Dog Fights

Chapter 11; Insticts

"Your house is safe." Clover gives a sad smile, holding her hands together in front of her chest. "We're suspecting it was just a lone hunter, since we haven't found any reports of this location anywhere. It looks like he was prideful, and wanted to keep the prize for himself."

She gestures to Ezra, seeing his dull red eyes. One arm holds across his aching stomach, feet burning and aching in his socks even as he sits. Leon stands beside him with his hand on his shoulder, as if he loses contact he'll disappear.

"Would it be too much to ask if he can stay the night with us?" Josh asks, standing on the other side of Ezra. He doesn't touch him, seeming put off by the blisters risen on his skin. "We'll take care of him, I just think it'd make us all feel better collectively."
Clover stifles a frown, wringing her hands. "I guess since no one's life is in danger," she says, "I can't force him to come back with us; it'd be his decision. Of course, he'd be responsible for staying out of site and away from police."

Ezra raises his hand halfway into the air, swallowing hard against his dry throat as everyone looks over. "I'll stay," he says roughly, voice sounding as if it's scratching against the inside of his chest. "I want to be here in case anything else h-happens."

Leon's hand tightens gently on his shoulder, just enough to draw Ezra's eyes up to see the worried look on his face. He had seen Ezra bloody, but not to the point of wavering pain and unhealing blisters.
"You do recognize that he must feed, correct?" Clover asks, speaking to Josh. "With the severity of the wounds I'm afraid sanguisberry won't be enough to both heal his body and fight down natural urges."

Josh shifts his eyes, looking down at the vampire. Ezra looks up, eyes hidden behind his cracked glasses. "I'm not an animal," he says, holding his eyes to the father's, "I have self control."

"That is very true," Amelia says, stepping through the doorway that leads upstairs. She smiles and dips her head politely before pulling it back up, holding her hands behind her back.
"Even the first day we retrieved him," she says, joining the group. "After a month of training with his conductor and having to heal without feeding, he still resisted his instinctive urges after being offered nourishment at our location. I have no worries about him being a dangerous, whether he heals here or not."

The room falls silent, Ezra feeling the tension of the obvious question.

"Injuries of this severity must be addressed in the, warmest way possible, so to say." Clover tilts her head. "A stored blood bag won't work- the plastic and settle of the blood could potentially be dangerous since his body is in a distressed state. It will absorb whatever it takes in, whether it's good or bad."

"If you wish for him to heal here," Amelia says, voice calm as Ezra tilts his head down to avoid everyone's eyes, "it would mean a volunteer would need to step forward. I'm sure you understand why?"

Leon hesitantly puts his hand up, immediately shushing his father before he can protest. "It's fine," he says sternly, still sounding somewhat small, "I trust his self control, plus I think it'd be the most comfortable for everyone."

"Sir," Ezra says, tilting his face up with a sly but pained grin, "I mean no offense because I know it does the body good, but ingesting the amount of garlic in your bloodstream would kill me. I know it's what you were thinking, but I could smell it on you from the moment I met you. I figured mentioning it then would be rude."

"Oh, yes," Amelia says, holding up her hands, "I understand the parental protection, but Ezra's right. If it makes you feel better about the decision, I can charm the collar your son wears to protect him from any danger associated with being used in such a way. Again, I have no worry of anyone being put in danger, but if it makes you feel better."