heir1

Written by: Linda Feedback to : ngclle@yahoo.com

PART ONE

I fed on his blood by night. How it tasted like the most delicious of nectars. And he would lay in bed, almost comatose, but extremely composed, waiting for me to be done feeding. For his tender age, he had a lot of trust in me . . . trust in the fact that I would not convert him.

Kevin had warned me eons ago to just do it . . . to go ahead and transform him into one of us . . . to do it before Howie and AJ tipped the balance and made him one of their own.

But I held back. I didn't know why. I couldn't make myself do it. I couldn't force myself to suck the life out of him. But the pallor slowly started to seep in his features. His eyes looked more tired and his body too lean in my opinion. He was losing too much weight and I was the guilty one.

Still, I didn't want to damn him to an eternity of sadness and longing. Even though I knew that AJ and Howie were starting to give him second glances here and there, ready to prowl on him. But they honored our pact enough to not rush into any stupid actions just yet.

You see, me and Kevin are prowlers of the night. Our senses are extremely keen, our shrewdness nearly immaculate. We err on the side of complexity as our emotions sometimes conflict with our principles. We hunt, but with dignity and tact. We were of the 'saberi' species.

Aj and Howie, on the other hand, tend to border on the carefree side. They never think too hard because they feel that beliefs interfere with true nature, that principles were a figment of the imagination. So they are more open, more true to themselves. That was why Nick always liked picking on them . . . because when they were angry, Nick would always know immediately. Or when they're happy, they would be genuine. They were of a different breed, the 'sentiri' species.

Conflicts had always hurt the relation between our two vampire species. All the hostility had led to the death of two vampires, which shook the entire population of the night, almost leading to an imminent war between the two groups. I shudder to think about the dire consequences. But our leaders had settled it, although it had seemed like they were gluing the shattered remnants of our leadership together rather than addressing the issue.
With all that history burdening our souls, no one would have thought that two saberi and two sentiri species would have been able to come together and collaborate like the four of us: me, AJ, Howie and Kev. And what a success we have become, albeit we relied heavily on Nick's influences. Nick was a pure human, with no apparent night prowler abilities whatsoever. We needed someone to attract the young female and male population. We needed one of them to kick our business into gear. And we found him.

He was too young at first. Me and Kev didn't want him at all. And that was a big mistake, I realized. It was AJ and Howie who found him. Why was it that those two always knew where to look. I still wonder sometimes how keen their sense of smell is because Nick's blood smelled good from hundreds of feet away.

So they managed to lure Nick into our group. But no one wanted to convert him . . . because of the conflicts between the saberi and sentiri. Us saberi prowlers didn't want to tip the balance towards one or the other, so me and Kev made a deal with AJ and Howie. Nick was off limits to anyone. It was only fair.

But just because we made a pact not to convert him didn't mean that I couldn't feed on him. I excelled at winning Nick's attention. All it took was some good wrestling and good-natured ridiculing and he was as good as attached to me, which I sometimes feel made AJ and Howie upset. Besides, they were the ones that found him.

I ignored their askew glances. I convinced Nick to stay with me in the hotel rooms. Day by day I earned his trust, to the point that I would start nibbling at his succulent jugulars and he would not fight me. He was only fourteen when I started to seduce him. Like any boy without his mother nurturing him, he was an easy prey. He was at a tender age and so, I could have done almost anything to him and he would sit on the bed like a lost puppy without reacting at all.

But I held back . . . because of the pact between AJ, Howie and me and Kev. Heck, I could simply feed on him alone and never have to find another human again. His blood was richer than that gelato at Starbucks. Just one ounce would fill me up like a balloon. And when I try to feed on someone else, they would just taste so bland, or sometimes, bitter.

But time was running out. The saberi and sentiri are now totally at odds with each other and the tension was so thick and unbearable. It was a wonder that AJ, Howie, me and Kev were still so close with all the raucous in the background. The Backstreet Project would soon come to an end, since I could feel our ancestors beckoning us back to Sangria, the root of our existence, the city where the most powerful and richest vampires lived, where the balance of power would be tipped.

Sangria would be considered one of the golden cities, a city hidden in the depths of nature, invisible to the human eye. It was a very elegant city with the most compelling vampires that ever graced this earth with their presence. All vampires will flock to that city in the next few years because there is an undercurrent that all vampires had felt in the past year.

