Blood Ties

Title: Granite Lullabies 1
Summary: A haunted past an undeniable truths
Impliments: Brush
Feedback: PLEASE!!!!
Warnings: SELF MUTILATION! Blood
Notes: Takes place about a month following Revelations
Acknowledgements: Thank you again SO much for all the reviews I have recieved. I am sorry this took so long to get out but I never could have done it with out all of you encouraging me and flat out telling me to get busy! LoL. Enjoy!

Blood Ties

Granite Lullabies


Erik and Markeen shared concerned looks. Armand trotted along ahead of them, turning around once in a while to hurry them along. To anyone who didn’t know him well, he seemed relaxed and happy. His family knew him very, very well.

The smile he showed them as they walked down the wide, store lined aisles of the mall was forced. The shoulders bouncing along were tight and anything but relaxed. The usually mischief filled eyes were sad and the tightness around them spoke of stress. Probably the most telling, however, was his mode of dress. Usually flamboyant and provocative, Armand was almost drab in the loose jeans and hooded sweatshirt he wore, hands tucked into the pouch in front.

The signs had been getting increasingly worse for the past two weeks. Now his brothers took it upon themselves to be sure at least one of them was with him almost anytime he wasn’t in school or sleeping. Weekends had been the most difficult because, while the vampires didn’t HAVE to sleep as soon as the sun came up, they became very tired and usually did sleep soon afterwards. This was their supernatural bodies way of protecting them from sunlight, one of the few things that could truly cause them harm.

It was Thursday night tonight though, and Erik had suggested he and Markeen take the youngest of them to the movies. Normally they wouldn’t go on a school night, but the teenager hadn’t gone to school today, nor would he tomorrow, in an unspoken acknowledgment of the time of year and what it represented to their brother. Armand had jumped on the idea and immediately suggested ‘Land of the Dead,’ and they had headed off to the mall, where, Armand insisted, they had the best theaters.

Markeen was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by Erik’s hand on his arm. Belatedly he realized that he had walked right pass the black haired boy, who was now staring intently at a display outside a toy store. Reaching out, the young man picked up one of the small winged teddy bears and pressed it’s hand. A tinkling tune filled the air, not quite drowned out by the noise of the other patrons shopping.

Both of the vampires found themselves choking up when they heard the familiar song. They were silent as Armand went into the store to make his purchase. When he was finished he continued on his way, bag swaying by his side. Erik tried to put a comforting hand on his shoulder but it slid off, seemingly by accident, when he turned to say, “Hurry up, or we’re going to be late.” False smile firmly back in place, he continued towards his destination.

* * *

Armand was quickly becoming annoyed. He couldn’t seem to ever get a moment to himself because, for the last week, his brothers always seemed to be around. This wasn’t odd or unexpected, but he usually had at least a few hours to himself when he got home from school, but now he’d been denied even that. He knew damn well WHY they were doing it, but it didn’t make it any less annoying.

September was a hard month for him, and everyone knew what the date was. He appreciated the thought, but it didn’t make the pain hurt any less. Only one thing was going to be able to do that, and it wasn’t time yet.

He thought of the little bear he’d found at the mall a few nights ago and a small smile came to his lips. He looked down at the grocery bag on the counter in front of him and began to carefully set its newly bought contents aside. A small cake, only 5” across and two numbers to decorate it with. He was ready. Now all he needed to do was wait.

The teenager snorted in contempt. Yeah, he thought, if only it was so easy. With a resigned sigh he headed off to get ready for the night ahead.

* * *

Arlis was distracted, and quite enjoyably so. The beautiful young woman he had pressed against a tree was certainly doing her best to keep him distracted too. Not that he was complaining. Like most of his brothers, he was bi-sexual and the buxom redhead was very pretty. He would have no qualms in giving her mind blowing sex in exchange for a few swallows of lust warmed blood that she would never notice him take.

He had brought Armand with him tonight, trying to get the boy out of the house, but he wasn’t sure if the halfling would find some way to distract himself or not. The park they were at was filled with people, as it usually was this time of night, and, while not harmless, they knew that young Armand was with him and wouldn’t dare to touch the boy inappropriately.

He had last seen the teen sitting with a group of people near his own age and seemingly enjoying himself, so Arlis hadn’t felt remiss in finding his own pleasure. He lowered his face to that of the woman, intending to press his lips to hers, and then hesitated. A gentle breeze blew across their skin and carried with it a scent faint to even his supernatural senses, but still unmistakable to any vampire. Blood.

