- Daniel -
A loud knocking on the front door woke me from my sleep, a quick glance at my alarm clock confirmed the time at being far too early. I groaned as I threw back the covers, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I stumbled sleepily across the room.
I dragged myself to the front door and swiftly unlocked it. I was going to kill Elliott, that was for sure.
"Elliott, seriously you need to remember to take your keys when you..."
I started, trailing off as the door swung open, revealing the towering frame of Darren. Elliot was being held up against his side, an arm wrapped around his upper body as his head lolled against Darren's shoulder.
I looked him up and down and swallowed nervously, now remarkably aware that I was only dressed in my underwear. Not that Darren had not seen me in such a state before, but it felt all the more intimate given the situation.
"Is Elliott ok?" I asked, looking at him limp against Darren's side. Frantically trying to find something to distract Darren from my half naked form.
"Very, very, drunk." Darren answered, his eyes never leaving my face. A rather gentlemanly gesture that I certainly appreciated, and certainly something I doubted I would have been capable of had the situation been reversed.
I crossed my arms over my chest, deliberately hiding the scars at my elbow and biceps. A small shiver passed through me as a cold breeze swept in through the open door.
"Can you help me get him to his room?" I asked, stepping backwards from the door, my body curling in on itself against the chill.
Darren gave me a curt nod and swung Elliot up into his arms as if he weighted nothing at all. Sometimes I forgot just how strong he was, but seeing him swing around a grown man was certainly one way to demonstrate it.
I moved in front of him and opened the door to Elliott's room, pulling back the covers as Darren strode in and carefully deposited Elliott on the bed. I stepped forward, shifting his body into the recovery position and pulled the covers up to his waist. God I swear this was a ritual I had to do far too often for him.
I turned around bumping into Darren's chest and losing my balance, but his arms shot forward to catch me. His cool hands grasped at my biceps and I felt pins and needles run over the skin of my scar. I gasped at the touch and Darren hastily removed his hands from me.
"My apologies." He said, turning and moving swiftly from Elliott's room towards the door.
I stumbled slightly at the speed he moved away, and followed him out, hastily grabbing at his arm as he neared the door.
"Darren." I started, releasing his arm when his gaze flashed to mine.
"I may still be half asleep, but can we talk?" I asked, half wanting to ask him what happened tonight, and half wanting to keep him here.
"If you're sure I am not keeping you from your rest." He said, his voice once more taking on that formal tone of his.
"Come to the living room." I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I headed along the corridor. I knew that Darren didn't like seeing the scars on my body, and I hated the obvious visual reminder of what had been done to me.
I slid down unceremoniously onto the sofa, pulling the blanket from the back over my lap and pulling it against my arms to hide the scars. Darren stood next to the sofa for a moment, obviously thinking hard about something, before sitting down with a level of grace I was sure I had not.
"So how exactly did you find Elliott tonight?" I asked, pulling my legs up onto the sofa and turning towards Darren.
"I encountered him while I was out in a bar, he was drawing the eyes of some of our kind." He said, his face the very picture of cool and collected.
"You mean a vampire?" I said, only half vocalising the last word.
Darren nodded, and I shuddered at the thought of a vampire having his way with Elliott. Humans were always too fragile, and if anything happened to him I doubted any justice would come of it. Vampires had a notorious habit of making the bodies of their victims disappear, and even their own laws didn't forbid them killing humans.
My people at least had some semblance of mercy, and our method of feeding was said to be among the most enjoyable for anyone to experience. Among my people, once we had refined our control it was very rare for our "prey" (I hated that word) to die. Only the young or the starving lacked the restraint necessary to feed carefully, and I was both of those.
The organisation among the Cubus (as we referred to ourselves) was more loose than those of the Vampires. We were less numerous than vampires, due to being born and not made. An encounter between two of my kind usually ended up in them squaring off with one another aggressively after determining the others clan, or devolving into a frenzy of sex.
"Daniel?" Darren said, interrupting me from my thoughts.
"Sorry, that was just a worrying thing to hear." I said, looking across at Darren, who grinned kindly at me.
"He has a reputation among our world you know, he has been with a number of us, and is still here." Darren said gently, shifting in his seat, obviously anxious of my reaction.
"You're serious?" I asked, leaning towards him, obvious worry filling my voice.
"He is alright Daniel, you know our ways, and so far he has not been harmed." Darren said, his voice cool, even, and infuriating.
"Why him though? Why are they interested in him?" I asked, my fingers fretting anxiously with each other.
"You won't like the answer Daniel." He said coolly, his hazel eyes not betraying a hint of emotion.
"Why are you being so curt with me?" I said, my irritation at his calm demeanour flaring.
A smile graced Darren's face as he inhaled sharply.
"I was trying very hard not to breathe." He said.
"Are you saying I stink?" I said, my eyebrows drawing up over my face at the smirk on Darren's face.
"This flat is permeated with your scent. The scent of a hungry Incubus, and it inspires arousal in humans and supernaturals alike."
