Seth watched Anri panic in the dark, breathing heavy and stressing on the bed “Hey, I’m gonna turn on the light, okay?” he asked softly.

“Sure,” Anri replied shortly. Seth could feel his irritation and frustration in surround sound, in person and through their connection.

The light was bright, and they both squinted. He buckled his pants, sure that Anri wouldn’t be interested in continuing after Simone’s interruption. He shifted his engorged, soon to be sore, manhood, tucking it carefully in his underwear. He was going to have the worst blue balls later.

Anri looked uncomfortable, watching him carefully, his face a mixture of lust, hunger and frustration. He sat next to him on the bed, pushing his leg against Anri’s intentionally. He put his hand on Anri’s knee and Anri leaned against him, resting his head on Seth’s shoulder.

“Sorry,” he said gently. He rubbed Anri’s knee in small little circles. “About that, and about today, too.”

Anri sighed. “Not your fault. I’m just fucking frustrated. I haven’t been able to see you since, like fucking Thursday or something. Something always comes up. I hate it.”

They sat in silence together for a moment, him rubbing Anri’s knee while Anri leaned heavily against him.

Simone knocked gently after about five minutes.

“Come in,” Anri said grumpily.

“Um…” Simone said as she opened the door. She was blushing furiously. “I’m sorry, Sethy.”

“You’re sorry to Seth, but not to me?” Anri fumed.

“Anni, this is my apartment. And you’re my brother. I don’t wanna think about you doing that kind of stuff here,” Simone huffed.

“I hear the stuff you and Maggie do all the-” Anri started.

“Lalala! Shut UP Anri!” she said loudly over him. “Anyway…um, I have this weird feeling. I thought I heard you moving around, which obviously…um, anyway, something weird is gonna happen. I just have this feeling that…I don’t know how to explain it,” she babbled.

“Weird feeling?” Seth asked, concerned for Simone. “You don’t look like you’ve slept in days. Are you okay?”

“Oh, Sethy,” Simone said kindly. “You’re so sweet. I’m almost jealous of Anni. I feel like shit. I’m…um…did Anni tell you?” she asked sheepishly.

“Hmm? Tell me what? We haven’t really been able to connect properly in a few days,” he answered carefully.

“About…nevermind,” she muttered, looking away from them both, studying the floor intently. “I’m just really tired. I’ve been having…a hard time relaxing lately. I’m real sorry I barged in earlier.”

“S’okay. I’m gonna get going home soon, I have school tomorrow. Big day, the first day, right? Actually, I don’t really have too much to do, just go in and set up my lab again and get my stuff together for the class I teach. I have an easier schedule this semester since I’m going to be focusing on finishing up the data analysis portion of my research,” he said, smiling at Simone. She met his eyes, smiling back tiredly.

“Okay. Anni…nevermind. I’m sorry.” Simone walked out the door and closed it behind her before Anri could say anything.

They sat in silence. Seth turned, leaning Anri away from him. “Hey, Anri,” he started before Anri could grump. “Let me show you how to touch our connection. I think if we leave it throttled just a little bit that it would be a lot less distracting without feeling completely cut-off from each other.”

“You want to cut our connection?” Anri asked tiredly.

“No, no!” his words rushed out quickly. “Just…to close it down a little so we don’t distract ourselves with every little feeling we are having all day.” Seth looked down, worried he had offended him. “Sorry, I-”

Anri sighed with exhaustion. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m frustrated and I missed you and I already miss you and you haven’t even left yet. Show me, please.” Anri smiled weakly at him. Just a simple smile had his heart surging. How had he lived before Anri was in his life?

Seth smiled at the thought, and an idea came into his head. He blurted it out without really thinking. “You should move in with me.”

Anri’s jaw dropped in shock. “Uh…I…” Anri fumbled, confused.

It was Seth’s turn to blush. “Sorry. Damnit, I should think before I say stuff. Sorry,” he apologized as ran his fingers through his short hair. “Nevermind that. Let me show you how to touch the bond,” he said changing the subject. “It’s easier to just show you. If you watch, you’ll see it. I don’t think I can explain it all that well.” He turned sideways so that his knees were on the bed touching the side of Anri’s thigh, not even trying to be subtle.

