[Today for you, tomorrow for me]: 256.Alexi and Anyka.Chap. 1 Alexi

Alexi

  Frantically, Alexi looked around the disarray that was his old bedroom. He heard a groan of pure anguish coming from the corner behind him. He spun around and sprinted to the corner to find the
red-headed beauty he was looking for on the ground. She was at an odd angle as if she had just been dumped there for lack of a better place to put her. She was deathly pale, a startling contrast from her dark brown hair, which was matted with dried blood. She groaned again, a sound that made him think of the tortures the priests of old used to threaten church-goers with. It was a sound that left him in pure Hell.
  “Anyka?” His voice was soft, tentative, as if he was afraid anything louder would shatter her, “Anyka are you ok?”
  She groaned again, and Alexi searched her through her thoughts, and what he found shocked him. Chaos, sheer chaos, fragments and glimpses of terror, pain and undecipherable images. He stepped back as he broke the connection with her mind. He scooped her up and laid her down gently on the slightly decrepit four poster. He looked down at her a bit angrily, then turned to survey the room again. It seemed to have been torn apart by a struggle. Whatever the bastard had done to her this time, he had done it here. Anyka had proved more difficult to handle than he’d figured, apparently. Loose paper was scattered all over the floor. His old desk lay in pieces all over the room. There was a large dagger wedged up the handle near the door and another one looked as if it and been slammed into the floor. Smeared along the azure wall where the desk was supposed to rest was what appeared to be blood. This would have worried Alexi, but there didn’t appear to be much. Contrasting the unkempt, chaotic gloom of the bedroom was the bright white pages that littered the floor. Many of the pages were filled with small neat, feminine writing. Alexi shook his head. He had always been ridiculed for his beautiful handwriting. He bent of carefully to pick up the pages of his manuscript. He could feel Anyka’s aura on it. She must have been kept in the room for some time to get to the pages he had stored in the bottom drawer. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, steadying himself. The room smelled of sage, lavender, mold and a familiar scent he couldn’t quite recognize. If not for the mold, the combination would have been quite pleasant. The smell of mold was there, however, the strongest scent of them all, it was this that made Alexi wrinkle his nose in distaste. After gently setting the pages of his manuscript in order on the self the hung over his the place where his desk was, he slowly walked over to bed to sit by Anyka. He entered her thoughts again, slowing them down slightly.
  “The bastard!” He hissed furiously. He looked around the room and shouted, “Nicoli! I know you’re here somewhere, come out you coward!”
  Alexi turned slowly as he heard the footsteps indicating a new presence in the room. He glared and stood rigidly at the smug smile on the man’s face.
  “What no hug for your brother?” Nicoli asked, a bit tauntingly. He clicked his tongue, “My, my Alexi you have indeed forgotten civility.”
  “Why should I be civil to a man who doesn’t deserve it or even understand the meaning of the word,” he spat.
  “But I’m you’re brother, does that not change things?” Nicoli asked, frowning.
  “Well, brother,” he spat the normally affectionate title as if it were the foulest word ever uttered by anyone, “what would you do in my place?”
  Nicoli hesitated, not quite sure what to say. Alexi laughed, the sound harsh, cold and angry. Nicoli looked at Anyka and took a step towards the bed. Alexi was there in seconds and slammed Nicoli against the wall.
  “Haven’t you done enough damaged already?” He asked, the icy fury of his tone making clear just how enraged he was. He slammed Nicoli up against the wall again before snarling, “You will not touch her again.”
  Alexi followed Nicoli’s gaze over to where Anyka was tossing and turning in a half-sleep. Nicoli smiled wryly and said, “Ah, so the original destroyer of mankind has found something to protect. I’m amazed you managed to pick out just what I did when the confusion is nearly oozing out of her.”
  “Yes, well, I’m a great deal stronger than you remember.” He said, holding Nicoli against the wall. “I don’t know why it surprises you though, after all you were the one who made me.” He surveyed the room again and let his eyes stray from the broken furniture scattered all over the room to the many holes, knives and smears of blood on the walls.
  “Tell me, is that your blood or hers?” Alexi asked nodding over at the wall, slightly amused. Nicoli had always prided himself on being better than any hunter or huntress that was or would be, and for the most part, it was true. A harsh dark sound was emitting from Alexi’s throat and it took Nicoli and moment to realize he was laughing. It sounded nothing like Alexi’s natural laugh which was warn and inviting, this sound was cruel . . . Chilling.
  “It’s mostly mine,” Nicoli admitted grudgingly.
  “Well, at least she gave you Hell.” He said, looking around at the debris strewn across the room.
  Nicoli narrowed his eyes, glaring slightly, “That she did ,“ He agreed slowly, wondering what Alexi was getting at.
  Alexi suppressed a snort. He knew that Nicoli had always prided himself on being invincible. Most of it, however, was not just ego. Alexi seriously doubted before Nicoli attacked Anyka no one had ever drawn Nicoli’s blood. That was the reason he was one of the most hunted vampires that ever went down in history. Most of the rest of the famous(or infamous, depending on your circle of friends) vampires had been killed off by witches(normal human vampire hunters would never be strong enough to kill off the vampires famed for there strength and deviousness) a long time ago . . .
  “Just leave,” Alexi commanded Nicoli, unnervingly calm. Nicoli didn’t like this side of Alexi. It was . . . Cold and he seemed . . . Well, fiercer. In a bad way. In a horrifying way. This wasn’t like Alexi at all. Alexi had always been the carefree one. Nicoli was the cold one, the unhappy one, the brooder. How long had Alexi been like this? Had the vampire in him finally turned him cruel? Or had Nicoli?
  Alexi used to be so warm. He used to be caring and forgiving. What had happened?
  Alexi recognized the far away look on his brother’s face. His brother would be lost in thought for a very long time. He’d take his luck were he could get it. He scooped up Anyka and appeared at his well-protected lair in the middle of swamp property he owned. No other vampire could get in unless they started at the edge of the swamp and walked there. A witch that was deeply indebted to him had cast the enchantment for him. No one would be able to get onto his property by magical means unless he took them there.
  He laid Anyka down on his bed. Where had things gone wrong? How had Nicoli known what was going on? Alexi had changed drastically since he last saw Nicoli. Both in spirit and appearance. There was no way Nicoli should have been able to recognize him. But somehow he had and, as usual, Alexi was left cleaning up the mess.
  Nicoli had always been careless, reckless and selfish. Alexi knew this. Alexi hated it. Alexi had always hated it. Alexi may have not been very protective of Nicoli, but he did have a sense of honor and responsibility. While they had been human he had plainly refused to let Nicoli ruin his life. Now h was just tired of trying to knit his life back together.
  A small groan wrenched him from his thoughts. The groan was the epitome of pain, confusion and fright. He ran a hand through his hair worriedly as he paced at the foot of the bed. What was he going to do about Anyka? Most vampires killed the first time they fed and didn’t even realize it. Anyka was a Shikari. She killed those that hunted and killed for the sake of saving themselves. He knew she was revolted by the very thought of harming another living creature. She always had been. He couldn’t let Anyka kill on her first hunt. If he did she’d never stop. She’d hate him forever for that.
Maybe if he could find a witch . . . No, any witch stronger enough to state the blood lust Anyka was feeling without dying would be in direct contact with the leader of all the lines, Dominicia Avalanchine, Anyka’s aunt. They’d kill her on the spot.
  He sighed looking down at Anyka. What was he going to do? What could he do?