Love at first BITE <3

[Angel ♥]

Amaya was spoilt, but right now she just didn't know what he expected of her. She had never claimed to be something she wasn't, she knew full well how obnoxious she could be at times, but she did not react well to his personality. He seemed to expect her to be a certain way, and his reaction to her not being the perfect little damsel in distress only made Amaya worse. The circumstances meant that she wasn't going to be the most pleasant of people, not even if he had an ounce of sympathy in his body. She was finding it hard enough to keep herself together and stop herself collapsing in a weeping wreck without having to worry about some strange vampire that was in her home, hanging around her at a time like this without explaining himself. She was thankful to him, of course she was, but that was something that she just didn't know how express. It wasn't often that her sworn enemy charged in and saved her life, nevermind just after her parents had been slaughtered.

The fire didn't burn out of her eyes until he had left her home and disappeared into the tree's, only then did she sink down to sit on the floor, her muscles seeming to go slack as she pushed her hand back through her hair, leaning back against the door frame. She left the door open to let in the fragrant, night air, taking in slow and deep breaths in an attempt to keep herself calm. She wanted to scream and tear everything apart and wanted to break down and just cry until she had no tears left, both clashing in her head until all she could do was sit and wait for her mind to clear again.

She had no idea what she ws going to do now, all desires of revenge or violence having drained away to leave her feel empty and numb again, breathing out a shuddering sigh as she let her eyes fall closed.

[Chani {♥}]

The freedom felt great. Kevin was so relieved that he wouldn't have to put up with her constant barrage of insults or invincible suspicion any longer. At least he'd tried. She was just simply impossible. It was a wonder that he hadn't left earlier, a wonder he hadn't just left the night they had gotten there. Kevin was an inconsiderate prick, yes, the only person he'd ever cared about as a vampire being Daisuke, who was dead now.

The vampires he called "friends" now were not really friends at all; vampires had a very different society. You didn't necessarily care for anyone, no one expected love and no one dished it out. Those were the only kind of relationships Kevin seemed to be able to keep, anyway. With the slayers about, it was only a matter of time before his friends or himself would be killed; he didn't want anyone mourning him, and he didn't want to mourn anymore. It was simple as that. You earned respect, maybe even trust, but there was never love of any sort involved.

The sense of liberty from Amaya was amazing, and he would have relished in it had his conscience not started tearing at him. He had promised a dying man he would care for Amaya, wasn't it the least he could do? He got there too late. It was his kind that had done it. Guilt creeped in as the events from last night started playing in his mind in an endless loop of tragedy.

"Dammit!" he growled as he trudged along. He stopped at a tree, slid down it so that he was sitting on an upraised root, and closed his eyes. She was impossible. She wouldn't even accept him, even if his pride did allow him to crawl back with his tail between his legs. That just wasn't like Kevin at all. Even if she did accept him, he wouldn't be able to bite his tongue every time she made a comment he didn't like, that wasn't like him, either. She'd be telling him to leave again before long.

"It's not fair," he whispered, smacking the back of his head against the tree. He hadn't used that line in a long time, not since he'd somewhat accepted what he was. "Dammit, Daisuke! I can't do it. You hear? I can't do it."

[Angel ♥]

Amaya would just have to survive alone wouldn't she? That was the conclusion that she came to anyway, though she wasn't sure how reliable that decision was due to her current state of mind. She had lost the only people she had ever really cared about or could ever really trust, and of course she had friends that she could turn up at a friends house and they would take her in without question, but none of her friends actually knew her, not properly. They knew the Amaya she was through the day, the generally pleasant if not quick tongued and judgemental socialite, but they knew nothing much of her slayer life. Of course they knew that she was a slayer, or most of them anyway, but they didn't really appreciate what that involved or understand it. Amaya was just two different people living in one body, and right now both of them were lost.

She sighed as she tugged her knees up to her chest to hug them, resting her chin on her knees as she let her eyes fall closed, clutching her precious amber necklace tightly in her hand. Ok, so Princess Amaya may have to admit that she was feeling lonely. She needed someone around, even if all they did was argue. It was just a defense machanisme really, Amaya could be horrible to people but that was just to make sure that they didn't get too close...when people got too close they went and died and her whole world fell apart.

