Time moved slowly for Vivian. The strangers had decided to tie her up to a tree just outside their camp and left her there. It had been hours she assumed, mostly by the way the forest darkened around them and grew colder. She couldn't really tell what time it was, but she knew it was growing late. Cold had seeped into her bones, her body constantly shivered as she resisted chattering her teeth. Everything became hazy as time went on, and Vivian wasn't sure if she was awake or asleep anymore.

"...vian." The woman heard a whisper, but couldn't make out the word. She lifted her head and gazed in front of her. Everything was blurry and she couldn't quite make out the figure kneeling in front of her. That was a person, wasn't it? "Vivian?"

The woman's eyes focused as he spoke her name, looking back at crimson hues. "Kit?" She hadn't even noticed he took her face in his hands until fingers brushed against her cheek. Was he real? Was she dreaming?

"I am real." Kit said, and Vivian realized she must have spoken her thoughts. "We need to get you out of here." His voice had a tinge of panic laced within it.

Vivian watched with half lidded eyes as the man moved behind her and ripped the rope clean off her wrists, unbinding her. Her arms were stiff as she brought them to her front, looking down at her hands and noticing the way the tips looked much whiter than they should.

"Can you stand?" Kit asked, moving to kneel back in front of her. He reached out with his hands, taking hers.

"I can try." Vivian said, trying to push herself up onto weak legs, but they refused to support her weight. She just went tumbling down back to the snowy ground. "No, no I can't."

"Okay." Without another word, Kit lifted her from the ground, the movement so fast that Vivian's world spun for a moment. But then she was in Kit's arms, pressed to his chest and feet dangling. There was sound that came from somewhere in the camp, footsteps crunching against snow. "We need to go." The vampire said, beginning to move away from the camp.

"Vampire!" A voice shrieked out before the trees could conceal them. Chaos erupted from the camp as everyone within sprung into action.

"Shit." Kit muttered as he picked up his pace and began to run.

"Don't let 'em get away!" Another voice yelled, and Vivian knew this wasn't going to be an easy escape.

Kit ran for what felt like only a few moments before his entire form jerked, and Vivian fell from his grasp as they both tumbled to the ground. Vivian was quick to push herself up and look at Kit. Her eyes widened when she saw the arrow sticking from his back. "Kit!" Vivian yelled, moving towards him.

"Go." Kit said, pushing himself from the ground. "They will come after me, not you."

"No!" Vivian yelled, looking up to see the people from camp coming towards them. "I can't leave you! I can't even run Kit!"

There was a look of desperation on the vampire's face at her words, panic and fear mixed into his expression. "Fuck." He said and pushed up from the ground, grabbed the arrow from his back and ripped it out. He barely flinched. Then he was moving towards her, picking her back up and began to run again. "Fucking hunters."

Hunters? Is that what these people were? Vivian looked over Kit's shoulder at the group of people following them, at the group of hunters. One of them loaded their crossbow and aimed it right at Kit's back. "No!" She yelled again, throwing her body to one side and causing Kit to stumble. Only, he stumbled out of the way of the arrow that came flying towards his head, wheezing past it instead. He didn't say anything, just kept running. She could hear the hunters behind them, Kit slowly losing them as he was faster than them.

Until he stumbled again, falling to his knees but managing to keep Vivian in his grasp. She looked to see if he was struck by another arrow, but there were none. "Kit, what is it?" She asked, seeing the strain on his face.

"The arrow... it was poisoned." He bites out, moving to set Vivian down on the ground. "I cannot keep running like this. I have to try and fight them."

"What?" Vivian snapped out. "Poison?" The panic was clear in one word.

"It will not kill me, but it will slow me down." He said, looking over his shoulders at the approaching group of hunters. "Stay here."

"You can't fight them!" She reached out and grabbed him, her fingers trembling. "Y-You just said you were poisoned!"

"And I cannot outrun them, but I can fight them. Stay here." He took her hands from him and stood, turning to face the hunters.

"Kit, no!" Vivian begged, but the vampire was already heading off towards the group. "Wait!" She called after him, but it was too late.

