"Stop playing with your food or I'll stop cooking for you completely."
Alexandria looked up at James who was watching her as she sat at the kitchen island prodding her rare steak. The blood trickling around its edges, making Alexandria slightly sick as she prodded it. "I'm sorry...I'm just not that hungry."
"You said you would give me some opinions on my cooking," James muttered as he turned back to the stove. When Alexandria first came here and realized that some people here actually enjoyed the normalcy a home cooked meal brought to their lives, she was more than ecstatic to be a food tester.
Alexandria cut a piece of the steak, the blood dripping down the fork and down her wrist, she frowned as she licked it away and ate the piece of meat. "It's good, thank you."
James smiled over his shoulder and smiled, "there's deer's blood in the fridge. I got it this morning."
Alexandria put her hands in her hair and shook it out with a sigh, "I don't want blood. I just want to go home." Her chest paining at the thought of home...and a certain redhead that she longed to hold just for a moment.
James put down his spatula and rested his hands on counter top in front of her. "I don't know how Peter felt, but I remember right after the change I wanted to attack something and drink its blood. The pain your body goes through is just excruciating and you need blood to recover from that." He paused as he waited for a reaction, "It's good you're not near them, you're doing your friends a kindness."
Alexandria ran a hand through her hair, tugging on a fistfull and nodded, "I wish they saw it that way."
"They will," James smiled and stood back up, "now how about you eat some more?"
Alexandria looked at the steak and sighed as she began to eat, her stomach growled slightly, "I've had a headache for weeks." she commented. "It's getting worse, nothing makes it go away."
James stopped prodding at another steak and frowned, "have you been hunting?"
"I did yesterday," Alexandria lied. She didn't know why she was lying, but she recently had no appetite for blood. It had been occurring for the past few weeks.
"Really? Because I know there's a bottle with your name on it that's still sealed," James commented.
Alexandria groaned as she stood up and walked to the rather large fridge and found the bottle on the door, she poured a glass and took her seat as she sipped it. The taste making her want to vomit. Which worried her.
"God! Is this old or something? It's disgusting," Alexandria gagged, spluttering blood across the counter as she wiped her mouth.
James turned off the flame on the stove and looked at her, he had the same look on his face whenever Vic noticed the veins on her cheeks. Slightly scared and very worried. "I got that blood yesterday for you."
"Well, it's gross," Alexandria cringed at the taste, it felt as if it were burning her throat. "What was it from?"
"James! We're off for a trip, care to join?" A woman who looked to be in her late twenties with short blonde hair smiled as she walked into the room. Her heels clicking underneath bell-bottom jeans as she smiled, "Hello, Lex. Would you care to join as well?"
"Where we are going?" Alexandria questioned.
"Wherever the wind takes us," the woman shrugged.
"Sounds fun, Jasmine," James nodded, giving Alexandria a side long glance.
"We leave at dusk," Jasmine smiled, "bring cloaks."
"Care for some steak?" James offered the pan.
Jasmine grinned and took one thankfully before departing, James looked at Alexandria and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you don't like deer," he offered.
Alexandria would've agreed had she not had that kind of blood countless times before, and remembered the satisfying taste...recently she couldn't stomach half of the blood sources that she once drank constantly. "You're probably right," she shrugged, not wanting to talk about this much longer. The idea that she could be experiencing the change at this very moment horrified her.
"Then a good hunt might be the ticket."
Five vampires left just as the sun was setting, all pulling their hoods over their heads as they walked down the cleanly cut grass. Alexandria felt the familiar tug of apparation and soon they were standing in a heavily wooded area.
"Meet here in three hours," Jasmine whispered to the group.
There were words of agreement as everyone spilt into their own groups, Alexandria paused. Taking in her surroundings, she stood still and took a deep breath in. Her head pounded dangerously loud as she tried to listen to noises. That's when she heard a roar, a sound she didn't recognize, she frowned and followed it. More for curiousity's sake.
She came to the edge of the surrounding trees to find a cabin hidden in stone, the roaring was louder now.
"What're you doing?" James questioned, he appeared with a squirrel in hand beside her.
"You enjoy scaring me don't you?" she whispered harshly.
"I don't get bored of it," James smirked. Alexandria was reminded of Vic and she wanted to cry.
"What do you suppose that noise is?"
"Dragons," James shrugged as if it were nothing new.
"Dragons," Alexandria breathed, her fangs expanded into her lip. "What do you suppose they taste like?"
"You can't be serious! It's one thing to get near a dragon, its another to get it to bleed, and its another to live long enough to drink it," James snorted.
Alexandria shook her head and sighed, "you're right...sorry..."
James patted her shoulder, "let's get you blood."
