Bloodthirsty Wings

Chapter One

Helena tossed and turned in her sleep, her nightmares making her body jolt. 

“Surely you are not serious! She is an absolute abomination to us, Master! A disgrace, a disappointment… A DANGER!”

The raspy voice was urgent, and Helena was unable to make out who exactly they were discussing.

“She is our protector! She protects us from… Them.”

A man with grey, short hair stepped into view, his white wings tucked behind him. His bright blue eyes glinted with worry, his forehead wrinkled in concentration and concern.

“So we train another angel! She has fraternized with our enemy, our BIGGEST enemy! She has been learning from them! What if she turns against us, what if-” The raspy voice was cut off.

“SILENCE! I make the decisions. She WILL stay with us, whether she likes it or not…” The blue eyed man trailed off.

Helena was sweating and clawing at things around her in her sleep, almost as though she was trying to defend herself from something. Blood curdling screams left her lips, and she shot up in the bed she was laying in.

“NO!” She screamed.

She flailed her arms around, ready to hit whoever her fists made contact with first. As she calmed down, her eyes widened as she observed her surroundings. Confusion crept up inside her. Her stomach started having a shooting, twisting pain through it. She replayed the events of the night before, and panic started to set in. 

“Wh-Where am I? And where is that… That God awful monster?!” 

Miles away, Xander was out hunting. He came across a human passing through the woods, and upon further observation of a rifle in his hand, realized he was hunting. But what?

Xander had a smirk play across his lips as he approached the man. The man looked a little surprised, and realization set in as he realized exactly what Xander was- but it was too late. Xander had already assessed that he was a terrible human- the town drunk. Xander knocked him out cold with a blow to the head. He picked the human up, slinging him over his shoulder. He walked cautiously back to his house, careful not to attract any unwanted attention from other possible hunters.

“Next time, stay out of my woods,” Xander muttered.

As he approached his house, he thought about how he had just done the town a favor, and that no one would miss the man. He was a vile human, and harassed a lot of people for money to fuel his alcohol addiction since his wife left him. He wasn’t homeless, but had definitely spent almost all of his money on booze. The rest went towards hunting gear. 

Xander sighed as he threw the body onto the porch and opened the front door. He dragged the unconscious man in behind him. He noticed that the bedroom door was open, and realized his fledgling had woken up. He grinned and looked around. Noticing her in the kitchen, he stalked towards her. 

“Well, well, well… I was wondering if and when you’d wake up,” he said, “I was wondering just how long it would take you to recover from the transformation.” 

She backed up nervously, fear playing in her eyes.

“P-Please leave me alo-one,” she angrily stuttered out.

Her anger turned into actions as she conjured a few flickering embers and directed them towards him, hoping to inflict some sort of damage as she hid her face in her arm. The embers barely even caused any pain to Xander. Her stomach was still in pain, but she ignored it. A shiver of fear crept up her back as she realized there was no escape; flying couldn’t even save her now. 

“This is just a bad dream… A nightmare… It’s gotta be. Please be a dream…” she mumbled. 

Scared whimpers escaped her mouth against her will. She couldn’t let him know she was afraid. She wouldn’t.

“This is no dream, fallen. This is reality,” he stated.

Her continued whimpers made his face turn grim, and slight pang of concern hitting him. He brushed it off. 

“Foolish angel, cry all you want- this is your life now,” he grumbled.

He left the kitchen for a minute or so before dragging the unconscious man into the kitchen behind him. He flopped the man at her feet, staring at her with cold eyes.

“You must feed on him to restore your strength,” he explained. 

He observed her face, a contortion of disgust and disbelief. She shook her head and whimpered once more, not wanting to face the truth of what was occurring. 

“I grant you eternal life as my fledgling and this is how you repay me? Being afraid of my every move, thinking I’m a monster? Foolish! If you continue to be so afraid, I will put you out of your misery myself!” He shouted.

He turned to leave the kitchen, shaking his head.

“Feed or die. The choice is yours.”

With that, he grabbed a long sword and walked out of the kitchen through the back door of the house.

