Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach

Very AU. Possible Ichigo/Kisuke. Not sure yet.

Warning: Creepy vampire powers used on a teenager for blood drinking.

Chapter 1

Ichigo burrowed into his jacket, eyes scanning the warehouses around as he hurried home. He tended to avoid this area of town, except when things at home were really bad and he needed to get his hands on some quick cash. After…after Mom died he had found himself here often, Goat face had been hopeless, he'd even closed the clinic and spent his time grieving and drinking. So Ichigo had been forced to start running messages and even small packages for the towns more unsavoury occupants. He never told his sisters where the money came from, ashamed, and their Dad had never seemed to realise they should have been in serious trouble that first year.

He was thirteen now, growing like a weed, and getting into more and more fights. Stupid punks who took exception to his hair colour and skills. He'd been jumped by a gang of them on his way home from school which was why he was in such a bad neighbourhood. His body was aching from the hits they'd gotten in. Yeah, he was a good fighter, but even the best would have trouble taking on a large group who were armed with various makeshift weapons, not to mention they'd taken him completely by surprise. Unfortunately, today was a day that Chad went straight from school to work so he'd had no backup.

The temperature was dropping as the sun began setting and he forced his tired body to pick up speed. Yuzu would be upset if he was later for or missed dinner and they all hated upsetting her. He couldn't run though, his ribs were complaining enough about his current pace but the hair at the back of his neck was standing on end, instincts screaming danger and he forced himself to try and at least jog. Another group of idiots? He couldn't take another fight, not right now.

A cold hand clamped over his mouth before he could make a sound, an arm wrapping around his chest, pinning his arms down as he was pulled against a hard, tall, body. He struggled, kicking back at his assailant, trying to loosen his grip. To his surprise his attacker didn't move, not even making a sound when Ichigo kicked him. He tried to bite at the hand over his mouth, to free his arms from the iron grip, but nothing worked.

"Hush child," a silky voice murmured in his ear. "There's no need to struggle, just calm down, let your mind drift." Cool lips caressed his ear and Ichigo shivered, the soft voice drowning out all other sound as the man continued to speak to him. "That's it, nothing is wrong, your body is heavy, muscles relaxed."

Ichigo wanted to keep fighting but the more he spoke the harder it became. A strange sense of calm enveloped his mind, all tension slowly draining from his body, letting it hang limp in the strangers hold, his eyelids fluttering. He was distantly aware that something was wrong, that he should be scared, but it all felt like it was happening to someone else, his racing heart decelerating more and more, his breathing deep but slow. He lost all sense of time as his world narrowed to the compelling voice. He blinked slowly, his eyes watering slightly. The hand moved from his mouth, but he made no sound, head dropping forward without the support. The world shifted around him and he was vaguely aware that he was being carried like a small child, his head resting against a shoulder. Everything was blurry, his eyelids heavy, and all he wanted to do was sleep. There was another change and he felt something soft under his body, staring up at a hazy face through sleep laden eyes. It was hard to think but he dimly registered the man was foreign, not old, blurred features refined, light hair styled fashionably.

"Falling asleep child?" there was amusement in the voice. "Not just yet, stay awake but utterly relaxed." His eyes were so pretty he didn't want to look away…he couldn't…the amber/gold orbs were all he could see; he was drowning in them, it didn't scare him, it felt utterly peaceful.

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Aiden kept speaking to the boy lying on the mattress, keeping eye contact as he did. He could hear the slow, steady beat of the boys heart and he licked his lips in anticipation. Brown eyes had reddened and had almost stopped blinking entirely, though little of the brown was visible past dilated pupils. His lips were parted, soft, slow breaths passing through them, a little saliva visible and Aiden let his gaze lower to his throat where there was no movement. The face he had seen locked in a scowl was now smooth and he could see the boy would grow into an attractive man, pity he would not live long enough now to do so. He had, his own Sire had kept him as a blood donor for years, until he was twenty two, before turning him. He had turned on his Sire and killed him, out of luck not skill, he would never take such a risk with his own meals. He reached out and lifted the teens arm before letting go and it instantly flopped to the mattress with no reaction, the skin of his hand was warmer than normal. Very good, he was in an incredibly deep trance. "Good boy, it feels good, doesn't it?" he asked.

