A Daemon and His Work

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Samael nodded, gingerly sitting on the couch as she instructed. Wincing at the alcohol touched his wound, he allowed her to do her work. After she was done, he stood back up, moving back to the basement and picking up his bag. Sitting back down on the couch, he dug through it, looking for the needle and thread.

"I should probably clean this, too." He held up the needle, reaching for the washcloth.
 
Sitting on the couch, Yuuki waited as he went down to the basement and grabbed his bag. She didn't move as he sat back down and pulled out a needle, even though she wasn't sure if watching this would make her gag or not. Silently she passed him the washcloth after dabbing fresh alcohol on it for the needle to be sterilized. She said nothing for a few moments, watching his hands, but then she looked up at him and tilted her head a fraction.


"We survived. What were you going to say?" she asked quietly, figuring that now might be the last chance that she got to ask before anybody showed up or they were on the run again.
 
After cleaning the needle, Samael ran the thread through the eye, wincing as he pierced one side of the wound with the needle. Taking a deep breath, he continued, sucking up the pain and running him through with the needle. It was much harder doing it to himself than when he did it to Yuuki. As she spoke, he paused in his work, and looked up. After a second of thinking, he said, "I was going to say, I wouldn't leave you because..." He looked away, embarrassed, as red crept up his face. "...because," he lowered his voice to almost a whisper, "I think I love you."
 
Yuuki winced as she watched Samael beginning to stitch up the wound, but she didn't look away because she had never seen it done before in person. Perhaps one day she would have to do this to somebody else or herself and she would be grateful that she had forced herself to watch. She bit her tongue and tried not to look sickened, but it wasn't really working. Still, she watched until he paused, not even halfway done. She looked up at him and waited, figuring he was going to answer her question. He did after stuttering and she realized that she hadn't expected that in the least.


"You.." she began, but then the front door burst open and she stood up quickly. Nobody was there. She eyed the darkness beyond the door suspiciously and crept over to it, peeking out to look all around. Nothing. There wasn't even a shadow that looked out of place. She frowned in confusion and turned back to Samael. "That was weird.."
 
After he answered her question, Samael continued nonchalantly stitching himself up, jerking when he heard the door fly open. The movement pulled the thread about three inches too tight, and he hissed through his teeth, wincing at the irritation. When Yuuki turned back to him in confusion, he shook his head, not knowing what to make of it. Quickly finishing the stitching, he tied off the end, and gently moved to put the needle and near-empty spool of thread back into his bag. "I should be good now." He said, not looking at Yuuki, afraid of how she would react to his previous insinuation.
 
Glancing behind her again at the shadows uneasily, Yuuki quickly closed the door and tried not to think about the possibility that Lysander was just messing with them. He hadn't been killed by Gabriel, had he? Well maybe he had, after Samael and Yuuki and run away. She bit her lower lip and walked over to Samael, watching him finish up his stitching and take care of the thread and needle in his bag. At first she didn't know what to say, and then she thought that she was going to say something reassuring, but then she found herself speechless once more. Did he even mean it?


"We should p-probably get out of here," she stuttered softly, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She was unable to respond to what he had said verbally, but she stepped close to him and held out her hand, giving him a bit of a smile. "Come on."
 
Samael smiled back cautiously, still unsure. Then, fighting it down, he took her hand, and stood up, smiling shyly. "Where are we going?" He asked her, the church idea still tugging at his mind. He wasn't sure if what he felt was love, but from everything he had ever heard about it, it seemed so. Even still, he was unsure, afraid even, that Yuuki didn't feel the same way. Shaking away the thoughts, he set about the task at hand, focusing on other things.
 
"Um.. Somewhere.." she muttered, racking her brain. She had no family to run to, no friends to speak of. Even her old teachers hadn't liked her much. None of her coworkers would welcome her on their doorstep and the cafe was closed at this hour. She sighed and shook her head, looking down. "I don't know, I don't have anywhere else to go.."
 
Samael nodded, then said, "If I may add my opinion, then I suggest a holy place. They wouldn't turn anyone away, not even us, I don't think, but I would probably need a shirt..." He muttered, referring to his now-lost shirt. "Although, I'm not sure if anyone would be there." He shook his head. "But we still need to leave. Before Lysander or that man come back."
 
Yuuki nodded and walked into her mother's bedroom silently, pulling a fresh shirt from the closet. It was a solid dark purple, almost black, and it buttoned up the front. Since it was the same size as the other one had been, she knew it'd fit him. She went back out and handed it to him, still thinking about 'that man'. It was hard to believe that her father could possibly be inhuman. What did that make her? Was he right to have called her a halfling? What did that even mean?


"There is a large cathedral right up the street. Let's go there."
 
Samael nodded. Buttoning up his shirt, a thought suddenly came to him. "Yuuki," he began, "I'm sorry, for what I did to you. If I hadn't thought of just myself, your mother would still be alive, and you would be able to live as a normal human, not what that man claims you to be. A Halfling. An unwanted. And for that curse, I am sorry." He looked away shamefully.
 