Vivian watched as Kit raced towards the group, at least five of them heading this direction. But they seemed to notice Kit running back towards them, as they all stopped and braced themselves. It all happened so quickly, Vivian could barely keep track of Kit's body as he moved through the hunters. Despite the poison, he was still quicker than them. She watched him take one hunter down, and then another, their forms disappearing into the snow. A hunter wielding an ax swung it at Kit, but the vampire moved out of the way just in time for the blade to knick his cheek.

They all seemed to dance around one another, the hunters throwing attacks at Kit and the vampire dodging. He managed to get another hunter down, only two remaining. Kit stood opposite from them, as if squaring each other up. Then one of the hunters threw themselves at Kit, the man moving to dodge.

Only, the other hunter moved too, and while Kit dodged one attack, the other hit. "No!" Vivian screamed as she watched knives cut into Kit's side. "Kit!" Pushing off with her hands, she tried to go towards him, but her body was still weak and she collapsed back down to the snow.

The vampire stumbled back from the attack, and the hunters gave him no time to recover. The ax wielding one swung it at Kit, and Vivian watched in horror as he cut deep across his chest. No, no! Kit was knocked to the ground from that blow, the hunters moving in on him. Oh gods, no! Trying again, the woman shoved herself up and managed to stand, stumbling her way towards Kit and the hunters.

"Don't touch him!" Vivian screamed, causing both of the hunters to stop and look up at her. As she neared them, the hunter with the knives moved towards her, blades ready to attack.

Kit seemed to take that moment to grab the hunter with the knives, pulling them to the snow and snapping their neck. The last hunter swung his ax at Kit, and Vivian watched as the blade sunk into his back.

The scream was trapped in Vivians throat as she stumbled to the ground, watching the hunter rip the ax out, blood flying with the motion. No, no, no! Seeming satisfied with the injured vampire on the ground, the hunter turned their attention to Vivian. She tried to scramble away from the approaching hunter, but he was upon her before she could move an inch.

"Seemed your little vampire boyfriend did love you." The hunter said as they stood over Vivian, ax dripping with Kit's blood. "Too bad he couldn't save you."

"Fuck you." Vivian hissed out, watching the man raise the ax.

Closing her eyes, she tried to prepare herself for the hit, but it never came. When she opened her eyes, she saw the hunter stop mid motion, eyes wide. Moving her eyes down just a little, she saw the red hand sticking out from the hunter's chest. The hand retracted, the hunter falling to the snow in a heap, Kit standing behind them panting heavily.

Vivian just stared up at him for a moment while he looked down at her, both of them silent. But then the man dropped to his knees, and Vivian moved to try and catch him. "Kit." She breathed out, hands trembling as they grabbed him.

The vampire looked horrendous, his face was pale and eyelids drooping, breathing in and out heavily. "We... we need to get... you back." Kit managed to get out, struggling over his words.

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Vivian shook her head. "Do you realize how hurt you are?" She asked, eyes roaming over the horrible looking wounds. Blood poured from them, painting the white snow around them a deep red. She had never seen the vampire this injured. It rattled her, the woman trying to think of anything she could do to help. "Kit, you-you need..."

"Do not... say it." He shook his head.

"You need blood, don't you?" Vivian said anyway, Kit's gaze sharp as he met her eyes.

Again, the man shook his head. "No, Vivian... no I do not."

Vivian huffed out a breath. "Kit, you're dying! Look at all this blood you've lost, you need blood."

"I will not drink yours." The vampire said firmly, seeming to take all his energy to do so, as the man fell forward onto his hands. "I cannot... I will not do it."

Vivian felt frustration heavy in her chest. Kit was going to die because he refused to drink from her. And there was no way to convince him, unless... The woman moved from where she knelt next to Kit and to where the hunter with the knives lay.

"Where... where are you going?" Kit asked, unable to see what Vivian was doing.

"Give me a second." Vivian replied, hands searching the snow. When she felt a blade, she instantly grabbed it, pulling it from where it was hidden. She stared down at the knife as she lifted it, steeling her resolution. She had to do this, she had to, it was the only way to make Kit drink from her.

Lifting her sleeve, she raised the knife to her forearm and pressed the blade firmly against her skin before dragging it down, splitting the skin. She sucked in a quick breath at the flare of pain that traveled up and down her arm. Red instantly formed at the cut, blood seeping out and dripping down her arm.

