1x1 with x_fire

Kristen cursed, feeling Demitri shaking as he held her. She sighed with slight relief once Keith showed up. "Demitri, I can walk from here. Maybe you should get something to drink from the coach?" she asked pathetically. She was starting to feel dizzy, and down right sick now as she tried to stand up.



The wind was nearly knocked out of her as Keith held her and flew out the window. It took her a moment to get her barrings before following after Keith. She slowed down as the angel stopped, still a great distance from their friends. She stood behind Keith slightly, looking over at Demitri and Kristen worriedly.

Demitri froze, looking at her with hurt eyes. His anger was nearly overwhelming at this point. Reluctantly he set her down, turning and disappearing back into the forest. The vampire was to aggrivated to safely enter the school, he'd kill someone. He ran fast, faster then any of the others had seen him run before, he was confused and hurt. He eventually slowed, miles away from the school, miles away from everything. No one was around, he was alone. Crouching he sat down by a small tree, resting his back against it, knees to his chest.

Keith winced as Demitri took off, never before had he seen the vampire move like that. Instantly he was by Kristen's side.
"Damn" He said, wincing at her injuries. Carefully, very carefully, he slid his arm around her, supporting her.
"Are you alright? Never mind, stupid question" He said, his voice shaking a bit with nerves.

The second Demitri left, Kristen wished ha hadn't. Her whole body felt weak, and Keith's support was the only thing thst kept her standing. She felt the tears coming now and she cringed on impulse. "I had to find him Keith..." she said through her teeth. "I had to finish it with him. He never would have let it alone if I didn't..." she half sobed, hanging her head weakly. "I didn't want Demitri to come. I didn't want him to fight this one for me. He couldn't, if he did..." the tears ran freely now and Kristen lost her words.

Alayna walked over to Kristen's other side, holding the girl gingerly as to not hurt her any further. She wasn't exactly sure what Kristen was rambling about, but it was causing her more pain that Alayna had ever seen. "Hey, it's alright. It's done now." she said quietly, motherly almost. "Me and Keith will take you to the nurse, we'll get you cleaned up. Demitri will find you once he's cooled off. Don't worry about it alright?" she said quietly, supporting half of Kristen's weight, nodding to Keith to lead the way towards the nurses.

Keith looked just as confused as Alayna.
"Shh, you can tell us later" He said, calmly. He nodded at Alayna and began to carefully lead the way towards the school. He could feel the heat of Kristen's blood on his side, and knew that alone was one of the reasons Demitri had left. He sighed, odviously something had upset the vampire, badly. He gingerly moved Kristen, helping her up the steps into the school and towards the nurse's office. Once they arrived, he knocked on the door, wincing as it flew open and the nurse gaped at them.
"Well come in" She said, stepping aside, she looked Kristen over critically. "It would be you" She mumbled, shifters were notoriously hard to heal.
"Well what happened?" She asked, once Keith and Alayna had manuvered Kristen to the examination table.

Kristen hardly had the energy to snap at the nurse like she would any other day. Once Keith and Alayna had her on the table, she layed back and sighed. Her tears had made clean streakes in her cheeks, and continued to rolled down the side of her face. Alayna was quick to remove the tattered jacket Kristen wore, along with the shirt that the shifter held against her side.

"I'm not sure." Alayna said honestly. "She got into a fight with another shifter..." Alayna spoke as she pulled Kristen's bloody shirt off her wound. Kristen cringed, her body shaking from the pain and her sobs. "Kristen relax..." Alayna said, pushing away Kristen's light brown hair from her face

Kristen shook her head repeatedly. She couldn't stop the tears now if she wanted to. Alayna looked around franctically before finding a wash cloth. She ran it under cool water before bringing it back to Kristen's forehead. "My arm..." Kristen breathed, "Its broken..."

The nurse sighed, "Well, Kristen you'll have to give me the full story later" She grumbled, busying her self making plaster.
"Alayna, sit down" She snapped suddenly, the human, or whatever, was in her way, and she needed to plaster the shifter's arm as well as stop the bleeding. The nurse moved quickly, grabbing a needle and special thread/
"If you want to help, please stay by Keith" She said, as she began to stitch up the wound. She winced, it was deep.
"You'll have to monitor this closely" She cautioned the girl. Once she was done stitching, she covered the wound, and then wrapped a tenser bandage around Kristen's middle, this was all done with practiced ease.

