Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Caspian took a deep breath, savouring the final moments of sunlight. A faint wind blew by, dragging the fallen autumn leaves and discarded food wrappers kicking and screaming down the alleyway around him. Caspian pulled his collar up, feeling the soft embrace of the fluffy lining as it hugged his scarred neck. The conditions weren’t ideal. He’d arrived too late in the day, and regardless the day was overcast and grey. If this went wrong, he wouldn’t be able to escape outside. He had to get it right the first time. No mistakes.

“Everything going alright on your end?” The voice crackled to life in his ear, making Caspian jump. He wasn’t used to having these earpieces. It seemed so bizarre and futuristic. So surreal.

Maybe it was ironic that after all the supernatural horrors Caspian had seen, it was the way technology had advanced in the years he was gone that seemed unreal.

“Casp?”

“Yeah.” Caspian said, swallowing. “Yeah everything’s alright. Everything’s just choice.”

There was a brief pause, in which Caspian could tell Will was probably stifling a laugh. Caspian

“Good to hear.” The man on the other end of the line said eventually. “You good to breach the perimeter Lost Boy?”

Caspian slipped his hand into his jacket pocket, and closed his fingers around the long wooden stake concealed there. He slowly reached his other hand out to the handle of the door in front of him, and turned it. The door opened silently, revealing seemingly endless darkness beyond.

“We’re breached.” Capsian whispered, stepping over the threshold.

As he stepped inside, he felt something shift and crunch underfoot, and froze. Caspian scanned the room for any sign of danger, before quickly glancing down.

He had stepped directly onto a thick line of white powder, which accidentally scattering some of it around the room. Still standing in the light of the doorway, Caspian crouched down, pinching some of it between his fingers and smelling it.

“Salt?” He whispered.

“Pardon?” Will asked through the earpiece.

Caspian looked around him. “It’s salt.” He said, his voice still hushed. “A line of it, across the doorway.”

“Salt does keep out vampires.” Will suggested.

“So what is it doing across the doorway of the vampire's lair?” Caspian asked.

There was a pause. “Maybe someone’s trying to keep it inside?”

Caspian looked around again, standing back up. He closed the door behind him, stepping over the line of salt, and tried to kick it back into place with his foot. “Maybe. But the line is inside the doorway, Will. Someone in the building put this here.” He swallowed, taking a deep breath. The air was dank and festering, heavy with the scent of chemicals and blood. “I don’t like this place.”

“You can back up, Cas.” Will said quickly, his voice barely registering through the speakers. “The death toll here is only small, theres only one. We can regroup, come back soon before it needs to feed again-”

“No.” Caspian shook his head, walking further into the building. “No, it’s alright. I’ve got this.”

The group’s research had indicated that the building had once been a library before it fell into disrepair due to a lack of funding, and all around Caspian loomed empty bookcases, a forest of repurposed and worn away wood. He took a small flashlight out of his pocket and shone it in front of him, peering through row upon row of empty shelves.

Something large moved in the darkness, a shambling mass of shadow which dashed through the bookshelves with a frantic rustling sound. There was a creak as a door was thrown open, and the vampire disappeared into another room.

Caspian froze, his grip tightening on the wooden stake, which he drew from his pocket. “Will?” He whispered. “It’s in here.”

“Copy.” Will responded. “Stay alert Caspian. We’re listening in.”

Caspian waited for the creature to emerge, counting every breath as the seconds flew by. Eventually, he took another step forwards moving slowly and carefully towards the still open door on the other side of the library. He braced himself against the doorframe as he peered inside. It seemed to be some kind of office, with a set of stairs leading both up to another floor, and down into the library's archives. Caspian took a step into the room, the beam of his flashlight slicing through the semi-darkness. There was a small window above him, letting the fading orange glow of the sun into the room, illuminating it in hazy twilight. He turned off his flashlight and slipped it away, adjusting his grip on his stake as he debated which set of stairs to take.

He didn’t have long to consider his options.

The shambling mass slammed into Caspian’s chest, knocking the stake from his hand and sending it skidding across the floor. The man screamed as his shoulder popped, the force of the being smashing him against the wall dislocating the joint and sending blinding white light across his vision. There was no time between the connection to the wall, and the being’s fangs sinking into Caspian’s flesh. He could feel the tangled hair of the creature pressed against his neck as it drained his blood. Caspian was dully aware through the pain that the sound of Will’s voice in his ear had disappeared as the earpiece was knocked loose in the scuffle.

Almost as soon as the vampire had bitten him however, it reeled back, releasing a screaming hiss in pain, as if it had been burned. The separation from Caspian’s neck was not clean, the vampire’s teeth ripping through the skin. Caspian crumpled to the flood, clasping his uninjured hand around his neck to stem the bleeding.

He tried to clear his mind. To focus.

Only he couldn’t. It all felt too familiar. The vampire's teeth had dragged with it decades of tormented memories.

So many years… so long in that place, the teeth biting all over his body, draining him of blood yet keeping him just alive enough…

Caspian tried to breathe. He had to breathe. If he kept calm, he could slow his heartbeat. He could slow the bleeding. He just has to breathe…

He looked up warily, searching for the vampire, and had to stifle a ragged gasp at what he saw in front of him.

The figure was crumpled against the opposite wall, trembling violently and coughing. Between each cough was a mangled sob, with each shudder making the curtain of black hair sway. The vampire hunched on all fours, trying to stem the coughing, and when it finally sat back up, Caspian saw a puddle of blood on the ground: his own blood, coughed up by the vampire.

“I’m sorry.” The vampire wheezed, falling against the wall and bringing its knees up to its chest.

Caspian wasn’t sure how to respond. Had the vampire just… apologised? For attacking him?

“I didn’t… Oh god…” The creature's voice was hoarse and raspy, as if even before the coughing it hadn’t spoken aloud for a very long time. “I didn’t mean to, I…”

The vampire raised its head, and Caspian saw for the first time part of the creature's face. A part in the curtain of hair revealed a piercing blue eye, and a freckle spattered pale cheek-bone. The eye bored into Caspian, a look of horror etched into the pattern of the iris. It was an eye that looked far too alive to be a vampire. Far too human.

“What are you?” The vampire asked, the exposed edge of his lips curling around blood-stained fangs.

Caspian blinked at the creature, his blood warm and sticky between his fingers. “W-What are you?”

There was a long pause. “I don’t know.” The vampire whimpered. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I…”

The vampire looked up at Caspian again. A tear slid down its cheek as it took in the blood soaking into the hunter's clothes. “God there’s so much blood, I-”

Caspian grunted, his vision clearing slightly. He’d lost more blood than this before. He’d be okay. “You stopped.” He breathed.

The vampire looked away, curling in on himself even more. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

Caspian wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. Was this some kind of trick? He had been around vampires for so long and not one of them had even shown remorse. Had ever come close to showing they had a soul… So what was happening here?

“B-Bandages.” The vampire stammered. Caspian could have sworn the monster was crying as it unfurled, and scrambled around the room. Caspian braced himself to fight the creature off, but it didn’t approach. It disappeared behind one of the desks in the room, and fumbled around in the draws. The sun outside had finally set, plunging the room into darkness, and Caspian could barely make out what the vampire was doing.

Taking a deep breath, Caspian slammed his bodyweight into the wall directly on his shoulder. He stifled a scream as the dislocated joint popped back into place. He reached with a blood covered hand back into his pocket and pulled out the flashlight as the shadowy figure seemed to loom over him in the darkness. Caspian clicked it on, shining it directly into the face of the vampire.

The creature reeled back, hissing once again, and Caspian got a proper look at their face. It was gaunt and thin, with skin that looked stretched too tight over bones. At the brightness of the light, the vampire's pupils contracted into slits, suspended in oceans of crystal blue. The creature’s mouth opened unnaturally wide, its cheeks almost splitting as it revealed sharp, elongated teeth. The vampire staggered back, dropping a white roll of bandages as it crashed to the ground, and scrambled back away from Caspian, pressing once again against the opposite wall.

Caspian lowered the flashlight to the ground and leaned forwards to pick up the bandages. “T-The salt.” He said quietly as he fumbled with the bandages, his fingers going numb as he lost blood. He began trying to wrap the bandage around his neck. “You put the salt there…”

The vampire nodded, hiding his face behind his knees. He looked young. Maybe Caspian’s age, in his mid twenties. At least, the age Caspian should have been.

“You were keeping yourself inside?” Caspian asked.

“I didn’t want to hurt them. It was an accident, I wasn’t in control of myself, I don’t know what happened, I…” The vampire paused as he choked out a sob. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Caspian couldn’t exactly argue with that. He finished bandaging his neck, and let his hands fall to his side, resting hesitantly as his head swam. “But… You’re a vampire?”

“Are you going to kill me?” The creature asked quietly.

Caspian had been asked this question by a vampire before. Admittedly, he had never gone on a solo hunt before, either. He was fairly new to this whole thing. But he didn’t think this was usually how it went down.

“You’re already dead.” He answered.

“I don’t want to be dead.” The vampire sobbed. “Please, I- I don’t want to be like this.”

“I can’t let you hurt more people.” Caspian spotted his stake across the room, and dragged himself towards it. If the vampire noticed, he didn’t react.

“I don’t want to hurt more people. I just want to be me again, I… I want to remember who me is.”

Caspian froze. The idea of losing who you were… He could relate to that all too much. Again the hazy memories of pain flooded into his mind, and he pushed them aside. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to vampires. Vampires didn’t forget. It tormented them, knowing who they once were in life. For one to forget…”

“You don’t remember who you were?” Caspian asked slowly, his blood-slicked fingers closing around the handle of the stake.

“I… I don’t know. Kind of? I- I have flashes, I… I woke up three days ago and I…”

Caspian got shakily to his feet. He wouldn’t be able to beat this vampire physically. Not in this state. This conversation was good. He could catch the creature off guard.

“What was your name?” Caspian asked, taking a stumbling step forward.

“R-Rae.” The vampire said. “I think my name is Rae.”

Caspian was close enough now. He saw the elongated, almost bat-like pointed ear of the vampire twitch beneath the mass of black hair. “Rae, I’m going to just-”

“Don’t come near me!” Rae screamed, his limbs flailing as he launched himself across the room. “Please, I don’t want to hurt you, I can’t control myself!”

Caspian threw his bodyweight forwards, pinning Rae to the ground awkwardly. He wrestled with the vampire as they tumbled across the ground. Caspian growled, a far more animalistic sound than any the vampire had made, gripping Rae around the neck with a bloody hand, and raising the stake with the other.

Rae’s blue eyes locked with Caspians.

Caspian paused.

Rae wasn’t fighting back.

He wasn’t resisting. There was no hate, or anger, or bloodlust in Rae’s eyes.

It was fear. Pure, unbridled fear. Fear not just of Caspian, but of himself. The vampires Caspian had killed before hadn’t been afraid. They had been actively trying to kill him. Caspian had killed them in self defence, to keep himself alive, but Rae…

Could he kill something that wasn’t fighting back? That had surrendered? Human or not, did Rae deserve to die?

Could Caspian bring himself to kill him?

”I don’t want to be dead.”

Caspian dropped the steak, and it clattered to the ground beside Rae. The vampire's skin felt cold beneath Caspian’s hands, and he slowly removed his grip from Rae’s throat.

“What are you doing?” Rae croaked, tears streaming down his face. “I- I’m dangerous, I-”

“You’re not doing to hurt me.” Caspian said. He was still leaning over Rae, his face hanginging over the vampire’s, his hair hanging down in a curtain around them both. “If you wanted to hurt me you would have.”

Rae didn’t say anything. He just stared up at Caspian, his mouth slightly agape, showing the deadly fangs he’d refused to use. “But I…”

Caspian sat back, picking himself up off Rae. Part of him twinged at the loss of contact, as if… As if he wanted to keep touching Rae.

“I have… Friends.” Caspian wasn’t sure if that was the term. He’d only known Will and the others for a couple of months, and their relationship was… Interesting, to say the least. “They helped me. You’re not… You’re not like other vampires. Not ones I’ve met.” Caspian hesitated with what he was about to say next. “Come with me. Maybe we can help you.”

Rae didn’t move. He took a long moment to respond. “What if I attack you again? What if I attack someone else?”

Caspian took a deep breath. “Then they'll; kill you. But… I’m offering you a chance.”

Rae closed his eyes, bit his lower lip for a moment, and then nodded. “Thank you.” He said eventually. “I don’t deserve that.”

“Maybe not.” Caspian admitted. “But… Maybe you do, if you don’t know who you were.” He swallowed. “I know what that’s like. Maybe… Maybe we can remember those things together.”

Rae sat up slowly, shuffling away from Caspian on the floor and bringing his knees up to his chest. “That… That would be nice.”

The vampire and the hunter sat there in the darkness, staring at each other as the tentative alliance settled between them. Caspian studied Rae’s face, searching for any sign of trickery or deception, only to find nothing. Just a man, lost and alone, and afraid. Caspian wondered who Rae had been, before now. He could have been handsome, before his appearance became so ragged and worn. There was so much Rae could have done with his life. Only now… Now he was here. Now he was dead.

Caspian had his own life ripped violently away from him by vampires. If there was a chance that there was still something human about Rae. Something that could be saved… Caspian wanted to help save him.

Caspian was going to save him.

Chapter Text

The cold autumn wind howled around the two young people as they walked through the empty street on the outskirts of town. Caspian’s hair whipped around him, long tangled strands sticking to the fleece collar of his denim jacket. Their footsteps crunched in the fallen leaves as they moved silently down the road towards the woods.

“Strawberri…” Caspian considered his words carefully, not for the first time that evening. Ahead of them, beyond the trees that obscured the horizon, the sun had almost completely set. The world around them was bathed in the dull, blotchy colours of the season. It reminded Caspian of one of Strawberri’s many watercolours, plastered around the walls of her dorm room. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. We don’t know if she just–”

“She’s missing, Caspian. It’s been days now, this isn’t like her.” Strawberri hissed over the wind. She pulled her jacket closer to her as she walked, crossing her arms over her chest. There was enough hairspray in her orange curls that the wind barely seemed to be affecting it. The petals of the fake flower pinned into her hair twitched anxiously in the breeze, as if even it sensed the danger in the air.

“So go the police.” Caspian suggested, although the words died in his throat as he remembered the inside of the interrogation room at the station. The harshness of the cold handcuffs digging into his wrists.. “Again.” He said weakly.

“I’m not going to do that.” Strawberri sighed. “They already… They did enough. You didn’t deserve that. Besides, they wouldn’t… They wouldn’t believe me. About what I told you.”

Caspian was at least partially grateful for Strawberri’s refusal to trust the authorities. There was no love lost between him and the local officers. Especially in regards to this particular case. When Strawberri had first reported her roommate Haley as disappearing, Caspian was the first one they dragged off to interrogate. He wasn’t exactly popular in town, despite keeping to himself. They tried to arrest him under suspicion of selling drugs to Haley, getting her killed, if he hadn’t killed her himself. Their attempts fell through when they failed to find any drugs anywhere in his apartment or person. Despite his hesitation towards the police however, he wasn’t exactly sure Strawberri was in the best state of mind to go looking themselves. Especially not with what she’d been saying.

“Strawberri, I don’t… I don’t know if I believe you either, you know.” Caspian shoved his hands into his pockets.

“You’re out here with me.” Strawberri huffed.

“Because you’re walking around the woods alone!” Caspian shrugged. They had indeed reached the woods now, tracing the worn dirt path through the trees. The faint hints of sunlight had finally vanished, plunging them into ever deepening darkness. “And… And Haley had already gone missing. If someone took her, I… I don’t want them to get you too.”

Strawberri stopped, shrugged off her backpack, and pulled out a large metal flashlight. She clicked it on, and the beam of yellow light momentarily blinding Caspian. “I… I appreciate that.” They said after a moment, standing back up and pointing the flashlight down the path. “But you can’t act like you don’t believe me. You brought the stakes.”

Caspian opened his mouth and closed it a few times. “I… I brought some sticks.” He clarified. “Which just happen to be sharpened, in case we need protection. I didn’t… I’m already a suspect, if the police find me alone with you in the woods, I didn’t want to have a knife or something.”

“I appreciate your logical assessment of the situation.” Strawberri gave him a tense, sarcastic smile, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure that logical approach is really gonna come in handy against vampires.”

“They’re not vampires.” Caspian sighed.

Strawberri stopped in her tracks, stomping her foot impatiently. “What are they then Caspian?” She snapped, throwing her arms out. “We’ve only seen them at night. They have some kind of weird effect on people, and- and I saw them drinking blood!”

“You think you saw them drinking blood, Strawberri.” Caspian said gently, not wanting to start a fight. “Berri, you’re… You’re under a lot of stress, I get that. Haley’s missing, the police aren’t doing anything, you’re worried about your sister–”

“Don’t you dare bring Ocie into this.” Strawberri cut him off.

Caspian made an exasperated gasping noise. “Fine, I’m sorry. Strawberri what’s more likely here? There are actual vampires haunting the abandoned house in the woods? Or that you’re jumping conclusions to fill in the blanks while you’re not in the right state of mind?”

“If you don’t believe me then just leave!” Strawberri said finally, turning and walking deeper into the forest. “I’ll go on by myself.”

“No, I–” Caspian jogged up beside her, his backpack bouncing awkwardly as he moved and threatening to make him overbalance. “That’s not what I meant, I just… I’m worried about you. You’re like my only friend, I don’t want you to get murdered.”

“By vampires?” Strawberri asked, smiling faintly.

“By a murderer.” Caspian forced a laugh, trying to brighten the dreamy atmosphere of the forest. “Honestly, though, I don’t–”

Strawberri stopped again. “Shh.” She hissed, her entire body tensing.

“Sorry, I won’t bring it up.” Caspian muttered. “It’s not–”

“I said shhhh.” Strawberri repeated, throwing herself across the path and clasping a hand over Caspian’s mouth. The action was incredibly uncomfortable for both of them, mostly due to the amount Strawberri had to reach up to grab Caspian, and the angle at which Caspian’s neck was being bent for her to keep a hand over his mouth. The wind felt icy on the bare skin of his throat, and a spatter of rain made it through the trees, droplets collecting on his skin.

“There's someone in the woods.” Strawberri whispered.

The two stood there, their heartbeats thundering in their ears as they strained to listen for further signs of movement. The forest was completely silent; unsettlingly so. Strawberri was just about to step away, when the voice rang out from the darkness.

“We appreciate you presenting his neck so nicely for us.” The man’s voice called, accompanied by a rustling in the leaves above their heads. Only surely a person couldn’t be moving so quickly so high above the ground. “Although…”

There was a gentle thud as a figure dropped to the ground in front of them. Strawberri yelped and jumped backwards, half dragging Caspian with her before she finally let go of him.

“It does spoil the fun of the hunt.”

“Backpack, backpack!” Caspian stressed, fumbling to loosen the straps from his shoulders and drop the bag to a better height for Strawberri to open it from behind him.

The man in front of them stared at the two of them. He couldn’t have been too much older then them, but he looked ragged and sickly. His eyes seemed hollow and ringed with dark bags, and his face and arms were covered in scars which glistened white against his skin in the frantically waving light of Strawberri’s flashlight. A scruffy beard was growing untended across his face, and his long hair looked as if it had once been styled as a mullet, if he had cared to maintain it. He took a step towards them, slowly, tilting his head a little to inspect them.

“I’ll admit, we weren’t two of you.” He crooned, seemingly relishing in the pair’s panic.

“Who are you?” Caspian asked, trying and failing to force confidence into his trembling voice. Momboo slipped one of the sharpened sticks into his hand from behind him, and he gripped it tight, the bark pressing against his palm.

The man ignored them, still staring at them unblinkingly. “This certainly complicates our little deal. Doesn’t it, Sherbert?”

There was a loud rustling sound; not leaves this time, but the sound of feathers; the sound of flapping wings, magnified a hundred fold. “Certainly.”

The new voice came from behind them, and Strawberri wheeled around, this time at least letting go of Caspian’s before moving. She pressed her back against his. She hadn’t managed to get another of the stakes from the bag, and she instead brandished the lit flashlight in front of her like a baton as she stared wide eyed at the newcomer, Sherbert.

Their heterochromatic eyes glistened unblinking in the light of the torch. Strawberri swallowed as she looked at the blood, smeared down the side of Sherbert’s face, her knuckles going white on the handle of the flashlight.

“I don’t suppose you’d let Enderian take both of them?” The first man smirked, revealing a few sharp, elongated teeth between his lips. Caspian stared at them, sweating.

Strawberri couldn’t have been right about vampires. Vampires didn’t exist. Vampire’s couldn’t exist. It was impossible.

“Don’t be absurd, Centross.” Sherbert drawled, eyeing Strawberri. “You know the deal. You were allowed to take Miss Garfield on the basis that a suitable replacement was to be supplied to the court.”

“And Miss Pine here is a suitable replacement, do you not agree?” Centross gestured towards Strawberri.

“Who are you? What have you done with Haley?” Strawberri shouted over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off Sherbert. “How do you know my name?”

“We know a lot about you, Miss Pine.” Sherbert smiled, revealing their own teeth. Unlike Centross’ however, these were not prominent fangs, but rather an entire mouth, filled with needle-like teeth. “Your friend Haley was… very talkative, in her cell. At least, before she was released from it.” They hissed over at Centross.

“We have dealt with the issue.” Centross muttered.

“We are currently dealing with the issue you mean.” Sherbert amended. “Try not to fuck it up too much.”

Centross scoffed. “Here. You take the young woman. As was determined. And, in accordance with the territory, Enderian can take this one.”

Sherbert let out soft hmmmm as they considered the offer. “I would consider that reasonable.”

“You stay the fuck away from her.” Caspian snapped over his shoulder at Sherbert. He wasn’t following the conversation. Not entirely at least. But he understood these people had hurt Haley. That they wanted to hurt Strawberri. He understood that he wasn’t going to let them.

“I don’t envy you, with that one.” Sherbert sighed. “Anyway. I tire of this. Shall we?” They looked at Centross.

“We shall.” The man smiled.

Both creatures launched themselves at the pain. Momboo screamed as she swung outwards with the flashlight. It slammed into Sherbert’s shoulder and knocked them slightly off course. The vampire tumbled and rolled, popping up into a crouch as it hissed, baring their teeth. Caspian thrust upwards with the sharpened stake, and managed to miss Centross completely. The vampire grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him to the ground effortlessly. His claws dragged through the sleeves of Caspian’s jacket, slicing through skin. Caspian could feel blood beginning to seep down his arms as he crashed to the ground. He landed on a root of a tree, and the wind was knocked from his lungs.

“Caspian!” Strawberri yelled, lunging towards him. Centross threw out an arm and hit her in the chest, sending her flying backwards into a tree.

“Run!” Caspian gasped, trying desperately to suck in air as Centross loomed over him.

“I wouldn’t recommend it.” Sherbert launched over and grabbed a dazed Strawberri by their hair, pulling them to their feet. Strawberri flailed the flashlight upwards at their attacker, and Sherbert grabbed their wrist, twisting it until they dropped the light, which hit the ground with a soft clang, rolling down the path and robbing them of their source of light. Caspian kicked upwards as he tried to scramble upright, and Centross easily stepped away. In a flash of movement, Centross had grabbed Caspian by the throat, lifting him up and slamming him against a tree. Caspian struggled, watching helplessly as Sherbert yanked Strawberri’s head to the side, and bit down into her neck. There was a spurt of blood which escaped their lips. Strawberri screamed – or at least tried to – as they struggled without effect. In a matter of seconds their attempt to fight off the vampire weakened, and she fell limp in their grasp.

Caspian screamed. Sherbert detached themselves from Strawberri’s neck, blood trickling down around their mouth, soaking their clothes and mingling with the blood already tracing its way down their face. A steady stream of blood, almost black in the near darkness, slowly flooded down the side of Strawberri’s neck as her glassy blue eyes stared at Caspian, devoid of recognition or emotion. The flow pulsed in time with her fading heartbeat, trickling out in spurts. Centross, seemingly relishing watching Caspian react to the attack opposite them, bared his own fangs, and threw his head forwards, biting down into Caspian’s neck.

The fangs felt cold as they pierced the skin of Caspian’s jugular. He wasn’t a fan of needles, and the sensation, beyond the abject, unparalleled horror of it, was not too dissimilar to that. The piercing of a needle, to draw blood. Caspian flailed as his vision blurred. He threw up his arm, and felt the end of the sharpened stake dug into flesh, giving way beneath the pointed tip. Centross ripped his head away, howling in pain and rage as he dropped Caspian. The stick had impaled him through the neck, digging up through his jaw and tongue, and as he looked, Caspian could see the end protruding blood covered between Centross’ teeth. Caspian threw up violently across the ground as his attacker staggered backwards, grasping at the stick which had impaled him.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins as Caspian dragged himself to his feet. He looked over to where Strawberri and Sherbert had been, only to see the area empty, apart from the pool of blood. He should have looked for her. He knew that afterwards. Perhaps he knew that even then, at that moment. He didn’t however. Instead, Caspian ran.

He heard the garbled screeching of Centross behind him; curses and moans, distorted by the hole in his throat and the mouthful of blood. Caspian didn’t bother to listen to what was being said. He just moved as fast as his legs would carry him, the world around him somehow seeming dimmer and less in focus with every passing step. He burst out of the forest and fumbled in his pockets for his keys. Caspian, unsteady on his feet, slammed into the side of his car. Blood smeared across the driver's side window and the roof as he leant against it, trying desperately to fit the key into the lock, and scratching the paint around the handle severely as he did so. The door opened, and he threw himself inside, instinct taking over completely as he threw the car into reverse and flew backwards away from the forest, gears screeching and grinding as he failed to properly transition between them in his fading state of consciousness.

A giant shape flew from the edge of the forest, and Centross collided with the windshield of Caspian’s car, a mess of blood and fangs and rage cracking the glass as he gripped the bonnet. Caspian didn’t have the breath to scream; he just stared wide eyed at Centross as he wheeled the car around frantically, crashing into letterboxes and bushes as he drove wildly, trying to throw the vampire from the front of the vehicle. Caspian sped through the suburban streets, ignoring the speed limits and the barks of dogs in people’s yards as he tore past. He jerked the steering wheel to the left, sending the vehicle careening around a corner. The edge of the bonnet connected with a streetlamp, clipping it enough to send the vehicle spinning, and send Centross tumbling from the car and rolling down the street.

Caspian wrestled desperately with the wheel until he gained control again just barely. One of his headlights had smashed in the collision, and his attempt to regain control had crashed into the trunk of a nearby parked car, who’s alarm was now wailing. Caspian could see Centross lying on the road in front of him, blocking the stretch of street which would lead him away from this part of town. The throw from the car should have killed him. It should have shattered every bone in the vampires body. But already Caspian could see Centross beginning to pick himself up slowly, in jagged, broken movements. Caspian slammed his foot down on the accelerator, and tore down the street. There was a horrible grinding bump as he drove straight over Centross, and the vampire screamed.

Caspian couldn’t bring himself to look in the rearview mirror at the monster he had left in the street. He just kept driving. He kept driving until the blood clotted and dried on his clothes, staining his seats and flooding the air he breathed. He kept driving until he was lost and so far out of town he didn’t know if he could even get back. He kept driving until his vision clouded over, and his body gave in, collapsing against the wheel of the car, and sending him swerving off the road…

Chapter Text

Rae felt as though adrenaline was being pumped directly into his veins. He could see better, the darkness around him suddenly dragged into a vibrant world of reds and blues. He felt like he was vibrating. As if he’d chugged coffee, and the caffeine was slowly seeping into every part of his body. The blood which coated the inside of his mouth tasted sweet and coppery, yet… Wrong, somehow.

Of course it was wrong. Rae scolded himself. All of this was wrong. Hurting people, drinking blood, it was all wrong.

Only that wasn’t it at all. Yes, he could feel the guilt of attacking Caspian, of attacking those other people weighing down on him, crushing his heart beneath it. But beyond that even, Caspian’s blood tasted… Wrong. Different from the others he had attacked. There was another taste he couldn’t place. Bitter, and acidic. Like biting into a battery. That was what had made him recoil at first, when he had pounced on the hunter. It was only after he had been sated that the guilt kicked in, and the animalistic haze seemed to fade. He had tried to go so long without feeding. He had sealed himself inside the abandoned library with salt and crosses scratched into the floors. Rae wasn’t sure how long it had been since he had last fed, and accidentally killed that man in town. Too long. Long enough that any inhibitions, any sense of himself had been worn away as his vampiric nature gnawed at his consciousness.

Rae wasn’t sure how long he and Caspian had been sitting in the darkness. They were unbelievably close. Dangerously close. Rae could hear the hunter's heartbeat pounding in his ears, and see every twitch of every exposed vein and artery. So much life, begging to be freed. So much blood, begging to be consumed…

There was a noise as the door of the library was kicked open, and footsteps echoed through the building. Rae moved to bolt, but Caspian’s hand shot out and grabbed Rae’s shirt with surprising strength given how much blood he had lost.

“Rae.” Caspian rasped, blinking at him in the darkness. “You trust me, right?”

In honesty, Rae didn’t. He didn’t trust anyone. Hell, right now he didn’t even trust himself. But he froze, lowering himself back to the ground beside Caspian, and nodding. The footsteps outside were moving closer. Rae could hear the newcomers' heartbeats through the walls. Two of them, pacing slowly through the library.

“Caspian?” A voice called out into the building. “Cas?”

Caspian looked at Rae for a moment, before turning to face the door. “Will? I’m in here.”

There was a mumbled swear of relief from the other hunters. “Is everything alright? We lost cont-”

The man appeared in the doorway. His white hair glistened in the light of the moon streaming in through the small window. A set of thick, mechanical goggles covered the upper half of his face, blinking with a faint blue light. His mouth fell open when he saw the two of them in the room.

“Shit, Seven!” Will charged across the room towards Rae, a stake drawn. Another, much larger figure appeared in the doorway behind him.

Rae let out a rough hissing screech and tried to bolt, only to find that Caspian still had a tight grip on his blood stained shirt, preventing him from moving anywhere.

“Will, wait!” Caspian threw his weight into Rae, knocking the vampire backwards into the wall, and blocking Will’s clear shot at Rae’s heart.

Rae was intensely aware of Caspian’s body pressed against his. Of his warmth. Of the closeness of the man’s neck to Rae’s mouth. Of the way Caspian’s arms were somewhat braced around Rae’s chest. He was aware of Caspian's hair in his face. It smelled of grass, and of herbs. Perhaps mint. Rae hadn’t smelled anything that wasn’t blood and viscera in a long time, and the aggressively human smell of shampoo made his head spin. Or maybe that was just Caspian making his head spin.

Rae wondered: if he was alive, would his heart be beating fast? If he had blood in his veins, would his cheeks be blushing?

Will had to throw his weight sideways to avoid stabbing Caspian through the chest, and he slammed into the wall before bouncing back, swaying on his feet as he steadied himself, fists raised. The other hunter, Seven, appeared beside him. Rae stared up at the other man, who seemed impossibly tall. He was solidly built, and a set of headphones were pulled down around his neck. Some kind of beeping metallic device was sticking out of his back pocket, and he held not a stake, but a metal spike.

If Rae wanted to, he could have easily thrown Caspian’s bodyweight aside. Even the small amount of blood he’d managed to consume was enough to boost his strength. But if he did that, would he be able to get past Will and Seven? Did he want to?

Did he trust Caspian – this man he had only just met, who had come here to kill him – enough to get him out of here alive?

Or, undead, he supposed.

Rae wasn’t sure how long he had been dead, really. Or even if he had ever been alive. He must have been at some point, he assumed.

Who had be been? Why couldn’t he remember?

“Caspian… What are you doing?” Will asked slowly.

“Don’t hurt him.” Caspian said, panting from the effort of pinning Rae against the wall. It had aggravated the wound in his neck, and fresh blood was now seeping into the bandages.

“Are you insane?” Will hissed, looking at Rae, whose head was poking over Caspian’s shoulder, his face coated with the hunter’s dried and sticky blood. “Caspian he’s a vampire! He just fucking attacked you–”

“You’re suffering tremendous bleeding from your neck.” Seven said in a calm, monotone voice, as if he was explaining to someone very young, or perhaps very fragile. “If we don’t get you back to the van for medical attention–”

“Caspian if this thing has you under a thrall of some kind–”

“He doesn’t have me under a thrall.” Caspian stressed. Rae felt the weight of Caspian’s body against his shift, if he was losing the strength to stand every second that they spoke.

“A… A thrall?” Rae asked.

Will shot him a narrowed glance. “He bit you.”

“I didn’t want–”

“And he stopped, Will.” Caspian said slowly. “Will he stopped of his own accord. He… He has a conscience, Will. Seven that’s not normal, is it?”

Rae wasn’t exactly following this. Was it not normal for a vampire to have a conscience? Surely all vampires weren’t monsters… Were they?

“Not… Typically.” Seven nodded their head side to side, considering the concept. “I cannot think of an example of such a thing happening in the past.”

“Caspian even if that’s the case it’s still dangerous.” Will pointed the stake at Rae. “We can’t let it out into the world.”

“His name is Rae.” Caspian said flatly. “And we’re not letting him out into the world. He’s coming with us.”

“Caspian.” Seven said sternly.

“Absolutely not.” Will crossed his arms. “That’s insane, we’re not taking in stray monsters because you think there's something dif–”

“You did it for me.” Caspian spat. He was trembling against Rae’s chest. At first Rae wondered if Caspian was shaking with anger, until he realised that Caspian was barely keeping himself upright.

“Caspian…” Rae said quietly.

“I told him we could help him.” Caspian stared at Will. “Please, Will. This is me, Caspian, your friend asking this. Not a thrall.”

Will uncrossed his arms. “Cas we can’t–”

“You helped me. Help Rae.” Caspian wheezed. “Promise me?”

“Cas…”

“Promise me.” Caspian pleaded, his eyes wide. Rae could see a glistening tear curve down the side of Caspian’s cheek, catching the moonlight in its droplet. “Please?”

Will slipped his stake into his vest, slowly, his eyes still locked on Rae. “Alright. I promise.” He nodded. “But if he pulls anything…”

“We won’t hesitate to eliminate the potential threat.” Seven concluded.

Caspian nodded. “I know.”

“Thank you.” Rae said quietly.

“We’re not doing this for you.” Will said slowly. “I hope you know what we’re risking for this. What Caspian is doing.”

Rae nodded. “I do. I… I owe him my life.”

“You don’t have a life.” Seven said flatly. Rae closed his mouth, unsure of how to respond. He simply nodded.

“Okay. Choice.” Caspian nodded, blinking rapidly as the world swayed around him. “Now if we could get out of here before things get any… any…”

“Caspian?” Will and Rae asked in unison.

Caspian took a swaying step away from Rae and the wall, and Will and Seven stepped back to give him room. Caspian's hand flew to his neck, where blood was seeping through the bandages, staining the collar of his jacket even more.

“I- I’m fine I…” His legs gave out, and Caspian crumpled to the ground.

“Caspian!” Rae lunged after him, grabbing Caspian’s shoulders.

Will slammed his shoulder into Rae’s chest knocking him away. “Stay away from him!”

Rae scrambled back against the wall, once again curling his legs up to his chest. “I’m sorry I- I didn’t want to hurt him!” He cried. “I didn’t want to I- I tried to bandage it but he’s–”

Seven pushed Will out of the way and ran his hands across Caspian’s chest, feeling for a heartbeat before checking the pulse in his blood-covered wrists. “He’s alright.” Seven confirmed. “Heartbeat steady, weak pulse. The blood loss is minimal, but significant. We need to get him back to the lab.”

“Can you help him?” Rae asked. He didn’t know what he would do if Caspian died. He didn’t know if he deserved to keep going, if he killed someone else. Killed someone who had been so kind to him. He couldn’t live with that, or be undead with that, or whatever he was now. Maybe he would let Will and Seven stake him. Maybe that would be best.

Will took the heavy night-vision goggles off his head, and looked at Rae. Rae noticed that there was something more than anger in Will’s eyes. Curiosity. Maybe even concern. Not only for Caspian, but for Rae. Will nodded. “We can. We’ve dealt with this… If you’re coming we’d better go.”

Seven scooped Caspian up in his arms. The man looked small in Seven’s large embrace. Will tentatively extended a hand out to Rae. Rae stared at it for a moment, unsure.

“Come on. We’ve only got until sunrise to get you out of here safely.” Will sighed.

Rae took Will’s hand, and let the hunter pull him to his feet. Rae wrapped his arms around his chest, trying to make himself look as small and unthreatening as possible, and cover up the blood which covered his ratty white shirt. Will and Seven led him back out of the library building and into the dark alleyway. There was a black van parked at the end of it, and Will unlocked it, throwing aside one of the doors.

Rae wasn’t sure what he was expecting inside the van. Perhaps just chairs, or maybe simply an empty space. Instead, there was an immaculately clean workspace, filled with an arsenal of not only weapons, but surveillance and medical equipment. Bright lights lit the inside in a cool, sterile blue, and Rae had to cover his eyes as the brightness seeped out into the night. Will stood to the side as Seven lifted Caspian up into the van, laying him out on the large steel desk in the back.

“Head around the front.” Will instructed Rae. “You can ride with me while Seven keeps an eye on Cas. I want to keep an eye on you.”

Rae nodded as Will closed one of the van’s back doors. Before Will could close the second one however, a shape flew out of the darkness, accompanied by a screaming roar, slamming into Will.

Rae yelped, jumping backwards as Will was tackled to the ground, wrestling with the figure as he tumbled across the ground.

“You bastard, you set us up!” Will screamed.

“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t this isn’t–”

In the darkness, at that speed of movement, neither Rae or Will could properly see the attacker. All they could hear was the animal-like growls and snarls as the figure scratched and fought with Will. Will kicked up, his feet connecting with his attacker’s chest and sending them flying back into the wall of the alley. The figure slammed into the bricks with a sickening thud, their head slamming against it, before they crumpled to the ground.

Instead of going for the attacker however, Will flew at Rae the moment he’d gotten to his feet, pressing the point of a stake to Rae’s heart. Rae pressed himself against the cold metal of the van.

“I didn’t know, I swear, please!”

“Why should I believe you?” Will pressed the point deeper, and Rae could feel it cutting into his cold, dead flesh.

Rae fumbled for something, anything, before realising something. Something was off… He listened, tuning out from Will’s heavy breathing and the sound of Seven in the van.

“They have a heartbeat!” Rae squeaked. “T-That’s not a vampire, they have a heartbeat, I promise, I can hear it.”

Will looked into Rae’s eyes for a long moment, trying to determine if the vampire was lying. Slowly, he stepped back, pulling the stake from Rae’s chest. Rae slumped in relief, resting his hands on his knees. Will slowly walked across the alleyway. Still clutching a stake in one hand, he took a flashlight out of his vest.

“Is everything handled out here?” Seven asked, emerging from the van. He used a wet towel to wipe some of the blood from his hands.

“Everything’s fine, thanks Seven.” Will nodded. There was a puzzled expression on his face. “Make sure Caspian’s stable.”

"Affirmative." Seven nodded, disappearing back into the van.

Will clicked on the flashlight and held the handle out towards Rae. “Hold this for me?”

Rae stepped away from the van, taking the flashlight in his trembling, bloody hand as he followed Will over to the unconscious body of the attacker. Rae shone the light on it.

“Shit, it’s a kid.” Will muttered, crouching down beside them.

He was right. The figure that had attacked him in the alley couldn’t have been older than eighteen, with thick dark hair hanging half over their face. They were wearing ripped jeans and an oversized green sweatshirt, which was covered in dark stains which could have been either dirt or blood in the light of the flashlight. The jeans were ripped away just above the ankle, and the teen was barefoot, their feet and shins covered in mud and grime, as if they’d run through the forest barefoot. It would certainly explain their ruffled appearance. Will rested a finger against the youth’s neck.

“You’re right.” He said after a moment. “They’re human. Or at least…”

Will used the end of the stake to push up the lip of the unconscious youth. Their teeth were sharp, with long incisors on both their upper and lower jaw. Certainly not human. Though not quite a vampire, either. Will cautiously lifted the teen’s eyelid. Staring back at them was a large brown iris in a pool of black. Will swore, leaning back.

“What is kid?”

“I- I don’t know.” Rae swallowed.

Will stood up. “I suppose you wouldn’t.” He looked around them in the alley. There was no one in sight. “Seven? Have we got iron chains in there?”

“Chains?” Rae asked, almost choking on the word. “You can’t–”

“We can’t leave this kid here. They’re not human.” Will shook his head as Seven emerged with a bundle of thin chain links. The links were small enough it could have been chunky jewellery, Rae thought. He watched as Seven inspected the teen.

“Curious.” The large man said. “I haven’t seen something like this before.”

“What are you going to do with them?” Rae asked, watching as Will looped the chains around the teen’s hands. “Those chains won’t hold them.”

“They don’t need to.” Seven explained. “Iron has a weakening property on most supernatural beings. I had considered constraining you in a similar method.”

“O-Oh.” Rae said quietly.

“We’ll take them back to the lab.” Will sighed. He wrapped a length of the chain around the teen’s neck, letting it hang like a necklace onto their chest. “Maybe when it wakes up we can try and talk to it. See what it wants…” He looked up at Rae suspiciously. “See why it was trying to get to you, if you don’t know what it is.”

Rae nodded quickly. He glanced back at the van, where Caspian’s arm was hanging over the side of the bench. “Alright.” He nodded then.

“Alright.” Will agreed. With Seven’s help, they lifted the unconscious being into the back of the van alongside Caspian. Seven stayed in the back, while Rae clambered up into the passenger seat beside Will.

Rae wasn’t sure when the last time he had been in a car was. As far as he remembered, he had never been in one, although that didn’t seem right. And after all, his memory only stretched back a few days. Maybe a week at most. Time seemed liquid and hazy in his mind, and if he thought too hard about it all he could think of were the people he had hurt in his rabid, frenzied state.

Rae wasn’t entirely sure if vampires slept. Or at least, he wasn’t sure if they needed to sleep. But, as Will pulled out into the street, and the car hummed gently beneath him, he closed his eyes, and found himself slipping into a comforting, dark embrace.

Chapter Text

The world around Rae seemed eerily silent. The car had stopped, and the only noise was a solitary heartbeat, very close by. Rae cracked his eyes open slowly, and jumped back with a startled hiss.

Seven’s face was inches from his own, the man’s grey eyes staring unblinking at him. Seven didn’t seem to react to Rae’s movement, and as Rae’s vision adjusted to the bright lights around him, he realised that Seven had a thin metal collar around his neck, almost like a neck brace, or the turtle-neck of a sweater.

“W-What are you doing?” Rae stammered.

Seven tilted his head. “We’ve arrived. I was sent to collect you from the van, but you were asleep.”

“So you were just… Staring at me?” Rae mumbled, avoiding meeting Seven’s eyes. “Until I woke up?”

Seven shrugged, nodding. “I suppose. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I have simply never had the opportunity to view a vampire sleeping before. At least, not in a safe environment.” Seven stepped back from the door, and gestured for Rae to follow him out.

Rae could sense the stiffness in his clothes where the blood had dried, and he could feel it cracking against his skin. “Oh.” He said. In truth, the idea of observing a vampire sounded fascinating to him. Finding out how vampirism worked. He just wasn’t sure if he particularly wanted to be the one under observation.