She had no idea where Kevin was, though she found half of her wanting him to storm back and announce that he couldn't leave a spolit brat like her to kill herself while the other half thought that him being on the other side of Syrunn wouldn't put enough distance between them; she was just full of contradictions wasn't she?

[Chani {♥}]

"Not to expect that you cared at all about your family, they were probably your first victims? Right? That's the way it usually goes. Sever all attachments with life because of the building shame in you that you are something dead and horrible and nothing could ever change that."

As that statement arose in his mind, Kevin couldn't help but yell. It wasn't a word that formed in his mouth, just a scream of agony and anger and hatred. Some half-memory almost forgotten, and there it was again. Professor Fukui who had taken him in, been something of a father to him and his sister, saved him from his otherwise pointless life. And it had turned out that way, anyway, hadn't it? Despite all Fukui had done, he had still become "something dead and horrible". He had taken his sister's father figure and brother away all in one night and left her to cope. How many father figures', brothers', sisters', mothers' lives had he taken now? Just to stay half-alive, half-dead long enough to be cursed with a promise to a friend he had had to behead himself in order to save his daughter, who was nothing short of the most inconsiderate and spoiled person he had ever met. She had not only just tried to kill him for stating his opinion, which he was never known to withhold from anyone, least of all someone like that. She had told him to leave, and he had, and yet he was feeling guilty?

Images flashed through his head...
Fukui, giving him his first birthday present since his mother's passing.
His father, punching his little sister in the mouth and making her bleed.
The trip on the boat to Hagakarin, where Kevin had lifted his little sister into the air so she could look over the sea better.
Daisuke tossing Kevin his first sword. "Hope you like it. Catch!"
Fighting with the vampires in the street after Daisuke's party, being bitten when Daisuke had his back turned...
Crawling through the streets, everything was fuzzy. So thirsty... Professor Fukui, must find Professor Fukui...
A bloody, lifeless Fukui lying on the floor in front of a horrorstruck Kevin. The sickening feeling in his stomach.
A woman that had fell onto her back as she stepped backward, begging Kevin not to hurt her, then the feeling of his teeth sinking into her flesh while tears rolled down his face.
Daisuke's head being flung from his body as Kevin's sword severed it entirely.
Amaya, glaring at him. "Don't you ever... ever speak of my father."

"THERE IS NO GOD!" he bellowed at the sky, jumping to his feet and swinging a fierce arm at the tree he had been leaning against. The bark cracked, or was that the sound of his knuckles breaking? They healed quickly, the bark would take more time. He swung again, and again, he kept swinging until the pain overcame the adrenaline, and then he slumped a shoulder against the beaten tree, waiting for the bones and cuts to heal and panting. "And... if there is, then I will ever-so-gladly go straight to Hell for saying otherwise." He shoved himself back onto his feet. He needed to find someone to feed off of, he was using more energy than usual. He breathed a hefty sigh and trudged away, eyes scanning the area, nose sniffing for blood. His eyes flickered golden as he used his infrared vision to pierce the shadows.

[Angel ♥]

Her gaze flickered up from the ground as the animialistic scream echoed through the woods, the sound made from raw emotion that she could relate to. Frustration at being so vulnerable; guilt for letting her parents die; rage toward the vampires; self hatred and an overwhealming desire to die. There was only one problem with that last one though; Amaya didn't want to die. She knew that death was inescapable, but she just...didn't want to die yet. In truth death was one of the only things that she really feared, drifting off into oblivion and being alone forever... Poor Amaya couldn't even bring herself to believe in some false God or imagination of Heaven of Hell to ease her fear. She knew that everything just stopped when you died, and that was what made it all the more horrible.

She pushed herself to her feet, not really knowing what she was doing as she stepped out of the house and closed the door. That yell had come from Kevin, she was quite certain of it, and for some reason she found herself striding off in the direction that the noise had come from. She had told him to leave and now she was going to go and demand that he came back. He claimed that her father had something to do with why he was there, and if he knew her father then he couldn't be all that bad ( and she wanted to know how a vampire had known her father)...and there was always that selfish little bit of her that didn't want to be alone. She never wanted to be alone, no matter how independant she seemed.