He reached out and lightly traced his index finger over the metaphysical tattoo in the center of Anri’s chest marking their connection. “If you picture it in your head, what it looks like, while touching the mark, you’ll be able to call it.” His fingers skimmed over Anri’s mark, just a gentle caress. Their rust colored connection flared to life and he ran his fingers down the cable away from Anri’s chest. Anri sighed, his eyes half closing as he enjoyed the sensation.

The cable was warm and smooth in his hands. Seth could feel a faint pulse in the cord beating slowly between his fingertips. “If you just pinch it a little,” he said, pinching the cord at the same time, “it closes down.” The restriction on their connection created an emptiness in his chest. Anri’s sharp inhale let him know Anri felt the same. “If you want to open it,” he continued, his fingers massaging the cord gently, “you sort of twist and massage it back to shape.” The emptiness subsided and he could feel Anri refill that place inside him where he belonged.

Seth held the cord for another moment, enjoying the feel of it in his hands, before he let it slide from his fingertips. It disappeared in a pale red mist a second after it left his hand.

“You do it,” he suggested. Anri’s face scrunched up with skepticism. “Come on!” he exclaimed encouragingly.

“I…I don’t want to limit our connection. But, I need to. I just feel so much less when it’s down.” Anri looked away from him. “I hate it. And I hate that I’m so dependent. I hate that I hate it. God, I’m messed up.”

Seth could feel Anri’s self-hatred through their connection, though if he hadn’t been here to witness it he might not have been able to differentiate between self hatred and regular hatred.

“Anri,” he said gently, reaching out towards him. He ran his fingers over Anri’s hair. “Hey, this is new to both of us. One day, one day we will both be so comfortable that we won’t ever mess with our bond. But, as we are learning about it, and about each other, we’ll do what we have to.”

Anri turned to face him. “Why, Seth? Why do you know what I am thinking? How do you already know me so well? It’s not fair. I’m at a loss with you. You are too good for me. You’re so cool and I’m such a fuck-up. You should have been Wren to a better vampire than me.” Anri’s features wracked with guilt.

Seth snorted. “Huh? You think I know you well? You leave me guessing half the time as to what to say to you to keep you from running away from me. And, better than you? Cool? I’m just a country-raised, corn-fed kid from Indiana. There’s nothing special about me. Anri,” he admitted, reaching out to grab Anri’s chin in his fingers. He pulled Anri’s face close to his. “You, you are amazing. I love you, Anri. I don’t want anyone else. Vampire or otherwise.”

Anri began what Seth assumed was more self deprecating talk, so instead of letting him continue, he kissed Anri hard. Anri’s eyes shot open in surprise before he gave into his kiss.

“Anri,” Seth said in the breaths between kisses, “I love you.”

Anri broke the kiss apart first. Blush covered his face and he wouldn’t make eye contact with Seth. Seth sighed.

“Um, can I do it to myself or does it only work on you?” Anri said mulishly.

“Huh?” Seth was confused. “Oh, the bond,” he concluded, nodding. “It works either way, I think. I don’t think you actually have to be touching me, either. I think you just have to think about wanting to touch it. Try it on yourself. That’s how I messed with it earlier.”

Anri traced his marking and Seth felt the connection flare to life as he watched. Anri looked up at him with a huge smile. “So, you just,” Anri pinched the cord and emptiness poured into his chest so quickly it knocked the air from his lungs. Anri’s body flew back in pain and he dropped the cord. It sizzled into red mist and disappeared.

“Too much,” Seth ground out. Anri’s fingers traced the spot on his chest again and the cord materialized in his fingertips. He fumbled with the cord but the emptiness didn’t recede. Seth covered Anri’s hands with his own and gently massaged the cord, the emptiness slowly fill up again with Anri’s essence. Once the connection was fully open again, they both sighed with relief.

