbound, I will take her place." It was a risky thing to say or to do, which was why he never actually planned to keep to his words. He made it seem as though he was submitting, he made it seem as though he would do anything to keep the vampiress safe, while he was simply awaiting his chance. He had two options when it came down to attacking: either when the hunter's back was turned to him or when Juliette was entirely free and he then could appear to move into place. Was it safer for her to be in the chains or in the hunter's hands when he attacked? It was hard to say...

Click, click. There was no more time to think, as he watched the hunter unlock the bindings that held his companion to the wall. His calm composure could no longer be kept. All of the rage Sadriel had being forcing down his own throat was about to be unleashed. In the instant where the hunter's back still partially turned when the female was just released, he launched himself forward, side-swiping the hunter. His attack was aimed specifically to weaken the human, for Sadriel was sure he couldn't kill him in one shot. He wanted to drag out the hunter's demise anyway.

One hand latched onto the lower half of his leg, the other grabbing onto his body. The force of the vampire's attack would send them both tumbling to the ground, but it wasn't pain from the impact or the fact a vampire had him pinned the hunter would have to worry about. He'd have to face the fact that a vampire just severely broke his leg, his bones snapped and his muscles and flesh tore, nearly ripping it off of his body. It certainly wouldn't be a pretty sight to behold, but the hunter would be forced to realize just whom he was messing with.

[Flame]

Juliette felt the soft click of metal as the cuffs around her wrists release, finally freeing her from the constant discomfort of having silver against her bare skin. As soon as she was free, she took half a step forward, intent on exacting some terrible, unspeakable revenge upon this man who had spent the last few days tormenting her every moment. A wave of nauseating exhaustion and weakness suddenly struck her seemingly out of nowhere and she wavered for a moment, the abuse and lack of feeding finally taking its toll on her. With a low snarl that would have been frustrated, had she had the energy to put more force behind the sound, she subsided once more, using the wall for support as the shackles were no longer there to hold her upright.

The hunter did not even have the opportunity to turn around after freeing his captive when he heard the approach of the elder, an outcome which he had feared might transpire. Having no time to whirl and guard himself against an attack, he instead lunged for the female, the silver blade darting towards her. He had either been aiming for her heart or her throat, but the sudden impact of the male vampire’s solid frame colliding with his jerked his whole torso, causing the knife to plunge into the flesh just under her collarbone instead. He clung onto the blade, desperate to keep a hold on to the only weapon which he had on hand, dragging it with him and simultaneously through skin and muscle until it was abruptly jerked out of his grip as the tip of the blade caught on a wooden stub coming out of the wall and firmly sticking there. There was a scream of agony as his leg was forcefully snapped, almost torn from its socket in a gory display of furious bloodlust. He clawed fruitlessly at the stronger immortal, but weaponless, he knew that he didn’t stand a chance against the wrathful vampire.

When the silver blade plunged clean through her flesh to the other side, the only sound the vampiress was capable of was a soft cry of pain as pure, white, untainted agony tore through her body, wiping every other coherent thought and emotion from her mind. In desperation, the hunter had dragged the knife through her flesh until the blade had bitten into the wood in the wall, spearing Juliette against the stone. Through the pain, it took what little strength she had left not to collapse, which would only have caused even more damage, let alone pull the weapon out. So, Sadriel had been right, she thought absently through the suffocating haze of agony as rich, wine-red liquid trickled from the hilt of the silver blade. Vampires could bleed after all.

[ToxicShadow]

Claw as he might at Sadriel's form, the hunter's attempt to defend himself against the vengeful vampire was a fruitless attempt. This was a massacre. One which only a single human would suffer, in exchange for his capturing and torturing the vampiress Sadriel had somewhat recklessly allowed himself to become attached to. It was reckless, indeed. This very night proved such a thing, now that he had come face-to-face with a hunter that actually held an upper hand of any sort over him. However, these were not the thoughts in his mind. The male immortal's entire function now was to protect Juliette and dispose of the despicable human creature. His actions were influenced both by that need to protect, as well as the rage he felt toward the hunter for setting up this little "trap" of his.

A vicious, murderous snarl ripped from Sadriel's throat as the horrible sound of Juliette's agonized cry shattered his intense focus on the mortal he fought against. In less than a second, he took in the female's current state, she staked to the wall and oozing blood from the wound that pierced through her body. If he was already in a state of feeling rage, one could say that one event sent him over the edge. Mercilessly, he clawed at the hunter's flesh, finally gripping his shoulder in one hand and pressing his head down against the floor with the other. The sheer strength difference between the two made this an easy fight to call.

