Blood Trade Part. 1

Leif
The moon hung high up in the sky overhead. The cold fall air blew gently, softly shaking the pine trees outside. How I love a peaceful night.
“Are you ready to go?” Kyo asked from his place on an old worn-out dining room chair.
“Yeah.” I replied to him in a soft voice.
“Good. Yoichi will be here to get us soon. We should probably unlock the door for him.” Kyo said pulling himself to his feet, and heading out of our little makeshift kitchen into the front room. I’ve been living in this abandoned warehouse for a little under six months. For as long as I can remember, it’s always been just me, and my three older brothers. We never tend to stay in one place very long, we’re always moving from one deserted location to the next. But with our inherited occupation, moving is one of the things keeps us alive. We aren’t meant to settle down. But for some reason, we’ve never left Jackson either. I guess this little corner of South Dakota will always be our home.    
Yuichi came through the doors. He pulled his hood off of his head, and ran a hand through his thick black hair. His cheeks are a brilliant rosy color from the cold weather outside.
“Kyo, Leif, it’s time to go.” He said to us.
“So, November found a new place for us after all.” Kyo said to Yuichi as he crossed his arms.
“Yes. He’s waiting for us now, but I have a few things left here to take care of so…” Yoichi paused for a moment, looking at Kyo with a troubled look in his eyes. He released a shaky sigh before he spoke.
“Leif will be in your hands, Kyo.”
“What? How come I get stuck babysitting?” Kyo complained.
“This isn’t a joke, Kyo. We’re still stuck in the middle of vampire territory. It’s not a full moon, so Leif can’t exactly defend himself out there. If you let anything happen to him-”
“Calm down, Yoichi, nothing’s gonna happen. I’ll watch the little runt.” Kyo said. Yoichi continued to glare at him.
“Why do I not believe you?” he said shaking his head slightly as he left the room.
“Come on, Leif. Let’s get goin’.” Kyo said as he left out the door.

“Hurry up!” Kyo snapped out.
“I’m coming. You’re the one who’s walking too fast!” I shouted back at him stumbling through the endless piles of junk crowding the dark narrow ally way.
      “You’re so slow.” Kyo groaned as he trudged through the sea of trash.
“How much farther is this place anyway?” I asked him. My breaths came out as a faint fog in the cool air.
“Why? You gettn’ tired already?” he asked as he jumped out of the junk pile, and made his way to the main sidewalk.
“Well…” I trailed off in the end.
“Just hurry up.” Kyo said. He continued ahead, basically leaving me behind.
“I told you to wait a minute!” I shouted, then immediately tripped over a heavy box.
“You clumsy little…” Kyo said with a sigh as he made his way back over to me. He offered me an outstretched hand. I gratefully accepted it as he helped me to my feet.
“Thanks.” I said softly. Kyo turned his back to me as he knelt down.
“Hop on.” He said shortly. I threw my arms around his shoulders, as he lifted me off the ground, holding me securely against his back.
“Hold on tightly.” He said as he carried me out of the dark ally.

This is kind of awkward walking alone, at night, with Kyo. As far as I’m concerned, November is considered the doting older brother because he babies me the most. While Kyo has always just been… well, Kyo, the hardheaded, smart mouthed, ill-mannered one. We’re fairly far from the trash polluted ally way, yet he hasn’t offered to put me down yet. We’ve been walking in an awkward silence since then.
“So… the moon’s pretty…” I said to him.
“Yeah, waxing crescent. Great.” He replied shortly. There goes another attempt at a conversation. I’m not sure if I can come up with anything else to talk about.
“Hey Kyo, do you think later we could-”
“Shh…” he stopped abruptly. I could feel his body becoming unsettlingly still.
“Do you smell that?” he asked.
“Smell what?” I replied. My voice was becoming soft without my realizing it. Kyo looked around; I could feel his breathing growing slower, yet his heartbeat rose at a steady pace.
“It smells like a leech.” He said.
“I believe the proper term is ‘vampire’.” A woman’s voice said from behind us. Kyo turned around to face a tall woman with long brown hair.
“It’s all the same damn thing to me.” Kyo said to her as he lowered me onto the ground and took a step towards her.
“It be best to bite that tongue of yours, little wolf. You’ll find the odds aren’t on your side this night.” She said. Her sapphire eyes focused themselves on me. A devilish smile slowly spread across her lips.
“Who’s your… friend?” she asked. I swear I could see the hunger blaring in her eyes.
“That’s none of your business. This is between you and me.” Kyo said to her.
“I believe he is my business. Need I remind you, this is vampire territory, not a hunting place for whelps like you. Anything and everything caught in our territory is fair game. So, why don’t you hand your delicious looking pet over to me? I assure you, nothing will be wasted.” She said swiping her quick tongue across her upper lip.
“If you so much as lay a finger on him, I’ll rip it off.” Kyo growled. The vampire laughed, genuinely amused. Her melodic laughter echoed through the cold air, filling the night with a baneful air.
“I would love to see you try and stop me.” She said, assuming a ready pose.
“Run, Leif.” Kyo said to me.
“What about you?”
“Leif. Run. You know where to go. Find November. He’ll protect you. I’ll catch up later.” Kyo said. I didn’t try to argue anymore. I took a small step backwards, and the vampire lunged out, taking long quick strides towards us. Kyo dashed at her head on. Before his outreached hands could reach her, she swung her arm out, knocking him clear off his feet. Kyo’s skin slowly began to crack and peel off of his body, leaving brown fur in its place. He crashed onto the ground but quickly picked himself up, shaking himself of any trace of his humanity. He stood tall on all fours, growling from the back of his throat, and bearing fangs at the vampire.
“Oh, scary.” She said briefly curling her red lips up into a twisted smile.
“I suppose I’ll have to make this quick.” She said charging at Kyo. I took this at my chance to run. I came up quickly on a corner. A loud, echoing whimper came from behind me before I could make the full turn. He’s hurt. From the sound of his cries, he’s hurting badly. I want to go back. I need to go back for him. But he wouldn’t want that. He’s giving himself because wants me to escape. I ultimately resisted the urge to turn around. ‘I’ll get help, Kyo. I’ll come back. Just please be ok.’ I kept telling myself that as I ran away, abandoning my brother.