“Don’t drop it. Try again, just, a lot lighter. A tiny bit.” Seth panted, still trying to catch his breath.

Anri’s fingers caressed the cord lightly, sending pleasant tremors into that space in Seth’s chest. A slight twist of his fingers and their connection was moderated, not comfortable, but not distracting, either. Seth didn’t think they would ever feel truly comfortable again with regulation on their connection, but it would be a necessary evil to get through the mundaneness of day to day living.

Anri held the cord in his fingers, staring down at it. Seth could feel something else in their connection, amplified now that it was in Anri’s hands. Anri let the cord slip through his fingers as Seth had earlier, and it fizzled away.

“Anri…” he began. Anri had been looking at his fingers still, looked up at him curiously. “When is the last time you fed?”

“I ate something at the bar, Ginger and I got some pasta from the-”

Seth cut him off. “I meant, um, ‘fed’.” He made air quotes.

Anri blushed again and looked away, the curiosity disappearing into guilt. “The, um, last time we, ah, you know.”

Seth scowled. “So, more than a week? I can taste your hunger. I know what it feels like now. Why’d you wait? Why didn’t you ask?”

“We just…there wasn’t…I was planning on asking you…then you came over and we were going to…but then we didn’t…I didn’t want to make a big deal about it…” Anri mumbled, looking away. His fingers traced patterns mindlessly on the bedspread.

“Anri!” he chided, feeling jealousy spark inside, which he tried to tamp down quickly. “Were you going to drink someone else?! You told me you wouldn’t feed from anyone but me! I want to do it for you. I like doing it. Just ask me!”

Anri blushed even harder, his ears pinking. “I…wasn’t going to, I mean, um, well…”

“You weren’t going to ask me, were you?” he growled, failing to restrain himself.

Anri continued to blush and avoid eye contact. “If I…um…this is super embarrassing. I don’t need your blood if-”

Seth interrupted again, jealousy welling back despite his efforts to control it. “You don’t need my blood?!” Anger joined the jealousy in his chest. “Who were you going to drink from then, Anri? Someone from the bar?”

“No! You! You, Seth. I was, I mean, I can…you can, ah, feed me with sex.” Anri said quickly, studying the floor  intently. “Your, um, you know, ah, stuff…ah…c-c-cum, is as good as your blood. It’s even better when I have both, though,” he added more quietly, his ears burning with his embarrassment.

Seth blushed as well. Neither of them said anything for a moment, his mind racing with the implications of Anri’s revelation. He could feel a slight electric current where their legs touched. Without looking, Anri reached over and put his hand on Seth’s leg, his fingers tracing light circles over his jeans.

“Sorry,” he finally said. “But…I just can’t stand the thought of you drinking anyone else. I just can’t. I didn’t know about the sex. Why didn’t you tell me? Nevermind, that’s my fault. I’m sorry we haven’t had time. I…”

Anri turned to face him. His fingers kept tracing light patterns on Seth’s leg. “I can’t come live with you right now. Simone needs me here. She’s still trying to cope with all that stuff…” Anri said gently, worry in his eyes.

Seth nodded. “I understand. Does that mean that you’ll consider it later?”

Anri’s head turned towards the door almost violently. His hand went up against Seth’s shoulder. “Wait,” he whispered loudly. “Someone’s at the door.”

“Simone?” Seth whispered back.

“Front door,” Anri clarified. A moment later there was a heavy knock at the door.

“How could you tell?” he said quietly. Neither of them moved. Another knock, more impatient than the last.

“Anri!” Simone hissed through his door, knocking gently. “It’s him.”

Anri was out the door in a heartbeat. Seth followed on his heels, but Anri was faster. Anri reached the door before he and Simone even got into the living room. Whatever he saw in the peephole made him swear under his breath. Anri held his hand up to him and Simone, and they both stopped in the door to the kitchen. Simone was trembling. Anri, swearing under his breath again, opened the door a crack.

