1x1 with x_fire

Alexi smirked, "It like riding a bike in that sense I guess. Once you learn how the first time around, you never really forget" He said, watching her with a small grin.
"Lets be off then, we need to collect some blood for the twins, they're going through a lot more these days" He murmured, grabbing the backpack filled with empty bottles and heading out of the barn, towards the city.

Sami went into the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water and draining it quickly. Sighing, she rubbed her fingers through her hair, before deciding to grab an orange and nibble on that as well. A small smile played over her face as she cut the piece of fruit, carefully positioning the wedges on a plate once she was done. Washing off the knife, she became slightly absentminded, letting out a curse as the sharp blade cut her palm.
"Son of a bitch" She hissed, dropping the knife and examining the wound on her hand. Lovely. She snorted, pushing the offending appendage into the stream of water to clean it.

----

Sven glanced at Kristen, a small frown tugging on his face. He knew Maddie didn't want this to happen, but it was really important.
"It seems we have a bit of a situation" He murmured, looking at Kristen then Demitri. Vlad wandered in at this point, looking at the serious faces and sighing.
"What happened?" The eldest vampire asked, pinching the bridge of his nose as if to ward off a headache.
Sven took a deep breath, before launching into an explenation. Finally, he finished with, "So, because of the journal, and if they have the ability to read Russian, whomever did this knows that the way to hurt Vlad, and subsequently our family, is to get Maddie"

"More like riding a horse." Maria teased, since she had learned that skill way before the invention of a bicycle.
"Ah right." Maria said, sighing as she brushed a strand of hair away from her face. She looked back at Alexi with a small smile and trailed after him.

"That should do it." Maria said with a sigh, capping the last bottle and handing it to Alexi so he could put it back in the bag with the others. "Hopefully this will last until next week." Maria teased, looking down at herself. She was a bit of a mess, but it contradicted the grin on her face. She felt good. It had been a while since she had hunted and fed on fresh blood, and it was obvious that Maria had needed it.

Carlos sighed, resting contently until he heard Sami curse. Sitting up, he waited a moment before getting out of bed and heading downstairs. Leaning against the kitchen doorway, he watched her with a curious expression.
"Everything alright?" he asked, concern in his voice as he looked her over.

--------------

Maddie was quiet. It was the first sign that something was seriously wrong. The girl would talk whenever she had the opportunity and Kristen knew that she was only silent on certain occasions. Now was one of them.
As Vlad came into the room, Maddie's hard expression broke for a moment, almost as if she were going to cry. Kristen sat up fully, but Maddie pulled herself together. She slipped from Sven's grip, sitting in her own chair as they talked about what happened.
Kristen looked from her daughter to Sven as the story unfolded. She bit her lip, understanding why Maddie looked so devastated and worried.
"Well Cassandra might not read Russian." Kristen said, trying to be optimistic. "She's American...and spent time in England...she might not be able to read it."

Alexi, unlike Maria, was a total mess. He slipped the bottle in the bag, letting go of the mangled body in front of him before grinning ferally at his wife.
"Hopefully, those two monsters we call our children seem to be eating more and more" He teased, drawing a hand across his face to clean it of any excess blood.
"Lets go then" He murmured, instictively turning in the direction of their home before taking off at a quick jog, faster then any human could run, but no where near top vampire speed.

Sami sighed, nodding her head as Carlos came down.
"Just cut myself" She said, pulling her hand free of the tap and drying it off with the paper towel. Thankfully the water had helped stop the blood running, bleeding in a house filled with vampires was never a good idea. She rummaged around for a first aid kit, keeping her hand out of Carlos' sight which was a bit diffiuclt.

----

Vlad hissed, though neither he nor Demitri spoke. Instead they let Kirsten try and calm Maddie, though the brothers were thinking the same thing. It wouldn't be, at all, difficult to find a translator for russian, in Russia. Or she could easily have friends who spoke the language. But no one voiced these concerns, they would, later and in private.

