Roxas was disappointed when he heard that there was no way out. And he knew it showed on his face. So he turned his head away to hid it from the redhead. He thought about the question. "I don't know.... What is there to do around here anyway?" he asked.

Well my slaves do all the cleaning and cooking. Though the last is expected since we don't eat. And about half of the slaves are bleeders but you didn't ask about that. There is a library in this building. A 'family room', where the girls are, that has a tv. You can watch tv there or play games. We have all the systems. We have another tv room and more games. There is a path that goes underground and leads to a building that has no windows or doors just behind this building. That building has a small gym and a pool. Most of this stuff was unused by the vampires in the home. The new technology in fact scared many of them. It was one of the reasons why the other families hated him. They thought he was too soft on the humans.

He nodded slightly at what Axel said. All that sounded pretty good. And what was a bleeder? That didn't make sense, but he wasn't going to ask, thinking that he wouldn't like the answer. He thought about all the options. "...That all sounds like fun." he told the vampire. And since it all sounded fun, he couldn't decide if he wanted to do any of those things.

"Well can't decide? Maybe we should go check on the girls. Tell them they can leave that room." He started walking out of the room. Under his breath he grumbled. "I shouldn't have let him come back after last time." He could feel the anger broiling inside him. He wanted to fight something. It drove the need to hurt something. He ground teeth. I don't hurt my family or my slaves.

Roxas followed Axel out of the room. "Why? What happened last time?" the blond asked. He didn't know what it was that Fang did to make the redhead so mad at him, but he could probably guess. And he didn't think that he liked the answer to much.

Axel sighed and stopped. "Everytime he comes here he tries to take what is mine." He turned to Roxas and cooly looked down at him. "Meaning that he tries to take my slaves. Last time he finally got to one of them." He turned his gaze away from Roxas. "She had been with me two years. Her name was Lilith. She left the group and he found her. He treated her like he treated you. I just didn't get to her in time. By the time I found them he had broken her arm and beat her pretty badly. He would have done worse. I let him come back only because I thought I could protect my girls. He usually only goes for small females. I was wrong." He started walking again. "Lililth was given her severance package early. She started up a business, I think a clothing store, and is doing really well."

That was terrible what happened to her. And it made Roxas more glad that Axel had stopped Fang before he could hurt him. "Well.. It's good that she's doing ok.." he told him. He was silent for a while, thinking. "Why does he hate you so much? I don't really understand that." the blond asked.

Axel was happy about Lilith. She had seemed so fragile after it happened. He still went and saw her ever so often bringing money. "The reason why most of my kind don't like me. I am powerful. My family is powerful. And even with that we are seen as weak. I have one of the largest collections of slaves and my slaves always live the longest. We have had only three deaths, other then the ones that wished to change over, and of those three only one was at the hand of a vampire. They hate us because we do not dominate our slaves like they do." He paused thinking about the other poor slaves. It was one of the reasons he had so many. If he got word that a family had found a slave they wanted he would sometimes go buy the slave first. "If I chained you and the others, drank from you all, took everything from you, and occasionaly killed one of you they wouldn't hate me. I would probably raise in power."

Roxas nodded slightly, understanding the first part. But he didn't like the second part. He wouldn't stand being with someone who would do that to him. He would try to run, like he would have done here, or kill himself. He wouldn't bow down before anybody. "Wouldn't that make all of your slaves hate you?" he asked.

Axel nodded. He could see how Roxas didn't like that idea and why no one else would like it. "I'm sure they would. The others don't care because they see your mortal lives as being so fleeting. If you haven't noticed they don't hate me though. I became a master a hundred years ago and the head of my family long before that. I have always treated my slaves this way." He turned and smiled at Roxas. "It is so much nicer if the slaves like you and follow you because they want to." They had reached the room but Axel stopped outside it waiting to see what Roxas would have to say about that.

"Yeah. That would be best." Roxas stated. It would make things much easier if the slaves liked their master. If they hated them, then they would probably rise up and turn against that person. The blond reached out and opened the door and stepped inside. He wanted to find something to do, but didn't know what to do. He would ask Maria what was best for him.

Axel sighed. This is the great conversation I get? Next time I'm buying a lit student or a writer. He walked into the room and nodded at Ice and Ember. "Fang and his family have left and will not be coming back here. You two lovely ladies are free from your duties. And the rest of you are free to go back to your chores and fun times. I think I will find someone to spar with. Ice would you like to?"

Roxas stayed silent as Axel spoke and the slaves left the room. Once most of them were gone, he went over to Maria. "So... What are you going to do now?" he asked. He decided to just go do whatever it was that she did. It would make things a lot easier and he wouldn't have to decide for himself.

Axel lead Ice to the sparring room. He pulled off his leather coat and placed it against the wall. He watched as Ice stretched. He leaned against the wall waiting for her to be ready. He took the time to think about his newest slave. He doesn't seem to hate me as much.

Maria smiled as Roxas came over to her. "Well, I don't have to clean since I'm a bleeder. Normally I go to the gym and swim. It is so easy to get out of shape here. But I can do anything." She got a twinkle in her eye. "Did you know I'm allowed to leave this place? I can even bring someone with me. I have to take one of the vamps with me but it is for my protection. I'm sure you can guess why."

