Blood Ties

Chapter One

'The difference between life and death is very small. For everyone who is alive at this moment, had to die to gain this life, and that cycle must always be repeated. It’s a confusing cycle to the human mind. But to some it is easy. Of course, those are the ones who usually kill themselves, or ones you wish would die. Then there are those who were never alive. Who were born with no heartbeat and no reason to want one. These creatures are hunters. Killers that stalk the night. We will hunt them to the death.’

Remembering his father’s words did not help Aiden, the Chief’s son of the clan of werewolves that ruled the forest. There was only one problem with that little set up. The vampire clan that lived in the area also ruled it. Which lead to giant, horrible wars. Much like the one that Aiden was now caught up in. ‘Caught up’ really meant chained up, because that was what he was. Shackled to the floor in nothing but his leather leggings. He heard the swish of the whip before it cracked down hard against his back, leaving a trail of ripped flesh. He gritted his teeth in agony, shuddering hard from the cold air that was in the stone torture chamber.

“That should be enough to teach him his place.” The calm cool voice of the Vampire Lord, Sebastian, rang out through the stagnant, cold air. Ice-cold water was thrown over him to wash the blood off, and he cried out in shock when it hit him. Maybe I should just stop fighting. I mean, it can’t hurt as much as this. Aiden thought to himself, fighting back the tears of pain and humiliation that threatened to fall from his green eyes. His now sopping wet brown hair was clinging to his forehead, and working its way into his mouth and eyes. The shackles on his wrists were released and he was dragged from the room. The last thing he remembered before unconsciousness slapped him in the face was being thrown into his very, very small room.

***

Alysius, Lord Sebastian’s son, made his way slowly to the slave quarters, which was really just a fancy name for prison. He had stolen some commonplace servant clothes. As well as a dark cloak for the journey, and taken the key out of the guard’s pocket when he was at dinner. He walked as fast as he dared, while trying to be sneaky. Getting to the door was the easy part. The hard part came when he actually had to open it. Both the pile of cloths and medicine in his arms, and the fact that the door was very old and squeaked very loudly worked against him. He jammed the key in the lock and turned it as slowly as he could until he heard the click, then he slowly pushed the door open. The wolf-boy, Aiden, was sprawled out on the straw floor, whimpering in his half-conscious state. His tanned back had been ripped to shreds by the whip, and was now scabbed over and swollen.

Alysius kneeled down by Aiden and shook him gently, to wake him up the rest of the way. Aiden sat up quickly, making a few of the cuts open again and start seeping blood. He was about to yelp, or cry out, or something when Alysius put his hand over the werewolf’s mouth.

“Shh, it’s alright, I’m not here to hurt you,” he said as calmly as he could what with being alone in the same room with a werewolf. Aiden looked back at him with frightened green eyes. This vampire was young, Aiden decided. Not just in appearance, but in every other way. The tips of his hair hadn’t even gone black yet. All the adult vampires in the Nosphret clan had white hair, with black tips. But the younger’s had red tips. This vampire was under two hundred.

Alysius watched Aiden reasoning something out, but didn’t bother to ask. He was here for one thing only, and that was to keep this boy healthy. “Now, I need you to lie on your stomach so I can clean your wounds.” Alysius said, taking off his cloak and laying it over the straw. Aiden complied, though he didn’t know why. But for some reason he believed that this vampire wasn’t going to hurt him. Aiden moved to his stomach carefully and rested his head on his arms.

“They didn’t give you too bad of a lashing, I see.” Alysius muttered softly, but in the small space, Aiden still heard it.

“Not too bad! It feels like they ripped my skin off.” He said, turning to look at the vampire.
“Yes, well, I’ve seen worse than this done for smaller crimes than yours.” He said, picking up a cloth and dipping it into the small bowl of water he’d brought with him. “This may sting, so if you have to scream, please cover your mouth, I don’t want the guards to hear you.” Alysius said, still in that calm, cold manner. Aiden growled, and muttered something under his breath, but nodded all the same.

The first touch of the wet cloth on his torn flesh made him wince and whimper like a kicked puppy. Alysius grimaced as the scab peeled away and fresh blood trickled out. He cleaned the blood away, and worked on cleaning the infection out of the wounds. He wasn’t sure why he was caring about this werewolf, but he did, and it downright scared him.

Aiden hissed in pain and even though Alysius was trying to be careful, it still hurt like hell. The cleaning took less than ten minutes, but by that time Aiden felt like he was going to pass out while throwing up.

