207Blood Love by Boogermeister
Chapter 23
"Mahad, is Anzu all right?" Atem asked quietly as he glanced at the early evening sky in the windows. Mahad nearly flinched at the tone of his voice, it was a mixture of anger and sorrow.
"She's okay," he answered. "Her life wasn't in any danger. She'll recover in a day or so." Atem's face barely showed a hint of relief at the answers, which made Mahad's inside cringe in deep shame. "It's my fault, Atem," he muttered sadly. "I shouldn't have suggested such a terrible thing. I didn't mean-"
"I'm not really mad at you, Mahad," said Atem, quietly flexing his wings. "I wouldn't have gotten into this mess if I wasn't so careless. Now I can't forgive myself for taking Anzu's blood. What can I do after my leg is healed?"
"I can't think of anything as of now," replied Mahad. "Those foreign hunters are still there, making it harder for the rest of us to get blood."
"You think I should have given in to the human goverment's demands?" Atem smiled sadly.
"We would lose our prides if you had done that," Mahad chuckled softly. "But then again, you did have a family with a human girl. Not that I'm blaming you." Atem chuckled quietly in response.
"Maybe I should go to the last resort if I need to heal," he said quietly. "Do you know what I meant, Mahad?"
"I think I could find some, Atem," replied Mahad. "I just hope you hadn't decimated the population from when you were young."
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On the vanity mirror, Anzu stared at the bitemark on her neck. It still looked fresh from last night. She also still felt light-headed from the minor blood loss. "Wonder when the bite mark will go away?" she muttered.
"Anzu?" Annzu turned around and saw Shizuka standing in the bedroom doorway. "Are you feeling all right?" asked Shizuka.
"Yeah, I'm still feeling a little sleepy," Anzu replied quietly. "How's Atem doing?"
"He's fine right now. Mahad and Jonouchi are running errands for him.
"I see . . . ." sighed Anzu as she sat on the bed. "Does he feel guilty about drinking my blood?"
"I don't know about that," replied Shizuka. Suddenly she turned her head and saw Jonouchi, who had just came back. "Jono, how did it go?"
"It wasn't hard, but it took longer than I thought it would," Jonouchi sighed as he walked into the bedroom.
"What sort of errands did you guys do?" asked Anzu.
"Well . . . . we had to hunt down rats," he answered.
"Rats?"
"We don't normally drink rat blood since it tastes bitter and watery," Jonouchi replied, "but for Atem's case, we needed another alternative way to get him blood."
"Can I see Atem now?" asked Anzu, standing up. Jonouchi simply stared at her and said nothing. "Well, can I?"
"He told me to take you somewhere he wants you to see," Jonouchi said. "Cover the mark and come with me, please."
"But-"
"You can't see him until I take you there," he said seriously as he turned to leave. "I'll tell you why Atem don't want to see himself like his father."
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The Domino Cementary was very gloomy and generally haunting. Thousands of tombstones are lined against one another in the dark hills. Anzu followed Jonouchi among the oldest tombstones towards a nearby forest. "What's there to see, Jonouchi?" questioned Anzu, feeling obviously uncomfortable at the surrounding. Jonouchi stopped at a small, unmarked tombstone at a nearby tree.
"It's been a while since I've been here," he said sadly. He turned to Anzu and smiled grimly. "This is where Atem's mom was buried." Anzu gasped in surprised and horror. "It was about seven years ago when she was killed. Me, Mahad, and Rishid buried her here."
"Atem visits her grave?" asked Anzu.
"Once in a while," Jonouchi replied quietly. "But there's that one time that haunts me, when he killed his father. It wasn't him when I saw him. He looked . . . . I can't explain it but it scared the fuck outta me. He then came here and pretty much gloated like a little kid or something."
". . . . . What happened to his father's body?" Anzu asked quietly.
"Atem burned the warehouse where his body was," Jonouchi replied quietly. That's how he became the leader to us. But he didn't trust us for any reason and he was nearly bloodthirsty. As usual, I had to find ways to calm him down, even giving him my own blood once in a while. He one time nearly drained me and I almost died. That's why whenever he preys, me and Mahad hafta accompany him.
"With you, Anzu, he's the guy I remembered when we were kids. He's afraid of showing his true side to you, fearing you would ran away." He then stared at Anzu, who had been quiet for a while. "Would you leave now?" he asked.
"What?" questioned Anzu.