“You do not seem to reach an REM state in sleep. There is no notable eye movement, or indeed any biological functions that would be recognisable as sleep.” Seven described as he closed the door of the van. “It is most like death, it seems.”

Rae looked around them. The van was parked in a garage that seemed just as organised as the inside of the van, if less clinical and sterile. On the other side of the van, where another car could have been parked, a motorcycle sat half-assembled on an old sheet, its parts strewn about across the floor.

“Do you dream?” Seven asked, drawing Rae’s attention back to him.

Rae blinked. “Pardon?”

“When you sleep.” Seven explained, gesturing for Rae to follow him out of the garage. “Do you dream, in that death-like state?”

“Oh…” Rae thought for a moment. He tried to find any memory of a dream, and came up empty. He felt that his real memories were much like dreams. He knew they existed, but the more he tried to focus on them, the more they seemed to slip away. He assumed that if he knew that dreams felt like that, he must have known at some point what dreams felt like. “No, I don’t think so.” He answered after a while. “But… I think I have dreamt before.”

“When you were human?” Seven asked.

“Perhaps.” Rae nodded.

“Curious.” Seven nodded. “Very curious.

He led Rae out of the garage into a completely normal, if somewhat old fashioned house. Rae wasn’t sure what he was expecting, exactly, but based on their movements in the library and the interior of the van, he had not expected the rustic, simplistic farmhouse that greeted him. Glancing out the windows at the golden sunrise, Rae could see a rural property stretching out to a line of trees. He realised after a moment of staring that he had no reflection in the glass, and the realisation saddened him.

What did he look like? Did he know? Had he ever known?

What colour were his eyes?

Rae tore his gaze away from the window, afraid that if he dwelled too long on the subject that he might begin to cry. He turned to see Seven opening a door underneath a set of stairs. There were numerous locks, chains and deadbolts on the door, both inside and out. The stairs leading down to the basement were lit in the similar fluorescent blue-white that bathed the inside of the van. Rae didn’t like the lighting, and it amused him that in such a dangerous situation, that was his first thought. Even when faced with the threat of being killed by these vampire hunters, he was more concerned with the atmosphere of their home.

There was a reason, of course. The blue lights gave all they touched a cold, icy appearance. Yes, all that it touched seemed clean and well maintained, only it felt… Sterile. Unlived in. The blue lights reminded Rae too much of himself. Cold. Empty. Devoid of life.

The basement was far more of what Rae had been expecting. Seven and Will had referred to it as a lab, and that was certainly what it looked like. The surfaces were tile and steel, with monitors and instruments strung about the place. Only one corner seemed somewhat lived in, sporting a battered couch and a beanbag, along with several books which had been left on a coffee table alongside piles of unwashed mugs. On one side of the room, Caspian was laid across a metal table, attached to a machine which monitored his heartbeat silently. His shirt had been cut away, revealing a scarred chest, and his bandages had been replaced, the billowing flower of blood against his neck startlingly vibrant against the crisp white bandages. Rae raced across the room to stand beside him, looking down at Caspian. The man’s face had been cleaned as best as possible, but there was still blood matted in his hair, and crusted in the corners of his face. A blood-bag was attached to a rig, slowly feeding into his arm. Rae’s eyes moved to it instinctively, and he could feel a pull in his chest. Blood just hanging there, waiting…

He looked back down at Caspian, forcing the urge aside.

“Will he be alright?” Rae asked.

“Hopefully.” Will answered.

Rae’s head jerked up. He hadn’t even noticed the other hunter was in the room until now. He had been too focused on Caspian. Will was standing a little way off, staring at something in the peripheral of Rae’s vision.

“We’re pumping some blood into him. It’s a good thing we got him back when we did, though. He could have lasted maybe a little longer, but not too much.” Will continued. “You really did a number on him.”

“I didn’t mean to.” Rae mumbled.

“Caspian has been through far worse. He will recover easily. He is… Caspian is an interesting case himself.” Seven noted, moving over to check on Caspian’s IV drip. Rae noticed there was saline solution in a bag he hadn’t seen before, and it helped him pull his mind away from the bag of blood.

“You have blood.” Rae said. Or at least, that’s what he meant to say. His mumbled speech and distracted nature meant the sentence came out far closer to simply: “Blood.”

Will turned around, and Seven looked up and eyed him, concerned. Rae flinched under their gaze, shrinking in on himself.

“I- I didn’t mean–”

“It’s alright.” Will assured him. “I suppose that’s an expected reaction from um… Well…”

“A vampire.” Rae said coarsely.

“Yeah.” Will nodded. “We um… We keep some bags stored for emergencies. Stock up every three weeks and such, we each contribute some. Lasts for about a month or so. It comes in handy for situations like this.” Will gestured to Caspian.

“Does this happen often?” Rae asked.

Seven shook his head. “Not quite. Different sects attack in different ways, and can lead to varying injuries.”

“Sects?” Rae raised an eyebrow.

“Not all vampires are the same.” Will explained, joining Rae beside Caspian. “There are three major subspecies, at least that we know of. They tend to organise themselves into hierarchies or courts, so… Sects.”

Seven pulled set of medical gloves on, and leant over Caspian towards Rae. “Would you mind, if I inspect your teeth?”

“Pardon?” Rae asked.

Will shook his head. “Seven maybe now isn’t the best time–”

“I only ask in the interest of research.” Seven looked somewhat disappointedly at Will. “It would not take more than a moment.”

“It’s alright.” Rae said, glancing at Will. “Um…” He leaned slightly closer to Seven. The man gently opened Rae’s mouth, and slid a finger up under his top lip, exposing Rae’s fangs. “Interesting.” Seven concluded, taking his hands away and pulling off the gloves as Rae leaned back. “Your fangs are Enderian in nature, however usually such fangs are much longer. Much appreciated, thank you, Rae.”

“Of course. I um… I want to be helpful.” Rae said, nodding. He wasn’t entirely sure what Enderian meant, but the word sounded familiar somehow. “I know that it’s a lot for me to be here, I… I want to prove that I’m worth the hassle. That you can trust me.”

Only, Rae wasn’t entirely sure if they could trust him. He was dangerous. Every second he was in this enclosed space with the three of them, the urge to attack them seemed to get incrementally stronger. He found his eyes constantly flicking to Will’s exposed neck, or the twitching veins across Caspian’s shoulders and chest. His head was beginning to ache in slow, dull throbs behind his temples from trying to suppress the urges. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to sustain this. He needed to let them know. Needed to let them prepare themselves, maybe restrain him…

Or he could not.

He could lull them into a sense of security.

And then he could feast. He could devour. There would be no hunting. No sharing with anyone else.

All of that blood and flesh could be his to consume…

“We appreciate that, Rae.” Will said hesitantly. “You have Caspian’s trust, somehow, and… We can try and help you. If that’s possible.”

Rae nodded, trying to blink away the haze in his eyes. “Will, I need to…”

There was a growl from behind them. Rae jumped, recognising for the first time since entering the presence of the fourth heartbeat in the basement. All three of them spun around, and Rae realised what Will had been looking at when he arrived.

Set into the far wall of the basement was a set of steel bars, leading into a cell. Rae didn’t want to know why there was a cell in the basement of the house, although given much else, he didn’t know if he was exactly surprised, either. For all intents and purposes, the space seemed relatively comfortable. There was a partition screen which seemed to conceal a shower and toilet, and a sink was just visible behind it. There was a decently soft looking cot, and a wicker chair with a threadbear cushion. The teen that had attacked Will was sitting slumped against the wall, staring at the four men, their dark eyes peering out from behind a curtain of hair. Their wrists were still chained, but the links around their neck and ankles had been removed.

“They’re awake.” Seven observed.

“Thank you, Seven.” Will nodded, not looking back at his friend. “It seems they are.”

Rae swallowed as the teen’s eyes bore into him. “So… Which of the vampire sects are they part of, exactly?”

Will and Seven exchanged glances.

“Neither.” Will said finally. “We’ve never seen anything quite like them before.”

Chapter Text

Will slowly approached the cell. He wasn’t entirely confident in turning his back on Rae. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about having a vampire down here in the first place, and especially not after the vampire’s far away gaze, and the way he had been focused on the blood bag. Under any other circumstances, Rae would have been the one in the cell, with the iron chains around his wrists. The only reason that undead monster was still walking around free was that the thing growling at them from behind the face of a teenager scared Will far more than any vampire.

At least with vampires he knew what to do. He knew how to kill them, if things turned south.

But this? This was new territory.

Al had never prepared him for this.

“Hey there.” Will said, annunciating slowly. “Can you hear us?”

The teen growled in response.

Will raised his hands. “We’re not a threat. We’re just being safe. Can you understand what I’m saying?”

They nodded, their dark eyes not moving from Will.

“Do you speak English?” Will asked, crouching down on his side of the cell bars.

The teen launched themselves forwards, slamming into the bars. Upon discovering that their bound hands were no use, they tried biting at the bars with their teeth. It had little effect, other than a grinding, clanging sound as tooth scraped against steel.

Will stumbled back, catching himself with his arms and lowering himself into a sitting position on the concrete floor of the basement. “That didn’t answer my question.”

The youth sat back, making a mangled barking noise. It sounded to Will like they were trying to force animal noises through a human voice box. Or perhaps the other way round – like a human trying to speak through the mouth of an animal.

“Okay, so you’re not going to talk.” Will nodded. He glanced back at Seven and Rae. They looked back at him. Rae still had that faraway look in his eyes, and Will wondered briefly if they should give him one of the blood bags to feed from. Would that work? If it wasn’t fresh, would it help satiate the vampire's needs?

Will shook his head, and turned back to the youth. “What do you want with him?” He pointed at Rae. “He says he doesn’t know you, so why are you following him? Why did you attack us when we tried to take him?”

The teen was once again silent, staring at Will. Then, slowly, they spoke.

“Not… him.” They panted. It seemed like speaking required considerable effort, and their words still came out as rough growls. It was unsettling, hearing such a voice come from such a young person.

“So you can speak.”

Will considered the creature in the cell. This wasn’t some kind of disguise then. The monster could actually speak. It was to some extent sentient. It made things easier, in some respect. And so much harder in others.

“Okay. So it wasn’t him.” Will nodded, leaning closer to the cell. “So, why did you attack us? What did you want with us?”

The teen shook their head, looking away.

“Hey.” Will said. “Hey!”

The creature in the cell looked at him, unsure of what to make of Will. Eventually, he raised a small, grubby hand, and pointed out the cell. Not at Rae, but at Caspian.

Everyone in the room turned their eyes to the unconscious man.

“What do you want with Caspian?” Seven asked, protectively leaning on the metal table Caspian was sprawled on.

“Are…” The teen thought about their words as they forced them around their animal like teeth. “Are you going… To kill me?”

“No.” Rae said quickly. Will looked at him. Rae looked back. “Y-You’re not going to kill them, right?”

Will shook his head. “No. No, I wasn’t going to kill them.” He turned back to the teen. “Do you have a name?”

“Ja…” The teen started, but the noise caught in their throat and they grunted. He made another growling sound, as if in pain, or as if they were arguing with themselves. “Jam… Ee.”

The name didn’t so much as roll off their tongue so much as fall flailing from their lips. He spoke the name as if it was foreign, and he had to puzzle through it. Like they had never actually had to speak it aloud before. Will wondered if this was actually the case, given how much effort they seemed to be taking to talk.

“Alright, we’re getting somewhere.” Will smiled. Maybe he was taking the wrong approach to this. Perhaps he was being too harsh. This was a kid, after all. An inhuman monster, looking at him through the shell of a kid, perhaps, but still, a kid. “Okay, Jamie. Answer my friend’s question, please. What do you want with Caspian?”

Jamie stared at Will. Then, he looked back at Caspian, moving slightly closer to the bars. They opened their mouth slightly, contemplating biting at the bars again, before closing it. Will watched his movements closely. He had been all over the country. He had met a lot of people during those travels. None of them had ever moved like this. Jamie moved like an animal more than anyone else Will had ever seen. Jamie moved more like an animal than most animals he’d seen, too.

“She… Wants him…” Jamie grunted. They pointed at themselves. “I… I watch. I find, they get him.”

“Who gets him?” Will asked. Jamie didn’t respond. They turned their head away, looking around the cell they were in. “Hey, kid, I’m still talking.” Will said, a little stiffer. “Jamie? Who is she? Who’s going to get him? Is someone looking for him?”

Jamie looked at Will again briefly, before shuffling so that they were facing away, their back to the group. They curled up between the floor and the wall, and stopped responding, breathing softly.

Will waited for a few seconds, watching them, before standing back up. “Great.” He sighed. “As if we didn’t have enough on our plate already.”

Seven smirked, turning around to inspect Caspian’s heart monitor. After a moment, he took the small plastic clip off the man’s finger, and rolled up the wiring connecting it to the machine. Seven’s movements were practised and distinct, almost robotic as he carried out the task at hand. Will watched him, letting the calm, rhythmic motions distract him from the mess at hand. It alway calmed him to watch Seven work. Or really even to just be around Seven. There was something about the larger man’s presence that Will took solace in. A comfort in a world which constantly had it on edge. Will didn’t know where he would have been without Seven. Not just as a collaborator on this seemingly endless endeavour, but as a friend.

Perhaps, if Will was ever given the chance to relax, to properly reflect on himself, he would be forced to consider how much he viewed Seven as more than a friend.

As it was, that was out of the question. Everything was far too complicated to be thinking about things like that, especially now. Besides, Will wasn’t sure if he wanted to think about that too much. He wasn’t sure he wanted to complicate things more. He was sure he was ready for how things would change if Seven didn’t feel the same way. Or, perhaps even harder to reconcile, if Seven did.

“Will?” Seven asked.

Will looked up, not realising he had zoned out. “Pardon?”

“I’m going to take Rae here to find the shower. And get him some clothes that are less bloody. Would you mind monitoring Caspian’s breathing?”

“Oh,” Will nodded, “Yeah, yeah of course.” He took a moment to register just how much blood was covering Rae – all of it Caspians. Not only was it dry and cracking off into flakes on the floor, the smell of it was seeping into the air of the lab, making it hard to think.

Maybe it was just hard to think about all of this in general. Al had always explained that to Will. It was the first thing he learned. The human mind will search for excuses. Any reason to not consider the truth of things. Any reason to get distracted. To be vulnerable.

Will wished Al were here. Al would know what to do.

Seven directed Rae to go back upstairs, but before he followed the vampire, he rested a hand on Will’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Will looked up into the man’s large grey eyes. A stray strand of blonde hair had fallen between Seven’s eyes, and Will found it hard not to get distracted by it. He turned his attention to Caspian on the table instead to avoid the issue. He was good at that, after all.

“I’m just… It’s been a long night.” He smiled weakly.

Seven nodded. “You can take Rae instead, if you want? Get him settled and go to bed? I can keep watch?” He nodded a head at Jamie, who hadn’t moved, and seemed to have fallen asleep still curled up on the floor.

Will shook his head. “No, it’s alright. Thanks, Seven but I’ll keep first watch over these two. I’ll just make some coffee or something.”

“You sure?” Concern creased Seven’s brow, and Will couldn’t help but be a little touched, not for the first time.

Will nodded. “Yeah. Yeah I’m sure. You get some rest though. I’ll need you to take over if he crashes or something.” He jerked his head at Caspian. He had meant it in good humour, but Seven seemed to take him seriously, as usual.

“Of course. I’m always available.” He nodded. Seven squeezed Will’s shoulder lightly, before following Rae up the stairs, and leaving Will alone with the unconscious hunter, and the thing in the cell.

Will turned to lean on Caspian’s bench, looking down at him. He seemed almost peaceful in his sleep. Content. As if he’d done good tonight. Maybe he had, Will realised. Maybe there was something about Rae that was different. He’s never met someone who had as much reason to hate vampires as Caspian – except maybe Al, of course. To convince him… Maybe there was something special.

Still, even if there had been something, even if they were doing the right thing, Will could tell their lives were about to get so much harder.

“You’ve really dragged us in the deep end, haven’t you Lost Boy?” Will smirked, exhaling long and heavily through his nose. “Really got us in deep.”

Chapter Text

Will’s eyelids were beginning to droop as he lay across the couch in the basement of the house. He had his notebook laying open on his chest, and tapped the end of the pen against the page distractedly as he stared at the ceiling. He had been trying to take notes on Jamie to figure out what they might me. The teen certainly wasn’t human, but regardless Will was beginning to feel guilty about leaving them locked in the cell. He knew it was dangerous to let them out, but seeing someone so young curled up on the concrete floor behind those bars… He couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them.

The door at the top of the stairs creaked open, and Will sat up, turning. He adjusted his grip on his pen, holding it as if it were one of the many stakes littered around the house. Just in case Rae hadn’t been able to keep himself in check, it might buy him a few seconds.

It was unnecessary, of course.

Seven blinked at him as he reached the bottom of the stairs, taking careful steps as he crossed the room, a mug in each hand.

“Hello.” Seven smiled.

Seven had a very slight smile. It would be easy to miss for most. Will knew he had often missed the slight upturn at the corner of Seven’s lips in their first few months of knowing each other. It was only the fact that he had grown to know Seven’s movements and emotions as they had worked together that he noticed it when the smile made a rare appearance. It was nice, seeing Seven smile. It put him at ease.

“Hi.” Will smiled. He shuffled sideways on the couch to make room. “Coffee?” Will nodded at the mugs.

“Not exactly.” Seven offered one of the mugs out to Will. The hunter placed his notebook on the centre couch cushion, and took the warm mug, cupping it in his hands. “I made cocoa.”

Will couldn’t help but smile. The way Seven said the word made the drink seem exciting and unexpected. Dangerous even, perhaps. Seven sat down on the other side of the notebook.

“Not exactly the best to help me stay awake and alert.” Will noted.

“My intention was quite the opposite, in fact.” Seven took a sip from his own mug. Will could smell the scent of coffee wafting from it. “You need to rest, Will.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to sleep? With… With that thing upstairs?” Will asked, glancing at the ceiling above their heads. “I mean… Do you trust him?”

Seven swished the coffee around in his mouth, savouring the bitter, almost coppery taste before swallowing. “No.” He said finally. “I don’t trust him. But Rae… He seems to want to stay in control.”

“Do you think he can?” Will asked.

Seven shook his head, cupping his own mug in his hands and resting it between his knees. He stared into the dark liquid. “He doesn’t seem to think he can. He spoke to me, before I left him to shower. He is worried hunger will overtake him. He told us to keep alert. To keep ourselves safe, if we needed to.”

“And what did you tell him?”

Seven glanced at the metal door which led into the large cold-room where they stored emergency provisions, alongside their collected emergency blood. “I told him that, if we needed to, we could feed him some of our blood reserves.”

Will shuffled on his cushion nervously. He took a sip of his cocoa. Seven always made it far too sweet, and he took a moment to adjust to the aggressively chocolatey flavour. It managed to bring a smile to his pursed lips, despite the stressful circumstances.

“Do you think… Do you think there’ll be enough there?” Will asked, glancing at the door himself. “I mean, we don’t have that much surplus, Sev. There’s only so much we can spare. Only so much three people can give.”

“Two.” Seven corrected him. “Caspian will be in no state to collect blood from for some time, I imagine.”

Will nodded, looking at Caspian, who seemed peacefully asleep on the table. “He’s been out for a while.” Will noted.

Seven shrugged. “He’s not unconscious. I woke him up with smelling salts as soon as I got to the van. I sedated him when the child attacked you.” Seven inclined his head towards Jamie. “He’s just asleep.”

That comforted Will slightly. His medical knowledge was nowhere near as in depth as Seven’s, but he knew it was dangerous to be out cold for too long.

“It will be interesting,” Seven admitted, pausing to take another sip of his coffee, “If nothing else. Perhaps we can monitor how much blood it requires to satiate a vampire. How long they can last between feeding, and how much they need to feed. Rae seems quite eager to conduct experiments himself. He said something about science when I showed him the spare room.”

Will sighed. “I suppose. Seven… Seven do you think we’re doing the right thing?”

Seven looked at him, incrementally raising an eyebrow. “Define which thing you’re referring to?”

The first man sighed, slumping back into the couch, and nestling into the cushion. “I even know, if I’m being honest. All of this?”

“Are you having conflictions about needing to use the cell?” Seven suggested.

Will shrugged. “Yes? Partly. I’ve never actually had to keep someone in there before, and I don’t know if it’s… Is it humane?”

“I don’t know.” Seven admitted. “I agree that it’s complicated.”

“And, with Rae.” Will continued. “I mean he’s killed people, Seven. He almost killed Caspian! And we just brought him to our home? He’s a vampire, and we’re vampire hunters! He shouldn’t still be alive.”

“I don’t think he is alive.” Seven muttered over the rim of his glass.

Will frowned. “You know what I mean. I just… What would Al say? Are we really doing what he would have wanted?”

Seven took a long time to think about the question. Will didn’t know if it was even a fair question to ask. Seven hadn’t worked with Al for nearly as long as Will had, and the two had never been close in the way that Will and Al had become.

“I think that Al was a c-complicated man.” Seven said eventually.

Will hadn’t heard Seven stutter in a long time. He knew that Seven had spent many years trying to overcome his stutter. Far longer than it had taken him to overcome his lisp. But it was rare that Seven slipped up now. It showed how much this was really getting to him, even if his cool exterior didn’t show it.

Seven took a long, slow breath, making an odd face as he bit his tongue lightly. “Sorry, I… I think that Al was a complicated individual. And, I think that perhaps… Perhaps we shouldn’t have to live our lives to his exact specifications.”

“But he left us all of this.” Will gestured around them. “He dedicated his life to killing vampires, and he left us all of this to continue that. All of the money, all of the equipment. The house, Seven.”

“It is a nice house.” Seven nodded.

“Letting a vampire into Al’s house just feels… Wrong, somehow.”

“It’s not Al’s house anymore.” Seven looked at Will again. “Al is dead, Will. This is your house now. You can do what you like.”

Will sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Except that it’s our house. You live here too. And Caspian.”

Seven smiled his faint smile again. “That is true. And… Well, I suppose Rae lives here. For the time being. Although perhaps we should not consider it his house too just yet.”

“No.” Will shook his head. “Not yet.”

He thought about Rae, somewhere upstairs. There was something different about him. Something was wrong. He had been considering it, in the time Seven had been away and it was just wrong. Rae contradicted everything.

“Do you ever wonder if maybe we are doing the wrong thing?” Will asked, brushing a strand of his white hair behind his ear. “Killing vampires?”

“Not often.” Seven admitted. “Not before.”

“But now?”

Seven took a sip of his coffee. “I think… Things are complicated.” He said the words slowly, and Will wondered if he was trying to stop himself stuttering again.

“Complicated.” Will nodded.

“Do you think Rae is the one that has complicated things?” Seven asked. “Or do you think it’s just become that way?”

Will exhaled. “I don’t know, Sev. Both, I guess? Rae goes against everything we know. Everything I had seen, hell everything I was taught! I spent years of my life killing vampires. I've seen what they do to people. I’ve… I’ve been on the other side of those monsters' teeth.” He ran his finger through his white hair. It hadn’t always been white, drained of its colour.

“I have killed so many of those things, Seven. And I let myself sleep at night because I knew they were monsters. They were ravenous, and bloodthirsty, and dangerous. Vampires couldn’t have a mind, or a soul, t-they were less than animals to me, Seven. That’s what I was told, and what I saw, and what I believed. They existed only to kill people in violent, brutal ways. And then… Then we found Caspian.”

He shivered, thinking back to that night. The things they had seen in that laboratory. It was enough to make his stomach churn even now. Will could see Seven tense at the thought of the gory mess they had found.

“The things they did to him.” Will looked at Caspian as he spoke, taking in the scars on the man’s body. “Sick, twisted experiments. And I realised that they can think. That vampires were intelligent, beyond a surface level. But still I thought… Nothing with a soul could have done those kinds of things. Nothing that feels any kind of emotion or empathy, any human feeling could do that to a person. Not what they did to Caspian.”

“I think you’re right.” Seven said quietly, once again staring into the caffeinated abyss in his cup. “The things that did that were soulless. They were monsters in the purest sense.”

“So then what about Rae?” Will asked. “He cares, Sev. About the people he hurt. About Caspian, it seems. He cares. Hell, we saw him cry, Seven. I didn’t know that vampires could even physically produce tears, let alone actually cry. Why can he feel those things? Does he have a soul? A-And if he does, does every vampire?”

“Will…” Seven said quietly. He could hear the panic creeping into his friend’s voice as he continued to ramble. He placed his coffee on the ground between his feet, before taking Will’s mug from the man’ shaking hands.

“How many souls have I killed, Seven?” Will’s voice waivered. “How many vampires like Rae are there out there? How many of them have I murdered? What if they were innocent?”

Will took a sharp breath as tears pricked at the corners of his green eyes. He couldn’t even control himself at this point. The weight of all the stress and heightened emotions of the last night – hell, the last few months – crashed down on him in a sudden wave. His voice was louder than he realised when he spoke again, and he could feel the tears beginning to stream down his cheeks.

“What if they didn’t want this any more than he did? What if I was wrong all this time and- and I was the real monster this whole time and I’ve been proud of that? Thinking I was doing the right thing?”

“Will…” Seven placed Will’s mug beside his own, before shuffling across the couch. He pulled the smaller man into his chest, holding him as Will finally let out a sob.

Will curled into Seven’s embrace, trying to steady his breathing.

“L-Listen to me.” Seven said gently, shifting on the couch as Will leaned into him. “You can’t think like that, alright? Neither of us can. Not now. W-We have to think about this logically, alright?”

Will’s breath hitched in his throat. “Logically.” He mumbled.

“Exactly.” Seven nodded, resting his chin on Will’s head. “Statistically Rae is… An anomaly. The teenager in the cell is an anomaly. How many lives have we saved, Will? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Maybe we need to learn more about vampires. But we can learn those things, Will. We can change. You don’t have to be Al. You can change. Just breathe, alright? I’m here. You’re safe. We’re alright.”

Will nodded, taking a deep, unsteady breath. He couldn’t put into words how much those last few words meant to him. How they made his breath catch almost as much as the crying did. He wasn’t even sure he fully realised how much they meant.

”I’m here. You’re safe. We’re alright.”

Seven was with him. He was there. And they were safe.

“Seven, I…”

Will wiped away his tears, half with his sleeve, and half on Seven’s shirt. He couldn’t say what he wanted to say. It would ruin this moment. It could ruin everything. He wasn’t even sure if the word on his mind was real. If it was right. If that was what he felt. He settled on something else. It wasn’t the same. Not quite. But it was close enough. Close enough to where they were now.

“Seven I appreciate you, a-and I care about you. So much.”

Seven’s embrace seemed to become ever so slightly tighter. There was a long pause, and Will became increasingly worried that he’d still managed to say the wrong thing.

“I-I really care and appreciate you too, Will.” Seven said eventually. “A lot.”

The two men stayed there for a few minutes in each other's arms as their drinks went cold on the floor at their feet. Will relaxed into the warmth of Seven’s chest, and closed his eyes, letting the day drift out of his mind. Eventually, Seven felt Will’s breathing slow, and felt as the man’s hold around him went slack. Seven adjusted his hold on Will, and lifted the sleeping vampire hunter up off the couch with a slight grunt. Seven paused as he passed Caspian.

“I’ll be back in a moment. Please don’t flatline while I’m gone.” He breathed to his unconscious friend, before continuing up the stairs, and placing Will gently into his bed…

Chapter Text

Centross was not having a pleasant evening.

He had travelled an incredibly long way to get to this meeting point, and as the night wore on he was becoming increasingly concerned that perhaps he had been stood up. He wasn’t concerned about it for himself, of course. He had spent decades waiting before for far less. No, the waiting was nothing. He would wait here in the empty warehouse for days, if he needed to. What he was worried about was rather the implications of this meeting falling through. What it would be for him. For his queen. For the world they inhabited. Centross wasn’t sure he was prepared for that to pass.

He heard the click of a door at the other end of the warehouse, and every muscle in his body tensed. Within the pockets of his long, tattered cloak, he tensed his fingers. He wasn’t stupid enough to crack his knuckles. To give his position away so easily.

There were light, steady footsteps which echoed around him in the empty building. A figure emerged from behind a pile of crates and containers. The man was dressed sharply but simply in a dark red button down and brown slacks, a far cry from Centross’s scrappy shirt and jeans beneath his worn coat. Centross recognised the other vampire through the darkness, his eyes taking in the familiar braided blonde hair.

“You’re late, Galahad.” Centross smirked. “How very unlike you.”

Galahad stopped a few feet away, standing stiffly as he took in Centross. “Indeed. There were complications on the journey.”

“Nothing you couldn’t handle, I assume.” Centross nodded.

“You assume correctly.” Galahad inclined his head.

The two men stood in silence, sizing each other up. They had crossed paths many times over the last few decades. Or perhaps it had been centuries. Centross was beginning to lose count after all this time. They had never had to fight each other, of course. Relationships between their two courts had always remained somewhat amiable. Still, there was a sense of curiosity at the back of Centross’ mind every time he encountered Galahad as to which of them would win, if combat was required.

As curious as he was however, he hoped he didn’t have to find out.

“Tell me, Galahad, where is your mentor these days? Have you had any luck in locating dear Nexus?”

Galahad’s amiable expression shifted into a snarl, revealing almost feline-like fangs on his upper and lower jaw. Centross wondered briefly if the fangs on the lower jaw ever got in the way.

“Are you mocking her disappearance, Centross?”

“Not at all.” Centross raised his hands. “Merely curious as to your ongoing search.”

“Nexus has… Not been found.” Galahad sighed, trying to hide the twinge of sadness to his voice. He’s golden eyes narrowed slightly. “And what of your little attempted usurper? Any news of Lady Perix, or her little pet? Or are they both still missing?”

Centross’ jaw clenched. He should not have been surprised that news had spread to the other courts. The remnants of Perix’s lab had been discovered months ago, and she had been missing for months before that still. Yet it was still unpleasant to think just how many people might have been aware of the conflict within Enderian’s court.

“No. No word yet.” He paused. “We are… Looking into various places she might have gone. Various people she may have contacted.”

“I hope,” A third, deeper voice rang out through the warehouse, “That the point of this meeting was not to accuse the Nether court of having some part in this fiasco you find yourselves in.”

Another vampire strode up from behind Galahad, coming to stop beside his companion. The man’s white hair was tucked behind his pointed ears, and the sparse light inside the warehouse glinted on the reflective lenses of his blue sunglasses.

“Of course not, Lord Lennarius.” Centross bowed, lowering himself to one knee briefly before standing again. “I would never. And neither would my queen.”

Lennarius straightened his tie. “Of course not.” He agreed. “I would not expect such a thing from Enderian. She has more sense than that.”

“Indeed.” Centross agreed, nodding.

“So then,” Lennarius smiled charmingly, “What is this meeting about, hmm? As Enderian knows, we are rather busy. I’m sure she remembers the… difficult circumstances surrounding our rulers.”

Centross himself was well aware of the issues. The king and queen of the Nether court had not been seen in some years, and the recent disappearance of their chief guard, Nexus, had not improved the faith of the wider Netherian sect in finding their rulers.

“Of course, Lord Lennarius. Enderian would not call such a meeting unless she deemed it necessary.”

“And what has been deemed necessary?” Galahad asked.

Centross paused, considering his words. “Enderian hopes that the Nether court may be empathetic to her current plight, given the good relationships between our courts. There is an issue, with the prince.”

Lennarius and Galahad both tensed, the latter once again baring his fangs. Lennarius placed a hand on Galahad’s shoulder to calm him.

“Prince Athena is indisposed at the current moment but I can assure you that the child has done nothing to harm the relationship between our courts. The mere implication of such–”

“Forgive me for the interruption, Lord, but it seems you misunderstand.” Centross raised his hands. “I would never insinuate any ill will on the part of Prince Athena. No, the issue comes regarding our prince.”

Galahad seemed to have calmed down, but he raised an eyebrow. “Prince Morningstar? Is something wrong?”

Centross nodded. “So it seems. It was discovered almost a week ago that the prince has, for all intents and purposes, vanished. None of our people seem to be aware of his location, nor can we contact him though usual means. As you may understand, my queen is… Concerned, about the disappearance of her child.”

“It is… Certainly something we can empathise with.” Lennarius agreed. “Although, I will be sorry to inform you that as far as I know, our court members have received no word from Prince Morningstar of late. There are of course… Other possibilities you could explore.”

“And I assure you we are in the process of exploring them.” Centross nodded. “Enderian simply wished to make sure that our most trusted allies were aware of the situation before… Certain other courts. Especially considering how close our two princes have been in the past.”

“They are quite fond of each other.” Galahad nodded. “I’m sure Prince Athena will be most troubled to hear of Prince Rae’s disappearance.”

“And I offer him my condolences at the loss of such a friend.” Centross agreed.

Lennarius inclined his head. “It is appreciated. For what it is worth, we offer our condolences at the loss of your court’s heir. We can also offer our services in his search, if requested.”

Centross smiled. This was the outcome he had been hoping for. The one he was sent to achieve. Enderian would be pleased. They were one step closer to finding Rae, and getting this whole mess sorted out.

“That would be greatly appreciated.” Centross said, clasping his hands together in what he hoped came across as a grateful gesture. He had never been particularly good with the whole subtle gesture thing.

“Of course, in the event that we do offer our services,” Lennarius continued, his smile widening, “We would expect Enderian’s court to contribute to our own searches, as well.”

Centross’s smile flickered, but he made sure to not let the reaction be too noticeable. Of course there was a price. There was always a price for these things. “Naturally.” He agreed. “Enderian will be happy to contribute a portion of our resources to the search for Nexus – or indeed Netherum and Soul. After the situation with Prince Rae has been resolved.”

“Naturally.” Lennarius repeated the word back at him. “Well, I am glad this has been such a pleasant meeting between our courts. If only they could all go so smoothly.”

“If only.” Centross agreed. “I would not wish to keep you two any longer, if we wish to end on these terms.”

Lennarius nodded. “It seems fitting to me. We will inform Enderian if any information presents itself regarding your prince. I do hope you find him, Centross. There are plenty of hunters out there, in the world. We cannot eliminate them all.”

“No, it would seem not.” Centross’s smile flickered once again at the thought of Rae impaled on one of these pitiful hunters' stakes. “There have been rumours of late that these hunters are becoming more effective. That one group has made quite a dent in the populations of a certain other court.”

“Indeed,” Galahad nodded, his eyebrows furrowing slightly, “There have been rumours that they have discovered some new method. A way to track vampires. I have seen the wreckage of these hunters. Incredibly violent. Perhaps, should you communicate with your other contacts, you might inquire about these attacks on our behalf, Centross? I’m sure information about these new hunters would be beneficial to all our kind.”

Centross nodded. “You are correct, as always, Galahad. I shall ask. Although speaking of rumours…” Centross turned his gaze back to Lennarius. “There have been murmurings about a new power. Growing in number. Another sect, perhaps.”

“There are other sects, Mr Centross, you should know this.” Lennarius sighed. “It is not uncommon for different types of our kind to emerge. Either they will exist in pockets, or they will die out as they always do. It is of no concern to us.”

“Of course, Lord Lennarius, only…” Centross paused, considering his words carefully. It was obvious Lennarius was growing bored with the conversation, and it would be unwise to keep the Nether vampires here much longer. “These rumours suggest that it is not merely another sect, but another court forming. I merely… thought that our allies should be away, in the event that these rumours prove true. It could be the difference between keeping power, and losing it.”

“If these rumours prove to be true,” Lennarius’ smile had vanished, “Then we shall deal with this new court if and when it becomes an issue. Good day to you, Mr Centross. It has been a pleasure to meet with you, as usual. Send your regards to your queen. Come, Galahad.”

Lennarius turned on his heel, and walked proudly back through the warehouse.

Galahad inclined his head at Centross. “Until next time, my friend.”

“Until next time.” Centross agreed, nodding back.

Galahad followed after Lennarius, his form melting into the shadows as he disappeared from view. Centross took a moment to stand there in the darkness, clenching and unclenching his jaw. He wished this was over. He needed to feed. Or, perhaps it was more of a want. He could go a while until he next needed to feed desperately, but he longed for the calming feel of a human’s neck beneath his teeth. Their life fading away in his grasp. Alas, he did not have time to hunt. Not tonight. He had yet another meeting, tonight. It was not one expressly on Enderian’s behalf, but it was nonetheless integral to their cause.

Centross turned, and left the warehouse for the first time in hours, setting off into the darkness to meet with Sherbert…

Chapter Text

If Centross had learned one thing in his centuries of being undead, it was that the woods were a terrible spot to hold a secret meeting. It seemed to many like it was a natural choice. Far from civilization, quiet and isolated. It seemed like an obvious place. Centross however knew that there was always something that went wrong in the woods. There were hikers, or teens shaking away from their parents. There was sound which travelled through through the openness of the trunks, or nosy winds who would whisper your words on the breeze to anyone who would listen.

The worst part about choosing the woods to escape civilization, was that everybody chose the woods as a place to escape civilization.

Centross had not been able to convince Sherbert of this fact in all the years they had known each other. Perhaps it was simply the tendency of Fable’s court to stay away from the territories of others for diplomatic reasons. Or at least, they claimed to stay away. Everyone knew this wasn’t the case. That Fable would send his sect to poke and prod in other regions. Constantly gnawing away at the edges of border lines, trying to weaken defences. Everybody knew this. Only nobody could prove it. Not yet, at least. One day Fable would slip up, and on that day a war would break out between the groups which had spent so long trying to keep themselves hidden and under the radar. It would be hard to hide from humans, if that came to be.

There was a rushed flapping of wings, and a rustling in the trees. Centross looked up to see a hooded crow land on the branch above him. And then another. And another. Maybe a dozen of the birds quickly found places to land, their white and black plumage seeming almost vibrant in the light of the full moon. Ashy yellow and shimmering dark purple.

“Good evening, Prince.” Centross bowed at the birds.

In unison, the birds all rolled forwards and toppled to the ground, landing in a pile of beaks and talons, feathers and flesh, which swirled and writhed, and eventually stood up in the form of Sherbert. The vampire adjusted their jacket on their shoulders, and brushed their hair back out of their face. They smiled at Centross, heterochromatic eyes twinkling in the dark, glowing slightly as they reflected the light through the trees.

“Centross.” Sherbert’s smile was tense, as if trying to mask the distaste both of them had for each other after their last meeting. “I was not expecting to hear from you so soon.” Centross hummed in agreement, taking a hand out of his pocket to offer it out to Sherbert. The prince shook his hand, claw-like nails half digging into Centross’ cold skin. Sherbert looked around them at the forest, and ran their tongue across their rows of needle-like teeth. “A nice night, isn’t it.”

“Indeed.” Centross nodded. It would not be night for much longer, however. With how long Centross had been forced to wait for the representatives of the Nether Court, the sun would be rising in less than an hour. It limited the time he could discuss the matter with Sherbert before they were forced to leave. Then again, perhaps that was a good thing. Centross wasn’t sure if he could handle being around the prince for too long.

“My father is eager to hear why you’ve called me as an ambassador.” Sherbert wandered over to a fallen tree and sat back on it, crossing one leg over the other.

Centross watched as Sherbert took a glass bottle of blood from an inside pocket in their jacket. He could feel his empty veins twitch at the sight of the blood, and he swallowed as Sherbert uncorked the bottle and sipped the dark red liquid. He composed himself. As much history as the pair had, he was here for a reason. On a diplomatic mission. Not one specifically sanctioned by Enderian, of course, but Sherbert, and more importantly their father, was not aware of that.

“I asked for you, because we’re friends.” Centross paced back and forth, considering how to broach the topic.

Sherbert laughed coldly. “If friends leave each other locked in mausoleums at the mercy of hunters, then I suppose yes, we are friends.”

Centross sighed. He didn’t regret the decision, even now, but it certainly made things more difficult. “I am sorry. You understand I was not in the position to aid you. Not without risking my own life, and that of the Nether Prince’s too.”

The vampire on the log rolled their eyes. “If that is what you wish to tell yourself.”

The conversation wasn’t going to go anywhere if Centross wasn’t able to bring it back on track soon. The formal proceedings were not required with Sherbert as they were the Nether court. It was what allowed meetings like this to happen. It was what allowed Centross to have these connections. Connections which seemed frivolous now, but would become necessary as the vampire orders continued crumble. He could feel it on the horizon. All he had to do was play the game right, the same as he had been doing for decades. He decided for a direct approach.

“Rae is missing, Sherbert.” He said simply, stopping in his pacing to look at the prince.

Sherbert raised an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting the court of Fable had something to do with that?”

“Of course not.” Centross resumed his pacing. “That would be far too bold an attack on another court, even for Fable. I want to know if you’ve heard anything, Sherb. You’re one of the princes most close to the ground with these matters. Do you know anything?”

Sherbert smiled. “I appreciate your faith in me but… No, I haven’t heard anything regarding the Ender prince. Other things, perhaps. But not about him.”

Centross cursed under his breath. He had been hoping Sherbert would have some answer, and he could just get this over with. “What other things?” He asked after a moment, scrambling for a lead.

Sherbert shrugged. “The Lady has her little children out on the hunt for some hunter.”

Centross tilted his head. “She’s actively seeking out a hunter?”

“Maybe.” Sherbert grinned. “What would you be willing to trade for that information?”

Centross gritted his teeth. He weighed up simply attacking Sherbert. Pinning them against a tree by their throat. They could do it easily, of course. Sherbert was strong, but Centross was far more experienced as a fighter. There would however be backlash. A representative of Enderian attacking Fable’s child… It would have wider implications than even Rae’s disappearance. Not to mention he didn’t want a repeat of the punishment he suffered after abandoning Sherbert last time.

“What do you want?” He asked.

Sherbert stood back up in a smooth, regal motion, stepping over to lean closer to Centross as they spoke. “I hear Perix is still missing… I can help with that, but… I want her research. Specifically the alchemical components.”

“We lost that.” Centross growled as Sherbert got too close for comfort. “Perix took it with her, and the hunters that infiltrated that lab–”

“But you still have some of it, don’t you?” Sherbert raised an eyebrow.

Centross sighed, looking back up at the night sky as if praying. “I’ll see what I can do. Now tell me what you mean that you can help.”

Sherbert clapped, rubbing their hands together excitedly. “Wonderful!” They beamed, the sound of their voice startling a bird in a nearby tree, which squawked as it flew away. “What I mean is that I think the Lady has figured out just exactly who Perix has been experimenting on all these years. An old friend of yours, I believe.”

Centross’ eyes widened. He was so used to seeing Perix’s test subject in his chained, sedated and tortured state that the memory of that night in the woods had almost been written over. Yet still, he could picture the altercation in the woods. He let his hand drift up, tracing along the underside of his jaw where the young man had stabbed him with the stake.

“You think they’ve realised?” Centross asked quietly.

“I don’t know if she’s put it all together yet>” Sherbert admitted. “But I know that she is aware of his presence. I know that she has her children searching for him. The animal may have even found him already.”

“But if the Lady has found him…”

“She may be close to finding Perix.” Sherbert nodded. “It would certainly make it much easier to deal with your missing prince problem if…”

“If the leader of an attempted coup was already dealt with.” Centross finished. “Where did they find the test subject?”

Sherbert held up their hands. “That, I don’t know. But I can find out. Once you bring me the research, of course.”