“There, now, I’m going to put this on. It’s a cream that will prevent infection.” Alysius said, picking up a heavy glass container full of white goo. He unscrewed the lid carefully and scooped some out. As gently as he could, he spread the salve over the cuts. Immediately Aiden felt the stinging go away, and he sighed in relief. Along with the blissful numbing, he felt warmth spread through his body, making his muscles relax. He suddenly felt very sleepy and content. “What’s in that?” He asked, closing his eyes. Alysius, meanwhile, was smirking at the relaxed look on the werewolf’s face.

“Simple healing herbs.” He answered, wiping his hands off on the wet cloth and picking up the bandages. “You will have to sit up for the next part.” He helped the werewolf change positions and sit up. As Alysius wrapped the bandages around the werewolf’s torso, Aiden finally asked the question that had been nagging him all night.

“Why are you helping me?” he asked, turning to look the vampire straight in his ice blue, almost grey eyes.

“I don’t know.” Alysius said softly, looking down at the straw-covered floor. “I just...you don’t deserve this. Any of you, and all I want is for it to stop. But that won’t happen, so the least I can do is keep you healthy.” This speech was followed by Alysius resuming his task of bandaging Aiden. The rest of the time passed in silence. When Alysius got up to leave, Aiden grabbed his arm.

“Who are you?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Alysius.” answered the vampire, before breaking the werewolf’s grip and grabbing the cloak. “If they ask where you got the bandages, just tell them you ripped up the sheets.” He turned and walked out of the room before Aiden could say anything else.

***

“Where have you been?” Alysius’ father asked calmly. Apparently he’d been waiting for his son.
“Out for a walk.” Alysius answered, not looking at Sebastian. The elder vampire’s feet were propped on Alysius’ cherry-wood desk, and he was sitting in the wing-backed leather chair that had been Alysius’ latest death-day present.

“In servant clothes?” The sound of Sebastian’s boots thudding against the floor followed the question.

“I didn’t want to dirty my things.” Alysius shrugged, draping the cloak over one of the leather chairs that made up the sitting room.

“Right. Now, son, tell me what you have really been up to.” Alysius turned to look at his father, glaring at the long white and black hair. The noble features of his father’s still youthful face. The man’s eyes were dark silver in his anger, and his fangs glinted in the half-light of the candle-filled sconces that lined the dark blue walls.

“I have just told you.” Alysius answered. Sebastian was up out of the chair and slamming Alysius into the nearest wall before the younger could even blink. His wrist was held fast against the cold, unforgiving wood and he father snarled at him. Alysius grunted in pain and tried to struggle loose, but his father was over 300 years his elder, and far stronger than the younger.

“You would dare lie to me, Alysius.” A hard blow was landed across Alysius’ cheek, knocking him down with a cry. Before he even got time to assess the damage, he was lifted up by his throat and slammed against the wood again. “You are my son, and you will do as I say. Tell me now what you were doing.” Alysius shook his head and scratched at his father’s hand, trying to get him to let go. It wasn’t as if he needed to breathe, but it still hurt like hell.

“Fine then, you leave me no choice.” Alysius was sent flying across the room and crashed into one of the glass picture frames lining the walls. Glass rained down on him, covering him in small cuts, and tearing his clothes. He covered his face with his arm, and only vaguely heard the sound of the door slamming shut through the sound of the glass. Alysius slumped to the floor, half sobbing, half whimpering in pain. His father had only gotten like this after his mother was killed. His sobs quieted after a few minutes, and he looked around at the damage to his room. Deciding he would at least try to care about the mess in the morning, he pulled himself into his soft bed and pulled the covers over his body. It was very close to dawn, and that last thought in his head was Please, just let me leave here.

***

Aiden woke to the sound of banging on his cell door. “Get up, mutt.” rang through the door in the gruff voice of a man. He levered himself off the floor, grunting as he did so. The pain in his back had come back full force during the day. “The prince needs help in his rooms.” the voice yelled. A shirt was thrown towards him and he caught it with ease, then slipped it on carefully before standing up. The prison guard stood aside to let him pass.

The werewolf was lead to a room with a shiny black door covered in spiral carvings, all of which looked like they had taken years to perfect. The door opened into a huge room, big enough to hold his entire house. The first half of the room was filled with a long, leather couch, and two chairs around a large stone fireplace that was currently unlit and looked as if it had never been used. On the right side of the room was a small office, with a dark, cherry-wood desk and a wing-backed leather chair. He walked slowly so as to give himself time to take in the sights of this amazing room. He walked through an arched gap in the dividing wall that separated the sitting room from the bedroom. The first thing he noticed in the room was the huge four-poster bed in the center of the room. The sheets on the bed were a dark, royal blue and the wight hangings were thin, so thin they were see-through.

