The Highest Stakes

Kira stood. "You live through it," she answered. "Find something worth holding on to. For me, it was Julian. He taught me what being a vampire truly means. You're not helpless anymore, Tyler. You have power you've not even begun to realize. Utilize it. Train. Force yourself to get up and move on."

She met his gaze. "Julian will be expecting you this evening for your training. Distraction will do you well."

---

Kira decided to start practicing what she preached. She needed some distraction, herself. Tyler's pain was too real to be around for the moment. Most vampires they took in already knew what loss truly was. They'd been through it and dealt with it. Tyler was too new for that. She couldn't help but look at him and see the person she used to be. The woman who'd lost her husband, and her infant son not a few weeks later. Perhaps his parents weren't truly dead, but he wouldn't be seeing them again. He wouldn't have ties with anyone he knew as a human. They would die out one by one in the end, leaving only him behind. Such was the hardest part of being immortal. You lost all but your own kind. For Kira, Julian and the other vampires, their own race was all they knew. It would be decades before Tyler would see the same.

She'd gotten a lead from another clan. Jessica had been seen in and around France, having left Germany for who knew how long. Kira was prepared for the trip and she wouldn't be returning to Germany without Jessica. She drove off and on, only stopping at hotels along the way to evade daylight, and then returned to the road come sundown. A day later she was in the heart of France, knocking on the door of the leader of the clan who'd contacted her.

Felix opened the door, looking every bit his eight hundred plus years, in full dress and wearing a welcoming smile. He was handsome, that was sure, with long brown locks of hair cascading past his shoulders and tied back into a ponytail. He stepped forward and embraced her, kissing her on both cheeks. "It has been too long, my Kira," he beamed.

Kira allowed the embrace and nodded back, all business. "Let's get started, shall we?"

Tyler was training with Julian, he was finally gaining some respect from the guy. He mentioned how he hadn't heard from Kira in a couple days but Julian answered that with an arrow in his gut, so he decided to leave those questions to himself.

----------------------------------------------------

Too celebrate his success with training, he had a late night drinking with Julian. He finally passed out with Alexa next to him. He was wakened hours later, his head buried in Alexa's hair. He could hear his name, as he sat up and looked at Kira and who he recognized right away, Jessica.

Kira held onto Jessica's side, knowing the younger vampire wouldn't dare try to escape. Kira was over twice her age, and she was thus stronger and far deadlier as a result. Tyler's eyes were wide in shock, exactly how she'd wanted them to be.

"I brought you a surprise," Kira explained, tangling her fingers into Jessica's hair and giving it a painful tug. Jessica howled.

He got out of the bed, in his boxers and dresses quickly. Alexa still sleeps, not caring to wake up. Tyler goes up closer to Kira, he looks at her "This is where you were...looking for her?"

Kira wides her smile, Tyler smirks back slightly and looks at Jessica who eyes him, "Tell her this is a mistake..I did nothing wrong Tyler, I made you better...I gave you an amazing life."

Tyler grabs hold of a paper opener knife, from his desk and jams into Jessica's stomach, the vampire groans.

Kira stood back and watched, impressed. Though she knew the vampire deserved it, she'd have expected Tyler to cower away from exacting his vengeance. He was even angrier than he let on.

At Kira's side she held a duffel bag full of weapons for this exact purpose. She dropped it by Tyler's feet and smiled. "Feel free to use whatever's in there," she offered. "This is quite entertaining."

Tyler opens up the bag and looks at the weapons, he takes out a stake but then glances to the window, "All these weapons are great but I think we can do something better. Stand back Kira."

He goes over to the window and opens the certain, so it hits Jessica only. The vampire yells out in pain, Tyler finally closes it and pulls Jess up by her hair and stakes her to the wall, two stakes in the palm of her hand and another two in her ankles.

He stands back and looks at Kira,"You have a lot of experience in this, I assume. What should I do next?"

Kira was fascinated by this side of Tyler. Smirking, she picked up a bottle from inside the duffel bag and strode over to where Jessica was pinned to the wall. She got a firm grip on the bosom of Jessica's dress and ripped it in two, leaving her bare but for her undergarments. She unscrewed the bottle and handed it to Tyler.

"Battery acid," she explained.

Tyler takes it and throws it onto Jessica. She screams again, he goes up to her and looks at her,"Was turning me worth it now?"

Jessica looks at him, "Please..."

Tyler takes out a dagger, goes right up and cuts her left ear off. He backs up, "What was that...?"

Jessica holds her head down, Tyler looks at her and suddenly he felt a release. He wanted to bring her agony, he takes another stake and drives it into her heart.

He steps back, looking at what he's accomplished. He finally looks to Kira, "How did I do?"

Kira smirked. "I'd have continued, but I am impressed."