The vampire had held every intention to drag things out, to prolong the hunter's death and cause him to suffer a greater agony than that he'd made Juliette, but he was hasty now. Juliette wouldn't turn out well if he wasted too much time. He yanked the man's shoulder forward until he heard an oh-so-pleasant snap, dislodging and at least fracturing his shoulder. Red eyes burned as he stared down into the face of the man who had just held every intention of killing him and his partner of sorts. A smirk slipped onto his face. "You should have chosen your victims wisely. Tonight, you meet your end. Consider yourself a lucky man that I've chosen not to make you suffer," and, with those hateful words growled, it was over. Sadriel grabbed the hunter's neck, twisting it to one side and inevitably snapping the poor man's spinal cord. Death in nearly an instant.

Sadriel left his victim on the floor to rot, instantly jumping to Juliette's aid. In that moment, the raging fire within his eyes was burning out, washing away, and showing something akin to worry. "I'm sorry that it took me so long to find you." He spoke softly, his words only choked up so as to resist the scent of the blood that poured from her body. It wasn't human blood, but her blood had appealed to him then, and still did now. "This is going to hurt," he added, forcing his hand around the hilt of the silver blade that stuck out of her, as uncomfortable as it was to have the silver so close to him. Of course it would hurt! But... he didn't want to hurt her. He pressed his other hand around the wound, pressing her as gently as he could against the wall so she didn't move as he pulled the blade from it's place, freeing her.

[Flame]

Juliette could only remember one other instance in which she had experienced such pure, untainted, mind-shattering pain, so powerful that it blocked all other coherent thoughts from going through her mind. Ironically, Sadriel had been there then as well, except at that time, so many years ago, he had been the cause of her agony, mercilessly leaving her to be ravished by the inexorable thirst and bloodlust which had eventually taken over her whole body. This seemed to be a twisted replay of those events, a sort of déjà vu which she was now experiencing as she fought against the wave after wave of pain which wracked her frame. Maybe it was just the anguish which was making this whole scene feel so disturbingly familiar, but there was one key difference that set this experience apart from the other. This time, her tormentor had become her savior, a turn of events that might have caught her interest at any other time, but now, all her pain-ravaged mind could comprehend was the inescapable torment that held her as its prisoner, powerless in its grip.

She was oblivious to the furious, if one-sided, battle raging nearby, waging her own war against the darkness which beckoned so invitingly to her, eager to engulf her within its depths. No, if she gave in to unconsciousness now, the additional damage caused by the blade lodged in her body would doubtlessly be fatal, and her sleep would be one which she would never again awaken from. Just a few weeks ago, she would not have cared whether she lived or died, had she been placed in this same situation, but of its own accord, her body seemed unwilling to give in to the unlikely odds, and continued to fight the seemingly impossible battle against death. In fact, it was nothing short of amazing that she had even lasted this long: having a blade of silver plunged through the body of a vampire was generally more than enough to finish it off. Juliette could feel her strength ebbing away rapidly though as the blood continued to trickle from the wound, and it gradually became harder and harder to hold onto that ever more elusive thread of consciousness, legs threatening to give in to inevitable defeat.

Suddenly, a half-familiar voice, like a catch of a long-forgotten song, spoke softly nearby, but try as she might, Juliette could not muster the strength to look up. Gentle hands pressed against the wound, holding her steady against the wall at her back. In a fluid motion, the trapped blade was freed from its sheath, and despite the pain which lanced through her frame afresh, she could do no more than wince in protest. As soon as the invasive presence of the silver stake was gone though, she breathed a soft sigh of relief: the pain was still there, but it had been alleviated by a hundredfold. After what had felt like an eternity, her tensed form finally eased, Sadriel’s supporting hand the only thing keeping her from sinking to the ground. Finally, after three days of torment, she felt safe. ”Thank you.” The words were hardly more than a whisper of air, passing through barely parted lips before she gave in to the beckoning darkness sinking into warm, unfeeling oblivion.


