Taste the sting

Every single step seemed to be harder to take, her entire body was mostly just drained. One thing was her body trying to heal from the blood she had lost, then the energy from having to fight the compulsion and then the soul felt drained from having had to harm Oscar - even if it hadn't even been him. It hadn't taken her many steps before she been sure that he hadn't been in sight or close by before she had needed to stop walking, just to break down and let out a silent scream of a cry. Because it had completely torn her heart. Still in shock she had kept walking, the Southern wind had dried the tears a long time ago. How was she supposed to react when one of the people she had thought would never either harm or use his powers on her had? She moved closer towards the mansion, just walked by more or less like a zombie, mindlessly walking. How was she even going to explain why she had dried on her neck, stains on her light grey blazer, not to mention she looked so haunted. "Mel?" The voice sounded like an echo.

Adonis and Neil had kept a few daily walks in outside the garden, it had been nice for Adonis to get some fresh air - and well perhaps him and the young lad had found something in common or at least some comfort in each others company. So, when he this early evening had chosen to take a small walk before dinner, and suddenly had caught the sight of his sister walking like the blow of the wind could cause her to fall over, he didn't even look to Neil before moving faster towards Melanie. He carefully reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, trying to catch her eyes, then moving his own towards her neck. The found had healed up, but the blood was in her hair, on her skin and clothing. "What happened?" He wondered, also a bit scared himself because if she was in shock there could be a chance when she snapped back to reality and see his face first that she would freak out just a little bit. So, his first thought was to go get Damian, but he waited for a second, after all, Neil was standing next to him looking at his mother and he didn't really want to just leave them like this.

Neil had never really been the talkative guy, but those who Russian came more naturally to, like Nathalie and Adonis, he had it easier to talk to. So, when Adonis had arrived it had at the start been quite easy for him to start and talk to him. There was just something that made it very easy to talk to him. So, Neil was blabbering, once again, about the place he had lived in Aston and praising all of the things that Rose had done for him. At one point he noticed how Adonis seemed to have caught eye on something. Neil’s eyes followed his uncles. “Mum,” he said in shock by how she walked. He ran to his mother to support her, by sliding underneath her arm, holding on to her hand and supporting her with his other hand by her side. “Obviously attacked,” he said a little hasty before he looked up at Adonis. “We have to get her looked at,” he spoke quite quickly and hoped that Adonis might want to give him a hand with getting her inside.

"Yeah obviously," Adonis mumbled, knowing how an attack looked like. Watching how Neil went over to support his mother, Adonis took a deeper breath in. Most of all he just wanted to know who had attacked her, it didn't look like a werewolf attack, a werewolf attack wouldn't have left her in a state of shock not like this. But he took a deeper breath in, trying to pick up on the fabrics of the scent that was over her. Then it hit him. Well it was not a scent that he had close to heart, far from. But he had also met Clayton, who did share some of the same fragrances as his father, funny enough. So, the scent of Oscar Addams gave him a sense of disgust, he knew the vampire could drink from any source he wanted to. Much like a former little friend of his own. Adonis moved his hand around Melanie to support her so they could guide her inside in the mansion and to sit down in the living room. Melanie just sat down taking a slightly deeper breath in, her hands shaking slightly, so she closed her eyes slightly. Just to the flashes of how cold Oscar's eyes had looked into hers, without a care, the sound of the arm breaking as she had snapped it, just like his neck. She had left him there. Knowing it was the right choice at the time. "Melanie," he tried to reach for her to connect to the room she was in, but sometimes the mind was a funny thing, and he knew him being here hadn't really been easy on her, or that Revna was around. "I think I will get Damian, I haven't seen her like this in ages," perhaps not since the first time she had come back to life after Revna had ripped her heart out.

