Ashlandil

"Dude! What the hell happened to the dressing room?" CC exclaimed as we all hovered at the door, staring. The mirrors were smashed, glass crunching beneath our feet, and the chairs were broken into pieces, our stuff strewn everywhere.
I sniffed, smelling blood, and my eyes flicked around. Seraphine had been in here, I could smell her everywhere. Fuck, where was Kenali?
My eyes swept to the emergency exit, seeing a bloody handprint sizzling into smoke.
"Where the fuck is security?" Jake muttered, kneeling to pick up his bag and brushing glass off it.
"Did some crazy fan bust in here?" Andy wondered as I lifted my jacket out of the floor, shaking it.
"Ash, did you forget to call her or something?" CC joked, and I rolled my eyes.
"Hey, don't blame this shit on me," I told him, grabbing a clean shirt out of my bag and jerking it on. "It was probably some ex of yours."
He rolled his eyes at me.
"Let's just get our stuff and get out of here," Jinxx muttered. "This is ridiculous.
" "Hey, where's Kenna?" Andy asked, hesitating as he slipped his jacket on. "I thought she was gonna wait for us in here." Of course he would think of her.
"Ash?" All the guys turned to look at me expectantly.
"She's a big girl, I'm sure she's off mingling with the crowd," I told them, brushing glass off my shoulder. "Don't worry about her."
Did Seraphine attack her? I wondered worriedly. Kenali was small, new, she didn't know the meaning of the word pain yet. Fuck, I needed to find her.
"Why don't we look?" Andy frowned, his shoulders tense. I didn't know their story, but he was getting worked up over her absence more then I would have suspected.
Did he care for her back? As whiny and heart-driven as she was, I had figured it had been one-sided, that she was just a fool to Fall for someone who didn't care for her back.
"I'll look," I sighed, making it sound like I was annoyed. "Just get my shit back to the bus, and we'll meet you guys there." Andy didn't look satisfied, but I ignored him as I left the room, quickly finding another exit and sprinting back into the alley.
I searched desperately for any sign of her, circling the block until I caught her scent. I raised my head, seeing fallen bricks and indentations running through the alley wall.
I sniffed, smelling more of her blood, and then jumped, digging my nails into the wall and scaling it quickly.
"Kenali!"
Her head jerked up, and she blinked at me where she sat against the edge of the roof, drenched and shivering. I ran to her, falling to my knees beside her.
"What happened?" I demanded, brushing her hair out of her eyes, seeing her right one blackening. Her white tank was black and dingy now, blood residue that hadn't faded yet the only reason I had found her. I could see gashes in her shoulder, and glass glistened in her back.
"Kenali?" I frowned when she didn't speak.
"She... She was going to wait in the dressing room, " she finally muttered, letting her legs straighten in front of her, jeans ruined from the grime. "We fought, and she ran off when the rain storm started."
I glanced at her back, and then forced her to lean over. I winced, seeing the large slivers sticking from her flesh like scales.
"This is gonna hurt," I muttered, and she nodded mutely, swallowing. I got a good grip, then jerked the glass out.
She hissed in pain, amd black blood dripped down her back by the time I got all of the pieces out. She had her face buried in her hands when I was done, and she'd bitten her lip so hard it was bleeding now.
"Done," I told her, letting the last piece clatter onto the roof. I watched as the wounds in her back healed, leaving just shredded clothing and blackness.
"You okay?" I asked when she didn't move, and she nodded after a moment, sniffling. She leaned up, hair sticking to her skin as tears streamed down her face in crystal drops.
"It's gonna be okay," I told her softly, brushing her tears away. "The pain will pass."
"Why would anyone want this world?" she whispered, her big violet eyes turning to meet my red. "With all its pain?"
"You haven't experienced any of the good yet," I told her, her knees by my hips. I rested my arm on them as I looked at her, a little resigned.
Her lip was healed, though there was still blackness around her eye that probably wouldn't go away any time soon. A hit like that from Seraphine would have decimated a normal himans skull.
"You shouldn't have fought her, Kenali. She could have sent you to oblivion."
"I wasn't gonna let her in that room where she could have killed you all!" she snapped at me, becoming more of her cross self. "She would have killed all of them without a thought."
I sighed in aggravation, running a hand through my post-concert hair. This was going to be more trouble then it was worth.
"Here," I shrugged out of my jacket as she shivered, and draped it around her shoulders. "We'll go shopping tomorrow and get you some clothes. I'll loan you some tonight."
She didn't answer, just sort of stared blindly forward. Your first meeting with pain would do that to you.
"Is there any bad injuries?" I asked, and after a moment she shook her head.
"Nothing I can't handle." she muttered, curling her knees to her chest. I leaned back on my palms, looking at her sodden form. She looked absolutely miserable, wet and in pain.
Fuck me and my fucking conscience.
I lifted my wrist to my lips and bit down hard. Kenalis eyes flashed over as the scent of blood hit her, and they widened. "What are you doing?" she demanded, turning towards me, her hands fluttering like she wanted to help but didn't know how too.
"Drink," I told her, offering her my wrist. "You need some strength and I've plenty to give."
Her cheeks reddened.
"Ashlandil, I ---."
"Just do it before it heals," I snapped at her. "And don't expect this often, got it?"
She ducked her head, and then took my wrist, her lips hesitantly covering the wound.
I closed my eyes as the burning pain rippled up my arm. We could take strength from others by drinking their blood, and it's where the myth of vampires had originated from. It wasn't pleasant to be fed from, but the taker would get a real high off of it.
I grimaced, flexing my arm as the stinging increased drastically.
Kenali abruptly pulled away, hastily wiping the blood off her lips. I glanced at my wrist as the wound closed itself, two little pin pricks remaining.
"There, now, come on," I stood and offered my hand, and she took it. I kept a tight grip on her as I strode to the edge of the roof, and we jumped, landing in the alley easily.
"If anyone asks, you got into a fight over me with some fan," I told her, and she looked at me like I had just spit on her. "Don't make a face, what else are you gonna say over your eye?"
"It's not gone away?" she gasped in horror, raising a hand to it. "Your blood shouldve fixed it!"
"Well, you don't feel any pain do you?" She shook her head. "Then that's what matters. It'll heal up in a day or so, don't worry about it. Andy will probably coo all over you," I rolled my eyes, and she sent me the most awful look.
Her facial expressions were starting to be something I enjoyed.

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