Meltdown

[callingxforxblood]

Jayden walked up to Aliya's door and kicked it with his foot a little to let her know that he was out in the hall. The hound was juggling both of the kittens in his arms and wasn't exactly sure how to open the door.

[†Arisen†]

Aliya blinked and sat up. She yawned and got up, going to open the door.

"Oh, Jayden. Thank you," she smiled, offering to take one of the kittens.

[callingxforxblood]

Jayden handed over Ana before hiking Di higher up in his arms and resting the kitten's head underneath his chin against his shoulder. The hound slid his nose into the kitten's hair as he slipped past Aliya into the room and went to the bed to lay the young boy down. As he did so, he glanced over his shoulder at Aliya curiously.

"You really shouldn't use your magic like that," he mentioned casually as he put the kitty down and covered him up with a blanket that he retrieved out of the chest at the foot of the bed.

[†Arisen†]

Aliya nodded, looking away.

"R-right. I didn't mean to.... it just kinda.... happened," she admitted softly, nuzzling Ana. The kitten gave a faint purr, "Sorry. I'm still jsut.... A little confused...."

[callingxforxblood]

Jayden nodded wisely as he sat down on the edge of Aliya's bed. His golden eyes followed all of her movements unerringly.

"We understand, but it's just bad for you and very tiring. Also, it disturbs those sensitive to magic and can jeopardize your location if you're in a pinch and you flood like that. Kai says he'll teach you proper control if you would like to learn," the hound offered as he watched the succubus. "The children need to learn as well, so he thinks it would be good to start your classes with them."

[†Arisen†]

Alieya nodded, "Thank you, Jayden. That would be for the best."

She leaned over and kissed his cheek, smiling.

"You guys have realy done alot for me. Thanks so much, really."

[callingxforxblood]

Jayden blushed a little at the casual kiss before standing up and straightening the covers on top of Di.

"It's nothing, really," he answered, feeling a call from downstairs that signaled his twin's wish to see him. "Just be prepared for the consequences of us taking you under our wing!"

The hound bounded out of the room to go and see what the rest of his family wanted.

[†Arisen†]

Allieya sat down beside the twin kittens, giving a sigh. After a few moments, she got up and pushed the foot closed before laying down.

Soon, she was fast asleep, Di and Ana nuzzled into her. This time, she didn't dream.

[callingxforxblood]

Jayden slipped back into the family room just in time to see Kaito looking down at Sia with an unrecognizable emotion in his eyes. The vampire smoothed the little girl's hair back from her forehead before pressing a quick kiss to it and then starting to stand up with the puppy in his arms. The hound started to slip out of the room unnoticed to go see Jayce, but Kaito turned around when he heard an errant footstep. The vampire's eyes were dry, but the hound could see the pain hiding behind them.

"I'm going to take Alex's puppy to her bed," Kaito murmured as Jayden bobbed his head in assent before slipping off into the library to go wrap his arms around Jayce's shoulders, sighing.

Jayce glanced up at him silently before turning back to the book he was reading.

"He misses him, doesn't he?" Jayce asked and Jayden nodded. And that was all they needed.

[†Arisen†]

Aliya woke sometime during the day. She stirred herself, unsure of what caused her to wake until she felt the heel digging into her side. She pushed herself up a bit to see Di beside her, askew on the bed, one arm hanging to the floor from his angle, trying to steal the entire bed.

The girl pushed out of bed, disrupting Ana, who squirmed with the loss. Quickly, she moved the twins together and they calmed.

While those two went back to sleep quickly, the girl started to pace the room. Soon, she poked her head into the hall to see if anyone was up. When she didn't see anyone, she moved downstairs quietly, eventually curling herself up on the couch with a sigh.

[callingxforxblood]

Kaito had put Sia to bed several hours ago and was now lounging on his bed in his own room, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the past. The pseudo-sleep that vampires used to rest beckoned to him, but the male couldn't accept it yet. Aliya tugged at his senses and the memories she evoked drove him from his bed til he paced uneasily by the wall of tinted windows that lined one side of his bedroom.