Centross nodded. “Alright. Tomorrow night. Here again, I’ll bring the research–”

“I need more time than that. It’s not easy finding that little family of theirs. Two days, no more.”

“Fine.” Centross huffed. “Two days. You tell me where the test subject is–”

“And you give me the alchemical research.” Sherbert extended their hand.

Centross shook it. “You have a deal, Prince.” He turned around, adjusting his collar as he turned to walk away.

“Oh, and one more piece of advice,” Sherbert said, catching Centross’ attention, “For free, I promise.”

“What is it, Sherbert?” Centross turned to look at them.

Sherbert zipped up their jacket. “The new hunters everyone’s talking about? The ones tracking down vampires?”

Centross raised an eyebrow, nodding.

“They’re not just human.”

Centross opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, thinking. Not human? What did that mean? There were always rumours of werewolves, somewhere in the world, but… Centross had certainly never seen proof of their existence. What else could there be? In all his years there had been two distinct camps. Vampires and humans. That was all.

“Are you saying they’re vampires hunting each other?” He asked Sherbert.

The prince shrugged. “I don’t know. I wish I could say more but… That’s all I’ve heard. Whatever they are, they’re not normal hunters. Until next time, Centross.”

In the blink of eye, Sherbert’s form had melted into a shifting formless shadow, before separating into dozens of hooded crows once more, scattering as they flew off into the woods overhead. Centross decided he would walk, rather than transform himself. He had much to think about during the journey home…

Chapter Text

Caspian felt cold as he came to. He could feel his skin pressed only against his back, and he shifted his shoulders, feeling the scarred flesh peel up off the metal. He began to panic, the fear slamming into him like a tidal wave as he felt the crusted dried blood against his neck.

He was back. He was back in that hell and he had been experimented on again. The Warden had found him and he was on the slab. He must have passed out from the pain and only just come too. He could almost feel the scalpels digging into his skin, the teeth ripping into him, and the chains holding his body to the slab. He tried to struggle away from them, writhe beneath his confinement, and promptly tumbled off the metal bench with a startled cry, landing hard on his shoulder.

“Jesus–” A voice muttered nearby.

Caspian, breathing heavily, cracked open his eyes, which felt glued together with sleep-dust. The brightly lit basement of Will’s house greeted him, as did Seven, who was hurrying over from the couch to crouch beside him.

“W-Where…” Caspian’s mind slowed down from racing as he took in the room, and the night before returned to him. “Seven?”

“You’re going to hurt yourself more by throwing yourself around like that.” Seven helped Caspian to his feet, where the man stood unsteadily before leaning back against the bed.

Caspian blinked in the lights, his hand moving to his neck where the bandages had come slightly loose as he slept. “What…” His head snapped up. “Rae.” He said simply. “Seven what happened to–”

“He’s safe.” Seven said calmly, pulling on a set of rubber gloves and positioning himself beside Caspian on the bench. “Sit down, it will make the bandages easier to remove.

Caspian did as he was instructed, swaying slightly as he sat on the metal bench. “He’s safe?” He asked.

Seven nodded. “Upstairs in one of the rooms. I allowed him to get cleaned up, and told him to rest. I assume he must have taken my advice, I have not heard much from him.”

Caspian nodded. He was grateful the others had taken his word and kept Rae alive. He wasn’t sure why exactly, he was just… Glad.

“He’s… Upstairs?” It took Caspian a moment to realise why this sounded strange. “Not in the cell?”

He turned his head as Seven finished removing the bloody bandages. There was someone in the cell. A teenager was sitting cross legged in the centre of the small room beyond the bars. They stared at Caspian with black inhuman eyes, an unreadable expression on their face.

“Who–”

“I believe,” Seven tossed the bandages aside and padded the wound on Caspian’s neck with a pad of gauze, “That their name is Jamie. They attacked Will as we got you to the van.”

“Are they a vampire?” Caspian asked. Keeping Rae alive was already a stretch, but bringing a second vampire to the base, especially one who had attacked them…

“No.” Seven shook his head. “I don’t believe so. We’re not sure what they are, exactly. Only that they’re not human. They didn’t seem eager to talk with Will.” Seven inspected Caspian’s neck, the rubber glove feeling cold and almost sticky against Caspian’s skin. “The wound is healing. Scabbed over, mostly. I would recommend you avoid any sudden neck movements until it has properly scarred.”

“Thank you, Seven.” Caspian nodded, smiling at the other man. His friend smiled back, standing up to dispose of the bloody bandages. Caspian turned his attention back to Jamie, who was still staring at him intently. “Where is Will?” He asked over his shoulder.

“Asleep.” Seven mentioned. “It’s about eight in the morning, if you were curious. I thought I would let him rest until noon.” The hunter turned around, and noticed Caspian’s focus on their inhuman companion. “Will couldn’t get him to talk much he did say… Apparently they were searching for you.” Seven said quietly. “Do you… Recognise them?”

Caspian shook his head. “No, not at all.” He stood up slowly, his head spinning slightly, and walked towards the cell.

“Hello.” Caspian said to Jamie.

Jamie just continued to stare at him, expression unchanged.

“Why were you looking for me?” Caspian asked, sitting down on the floor.

Jamie seemed to consider the question, moving their jaw in a strange way, as if walking themselves through the words they would use. “M-Mom.” They said after a moment.

Caspian blinked at them. “Pardon?” The idea that Jamie might think Caspian was his mother was almost comical, and more than anything just made him uncomfortable.

Jamie shook their head, making their mane of brown hair flap around their ears. They looked up at Caspian again. “Momboo… Momboo wants to find you.” They struggled through the words.

Seven appeared beside Caspian, wrapping a blanket around the man’s shoulders. “That’s… more words than he’s spoken at all so far. Not to mention more coherent.” Seven sat down too, and handed Caspian a plastic bottle of Gatorade. “Drink this, you need to up your electrolytes. I have cookies if you can keep food down.”

Caspian uncapped the bottle and took a sip of the neon blue liquid, the artificially sweet flavour assaulting his senses. “Maybe.” He said, running his tongue across his lips. He turned back to Jamie. “Who is Momboo? Is that your mother?”

Jamie nodded.

“Why does your mother want me? What is she going to do? Is she the Warden? Perix? Is that who your mother is?”

Caspian realised he was asking too many questions at once, that Jamie wouldn’t be able to answer them, but he didn’t care. If Jamie’s mother was Perix, if she’d managed to track him down once… Could she do it again?

“Not Warden!” Jamie said, almost desperately. They shook their head violently, as if trying to both indicate no and rid their mind of the thought. “Not Warden. Warden is bad. Momboo… F-Friend.” Jamie said slowly. “Momboo said… Friend. Old friend.”

Caspian blinked at Jamie. That was impossible. He didn’t have any friends anymore. Not other than Will and Seven. He had been imprisoned and used as a living blood bank for almost forty years, and even before that he hadn’t been popular. The only friend he had then was Strawberri but she… He’s seen her die a long time ago now.

But the way Jamie had reacted to the Warden’s name… Did they know Perix somehow?

“Curious.” Seven said, looking at Jamie. “It’s like… Like they know the things they’re saying, they just… Can’t say the words.” The man’s voice wavered as he said that. He related to that plight. “Have you spoken English before?” Seven asked.

Jamie finally pulled their attention away from Caspian to look at Seven, and slowly shook his head. The teen opened their mouth to speak, and made a growling, whining sound, before closing their mouth again.

Caspian looked at their teeth. Not quite fangs – at least not like any vampire he’s ever seen – but still carnivorous, in a way. “You’re… A familiar?” He asked, leaning forwards.

Jamie tilted their head at him, before nodding.

“Pardon?” Seven asked.

Caspian took another sip of his drink as he thought, trying to compile hazy memories from his brief periods of lucidity. His brain had basically become mush under the influence of all the drugs and pain at the hands of Perix, but he had learned some things about vampires in the time when they used him as a communal feeding station.

“They’re… Rare.” He admitted. “Sometimes… Sometimes vampires bite animals. It bonds them in a way, like… Like a pet that’s also an extension of you. It’s smarter, can do things for you regular animals couldn’t. They can usually communicate in some way, mentally.”

“Listen to them, the children of the night.” Seven quoted under his breath. “What sweet music they make.”

Caspian nodded. “They’re wolves, usually. Or birds, like how some vampires can turn into birds or bats.”

“But Jamie… Caspian they’re a person.” Seven said, nodding at Jamie. The youth had been looking from one to the other as the conversation progressed, tracking their voices as they spoke.

“Right now they are.” Caspian nodded. “I… I only saw it once, I think but… But sometimes the vampire can do that. Like they turn into animals they make their familiar look human. It takes a lot of power.”

Seven was looking at Caspian, whose face was strained with the effort of trying to remember things. “Caspian you don’t have to keep thinking about–”

“No.” Caspian cut him off, closing his eyes. “No I can remember, I just… I think Perix… She was doing something with that. With turning one thing into another, I…” He looked up at Jamie. “Did she try to do that to you? Is that why you’re a human?”

Jamie tensed at the mention of Perix’s name, but shook their head. “Not why. Momboo said I… I hide easier like this.”

“She transformed you first? She can do that?” Caspian asked. If whoever Momboo was was that powerful, he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet her.

Jamie nodded. “Warden… Warden wanted to take me. Tried to take my blood.” Jamie mumbled. He looked up at Caspian. “Momboo said to keep you safe from Warden. That they’re after you too.”

Caspian opened his mouth and closed it. He assumed the Warden was searching for him but the implication that there was someone else out there – another vampire no less – trying to stop her… What was so special about him to this Momboo person?

“Jamie, I…” Caspian stretched out a hand, and placed it face up through the bars.

“Caspian!” Seven hissed. “They could still be–”

Before he could even finish the sentence, Jamie had slowly taken their hand, and rested it in Caspian’s, holding it in a sort of horizontal handshake.

“If you promise not to hurt my friends, we’re going to get you back to your mother, okay? She can turn you back into whatever you were, and you can both be safe, and stay away from the Warden, okay?”

“Caspian…” Seven warned softly. He was worried this was becoming a habit. “We’re not a home for wayward monsters.”

Caspian looked at the hunter, withdrawing his hand from the bars. “But we’re not the monsters either, Seven. What else were you going to do, kill them?”

Seven shook their head. “No, but… Well…”

Caspian turned back to Jamie. “We’re going to get them home. We can plan it, be careful but… I need to know why this Momboo wants to keep me safe.” He admitted.

He knew it was selfish to drag Seven and Will into something with this but… What else could he do? There was so much he still didn’t understand. How he was still alive was a start. Why hadn’t he aged in the last forty years if he was still human? How did Momboo know him? Why did she care enough to send Jamie after him? His head was beginning to spin under the weight of the questions.

Then again, maybe it was simply a result of the blood loss. He took another sip of the Gatorade.

“Alright.” Seven nodded. “You’re right, I suppose but… it will take time.”

“I know.” Caspian nodded. “I’m sorry. I know this is… Complicated.”

Seven smirked. “Caspian we hunt vampires. Our entire lives are complicated.”

Caspian chuckled. He wasn’t used to Seven making jokes. He was usually so serious and stoic… It was interesting, seeing him somewhat more loosened up. The lighthearted mood didn’t last long.

There was a crash as the heavy door at the top of the stairs was flung open. There was rapid, heavy footsteps.

“S-Seven–”

The voice was raspy and thin, and the two men on the floor turned around to see Rae tumble down the last few stairs, crashing into the wall and sliding to the floor. He was clasping one hand to his head as if in pain, and even from across the room Caspian could tell the vampire’s entire body was trembling.

“Rae?” Seven and Caspian both asked in unison.

Rae looked up, and through his tangled dark hair Caspian could see that his pupils had become thin slits in a pool of almost green darkness. “I- I can’t think.” He stammered. “I need–” Rae’s words dissolved into a yell of pain and frustration. Rae tried to push himself up from the floor, before slumping back down. His voice became unsettlingly calm and even, cold and emotionless compared to the sudden outburst. “I need blood, Seven.”

Chapter Text

“Shit.” Seven cursed under their breath, moving towards Rae.

“N-No, stay back!” Rae snapped. Seven raised their hands, and backed away, darting towards the cold-room.

“Rae, just calm down.” Caspian offered, standing up and approaching slowly. “Just breathe.”

“I don’t… I don’t think I breathe.” Rae said, his eyes screwed closed. “God I don’t breathe, I–”

“Okay then just focus on my voice. Focus on me.” Caspian offered. Behind him, he was aware of Jamie crouched in their cell, teeth bared and growling slightly.

“All I can do is focus on you.” Rae growled. “Your heartbeat, pounding in my ears. Just like I could hear Will’s through the walls. I could smell him through the walls I- I can’t think, I’m just… hungry.”

“But you’re down here.” Caspian said, crouching in front of Rae. “You controlled yourself. You’re not attacking me now?”

“You taste wrong.” Rae muttered. “That was all I could think of when I first bit you, you taste wrong and I thought it could keep me away.”

Seven remerged. A bag of blood was clasped in his hands. “Rae, I’m going to hand this to you.” He said calmly, offering out the bag.

Rae’s movements were so fast that Caspian barely registered them. There was just a blur of motion as Rae sprang forwards and grabbed the bag. Seven swore again, stumbling back as Rae’s claw-like nails scratched down his arm. Rae’s body heaved as he sunk his teeth into the plastic bag, and the two hunters watched in nervous silence as Rae gulped the bag down in seconds, the plastic shrivelling up in his hands. Rae dropped back down to his knees, letting the torn open bag fall to the ground with a sickening, wet thud.

“Cold.” Rae coughed wetly, spraying flecks of blood across the floor. His body shuddered as he coughed again. “T-Thank you. Thank you, thank you.” He stammered, trying to wipe the blood from his face with the back of his hand.

Caspian rested a hand on Rae’s back, and the man flinched. “Rae?”

“I’m sorry.” Rae mumbled. “I’m sorry, I know I should have said something sooner but I wanted to… I didn’t want to be a bother or to put you in danger.”

Seven took a notebook off a desk, and flicked it open. “Please, for future reference, inform me of your cravings the moment you begin to feel them. You have just consumed roughly one pint of blood, I wish to know how long that takes for your body to process.”

Rae nodded. “I think… I think there’s always a craving, in a way.” He said softly. “There’s always the urge to just keep feeding. To feast on something warm. But I… I can ignore it, mostly. It’s like… being aware that you need to eat eventually. Like a constant temptation.”

“But you resisted that.” Caspian suggested. Rae nodded slowly, and Caspian could see tears sliding silently down the vampire's cheeks. “You didn’t hurt anybody, Rae. You’re alright.”

“But just because I didn’t hurt anyone this time…”

“Hey.” Caspian knelt down in front of Rae. “You didn’t hurt me, either. You’re the first vampire I’ve ever met who stopped themselves from killing, Rae. Twice now. That’s worth something.”

Rae looked up at Caspian. His eyes had widened and rounded into regular human-looking pupils. “Thank you.” He mouthed, his voice barely coming out as a soft squeak.

Caspian nodded. “It’s alright.”

“You said it was cold.” Seven interrupted, his eyes still locked on Rae. “Does that make a difference?”

Rae nodded. “It felt wrong. Not just the taste, but in general. I needed force myself to drink it, I think, like… like I was going to throw it up, if given the chance.”

“We can attempt to warm the blood up prior to your consumption in the future?” Seven suggested. “It may not be the same as living blood but it could be preferable still?”

“Please.” Rae said, nodding again. “Thank you, Seven, I… I’m sorry.”

“You do not need to apologise.” Seven told the vampire, setting the notebook aside and picking the drained blood bag up off the floor. He inspected the torn plastic, taking note of the puncture marks.

Caspian stayed on the ground opposite Rae as the vampire calmed down, and eventually tried to wipe the tears from their cheeks. Caspian realised that Rae had changed clothes. The bloodstained shirt had been replaced by an oversized black hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. Despite being quite a bit taller than Caspian, in the clothes Rae seemed small and fragile.

“You’re awake.” Rae said under his breath, smiling weakly. He reached up a hand to touch Caspian’s face, but noticed the blood on his hand, letting it drop to his side before he accidentally smeared it onto Caspian. “I… I’m glad you’re alright.”

“I’m glad you’re alright.” Caspian nodded. “Thank you, for not killing me.” He smiled.

“Thank you for not killing me too.” Rae’s smile widened slightly. “I’m sorry about all of this.”

“It’s for the best.” Caspian assured him. “For all of us. We can work together.”

Rae stood up shakily, and Caspian followed. Rae’s eyes lingered on Caspian’s scarred chest, and the hunter suddenly became intensely aware that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He pulled the blanket closer around his shoulders.

“Did you… Want to sit down?” Caspian gestured to the couch. Rae nodded, and the two sat down, Rae intentionally making himself as small as possible to keep himself away from Caspian. Caspian understood the need for the distance, but he couldn’t help from feeling a little hurt by the action. Something Rae had mentioned kept playing on repeat in the back of his mind.

“Can I ask something?” Caspian asked. Rae nodded, fiddling with the oversized sleeves of his hoodie. Caspian’s hand drifted to the scabbing over wound on his neck. “You said… You said my blood tastes wrong. What does that mean?”

If a vampire could blush, Rae would have done so. He folded up his hands over his mouth. “I’m sorry.”

Caspian smirked. “I’m not offended, Rae, I’m just… I’m curious, I suppose.”

Rae nodded. “I don’t know. Wrong makes it sound like a bad thing, but it’s not. It’s just… Different from other blood I’ve tasted. I don’t remember much, but I remember that. It’s like… If regular blood is like chocolate, yours is like dark chocolate. It’s bitter, in a way. Not stronger, but… It makes your mouth curl in on itself if you’re not expecting it, I suppose.”

“Oh.” Caspian’s brow furrowed. “Do you… do you know why that might be the case?”

Rae shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Caspian smiled. “No, it’s alright. Thank you, I think.” The hunter nodded. “You know uh… I kinda like dark chocolate, actually.”

Rae laughed a little, and Caspian felt his heart beat a little faster at the sound. Rae’s laugh was beautiful. He didn’t realise an undead creature could make such a living sound.

“Me too.” Rae smiled for a moment, before the smile vanished. “Oh god I- I didn’t mean… I’m sorry I–”

“It’s alright.” Caspian smiled, blushing. “No, I get what you mean. It’s okay.”

Rae shifted awkwardly in his seat. “Can… Can I ask something?” He asked.

Caspian nodded.

“Your scars?” Rae nodded at Caspian’s neck, exposed above the blanket. Even his neck was covered in the marks, the skin so marked with scars it was hard to find a spot that didn’t look as if it had been wounded. “Were those… Were those from vampires?”

Caspian paled, pulling the blanket closer around his shoulders. “Yeah.” He said said quietly. “Yeah, they were.”

“There so m…” Rae’s voice trickled off, afraid he might be being insensitive. “I’m so sorry.” He said finally.

Caspian shrugged. “It’s not your fault.”

“But it might as well be.” Rae mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest. “I guess I… I hadn’t really stopped to consider why you were hunting vampires, I just thought… Jesus, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to feel guilty about that.” Caspian shook his head. “Anything you did, sure, but not… Not this. This was different. And if it helps, I was hunting vampires long before I got all of these scars.”

Rae raised an eyebrow. “Really?” He asked.

Caspian nodded. “Yup.”

“How long?” Rae asked. The way Caspian said it made it sound like years, but he couldn’t have been older than his mid twenties.

“1987.” Caspian said flatly.

Rae laughed. The laugh faded gradually as he realised Caspian wasn’t laughing with him. “W-Wait you’re serious?”

Caspian nodded.

“You um… You look really good for someone in their fifties.” Rae offered.

This time Caspian laughed, and Rae smiled a little wider. “Thanks, I appreciate that. You look pretty good for someone who’s dead.”

Rae chuckled. “Thanks. Is that why… You wanted to know about your blood?” He asked.

Caspian nodded. “Partially. I… The vampires that did this,” Under the blanket he gestured to his scars, “They um… they kept me alive, somehow. Did experiments on me, think. I don’t know what they did exactly but… Will and Seven found me last year. When you said my blood tasted different I wondered if…”

“If they'd done something to it.” Rae finished. Caspian nodded again, biting his lip. “You know,” Rae continued, “I don’t… I don’t remember much, but I think I used to study things. Like, a scientist of some kind, I guess? Maybe if I’m around, I can help find out what they did to you?”

Caspian smiled warmly at Rae. “Really?”

Rae smiled back sheepishly. “It’s the least I could do. I owe you my life. Or death, I guess.”

“Well, I owe you my life, for sure.” Caspian added on. “And I promise I’ll help you figure out who you were. And why you can fight against killing people.”

Rae nodded. “Thank you. That means a lot.” He paused, looking away. “Caspian do you think… Do you think that someone could be cured of vampirism?”

“As in become human again?”

“Yeah.”

Caspian exhaled. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t even know how to start… But we could find out.” He offered his hand out to Rae. Something to ground the vampire, who’s eyes held a distant, faraway look. “Together?”

Rae looked at Caspian’s hand for a long moment, and Caspian was afraid that the vampire was about to cry again. Finally, Rae took his hand. His fingers were long and icy cold, and Caspian shook it. Rae shook back weakly, revelling in the warmth of Caspian’s skin against his own.

“Together.” He echoed. He didn’t move to let go of Caspian’s hand. Caspian didn’t move to let go of his.

The two men just sat there,clinging to this connection between them for as long as they could. Neither was quite sure why, but they held onto this one uncomplicated moment in a turbulent world. A moment together.

Chapter Text

Jamie had been watching the events of the night unfold in front of them for some time now. They had slept little, and listened a lot, gathering information as the night turned to morning. They could not see that the night had ended of course, they were far too deep below ground for any windows to be around them, but they could feel it internally. Their body had long ago done away with proper sleep patterns, rather sleeping when it was easiest and more appropriate for their life and the instructions they were given. Despite this, they could almost feel as the world around them changed its entire presence to accommodate the light. So much changed when the sun vanished than most people realised. Everything about the earth, down to the minutest detail was changed, even if only in the smallest of ways. Some things hid in the darkness, slowed down and rested.

Jamie was not one of those things. Jamie, like all those who surrounded him, as a child of the night, and was attuned as such to the night.

They had tried to even now accomplish their mission as best they could. The familiar hoped now that it was only a matter of time before their mother or their sibling realised they were missing. Jamie’s mother had a gift with them, part of the process of the familiar’s bond, they assumed, which allowed her to always find them, eventually. Jamie just had to wait until then, and if that meant remaining in this cage, then Jamie would wait.

Only… Jamie was not sure if they could wait. Not here. Not trapped underground, in the small enclosed cell. They could feel their heart beating faster as they thought about the layers of concrete and dirt and building above their head, and they let out a soft whimpering growl. Jamie tried to shake his head, tried to rid his mind of the thought. They just had to think about something else. Something other than being trapped. If they took their mind off it, things would be easier. It would be easier to wait.

Jamie had already categorised those around him on the other side of the bars into a series of categories.

There was the target, of course. Caspian, Momboo had told them the man’s name was. Momboo had thought perhaps, despite his appearance on camera, that the man was a vampire. Must have been a vampire she had said. Only Jamie knew now that was false. It was true that the man did not smell fully human, but he was far from undead. Caspian would not be a threat, Jamie determined. Perhaps if directly attacked he would defend himself, but it seemed as if he was the least dangerous of the group to Jamie or their family. Besides, if Momboo knew him, she would not attack him, right? They would give him no reason to attack.

The other individuals were less easy to categorise. Jamie had not expected the presence of the vampire, Rae. He had assumed that Caspian would have killed the Enderian creature when they had tracked the hunter to that building, only that appeared not to have been the case. There was something different about him, too. He did not smell entirely vampiric. It was a different scent than Jamie was used to associating with the Enderian sect. Once again, he could not place it. They were intensely curious as to the creature's reluctance to harm these humans. These hunters, no less. His ability to fight off his nature. Jamie wondered briefly if they too could change their nature, somehow. They wondered what it would be like if they could remain this way. Remain as a human, changed completely. Could they learn to speak more so than they already could? Could they fit in, in the way they never could before as an animal? He looked at his human hands, so much smaller than his paws. His thick fingers wriggled like worms as he flexed them, inspecting his hand. He wondered if he could get used to having hands. Jamie pushed the thought aside. This was not important to the mission they had been sent on. This was not helping Momboo.

The other two humans were the biggest threats. The hunters. Caspian was a hunter too, but where he seemed lenient and caring, the others moved like well oiled machines. Predators almost as efficient as the ones they hunted. Seven, the larger of the two, seemed the more intimidating of the two at first, and he would surely be difficult to take down if required, but he seemed less skilled than the other, Will. Seven did not move as quickly. He did not have the technique and grace that Will presented. He seemed more skilled with the strange technology around the basement than with the weapons used to kill the undead. Jamie made a mental note however not to let themselves underestimate the man. Seven could still be a threat. There could be something Jamie wasn’t seeing. Perhaps something those machines did as they beeped in the corner of the room. Jamie did not understand any machines, but these ones seemed particularly suspicious to them.

Will was the one he was the most concerned about. Jamie realised that if Momboo or their sibling Easton were to arrive here alone, they may be in real, considerable danger if caught in combat with Will. Seven might know what he was doing with the weapons, but Will seemed practised. Experienced. He had defeated Jamie in moments, and Jamie was wise enough to not only attribute that to their own failures. Jamie had heard the man talking before about the vampires he had killed in the past. He might have seemed remorseful, but remorse did little if it came after the death of Momboo, or Easton for that matter. Jamie had never considered a situation before where a member of his family might be in real danger. It happened so infrequently that anything came close to harming them, the concept seemed strange and terrifying, and it made Jamie’s stomach roll. Or perhaps that was the hunger. After all, they hadn’t eaten in a while, long before finding Caspian, and even longer before being contained in this basement. Their stomach growled, and they closed their eyes, trying to ignore it.

After a few minutes, there was a tapping at the bars of the cell, the metal clanging low and hollow. Jamie opened their eyes. The vampire – Rae – looked back at them, staring through the bars.

“I hope I didn’t wake you.” Rae smiled weakly.

Jamie shook their head.

“Caspian and I, um… we thought I should bring you down some food?” Rae pushed a plate towards Jamie. A piece of steak, perhaps not freshly cooked but not particularly old either, was placed on it. Rae slid it through the small hatch at the bottom of the bars.

Jamie stared at the meat, the smell wafting strongly into their nose and clouding their thoughts. They reached forwards, and slid the plate back out the hatch.

Rae looked from the plate up to Jamie, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern. “You’re… not going to eat it?”

Jamie shook his head.

“You’re not a pris…” Rae’s voice haltered, realsing what he was about to say was not true. “Okay maybe you are a little bit of a prisoner, but you need to eat.”

“Not…” Jamie looked at the plate with mild disgust. “Not that.”

Rae raised an eyebrow. “Not the meat?”

“Meat.” Jamie repeated, shaking their head.

“Oh.” Rae said simply. He crossed his legs underneath himself and tilted his head. “You don’t eat meat?”

Jamie shook their head once more. “Not… not animals.”

The vampire opposite him got a sad, faraway look in his eyes as he looked down at the plate. “That’s… That’s very humane of you, Jamie.” He smiled weakly.

Jamie didn’t exactly know what humane meant, but it sounded like human, which made him feel a little better. “I do not like hurting.” The familiar said eventually.

“Other animals?” Rae asked. Jamie nodded. “I… I don’t like hurting people either. I really don’t. I guess I just got unlucky with who I am, in that regard. It’s very hard to be a vampire who doesn’t hurt people.”

“It is hard to be an animal who does not hurt animals.” Jamie mumbled, slumping against the wall of the cell.

Rae nodded. “I guess we’re kinda similar then, aren’t we?”

“Similar?” Jamie asked. It was hard for their human face to convey emotion. They weren’t used to it. The muscles felt different, and were in different places. Their eyes were a different size, and their mouth was all wrong. They didn’t even want to think about how human ears were supposed to emote. Still, they tried their best to convey confusion.

“Oh, well, it means the same.” Rae smiled. “I meant that we’re the same.

Jamie nodded. They lifted up their hand again, and held it in front of their face, staring at it for a long time. Then, they pushed their hand out through the bars, slowly, their fingers stretched upwards and their palm facing Rae.

Rae stared at their hand for a minute, unsure of what the familiar expected him to do. Slowly, Rae raised his own hand, and extended his fingers in the same way, before pressing his palm against Jamie’s.

Jamie leaned closer to the bars, inspecting their hands where they met; finger pressed to finger, skin pressed skin. He looked at their hands. Rae’s fingers were longer, and spindlier than Jamies, which were solid and tipped with thick, dark, claw-like nails. Even the bone structure of Jamie's hand seemed slightly different, as if his hand had formed so he could still use it as a paw in a way when he ran. Yet still, in almost every way, their hands were similar. Both normal, human hands.

“The same.” Jamie said softly. There was a light in their dark eyes. Something between fear and awe, and Rae looked at the youth’s face as they stared at his hand, studying the expression.

“Jamie, how…” Rae tilted their head as they studied the teen. “How long have you been like this? Been a human?”

There was a flicker in Jamie’s eyes: excitement, almost. “Am I human?” They asked quietly.

Rae thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I know what being human is anymore. What it means to be human is… it’s not something I’m sure I understand.”

Jamie nodded. “I… I would like to be human.” Jamie said slowly. “I have been like this for…” They scratched against the concrete floor of the cell a few times, counting with each movement. “Some days.” They said finally. “Four. I searched for Caspian.”

“Your mother wants him.” Rae said, repeating the information the group of hunters had been discussing.

Jamie nodded once again. “Wants to help him. Knows him.”

Rae chewed on his fingernails, looking at the ground. “Do you think, if your mother is a vampire that maybe… do you think she might know me, too? Know who I was?”

Jamie shrugged. They thought for a moment. Or maybe instead they took a moment to figure out the words, Rae couldn’t quite be sure.

“Maybe. She knows a lot.” Jamie said finally. “She cares for people. They can help.”

Rae nodded slowly. “Thank you. I hope so.” Rae reached out and ran his fingers along the bars of Jamie’s cell. “Jamie, do you think… if I asked them to let you out, would you attack us?”

The teen was taken aback for a moment, and simply stared at Rae. “You would ask?” Jamie breathed.

Rae chewed his lip. “I can. I know what it’s like. Being a monster, but not wanting to hurt people.”

“Don’t want to hurt people.” Jamie repeated. Then they paused. “Am I a monster? Are you?”

The vampire tilted his head. “I… I don’t know. Do you think I’m a monster?”

Jamie shook their head. “Vampires are not always monsters. My mother is not a monster. Or… I do not think so.”

Rae smiled. “I don’t think you’re a monster either. Or at least I think… I think maybe you don’t have to be monstrous, even if you are a monster. I think there can be good monsters.” His smile flickered. “I don’t know if I am a good monster, but… But I think you are.”

Jamie leaned their head against the bars. “I think you are good too.” They said after a moment of thought. “We can be the same.”

Rae could feel tears welling in his eyes, and he blinked them away. It took him a moment to swallow down the building emotion in his throat. “Thank you, Jamie.”

“Thank you, Rae.” Jamie hummed, closing their eyes as they leaned against the bar. “I think… I think I would like to be let out. I will not hurt them.”

“I know you won’t.” Rae nodded, pushing himself up off the ground. “I’ll see what we can do, okay? They seem reasonable, even if I’ve only known them a little while. But first, how about I get you some food you will eat, okay? Some vegetables?”

Jamie nodded, leaning back in their cell. There was a subtle look of contentment on their face as they looked up at Rae. A faint smile, stretched over their animal teeth. They watched as Rae walked up the basement stairs and out of sight, before pushing themselves up off the floor. For the first time since entering the cell, Jamie walked over to the bed in the corner. They pressed hand into it gently, experimentally, before sitting down on it. Jamie was not used to sleeping in beds. Normally, when they were in animal form, they simply slept outside or on the floor. They had never wanted to sleep in a bed before, but now…

Now maybe they could give it a try. Maybe they were a monster, even a good one. But they could always pretend, just for a little bit, to be human too.

Chapter Text

Jamie was awoken by the sound of a hand knocking against the bars of the cell. They opened their dark eyes groggily, letting them adjust to the harsh blue light of the basement beyond. They were curled up in a ball on the bed in the cell, having inadvertently shaped the blankets and pillow into a small nest around him. Jamie blinked up at the figures silhouetted against the bars. Will and Rae stared in at him silently. Noticing that Jamie was awake, Rae offered a small wave. Jamie could smell the heavy metallic odour of blood clinging to Rae, although the vampire seemed to have cleaned himself of the blood which had caked his skin the last few days.

“You’re sure about this?” Will whispered to Rae, his hand fiddling with the locks on the cell.

Rae nodded. “Very sure. Jamie isn’t a threat. They’re just here to look out for Caspian.”

Will nodded. “So we’ve been told.” He sighed unlocking the door. The door creaked agonisingly loud on it’s hinges as it swung open, and Will instinctively stepped back, preparing himself in case Jamie launched out at him at an inhuman speed.

Jamie did not in fact launch himself at the vampire hunter. Jamie in fact did not move at all. They just laid where they were, still curled up in their mass of blankets, staring out at the others suspiciously.

Rae smiled at them weakly. “It’s alright.” He nodded at Jamie.

The vampire had changed clothes, and Jamie could smell the clashing scents on his body. Rae smelled damp and still, the way all vampires smelled deep down. They smelled like they were: Something dead, constantly on the verge of decay. Only… there was something different about Rae too, something different Jamie wasn’t used to, even after so long of living with vampires. Rae smelled ever so slightly… fresher. He smelled dead, yes, but there was a lightness to the scent. As if he wasn’t quite done dying. Perhaps it was something about the vampire himself, or maybe Jamie was just confusing the scent with those around them. Maybe it was merely the clothes.

The clothes he had changed into – an oversized blue sweater, patterned with white flecks that Jamie realised were tiny stars, were distinctly someone else's. Someone older, perhaps, Jamie thought. There was a faint, faded smell of some old soap or deodorant that Jamie couldn’t reconcile with Rae. Old Spice or something similarly unappealing. Jamie eyed them, wonderingly briefly where the clothes had come from, as they didn’t fit any of the other hunters they had met. Unless there were more of them in the house… How many hunters were there here? If Momboo or Easton found them, would Jamie just be leading them into a trap.

Will shuffled awkwardly, easing out of his defensive stance. “There’s um… There’s food upstairs, if you would like?” He suggested. “Rae said you don’t eat meat so um… Seven made some pasta, if you eat pasta?”

Jamie nodded slowly, still not moving, other than to prop themselves up on a mud-stained elbow.

“Should we leave?” Will whispered to Rae. He was probably under the impression that Jamie couldn’t hear him, and if Jamie were a normal human perhaps that would have been the case. “And like… Leave the door open?”

Jamie shook their head. “Don’t need to leave.” They said slowly. Their tongue felt heavy and unwieldy in their mouth, and the back of their throat ached as they spoke.

Will looked at the ground sheepishly upon finding out Jamie had heard him. “Oh… Okay.”

Jamie yawned, their jaw cracking slightly as they did so, and they pulled themselves from the bed, sliding onto the floor, braced on all fours before they stretched up to the unfamiliar standing position. Their human limbs were strange and unwieldy – far lighter and longer than their usual form, and the lack of force required to move them meant Jamie’s movements were rubbery and exaggerated. They stepped unsurely towards the door, and reached out to steady themselves against the bars, looking with wide, observant eyes at Will and Rae, waiting for either of them to attack them in some way.

Neither of them did. They just watched, Will stepping back slightly to give them more room, and Rae stepping forwards in case Jamie fell. The unsteady walk reminded Rae of young deer, wobbly and uncertain, although Jamie’s expression was steady and confident, even if the movements suggested otherwise.

Will looked at the dirt and mud covering the floor of Jamie’s cell, and he let out a soft groan. “They’re going to make a mess of the floors.” He mumbled, looking down at Jamie’s blackened, dirt covered feet.

Jamie had never been in a position where they could or even needed to blush before, but they could feel their cheeks warmingly slightly.

“They can shower.” Rae nodded encouragingly at the familiar as they stepped fully out of the cell.

Jamie nodded. “Shower.”

They had never been a big fan of bathing when they were an animal. Their fur had kept any dirt away from their skin, and they had brief memories of swimming in rivers, which cleaned away any remaining mess. Since being taken in by Momboo however, Jamie had been accustomed to having to bathe regularly, much to their discomfort. Now however, they were intensely aware of the layers of dirt and even blood crusted on their skin. With no fur to separate the skin from the mud, they could feel it cracking and shifting with every tensing of their muscles and stretching of sinews. They wanted to be clean. They wanted the freedom of movement which came without these layers of mess.

Will nodded. “Alright. I can show them to the guest bathroom, and I guess uh… Well we might not have any clothes that fit them but we can wash those, maybe? I don’t know, we haven’t had to make do for this many people before, we’re not exactly stocked to have this amount of people living here.

“We are people?” Jamie asked quietly, glancing up at Rae.

The vampire’s lips twitched into a smile, revealing his long incisors. “We are. We’re people.”

He turned to share the smile with Will. The hunter seemed far less enthusiastic about the concept, but he didn’t retract his statement. Instead, Will just forced an awkward smile, and nodded, leading the pair towards the stairs up to the main house.

Jamie was intensely aware of each footprint they left on the hardwood floor of the extravagant house Will led them through. He wondered how they came to live here. For the scant amount of time they had spent in it, Jamie had at least a fundamental understanding of how the human world worked, and they knew that in order to own a house this big one needed money. Momboo had worked for years, decades possibly in order to buy her home, and neither Will or Seven seemed old enough to have that much money. Jamie caught a glance of vibrant orange light, and they froze in the hallway, staring into a room and out the large window set into its wall.

“Jamie?” Rae asked, tilting his head.

The teen veered away from the others and strode across the room, pressing themselves up against the window, leaving large handprints on its clean surface. Outside was miles of countryside, bordered by thick woods on one side. Peering sideways, Jamie could see a river stretching down from the distant mountains, weaving through the tall grass and shrubbery.

“It’s beautiful, huh?” Will breathed, stepping behind Jamie and making them jump.

Jamie nodded.

“My uh… A friend of mine has had this place for a long time.” Will leant against the windowsill. “It was in his family, I think but he… He expanded it a lot. Added things like the basement, and kept it all nice and modern. He um… He left it to me, when he died. His name was Al. He was pretty proud of it all.”

“I miss it, sometimes.” Jamie whispered under their breath.

Will raised an eyebrow. “You… Miss it?”

Jamie removed an open palm from the glass and pressed a finger, pointing out to the forest. “Trees.”

“Oh.” Will nodded. “Oh, I thought… I’m sorry. Do you not see a lot of trees?”

Jamie shrugged. “Some. Few trees. Not forest. Momboo’s house is not near trees.”

“Well I’m… glad you could see them, I guess.” Will smiled weakly, glancing back at Rae in search of help in the conversation. The hunter seemed deeply uncomfortable with needing to turn to vampires for help. Jamie could smell the underlying fear clinging to his normal scent; the slightly uneven palpitations of his heart around Jamie and Rae.

“Jamie, what were you, before you were made like this?” Rae asked from the doorway of the room, staying away from the final rays of sunlight. “If… if you don’t mind me asking?”

Jamie dragged his attention away from the forest to look back at Rae. They thought for a moment, considering their answer. “We are called…” The teen made a strange growing sound. “My sibling called me… bay-ar.”

“Bay-ar?” Will asked, sounding the word out. “Bayar… Do you mean bear?”

Jamie nodded. “Yes, that word.”

“Oh.” Rae looked at Will. “You seem surprised?”

The hunter rubbed his hand over the lower half of his face as he thought. “I don’t know I… I’ve never heard of a bear familiar before, I guess. The whole concept of familiars is new to me but they’re normally things like birds, cats, bats, maybe wolves at the largest. Things which can spy and do bidding for the vampire. A bear is just… it seems big.”

Jamie nodded again, looking down at themselves and inspecting the oversized and dirtied clothes which hung off their shoulders. “Big.”

Rae took a small step into the room as the sun sank further away, and more of the room fell into darkness and shadow. “Jamie, you said you had a sibling. Are they also a bear? Or at least a familiar of some kind?”

The youth shook his head. “No. They are not like me. They’re like you.” They pointed at Rae. “Vampire. Or…” Jamie sniffed the air as Rae got closer. “Mostly like you.”

“Mostly?” Rae and Will asked in unison.

“You smell different.” Jamie explained. “You do not smell like Easton.”

“How so?” Will asked, an eyebrow raised.

Rae didn’t wait for Jamie to respond to the hunter. “Easton… is that the name of your sibling? The one that’s also a vampire?”

Jamie nodded. “Yes. Easton.” They turned to look out the window at the dying sunlight. “You will meet them soon.”

Will’s shoulders tensed. “Jamie… What do you mean by that, exactly?”

Jamie turned to look at the hunter nervously, shrinking in on themselves slightly. “They will be here soon, I think. They will be looking for me. They will be looking for Caspian.”

Chapter Text

Oceana loved the beach in the winter. Most found the atmosphere miserable: the grey skies and pitch black sea to them seemed bleak and unforgiving. The young woman however found it more serene and beautiful than anyone seemed to give credit. Her namesake was empty and unnaturally still in the distance, an empty void of inky black darkness beneath the night sky above. The cold waves lapped at Ocie’s bare feet as the leaned against the legs of the peer, staring out at the almost invisible horizon. She would have to go home soon, she knew that. Her sister would have sent people out looking for her soon, if they hadn’t already, and Ocie didn’t need another run in with the police. Not after the incident with Sean a few months ago…

But this was normal. Strawberri should expect her to run out like this by now. And it wasn’t like she was running away for good, Ocie just needed space. Especially after their parents.

“You alright down there?” A woman's voice asked, and Ocie heard the sounds of footsteps in the sand, weaving their way underneath the peer towards the tide.

Ocie sighed. She ran a hand through her tangled, blonde hair, its strands stiff with dried sea salt and rough with loose grains of sand. She pushed it over her shoulder, exposed to the frigid autumn night air. The letterman jacket she’d borrowed from Jerry was draped partially around her despite being several sizes too big, and the collar threatened to slide straight off her shoulders if she hadn’t held it close to her chest over her swim-suit.

“Hey Cas.” Ocie smiled weakly.

Casus finally appeared in Ocie’s peripheral vision. The young woman yelped quietly as her feet touched the cold water, and she jumped back onto the sand.

“Jesus you’re gonna catch a cold or something, are you insane?” Casus laughed.

Oceana smirked, shaking her head. “It’s not that bad, once you get used to it.”

“Yeah well I’m not getting used to it.” Casus huffed, staying in the sand and leaning against another of the support beams which held the docks high above their heads.

“What’re you doing down here anyway?” Ocie asked, turning around to look back at her friend.

Casus looked away from her, staring out at the open ocean. Her hair had still been dyed a deep teal colour when the group had left, only now after a few days of sun and salt-water, it had turned a sickly pale colour, the dye fading and bleached blonde peeking through alongside her dark roots. Her face was sharp and impish, and her lips were parted slightly as she let out a sigh.

“I was looking for you.” She said after a while. “And… Vorago.”

Ocie raised an eyebrow. “I thought Vorago was with you.”