Maria laughed, looking at Alexi and shaking her head. She didn't mind that he was a total mess, it happened when hunting, but the expression on his face was priceless.
"They take after their father." she teased before following after him, able to keep up easily.

"I thought as much." Carlos said with a small chuckle. He could smell it, but it didn't entice him; he wasn't that desperate for blood that he would feed on his mate.
"There are bandages in the bathroom." Carlos said, tugging on her shirt before leading her to the downstairs bathroom that was close.

---------

Maddie tried not to wince as she heard Vlad hiss. She wanted all of this to be over. She wanted things to go back to the way things used to be. Back when they all smiled, laughed and played more. Maddie scrubbed her eyes roughly, muttering angrily to herself.
Kristen glanced at her husband before looking at Sven and Vlad. "Come on sweetie. Let's fix up lunch." Kristen said, standing and reaching for Maddie's hand. The little girl sighed but went with her mother obediently.

-----

Anna smirked and looked up from her reading. "Tell me something Dean..." she called to the other vampire in the room. (That was your evil charries name right? xD)
"How deep does that hatred for your enemy Vladamir run?" she asked curiously.
Cassandra glanced up from her papers with a single raised eyebrow. She looked from her associate to the rouge angel who was lounging on the couch.

OOC: Yupp =]

BIC:
Sami rolled her eyes, "I'm not that clumsy" She grumbled, letting him tug her along to the washroom. Once inside, she located the bandages and quickly wrapped her hand, wincing a bit as she did so.
"That's going to be sore for a day or so" She grumbled, she'd heal quickly, but it was a deep cut, right across her palm, her cougar certainly wouldn't like that, it'd be on the pad of her paw, and all sensitive and stuff.

----

Demitri glanced at his brothers as Kristen and Maddie went to make lunch.
"What a fantastic situation" The dark haired vampire grumbled. "And we were all so relieved that they hadn't stolen anything important"
"It'll work out, its not like they can waltz in here and take Maddie. We'll just have to keep a close eye on her and everything" Sven said placatingly to his younger brother, while Vlad nodded, though the eldest vampire seemed worried. He knew this bonding nonesense would come back and bite him in the ass.

----

Dean glanced up from where he had been idly sitting, reading from some weird, badly written crime novel.
"Deep enough" He drawled, digging in his pocket for a pack of cigs and lighting one. Taking an unncessary breath, he exhaled smoke into the air before glancing at the angel.
"Why?"

"I could smell the blood." Carlos said in response to Sami calling herself clumsy. "Don't worry, it didn't smell that appetizing." he said with a smirk to calm her a bit. He watched, leaning against the door frame though he was standing more in the hallway.
"I bet it's healed by tonight." Carlos said, remembering that Sami had been hit with one of those darts and was slightly vampiric. Though she'd probably adapted differently then Kristen.

-------

"It's not your fault." Kristen said quietly to Maddie, who was sitting at the island of the kitchen, resting her chin on her arms crossed over the table.
"I just should have hidden it better." Maddie said, rubbing her eyes. "I shouldn't have written that down anywhere. It was a stupid thing to do." Maddie said, shaking her head.
"It was a normal thing to do Maddie. Everyone's kept a journal to write personal things down." Kristen said, making Maddie a pb and j.
"But with everything that's going on...?" Maddie asked quietly, looking up at her mother with that all-knowing gaze of hers.
"Especially with everything that's been going on." Kristen countered, to which Maddie started and sat up.
"What?"
"You needed an outlet darling. You above us all, with all your emotional ties to everyone." Kristen explained. Maddie sighed softly.
"I don't have them anymore. I broke off from everyone the other day." Maddie said, rubbing her face as Kristen set the plate in front of her.
"Everyone?" Kristen echoed, looking at Maddie curiously.
"Well..no..I tried...thinking I could and maybe it'd be better but I just couldn't." Maddie shook her head with a sigh before starting to eat.

