Chapter 3

Amara suddenly felt a weight on her chest, and slowly she opened her sleepy eyes, her gaze immediately locking with the glowing slitted eyes of a stranger kneeling on her chest. " Hello there! " The man chirped eagerly, but she couldn't even hear him over the sounds of her own scream as she pulled her foot up, kicking the man in the chest and knocking him off of the couch. As the man hit the ground and slid away on his back, he barked out a laugh. "Ooooh, you were right Xander! She's very rude. " She crawled up towards one side of the couch, holding the blanket between her and this new vampire defensively, watching as the man quickly jumped up and crouched on the ground, looking as if he were about to leap at her. He looked very young, thin, with wild eyes and messy reddish hair. " Leave her alone, Alex. " Xander said flatly from across the room, his back to the pair as he buttoned up his shirt. Amara was still coming to grips with her rude awakening, when she saw the man on the floor take one tentative step towards her, still on his hands and feet like some kind of feral animal. She pulled herself up, tensely ready to strike out if he approached her any closer. " Alex. " Xander said harshly, turning around finally to glare at the vampire on the floor. The stranger looked up at him and shrank slightly under the glare, " I said, leave her alone. " He snapped, narrowing his eyes at him as if daring him to try his patience. The man leaned back on his crouched legs, shrugging casually, " Alright boss man, whatever you say. " Xander glared at him, turning back to what he was doing and finishing getting dressed. stood, brushing his clothes back down before stepping over to Amara. " That's quite a kick you've got! " He purred, holding his hand out to her, " It's nice to meet you, Amara was it? Xander has told me a bit about you, but I doubt he ever mentioned me! You can call me Alex. " She glanced up at Xander, expecting him to tell Alex to back off again, but when he remained silent, merely fidgeting with his clothes still, she gingerly reached up to shake his hand, eyeing him suspiciously. " No, I can't say he did mention you. " She said flatly, wincing slightly as the man took her hand and shook it, causing a bit of pain to run through her shoulder. Alex sighed almost wistfully, still gripping Amara's hand, " He never does. You'd think he would care more about me after all this time, but alas. " Alex pulled Amara's arm up, leaning down almost as if he were going to kiss the back of it, " I must say, I haven't gone to the drops in quite a while. It's been such a long time since I've seen a living human. " The man's words creeped her out, and Amara began to pull her hand away, feeling a bit nervous as he tightened his fingers to prevent her from releasing his grip. " You don't mind a little nibble, do you? " Alex said with a smile, holding her hand up towards his lips, opening his mouth, and giving her an up-close look at the terrifying inch-long fangs that he bared at her. Before Amara could react, a crack rang through the room, and before she even realized what was happening, Alex dropped her hand, his wrist broken as Xander gripped it tightly until the skin bruised under his fingers. " You don't know when to quit. " Xander said flatly, squeezing Alex's wrist one last time before flicking him away from Amara with an annoyed expression. She climbed over the arm of the couch, trying to get as much distance between her and the new vampire as her heart raced in her ears. She winced painfully when she put weight on her arm, quickly getting down and reaching up to her shoulder, grimacing as she pulled her now - bloody hand away to reveal that the movement had caused her wound to reopen. " Oh come on, " Alex said teasingly, grabbing his wrist with his other hand and snapping it back into place. " I wasn't really gonna- " His voice abruptly stopped as he whipped around, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Amara's bloodied hand. " ... do anything ... " He finished under his breath, a low growling sound starting in his throat as he leaned down threateningly, coiled to strike like a snake watching a mouse. Amara watched as the man pulled his lips back into a snarl, a clear fluid dripping from his exposed fangs. Alex took one step forward, and Xander started to put his arm out, attempting to block his forward advance, but before his arm made contact, Alex ducked under it, lunging forward at Amara. " Alex! " Xander barked out, yanking the other vampire back by his neck and pulling him backward as he turned into a writhing, hissing, fiend. Amara took a terrifying step back, watching as any hint of reasonable thinking evaporated from the creature before her. Xander held him back with growing impatience, his own eyes narrowing irritably, "Alex, you need to stop this before you do something you regret- " As if spurred on by his words, Alex immediately drew his head back, grabbing Xander's arm in his hands and sinking his fangs deep into his captor's flesh. Amara gasped, pulling her hand up to cover her mouth as she watched Xander's expression turn from irritable, to furious. His eyes glowed a bright red, and his fangs were bared as he hissed out at the sudden pain in his arms, his hand flexing as Alex's venom poured into his bloodstream. The entire room fell silent, and there was a heavy feeling in the air, like the calm before a thunderstorm. After mere seconds of silence, Xander closed his eyes tightly before finally speaking, " Six... Amara. " He said tensely, his voice clearly strained, " You know where the bathroom is. There are clothes for you, go get changed. If your shoulder won't stop bleeding, I'll be there in a moment, do not get blood on those clothes. " She was frozen to the spot, no matter how hard she tried, her legs simply would not move. " Now. " He said harshly, jolting her out of her stupor and