{Sorreh ‘bout the long wait. Finally managed to pull off a post that I hope doesn’t sound too…maudlin. xD
And to all you sneaky readers (yeah, don't think I can't see you x3): no, she’s not dead, merely unconscious – well, not that she was alive to begin with, but you get what I mean. o3o}

[ToxicShadow]

Hoisting Juliette's limp body into his arms, as gently as a vampire could despite her also being such a creature, Sadriel set on escaping the basement, if anything. The scent of both the hunter's blood and the vampiress' blood was enough to overwhelm even him. Once inside the upper part of the hunter's lair, some miner degree away from the delicious scent of mortal food, the vampire found himself sitting on the floor, holding the fainted woman in his arms with her supported against his chest. He was aware that Juliette was dying, or was very close to it. If she kept loosing blood at the rate she was, her wound would never have a chance to heal and she would pass on to wherever a damned soul may go. He tore at his pristine, neatly kept blazer until he'd formed strips of cloth long enough to wrap around Juliette's petite frame. As hastefully as he could, which was quite a considerable speed, he'd bandaged up her wounds in his makeshift manner, hoping that it would at least ease the blood flow enough to keep her from slipping away. The white cloth quickly darkened with her blood seeping into it, and he still had no time to waste.

Up again, carrying his fallen fledgling, Sadriel ran. There was no place like home, no place safer for a vampire that he could imagine. It didn't take too terribly long, running as fast as his legs would carry them, but even an hour or two was a risky, considerable amount of time, given Juliette's situation. His home was an estate somehow hidden away from most of the world, when not being all that far from it. It was a perfect dwelling for a vampire, somewhere mortals wouldn't touch, but close enough to their world to feed when hunger drove him to. He may have traveled often, but there was always a home to return to, despite it being empty most of the time.

When Juliette would awake, she would find herself in his safe haven. It was, perhaps, the one place she never tracked him to. At least, not inside. He had laid her in a large bed in one of the guest rooms, removing her torn top and bandaging her wounds properly. She would probably be mad at him for having her shirtless, maybe even furious, but there was no other way to tend to her wounds well enough with it there. Besides, it wasn't as if he was interested in her that way, right? Ah... Not now, anyway. Besides, he'd covered her up to her shoulders with a thick, rich colored blanket. With her on the brink of life and death, nothing mattered but saving her. And so, he sat at her bed side, uttering words only she could hear, trying to coax her from her sleep. He brushed a hand against the side of her face, it even more pale and cold with the loss of blood. She was a beautiful creature, indeed, somehow even more charming now with her sharper, venomous features of a predator. He'd grown far more attached to her than he had ever meant to.

"Juliette... You must awake... You're not allowed to die..."

[Yay for cruddy posts! 8D Ah, you deserved a reply, so I had to wrestle one up while I could. -pets Sadriel's face- Poor little thing being more attached than he should have been. DX Your life would have been so much easier alone. -snugs Juliette- And woman, no dying. D :< ... xP]

[Flame]

Juliette remained blissfully unconscious throughout the duration of being transported between the hunter’s lair and Sadriel’s mansion. A week and a half without feeding, now coupled with the heavy loss of blood she’d just suffered, should have been more than enough to end her existence, yet by some unspoken miracle, she’d been able to cling on to that tiny, fragile thread of life, the only thing that stood between her and eternal darkness. The weak, fluttering movement of her chest was the only sign that showed that she had yet to succumb to death, but as time dragged on by, she slipped further and further from the mortal realms and towards the land from which none returned. In a feeble stand, her body prevented her from awakening while her wound was being bound, keeping her from suffering more pain than she already had.

Surprisingly, it was the gentle touch of a hand on her face which stirred her from unconsciousness, although the tidal wave of smothering weakness which blanketed her as soon as she awoke prevented her from moving. A voice, hazy at first, then slightly clearer and more intelligible as Juliette concentrated upon the sound, murmured softly nearby, the words a command, though both gentle and pleading. “And since when did I ever obey your orders?” Her voice was a mere whisper, for she could muster nothing stronger, but despite the dry, parched quality that accompanied her words, there was a faint undercurrent of amusement. Tired, golden eyes blinked open to settle upon Sadriel’s own, dimmer than their usual bright, burning shade, but they still glimmered with that same flame, if somewhat diminished. Juliette fell silent for a moment, merely gazing up at her creator, mentor, and now savior, with a mild, searching look, as if she were regarding him in a new light.

“It seems that now, my life is indebted to you,” she finally said, her gaze never wavering from Sadriel’s face. She winced lightly as pain lanced through her chest. “You know, at one point, I would have given anything in the world to have a chance at ending your existence…” She paused, her eyes thoughtful and brooding. “And yet you came to my rescue, regardless of that knowledge.” Juliette paused once again to catch her breath; she could feel what little strength she had trickling slowly away. Her time was short, but there were questions that she had to ask of him, had to know the answers to. “What possessed you to come searching for me?”