Alex had loved the sunlight and Kaito had tried to give it to him as much as possible, even if he himself couldn't tolerate it. He had loved seeing his golden boy standing in the sunshine. The vampire leaned his face against the windows, imagining Alex out on the lawn tumbling about with the puppy and then looking up to smile at him watching them from the window. The illusion shattered and the vampire was left staring at empty grass, blistering under the summer sun.

Kaito snarled, turning away from the window and going to lie on his bed, but sleep evaded him. The vampire finally sat up and walked out of the room, deciding to wait for Eryn to show up downstairs. As he walked into the living room, he saw Aliya curled up on the couch.

"Hey..."

[†Arisen†]

Aliya had dozed off on the couch, but woke when she heard Kaito.

She reached up and wiped at one of her eyes, a bit startled to find tears there, "...Hey."

She gave a weak smile, "I thought vampires hated the day. What are you doing up?"

[callingxforxblood]

"I have trouble sleeping during the day since your-" Kaito paused unsurely for a moment before his expression shuttered. "I just have trouble sleeping when the sun is up," he finished lamely, walking over to the opposite end of the couch to look at the girl.

"You having trouble sleeping?"

[†Arisen†]

Aliya blinked, then shrugged, "Yeah. And it was hard to sleep with Di trying to take the whole bed for himself."

She sighed and stretched, ".... Why don't you sit?"

[callingxforxblood]

Kaito glanced at Aliiya and plunked himself down awkwardly on the opposite end of the couch from her. The vampire was an expert in many a social situation, but sitting on his couch in the middle of the afternoon when, by all rights, he should be asleep, was discomfiting.

"So...." he started, but just then his super sensitive hearing picked up the sound of car wheels screeching up the driveway. The vampire stood up, orienting himself towards the front of his house and cocking his head to the side.

It couldn't be....

[†Arisen†]

Once Kaito stood, Aliya got to her feet, "What is it?"

She brushed herself off and pull her hair back behind her shoulders.

"What is it, Kaito?"

[callingxforxblood]

Kaito grinned wolfishly, sparing Aliya a wry glance as he headed towards the front of the house, "I do believe the calvary has made its very flashy entrance."

The vampire walked to the front of the house, quickly unlocking the door. He swung the front door open and, protected by the shade of the wide porch, watched as a white Mercedes SLR pulled up to the front steps and the doors swept upwards to reveal...

"Hey leech!" the woman stepping out of the car called, blowing the vampire casually leaning in the doorway a kiss. "Miss me?"

"More than words can express, my dearest Eryn," Kaito called back mockingly. "Though it baffles me how you cut down a twelve hour trip to a six hour one."

The shifter made a gesture of dismiss and laughed, popping the trunk.

"Now aren't you going to come help me with these bags? Oh wait, I forgot, the whole burning in the sun thing," Eryn teased as she grabbed a simple duffle out of the trunk and slammed it shut, locking the car and tromping up the stairs to stand before the vampire.

Kaito reached out and snagged the prickly young woman into a warm embrace, burying his face against her brown hair and whispering, "Thank you."

Eryn softened momentarily, reaching up to pat the Asian's head. "You're welcome.....now where's Alex's sister?"

[†Arisen†]

Aliya smiled a bit at that. She began to wonder when the rest of the Calvary would arrive. Where was Belthazar anyway? Usually it didn't take him so long.

Aliya shrugged it off and padded after Kaito, watching curiously from the entryway. The woman to her seemed different. The same kind of feeling rolling off her as it did Belthazar. But it was a littledifferent.

[callingxforxblood]

Kaito watched as Eryn's much shorter frame popped over his shoulder so that she could take a look at Aliya who was standing behind him in the entryway of the house. The shifter was practically vibrating with energy and he was perplexed as to how she could be so energetic after such a long trip, though of course he wasn't exactly sure where she had come from, but the man he'd heard on the phone had had a distinctly Russian accent. He knew that the hunting cat had hideouts all over the world and he was just betting one of them was in Russia- thanks to that phone call.

