• -:>Alexandra<:-


    "Leo, it hurts!" I moaned quietly, keeping a firm grip on his long sleeved shirt. The blackness was slowly dripping away and I was coming back into consciousness. I suddenly remembered the decision I had made to leap out of the window. Now that I had suffered for it -- and would continue to suffer for it for weeks now -- it didn't seem worthwhile, even though I was running from a nightmare.

    "No! Get back in the house!" Leo had screamed furiously in my ear. "There's too much blood! Go!" His fury had scared me worse than Mari had when I finally figured out what she was. The blood that was steadily oozing from my leg was staining Leo's pants and shirt, splattering on his lovely brow and dying his hair as he sped down the mountain's side. It only then occured to me that no mere human could've ran like that, legs moving so fast that they were a slight blur in the underbrush. Was he a vampire too?

    "Oh, Leo. It hurts so bad." I clenched his shirt and buried my face in his shirt. No, this loving brother of mine could never be the harsh, vampire scourge I had heard so much about. There were no coffins, no cobwebs, not a single sign in his house of him being a cold-blooded vampire.

    I didn't need to argue with myself. I was already certain. All the signs I needed were right in front of me.

    "Hang in there, Alex. We'll get you to a hospital as fast as we can." Leo said breathlessly. I coul've guessed that he wasn't breathing hard from the lightning fast speed he was exerting on his legs, but from trying not to drink all the blood that was spilling all over.

    "Please hurry." I begged, squirming to get a better look at my leg. Leo held me still, and I couldn't move a muscle unless he willed it. Frustrated, I lifted my leg up a bit to look at it over his shoulder, then winced when I saw the large piece of white bone protruding from the pale skin. I resigned to the shriek that had been building up in my throat. Leo only glanced downward at my shocked face, but sped faster, if that was even possible.

    One lamp-post. Two lamp-posts. Soon I was counting so many streetlamps I was getting dizzy. Horns honked and business lights wizzed over my head.

    "Leo, make it stop." I whined, burying my face in his chest. He muttered an apology, but sped faster yet down the busy street, dodging an old woman with a chihuahua in hand, an older man with a hand cart of empty milk bottles, and a young child with a bouncing ball.

    When we finally stopped at the foot of a building, I nearly got whiplash just from stopping. Leo slammed his heels into the ground and rushed in with just enough urgence as to not draw suspicions.

    "Hurry, I need help." Leo told the nurse with fake hysteria in his voice that I'm sure only I could recognize.

    "Oh my god." The nurse moaned when I slowly turned my head toward her. I must've looked just as bad as I felt. "I'll get a stretcher right away!" She called and turned sharply into the employees only door.

    "Leo, will I be okay?" I asked quietly, staring up into his face. It had hardened and it looked as if he was holding back tears. Could vampires cry?

    "I don't know." He finally blurted, shifting me just so to lay me on the rolling bed the nurse and a couple doctors had brought out. "It's pretty bad, sweetie."

    "Is she yours?" The nurse asked, trying to lighten the mood.

    Leo nodded, then half-smiled at me.

    "Yes, she was jumping on a trampoline with her younger cousin, then slipped on the wet metal on the side. She fell off and landed on her leg wrong, then rolled down the little hill in our backyard. She tried to stop, but it broke her arm and she kept rolling. I brought her here as fast as I could." Leo played with the nurse's emotions for a bit longer while I was rolled to the emergency room.

    "I'm so sorry." The nurse frowned at me with sympathy. "She looks so big for her age."

    "Yes, she's grown up quite fast. She's thirteen years old." Leo glanced at me breifly, then held a hand to my forehead.

    "It's going to be alright, Stephanie. You're going to be fine."

    Stephanie? Bullcrap. I thought and stared at the flashing lights above me.

    "You don't look so good, sir." The nurse examined my blood on Leo's face and clothes.

    "It's Trent, thanks. And yes, I really hurried to get her here, so I got some on myself. Mind if I go clean up in the bathroom?" Leo asked, then squeezed my hand firmly.