She sighed and grabbed the bowl of plaster, sitting next to Kristen, she expertly began to wrap the arm in the strips, making sure it was tight.
"I'll give you some pain pills when I'm done. Instructions on the bottle" She said, finishing up the arm, and smiling brittlely.
"There" She handed the pills to Keith, whom she knew to be Kristen's room mate.

Alayna sighed with slight frustration before stepping away slightly. She stood next to Keith, her hands balled into fists and her arms crossed over her chest. She wasn't that angry, but she could feel the tingle in her hands she recieved each time she pulled enegry or magic from someone. She really didn't want to do so now.

Kristen locked her jaw, holding back a scream as the nurse stiched her side. For a moment, she didn't breath. Once the pain from the needle was gone, Kristen inhaled deeply, more tears running down her face. She cringed, turning away from the nurse as she wrapped Kristen's broken arm. It hurt. Once that was done, Kristen moved her arm to her chest. She made no attempt to move on her own, feeling stiff from the stiches in her side.

Seeing that the nurse was pretty much done, Alayna walked around to the table. "Think you can sit up?" she asked Kristen quietly. The shifter closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. Alayna looked up at Keith, concerned. She wasn't sure if Kristen should be moving right now if she couldn't on her own. Alayna looked over at the nurse. "Maybe she should stay here for the night?" she asked, frowning. Alayna jumped slightly as Kristen's good hand gripped her arm.

"I am not spending the night here..." she whispered, her voice harsher than she intended. "Just help me up." Alayna sighed, that was Kristen.

"No, I'll take you back to our room Kristen" Keith said, throwing a startled glance at Alayna, seriously what was his girlfriend thinking.
"Yes, she's fine" The nurse said, glowering at Alayna, "Now, all of you, go back to your rooms" She said, waving her hands at them.

Keith arched an eyebrow at Alayna, but quickly helped Kristen to a sitting position. "Do you want to walk? Or should I carry you?" He asked in a low, worried voice. He smiled reassuringly at her, she was probably in a lot of pain, and freaked out about Demitri. The vampire was still MIA, which had him a bit worried.

Demitri leaned against the tree, listening to the sounds of the silent forest. He froze, silent? The forest was never silent. Cursing, he stood, noticing a figure in a dark robe, standing not to far away from him.
"Yes, all I had to do was wait, wait and you would come to me" He cackled in Russian. Demitri growled, hands balling into dangerous, lethal fists.

"Wait." Kristen said, thinking Keith was moving to pick her up. She looked back over at the nurse. "There's a boy, not far off the outskirts of the forest. He's in worse shape then I am...." she said, her tongue passing over her chapped and sore lips. "Could you make sure he's alright? Or send a healer or something?" she asked quietly.

Alayna was slightly taken aback by Kristen's words. She had no doubt whatsoever that the boy she was talking about now was the shifter she had just gotten into a fight with. And if he was in worse condition that Kristen, Alayna wondered if he would last the night out there. She frowned, curious about why Kristen suddenly cared.

She remained quiet though, and headed out of the office, holding to door open for Keith and Kristen. "I think I can walk..." Kristen muttered to Keith, wincing as she slid from the table. She swayed instantly, her good hand reaching up to hold her head. She muttered to herself but remained standing.

The nurse frowned, but nodded.
"I'll send someone immediately" She said, picking up her phone and speaking into it quickly. "There, one of the healer's is on the way" She said, dismissing them with a nod of her head.

Keith slid his arm around Kristen, helping her stand, careful not to press against her injured side. As soon as they were out of the room he looked at her.
"Which room do you want to go to?" He asked her quietly, glancing at Alayna. He waited patiently, he bet Kristen just wanted to lie down, which was fine by him, but there were also two rooms she could choose between.

Demitri snarled, "Seriously Demitri, did you honestly think your pathetic siblings could protect you?" The mage asked, his voice high and eerie. Demitri didn't respond, fists shaking. There was enough magic in the air that he could smell it, not that he cared. He growled, barring his fangs, warning the mage away.

