Dark Devotion ~Anjeru and Erato~

[Erato]

The autumn leaves caught the faint reflection of the setting's sun and all her fading glory as the sky darkened with the threat of night and the promise of rain.
Staring out the open window, Aine couldn't help but sigh heavily as downstairs members of her 'family' celebrated the capture of yet another foul creature of the night...and it was all her fault.
Almond-shapped eyes turned away from the oranges and reds that spread like blood seeping from a wound across the evening sky and turned her lamp off so that the room fit her mood at least if the others in the house wouldn't share in her guilt as she crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over her head.
Once upon a time in another lifetime it seemed, she'd dreamed of a friend; a friend who was there to comfort her when her illness flared up and prevented her from running through puddles or playing hide-and-seek with the other children of her neighborhood.
When fever flared too high, it had been her friend of those bygone days who acted as a knight to fight the nightmares away, speak to her in that soothing ancient tongue of his and assure her that she wasn't going insane when the stray thoughts of those around her struck her like tiny pebbles.
But then reality reared it's ugly head when her parents mysteriously contracted a rare virus and succumbed to it's affects while she was stuck in the hospital.
Having moved the family to the United States when she was only six, her father took a job as an independant contractor and sought the best doctors money could afford in the hopes that his little girl could some day get better.
Her mother devoted herself to caring for her and the family home, being all a mother should be with her gentle smile and soft, soothing hands that took away her hurts.
With no family in the United States, it wasn't long for Aine to find herself adopted by the Bronson family only later to discover that her new family had a dual identity...
"You're never going to get to sleep if you don't stop thinking.."She scolded herself, pulling the covers back and staring out the window with a heavy sigh once more.
Had her friend been real? Or was he the byproduct of a child too sick and weak to make friends of her own? Or was he really like the very creatures who sought her out? Allegedly evil but yet...she wondered at times.
Things were so much more simplier back then when she'd eagerly retreat into her dreams; he'd promised to come to her some day when she was grown and ready...if he was still around, would he come for her still?

 

[Anjeru]

Xander felt the sun set the instant it touched the horizon. It was like everything switched on, and he was once again active. The thing though, Xander didn't want to be awake. His existance had become nothing more than a burden to him. A handsome, strong, ancient carpathian man was what he was. Or rather, what he is. A male of ancient race that was on the brink of extinction; the Carpathian people were lucky if they gave birth to a female child, and even if they did, only half of the children born survived. For those who did survive, especially the males, life became a hardship. After a good number of years, male carpathians lost the ability to feel emotions, to see the world in colors. They grew dark and twisted, and for the ones who didn't end their lives by meeting the dawn, life became an existance of being a vampire, a true vampire. A creature of darkness who thrived on the torture and pain of others.

Xander had been alive for centuries upon centuries. He refused to become a vampire, but without the presence of his Lifemate who gave him his feelings and life back, he only had the two choices as the darkness spread throughout his soul. One, meet the dawn and die as an honorable carpathian warrior, or two, succumb to the darkness and become that in which he hunted.

There was only one thread of hope for Xander. Years ago, he had reached out to a suffering presence of a young woman; she was as much pain as he. They had become good friends and had consoled each other, growing closer the longer they telepathically comminucated with each other, but...then, one day, he had been forced to go to the ground for a long period of time and when he had awakened, he couldn't sense her presence with him anymore. If he could feel, he knew he would have felt the sadness that came with loosing her.

The dirt around him shifted and he removed himself from the earth to look about the darkness of the cave he'd sought rest in. A presence began to nag at the back of his mind, a sad presence, and his brows crunched as he tried to figure out what it was.

Why are you so sad? he asked, sending the message on the fragile telepathic link that connected him to the presence.

 

[Erato]

Why are you sad?

Why shouldn't she be sad? She'd just used her abilities to lead another creature to his death, lured by the possibility that she might be his lifemate, the key to his salvation and what had she done? Beckoned him forth knowing that hunters lay in wait for their dangerous prey.
How many years had it been since she'd heard his voice? Far too long and she didn't feel she had the right to speak to him in so intimate a manner where only honesty in it's purest reigned.
Where have you been? You've been silent for so long, why do you speak to me now? She asked him, wanted to demand of him but the question merely came out like a mental sigh, weary and exhausted before the fight could begin.
If her new family knew she was speaking to him and not saying anything to them, they'd feel betrayed, they'd guilt her, knowing that they could bend her to their will with the utterance of a few choice phrases...the cage walls pressing closer, and the noose of obligation tightening around her throat.
If she thought she had the courage to do so, she'd end her life so that the blood of others no longer stained her hands as she got up from her bed and approached the window.
Stay away from me. I'm a weak girl with no sense of courage or honor. If you value your life..you'll stay away and never speak to me again. As she slammed the window shut and tried to shut him out of her mind as well.