"There is no God." She whispered as she stopped by the tree that Kevin had attacked, sighing to herself as she ran her fingertips over the broken bark. "Just you and me and all the other monsters inbetween." She hissed a little as she caught her finger on a splinter of wood, scowling in annoyance as a little bead of scarlett blood blossomed on the tip of her finger. Oh great, she was bleeding again and the stupid vampire wasn't where he was supposed to be. Well, if he thought that he was getting an apology now he had another thing coming.

[Chani {♥}]

Hmph! Probably won't be any humans until I get to the village, he thought. I've wasted so much time. So thirsty. He blinked hard, turning off his night vision, his golden eyes losing their glow and returning to dark green.

He thought he smelled blood. It had smelled familiar, and that must mean Amaya. But how could it be? She wouldn't have followed him, would she? He sniffed again and didn't smell it, there was so little. He decided it must have been his imagination running off with him. Did he want a reason to go back? No. He just wanted to go home, to take the easy road out, nevermind his old friendship with Daisuke. She had treated him like an animal, maybe that's what he was, but he wasn't going to be her ragdoll. She had brought up Fukui, a deadly subject with him, and he wasn't going to stay around long enough to allow her to convince him to murder her. He was fulfilling Daisuke's wish and his own the simple way, he didn't think there was another. But why was he rooted to the spot?

He finally moved, but it was not forward. He turned around, using his infrared vision again, seeking out Amaya through the darkness. He wouldn't have her following him, it was too dangerous. His glowing eyes burned familiarly as he pierced shadows, seeing past the lightlessness. He didn't see her. He sniffed the air again, listened for rustling grass.

[Angel ♥]

She had missed him? He would be half way to the village by now and there was no way that she could catch up with him before he had slaughtered which ever innocent he selected as his victim. A wave of guilt washed over her now as she looked around, a flicker of helplessness in her amber eyes. In her mind she could practically hear the screaming...and she knew all too well how the family would feel upon the disappearance of a loved one. All that heartbreak just to preserve a monsterous life...to her it just didn't add up. Amaya didn't even eat meat, so the thought of the murder of a person simply as a snack disgusted her.

Amaya just sank down into a sitting position where she was, leaning back against the gnarled bark of the tree, the grass around her whispering for a moment as she disturbed it before falling silent again. Her attention seemed to be on the tiny drop of blood on her fingertip, reaching up to squeeze her finger carefully, forcing blood to bloom up from beneath her skin more quickly, trickling down over the edge of her finger to drip down onto a blade of grass, coating it in sticky red.

"I don't know what to do..." She whispered, still staring at her finger. "I don't want to die...but I see no point in living any longer...why can't you tell me what to do?" It wasn't clear who she was talking to, maybe she was just appealing to whatever shreads of sanity that she had left to answer this one last question for her?

[Chani {♥}]

Kevin stared and stared, he had to have stood there through five minutes of seeing, hearing, smelling nothing but a small opossum. The golden flickered out of his eyes finally and he released a sigh.

"I won't do this anymore," he whispered. "You hear that, Daisuke?" He glanced up at the sky, though he could hardly see it through the trees. Starlight filtered down from the small breach in them, pouring onto Kevin's upturned face. If he had told Daisuke he wasn't doing this anymore, why wasn't he moving? He was still rooted to the spot. This irritated him incredibly, he just wanted to turn his back and forget all this had ever happened. Forget that he had, if only for a single night in his entire history as a vampire, a heart. A bleeding, beating heart that had ripped free from all selfishness, tossed it to the wind, and charged into a heroic deed he very well knew, somewhere inside, that he would regret.

Scratching the back of his neck, Kevin turned and began walking again. He needed to feed. There could be no more distractions. The more distance between him and Amaya the better, but he couldn't run. It'd only make him thirstier. He kept eyes, ears, and nose alert for any vampires that might be lurking in the area, searching for Amaya and himself. He doubted they'd be this far out by now, but he kept a sharp eye all the same. They knew there was a vampire aiding Amaya, and so it was better a time than ever for them to choose to be a little more erratic and a little less strategic.

