The Price of Addiction

By Senshi of Ruin

Prologue:

It was becoming lighter outside. From the holes in the tattered drapes, Toshi could see the first signs of dawn clearly enough. He shifted his position slightly, agitated as he darted a glance in Kei's direction. The vampire hadn't moved and Toshi was unable to tell if he was even conscious anymore. Kei had been weak before and now… Toshi again felt stirrings of fear deep within himself although he had struggled to remain calm for the three of them.

The only sounds in the dark, besides his own breathing, were the shallow gasps coming from the man beside him. Toshi could scent blood in the air and he knew for Kei this would be magnified. Before today, Toshi knew without question that Kei would never harm them. Now, however, he was not so sure.

"Sho." Toshi whispered as he leaned over his friend. The ragged remains of Kei's white shirt hung limply in Sho's right hand, stained red with blood. "You need to keep the pressure on the wound." Toshi insisted, reaching out to take the cloth from him. He shuddered as he recalled Kei's urgent words as they were forced to retreat. They could still hear the raised Chinese voices edging closer and closer. They were still looking for them.

"Shinji…" Sho groaned, only half-conscious as Toshi pressed the cloth to his injured shoulder.

Toshi silently shook his head. When Sho was wounded, it was all that Kei could do to keep the men off of them long enough for them to retreat. Shinji had been captured or he was…

"I have to go. Nii-chan…" Sho tried to stand but he had lost so much blood that he was barely able to offer any resistance when Toshi pushed him back down.

"You can't fight." He whispered fiercely, "You'll be killed."

"What else do you suggest?" Sho replied softly as he gave in and applied pressure to the wound once more. "That we wait until they find us?"

"We don't have any weapons and Kei is too weak. We don't stand a chance against them! Our only hope is to wait until they've moved further away. Then we can make a break for it."

"And what about Shinji? I'm not leaving him."

There was nothing that Toshi could say in reply to this. Shinji was as good as dead and they would be as well if they tried to rescue him. With the dawn almost upon them and Sho too badly injured to fight, Toshi knew that they were running out of time.

Sighing, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, listening to the voices that were gradually moving closer.