BloodBorne Ch. 03

Liam frowned as he watched the scene in front of him. Xan was incredibly calm and soothing during Xion's obvious panic attack, which meant that this wasn't something new. "Is she all right?" If he thought his abilities would help, he would have rushed to the child in a heartbeat. But this seemed to be a mental thing, and once again, he wished his brother Caleb was home. He didn't like the useless feeling weighing him down.

Xan didn't answer Liam's question as her main concern was calming Xion. The child was beet red in anxiety and covered in a thin layer of sweat as she shook uncontrollably. There was only one reason for this and before that reason could be dealt with, Xion had to be cared for. "You're safe. You're fine. I'm here." She pulled Xion's head onto her shoulder and rubbed her back until she began to relax. "That's it. Just listen to my voice." It took a few more minutes, but finally she'd calmed down enough to take a proper breath. "You better?" Xion only nodded against her before turning her head to expose her ear. Xan immediately took to the task of rubbing the tiny organ, the only method of completely calming the child after one of her episodes.

"What just happened?" Draco asked in amazement.

"Someone forgot to take her medicine this morning."

"Medicine?" Alexis asked.

"Xion has anxiety disorder," Xan explained as she continued to comfort her sister. "The doctors have managed to control it with meds, but only if we're consistent."

"Why didn't you make sure she took it?" Liam asked accusingly.

"Now is not the time to piss me off," Xan warned. She focused her attention on her sister, who'd taken to staring at her sheepishly. "Why didn't you take your meds, Xi?"

"I forgot to grab it," the child confessed. She'd been too busy thinking about the big man in her house to remember to grab the pills when she went for her emergency bag.

Mierda, it was at the house. "Why didn't you say anything, babe? You know what just one day of not taking your pills will do." What just happened was proof of that. "And let me guess, you didn't put the back-up bottle in your bag like I told you to." She sighed heavily when Xion only shook her head. She'd lectured her sister countless times about the importance of the back-up bottle. Time and time again, the child didn't listen and would go so far as to take the emergency bottle out of the bag when she couldn't find the one meant for use at home. "I have to go back to the house," she directed to the men.

"Out of the question," Liam objected. There no telling what waited for them in that ramshackle house. He wasn't taking any chances.

"She's just going to get worse without them," Xan said matter-of-factly.

"We'll go," Alexis announced.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Liam shouted. He expelled an exasperated breath when Xion tensed as his tone of voice. He hadn't meant to upset the already fragile child. "There is no way in hell I am letting her-"

"I never said she was going," Alexis calmly stated. "We'll get the medication and anything else you think you need."

Xan nodded her consent as she moved to stand. She adjusted Xion in her arms and happened to glance at Draco's odd facial expression before asking, "What?"

"I'm wondering how she managed to find you." Draco was sure that the child never ventured so far into the manor, meaning she should still be screaming like a maniac as she tore through the rooms looking for her sister.

"I don't know," Xan replied, "Xi and I have always been able to find each other."

"Almost like you and Roman," Alexis commented. Draco and his twin brother were nearly inseparable and usually had an uncanny ability of finding each other when needed. It didn't surprise Alexis that there were others who had the same connection.

"Yes, but that's only because our powers are stronger when we're together," Draco reasoned.

"This is what happens when you expose an innocent child to a world you have no business being part of," Liam mumbled.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Xion has been like this since before I started participating in Dymos'. So you can take your unfounded accusations and shove 'em." Xan shook her head in anger as she stormed out of the room. And to think, she was going to let him kiss her.

"We leave in ten minutes," Alexis announced. The sooner they got the errand over with, the better. "Drake, see if you can call our contact at Linked Pharmaceuticals for refills in case we need them." He could have just asked Xan what her sister's medication was, but he wanted to look at the dosage prescribed first.

"Will do," Draco agreed as he walked out of the room.

"What did I tell you about being nice to her?" Alexis asked Liam.