------

Anna gave Dean a feral grin, before looking back at her book. "You might like this..." She read something allowed which sounded Russian. The only thing that Cassandra caught was Vlad's name.
"Which means literately, 'The hurt came from him. Because Vlad was gone, we both hurt.' So, basically..." Anna said, chuckling to herself.
"Good God, Vlad has bonded?" Cassandra asked, her eyes wide.
"It looks like it. She writes about how he went to help their family in England which was one of her worst nights apparently, so I'd say this happened recently." Anna said, though she still hadn't let on who Vlad was bonded to, or who the book belonged to.
"That journal came from the house this morning?" Cassandra asked, to which Anna barely nodded in agreement.

Sami rolled her eyes, "Good, I'd hate to smell appetizing" She teased, finishing wrapping her hand, "Healed perhaps, but the muscle will still be sore" She countered, putting away the bandages and first aid kit and tidying up the washroom a bit.
"Well then, now that we've had our daily dose of injury" She said with a grin, "What shall we do?"

-----

Demitri stood, wandering away from the still debating Sven and Vlad and headed for the garage. This was getting ridiculous, couldn't his family catch a break? He felt the need to send them all far away, to like Antartica or something, where nothing bad could happen. It was harder to look at the situation when he and the others were so concerned about the family, those of them who were more breakable then others. It was a tough situation.

----

Dean grinned, before he took another drag from the death stick hanging between his fingers.
"But who would he willingly bond with? There was no one new in England, and the only newest addition to the family is the shifter, who's bonded to Carlos. He bonded, but with someone we already know" He murmured, "And once we find out who they are..." He trailed off, fangs glistening dangeorously.

Maria was laughing by the time they got close to the house. She felt great.
"We should do this more often." she said, which made her laugh again; that was a ridiculous thought but it had slipped from her before she could think.
"We need to clean up..." Maria said then as she saw the house. Looking at Alexi, Maria smirked. "Well, you mostly." she teased before dashing off with a laugh.

Carlos chuckled before pushing himself up off the wall. "Good point." he murmured.
"Well I have no idea really." Carlos said, since it had been a while since they had time to just do nothing. "Movie? Cat nap? Or just sit and chat?" Carlos asked smiling at Sami.

-----

Kristen glanced up, seeing Demitri heading towards the garage. Though she knew better then bother him now. If he was going there, he was seriously stressed...and he'd been spending more and more time there now a days. Kristen couldn't blame him though.
She looked back at Maddie, who brushed away a tear roughly again as she swallowed the last bit of her sandwich.
"This will go away soon right?" Maddie asked quietly, so quietly that Kristen had to focus her hearing.
"Of course it will." Kristen said, giving the girl a tight hug. "It always does." Kristen said, to which Maddie nodded and pulled away lest she started crying.
"I'm gonna go work on a puzzle." Maddie murmured before hopping off her seat and heading for the playroom.

------------

"Willingly yes..." Anna said. "But she seems to be the only one with feelings..." she said with a bored sigh. She let the news sink in for a moment, letting Dean and Cassandra work out details before she sighed dramatically again.
"Do you want me to tell you?" Anna asked, closing the book. She stood up and tossed the book to Cassandra's desk.
"The girl's name is Madison. The single most intriguing person I have ever met. It's only befitting that she's bonded with the vampire." Anna said as she passed around with a yawn.
"You know this woman?" Cassandra asked curiously.
"Oh she's no woman." Anna laughed. "And yes I know her." she said, walking towards the patio to unfold her wings with a heavy sigh. "He's making sure she's well protected." Anna grumbled, as if talking to herself.

Alexi rolled his eyes, "You know, once upon a time people would have cowered before me if I looked like this. Now I just get ordered to clean up, I miss the good old days" The blonde teased, handing the backpack to his wife before disappearing upstairs to shower, again.