He must have been waiting for someone to open it, because without a word, a reddish-brown skinned man, taller than him, clad in black leather kicked open the door and pushed his way into the room. One of his arms was full of something grey and green and wiry, tubes of all lengths and widths dangling down from under his armpit, some dragging along the floor. Seth couldn’t make sense of the tangled mess the man held. Anri stepped back and the man kicked the door closed behind him, throwing the deadbolt closed with his free hand.

The man looked around the room appraisingly. A soft smile creased his lips when he saw Simone. His long black hair was pulled back in a loose braid that hung down his back. For some reason, it felt like he should know who this was. The memory of it floated in his mind, just outside of his reach.

As soon as the man spoke, memories of the summoning, Angelina and Raum flooded his memory. “Good evening, Simone, Anri, um…Anri’s Wren.” The demon nodded briefly at each of them in turn. “Can someone bring a tarp or something sufficiently waterproof? I would prevent this creature’s fluids from soiling your flooring while I dismember it,” Raum said gruffly.

They all looked at each other, the air thick with tension, then Simone squeaked “Waterproof?!”

“Yes? I am unsure of how difficult this creature’s fluids would be to remove from fabric of your flooring.” He shook the thing that he held against the left side of his body. It wiggled much longer than it should have. Green fluid dripped down grey wiry protrusions.

“That thing is alive!?” Simone screeched. “That is a thing, a living thing?”

Seth could feel Anri’s tension like a live wire and he knew he was posed on the edge of bloodlust. The stress of the situation could easily push him over the edge. How could he keep Anri from losing himself? Raum and his creature stood between him and Anri.

“Shh, you are aware it is now early morning? You have neighbors,” Raum whispered loudly. The thing wiggled under his arm and he shifted as some pincher-looking appendage worked its way free and attempted to snap at him. He caught it with his right hand and tucked it back under his arm. “May I work soon? It is beginning to fight again. It is not going to stay stunned for too much longer.”

Simone fumed. “Why would you bring it here? What is that…thing?!”

Raum shrugged. “Where else would I take it? Doing what I must do to this creature out in the open would only attract the wrong kind of attention. So, here is good. What I will do…I need full concentration for.” Raum was flippant. Seth could feel the tension in the room between Anri and Simone as a palpable thing.

Anri moved back across the room so quietly that he was surprised to find him standing protectively in front of both him and Simone. The need to touch him was overwhelming, especially with their connection restricted. He stepped closer, placing his hand on Anri’s back. Anri flinched at the direct contact to his skin, then leaned back into his touch. Simone swayed on her feet, then turned to leave the room.

She stopped mid-step, a moan escaping her lips. He and Anri turned in unison. Simone fell to her knees, moaning, tears streaming down her face. Seth looked up at the doorway to the kitchen but saw nothing. Anri reached out to Simone but she shrugged him off.

Raum walked over, the grey mass wriggling in his grasp. The thing smelled like antifreeze and spoilt cabbage. Dark green fluid spotted the floor in small drips behind him. He looked past Simone and grimaced. “Salitt an,” he spoke, and though Seth didn’t know the words, he could heard the command.

A misty trail appeared from the kitchen, wispy and thin, and wound its way through the room, stopping before Raum. It reminded Seth of the fog in a mountain valley, translucent and otherworldly. Raum put his right hand out gently, as if caressing the hair of a child. At Raum’s touch, the mist snapped into focus. A small girl, all pale and transparent, stood before him. She had long hair that covered her face, and a nightgown with a cartoon cat on the front. She appeared to be maybe five or six years old. She looked back at Simone, hair completely blocking any view of her facial features with the exception of one large eye. It was surreal.

Raum sighed. Simone cried. Anri swore. Seth stood stock still. He had never seen a ghost before. He hadn’t believed that they existed before now, although, he chastised himself, he probably should have expected it after everything else that had happened.

The black mote that was Joro buzzed tiredly in the back of his head in concern. It had been sleeping and his anxiety had woken it. He showed it Raum and the creature and it bristled. It sent images that didn’t make sense to him, metallic wires all shifting and throbbing in a heap, an entire hill of them all pulsing and sliding over each other. The hill was nothing but throbbing, twitching wire creatures. He shivered at the wrongness of the image.

