1x1 with x_fire

Alayna smiled at Keith as he leaned back against her, pushing her towards the edge of the hot tub. "Yea I am." she said, laughing quietly. She didn't have to ask him if he was comfortable, it was apparent on his face.
"Tired?" she asked him quietly, kissing the side of his head gently.


Kristen let the phone slip from her fingers. Every bit of movement was hard for her now; her body felt heavy. It was even difficult to keep her arms around Maddie as the girl pushed herself ever closer against Kristen's chest. By the time the brothers got to the house, Kristen was close to unconsiouce. Maddie was shaking her gently, but Kristen still hadn't answered her. Looking up at Sven with red eyes, Maddie looked beyond relieved. Tears were silently streaming down her face and she shook her head, afraid to speak.
She reached up to Sven, grabbing his hand and pushing all her worry and fear into him before pointing at the bedroom door which Demitri lay behind. Kristen didn't know anything about what was happening, and neither did Maddie, who hoped Sven would.

"Yea" Keith murmured, his voice slurring a bit. He was so tired suddenly, it seemed ridiculous. He couldn't even contemplate moving at that moment.

Vlad sighed, kneeling down by Kristen and Maddie as Sven disappeared into the bedroom, only to curse loudly, in Russian.
"Maddie, honey, are you alright?" Vlad asked the little girl, holding his arms out to her. Kristen looked about ready to pass out, odviously effected by whatever was happening to Demitri. Maddie looked scared and stressed, and probably needed some comfort right now, which he, unlike Kristen, could give.

Sven shook his head, cursing again as he saw a frantic Alexi and a half-dead Demitri.
"What the hell?" Sven murmured, looking at Alexi who shrugged.
"Don't touch the blood, it's like lava, or something. It's burning him, inside and out"
"Shit" Sven moved closer to Demitri, inspecting him.
"Oh god" He had seen this once before, it was nearly impossible to cure. Some humans knew about vampires, and as a last sort of 'screw you' they drank a special potion, which, when a vampire injested, began to burn them, and, if in the system long enough, could kill them. It was an extremely rare posion.

Maddie looked at Vlad for a moment before shaking her head and digginger her face into Kristen's shoulder.
Kristen jolted a bit, wincing at the pain that was pulsating through her. She didn't need to open her eyes to know Vlad and Sven were here, she had heard them. Gasping quietly, Maddie sat up, looking at her mother with wide worried eyes.
"Go..with him..." Kristen's voice was barely a whisper.
"No.." Maddie shook her head, her hands closing around Kristen's shirt.
"Vlad...please..." She was loosing what little strength she had left, and Kristen really didn't want Maddie around right now. Kristen had no idea what was going on, she only knew the pain Demitri was going through, and the fact that it was slowly killing her. She could hear Maddie crying quietly now, but Kristen couldn't say anything else.
"No." Maddie shook her head again, shaking Kristen, wanting her to wake up. "No!" Maddie practically screamed then as Kristen passed out entirely.


Maria was at the stairway then, having heard Maddie screaming and crying. "What's happening?" she asked, her eyes falling to the crying girl and the pale, unconscious Kristen. Her eyes went wide and she stepped around them pushing the door open in the bedroom to look at the brothers. "What the hell is going on?" she asked, eyes wide.

Vlad scooped Maddie up, trying to shush her.
"Something with Demitri" He told Maria, rubbing Maddie's back, she was extremely upset.
"Maddie, shh, everything will be all right, you need to calm down. We can't help your mom unless you calm down" He said, his voice was soft, soothing.

Alexi and Sven glanced up at Maria.
"He's been posioned" Sven murmured, still moping up Demitri's burning blood.
"It's a special concotion, no one really knows about it anymore, it was used in the dark ages. A human can drink it, it stays in their system forever, in their blood stream, and if a vampire feeds on that person, it enters the vampires blood stream. It's like drinking fire, it burns them alive from the inside out. There's only one cure" He wiped his bloody hand across his face, cursing as the blood burned him.

"No!" Maddie screamed again as Vlad took her up in his arms. She didn't want to leave Kristen, she didn't want to be held by anyone else. She struggled a bit, crying, not really hearing Vlad's words. She didn't even notice when Maria walked past them. In her distress, Maddie gave up fighting, wrapping her arms around Vlad's neck and crying into his shoulder.