Sami shrugged, "Movie and chat maybe? I've had my fill of cat naps" She said with a teasing smirk as she headed back upstairs to their bedroom and slipped inside. She flexed her hand once or twice, hissing lightly at the twinge of pain, though she just ignored it for the time being, it wasn't that bad, and it would be gone soon.

----

Demitri slid under the hood of Kristen's SUV, he knew he should be spending time with his family, but he was just to irritated at the moment. He needed to calm down before he snapped and did something he regretted. Demitri had always had a tenuious grasp on his temper, and normally it was easy for him to let loose and vent his frusturation, lately he'd been unable, and it was beginning to take its toll.

----

Dean frowned, "Madison? as in Maddie?" he beamed, "Maddie, Demitri's adopted daughter. She would bond to Vlad" He murmured, he knew every member of the family, he had made it his mission to know.
"Well protected yes, but we can get her" He murmured, "Or, I can. There have been so many strange vampires around, I'm sure, with the right setting, convincing her to come with me shouldn't be difficult. As long as I can get her away from the others..." He trailed off, hopefully this would work. Then Vlad would get what was coming to him, and he'd be victorious. He knew he should care more about Cassandra and what she wanted, but she was the means to an end, he didn't need her, he was using her.

Maria couldn't help but laugh at her husband. She took the backpack from him and shook her head. It was true, but it was the past.
Walking inside, Maria was humming as Carlos and Sami headed upstairs.
"Successful hunt?" Carlos asked without turning around.
"Mmmhm!" was Maria's answer as she wandered into the kitchen to put the bottles into the frigdge.

"Chat and a movie it is." Carlos said, heading upstairs just as Alexi and Maria got back from hunting. He shook his head gently with a smirk before following behind Sami up to their room.
"Any movie you'd like to watch?" Carlos asked, looking at the few they had in the room.

-------------

"Yes, Maddie is her nickname." Anna said as Dean came out to join them. She narrowed her eyes as she looked outside. Not that far north of here was the house that was so well protected that Anna had to work with these vampires to get to it.
"There are aspects about her that you know nothing about." Anna said quietly as she glanced at Dean with golden amber eyes.
"She is a shifter, like her mother before her. And she is embodied with the wisdom and gifts of old, but they have yet to fully surface." Anna said, almost as if in a small trance.
"If you are to obtain her, do not underestimate her. Or the others. No doubt by now she's noticed the absence of her journal, and considering the nature of what she wrote, she's told the whole family. They will be on their guard." Anna said.
Cassandra was tapping a pen lightly on the table as she listened to the exchange happening before her.
"Think this through Dean." Cassandra said, since if he was going to go through with this, she wouldn't protest. She would benefit from it as much as he. "We may have would the Achilles heal of this hierarchy." Cassandra murmured with a small smirk.

((I'll be back on in a bit. Gotta head back to my dorm xD))

OOC: Okay, I might take awhile to reply, working on an essay thingy.

((No worries lol post when you can.))

Sami shrugged, "What do we have?" She asked curiously, undoing the messy braid she had put in her hair earlier and beginning it again. She glanced at the titles curiously, "Kingdom of Heaven?" She suggested with another shrug.

Alexi stepped out of the shower, now clean from blood, gore and other unpleasent things. Toweling off his hair, he pulled on a pair of jeans and socks, opting to go shirtless, though he was still self-concious about the scar on his chest, he was getting better about showing it.

----

Dean nodded, taking in the information that Anna willingly gave.
He focused a look on Cassandra, before inclining his head, though he didn't comment, just took another puff from his cigarette before glancing around. He wondered, once again, why Anna was allied with them. She didn't really need them, nor did she seem to have any emotional issues with the Draqu coven, no, he knew it was something else, but what?

"Kingdom of heaven eh?" Carlos asked with a small nod. He hadn't seen it recently but he was sure he had seen it before. Putting the DVD in the player, Carlos turned on the TV before sitting back on the bed with a content sigh.
"I honestly don't even remember what this one is about..." Carlos murmured.