"Fuck off, Lex," Liam replied. He was prepared to be extra nice to Xan before life rudely butted in. He sighed at the memory of their near kiss. Her lips were soft and supple, even more than he'd imagined. The way her face flushed told him just how much she wanted him to follow through with his move to kiss her. Hell, he would have done more than that if given a chance. "I'm driving."

* * * * *

It was silent in the house as the men stood at the entrance. Furniture had been torn and turned over. Shards of glass coated the stained floors. It was obvious that the already threadbare house had been ransacked. "Sherlaine," Liam grumbled. The son of a bitch was back and obviously determined to find what he wanted. The house wasn't this bad when he'd carted Xan and her sister off.

"Man, this place is depressing," Draco murmured as he looked around. "How did they live like this?" There wasn't much furniture adorning the small house and based on the fact that everything had been torn apart and overturned, they weren't the first ones there.

"It is not our place to judge," Alexis chastised. He glanced around the tumultuous room and took a breath. The poverty of the house brought him back to a time he'd worked hard to forget. "They live like this by choice?"

"Xan said herself that no one asks questions in a neighborhood like this." Liam kicked a random mouse trap that had been moved at some point in the past few days.

"Why would they?" Draco asked, "The people in this neighborhood most likely have their own problems to deal with."

Liam didn't have a moment to nod his agreement as Alexis walked toward the back of the house. He bent to the task of rifling through the broken objects on the floor, furious at the conditions Xan volunteered to live in. While he understood her need to care for Xion, there were other ways to do it. Demon fighting was just too... hard. It made her too hard. Liam did enjoy the fact that she stood up to him without fear and gave as good as she got, he sensed a sensitivity she'd been conditioned to ignore. She deserved better than that. Xan needed reasons to smile and laugh outside of her sister. She needed-

Liam stopped when he stepped on the broken glass on the floor. He looked down without thinking and frowned at the odd mixture of colors peering through the debris. He crouched and gingerly picked through the glass to reveal an old, slightly wrinkled photograph. Two fresh faces smiled at the mystery photographer; one, a bright-eyed child with shiny black hair tamed into two pigtails and the other, a mature and sedate woman who could not hide the weight of the world in her smile. The woman had a hand on a very distended belly, a belly that housed a now quiet little girl with an anxiety disorder. She had Xion's eyes, but her face was sculpted to match the little girl in the photo. Had this woman ever known a moment like this? Had she ever been given a simple moment of naive innocence?

Liam looked back at the young girl in the photo, and young and expressive Xan. She almost looked like another person; her younger self was happy and unaware of the life she was to live. There were no defenses, no anger or resentment. She was simply a girl taking a picture with her mother. Liam flipped the photo over, minding to keep from damaging the brittle edges and gently fingered the simple comment on the yellowing surface. Xandra and mom, first day of spring.

"Xan's name is Xandra?"

Liam glanced over at Draco, who'd busied himself with rifling through the kitchen cabinets. Drake barely looked at him, but he rarely did when spying on others. "Looks like."

"I like it. Makes her less scary."

Liam half smiled as he turned the picture over once more and ran a finger over the bright smiling face of the little girl he wished to know.

"What do you think they were looking for?"

Liam didn't have to ask who Draco referred to. "Obviously something valuable."

"You mean something to tip the scales to the side of evil."

Liam only said, "It's enough to piss me the fuck off. Can't they keep this shit to one crazy plot a decade?"

"Yea, like we'd really be that lucky."

"Find anything?" Both Liam and Draco shook their heads in answer to Alexis' question. They both stared at him however, as he lugged what looked to be a large pile of clothes bundled in a large bed sheet. "They don't have any suitcases."

"Find the meds?" Liam nodded in relief when Alexis shook a small orange bottle in answer. As he stood upright, he slid Xan's photo into his back pocket. "Let's get the fuck out of here before someone else comes." There was no argument as all three men headed for the door. Liam made a mental note to convince Xan to find a better house and a better life once this was over.