Maria's eyes went wide as she listened to Sven. The reality of what he was telling her hit her hard; Demitri was dying. Her body went ridged then and she shivered. "Ok, there's cure. What is it?" she asked, looking over her shoulder, hearing Maddie crying. "We have to get it to him fast, Kristen's unconscious..."

"Well, the blood of a relative" Sven responded, sighing, it would be Demitri's original blood line, which would cleanse his system of the tainted blood.
"We need to find someone who's related to Demitri. I'd suggest Adrian, but..." Sven cursed, no one had kept contact with Demitri's family, and now they'd be his great, great, great, well, how many ever great grand children.
"And, we need to find someone, fast"

Vlad rubbed Maddie's back, making soft 'shh' noises. The little girl was beyond upset, not that he blamed her.
"Don't worry honey, everything will be alright" He kissed her head, rocking from side to side. He sighed, "Maria?" He called, his voice incredibly soft.

Maria nearly fell over, grabbing the doorfame in enough time to steady herself. "Please tell me there's another way." she said, quietly. "There's no way we can tract someone related to him that fast." her mouth was unbelievably dry at the moment and she shook her head, eyes wide as she looked from Sven to Alexi, before down Demitri. "Oh my God..." she rubbed her face before turning around sharply, hearing her name.

Walking into the hallway again, Maria sighed, looking sadily at Maddie before at Vlad. "Want me to take her?" she asked quietly, the child's soft crying hitting home hard. She couldn't image what Maddie was going through right now.

"That's the only cure. We'll have to wing it. Use an ancestry web site or something" Alexi murmured, grabbing Demitri's laptop off the counter and turning it on.

Sven cursed. "I can slow the posion, but I can't stop it" He murmured, tearing his own wrist open with his fangs and shoving it in Demitri's mouth, forcing him to drink.
"We can use my blood to dilute the posion, for now, but before long the posion will over power my blood" He said, nodding at Alexi to continue what he was doing.

"No, I was hoping you could move Kristen to Maddie's bedroom, it'll be more comfortable for her, plus, perhaps, being closer to Demitri will help" He murmured, Maddie was clutching at his neck, and he doubted the little girl would want to be passed around right now.

Maria looked over her shoulder at Alexi and Sven, shaking her head. "We won't have the time..." she muttered. Looking back at Vlad, she nodded to him, kneeling in front of Kristen for a moment, frowning. The shifter was pale, her body had broken into a light sweat, and her breathing was shallow and fast. Maria shook her head, taking Kristen's arm before pulling her up from the floor.

Being jolted woke Kristen to a degree. She gasped, inhaling deeply, never getting enough air. She felt cold arms around her, before lifting her up off the floor. She could hear Maddie sobbing and calling for her again before the sounds and feelings left her.
Maria cursed lightly, placing Kristen on Maddie's twin-sized bed. Kristen hardly stirred after that. Leaving the adjoing door wide open, Maria stood in the doorway, one hand on her head, the other on her hip as she began to pace.
"Find anyone yet?" She murmured, walking over to Alexi, looking over his shoulder at the computer screen.

Vlad shushed Maddie again.
"Maddie, shh, it'll be alright sweet heart" He murmured, keeping his voice calm, his movements light, he wanted to freak out however, but he refused to.
"Shh" He murmured again, rocking back and forth, watching Maria and Kristen leave.

"Yea, I think we might have someone" Alexi murmured, scanning the page, "Yupp, a great (etc) neice of Demitri's. She lives in Moscow" He murmured, shaking his head.
"Come on" He said, looking at Maria, "How much blood Sven?" He didn't want to kill Demitri's relative unless he had to.
"All of it" He murmurmed sadly.

Maddie merely shook her head, her sobbing quelled a bit at Vlad's words nonetheless. She didn't believe him. She knew what her mother and Demitri were going through right now, and it was bad. With this fact clear in her mind, Maddie cringed and closed her eyes tightly, digging her face once again into Vlad's shoulder, her body shaking with her sobs.


"Great." Maria murmured, then frowned, hearing Sven. "Oh, well that's just brilliant." she said, shaking her head.
"What are we going to do?" she asked Alexi quietly. "Bring her hear and tell her that's her great uncle and he needs your blood?" She shook her head, following him anyway. "Actually, we could probably just call it a blood transfussion.." she said, trying now to be optimistic. "That might convince her..."