The next thing he saw was the pale form of a vampire sitting at the large window. Aiden could tell that this vampire was male, because he could see half of his reflection in the glass. The boys hand was resting against the cold glass and his forehead was resting on his arm.
“Um, hello?” Aiden spoke quietly, like if he talked too loud this room would disappear and he would be back in his cell.

***

Alysius jerked slightly, and turned his head slowly to look at the slave his father had sent to clean up. The tan face of the wolf-boy, Aiden, surprised him.

“Hello.” Alysius muttered, looking back at the window after a second.

To say that Aiden was surprised at finding out that the boy that’d helped him the night before was the prince of the Northern clan was an understatement. “You’re the prince!” He blurted out before he could stop himself.

Alysius laughed softly and looked back at the werewolf. “Last time I checked, yes. Why?” All Aiden could do was open and close his mouth a few time and stare blankly at the vampire. When he finally went to take a step forward, his foot collided with shattered glass and he yelped in pain. The vampire was at his side in a second because Aiden looked like he was about to fall forward and do more damage to himself. Alysius helped him slowly to sit down on his bed.

“It’s only my toe.” Aiden said, bending his leg so as to look at his foot. There was a small amount of blood on the tip of his toe, and a pretty good-sized shard of glass protruding from it. Aiden grabbed a hold of it and pulled sharply, gritting his teeth as he did so. “I’m fine, I heal fast.” he said, looking over at the vampire who had taken a seat next to him. It was only then that he realized that the other boy was covered in small, half-healed cuts, and he was staring intently at the blood oozing out of the cut on his toe. “Hey, are you alright?”

Alysius’ head jerked up as if he suddenly remembered that Aiden was still there. “What? Oh, um, yes, I’m fine.”

“So did you run into the painting, or what?” Aiden asked, referring to the broken glass and the cuts covering the vampire’s skin.

“Um, not exactly.” Alysius answered, looking at the sheets. “You really don’t have to help me clean this up, I can do it myself, my father’s just being controlling, that’s all.” The way Alysius said ‘father’ was almost as if he was mourning the loss of the man instead of just mentioning him.

“Is he normally like that?” Aiden asked, lowering his foot back to the floor.

“He didn’t used to be.” sighed the vampire, sadly.

“Yeah, my dad’s pretty uptight, too. Um, but on to apparently happier subjects, I will help you clean up. One, because you look like you need it, and two, because I really, really don’t want to get whipped again.” Alysius smiled a small smile and quickly ducked his head to hide it.

“No, Blithe aims to tear the flesh from bone in his whippings.” Alysius said, looking back up at Aiden.

“I almost got killed by a guy called Blithe? Great, that makes me feel wonderful.” Alysius laughed at that, but quickly stopped himself and looked down. Aiden frowned.

“How did you get all those cuts?” The werewolf asked after a brief pause.

“My father.” Alysius whispered, biting his already cut lip and hissing as the wound reopened and blood welled up.

“What did he do?” Aiden wondered aloud, surprising himself with his forwardness. It wasn’t like they were friends or anything.

“Just...nothing. If you’re going to help me then you better get started.” Alysius slipped back into that calm, cold mask that he seemed to have all but patented. Aiden nodded, somehow understanding that the vampire didn’t feel like talking about his father at the moment. The werewolf nodded slowly and carefully levered himself off the bed.

***

It took nearly an hour to clean up all the glass, and by the time it was gone, the sun was creeping over the horizon. Alysius closed the shutters against the sun and turned to Aiden.
“I must sleep, and they will be needing you back in your cell now.” said the vampire. The werewolf nodded slowly, not wishing at all to go back to his cage, knowing that it would have to happen. Just as he was turning to leave, he heard a soft voice behind him, making him look around.

“What did you do? That made them whip you, I mean,” asked Alysius, who had sat back down on his bed and was now looking at the floor.

“I was hungry, so I took a little bit of bread from the guards cart. He found out, and well, you saw the consequences.” Aiden said, crossing his arms across the ripped and dirt stained shirt he’d been given.
“Actually, I didn’t see it,” The vampire said, looking up at Aiden. “I never watch. But I do hear the screams.”

“You’re not like other vampires, are you?” Aiden asked carefully, not wanting to upset the vampire.
“No, I’m not. I hate most of what my father stands for. But don’t tell him that, or he’ll do worse than this.” Alysius must have not realized what he’d let slip, and Aiden decided not to push it as he made his way back through the room and to his cell.

***

Alysius curled up under his covers, shivering slightly from the cold air going through his room. Silent tears tracked slowly down the vampire boy’s face, staining the pillow with small dark spots. He stayed curled into a small ball until just past dawn. The vampire finally got to sleep, his mind racing with a million different things.

-_-_-_-

REVIZED! I went through the chapter and decided that I didn't like some of it. Here the new chapter.