Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Essence of Blood (1x1)

Alezander watched as she left the room, sobbing. He would have chased after her right away, but he was still unsure about what all was happening. He slid his hand over his face and then looked around the room. Seeing an empty bed, instead of Maria, was an odd thing. He wondered, if he was truly under her control. What would that mean? He had seen what happened when Zalia's father seemed to take control of her vampiric side, but she had been able to fight it. He wondered if he could do the same.

He eventually made his way toward her room. He saw her on the bed, and said, "This isn't anyone's fault. We couldn't have known what would happen. If I had thought it a bad idea, I wouldn't have shown you the stone to begin with."

Zalia's voice was muffled from her tear-streaked face being hidden in the pillow. "You trusted me." And that was the killer. He had trusted her, he trusted her decision and her judgement and she had let him down. Not only had she let him down, she had brought upon him a terrible fate. To be controlled was the worst of the worst.

"Alezander, I...I..." She couldn't get it out of her throat. The reason she had wanted so badly to free him from that woman. So instead... "I'm so sorry...I'm so, so sorry..." Shadow sat by her head and twitched his nose, the little bunny oblivious to what had gone on.

"I am as much at fault as you are, if not more," he said, sitting on the edge of her bed. He had been to one to keep Maria's body here, that was the only reason any of this happened. He was doing his best to stay calm from her. "My father broke that control she had over me before. There must be some way to do it again. We just need to figure that out." It wasn't a completely lost cause, just as long as they did it quickly, before anything happened that they wouldn't want.

"So please, don't cry. I don't like to see you cry."

Zalia did stop crying, slowly. "Where did you find the stone? Maybe..maybe your father kept a journal, or made notes, about how he freed you." She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "We have to find a way to break her control.." The only way she could think of was violent and barbarian; rip that stone from her chest.

Zalia was quiet for a few moments, and then she pulled him close and hugged him. Just as much to comfort him as to comfort herself.

He hugged her back gently, knowing that she needed it. And as he did, he thought, trying to recall if he had ever seen any notes of his father's. "I don't think there are any of his notes here. I think when he left, he took them with him." He had looked for such things before, but with no particular reason in mind.

"We can always look again, sometimes he left his notes in code, and I wouldn't have even noticed," he said, letting her go. He gently placed his hand on Shadow, petting him gently. "Glad someone turned up safe, at least." He gave a smile.

Zalia listened to him and nodded. "Alright." She got up. They had to find something, they had break this problem. "Code. Right... Well, that won't be too easy..." She sighed and just smiled a little when he pet Shadow. "Yeah...I'm glad too. You need to stay in this room, Shadow." She tapped the bunny's nose and then would walk with Alezander down to the study. There had to be something for them to find.

"Well...let's get to looking."

When they had been walking, Alezander almost reached out to take her hand in his, but was stopped by a sharp pain in his chest. He hid that feeling from her, slipping behind her as she entered the study to clutch his chest momentarily. But he quickly regained himself, and began to shuffle through the mess of books and papers around the room. There was nothing that stood out to him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't find something the longer he looked.

For a moment, his eyes lingered on the family album, but he sat that aside quickly, continuing to look.

Zalia noticed his momentary absence and looked at him for a couple moments. She shrugged it off though and started looking through everything that was in there. There had to be something. When Alezander set the album aside, she looked at it for a few moments. She had flipped through the pages so many times, would she really have missed something?

She took hold of the album and started carefully searching through it. Looking for something, anything, that might be a hint to freeing Alezander.

He continued searching through papers, but looked to Zalia as she flipped through the pages of the photo album. Maybe she was on to something? He leaned over her shoulder as she turned the pages, looking each picture over carefully. He had a sneaking suspicion growing inside of him. And then he saw it. A lone picture of Maria, on a page by itself.

He carefully took the book from Zalia, and slipped the picture out. And there it was, a note scribbled on the back of the picture. "The essence is pulled through relation." He read it aloud, and as he did, he felt somewhat confused. That was all it said, and it made no sense. He looked at the other pictures, but found no notes on them.

Zalia blushed when she felt Alezander so close to her, but she kept looking through the pictures. When he found one of Maria and also found the note on the back of it, she tried thinking it over. "The essence is pulled through relation....There has to be something else. That doesn't make sense. There's got to be another clue somewhere."

She put the album down and started searching again. What else in the study could be related to Maria?

He shook his head. "I don't know what else there could be? There wasn't much left, like I said. My father would have left not long after I did..." He paused for a moment, bringing his hand up to his neck and resting it there. "That may be all we need to know." There was something, in the back of his mind. His memory from when he first turned were mostly fuzzy, but there was something that seemed to be coming through.