"Yesss…" his answer was slurred but understandable, though it took him a while to answer.

"What is your name?"

"Kurosaki," another long pause, "Ichigo."

Aiden smiled, revealing sharp fangs but Ichigo didn't react at all. "You are floating on air Ichigo, unable to feel anything. Let your mind go blank, empty, you have no need to think. You are nothing, just food. What are you?"

"Food," Ichigo parroted back slowly, eyes fixed on his, no longer blinking at all.

"Good. Food has no need of thought, of feelings, it just exists to be eaten," he then blink, breaking the connection but Ichigo didn't react, staring blankly at the ceiling. He then snapped his fingers in front of those eyes, terminating the trance state. The boy swallowed sluggishly, heart rate increasing slightly, blinking slowly, but he otherwise remained still, body relaxed. He once again lifted Ichigo's arm with no resistance before letting go and watching it drop to the mattress. He took the boy by the shoulders, pulling him into a sitting position, and his head flopped lifelessly. He tightened his grip, feeling the heat of a bruises beneath his hands, but Ichigo gave no reaction to the pain and Aiden nodded, pleased.

He preferred a meal that could not fight back, it was why he targeted the young, they were wonderfully easy to hypnotise with voice alone, falling into a far deeper trance than an adult could. Add in the extra power of eye contact and their minds would become totally open, unable to offer any sort of defence against hypnotic commands. He could tell them anything and it would be accepted and obeyed. As far as Ichigo's mind was concerned, he was nothing but food, unable to feel anything, unable to think, just existing until he was eaten. In such a condition he could keep the boy for years to feed off of him, if he wanted to go to the trouble of ensuring his body continued to function. He wouldn't though, he had no plans to stay in Japan for too long, and the boy's hair was far too distinctive, he would be too easy for human authorities to track once he was listed as missing.

He tipped Ichigo's head up, seeing his pupils had returned to a normal size, but they were still fixed on the distance and he waved his hand in front of them, causing an instinctive blink but there was no other reaction. He shifted his hold on him, tipping his head to the side before leaning in, inhaling his scent before sinking his fangs into his throat, drinking greedily.

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"K….Ki…." the sound echoed through Ichigo's empty mind. "King….come on King….fight…" The white form stood on a skyscraper, calling out desperately. He had been since the boy had been grabbed but his King couldn't hear him, he'd only heard him once, that day when he was nine and he had suppressed the memory of much of that day. "We're going to die."

"Then we must try together to pull him to us. That creature has control of his mind, but it cannot touch his soul." An older man dressed in a long tatter black cloak responded from where he stood on a flagpole. "We have some time, there would be no reason to do so much work if he planned to kill Ichigo immediately."

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Aiden licked the wound, watching the skin heal and then he let go, watching the limp body crumple onto the bed and remain unmoving, empty eyes locked on the ceiling to his left, even as eyelids drooped lower and lower. He was pale now, his heart rate accelerated, breathing heavy due to the loss of blood. That was why he tended to hunt teens over younger children, their minds were still malleable enough, but their bodies were that bit larger, holding more blood and better able to recover from blood loss. He stood from the bed and went through to shower, much of the night was gone but there was still time to do some exploring of the night life. Before he left he stripped the now unconscious Ichigo of his clothing and then set him in the empty bathtub with a towel under him for warmth. The staff may ask questions if the mattress was fouled after all and his empty mind did not stop his bodily functions.

When he returned near dawn he found he had been correct to move the boy, so he removed the towel and put water in the tub to clean him off. He let the heater and another towel under the flaccid body dry him off, retiring to the bed to sleep for the day. He didn't see Ichigo's eyes open several hours later, blackness briefly overtaking the white before fading, a finger twitching before falling still.