[Angel ♥]

Amaya remained where she was sat in the grass, breathing out a sigh. There was no point in chasing after Kevin now, she would only arrive at the town to find a scene of devestation, and she didn't think that she would be able to stand another loss. Selfish, yes, but everyone had to be a little selfish now and again. If she wasn't selfish now then she would lose her sanity, and for some reason she didn't want to kill Kevin. The vampire annoyed her more than she ever thought possible, but it had occured to her that he annoyed her so much because she knew deep down that there was some truth to what he was saying, and that would be there even though Amaya argued against it. The vampire destoryed her whole perception of what was right and wrong, casting shades of grey into her previously polarized life. She had always been so sure of everything, and now she was questioning herself...maybe his comments about her really had had an affect on her.

She raised her finger to her mouth, pressing her tongue over the little prick to stop the bleeding, thinking to herself now. She doubted that there were any vampries in the area now other than Kevin, and she would probably be safe if she stayed away from major towns. They would think that she was dead, probably assume that Kevin had killed her and that he had only fought the other vampires for the chance to kill her himself. If she was careful she should be able to travel without being detected, and more importantly, be able to find out who had planned this attack against her family so that she could gain her revenge as swiftly as possible.

[Chani {♥}]

Kevin knew there was a small village out here, somewhere. It couldn't be but a few miles off, which was not a distance at all when he was running, but walking made it such. His throat was itchy, he was losing energy, and there weren't too many things he wouldn't do right now for the smallest sip of blood. He dearly hoped that no vampires overtook him in this state; he'd be a goner. But, ironically, if any vampires happened upon him after the next few hours, they'd be no problem for him. He'd be in his bloodlust state by then and kill everything in his path to quenching his thirst. It would give him extra strength, more acute senses, swifter reflexes. But the longer he remained in that state, lusting only for blood, the more he'd have to drink to quench his thirst. He tried not to think about it, but that became increasingly hard as he grew thirstier.

Finally, his nose picked up something. He stopped immediately, sniffing, going in a sort of circle with his eyes closed to determine the direction. He finally veered right, his nose at work, his eyes determining obstacles.

As he drew closer, he realized that there was more than one person.

Great, he thought silently. More than one person means a bigger fuss. All I need is frantic people rushing into the nearest village and declaring that their traveling companion had the life sucked out of him by a vampire. I really hope I don't have to kill whoever it is. At least not until I get rid of this conscience thing again. He finally found a path. It wasn't very wide and it was becoming overgrown with grass and bushes, but it was still a path. Using his infrared vision, Kevin saw them. They were lying down, asleep. One looked to have the figure of a woman, the other two were unmistakably men.

Kevin used the trees in between them as he drew closer to hide him from view, in the case that one of them might be awake for whatever reason. Finally, he was a mere yard from the furthest man's head. He was sitting up against a tree, asleep. He probably should have been keeping guard while the other two slept.

"Laziness finds its just reward tonight, my man," Kevin whispered, stepping forth almost silently. He reached for his sword slowly.

Damn! He had left his them at Amaya's cottage. Oh well... He knelt down next to the man, looked at him for a brief moment. Finally, rather suddenly, Kevin's hands rushed forward. One grabbed the man's chin, the other one's palm flattened against the top of his head. One pushed, the other pulled. There was a sickening crack! and the man stopped breathing. Kevin glanced at the other two, to make sure they hadn't woke, and then began feeding.

The feel of flesh giving away under his teeth, the feel of warm blood spilling onto his tongue, was amazing. Blood tasted so wonderful, but Kevin hated it. It was a hate born from his disgust of himself. After he felt satiated, he released the man's head and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing blood from his knuckles to the top of his wrist. He licked his lips, and was gone.