"Would you leave after what he had done to you?" Jonouchi asked in a serious tone. "Even if you did have a child with him, if you want to leave, you could leave her with us and you could restart your life without looking back. You can go back living with humans, Atem would understand."
Anzu looked away, as tears was rolling down her cheeks. "Why would you ask me that?" she sobbed quietly. "I don't want to leave him. I don't want to leave any of you guys. It' just a small mark, it'll go away . . . ."
"It's okay, Anzu," Jonouchi said softly as he hugged her gently. "We don't want you to leave, really."
"Where would I go anyway if I would leave? Who would accept a person like me?"
"Someone who got his leg blasted just to protect you," smiled Jonouchi as they started to walk away. "Atem must be worried about you a lot."
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Several yards away, in another hill, Mokuba was snapping pictures silently at Anzu and Jonouchi. He wasn't noticed by the two due to the huge tombstones and the strong scent of death and graveyard soil. With the flashless camera, he zoomed in on Anzu, who visibly had a bandage around her neck. "Not all vampires are bad, huh?" he muttered. "There's another reason why the vampire leader must be killed. He's a cruel, terrible monster."
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"I don't think you walk so soon," cautioned Mahad, as Atem leaned against him, supported by his left leg. "Even though your leg's mostly healed, I think you should still take it easy."
"But my leg is okay now, I can walk," assured Atem.
"Oh, then why are you hanging onto me?" questioned Mahad. "Your right leg hasn't even touch the floor. Just relax and drink the blood."
"I hate the taste," muttered Atem as he sat on the bed and drank a cup of bitter rat blood. "It tastes even worse than it did when I was a kid."
"You shouldn't complain about it, it's the best for now," sighed Mahad just as the metal doors in the distant opened and then closed. Seconds later, the bedroom door opened and Anzu and Jonouchi walked in. Atem glanced away from Anzu, who was walking towards him.
"How are you feeling, Atem?" Anzu asked quietly.
"Nevermind me," he muttered. "Are you okay?"
"Of course, Atem," Anzu replied as she took his hand and clenched it. "I'm feeling all right now. But you're the one who seemed to be taking it hard the most."
"I didn't want to take your blood, Anzu," Atem said bitterly. "If Jonouchi and Mahad hadn't stopped me, you would have died in my arms. I would never forgive myself for that."
"Jonouchi, maybe we should leave," said Mahad. Jonouchi nodded in agreement and they left the room, closing the door.
"Anzu, when I first encountered you, remember that I said I love you too much to take your blood?" Atem said quietly. "You're the only one that seemed to keep me 'sane', almost to near human when you had Momoya. And every time I see her, it keeps from going back . . . . back to the terrible monster I was long ago."
"You're not a monster, Atem," said Anzu, sitting next to him.
"Yes, I am," Atem muttered as he shook his head. "Don't you remember last winter and I was not myself when you're not with me. I was on a blood rampage before you came back and revealed you're having my child."
"It's not your fault, Atem," Anzu said softly. Atem wrapped his arm around her and kissed her lips. Anzu returned the kiss as they fell back onto the bed. "Don't believe it's your fault, Atem," she whispered.
"All right, Anzu, I won't," Atem muttered as he kissed her face.
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Jonouchi glanced curiously at glass cylinders filled with brightly colored chemicals. The one near him looked like fruit juice and his hand twitched towards it. "Don't," Mahad said sternly, even though his back was turned the entire time. "You'll have a major ulcer if you drink that." Jonouchi groaned as he crossed his arms. Mahad had been staring at the bedroom door for a while with a concerned face. "She still wants to stay with him, huh?"
"Yeah," answered Jonouchi. "What on your mind this time?"
"The mark on her neck won't go away for another few weeks," said Mahad, glacing back at him. "The other humans will know what had happened to her, and that will create more problems for either kind."
"What can we do about it?" questioned Jonouchi. "It would be too obvious to put a band-aid on her neck. And that ex-hunter guy might have a conflict with Atem."
"My thoughts exactly." Both of them fell silent for a moment before hearing faint noises in the bedroom. "What's going on?"
Jonouchi grinned mischievously as he began to walk away. "That is so horrible yet awesome," he laughed. Mahad's face wrenched in disgust.
"They couldn't have!" he exclaimed. "Not on my bed!" Jonouchi laughed loudly and left the lab. Mahad groaned sadly as he left, too.
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Note: I'll update this fic and 'Howling for Mates' as soon as I get back from my vacation. On the other hand, I'll continue writing my other fics since they're already on my flash drive.
Read, review, and no flames.
I'll update ASAP!
