1x1 with x_fire

Maria took a deep breath as she inspected Alexi's wrist. Licking her thumb, she gently wipped away the blood that was pouring down his wrist. Not fast, but steadily and constantly. "You'll need this wrapped..." she murmured softly. She looked up at him with a soft, understanding expression. His sad blue eyes made her heart fall.

Leaning forward, Maria took Alexi's chin and brought him closer to kiss his lips softly. "I will do, whatever I have to Alexi..." she said softly, looking at him deeply. "Sven wants you back in casts. I don't want you to be that miserable ever again. But I can not see you do this to yourself. I know you can't control it...but I need to know what's wrong. I need you to tell me something so that I can keep you from doing this again." Maria said quietly, running her fingers through his hair gently, waiting patiently for him to speak and talk to her.

Alexi shrugged as she wiped the blood away. He didn't care if he bled out right now, he couldn't harm himself or anyone while paralyzed. He sighed, looking at her sadly as she spoke. He rested his head on her shoulder, shaking miserably for a moment.
"Sven's got a point" He muttered, "I'd be miserable, but I couldn't hurt myself, or anyone else" He said anxiously. "What if I lose it when Maddie's around, or Alayna, I could break them Maria, kill them so effortlessly, and I wouldn't be able to stop myself" He said, shaking his head.

"That's the problem love, I have no idea when it's going to happen" He muttered, "It just strikes, no warning, no anything" He shrugged, "I don't know what to do" He whispered, his voice raw, broken sounding.

Maria inhaled deeply and wrapped her arms around Alexi as he rested his head on her shoulder. "There has to be something love." Maria said, shaking her head gently. "This started when we were in Roma..." Maria murmured, picking Alexi's head up gently. She looked him over once; never before had she seen him so...defeated. Like he was already giving up on her...Like he was ready to toss in the white flag and succumb.

There was one thing that worred Maria. The casts were man-made, anything created by man a vampire could easily dismentaly if he really wanted to. She would only revert to that as a last resort. "Is it because of what happened over the summer?" Maria asked quietly.

"Yes and no' He murmured, "It was triggered because of Rome, but it's always been there, from the day Sven and Vlad changed me" He said softly, "I had almost forgotten, and then we were in Rome and everything came flooding back" He shook his head.
'I was a monster back them Maria, I couldn't control myself, and not in the sense that a newborn can't control themselves. I nearly killed myself, paralyzed myself more times then I care to count, attacked Sven, Vlad, whenever I lost it" He shuddered.
"I can't go back there" He murmured, shaking his head, "I cant"

He looked down at his bleeding wrist, shaking his head softly, looking up at her. "What do you think we should do?" He asked, he wanted her honest, true opinion, because he trusted her more then anyone else.

Maria listened intently to what Alexi was saying. There was an answer somewhere in here...she just had to find it. Maria shuddered at the thought of being paralyzed. She had done that once, but not on purpose, and not to herself. Wait...if Alexi had been that way...he had gotten over it once...he could get over it again.

"I think you need to fight it." Maria said. "You overcomed this once." She said strongly. "You can do it again, and you want to know why?" she asked, sitting up on her knees to look at him. She took his head tightly in her own and squeezed it hard. "You are no alone this time. You're stronger now then you were back then." she smiled at him and kissed his hand softly before putting it back down, though she didn't let go.

"But, if you're not going to fight...we have to cast you up." Maria said, which was her honest opinion. If Alexi overcomed this in the past, he could do it again. And She would be with him at every battle whether he won or lost. If he felt he couldn't fight, Maria would have Sven plaster him up, and they would have to try and wait out the horrible storm.

Alexi sighed, nodding slowly.
"The problem is, I don't think I ever overcame this" He admitted, "I just did everything under the sun to amuse myself, distract myself, avoided Italy, and ran and hid' He said, looking away from her, ashamed. "I never faced the problem head on, I just ran away" He hated admiting that he was scared, he felt like such a coward.