"How could I forget my weapons? Of all things," he muttered to himself as he made back for the cottage at a jog. "It's no wonder my belt felt so light. How didn't I notice before?" He stopped alongside a tree and pulled on his shirt, then his cloak. He had a low tolerance for the cold and, if he was going to be forced to deal with Amaya, then he was going to be as comfortable as possible while she yelled and screamed at him. "Must have removed them so I could sleep more comfortably... Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! How could I be so foolish?" Not that he really enjoyed carrying weapons made of silver, anyway, but without at least one weapon on hand he felt naked. It was a blacksmith thing.

[Angel ♥]

A strange sensation descended down over Amaya as the long seconds stretched out into minutes, the only thing showing that time was passing was the steady thudding of her heart. She was alone. Totaly and utterly alone. There didn't even seem to be any of the regular forest wildlife around to keep her company, just herself and her own voice that echoed around in her head, asking a million and one questions that she would never be able to answer.

Why am I still here?

What am I going to do now?

Where am I going to go?

Has anyone been to the house yet? Do the other slayers know what's happened?

And maybe the worst of all...Does anyone care that I am gone?

It was a selfish thought but at times of crisis everyone was selfish. She had no-one else to worry about, no-one to charge in and save or to worry over, just the heavy knowledge that she was truely alone. Just her and the voice inside her head, it was a depressing prospect. She might need to go and buy herself a pet or something, just to keep her company. That was pathetic wasn't it? Replacing human company with a pet. Amaya was lonely but she wasn't willing to let anyone else know that. She refused to show any sign of weakness. Ever.

She rose to her feet and sighed, running her fingers through her hair as she headed back to the cottage, the familiarity of the place attracting her back. She just needed somewhere she knew until she got her head together.

The door closed behind her lightly, gaze falling upon those alien swords which was laid on the floor by where Jagger had slept. He had left his swords? Did that mean that we was planning on coming back for them? That idea was held both positive and negative connotations. Negative was that he was coming back, the despicable vampire that hated her almost as much. Positive was that she wouldn't be alone anymore...and as much as she disliked him he would be company...

[Chani {♥}]

While Amaya had been virtually losing her mind with lonesomeness, Kevin was jogging back to the cottage in a state of panic.
What if she's already left? he wondered, subconsciously turning his jog into a run as he ducked under branches, leaped over bushes, and dodged trees. I need a weapon for the trip between here and my smithy, where I can really stock up.

He didn't worry himself too much -- he could always find others, though he hated stealing, especially when it came to weaponry. He was a blacksmith, and it was a play on his pride to need the use of others' weapons. He finally came to the cottage, shortly after Amaya had entered it. In fact, she would have just started debating the pros and cons of Kevin's return when he pounded on the door.

"It's Jagger," he grumbled. His pride stung a bit for returning at all, especially after she'd made him relive the event of Professor Fukui's death, but he had been living with those thoughts for a very long time. He couldn't bear to have to use someone else's weapons. "I've come to get my swords." He stared at the door, hoping it would open silently, hoping Amaya wouldn't have anything else to say to him while he grabbed his things and left.

[Angel ♥]

Her gaze snapped up to the door as he knocked, scowling ever so slightly as she rose to her feet and padded over to the door, peering through one of the windows frist to check that it was him before deciding to open the door. If she didn't let him in then he would probably just stay out there and annoy her until she was angry again and ended up opening the door to yell at him or attack him. She have never been one for taking the easy route but today she seemed to be making a lot of exceptions, so why stop now?

She placed her hand on the pannel of the door that made the charmed lock spring open, tugging the door open for Jagger to come in before turning away and going to sit in amongst one of the piles of cushions. "I shouldn't have provoked you earlier." She stated without looking at him, her voice sounding rather strained. Ohhh, that was almost an apology, he should feel privilged, not many people got an almost apology out of Amaya and even fewer got a full one. "And I am thankful for your help last night. I doubt that I would have found away out if it weren't for your aid." She nodded ever so slightly, running her fingers through her hair. There, she had said what she needed to him and her conscience could rest. She had thanked him as well, he really should feel lucky. "Your swords are where you left them, along with the rest of your things."