Vlad sighed, rubbing her back and rocking back and forth. It probably didn't help hearing everything that was going on.
"Come on sweetie, let's go see Keith and Alayna" He murmured, perhaps the angel could help out with keeping the little girl amused.
"Come on kiddo, maybe Keith'll show you his wings" He murmured, opening the door to Keith and Alayna's private hot tub.
"Hey guys" He said, moving to sit on the edge of the tub.

Alexi laughed brittly, "I say we just get her, and then not tell her anything. Demitri'll be in no condition to, uh, kill her, so we'll have to do it. Come on love, let's go find her" He held out his hand, sending the directions to her house to his cell.
"We'll take Demitri's car, it's faster"

Alayna looked up, seeing Vlad walking into the room with Maddie in his arms. Fear shot through her then, hearing the girl crying quietly. "Hey." she answered, frowning at him, her eyes darting between the vampire and the child in silent question.
"Maddie?"
The child rubbed her face, taking a deep breath before turning a bit to look at Alayna. The child's face was set hard against the tears and the pain she was sensing from Demitri and Kristen, and also Keith. She looked at Alayna for a moment before attempting to smile as a small 'hi'.


Maria groaned. "Fantastic." she murmured, shaking her head and taking his hand. She looked over at Sven and Demitri for a long moment before closing the door behind her. She sighed, shaking her head, hearing that Vlad had taken Maddie downstairs to see Keith and Alayna. That was probably good, the child needed her mind on something else.
Stepping into the garage, Maria sighed, looking at Demitri car. "And here I though our next meeting would be under much better circumstances." she murmured, slidding into the passanger seat.

"Hey" Keith sat up, looking at Maddie and smiling. His eyes asked a silent question, and Vlad shook his head, indicating that he would talk to them later.
"Maddie and I were wondering what you guys were up to" Vlad said, rolling up his pant lets and dangling his feet in the hot water, Maddie in his lap.
"Wanna get in the hot tub kiddo? Or, do you wanna ask Keith something?" He smiled knowing she was super curious about the angel.

Alexi groaned, "Don't talk to the car" He said, sliding into the driver's side and handing her his phone.
"Directions" He explainde, starting the car and peeling out of the garage, heedless of the black skid marks he left on the floor.
He pulled onto the main highway, driving at break neck pace towards Moscow.

Maddie mummbled incoherently, turning her face away from everyone, staring blankly at the wall over Vlad's shoulder.
"Nothing really. I was going to start a painting soon..." Alayna murmured, shrugging. She knew something was wrong with Demitri and Kristen for Vlad to have care of Madison. Pulling her hair up into a quick bun, Alayna sighed.
Maddie murmured again, rubbing her face before looking back over, staring dully into the water. She shook her head then, feeling the heat of the hot tub from her place in Vlad's lap. It seemed like an over-sized bath...


Maria rolled her eyes at Alexi, taking his phone and reading the direction over silently. It hardly fazed her, how fast he was going, she could see things clearly as they blew past. Looking down at the phone before up, Maria sighed, shaking her head.
"Exit 31, it's on your left." She murmured, before looking back at the directions. "Take that down to the light. Once there turn left again, take that street down past three streets and make a right. House number is 5240.." she mumbled them almost to herself as she told Alexi, rubbing her eyes before looking back up again.

Vlad sighed, shaking his head.
"A painting of what?" He asked, keeping his voice light. "Maddie?" He sighed, the girl was so listless now, it was sad. He rubbed her back looking at Keith pleading eyes. The angel sighed, and slipped out of the hot tub, walking over to the little girl, "Maddie, do you want me to show you my wings? He asked her, smiling. He remembered Kristen telling him earlier that she had been very excited about that, and he was willing to distract the small girl.

Alexi nodded, taking the exit and sighing. He was nearing the house, falling Maria's direction to a 't'.
"Well, here we are" He murmured, parking the car in front of the smal hosue. He checked his phone, "Anna, her name is Anna, Anna Draq" He murmured, sighing.

Alayna shrugged. "I've been doing a lot of abstract lately." she murmured. Abstract was a way to clear her mind and now-adays if she wanted to paint anything decent, she had to at least color a full page in her notebook before starting on paints. She smiled lightly, slipping out of the tub as Keith stood up, diseappering for a few moments.
Maddie mumbled again, shuddering a bit as Vlad rubbed her back. She felt sore and tired and sick. She wanted to be with Kristen now more than every, but she knew that wasn't going to happen very soon.
Maddie's eyes watched dully, as Alayna came back dressed in a white tank top and loose jeans. Alayna tried to look hopeful for the child, nodding in Keith's direction for her to answer him. Maddie sighed before turning her dull gaze to Keith. She tried to smile and settled for nodding stiffly.