"But I suppose I can try" He muttered, "Though, be warned, this is going to be a long, ardeous battle, and I will most likely screw up royally" He said, smiling slightly, though he still looked upset.
"But, how do we, I fight something that I have no control over, no warning of when it's going to happen?" he murmured. They were blackout episodes, fine one moment, awake and bleeding the next.

Maria sighed. "There are some battle that we are never ready to fight..." she murmured softly. "So we...put them off until later...I wouldn't say run from them." she said with a small smile, hoping to make Alexi feel a bit better about the situation.
Maria smiled, glad that Alexi was willing to fight against this. She knew he would overcome this. One way or another. And she would help him. "Ah, that is where I will handle things. All you need to do is tell me when you feel like you're going to black out. Jason can help me keep you down so you don't harm yourself unintentionally. Sven and Vlad can asmuse Maddie for the time they stay here."

Maria rememeber when they had been in the hotel in Rome, Alexi had felt like he was going to black out. Maria had been able to hold him back with Demitri's help. But she hadn't known what was going to happen to prevent Aleix from hurting himself altogether. Now that she knew what to expect, if she felt, or Alexi warned her, that he was about to black out, she could stop him from bitting himself again.

Alexi nodded, "I'll try my best love" He said, nodding his head lightly, still resting against her. He sighed, glancing up occasionally, trying to smile, though this whole situation depressed him greatly.
"Speaking of Maddie, she'll be up soon" He muttered against Maria's shirt, "Also, Alayna's temporarily blind, bumped her head or something" He shrugged, not really willing to move at that moment.

Keith sighed, sitting up and stretching out. He was mildly suprised to find Alayna in bed, though his nightmarish visions bothered him. He didn't have visions like Kristen, but he saw what was happening in heaven and hell, all angels did, and what he had saw distrubed him greatly.

Maria smiled and wrapped an arm around Alexi's shoulder, holding him gently and occasionally running her fingers through his hair. "Yes I know. I think today will be an inside day...the sky looks ready to open and pour down." Maria murmured, looking up at the clouds that were still rolling steady.
"Oh is that what happened?" Maria murmured. "I saw Sven leading her upstairs but for the life of me I couldn't firgure out what was wrong....how did she loose her sight? She was perfectly fine last night." Maria said, frowning.

Alayna gasped softly, feeling the bed shift as Keith woke up. She had been sleeping lightly ever since Sven brought her back up. She knew that once Keith was awake, she would be too.
"Keith?" she murmured softly, opening her eyes caustiously. Still blurrs...thought she could sort of see colors...somethings weren't as white...somethings were gray or darker.

"Goody" Alexi said, somewhat sarcastically, "Oh, I guess she smacked her head when she was sleeping, and due to her injury, her brain's already super sensitive. So, Sven said she has some swelling, which is making it harder for her to see, should be better later today though" He murmured, standing up and holding out a bloodied hand to her. He felt bad for not bothering to clean himself up, but he figured Maria'd understand, or just not care.

Keith sighed, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, about to shower.
"Morning love" He murmured, walking over to brush his kips to her forhead. "You can sleep some more, I'm just going to shower"

"Oh the poor dear." Maria murmured, hearing about Alayna. She had never fully understood what had happened to the girl, but Maria had noticed her memory wasn't at all that great. Which was a common after-affect of a head injury. Though when and where this occured, Maria hadn't the foggest idea.
Looking up at Alexi's bloodied hand, Maria shook her head. "You're cleaning and wrapping that when we get inside. Otherwise I'll have Sven do it." she half warned half teased.

"Oh...oh ok." Alayna said. She jolted slightly when Keith's lips brushed against her forehead, mostly because she hadn't seen him leaning forward. The kiss made her smile and she settled back down in the covers. She closed her eyes, though she couldn't sleep anymore. She'd wait until he came back before attempting to get up out of bed.


Maddie groaned as she woke up. She had a headache. She rolled onto her back and rubbed her temples lightly. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times before things came into focus. Yawning, Maddie pushed the covers away and got up out of her bed, heading towards the bathroom.