It was a strange feeling of imminent disaster along with a feeling of rebirth. The goddess mother was recalling all her children for something astronomical, as if there was about to a change in the vampire world that would knock even the aristocrats out of their seats. I felt it. Kevin, AJ and Howie felt it. What was most shocking was that Nick felt it as well.

Kev, Howie, AJ and I realized that Backstreet would have to end. We needed to flock home to our goddess mother. But the question is . . . what do we do with Nick? He knew too much to leave behind like that. But none of us wanted to kill him. The bond was too strong. Yet, all were afraid to convert him. We didn't know whether he belonged to the saberi or the sentiri species, although we had our preferences.

But time was running out. We leave for Sangria tomorrow. That left tonight to deal with Nick. I looked at the clock . . . ten past ten. I composed myself before entering the hotel room-the one that me and Nick shared. Tonight, I was going to change Nick's life . . . and hopefully, it will not be for the worse.

PART TWO

I licked my lips with nervous tension. My hands shook mercilessly as I opened the door to the room that I shared with him. He was usually a light sleeper, despite my effort to quiet my footsteps. I opened the door, my whole body trembling. I had made my decision. I didn't give a damn anymore about what the other Backstreet guys felt was right.

I took some steps forward, expecting Nick to call my name and laugh at my idle attempt to slip into the room unnoticed. But I heard nothing. My vision quickly adapted to the darkness and I saw his sleeping form, peacefully lying on the bed. I sighed in relief.

"Nick?" I whispered soothingly. I gazed at his body, waiting for a sign. He didn't budge. I chuckled. He always tried to fake sleeping, but I knew that he heard me. I stepped closer, ready to give him a tickle attack, and as planned, I pounced on him playfully, using my powers to lessen the impact once I did land on him and started wiggling my fingers.

It didn't take even a full second for me to realize that there were streaks of blood on his neck and lips and that his body was deathly cold. Without thinking, I screamed hysterically. He had no pulse, no heartbeat. His blood was all gone and the only remnants of a struggle was a little scratch on his arm.

Within seconds, Kevin, Howie and AJ soared into our room, panicking. They didn't have to ask. They saw what my mind was trying to now recover from. Nick was dead!

"No he's not!" Kevin responded to the fleeting thought that entered my mind.

"Why not?" AJ asked worriedly. "His body is completely dry of blood!"

Howie screamed, but Kevin remained calm. Before I knew what was going on, Kevin bit his wrist so that his ulnar started to ooze with blood and he placed it on top of Nick's lips, letting the drops slowly seep into Nick's mouth.

"What are you doing?" AJ asked confusedly, shoving Kevin back.

Kevin looked to me. "Well, this is what Brian wants. We'll convert him now."

I looked at Kevin, exasperated. "I didn't want to convert him. All I wanted to do was erase his memory! And I came in here . . . and I found him like this!"

Kevin looked at me with even more confusion. "You didn't do this to him?"

"NO!" I screamed, nearly in tears.

"Look!" Howie pointed to the sheets under Nick's back. There's more blood coming from his trunk! Immediately, I grabbed Nick's pants and pulled it down barely enough so that we saw two more bite marks on either femoral.

"There's a gang of them!" AJ asked wondrously. "But why?"

"To feed on him faster?" Kevin pondered out loud.

AJ shook his head fiercely. "It was a whole gang! But how could they have slipped into our territory without us knowing? And how dare they slip into our territory!"

"Can we revive him?" Howie asked worriedly.

Kevin remained quiet. "We don't know how long he's been out. And obviously, some of us don't want him to be converted."

I shook my head furiously. "I . . . now . . . I want him to live!" I blurted out furiously. The sudden thought of Nick dying started to chill me inside out. "Please? Make him live!"

I looked pleadingly at Kevin, begging him for help. I knew that he could do it. My eyes started to well.

Kevin sighed and placed his wrist on Nick's lips, forcing Nick to take those sips of blood and dooming him to our eternal existence. The time slowly slid by, but half an hour later, Nick's body remained motionless and pulseless.
AJ and Howie had remained completely silent by this time. Kevin was actually becoming dizzy from the blood loss. Still, Nick had not come back to us.

That was when I jumped out of my chair and pulled Kevin aside. I wrecklessly bit my wrist and poured the blood into Nick's mouth, beckoning him to feed upon it. I wanted to feel his lips pucker around my wrist, wanted to sense his life coming back to us.

