It takes my breath away {Alexandra}

The grass gave way under her feet as she stalked towards the 'intruder'. To be able to get into the house without any of Luke's earlier traps or devices going off - because if he didn't have any others, she was a hairbrush or something of equal ridiculousness -, the witch or wizard would have to be... unexpected. If she had known just how unexpected, Alexandra honestly wouldn't have known how to react.
It was true that the street-lamps left little pools of light on parts of Luke's property, but only on his front yard and that was far from where she was now. The tip of her wand glowed, giving away her position, but tricky enchantments that helped her eyesight required concentration, something she did not want to find lacking when she faced whoever it was.

'Where are you, damn it...' her eyes flicked around her carefully, taking in what she could with her mere human eyesight. It would take at least fifteen minutes for her eyes to completely adjust and in the meantime she'd be at a disadvantage already in addition to whatever abilities the person had.

Alexandra's dark hair had grown out and trailed down her back despite being tied up, her cheek-bones were even more defined than before after spending so long in a cold, relatively sunless climate. The sharp contrast in her features made it easier to spot her, but even she was a bit vain and didn't want to have to change have to change her appearance unless nessecary. Of course she also reasoned that the less people who knew of her ability, the better.
So this pale figure prowled along the grass, wondering whether she was the hunter or the hunted. Rather dramatic and far away from the reality of the situation fortunately.

Then she heard the not-so-quiet retching in a nearby alley. Being one who often let her curiousity get the better of her, Alexandra strode into the enclosed space, casting a nonverbal 'lumos' as she tried to see what was going on. The figure of a very pale, blond woman throwing up blood behind a pile of trash emerged. Alexandra took an involuntarily deep breath and smelt the foul stench of garbage mixing with the blood. For the first time since she got there, her cynical side was laid to rest.
"What happened?" she murmured as she walked up the the woman whose hair concealed her face, though she did seem oddly familiar.

"I'm going to help you." she replied firmly, completely ignoring the blonde's protests. Hell if she was going to just walk away from someone vomitting blood in an alley, especially in the state she was in, covered in dirt, blood and god knew what from the garbage. Immediately, Alexandra began to clean up the woman, vacuuming up the filth with her wand and conjuring a jacket to wrap around Misery's stiff shoulders. As the dirt went away, the form became more and more hauntingly familiar.
Alexandra tried to brush the blonde hair back from the woman's face and move her legs so that she could look at her face. She really was unnaturally pale... But surely vampires didn't vomit up the very substance they lived on.

"Shhh," Alexandra wrapped the coat around the blonde more firmly, hoping to keep the shivering down. It wasn't even that cold, but somehow, she doubted that it was she who was causing the shaking. If she was indeed a vampire, she sure as hell wasn't acting as vampires normally did. By now, Misery would have-
That train of thought halted her movements for a few seconds before she resumed trying to comfort the woman, noting that the conviction in her voice was dying. Wow, she realized that Misery could be dead now for all she knew. All her contacts seemed to have disappeared from England and she had no clue as to what had happened over the past year except for what others had told her. But if Misery had died because she hadn't helped soon enough...
"I'm just trying to help."

Alexandra's fists clenched tightly at the sudden stabbing pain in the side of her neck. Her eyes widened as they stared down at the blonde head in shock, the woman was eagerly sipping from her neck and in her dazed state, Alexandra recalled that she thought the woman was a bloody vampire. Then she snapped out of the mental mist and her eyes shutttered, darkening. There was no way she was letting some stranger - familiar though she was - drink from her, that was not the sort of help she had been offering. Especially with the molten sting that came with it, breathing became harder for her as she fought to take in a breath without the fangs tearing through the soft flesh of her neck further.
Shoving the woman off her, Alexandra clutched her neck with both hands, willing the torn skin to be numb, disappear or whatever could make the pain go away. Her eyes narrowed as she fought not to shut them and blood trickled between her fingers despite her best efforts.
"Ssstop..." she hissed, trying not to move her neck too much.

Alexandra couldn't believe how gullible she had been. Now the blonde who had drank from her could peek into her mind whenever she so pleased and as far as the raven-haired girl knew, there was nothing she could do about it. Thanks to her foolishness, her family and friends could be baited and caught with even more ease.
Utterly humiliated and infuriated, she barely noticed the skin of her neck healing as she fought to get the vampire off her.

"How dare y-" that voice... Fuck. Her eyes widened and suddenly she was trying to pull Misery back to her to tightly embrace rather than to run away. For a moment, Alexandra's survivor's guilt faded to the back of her mind, the only thought shining brightly was that her closest friend was alive.

"You're alive!" normally this would be the moment someone said 'no shit' - that someone being Alexandra of course - but she could care less. "Did Sorrow help you?" her eyes flashed between amber as she was unsure if the Grace brother had heeded her in time.

Faint screams seemed to close in on her, drawing closer then fading away into nothing. Her grip on Misery faltered as she recalled there was no way that could be her own memory, projection or the reality in this situation. Is this what the bond between Donor - voluntary or not - and a vampire entailed?
Alexandra's hands fell to her side, eyes haunted. 'What have I done to her...' She should have forced her way into the ranks of the vampires to help Misery once she recovered rather than fleeing England. Screw the MOM assassins.

Trying out their new link, she attempted to respond in the same manner as Misery since the vampire had winced when she had spoken. 'If Delano is important to you, I will go back and get him.'

The pleas were as unexpected as Misery's confession had been. Hesitantly putting a hand on her friend's arm, Alexandra was unsure as to how she should comfort her friend who had changed so drastically.
'Woah there,' soft but firm was her best bet. 'I won't go anywhere you don't wish me to go.'
Especially if it meant that she could hurt the blonde through her actions again, indirect or not. But she hated not knowing whether even the smallest of her normal habits would drive Misery to panic. Alexandra made a mental note to find out about where-ever Misery had been kept from Cazz or Sorrow so that she could return there one day and rid it of whatever darkness she could. Dramatic? Idealistic? Possibly impossible? Yes, but when it came to those she cared for, she couldn't help herself.

'Is there anything I can do at all?' Alexandra herself did not know if it was a plea or offer.

'I could ask the same of you.' she returned drily. Misery had far more reason to loath her than she had to loath Misery. It was not Alexandra who had been tortured and starved in a Death Eater hide-out, only to have the one friend she could last contact, fail to even be there during her escape.

Her brow furrowed at Misery's sudden poker face as she looked more closely at her friend. What on earth was going on now? First trying to run away, now calmly standing before her. Well, at least she was actually able to have a conversation and wasn't trying to rip her throat out. Alexandra grimaced at the visceral memory, involuntarily raising a hand to her now healed neck. She rubbed at it then looked at her hand: not even a bit of dried blood. Alexandra would have to check later for a scar.

Well, that brought a tension-filled, dramatic silence. Alexandra hadn't thought she would need to face this so soon. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her best friend even more, but at the moment, the girl could not honestly return the entirety of Misery's sentiment. Time for a cop-out reply.

'When did you realize..?' that you loved me. But that was too... direct. For godsake, she was the last person people would fall in love with in her own experience.

Partially confused, partially relieved, Alexandra nodded and gave a small mock bow, gesturing for Misery to begin walking to Luke's house first. In a way, she was thankful that she didn't have to face the entirety of her friend's admission, then again, it may be something that the two of them would be too... embarrassed? worried to face if prolonged.

What was certain though, was that a full-blown conversation about their relationship should not be held in a dark alley-way filled with the mixed scent of blood and rubbish.

Alexandra decided not to speak for now. Conversation would be even more awkward than their current silence.