"Yeah. I can." Roxas said, his mind going back to Fang. He was silent for a moment, thinking. "So. What exactly is a bleeder?" he asked, curious. That wasn't exactly something he felt comfortable asking Axel. Talking to Maria didn't feel as awkward like it did when the blond was talking to the redhead.

Maria nodded. It was one of the hardest things about being Axel's slave. You always had to watch for attacks from other vampires. She looked at Roxas for a moment. While the term bleeder meant something different for normal people in the vampire world it meant something darker. "Well it means the slaves that the vampires feed off of. In other vampire families any slave is a bleeder but here out of the twenty-five only ten of us are bleeders. And I'm the only full time one. The others can be bleed by any of the vampires but I am only Axel's. That's why I get the perks. No other chores and a room to myself." She was glad that he felt comfortable enough to ask.

"Oh.. I see." Roxas didn't really understand why anybody would let a vampire feed off of them if they had another option. He knew that he wouldn't. Even if it did get him perks. That wasn't important. "I wouldn't be able to let someone feed off of me." he told her. So he was glad that Axel didn't give him that option. He might have taken it without knowing what it was.

Maria laughed at his narrow mindedness. "Well they have to feed. I'm sure you eat meat so really what is the difference? And it's not like you have to. That's why we are given a choice. I choose to be a bleeder to help everyone. It doesn't bother me." She shrugged. When she had first arrived she had been expected to be feed on. "It doesn't really hurt either. I used to give blood donations and it is much like that. Their fangs release something that gets rid of the pain and heals the wounds. I have been told that it does make a difference on who is feeding." She crossed her arms and looked down then continued softer. "I talked to a slave of a vampire from another family. They were just passing through after a business trip and needed a place to stay to hide from the sun. I happened to talk to his slave and the girl told me that her 'donations' were extremely painful. Even the slaves here have told me it can hurt. If the vampire is angry they don't release the stuff that numbs. Even when Axel is angry he never takes it out on me."

Well. When she put it that way, it didn't sound as bad. But it still didn't sound like anything he would want to do. Ever. "That's good then." Roxas told her. Now he was just hoping that he didn't run into one of the cruel vampires. That wouldn't be good. He would probably just avoid every vampire that came here to see Axel. That would make everything so much easier.

"Now you were asking about what I was going to do. I think I'm going to sneak down and see the rest of Axel and Ice's match then ask if I can go out. Would you like to come?" She gave him a mischievous grin.

Roxas thought about it for a minute. "Sure. Why not. Lead the way." he told her, indicating for her to go ahead of him. Sure, he wasn't sure if he wanted to watch two vampires fight, but it was probably better than sitting around here doing nothing.

Maria smiled and walked out the door. Across the hall there was another door which she opened. It looked like a closet but she walked inside and pushed on the back wall. It opened to show another room that had a ladder in it. She quickly dropped through the opening and walked down the tunnel. It ended in a larger circular stone room. In the center stood Axel and Ice. She motioned for Roxas to stay quiet and moved to the edge of the room. She quietly sat down and looked both of the vampires over. It looked like they hadn't actually started yet.

Axel knew when the humans started coming towards him. It must be Maria. She is the only one who watches these fights. She must be bringing Roxas with her. He smiled and looked over at them when they sat down then turned back to Ice. They had both taken off their shirts leaving Axel with nothing and Ice in a black sports bra.

At the same moment they both ran forward and delevered several harsh blows with fists and legs. They seperated and both started pulling their power to themselves. Axel's hands were soon covered in fire while Ice of course was covered in ice. They came together again delevering more blows then broke apart again. They both threw their respective powers at the other for a moment then stopped.

Axel turned away from Ice laughing. He brought his hands up and snuffed the fire out in one hand then dropped it back down. In the other hand he had a phoneix form then fly away dissapearing after a few moments.

Ice broke a small smile. "Stop showing off fire boy." She brought her hand up and soon had a ice swan sitting in her palm. "We all know mine always look better and last longer."

Roxas followed Maria into the closet and into the round room. It was pretty impressive, he had to admit as he looked around. His gaze stopped on Axel and the girl in the middle, who he was guessing was ice. He watched their fight with wide eyes. It was pretty cool. It wasn't something that was seen every day. It was even cooler when Axel made a phoenix appear in his hand. But was more impressed by the ice swan personally.

Maria giggled and jumped up. She ran over to Ice and around the waist. "One of these days you need to put him in his place. I was wondering if you would take me shopping? Can I go Axel?" She looked at them both with pleading eyes. "And I want Roxas to go with me."

Axel smiled at Maria. He started to answer her happily but when he heard the last bit he stopped. "You know you overstep. Trying to control me." He turned to Roxas. "Do you want to go? If you do I will let you go with Maria and Ice but if you run off it will be on Maria. She won't run away and she will be punished for letting you run off. It also wouldn't be advised to run off. Ice can protect you. No one will attack her. She's the match even for me."

Roxas nodded. "Yes.. I would like to go.. And I won't run off." he said. As much as he would like to, he wasn't going to if it was going to hurt Maria. She shouldn't be punished for his actions. So he would be patient and try to find another way out of here. No matter how long that took, he would wait.