“You were not supposed to be able to see her,” Raum said, sort of apologetically. “Could I trouble the least traumatized of you to find something waterproof for me to dismantle this thing? It is becoming agitated.”

He and Anri looked at each other. Seth could feel Anri’s anger seething through their connection, and his bloodlust. He was more than worried that he would give into the bloodlust. Instead, he took a deep breath, glared at Raum, and took the opportunity to do something instead of fume. Anri turned to go find something. Raum and Seth stared at each other in his wake.

“I forget your name, many apologies. Remind me?” Raum said gruffly, making uncomfortable small talk. The thing in his arms struggled harder and he grunted as he pushed down another of the wiry protrusions as it whipped around behind him. Simone sobbed, on her knees, eyes on the ghostly girl in front of Raum. Raum continued to stroke the apparition’s hair.

“You must be Raum…” he said, measured. “I’m Seth.”

“Ah, Seth. Yes, that sounds familiar. Just Seth?”

“Seth Morrigan. What’s your whole name?”

“Sigliansadine Raum, pleasure to meet you. It appears you and your Claret have completed your bonding.” Realizing that Raum knew had him blushing furiously. How could he tell? What was up with everyone knowing? Raum continued on, ignoring, or unnoticing, of his discomfort, “Good for you. Not often that you see fully bloodbound male-”

Blush was crawling up Seth’s neck as Anri burst into the room, cutting Raum off. “Towels. Try not to get it everywhere. Bring it in the kitchen. Did you have to bring something here to murder?”

“Not murder. Dismantle,” Raum corrected.

Anri huffed. “You said it was alive. Dismantling it sounds a lot like something that it will not live through.”

Joro bounced more energetically when it saw Anri. It sent an image of Anri feeding from Seth. He tried to send a positive confirmation. Joro seemed to recognize that Anri was close to bloodlust as well. He wondered if the demon could feel it, too.

Raum ignored Anri, walking to the kitchen. He ran his hand gently over Simone’s head as he passed her. She sobbed out loud, then got up and followed him.

“Damn you, you demon!” she said between sobs, “I thought I was crazy. No one else could see her. Why did you leave her here?” Her face was puffy and swollen with tears. She wiped at her eyes hard, which only made them even pinker. Anri was prickling with anger as he threw towels down on the linoleum.

Raum kneeled down on the blue oversized towel that Anri had put down, shifting his hostage from under his arm to the floor, one boot holding down a mass of wiry appendages. Or something, Seth wasn’t sure what to make of the creature. Now that it was laid out on the towel it looked like a pile of junk all knotted together in the center with some type of nickel colored plating. If the creature had a face or head, he had not seen it yet.

Raum shifted so that his black boot was directly over what appeared to be the center of the creature, or at least the part of the creature of which all of the other parts seemed to be attached. The demon pushed down with his foot and the thing let out a metallic whine, not unlike the sound of hydraulic brakes. Anri stepped back from the creature and Seth moved so that more of their bodies were connected. He could feel Anri’s bloodlust crawling through his own veins now. How was it amping up this quickly? Was it always like this for him?

Kneeling down, Raum pushed his boot down, securely holding the wiry creature, whose legs, or whatever they were, had begun thrashing violently. “You were not supposed to see her. I did not realize my blood would give you that um, particular gift. It was not my intent to frighten you,” he said, struggling to subdue the creature. He didn’t look at Simone, but she nodded anyway, wiping at her nose with the sleeve of her black sweatshirt.

Seth could feel the battle occurring within Anri. He was too close to losing himself. Why had he waited so long? He sighed and gently steered Anri to one of the metal chairs at the table. Anri stiffened at first but then let him lead, his eyes never leaving Raum. Raum pulled out a large brushed-silver pocket knife, flicking it open with his a quick movement of his wrist. The blade had to be at least five inches.

“Why?” Simone asked piteously. “Why’d you leave? Why’d you leave your ghost here? Why’re you back?”

