Prey

Chapter 7

Doe's POV:

I sat silently at the corner of the couch, knees pulled to my chest as I let my eyes rest.

Most days, when Layla wasn't around or Xander didn't have to do much, I spent my days resting.

Yet no matter how much a slept or took it easy, I was still always tired in a sense.

I guess it just became something that I was used to.

Xander had become noticeably more wary since Nico decided to cut him off of asking for blood transfusions two days ago.

Plus the fact that Nico said to start looking for a new pet.

Both of us knew that if it hadn't been for Nico, I would have been dead a long time ago, and I could tell that Xander was trying to figure out how to keep me alive without him.

Honestly, I couldn't think of one, so I was interested to see what Xander could come up with.

He's never cut her off or told her no when it came to me, so I wanted to see if he had it in him.

He's the one that wanted me alive the most.

In reality, all I really wanted was for Xander to realize how hard Layla was playing him and using him.

I saw it, Nico saw it, but after all this time I have no idea how Xander doesn't see it.

Whether its hope or denial, I don't know how he's gone this long without realizing what was going on.

Both of us have tried to explain this to him multiple times, and every time Xander seemed to slip, Layla caught on and pulled him right back in.

She had him wrapped around her finger and he couldn't be more clueless.

So now the question arose, on what he'll do now.

Tell Layla to ease up, or let the one thing keeping her next to him die by her hands.

I didn't want to die. I don't think anyone wanted to die, but it was a conclusion I came to terms with a long time ago.

I slowly opened my eyes and rose my head, spotting Xander sitting on his bed.

Judging by the look on his face, I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't having the same thoughts.

After a few moments, he noticed my stare and turned to face me.

I could tell he was staring at the dark circles under my eyes that became more prominent after these last couple of days.

"You feeling okay?" He eventually asked.

Xander tried to initiate some sort of small talk with me a lot.

I didn't really know why at first, but a came to appreciate it.

If anything it kept me from going completely emotionless, something that happened to Layla's pets if they ever happened to live that long.

She'd keep them locked away and only ever take them out to hurt them in one way or another until their spirit shattered completely.

Xander, on the other hand, wasn't really strict about anything unless we were in public.

That's when he had to exude his 'asshole vampire' personality per Layla's constant request.

'I can't let people know that I do these kinds of things to these humans,' I could practically hear her voice in my head, 'If they knew, it would reflect so badly on my family name!'

'I can take care of it,'  Xander's trademark response, 'my name means nothing to the people here,'

It made me sick and was one of the main reasons my records never left Xander's possession.

"That's the third time you've asked me that today," I responded plainly.

"I know...," He said awkwardly, sitting up a bit, "I'm just trying to make sure. That's the closest you've ever come to... you know."

"Dying," I finished for him, stating it as a matter of fact.

He wouldn't say it.

I don't know why, but he'd never say it.

He just replied with a hesitant nod before clearing his throat.

A hint that I picked up quite early that he was changing the subject.

"Layle is on a short trip with one of her sisters, so she won't be by today," He informed.

He knew I asked nearly every day if she was coming. It was usually a 'yes' or an 'I don't know', so having a solid no was rare.

I blew out a relieved sigh, feeling myself sink deeper into the couch.

"Thank God," I whispered.

Although that only really meant that it was going to be a bad night once she returned.

Still, I'll take whatever break I can get.

"Have you thought about what Nico said?" I asked.

He just blinked at me for a moment, "Which part?"

Maybe I could talk some sense to him if I brought up the threat of losing me.

"About looking for another pet, and how I wasn't going to last much longer," I said.

He was right in his deduction that I was the perfect pet for Layla, but according to his constant need to keep me alive, I knew that he thought finding another exactly like me would be difficult.

"I have... I haven't really made a solid plan yet, but I think Nico's off pet shopping for me right now anyway."

My eyes went wide.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. He brought it up the night I brought you to him, but I didn't think he was serious. He might actually be back by now."

I looked to the door as if Nico was going to walk in.

Nico buying Xander a pet just to get Xander to leave him alone for a bit actually sounded a lot like him.

"And if he does bring you one?" I wondered.

He shrugged, "I'll turn him down. Keeping you alive is basically my main priority anyway, and I still don't really have any use for a pet in general."

Keeping me alive purely to use me as a means of getting Layla to him.

"When were you going to tell him what's really going on?"

I noticed him physically stiffen.

He was touchy about his relationship with his brother, yet he wasn't doing anything about it while listening to Layla practically tore them apart.

"When everything works out," he eventually said, "Once Layla agrees to be mine, and everything ends up as it should be. Then I can clear everything up." He concluded with a hopeful smile.

Although his hope was so broken and misplaced that I could see he didn't fully believe the words he was saying.

There was hidden pain in his eyes.

I dropped the subject there, seeing as how I wasn't going to get anywhere.

I just closed my eyes again and used the rest that the rest of this day so graciously gave me.

Dinner was in 30 minutes anyway.