 

[Anjeru]

Xander's eyes widened in the darkness of the cave; the voice that came back to him was of the young woman he had lost, or thought he had lost. She tried to slam him out of her mind by throwing up her mental block, but his mental power was a great deal stronger than her own and he felt the need to apologize to her for his extended absense. I did not intentionally break off contact with you. I was led into a trap laid out by one of my own that had fallen to the darkness. I was mortally wounded and was forced to rest for a long time to heal. She would hear as he mentally sighed. When I awoke your presence was gone from my mind. I could not find you.

Xander pictured the form of an owl and let his body contort, shrinking and changing as he morphed. Stretching the wings, he bounded off his feet and flew from the deep earthen chamber. If you wish me gone from your mind, I will do as you ask.

 

[Erato]

Just like that? He'd leave her again? It was what she wanted after all, wasn't it?
It wasn't fair, she didn't ask for these turbulent emotions to boil up inside of her, ripping at her heart until the tears began to fall down the smooth surface of her cheeks and onto the floor.
With her eyes closed, she could almost picture an owl; forlornly flying off into the night leaving behind a single feather to represent what could have been as the unknown abyss swallowed his form.
Why did it bother her so much that he was leaving? Hadn't she told him to stay away if he wished to stay alive? All the questions in her heart and mind suddenly swarmed like angry bees until she suddenly flung her head back while sinking to her knees in dispair, her emotions becoming something powerful and the glass of her window fissuring then shattering all together.
It's not fair! She screamed silently as the glass created a near perfect circle around her, alerting those downstairs and sending them up to check on her.

The first to reach the bedroom door and open it was Mable Bronson, a large woman who had a curious way of coughing whenever she laughed, hands like a man and the strength of an ox.
"Aine, honey? What happened?"She asked as she stared at the young woman knelt on the floor surrounded by the shards of her bedroom window.
"Honey?"She asked again, squatting down and giving her a slight shake to rouse her out of her maudlin musing.
"Oh....sumimasen.."She apologized in a tired and apathetic tone, ignoring the glass as she staggered to her feet while others peered in from the doorway.
"What happened to the window?"Kenneth Bronson, the head of the household demanded in a slightly stern manner, the red and black plaid shirt he wore coupled with his bushy white moustache reminding her a bit of a badger as she regarded him with an almost errie calm.
"I think...a bird crashed into the window."She lied as Mable glanced around the room and then shrugged her square shoulders.
"Why don't you lay in our room while I get this cleaned up? Everyone just go back downstairs, nothing more to see up here.."She shoo'd everyone while Aine walked from her bedroom to that of her adopted parents.
Sitting in the darkness of the room on the edge of the bed, she felt the familiar pounding start to form whenever her emotions got the better of her in such a manner.

 

[Anjeru]

Instantly, she would feel the throbbing pain in her temples ease and the comforting feeling of arms surrounding her in a warm embrace. You need to stay calm, koishii. I would not truly leave you. Now that I have found you again, I will not let you slip away from me. I promised to come to you, did I not? To take you away from this place? His voice in her mind was dark and low, almost a purr of velvet across her senses.

Inside the body of the owl, Xander couldn't help but smile a little at her small tantrum. It showed that despite her words, she truly did not want him to leave again. Even if she begged him to leave, he would not. He promised to rescue her, to take her away from that life, and he would move heaven and hell if he had to. His words were never a lie and they would not begin to be now.

He flew through the air gracefully, wings flapping in a slow and tranquil pace. Even as the white snow owl, he was strong and powerful, majestic against the backdrop of the night. He sent images and the feeling of soaring through the sky to her as he fluttered his feathers to descend. As he approached the ground, his body snapped and twisted, morphing once again into the body that belonged to him. He dressed himself in a pair of jeans, boots, and a black t-shirt, his long blonde hair pulled back in a tail, tied at the name of his neck. His peircing green eyes studied the building she was inside of, looking to the now shattered window.