Neil kept holding his mother, truly not giving much attention to the fact that Adonis believed it was obvious. They guided Melanie inside and she got to sit down in the living room. Neil sat by her side, inspecting everything that could point towards anything, but the only thing was how blood had been streaming from her neck and didn’t do that anymore. It truly seemed like a vampire attack, but who on earth would attack a werewolf on purpose? He let his hand fold around her closed fist and shortly looked up as Adonis spoke. “Y-yeah good plan,” he said. Though he wanted to stay strong, he also knew that Damian could be quite a mouthful for him to be in the same room with

Not that Adonis really liked just leaving her sitting there, but well, Neil was beside her so he was comfortable in the fact that he would yell very loud if anything happened. Not that he really thought Melanie would move much more than just blink every now and then. So, Adonis got up from where he had sat in front of Melanie, and looked shortly to Neil. Right now, he didn't really care much for how Neil was going to be affected by Damian's aura, it wasn't the first priority. So, he turned around and ran towards where he knew Damian had been sitting in meetings most of the afternoon, and knocked on the door shortly before entering. It was painted over his face that something had happened, so he waited till he was sure Damian wasn't on the phone or he had his full attention before saying anything further. "It's Mel," he took a deeper breath in. "Neil and I found her outside, just walking around. I don't understand though, I thought her and Oscar were good - but I haven't seen her like this in forever," not that he had been there as much as Damian had. Just starting to move towards the living room so Damian could take a look for himself.

Damian had been sitting on the phone the most of the day, and then been writing a couple of mails and other things that needed to be taken care of. Now that Elias had taken up some of the official meetings in Theronida, he could focus on some other matters. Those that kept the money flowing in their coffers. He looked up, as someone knocked on the door. “Come in” he mumbled, putting his phone away, his eyes narrowed when Adonis explained that it was Mel. He quickly got up, hearing how the chair scraped over the floor as he walked towards his brother. Now, he didn’t need him to tell him where his sister was, he quickly stepped in front of Adonis and walked towards the living room.
When he saw how his sister was sitting, a soft look glided over the normally very stoic looking werewolf. He walked over and squatted down in front of his sister. He took her hands in his, letting his thumbs glide over back of hers. “I’m here” he whispered, looking into his sisters. “It’s going to be okay, you are back safe in the mansion” he could smell Oscar on her, and he knew that he had done this. But something must have happened. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked softly, as his hand glided up towards her cheek not that he was much for it. “You want me to call Fenris?” he asked then, wanting someone around that he knew that she could be completely herself with.

Neil was left with his mother. His eyes were searching for anything that could either be alarming or comforting. Pulse, temperature, eyes, movements, heartbeat, anything. No matter what, it was clear that she was in a great shock. He wished he knew how to help. Do anything really, but as of for right now he was simply being cautious. While he looked for signs, he spoke softly to her, hoping for some kind of reaction.
He could feel how his uncles approached, which made his jaw tense and hold his mother’s hand a little tighter. Now it wasn’t because he didn’t like Damian. He appreciated everything that he had done for him. He had even started to see them more as family, and not just ‘some relation to his mother’. Even though he had gotten his rouge removed, his wolf was still scared, and the instincts still told him to fight if it got too much. As Damian got closer Neil let go of his mother, got up from his seat and backed away, ending up probably four or five meters from them. He wished to suggest that he could call his father, if Damian wished to stay with Melanie for now, but he couldn’t even get himself to speak up.

Everything was just moving stupid flashes, tried to restrain her away from actually letting reality in. She could hear Neil speak to her, distant echo, and then it stopped. Her eyes just starred blankly towards the wall till Damian was in her sight again and she blinked a little bit. One could argue it was the fact it was because they just had a different bond, it had always been the two of them , even if they did have their younger siblings - Melanie and Damian had just been closer, maybe because of their ranks, or simply just a mix of everything. They always had each other's backs. Her expression changed a little bit, and she folded her lips together for a moment, still trying to figure out how to explain what happened. It felt like Oscar had said goodbye, come out with his last confessions and then just waved goodbye, she should have let him go. She should just have let him go when he had said he was going. Her lips split a little, then he asked if he should call Fenris. She managed to get herself to make a small nod to confirm she would like him to call Fenris, taking a sharper breath in. "He turned it off," she managed to say a little low, keeping her eyes on Damian. Because she knew he knew what she meant. Her mouth felt so dry, but her body was also still healing from the amount of blood she had lost. Adonis looked shortly towards Neil then keeping his eyes mostly on Damian and Melanie while staying a little bit back, letting his older brother take this one.