Maria wandered into the bedroom after putting the bottles of blood in the refrigerator. Seeing that Alexi was practically done with his shower, Maria pouted slightly.
"I was going to join you..." she said with a sly smirk before slipping past him and into the shower, closing the door behind her and turning the water back on.

--------

Maddie was staring out the window, not really looking at anything when Alayna and Keith returned from shopping. Since their bedroom was just before the playroom, Maddie heard them, and her attention shifted to them. Curious, Maddie wandered to the hallway in enough time to see Alayna carrying two bags, a gift in each.
"Got Nick and Serena's presents?" Maddie asked, leaning against the wall. Alayna nodded though her smile diminished as she noticed Maddie's expression.
"Wanna help me wrap them?" Alayna asked, to which Maddie nodded and wandered into the bedroom after her.

--------

Cassandra raised an eyebrow in response to Dean's curious expression. "We both know that you have your means to this alliance as I have mine. Fortunately, if your plan manages to weak Vlad, you'll get what you want, as will I. Everyone's happy."
Anna grinned, though her back was still to the vampires, dark wings exposed and twitching on occasion. It was coming...she could feel it now. Taking a deep breath, Anna's eyes swirled with red and orange as she looked back towards the house of vampires.
I hope you're ready for this one Castiel. Anna smirked before stepping up onto the balcony railing and taking off, needing to fly for a bit.

OOC: I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

BIC:

Sami smirked, "Its about the Crusades, particularly when the Christian army lost Jerusalem to the Muslims" She said with a grin.
"And it has Orlando Bloom in it, so win win situation" She said with a smirk, sretching out next to her mate and hitting the play button on the DVD remote.
'Its actually a pretty decent rendition of what happened during the crusades, minus all the hollywood liberties" She added, grinning lightly.

Alexi groaned as Maria walked past him into the washroom.
"Now she tells me" He grumbled, toweling off his hair, even though it was pretty much dry. Sighing dramatically, he let himself topple backwards onto the bed, wearing only his jeans which were slung low on his hips.
Absentminedly he traced the scar on his chest as he listened to the water running, waiting rather impatiently for his wife to exit the washroom.

----

Keith looked around the room, noting the drawn faces and pained expressions. He sighed, handing the bags that he was carrying to Alayna and letting Sven lead him from the room to fill him in on the latest drama. Alayna and Maddie could handle gift wrapping, plus he was pants at it.

----

Dean shrugged, just taking another drag from his cigarette. He watched the angel go, frowning thoughtfully as she did so. He had his personal issues with Vlad, but he still sure as hell had no idea why there was a bloody angel on their team. He knew that Demitri Draq had rescued and therefore befriened an Angel, Castiel if he wasn't mistaken. A deadly creature, younger brother of the chosen Archangels and all around 'epic warrior'. He knew Anne essentially didn't stand a change against that, so why was she siding with them? Did angels even have personal issues?

((YAY!!! And I won't be able to make that many posts this weekend since I have three essays to write that are due this week before my chorus trip to Georgia and North Carolina X_X))


Carlos could help but shake his head. "You would be surprised how inaccurate historically accurate things may be." he said, wrapping an arm about Sami's shoulder as she started the movie. "The crusades were just before my time....Alexi would know more about them but I think that he, Vlad and Sven were rescuing Demitri at the time." Carlos murmured, frowing for a moment, as if trying to remember his own history. "Things get so fogged back a few centruies." He said with a shrug, finally letting it go and focusing back on the movie.