The two were usually together, and if Ocie was being honest, usually together. How her nerdy friend had managed to stay with someone like Casus after Ocie set them up, Oceana still wasn’t sure, but the two seemed devoted to each other. That was probably all this was. Just that for the first time, the two of them weren’t preoccupied with having their tongues down each other's throat, and Casus had realised Vorago had other things to do. Still, Ocie couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The water around her feet suddenly felt several degrees colder, and a shiver snaked up her spine.

“I’m sure he’s just… Taken the van somewhere.” She said uneasily.

Casus shook her head. “I brought the van here. He’s not at the hotel either, I checked. I’m just… I haven’t heard from him since last night when he got that call from Len, and I–”

“Wait, wait,” Ocie stood up from the post, turning her back on the ocean to get a better look at her friend, “Vee got a call from Lennarius? Last night?”

Casus nodded slow. “It’s only… It’s only his brother, Ocie, I thought Len was chill and–”

“Fuck.” Ocie mumbled. “He is, I- I mean Len is chill, sometimes, he just… Len’s been getting wrapped up in stuff, Cas. Really fucked up stuff.”

Casus was fiddling with the myriad of rings on her fingers, and she cursed under her breath. A sliver of moonlight snuck between the boards of the pier above them, and the light illuminated the tear-streaks down Casus’ cheeks in a shimmering silver light. “Shit… But this is Len we’re talking about, Oche, he’s… You’ve met the guy, he’s really sweet and he’s too smart to get too tangled up in something dangerous.”

“He’s smart enough to rationalise why he’s getting mixed up in it all.” Ocie stressed. “Why do you think he and Vee haven’t talked in so long? And besides, how sweet Lennarius is doesn’t matter if he’s mixed up in the kind of stuff Vorago told me about.” Ocie wrapped the green and white jacket tighter around her shoulders and made her way through the sand towards Casus. “It’s like… Vorago thinks its satanist shit.” She muttered, feeling stupid even as she said it.

Casus laughed roughly. Her laugh was usually so playful and infectious, only now it just felt dead and forced. “What? Like Dungeons and Dragons and heavy metal?”

“I’m serious, Casus!” Ocie grabbed her friend's shoulders. “Like, real cult shit. Dangerous cult shit.”

Casus seemed to pale even further. “And if that was true, or even if Vorago thought that was true, and Lennarius called him…”

“Then our dumbass would leave immediately to try and save his older brother.” Ocie nodded.

Casus took a shuddering breath, and leaned forwards to rest her head on Ocie’s shoulder, her tears seeping into the soft fabric of the jacket. “Ocie, I… I’m worried about him.”

Ocie pulled Casus into a hug, holding the taller woman close. “Me too… We need to find him.”

“Where?” Casus asked, pushing off Ocie. “We have no idea where he might have gone, or even how he got there.”

Oceana thought for a moment, casting one last wishing glance at the sea behind her. She wished they could have stayed longer. Who knows, maybe she could have fallen asleep in the sand as she watched the tide go back out, and be awoken in the morning by the gentle lapping of waves and the elegant prodding of the golden sunlight between the beams of the peer.

“We’ll head to Len’s house.” She said under her breath as she looked at the distant stars on the horizon.

“Ocie that’s hours away! We’d have to drive through like two states!”

The girl shrugged. “Then we’d better get going. As far as we know, Len is our only lead, and we can’t wait too long in case…”

“In case what?” Casus asked, although she could already tell what Ocie was implying. Or more accurately, what Ocie was too scared to imply.

“In case Vee gets too wrapped up in this shit too.” Ocie said shakily. “Or… Or worse.”

Casus nodded slowly, stifling a sob. Oceana reached down and took the other girl's hand in her own, squeezing it lightly.

“C’mon.” Ocie said softly. “We’ll stop by the hotel and get our shit. If we leave now we should get to Len’s by tomorrow night.”

She took a step up the beach, and tugged Casus along behind her gently, careful not to trip her up in the sand. The last thing they needed was to be panicked, cold, and covered in grains of sand on the very long car ride again.

Maybe she should call Strawberri, Ocie thought. Maybe Strawberri could help, look for Vorago and Len’s parents, or let the cops know he was missing. Then again, according to Strawberri and probably the cops, all three of them were already missing. Besides, whatever Len was involved with, Ocie couldn’t be sure it wasn’t something the police were mixed up in too. Vorago thought his brother was mixed up in some kind of satanic cult, but Ocie couldn’t quite believe that. She knew that Len was caught up in something dangerous though. Lennarius was smart and educated. He was young and good looking. He was on track to becoming important or influential, everyone had always seen that. It was why Vorago had always idolised him. He was a prime candidate to be scooped up by something shady. The mob, maybe, or some kind of conspiracy. Maybe the Soviets had gotten to him, using him against America. Hell, maybe the CIA was using him against the Soviets. Either way, it wasn’t something Vorago needed to be involved with. It wasn’t something Ocie wanted her friend to be involved with. Her only friend.

They were going to find Vorago, and save him. Hell, they were going to save Lennarius too if they could.

They were going to save them, or die trying.

Unfortunately, the latter was far closer to the truth.

Chapter Text

Ocie’s foot held the gas pedal hard against the worn away carpet floor of the car as it flew down the empty highway, headlights cutting through the void of darkness ahead of them. A road sign appeared from the darkness, but the vehicle flew by too fast for either passenger to register what it said. Ocie hit a pot-hole, and the entire car jolted violently. The youth gripped the wheel and swore, swerving slightly to get them back on the road without some kind of accident. Their luggage clunked and jostled in the back seat and the trunk, and Casus swore from the passenger seat, bracing herself against the ceiling.

“Fuck!” Casus spluttered. Ocie slowed down slightly and glanced over. The pink energy drink can in Casus’ hand was half crushed, and the drink had been thrown all over her. At her feet, a half dozen empty cans rolled and rattled loudly. “Ocie–”

“You’ve had too many anyway.” Ocie muttered, shaking her head to wake herself up and looking back at the road. She had been driving practically non-stop since they’d left their motel rooms the night before with only a single stop at a gas station, and the two had barely spoken a word. Every time Ocie looked over at her friend, Casus had another one of those stupid Jolt cans clasped in her hands.

“I… I need to stay awake.” Casus muttered. She used the beach towel which had been around Ocie’s waist when they left to try and mop up some of the spilled liquid.

Ocie was suddenly being knocked and poked by raised arms and elbows as Casus began taking her shirt off over her head.

“Cas, what the fuck? Watch it, I'm driving!” Ocie screamed, throwing her foot back from the accelerator as she leaned forwards and down, trying to see the road beyond Casus’ shirt. “Why are you–”

“I’m covered in soda!” Casus yelled back, finally wrestling her arm out of her sleeve and throwing the shirt into the back seat. She slumped back against the car’s leather seat and began drying her skin with the towel.

“Jesus c’mon Cas, save the view for Vorago at least.” Ocie sighed, shaking her head.

Casus shoved her hard in the shoulder, causing the car to swerve on the road. “Fuck you, Ocie.”

Ocie was usually able to tell when Casus was joking, but this time she wasn’t so sure, and she fell silent as the other young woman twisted herself in her chair to rummage around in the back seat for another shirt. Ocie had never been great at reading when people were being serious, and maybe that was why her own sense of humour fell flat with so many people. Maybe that was why she hung around with Vorago, the kid who was always serious. It was easier when she didn’t have to tell.

“I’m sorry.” Ocie said after a moment as Casus leaned back into their seat.

Casus sighed, pulling on an oversized sweatshirt. Ocie knew it was Vorago’s, she’d seen him wearing it more times than she could remember.

“It’s whatever.” Casus mumbled. She lifted the collar of the sweatshirt up over her nose and took a deep, slow breath, soaking in the smell of her boyfriend. “I didn’t mean it, I just… I’m really worried about him.”

Ocie nodded. “I know. Me too, I’m sorry. I just… I don’t know, I’m tired and on edge.”

“Then pull over.” Casus shrugged, nodding at the miles of empty road ahead of them. “I’ll drive, you can get some sleep. You’ve been going for long enough.”

“I’m fine.” Ocie shook her head, though she wasn’t entirely sure about that. “Besides, I don’t want you crashing the car when the caffeine finally crashes you.”

Casus scoffed, nestling back into her seat and wrapping her arms around her chest. “Fine. But at least have something that’ll keep you awake?” They nodded at a can of energy drink tucked into the door on Ocie’s side of the car. “And let me know if you need to switch.”

Ocie sighed, reaching down with one hand and picking out the brightly coloured can. “Fine, I’ll have some caffeine. But I’m not responsible for the annoyance I’ll become.”

“You’re always an annoyance.” Casus chuckled, and this time Ocie could tell she was joking. The driver offered a small smile in return.

“We’re almost there anyway. I can see the town’s lights in the distance.” Ocie manoeuvred the can of drink into her other hand and cracked it open, braced against her hip. Gripping the drink with most of her fingers she pointed over the dashboard at the faintest outline of a glow in the distance. “All we need to do is make it to Len’s, get Vorago, and leave before anything happens.”

Casus nodded, watching as the buildings of the town slowly became more distinct against the horizon, and houses and turn offs to suburban neighbourhoods began to appear around them. “As long as you don’t kill us trying to drive this fact in city traffic.” She sighed.

Ocie smirked. “Very funny. Keep that up maybe I will.”

“Not until after we find Vorago.” Casus warned playfully. “He’ll be very disappointed if the two of us die without him.”

“God he would be.” Ocie laughed. “He’d be so pissed that he was left out of the group activity. Want to know why he wasn’t invited.”

Casus snorted, covering her mouth with the sleeve of the giant sweatshirt as she laughed. The two girls finally let their giggling subside, and sat back in silence as the car slowed into the outer limits of the town.

Casus sighed, leaning her head back against the seat and smiling over at Ocie. “Thanks, Ocie. For dropping everything to come look for him like this. It… It means a lot.” They offered out a hand over the gear stick between them.

Ocie took a moment to look at the hand, and then back up at Casus, before she took it, squeezing it affectionately.

“Of course, Cas. I… I love you guys. You’re like family to me.” She smiled.

Casus’ smile seemed to widen even further. “I don’t… I don’t know if you’ve ever said that before.” She smirked.

Ocie blushed slightly. “Yeah, well… Careful or I won’t say it again.” She let go of Casus’ hand to take a sip of her drink. It tasted overly sweet and chemical, and the carbonated caffeine slammed into the back of her throat and her mind like a surge of electricity.

“Fine, fine.” Casus smiled, shaking her head. “I’m sure Vee will be stoked when I tell him about it though.”

“Oh you cannot tell him I said you guys were family.”

“Or that you love us?” Casus made an exaggerated pouty face.

“Absolutely not.” Ocie tried to stay serious, but couldn’t help the edges of her lips creeping into a smile. “It’ll go straight to his head.”

Casus laughed. “God forbid, he might even try to hug you or something.”

Ocie chuckled, nodding. “God forbid…” She glanced up at one of the road signs and made a turn, slowly picking her way through more and more side streets before they came to a slow rolling stop in front of a small, old fashioned townhouse. “Well… Here we are.” She nodded at the car in the driveway. “Lens home… Let’s hope Vorago is too.”

Casus took a breath, steadying herself on the door handle as Ocie turned off the car. “Let’s hope. Ready?”

“Ready.” Ocie nodded, pushing open the door and stepping out into the cold night air.

The house in front of them was dark and quiet, ominous in its overwhelming normality. It was simple brick and tile with the faded curtains drawn. It was nothing more than an empty suburban home, and Ocie began to wonder if maybe she’d made a mistake. Surely nothing illegal was happening here. Nothing dangerous or occult. Maybe she’d overreacted, maybe Vorago had overreacted. Maybe this was just a normal house. Maybe Lenarius was just a normal guy. Maybe Vorago wasn’t even here.

“Ocie?” Casus asked, her voice thin. “Are we… I don’t know, maybe…”

Ocie took a breath and straightened her shoulders. “We’ll knock.”

“What if–”

“We’ll knock.” Ocie said again, marching up the drive towards the door. Only darkness was visible beyond the frosted glass flanking the doors. She gently rapped on the glass, the sound stark and aggressive in the empty night.

“Jesus-” Casus flinched at the sound, her shoulders tensing.

“Shhh.” Ocie hissed, listening for any sounds from inside the house. There was movement of some kind, an incredibly faint rustling or shifting of feet on the floor, but nothing loud enough to place. Ocie knocked again, more aggressively this time.

There were footsteps this time. Quiet and slow, stalking footsteps, but definite footsteps. A shape moved on the other side of the glass before vanishing behind the door, as if the person inside were trying to hide their presence as they spied out at the two women.

“Len?” Ocie asked, her voice ringing across the empty street. “Len is that you?”

There was a slow clicking of the lock, and the door cracked open. A bloodshot blue eye stared out at Ocie from deep, purple eye sockets. Straggled hair hung down in front of the sliver of pale skin visible. Lennarius looked like he'd been beaten up, or possibly like he hadn’t slept in a very long time. Maybe both.

“What are you doing here?” He rasped. His voice was hoarse and thin. The blue eye flicked between the two, recognition dawning ever so slightly. “C-Casus? Oceana? Do you know what time it is?”

“Early.” Ocie admitted. She tried to peer around Len, but was only met with darkness. “Is everything okay in there? Is… Is Vorago in there?”

If it was possible for Lennarius to pale more, he would have. “I haven’t seen Vorago in a few months.” He said after a moment.

“But you spoke to him last night.” Casus chimed in, suddenly gaining confidence now that Lennarius had actually appeared. “On the phone. Right before he took enough money for a bus trip and ran out in the middle of the night.”

Len pursed his lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Vorago isn’t here. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s late, and I–”

There was a thud from further within the house, and Lennarius flinched, grimacing with what may have been distaste and may have been pain.

Ocie slipped her foot into the crack in the door, and tried to press it open. Lennarius had always been so much bigger and stronger than any of them, but somehow Ocie’s light shove seemed to push him back, and he struggled to close the door against her hand.

“What was that?” Ocie asked.

“Nothing.” Len grunted, pressing himself against the door. “Nothing I- I got a cat-”

“Oh I love cats, I have to meet him.” Ocie forced a smile. There was a sickening, metallic smell creeping its way up her nostrils. The smell of blood and flesh. With a single solid shove Oceana pushed against the door and sent Lennarius stumbling back into the doorway.

Len grunted in pain, crashing back into a wall, his hand flying up to his neck. Ocie could see blood pooling between his fingers as he clamped his palm against his jugular. “You don’t know what you’re doing!” Len yelled.

“Holy shit!” Casus followed Ocie inside and stared, eyes wide at Len. “Holy shit is that blood where’s- Vee?” Casus yelled into the house. “Vorago are you in here?!”

Ocie looked at Len, weak and unsteady on his feet as he tried to push himself up. “What happened to you?” She asked, concern creeping into her voice. “Len what’s going on?”

“You need to leave.” Lennarius growled, at the same time there was a muffled shout from further down the hall.

“Fuck that.” Ocie laughed, taking off down the hall. “Vorago? Hey!” Lennarius had reached out and grabbed Ocie’s arm, and she shrugged them off.

Casus took off past Ocie and shoved open the door to the living room. The young woman screamed, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth. Ocie kicked back at Lennarius’ shins, and the man dropped, blood spurting from his neck onto the floor, and onto the back of Ocie’s legs as she ran to join Casus.

It took Oceana a few seconds to fully process what she was looking at inside what had once been Lennarius’ living room. The first thing she fully registered was Vorago. The young man was tied to a chair in the centre of the room, slumped over as much as he could be against the restraints which held him in place. He was gagged with a piece of cloth, stained a red so deep it was almost black with the blood which was dripping from his chin in thick, viscous threads. His eyes looked swollen shut, and his long hair fell around his shoulder in tangled curls. His shirt had been removed, and his upper body was covered in deep purple and yellow bruises. The room around them was lit only by the hazy, unsteady light of dozens of candles, giving the entire scene an sickening flicker, as if it was a vision or dream being viewed in the flames of a roaring fire.

“V-Vee?” Ocie squeaked. Casus looked like she was about to pass out, and went to throw herself at her boyfriend, but Ocie grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving too far into the room.

“Well this is a surprise.” A deep voice rumbled, and a tall figure stepped out of the shadows, their shape seemingly liquid and indistinct.

The person that stepped out was so beautiful that Casus gasped. Thick, dark red hair hung around his shoulders in loose curls, framing his face in scarlet shadow. The eyes that surveyed them from those shadows seemed an even more vivid red than the figure’s hair. In the flickering candlelight their dark skin seemed smooth and unblemished, and their smile was easy-going and curious, their lips glistening a deep red in the darkness. For a moment Ocie thought it was lipstick, until the figure ran a thin pink tongue across their lips, licking up the layer of blood coating them. A silver silk shirt hung around her shoulders, cinched at the waist with a thick belt which held up a pair of loose, high black pants. The figure’s bare chest was visible through the unbuttoned top of his shirt, sculpted musculature catching the light and creating deep shadows and valleys on his skin, tendons shifting

“Indeed.” Another voice purred, this one softer and more feminine.

A figure dropped, seemingly from the ceiling, directly between Casus and Vorago. Casus screamed again, stumbling back and crashing into Ocie. The woman’s skin was alabaster pale, and glowed like moonlight in the darkness. One side of her head was shaved, and deep teal hair flopped over the other side of their face, half obscuring one of her dark green eyes as she peered up at the two women from where she was crouched on the ground in front of them, her angular face twitching into a smile. The woman slowly stood, stretching her arms in a fluid, feline motion, her eyes never leaving the pair in the doorway. Their tight black shirt hugged her skin as it shifted beneath the fabric, and her white slacks were stained with countless flecks of blood. Ocie noticed that the woman’s ear on the shaved side of their head was long and pointed, and she wondered if their other ear hidden behind the dark hair matched. She wondered if the red haired figure’s ears were the same…

“Lord Netherum I can explain!” Lennarius wheezed, suddenly appearing behind the two women and dragging himself to his feet beside the wall.

“No need, Lennarius.” The red figure held up a hand, his fingers stained with blood and each tipped with a long, dark, claw-like nail. “Complications arise… This will not change your acceptance, only… Hinder the initiation.”

“What the fuck is going on here!” Casus screamed, shaking free of Ocie’s grip and throwing herself towards Vorago.

In a movement so fast Oceana could barely even register it, the teal-haired woman slammed into Casus and sent her flying sideways into a wall, where she crumpled to the ground with a cry of pain.

“Thank you, Soul, my darling.” Netherum purred, her smile widening. Ocie saw beneath their lips thick, shining white fangs on their upper and lower jaws, caked with blood and sliding against each other as they spoke.

Ocie felt like headed. This didn’t make sense. “Len this… The satanist bullshit I-”

The woman – Soul, Ocie assumed – laughed. Perhaps under any circumstances the laugh would have been beautiful, but here, in this room, it just seemed cold and malicious.

“Satanists. God it’s always satanists. Everyones so worried about satanists these days.” She shook her head.

“I’d feel bad for them.” Netherum agreed. “They make it so much easier to cover our tracks… We should send them a gift basket.”

“Mmm, indeed.” Soul agreed. “Len, dear, that can be your first point of call.”

Ocie could feel the shock slowly leaving her system, and she took a step into the room. “Look I don’t know what’s going on here but just let Vorago go a-and we won’t ever tell anyone we swear-”

Vorago groaned from behind the gag, and his head swivelled upwards weakly at the sound of his name. A whimper escaped Ocie’s throat as she looked at him. She could see out of the corner of her eye Casus try and pull herself across the floor towards Vorago.

Len once again grabbed Ocie’s arm from behind her, his grip stronger this time. “Ocie, you don’t understand, we’re gonna let Vee go, please you’re ruining-”

“Actually…” Netherum sighed, stepping forwards and resting a hand on Vorago’s bare shoulder. “I’m sorry Lennarius, there’s been a change of plans. We can’t let them go. Not now.”

Len’s eyes widened. “B-But my brother-”

“We’re sorry dear…” Soul once again moved impossibly fast, and Ocie felt the wind get knocked from her chest as she was slammed into the wall beside the door, Soul’d ice cold hand wrapped around her throat, pinning her back. She gasped for air, her head spinning from the impact as she watched Soul caress Lennarius’ cheek with her other hand. “One survivor, maybe. But three? No, that won’t work. You’ll understand soon.”

Ocie struggled against Soul’s grip, flailing out with her hands and punching uselessly at the woman’s chest. Soul didn’t pay her any mind.

“But…” Len’s knees buckled, and he braced himself against the doorway to stop himself collapsing. “But you promised…”

“Promises are for mortals, my dear boy.” Netherum smiled, “Now come, your body is still dead. Decay will set in soon if you don’t drink. Not to mention some of the… less savoury aspects of the death process.”

“Dead?” Ocie wheezed, looking at Len as he struggled forwards. He certainly looked dead, with his glassy eyes and pallid skin, but that was impossible… He couldn’t be dead.

“Yes, yes. You’ll all be dead soon, don’t worry.” Netherum smiled. It might have been a comforting smile, if it wasn’t following such a statement. “It’s not as bad as you think. Now, where was I… Ah yes. I’m sorry about this, Lennarius. He seemed like a fine young man.”

Netherum held out a hand to steady Lennarius as he approached, and then, in a single, swift movement, she dragged a clawed hand across Vorago’s throat, shredding the flesh in great jagged lines and causing blood to spurt across the room. Ocie made a muffled choking sound from beneath Soul’s grip, and Casus screamed as she threw herself forwards. Netherum cupped a hand around Lennarius’ head, and pulled him close, until the young man’s lips were pressed against the serrated skin of his brother’s neck. Vorago was still twitching weakly, desperately trying to cling to life as Lennarius greedily lapped up the dark blood which flowed down his chest.

Casus pulled herself to her feet and grabbed at Lennarius trying to pull him away, only for Netherum to swat her aside easily. “My love, would you take care of this one?”

“Of course dear.”

Soul let go of Ocie’s neck, and the young woman crumpled to the floor, vomiting across the carpet as the nausea and fear finally caught up with her. She looked up in time to see Soul pounce at Casus, pinning her to the floor.

Casus struggled beneath her, trying desperately to escape Soul. “P-Please.” She sobbed, her eyes still locked on Vorago as

“I do wish it was different…” Soul said softly. “All this senseless violence.”

Ocie watched as Soul opened her mouth, revealing large fangs to match Netherum’s, which the woman clamped around Casus’ throat, piercing the skin as Casus let out a wet, gargling scream. Soul whipped her head violently, and there was an audible crack as Casus’ neck snapped, and she stopped struggling. Ocie couldn’t bring herself to scream anymore. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t even breathe. She was just caught, frozen on the ground, watching her best friends die. Watching these monsters kill them. She watched as Soul drank from Casus’ neck, the young woman’s blood vibrant red against Soul’s white skin.

Lennarius dropped from Vorago’s neck, sobbing audibly, his entire body quivering as blood dripped from his lips onto the floor.

“Len…” Ocie wheezed. He looked up at her, his eyes entirely black and his face caked in gore.

“Lennarius, would you do the honours and take care of this one?” Netherum asked, nodding at Ocie.

Lennarius made an inhuman growling noise as he stood up shakily, pulling his stiff limbs up in shuffling, unsteady motions. Ocie watched as Len flexed his blood covered fingers in front of his face, his tendons thick and shifting beneath his skin. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Ocie could have sworn she watched Len’s nails lengthen and darken.

“God, I feel…” Lennarius moaned slightly, running his hand over his mouth and licking off the blood, flexing his shoulders. “Fuck…” His eyes narrowed onto Ocie.

Ocie scrambled back. “Cas…” She whimpered, dragging her shivering limbs across the floor and out into the hallway.

“Hmmm…” Netherum peered down at Lennarius’ claws. “Interesting. Usually the fangs come on first.” She ran a fang across her own teeth.

“More…” Lennarius tried to lean back towards Vorago, but Netherum stepped between them.

The figure laughed, grabbing the back of Lennarius’ neck and pulling them close, resting their foreheads together. “You’re eager. I like that, Lennarius… But how about a fresh kill? One of your own.” He nodded at the hallway as Ocie disappeared from sight into the hall, pulling herself up and running back towards the door.

Ocie pushed herself up off the wall and threw herself out the open front door, her shaking legs moving as fast as they could. Her entire body was shaking, and her ears were ringing. She wondered if she was going into shock. She had never been in shock before, but this felt like shock. This had to be a dream. This couldn’t be real her friends couldn’t be dead, those things couldn’t be… They couldn’t have been vampires.

There was no such thing as vampires.

She slammed into the side of the car – Vorago’s car, she thought, which made her think again of Vorago’s limp body in that chair, and made her body want to throw up what little was left in her stomach – and fumbled with the door, smearing blood and vomit across the window.

“Oceana.” Lennarius called out in a deep sing-song voice. Ocie chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw Len leaning in the doorway of his house, shuffling across the yard, blood dripping from his arms and face. “You can’t run from us, Ocie. The Nether Court will find you.”

Ocie threw open the door of the car and locked it behind herself as she slumped into the seat. She threw herself across to Casus’ side and locked the passenger seat door, before flipping down the sun visor. The keys to the car fell into her lap and she scrambled with numb hands to find the right one for the ignition as Lennarius appeared at the door. They dragged their nails across the window, making a screeching sound which pierced Ocie’s ears and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

“You brought this upon yourself, Ocie.” Lennarius slammed a fist on the glass. “We didn’t need to kill Vorago.”

“But you did!” Ocie screamed, slamming the keys into the car so hard she was worried they might snap. She turned them, and the car stalled. “Fuck, fuck-”

“You killed him, Oceana!” Len howled, once again punching the glass, this time so hard a crack spider-webbed across the surface of the window. “My brother is dead because of you! Vee’s blood, and Casus, that’s on you. You brought them here. You couldn’t stop yourself from messing with things you don’t understand…”

They punched the window again, and the crack spread. “Oh, killing you will be such sweet revenge. You’re going to taste so sweet…”

As Lennarius snarled at her, Ocie could see the shape of their jaw shifting, blood covered teeth popping out of place and falling to the ground in great globs of bloody spit as new, longer fangs grew up from their gums, shoving the others out of place. The engine caught, and without a second thought Ocie slammed the car into any gear she could and slammed her foot onto the accelerator, pulling away from the house, Lennarius stilling clinging to the handle of the door as his legs were dragged from underneath him and he was pulled alongside the car, his hands grasping at the metal and scratching away huge chunks of the faded paint. Ocie flew around a corner and Lennarius was thrown off the car, tumbling away down the road.

Ocie didn’t even bother to look in the rear view mirror. She just drove, winding her way out of town and onto the highway, she sobbed, her hands so shaky she could barely keep a grip on the wheel, letting the entity of what had happened finally crash down onto her. Time and miles seemed to fly past, and Ocie finally pulled the car into an almost entirely empty gas station as the sun began to rise in the distance.

Oceana leant her head on the steering wheel of her dead friend’s car, and wept.

Chapter Text

Sherbert pulled their jacket closer around their shoulders as they trudged along the beach. Once, a long time ago in another life, they had lived on the beach in a great tower. But that was a different time, before beaches became so bright and sunny. Back in those days, in that country, beaches were a cold and scary place. A border to the cold and unforgiving grave that was the sea. Sherbert had seen hundreds, mortals and vampires alike be taken by the sea. They had sent many to the sea themselves in fact, some more violently than others… but that was a long time ago. Still, for how many centuries it had been Sherbert couldn’t seem to shake some of the images from their mind. Sherbert still didn’t know what happened, when a weighed-down vampire was thrown into the ocean. Trapped forever without death beneath the waves…

Sherbert wasn’t sure they ever wanted to find out.

Perhaps that was why they weren't eager to once again step foot on the sandy shores, their boots kicking up small clouds with every step. Or maybe they were just weren't eager to speak with the Lady of the World again. They had never exactly been on the most friendly of terms. Sherbert could see her house, perched on the cliff up ahead, the lights lit in the darkness, overlooking the sea. Luckily, the vampire didn’t need to go up to the house. Nor did they need to speak with the Lady herself. They were here for someone else, her child. Hopefully they would be here already, and Sherbert wouldn’t be waiting too long.

The cliff in front of them jutted out from the land, bringing the beach to an abrupt end and causing the eaves to crash violently against its stone surface. The closer Sherbert stepped to the cliff, the more the pitch black entrance to the cave came into view, obscured behind jagged, fallen rocks. Sherbert slipped between the stones into the darkness. Many were under the impression that vampires could see in the dark, and this was, to an extent, true. Sherbert didn’t see as they normally did. Their pupils expanded far beyond the usual human amount, more or less consuming their entire visible eye. In most cases, in any terrestrial location where there was the light of the stars, or distant city lights, Sherbert or any other vampire would be able to see in muted shades of grey and black. Down here however, under the earth, Sherbert was not so lucky. Nothing can truly see in complete darkness. Not even the undead. No, down here Sherbert was forced to rely on their other senses as they delved deeper into the cave. They heard the echoes of their footsteps as they marched across the sand. They smelled the distant scent of burning candle wax, and the sea far behind them. Every time it surprised them how deep these caves were, despite the times they had journeyed into them.

Finally, there was light. Sherbert saw the first glimmerings around the corner, and the world faded back into grey. The closer they came, the richer the colouration of the stones around them became; deep russets and browns. And then, finally, the candle came into view, stuck in a pile of its own wax on one of the jutting stones. Lounged casually across one of the other stones was the person Sherbert had travelled all this way to see.

Sherbert had never been sure hold Easton was when they were turned. Perhaps late teens, or early twenties. They were young, regardless. Sherbert could empathise with that. The youth had not yet discovered the hindrances that came with being young forever, only having been undead for a few years now. Some day, perhaps Sherbert would coach them through it. Perhaps they would leave that burdon to the Lady of the World.

“Sherbert.” Easton grinned, showing off their mouthful of razorblade teeth. Their blonde hair had fallen into their eyes as they sat up, and they brushed it aside with the back of their hand, slipping off the rock to greet their visitor. “It’s been a while.”

“It certainly has.” Sherbert nodded. “Can’t say I’m glad to be back in this cave again. There are so many better places to meet my friend.”

Easton shrugged. “Bestie, please… I have my reasons. For the protection of both of us, if any of our little deals went south.”

Sherbert raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? There are no protections here, Easton, other than being secluded.”

The younger vampire snorted. “God you’re dumb sometimes. You really don’t know why I bring you down here every time? You haven't even guessed? You can’t smell it?”

Sherbert sniffed the air, looking around. “I’m not a big fan of being tricked, Easton. Tricking others, absolutely, but not myself.”

Easton sighed. “A deal made by vampires over grave dirt is one which ensures that the deal is kept. And a deal which ensures the safety of both involved.”

This was true, although usually a rule established in graveyards or mausoleums. “This is a cave, not a cemetery…” Sherbert said quietly. “I would never hurt you, Easton, we’re friends.”

“I know that.” Easton nodded, crouching down to pick up a handful of sand and letting it run through their fingers. “My mother however is… Less confident. She really doesn’t like you.”

“I noticed.” Sherbert muttered.

Easton smirked, standing back up and dusting off their hands. “This is where I buried my parents, Sherbert. My human parents, at least. Here on this beach. In this cave. A few nights after I was turned, and my mother had taken residence in the house above us.”

“You mean that every deal we’ve made and all the information we’ve traded has been on grave soil?” Sherbert laughed. “You are… Smarter than I gave you credit for.”

Easton bowed.

“You know, there are plenty of older vampires who could learn from you.” Sherbert continued, sticking their hands in their pockets.

“Well, first you want to learn something from me, I take it.” Easton sat back down the rock, leaning against the cave wall. 'So, what is it that was so urgent you needed to know?”

Sherbert sighed. “The hunter your mother is searching for.”

Easton tensed. “I can’t… Sherbert, I can't tell you about that.”

“Please,” Sherbert stressed, “I’ve already promised this to Centross.”

Easton groaned. “I… She’s already mad enough at you two about this. She thought he was dead, Sherbert. They’ve ranted about it constantly since finding out this guy was turned. Momboo thought whoever this Caspian is was dead for forty years, and you lied to her about that, I can’t just tell you where he is. What if you finish the job?”

“I’m not going to do anything of the sort.” Sherbert promised. “And you can assure her that I thought this human was dead too. At least… I did until a little while ago. Neither Centross and I are going to hurt him, we just…” Sherbert chewed their lip, their fangs digging into their skin. “Look I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you’re one of us.”

“A vampire?” Easton raised an eyebrow.

“No, part of my father’s sect.” Sherbert admitted. “The Ender Court is crumbling, Easton. Enderian suffered the loss of her partner a long time ago now and things have only been going downhill. The prince is missing, and a few months back there was a coup staged by the court scientist, Perix.”

“What does this have to do with my mother and Caspian?” Easton folded their arms.

Sherbert ran a hand through their hair. “When I turned your mother, it was part of a deal. I had killed a mortal under the watch of the Ender Court. Your mother’s friend. In return, I was meant to offer a new human to Centross. That mortal was supposed to be your mother, but when she came out into the woods… She wasn’t alone. I took your mother for Fable’s Court, and Centross took Caspian for the End. I assumed he was killed, as I had killed your mother’s friend, but… He wasn’t.”

“He was turned as well?” Easton asked.

Sherbert shook their head. “No, I don’t think so. Caspian was given to Perix. To experiment on. A mortal that she managed to keep alive and young for decades.”

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know.” Sherbert admitted. “I don’t know how but when Perix ran from the Ender Court, they took their lab rat with them.”

“So Centross wants to find Caspian…”

“So that they can find Perix and bring her to justice.” Sherbert finished. “I’m sure if we play our cards right you can keep Caspian when this is all done-”

“Provided the Ender get to take Perix.” Easton considered it for a moment. “I… Okay. Fine, fine.” Easton ran their hands over their face. “Alright, Jamie tracked this guy to a library, out in some town south of Chicago. He’s with some other hunters, we think, we’ve been keeping our distance. As far as I know there hasn’t been any sign of Perix, but there was a vampire they had managed to pin to this library. An Ender one, we think.”

“Perix?” Sherbert asked.

Easton shrugged. “Maybe? It would make sense, if they managed to get free, join up with hunters, they could be going back for revenge.”

“So, they’re at this library?”

“Maybe?” Easton went quiet, looking at the floor of the cave. At the place which Sherbert now realised was their parents grave. “I’ll be honest, Sherbert, we don’t know… Mom’s torn up about it but… We lost contact with Jamie, a few days ago. After they tracked these guys to this library.”

Sherbert swore under their breath. “Are they-”

“They’re not dead.” Easton shook their head. “Momboo would be able to tell if her familiar was killed, but Jamie… We haven’t heard anything from them. Not since the library. We don’t know how far they might have gotten since.”

Sherbert rubbed their face, turning back to face the dark exit of the cave. “So we’re on a time limit now too, without any idea where they might have gone.”

“Well to be fair I didn’t know this was what you wanted to know about.” Easton scoffed. “If I’d know why you were following this trail maybe we could have helped each other earlier, but I… I’m sorry, Sherb.” Easton shrugged.

“No, no it’s fine.” Sherbert muttered, their mind racing to try and figure out a way to fix this. To not disappoint Centross with this information. They could figure it out on the way to see him. Maybe. Hopefully. “Thank you, Easton.”

“Would going hunting make you feel any better?” Easton offered. “There's a place nearby with some new humans. Or we could just fuck with them for a bit, pull some pranks?”

Sherbert shook their head. “I would love to, but… I should get going. And I shouldn’t keep you from your mother for too long, she’ll get suspicious.”

“Do you want me to tell them?” Easton asked. “About Centross?”

“Some of it.” Sherbert nodded. “Enough to prepare her for his presence, but not enough to incriminate us.”

“Oh yeah because that’s such an easy line to draw.” Easton rolled their eyes.

“Please, Easton.”

The youth sighed. “Sure, yeah. I’ll work it out. Good luck with not having Centross disembowel you.”

“He wouldn’t dare.” Sherbert smirked. “Thank you, though. I’ll talk to you soon. Maybe then we can go hunting.”

“Yeah, maybe. See you then.” Easton nodded.

Sherbert adjusted their jacket on their shoulders, and began their journey through the darkness of the cave. After a short while, they heard the footsteps behind them indicating that Easton had stood up, and they saw the last of their light go out as Easton extinguished the candle, before they eventually emerged into the moonlit beach. There was a cawing of crows as Sherbert took flight, and the murder disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Chapter Text

“Centross!” Sherbert yelled into the woods as he flew through the trees.

Or at least, that was what Sherbert tried to call. In reality, the word was a deafening cacophony of cawing from dozens of hooded crows, who’s feathers were broken and knocked loose as members of the murder crashed into tree branches and trunks, Sherbert losing focus as they tried to to get to their meeting point as quickly as possible. Birds crashed to the ground and scuttled together into a pile, a heap of beaks which rose up into Sherbert, their body quivering with pain and effort. If they needed to breathe, they would have been panting.

Centross was already waiting for them in the clearing, poised and stoic as ever. The man was unshaven, and his scraggly dark beard only accentuated the pale scars on his skin, and the unamused expression on his thin, pursed lips. Sherbert was never able to read Centross’ eyes. Not really, not like they could read others. Centross’ gaze was empty as the man’s heart and equally as cold.

“You’re late.” Centross grumbled, running a hand through his hair, which was tied back behind his pointed ears, revealing the long ago healed over bite marks on the vampire’s neck.

Sherbert nodded, drawing themselves up to their full height, which still didn’t quite match their companions.

“I have your research. What I could gather, at least, it seems Perix was just as cagey to Enderian about her research as she was to the rest of us. I hope this will suffice your curio-”

“Centross wait!” Sherbert cut them off, brushing the subject of the research aside as much as it pained them to. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Are you rebuking my offer in this exchange?” Centross’ nostrils flared, and Sherbert could see the two long teeth on prominent display in the vampire’s scowl. “Sherbert, do you have any idea what it took to get this? How much I put on the line, how much I had to bargain? You would not believe the wafer-thinness of the ice I am on right now after asking for this? If I don’t return with some kind of good news…”

“No!” Sherbert said quickly, biting their lower lip with their rows of fangs as they tried to put their addled mind to the task at hand. It was always so difficult to think so soon after transforming, their consciousness shifting from so many small bird brains into a single human mind having to fit back together as best as it could. “No, I want the research, desperately, I just, Centross I need you to listen to me. I know you don’t like me but you need to listen, okay?”

Centross went silent. “I… It’s not that I don’t like you, Sherbert, I’m simply-”

“Damn it Centross listen to me!” Sherbert threw themselves forward and grabbed Centross’ collar.

The End vampire stopped talking.

“We need to leave. Now.” Sherbert said as clearly as they could. “There is a library in a city south of Chicago where this Caspian hunter was last seen, tracking an End vampire.”

“Perix?” Centross asked.

Sherbert shrugged. “Easton doesn’t know. All they do know is that the Lady of the World lost track of her familiar at this library. Not dead, just not responsive. There are two things that could have happened, either this vampire is still there, and managed to kill Perix’s test subject-”

“Or the subject managed to overpower the vampire, and left…” Centross nodded. “Which means we could track his scent to wherever his next location was.”

“If we hurry.” Sherbert confirmed. “It’s already been a day or two, and the longer we wait the more that scent is going to fade.”

“We?” Centross asked, prying Sherbert’s hands off his jacket. “What do you mean we, Sherbert, I thought you were done with following me after mortals.”

“I’m not following the mortal.” Sherbert sighed, pulling their hands out of Centross’ and straightening their own jacket. “I’m following Jamie.”

“Who?”

“Strawberri’s familiar. They’re a bear, I think, or they were, if they haven’t turned the poor thing into a human for the sake of finding this hunter. If… If I can find the familiar and bring it back to them alive - if we can find Jamie and bring them back alive - then it might go some way towards repairing our relationship with her.”

“What, so Fable can have more allies for his court after he drove so many away? It’s not as if the Lady is loyal to Enderian.” Centross rolled his dark eyes.

Sherbert held up a hand. “But she could be. Think about it, Centross. Forget the current sect dynamics, we’ve both heard this new group emerging-”

“It’s a myth, Sherbert. Some urban legend, there hasn’t been a new sect of vampires in decades, let alone a new species, to imagine one emerging now-”

“But what if it is real?” Sherbert stressed. “If there is a new power rising all of the courts need as many allies as they can get. The Lady of the World might be more inclined towards helping Enderian than Fable anyway. After all, I turned her. And after Lennarius killed her sister all those years ago…”

“She’s certainly not going to snuggle up with the Nether Court…” Centross nodded, running a hand over his stubble as he thought. “Alright fine, we’ll both go to this library. We can track down this test subject together.”

“Wonderful.” Sherbert nodded, holding out a hand. “Before we leave, that book you mentioned?”

Before Sherbert could react, Centross had grabbed their hand and pulled them in close. “Hold on a moment, Sherbert.” He said, low and slowly into the vampire’s pointed ear, fangs almost brushing against skin. “I want to make the status of this clear. You are there for Jamie. Caspian is mine. Perix is mine. Any End vampires are my domain to deal with, as are any hunters tracking them down. If you jeopardise me or my court in any way…”

Centross let Sherbert go, and the vampire stumbled back. Centross looked them up and down. “I might have to reconsider my stance about not liking you.”

Sherbert ran a hand up the back of their neck, patting down the hairs which had stood on end. “I understand.” They said coldly, thoroughly unappreciated the gesture of mistrust. They watched with heterochromatic eyes as Centross retrieved the worn old notebook from the inside of his long coat, and held it out.

The book was large and thick, almost bursting with additional notes and scraps and pictures shoved between the pages, the overs only held together with a piece of string wrapped tightly around it. Sherbert snatched the book before Centross could reconsider, and unwrapped the string, thumbing through a few of the pages to make sure it was authentic. It certainly seemed to me. Some of the notes where entirely foreign and of no use to them, but others were more interesting. Alchemical symbols and scientific compounds. Notes they could incorporate into their own alchemy. Sherbert would never have worked with Perix in person. Beyond politics between the two courts, they had never been a fan of the scientist’s methods. The closest they came was sharing notes with her assistant, the End Prince, only… Only that was different. And besides, the Prince was missing now.

“There's about two years worth of research in there.” Centross nodded at the book. “Not right up to date, from what I can find, maybe from the late nineties as far as I can tell. A lot of the research disappeared alongside Perix, but Enderian has a few books like that. Not in order, but maybe some more recent ones. She’s offered to share more…”

Sherbert looked up, their eyes wide with curiosity.

“Provided there are results from this exchange.” Centross said. He jerked his head in the direction Sherbert had arrived from. “If you’re done ogling that traitors work, as you pointed out we are on a time limit here.”

“Of course.” Sherbert snapped the book shut and hastily wrapped it back up, shoving it into their pocket. “Of course. We should be able to reach the city by daybreak, hole up an abandoned spot for the duration of the day, and pick up the investigation the night after.”

“Not ideal.” Centross muttered, placing his hands in his jacket pockets and running his thumbs along the fabric seams. “A day is enough time for that scent to become weaker… I’d prefer finding this library tonight. Perhaps we can stay there, if this End vampire is agreeable.” The man thought for a moment. “Or restrain them, if they’re not. If they’re alive, they may be useful for questioning.”

“If they’re alive.” Sherbert reiterated. “And Caspian isn’t a more proficient hunter than we thought.”

Centross nodded, humming in response. “If.” He looked back up at Sherbert. “Come on then. Lead the way. I’ll be waiting.”