[Chani {♥}]

ooc;; Should I make this the part where he tells Amaya about his past with her father? Or should we wait until they're closer?

bic;; Kevin had been walking to where he thought he might have left his belt, and didn't stop when Amaya started talking, but he did stop when he realized what she was saying. He noticed the tone of strain in her voice as she said them, but most of the iciness had gone from it. And the words themselves were rather nice, much better than he had expected. He turned and looked at her, though she wasn't looking at him. For a moment he just listened to the words over in his head, wondering what he should say back or even if he should respond at all. The wrong words would surely cause the thin thread that was holding the words she had just spoke together to snap.

Another realization came to him. His conscience was back, nagging at him. Could he leave now that she had shown him even the slightest bit of thankfulness and regret? Would she even let him stay if he had said that he would? All these thoughts and more created an battle within his mind, and through the chaos he couldn't sort out what he wanted from what he should do. It seemed like an hour that he stood there, just looking at her with eyes, misty with his pensiveness. He wanted to say, "You're welcome", but that would have been untruthful, and since she had done something that he's sure her inner-self disagreed with he thought that she deserved honesty from him. After all, he had only done all that as a favor of her father, not for her, hadn't he? He decided he'd say what he could now, and that would give him time to think about the bigger decisions.

"Thank you," he said softly, which was a very odd tone for him. He walked over and sheathed the four silver swords, two at the back and one at each side, making sure to only make skin-contact with the handles. Then he rolled up his pant-leg and shoved the dagger in his boot before rolling it back down and standing upright again. He knew what he had to say next, but he, just like Amaya, didn't like apologies, but there was no strain in his voice as he spoke, though the softness was gone. After all, Amaya had been apologizing to a creature she believed to be unworthy of life, so it was of course something that would be stressful for her to say. But Kevin was talking to Amaya, the daughter of his dead best friend that he was supposed to be protecting.

"I shouldn't have been so bitter, either," he finally admitted. He even went on to say, "I'm sorry." He didn't want to say more than that, but he was still thinking on what he should do next. "You had every right to ask me those questions and you still have the right to hate me."

Of course she does, he thought silently, turning his back to her and staring at the doorway. She's been fighting my kind all of her life, it was vampires that killed her mother and father, and I feast on the life of others to sustain my own. I've taken more lives than I can count... for just one, just mine. And what am I really doing with it, anyway, that's better than what they could have done with theirs? Nothing that would justify all the murders I've committed. How is anyone supposed to like me if I don't even like myself? I'm a killer; a cold-hearted, selfish, murderous creature. I could end it all, but... well, there is no 'but', is there? What am I still doing here? He had had this same conversation with himself many, many times, but it had been a while. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles became white.

[Angel ♥]

(I would say that arguement needs to happen when they know one another a little better and are starting to fall for one another...it wouldn't have the same impact if we did it now.)

Amaya had steeled herself for vindictive come backs and gloating in response to her words, so she couldn't deny that she was surprised when he opened his mouth and began to speak. He was being civil with her? How unexpected. He was almost being...nice. Maybe she really had judged him wrong. As much as she hated to admit it, it seemed like Jagger may actually be an alright kind of vampire if given a chance, he may even be trustworthy. Thinking about it, he hadn't even attempted to kill her, and he could have if he had wanted because Amaya had been pretty vulnerable last night, and though his attitude was as agressive and bitter as her own, the bottom line was that he had saved her life.

What slipped from between her lips next surprised even Amaya, speaking words that she had never before even imagined that she would dare to think, nevermind speak aloud. "I don't hate you. I dislike what you are but I don't hate you." She told him, her tone having softened now, sounding much less strained. It was hard to admit but undeniably true. Jagger hadn't really done anything that earnt her hatred, other than dying of course, and his act of selflessness in saving her life was going a long way to persuade her that he wasn't as bad as the other vampires. He had even put up with her selfish and brattish behaviour without once trying to attack her, which had to give merit to his personality.

"If you have nowhere to go you may stay here, if you wish. The vampires from last night will recgonise you, and if and when they do they will kill you for helping me." She offered with a small shrug of her shoulders, her gaze dipping back to the ground again now.