I stood hunched over in the middle of the street, gasping for air. I have no clue where I am anymore. My mind is swimming with so many incomprehensible thoughts, popping up quicker than I can actually process them. Kyo’s the only thing I can see clearly in my mind. I don’t know how badly he’s hurt, or if the vampire went as far as to… the possibility of that alone is enough to turn my stomach over.
“Yoichi… November… somebody, please…”
“Where are you, boy?” the woman called out.  She must have tracked me down from my scent. By the sound of her voice, she’s getting close. She’s still after me. I pulled myself together, and carried my screaming body into a dark alleyway. Will the ally hide me from her? Probably not, but it’s the best I’ve got right now.
I panted heavily and tried to hide myself a small dark corner.
“It’s no use hiding. Your scent is like an intoxicating drug. It’s impossible to miss. I can SMELL you’re near.” She shouted in a voice on the brink of hysterical laughter. I’m all out of options. There’s nothing else I can do at this point. She’s going to find me. It’s over. I pulled myself back to a standing position, ignoring the burning pain in my legs and chest. Taking small staggering breaths, I pushed myself off of the wall. Before I could take another step, a hand was thrown over my mouth, and my body was slammed back against the brick wall. A man with silver hair stood over me, wearing all black.
“Be quiet.” He said in a hushed voice. I looked up to him my body froze in shock.  The woman stood at the entrance of the alleyway, gazing at us.
“I see you’ve found my snack.” She said to the man.
“It appears that way.” He replied, smirking lightly.
“Give him back to me.” The she said as she took a step forward.
“Try and make me.” The man replied as his nose brushed against my neck. His cold lips planted a soft kiss against my skin. The female vampire took another small step towards us, and then stopped. She stood, frozen in place for a moment, then shook her head.
“Fine, Keep him. I’ll find something else to do.” She growled. Her sapphire eyes were now a deep midnight blue. Embers of blue burned wildly in her glare as she turned and walked away. I don’t know if it’s something he did, or what he said that caused her to leave, but I don’t like her reaction to any of this at all. Who is this man? He turned his head back to me, looking down at me with emerald eyes. His gaze held the edge of a threat to it, similar to a predator admiring his small defenseless meal. He took his hand off of my mouth.
“Um… I…” I stuttered.
“What are you?” he asked me.
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb. What are you? You don’t seem like a human, and you’re certainly no vampire.” He said.
“I’m a lycan.” I answered him.
“A lycanthrope? Yet you didn’t transform to protect yourself. Can it be that you haven’t yet learned how to control your power?” he asked me.  I softly shook my head, as I looked away from him.
“There’s someplace I have to be.” I said pushing myself off of the wall, only for him to shove me back against it. He pressed his body against mine, trapping me in front of him.
“You’re not going anywhere.” He said in a cold voice.
“You aren’t in full control of your power. You’re as vulnerable as a human.” I could feel his chilled breaths running down my neck as he spoke. I’m afraid. I don’t know what to do, for the first time, I’m genuinely, and deathly afraid.
“I think I’ll take you for myself. You could be of use to me.” He said.
“I don’t know what you plan to do, but my brother would come looking for me. He’ll find me.” I protested as I tried to filter most of the fear out of my voice. I forcefully shoved him away, yet he didn’t budge. He grabbed my chin, and forced me to look at him. His green eyes met mine as he spoke.
“For his sake, you’d better pray he doesn’t find you.”
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Thank you for reading my first post ever. I was introduced to this site by a good friend of mine. I chose to start posting some of my works here, so that I can get some constructive feedback on what I did well, and what I need to work on. Please leave a comment below and help me improve myself for th future.
Thank you :)