For a split second, it looked as though Centross had simply fallen backwards into the shadows of the shadows of the trees, morphing into a featureless dark silhouette. At least, before that shadow dissolved into dozens of flailing black and brown shapes, their leathery wings flapping frantically as they screeched and squeaked, spreading out from the shape of the man. A number of large black bats nestled in the boughs of the trees around where Centross had been standing. Sherbert could feel the eyes of the dozens of mammals all trained on them. All those ears pointed in their direction.

“If you insist. Maybe it’ll be nice. It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the Midwest.”

Sherbert broke apart into a murder of crows, and in unison the bats and birds flew off into the night, wings flapping in time as they headed off in search of the test subject and the missing familiar.

Chapter Text

Caspian’s sleep schedule had never been good. Even before he had been held captive by vampires, he had spent long nights awake writing, reading, or more often than not just listening to music, staring blankly at the popcorn ceiling of his apartment’s room while his record player softly serenaded him with whatever rock albums he had decided on that night. Nowadays though, sleep came even more infrequently, something certainly not helped by the pseudo-nocturnal lifestyle the vampire hunters led, and Caspian had learned to grab at whatever morsels of sleep he could, whenever the opportunity presented itself.

When he had fallen asleep it had been mid afternoon, and despite the darkness outside his window which indicated it had been several hours, Caspian didn’t feel rested in the slightest. His body ached and his skin - particularly the skin around his neck - felt itchy, and too tight on his muscles. He shifted in the bed, grunting slightly as he rolled over. The house was silent as the grave, and thinking of the expression made Caspian simultaneously shiver and smile to himself as he pressed his face into his pillow. Now that there was a dead person living there, maybe it was a grace, in a way.

Dead person living here… Caspian thought, smiling more at the oxymoron. The thought only seemed to pull him closer to awakeness, despite how desperate he felt for more sleep.

Outside his room, a floorboard creaked. That was more like what Caspian was used to by now. Someone in this old country house was always awake. Keeping watch, researching, carving fresh wooden stakes, you name it. There was never a silent moment here.

Only, there was something about this creak which made Caspian pause. It wasn’t followed by anything. There was no more movement after the footstep. Whoever was walking had stopped abruptly, seemingly right outside his door. Only, if someone was to have stopped there, surely they would knock? If Will or Seven wanted his help with something, they would wake him with a knock, or call to him through the darkness. Hell, even call his phone. Whoever was outside that door was intentionally trying to stay quiet. Trying to avoid Caspian hearing them.

The hunter shifted himself in bed, wiping the crusted sleep from his eyes and rolling over to face the door. His mind immediately jumped to Rae, and the blank, hungry look in his eyes back in that library. In the basement earlier that day, when he was desperate for blood. Caspian hated that his mind jumped to that. That he was so prepared to see Rae as a monster after all the vampire had done to help them. He let his eyes adjust to the darkness, and noticed a shadow in the thin crack beneath his door. The air was deathly silent beyond Caspian’s own measured breathing.

The knock at the door was quiet, and gentle, yet still made Caspian jump out of his skin in his heightened state. It took him a moment to think straight enough to answer.

“H-Hello?”

There was a long pause.

“Caspian?” Rae’s voice was barely more than a whisper on the other side of the door. “I um… it’s Rae.”

Caspian swallowed. “Oh… hi?”

“Hi.” Rae said softly.

Caspian cleared his throat, shuffling up in his bed so that he was sitting. “The um… the door’s unlocked.”

There was another pause, before the door slowly creaked open, revealing the featureless silhouette of Rae in the doorway, looming in the darkness. At least, almost featureless. Even in the darkness, Caspian could see the light reflected unsettlingly off Rae’s eyes; making them almost glow with a faint whiteness. Rae didn’t move after the door was opened. He simply stood there, his arms wrapped around his chest.

The two stared at each other in silence. Caspian adjusted the way his sleep-shirt was sitting on his shoulders, and pulled the sheets up to cover his crossed legs.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said after a moment, “Did you need to be invited in? I didn’t um, you can come in, if you want?”

Rae made a sound that might have been a laugh. “I um… I didn’t need to be invited in. Buildings yeah, but not- not rooms. I just… I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Caspian swallowed. “You wouldn’t make me uncomfortable. I trust you.”

“Thank you.” Raw nodded at him, taking a tentative step into the room. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“You didn’t.” Caspian assured him.

Although, thinking about it now, he wasn’t sure if that was true. Why had he woken up? It could have just been his body’s natural cycle, but also… it was like he had known Raw would be there, somehow. Like his body had sensed something would happen. That there was someone nearby.

“Is everything okay?” Caspian continued, shaking the thought aside. “Did you need something?” He glanced around him. He didn’t want to reach for his phone, worried that the bright light might wake him up even further. There was still a chance perhaps he might get to sleep until morning.

Rae took a moment to respond. “I… I’m sorry this is going to sound stupid, I should just-“

“No, no it’s okay!” Caspian nodded at him. “Whatever it is, I want to help. Is it… are you hungry again?” He swallows after saying it, undeniably nervous about Rae being between him and the store of blood downstairs.

The vampire shook his head urgently. “No! No, it’s not that, sorry, I didn’t want to worry you, I just…” Rae sighed, embarrassed with himself before finally mumbling, “I was just wondering if… if you had a hot water bottle?”

Caspian blinked at him through the darkness. “Sorry?”

Rae half turned away. “Sorry, it’s dumb, a-and I would have asked Seven or Will but I think Seven went shopping and Will is also asleep and just…” Rae swallowed, trying to steady himself. Even in the darkness, Caspian could see the vampire was trembling slightly.

“I’m so cold, Caspian.” Rae said. His voice was so soft it was practically a whine. “So so cold, and I just… I tried wrapping myself in blankets but I don’t produce any warmth so it did nothing and I just…” Rae’s voice broke. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay!” Caspian said quickly, sliding over to the end of the bed and slipping his feet down onto the floor. “It’s alright, Rae, I promise.” He thought for a moment. “I’m… I’m really sorry, but I don’t know if we do. We could maybe ask Seven to look for some while he’s out, but they’re not exactly in stores yet…”

“Of course.” Rae nodded quickly. “I’m so sorry to bother you, I should have just-“

“Hey,” Caspian said softly. “It’s alright, Rae. I promise.”

Rae held his gaze for a moment in the darkness. He didn’t say anything, just nodded.

Caspian took the pause in the conversation to think about it. He had an idea, a possibly very stupid one, and yet one that made his heart pound against his ribs and his cheeks blush. He was worried for a moment that maybe Rae could hear or sense the change in his blood flow, but if the vampire could, he didn’t say anything.

“Rae, would you…” Caspian swallowed. “Would you like to stay in here, for a little bit?” He asked nervously. “I- I just mean that, well if there’s another living person in the room then the room would be a little warmer, and… I don’t know, we could talk for a bit, I guess, until you get warmed up?”

The silence washed over the two of them once again, this time charged with an uncomfortability that hadn’t been there before, and a tension that very possibly had been.

“I wouldn’t want to bother you.” Rae said after a while.

“You wouldn’t be.” Caspian shrugged, shifting up the side of the bed, and gesturing to the space now made for Rae.

Rae closes the door behind himself, and slowly walked across the room, sitting down on the bed. “Thank you. I really appreciate it, you didn’t have to do this.”

“It’s alright.” Caspian smiled, pulling himself back onto the bed and crossing his legs beneath the sheets again. His eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness now, and he could better see the lines of Rae’s face in the shadows. The point of his nose, and the delicate curves of his cheekbones. The set of his jaw, somehow unsteady yet still proud…

He found himself staring at Rae’s facing perhaps too intently, and for a little bit too long, and he looked away. “I don’t mind, I… I have trouble sleeping anyway.”

“Me too.” Rae smiled weakly. The vampire pulled himself up into a sitting position that mirrored Caspian’s.

Caspian bit the inside of his cheek for a moment as he searched for something to say. “I uh… I never realised vampires even felt cold.”

“I didn’t either.” Rae admitted, picking at the sheets. “I didn’t think I would be able to. For a while I just wondered if maybe it was a placebo type of thing. That I thought I should feel cold, and so I did. Except… I don’t know. I don’t think I could imagine feeling like this.

“What… What does it feel like?” Caspian asked. “Not just the cold, but… to be dead?”

Rae shrunk in on himself a little bit.

“I’m sorry.” Caspian said quickly, mentally cursing himself. “Sorry, fuck that was probably insensitive, I didn’t mean-“

“No, no it’s alright.” Rae shook his head. “It’s alright, I was just thinking. It’s… I don’t know, it’s weird. I don’t think I remember being alive, so I don’t know what to compare it to. I know that I should have some memory of being alive. That I must have been at some point, I just…”

“Don’t remember anything from before the library?” Caspian asked. Rae nodded.

The hunter nodded. “I know what you mean. I don’t really remember anything from when I was captured by vampires. Just… just pain, mostly. Flashes of consciousness. I think they kept me drugged, mostly, or… or so close to death I wasn’t really conscious.”

Rae nodded in return. “I’m sorry.”

Caspian shrugged. “You didn’t do it.”

Rae swallowed, looking away from Caspian into the darkness. “It’s empty.”

Caspian raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

“Being dead.” Rae clarified. “You asked what it feels like, and it feels… I don’t know, it feels empty. It’s like whatever should be inside me is gone. Like it’s missing, and there’s a hole inside me where it should be.”

“Like… your soul?” Caspian asked.

If someone had asked him if he believed in souls back in the 80’s, he wasn’t sure what he would have answered. Nowadays though… it was hard to think there wasn’t some element of humanity that left them when they died. Some spirit held within them which the undead lacked.

“Kind of.” Rae nodded. “That too, I guess. I feel like I know I’m dead, and I know I should feel alive, if that’s what you mean. But even physically. I don’t think living people really realise how it feels to be alive. You don’t think about it, but your body is always moving. I can hear it, sometimes, if I focus on it.”

“Your heart is always beating. Your lungs expand and contract, and they press against your ribs, which shift in turn. Your blood is flowing through you so quickly all the time, a constant tide nestled just beneath your skin. Even your stomach, or your liver, or any of your organs they’re working. They’re alive. When you’re alive, you can never really notice these things, but being dead, it’s like… like I’m intensely aware that those things aren’t working. It feels empty because I can’t feel anything inside me.”

Rae lifted up his hand, and ran his thumb against the pads of his fingertips. A tear slowly traced its way down Rae’s cheek, a glistening reflective trail in the darkness, highlighting the shape of his face. “I don’t know what I feel, exactly. I think I miss feeling things.”

“I’m sorry.” Caspian whispered. Slowly, he reached out and took Rae’s raised hand in his own. The vampire really was cold. Colder than Caspian had expected, and he resisted the urge to shiver at the icy touch. “Can um… can you feel things? Like, my hand?”

Rae’s eyes were wide, and he stared blankly at Caspian, his mouth half open, and his fangs glistening in the night. “I- I uh, y-yeah. Yeah, I can…” Rae squeezed Caspian’s hand gently. “I can feel that.”

Rae didn’t let go of Caspian’s hand, and the hunter was relieved the vampire hadn’t jerked away at his touch. Caspian squeezed Rae’s hand in return, and the two men smiled at each other.

“Your… your hand is really warm.” Rae laughed awkwardly, adjusting the grip of his fingers but still not letting go of Caspian’s hand.

Caspian smirked. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ve been told I overheat a lot when I sleep.”

Rae’s smile faltered a little. “Oh, do you um… do you share a bed with someone?” He glanced at the double bed they were perched on. It did seem a little empty with just Caspian in it.

Caspian blushed violently, and this time the twitching of Rae’s long, pointed ears seemed to indicate the vampire definitely noticed.

“Oh, no, I um… I don’t, it’s just me. I just mean, I’ve shared hotel rooms with people and stuff and um… friends and things, and uh…” He cleared his throat. “I don’t have anyone like that.”

“Oh.” Rae nodded. “That’s good. Wait not- I don’t mean it’s good, I just mean that like, that’s fair enough, you know? Unless it is good, and you don’t like… like people like that, which is also good, you know, and um…” Rae shook his head, looking away. “God sorry I’m rambling, I’m so sorry.”

Caspian chuckled. “It’s okay, I promise, it’s um… it’s nice hearing you talk. Comfortable enough to talk, at least.” He smiled, unable to stop smiling. “I mean I… I do like people like that. Or I guess I would, I’ve just… never really met the right guy, I guess to like him like that.”

“Guy?” Rae asked.

Caspian tensed, some of the blush draining from his face. Had he misjudged what he was doing? Who he was saying it to. The gentle ache in the back of his chest now felt sharp as embarrassment dug its way through his ribs. Of course Rae wasn’t… he had been dumb to even consider the things he had been considering. Dumb to invite Rae in here like this. Then again, maybe it was for the best. Caspian couldn’t be feeling things for Rae. Not like that. Rae was a vampire after all. An undead monster. The monster Caspian had basically spent his entire elongated adult life despising and trying to kill.

“Oh, I…” Caspian’s voice suddenly felt dry and thin. “Yeah, I like… I just mean I’m gay, so…”

He moved to take his hand out of Rae’s, but the vampire held his hand in place.

“Me too.” Rae said quietly, nodding. “I am too, I just um… I didn’t expect you to also be, I guess, I um…”

Rae looked at their hands. Caspian also looked at their intertwined hands.

“Oh.” He said.

“Oh.” Rae echoed.

“Hi.” Caspian smiled, his heart once again pounding in his chest.

“Hi.” Rae smiled back.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to um…” Caspian’s voice trickled off, and instead he just stared into Rae’s eyes.

Now that Rae was washed of gore, and not currently desperate for blood, there was something in his eyes that was unlike other vampires Caspian had met before. There was a spark in there, even if it was buried deep in there. Some sign of life that shouldn’t be there, but that Caspian was very glad that there was.

It felt stupid to say he had a crush. Even in the back of his own mind. The word felt childish and immature. Not to mention dangerous, in the current situation. Besides, Caspian hadn’t had a crush in a very long time. And he was a different person then.

Except… that’s what this felt like. It felt like a crush.

“Did you want to um…” Caspian swallowed, moving where he was sitting on the bed. “Did you want to get under the blanket?” His tongue felt heavy and awkward in his mouth.

It had been a long time since the hunter had flirted with someone. In truth he wasn’t even sure if this was flirting. He was pretty sure that for the most part there were more steps to flirting than this.

“For warmth.” He clarified, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. “I just mean like… for warmth.”

Rae’s lip twitched, and in the darkness, Caspian almost thought he saw the vampire blush. “I… I would like that.” Rae nodded. “I’d like that a lot, I think. If it’s okay?”

Caspian took a breath, which threatened and tried to hitch in his throat. “Yeah. Yeah I think it’s okay.”

He pulled the sheets aside, and Rae slid up beside him. Rae reached his long, pale fingers down, and pulled the sheets up over his legs, before pulling his legs up to his chest below the blankets.

“Thank you.” He smiled, looking away from Caspian. “Everything you’ve done for me, it means… it means so much.”

“Of course.” Caspian said quietly. “Thank you for trusting me.”

Ever so slowly, he inched along the mattress until his shoulder was pressed up against Rae’s. Rae’s entire body tensed for a moment when the contact was made, and Caspian was worried he’d gone too far. Done something wrong.

All of this was wrong. he scolded himself. Having a crush on a vampire was wrong.

Except it didn’t feel wrong. Especially not when Rae relaxed, and nestled his own shoulder into Caspian’s, soaking in the warmth of the hunters arm through his sleeve.

It didn’t feel wrong at all. Right now, somehow, it all felt absolutely right.

Chapter Text

Caspian’s mind felt hazy with both lack of sleep, and with the foggy, nervous energy which clouded his mind like static. For the last year or so he had basically taught himself to overcome fear and anxieties when it came to danger. He had been through more kinds of torture than most could even imagine, and he had come out the other side. Caspian didn’t fear wounds, or pain, or death. None of that even made him flinch.

But this… this was different. This wasn’t danger making him nervous, this was something else. When it came to his feelings, he was beginning to realise how skittish and unsure he truly was. It was wholly uncharted territory, and, more than anything had in many many years, it scared him.

He wasn’t quite sure at which point he and Rae had gone from sitting up together in the bed to lying down beside each other. They hadn’t spoken since the change had occurred, and apart from now being stretched back on the bed, they had barely moved at all. Rae’s shoulder was still pressed against his. On occasion, the back of their hands would touch, and one of the other would twitch slightly, but there was nothing more. They might as well have not been touching at all, but still, Caspian found himself clinging to the contact.

How long had it been since Caspian had just laid down with someone? Since he had held someone’s hand, as he had done Rae’s earlier? It wasn’t as if he was entirely touch starved or anything. He had hugged Will and Seven before in the months since they had freed him, but… but that felt different. They were his friends, the same way Strawberri had been his friend, before her death. Rae was… Well, he supposed Rae was his friend too, but… he wasn’t sure if he wanted Rae to be something more. How long had it been since he had felt something more?

Had he ever?

Caspian had certainly never had another man in his bed before.

He didn’t think the first one would be like Rae. Would be undead… He didn’t know what to think about that fact.

Caspian scolded himself once again. He was letting his mind wander too far down paths he shouldn’t. He’d known Rae for a few days; and besides, he didn’t even know if Rae felt the same way. Just because he was also gay, that didn’t mean anything. So was Will, and… Well Caspian wasn’t really sure about Seven, but he wouldn’t be surprised. Caspian didn’t even know if Rae could have romantic feelings. If that was something vampires could feel, if they felt so empty inside. Could they feel any emotions? Let alone anything physical…

The vampire hunter pressed his head back further into the pillow, trying to jar himself out of the current train of thought. He wasn’t sure if Rae was still awake, or if the vampire had fallen into some kind of sleep, and he adjusted his arm so that more of his exposed skin was pressed against the man’s ice-cold skin. The sudden jolt of cold certainly woke him up, bringing him forth from the groggy haze he had been caught in. He had to think about this rationally. That’s what Seven would advise him to do. He didn’t think about what Will would advise him to do, because until a few days ago Will probably would have told him to stake Rae while he was vulnerable.

Caspian however didn’t get the chance to think about how to proceed in the situation. There was a rustling of the sheets, and Rae rolled over, wrapping an arm around Caspian’s chest, his hand resting over the hunter’s shoulder. Caspian froze, unsure of what to do as Rae nestled closer into his side.

“R-Rae?” Caspian whispered, his breath shaky.

Rae made a gentle rumbling noise in response, pulling himself closer to Caspian.

Caspian realised he was now infinitely more awake than he had been a few moments ago. “Rae, I… I don’t know if this is a good idea, I…”

His heart was beating rapidly, and every inch of his body felt warm, as if cheeks couldn’t contain the amount he was blushing, and it had simply spilled out into the rest of him. The warmth and pounding of his blood only seemed to make Rae pull him closer. Caspian felt Rae’s hand nestle in the crook of his shoulder and neck, long, ice-cold fingers pressing against his skin, making skin break out into goosebumps. Rae’s leg slid against his for the first time, Rae’s sweatpants brushing against Caspian’s shin.

“Rae?” Caspian asked again. “Rae I… I just haven’t um… God you’re really pretty a-and Rae, I think I really like you, a-and-“

Rae mumbled something incoherent, and Caspian felt the man’s breath across his skin, tickling his neck, the sensation making Caspian’s toes curl.

Except it wasn’t breath, Caspian realised. The air against his cheek was as cold as the hand cupped gently around his neck. What he had felt wasn’t a breath, but the cold, stale air expelled by Rae’s throat as it brushed past his vocal chords. Caspian felt all his hair stand on end as Rae spoke again, the vampire nestling his face into the crook of Caspian’s neck.

Rae’s lips brushed against the hunter’s neck as he spoke, and the words were little more than a whispered moan.

“God, you’re so hot…” Rae made an odd grunting noise before stumbling to correct himself. “W-Warm, I mean you’re… you’re just so warm.”

Caspian tensed as Rae’s hand tightened ever so slightly on the side of his neck, and he could feel his pulse pounding against the vampire’s palm.

“Your blood is so warm beneath your skin.” Rae breathed.

The hunter tried to turn his head, but Rae’s grip tightened, holding him somewhat in place.

“M-My blood?” Caspian asked, realising suddenly the gravity of the situation. That he was held down by a vampire. A really attractive vampire, granted, but still…

Caspian tried to shift himself, but Rae held tighter, his leg hooking around Caspian’s, knee rising up the man’s thigh. Caspian’s whole body trembled, and he wasn’t sure if it was from anxiety or excitement. He could feel sweat collecting on his brow despite the chill in the air.

Rae pulled Caspian closer, grinding up against his hip. “Caspian…” He growled.

There was something else in that growl. Something inhuman and yet entirely enticing, and Caspian found himself wholly unprepared with how to respond. He didn’t want to fight this anymore. He didn’t care that Rae was cold, or that he was a vampire, or anything like that. He couldn’t think about that right now. He didn’t want to think about that right now.

He wanted Rae.

Caspian reached up the hand that wasn’t pinned to his side by Rae’s body, and rested his own hand on top of the vampires. The hand who’s nails were digging softly into his skin.

“Rae…” Caspian breathed, his legs pressing around Rae’s, pulling the vampire in closer.

Rae twitched, his grip tightening on Caspian’s neck. “I…” the monster groaned.

Suddenly, Rae’s entire body reeled backwards, yanking his hand away so quickly that his nails scratched deep into Caspian’s neck; enough to sting but not draw blood.

“Caspian!” Rae gasped. He tried to pull himself away, but Caspian’s legs were wrapped around his, and he only managed to separate their torso’s, flailing against the sheets.

The sudden and abrupt change in manner made Caspian jerk backwards too, struggling to detangle himself from the vampire. “Rae?” He asked, his breath still shaky and his mind still flustered and longing. “Rae I-“

“I’m sorry!” Rae covered his face with his hands, pulling himself further away. “God I’m so sorry I-“

“You’re sorry?” Caspian asked, his heart dropping.

Rae scrambled out of the bed, barely managing to catch himself on his feet, slowly backing towards the door. “God, fuck, I wasn’t thinking and I- I didn’t mean to make you- I’m sorry that was… I was asleep and I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing.”

“Rae…” Caspian pulled himself out of the bed too, his legs somewhat unsteady as he stumbled around the bed towards the other man. “Rae I’m not-“

“I shouldn’t have come in, I shouldn’t have- have put you at risk like that, I…” Rae ran his fingers through his hair, backing towards the door, “Caspian I- I’m so sorry!” There were tears running down his face.

“Rae please!” Caspian reached out and grabbed Rae’s forearm, gently pulling him closer, away from the door. “Rae I- I didn’t mind I promise!”

Rae shook his head. “No that’s not fair to you, I don’t… I’m not like you, Caspian, I’m not alive like you-“

“Does that matter?” Caspian asked.

He couldn’t believe he had really asked that question. From the look of complete fear and bewilderment in Rae’s eyes, he couldn’t believe it either.

“Caspian…”

“I… haven’t felt like that before, Rae. With anyone.”

“Caspian that’s not-“

“It’s not just that!” Caspian stressed. “Not just felt like that like…” He slid his hand down Rae’s arm until he was once again holding his hand. “Like this, Rae. Like I feel with you.”

He swallowed, trying to steady his shaking breath as he floundered to put his feelings into words. “And if you don’t feel the same way then that’s fine, and you can tell me and you can leave, but even you’re a vampire I… You’re different.”

“I don’t know if I am different, Caspian.” Rae shook his head, his free hand still covering his mouth. “I don’t know if I’m different at all, I’m still… Caspian when I was half asleep, and I was thinking about those things, those things with you, I… I was still thinking about feeding. About biting you, Caspian I…”

Caspian felt tears brimming in his eyes, and he blinked the tears away. “But you didn’t answer…” He could feel his confidence in the answer he wanted beginning to slip away. “Do you feel that way?”

Rae swallowed. He took a long time to answer, avoiding eye contact the entire time.

“I do. I think.” He said softly, nodding. “Caspian I haven’t… I’ve never fallen for someone, Caspian, and I don’t know if that’s what I’m feeling. I don’t know if I can feel those things, but… but I feel them with you. I just don’t know if it's a good idea to follow through with those feelings.”

Caspian’s stomach dropped at the exact same moment the weight was lifted from his shoulders. “Really?”

Rae nodded. “Really?”

There was a pause. “Does it have to be a good idea?” Caspian asked.

“Pardon?”

“Even if it’s not.” Caspian said quickly. “If it’s a bad idea, I… I really like you, Rae.”

“I really like you too.” Rae said, laughing nervously. “Even if it is a bad idea…”

“We could try?” Caspian asked, pulling Rae a little closer to him. “Try to figure out whatever this is?”

Rae took Caspian’s other hand in his own. “I’d really like to try.” He nodded. “If you do.”

“I do.” Caspian nodded. “God, I really do.”

Rae finally looked into Caspian’s eyes. In the darkness, with the sun just beginning to rise beyond the block-out curtains, the man’s blue eyes looked almost like a murky green.

Caspian leaned in a little closer, and Rae leant in too, their foreheads pressing against each other, cold against warm.

“Rae, can I…” Caspian could see his breath making Rae’s long hair twitch. He swallowed. “Can I kiss you?”

Rae opened and closed his mouth. “I… Yes. Please.”

Caspian smiled. It had been a long time since he had kissed someone, and his lips felt clumsy and awkward as they pressed against Rae’s, which felt equally unsure. Rae’s lips were cold, but Caspian had expected that. He had expected them to be dry, and perhaps stiff. They weren’t like that however. As Rae’s mouth moved against his, Caspian could feel the softness of the vampire’s lips, the ones which not too long ago had been clamped around his neck. He realised that Rae’s lips, unlike so much of the rest of his body, felt alive.

The kiss was gentle and timid, but undoubtedly it was alive.

Before either of them could fully relax into the kiss however, there was a frantic knocking at the door, and it was thrown open before the two fully had the chance to pull apart.

Both Rae and Caspian stared wide eyed and terrified at Seven, who was now standing in the doorway looking wide eyed and terrified back at them. The man’s jaw was set tight, and his expression was unreadable.

“Seven.” Caspian croaked, incredibly aware of Rae’s hands in his own, and the closeness of their faces.

“Caspian.” Seven said, his gaze which had been shifting between the two now settling on the hunter. “You… you need to get dressed.”

Caspian blinked. Part of him - the part that was still incredibly hot and bothered after the last few minutes with Rae, and was struggling to form sentences - was relieved that Seven wasn’t addressing the scene in front of him. The other part of his mind knew that the situation was going to come up sooner or later, and before then he had to think of a really good way to express whatever this was.

“Why?” He asked, his voice faint.

Seven looked over his shoulder. Outside in the rest of the house, red morning sunlight was streaming in, and Rae was beginning to back further into the shadows of the room. In the halls of the house, Caspian could hear voices.

“We have visitors.” Seven said eventually. “We might need your help.” He glanced back into the room, eyes now locked on Rae. “And we need to hide him.”

Chapter Text

The rain pelting against the street was deafening, hammering the roofs of cars and soaking the few pedestrians wandering the streets in the early hours of the morning. It wasn’t uncommon for storms to hit the city this time of year, as the remaining autumn warmth faded away into harsh winter winds. It was going to snow soon. Even the least supernaturally inclined people could tell that by the air, and the ice which formed on car windows in the night.

But not yet. The snow hadn’t yet reached them, and instead, the thunderstorms rolled through, flooding the streets and restricting vision to a haze of waterfall sleet; a blur of neon signs and headlights, anything more than five feet away from you an indistinct blob.

No one paid any attention to the small-framed figure as they wove down the sidewalk, their drenched hoodie clinging to their shoulders, and their dyed hair plastered to their face. If anyone had paid attention to them, they might have noticed the cold rain hissing and steaming as it came in contact with their skin, or the icy slush melting beneath their feet.

Then again, if they had paid attention - god forbid if they noticed the steam - it was very likely they wouldn’t have lived through the night.

Athena pulled their hood down lower over their face to protect them from the rain as it got heavier, a flash of lightning overhead briefly illuminating the street in all its grimy glory before it was thrust back into semi-darkness. He honed in on the source of light ahead of him: the bright white light bleeding out into the street from the large windows of a twenty-four hour diner, almost empty apart from a few suspicious and tired characters, and the equally exhausted staff. Athena paused outside the door, bathed in the red neon light of the sign overhead, which advertised the name of the establishment, and its evident opening hours.

Heat slammed into them the moment they pushed open the glass door, their knuckles wrapped tightly around the metal bar-handle. Immediately Athena felt more comfortable despite their anxiety about this whole night. The warmth was calming and familiar. They resisted the urge to shake themselves off, instead just pausing a moment to drip on the doormat as one of the waitresses - a tired looking woman in middle age, streaks of grey in her mousy hair - approached slowly. There was a look of deep concern on the woman’s face, and Athena wasn’t sure if she was flattered or patronised.

“Hey there darling,” the server slipped her hands into the pockets of her white apron, leaning down slightly to try and get a better look at Athena’s face beneath the hood, “What can we do for you tonight?”

Athena bowed their head lower, hiding their visage under a veil of neon-pink hair. They glanced around, before nodding at an empty booth in the corner of the diner, avoiding looking at the woman as best she could. “Just the booth, please?”

The server nodded, guiding him over to the cracked red-leather seats. Athena slid into it, glancing out into the empty street, rain hammering on the glass.

“Are you by yourself?” The waitress asked. “Or were you waiting for anyone…”

Athena shook their head. They should have expected this; they were young. Or at least, they looked young, and of course people would be concerned about a young adult walking the streets alone at two in the morning.

“It’s just me.” She said after a while. “For now. I’m just… looking for some food. And somewhere dry.”

If the woman realised that Athena was already more or less dry, she didn’t mention it. “Well, there’s plenty on the menu, I can bring one by and-“

“I want the biggest burger you have.” Athena said quickly, looking at the polished faux-marble table. “W-With the biggest helping of French fries, and a big milkshake, and um…” They glanced up at the counter. “Do you have cake? Or pie? Something baked?”

The waitress blinked at him. “I- Oh… Of course, hon, I…” She pulled a notepad out of a pocket and scribbled the order down. “We’ve got a chocolate cake, a-and some pie. Apple, tonight, which-“

“Both.” Athena cut her off, before clearing their throat, dipping their head further. “Both please, ma’am. Two of each.”

“Two?” The waitress nodded. “You sure you don’t want the menu, just to see what’s on all that?”

“I don’t care what’s on it.” Athena shook their head.

“Oh… well how about so you know the prices, I don’t wanna charge you more than you can afford.”

Athena nodded, before delving into the pocket of their ripped dark jeans, and pulled out a large wad of dollars, crumpled and folded in clumsy ways. The youth held the money out to the woman, for the first time looking up at her with brilliant amber eyes.

“Is- Is this enough?” He asked, completely sincerely. He had never had to use money before, and while he knew how it worked in concept, Athena had no idea how much any amount of money was actually worth.

The server’s mouth fell open as they took the considerable amount of money from the young person’s hand. She stared down into their face for a long time. She told herself she was trying to read the youth’s expression, but really, they were just trying to understand what they were looking at. Their eyes were piercing yellow, more cat-like than human. Their deep tawny skin seemed pallid and thin, almost devoid of life. Their teeth seemed to sit oddly beneath their lips, and upper and lower incisors pressing against them as they spoke.

Athena noticed the woman staring and looked away. The woman seemed to realise she had been staring at the same time, and she cleared her throat. “This is um… this is plenty.” She said in a small, thin voice. With an unsteady hand, she placed the money back on the table in front of Athena. “I’ll bring out the bill when you’re done and you can uh… you can count out the right amount. Food’ll be out shortly.” The waitresses nodded, before scrambling back to the kitchen.

The youth pulled their hood down lower, feeling the warm air conditioning on their shoulders, drying them out slowly. They picked at the tears in their jeans with long, sharp nails, hoping the strange looks from the woman didn’t draw any more attention. The music playing on the overhead radio was crackly and indistinct, and they took solace in it, letting it drown out the sounds of the other people in the diner. Athena could hear the clanking in the kitchen as their food was being prepared, the sounds mingling with the rhythm of the song around them. Their stomach growled, and they gripped the table as all their muscles tensed, their body screaming. His head pounded, and the music faded away, replaced by the thundering heartbeats. She ground her teeth together, fangs digging into her lips.

They couldn’t do this. Not again, they couldn’t hurt people again. They couldn’t let themselves…

The clinking of food being set down on the table made Athena jump out of their skin, and it took every ounce of self-control they had left not to launch themselves at the waitress, slicing through her skin and tearing at her flesh. Feasting on her blood.

“There you are.” The server nodded. Athena didn’t look up at her. “I’ll bring out your deserts in just a moment when my hands are free.

“Thank you.” Athena muttered, staring out the window.

“Is there anything else-“

“No.” Athena said quickly. “No, no that’s all for now, thank you.”

The waitress nodded, leaving Athena to get the final items for them. The meal was already enormous. The burger itself was barely holding itself together, overflowing with meats and salads and sauce. The smell made Athena nauseous, and they distracted themselves momentarily by pulling the giant milkshake glass over and taking a long drag from the straw. The coldness of the thick, almost solid shake stung as it hit the back of their throat, and burned as they gulped it down. The taste of chocolate was heavy, so sweet it was almost bitter, and Athena shuddered as they swallowed, pushing the drink away. He took a long moment to steady himself, pressing his back into the leather of the chair to brace his body as it rebelled against the drink.

He just had to focus. He would like it if he focused. If he thought about the flavours, peeling them apart individually, each ingredient. Athena picked up the burger, their small hands barely able to hold the thing together. She turned away from the eyes of other diners as she unhinged her jaw, fangs sinking into the bun, already melting beneath the grease and moisture of the burger itself. He savoured the texture, more than the taste, taking their time to chew, trying to ignore what tasted like rotting meat in their mouth.

Focus on liking it. They thought, screwing up their eyes and taking another impossibly large bite. This is food. People eat food. This is good food.

Before they knew it, Athena had already eaten the burger and had started on the fries. They were at least easier to deal with, thin and starchy, but they settled in their stomach like powdered chalk. Athena took a break, gripping the table once again and bending over it, their eyes closed. They could feel their insides convulsing, trying to reject the food. He reached out towards the milkshake blindly, his hand grasping at air as it searched for the glass.

Instead, another hand grabbed it, fingers tightening around their wrist. Athena gasped, their eyes flying open as they tried to jerk back. They instinctively went to bare their fangs, but another hand clamped over their mouth, unflinching as the youth’s fangs sunk into their palm.

“Don’t cause a scene.” Galahad said quietly. “Keep calm, or it’ll end badly for both of us.”

Slowly, the soldier removed his hand from Athena’s mouth and released her hand.

Athena glared up at him, closing their mouth enough to conceal their fangs. “It won’t end badly for us.” He hissed. “It’ll end badly for all the humans in this place.”

“If that’s the way you want to look at it.” Galahad nodded. “Mind if I sit?”

Athena sighed, crossing their arms and flopping back into their seat. Galahad slid into the seat opposite Athena in the booth, nonchalantly inspecting the deep puncture wounds in his palm. The bite wasn’t bleeding, and he could see his tendons flexing beneath the severed muscle as he moved his fingers. He was wearing a yellow plastic raincoat that seemed right out of a 60’s catalogue, and Athena realised it probably was. Beneath it, his usual deep red shirt was stuck to his chest with rain that bad made it through the worn down waterproofing.

“You’re going to make yourself sick.” Galahad leaned on the table and steepled his fingers.

“No I’m not.” Athena growled.

Galahad sighed. “My Prince, we both know you can’t eat this. We can’t… We can’t consume the way they do, you’re aware of this.”

“But we can try.” Athena mumbled. “I have to try, I can’t-“

“What you can’t do is keep doing this, Prince.” Galahad pleaded. “This denying yourself of blood, it’s not good for you. You need to feed, Athena, or you’re going to lose control, and make things much worse for the humans you’re trying to save.”

“I am feeding!” Athena stressed. “Look at this. All of this! Food.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

“Doesn’t it appeal to you at all?” Athena begged. “Smell it. See how delicious it smells?”

Galahad picked up one of the fried from Athena’s plate as the teen pulled their slice of pie closer. The guard sniffed it, before placing it back on the plate. “It smells wretched. Like grease and dirt.”

“It smells like the living.”

Galahad laughed. “This? Athena, we’re dead. You have been dead since the moment you were brought into this world. As dead things, we consume the living. But the living? They can only consume the dead. Slaughtered meats and plants ripped from their roots. What you are eating now is as dead as you are. It will only make you feel worse.”

Athena shovelled a spoonful of apple pie into her mouth, ignoring the vampire across from them. “When was the last time you ate food?” They spat - literally, flecks of pie-crust falling to the table from their lips. “Hmm? A real, human meal, Galahad?”

The guard's golden eyes seemed to get very distant for a moment, and he stared straight through Athena. He hadn’t thought about it in a long time. He tried not to, for the most part. It was simpler if he didn’t think about it.

“It was… it was ‘89, I think.” He said finally.

Athena raised an eyebrow. “Really? 1989? That’s more recent than I-“

Galahad laughed his usual warm, soft laugh, closing his eyes and resting his temple against his hands. “Gods, no. 589, Athena.” He smiled to himself. “It was a feast before we set out. Not at our castle, some other lord, but they took us in for the night. Everyone did things like that then. It was so easy to be invited into places. It was the most wonderful feast I’d ever eaten. Or at least I remember it that way. Suckling pig stuffed with apples and figs… leaks, roasted in butter…”

“And that was the last thing you ate?” Athena asked, placing down the empty pie plate. “Before you were turned?”

Galahad shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure I ate rations. Maybe hunted game. But that meal… that was the last meal I ate.” He shook his head. “I don’t think I miss it. Not anymore, at least.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t realise you were that old.” Athena breathed, stirring the cream on top of their milkshake into the drink and staring at it disdainfully. “You really don’t miss being alive?”

The soldier took a long moment to think about it. “I don’t. When I was alive Athena, my life was hell. It was a struggle for survival. I was a soldier, and a knight. The food was bad, and the sanitation was even worse. I don’t miss being alive then.”

“But now you have to kill people.” Athena sighed.

“I killed people when I was alive. I’ve fought in so many wars, Athena. Countries are built on wars. Are those people more justified in killing than we are? Those deaths do not feed. They don’t give life to people like us. They’re a waste. Is that killing more justified to you?”

“I don’t think any killing is justified. I don’t think I should be forced to drink blood.”

“You don’t get that choice, Athena.” Galahad folded his arms on the table. “You’re a vampire, you-“

“Except I’m not.”

Both of them went silent, staring at each other. Athena’s jaw was clenched, peering up at their guard from behind strands of their pink hair. Galahad in turn just looked saddened, not at a loss for words, but at a loss for ways to comfort.

“Yes you are.” He said eventually.

“No, I’m not.” Athena growled. “Not really. We both know that, I… I was never alive, Galahad, I’m not… I’m not a vampire. Or a mortal, I’m just…”

“You’re my Prince.” Galahad said softly. “You are the heir regent to a sprawling empire of the undead. One of the most powerful vampire courts in the world. You are one of us. One that I am assigned to protect. And that includes stopping you from poisoning yourself like this.”

Athena couldn’t argue that they felt poisoned. Their insides felt as if they were being scratched at by some ravenous beast, and their hunger hadn’t faded despite what they had consumed. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but-“

“There’s no buts, Athena. You are everything I said. You are a vampire, and a powerful one at that. You’re just… going through a phase.”

Athena cringed at the use of the term. It sounded so clunky and false. As if Galahad was just using it to shove all the real reasons aside.

“So what… you’re here to take me home now?” Athena asked. Their body convulsed suddenly and they lurched forwards. They could feel the human food starting to come back up, the beast trying to claw its way back up their throat.

“Partially. The rest of the court is worried about your disappearance. With your parents missing, and now this news of the End Prince…” Galahad stopped himself short, realising what he had said.

“What happened to the End Prince?” Athena asked, their head snapping upwards.

“Forget I said anything.” Galahad shook their head, their blonde ponytail flailing behind them. “It’s not important-“

“Bullshit.” Athena grumbled, bracing themselves against the table to try and stop themselves throwing up. “What happened to Rae?”

“He’s missing.” Galahad sighed. “That’s all I know. All anyone knows, if they even know that. It’s secret, it could cause Chaos if our enemies found out the Ender Court is missing their heir.”

“But I’m not an enemy.” Athena said. “In fact, I’m our heir. Why aren’t I informed about political things like this I should-“

“You’re young. And you’re attached to Prince Morningstar. Len doesn’t want you to know.”

“Well Lenarius can stick it up his ass.” Athena snapped. They went to say something else, before keeling over and releasing a pained groan.

Galahad stood up, and slid around to the other side of the table, wrapping an arm around Athena. “Alright Prince, come on. We’re leaving.”

“I-I haven’t paid.” Athena mumbled, letting Galahad pull them from the booth as they slumped into his side.

“Of course not.” Galahad muttered in response, fishing in his pockets and pulling out a handful of very old bills which he hoped were American dollars, and tossing them onto the table.

Suddenly a woman appeared beside them, a pot of coffee gripped in her hand. “Excuse me sir can I help you?” She turned down to Athena. “Do you know this person, hon?”

“Yes.” Athena grumbled. “He’s… he’s family. A family-“

“I’m his uncle.” Galahad chimed in, smiling easily up at the waitress. “My nephew here is… they’ve been going through some troubling times.” He rubbed Athena’s shoulder. “His parents passed just recently, you see and… thank you, for taking care of them.”

“Oh.” The waitress said softly, her suspicions not entirely at ease. “I’m sorry to hear that. Make sure they get home safe, ya hear? There’s a hospital a few blocks down if they’re… using.” She swallowed. “I had a cousin who… well, I wondered when they first came in, they don’t look well…”

“Thank you.” Galahad nodded. “That’s very kind, we’ll stop by if necessary. Come on, Athena.”

Galahad led Athena out of the diner and into the rain, where the prince huddled into him closer against the cold. They had only made it a block or so when Athena shoved Galahad aside and threw themselves into an alleyway, throwing up into the corner behind a dumpster. The liquid which came forth wasn’t acid and digested food, but instead a viscous, black liquid, which bubbled and frothed as it hit the pavement. Chunks of chewed food were visible, coated in the unnatural substance, and Athena groaned as Galahad rubbed them on the back.

“I told you.” Galahad said. There wasn’t smugness in their voice, just genuine care, and perhaps disappointment at their being ignored.

Athena braced a hand against the wall. “You’re not my uncle.”

“It was easier than explaining that you’re a vampire heir I’m an undead escort assigned to keep you safe from rival courts.” Galahad shrugged.

“You’re not my uncle. You don’t get to claim to be.” Athena said flatly. “Understand? That’s an order, from the Prince.”

“Athena…” Galahad started, before simply nodding. “Of course. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Thank you.” Athena sighed, leaning against the wall. “I’m sorry, I just…”

“I know.” Galahad wrapped their arm around her once again and helped her stand. “Come in. Let’s get you home. Where you can feed properly.”

Galahad glanced back into the street, before leading Athena deeper into the darkness of the alley, the two of them vanishing into the night…

Chapter Text

Athena fiddled with the cuffs of their button down as they rehearsed what they were about to say, should they be seen leaving. There was little to no chance they wouldn't be seen leaving: it was literally Galahad’s entire job to guard them, and make sure they were safe at all times. Of course, the vampire’s literal milenia of skill could be better put to work doing literally anything else, but despite their high status, Athena seemingly had no autonomy when it came to decisions about their own life. Or afterlife. Or whatever it was their state of existence was supposed to be called.