Ignoring her, Raum focused on the job before him. He moved too quickly for Seth to track, grabbing a wiry extension that sailed through the air towards him.

At the same time, the black Joro-mote in his head bobbed uncomfortably, and before he could respond, it shifted reality and crawled out of a shadow in the corner. Raum looked up, possibly sensing the change in reality, and taking advantage of his distraction, another appendage stabbed him with a particularly sharp looking point. Raum growled as it pierced through his shirt and sank into his shoulder. Rearing back, he swung the blade in his hand up and cut the offending leg completely off, leaving it impaled in his shoulder.

He could smell Raum’s blood. A second later he felt Anri stiffen under his hands.

Raum hissed at the Joro, his eyes full black and too almond-shaped to be human. He shivered and Joro retreated almost instantly.

The englier crawled up, moving nearly impossibly up the wall until it perched on the ceiling. The look it gave him with its too many eyes was unreadable, but he got the sense that it was telling him that it would be here if he needed it. Or something. Maybe. It sent him an image of him feeding Anri, and he knew it would protect them.

He moved to put his hand over Anri’s hand for comfort but Anri moved viper fast, his hands both wrapping around Seth’s and pulling him down into his lap. Emptiness filled him as Anri slammed their connection shut, leaving him gasping from the shock. He needed to break Anri from doing it that hard. It hurt.

Anri’s forehead was creased as he tried to fight off his bloodlust, his eyes glowing red. Seth shifted, tried to stand, but Anri’s grip on him was firm. Instead, he shifted so that he sat sideways on Anri’s lap, soliciting a growl from his lover.

The thing under Raum’s boot was giving off that hydraulic whine almost nonstop now. Simone watched transfixed as Raum began hacking off wiry lengths. Raum cast a quick glance in the direction Joro had escaped, then returned to cutting off appendages. Dark green fluid sprayed out from each cut.

Anri’s attention was focused on Raum as the scent of the creature’s and Raum’s blood filled the room. He knew that he needed to get Anri’s attention away from Raum or shit was really going to go bad quickly. He worried that if Anri attacked Raum in his bloodlust that the injured creature would rampage. Seth had no idea what it was, or what it would do, as Raum had very clearly avoided answering that line of questioning, but he wasn’t eager to find out.

Sitting sideways on Anri’s lap, he painfully wrestled his arm loose from Anri’s vice grip. Anri whined, but his eyes never left Raum. Red marks circled his wrist four of them, one for each of Anri’s fingers. He wrapped one arm behind Anri’s head and placed his other one in front of Anri’s mouth, pressing his wrist directly against Anri’s lips. Anri pushed it away with annoyance, all of his focus dedicated on Raum.

Frustrated, he thrust his arm before Anri again, and again he refused it.

He had to distract Anri enough to get him to drink. What he needed was something sharp to cut himself with. He hoped the scent of his blood would break Anri’s focus away from Raum and his mutilation sideshow. Raum had to be violating some type of inter-dimensional organism cruelty laws of some sort. Seth scowled as he realized he had nothing sharp enough to break his skin on him. His keys were in his room and there was nothing else within reach. Seth didn’t dare even try to move away from Anri.

He pressed his arm in front of Anri again, and as Anri tried to push it away, he thrust it hard against his mouth. Anri opened his mouth, perhaps to snarl at him, but it was the exactly what he needed. He intentionally nicked the flesh of his wrist on one of Anri’s sharp, extended fangs. That was all it took. Anri’s nostrils flared at the scent of his blood in the air, and the hands that had been pushing him away were now crushing his wrist against his mouth.

They both sighed as Anri sank his teeth into the flesh of his wrist. He didn’t like it as much as when he fed from his neck, but at this point he’d take his wins where he got them. Anri’s hold on their connection loosened, and feeling returned to the painfully numb emptiness within him. Relaxing into Anri’s bite, he let his head fall to rest against Anri’s shoulder. Anri drank, pulling almost painfully hard against his wrist, but he didn’t care. It always felt good after the initial bite.