He turned it off.
Now to many it could mean a lot of things, but Damian knew what it meant. He had turned off his emotions. So, he had bitten her? He pressed his brows together a little, looking at her lips. He looked towards Neil and gave him a small smile. Then he looked towards Adonis “Could you get me a cloth and a bowl of warm water?” he asked, he then turned his attention back towards Melanie, turning her hands, and placed them facing her palms upwards. He let his fingers slowly glide over them. “Look at me Melanie” he whispered, giving her a small smile when she did. “You are not responsible for what happens now, you are never responsible for another person’s choices” hopefully Oscar and Revna would keep away for now. They could figure everything out in due time. But it didn’t need to be right now. He knew that things would turn out fine, the usually did when you spoke about Melanie and Oscar, even though he didn’t like the man and thought he was rather dramatic. Always need for the theatricals because he had no idea how to show real emotions without it being too much for him. Not in a healthy manner clearly.

Neil heard her low mumble. Something was turned off? Well, even tough he hadn’t been part of the family for that long, he knew that it was a vampire involved and believed quickly that it would be the humanity or the emotions. Something alike that. Right?
He noticed how Damian looked at him. Smiling. Neil wasn’t able to keep the eye contact for long, luckily Damian himself looked towards Adonis. Bowl, cloth, and warm water. Neil could almost feel how he wanted to be the one to get it. His body was almost charging up to go run for it. Luckily he was patted on the shoulder by Adonis to come along, which was why he was quick to turn around and leave the room, being quite quick on his feet to get into the kitchen and start finding a bowl.

Adonis nodded towards Damian, when asked if he could fetch him something for Melanie, and he walked past Neil placing a hand on his shoulder for him to go with him, maybe easing the whole seeing your mother in this state and dealing with the strong auras in the household. Then walking to the kitchen to find a bowl to fill it with warm water, then finding out where the cloths were, finding one and placed it in the bowl. Looking towards Neil for a second. "Fenris?" He wasn't in this second sure if he had heard the name or not, well he had also only been back here for some time - it wasn't like taking the list of the people his siblings were closest to was first prioritized. He had focused more on repairing the relationships here in the mansion. "You know if anyone else can call the guy?" Maybe it was the way the kid looked that made him realize that, oh Neil knew the guy too, and for Adonis to nod a little bit understanding. Because he understood.

Melanie exhaled a little bit as he turned her palms upwards, feeling his fingers touch, looking shortly down just before he asked for her to look at him. She did. It was hard not to feel responsible for what had happened in some way, even if she knew she wasn't. Perhaps she just wanted to be able to have done a difference. But she also knew the version of Oscar that had attacked her was not him, it was who he had chosen to become because something had happened that was too hard for him to deal with. She knew that in her core. She knew. "He compelled me to stand still, before he started drinking from me. Then, he stopped wanting to call someone, which was the only reason I could actually get out of it, I broke his arm, bit him and snapped his neck," she folded her lips a little bit. Well, no one here was doubting her strength she knew that. But there was a fine line between defending yourself because an enemy attacked you, and then having to harm someone you cared about. She shook her head a little bit. From talking about their children to his sudden reminder of him loving her, to drinking from her and her leaving after having snapped his neck. Leaving him alone on the grass underneath the stars.

Damian nodded as she started to form more words and explained to him in detail what had happened. Or what had happened when he had bit her. He wanted to ask what had made Oscar suddenly turn off his feelings, but he didn’t feel like he wanted to pry in a matter that might not be his to ask into. He might be a king, and the alpha of the pack she was a beta in. But she was also his sister, and she deserved that privacy, no matter who she chose to give her heart to. Who she wanted to trust, she was never going to be met with a, I told you so. It had never been about that, even when he had tried to tell Melanie that one day her heart would be broken by the vampire. That there was a reason why the relationship kept falling apart, because you could always blame it on the outside world. But if you really wanted something, you could always make it work. If you had the right family or friends, they would eventually come around.
“Okay, we’ll have a lock out and see if he comes near here, but right now we don’t do anything. We wait and see what happens now” he said with a soft smile lifting his hand and placed it against her cheek.

“Hm?” Neil looked towards his uncle as he mentioned Fenris. Neil raised his brow as he asked who they knew could call Fenris. “I’ll call him,” he said with a little sigh before he found a phone and started calling Fenris. While he heard the beeping tone, he could feel how his heart was pounding faster. How was he even going to be explaining what was going on? A sound was made in the other end, and he didn’t know if it was a beep for the voicemail or if it was Fenris who responded. “Hi,” He looked shortly before he let his eyes fixate on some grapes. “You gotta come over…” What the hell was he going to say?