"Is that her?" Eryn asked, loud enough that Aliya could hear as she brushed past the vampire, coming to stand in front of Aliya and looking up into the taller woman's face. "Well, she's quite gorgeous! You didn't tell me!" the shifter scolded Kaito. "Geez, Kai, these things are important!"

The shifter turned around and stuck her hand out to Aliya, "I'm Eryn Kantari! Nice to meet you!"

[†Arisen†]

Aliya blinked, admittedly startled by the girl.

"U-Uhm, nice to meet you too," Aliya shook the offered hand, "I'm Aliya..."

She looked at Kaito, then the other girl, "You knew my brother too...?"

[callingxforxblood]

Eryn's face looked downcast for a moment before she straightened and looked the other woman full in the face.

"Your brother was one of the best people I have known in all of the long years that I have walked this Earth," the shifter replied softly. "It was my honor to know him and I only grieve that I could not do more for him."

The somber mood broke as soft squeak of the floorboards was heard around the corner from the entryway. Kaito glanced up to see Anastasia peeping her head around the corner, yawning a little as she inspected the newcomer.

"Auntie Eryn!" the puppy howled, racing towards the older woman and reaching up with her arms, demanding to be picked up.

[†Arisen†]

Aliya gave a small nod, "... I'm sure he was glad to know you too."

When she heard the puppy, she turned with a small smile and stepped back as Anastasia barreled in.

The girl gave a small smile, watching, "How cute..."

[callingxforxblood]

Eryn gave a whoop upon seeing the puppy and lifted her up, tossing her into the air with a strength that belied her small stature. Sia yipped in delight as she bell back into the shifter's waiting arm and was thoroughly loved and petted as Eryn walked into the living room, shooting a shy smile over her shoulder at the watching Aliya and Kaito. The shifter set the puppy down on the couch and Eryn knelt down in front of Sia and looked into the younger girl's eyes, taking her face between both palms.

"How have you been, squirt?"

Sia's grin fell away a little as she glanced at Kaito over Eryn's shoulder before looking back to the shifter. The vampire, who had grabbed Aliya's hand and tugged her after them, was leaning against the doorway between the living room and the entryway, watching Alex's puppy light up. He hadn't seen her like that in a long time, but he watched as the smile fell away from her face a little and she looked up at him. Then Anastasia leaned forward and whispered in the other female's ear, though Kai could still hear her due to his super human hearing.

"I miss Alex. I miss my other daddy. When's he coming back? Kai doesn't like to talk about it," she whispered to an attentively listening Eryn who shot a pained look at Kaito whose expression was equally stricken.

"Oh baby."

[†Arisen†]

Aliya moved to wrap her arms around herself when the two shared expressions.

"... I'm going to go see if the kittens are up," she said to no one in particular and started for the stairs, "I'll be back."

After all, it didn't take a genius to figure out who was being talked about. And she really didn't want to be in the room with talk of her brother right now.

[callingxforxblood]

Kaito glanced over at Aliya and nodded slowly, looking back at Eryn who was now talking softly to Anastasia whose expression had turned stubborn.

"All right, Ali," he said. "Why don't you check on your contact while you're at it? We don't want any more surprises popping in."

He smiled a little at his weak joke, trying to catch the girl's eyes with his own. He didn't want her to feel like she was being kicked out, but she obviously didn't want to stay here.

[†Arisen†]

"He was going to call when he got to my apartment," she said softly. Aliya rubbed her face,then started up the stairs with a soft sigh. She looked down, hurrying up to her room.

[callingxforxblood]

Kaito followed Aliya's flight with his eyes before sighing and going over to the couch where Eryn was trying to explain to a very small puppy why her other papa was never coming home. The vampire sat down next to the golden retriever and touched her head lightly, making the little girl look up at him with a mixture of frustration and desperation on her face.