"Thanks." Kristen murmured, letting Keith lead her out of the room. "The closet room with a bed..." she said quietly, closing her eyes in an attempt to block out the pain in her side, the soreness in her arm, and the stings of her numours cuts. She just wanted to lay down, though she probably wouldn't sleep until Demitri returned.

Kristen groaned as the vampire peirced through her thoughts. She held her head forcing herself not to cry again. Once he was back, she would explain everything. Kristen let out a rough breath, brushing the tears from her face. Alayna wasn't far behind. She kept at Kristen's bad side, gently not to touch the wound, and only help if Kristen swayed again. She followed quietly, a thousand questions burning on her tongue. Alayna forced them away; now wasn't the time.

"Demitri's room it is then" Keith said, as they neared the door. Carefully he opened it it and led her inside. Demitri's bed was closest to the door, so that was where he gently sat her down.
"Do you want us to stay?" He asked, knowing she was probably really upset right now, the tears were an indication of that. He looked at Alayna, before placing the pain killers on the beside table, careful not to make to much noise.

Demitri winced as the first 'bolt' of magic struck him, growling he dodged away, trying to get to the mage. If he could avoid the magic, the attacks and get to the man, he'd be dead, as simple as that. Growling, his eyes darted, searching for an opening. Suddenly he dove, fists closing on the man's robes. He had been hit more times then he cared to remember, and was only now feeling the pain of his new injuries. Disregarding this, he growled, noticing the man's now terrified expression with a sadistic wave of pleasure. Then it was done, he snapped the man's neck, dropping the lifeless body to the ground.

Alayna winced as they walked outside and across the campus. All the way, she was rubbing her temple and muttered to herself. She kept close to Kristen though, and helped the shifter as much as she could. Alayna's headache subsided as they walked into the dorm building, and she knew instantly what had caused her headache. She walked into the room causally with Keith, watching as the angel helped Kristen rest onto Demitri's bed.

Kristen sighed with slight relief, and then cringed at the pain that julted up her arm. She swore colorfully at her cast and moved it enough that it would eventually set right. Sighing, Kristen looked over at the pain pills that Keith placed down on the table. She'd have to be careful with those, the last pain pills the nurse had given her had taken Kristen a while to get off of. "You can stay if you want..." Kristen whispered quietly, looking over at the window distantly.

Keith looked at Alayna, before sitting down on her bed.
"We'll stay" He said simply, watching her with worried, yet kind eyes. He glanced out the window, where in the heck was Demitri. He frowned, it wasn't like the vampire to be gone for so long, particularly if one of them was injured. He sighed and rubbed his temples, he could feel the tension of magic in the atmosphere, and it was bugging him.

Demitri stared coldly down at the body, before gasping in pain. He glanced down at realized he was once again covered in cuts. Not as many as before, but deep, painful cuts. Grumbling he began to make his way, slowly, back towards the school. Eventually he broke the cover of the trees, heading towards his dorm room. With any luck it would be empty and he'd be able to cover the injuries before anyone saw.

Alayna nodded and sat next to Kristen. She tried to smile, placing a warm hand on the girl's shoulder gently. Kristen looked over at Alayna as the girl pushed a small amount of her engery through Kristen's wounded shoulder. Kristen smiled, her arm no longer unbareablely sore. "Thanks..." she muttered, wincing with the failed attempt to flex her fingers.

Alayna shrugged, pulling her hand away with a long breath. "Don't worry about it." she said quietly. Kristen was staring off into space again. "Hey..." she whispered, breaking the trance over Kristen; Alayna hadn't liked the look on her face. She frowned at Kristen and the shifter shook her head with a sigh.

"Nothing. Just...tired I guess..." Kristen muttered, rubbing her forehead. She inhaled sharply, hitting a cut that ran across her forehead. Kristen cursed before letting her hand fall and closing her eyes. She inhaled deeply, wincing at the pain it caused her.

Keith was looking out the window, when he suddenly let out a curse. "Idiot" He growled, flinging the window open and leaning out so he could see better. Demitri, covered in cuts was walking towards them. Odviously the vampire heard, because he cringed and looked up, wincing at the sight of Keith. Pulling his head back inside, Keith grabbed a shirt and tossed it out the window. Kristen didn't need to see her boyfriend beat half to hell.