making her quickly scurry away, only pausing for a moment to look over her shoulder, her eyes locking very briefly with Alex's. The menacing look in his eyes made the breath catch in her throat, and as she slammed the bathroom door shut, locking it behind her, she heard what sounded like a horrible fight breaking out in the other room. She leaned against the door, shaking slightly. What if Xander lost? Would Alex kill her? If Xander won, would he be mad anyway because it was her blood that set Alex off in the first place? A warm, wet feeling on her back brought her from her thoughts, and as she leaned up, she realized with despair that she was bleeding through her shirt. She quickly pulled it up and off of her shoulder, turning to look at her injury in the mirror. It showed no hints of slowing, and she was nervously wondering what Xander would do to her if she couldn't make it stop on her own. The thought made her skin crawl. Suddenly, the sounds from the next room ceased, and left in the oppressive silence, she couldn't help but unlock the door, opening it a crack to see what fate had stored for her outside. Xander stood above Alex, who was on his knees on the ground, blood running down his mouth and onto his clothes. Was that his blood, or Xander's? Neither of them seemed to notice her spying, and she watched silently as Xander held his bitten arm out to Alex. She was confused, he didn't even look mad, more bored than anything, while Alex looked irritable, glaring up at Xander with an annoyed expression on his face. As she watched, Alex leaned up, placing his mouth over the bite wound that still bled heavily and grimacing slightly as the blood ran into his mouth. Xander opened his mouth to say something, but Amara could only make out a little of what he was saying, " ... And if you spit on my floor, I'll tear your fucking teeth out ... " She had no idea what was going on, but she couldn't bring herself to watch any longer, slowly pushing the door closed and locking it behind her. How do I get out of this nightmare? She thought helplessly, holding her head in her hands dejectedly. " Amara? " Xander's voice called out, followed by a gentle knock on the door. " Did you get your shoulder to stop bleeding?" She quickly pulled her shirt back down over her shoulder, stuttering slightly, " N - no, but it's fine I'll get it- " Xander spoke over her, cutting her off, " Unlock the door. " He said flatly, and hearing the impatient tone in his voice, she did as he ordered, flinching slightly as the knob turned, expecting the worst. As the door opened, she stepped back, letting him step in, watching as he pushed the door shut behind him. She tried to peek around him to see what had happened to Alex, but she saw nothing. His eyes were no longer glowing, and his pupils were back to the normal slits, which she took as a good sign, but she was still nervous. " Turn around. " He said, holding his fingers up in a spinning motion to her, making a panic rise in her chest again. " It's really fine, " Amara stammered, holding her arms up in front of her, " You don't have to do anything- " Xander sighed, rolling his eyes and putting his hands on her shoulders, forcing her around himself. " Pull your shirt off your shoulder. " One of his hands was still tightly holding her other shoulder, and the steel-like grip he had made it abundantly clear he was only being nice by telling her what to do instead of just doing it himself. She reached up to her shoulder, pulling the fabric up until her back was fully exposed. He let go of her, reaching down and letting his fingers brush over her injury with a thoughtful expression on his face. Amara's eyes flicked to the mirror, and as she saw the terrifying glow that had returned to Xander's eyes, she couldn't help but flinch away from him, trying to take a step forward but finding herself suddenly held tightly in his grasp. " Don't. Move. " He ordered, his voice heavy and tense. Amara expected that he was gonna run his tongue across her injury again, but as her eyes glanced at the mirror and she watched as he instead bared his fangs behind her, she couldn't help the panic that welled up within her, quickly struggling to get out of his grip, " Please, don't-! " He shoved her against the wall, cutting off her words, " You know what I'm doing? " He asked her pointedly, using one hand to hold her shirt up while the other one held her arm twisted behind her back. She looked up at him with fear in her wide eyes but said nothing, which he took as confirmation. " Then hold fucking still. " He hissed, doing his best to ignore the strong smell of blood in the room. As he leaned back down towards her, she held her eyes shut tightly, just waiting to feel that intense sharp pain that she'd felt the night before as the feral vampire had bitten into her. He moved her shirt into his other hand, then used his hand that had been holding the shirt to run his fingers down the wounds, pressing down on it which made her eyes water slightly. She waited for the pressure to ease up, but it only increased, until finally, the pain began to ebb away. After a few seconds, the pressure itself was gone as well. The anticipation of her waiting to feel his fangs pierce her skin was getting unbearable, and finally she couldn't take it anymore, " Would you just get it over with already!? " She whimpered, opening her eyes to see what he was doing. He was still looking at her back, but now his expression was somewhat amused, and she immediately noticed that there was the faintest stain of blood on his mouth. " I'm already done. I'm just putting bandages over the wound in case you open it up again. " She blinked at him in confusion, leaning back slightly as he pulled his hand off of her. " See? It's not so bad if you just hold still. " Seven stepped over to the mirror, holding her shirt up to look at her freshly bandaged shoulder in disbelief.