They had no mirror to check their outfit in - a crisp white shirt, black slacks and suspenders, paired of course with the largest black boots they could find - because of course there were no mirrors in the entire building. Even if they had been mirrors they wouldn’t have been able to see what they looked like, so they simply had to trust that they looked good enough. He wondered how his mother had always seemed to have such perfect makeup if she had never been able to actually see herself. Maybe Soul was simply that talented, or perhaps she had simply been doing it for so long that it was second nature. Athena didn’t have that luxury either way. Athena sighed, deciding that whatever they looked like was good enough, and they slipped out of their room, wandering across the length of the open plan penthouse and stopping in front of the glass, staring out at the city below them.

Many vampires had criticised Athena’s parent’s decision to live in a building almost entirely made of glass. Of course it was risky: if the curtains weren’t lowered in time, or if they were raised too early, those inside would be severely injured, if not killed by the sunlight. Except that was the point, a point many seemed to miss. It was a display of confidence, and power, not to mention wealth. Confidence in themselves, and in the empire they had built. They were so sure of themselves, and their ability to stay alive no matter what, they could risk living in a place like this. Despite the inherent danger however, Athena adored the suite they lived in. As a child perhaps they had wished for more; a regular home with a yard and trees… but there were parks for that within and around the city. But up here… Up here Athena could look out these windows and see the beauty of the city below. It was a tapestry of lights and signs. A reflection of the starry sky above, splayed out in three dimensions, rising and falling with the contours of the skyscrapers, and milling about in great trains of traffic. There were no stars tonight of course, with heavy clouds and rain still hanging menacingly over the landscape, yet still, in the dark, the city was beautiful, and Athena wouldn’t give it up for the world.

Or maybe… maybe they would.

Just maybe, if they were given one chance. A chance to be human. A chance to be alive.

Maybe then, they would leave it behind. Abandon this luxury to live a normal life amongst the people he watched night after night going about their business in the city through these very windows.

Of course, that was impossible. There was no way for that to happen, for them to be anything other than what they were. Not quite a vampire, and not quite human. Just a being, created to exist in this state of living undeath between the two. Athena was simply herself, alone in the world. And right now, since the disappearance of their parents, Athena was even more alone than they had been before.

And that was why they had to get out of here. Why they had to find Rae. The only person who might understand; who would know what it was like to live between these two worlds, fitting into both and neither. Beyond understanding, Rae was the only person who would really take the time to listen. And right now he was gone, and everyone else, no matter how experienced or powerful they were supposed to be, had failed to find him.

“Prince Athena.” Galahad’s voice echoed through the empty apartment, gliding easily through the open-plan rooms. “You’re… Dressed nicely. Am I escorting you anywhere I was not informed about?”

Athena sighed. “No, thank you Galahad. I’m just… going hunting.”

“I see…” Behind them, in the kitchen, Galahad leaned on a counter. “Like last night? When you went hunting?”

The prince opened and closed their mouth. “I mean it, this time.” She didn’t, but it wouldn’t be the first time they had lied to the knight.

“I’m sure.” Galahad nodded. “Do you expect trouble while hunting cheeseburgers? I hear they can be vicious when trying to survive.”

Athena smiled slightly, then forced themselves to stop. They liked Galahad. Truly, he did. He was good company, and for someone who could have treated them as little more than a job, Galahad did his best to be their friend. But right now, Athena didn’t need a friend, or a guard. She needed family. And Rae… Rae was the closest thing she had to family right now, other than… Well, they certainly weren’t someone Athena was comfortable with seeing again so soon. They weren’t really family, of course, but it had felt like it growing up, in the ways they had been there for each other. Or more accurately the way Rae had been there for Athena.

“I just wanted to go out alone, for a little while.” Athena said firmly. I don’t think I’ll be gone for long. I’ll be safe, and I won’t… I won’t do the same thing as last night.”

Unlike their last statement, all of these things were technically true. They weren’t doing the same thing as last night at the diner - the painful experience of their body rejecting the food was not one they wanted to risk again so soon - and they really weren’t planning to be away for two long. That was because Athena intended to find Rae, and she intended to find him soon. Before anyone else. Hopefully before Lenarius and Galahad realised something was wrong and managed to track her back down again.

Athena thought, or perhaps rather hoped, that if they could do this - if they could be the one to find Rae - their guardians would trust them more. Trust them to live on their own. To make decisions for the Nether Court. And more importantly to Athena, to help in the search for his parents.

“Galahad, you trust me, right?” Athena asked, finally turning their attention away from the city and spinning around to face him.

Galahad sighed. “I want to trust you, Athena. Truly, I do.”

“Then do!” Athena stressed, grabbing a heavy jacket from the back of a sofa. “Just this once, this final time. Trust me to go out on my own.”

Galahad was seemingly considering the option. He picked up a wax apple from a bowl of fake fruit, and turned it over and over in his strong, scarred fingers. “Athena, I have been guarding royalty for centuries. Even before I was a vampire. Do you think I don’t know when a young person is trying to sneak out on their own?”

“Then you should know when you’re not going to stand a chance, and the young person in question is going to sneak out anyway.” Athena shrugged the jacket over their shoulders, letting it unfurl and sway around their ankles.

The guard scoffed, and placed the apple back in the bowl. “That’s true.” He thought for a moment, looking at them. “One last chance.” They said finally. Athena grinned, exposing their fangs, but Galahad’s brow furrowed. “On one condition.”

The prince sighed, but Galahad continued.

“Be back here in the penthouse by five in the morning.”

“Four? Galahad it’s already midnight, and the sunrise isn’t until seven, I can-”

“Sunrise is at seven.” Galahad nodded, checking their watch. “But commuters emerge at five. People will be out on the streets, on trains. More prey, maybe, but more dangerously more witnesses. One wrong person sees you hunting, and it’s over. I’m not risking you alone out there after that.”

Athena pretended to consider the stipulation for a moment, knowing full well they were going to ignore these rules and spend the day searching for Rae anyway. “Fine. I’ll be back by five.” He sighed.

Galahad nodded, still somewhat suspicious, but still trying to be the good guy here. Athena knew the guard felt bad for them. Felt guilty for not being able to do more. She wasn’t going to hold those emotions against Galahad. Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to exploit them, just a little bit. A nod passed between the two, and Athena moved towards the door to the hallway.

“And Athena?” Galahad added.

Athena turned around to look at them.

“Happy hunting.” Galahad smiled. “I hope you find what you’re looking for out there.”

Athena swallowed, nodding. “Thanks, Galahad.” He slipped through the door and into the hall.

Once they were out of view, Athena sprinted down the short hallway towards the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly until the doors finally chimed and opened into the lushious enclosed space. They had to make it out of here before Galahad changed their mind, or tried to follow them somehow. The minute the elevator doors were closed and they were moving downwards towards the ground floor, Athena took a deep breath, and focused. They felt their clothes melting away, and their body shifting around their skeleton as it twisted and shrunk and stretched. It was painful, in a way, but not entirely unpleasant. There was a thrill as the change took place; as Athena felt their already heightened instincts suddenly become amplified. It wasn’t that there was more input now, it was simply that their body was so much smaller in comparison to the amount of information it was taking in.

When the elevator door opened into the ground floor foyer, Athena didn’t step out. In fact, no one watching would have seen a young adult in the elevator at all. Instead, a small cat, its white and tan fur split almost directly down the middle, stretched on the floor of the elevator, yawned, curled its tail, and scampered out of the elevator, through the automatic doors, and out onto the streets.

Chapter Text

“Will?”

Will stirred. He could see dawn trying to worm its way in underneath the curtains, and he closed his eyes to banish it once more, shoving his face into his pillow. How long had he been asleep? However long it was, it didn’t feel long enough to properly process everything that had been going on.

“Will!”

Seven was on the other side of the bedroom door, and his gentle knocks became more frantic and aggressive as his tone did the same.

“Will I am really imploring you to get up right now!”

Will smirked into his pillow. Nobody but Seven would have ever used the word implore in a context like this. But of course, if Seven was frantic, that meant something was wrong. Will’s groggy mind slowly warmed itself up, and he really considered who was in the house. Seven was panicking, and outside in the house was not only a vampire, but whatever the hell Jamie was…

“Will!”

“I’m up!” Will threw himself out of bed, grabbing the stake from beside his bed and stumbling into the wall, pushing himself off it towards the door. He had fallen asleep in his clothes, which wasn’t that out of the ordinary, and the edges of his slacks dragged on the hardwood floor before he pulled them up.

Will fumbled with the lock and threw open the bedroom door, staring up at Seven. “What’s happened?” He asked, breathing heavily. “Is Caspian alright? Did Rae-“

“No!” Seven shook his head.

The man’s face was puffy and pale, and there were deep bags under his eyes. He was supposed to have woken Will hours ago to take over watch, but… well, clearly he hasn’t.

“Rae and Jamie aren’t the problem, they’re fine.”

“Oh.” Will said, his voice hollow. He felt guilt settle in his stomach at assuming it was one of them that had attacked. Could he really blame himself for that though? “Oh… then… what it is?”

Seven adjusted the collar of his sweater, and nodded his head towards the basement door. “I think you’d better take a look at the security monitors.”

Will followed his friend down into the basement, where the chair had been pushed back against the wall, and a blanket was thrown haphazardly on the ground, thrown off when Seven had come to find him. Seven pointed to one of the old monitors, positioned a little higher on the wall. The camera was the only one in the system not focused on the main house. The property's borders were expansive, and very little of it was actually gated or marked in any way - except for the gate which marked the main road up to the houses. A few hundred feet of sandstone wall flanked either side of the dirt road, with a thick metal gate stretched across the gap. For the first time in a very long time, there was someone other than the two of them on the other side of the gate, the car sitting in direct view of the lone security camera.

Will recognised the car, watching the sun glint off the blacked out windows as the entire car shook with the rumbling of the engine. The car was old, mid 80’s Will assumed, maybe late 70’s. The sleek shape of the vehicle was interrupted at several points by dents and grooves where the body of it had taken damage, and the paint was scratched and worn by time and claws. A tanned arm was hanging out the window, and Will watched as it stretched out to press the intercom button, and the receiver above his head buzzed angrily.

“What is she doing here?” Will muttered, squinting at the screen. “This is not a good time…”

“You know who it is?” Seven asked, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t think anyone knew about this place except-“

“It’s a friend of Al’s.” Will muttered, rubbing a hand over his face to try and wake himself up. “Alright go upstairs and hide Jamie and Rae. We don’t need this to get any more complicated than it already is.”

Will pressed a button on the desk, and the property gate slowly ground open, its hinges swinging wide. The hand hanging out the window raised, and for a moment Will thought it would wave. Instead, it flipped off the security camera, before the car pulled forward violently, tearing up the dirt road at high speed.

“She’ll be here in a second.” Will sighed.

“I’ll put on some coffee.” Seven muttered, already starting up the stairs in front of Will. “I’ll see if Jamie would be okay with staying upstairs for a while. Rae… we’ll keep him out of the light.”

“Good plan.” Will nodded, tucking in his shirt and trying to make his hair look somewhat less of a mess. Seven disappeared behind him, and Will threw open the heavy front door.

The air outside was strong and cold, and Will could feel his feet beginning to go numb on the dusty wooden floor of the patio. He watched as the car tumbled up the long dirt driveway, and came to a skidding halt in front of the house. The engine was left running as the door opened, and a woman stepped out.

Her breath steamed in the morning air, and the sun reflected off her mirrored sunglasses. Her mid length blonde hair was streaked with grey, and tied back with a blue handkerchief. Her denim jacket had gained dozens of new patches and repairs since the last time Will had seen the woman, but he was almost amused to see it was the same jacket. She pulled her sunglasses down her nose and looked the young hunter up and down, tapping her large boot on the dirt.

“Walter?” She asked, tilting a head. “It was Walter, right?”

“Will.” Will shook his head, placing his hands in his pockets as the two looked at each other. “What are you doing here, Oceana?”

The woman’s thin mouth split into a large grin, which attempted to conceal a visible grimace. “Good to see one of us is decent with names.” She glanced back into her car, before looking back at Will. “I need to speak with Alerion.”

Will just stared at her, blinking in surprise. “Pardon?”

Oceana threw the door of her car closed with a loud thunk, the metallic sound echoing across the surrounding fields. “C’mon kid, this is serious, we're on a time limit here, where is Al?”

“Al is dead.” He said bluntly, slowly crossing his arms. “He has been for… for a while now.”

The woman opened and closed her mouth a few times, taking off her sunglasses and resting them in her head. “That’s not… dead dead or… dead.”

“Six feet under dead.” Will clarified.

Oceana swore, glancing back at her car. She took a moment to breathe deeply, before pounding a fist on the roof of the vehicle and swearing again. “Fucking dammit this is… fuck!” She rounded back on Will. “You still got that basement set up kid?”

Will nodded. “Yeah me and Seven, he’s uh-“

“Great, don’t need to know, don’t care, I’ll meet him in a minute.” She scrambled around to the back of the car and popped the trunk. Will couldn’t see her behind the raised panels, and he listened to the sound of struggling and hushed conversation.

“Listen I don’t mean to be rude, I know you were a friend of Al’s but-“

Will’s sentence was cut short as a body bag toppled out of the back of the car and rolled across the dirt. Oceana groaned.

“You, stay in there. No, I’m the car, I-“ She huffed. “Now is not the time to argue.” She slammed the trunk closed, slipped her arms under one end of the body bag, and began to drag it towards Will. “Well? Aren’t you going to help me?”

“Help you what?” Will sucked in a breath, not realising he’d been holding it. “Is that a body? What are you- I don’t understand-“

“You don’t need to understand, you just need to help me get her into the basement!” Oceana yelled. Will closed his mouth and jogged down the stairs. The section of the body bag which was once composed of clear plastic had been duct-taped over. As had the zipper running down the centre, apparently. Will picked up the feet of the body, and helped the woman lift it up onto the balcony and in through the open door of the country house.

Taking the legs, Will saw coming well before Oceana did, and as such bore the brunt of the man’s shocked and appalled look.

“Will!” Seven hissed, running down the stairs.

Oceana’s head whipped around, trailing silver and gold hair. “Ah! Perfect, another one. Call me Ocie. Open the fucking basement door.”

Seven glanced at Will, who nodded, before he scrambled towards the basement and threw it open, watching as the two other hunters manoeuvred the body down the stairs.

“Lock it.” Ocie instructed, and Seven did so, before quickly joining the two of them by the cleaned metal work bench, onto which Ocie and Will had placed the body bag.

“Okay listen we’ve humoured you enough, what the fuck is going on here?” Will yelled, crossing his arms.

Ocie moved easily around the basement, inspecting the weapons and knives across the walls and shelves. “It’s… a long story, I just needed Al’s resources-“

“Well they’re our resources now.” Will scoffed, “So if you want to use them, you’d better start explaining your long story.”

Oceana groaned, throwing her head back before sighing deeply.

“Fine.” She said finally. Ocie fished around in the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a pocket knife, flicking open the blade, polished steel almost glowing in the bright lights of the basement. Both Will and Seven tensed, the latter inching towards the collection of weapons on their desk.

“There was an… incident.” The woman muttered, inspecting the tip of the knife and then looking at the body bag. “My… My partner was tricked. By Fable.

“Hold on, as in Fable Fable?” Seven asked, his entire body tensing up. “As in one of the most powerful vampires in the country Fable. Leader of the-”

“Yes!” Ocie snapped, silencing him.

“I don’t like where this is going…” Will breathed. “Ocie what have you-”

Ocie turned away from the two men, took a deep breath, and plunged the knife into the plastic of the body bag, which gave way easily, the knife gliding through its surface and revealing the pale, dead corpse inside.

“Will. Whatever your name was.” She gestured to the body, “This is, or, was my partner. Chaos.”

Chapter Text

Will stared at the body on the table as Ocie began unwrapping it from the shredded plastic tarp that had once been the body bag. Chaos’ face looked almost peaceful and serene, despite being deathly pale. He wondered if Ocie had intentionally cleaned it to make it look so–there were distinct smear marks where a cloth had wiped away the blood around the neck–maybe in an attempt to make it easier to look at the body.

Blood.

The thought encompassed Will’s mind entirely, and it took him a moment to register anything else besides the simple word, and the aggressive metallic odour that came with it. Chaos’ body was covered in it: great dark stains which extended all the way down to their knees, coating their chest and arms, all of it seeming to stem from a single wound. If indeed such a thing could be described as a single wound.

Chaos no longer had a throat.

The corpse seemed only a few inches of flesh away from being entirely decapitated, Will realised, and the thought made him gag, as the sheer gruesomeness of the sight before him suddenly crashed down on him in a single, engulfing wave.

“Dear God…” Seven breathed.

Will wretched, finally tearing his eyes away from the body on their table and bracing himself against the wall. He was lucky he hadn’t had the time to eat this morning. No doubt any contents of his stomach would have been lost by now, and they didn’t need a mess like that to deal with. Not now. Right now they had a mess that was far worse.

“What happened?” Seven asked.

Clearly his nerves were stronger than Wills in this exact moment. Despite doing this for so long, he could never get over some of these sights. He had seen far worse, he tried to think to himself. He had seen worse, and dealt with worse. Unsurprisingly, thinking about all those mutilated victims did little to help his stomach in its revolt against his throat.

Ocie was busy rummaging around under the table, eventually unhooking several sets of leather straps, and beginning to tie down Chaos’ wrists. “If I tell you, will you strap up their ankles?” The older woman mumbled. Seven nodded, ducking around Will and fumbling with the straps with his large, unfocused hands.

“She… God I don’t know what she was even thinking.” Ocie admitted. “We’ve been working together for a while now, hunting vampires, like I’ve always done, and we… I don’t know, just last night Chaos was gone, and all there was left was a note saying she was going to find Fable. And of course I knew that was some stupid macho bullshit and so I got A-” She coughed, catching whatever she was about to say and stopping herself, “So I tracked her down and when I found her… Well, let's just say that there wouldn’t be this much left of her if I hadn’t gotten there when I did. I’m assuming you know how that particular brand of vampires tends to feed…”

“Ripping apart as much flesh as possible.” Will said quietly, pushing himself up from against the wall. “I’ve been to a few feeding sites before, with Al, and… The removal of the jugulars is common.”

“The removal of all of the body is common, kid.” Ocie grunted slightly as she tightened a final strap around Chaos’ chest, pinning them tightly to the table.

All three of them stepped back. Oceana looked at Chaos. Will and Seven looked at Oceana.

“Miss Oceana, I… I can’t help but ask…” Seven said softly, trying to wipe Chaos’ blood from his hands onto his jeans, “Why are you here? Surely if this… If Chaos here was to be turned, you could stake her preemptively and-”

“I’m not going to do that.” Ocie said flatly. She turned her steely blue eyes on him, her face expressionless. “If Chaos doesn’t turn, I will not allow myself to cause further mutilation to her body.”

“And if she does?” Will asked.

Oceana took a long time to respond, turning her gaze back to the woman on the metal table. “I don’t know.” She said quietly.

“You don’t know?” Will pushed.

The older hunter’s shoulders tensed. She took a deep breath before shrugging off her jacket, bundling it up and placing it on a desk. “I’ll figure it out, okay kid? Don’t worry about it, I just… Al’s was the closest place nearby with the right kind of holding equipment, and I just…” She sighed. “I’ll figure it out.”

Will felt like he should respond. Like he needed to respond. This was Al’s–was his–house, Ocie couldn’t just barge in like this. And besides, they had all of this other hell going on right above their heads, how were they going to keep that secret if Oceana was right here? Maybe altogether Seven, Caspian and himself could physically restrain Ocie from killing Rae, but how long could they do that? How long could they give Rae to escape before this veteran hunter went after him, regardless of the possible vampire strapped to the table. And of course there was the matter of keeping Rae and Jamie away from killing Ocie if she presented some kind of threat.

Before Will had the chance to speak however, there was a tremendous bang on the door at the top of the stairs, followed by the clear sounds of a scuffle. The basement might have been relatively sound proof for the most part, but that door certainly was not.

Ocie froze. “Who else is here?” She asked.

Neither Will or Seven answered, sharing a silent, panicked conversation as they stared at each other. The banging on the door turned to a frantic knocking and rattling as someone tried to open the locked door.

“Who the fuck else is here right now and what do I need to explain?” Ocie stressed. “Fucking answer me.”

“It’s not important,” Will began, before a voice from the stairs.

“Will! Shit- Will? Seven?” Caspian yelled through the door. “I could really use some help up here and- and why the fuck did you lock this door?”

Seven swallowed. “I-I can deal with-”

“No, I've got it.” Will interrupted, darting past him towards the stairs. “Just keep an eye on these two, Sev. Thank you.”

The pair shared a look that made Will’s heart skip a beat. It was barely noticeable, considering his heart was already beating a million miles a minute due to stress, but skip it did nonetheless. He sprinted up the stairs, his body rebelling at the need for such intense movement so early in the morning. His hand hovered over the lock for the door. On the other side, he could hear desperate scratching and almost… growling?

That wasn’t good.

None of this was good.

Will wondered if things had ever really been good or if he had just been fooling himself into thinking that was the case for the last twenty odd years of his life.

“Cas? Buddy? I’m gonna come out but I need you guys to step away from the door.”

There was more grunting before the pressure of hands on the other side of the door vanished. As quickly as he could, Will opened the door and slipped out, closing it again behind himself.

The sight which greeted him out in the hallway was not what he expected. Caspian was lying flat on his back, his arms wrapped up and around Jamie’s armpits, holding the teen against his chest as their legs kicked in the air, struggling to get free. Rae was sitting in a darkened corner of the adjoining room, his had in his hands, trembling violently and rocking gently back and forth, muttering to himself.

“What the fuck is going on?” Will hissed.

Caspian grunted, trying to hold Jamie steady. “Why don’t you tell me?” He huffed. “What the fuck is out there in that car?”

Will blinked at him. “W-What? There’s nothing in the car, Caspian. It belongs to a friend of Als, she’s downstairs, and-”

“Is it her b-blood?” Rae asked, his voice muffled by his hands.

Will hadn’t considered the vampire would be able to hear the conversation. He hadn't thought about how good the creature’s hearing would be. And if Rae’s hearing was that good, his sense of smell…

“No.” Will shook his head. “It’s not her blood you can smell, Rae.”

Rae made a strange sound, and Will couldn't tell if it was a growl or a whine. Either way, he didn’t like it. He turned his attention back to Jamie. Rae could at least try to control himself right now, but Jamie… the youth’s eyes were dark and blank, and they once again seemed to be acting the way they had in that alleyway, vicious and wild.

“Jamie…” Will said gently, taking a step towards where Caspian was holding the familiar to the ground. “Jamie, hey, listen to me. We don't want to hurt you, Jamie, but you need to-”

“Monster!” Jamie roared, gnashing their long animal-like teeth.

Will started back at the outburst. “M-Monster? Do you mean a vampire?”

“No!” Jamie growled.

“They won’t say,” Caspian muttered, “Will I could really use a hand here, if you could…”

“Jamie…” Will took a step closer, crouching down beside the two of them, “Jamie please, listen to me. Whatever is in that car, it's not a threat, okay? Not to us, not to you. We’re not gonna let it hurt you, you just need to trust us. You need to stay calm.”

“Jamie, please…” Caspian breathed to them. “Please, Jamie, trust us, okay?”

Jamie’s eyes lingered on Will for a while, sense finally bleeding back into them. They stopped struggling, their ragged breath dissolving into a gentle shudder. They slid off of Caspian, curling up into a ball on the wood floor beside him. Caspian sat up, panting.

“Thank you.” He said quietly, leaning over Jamie to wrap them in a hug. Caspian looked up at Will this time, before repeating, “Thank you.”

Will sat back on his feet. For a moment, he could ground himself with this insane predicament, and the nonsense in the basement faded away.

That was at least until the basement door flew open, and Ocie burst out into the hallway. “Is everything alright?” The woman asked, brandishing a stake in her hand.

Seven appeared seconds later, “I’m sorry I tried to stop her but-”

“We heard struggling and-” Ocie’s eyes scanned the room, taking in everyone. Rae was still facing away, curled up in the corner, as Jamie was on the floor. Everyone except Rae had looked up to look at Ocie, but the woman’s eyes were now fixed on one person in particular. “That’s impossible.” She said quietly.

“Wait…” Caspian breathed, standing up slowly.

Before either of them could finish their sentence, Ocie was screaming in rage and flew across the room, tackling Caspian into the wall and pinning him against it by his neck, pressing the point of the stake against his chest, right above his heart.

“You mother. Fucking. Vampire.” Ocie growled, glaring directly into Caspian’s dark brown eyes.

Chapter Text

Centross kicked in the door of the library, which had merely been propped shut to prevent wandering eyes from peering in. He and Sherbert had made quick work of the police officers stationed outside the door, and now, high on the thrill and the warmth of blood in their veins, they strode into the trashed remains of the library.

“Despicable.” Centross muttered, walking straight through a line of yellow tape, which snapped as he pressed through it and fluttered to the ground. He kicked a book across the floor, no doubt disrupting the already destroyed crime scene before them.

“I never took you to be an adamant supporter of free reading institutions.” Sherbert smirked. They raised a hand to their mouth and proceeded to lap up the remaining blood which coated their fingers.

Centross rolled his eyes. “I meant the carelessness of the vampire who was staying here. Turning a den into a mortal crime scene…” He lifted his head and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he absorbed the musty smell of the old building. “This way.” He stormed through the room and threw open a door.

On the other side was some kind of office space. Or at least it had been, once. Blood was smeared across several surfaces, coating the walls and the floor. Centross sniffed. It was all the same blood, he noticed. There was no overlapping smells or mingling notes to the mess. Whichever vampire had killed this victim had made sloppy work of it.

There was something else too. The blood smelled odd: slightly bitter, in a way which made Centross’ skin crawl. Yes, they knew the smell of that blood. They had tasted it before, in Perix’s lab.

“The blood is from the test subject.” Centross concluded as he and Sherbert entered the room.

“He lost a lot of it.” Sherbert observed, crouching to look at the smears on the floor. “So much of it was spilled, but none of it was drunk by the vampire who was here.”

“Mmmm.” Centross hummed, looking around the space. “So… Perhaps he did succeed in killing the vampire that attacked him. The test subject was bitten, but he managed to stab the vampire. Vampire turns to dust over the course of a few hours leaving no body for the mortal police, but the subject loses copious amounts of blood.”

“Except it doesn’t explain the struggle here.” Sherbert pointed at the trails of blood on the floor, which stretched from one wall to the other in a messy, streaky line.

“Or why there was no trail of blood leading out through the main portion of the library.” Centross sighed, leaning against one of the desks. “Even if this familiar Jamie found the subject, they wouldn’t know enough medically in their human form to stem the bleeding enough that there would be no traces.”

“Speaking of the familiar…” Sherbert sniffed the air, before taking another, longer breath through their nose. “They were never in this room. Outside I caught some of their scent, but in here… nothing.”

“Okay, so we take it outside.” Centross agreed, following Sherbert as they retraced their steps back through the library.

Centross watched the entrance to the alleyway as Sherbert continued to try and track the scent of the blood. They had stashed the corpses of the police–or at least what was left of them–in one of the nearby dumpsters, and unlike whatever clown had been staying in the library, they hadn’t left any blood. Nobody was likely to see evidence of their attack, but it was still possible some other cop would come by and see their comrades missing.

“It’s faint.” Sherbert decided, appearing beside Centross.

“The test subject or the familiar?” The End vampire asked.

The member of Fable’s court shrugged. “Both. Jamie is stronger out here, for sure, but then… Then it just vanishes. The scent of the blood and the scent of the familiar.”

“There’s no blood from the familiar.” Centross reasoned. “Which means that wherever it is, it’s alive.”

“There’s also no dust from the vampire.” Sherbert added. “So they’re likely still alive too.”

Centross ran a hand across his scarred face. “So we have three distinct beings that would have for certain killed each other, either for food or self-defence, and yet… no evidence of any deaths? They all just vanished into thin air?”

“Unless…” Sherbert ran a hand through their hair. “I can smell a car. Gasoline, at the end of the alley. I assumed that it was the mortal police, but what if…”

“There was someone else.” Centross finished, turning to face the prince. “But the only people who would be here and not panic would be–”

“Hunters.” Sherbert nodded.

The two vampires stared at each other, considering the possibility. That would make everything so much more complicated. They walked deeper into the alley, Sherbert crouching to search for tire-marks as Centross leaned against the wall.

“So hunters find this End vampire.” Centross reasoned, crossing his arms and staring up at the sky as he thought. “They kill them, and manage to rescue the test subject before they die, patching wounds, carrying out the body.”

“Hence the lack of blood in the main room.” Sherbert nodded. “They bring the test subject out, and out him in a car. Something big based on the rubber marks here, maybe a van.”

“Then the familiar, Jamie, they… They what? Sneak into the van?” Centross asked. “It would explain the masked scent. Or if they were to land on top of the van and cling on, there’d be no ground tracks, and no imprint from their scent if the wind took it.”

“Maybe.” Sherbert stood up, wandering the join the taller man by the wall. “But then why lose contact with the Lady? If it was still actively on the trail of the subject, surely they would have reported back by now?”

Centross scowled. This whole thing was way more complicated than it needed to be, and they needed to start showing results of this whole situation fast. They already had to deal with a missing prince, the missing scientist was just a distraction, and now… God now this whole thing was spiralling out of his control.

“So… What if the familiar is knocked out?” He suggested. Sherbert raised an eyebrow. “This animal, Jamie, you said? Jamie is in human form to blend in, they’re not used to facing any sort of combat, and they’re knocked out. Hunters, knowing the importance of a familiar, kidnap them, stick them in a van.”

“For what, ransom?” Sherbert asked.

“Or as bait.” Centross shrugged.

Sherbert’s eyes widened. “To try and lure the familiar’s vampire into some sort of trap.”

“It lines up.” Centross added.

“Unfortunately.” The prince sighed. “But… This is a lot of speculation. What if we’re wrong?”

“Then we both wasted our time.” Centross admitted. “But it’s all we’ve got. Do you think you can track the car?”

Sherbert looked down the alley. “Maybe? Depends how far they drove, and how busy these roads are. We’re not far from Chicago, if a major road intersects, I might lose them. But… Jamie’s scent is just strong enough that I can maybe track them.”

“We do that then. See how far we can get, exhaust all options before we double back on ourselves.” Centross decided. “Sound good, Sherb?” He extended a hand.

Sherbert looked the vampire up and down with their heterochromatic eyes, before their mouth split into a wide, fang-filled grin. “Sounds good to me. Let’s hope it’s worth it.” They grabbed Centross’ hand and shook it.

The two vampires took a step towards the direction of the car, preparing to transform, when Centross froze, grabbing Sherbert’s arm. “Wait.” He whispered, his entire body tensing as his pointed ears twitched.

Sherbert looked around. “What is it?” They whispered back, straining.

“I can smell something.” Centross muttered in hushed tones, looking around the alley. “I thought it was just an animal, but it’s one of us.”

“The missing End vampire?” Sherbert asked, “Do you think they managed to escape?”

Centross shook his head, scanning the alleyway. “No… No this isn’t Ender, this is…”

The man pounced, launching his large body into the shadows at a frightening speed and rolling through the darkness, hissing loudly as he clawed at the shadow.

There was a long, silent moment as Sherbert watched Centross stand back up from the darkness, his coat flapping about his legs.

“What is it?” Sherbert asked.

Centross turned around, and held out his arm. Hanging from his grip by the scruff of its neck was a small white and tan cat, it’s red and yellow eyes staring at Sherbert as it’s paws dangled uselessly in the air.

Chapter Text

Sherbert blinked at the cat; a deliberately controlled gesture that was entirely for the exaggeration of their confusion, given that vampires did not, strictly speaking, need to blink.

“Athena?” They asked.

There was a gathering of mass and shadows, coupled with a strange unfurling of fur and skin, and within a few fragments of a second, the Nether Prince was dangling in front of them, their feet inches above the ground as Centross gripped them tightly by the back of their collar. Athena folded their arms, an unimpressed look pinching their face. Centross dropped them, and Athena landed on the ground in a slight crouch.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sherbert hissed. They hadn’t seen Athena in a long time, perhaps the last disastrous meeting of the courts, and the young vampire had only grown since then. This in and of itself unsettled them; Sherbert was not used to other vampires growing like this.

“And where is your little guard dog?” Centross growled, looking around the alleyway and sniffing the air expectedly. He liked Galahad, in truth, at least as much as he really liked anybody. The man’s presence however would only serve to complicate things even further.

Athena huffed, straightening back up from their crouch and eyeing Centross unfavourably. “Don’t call him that. Galahad is a knight.”

“Yeah, a knight pain in my ass.” Centross muttered.

Athena rolled her eyes. “Besides, he’s not here. I ditched him back in Chicago.”

“Nice move.” Sherbert smirked, at the same time Centross asked:

“Chicago?”

Athena bowed slightly to Sherbert in acknowledgement of their compliment, before rounding fully on Centross. “What’s it matter to you?” He asked, looking the older vampire up and down.

“It doesn’t. I’m just curious as to how long you’ve been following us, if you left your guard in Chicago…” Centross took a step, beginning to circle the youth, inspecting them.

“I wasn’t following you.” Athena sighed. “I happened to be passing by for a while, and I happened to notice Sherbert’s scent, you reek, by the way,” They added as an aside to the other prince, who looked offended, “And I figured… Well, it’s not the usual stomping grounds of Fable’s Court, let alone his prince, and so something had to be up.”

Centross shook his head, grinning in spite of himself. He stopped in his pacing, and cast a glance up at Sherbert momentarily. “You truly are naive, Prince, to think one of Fable’s Court would really keep to their own jurisdiction.”

Sherbert looked like they were about to protest in some way, but thought the better of it, and unsteady simply made a soft growling noise.

“A little far east for your jurisdiction too,” Athena spat.

She had seen Centross before, mostly in diplomatic meetings as a guard for Enderian and her son. Relations between the Nether and End courts were far better than between either of them and Fable, and as such Athena spent a good deal of time with Rae in the last several years. Centross had himself never interacted with the Nether Prince, but he found himself intrigued by their confidence.

Prince. Centross thought to himself. It felt at times such a silly term to throw around for these vampire heirs. They weren’t real royalty, not exactly, simply the successors to some of the most powerful vampires in the country. Vampires who had worked their way through their immortal lives by organising their brood. By killing discreetly, and by setting in place systems which made it easier for them to kill again, in whichever city they chose to inhabit. The guise of royalty lay in a certain fetishisation of the concept so many vampires had brought with them from the old world. As much as they tried to argue otherwise, vampires were disgustingly sentimental creatures. One tended to be, given how long they lived, and how much the world changed around them. Perhaps one of the three court leaders had indeed been royalty, once, somewhere far away, in an age lost to time and mortal memory. Or perhaps it was simply ingrained in their mind as a signifier of their self-gained status.

Centross peered at Athena through his dark eyes, considering them. “I am investigating official business for her majesty Enderian.” He said, brisk and stiff in his wording.

Athena’s two-tone eyes widened slightly, but the expression was quickly subdued as a mask of calm fell across their face.

Good. Centross thought. They’ve been taught to control themselves. Make themselves appear stoic and unphased. That will aid them well, when they take over from their missing parents. Sherbert could stand to learn a thing or two from this one. Rae could too, now that he thought about it…

“Does this…” Athena paused for a second, considering if the information she was about to share was public between all present parties, “Does this official business have to do with Rae?”

Sherbert smirked on the other side of the alley, shaking their head. “He’s a smart one, Centross. Enderian had better watch out.

“Shut up, Sherb.” Centross resisted the urge to groan. Of course Galahad hadn’t been able to keep his mouth shut. The vampire was a good soldier, good at following orders, good at killing, but he was too… Too nostalgic. Sentimental. “What do you know about Prince Morningstar?” He asked, bluntly.

Athena eyed him, then turned to eye Sherbert, who shrugged.

“I know… I know he’s missing.” Athena began. “I know that I’m not supposed to know, and most people don’t know, so that it doesn’t have political consequences. I know that the Nether Court has no idea where he is, and that…” They paused for a moment, sniffing the air. “And that he was here.”

Centross and Sherbert’s heads jerked upwards in unison, staring at each other.

“What did you just say?” Sherbert asked.

Centross took a far less amiable approach, and grabbed Athena by the collar of their hoodie, pulling the young prince to face him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Athena gripped his wrists, trying to force him off. The mask of collected political air had vanished, replaced by a look of fear, and a deep seated, barely noticeable anger.

“He was here! His scent, he- he killed someone, I think, and then he left! That way!” Athena pointed out of the alley in the direction the van had gone.

Centross let go of their collar and stepped back, pressing the base of his palm into his forehead as he tried to think. Surely he would have noticed? He would have been able to pick up the scent, except… Except vampires scents vanished far more easily than those of mortals. Vampires were, by their very nature, deceased, and as such many of the processes which would go towards leaving some kind of scent–breathing, pheromones, sweating, bleeding–failed to do so. It was a scent almost impossible to properly track. At least, impossible for an End vampire.

The courts themselves as political units often–though not always–were themselves rooted in subtle, distinct biological differences in the vampires who were a part of them. There were markers, like a genetic trait or recognisable symptom, which indicated by which of these varying sects or species one had been turned by. Many vampires who turned their immortality towards scientific pursuits had considered this, and had suggested varying theories as to why this was.

Most commonly accepted was that vampirism, at its core, originated as a virus. One that infected humans, yes, but that perhaps had not always done so. Perhaps it had, over time, evolved in other hosts, and adapted to their traits. Traits which had become so ingrained in the DNA of specific strains of the virus that when it was passed to a human host, these traits became transferred and magnified by generations of the disease being caught and transferred through the bite of another vampire. The End vampires could hear impeccable. The sense of sight among Fable’s Court was renowned, and the Nether vampires…

They were perhaps the only ones with a sense of smell developed enough to properly track the scent of another vampire.

This however, raised another, all the more confusing question.

Rae had been the End vampire here. Why, or even how, Centross couldn’t say. But he had been alive, or undead, to be technical. Rae had battled with this human, this hunter, and then… Gone with them? No, that was ridiculous. A vampire would never go with hunters willingly. Had they overpowered him, somehow? Captured him? What purpose could they possibly have to catch a vampire, especially after they tried to kill the test subject?

Unless…

Unless the test subject remembered him.

“We need to go.” Centross said suddenly, rounding on Sherbert. “Sherb, you need to start tracking that van, now.”

“What?” Sherbert asked, roused from their own attempts at puzzling this all out.

“What van?” Athena asked, looking between the two. “Do you think the van has Rae? Or that he took the van? I can help track it if-”

“Absolutely not.” Centross shook his head. “No, it’s complicated enough that I’m doing this with the Fable Prince, the Nether Prince is not tagging along for shits and giggles I can’t-”

“I can’t care what you can’t do because you also can’t track Rae’s scent, obviously.” Athena folded their arms. “Because you didn’t ask Sherbert to trace Rae, you asked them to track the van. So from what I can see you need me.”

Centross stared at Athena for a long moment. They looked up to Sherbert for support, but the vampire simply shrugged.

“We’re following hunters.” Centross explained. “I don’t think you fully understand how dangerous-”

“Don’t give me that bullshit.” Athena scoffed. “I’ve been looking out for hunters since I was born, I… I’m coming with you. Whether you like it or not. Besides, if Rae has been taken by hunters, you need all the help you can get.”

Centross found his mouth opening and closing, without any words coming out. He grunted in frustration, kicking a rock down the alleyway.

“Okay, say we let Athena come with us,” Sherbert said, far too casually for Centross’ liking. “Why would hunters kidnap Rae, rather than just kill him? And alongside taking the familiar?”

“Familiar?” Athena asked. Neither of the older vampires responded.

Centross tried to calm themselves. “If… If Perix’s test subject remembered their time as an experiment, remembered the things done to them at the hands of the End Court… it’s possible that he wants revenge.” Centross said the words so calmly, so coldly, that they themselves were almost as scary as the concept of being killed outright.

“It’s possible that this test subject, this Caspian… That he’s torturing Rae.”

Chapter Text

Caspian’s head spun from being slammed against the wall, and the room around him seemed to be spinning, wildly out of focus. Seemingly everyone was screaming, and while he couldn’t be a hundred sure, he thought it was likely something to do with the sharp object that was threatening to stab through his skin, right between his ribs.

There was something naggingly familiar about the blurry figure pressing him to the wall, and it was only the clear blue eyes peering up at him through the tangle of blonde hair that really tipped him off.

“Lit… Little Ocie Pine?” He wheezed, struggling to suck back in the air that had been knocked from his lungs.

The scene around him seemed to be happening in slow motion, as Will and Seven charged forwards at a snail's pace to try and hold back the woman against him. Before they got the chance however, a blur of black hair and white fangs flew across the room at an impossible speed and crashed into Ocie’s side, knocking her clean away from Caspian and letting the hunter crash back to the ground, where he quickly gathered himself.

Rae and Ocie were grappling on the floor, a mess of snarls and scratches and stakes, flailing around.

“Oceana!” Will yelled.

At the same time, Caspian yelled rather more desperately: “Rae!”

Rae was the more responsive of the two opponents. He flung himself from Ocie, scrambling back across the floor and springing to his feet in front of Caspian. Seizing the opportunity of the woman being prone on the ground, Will and Seven rushed forwards, grabbing her arms to stop her launching herself after Rae. Seven wrestled the stake from her hand and cast it aside, where it scattered across the floor loudly.

“You mother fuckers!” Ocie screamed, thrashing to try and get at Caspian. “How many of these bastards are you hiding? Are you one of them?” She yelled, turning to face Will.

“No!” Will shouted back, himself and Seven pulling her ip to her feet. “Would you just cool it for a second, Caspian isn’t a vampire! And Rae is but…”

“Like hell!” Ocie refused to stop struggling. “What are they doing here?”

“What is Chaos doing in our basement?” Seven asked, desperately trying to summon an air of calm which wasn’t working in the slightest. We’re trying to help Rae, Oceana. The same as you’re helping your friend.

Caspian watched the altercation with wide eyes, taking in every word and movement through a haze of memories and adrenaline. He was suddenly aware of Rae’s eyes on him, drawn into slits but slowly widening as they took him in.

“Are you hurt?” Rae asked softly. His lips were still pulled back in a grimace which showed off his fangs, and Caspian took a moment to pull his eyes away from them. Rae was staring at his chest, ashy faced.

Caspian looked down. A hole had been poked through his shirt, and beneath that, the sharpened end of the stake had grazed his skin. A tiny nick, with a single drop of blood tracing it’s way down his skin. Quickly, the man reached up and wiped the blood away, shifting the shirt on his shoulders so that anything further was simply soaked into the shirt. Some of the control seeped back into Rae’s face, and the man seemed more scared than vicious.

“I’m fine.” Caspian forced a smile. He slid his gaze back to Ocie, and moved to step around Rae.

“Caspian-” Rae started, grabbing the man’s hand without thinking.

Both of them froze, if only just for a moment, staring at each other, and then at their hands. Caspian felt his cheeks reddening, and, in what could only have been a trick of the light, thought he saw Rae’s cheeks blush too. Rae let go of Caspian’s hand almost as quickly as he had taken it, and let his arms fall to his side.