 

[Erato]

She gasped the moment she felt his healing touch, the pain ebbing by degrees and the familiar brush of his mind against hers.
What was the matter with him?! Hadn't she warned him? Made the danger clear to him or would she have to be far more brutally honest?
Mable had almost finished cleaning up the glass when the bedroom door flung open and there in the doorway stood her adopted daughter looking like a samurai hell bent on defending her lord.
"Aine, honey?"She asked in slight confusion as the younger woman balled up her fists and closed her eyes tightly as if trying to summon a god from his slumber.
Do you want to die?! You have no idea how much danger you're in...She all but screamed at him as one by one the other windows and mirrors began to crack, splinter and then shatter; a storm of her own design brewing in her room as she walked towards the window she'd first broken.
Get out of here! I will not have YOUR death on my hands..not yours... Before Mable pulled her back from the window and then screamed when she saw the man out in the yard.
"It's one of them! The vampires have come for my baby girl!"She hollared, immediately wrapping her large, meaty arms around the lithe form of the asian as the thundering footsteps of men filled Aine's ears.
Please! Forget about me and just fly away from here, ignore my feelings and think of yourself!She pleaded with him as the tears spilled down her face.
"Get her into the basement!"Kenneth snapped as he glanced at the four men behind him as Mable nodded and began to drag her away.
His voice amongst all others she'd heard tugged at her heart the most, and with each inch she was hauled, she felt as if she were losing part of herself.
Loyalties divded her and it made her want to smash the entire world around her just so she could have a moment of peace.

 

[Anjeru]

Xander could sense the conflict exploding within the confines of Aine's prison - or rather, her home, allbeit a rather torturous one. He couldn't let it go on like this, despite her warnings. He was one of the most ancient Carpathians and not many could stand up to him and live; though these humans had the knowledge to fight his people, he could take her from them. And he was going to. The moment she'd stepped up to the glass and he saw her for the first time...colors had exploded around him and the emotions he had long since forgetten had come rushing back. And he was pissed beyond compare as they dragged off his lifemate. There was no denying it now.

I'm coming for you, Aine. I will not allow them to do this to you anymore. He said the words with steel reserve, letting his body fade and spread out as a mass of fog particles, swarming over the yard and house. I will set you free. I intend to keep the promise I made to you all those years ago.

 

[Erato]

What a brave, noble yet stupid fool her lifemate was. Wait...lifemate?
Aine gasped in Mable's hold, holding off resisting her for a moment as that knowledge sunk in.
Emotion long denied, colors seemed far more vibrant to her as if she'd been seeing the world through smokey specs up until now before the tears fell harder.
I'm not worthy of being your lifemate...don't you understand yet? I've led your people to slaughter. I was bait and now you want to... She trailed off, shaking her head as her foster mother began to panic.
"What's he doing to you, sweetheart? You can't believe what they say, remember? He's a vampire, honey. They'll lie and say anyt--!"
"No! He would never lie to me!"She all but screamed, wrenching free and half-running, half-tumbling down the stairs towards the front door.
"Jake! Aine's gone loco!"Mable hollared, causing the asian woman to scream as another pair of arms encircled around her waist and hauled her towards the kitchen.
"It's okay, Aine. I gotcha..I gotcha.."Jake tried to calm her as she dug her nails into his forearm and shook her head savagely.
"I have to go to him! You don't understand, he'll kill you all if I don't!"She tried to reason with the family's eldest boy as he chuckled in a cold and low tone.
"Not if we don't kill him first. You led him to us, good job. One less vampire in the world.."As her blood turned cold and heart froze mid beat.
For the love of all that is sacred and dear, RUN! I'll find you, I swear it, but you have to flee now or they will kill you!

 

[Anjeru]

He was torn between the magnitude of his and her emotions as they washed across them both; the old ways of the Carpathians was telling him to kill these people who imprisoned his lifemate and to take her from them, but her fear for his safety, her tears, her screams, were urging him to flee. Aine... He groaned her name, the rolling mist freezing in its approach over the house. I will go...but for this night only...if you have not come to me by the following night, I will have no other choice but to come for you.

The mist pulled back, rolling over the glittering blades of grass to disappear among the moonlit trees. Once in the coverage of the leaves, Xander allowed his body to materialize once again. His eyes glittered, full of anger, as he looked in the direction of the house. Heaven, nor hell, or any force on Earth will be able to stop me from taking you. I do not care what you have done in the past, koishii. That family has forced you to become this way, if you were truly like them, you would not have regret in your heart over what you have done. Xander could forgive her and he knew his people would as well. This wasn't the life she had chosen. He wasn't going to let them continue to do this, not after tonight.

He put the image of a majestic wolf into his mind and again, his body began to change; bone and sinew snapping, changing, before at last he had taken form of the wolf. The creature scented the air, taking Aine's smell deep into its lungs. Come to me, Aine. Follow your heart. Upon the morrow, you shall find me. The wolf turned away from the direction of the house, reluctance in its every step as it bolted with amazing agility and grace.