[ToxicShadow]

Sadriel's eyes had not wavered away from Juliette's face long, only long enough to close his eyes and tune himself into the faint, wavering beats of her already dead heart. The possibility of the already dead being able to die would have normally been amusing for the older creature to ponder over, who had destroyed younger, weaker vampires more than just a few times in his eternal life, but that was normally. He'd never faced a moment where he didn't want someone to die, aside from when he was Juliette's potential killer, some thirty-or-so years ago.  History was repeating itself.

When her words touched his ears, Sadriel's eyes flew open. It didn't matter what she said or how terrible her voice sounded so close to her death, she was speaking! She was awake once more, and that meant that there was still a chance of survival! Had Sadriel been any other man than Sadriel, he surely would have either cried in glee or recklessly pulled Juliette up into a hug. But, alas, Sadriel was Sadriel, and the most she was going to get out of him was a set of widened eyes, relief washing into them and them alone. He was who was and he still tried to mask most of every emotion that he felt.

He pulled his hand away from her face in hurry, a second too late. "You'll obey me when it's a matter of life and death, Juliette. I'm your master now, remember? Or did your reckless run-in with death make you forget that?" His voice was on the sour side, though, inside, his excitement could have been compared to that of a child, deprived of it for years, finally getting to taste chocolate for the first time. Or, maybe that wasn't quite right... He was truly terrible at knowing what any of these kind of feelings felt like.

Still, the vampire's eyes never left those belonging to the vampiress. Even in her state, her golden eyes still burned with the flame he'd found so interesting about her.  It seemed as if that fire could never be dosed, and it was proven more and more as she forced herself to keep speaking. He could only listen to her so long, before he'd seen enough signs of what little strength she had begin to fall away. "Hush. There will be plenty of time to ask your questions and get your answers - you're not dying," he assured. He refused to let her settle into the idea of death.

"Now, come then." He slipped in closer beside her on the bed, it having more than enough room for both of them. "Sit up," he instructed, helping her to do so with gentle hands. "You are dying. You are lucky you aren't dead, and you should be grateful." He then uncovered her entirely, moving what blanket hadn't already fallen away in her moving to sit up. With great ease, particularly because she was too weak to really resist him, he scooped her up carefully and set her in his lap with her body crossing his. He explained, "The only way I can think for you to survive is to drink from my blood," and he moved away the hair from his neck, exposing it entirely to Juliette. He closed his eyes. "If you don't, you will die. I can't have that."

[Flame]

Golden eyes seemed amused when Sadriel finally became aware of the fact that she was conscious once again. Even though he displayed no outward signs of gladness regarding her current state (which was an improvement over being either dead or unconscious), she could see the faint change in his expression from one of worry to one of relief. She also happened to catch onto that awkward moment when he tried to withdraw the hand that was gently caressing her face, in the hopes of being able to get away undetected. Juliette suppressed a small, amused smile, deciding not to consciously try and make him feel more self-conscious than he already did.

At his first words, the young woman chuckled lightly, although quickly stopped again to avoid a fit of coughing which bubbled up in her chest as soon as she did. “You may be my master nominally,” she commented, eyes dancing mischievously, “but I don’t believe that Life and Death play by the same rules.” That raised a good question though; how had she managed to evade death’s grasp for this long? By all rights, she should have been long gone by now, and yet here she was, making cracks about it. Was it, perhaps, fate? Chance? The will to survive? Or perhaps Sadriel’s desire for her not to die really did have something to do with it?

When Sadriel hushed her, Juliette did indeed fall silent, partially out of a half-reluctant obedience, and half out of the waves of sheer exhaustion which continued to wash over her. She was rather surprised when he seated himself next to her on the bed and scooped her up as easily as one would a rag doll. After all, she currently had no neither the desire nor the energy to fight him. Juliette let her head rest against his shoulder, lacking the strength to hold herself upright. Her dark, raven-black hair half obscured her face as she sat, cradled and supported by his arms and body. His unexpected proposition though, caused her gaze to flick up to his face, her eyes inscrutable. Had he not mentioned once before that the sharing of blood between vampires was an extremely personal event and one which illustrated an implied bond between the two individuals? “Isn’t your life, and therefore, your blood, considerably more valuable than mine? And what if something were to go wrong?” She spoke slowly, thoughtfully, her eyes never leaving his. "After all, my existence is rather...inconsequential. Is it really worth all the trouble and effort of saving?"

[ToxicShadow]

Sadriel's burning eyes fluttered open, though he dared not to look at Juliette directly for she was not allowed to see what may have rested within them. More so than the vampire was capable of comprehending, he wasn't prepared for the woman to die. He'd killed her once, he robbed her of her mortal life, but, even so, he was determined to control the fate of her life once more. He wasn't going to allow her immortal life to slip away too, not if there was anything that he could do about it.