Alexandria followed a few steps after James, keeping a look out for anything. But her head pounded so harshly that her vision began to blur, she gripped a nearby tree and groaned as she fell to her knees. James didn't take notice and soon Alexandria's limited vision lost sight of him. Alexandria felt her body begin to burn slightly as she gripped the tree harder, the bark digging underneath her nails as she remembered Colleen explaining what the change did to her own body.
Alexandria gasped in pain and began to moan as her headache increased to a violent pounding and her nails ached from the bark. The fire in her body surged, her joints breaking and reforming violently, her vision completely gone as she pressed her shoulder into the tree for a reassurance that she was still in the forest. She begged for someone to be with her, she was frightened and terrified. Even James would do for some company, just to console her as she convulsed on the cold, unforgiving ground.
"Whos there? Show yourself," Alexandria's eyes widened but she could only see black, as she heard the very familiar voice. No....he couldn't be near. It wasn't possible.
Footsteps sounded closer, wand light shining the surroundings through the black, Alexandria tried to make herself small as she continued to burn and convulse. But it didn't help, the wand light stopped on her and she knew she'd been revealed as she dug her face into her shoulder against the tree.
"Reveal yourself," the stranger ordered. He sounded so confident, but Alexandria knew underneath that gruff voice he was frightened.
Alexandria shook her head, the footsteps neared, her head throbbed painfully, her body was becoming increasingly hot as time progressed. Alexandria felt her hood be pulled from her face, she gave a slight whimper of fear.
"Lexi?"
Alexandria closed her eyes, willing her sight to come back so that she could look into the wonderful brown eyes of Fred Weasley. Alexandria couldn't speak as every inch of her body burned, her throat constricting, allowing no sound to leave her body.
When would the pain stop?! Alexandria screamed in her mind.
"You have the wrong person now leave," Alexandria said in a very strangled voice. She wanted to scream in pain as her body was torched alive, she wanted to claw at her skin as she looked at him.
Fred gently took her hands, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles, "I'd recognize you from anywhere, love," he whispered.
"I told you to leave, you foolish git!" Alexandria shouted into the dark, the agonizing pain increasing in severity, "I don't want to hurt you. Please."
She felt the monster inside of her take control as her body twisted and writhed from the fire in a violent way. Alexandria let out a scream, she felt her body be douse in ice before the fire was back but with a new sensation that started in her fingers. She managed to gain her footing as she stretched out her hands before her, running her hands across the forest floor as she tried to crawl away. She didn't want Fred to see her so vulnerable and desperate. She wish he would run from her, but he stayed right by her side.
"Leave," Alexandria pleaded weakly to the darkness that continued to mock her.
Fred shook his head stubburnly, "what can I do?"
"Leave," Alexandria objected as she continued to move inch by inch.
Fred's hands found her shoulders and pulled Alexandria into his arms as he situated them so that he was sitting behind her. Holding her tightly as she continued to violently shake, she felt his fingers intertwine with hers.
"Go," Alexandria begged weakly and cried, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I'm not leaving you alone like this," Fred whispered.
"I don't want to kill you!" Alexandria shouted as she continued to cry.
Alexandria moaned and thrashed in Fred's arms, and just as she was about to beg again, the air was gone. It left her lungs and she felt herself gagging, trying to pull the air back into her body as she gasped for oxygen. She let out an ear splitting scream with the last bit of oxygen she did have, pushing away from Fred and clawing at the base of the tree beside her, she knew what she had to do, she had to find blood. It was important that she get blood right away.
His. Drink his.
Alexandria sat up with a start, her vision clearing, turning to face Fred. Giving a sickly sweet smile that reflected in Fred's big brown eyes as he stared in surprise.
"Fred...I need you..." she breathed seductively as her nails scratched under Fred's chin, leaning him forward.
Alexandria violently shook her head, convulsing instantly as she took back control. The monster screaming to come back out.
She snatched for the ground, crawling away from Fred who stayed where he was. Alexandria let her senses guide her and soon she found a squirrel, feeling the oxygen slowly creep back into her body one drop at a time, rejoicing in the fact that she felt almost normal. She didn't feel sick for the first time in weeks, as she consumed the blood.
Alexandria fell to the ground, her body feeling numb as she closed her eyes. The wind blew around her and she felt almost normal, had she really seen Fred? No, that wasn't possible. Why would he be here? It had to be her mind that made her seek comfort by picturing Fred was here beside her.
"Was that the big bad change?" Alexandria opened her eyes, Fred was standing above her, gazing down at her as she laid in the dirt.
He was real
"I think so," Alexandria said in a hoarse voice.
"How do you feel?" Fred whispered, bending down to her level.