"Well you hardly wait anyway." Maria said, washing the stained blood from her skin and attempting to wash half of her long hair. She hadn't cut it since she was turned, and since it wouldn't be growing at all anymore, she wasn't going to cut it now. Although it was painful to wash, her hair was one of her features she was most vain about at times.
After forty minutes or so, Maria turned off the water and wrapped a towel about her waist. She rung out as much water from her hair as she could and twisted it into a bun before squeezing even more water out with a towel.
Dressed as such, Maria wandered back out to the bedroom. She smiled, seeing her husband stretched out on the bed as he now was.
"You look entirely too comfortable." she said with a smirk as she wandered over to her closet for something to wear.

-------------

Alayna frowned, looking up as Keith handed her the rest of the bags and then wandered off. She glanced at Maddie, who was taking things from bags and arranging them on the carpet.
"Maddie...is something wrong?" Alayna asked quietly, letting down the bags with the gifts. Maddie reached forward and took them out along with the wrapping paper.
"I messed up again...that's all." Maddie said with a small huff.
"Messed up how?" Alayna asked, sitting next to the girl and helping her wrap the presents as she spoke softly and quietly to Alayna, explaining about her diary and how she and Vlad were now in danger.
-------------------

Cassandra flipped through her papers a bit more, enjoying the thoughtful silence. There was only so long before Cassandra's mind came up with a question that needed to be discussed between the two of them.
"You do realize that if you're going after the girl you can't simply kidnap her." She said quietly, making it half a statement and half a question.

Sami shrugged, "Well either way its a good movie. And Orlando Bloom, c'mon that has to count for something" She said with a teasing smirk as she stretched out.
"Good to know that even vampires suffer memory loss, just like all the other old people out there" She said wtih a small grin, nudging Carlos' side playfully before tentatively returning her attention to the movie.

Alexi smirked, "You only took over half an hour to shower, of course I look comfortable, I almost fell asleep" He teased, pulling himself into a sitting position and stretching.
"So is everything set for tomorrow then?" He asked curiously, rubbing fingers through his hair and looking at her intently. He sincerly hoped tomorrow was nice and relaxing, they all needed it.

----

Keith swore softly, speaking in his own tounge in a vain attempt to keep the others from hearing.
"So now Maddie's once again in iminent danger" He grumbled, though he wasn't at all mad at the little girl, just worried about her. He sighed, flexing his fingers and wishing he had his sword, though he kept the urge to call it forth under control, last thing they needed was a destroyed kitchen.
Sven nodded sympathetically, "Just another fun filled day in the Draq household" The greek turned russian vampire murmred.

----

Dean smirked, "I was thinking more of killing her. Last thing I need is some whiney brat harassing me. She's dead, they all go crazy with grief, loose focus, start screwing up. Its easy" He said with a grin, putting the smoke out and pulling another one from his pack.
"Besides, the world doesn't need anymore shape shifters" He grumbled, clearly he didn't like the creatures.

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Like I care for male actors." he said, shaking his head at Sami but letting her have her fun.
"On my behalf, we vampires have much more to remember then most old people as you so put it." Carlos grumbled, rubbing his side where she had poked him as if that had hurt. When she focused on the movie then, Carlos turned his attention as well with a content sigh.

Maria laughed softly."And imagine, that's a short shower." she teased back, slipping on her panties and bra before tossing a simple dress over her head once more.
"Yes. I'll have the decorations up before noon. You took care of the cater for food, and the guest shall be arriving by one I believe." Maria said, walking over to Alexi and straddling him slowly.
"The gifts are wrapped, the twins are sleeping, everything is quiet for once." Maria murmured softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly.

-------------------------

Kristen nodded gently. "Sending the shifter pack at us was a pretty good diversion." she mused softly, rubbing the back of her neck as she sat down with a huff. Although it wasn't that late in the evening, Zach was already asleep. Kristen had just finished tidying up her and Demitri's bedroom when Keith was being filled in.
"They gave us a pretty steep ultimatum too." Kristen murmured, since it would be bloody impossible to meet their means...thought Kristen wondered if they would actually go through with it and attack at midnight. It was so cliche it was almost unbearable. Kristen couldn't believe how anything was accomplished with that pack.
"Never a dull moment." Kristen said, agreeing with Sven and adding a small nod.