His words were just above a murmur, though they could be plainly heard by creatures such as they, what with their acute senses. "It's not an exact science. I have drank from your blood to sustain my life, and I have killed you. Now it is only right that you drink from my blood, and keep your life... what is left of it... what little I didn't take." He ventured to look into her eyes when he finished speaking, trying to see through them and read something there, but there was nothing. She was keeping it all to herself. In his eyes, she could see some sort of deeply rooted remorse - an emotion that Sadriel had long since forgotten. "I told you before that I didn't want you to die, that hasn't changed. It's only grown stronger," he hurried on to say. Her time was ticking away, and they were just wasting it by talking as they were. "Why would anyone question as to why someone was trying to save their life? Just be grateful and get on with it. Hold your questions for when it's done." His words, at last, seemed to mark the end of the current discussion. It was almost painfully obvious that he wasn't going to change his resolve. He simply brushed away the loose strands of raven hair from her face and lowered his head to expose his neck to her. "If I feel that you are drinking too much, that it may kill me, I will tell you to stop. I trust you to do so."

[Flame]

Juliette listened mutely as Sadriel spoke, her gaze fixed on his. Despite the logic of his explanations, she had the unshakeable feeling that buried somewhere, there was some sort of ulterior motive to the elder vampire’s actions, though whatever they might be, she could but guess. After all, she was nothing, as he’d said, but a mere fledgling – one with potential, perhaps, but certainly not worth all the trouble he was putting into keeping her alive. She was certain that there were plenty of other mortals that would make far more capable apprentices than her, but whatever the case, Sadriel seemed bent upon ensuring that she remained safely undead.

“Why question it, you ask?” she echoed in response to his statement. There was a brief pause as she gave him a searching look, as if searching for where to begin. She knew that she didn’t have much time to waste, but she wanted to be sure, had to know that she was doing the right thing for the right reasons. “Imagine, for a moment, being someone with no purpose to live.” Her words were slow, weighted. “Why trouble themselves with the effort of staying alive when it would be so much easier just to…fade away?” It was evident that Juliette was every bit as stubborn as her creator, despite (or perhaps especially considering) the fact that she was teetering precariously on the divide between this world and whatever waited beyond. Nonetheless, she was aware of the fact that her time was slowly trickling away, and that she would have to act soon and quickly if she decided not to give up on existence just yet. “A lot of faith to put in a person who might otherwise have killed you,” she commented dryly to his next comment. As he bent closer though, she could hear, sense, and almost smell the steady rush of blood which flowed just beneath Sadriel’s skin. The thirst, once again awakened by the proximity of blood, rose from its slumber within her, instinctively urging her towards the life-sustaining liquid. Still though, she held it back, suppressing it, although it took almost as much effort to restrain the impulse as it did to not yield to the beckoning call of eternal nothingness. She had only but a little longer to wait, either way.

[ToxicShadow]

A low, far more than frustrated growl emitted from the vampire's throat as the dying vampiress continued questioning him and his reasoning for wanting to keep her in this world... wanting to keep her, now, in his life. Sadriel had danced around and around the answer, not wanting to admit it to her with words, but he knew it was there in his mind, even in his barely beating heart. He didn't even wish to admit it to himself, but there had been no other reason or explanation.

"You do have a purpose to live." The man's voice was strained with both an annoyance for her difficulty and a worry for her life. She was wasting too much time, it just trickling away as she worked to oppose him. If anyone had gone through all the trouble of saving someone, anyone, they wouldn't want them to die, but it being between Juliette and Sadriel, the immortal man's feelings were amplified ten-fold. If he was unable to sway her resolve very quickly now, he would loose her forever. "I... do not want to be alone. I have tasted what it's like to have someone at my side. I don't want to let that go. I don't want to be without you. I want you with me, you see, no matter how selfish I may seem." He sighed, almost too embarrassed to go on. This was all so unlike him in every way. So many of his human emotions were being revived within him ever since the female had joined him, and it had him almost spinning out of control while his mind and his emotions fought. "It has not been long since we began our venture together, though I have grown quite comfortable with it. When you didn't come back, I remembered what it was like to feel alone. I began to worry for your safety. I've never cared about anyone, nor have I ever wanted anyone to be close to me, but you had to come along and insist on taking my life. You had to change how I played the game. I don't want you to die, Juliette, because I don't want you to leave me. His eyes moved to bore into hers, his sincerity almost hard to believe as it reflected there. "Please, just stay."