How did she feel? She felt numb, every inch of her was numb, but there was nothing else. She felt no pain, her headache was gone, and as she felt her face she found it smooth, not littered with veins like it had so recently been. Her nails felt a bit sharper than usual, her fingers looked longer and slender than she remembered....
"Is that really you?" Alexandria whispered.
"It's funny how fate works isn't it?" Fred chuckled slightly. He leaned down and stroked her cheek longingly. "You don't look any different....well...maybe a bit more beautiful if you can believe that." Any other day Alexandria would've blushed, would've been happy to hear Fred compliment her but...she didn't feel that way. She felt guilty.
"I have to go," Alexandria said suddenly as she stood up, gripping the tree beside her.
"Why?" Fred questioned as he studied her, "this is why you left, right? You seem fine, I don't see the-"
"Because I can't be near you," Alexandria's heart broke and as she looked at Fred, watching as his own heart broke into millions of pieces. "I can't be with you..."
"I don't care what you are, I want to be with you," Fred said confidently. Alexandria shook her head, her heart breaking even more. She didn't want to do this, but she had to, to keep him safe...it was a step she needed to take to keep herself from killing him, but as she gazed at him, she knew she was doing just that.
"I want to be with you too, Fred. But I can't...not like this, it wouldn't be fair to you," Alexandria said quietly. Fred looked like he was going to be sick as he clutched his chest, averting his gaze. "You saw what I did...I almost..." she shook her head, letting the words fall silently. She wanted his blood, had almost gotten it had she not gotten back to herself.
"Fred! Where are you!" George's voice called, his footsteps were close.
Alexandria closed her eyes before reaching up and kissing Fred one last time and running off, she hated this. Having to leave him. Fred deserved so much better than her. Alexandria wiped at her face as she ran to the meeting spot, hoping to find someone.
"Look who we have here," Alexandria's heart metaphorically stopped and dropped to her stomach, as Fenrir Greyback appeared. "Take her," hands gripped her shoulders and she met the ground without an ounce of resistance, screaming out, hoping that maybe someone would appear and save her. A bag was pulled over her head and she was tugged by apparation, the wind was colder now and she heard gates opening. Her feet clicked on stone and she felt herself shoved down a flight of stairs and against a cold gate.
With the bag still on her head, she was pulled to her feet and dragged to a sitting position, her hands were cuffed and the bag was removed but her eyes were quickly covered with a blindfold.
"Whatever you want, you won't get it," Alexandria whispered to whoever was around.
She was slapped in the face and a gruff voice answered, "we'll see about that little vampire."
~*~*~
Fred stood in one spot as Alexandria disappeared, had she really been there? Had she really just ripped out his heart and stomped on it? That wasn't the love of his life, no...it couldn't be. But deep down Fred knew it had been.
"Oh bloody hell! What're you doing here?!" Fred jumped at the familiar voice to see James walking toward him.
"I was getting fire wood for the fire," Fred said quietly, feeling furious as the boy walked closer, somewhere in his mind he knew Alexandria was still with the two boys who had accompanied her the previous time he'd seen her. He just didn't want to believe it. "What're you doing here?"
"I was on a hunting party with Alexandria and a few others....haven't seen her have you?" James asked. Fred flinched at her name and James took that as a confirmation, "so you have."
"She was hiding beside a tree when I found her...and she...she--"
"Ran away from you?"
"She changed."
"Oh bloody hell," James ran a hand through his hair, "what happened?"
"Why do you care?" Fred spat, a fire igniting in his chest.
"Because it's important. I knew this was going to happen," James kicked at the ground in frustration. "She didn't hurt you or anything did she?"
"No," Fred lied. Not physically, but emotionally he was destroyed.
James nodded, "that's promising.." he shook his head as he paced.
"What're you doing with her anyway?" Fred growled.
James smirked in the dim moonlight. "Don't worry, she's not my type. Far too young for me."
Fred felt his knuckles grip tightly as a scream sounded behind James, Fred raised an eyebrow, "look. I'll handle it, just....stay hidden, it's better they don't get you. Alexandria would have my head for that," James whispered harshly.
"I can defend--"
"I don't care!" James cut him off gruffly. "If you get hurt and Alexandria finds out, she'll kill me."
"You're a vampire, what does that matter?" Fred shot back.
James raised an eyebrow and groaned as he pulled out his wand, "stay." He flicked his wand at Fred and he felt his body freeze up. James ran off in the direction of the scream, he looked around frantically but found no one. He heard a crack ten feet away and he ran toward it. But only found the rustle of leaves, James punched a tree, leaving a small dent in the bark as he closed his eyes.
Alexandria had been taken. Worse. A vampire had been taken. Even worse. A brand new vampire had been taken.
~*~*~
I'm serious. I'm not going to update until I have five comments on this chapter! I've been too nice...