"Vivian." Kit's voice called out to her, the tone unnerving her. "What did you do?"

Moving back in front of Kit, she knelt down and offered her arm. "Drink."

Kit didn't move, didn't lift his head up. "No."

"Dammit Kit!" She yelled, her frustration growing. Using both her hands, she forced the man to sit up. When he did, their eyes met, and Vivian took in a sharp breath. He had transformed in front of her, black eyes looking at her, fangs long and sharp.

"Vivian." His voice was strained, black eyes moving to the spot she cut herself. Vivian could see the fight going on within him on his face. "Why?"

"Because you need it." She replied, watching as the man lifted hands to grab her arm gently. "And I trust you."

Black eyes snapped to her then, a longing behind the pain. "Vivian-."

"Just do it." Vivian shook her arm for emphasis. "Please."

Kit's eyes moved back to the cut, slowly lifting her arm to his mouth. It looked like it pained him, like he was fighting himself. When he brought her arm to his lips, the vampire hesitated.

"Drink." Vivian pleaded, and that was all it took.

The vampire opened his mouth and bit into Vivian's arm, the woman gasping from the pain that flared from the spot. It traveled up and down her arm, making her shiver. His grip tightened, pulling her closer to him. But then warmth spread from the spot, moving over her entire body. A haze crept over her mind, breath shallowing. Again, the man's grip tightened, but she barely noticed.

Vivian just watched Kit as he drank from her, throat moving with each swallow of her blood. Her entire form felt heavy, shoulders sagging and head dropping. She could feel her consciousness slipping, black growing around the edges of her eyes. Her vision began swaying, a foreign sense of calm keeping any panic from rising. But she knew he was taking too much.

"Kit." Vivian breathed out, raising a hand to grab the vampire's shoulder. "I-I think... you're taking... too much." She struggled to speak over the fog that scrambled her mind. "Kit."

The vampire didn't seem to hear her, continuing to drink. His grip continued to tighten, beginning to hurt her. Still, Vivian couldn't seem to pull away, she couldn't fight. There was only a warmth that spread through her, a calm that swept her thoughts away. The black that edged in her vision closed in, the woman about to pass out. She tried again to get his attention, but she just couldn't. Vivian fell back, back, back into the darkness.

✩

The only thing Kit could focus on was the taste of blood as it traveled down his throat. He didn't even notice Vivian passing out, his mind was buzzing with only one thought. Drink, drink, drink. It had been so long since Kit last fed on someone, and his control was barely there. He managed to not grip her arm so much to the point he would break it, but he was unable to pull himself away. He wasn't thinking clearly. He couldn't think past the blood, the warm liquid flowing into his mouth, overwhelming his senses as he drank one mouthful after another. It was all-consuming.

You have to stop, Kit begged himself, fingers trembling as they gripped her arm. But the demon in him was unleaded, it controlled his body and wanted more, more. The vampire closed his eyes as he drank, no other feeling but a deep want filling his chest.

Hands grabbed his shoulders, but Kit barely registered it as he continued to devour Vivian's blood. He could hear a voice calling out to him, a familiar one that tugged at something in his mind, but still he couldn't tear himself away. Kit was going to kill her, and he couldn't stop it.

The hands moved from his shoulders to his face, grabbing his jaw and forcing it open. No, Kit thought, losing the contact with Vivian's arm. I need more.

"... ahold of yourself!" The same voice snapped at him, and Kit opened his eyes, looking into a familiar pair of lilac hues. "What are you doing?"

"Viktor?" Kit's voice came out ragged, slowly regaining control of himself as Vivians blood no longer flowed down his throat. He was disorientated, unable to make out anything past Viktor. Where was he? What was going on?

"Why were you drinking from her?" Viktor asked, a clear worry in their voice.

Kit just looked at the witch for a moment, trying to understand what they were talking about, and then it hit him. Vivian, with blood dripping down her forearm, telling him to drink. "What?" Kit breathed out, raising a hand to his mouth and wiping whatever was covering it. When he looked at his hand, it was covered in blood. Vivian's blood. "No, no, no, no." The vampire began to panic, vision focusing past Viktor.

That's when he saw her, Vivian lying limp in Niccolo's arms, blood running down her forearm. Kit's blood ran cold at the sight, a sense of complete dread filling him.