Demitri caught the shirt, smiling a quick 'thanks' and Keith and pulled it on. Wincing, he climbed the wall and slid in the window.
"Hey" He said in a low, raspy voice. He was exahusted, and sore, but the sight of Kristen lying on the bed, beat up worse then he was, nearly tore his motionless heart from his chest.

Alayna had seen what Keith had done, but Kristen hadn't budged. Alayna had the first aid kit open next to her on the bed. The nurse had taken care of Kristen's major wounds, and Alayna was simply cleaning up the smaller cuts Kristen had. The shifter's skin was slightly aglow with the ointment Alayna was rubbing into the cuts after she cleaned them. A select few had bandaids over them.

She looked up calmly as Demitri slipped into the room through the window. She nodded a hello before taking a clean edge of a towel and dapping a cut Kristen had on her chest. This much she could do effortlessly; her brother's had gotten into enough scraps that Alayna had become an unoffical nurse at times. She wasn't sure if Kristen minded, but then again, if she did, Alayna would've continuted anyway.

Kristen sighed deeply as Alayna finished. She hadn't the strecth to fight the girl, so Kristen let it be. She heard Demitri's voice and her eyes opened instantly. She turned her head slowly to look over at him, eyes watering slightly. "Demitri, I-" she tried to speak but Kristen found it nearly impossible with a hard lump in her throat.

Keith was glowering at Demitri, but had ressumed his spot on the bed, watching Kristen and Alayna while glancing at the vampire. He frowned, something had odviously happened in the woods, but now was most definately not the time to ask. He silently prayed that Alayna would remain silent, especially if she noticed the different in Demitri's movements. To watch the vampire normally, he moved quickly, with a feline grace that rivaled that of cats, now he was slow, much to slow and he winced occasionally.

Demitri looked at Kristen, his own eyes glassy. He watched Alayna taking care of her, knowing it should be him, but he was reluctant to get to close. He had yet to satisfy his hunger, and he wasn't going to risk hurting her.
"Yes?" He asked, his voice gently, though it was still rough. His throat burned, and he clamped his mouth shut, careful not to breath.

Kristen took a deep breath, swallowing hard to try and talk. "I had to." she said quietly, weakly Alayna noticed. She kept her head down as Kristen talked. Alayna took a deep breath, her curiosity getting the best of her again.

"Why?" she asked Kristen quietly. The shifter turned to look over at Alayna, who was surprised to see that the sharpness in her hazel eyes were gone. Alayna tilted her head, pulling her hands away to listen.

"Because shifters are no better than vampires or werewolves when it comes to territory." Kristen said. She looked over at Keith now. "You remember all those scraps I got into when I first came here don't you?" she asked, glancing at Demitri. "It's like this.....monarchry....I can't explain it very well..." she said, shaking her head. "But we fight. It's not usually to kill, it's just to see who's better or who's stronger, who's weaker, who gets what spot on the chart. The more fights you win, the more respect, the less problems...." she mumbled, rubbing her face carefully.

Alayna nodded as she listen, both fascinated and horrified at this news. She shook her head, looking up at Keith before glancing at Demitri, wondering if either of them had known about this. "But there are rules..." Kristen was saying. She looked back over at Demitri. "If you break them..." Kristen shook her head. "That's why I didn't want you to come..." Kristen spoke so quietly, Alayna almost didn't catch it. "I broke the rules in our last fight, Simon and mine...by right, he was entitled to kill me if I hadn't won that fight."

Keith shuddered, mumbling under his breath. He watched Demitri, you could see the vampire's face change from pain-filled to aghast, to horrified. He turned away, vampires were entirely to good looking. Not that he was attracted to the vampire, not at all. It was more the fact that the vampire could pull of each look so perfectly.

Demitri sank to the floor, feeling sick. He had known a little about shifters, but not this.
"So you expected me to let you die?' He asked, sick. This was one thing he couldn't handle, even vampires weren't that bad, and they took territorial to a whole new level. He folded his knees to his chest, his shirt was now soaked through with blood, but he hoped his knees covered that. He shuddered, the thought of Kristen dying nearly made him lose it again. Did she not understand what had happened when they 'bonded'? He literally couldn't live without her at this point, if she died, he would die as well. It might take him longer, but he would find a way to die.