* * *

Sitting with his back pressed against the wall of the building behind him, he pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped trembling arms around them. He looked quickly down the narrow space between buildings to be sure he hadn’t been followed before lowering his violet eyes to stare at the glint of light on metal. Staring intently at the shiny object, his thoughts again strayed to the next night and what it would bring.

Immediately the pain he kept hidden from everyone rushed to the fore. He couldn’t bring himself to cry. A part of him knew that it was useless to cry and told him that feeling the things he did wouldn’t change the facts of life. At the same time he wanted desperately to make the pain inside stop. He couldn’t seem to express it, just couldn’t get it out. The pressure had been building for weeks now. He felt like he was constantly screaming at the top of his lungs on the inside, but the world didn’t seem to have the ears to hear him. Something had to be done.

Reflected light returned his eyes to the razor blade that he was carefully rotating in his fingers. Again it reminded him of the pain he hid within his soul. Once a year since he was eleven years old, this happened; the build up of anger, pain, grief and self-hatred. There was only one thing that he had ever discovered helped, if only temporarily. Physical pain to combat, and maybe even compliment, his deep emotional scarring.

Coming to a resolution within himself, Armand stopped the rotation of the slim blade. He was glad he had worn short sleeves tonight as he stretched his left arm out in front of him, palm downward, he placed the blade edge against the skin of his forearm. He hesitated for a moment and then slowly and deliberately placed a thin and shallow cut across the back of his arm and just a few inches above his wrist. He gasped at the immediate feeling of pain and then closed his eyes for a moment to savor it.

This wasn’t a suicide attempt. Almost the exact opposite in fact. This was how he reminded himself that he was alive and still capable of feeling. It was also a form of self punishment for the things he had done. He would never forget his crimes on that day, no matter how much time passed. There was no doubt of his guilt. Another slash appeared about an inch above the first and a third after it, both deeper than the first.

He looked at his wounded arm and the blood stained blade. He never cut too deep, though he knew he would never scar, regardless. The small amounts of vampire blood he drank from time to time would ensure that. For a second he pictured the hurt and concerned face of his beloved Master when he found out about this, but immediately pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He would deal with that when the time came, but that time was not yet.

In anger at his own cowardice in facing his fears he again set blade to skin. Another thin red line began to stretch across his skin before he stopped. Or rather, was stopped. His eyes left their place on the blood stained blade and traveled down his forearm to the firm hand that held it in place and prevented any further motion. From there his eyes continued up a tense and shaking arm, past a firmly set jaw and into furious hazel eyes.

Arlis leaned down as surprised violet eyes locked with his. “Drop it,” he hissed. The boy’s eyes returned to the blade and the vampire could easily hear the regret filled sigh that escaped as the razor blade clattered on the hard ground. Not regret that he had been caught, but regret that he hadn’t been able to continue. Arlis’s concern grew and he thanked all the gods he could think of that most of this would be over after tomorrow.

Transferring his firm hold to his brother’s unwounded arm he pulled the unresisting boy to his feet and tugged him along behind him without another word. He practically stalked through the park towards his parked car, his expression causing curious onlookers to quickly find something else to concern themselves with. He wondered why they were receiving quite so much attention before a backwards glance revealed blood running down Armand’s arm and dripping from his fingertips. Cursing, he hurried faster.

Upon reaching the dark green vehicle, Arlis’s favorite color, he abruptly stopped the boy from opening the passenger door. “You are NOT getting in my car like that,” he said with a nod towards the dripping blood. Opening the trunk, he searched for and found a spare shirt he kept there and effortlessly tore it into strips. He started towards the boy but stopped when the now very strong smell of blood hit him.

He stared at the red liquid covering the Armand’s arm and unconsciously licked his lips. If it was anybody else he would think nothing of licking every drop from the pale skin and altering memories if necessary, but this blood belonged to the Master and he remembered all too well the consequences of the last time he had tasted it without permission. He shook his head to clear it and growled at himself. “I KNEW I should have fed before we left,” he muttered angrily.

Quickly he passed the cloth strips to the boy. “Take care of that.” He watched as the halfling quickly and efficiently wrapped the bleeding arm securely and used the remains of the shirt to clean of his hands. “NOW you can get in,” he said with a nod when his brother finished.

The ride home was tense and mostly silent. Arlis fumed and muttered curses and other things under his breath that his passenger was just as happy couldn’t be fully heard. Armand was trying desperately to remain aloof and unconcerned, but his knowledge of what the future held was quickly causing his walls to crumble.