Tyler looks away, "Why draw it out? I definitely...felt different, a good different. Thank you." He looks at her again, "Was it hard trying to find her?"

Kira crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, not minding the dead vampire hanging not a few feet from where she stood. "There are resources," she answered. "Other clans. I contacted each one I could think of and told them to be on the lookout. First I had a tip that she was in Poland, somehow having passed through Germany without being seen. Two weeks ago, I sought her in Krakow. No such luck - she'd already moved on. An acquaintance of mine, Felix, called me next. He's the leader of one of the more well known French clans. I caught her as she was attempting to escape to the Spanish border."

When vocalized, it sounded like much harder work than it really had been. She shook her head. "It's really not so difficult, Tyler. As an immortal, it's best to make friends with whomever you can."

Tyler looks at her, they were standing closer than before. He glances quickly at Jessica, "Still, I mean...you really, I couldn't do all this, without you Kira."

He looks back at her, she looked at him. Both were quiet, he took a chance and leaned into her, kissing her gently.

The moment Tyler's lips touched hers, Kira froze. This was why she shouldn't have sought Jessica out, why she shouldn't have opened up to him about her past. They couldn't be like this. They couldn't be this close. She'd known he'd had an attraction to her, but this was something far more deadly for the both of them.

She took a step back and shook her head at Tyler, watching the emotions play across his face, elation morphing into sadness, his shoulders slumping in dejection. She hated to be the one to put that look on his face, but she was to blame for all of his hopes. She'd been too soft. She'd seen too much of herself in him and she'd treated him accordingly. But there was no hope. There was nothing for him to look forward to at this point, only scraps of misplaced affection.

"You can't do that," Kira whispered, retreating from the room backwards but never breaking his gaze. "This isn't what this is."

Tyler looks at her, knowing she obviously belonged to someone else. Before he could say another thing, Julian walked into the room.

Julian stepped in and chuckled when Kira's back met his chest. "Easy, lover," he said with a grin, covering both her shoulders with his massive hands. He looked toward the dead vampire in the room and frowned. "It seems I missed the party."

It had been a couple days since Tyler had kissed Kira, she was still on his mind. How could she not be? Everything he experienced, good or bad, she was apart of it. Without her, he would have been dead by now.

He knows she's taken but it was hard to ignore what he really wanted, considering her response to his kiss, he decided to give her space and hung out with Alexa, anyone else who wanted to.

He went to a bar one night, looking to grab a bite and sat on a stool. He ordered a beer and sure enough, a cute blonde sat next to him. They talked and flirted.

Kira hadn't expected to see Tyler at her favorite bar, but then again, she couldn't seem to shake him. She thought about him more than she wanted to. She wasn't in love, not nearly, but something about him struck her deep inside. Perhaps it was the compassion he radiated, the hope and the kindness he exuded that many a vampire could not. He was fresh to her world. He saw things differently. She missed seeing things through rose colored glasses instead of through the same muddy lens. She'd simply seen to much to be able to.

Instead of turning away when she saw him, she strode up to the bar and sat in the empty booth to his right as he talked to a chatty blond at his other side. He turned as soon as she placed her order and fell silent upon seeing her.

"I'm not telling Julian," she said softly as she nursed the glass of whiskey that was placed in front of her.

Tyler was just laughing at the blonde and looks to see Kira, the blonde sees this and claims he is a player. She slaps him and leaves the bar.

He looks at that, looks back to Kira "Great, I was really hungry..." He finishes his drink.

Kira ignored his attitude and took a drink from her glass. "Compel yourself a girl. You'll have to make her forget, anyway."

He looks at her, "I don't need to compel, it takes away the fun...anyways, I don't care if you tell Julian because I don't intend on staying in town much longer."

He orders another beer.

Kira stayed her glass mid-sip and turned towards him. "What are you talking about?"

Tyler looks at her, "Exactly what I said, I don't want to live the rest of my existence in the mansion. I need a life of my own, I want you to respect that. I am much more in control than I was, I know I can do it."

Kira drummed her fingers on the tabletop in thought. None of this was good, nor was it making much sense. He had safety and all the money he could wish for in the mansion. He had companionship. "Tyler, you're still in training. You've no idea just how bad it is out there. Our kind are captured every day. This is why we stay in groups."

Tyler looks at her,"I am not an idiot...I am not your responsibility." He takes cash out and sets it down,enough to cover both tabs. He gets up and heads outside, over to his car.

Kira left her whiskey at half full and followed Tyler outside. "Tyler!" she called out, waiting until he stopped. He paused in the middle of the walkway but didn't turn around.

"Tyler, this is incredibly stupid. You're clueless. You'll get killed. And for what? You feel like a prisoner in the only place where your safety is guaranteed? It's fucking insane."