"That's not a threat, Sven'll do it anyway" Alexi muttered, rolling his eyes at Maria teasingly.
"Yea, she'll be fine though, from what Sven said at least" He said with a shrug, begining to wander towards the house, a feeling of apprehension building inside him. Stepping inside, he glanced up, seeing Sven and Vlad in the kitchen, still talking.
"Hey" Vlad greeted, before looking pointedly at Sven. "Hey" Alexi responded, smiling half heartedly.
"Let me see your hand" Sven grumbled, muttering something about useless, and pain in the ass. Alexi nodded, extending his hand in order for his brother to inspect the damage. "Well, not that bad, I'll clean it up and bind it for you, hopefully there's not to much venom in it' Sven finally muttered.

Keith frowned at Alayna's reaction, but shrugged it off and wandered into the shower. Relieved, he stepped into the hot stream, enjoying the warmth as it washed his worried emotions away.

Maria sighed and shook her head, staying quiet after that as they walked up the beach. Inside, Maria realized Vlad and Sven hadn't gone any where after she left. She smiled, looking a bit better about the situation now. She withdrew her arms from Alexi as Sven treated his arm. She sat down at the table, watching Sven occasionally.
"Well, we're not going to put him in casts just yet." Maria murmured, rubbing her lips gently. She caught wind of the water running throughout the house, and guessed the rest of the house must be waking up.

Maddie yawned as she came out of the bathroom. She rubbed her eyes, still feeling a bit drowys. She debated going back to bed, but she didn't think she would be able to go to sleep again. So she pattered softly downstairs, looking around for everyone.
"Maria?" Maddie asked softly.

Maria came out from the kicthen with a smile. Walking over to Maddie, she picked the little girl up, resting her on her hip. "Good morning." Maria said, pecking her forehead softly. Maddie rested her head on Maria shoulders and sighed. "Something wrong?" Maria asked.
"I don't feel good." Maddie mumbled.

Sven nodded, wrapping Alexi's battered wrist in a thick piece of gauze.
"Not yet then" He murmured, figuring Maria would fill him in more on the situation when Alexi wasn't around, or when Maddie wasn't.
Alexi sighed, glancing up at Maddie as Maria scooped up the little girl.
"Morning princess" He said, brushing his lips over her hair, "I'm going to go lie down" He muttered to Maria, needing some space. With that, Alexi disappeared up the stairs and into his and Maria's room.

Sven frowned, "Not feeling good?" He asked Maddie, walking over to her and absentmindedly feeling her forhead.
"How so?" He questioned, smiling at his little niece reassuringly, not wanting her to get panicky or worried.

Maria looked at Alexi knowingly for a moment, watching him go upstairs into their room. She sighed but nodded gently, still holding Maddie gently, rocking somewhat instinctively while Sven came out. Maddie looked up at him with tired brown eyes and her thumb slightly in her mouth.

"My head hurts..." Maddie mummbled as Sven's cold hand pressed against her forehead. "I feel dizzy too." Maddie grumbled, resting her head back down on Maria shoulder. The vampiress frowned, glancing at Sven.
"I thought she was just sensing everyone's distress..." Maria whispered softly. "She shouldn't be dizzy..."
"Do you want to try and eat something darling? Maybe having some food in your tummy will make you feel better?" Maria said, loud enough that the little girl would hear her.

Sven frowned, moving closer to Maddie, poor kid.
"She might just have a cold or something" He murmured, "She's a bit warm, and dizzyness is normal with certain sickness" He said, "Though, Alayna's head injury might be making her dizzy" He muttered, rubbing Maddie's back.

"Anything else sweetheart? Is your tummy upset?" He asked, wondering if she had the flu or something similar. Gods he hoped not, poor Maddie, the last thing she needed was to be sick.
"The headache, at the very least, is from Alayna" He said, still rubbing Maddie's back as he dug in his bag for some children's asprin.
"Here Maddie, this will help your head" He said, giving her the chewable vitamin.

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