But neither happened. He remained comatose. I was stubborn, though. I shook Nick furiously, angry that he didn't respond to my futile attempt. "Nick!" I screamed hysterically. I scared the heck out of AJ and Howie because they pulled me aside and slapped some sense into me, making me snap back to reality. Who said that the sentiri were completely brainless?

They threw me into a chair and together bit their wrists and let their blood drip into Nick's mouth, all the while pulling his body into theirs, beckoning him to show some sign of life. His head dangled lifelessly on AJ's shoulder.
"He's too far gone!" Kevin exclaimed, shocking me back into reality again.

"No . . . " I whispered weakly to myself. How could this have happened? And in our territory! Who dared kill Nick while the four of us looked after him almost compulsively? "His blood . . . " I stuttered. "No one can replace his blood. It's too sweet. Our blood is not as pure. Maybe . . . if we can find someone with blood as pure as his . . . maybe we can bring him back to life!" I exclaimed rather unsurely.

I walked up to AJ and pulled him away from Nick, situating myself right in between them. I knew I was being rash. I brushed my fingers over his fair face. "Why did they want you?" I asked myself quietly.

Kevin stood up and looked at me, AJ and Howie sternly. "Someone's trying to make a statement. Don't you guys see. The day before we rush off to Sangria, this happens. Someone's trying to warn us. What better way than to hurt Nick."

"We've got to bring him back to Sangria with us. Maybe our Mother will know how to reverse this," Howie said firmly.

I shed a few tears. Nick's body remained limp in my arms. I brushed back a few of his golden strands of hair, forcing myself to see that gentle face. It was so rosy. But all that blood we had given him was in vein.

That was when I suddenly noticed a few scratches on his lips. I let my fingers glide over them and slid his mouth open and saw the cut on his tongue. My body suddenly began to burn with a newfound anger. "Someone had tried to force themselves into his mouth!" I cried out angrily, startling AJ, Howie and Kevin.

All three looked at me as if they were seeing a raging lunatic.

"Isn't that forbidden? No vampire is supposed to attack anything other than blood vessels in any human? Anything else would be considered illicit!" Howie asked confusedly.

"Or maybe one of the vampires seduced him into bed . . . " AJ offered grimly.

"A whole pack?" I cried out exasperatedly. "Don't you see how many bite marks he had? This had to be a conspiracy!"

Kevin's silence made us realize that we were rather boisterous. But I didn't care. I caressed Nick's face and held him possessively. I closed my eyes and felt more tears. "Please, Kevin. Can we bring him back to Sangria? I want him there with me. I want to revive him."

Kevin's lips quavered. "But . . . he's dead."

AJ pointedly gazed at us intently. "If he's dead, then why do I feel a pulse on his feet now?"

I quickly stared at AJ, trying to make sense of his statement. That was when I realized that Nick's eyes were open . . . and the scariest thing was that his eyes were no longer blue, but a deep green. And those bite marks we saw earlier had suddenly disappeared.

My eyes drifted over his teeth. He didn't have any fangs at all. His skin was not pale. His flesh was not rigid. What was scariest was that his body was still warm, just as a human body should be. It was as if we had not converted him into a vampire. But how?

He had lost blood. We had given it back to him. Yet, there he sat on the bed, warm and soft. He smiled at us benignly and innocently. "What are all of you doing in my room?" he asked.

What the heck just happened? Kevin was gaping by now.

"That's it. We're taking him with us!" Howie cried out. "This is too spooky."

Before I knew what happened, him and AJ pounced on Nick and tied him up in a bundle pretty tightly. I looked at them exasperated. "And just what do you guys think you're doing?"

AJ looked at me and snorted. "For a saberi species, you're getting rather emotional! Don't you see?"

"See what?" I asked defiantly.

"His eyes aren't the right color. He doesn't have fangs. His bite marks are gone. And he's pretending that he doesn't know what's going on! If I were you, I'd start wondering what the heck he is at this moment!"

I glared at AJ. "Maybe if you didn't tie him up so bad, he'd be able to answer your questions.

"I'm not risking that!" AJ remarked snidely as he began covering Nick's beautiful sea green eyes up.

"Brian?" Nick's beautiful lips stuttered out for me, beckoning me to save him. His voice was full of uncertainty, of helplessness, but soon enough, Howie placed a gag over it.

I didn't respond at all, strangely, to Nick's scared voice. Why not?