Blinking in surprise, Yuuki stared at Samael uncomprehendingly before she realized that he was blaming himself for all of this. Why or how, she wasn't sure, but she gave him a reassuring smile and just shook her head a bit as she watched him buttoning up his shirt over his freshly stitched wound.


"My mother might have been alive only because vampires probably wouldn't have taken her, but Gabriel would have still been lurking outside and making her sicker. You haven't cursed me, Samael, you aren't the one who chose who my parents are," she assured him.
 
He shook his head dejectedly, not entirely believing her, but knowing it in his heart that it was true. He had no idea that the person who would read his note would have so much over their head, even if it didn't become apparent until later. Looking back up, he said, "Should we go? If the cathedral is locked, I can break the lock, I suppose."
 
Yuuki nodded and laced her fingers with his, then led him outside onto the porch and closed the door behind them. She turned away from the house and moved down to the sidewalk, trying not to think about whether or not she'd ever see her old home again. The cathedral would only take a few minutes to walk to, but it seemed much larger since she couldn't help staring into the shadows and waiting for something to jump them. What had Gabriel told Lysander after they left? Did he tell the vampire that Yuuki was some sort of Halfling? If he did, she wondered if Lysander would want her dead even more just to get to Samael.


"I'm worried.." she murmured, looking up at him.
 
"Don't be." Samael said, although he too felt anxious. There was no telling what sort of person they'd meet on the street. "I'll be here." Bravely, or at least, more brave than he actually felt, Samael led her onwards through the night, checking over his shoulder constantly, trying to see if anyone was following them. He knew from experience that while vampires could touch crosses, they were never allowed inside holy places, not unless someone invited them. However, he didn't know about Gabriel, and hoped that they would be safe for a while at least.
 
"I know you will," she said, then paused for a moment before looking up at him with a tentative smile. "You really do make me feel safer, Samael," she admitted softly. Yuuki followed along, allowing him to lead her since it was a straight shot to the cathedral. She noticed how anxious he was and how he looked around almost as much as she did, but she didn't comment on it. They were both scared, and they both knew it. No point in making it overly obvious. This way they could both pretend that it wasn't happening, pretend that they were being brave and weren't terrified out of their minds like a couple of children.


"Here," she said after a few long minutes, tugging him by the hand up the wide marble stairs of the enormous church. She tugged open the heavy wooden door and stepped inside, then looked around. It was completely deserted and dark, of course, but small patches of dim light from the stars and streetlights did come in through the windows. "I feel guilty breaking in to a chuch, but I guess it's alright since the door was open. Should we sit in a pew or look for a place to hide?" she asked, eying the stairs that seemed to go up to the belltower.
 
Upon entering the cathedral, Samael could feel the power of it press down on him like a pressure on his chest. If it was this bad on only a Halfling, then surely Gabriel wouldn't be able to, right? The thought made him feel slightly better, a reassuring presence. "I don't know. But, I don't think that man will be able to enter. If he can, then I don't believe he'll be able to do anything." Samael said, gazing around. The stained glass was unlike anything he had seen before, a sight to see. The altar on a raised platform towards the back stood above the two like an imposing force. "I am up for anything."
 
Yuuki nodded thoughtfully and looked up at the gigantic wooden cross that loomed on the far wall. Personally, she had never been one for religion. It wasn't that she was an abstinant atheist, she just wasn't sure what to believe. Now that she knew nonhumans existed, it seemed more and more plausible that there was some sort of god out there - some sort of good force that was trying to balance out all the bad. She sighed and looked up at Samael, lacing her fingers in his again.


"I hope you're right," she said, leading him up the stairs. If people came in here in the morning, she didn't want to be caught sleeping in a pew. She went up and up and up the stairs with him, finally reaching the top. There was a large bell in the center, but there was a walkway about five feet wide all around the edge, with a half wall that served as a railing and a tall roof that shielded the bronze instrument. Plus, there was flooring beneath the bell that was far enough from the bottom that they could lay under there if they needed extra protection. "What do you think?" she murmured, looking out at the sky and seeing a lightening on the horizon. The sun would be coming up soon.
 
Samael nodded. "It will do, at least for tonight." Taking off his shirt, her folded it up, making a make-shift pillow for Yuuki. Placing it on the floor, he said, "We should try to sleep some. We might have to be on the run again in the morning. I'll hold first watch." He said, smiling wanly. Sitting on the ground, he gestured to Yuuki to do the same. "I'll be fine..."
 
Yawning a little, she wandered over to Samael's side and sat next to him, her back resting against the wall. She handed the shirt back to him, not wanting him to get cold. Already sitting down was making her more exhausted, and she knew that she had no room to argue over him taking the first watch. Still, she was worried about him. She stretched, then laid her head on his shoulder and nestled against his side.


"There's something you should know," she said quietly, slurring her words a little as she nearly passed out right then. "I think I'm falling in love with you too," she added after a few moments, a slight smile on her lips as she fell asleep without waiting for a response.
 
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