"I-I did not- She is not dead, is she?" The vampire asked, unable to hear the sound of her heartbeat over the rushing of his own. "Is she?"

"No." Niccolo said, looking down at Kit with disappointment. "But we need to get her back to the estate. She's lost a lot of blood."

The dread in him seemed to intensify as Niccolo spoke. Oh gods, what had he done?

✩

When Vivian woke up, it was slow, her consciousness evading and escaping her as she fought to grab it. Her entire form felt sore, eyelids fluttering open and vision unfocused. As she came more into her body, Vivian's vision began to focus more and she realized she was laying in her bed in Niccolo's estate. She couldn't remember how she got here, she doesn't remember falling asleep last night.

Pushing up with her arms, she breathed in a quick breath as a sharp pain radiated from her arm. Looking down to the spot, she saw an IV was inserted into her, eyes following the line filled with red liquid to a bag of blood hanging above her. Blood?

"Awake?" A voice said to her left, Vivian whipping her head around to see who just spoke. Niccolo sat in a chair in the corner of the room. "I was afraid you'd never wake up." Niccolo said, not sounding very sincere.

"W-What happened?" Vivian asked, because she couldn't remember anything. The last thing she did remember was walking in the gardens by herself, and then... she was taken. It came flooding back to her, being taken to the camp, sitting outside in the cold for hours, and then Kit arriving to rescue her, but after that it all goes foggy. "Where's Kit?"

Niccolo kind of just looked at her for a moment, as if assessing her. "Of course you wouldn't remember." He said, standing from his chair and moving towards Vivian. "Vampire venom does have that effect."

"Vampire venom? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact you forced Kit to drink from you." Niccolo snapped out, heat behind his words.

Vivian shook her head, unable to make sense from his words. "N-No, I didn't, I would remember doing that."

"No you wouldn't." Niccolo moved towards the bed. "The venom would erase any memories from around the time you were bitten."

The woman just looked at the elder vampire for a moment. "Kit... bit me?" She asked, her voice hesitant.

"Yes, after you cut yourself and forced yourself upon him."

"I-I would never!"

"But you did."

Vivian couldn't think of what to say. Has that really happened? She searched her memory, trying to form the image in her head, but she couldn't. Vivian remembers them running from the camp, and then the hunters attacking them.

Her head shot up to meet Niccolo's hard gaze. "He was dying."

"No, he wasn't." Niccolo stood next to the bed now, arms crossed over his chest. "Kit wouldn't have died from his injuries."

"W-What?"

"Vampires can only be killed by removing their head or their heart. Kit was gravely injured, yes, but he would have survived."

Again, Vivian couldn't think of what to say. Had she forced him to drink her blood? How would she even accomplish something like that? She shook her head, but then looked at the bag of blood that was currently being fed into her arm. "What do you mean I forced him?"

Niccolo's jew clenched. "Kit does not drink from humans. He has always been against the notice. But you... you harmed yourself in front of him in order for him to drink your blood. You forced him."

"No, I wouldn't do that!"

"But you did, Vivian!" Niccolo yelled.

Both of them just looked at each other, the elder vampire's anger clear on his face. Vivian could feel her cheeks had flushed, heat spreading down her neck as she was yelled at.

In their silence, the door opened, revealing Viktor. "You really shouldn't be yelling at her." They said, walking towards the bed. "It's not like she knew about Kit's aversion to drinking from humans. Did you?" Viktor aimed the question at Vivian.

She shook her head. "No! No I didn't know, if I had I wouldn't have... I wouldn't have forced him." Vivians tone made it sound like she was disappointed in herself. "Is... is he okay?"

Niccolo and Viktor look at one another. "No one has seen him since we returned with you." Viktor said, turning to look at Vivian. "He is clearly ashamed of himself."

"I have to apologize." Vivian said then, throwing the covers off of her.

"Vivian." Viktor said, stopping the women from leaving the bed. "You need to rest. You lost a lot of blood."

"But-."

"And like they said," Niccolo cuts her off, "no one knows where he is."

Vivian looks over to the elder vampire. "No one?"

Niccolo shakes his head. "He's gone into hiding. Too ashamed to show his face."

Oh no, this was all her fault. She had to fix this, but first she would have to figure out where the vampire is hiding.