Then, Kevin grabbed Nick's body and swung it over his shoulders. "This is gonna be one crazy trek!" With that, he exited the room. I followed suit, gazing at Nick's lithe, but limp body as it was draped over Kevin's shoulders. Weird, but not spooky. Nick never spooked me out. Maybe I was already in too deep. I had already placed to much emotions on him, and now, my love for him had blinded me. Tonight, I would figure out how to rescue him from all those ropes and gags AJ placed on him.

PART THREE

Kevin, Howie and AJ kept watch over Nick so carefully that I could not, for the life of me, get close enough to him to release him from those bounds. Now why would the other Boys be so spooked? This was our Nick. He would never hurt us. Just because his eyes looked sea green didn't mean that he was now a monster!

At last, I found my chance. Howie and AJ had fallen asleep. Kevin stepped aside to get a breath of fresh air. I quickly slipped up to Nick and put a cloud of unconsciousness over AJ and Howie. Then, swiftly, I tossed Nick's body over my back and carried him to my area. We were now in our private jet. We left the controls on cruise and were headed towards Sangria.

He seemed to be sleeping comfortably. I became anxious and first removed his blindfolds. I didn't touch the gag that sealed his lips. I just wanted to see those sea green eyes of his now. He had beautiful eyes, and now, they looked even more mysterious. The moment I removed the blindfold, he opened his eyes innocently. I smiled warmly at him and immediately placed my fingers over his cheeks, dangerously close to his gag. Without thinking, as if entranced by his eyes, I undid the gag, revealing his plush lips.

I placed my fingers over those soft lips and slowly traced them.

"Brian . . . " he said softly, seductively.

"Nick . . . " I whispered back in ecstasy. What was he doing to me? "What happened?"

"They took my innocence away, Brian. They sucked me dry. I couldn't fight them. They were so hungry. I couldn't quench their hunger."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "What are you? Your eyes . . . your teeth . . . are you a vampire?"

"I . . . don't know." Nick gazed longingly at me, his eyes mesmerizing, his lips parted. "Release me. Take off my bonds."

I wanted to follow Nick's beckoning, wanted to relieve Nick of all those ropes, but I sensed the danger of it. For some reason, I held back. "I . . . can't."

"Please . . . " Nick's whisper gently nudged my ear drums. Suddenly, I felt extremely hot from within. I felt a tugging in my groins, an undeniably strong lust for Nick. I didn't know where the feeling came from, but I did know that it happened very suddenly. Nick was doing something to my mind, enhancing my awareness of the sensuality of the situation.

I realized the closeness of Nick's body. My eyes traced Nick's body until they reached the buttons of his jeans. Strangely, I lowered my face, my mouth craving what lay beneath the piece of cloth. My lips brushed against the material and I kissed it hungrily. Nick was strapped down so he wasn't able to move too well.

I could feel Nick struggling against my advances, but afraid to scream out for fear that AJ, Howie and Kevin would hear them. I knew it wasn't fair to put Nick in this position, but I didn't care. All I knew at that time was the lust that seemed to go through my entire body.

"Brian, don't," Nick whispered, not eliciting any response from me. In fact, the more Nick struggled, the greater my desire. It felt odd, having Nick so helpless like that. But in a way, the power that I felt over Nick's body was exhilarating. I knew that it was an undeclared law among the vampires that no one was to establish a sexual relationship with anyone else, especially a mortal, but at that moment in time, I could care less. Something about Nick made my sexual hunger rise to the point that I couldn't control it.

I felt my fangs grow from hunger. Not any hunger. Sexual hunger.

"I will never forgive you if you don't stop!" Nick's voice rang out into my ears, making me stop whatever it was I was doing. I gazed at Nick intently.

"You're angry?" I asked warily. That was when I saw the tears burning in his eyes. He was extremely upset.
"I don't want to be treated like this. Please. Release my bonds." Nick begged me with sadness.

I let my hands slide down his arms, tickling his fair, youthful skin along the way. I finally rested my hands on his and intertwined my finger with his.

I closed my eyes apologetically. "Sorry babe. As much as I want to . . . I don't want you to run away from us."
Nick looked at me impatiently. "If I were a vampire, you'd think I'd be able to get myself out of these ropes without your help, not being strapped to this table like an animal, begging for your mercy!"

My lips were only centimeters from his. I gazed into his eyes intently. "Why did you have to be so attractive?" I forced him to return my gaze, forced him to look into my eyes.