" But ... I didn't even- " " Feel anything? " Hamitsu asked, cutting her off and holding out the new clothes for her. " Yeah, I told you there was a numbing agent in it, that's kind of the point. " Amara took the clothes, still in a state of shock. " But I felt it when you licked me yesterday. " She said flatly, somewhat exasperated as she tried to make sense of what just happened. Xander rubbed the back of his head with his hand, a bit of amusement in his voice, " Yeah well, seeing how you've been handling everything else, I thought you might actually pass out on me if you felt my teeth go into you. So I pushed against your wound with my fingers so you'd be focusing on how much that hurt instead and ignoring the feeling of my fangs. Sorry about that by the way, but I think you'll agree that it was ultimately in your best interest. " Amara could hardly believe his words, but she couldn't argue with them either. " Look, just get dressed, I have somewhere to be today, and I can't leave you here. Make sure you don't get any blood on the new clothes. " Without waiting for her to answer, Xander turned and left, clicking the door shut behind him and leaving her sitting in stunned silence. She got dressed, now and then reaching up to rub against the bandages on her shoulder. She still felt nothing, and the skin around her shoulder felt slightly tingly, like when your leg falls asleep. Once she was done, she came out of the bathroom, a bit surprised to see Alex sitting on the couch next to her blanket and pillow with Xander leaning against a wall nearby, both casually talking as if they hadn't just had a vicious fight with each other. In fact, she quickly noticed that although Alex's clothes had been changed, and aside from his hair being messed up slightly, between the two of them she would have never guessed they'd fought at all. It was Alex who noticed her first, quickly rising to his feet and briskly walking over to her, an apologetic look on his face. Despite his look, however, Amara couldn't help but immediately feel defensive at his approach, and seeing how she reacted, he faltered before stopping entirely a few feet away from her, making sure to give her space. " I want to apologize for frightening you earlier. " Alex said, crossing one arm over his chest and giving her a slight bow, " I sometimes forget how .... fragile humans are. Trust me, Xander knocked some sense into me. " He looked genuinely apologetic, but she couldn't help but remember that wild look he'd held towards her when she last met his gaze. " It's fine. " She muttered, waving him away and stepping around him, hoping that would be the end of it. He looked like he wanted to say more, but before he could speak, Xander leaned up off of the wall and stepped towards the front door. " Alright, let's get going before we're late. " He said, gesturing for them both to head out as he held the door open. " So, where are we going? " She asked, trying to make casual conversation as the group walked together. She couldn't help but notice that both Xander and Alex were wearing suits, and the clothes that Xander had given her and insisted that she not get blood on were quite nice as well. Xander made an irritated ' tsk ' noise under his breath and Alex just giggled, which only raised more questions for her, but eventually, Xander answered her, a gruff tone to his voice, " Vampire society is ... delicate. The hierarchy is determined almost entirely based on who turned you when you were human. There is only one exception; the original vampire and his direct descendants. They're above us all, the great vampire Lords and Ladies. " Amara could tell by the disdainful tone in his voice, that he didn't really think so highly of these ' great ' vampires.

" They love to hold their power above us, culling anyone they disagree with for no other reason than sheer boredom. They keep all the lower vampires in line through threats of elimination, and when they deem it worth their time to stop and see their lowly subjects, all vampires go and watch their arrival. " Amara was listening with idle curiosity, but suddenly her eyes grew wide, " Wait, we're going to go see some old powerful vampire lord ?? " She asked in alarm. Xander nodded, and it suddenly made sense to her why he had been so insistent on her not getting blood on her clothes. " Why the hell am I here though ?? " She asked with concern. He rubbed the bridge of his nose irritably.