For a moment the only sounds in the room were sniffles from Simone, the incessant hydraulic whining from the creature, and the metal on metal sound of Raum’s hacking. Simone was sitting on the floor now, legs crossed under her body. She had stopped crying, but her face was an exhausted, puffy mess. Seth wondered when she slept last.

The ghost girl stood behind Raum. She seemed to be watching Simone, but it was hard to tell, since hair covered nearly all of her facial expressions. Anri shivered against his wrist, then began licking the wound to close it. Seth knew he hadn’t taken enough blood, only just enough to slake the lust for now. He tried to thrust his wrist over Anri’s teeth again but Anri shook his head no. Seth frowned but didn’t push the issue.

Simone had been watching the ghost girl, but her eyes had caught on Joro, who had crawled across the ceiling Anri had fed. He was going to have to get the Rousseau siblings better acquainted with his familiar so they stopped freaking out when it was around. He did have to admit, though, Joro could be pretty creepy.

It heard his thoughts and preened at the compliment. Strange creature.

Anri finished licking his wrist and gently removed it from his mouth, placing a soft kiss over the now-gone bite marks. The motion sent butterflies tickling through his chest.

“Seth, control your familiar! I just need-” Raum said, hacking at another leg. How many  legs did this thing have? Were they growing back? It seemed like they were growing back. “Control it, Seth Morrigan!” Raum barked.

Seth sent Joro a command to stay. Or, at least, he tried. It was hard to send commands to something that required imagery instead of words. Joro hesitated but didn’t stop. He sent it another command, of it going back to its nest, and it froze. He didn’t like resorting to threats, he needed to learn how to communicate with Joro better.

“Just, all of you just stay still. I am close now. I need to concentrate. If I miss the moment this have just been horrible instead of horrible with a purpose.” Raum wiped his arm across his forehead, leaving a dark green streak. He slammed the knife in the thickest part of the creature and hacked up and down through its thicker core. The whining became a teapot whistle and his, Anri and Simone’s hands all went over their ears. Joro bobbed angrily in Seth’s head but stayed put, seven of its eight legs suspending it from the ceiling.

Raum twisted the knife and the thing fell apart, the whistling slowly fading as if the teapot had been taken away from the heat. Raum held the knife securely in one hand, his other hand hovering above the swarm of green ichor-coated silvery wires as if waiting for something.

All of them watched Raum. The creature’s remaining appendages twitched and shifted and then sagged to the floor, dripping green sludge. Raum slowly removed the blade, sliding it out gently. When the knife left the center tangle of wires, the tangle shuddered again, a sigh escaping before the entire mass of wires fell apart to the ground.

Raum dropped the knife and moved his other hand to also hover over the creature. His whole body was tense, waiting. Another slight sigh from the creature and the wires seemed to rust over, a reddish-gold tint moving quickly to coat the wires. Raum domed his hands over the creature and he made the motion of catching something, though Seth didn’t see anything.

Simone shifted. She must have seen something. Raum closed his hands into a ball, then breathing into his hands. He blew three breaths and then opened his hands as if releasing something.

A miniature version of the creature he had just dismantled sat in a ghostly apparition on Raum’s palm. Anri gasped. Raum raised his hands to his mouth and he whispered words to it that were not in any human language, then released it to the ground.

Irritation poured from the black mote in his head that was Joro. Its tail thrashed, moving so that it was now directly above them. He prayed silently that Anri would not look up. Seth sent it an image of it going back down the hallway. It gave the imagery of it rolling its too many eyes in an all too human way. He looked up at it sternly. The creature locked gazes with him, then it slowly sauntered back to the hallway above the kitchen, tail thrashing angrily the entire way.

Anri looked up at Joro as it crossed back to the hallway and shivered against him. He could still feel the barest tingles of bloodlust in Anri and knew that he still needed him. Tonight. He would let it go for now. But he was going to make Anri feed again before he left if he had to have Simone and Raum hold Anri down while he bled over him.

Raum sighed as the creature left his hand. It moved across the floor, sort of rolling and tumbling through its wiry protrusions, although now they were just spectral.