He had to have felt some attraction to me. Everyone always did. I rested my lips on his cheeks. He didn't try to shrug me off. That was a good sign. I leaned in closer, but stopped millimeters from his lips. I stared into his eyes, fascinated. I like this teasing.

I could feel Nick's pulse race inside his body. His heart rate was rapid, his body tense. The heat was also radiating inside his body and it was driving him crazy, this strange new feeling. I could sense it because his breathing came in pants and gasps.

I leaned back, eyeing him carefully. He was shaking, but from what?

He closed his eyes, shunning me out of his world. Why? I only wanted to come to comfort him. Why was he so angry with me? I slowly backed away and went back to sit next to AJ, Howie and Kevin. My mind was consumed with images of Nick. Why did he do that to me?

I shook violently in my chair, feeling some agony deep within. Something about Nick was not right. He wasn't just odd. He was eerie. I sensed the turbulence in his body. There was a depth to his mind. The more I tried to read it, the greater the abyss became. He was so warm on the outside, yet cold on the inside.

What was it about the way he tried to plead to me? Was it that strange twinkle in his eyes? Or could it be the way his lips parted so sensuously?

I looked at the clock. Nearly 2 am. We were going to land in Sangria soon. And what if Nick were truthful? What if he was not truly a vampire? Then he would be fodder for the other vampires to feed on. That thought alone was enough to make me cringe in fear. He would be an easy target! I would be grinding me teeth trying to protect him.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea anymore.

Suddenly, I felt the plane jerk. My senses became awfully keen. Something was wrong with the plane. I immediately cried out for the others to wake up, and not a moment too soon because the plane suddenly began to take a dive.
Nick! I was about to run to where Nick lay strapped to the table when I felt a hand pull me back. It was Kevin. "We have to get off now!" he said through clenched teeth as he tried to pull me towards the exit. But Kevin was adamant and he punched me hard before heaving me away.

"Nick!" I cried desperately, punching Kevin once in the stomach before running off in the other direction. My body tensed as I saw a figure hovering over Nick. He was startled by my cry and immediately looked up. To my shock, I saw the same sea green eyes that Nick had in this guy.

I looked warily at his hands, one on Nick's stomach, the other around Nick's bonds quickly undoing them. I was about to run forth when I felt Kevin's grasp as he pulled me out of the plane. I fell out with Kevin clinging on to me.
"NICK!" I screamed one more time before feeling Kevin guide us to the ground.

*****************

When I finally calmed down from the entire ordeal, dark thoughts began to cloud my mind, thoughts of Nick . . . alone . . . with that guy. I was so sure that the way he touched Nick was sensual. In fact, there was an air of mystery and evil about that guy. I couldn't get the thought of him out of my mind. I hated him already, the way his blond hair blew into his face, the way his strong arms pressed against Nick's body, as if he were really tender and gentle to Nick. I had to find them!

I knew I could do it. I could always feels Nick's presence if I tried to really hard. It wasn't the greatest ability that I had, but it was something I could learn to perfect fast. I looked around our campsite. AJ, Howie and Kevin were all sleeping comfortably around the fire. We had landed in a swamp. It's back to those old days again, the days when we had to travel by land and fight the dangerous wildlife. But I wasn't scared. I was just completely upset that Kevin wouldn't let me rescue Nick.

I sniffed hard, trying to determine Nick's scent. The scent of his blood was unique. I knew I could find him. Even after we had transferred our blood into his vessels, he smelled the same.

I tried to focus intently, heightening my senses, heightening my awareness of Nick. Ahhhh, I could smell him. He was probably a few miles away, but I could smell him! I didn't bother waking the others up. I ran in the direction that I thought he would be. I ran west ward with longing in my heart, longing for a love that hadn't been born yet, longing for a love that I never knew had been brewing in my heart . . . that was, until now.

I didn't care about all the scratches my body suffered as I trampled through the swamp. I didn't care that my clothes were being stripped one by one. A man has his priorities. Mine was Nick. One by one, I cleared the bushes. I could now feel Nick's beating heart. I was perilously close, not only to Nick . . . but also to the Guy. I didn't know his name, but I felt his dark aura.

The scary thing was that I sensed something bad happening between Nick and this mysterious guy. I felt Nick's blood coursing tortuously through his body. I sensed his fear. I felt his repulsion. My heart skipped a few beats. Please Nick . . . wait for me.

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