-----------

Cassandra mulled that over for a moment, looking thoughtful at her papers. "An unfortunate accident wouldn't have ties directly to us." she said, almost as if talking to herself.
"And it would give rise to blind mistakes." Cassandra added, putting her papers down and nodding again. "Yes this could work." Cassandra said with another nod, a smirk pulling at the corner of her lips.

Sami snuggled against Carlos' so-called injured side, letting her mind be distracted by the movie.

Alexi smirked, "Ahh but for how long?" He asked teasingly, arching an eyebrow before succumbing to the kiss. He sighed contently, it had been a long time since he and Maria had had some 'me' or I suppose 'us' time. He ran his fingers through her hair lightly, enjoying the feeling of just getting caught up in the moment.

-----

Demitri sighed, "If they do plan on attacking we need to send Zach and Maddie someplace safe, with Alayna and Nicko preferably. Alexi probably has room for them" He mused, not wanting the children to go any place where there wasn't at least one family member.
"We can't risk having them here, not with Maddie a potential target, and she'll be safest with Alexi, plus Carlos will be there along with Maria and Nicko" He didn't mention Alayna, the girl wouldn't do to well in a fight, she was more inclined towards the gentler aspects of life, though he knew she'd fight to protect if she had to.

----

Dean resisted the urge to roll his eyes, a little over fifty years old and Cassandra thought she knew it all. She was really nothing more then an upstart newborn with a grudge, but one that suited his current purposes, even though she thought she was the in control and in charge. He'd been around a hell of a long longer then she had, and he knew how these games worked. He also knew Cassandra wouldn't survive this fight, even crippled the Draq's would be impossible to bring down, anyone with half a brain knew that. He was only in this to inflict Vlad with as much pain as humanly (or vampirely) possible before retreating to safety and letting Cassandra take the fall. Of course she didn't knwo that, in her mind he was her loyal follower.

"Let's not worry about that." Maria murmured between the kisses. Her grip around Alexi's neck grew a bit tighter, pulling herself as close to him as possible. She almost needed this right now, to be with him, to just give into the love and desire she felt towards her husband, to just relax like old times.
"Mmm, I love you." Maria practically purred as Alexi ran his fingers through her hair like he always did.

------------------

Kristen chewed her lip thoughtfully as she listened to Demitri. "Maybe..." she said. "We don't want to inadvertently lead them to Sami though..." Kristen murmured softly, almost adding that to her previous statement. She did agree though, that the children would have to go with Nicko and Alayna, and they would be safest with at least a few vampires.
"Didn't Nicki and Shawn go to Alexi's apartment in the city?" Kristen asked curiously.
Kristen rubbed her arms as the events of the morning played out again in her mind. Something didn't seem right about it...but then again, Kristen couldn't fully understand the working of shifter packs as well as Sami probably could...still, the fact that they wanted her back so badly, and were giving them time to comply seemed off. Maybe they would really go through with it, and attack in the middle of the night...maybe it was just a way to scaring them into revealing where Sami was. Kristen didn't know, and it was driving her mad.

Alexi laughed against Maria's neck.
"I swear you're part cat" He said, lifting her up gently and lying her on the bed. Like Maria, Alexi was giving into his base desires, forgetting about everything, even if it was for just a moment or two.

----

Demitri glanced at Kristen, arching an eyebrow.
"Love I can see the smoke pouring from your ears" he teased gently.
"Yes, Shawn and Nicki are at Alexi's appartement" he murmured, "I'd prefer the children stayed with a family member though, plus with Shawn hurt, that really only leaves Nicki and Nicko protecting the kids, and if something big were to happen..." He trailed off, not needing to finish. It was obvious that Nicki and Nicko woudn't be a match for a group of vampires or shifters.
"What if we send Carlos and Sami to the appartment and the kids to Alexi and Maria's? Or we could have Sven take Maddie, Zach, Nicko and Alayna to his place? No one knows where it is, except for myself, Vlad, Sven and Alexi, so they'd be completely safe there. Sven could come back and we could send Alex and Maria over Sven's to keep an eye on things. The twins could play with Maddie and Zach, and Sami and Carlos would be at Alexi's house. No one would be the wiser" He murmured with a shrug.