“Well, that is done. You have my appreciation for not vastly overacting. The hardest part you witnessed, catching the soul of the thing before it dissipates, then tying it to me. Catching it is the hardest. Tying it to me, well, that is not so hard,” Raum explained. “Anyway.” He stood up, brushing some of the wire chunks and crusted blood off of his dark black pants. They appeared to be leather, shiny and soft looking. He pulled the appendage that he had cut off earlier, the one still embedded in his shoulder. It came out of his arm without a sound and he dropped it to the floor with the rest of the creature’s remains. Simone’s eyes opened wide, then she turned away.

“Anyway?” she muttered. She had stopped sniffling. Seth thought she looked as if she could fall asleep where she was, she looked so tired. He wasn’t sure how she was still awake. “That’s done?! What the hell are you doing in my apartment, Raum? Oh, god, I’m so tired.”

Raum looked up at her. He looked at Anri and Seth, then back to Simone. She swayed, still sitting up.

“Has she not…” he began, looking at Anri.

“No, she hasn’t slept much or at all since you left your pet here,” she snapped bitingly.

Raum sighed, looking down at his hands, which he realized were covered in the ichor from the creature. He washed his hands in the sink, grabbed a dishtowel and walked over where Simone sat while drying his hands. She swayed as she watched him cross the room.

His hand went out to her and he caressed her cheek. She seemed too shocked to respond. “Tavani,” he said gently, running his fingers over her temple. She slumped, instantly asleep, and he caught her dead weight before she hit the floor.

Anri stood up, dumping Seth to the ground from his lap in his haste. He went to storm over to Raum but stopped when Seth reached out to him. “Anri,” he called gently. “Simone needs this. Let her have this. You and I, we will keep Raum here long enough to answer her questions. Right, Raum?”

Raum cradled Simone gently in his arms. “I have promised you time and again that no harm will come to you or yours from me. I keep that promise. This is proof, although I am sure you do not understand how. I will not…well, I will stay for the time being. But, we cannot stay here. This place is safe no longer. Compromised. They know where it is.” Raum scratched his head. “None of us should stay here.”

The look Raum gave him was pregnant with meaning. “Um, well, I guess we could go to my place?” Raum smiled and Seth knew he was being lead to offering his home up to the demon. What else could he do? They didn’t seem to have anywhere else to go.

“Why, Raum? Why isn’t it safe here? Who knows what?” Anri demanded coldly. Seth could feel the animosity Anri had for Raum in waves both physical and metaphysical.

“I have been found through my blood. The blood your sister stole from me that night I was summoned. I left, thinking they would follow. But instead, they tracked her in my stead. The Daeva, the demons who are coming for me, are not the type who would care if they slaughtered a few innocents before me. Hence, compromised. Grab the personal effects you wish to bring. We need to leave now.”

Anri glared at Raum. “Why is this our problem?”

“Because my smell is inside your sister, Anri. I had hoped it would work out of her system. It has not yet. I am not sure why, though I assume it is because she bled me so soon after I was summoned and that magic was still thick in my blood. I thought my smell would be replaced when she fed next.”

Raum watched Anri. Anri shook his head negative. “I was worried that drinking from me would affect her so. She smells like one of mine. And, since these demons want me dead, they will not think twice to kill her, too. Actually, even if she did not smell like one of mine, they would not think twice of killing her. They might do much, much worse to her because she does. So, it is essential that we leave here and regroup,” Raum said commandingly. He spoke as if he was used to giving commands, and he was used to those commands being followed.

Anri huffed. Seth stood up behind him and placed his hand on Anri’s bare shoulder. “Come on, Anri. You need to grab some stuff for you and Simone. Come on.” He led him away from Raum, who considered the mess on the floor, Simone sleeping deeply in his arms.

“And, oh, Anri?” Raum called after Anri from the kitchen. “It is my turn to operate the vehicle!”

Demonbound Chapter 3: You, me, and Jealousy

Demonbound Chapter 5: Back to School Special