Maria took a deep, unnecessary breath before stepping out of the car. She pulled at her sleeves, adjusting them back on her shoulders as she looked at the house. "Oi..." she muttered, shaking her head. "Any plan of action? Or are we winging it?" she mummbled, folding her arms over her chest.

Vlad sighed, knowing Maddie wasn't feeling very well, probably due to Demitri and Kristen, but hopefully the angel could help. Keith was wearing only his jeans now, as he would only destroy his shirt.
"Alright kiddo" Keith said, smiling brightly, when the angel was happy, it was hard not to be, he was infectious. It was one of those weird angel things, they had an odd effect on other species. Murmuring in latin, his huge silver grey wings blossomed from his back, fully stretched for a moment before relaxing.
"Ow" He murmured.

"Winging it" Alexi parked the car and slid out of the car, locking it. He bounced up the steps, "Kidnapping, or maybe she'll just come with us" He sighed, he felt bad, killing one of Demitri's relatives, but it had to be done.

Maddie's eyes grew wide as Keith's wings unfolded before her. She stared at them for a long moment, simply awed and amazed, though her eyes were still dark. Maddie swallowed hard before her eyes started to move, looking here and there at Keith's wings.
Alayna smiled, seeing the amazement in Maddie's eyes. "Hey, wanna help me?" she asked then. "Sometimes the feathers get bent." Maddie looked over at Alayna with wide pleading eyes. Alayna grinned and held her arms out towards Maddie, who slowly pulled herself from Vlad to go with Alayna. Resting on the teen's hip, Maddie reached out to Keith's wings, gasping at how soft they were, and how easily they moved under her fingers.
"See these?" Alayna asked, nodding to a twisted feather. "Those you gotta fix, so they're like the other ones." Maddie nodded gently, fixing the feather gently before searching for other ones she could smooth down and fix, the task numbing her worry for the time being.


"Hey, maybe she's old and won't mind if we explain the situation." Maria said, half joking as she followed Alexi up the stairs. She sighed, looking around. The neighborhood seemed quiet. That was either really good, or really bad. Sometimes quiet neighborhoods meant nosy neighbors, in which case kidnapping would be difficult, or quiet meant no one was home.
Looking at the door, Maria glanced over at Alexi, taking a deep breath before knocking gently and taking a step back behind him.

Vlad smiled at Keith and Alayna thankfully. Maddie seemed absorbed in the task, and Keith had tons of bent feathers.
"Nice eh?" He asked the little girl, smiling at her.

Keith sighed, "Wow, you're good at this" He murmured, glancing over his shoulder at Maddie. The little girl was being beyond careful, not that he cared if she was rough or not, when annoyed, he yanked of his feathers a fair bit.. He smiled and listened to Alayna telling Maddie how to fix his wings, it was cute, and he was glad they had managed to distract the little girl. When he was stronger, he'd take her flying, he had taken Alayna once before, she had loved it.
"Maddie, wanna go flying with me one day?" He asked her, smiling and arching his back, flexing his wings.

A tall, middle aged woman answered the door.
Yes? She asked, she looked a lot like Demitri, only older and female.
Ah yes, hello, my name is Adrian, I'm a doctor at the hospital of Moscow, and your nephew has been diagnosed with a blood issue. He desperately needs a transfusion, and you're the only family member with matching blood Alexi stammered, hoping she believed him.

"Pretty..." Maddie murmured, helping Alayna the best she could with the feathers. Some where twisted, some where bent. One fell away in her hands and Maddie screamed quietly.
"That's alright." Alayna said quickly. "You know how sometimes your hair falls out? But it doesn't hurt?" Alayna quickly explained, trying not to laugh at the horrified expression on Maddie's face as she held the feather gently in her hands. Maddie nodded, seeming to be put at ease that she hadn't caused Keith any pain.
"Sorry..." Maddie murmured, letting the feather fall to the floor. Her eyes went wide again as Keith flexed his wings. "Really?" she asked, her eyes showing the only bit of excitement she felt. Her voice hardly changed from the quiet mono-tone, and she was rubbing her eyes every now and then as a few stray tears left her.