"If I'm part cat then your a complete beast." Maria teased, laughing quietly as Alexi picked her up only to put her back down on the bed. Kissing him again, Maria pulled the blankets out from under her and pulled them over his shoulders....

----------------

"It doesn't make sense." Kristen almost hissed, as if there really were a steam-engine running overtime in her mind. "They obviously have enough resources to find Sami on their own. I know Carlos must have thrown them off her trail somehow, but still. Why make us do the work when it technically isn't our problem? And mid-night? Seriously?" Kristen asked with another huff.
As she listened to what Demitri was saying, Kristen blinked a few times. "I don't think I even fully understand what the hell you just said." Kristen said, unable to keep herself from laughing a bit. She had to think about it for a bit before she sighed and rubbed her forehead.
She chewed her lip for a moment. "Maybe we should all go." Kristen practically whispered, catching Demitri's eye for a moment. It wasn't in her nature to run from a fight, but there was more at stake in Kristen's mind if they stayed.
"They know the house, they know we're here. We're practically sitting ducks at this point." she murmured, still keeping her voice quiet. "It'll be easier on the children if we're with them then not."

Alexi stretched out, if he was in a cheesy movie he would have lit a cigarette, though the vampire didn't smoke. He sighed, "Its been awhile since we were able to relax" He commented, his tone slightly dry, though he was grinning like a loon. He had forgotten how amazing it was to just be with Maria.

----

Demitri sighed, "I can't go Kristen, you know that. You can go with the kids, with Nicko and Alayna to Sven's appartment. But I have to stay here" He couldn't really explain it, but they couldn't back down on this issue.
"Carlos is clever, he probably masked Sami's scent and threw them off. If they're serious, they will be here at midnight" He glanced at the clock, "That leaves you six hours. Take the kids, I'll program Sven's address into the GPS, you, Alayna, Nicko and the kids can go there, it'll be safest and no one will be the wiser" He sighed.
"I'll meet you and the kids tomorrow at the twins party. I'll text you tonight, when this is all over, whether they show up or not. But love, if you're this unsure about things, you have to go. You can't go into a fight this unprepared, this unsure. You'll be most content protecting our children" He knew she'd argue. But he wanted Kristen just as safe as Alayna and the kids, and if he had to bribe her to get her there, he would in a heartbeat (if he still had one)

Maria was tracing the muscles of Alexi's chest, her eyes closed and her hands moving smoothly.
"Mm...I know." Maria said with a content smile on her face. "We shouldn't wait so long to do that again." she teased, resting her head contently on his shoulder, still laying on her stomach.

----------

As soon as Demitri said he couldn't, Kristen tuned it him. She didn't mean to do it on purpose, but she was already shaking her head as Demitri went on to say that he'd program the Gps.
"Demitri." he was still going on.
"Demitri stop." she said softly, covering his mouth gently. "Remember that time back at the school...when I wanted to go fight on my own, and you said that asking you to stay behind, while I was going to go out and possibly die, would destroy you?" she asked quietly, her expression soft and she looked up at him.
"Please don't ask me to leave, when I can stay here and help. Don't ask me to leave when there's a possibility I won't see you in the morning." She said, her fingers still pressing against his lips. "There are enough shifters that if they gang up on you at once it'll be as bad as a wolf attack. I may not understand what they want, but if they want I fight, I'm more than certain that we can give them one. And if they don't, and midnight passes then I'll over there myself and stay there with the kids for the night. Alayna and Nicko can take my SUV and I'll take Alayna's car later."