It all happened so quickly after that. I fell backwards at the force of the blow, but never made it to the floor. Instead I was caught by the other vampire. He wasted no time in sinking his fangs into my neck. I moaned in pain. He moaned… for another reason.

Wrenching his teeth out of my neck the vampire groaned "Van, he tastes even better than last time," he held me close and nuzzled his face into the bite he had made.

"Desoto," the other said sternly, scolding, "stop playing with your food. Remember what we're supposed to be doing."

I tried to get away with all of my might. They were supposed to be doing something to me. Last time I almost died. Maybe they were trying to finish the job. The vampire holding me wasn't even phased by my struggles, he just held me closer and answered his brother with an, "Oh yeah," as if just remembering why they were doing this to me. Then he sunk his fangs back into my neck and started chewing on it like a kid gnaws on taffy.

I renewed my struggling. I wanted to get away. But the other one, Van, put a stop to my feeble attempts rather quickly. He punched me in the stomach and smacked me upside the head again while his brother continued to drink. I saw stars and closed my legs against the pain. While I was busy in Lala land Van grabbed my wrist and began to gorge himself with his brother.

I had already been feeling the effects of blood loss from Desoto's sucking. Now with Van drinking as well…I was fading fast. Every time I struggled they would do something to hurt me. Bite me harder, punch, slap, kick me. But soon my struggles turned sluggish, The longer they drank the heavier my limbs felt. The more numb I became.

Van broke from my wrist. "Not too much more, Desoto," he cautioned to his brother. So maybe they weren't going to kill me… unless I was closer to death than I thought. Could be. My mind was swimming. I couldn't really make sense of what was happening. And now there were patches in my consciousness. My blinks kept getting longer. It was a struggle just to stay awake. To keep my eyes open.

"That's enough," a cool authoritative voice ordered from my doorway.

"Theo?" I questioned slowly. The vampires immediately let me go and I fell to the floor. Too weak to stand or move. I felt absolutely drained. But I was hopeful. Theo was here. I know Cephi had said he was evil… but he had helped me. When I was scared and angry and alone he helped me put my wings away. And he had just told them to stop drinking my blood.

"Oh, Allen… Allen, Allen," Theo sang looking down at me. I inwardly cringed at the look in his eyes. They were hard with absolutely no warmth. They left me feeling scared. But he was speaking to me in the same flippant tone that he always seemed to use. "Why do I always find you in these strange situations?" He smiled that creepy smile that made my flesh crawl.

It was hard for me to even open my mouth but I managed to choke out the words, "Help me."

All three of them laughed. "You mean he doesn't know," Desoto asked incredulously.

Van gave a small smile shaking his head. I was getting a bad feeling about this. Theo slunk forward like a predator that knew its prey had no hopes of getting away and came to rest in front of my prone form. He grabbed my wrist and dug his fingers into the bite mark that was there, smile growing wider as I weakly cried out in pain. And then as if explaining to a child he said to me, "You see Allen, I am, unfortunately, not here to help you," then turning to the vampires he praised them, "You did a good job weakening him."

My skin crawled where he touched me. I felt sick. He wasn't helping me. He was with them. Hurt and confusion flashed on my face. I felt betrayed. Theo laughed out loud. "I can tell by your wounded expression that you have finally pieced it together," he dropped my wrist and smirked as it fell limply to the ground. "I am their master."

He stood up briskly and rubbed his hands together. The vampires stood behind him waiting for him to bark out his next set of orders. I saw, in his right hand a bright orb-like light manifesting, casting eerie shadows on the face of its creator. "But unfortunately their usefulness has run out," he shrugged as if it were no big deal. "I no longer need them."

Desoto looked confused and Van muttered "Shit," before Theo turned around and threw the now basketball sized light at the vampires. As soon as it got near them they screamed in agony and burst into flames. Soon they were nothing more than two piles of ash.

Theo giggled and clapped his hands together childishly. Holy crap was this guy cruel. If he could kill people that were loyal to him without blinking an eye and then laugh about it, I didn't stand a chance. "Ah, that was fun," I wanted to vomit all over again at the cheery exclamation. "Vampires . Easy to fry, easy to die," he began to sing over and over. Then he stopped and looked thoughtfully down at me. "Especially when I have the power of the sun on my side!"

He bent down and grabbed me hoisting me to my feet. "Now, you, you are useful. You I need." The wicked smile was back in place. "You, you filthy nephilim, are going to help me get rid of Cephirial once and for all." I had no clue what a nephilim was but… it sounded bad. I did know that I didn't want this psycho anywhere near Cephi.

"Never," I seethed with more strength that I probably possessed at the moment. There was no way I'd help him hurt Cephirial.

Theo left out a dark guffaw and spoke lowly, "Oh, you don't have a choice in the matter."

                                                             ~HS~

Cephirial made his way to Allen's apartment. He sighed in content. He was… happy. He realized. Allen had forgiven him and they had a budding relationship. Never had he expected his lonely exile to change.

He knew it was cheesy, but he had went out on a whim and gotten a flower for the boy. It was a single white lily. Beautiful and innocent, reminding him strongly of Allen. He walked up the stairs and saw an old man angrily knocking on Allen's door. "Allen! Allen Bruel! Open this Goddamn door!" the man barked.

Cephi cleared his throat. "Oh, Jesus Christ, another one," the man threw up his hands.

"Another what?" Cephi asked curiously.

"Well you're obviously a sex friend," the old man shot back swiftly.

"I'm Allen's boyfriend," Cephi said doing his best to keep smiling at the crazy old man.

"Are you sure?" the old man asked. Cephi just glared at him. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Tiearyu."

"Well, Tiearyu, son," the man began putting what was probably supposed to be a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I don't know how to tell you this... but your boyfriend's cheatin' on you."

"No he's not," Cephirial answered with certainty. There was no way that was even remotely possible…

"Oh. So you know about the other guys?" Cephi's heart leapt. Someone had been here? "Are you having one of those orgy parties? 'Cause if you are, I wanna be invite-"

"What did the other guys look like?" Cephi asked urgently. He had a sinking suspicion he knew exactly who had been to Allen's room.

"Well the two that came first were really big and scary. Maybe brothers. And the other, a blonde, he's been here before. I heard moaning and banging and nobody's come ou-"

Cephirial raced to the door. He threw his weight against it and was satisfied when it gave way. Weak old door.

Inside he heard nothing. He could tell right away that Allen wasn't there. And he could smell blood. Then he saw two piles of what looked like ash on the ground very close to some blood that was smeared on the floor. Too much blood for his liking.

Cephirial howled in despair and started to pace trying to figure out what to do now. He flung the flower across the room and kicked the closest piece of furniture to him, which just happened to be the kitchen table. The table skidded across the floor and a piece of parchment fluttered off of it, landing on the ground by his feet.

It was a note. A fucking note from that bastard.

Cephi, Cephirial, Tiearyu, whatever the fuck you want to be called,I've taken your precious Halfling away. I'm planning on killing him if you don't come for him soon. He can join your friend. I think you know where I am. If not, I'm sure you'll figure it out. :)

                                                                                     See you soon,

                                                                                       <3 Theophilus

Cephi closed his eyes and inhaled a shaky breath doing everything in his power to stay calm. It didn't work. He yelled, growled, crumbled up the note and picked on the table some more. Once he had calmed down a little, and the table was smashed into unrecognizable splinters , Cephi did something he hadn't done since his fall.

He used his powers.