Maria smiled kindly at the woman. "Wow, didn't think I would be right." she whispered, barely moving her lips, knowing that only Alexi would hear her. She didn't understand the words he was saying, but she heard him stammer, and quickly reached for his hand reassuringly. Maria looked at Alexi for a moment before back at the woman with hopeful eyes.

Keith felt the feather fall away, but didn't react.
"It's fine, it doesn't hurt" He reached back, dislodging a feather and handing it to her, "See, you can have this one" It was tall, perfect, not bent at all. He smiled, "Really, Alayna likes it, and I'm sure you will to" He could hear the mono-tone voice of the child, but he was happy she liked his wings, he had hoped they would sufficiently distract her.
"Wow, lucky" Vlad commented, smiling as the two reassured the little girl about one of Keith's feathers.
"You've never asked me Keith" He teased, trying to lighten the mood. Keith feigned horror, "You'd kill me, you're to heavy"

The woman gaped at Alexi and Maria.
My, my nephew? Oh lord, yes, of course I'll come She grabbed her purse and bustled out the door, sighing.
Alexi heaved a sigh of relief.
"She's coming with us" He murmured to Maria, so quiet, only a vampire could hear.

"Ok..." Maddie murmured, taking Keith's feather and twirling it in her fingers for a moment. She tucked it behind her ear to have her hands free, reaching over to help Alayna who was still working to smooth out Keith's other feathers.
"Wow Vlad." Alayna murmured, smirking and shaking her head. She slowed her pace, having done this dozens of times before, so that she left more for Maddie to do. The child seemed taken up with the task, though her eyes grew distant for a while.


Maria smiled thankfully at the woman, taking Alexi's hand and leading him back down the stairs. "This isn't going to be pretty..." she answered back, just as quietly. "I'll sit in the back." she told Alexi, opening the door and slidding into the back seat, leaving the front for Anna. She slid behind the drivers seat, watching the woman curious, running her fingers over her lips gently.

Vlad laughed, "Well, maybe vampires want to fly too" He grumbled, smiling and shaking his head.
Keith rolled his eyes, relaxing a bit as Maddie and Alayna worked over his feathers, it felt good, though he tried his best not to move.
"Thanks Maddie, you're really helping us out" He murmured, smiling at her and Alayna over his shoulders a bit.

"Don't bite her, we can't afford to lose blood, just break her neck" Alexi hissed softly, so quietly that the woman wouldn't hear. He started the car, smiling at Anna, before focusing on the road.
Turning, he knew she'd grow suspicious when they didn't go towards the hospital.
This isn't the right way! Where are you taking me? The woman demanded.
To save my brother, you're great, great, great, etc Uncle Alexi growled, hissing.
"Tell her Maria, I need to focus on driving. She deserves the truth before she dies"

"Of course you do." Alayna murmured, shifting a bit with Maddie on her waist. The child had grown quiet and distant again, and it was worrying Alayna. Taking a deep breath, Alayna tugged slightly at the gift Maddie was said to have. If Maddie felt anything, it didn't register on her face, but Alayna cringed visibly, getting a wave of pain in response. Alayna could feel it, raditating from Kieth, but not as feircly as it did from Demitri and Kristen upstairs. Maddie nearly fell from her grip, and Alayna recovered, quickly sitting her down.

Maddie looked up at her curious. Alayna swallowed hard, trying to smile reassuringly. "Keith sit down, you're too tall." Alayna murmured, putting a hand on his shoulder gently, smiling though it looked forced. Maddie had planted herself on the floor, legs crossed, watching Alayna still.
"How did you do that?" Maddie asked suddenly.
Alayna blinked. "Do what?" Alayna was only half surprised to see Maddie staring at her intently with bright blue eyes.
"You feel it too..." Maddie murmured, letting her eyes fall then.



"I wasn't going to." Maria answered. "Still isn't pretty." she sighed then, hearing the two talking, well Alexi growling in Russian.
"Well does she speak English?" Maria wondered, loud enough for the woman to hear. She slid over to the passanger side then, quickly, laying a hand reassuringly on the woman's shoulder. It probably didn't help that Alexi was frigthtening.
"Look, believe it or not, we're vampires." she said queitly, calmly, keeping her composure. "You're great uncle, Demitri is dying. And we really need a blood transfussion. He has a wife and a child that are depending on him, and to an extend you. You're the only one that can help us right now."