"No!" Kristen said, sitting up quickly to look over at Demitri. "Why would you think I would do that to you?" she asked. Alayna inhaled sharply; even she notcied the blood on Demitri's shirt now, Kristen would too.

"Kristen you're going to hurt yourself..." Alayna said quickly, trying to push the girl back to laying down. Kristen fought her though, her eyes intent on Demitri, and now her body was shaking.

"I couldn't even ask you to stay here! I knew it was going to be bad, Demitri, I knew it was going to be close..." Kristen swallowed hard, her eyes tearing and her stomach turning. "But I had too. Don't you see? I had the advantage of knowing he was here first. If he had caught me at some other random point during the day without me knowing, it would have ended much differently."

Alayna was tense now, and she shuddered at the thought. Poor Demitri, she thought, and Poor Kristen....She looked between the two shaking her head. No one was benefitting from this at all. She took a silent deep breath, her hand back on Kristen's good shoulder. The shifter took a shaky breath and rubbed her face, pulling her eyes away from Demitri.

Demitri nodded, understanding, finally. He glanced up at her, a small, very small smile tugging on the corners of his otherwise still mouth.
"I understand" He murmured softly, still reluctant to go near her. She had yet to comment on the fact that he as bleeding, which reassured him, for now. He didn't want to aggrivate her further.
"You had the advantage, so you took it. Clever" He said, his mind slipping into a purely analytical state, it was the only way he could handle looking at this. He sighed and dropped his eyes back to the floor, not wanting to draw more attention to himself.

Keith sighed, letting out a breath of relief.
"Kristen, you need to rest" He said, breaking the silence that Demitri had created. He knew what the vampire was doing, and respected why he was doing it. He didn't want to stress Kristen out anymore, that was easy enough to understand.

"Keith's right.." Alayna said softly, pushing Kristen back gently. Kristen wouldn't budge though, not even when Alayna gave her another burst of her energy. Kristen looked over at Alayna, feeling a soft heat running through her veins now. "Don't do it again." she muttered quietly. Alayna merely sighed, and pulled her hand away from Kristen to clean up the first aid supplies she'd used.

Kristen reluctantly fell back slowly onto the bed. She knew Demitri understood her actions now, but it would take him some time to understand the next thing she would ask of him. Since the fighting had been purely for rank, Kristen no long held a grudge against Simon. Demitri would have to do the same if things were to run peacefully again. At the moment, Kristen wasn't sure if he would or not. She'd leave that for tomorrow or so.

Alayna quickly returned the kit to the bathroom, throwing out any of the garbage as well. She looked at Demitri, worried about the blood that was now showing obnxiously through the shirt Keith had tossed him. She didn't want to say anything though, unsure if Kristen had noticed or not. Instead, Alayna looked over at Keith, wondering if they should leave.

Keith met Alayna's eyes, a small nod of the head was all that he did.
"I think it's time for Alayna and I to go. See you in the morning" He said softly. Nodding pointedly at the bed, his eyes flicking between them. He doubted Demitri would even get off the floor, and he was dying to know why he was so beat up again. He rose and slipped quietly from the room, waiting for Alayna just outside the semi-closed door.

Demitri watched Keith leave, his thirst was intense.
"Keith?"
"Yea?"
"Can you bring me the bottle I left in your room?" He asked, his voice coming out in a dry rasp.
"Sure, just let me go grab it" The angel disappeared, reappearing moments later with the bottle. He walked back into the room, handing it to Demitri.
"Be more careful" He whispered in the vampire's ear, before nodding at Alayna again.

Alayna smiled a small goodnight to Kristen, who waved weakly with her good arm before she met Keith back out in the hallway. She walked down the way with him, watching as Keith gave Demitri a bottle that she assumed was half full with blood. She shuddered out of habbit, rubbing her arms before leaning against the wall next to Keith's room.


Kristen merely listened. She was weaving in and out of sleep now, but she could hear everything. She heard Keith leave, then Alayna. She heard Demitri ask something of Keith, and Keith returned within seconds. Kristen wasn't sure what Keith said to Demitri, she had passed out again, and when she came too, Keith and Alayna were gone. Kristen took a deep breath, cringing instantly. Cursing quietly, Kristen sighed and closed her eyes again.