    "Oww." I yelped and grabbed my arm. The nurse must've thought I was talking about my broken arm, not realizing Leo was squeezing the circulation to my hand.

    "Never mind, I'll stay with her." Leo murmered and glared at me without loosening his grip.

    "Leo-- Daddy, please let go." I said under my breath and stared pointedly at my hand that was going purple. "I'll be fine, you go clean up." I winced as the blood was free to flow to my arm again, breaking in rushes to the tips of my fingers.

    "Alright, but do whatever the doctor tells you to do, alright? I'll be right back." Leo nodded once at the nurse and sped out of the room through the double doors.


    -:>Maribelle<:-


    The phone rang loudly in my ear, startling me from my sleep. I sleepily raised my arm and picked up the handle, then held it to my ear and listened to Leo's greetings.

    "Mari, you there?" He finally asked worriedly.

    "Mmm." I mumbled and brushed my hair back with my fingers, sat up and laid my head on the back of the couch.

    "Good, I thought you died or something." Leo chuckled.

    "What do you want." I said sleepily and yawned loudly.

    "She's getting worse, Mari. She's in the ER right now." Leo sounded frantic. He must've been around the blood too long.

    "She'll live, Leo. She's the one who jumped out of the window without reason." I said and stood with a long stretch.

    "Without reason? Of course, I never realized that my sister jumps randomly out of two story windows without any cause. That's it, how silly of me." He sounded really frantic now. The fumes, I'm sure.

    "What will my parents say?" He was talking to himself, but I cut in anyway just to be a pain. It was because of her that we were in this mess after all.

    "They're not your parents, so who cares what they say? She'll live, and that's all there is to it." I muttered and took a drink from my cup of blood.

    "I think of them as my parents, and I care what they say. Besides, I was responsible for her this weekend, so it's my fault."

    I sighed. "Leo, calm down. It sounds like you're gonna blow a hole in the roof." I told him and considered opening the drapes. Surely her blood was dry already.

    "Where are you?" I asked and set the cup down, starting out for the window shades.

    "The hospital." Leo said, his voice muffled as if he were holding the phone far away from his face.

    "Duh. That doesn't help me. Where are you?" I said irritably.

    "Guy's bathroom."

    "Why?"

    "I got her blood on me." I heard some ruffling of cloth, and I could only guess he was stripping in the bathroom. Great.

    "How much?"

    "All of the rest in her body. What do you think??" He called to the phone.

    "Sorry, just asking." I mumbled and peeked out of the drapes. Only small red stains remained on the grass.

    "Ugh, got the stuff all over me." He said quietly, and I heard a door shut in the background. Leo chuckled, then talked to someone else. "It's not what you think, buddy. Yeah, I'm serious. It's blood if you really want to know. No, not my own. Yes, I am serious."

    "Leo?" I asked as I threw the blinds open and took in the bright light that flooded the living room.

    "Sorry, Love." He said, followed by the rustling of some more clothing. Where did he get a new shirt. "The guy in here was thinking the wrong things." The door shut again in the background.

    "Uh, huh." I said and stood over the couch once more.

    "Anyway, I'd better get back to her. I'll talk to you later, I guess."

    "Wait, Leo?" I said, biting my lip.

    "Yup?"

    "Could... could I come down when she's all patched up?" I asked, shuffling my feet.

    Silence.

    "Do you think you could handle it? It's even difficult for me." He said lowly.

    "I'll just drink lots of blood before I leave. I won't need much, cause of the monthly, but just as a precaution."

    "You couldn't even handle her when there wasn't any blood spilled." Leo pointed out.

    "I know, but I want to apologize anyway. I think she overheard me talking about her blood and tried to escape." I said, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

    Silence.

    "Alright, but drink a couple gallons in case." Leo said with a slight laugh in his voice.

    "I never drink that much either way. I'll go with one." I hung up and breathed in deeply with excitement, all my drowsiness gone. My first encounter with so many humans in decades was coming up!