"She was related... but only through a little bit of blood. I bit my father... and then got sick. I think that is where it came from. The stone. My close relatives blood, over came the essence of hers that turned me... that controlled me. That makes sense. I vaguely remember my father speaking something of that."

Zalia frowned. "But...your family isn't here anymore. You don't have a close relative's blood." Her heart sank. Was it hopeless? "What do we do, Alezander?" There was none of his family for him to bite. How were they going to break the bond now?

She was quiet for a few moments, then looked at him. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, then reached up and pulled his head down so his lips were against her neck. "Bite me. Maybe it didn't have to be a relative's blood. Maybe my blood would work too. It's worth a try." Anything was worth a try if it might mean saving Alezander.

Alezander was surprised when Zalia pulled him toward her neck. For a moment, his eyes flashed crimson, smelling the blood through her skin. But he quickly pulled away. "There is no need for that," he said, remembering the taste of her blood from before. The half vampire mixed in was a disgusting taste.

"And, there might be someone," he said, backing away from her. Half a decade, she would be old by now, but it was worth a shot. "My sister will be about 75, if she is still alive. Before we try anything else, let me try to find her through my contact."

Zalia listened to him and nodded a little. "...Alright." She would keep searching through the study, but finally take a break to get something to eat. She was still human after all. She would eventually just fall asleep right there on the table, too exhausted to stay awake.

Things had been a bit stressful.

When she left to get something to eat, Alezander sat in his usual chair by the fireplace. He rested his head in his hands, giving a heavy sigh. He had not wanted to show Zalia how stressed he was about the whole thing... how worried and scared he was. He had not felt fear in a long time. After a long set of minutes, he stood, making his way out of the study and into the kitchen. There he saw Zalia, who had fallen asleep. He smiled at her sleeping form, and picked her up.

As he carried her to her room, he couldn't help but feel grateful to her, for doing so much, for caring so much. He placed her in her bed, and covered her, letting Shadow snuggle against her head.

Zalia stirred slightly as she was picked up, but did not awaken. She nuzzled slightly against the man that carried her and sleepily murmured one word; "Alezander..." When placed on her bed she curled up contentedly and continued to sleep. Peaceful sleep, and a peaceful dream despite the happenings.

When she woke up, she fed Shadow and then went to find Alezander. She felt like she needed to apologize to him for falling asleep at such a crucial time, even though he obviously didn't mind; how else would she get from the table to the bed? It must have been Alezander.

It was odd if one ever had the chance to see a vampire sleeping. They needed little sleep, and even when they did, it was in solitude. But Alezander had fallen asleep at his chair in the study, his head resting gently on the back, his hands holding the family album and a few papers. Beside him was his mirror, from his room; the one that he used for messaging and packages.

He had obviously stayed up far longer after Zalia had been placed in her room, most likely trying to find more notes from his father. But he had found nothing else, than the words scribbled on the back of the picture. He had also been trying to figure out just where his sister might be, and if she was even still alive. This was something he definitely needed to solve, and fast.

Zalia was indeed surprised to find him asleep. She walked over and very carefully, very gently slid the album and papers from his hands and put them aside. She looked at him for a few long moments, admiring him. Then she knelt down by his legs, leaning a little against the chair, and took one of his hands in both of hers. She held it for a moment, then leaned her head down so her forehead was touching the back of his hand.

It was the closest she would ever come to revealing her feelings for him, most likely. She kissed the back of his hand softly, then carefully let go and slowly stood up. No use fetching a blanket for him, so there wasn't much she could do to make him comfortable. So she simply sat down on one of the other chairs and read one of the books.

Alezander woke from his slumber when Zalia sat by his chair. But he didn't stir. Silently, in his mind, he smiled, especially when she kissed the back of his hand.Even when she left, he stayed there, just wanting to think a bit. He honestly hoped he could find his sister, and rid himself of this horrible situation that held him back now.

Finally, he opened his eyes, stretching a bit and feeling some what calmer about what was happening. He looked to Zalia, and asked, "I hope you had pleasant dreams."

Zalia would be mortified, had she known he was awake while she gave him those secret affections. When he woke up she looked up from her book and smiled at him. "I slept well. My dreams were calm, actually." It surprised her, with everything going on. "How did you sleep?" She paused for a moment. "I don't...I don't think I've ever seen you sleep. Are you alright? Have you been feeding?"

With the whole fiasco, she realized that both of them had probably been neglecting their needs.