"Daddy," Anastasia started out, and that made Kaito pause because she only called him that when she was feeling very affectionate or very serious, otherwise he was Kai. "You said Papa Alex had gone to heaven. When is he coming back? He just went to visit didn't he?" her voice was anxious and the little hands that clutched at his arm belied how insecure she felt.

Kaito's expression was broken as he ran his hand over Sia's soft hair, leaning over to kiss her forehead. Apparently, she hadn't really understood him when he had tried to tell her that Alex was dead. You had to be very straightforward with young children and the vampire was sad that he had made Anastasia wait this long to truly understand. Hesitantly, he reached out to pick up the puppy and put her on his lap as Eryn straightened and walked across the room to give them a little privacy.

"Anastasia," he began slowly, unsure how to say this, pain tearing at his heart as he had to acknowledge the fact once again that his Alex would never be coming back. "Papa's never coming home, sweetheart. He's dead and he's living in heaven now."

He felt realization stiffen the young girl's muscles and glanced down to see her heartbroken expression and saw the fear and pleading in her large eyes as she turned to look up at him.

"Can't he come back to visit?"

"No, sweetheart, I'm sorry," the vampire murmured as he watched tears pour down the little girl's face and she grabbed onto him and started crying the tears of a young child who had finally understood.

[†Arisen†]

Aliya retreated quickly to her room, closing the door quickly, making the kittens stir. Di sat up, rubbing his eyes, his hair messy and flailed about his head from sleeping roughly. Ana pushed herself up and looked at Aliya with a smile. Her hair was neat from a much gentler night's sleep.

The succubus went over the shifters and gathered them into her arms, hugging them tight. They looked at each other curiously for a moment, then hugged her back.

"Promise me, you two," she said softly, "If anything ever happens to me, you'll find someplace safe to live."

The twins nodded and she smiled a bit, "All right. I have someone I want you to meet."

[callingxforxblood]

Kaito scooped Anastasia up in his arms, letting her wrap her arms around her neck and cry into his shoulder as he walked around the room, rubbing a soothing hand over her back and making soft noises to try and calm her. At the same time, he battled his own feelings of hurt and depression, the prick of tears stinging his eyes that could never cry.

When it became clear to him that Anastasia was too distraught to let go of him at the moment and needed longer to cry, he motioned with his head to Eryn who came over to stand in front of him. The vampire's smile was wane as he glanced up the stairs to the floors above.

"Well," he said softly, his voice a deep rumble in his chest that comforted the little girl cradled in his arms as she tried to regain control of her emotions, "you know where the guest room is. I'm sorry I can't see you settled in, but Anastasia and I are going to try and go to bed."

As Eryn nodded, giving the little girl a worried look as she collected her bag and headed up the stairs, Sia's arms tightened around Kaito's neck in a silent protest. The vampire answered her refusal to let him go by bringing the puppy into his own room and collapsing onto his bed with his and Alex's daughter of their hearts in his arms. Her weight was a comfort across his chest and left shoulder and he continued running a soothing hand up and down her back until Sia's chest rose and fell in an even pattern.

The vampire looked down at the girl again and then stared up at the ceiling, remembering the nights where he, Alex and the Anastasia had had sleepovers in his oversized bed...but those days were gone now. Forever. Kai flung one arm over his eyes as silent sobs without tears wracked his body.

Why did you have to go?

[†Arisen†]

Aliya heard Anastasia's crying as she was carried by and the twins looked up to Aliya curiously.

"Its hard for them," she said softly, "You wouldn't understand now."

Her phone started to ring and she grabbed it, "Hello?"

"I'm here."

The girl sighed, "Thank God."

"Your apartments been trashed," Belthezar said and she could hear rustling, "Looks like a break-in."

"... They went there to look for me?"

"What?"

"Nothing."