It was the reason why she knew she could say it, even if she knew she had been warned time and time again, that this was a bad apple, don't bite it. She had done time and time again, knowing the cost. Melanie made a small nod, because she didn't know what Oscar with no emotions, without his humanity would do, and even if he had told her Revna wasn't a threat, could they even be sure about that anymore? Melanie folded her lips a little bit, as he placed a hand against her cheek. "Let's just hope that things don't go completely nuts, I don't even know what to tell Clay," she sighed a little bit. One thing was suddenly getting to know your father, spending time with him and actually accepting everything and now she would have to tell him of this. No, she didn't have to tell about the attack, she wouldn't, but the whole turning off his emotions.

Adonis nodded to Neil, not really asking questions. Because like everything else the two of them had discussed over the last week, it was about just waiting for them for the specific topics to hit the shelf. Adonis walked back to the living room with the bowl of warm water with the cloth in. "Neil is calling Fenris," he informed with more tender voice and sat the bowl down next to Damian, giving them both a small nod. Melanie gave Adonis a small appreciated smile for helping.

Damian gave her a half smile; he had no idea what she should tell her son. “We’ll figure it out, first things first, okay?” he told her, because of course she should tell Clay. But he also hoped that maybe, just maybe there would be a quick resolve to all of this mess. “I didn’t, get to tell you, but Revna actually dropped off Elias after he got in a fight with River. For that sole reason, I believe that she will make sure that it doesn’t go too far, but that isn’t our concern right now, okay?” he whispered, hoping that small piece of information would help. Mostly because he had been so surprised to see Revna stand there in the doorway. With his almost half dead son hanging on her arm. It had been the entire air around her, that had been so different, but you wouldn’t believe it until you felt it in person.

He turned towards Adonis as he came back with the bowl of warm water and the cloth in it. He nodded, “Thank you” he mumbled, and turned towards Melanie. Then he started with wiping away the blood that was on Melanie. Not that she couldn’t do it himself, but he meant it as a comfort so she could just stay sitting for a moment longer.

He was still sitting at the office in Grounds of Lily when his phone started ringing. He picked it up and pressed his brows together but didn’t think twice before he picked it up. “Hello” he responded and then waited until Neil finally got to why he had called. “Over?” he repeated not really understanding. Then it clicked and you could hear how he got up from his chair. “Is she at the mansion?” He started putting on his jacket “I’m there in ten, fifteen minutes” he explained before he hanged up and ran towards his car to drive to the mansion further up the mountains.

Neil heard how the penny dropped for Fenris when the stool Fenris had been sitting on made some noise, loud enough for Neil to hear through the phone. “The mansion, yes,” he responded swallowing a little lump while he heard how Fenris put on some clothing and said when he would be there. “I’ll tell the others,” he spoke softly before he hung up. Neil closed his eyes for a moment, letting his phone hit his hand a couple of times. With a great sigh he put his phone away and walked back to the living room, with almost silent footsteps, though his scent and aura would tell that he was walking back in. He stood in the doorway looking at how his mother was taken care of. He cleared his throat very softly. “Fenris will be here in less than fifteen minutes,” he announced, his voice a little louder than his normal soft-spoken voice. Unless anyone had any task or question, he would give them a nod and leave. Damian’s presence was still a little too much to be around and be completely calm. It was like as soon as his uncle was around the pulse just raised a little. Afraid that he was going to disappoint. He didn’t want to feel like he was going to preform when he was with his mother in this kind of situation, which was why Neil felt it was either or, and Neil and Melanie had after all not known each other for that long.

They would figure it out, those words almost managed to make her chuckle but only because she spoke them so frequently. She didn't need to tell Clay right now, but she needed to tell him before he got that amazing idea that he wanted to surprise his father with a visit. I didn’t, get to tell you, Melanie's brows pressed a little bit together, listening to her older brother's tale about what actually had happened after Elias and River's fight. It hadn't surprised Melanie that Elias had gotten into a fight with him, she still remained more surprised that Elias had left River alive. But it was also one the reasons why Elias almost had begged to take the meeting in their homeland, because it just provided him with another set of energy and strength to heal fully up, a show down between the two of them were no joke. "Okay," she took a deeper breath in. It didn't mean she trusted or ever really would trust anything Revna did, but she rarely questioned Damian. And he would always remain the person she trusted the most. Melanie took a slightly deeper breath in before taking the jacket off as Adonis had walked in, not that she looked down on the blood on it.