“It’s okay.” Caspian breathed, turning back to Ocie.

The woman had stopped struggling by the time she’d turned back around, and was instead glaring daggers though Caspian’s head, as if by sheer force of will she could make it explode. Caspian swallowed.

“Oceana?” He asked. “Is… Is that you?”

“I’ll rip your goddamn head off with my bare hands if I have to.” She snarled. “It was you, wasn’t it? The papers were fucking right.” There were tears streaking down her cheeks now, agony sneaking past the anger in the barest wisps. “You killed my fucking sister you-”

“Don’t!” Caspian yelled, making the other men around him jump. “Don’t you fucking dare say that I-” Feeling’s Caspian had managed to ignore for years, maybe even decades bubbled up to the surface. “I blame myself for her death every fucking day but don’t you dare try to tell me that I- that I actually killed her.” He finally choked out.

“Vampire bastard!” Ocie roared.

She managed to yank her hand out of Will’s grasp and swung herself forwards, slipping out of Seven’s grip and launching herself at Caspian again. Her hand, thick and calloused, gripped him tightly around his throat, and Caspian felt his voice give out at the force of the impact. Ocie moved to begin choking him as the other’s rushed forwards, but paused as her grip tightened.

Her grip relaxed as Will and Seven began to pull her back, and Caspian felt the woman’s fingers press gently against his jugular.

“Pulse.” She breathed through the tears, the word barely more than a whisper. “You have a… But that’s not… how can you be…”

She let her legs give out as Will and Seven grabbed her by the shoulders. Rae appeared behind Caspian–or perhaps he had already been there, and Caspian had simply failed to notice–and placed a cold hand on the hunter’s shoulder. Caspian nodded at him, rubbing his throat gingerly. He could feel where Ocie’s sudden grip had reopened part of the wound Rae had caused two nights prior, and he pressed against it to try and stop the blood flowing. Based on the tensing of Rae’s hand, he assumed the vampire could smell it.

“Rae could you… Could you go get me some bandages?” He asked quietly, not moving his head to avoid opening the gash any further. “Will can show you.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with her.” Both men said, almost in unison.

Caspian swallowed. “I won’t be alone. Seven’s here.” He nodded at his friend. “And Jamie…” Caspian turned around, only to see that Jamie was gone. “Jamie is somewhere.”

“Shit.” Will muttered under his breath. He took a moment, considering Ocie’s sudden lack of resistance, and let go of her shoulder. She didn’t move. Her stare at Caspian was less anger and more confused agony. “Come on, Rae… I’ll show you the bandages.” Will glanced at Seven, who nodded slowly, letting go of Ocie’s other arm. The woman just let her shoulders slump.

Caspian crouched down on the floor in front of her feeling warm tears slide down the side of his own cheeks. “Hi, Ocie.” He said quietly.

“Who are you?” Ocie asked quietly.

The young man licked his dry lips as he looked across at the older woman. “It’s me. Caspian. Solcrest.” The two were silent for a while, looking at each other, and taking in the changes and lack thereof respectively. “You grew up, little Pine.” Caspian smiled weakly.

“You didn’t.” Ocie scoffed weakly. “What are you?” She reached up weakly, and ran her fingers against Caspian’s cheek.

“I’m just… Me.” Caspian shrugged. “I’m not a vampire.”

She nodded, feeling the pulse of blood beneath his skin. “I believe you.” She said weakly. After a moment, she spoke again. “When I said… I didn’t realise, about her… I just saw you and-”

“I understand.” Caspian nodded. “I… It’s okay, Ocie. I figured you blamed me anyway. Everyone else blamed me too.” He tried to smile, but the gesture failed as he thought back through the fog that was his time held prisoner by the vampires.

“So you didn’t… You didn’t kill her?” The woman whispered.

Caspian shrugged. “I might as well have. I… I couldn’t save her, Ocie. I wanted to, but I… I was with her and they…” A sob he didn’t notice he was holding down snuck out, and with it a fresh bout of tears. “God Oceana I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I… there’s not a day goes by I don’t wish they had taken me instead of Strawberri and I…” He wheezed, feeling lightheaded, either from the impact of the wall, the loss of blood, or the sheer flood of emotion. Possibly all of it.

Before he could even realise what was happening, Oceana had thrown herself forwards and embraced him. “I’m glad you were with her.” She breathed shakily, trembling as she spoke. “That she was with someone.”

Caspian slipped his own arm around her, holding the older woman close. He wanted to find the right thing to say, and searched desperately for what it might be. “I’m sorry.” Was all he could manage.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two broke apart, and Ocie wiped her tears away on the back of her palm. “Fuck, I haven’t cried in… fuck.” She huffed out a weak laugh.

Caspian forced a smile. He looked at her. The woman who had once been his best friends little sister. The spoiled younger sibling, who could and most often did get away with anything. The rebellious seventeen year old kid who would sneak away with her friends for weekends of drinking and smoking on the beach and send Strawberri mental. It was hard to contextualise that carefree, grouchy teen with the middle aged woman in front of him now. There were streaks of grey in her blond hair, and her eyes were tired and sunken. There was something that was missing from them. Some spark of optimism that had been replaced by a cold darkness.

“God, Oceana, you… How long has it been?”

Ocie didn’t answer for a moment. She just eyed him nervously. The stark streak of white in his dark hair, and the patchwork of scars across his exposed neck. The blood seeping through his fingers. “Thirty five years.” She said finally.

Caspian opened and closed his mouth a few times. He knew that fact already, in truth. But he had known it as an abstract. A number on a page, a ridiculously long stretch of time that separated the world he had left from this nebulous high tech world he had been brought into.

”Probably like Back to the Future Two for you, huh Lost Boy?” Will had asked him in the first few days since he had been rescued.

Caspian’s only, rather telling answer, was simply: ”They made a second Back to the Future movie?”

Now however, there was a marker of those years. A rope which stretched across that bizarre gulf and connected the two lines. Something–someone–that made that distance real.

“I’m so sorry.” Caspian said again.

Ocie laughed again, a little more lively than before. “For what? Time passes, Caspian. People grow up. Or at least we’re supposed to, we don’t all get to be Peter Pan.” She eyed him. “You don’t need to apologise for time. Or for avoiding it. I’m guessing vampires were involved, even if you’re not one?”

Caspian nodded. “It’s a long story.”

“I can imagine.” Oceana smiled weakly. “Was it that one? From before? He seemed pretty protective.”

“No, we only discovered Rae’s existence two days ago.” Seven interjected, reminding both Caspian and Ocie that he was even there.

“Not Rae.” Caspian shrugged. “I don’t know who. Some other vampires. Rae… he wouldn’t do something like that.”

Ocie made a sad sighing sound in her throat. “You can tell yourself that.” She said gently.

Caspian didn’t feel the desire to argue that point. He believed it, and that was what was important. Rae wouldn’t hurt him. Not like that.

The bleeding at his neck had stopped for now, and he let his hand fall to his side. “What are you doing here, Ocie? How do you know Will?”

Oceana shrugged. “I don’t. Not really. I knew Al, before he died. We hunted vampires together, for a while. Back in the mid-nineties.”

Caspian tilted his head. “How did you end up involved with vampires?” He asked.

“They…” The woman paused. “There was an incident.” She said sadly. “The night after Strawberri was killed, but before I found out. There was a ritual, I think, my friends brother, he… They turned him and-”

“You don’t have to go into it.” Caspian assured her. “I um… I’m sorry. I guess after they killed Strawberri, I never imaged you’d get tied up with all of this vampire stuff too, and-”

“Wait-” Ocie stopped him, “Strawberri was killed by vampires?”

Caspian nodded. “Yeah. Two of them, they… they ambushed us in the woods, we were looking for your sister’s friend Haley, and… I watched them take her first.”

Ocie tried and failed to hold back a sob, and drew in a rasping breath. “I’ll wipe every fucking one of them off the planet.” She huffed, sitting back on her legs. “God knows I already tried.”

“You’ve been trying for a while, I guess.” Caspian nodded.

“It’s not where I wanted my life to go, but…” Ocie shrugged. “I guess we don’t get to choose those kinds of things as often as we’d like.”

“No, I guess we don’t.”

At that moment, Rae and Will came barreling back into the room. Rae dropped beside Caspian with bandages, taking a moment to hiss at Ocie before trying to help Caspian with his wounds. Will however had gone straight past them, making a beeline straight for the front door.

“Will?” Seven asked, spinning around.

“The kid! Jamie!” Will threw open the front door. “He’s trying to get into Ocie’s car, he snuck out while we were distracted!”

“What?” Rae asked, looking up quickly, and glancing at the scarily close rays of sunshine coming in through the open door. “Why would Jamie-”

“Fuck!” Ocie leapt to her feet, sprinting towards the door. “Fuck, not Aax!”

Chapter Text

Caspian scrambled to his feet to follow after Ocie and Will as they charged out the front door. His neck was hastily bandaged, but perhaps not quite enough, and he felt guilty for the relief which settled in his mind as he jogged into the sunlight, leaving Rae alone in the shadow confines of the house. Despite the feelings he had for the vampire–which had only strengthened since the kiss, and seeing him defend him so willingly against Oceana–there was still an extent to which the look in Rae’s eyes had unsettled him upon seeing the wound in his neck reopen. He glanced back over his shoulder at the doorway, and in the shadows of the morning, the vampire was nothing more than a silhouette, his eyes glinting white like an animal in the darkness.

Will had been right about Jamie.

The teenager was grappling with the door handle of Oceana’s car, as if he was prepared to rip it off if it failed to open. With their other fist they slammed against the heavily tinted windows, growling and snarling, bearing their impossibly large teeth. Will and Ocie both grabbed hold of the familiar, dragging them away from the car with considerable effort. Both of them were yelling, and with all the noise Jamie was making neither seemed fully coherent. Ocie was shouting something about the car, and Will was yelling about staying in hiding.

And then Caspian noticed another sound. Another snarling and hissing and growling, but this time it wasn’t coming from Jamie. Whatever was making this sound, it was coming from inside the van. Caspian leant closer to the windows, and attempted to peer through the tinting, despite Ocie’s protests behind him. He squinted through the glass, and…

Something slammed against the dark glass: a pale white hand with long claws which pressed against the window with such force that the entire side of the car shook. Caspian leapt back, swearing loudly as he stared at the car.

“Ocie…” He muttered, glancing over his shoulder only for a moment before turning his attention back to the car. “Ocie what is in the car?”

“It doesn’t fucking matter what is this kid?” The woman yelled. No one acknowledged her question.

“Ocie tell me what's in the car.” Caspian said flatly.

“Listen man, I don’t owe you shit right n-”

“Oceana goddamn fucking Pine what is in that car because it is trying to break out!” Caspian yelled.

Oceana looked up, distracted, and Jamie squirmed out of her grip, launching themselves off the ground only to be restricted by Will, who grunted with the effort of keeping the supernatural creature at bay.

Sure enough, the hand had slammed into the window again, now cracking the glass in thin silvery spider-webs, which stretched outwards from the point of impact.

“Fuck, no…” Ocie sprinted forwards, throwing herself against the side of the vehicle. “Aax? Aax buddy you need to listen to me. You need to calm down Aax, okay?”

There was a noise made from inside the car, but over the growls of Jamie Caspian couldn’t be sure if they were words, or merely rabid sounds.

“Aax I need you to back up, okay? I’m gonna open the door and the sunlight is gonna flood in alright?” There was no response, and Oceana began a countdown, fumbling with her keys in the lock of the car door. “I swear to god if you break my car you son of a bitch… One, two, three!”

Ocie flung open the door of the car, and Caspian backed up quickly, preparing himself for something to come launching out of the car…

Except nothing did. If anything, the portion of the back seat he could now see seemed empty, as if whatever was in there had just vanished.

“Monster!” Jamie bellowed, speaking real words this time rather than animalistic growls. “Don’t trust her, it’s a monster! It wants to kill!”

“Would you shut up!” Ocie screamed back at them. “Aax I need you to trust me okay?”

Caspian took a step closer to the door of the car and peered inside over Oceana’s shoulder. It took him a moment to realise exactly what it was he was seeing, curled up in the back of the car and pressed against the opposite door.

The person was small and stocky, bundled in a large white jacket that seemed far too large for their body. Indeed, grey was really the first word Caspian’s brain could conjure in response to seeing the figure in the car. He was no stranger to pale complexions, but whoever or whatever this was was beyond anything he’d seen. Their skin was so grey it was almost ghostly, veins snaking their way just below the surface. A mass of white hair hung around their head, broken up only by long red streaks which hung around their face and ears, messily dyed and streaky.

Yet it was their face which threw him off more than anything else. The figure, Aax, he could only assume, had a wide, round face, which split open almost entirely in half at their mouth, creating an impossible Cheshire grin of jagged teeth. The eyes which stared out at him were almost albino in their appearance; surprisingly large with deep, pupil-less red islands in the void of red-streaked white. It took Caspian a moment to fully register the words. The face was mousy, with a small nose and chin but… frog-like.

Yes, he decided. There was a certain amphibian quality to the pale figure. Not in a bad way, simply… new. Unlike any vampire or human he had ever seen before.

“Aax these are friends.” Ocie assured them, raising her hands peacefully.

Aax looked out at her with those red eyes, almost as if he wasn’t quite registering what he was seeing. Their eyes were squinted and their almost invisible eyebrows furrowed.

“That thing attacked me.” They growled.

Their voice was soft and rasping, and not altogether unpleasant. Caspian simply continued to stare at them, and it seemed as if Aax had failed to notice him at all. He had seen many vampires in his time, possibly hundreds, of so many kinds and sects and species and yet none of them when he thought back now truly resembled Aax at all. Which raised the question beyond who was Aax to a much more mysterious, what were they?

Monster. Jamie had called him.

“Yeah well that thing is…” Ocie looked back at Jamie. “I don’t exactly know what that thing is, but we… We’re here to help Chaos, and… And they’re helping.”

“Is she okay?” Aax asked. “Or is she…” They opened and closed their mouth before looking away from Ocie, their eyes finally winding their way onto Caspian.

“I don’t know.” Ocie answered quietly. Aax seemed to have moved on already.

“Your scent is wrong.” Aax said bluntly, staring straight through Caspian.

The hunter wondered how well Aax could see through those unfocused eyes. “P-Pardon?”

“Bitter.” Aax observed. “Your scent, your blood, it’s not… You’re not undead, but you’re not alive. You’re like it is.” They raised a small hand to point out past them, long nails indicating at Jamie.

Caspian blinked at them. “I… I don’t know what you mean. Jamie is a familiar, they’re a bear that just looks like this now, I’m not…” He could feel Ocie’s eyes on him. “I’m just me. A human. I think.”

“Not human. Aax shook their head, slowly uncurling from themselves in the back of the car. “Not human, not a vampire, not a familiar.” They said softly. “What are you?”

“Just… Caspian, I guess.” Caspian said, put off a little by the direction of the conversation. “What are you, if you’re not any of those things either?”

Aax smiled, that impossibly wide mouth appearing like a dark crescent moon in their grey skin. “Just Aax, I think.”
“While you’re busy chatting!” Will yelled at them. Caspian turned around and looked back at Jamie, who had ceased to grow tired in their struggle.

“Jamie,’ Caspian said, jogging back to them, “Jamie you need to listen to me, Aax isn’t going to hurt you!” He turned back to Ocie, “Is he?”

“Not the kid…” Ocie said hesitantly.

Jamie seemed to stop their struggling begrudgingly, if only so Will would release them from the ground. Will looked like he was getting tired of restraining people already, and it was barely mid-morning.

“I’m not protecting myself.” Jamie murmured, still staring straight past Caspian into the van, and the blurry figure in the shadows of the seat.

“Then who are you protecting, Jamie?” Will groaned, sitting back on the grass.

Slowly, Jamie turned to the house. Inside, Rae still lingered in the doorway. “I recognise them.” Jamie said slowly, “I’ve seen them, what they’ve done. With my sibling Easton, we found…”

Caspian realised there were tears running down the familiars cheeks.

“They do bad things to vampires.” Jamie said softly. “Worse than you.”

Caspian looked back at Ocie. “What does that mean?”

Oceana looked away, stepping slowly in between Caspian and Aax in the car.

“Ocie what does that mean, what does Aax-”

“He kills them.” Ocie spat. “I don’t know how, but they were made, engineered, I think, to… to kill vampires. To make sure they don’t come back.”

“I don’t want to hurt people.” Aax muttered softly from the back of the car. “I don’t mean to, I just...”

“There’s a reason I left them here while there was a chance that Chaos… If she woke up there might be no stopping Aax from-”

“Ripping them apart.” Jamie spat.

Ocie nodded. “Yeah. That.”

Caspian and Will looked at each other. “Rae…” Caspian mouthed at his friend. Will didn’t offer any attempt at comfort in response. He just nodded, his jaw clenched.

“You said they were made,” Caspian said suddenly, turning back around, “Like- like in a lab?”

“I suppose,” Oceana nodded.

Caspian charged forwards, grabbing her shoulders. She pulled back, far stronger than he was, but Caspian kept moving forwards until she was pressed against the car. “Where did you find them, Ocie?” Caspian asked. “Where is Aax from?”

“What? I don’t know, does it matter?” Ocie stammered.

“It does to me!” Caspian snapped, his breathing quickening and his heartbeat speeding up. He could feel the blood oozing out into the bandages as it pulsed through his neck, and his head felt light and fuzzy. His mind was a whirl of images, of the sensation of needles and knives, teeth and chains and fluorescent lights. If Aax was like him, made in the same way, in somewhere similar or even the same place…

“Oceana you don’t understand I-”

“Caspian!” Rae yelled, causing everyone outside to jerk around and look back at the house.

Caspian’s line of thought snapped as he turned to look back at the house. Rae was in the doorway, trying to force himself out onto the porch, dangerously close to the sunlight. Behind him, Will saw Seven fumbling with the lock on the basement door.

“They’re screaming!” Rae yelled, his eyes wide with panic. “There’s someone in the basement and- and they’re screaming!”

Chapter Text

There was very little point in having an axe if the weapon no longer had an axe-head.

Chaos slumped down behind the locked door, the shocks of impact rattling her bones every time one of these godforsaken vampires slammed into it, desperate to rip her throat out. They had come close already, a few times tonight, and Chaos was beginning to feel the effects for the first time.

How many years had they been hunting vampires? Five? Ten? Twenty? After this long, this many sleepless nights and slashed skin and sanguine streams, it all started to blur together. How old even were they? With the blood gushing from their shoulder it felt hard to remember, not to mention the agaonising pain in her leg where one of the vampires had stomped on her knee, leaving it bent at sickening angle. How many birthdays had they missed, too busy caught up in this endless tirade against the undead? However old they were they shouldn’t feel this old. This broken and worn.

Chaos looked down at the shard of wood in her hand. Axes were clumsier than stakes, and certainly far harder to conceal, but they preferred them. Stakes were so rarely useful anyway, they had to be ash or willow or hawthorn or whatever the fuck. And you needed to hit the vampire right in the heart. It sounds easy enough–hell, you stab anyone through the chest which a chunk of wood and they’ll die, regardless of the heart–but with vampires, when they were moving so quickly, clawing and biting so desperately, that precise target was a lot harder to hit. A good axe on the other hand, or even a machete if you could get your hands on one? That was a good tool to kill a vampire. You get it sharp enough you can take out the head in one swing, maybe two if you’re a little distracted.

Hell, axes were so efficient at killing the undead bastards they’d named that weird, inhuman test subject after them.

Aax… Chaos thought dizzily.

God she wished Aax was here. Or Oceana. They should have called them in earlier, relied on the expert and the fucking killing machine to help her out but no, she had to do it herself. It was always something she did herself. If you did something yourself, you got the glory. Chaos could go back to the rented house they were working out of and say:

“I did it, Ocie! I found their primary nest! I killed the head of the whole fucking sect all by myself! Aren’t you proud of me? Aren’t I worth something now? Have I done enough to not be abandoned? To not be forgotten as you move on, like everyone else has moved on?”

Instead, Chaos was sitting here, bleeding out on the floor of a shitty corporate building in Washington DC, with a hoard of vampires trying to bash down the door, a broken axe handle, a shattered leg, and very likely no backup on the way.

At least death would be quick. That was the thing you could count on with this sect. The Nether sect bit down and thrashed, their teeth locking them in as the prey’s neck was snapped and they could feed on the still warm blood without opposition. The Ender Sect bit deep and drained fast, their saliva thinning the blood. But the Fable Sect? They were violent and dirty. Teeth ripping at as much flesh as they could, causing as much bleeding as physically possible before lapping it up.

Brutal, yes, and no doubt agonising for the victim. But quick, at least. Chaos had that to hope for.

How many vampires could they kill with this single shard of wood? If they were exact and cautious, they could use it as a stake, although the splintered edge wasn’t the most ideal for stabbing. Maybe they could take out one or two, five tops before they were overpowered. Not enough to make it back to the exit of the building, and definitely not enough to make it far without being caught.

Still, at least they would go out fighting. She could take solace in that. She tried to take solace in that.

Except she couldn’t.

They couldn’t bring themselves to. For the first time, possibly in her entire life, Chaos realised a very fundamental, very deep rooted fear. It was something she had considered before, of course, everyone had one time or another, but for the first time the extent to which she fully felt it slammed into her.

Ceci Chaos did not want to die.

Chaos was terrified of dying. Dying like this. Dying alone, and in pain, and forgotten.

How long had Oceana been fighting vampires before Chaos came along? How many others had she lost? None, as far as Chaos knew, because Ocie had never spoken about them. Would that be the same for her? Would her partner simply move on, keep fighting the undead, and leave her behind as an erased casualty of the never ending battle?

She found herself crying softly, tears tracing their way through the blood on her face. Chaos tried to steady her breathing and found she couldn’t.

She didn’t want to die.

Chaos blinked away the tears, tossing her head to cast them away, and then pressed herself up against the door, using the wood to leverage herself onto her feet where she swayed for a moment, knuckles white on the snapped piece of wood.

They could run. That’s what she had always done. Run. They would take out as many as they could and fight their way to the exit. They didn’t care how many stairs they fell down or windows they broke or blood they lost, they were getting out of here.

Ceci Chaos was not going to die.

Their vision was blurry and their breathing was ragged, their head swimming as blood gushed down their chest and back and arms from the litany of bites and scratches they’d suffered. In a single lumbering movement, Chaos wheeled around and yanked open the door, screaming as she threw herself across the threshold and into the mass of vampires which had been pounding against the door.

Chaos overbalanced as she came face to face with empty air, toppling over and slamming into the ground with a cracking thud, which knocked the wind from her lungs in a ghastly, pained sob.

The vampires were gone. The room was empty.

She blinked the stars from her eyes, rolling onto her back and trying to look past the flickering fluorescent lights of the building above them. For a long moment, the only sound was the weak pounding of her own heartbeat in her ears. And then, slowly, there was the sound of footsteps on the linoleum floor, steadily approaching.

“Well, well…” A voice cooed from just out of sight. The voice was rich and smooth and impossibly loud, as if the sound were rumbling through the floor beneath her. The speaker had an accent of some kind, Chaos thought, but she couldn’t place it, if indeed it even was there.

“Th-There must have been more, I swear!” Stressed another voice, which lacked the gravitas of the first almost completely.

This voice was definitely accented. British, maybe? Or Australian?

“One human couldn’t have-”

“They could if they’re skilled enough.” The first voice growled, “Or if the victims were pathetic enough. We’ve been dormant too long. Too many easy picking, drunk students and fat politicians.”

“Sir, I’m sure that’s–”

“Quiet.”

Chaos dragged themselves onto their chest, looking up at the figures which had been speaking. They loomed above her, impossibly close and impossibly large from this low on the ground. Chaos tried to say something, but it came out as a weak squeaking sound.

“Haven’t you caused us a lot of trouble?” The deeper voice said. “Surprising, for such a small thing…”

It was the taller of the two figures, early middle aged, perhaps, and distinguished, dressed in a simple black suit and golden tie. He had one of those thin, angular faces which looked almost too sharply defined to be real. As if a wood-sprite had grown up and gotten a job on Wall Street. A single shock of white snaked through his slicked back brown hair, and his eyes, piercing golden eyes, stared daggers down at Chaos.

“Help me.” Chaos managed to croak.

She knew that wasn’t going to happen. She knew what these two men were. She could tell by their eyes, and their still, unbreathing chests. But they could try. They could beg.

They couldn’t die. Not now.

There was a brief beat of silence, and then the mouth of the well dressed man split open into a smile, and he laughed. It was a cold, trickling laugh, like rain running down your collar.

“Ven, take my jacket will you? I’ve just had it dry cleaned.” He unbuttoned his suit jacket and slipped it off his shoulders, revealing a dark waistcoat underneath.

The other man stepped forward into view to take the jacket. His eyes were wide and green, and his hair was glimmering white, almost glowing in the dim lighting of the hallway. He adjusted the collar of his own pale blue blazer, before taking the larger black suit jacket in his arms. He kept glancing down at Chaos furtively, as if expecting them to suddenly pounce. As if Chaos was the monster in this scenario.

“Sir what are-”

Ven was silence by a raised hand as the business man crouched down beside Chaos, inspecting their face and their wounds.

“Help you?” He said jovially, enjoying the agony stretched across the hunter’s features. “And why would I do that? If you’re here to kill vampires, I don’t think you expect to appeal to my humanity. I don’t have any, you see.” He grinned, exposing his rows of viscous teeth.

“Please.” Chaos wheezed. “Please, let me go…”

The man laughed again. “Let you go? After what you’ve done here tonight? Do you know how much it will cost me to clean up your mess, little mortal? The carpet cleaning alone will be a nightmare, won’t it Venear?”

“Yes, Fable, sir.” The second man nodded.

“Do you have any idea how many vampires you’ve killed tonight? Two dozen, at least. The amount of people it will take to bring those numbers back up…” Fable made a clicking noise with his tongue, as if scolding a child.

The vampire was toying with her. Of course he was, Chaos thought. She wasn’t getting out of this alive.

“Please.” She said again. “Please, I don’t want to die, I–”

“Do you think all the vampires you killed wanted to die?” Fable snapped, the joviality dropping from his voice. “Or did you not even consider that before you went on your spree?”

He glared at her with those empty golden eyes, and Chaos had to force herself to look away. She tried to crawl away, drag herself along the floor. Fable reached down and grabbed Chaos by her collar, dragging her to her feet in front of him. Her blood trickled down his hands and began to stain the white cotton of his sleeves.

“Don’t try and walk away while I’m talking to you.” He growled. “Not that you could walk anywhere as it as anyway.”

Fable pushed her down, pressing her onto her own legs, letting Chaos take her full weight and more on her broken limbs. The hunter screamed, their vision going white as Fable pulled her back up, lifting her off the ground so that she was at eye level.

“”Please.” Chaos slurred through the pain. “Please, I don’t wanna die, I- I can’t, I’m sorry, please, I’m sorry-”

“Sorry?” Fable asked. “Oh, well as long as you’re sorry.” He drawled. “That makes everything alright, doesn’t it Ven?”

Ven didn’t exactly respond so much as squeak with an enthusiastic nod of his head. In the peripheral of Chaos’ swimming vision, she saw something large and white curling around Ven’s legs. A large dog, maybe? They tried to look at it closer, but Fable’s face moved closer to their own, floating large in their field of vision.

“Death seems far too good for you, little one.” Fable muttered, looking over her face. “Especially after all of this shit. And we’re going to have to postpone the press interviews too…”

“If I may, sir,” Ven spoke up nervously, “If perhaps you weren’t to kill her, the fu- your guest did request–”

Fable’s head snapped around at lightning speed, twisting completely around like an owl to look backwards over his shoulders at Ven. “My guest will get what I feel necessary to give her!”

“Yes sir, sorry, of course, I didn’t mean to speak out of turn, I…” Ven’s voice trickled off, and he once again fiddled with the collar of his jacket.

Fable slowly turned back to look at Chaos, barely concealed anger tugging at the sharp lines of his face. “Where was I… Ah yes, death.” He mumbled. “No, I don’t need to kill you. I could just leave you here like this, you’d bleed out in, oh, I’d give you less than an hour. Twenty minutes until you lose consciousness. Maybe you could even claw your way to the door, but not far outside. Not in time to get help. It’s tempting to let you die in an agony of your own making, I must admit.” He nodded.

Chaos’ head was beginning to feel light, and she could feel a strange tingling in her fingers and toes. She tried to flex them, and found them unresponsive.

A grin snaked its way across Fable’s list. “You’re a cunning little hunter. You’re skilled, I’ll give you that. Must have been doing this a while, eh?”

Chaos dragged in a wheezing breath. The grip on their collar was slowly choking them.

“Answer me when I’m speaking to you, please, there’s no need to be rude.” Fable said. His voice was mellow and polite, but the venom within the words was barely concealed.

“Y-Yes.” Chaos managed to stammer.

“Mmm, I suspected so. You must really hate vampires.” Fable observed blankly.

Chaos nodded weakly. Their head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, yet somehow impossibly heavy on their shoulders. “Please-”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Fable said softly. “You’re not going to die. Not now.”

The man dropped Chaos like a sack of potatoes, letting them crumple to the ground in a mess of limbs and mangled screams. Chaos blinked up through tears as Fabel rolled up his blood-stained sleeves.

Somewhere that felt very distant, Venear was offering some kind of protest that went ignored. Fable raised his forearm to his lips, and with his jagged teeth bit down into pale skin, shredding it and letting dark, almost black blood spill out in a steady stream. Slowly, he lowered himself once again, and pressed his bleeding wrist to Chaos’ lips, letting the blood pool on her tongue and in her cheeks.

Chaos tried to spit it out, choking on the thick, foul black ichor. It tasted like overripe fruit and stale mould, and it was engulfing her, drowning her.

Finally, desperate to clear it from her mouth and free her lungs to breathe, Chaos swallowed, gulping down the mass of black blood as her vision faded, and her consciousness drifted away.

Chapter Text

When Chaos opened their eyes, the fluorescent lights above them seemed all too familiar. For a split second, they thought they were back in that office building; that they had actually made it through the night, and they had survived.

And then Chaos paused. She waited for the sound of her breathing, and of her own heartbeat in her ears.

There was none. Her body was completely silent.

And the world around her was so loud.

Chaos tried to sit up, and found herself met with thick leather straps, pinning her wrists and legs to a cold metal table.

Cold. Chaos thought. She felt so cold…

The overwhelming urge to cry slammed into her chest, and Chaos had to fight herself from giving into it. Instead, in a moment of pure instinct, Chaos thrashed against the bonds holding her down, and realised the loudest, most guttural scream she ever had in her life as panic flooded through her and rational thought slipped aside to make way for a desperate, maddening hunger.

She needed to feed. To eat and devour, and to drink. It was that compulsion that made Chaos scream, really. The realisation of what their body was craving so intensely, and what the implications of such a craving truly meant.

Chaos needed blood. She needed to rip flesh and devour veins and feed upon the warm, life filled crimson liquid.

They were a vampire. The thing they had feared and hunted since they were little more than a child.

Ceci Chaos was dead.

In the corner of her vision–which seemed so much clearer than it once had–Chaos saw a figure emerge from a door high above her, vanishing from sight before appearing above her. The man’s dark hair hung in a curtain around his thin, pale face, and his pupils were thin lizard-like slits as he looked down at Chaos in… what was that emotion? Panic? Anger perhaps? Fear?

He opened his mouth to say something, revealing a pair of long, thin fangs. Before he could say anything, Chaos screamed again, trying as best as she could to move away from the vampire; which considering her restraints wasn’t very far at all.

They had seen the remains of vampire laboratories before. The vile, excruciating experiments they subjected humans to. When someone was alive for so long, preying on blood and life itself, it was only a matter of time before they lost any respect for humanity, or for pain. Chaos was not about to let herself become yet another experiment. She wasn’t going to be tortured. She wouldn’t be turned into some monstrous hybrid like Aax, or sit through some painful transformation as they messed with her blood and her mind.

To Chaos’ surprise, the vampire above her screamed back at her, jolting back from the table she was scrapped to in a great leap that sent him stumbling back into a wall, covering his face as if he expected Chaos to explode and send shrapnel flying all around… around whatever this place was.

It certainly didn’t look like any of the labs Chaos had seen before. It was certainly much clearer and far better lit. Then then there was the walls of monitors and displays of… were they stakes? And hunting tools?

Where was she?

Chaos filled her lungs again, preparing herself to scream, when a far more familiar figure appeared in the corner of her vision, sprinting down the stairs the vampire had come down and charging across the room towards her.

“Chaos!” Ocie cried, her voice spilling with unreadable emotion.

The hunter wanted to say something, to show some sign of gratitude or relief at seeing their partner, but instead only found their senses assaulted by the overwhelming presence of a living being. Ocie’s rapid heartbeat was deafening, and the scent of her blood and her skin and of gasoline from the car was so strong it threatened to choke Chaos. Or at least, it would have, if Chaos had needed to breathe. They opened their mouth to speak, to even simply say the name of their friend, only for the sound which escaped their lips to be a rabid, snarling hiss.

Chaos couldn’t think straight. She couldn’t think about anything. All she could think about was how hungry she was. And how positively delicious Ocie seemed right now. How it would feel to bite into her skin and rip out her throat. The tear chunks of flesh away from bone and expose all that delectable rich blood which was flowing through her, to much of it churning just below the surface, waiting only for the grazing of Chaos’ fangs to be let spilling out into the world.

Other humans arrived in the room, flooding it with their unique scents and sounds, enough to make Chaos’ head spin. They were yelling, but all of it was just noise now as any conscious thought was released alongside the hissing like air from a balloon. They need to eat. To kill and to feel the life of a human wick away between their lips as blood coated their tongue. Even the thought of it was enough to drive her further into a frenzy, and she thrashed wildly against the restrains.

“Heat it!” Chaos heard the other vampire shout, although she wasn’t focused on him. Her wide eyes and narrow pupils were focused solely on Ocie, the woman pressed back up against a desk and staring at her with fear and despair, tears streaming down her cheeks and her mouth hanging open.

Chaos watched as Oceana’s hand drifted back behind her onto the desk, and her fingers wrapped around the handle of a wooden stake.

Somewhere, deep in her subconscious, the part of her that perhaps still held emotion and human thoughts, Chaos pleaded with a distinct resigned reservation. The part of her mind that had lost control willed Ocie forwards, begging the hunter to kill her, to end this now before she got out of control.

The more prominent portion of Chaos’s mind was overcome with a horrible fear, thrashing harder against the straps and making the metal table shake.

She couldn’t die. Not again. Chaos didn’t want to die. They couldn’t escape it once so narrowly only to find it here, at the hands of their partner, strapped to a table as they were stabbed through the heart.

Chaos didn’t need to worry, and neither, it seemed, did Ocie. Before the blonde woman could even step forwards from the desk, something warm was thrust into Chaos’ mouth. The freshly turned vampire bit upwards, hoping in truth to bite down on the fingers which had come close to her jagged teeth, but instead she bit down onto plastic, teeth shredding the thin surface and letting waves of warm, scarlet blood flood into their mouth, pouring up their nose and down their throat and across their neck and cheeks.

The screaming and hissing which had been almost perpetual since they had awoken on this table subsided, replaced with a strange chittering of happiness and the desperate slurping gulps as Chaos entirely drained the bag of blood which had been placed between her teeth.

The mania subsided and the reality of the situation began to settle on her like a great weight on her chest. The memories of the last few days, all of that pain and desperation and fear, grasped her by the throat and shook her. Chaos let the bag of blood fall from their trembling lips as they realised truly the thoughts and urges they had experienced, that desire to kill not just anyone but Ocie. The person they cared so much about, who had no doubt brought them here…

This time Chaos wanted to scream. More than anything they wanted to expel that emotional weight and rid themselves of it. Instead, they looked into Ocie’s pained blue eyes, and let out a soft, squeaking sob.

“I’m sorry.” Chaos muttered. She felt the restraints on her wrists loosen, but couldn’t bring herself to look away from Oceana’s tear-streaked face to check. Instead, Chaos just went numb on the table, staring into the face of her partner. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to die…”

“They should be alright now.” Said a man who Chaos had never seen before. He was larger than most of the other people in the room, and hovered just beside Ocie. “The drive to kill is much lower after they’ve fed, we believe. Based on the evidence Rae has provided-”

“Shut up.” Ocie choked, not looking away from Chaos to look at the man. “God just shut up.” She let the stake fall from her hand as she covered her face, wiping away the tears and running her fingers through her hair in one swift motion. “Everybody out.”

“Oceana I don’t think-” This was another young man Chaos had never seen. There seemed to be quite a few of them gathered in this space, but they couldn’t bring themself to pay attention to any of them. This particular man didn’t even get the chance to finish speaking before Ocie cut him off.

“I said get out! All of you get the fuck out!” Ocie yelled, rounding on them and for the first time tearing her eyes away from the vampire on the table that had once been Chaos.

The others in the room exchanged nervous glances, before resolving themselves to follow her instructions. Even the dark haired vampire disappeared up the stairs, eventually leaving the room entirely empty except for Ocie and Chaos. The hunter and the vampire. The living and the dead.

“I’m sorry.” Chaos said softly, trying to steady their non-existent breathing. They didn’t realise that vampires could cry.

They didn’t realise vampires could feel emotions at all.

“I know.” Ocie said after a while, her voice hoarse. Despite how long they had just started at each other, Ocie now seemed unable to look at Chaos, her eyes locked onto something non-existent, very far away.

“I’m sorry too.” Ocie said after a while. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

Chapter Text

Ocie’s hand’s were torn and splintered from fending off claws and fangs and even her own stakes, which had been ripped from the fallen remains of the vampires by their comrades and turned against her. As if vampires weren’t already dangerous enough, they decided they needed to use weapons too. Their decision to use her own tools against at the very least hadn’t managed to slow her down. Oceana Pine was skilled. She was trained. She had, after all, been doing this for almost ten years.

That thought alone would have under any other circumstances made her skin crawl and her gut twist. Ten years of her life she had dedicated to this fruitless search for her sister, and this inglorious slaughter of the undead. What had she really achieved? What had all of it amounted to, after all this time?

Luckily for her, she wasn’t exactly in a position to properly consider her existential crisis right at this moment. A vampire flung itself at her from the shadows, claws ripping through her shirt and catching on a golden chain around her neck, choking her as both of them went toppling to the floor, flailing and rolling and kicking to try and keep the other at bay. Ocie threw her hands upwards, catching the vampire just below the jaw as it moved to sink its teeth into her throat. The tight grip on it’s oesophagus wasn’t going to strangle it like Ocie might have once hoped—vampires as it turned out did not need to breathe, which would have made her chosen profession considerably easier—but at the very least it kept the monster far enough away from her neck at she could fumble around behind her for something to use as a weapon.

Literally anything would do, she decided as her hand groped uselessly at the linoleum floor, specked with ashes and blood. She was hoping for a stake, of course, or perhaps a knife. The latter wouldn’t do anything to kill the vampire, but it would hurt it, and perhaps give her enough time to get out from underneath it’s grasp. Hell, right about now she would have accepted just about anything. In a burst of desperation, Ocie threw her head upwards, headbutting the vampire, which reeled for just long enough that Ocie could prop her arm against the ground and keep the vampire further at bay. Her head spun from the impact, and all she could see though the pain now was the fleshy red of the monster’s throat, looming above her, and the wild look in its eyes. Oceana closed her eyes.

She wondered if this was how she was going to die. If after ten years of running and fighting, she would end up just like Casus and Vorago did, ripped apart by vampires. Feasted upon, her name forgotten and her body devoured. She wondered, if something could be undead, could there be an afterlife? This was not the first time she had pondered this question, but now, so close to death, the thoughts raced through her mind.

Would she see Casus and Vorago in the afterlife? Were they happy together?

Would she see her sister again?

There was a sickening wet sound accompanied by a heavy thud, and cold blood poured out onto Ocie’s face, drenching her and soaking into her hair and clothes. She gagged, desperately trying to snort out the blood which had flooded up her nostrils and between her lips.

The vampire on top of her went limp, and Ocie rolled sideways, throwing aside the body and coughing past the blood, crawling away as she wiped it from her face. The bitter metallic taste coating her tongue and the smell of it filling her lungs. In a heartbeat she was trying to unsteadily scramble to her feet, but the fast motion made her head spin, and nausea swept through her body. How hard had she hit her head against the vampire’s? Had she given herself a concussion?

The vampire. Ocie realised.

She spun around, almost collapsing back to the ground as she braced herself against a table, blinking past the blood still dripping into her eyes from where it had covered her face. There was a large shape in front of her which she couldn’t quite make out, and Ocie swung at them, her fist coming close to the figure’s chest before they batted it away easily.

“Hey!” A voice said, stern but gentle. “Hey, calm down!”

There was a heavy clunk as the figure dropped something large and metallic, dropping to their knees in front of Ocie and wrestling her flailing arms out of the way.

“Get the fuck off me!” Ocie yelled, trying to kick out at the figure.

“Chill!” The newcomer said, forcing something fabric into Ocie’s hand. “I’m just trying to help you clean yourself up, okay?”

Ocie’s fingers gripped the fabric in her hand, and she hesitantly raised it to her face, wiping at her eyes.

“Sorry, I sorta Carrie’d you there.” The stranger said.

The young woman blinked at them, her face finally clear of blood. The light of the building hurt her eyes slightly, but she tried to ignore it along with the gentle beating of her pulse in the back of her head.

The first words that came to Ocie’s spinning mind were All-American. A man, maybe in his late twenties, was crouched in front of her, a concerned expression on his face. His long, pale blonde hair hung around his face in a centre-part style, and his clear blue eyes bore into her curiously, inspecting her. His face was smooth, tan and sculpted, and marked only by a few specks of blood, which seemed almost unreal on his particular visage. It was the kind of face that looked like it belonged on a movie screen or magazine, yet could just as easily be selling stocks in a big-city office. A blue polo shirt collar poked out from beneath a black plastic poncho, and Ocie could see where a large machete had been tossed aside beside her. A few feet away, the decapitated head of the vampire that had been pinning her to the ground lay on its side, staring blankly at the wall.

“You weren’t bitten, were you?” The man asked, watching as Ocie used the handkerchief he had handed her to wipe the blood from her mouth and neck.

Oceana shook her head. “What are you… How did you find me?”

“Well admittedly I wasn’t trying to.” The man smirked, shrugging. “I guess I was just in the right place at the right time. Or, more realistically, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I’m exactly where I was supposed to be.” Ocie scoffed.

“In a vampire den, about to get your throat ripped out?” The man asked.

“You’re here.” Ocie said, squinting at him as she handed back the handkerchief.

The man took it between his fingers, looking at the bloody scrap of fabric with some distaste. He threw it aside, where it landed on the body of the vampire Ocie had tossed aside. The corpse would start to disintegrate soon, if it hadn’t begun already.

“That’s fair enough.” The man nodded. “Speaking of which, if you’ll excuse me.”

He stood up from where he was squatting, his blood-covered poncho crinkling and crunching audibly as he moved. He picked up the legs of one of the remaining vampire bodies by the legs and dragged it towards the others. He did this a few more times, until the broken and partially dissolved bodies of the vampires Ocie had killed were all gathered together in a pile. The man looked up, glancing around at the room and peering out into the halls of the abandoned house the vampires had infested.