Helena covered her face with her hands and let out a frustrated, muffled scream. Her eyes trailed to the unconscious man and she refused to feed. Her head shook in anger. 

“Eternal life as his fledgling- basically his servant?! Dying would be a better fate than belonging to that… AWFUL man. Just who in the hell does he think he is?!” She ranted. 

She walked back into the bedroom she woke up in, falling back onto the bed. She wondered how he could be so cruel. There has to be a reason. She closed her eyes, trying to burn the image of the unconscious man out of her memory.

“I’ll be damned (again for that matter) if I restore my strength for that monster! Death is more honorable than this. If I die, he won’t have a fledgling. Simple as that. Too bad for him, I’ll starve to death if I have to,” she muttered.

Down in the backyard, Xander walked over to the smithy he had acquired months ago. He thought it was one of the best items he had ever gotten his hands on. He sharpened and repaired his sword, and felt the blade. He drew blood from his fingertip before deciding it was perfect. 

“Awesome, good as new. Time to go check on that crazy… Whatever you want to call her. She’s disrespectful, I know that much,” he grumbled.

He sheathed his sword and went back inside. He noticed the man was still laying in the kitchen, untouched. His anger bubbled as he realized she did not feed. He shook his head and walked up to his room. He had allowed her to stay in his room when he brought her back, as he figured it would be the most comfortable. When he entered his room, a glass vase went flying towards the door frame. An involuntary chuckle left him, and he shook his head to focus on the matter at hand. He walked towards the bed, where the angel was cautiously curled into a ball. 

“I see you have chosen not to feed. No matter, you will feed in time; whether you like it or not. The thirst will get to you and you will understand just what it means to be a fledgling,” he murmured. 

“I will NEVER be a bloodsucking, demonic MONSTER like you!” She snapped. 

He sighed, ignoring the venom she spat in her words, and went back down to the kitchen, leaving her in her thoughts. He kneeled down to the man and shook his head shamefully. 

“Poor fool… You were supposed to be her first meal,” he said. 

He drained the man and stood up. 

“Ugh, not like she would’ve enjoyed you. I’m kind of glad you weren’t her first meal. All of that alcohol coursing through your veins, combined with your nasty eating habits… Ew,” he muttered.

Back in Xander’s room, Helena buried her face in his pillows and thought about how, no matter what, she was going to die. Be it by angels or this vampire- she was done for. She felt hot tears slip out of her eyes and get colder as they ran down her cheeks. She couldn’t stand crying, but it helped her come to terms with her fate. She sighed and tried ignoring Xander talking to a corpse downstairs. She knew he would have already drained him by now, and she cringed at the image in her head. She was lost in thought when she heard footsteps approaching. Xander peered in. 

“Let’s get one thing straight. I am not a monster. I do what I must to survive, as do all races. You are foolish to think I am the only monster. All of us are to the humans. What do you think he would’ve called you had he woken up? Hmm?” He questioned, knowing the answer was already obvious. 

He stalked towards her, and she couldn’t help but feel like a gazelle in front of a lion. 

“We are all monsters to the humans, all because we are different. Because we are superior in our abilities and our strengths. Yet somehow, some way they find a way to kill us all one by one…” He trailed off, and she could hear the sorrow in his voice. 

It was then, and only then, that she realized he has been through something traumatizing. She felt guilt creep up, but it was short lived when that sharp pain got worse. 

“What do I do?!” She cried out. 

Xander chuckled sadistically and narrowed his eyes on her. 

“Eat. By the way, what is your name?” He asked. 

He grabbed clothing for her out of his dresser, and laid them down next to her. She held her stomach as the pain subsided a little bit, and glared at him. If looks could kill, he’d be one dead vampire. 

“Helena. Helena Luna. And you, asshole?” she replied. 

The venom in her words cut like a knife. For some reason, her words hurt him deeper than he cared to admit. 

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Helena. You shall learn what it means to be my fledgling. One way or another, the hunger will overwhelm you. Or if you fight it for too long… You’ll die. Oh, and you may call me Xander,” he stated. 

With that, he left the room and left her to change into the clothes he laid out for her.