She closed her eyes for a second as Damian started to wipe the blood of her skin, trying to distance the feeling from the sting that caused her entire being to go into shock earlier. Melanie opened her eyes when Neil spoke to them, announcing when Fenris would be there. She gave him a little nod, and let him go, they could talk later. Adonis looked towards where Neil disappeared to, and waited a few seconds himself before he made the choice to follow him. Melanie watched Adonis and Neil walk out for a second before looking back at Damian.

Damian nodded when he heard what Neil told them. “Thank you” he said looking towards him as he saw how first Neil left and then Adonis walked after. Then he returned his gaze towards his sister. A small smile was on his lips as he let out a soft sigh.
Then they sat there in silence. As he slowly removed the blood that was on her face, her neck and on her hands. What mess, all of it. To think that past actions wouldn’t come back and hunt you, made you foolish. He had always known that Revna would come back to haunt him. That was the consequence of not killing her. But after all that torture that they had put her through, that look in her eyes as she had made herself ready to die. He couldn’t. He had seen her sons flashing for his eyes, and in that moment, he had understood Revna better than he would like to tell anyone. How the instinct of saving your children, made every rational thought leave and then there were only an animal back.

He let the cloth fall back into the lukewarm water. Then he heard a car drive into the driveway. “Fenris is here” he announced softly and got up from where he had been kneeling in front of her. He walked towards the door and opened it for the demon that nodded towards him. Damian gave him a small smile, before without any words brought him towards Melanie. Fenris took the position that Damian had been in a moment ago. His hands found hers and softly squeezed them. “Hi” he said with a small smile, his hand found her cheek as he pushed some of her hair away.

Her body still felt so heavy, like her mind still tried to push through the compulsion, but she knew it wasn't Oscar's powers still holding her. It was her mind still not realizing just what had happened, her body had pushed through it, the animal always kept her going even when the human side sometimes felt pushed down and betrayed. Like it did now. A huge part of her had the urge to just transform and run off for a while, but she knew it wouldn't solve anything to run away. But she took a deeper breath in, letting her sanity back in as the blood got washed away from her skin. She could hear the car outside, and took a deeper breath in, knowing he was here even before it was announced.

Melanie wanted to get up and walked with Damian, but it was like her legs refused her to stand up still, making her groan a little annoyed as Damian went to get the door. Melanie closed her eyes for a second, because she hated all of this, this entire day. Fenris scent came in closer, making her open her eyes back up, realizing she still hadn't moved yet. His hands touched hers for a moment, making her exhale, enough to make her lips shiver just a little bit. "Hey," Melanie responded with an almost weak low voice, her lips pulled up on a relived small smile as his hand found her cheek. She lifted her hand up and placed it on top of his that was on her cheek, the most movement she really had made on her own since stepping back towards the house. Now despite feeling like there was endless things she could say or try to say, it was like her tongue was tied for words, nothing made sense saying. So, she just kept her eyes on his, well their eyes had a way of communicating just fine without even say a word. She thought of them just going upstairs to her room, just see if it would lose the tension in her system a little bit.

Fenris looked a little, took her in. He didn’t need to know what had happened, at least not right now. That was a story he could get another day. Especially when he could see just how exhausted she was. He looked down at the water, and the bloody cloth. He didn’t have the same senses as a vampire nor a werewolf, but he had his extreme intellect. He could put the dots together, and what formed in his head wasn’t really something he liked. But what could Fenris do right now? Nothing against the matters that had already transpired.
“I’ll take her to her room” he told Damian without looking him, and with gentle hands he picked up Melanie. His arm around her shoulder and the other under her legs. Carrying her towards the stairs he turned towards Damian that gave him a small smile. “Third door on the left” Fenris nodded as thanks, before he walked towards the room. “Here we go” he said with a soft voice “We really need to stop meeting like this, where I have to carry you to bed” he said, but even though his voice didn’t reveal much emotion, the small smile on his lips did. He placed her on the bed and bowed down to give her a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Something you need?” he asked, letting his hand glide over her hair.