 

[Erato]

When he told her that he would leave her for this one night, her body sagged in relief even as her heart broke.
To be apart from a lifemate when he'd just regained his emotions and his ability to see colors, to regain the part of him that had been long dormant was a great sacrifice she knew and it made her feel guilty anew to ask him to endure such on her behalf.
"Ha! He's retreating!"She heard men shout upstairs, confidient it had been them that had frightened the monster off instead of the heartfilled beseeching of a terrified girl-woman down below.
Her head was pounding and somehow, she found herself lying in a large bed though she couldn't be bothered to try and figure out who the bed belonged to at this point in the game.
For a whole night, this family of so-called vampire hunters was safe, and between now and then, she had to muster the strength as well as the courage to slip away from them if only to prevent unneccessary bloodshed.
Voices began to fade, unable to make out what was being said as she slipped off into a much needed sleep where her mind was free to wander and the pain of using her gifts could not touch her.
I swear to you, by all that I hold sacred and dear...I will find you, beloved. Forgive me of being such a coward and a disappointment. Even if you were to take me with you this very night...my body is simply too weak and I would slow you. She apologized to him.
The family would no doubt watch her like a hawk the next several hours to be sure that she was kept safe, and it would take all the cunning and beguilement in her remite to pull this off, but she'd worry about it later when she regained conciousness, for now, rest was vital and neccessary.

 

[Anjeru]

It felt like someone had ripped his very heart from his chest as he moved further and further away from her. Every part of him was screaming at him; go back! Save her! Take her away from there! But he couldn't...not just yet. He would give into her wishes, just this once, if only to keep her from over exhausting herself.

You are not a coward, nor a disappointment, Koishii. You never will be. You are strong, beautiful, and courageous. Now...rest. You need to rest before you leave. He sent his touch to her, the feeling of his strong arms holding her to his warm chest. He wanted so desperately to be able to just hold her, for real, just like this. And he would, before the morning of the next day, or there would be hell to pay.

He trotted into a network of caves just at the edge of the woods and allowed himself to shift back into his normal body. He waved his hands and the soil of the Earth parted to allow him sanctuary. Xander floated to his 'grave' and allowed the soil to spill back over his body. His eyes shut and he allowed himself to fall into a deep slumber, the sleep of his people, his lungs ceasing their movement, and his heart no longer beating. His last thought was of Aine.

 

[Erato]

The night passed on with little incident thereafter, though she certainly couldn't help but dream of times before when he'd first spoken to her.
The friendly voice that filled her mind, comforted her when she lay in one hospital room after another, assuring her that she wasn't alone nor was she crazy.
When she finally came to, it was well into the following morning and she couldn't help but chuckle at the way she'd been clutching her pillow as though it were her childhood friend she'd been hugging all through the night.
Not as dibilitated as the night before, she would need to formulate a plan and quickly since she knew the family wouldn't let her out of their sight for very long.
Creeping down the hallway, she pulled to a stop when she heard the sound of the Bronsen elders speaking in hushed tones, worry and another curious emotion, guilt coating their voices.
"We have to keep her sedated, anything to keep her from leaving and falling into his hands."Kenneth spoke up as Mable sniffed loudly.
"She'll find out the truth and come to hate us. My baby girl..."She trailed off.
Truth? Truth about what? Aine mused for a moment before stepping around the corner and offering them all her best smile.
"Aine! Oh my goodness, what are you doing out of bed?"Mable asked, quick to fuss over her as she rose from the table and wrapped her arms around the young woman she'd adopted so many years ago.
"Sorry, I was hungry.."She lied easily, hugging her adopted mother back before frowning. She was the one who felt the most guilty, but why?

 

[Anjeru]

The day was in full swing, the sun high and its rays beaming down across the lands. It was his weakest hour, and yet, as Aine's distress became present, Xander managed to rouse his consciousness. He reached out mentally for her, hearing the words of her family as she did. The guilt she felt became guilt he felt. He merged with her best he could, to give her his strength, determination, and courage. She was afraid to leave her 'family' but afraid to stay with them. Torn between the two worlds.

He flooded her with warmth, of the feeling of his arms around her instead of her 'mothers'. Though he was weak in the sunlight, he would do whatever he could to help Aine if she needed him. Don't hesitate to call out for me if you need help, Koishii. The words came to her in his husky tone, before he partially retreated to semi-rest in his 'grave' that he'd chosen the night before.