Chronos' Puppet

Xander had no idea how long he had to feed before his sire came through the door, but he
hoped that time was on his side. He drank quickly, pulling in large mouthfuls of blood
despite the overwhelming desire to linger and savour the sunshine that was hinted in the
fluid. When the heart was near to beating its last, he rolled onto William, sheltering his
body from view as he tore a ragged gash in his own wrist and pressed it to Will's already
paling lips. "Pleasedrinkpleasedrinkpleasedrink..."

At the first attempts at suckling from the wound made itself known Xander nearly sobbed
in relief. Holding William's head in his free hand he bent down to lick at the bite to the
neck, watching in fascination as the punctures slowly closed. The erection he had been
unaware of having since the first taste of William's blood made itself known, and Xander
moaned into the crook of the offered neck as he moved against the cooling body. So
wrapped up in the feeling on his wrist and in his groin that he didn't hear the door open,
and the footsteps that rapidly approached before it was too late.

"What in the hell are you DOING!" Solomon had entered the room, and seeing the
blonde's lips attached firmly to his childe's wrist he strode across the mahogany
floorboards and pulled Xander away from what should have been his meal. "You ingrate!
How dare you defy me with this...deception!" Grabbed by his shoulders Xander found
himself pinned to the wall, his sire's gameface close to his own. "Do you know that could
have killed you? You are too weak to sire anyone, even a minion, which is something you
are never going to be allowed to do for a very...long...time." Pushing back in disgust, he
stalked over to the bed and sniffed at William, assessing the situation. It was too soon to
tell if there was a minion in the making, or even if the boy would rouse at all from this.
Solomon was convinced that it would be the latter, but to be sure...

"James, get dressed." A bark to the minions he knew had gathered behind the door in
curiosity to the commotion to ready the coach. Dawn was coming in a few hours and he
would rather not have something that wouldn't even have a minion's intelligence in his
home. Turning to his childe he stared him down as the young vampire hurried through
drawers to find a pair of pants. "You know what you would have if he turns? An eternal
infant. A mindless vegetable that wouldn't be able to feed himself. Or worse, one that
could. A never ceasing killer that would feed until it was hunted down or it had wiped out
a city." He poiinted to the bloody figure on the bed. "Wrap that in a bedsheet, and bring
it down to the coach. Remember that you only have yourself to blame for this."

*****

The coach rumbled down the cobblestone streets, racing the end of the night as they made
their way back to Whitechapel. It was the best place to leave a body, and if it had turned,
the coming dawn would turn the abomination to dust. Xander sat across from the master
vampire, holding the bound corpse while a hand stroked the lump where the head resided.
He had not been told what their fate would be, or even their destination. It had been the
longest ride of his life, his heart breaking with every jostle and bounce of the carriage.
Instictively he knew that silence was the best he could offer and despite the ruinous
situation and William's death, he ached because he had disappointed his sire.

God, he was such a fuck up.

The carriage came to a stop, and the minion stepped down from the driver's seat to open
the door for his master. Solomon stayed put, and gestured towards the alley outside.
"Go. Leave the body in the alley. Hesitate, and you will be left behind. I will not raise
someone so reckless to be part of my household."

Xander stiffened, mouth unable to work and he found himself for the first time without
anything to say. Hefting Will's body in his arms he crouched and passed the form gently
to the minion before stepping out and retrieving it. His skin crawled as his senses pricked
at the rising sun and he made his way into the nearby alley where they had stopped.
Xander was to leave the corpse at the end where the break in the long lineage of eldrich
housing would allow dawn's first light to find William and either caress the cooling body
or incinerate it. Either way, the matter would be out of his hands. Carefully he placed
the shrouded form near the jagged wooden fence, the whores and their jons having turned
in for the night earlier on which spared Xander a moment of privacy. He didn't notice the
tears falling, rivulets of red that he subconsciously wiped away with his sleeve as he
muttered a small eulogy to William. Only a scavenging cat was witness to the scene as he
bent to kiss the hidden lips one last time before running back to the waiting coach.

A crack of the whip sent the cat back into the shadows where another pair of eyes
contemplated what had transpired in the alley.

"Look, Miss Edith! Didn't I tell you he would be here? The stars never lie to me. They
told me of the foundling, and there he is!" A swish of silk and the woman stepped
towards the body gingerly, nostrils flaring to catch the scent of the bound figure on the
ground. Her lilting voice addressed the doll hanging limply from her grasp "He is not
dead,
not dead at all, Miss Edith. He only sleeps. Do you remember Moses?
I will draw him from the river of blood, and I will be his princess..." Drucilla drew her
fingernail along the linen fabric before ripping it open, and gasped in delight at the mop
of curls that appeared.

"Apollo, banished from the light to walk with me always. My little boy..." Sanguine lips
drew up into a manic grin as she pulled the body into her lap. "Don't you worry now,
poppet. Mummy's here." She drove her fangs deep into his neck, taking the cooling
blood into herself before offering her wrist to the the slackened mouth. Stirred by this
new source of blood, William unconsciously turned towards the source, latching on
eagerly to the great delight of Drucilla who softly began to croon to him without regard
for time or place. Finally, when she could no longer put off the feeling of ants crawling
across her flesh she hefted the body into her arms as she stood, and carried him out of the
alley towards home.

"My sweet William...Daddy is going to love you so very much..."