Chapter 23: Her Son

Blood splattered against the brick wall.

The two women cowered in fear, Erodon standing over their boys' broken bodies. The boys weren't dead, but they would find it difficult to walk for a few hours.

Kairas and Ryan remained behind Erodon, their eyes watching the Vampire as he scanned over the women, licking his lips of their boyfriend's blood and circled around them. "Now, now," He said, voice smooth as silk. "Don't be scared. Trust me, it won't hurt at all. Just let me take some of that precious blood."

"Get away from us, freaks!" The girl that spoke up had dyed blue hair that was tied up in a thick bun. She was wearing a galaxy dress and flats, something Kairas took notice of very quickly. "The cops are already on their way!"

"Hey, hey," Erodon cooed, holding a hand up to them. "One of us is human. Freak is a very harsh word you know."

"What's the point of this," Kairas asked Ryan quietly. "He's just feeding himself like a fatass."

���It's his way of doing things and gathering info. This isn't known very well, but in addition to the sustenance they gain, vampires also gather information after consuming a certain amount of blood from a person." Ryan looked down at the broken boys and sighed, "But he likes torturing and stirring fear into his meals. Makes it tastier for him."

"You seem awfully calm about the fact he's a vampire. You pissed your pants when you first met me." Kairas said. "Then again, it seems like you and him have history, so I shouldn't be too surprised."

Erodon knelt down, running his fingers along one of the boy's throats. He opened his blue eyes, shaking in fear as the vampire gripped his blonde locks and stood up. "So, I've been around a lot and I heard some interesting things. Which one of you is the girl known as Jewel?"

The girl towards the back stood up, heaving heavily. "Please.. Don't hurt him. Just, let him go."

"Word on the street is you and your boyfriend here," He said, shaking the boy as his grip tightened, "Know a guy named Takabi. White hair, violet eyes. Looks like the boy behind me."

Jewel's gaze glanced behind Erodon, and her eyes widened at Kairas. Despite his less than happy scowl, he was the spitting image of Takabi. Exactly the same, and the only thing that really made the two stand apart was the black hair, green eyes and dirty outfit.

"I.. I might know him. Why, what do you want with him?" She asked calmly.

"Jewel?" The girl in front of her turned back to look at Jewel as she brushed dirt from the back of her pants. She held a stern gaze, and despite the fear in her eyes, she steeled her resolve to get everyone out alive. "It's fine, Ariel." Jewel said, reassuring her friend. She took a step ahead of her.

"I'm sure you could've guessed, we're looking for him. He's a very important boy, and we must have him return to us." Erodon placed a hand against his chest, dropping the blonde boy to the ground and kicking him aside. "That boy behind me, the black haired one. That's his brother. Both of those boys haven't seen each other in about seven years."

"What's your point? Why attack us if you were just simply searching?"

"It's very difficult for humans to listen to higher power beings without being consumed by fear. I must say though, you're doing awfully well for a mortal girl." Erodon smiled at her, revealing his fangs.

Jewel took a step back on instinct, Ariel holding her breath as if trying to seem invisible. "Higher power beings? Like, mythic creatures?" Jewel bit her lip, and reached behind her to grab Ariel's hand. "Well, you're a vampire if I really had to guess. Why would he get involved with someone like you? Is Takabi one too?"

"Oh no. Far from it. Kairas. Show her what you and your brother are, please."

Kairas walked between Erodon and the girls, exhaling as white wings shot out from his back. Feathers dropped slowly, coating the ground and his green eyes pierced through them. While he looked at Jewel, he could sense something deep within her. Something very powerful, and it made him a tiny bit nervous.

"Those wings. You're Angels?"

"Fallen Angels to be exact," Erodon corrected, patting Kairas' shoulders as his wings retracting, as if they were never there to begin with. "Beings beyond your understanding. Want the proof, tell us where Takabi is and we can show you ourselves."

"I wouldn't know." Jewel admitted. "He left school on a trip a month ago. Haven't seen or heard from him since."

Erodon exchanged glances with Kairas.

Takabi's twin bowed to the two, saying, "Thanks for your time. I apologize for our less than pleasant methods." The sudden politeness had everyone stunned, even Erodon. When Kairas picked his head up, he walked over to the blonde boy and dropped to a knee, holding a hand out as a green light covered his palm, soon washing over the boy in a green aura.

"What are you doing to Blake?!" Jewel almost ran at Kairas, but Ariel held her back with a firm grip.

"I'm healing him." As he finished speaking, Blake raised his head, all of his injuries healed. If not for the torn shirt and slight bloodstains, no one would be able to tell if he was attacked or not. Kairas moved towards the other boy and began doing the same. Once he stood, Kairas looked at Erodon and Ryan, walking away from the group as a whole. Ryan quickly followed, and Erodon, grit his teeth but bid farewell to the group of high school kids.

Once they rounded the corner to the warehouse, and spotted the gathering group of homeless men and nameless nobodies that could blend in anywhere, the Vampire clasped a hand on Kairas' cloak, stopping him and waiting for Ryan to walk ahead to their hideout before saying, "Why did you do that? Now they know about us. We should have killed them and kept it all hidden."

"There was no point," Kairas said, gently shaking himself free. "There's no need to continue staining our hands with blood right now. That girl is a link to him. We keep her alive, she's more than likely to help us locate him. It's all a waiting game." He touched his chest, feeling his heartbeat. "Mother always said having patience would yield the best results. No sense in killing our only lead."

"But that girl. I'm sure you saw it in her, right?" Erodon bit his lip and locked eyes with Kairas, who in turn nodded.

"She's not normal. I don't know who or what she is, but she holds a power that may be problematic. Once we locate my brother, then, you can kill her if you want to."

"I like the sound of that." He said, rubbing his chin. "Or. We could… Ya know, keep her around for you. You look like you could use something to dump your loads into." Kairas narrowed his eyes at Erodon and turned away, walking towards the warehouse.

"I'm going to meditate. Don't bother me for a while." He made his way inside, moving past the gathering people and up the stairs to the second floor. He stepped inside a pure white padded room, clean as all can be, and sat criss-cross in the center, waiting for the door to close on its own and shut his eyes. A black light shielded his body as he slowly began to levitate in the air, and his mind left his body and traveled deep into his memories.

It was his and Takabi's fifth birthday. Their father was out back with Takabi and Shine, reading to them under a hammock. It was around 2 p.m, and Kairas was inside, resting his head in Myra's lap as she played with his hair. His body was relaxed, his mind was calm and felt happy. Genuine happiness in his stomach, and a small smirk rose on his face as a single tear dripped down his cheek.