She didn't really argue against the statement of getting her to her room, nor the fact that Fenris lifted her up. Because right now her mind was so clouded and she hated it. She had survived so many things in her life, handled so many situations and here this was trying to get her, no, no she wasn't going to let it. The trip to her room lasted for a short amount of time than she had realized, perhaps because she had been consumed by her thoughts. But she smiled at him as he placed her down on her bed. "Or at least change up the reason," she mumbled a little and took a deeper breath in, not letting her eyes move away from his. "Just you, then the rest of the world can wait," she breathed out. "I'm just a little shaken, I will be fine," she added with a small smile. "I was compelled so, my mind and body are just trying to get along again -" Melanie wanted to assure him, and she was quite sure it would just be a moment. She already felt more at ease by just having him around.

“Change up the reason? Then I think you should be the one that carries me to bed next time” he teased, knowing she would be strong enough to lift his body anywhere she wanted. A small chuckle left him, when she told him that all she needed was him. He would lie, if he said it didn’t boost his ego in the best way possible. But the smile and teasing look in his eyes disappeared, when she started talking serious again. Shaken, and compelled. He narrowed his eyes, now compelled usually meant a vampire. Even though that there was plenty of other people walking around with those abilities. One of them being Melanie’s own nephew.
“Who compelled you, and why?” he asked, after he had picked up a chair and moved it towards the bed, so he could sit beside her. Letting his hand find hers and slowly let his fingers run in soft circular motions over the back of her hand. His eyes narrowed a little, while he waited for her to explain what had happened. Making sure that he didn’t interrupt her, or pressure her too much. Especially when her mind had been forced to do something that it didn’t want to.

Who compelled you, and why? Well she knew she had been stupid enough to actually think she could have done anything to change the outcome of what had happened. If she had just let him go and accepted what he had done, but anyone who knew Melanie knew she never really went down without a fight, no matter the category the fight really got placed it. "Oscar, he shut off his humanity," she explained letting her free hand scratch her forehead a little bit. Now it wasn't news that she talked to Oscar, they mostly did so because of Clay. "And I'm too stubborn for my own good, one would think it would be a trait I could outgrow but no, I guess not or well served me well enough in the end," she exhaled a little keeping her eyes towards Fenris, otherwise it would perhaps have been her passed out down on the fjord and not Oscar. "He wanted to hear about this whole Adonis situation," being the reason why they had met up this time.

His brows furrowed as she explained that Oscar had done it, and that he had shut off his emotions. Now, he didn’t know the man fairly well, so he had no idea why he would do such a thing. His thumb kept gliding over the soft back of her hand. Not saying anything, waiting for her to explain what she wanted before he would say or do anything. Mostly because he wanted her to feel like she could tell him things, without him judging her. At this point, he didn’t really know enough, to even comment on what he thought about everything. Once again, he didn’t know Oscar. Other than he had called him, when he had found Leigh in his house and after that had broken his neck. Maybe there had been too much going on in Oscar’s life for him to cope with everything? Not that he really cared about the vampire if he was being completely honest.
“Alright” he mumbled, giving her hand a small squeeze. “I’m sorry that it happened to you” what else was there really to say? He had no idea, mostly because he didn’t know what she wanted to do about after she was back on her feet again. He was with Revna, Letha, Leigh’s mother, right? Maybe she could turn back his emotions or something.

Melanie took a deeper breath in and shook her head a little bit. Well it wasn't because Leon and Elias back when they had been young by accident had used their powers on her, because they simply couldn't understand them. Even this was different, because one thing was that someone you thought would never hurt you suddenly turned out to be the one causing harm. It was what had happened with Reginald as well, she had let her guard down and let someone in only to be torn apart - even if it was many years ago and she had forgiven him for the actions and mindset he had back then, after having apologized and changed his life around. "Well, he is a 9000 year old vampire. I think it's safe to say that he should be able to clean up his own messes, or at least learn over the years. I guess not," she sighed a little bit and licked her lips letting out a little chuckle sitting a little bit up, no she wasn't going to sleep. She just wanted to sit and be here. Taking and not having to be anything else but just here. So, she moved a little nodding for him to come over next to her. "Stay with me," Melanie exhaled a little bit with a warmer smile, keeping her eyes on him still.