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"Almost had control," he grumbled. If he could take control of the body he could remove King from the situation to somewhere safe and then they could work on breaking what the creep had done to him. "Come on King, fight!" They didn't know where Ichigo was, he wasn't with them. Had the control of his mind gone deeper than they first thought?

"Ichigo, come child. Let us protect you," the old man called gently.

They didn't know how long it took but eventually something began to change, something hazy appearing on the sideways building. Ever so slowly it formed into the image of Ichigo, laying on his back, naked, and utterly unresponsive.

The Old Man knelt beside him, running fingers through short orange hair even as the white one looked down at the kid, worried in his own way. The kid appeared utterly lifeless except for the slow rise and fall of his chest.

"Now what?" he demanded.

"The creature has locked him away too deep for him to truly hear us. We must wake him and to do that may take drastic measures."

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Aiden tipped the water bottle against Ichigo's lips, letting water trickle in and the teen swallowed automatically. He then fed him cold soup and used the shower to hose his body down to remove the dribbled food and body waste. Surprisingly, there had been no missing person's report on the news yet, he had been too clean and well-dressed to be homeless or a runaway and yet after three days there was nothing. He dried the boy off and then sank his fangs in, drinking his fill. He didn't see Ichigo's hand flex where it lay over the edge of the bathtub, his head laid back over the rim, giving easy access to his throat.

When Aiden finished he rolled Ichigo onto his side, lying stretched out in the tub, using a rolled up towel to keep him from flopping back onto his back. If he lay utterly still on his back all the time, with his heartbeat so slow, it would affect the flow of blood and cause sores, not that Aiden cared if the boy had sores, not like he would feel them. He did however want his blood to remain tasty and free flowing. Even with feeding the teen, he doubted he would last much longer, the body did tend to give out quicker when the mind was inactive.

Two days later he lifted the teen from the tub and laid him on the bed, it was amazing how quickly the human body could deteriorate, loosing muscle mass and fat stores. Once vibrant hair was lank and dull, his eyes not just vacant but glassy, lips chapped. Even with the heater and towels, shivers racked the slender body, unable to generate heat with the blood loss. There was still no missing person report and he wondered if the kids family didn't care. Perhaps they would when his body was discovered. "Thank you for the gift of your blood Ichigo," he murmured, he always thanked them for their sacrifice in sustaining his existence. He stretched out on the bed beside the teen, tugging him close before sinking fangs into delicate skin, a hand running up and down the teens side as if to offer a last comfort, despite the boy being unable to feel it. He reached the point where he normally stopped but this time he kept going.

Had he been spiritually aware, Aiden would have realised something was happening, but he wasn't. Vacant brown eyes were swallowed by black and gold, a weak hand moving slightly before lifting from the bed, red energy collecting in the palm. Ichigo's hand pressed to his chest and Aiden pulled back, blood trickling down his chin as he stared into altered eyes in shock and then then energy was released, blasting through his chest, killing him. The body collapsed on top of Ichigo, blood pouring from it and Ichigo swallowed at the sensation of liquid in his mouth, body reacting to keep from choking on it, eyes once again brown, body unmoving.

Eventually Ichigo pushed the body away and staggered to his feet, eyes once again black and gold. He walked drunkenly over to the wardrobe and pulled out a bag from it, finding his clothing. He clumsily showered the blood off and dressed, opened the window and dropped out, landing in a crouch in the alley. His blood was boiling in his veins, every joint aching, muscles screaming and yet he kept walking, sticking to alleys and shadows.

No one noticed the battered body that climbed up to the first floor of the Kurosaki house and through a bedroom window.

When Isshin looked in the next morning he was relieved to see his son under the covers. He had told the girls their brother would be home soon. He walked over and frowned, pressing a hand to his forehead, feeling how hot his skin was. It was just like the boy to try and hide any sign of illness, no wonder he had been a ghost the last week. He put some medicine and water beside the bed before going to tell the girls their brother was sick and to be allowed to sleep.

TBC…