new blood

Ice to cool the burn

Laito had abandoned the dreaded swimming lessons once they returned to the manor. Rosalie looked broken. He wasn't going to force her to do anything in this state. Even he wasn't that cruel. And his plans were ruined too. He had wanted to see Rosalie in a swim suit, to see her flounder around in the pool, before clutching onto him to stay afloat. And that awful half-breed had ruined it. Even worse, he had broken Laito's favourite human.

Laito couldn't even leave her alone for a few minutes after getting her back. He left to get her a drink, came back to a bloody arm. She just wouldn't stop scratching. he tried to get advice from Ayato and Kanato, and she vanished.

Roaslie would surely be the death of him.

While he searched for her, Rosalie tried to calm her frazzled nerves. She ran a cold bath, splashed her face with some water to try and cool herself down. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She just hated that feeling of burning that ran rampant through her chest when she couldn't breath. Her mind had gone blank. All she could think about was Regulus and her mother, and the fire. The fire that destroyed her life.

She needed to cool down. She needed to feel cold again. She needed the feeling of burning to stop. Rosalie finally managed to compose herself enough to turn off the water, when her plan was ruined. she had turned her back to kick off her shoes and grab her towel, and Shu had stolen her bath. He was fully clothed too. This was turning out to be the worst day of her month.

"That's my bath," she said. Shu didn't even look at her when she spoke. "Get out, it's not yours!" she yelled. She didn't need this right now. She just wanted her cold bath.

Shu finally looked up at her and smirked. Oh, he had some nerve to mess with her when she felt this unstable. This wasn't fair.

"I just want my bath Shu. please just leave." She was on the verge of tears. She just wanted to feel cold again. Shu didn't want to leave though. He was comfortable. He watched as the little witch seemed to shake, and even her eyes were watering. He really didn't want the witch to start crying. Before the tear could fall he grabbed her and pulled her into the tub with him.

Rosalie didn't even squeak when she felt the cold water against her skin. Even Shu was surprised when she didn't make a sound. When he had done the same thing to Yui she had squealed and fought back. Rosalie had the audacity to relax. She really spent too much time with the triplets.

As Shu watched her, Rosalie could feel the fear and panic fade away. She was cold. Cold meant that the burning would go away. She didn't care about the vampire that had pulled her in, or that he hadn't left. She just wanted to take in the cold.

She didn't even care when he sunk his fangs into her neck. She was just glad the panic was gone. She knew that no one in the Manor was capable of hurting her. She would be able to stop them before they could do any serious damage. She never really cared about their bites. They weren't that sore, all things considering. Being burned alive was much worse. She didn't care when Shu didn't stop, or when her vision started to blur. She was tired.

Shu finally stopped when he noticed that her breathing had gone shallow. He didn't really care for Rosalie, but he couldn't be bothered with the fit the triplets would throw if he killed her. It would ruin his music. He couldn't leave her in the bath either. She might drown or get sick again. Reluctantly, Shu picked her up and took her back to his room. If he went to her room he might run into one of the triplets and have to deal with them. So he changed her into some of his clothes and left her on his bed to sleep. He had no idea what to do with the young witch. She had been acting odd since he saw her that day. And her bath was freezing. None of the previous brides had favoured cold baths. He didn't know if it was just a quirk that witches had. He would admit that he had never spent much time with witches. He would admit though, her blood was of a fine quality. He had been curious. Kanato had a habit of talking about how odd it was to his teddy. Shu hadn't realised what he had meant before he tasted it himself.

Shu had never tasted spicy blood. It wasn't an awful spice, but it was there, instead of the usual sweet or sour taste that often accompanied the taste. It was unique, and a taste he would happily settle for.

Laito had enlisted Ayato, Kanato and Subaru, to find the youngest person in the manor. Subaru had argued that he didn't care about Rosalie, until Laito shut him down by reminding him about the Dagger incident. After that the white haired vampire had huffed and puffed, but helped search nonetheless. They checked all of the witches usual haunts, and then the less frequented areas of the manor. Eventually they started searching everyone's bedroom one by one. They had checked Rosalie's first, then Laito and Ayato's. When they didn't find her they moved on to Kanato and Subaru's rooms. She wasn't there either. The triplets even distracted Yui so Subaru could check her room without her knowing. When there were only two rooms left all four younger vampires were stumped.

"Why would she be in Reiji's room. She hates him," Ayato reasoned. Kanato agreed.

"She doesn't like Shu either," Subaru added.

Laito had no idea where she could be. The only thing he knew was that he didn't smell her blood. So she was either fine or gone. He hoped it was the former. He didn't like the idea of Rosalie vanishing. She was his. She wasn't allowed to be gone.

Finally the four split up. Ayato and Kanato headed to check in Reiji's room, and Laito and Subaru went to check Shu's.

When the two youngest vampires appeared in the eldest's room they didn't know what was going on. Shu was nowhere to be seen, and Rosalie was curled up asleep, in Shu's clothes, in Shu's bed. The sight made Laito's blood boil. Subaru blinked and the two had vanished. He didn't care where they had gone, he was still shocked. He thought Shu agreed with him that the girl was useless. Why was she in his room? He never noticed the bite on her neck that had fuelled Laito's speedy escape, or that Shu had returned in time to witness the possessive behaviour of the red head.

Subaru left, not realising the battle that was stirring between two older vampires. Laito refused to share his kitten with any one else. It was bad enough he had to share with Ayato and Kanato. He wasn't going to share with Shu too. But Shu wasn't going to give up on such a delicacy so easily. He may not care about most things, but he liked fine food, and Rosalie's blood was definitely a delicacy. Blood of a very fine quality. Shu definitely wasn't giving up on such an exotic meal. Not for Laito or any of his other brothers.