“This place is pretty remote, yeah?” He asked.

Ocie nodded, watching him, confused.

“Have you got a way out of here? The car in the drive, that yours?”

“No.” Ocie said flatly.

She never parked too close to the dens anymore. Once someone had seen her car in the driveway of a vampire's house and tracked her plates after the bodies had been discovered but before they could be disintegrated. She was parked out the back, a few hundred yards away. Easily in running distance, but far enough away that anyone who spotted the car wouldn’t be suspicious. She was about to say this, before catching himself.

She couldn’t trust this guy. Maybe he wasn't a vampire, but he was still a stranger. She didn’t want to put all her cards on the table just yet.

She watched the man nodded, clicking his tongue as he thought. He took off a pair of plastic rubber gloves Ocie hadn’t realised he’d been wearing, and he tossed them onto the pile of vampire bodies along with the handkerchief. Everything about him from the polo shirt collar to the silver watch which glinted beneath the sleeve of the poncho now that his gloves were gone screamed frat boy, or at the very least rich wealthy family. Someone Ocie would usually avoid in her day to day life, if she got the chance.
So what was this guy—who looked like he should be playing golf on the weekends or sailing on his daddy’s yacht—doing hunting vampires? And so methodically too, with the poncho and the gloves…

“I’ll give you a lift to wherever you need to go.”

He flashed her a smile of dazzling white, perfect, completely human teeth. It was the kind of charming smile that made suburban mothers swoon when their daughters brought him home, and invited comments along the lines of “What a nice young man,” or ”That kid’s going places.”
It was a smile that Ocie didn’t trust.

“My car is just out the back. I have some tarps to put over the chairs so we don’t get blood on them.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Ocie shook her head, which made spots dance in her vision. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, and I just watched you decapitate a fucking vampire you’re probably a fucking psycho or something.”

The man looked hurt. Not even offended, but genuinely hurt.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” He said quietly. “I just.. I just wanted to help.”

Ocie considered him. It was possible that if he was going to hurt her, he would have already done so. Still, she coudln’t bring herself to trust him, or to feel guilty about her comment. “I’m sorry. Fine. But if we’re going anywhere I’m carrying that.” Her voice lacked any sense of sincerity as she pointed at the discarded machete, but it seemed to satisfy the man.

“That’s fair enough.” He nodded. “We’re on the same side here, against these things, I promise. And besides, neither of us should stay here much longer, and you’re not exactly in the position to walk a long distance, especially not inconspicuously because of all the blood.”

“Well whose fault is that?” Ocie snapped.

The blonde man raised his hands. “Guilty. Which is just another reason I owe it to you to give you a life. Are you alright to walk, miss…?”

“Ocie.” She said, pulling herself unsteadily to her feet. “My name is Ocie. And yes, I can walk.”

“Great.” The man nodded, smiling at her again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ocie, genuinely.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red cardboard box. All while smiling at her with that wholesome smile, he pulled a match from the box. “Ready to go?”

“Not until you tell me your name. At least your name.” Ocie said coldly.

“Oh my god, of course,” He laughed, shaking his head, “How silly of me, I forgot to introduce myself, I’m so sorry that was terribly rude.”

The blonde man struck the match, and tossed it onto the pile of vampires. Their clothes and dry, dead skin caught almost immediately, a wave of light and heat slamming into the pair as flames engulfed the monsters. Ignoring the flames, he held out a hand to Ocie, slipping the matchbook into his back pocket with the other hand.

“My name's Alerion. A little archaic, I know, but my folks are old fashioned like that. You can call me Al.”

Chapter Text

Ocie stood beside the restrained Chaos until her legs would no longer hold her, and she dropped to her knees, her arms pressed against the edge of the table. Neither of them had spoken for some time, and the air felt unnaturally still, interrupted only by the sound of Ocie’s heartbeat in her ears.

One heartbeat where there should be two.

One breath where two should have mingled.

“You haven’t killed me.” Chaos said after a while, choking the words out past sharp, jagged teeth which caught at her gums and tongue, her mouth unused to its new shape.

Ocie took a long while to answer. “Somebody else killed you before I got there, didn’t they?” She sniffed.

God she was crying. Crying . How long had it been since she had cried? Truly let herself become so attached to anything or anyone that the thought of their harm caused her real tears? For so long she had refused to let herself become too attached. Since her friends, since Jerry…

But of course Chaos was different. Chaos had always been different. She had been the first vampire hunter Oceana had met since losing Al, the only other ally she could call upon. Chaos had been the first time in years that Ocie had not been alone; that she had been allowed to feel like part of something bigger than herself. The first time since driving away her polycule in her youth that she had a partner .

Ocie had not been brave enough to ask Chaos out. That had fallen to the latter, who had raised the possibility some time which seemed like an eternity ago, before they had found Aax. Ocie was glad she had been the one to broach the subject of the feelings which had developed between them. She had never been good at relationships—or feelings in general—and it had been years since she had even entertained the thought of another relationship. She was not even sure if her feelings for Chaos had been correctly placed. It was hard to tell, when your lives are so constantly on the line, which feelings were merely adrenaline and desperation coursing through your veins.

Except the feelings they shared were different. They were lingering, the constant comfort in each other’s presence. It did not need to be romantic. It did not need to be official . All it needed to be was the knowledge that they would always be there for each other. They would be together, until the end.

But was this the end?

Ocie couldn’t feel like perhaps it was. She didn’t want it to be, but how could it be anything but the end?

Marriage was always proposed as till death do us part , and while the two were certainly not married, it seemed an unspoken consideration that death was a final destination for both of them, and that they had few plans to consider what lay beyond.

Chaos was dead. And Ocie found herself entirely unable to comprehend it.

“Ocie…” Chaos sobbed, their lead laid sideways on the metal table to look down at the crying woman, who’s blonde hair hung loosely around her face.

“Why?” Ocie asked suddenly, her voice unsteady and raw.

She pulled her eyes upwards to look at Chaos, into the eyes which had always tinkled with a lively joviality, and which now seemed hollow and dead, robbed of the lustre which had made them so beautiful.

“Why did you do this, Chaos?” Ocie continued, taking a large shuddering breath. “After everything we tried to do, all of the vampires we destroyed, everything we worked for how… Why would you… Why? ”

“I didn’t want to.” Chaos said weakly. “I didn’t, I was so close to getting out and then I was going, and he… He pressed it to my lips and I didn’t want to drink it, but…” Chaos shivered, and Ocie was almost sure the vampire gagged. “I didn’t have a choice… Ocie I didn’t want to die, but I… I didn’t want this. Neither of us want this.”

Ocie opened and closed her mouth, sucking in great shuddering breaths of air. “I don’t want to lose you.” She said quietly. “I thought I had lost you, Chaos, I— I spent the last day mourning you and I got you back but you’re not… I don’t know if you’re you .”

“I don’t know if I’m me either.” Chaos looked away. “When I woke up, the feelings that came over me, I just… I didn’t feel like me. Not until after I drank blood, and now… Now it’s like… It’s like I’m me, still me , but just… Empty. Like a hollow version of myself. I feel like a ghost in my own body.”

“And do you… do you want to stay that way?” Ocie asked slowly. “Chaos I don’t… I know I should but I don’t want to hurt you, Chaos. I don’t want to hurt my Chaos, but…”

“Please, don’t.” Chaos squeaked. “Not… Not yet. Please.” Her voice was small, barely audible in the empty basement. “I don’t want to die yet, Ocie.”

Oceana nodded. “Okay… Alright.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Not yet. We can… We can work this out. We can try.”

“Thank you.” Chaos nodded. “Thank you.”

The silence fell back over them like a blanket. Ocie waited for the familiar sound of Chaos’ heartbeat to sync up to their own… except it never did.

Ocie’s heart beat fast, panicked and alone.

Chaos’ heart failed to beat at all.

Chapter Text

“God, Galahad is going to drive a stake through my fucking heart when he—”

“Galahad isn’t even here.” Athena groaned.

“And how long do you think it’s going to take him to find you? That vampire has spent centuries running around after spoiled royalty. You’ve been gone for what, a few hours maybe? He’ll be able to follow you without even breaking a—”

“Would the two of you just shut up already.” Sherbert snapped, wheeling around to face the others, their two-toned jacket flapping around their waist in response to the movement. They sighed, leaning up against a street lamp as they rubbed their temple. “You have been going at it for hours and if you don’t stop it soon I’m going to stake both of you.”

“You couldn’t if you tried.” Athena scoffed, crossing their arms.

Centross sighed, “Hate to agree with the kid but they’ve got a point.”

“Whatever, at least you’re on the same page.” Sherbert sighed, turning around to look down the stretch of empty highway ahead of them. “We need to move quicker if we’re gonna get anywhere before morning. Maybe not wherever they’re keeping Rae, but somewhere we can spend the night.”

“Well if someone was better at tracking, we wouldn’t need to be dragging Athena along.” Centross mumbled.

Athena looked up at the far taller man, their eyes wide. “Excuse you, I’m royalty, you should feel lucky to be in my presence. Besides I am a joy to be around.”

“You’re rival royalty. I don’t know if you noticed, but the other sects haven’t exactly been the most willing to help Enderian in the past. Not since your parents disappeared, and certainly not since…” Centross’ voice trailed off, and he glanced at Sherbert. If they noticed, they didn’t react.

Athena didn’t give them time to respond even if they planned to. “The Nether Court has always been at the aid of the End. My mother was constantly there when Enderian called upon her, don’t act like we’re enemies.”

Centross seemed to deflate, his collected air leaking out in a sigh. "That… That may be true, I just… I don’t trust a favour from royalty. I’m already cashing in one from them, and I don’t need you to hang this over my head in the future… Trust me, I’ve had enough people hold me to my word in the past.”

“Well then… We’ll say this deal goes both ways.” Athena raised their chin in an attempt to appear more dignified; something which came easily to them despite their messy bright pink hair and grungy clothes. The Nether Prince extended a hand, the painted nails chipped and rough. “I help you find Rae, you don’t tell Galahad where I’ve been. Your silence in return for my help.”

Centross considered her for a long time. He wasn’t entirely satisfied with the deal—swearing himself to silence may cause issues later should he come face to face with Galahad or Lennarius once again—however it appeared he didn’t have much of a choice now.

Sherbert watched the interaction with a watchful eye, soaking it in. As much as they portrayed themselves as excitable and scatter-brained when it came to their potions and the events at hand, there was an extent to which they couldn't draw their attention away from such a deal. Sure, it may have seen frivolous and mundane in the face of everything going on, but there were implications.

Everything had implications.

Implications they could use, if they got the chance. Of course, Centross was the one truly running this hunt for Rae, and Sherbert desperately wanted the End Prince to be safe, however there was so much more that hung in the balance here. Having Athena along for the ride… It certainly made everything much more interesting.

Sherbert noticed Centross look at them briefly from the corner of his purple eyes as he contemplated Athena’s hands. Sherbert nodded in encouragement. It was a subtle, almost imperceptible nod, and yet one fully intended for both parties to see. Centross needed to know Sherbert didn’t want Athena to see. Athena needed to know that Sherbert appeared on their side. Both parties seemed satisfied with the end result.

Centross shook Athena’s hand.

The younger vampire smiled. “There. Problem solved. You can stop being such a dick now.”

Centross rolled his eyes. “If you insist.”

Athena stuck their tongue out at him childishly, before striding on ahead to pass Sherbert in their pursuit. “Now, come on. We’re trying to find a missing prince.” They smirked. “God it sounds like a real fairy tale adventure when you say it like that.”

Sherbert laughed. “She’s got a point.”

Centross hummed softly in agreement, following the teen. “I suppose. I just hope we don’t run into any Big-Bad-Wolves along the way… We don’t need things to become any more complicated than they already are.”

“Things certainly are complicated.” Sherbert agreed. They stuck their hands in their pockets, unsure of what to do with their hands without something to fidget with. “Speaking of everything complicated, this test subject, Caspian… Do we need to expect anything? Anything more than a usual hunter?”

Centross looked at them from the corner of his eye. “I don’t… I don’t know what you mean.”

“Bullshit you don’t.” Sherbert muttered. “We both know the kinds of things Perix was working on. You gave me one of her books, remember. I know she wasn’t working on just anything.”

“I don’t know what you’re asking me to divulge here.” Centross grumbled.

Sherbert scoffed. “Yes you do. We both know things are getting more complicated for all the courts. The old guard are getting bored. They want something different. They want more power, more control, more abilities. Perix wasn’t the only one working on things these last few decades. Weapons, powers, everyone’s had their fingers on it.”

“You mean like the Telchin families?” Centross asked. “Tell me, Sherbert, what happened to them? Did Fable have a hand in—”

“No.” Sherbert said sternly. “He didn’t. But that’s the kind of thing I mean. If Perix was working on something like that, weapons, monsters, beasts… If this test subject is one of them, what do we need to be prepared for? You know, don’t you?”

Centross took a long moment to consider the question, tilting his head back to stare up at the vast night sky overhead. Sherbert followed their gaze. The moon was full, visible on full display beyond the scattered grey clouds which drifted aimlessly between the stars. It had been so long since either of them had been out in the countryside, where so many stars were so beautifully on display.

Rae would have loved this view, Sherbert realised. He had always loved stars.

“Perix was working on something. Something I don’t think Enderian was entirely in approval of. If Rae knew about it, as her assistant, he never spoke about it.” Centross muttered.

Sherbert’s eyes pricked up, and their tilted their head to watch Centross as he spoke. His face portrayed little emotion.

“The subject, Caspian, he was part of that undisclosed project. Project Atlas. It—”

“Heads up!” Athena announced from ahead of them, cutting Centross off.

Sherbert’s heart sank, however only slightly. Centross had been about to tell them more, but that was enough. That was all they really needed.

“What is it now?” Centross groaned.

Athena had stopped in their tracks, turning to look behind them at the stretch of highway which traced lazily through the countryside they had been travelling across. “You needed somewhere to avoid the sun… How about a van?”

They pointed behind the two older vampires. Sure enough, barely visible in the distant darkness was a set of headlights, speeding towards them. In only a manner of seconds the van itself came into view. Sherbert saw Centross’ ears twitch as he obviously heard the distant engine. Had Athena been able to smell the exhaust of the car even before it was audible?

“It could work.” Sherbert agreed, nodding. “What’s our plan to slow it down? Hitchhikers?”

Centross shrugged. “Hasn’t been as successful in the last few decades, people are too wary. We can always chase it down. Just land on the roof and take out the driver.”

“You’re both so boring.” Athena sighed. In a matter of moments they had thrown themselves over the small roadside barrier and marched directly into the centre of the road, where they began waving their arms frantically.

Sherbert and Centross looked at each other, bewildered. “Athena I don’t think—”

“We just need them to pause long enough to explain ourselves.” Athena explained. “Once we tell them we’re searching for a friend who’s in danger—”

“We can kill them.” Centross nodded. “Impressive, honestly, I wasn’t expecting you to—”

“You’re not killing them.” Athena said sternly. “Nobody needs to get hurt. It… It’ll raise suspicion.” Their voice stumbled on the last few words, and Sherbert’s gaze narrowed.

Why was Athena suddenly against killing?

They didn’t get the chance to ask. The large van—a delivery van, it turned out—pulled to a slow stop in front of Athena. The driver blinked out at her, sleepy yet shocked, and moved to roll down his window to speak to the young person standing in the way of his route.

Without warning, a shape flew from the back of the van, wrapping around the neck of the driver and snapping it with precision and dragging them easily into the darkness of the van’s interior.

All three of the vampires on the road stared in through the windshield, stupefied by the sight. There was nothing for a moment. No movement or sound. Just the hum of the engine, and distant buzz of the car’s radio.

Athena’s arms dropped to their sides. “What the—”

The back of the van was thrown open with a loud metalling bang, and someone’s feet hit the pavement, accompanied by a soft chuckling. The figure that emerged was shady and stumbling slightly, as if drunk. When they stood up, their blood hair was messy and their front was covered in blood.

“Easton?” Sherbert asked, their jaw hanging open.

The young vampire threw their arms out. “I had been waiting for that fucker to stop for the last four hours.” Easton laughed, their green eyes twinkling eagerly. “God there’s so much caffeine in his blood it is heavenly I haven’t felt a buzz like this in forever.”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Centross asked, pointing an accusatory finger at Easton. “Because I swear to God if the Lady of the World is someone else I need to owe a favour I will—”

“Relax man.” Easton shrugged, waving Centross’ concern aside. “I have no idea what y’all are doing out here, honestly this is just a weird coincidence. Also, hey Prince, how's it been, long time no see. Love what you’re doing with your hair these days.”

Athena huffed a laugh, their expression unreadable. “Thanks, Easton. It’s been a while, yeah… What are you doing here, exactly, if not looking for us?”

“Looking for the same people as us.” Sherbert grinned, walking over and enveloping Easton in a hug, which the younger vampire was confused by but reciprocated nonetheless. “They’re looking for their siblings. Lady of the World’s familiar, Jamie. The one we think was taken with Rae.”

“You think what?” Easton asked, stepping away from the hug and raising an eyebrow at Sherbert.

“Agreed, what?” Athena echoed.

Sherbert shrugged. “Centross and I can explain on the way. For now, we have a van to escape the sun and a scent to track before morning. Dibs on not driving.”

Sherbert patted Easton on the shoulder, before opening the drivers side door of the delivery van and gesturing to it. “Centross, if you would be so kind? The keys are already in the ignition for you.”

Nobody moved for a while. Centross was grinding his teeth so hard Sherbert thought his fangs would snap. Finally, he strode forwards angrily and hauled himself up into the drivers seat. As he passed, he leaned down to Sherbert, whispering in their ear.

“We will talk about this.” He hissed.

“You can’t get mad at me for a coincidence.” Sherbert winked.

It was a coincidence after all. They hadn’t planned for Easton to arrive so soon, certainly not now, and certainly not with a vehicle. They couldn’t pretend they didn’t expect Easton to arrive at all, however. It was inevitable they would arrive eventually, and if everything was going to go to plan, Sherbert would need them there.

After all, they didn’t know how many hunters were going to be guarding, and how dangerous it might be to rescue Rae.

Nor did they know exactly what this test subject Caspian might be like, and how difficult he might be to subdue…

Chapter Text

Sherbert sat contently in the passenger seat of the delivery van, watching the moon overhead inch closer and closer to the western sky. The radio buzzed indistinctly beside them, and they tried their best to relax into the uncomfortable fabric-lined seats of the vehicle. Behind them, in a space mostly cleared of undelivered packages, Athena and Easton had entered an unconscious, sleep-like state of rest. To conserve space, Athena had shifted into a small cat, however Easton had remained in their human form.

Centross let out a long sigh, which Sherbert immediately recognised. It was a typical “We need to have a talk,” style of sigh they were so used to hearing in their long, long life. They sat up in their seat, running a hand through their hair as the End vampire beside them spoke up.

“Why are they here, Sherbert?” Centross grumbled, his knuckles white and ghostly on the steering wheel, his unshaven face illuminated by the green glow of the dashboard.

“I told you, they’re looking for Jamie.” Sherbert answered plainly. “Genuinely, running into them like this was just as surprising to me as it was to you.”

“I’m not doubting that ,” Centross shook his head, “I just… I don’t know what I’m doubting, I suppose, it just all seems… Everything seems too convenient . You needed two days to find them, the same two days it took them to find where Jamie was and to come tracking them, the same day we’re tracking Rae. You needed Perix’s notebooks, right at the time Perix is missing. Athena runs away the day after I meet with the Nether Court to discuss Rae’s disappearance, and they find us … Everything feels—”

“Convenient.” Sherbert nodded. They kept their eyes trained on the road ahead of them, watching as it vanished under the wheels of the van. They hoped that Centross was doing the same, keeping his eyes off their face should they give up anything important.

They truly hadn’t expected Athena to find them, they knew nothing of the goings on of the Nether Court. They hadn’t known that Easton’s search would line up so perfectly with their own. But they had needed that extra day. Not to find Easton and the Lady of the World, as they had told Centross, but to plan . They had needed time to process everything going on. Around them plans were crumbling, and the courts were becoming unstable too fast, and far too quickly. Rae’s disappearance had thrown a spanner in the works of everything else, but this, right now, was good.

Sherbert could salvage this as it was now. It wouldn’t be clean, exactly, but they could do it. Someone had cleared their checkerboard and started placing down chess pieces before Sherbert had gotten the chance to properly adapt. But they were ready now, and they could work with these pieces. If nothing else, they could act as a distraction.

“There.” Centross said suddenly, veering the van onto an exit and onto a side road which took them out into the expanse of the country. In the distance, woods loomed on the dark horizon.

“Where?” Sherbert sat up suddenly, focusing themselves on the journey.

“I can smell him. The scent, it’s strong here. We’re getting closer, I think, Rae was here more recently than the library.”

Sherbert rolled down the window of the van and stuck their head out,  the cold autumn air of the countryside assaulting their pale, dead face. Centross was right. The trail was faint, but somewhere, out in those fields, along this road, was Rae.

Compared to the long night of travelling on foot, the trip from the highway to the winding dirt road on which they now found themselves on felt like it passed in an instant. Beyond a line of trees was a sprawling field, on which a dirt driveway led across the empty expanse towards a magnificent farmhouse. Silhouette in the night, Sherbert couldn’t help but find the site beautiful. They just didn’t make houses like that anymore, they decided. Isolated, rural, beautifully crafted by the finest architects. They wondered how long it would take for that style of building to come back into fashion. They had owned many houses over the decades, most more extravagant than this one, but there was something about its rustic charm which appealed to the vampire. It would be a fantastic place to lure victims. Out in that house, no one would be able to hear screaming as they feasted.

Centross parked the delivery van on the side of the road a small ways away from the gate which blocked off the road towards the house. The gate was clearly more ornamental than functional—a few feet in either direction the walls ended abruptly, fading into the ring of trees which surrounded the sprawling property.

The group of vampires stood on the dirt road, facing off against the gate, illuminated ominously in the moonlight.

“Rae’s in there.” Athena nodded, stretching their shoulders, bones popping beneath their hoodie.

“So’s Jamie.” Easton added, staring down the house as if their gaze alone could set it ablaze. “I swear to god if those bastards have hurt him, I—”

“Jamie will be fine, I’m sure.” Centross muttered, his arms crossed against his chest. “We just need a way to get inside.”

“We have a delivery van?” Sherbert suggested. “We can just… Deliver?”

“Sherbert it’s like, three in the morning.” Athena scoffed. “Nobody would answer a delivery now, let alone let the driver inside.”

“Not to mention there’s no way you’re getting that van through the gate. The tree cover is too thick.” Easton pointed at the woods which stretched out on either side of them.

“We can cause a distraction outside.” Centross said commandingly. “Sherbert and Easton can focus on making the noise, Athena can turn into a cat to try and lure them out with a mundane reason. Once one of the hunters emerges, I’ll jump out and catch them, hold them steady. If these hunters are like any of the others I’ve faced, they’ll be willing to bargain for the life of their own. If they let me in to return them, thinking they can take me one on several, and then I can invite the rest of you in.”

“That’s a lot of assumptions.” Athena mumbled.

“Excuse me?” Centross looked over his shoulder.

The Nether prince shrugged. “Well, it’s assuming they’re willing to bargain. And assuming they’ll let you inside, instead of all coming to attack you at once. And hell, it's assuming us making noise is even going to get their attention. This is the countryside, I’m sure there’s plenty of feral cats that mess with their shit. I’m not saying it can’t work, it's just… You’re working with a lot of assumptions.”

Centross glared at the youth with his sunken, purple eyes. “Do you have a better idea, your highness?” A small smile split across Athena’s lips. “Actually, I think I do. And it’s a way we won’t have to kill anyone to find Rae.” She took a few steps forwards in front of Centross before turning to address the three older vampires. “Here’s what I was thinking, at least…”

Chapter Text

Will was sitting on the back porch of the house, far away from the basement or the watchful eyes of that thing in Ocie’s car. Despite the noise inside which had pervaded the entire house earlier in the day, outside it was quiet and still, with a lingering sleepy warmth from the day's sunlight which seeped into the skin, trying to trick the hunter into thinking he was allowed to relax. After these last few days, Will wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to relax again. Everything was too much, and it was all becoming too complicated.

He had spent years of his life dealing with complications. He had grown up shuffled through foster families and been dragged into this bizarre world of undead monsters before he was even eighteen. Trying to meet people and establish real friendships, god forbid romantic relationships, while spending your nights decapitating blood-mad husks, that was complicated. Will’s life was complicated. He was finally beginning to think that he had it all figured out and then… this . Rae and Jame and Ocie and Chaos, and… everything . Vampires were no longer just mindless monsters, they had feelings, they wanted to help him. Vampires had raised Jamie as a child, he called them mother and sibling , they loved him . Like a family would. Now not only was Will living in constant fear of being killed by the vampires within his home, but he lived with the deeper, more existential fear that maybe, all this time, he had been wrong .

All of his life Will had pushed through the complications because he had been doing good . He had been the hero of his own story, doing the right thing. Al had always told him he was doing the right thing .

Except maybe he hadn’t.

How many families like Jamies had Will destroyed? How many sentient beings like Rae had he turned to dust, leaving behind not even a memory or a name? Had Al known that vampires were intellegent when he had taken Will in?

“Did you even care?” Will whispered to Alerion.

Except Alerion wasn’t there. Al hadn’t been there in a long time…

His words were lost in the cool breeze as it passed as it swayed the overgrown grass beyond the porch. In the distance, the sun reflected across the surface of a lake as it began to set, shimmering in its ripples as waves lapped against the furthest edges of the property. It had been a few hours since Will had last checked on the others. Rae and Caspian were somewhere within the house, and Jamie was leaning against the front door on a constant vigil to monitor Ocie’s car, and whatever was inside. He wasn’t exactly sure what Aax was , but they seemed as averse to sunlight as any vampire Will had ever encountered. From the sounds of things, they weren’t exactly keen on vampires however, and while that was something Will would usually rejoice in, with so many residing under their roof, he wasn’t eager to just let Aax loose.

Ocie had acknowledged a lab when Caspian had broached the subject before. Was Aax some kind of experiment? It was entirely possible, after all, Caspian had been an experiment when Will and Seven had found him, but… Why would vampires create a monster that would hunt them?

Why had Ocie brought them along? Unless they didn’t really have a choice.

Will wasn’t at all sure what to think about Ocie. He hadn’t been game to check on her and Chaos in a few hours, letting them take their time alone in the basement. He realised he still held more or less the same impression of her he had established in their first meeting: great respect and even greater confusion.

She had dragged the corpse of Chaos all the way here, driven for hours in the hopes that Alerion could…

What exactly was the plan? Surely Ocie knew Chaos was dead, but if she feared them turning into a vampire, why not stake them then and there?

Unless she had been hoping without proof, desperate that Chaos would come back as a vampire with some level of sentience. Come back thinking . Like Rae. A vampire with some sense of conscience.

If someone Will cared about were to die, would he wait? Would he have the resolve to hope, just for that slim chance of getting them back? If he lost Alerion today, would he wait for him to come rise again, or kill him on the spot?

Would he wait for Seven? Could he really let himself lose them without trying?

Behind Will, the door clicked open. He looked up as Seven stepped out onto the porch. He had a long, purple cardigan draped over his shoulders, and he fiddled with the worn away lining as he smiled at Will.

“I um… I thought I’d come to check on you.” Seven said in his usual monotone cadence.

Will smiled. “I appreciate it. But I… I think I’m alright, just… Thinking.”

Seven nodded. “It's a lot to process.”

“Yeah,” Will smirked, “It really is.” He paused, “Are you doing alright? With all of this?”

Seven blinked at him, their grey eyes wide. The wind tugged weakly at his blonde hair, making it twitch and flick around his square face. “I– I suppose I don’t know how I should respond.” He said finally, glancing away.

“Are you okay?” Will moved to stand up, but instead Seven took a few steps closer.

“Yes, I– I am, I just…” Seven chewed his lip, taking his eyes off Will to stare out at the property beyond them. “I suppose I’ve been so focused on how you might be handling things that I hadn’t really stopped to think about myself. It sounds a bit silly, doesn’t it?”

Will shrugged. A strong gust of wind blew past, bringing with it the chill of the oncoming autumn night, and Will shivered. “It's not silly, Sev. I get it. You know it’s… It’s okay, if you need some time to yourself, you don’t need to worry about me.”

Seven nodded, taking a moment to think. Finally, he said softly, “You shivered. Are you cold?”

The hunter tilted his head, “Oh, um… A little. The wind is picking up. I just… I didn’t want to go inside yet, I suppose. I thought I’d give you all some time to move about without me there.”

Will looked back over his shoulder at the door, before looking back at the distant lake. There was a soft rustling movement above him, and Will suddenly felt something settling around his shoulders.

He looked up as Seven adjusted the width of the cardigan to sit across his shoulders. The wool was soft and worn in, fibres ticking the back of Wills neck. The draped over Will like a blanket, sized for the much larger Seven. It was warm from the taller man’s body heat, and… Will realised it smelled of Seven. Coffee and hand disinfectant and subtle cologne. He felt his face redden, and he glanced away.

“Thank you.” He said softly.

“Of course.” Seven nodded. He sat down beside Will, his long legs stretched down the steps before them, slacks pulling against his knees. They didn’t look at Will, but the hunter could have sworn there was a slight blush to the man’s cheeks to match his own. “I don’t um… I w-wouldn’t want you to g-get sick or anything from being outside.” Seven smiled.

“I… I appreciate it.” Will nodded, following Seven’s gaze back out the fields.

Once again, Will’s mind conjured up the feelings it had the night before, in the lab beneath their feet while Rae and Caspian had been upstairs. That feeling of desire for something more than this. Something he couldn’t quite bring himself to acknowledge. The something more he wanted with Seven… He wanted to tell Seven how he felt, how he had been feeling for a while, except… 

“Seven, do you think…” Will took a breath, trying to corral his emotions into a manageable herd. “Ocie’s been doing this for so long.”

Seven finally looked at Will, his face definitely slightly flushed. “That’s not something I think, I… I believe that is just a fact, Will.”

Will smiled. He didn’t think Seven had meant to be amusing necessarily, but the man’s usual pedantic concern with sentences felt warm and familiar compared to the chaos around them. “True. I guess my minds a bit all over the place.” He shrugged.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have interrupted you.” Seven said shaking his head.

Will waved it aside. “It’s aright. I just mean… How much of her life has she spent hunting vampires? Twenty years? Maybe fourty?”

“A long time, yes, it seems.” Seven agreed.

“I just mean… How much of her life has she spent doing this? How much longer will she spend? So much time, so many years, and vampires are still out there. How much of a dent had actually been made?”

“This isn't about Miss Oceana, is it?” Seven asked, shifting nervously on the edge of the porch.

“I guess not.” Will shrugged. “I just wonder… Is this what I want to spend my life doing? Chasing monsters, a-and risking death every night? And what happens if I do die, will I just come back as a vampire? The thing I spent my whole life trying to destroy because the man I saw as a mentor told me I had to?”

Seven didn’t have a response. He was simply silent for a while, and after a pause Will continued.

“I just… I’ve never really had the chance to consider a future beyond hunting vampires. Beyond just surviving one more hunt, one more night. But now, I… I saw what happened to Al. And seeing what's happened to Ocie, her whole life consumed with this revenge against a perpetual enemy, a constant cycle of loss, I just wonder… Do I still want to be doing this until the day that I die? What am I putting at risk of losing, if I do?”

“Do you… Do you think you will keep doing this?” Seven asked, picking at the knees of his pants, not meeting Will’s eyes. “Or would you… Would you just leave and do something else?

“I don’t know.” Will shrugged. “I don’t know what I would do other than this. It’s all I have. Just a legacy of violence and a fear of the undead.”

There was a long moment of silence, in which Will could distantly hear Rae and Caspian moving about upstairs.

“Y-You’ll always have me.” Seven said eventually, his voice thin and nervous.

Once again that feeling surged in Will’s chest, and he forced himself to push it away. He swallowed. “I couldn't ask you to give up hunting just for me, Seven. I know what vampires cost you, I couldn’t–”

“I would though.” Seven cut him off quickly, gathering his hands in his lap and squeezing them between his thighs.

Will wasn’t quite sure what to say. He just looked at Seven; large and imposing, his blonde hair almost grey in the purple light of the setting sun.

“If you asked,” Seven elaborated. “I… I d-don’t know what I would do if we stopped hunting. If we retired, I suppose but… But if we did, I’d w-want to stay by your side. If you retired, I– I retire with you.” His breath hitched, and he quickly added, “If you wanted me to, of course, I would never force myself into your life if you wanted to leave me, I understand–”

“No!” Will said quickly, making Seven jump. He was surprised to find tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, and he tried to blink them away. “Seven that’s not… I don’t want to leave you behind Seven. Ever. You… God you mean so much to me Seven I… ” Will forced himself to breathe.

He lifted his hand out from inside Seven’s cardigan, and rested it just above the man’s knee. The two had never been strangers to physical contact, but this felt different. It felt more intimate.

“I want you with me, Seven. I can’t think of my life, especially a future, without you in it. T-To whatever extent you're comfortable, of course, I just… I wouldn’t force you to abandon this for me. I’d want you to choose what makes you happy.”

Finally, Seven forced himself to turn to face Will, despite his eyes doing anything they could to avoid contact. They finally settled on Wills, their gaze sinking into the green. “Then I would choose you every time.” He said finally.

Will opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His heart skipped several beats. “Seven…”

“I… I know now isn’t the time to discuss futures in depth. I don’t know what any future may bring,” Seven said softly, his voice trembling, “But I would want to spend any future with you, Will. You’re worth more to me than anything else.”

Seven took his hand from between his legs, and laid it over Will’s. His fingers were warm and soft. Slowly, Seven wound his fingers into Will’s, lacing them together.

“I’m not good with feelings, o-or labels for them, or–”

“Then we don’t need a label.” Will said quickly. He was too caught up in the moment to know if he was smiling or crying, and he didn’t particularly care. He shuffled along the edge of the porch to be closer to Seven. “We don’t need a label, Seven, we… We can just be us.”

“I would very much like to be us.” Seven nodded, letting out a breathy laugh as some of the tension eased from his shoulders. “I r-really like us. I really like you , Will, if that wasn’t obvious, I hope I made that obvious, I’m sorry if–”

Will laughed, and it was the most genuine, happy laugh he had experienced in a long time. “No, no, you expressed that perfectly, Seven. It was a little obvious.”

Seven’s cheeks were now bright red. “Good.” He nodded. “And… Am I right to assume that you obviously like me back?”

Will smiled, shifting closer still and nestling into Seven’s side, squeezing their fingers. “Yes. God, yes, absolutely I like you, Seven. I don’t know what to call it, but… Yes, I really like you too.”

Seven rested his head on Will’s, and the hunter settled fully into the larger man’s warm embrace as the sun dipped lower towards the horizon and the air continued to cool around them.

“I think… I think maybe, when this thing with Rae and Jamie and Chaos is over, we can think more about the future.” Will said softly. “We can talk about it together.”

“It’d like that.” Seven nodded, the stubble on his cheek scratching softly against the top of Will’s forehead. “Together.”

Chapter Text

Even the shouting which now emanated from the front of the house was unable to ruin the emotional high Will was still running on after his conversation with Seven on the porch. His chest felt as if it were inflated with helium, and the only thing keeping him rooted to the ground was the comforting presence of Seven’s cardigan, weighing down his shoulders. The pair had taken the last few hours to simply spend time alone in each other's presence for the first time since finding Rae, possibly even since finding Caspian. They had watched the sunset. They had made themselves dinner—a proper, real dinner, as opposed to their usual cobbled together mess of ingredients—and they had settled as best they could into an easy rhythm to reflect whatever relationship they had just initiated.

It wasn’t perfect, and Will doubted if it could ever be perfect, the two of them being who they were, and having lived the lives they had. But for a few hours, they had found themselves temporarily suspended in a surreal state of normal domestic life. It was a life Will had never really experienced before, and yet it was one he wanted to experience again. Even if it wasn’t permanent, it wasn't really the life he wanted for himself, he wanted to give it another try before he decided. Or maybe he just wanted to spend a little bit more time alone with Seven…

For now he could let Seven sleep, however. It was late, well into the early hours of the morning, and the large man more than deserved his share of rest after the last two nights of sleepless vigilance. Will forced himself to turn his attention back to the issue at hand, weaving his way through the hallways to the front porch where the majority of the shouting was taking place. By the time he arrived, the atmosphere had quieted down, but there was an uneasy tension which pervaded the entire space.

Rae was lingering in the shade of the porches overhang, Jamie crouched protectively in front of them. In the moon on the clear night around them, Jamie’s eyes seemed dull and animalistic, blank balls of reflected light. Even Rae’s eyes had a similar shine to them, reflecting the light as the vampire peered into the driveway of the farmhouse. Out by Ocie’s car, she and Caspian were hunched over the vehicle's back door, which had been opened a sliver, just enough for them to speak to Aax through the crack, negotiating with the creature.

“Your heart is beating faster.” Rae said quietly, making Will jump. “You’re excited about something.”

Will blinked at the vampire, wrapping Seven’s cardigan closer around his shoulders against the breeze. “W-What?”

“I can smell it.” Rae muttered, glancing away embarrassed. “It’s not… I don’t really know what it is, there’s a pheromone around you, I think and…” He cleared his throat. “You’re wearing Seven’s jacket.”

The hunter opened his mouth, decided against whatever he was about to say, and closed it again. After a moment of consideration, he simply said, “Yes. I am.” Before directing his attention back to the group huddled around the car. “What are they doing?” He asked, before Rae could ask any follow up questions on the subject.

Jamie grumbled something in response, but Will couldn’t be sure if they had been actual words or merely an animalistic growl.

“They want to bring their friend out of the car.” Rae explain, wrapping his arms around his chest nervously.

“The friend who rips vampires to shreds.” Will said.

Rae nodded. “I think… They want to put them in the cell, where Jamie was, so that he can’t hurt anyone, but they’re not sure… They’re not sure if they can get him past Chaos without something bad happening.”

“Would it not be better to put Chaos in the cage?” Will asked, “That way it could keep them safe while Aax is out here with… With us. Right.”

His voice trickled off as he looked at Rae. For a moment, he had forgotten the man was even undead. He seemed to have so naturally nestled himself into their home, slotting so easily into their dynamics. Perhaps it was just that so much else had happened suddenly that Will hadn’t gotten the chance to notice Rae’s presence. Or maybe… Maybe that was just something Rae did. Fade into the background, acting the part of a friend, only to drain them when they least expected it. A cuckoo, establishing itself in a nest, only to push out the other eggs one by one. Was it possible Rae had been planning an attack all along? That he was more of a threat then Will had considered?

The thought made Will shiver, and he hoped Rae attributed it to the cold. 

“I suggested I could leave.” Rae said quietly, his disposition so meek Will immediately felt guilty for assuming him to be some criminal mastermind. “Ocie supported it, but Caspian…”

“He didn’t want you to go.” Will finished for him, nodding.

There was a gentle understanding which seemed to settle over the two men on the porch, despite their differences, and the fact that only a few days before they had tried to kill each other. Will almost wished he could say something more, talk about Seven with someone, discuss if it was the same thing Rae and Caspian were feeling, but now… Now didn’t seem like the best time. Besides, he wasn’t exactly sure Rae was the person he wanted to talk about it with at all. Maybe he could speak to Caspian when he wasn’t busy, but… Finding a time when Caspian was both conscious and alone had been difficult these last few days. Will didn’t trust Rae, despite how much he seemed to want to help, and he certainly wasn’t a fan of the idea of Caspian becoming entangled with a vampire so deeply… But maybe Rae was different. For Caspian’s sake, Will hoped he was.

“How come you’re outside then? If there’s a danger Aax might attack you?” Will asked, nodding at the car. “Surely it would be safer if you stayed inside, out of the way to the basement.”

Rae swallowed. “I thought… I thought that if necessary, it would be easier for me to run if I was outside. If I need to, I can distract Aax from Chaos, take off into the fields… Give everyone else a chance to get them to safety.”

“You’d do that for someone you only met a few hours ago?” Will asked.

The vampire looked away. “I… I don’t know. I’d like to think I would. I’d like to hope that I was what kind of person, before my memories vanished.”

“I… I hope so too.” Will nodded. He did, truly, yet he couldn’t help but let his mind drift back to the bodies Rae had left in his wake before they found him. How many had died so that the vampire could sustain himself? Two? Three? And that was only over the period between Rae’s memories vanishing and when they found him. How many people had Rae killed over the years he had been undead?

He didn’t get the chance to ask aloud before Jamie spoke up.

“I can hold them off for you, while you run.” Jamie said flatly, their eyes still locked on the car. “I don’t like them being here. Hunters are one thing, but that thing… I’ve seen the things it has done to vampires. It rends things, tears them, leaves nothing. It’s more violent than any animal I’ve seen, it…” Jamie shook their head, trying to rid their mind of the imagery. “I don’t like it being here. Not if Easton is coming.”

“Easton?” Will asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Their sibling,” Rae explained, “I think the acolyte of the vampire who raised Jamie. They’re looking for him. And Caspian.”

Will looked from Jamie to the gate far beyond them, as if he was going to see another vampire waiting beyond the property border. The last thing he needed was more vampires arriving. Especially ones who were potentially far less friendly than Rae. He had barely managed to fend off Jamie alone in that alley, if the familiar suddenly had the aid of another vampire…

“How do you know they’ll find you here?” Will asked.

Jamie shrugged. It was an exaggerated, almost comical gesture, as if Jamie was used to compensating the scale of the movement for a much larger body mass. “They will find me. I know they will.”

“Comforting.” Will mumbled. He pulled the collar of the cardigan up around his throat further out of instinct, protecting his neck from non-existent attack, and bringing the scent of Seven’s coat closer to his nose. He didn’t have long to worry about Jamie’s sibling however.

The door of the car was pushed open, and Will watched as Ocie led Aax out into the evening light. The creature looked ghastly pale in the light of the moon, almost glowing as it hunched in the grass. Aax’s frame was wide and uneven, and even from a distance Will could see the way the creature’s limbs sat at uneven angles beneath its clothes, as if their short, muscular body had been assembled slightly wrong. Given Aax had been made in a lab, maybe that was indeed the case. A long, thin tail trailed behind them, flicking at the grass as Aax raised their head to the sky, red tentacle-like fronds twitching beneath their mass of white hair. For a moment, Will found himself in a state of incomprehensible confusion as his brain tried to recognise both how human and how entirely animal Aax appeared, standing in the moonlight. It was as if the two images, two sides of the being were overlaid on top of one another, and Will’s mind couldn’t quite decide which one he should focus on. Before he could choose either interpretation, Aax’s head had twitched to look at the three of them gathered on the porch, and the man launched towards them, sprinting at an impossible speed for someone so bulky.

Jamie lept forwards with a yell of anger, and in a flash Rae had thrown himself onto the young person’s back, tackling them to the ground at the same time that Ocie and Caspian grabbed Aax by the arms and tried to hold him back, dragging him away from the vampire and familiar, who were not wrestling on the ground.

“Let go of me!” Aax yelled, their voice cracking and raw, clearly not used to being raised so loud. “Ocie get the fuck off of me I swear to—”

“Aax please!” Ocie cried out, trying to pull them in a circle towards the door. “Please Aax he’s a friend!”

Caspian grunted, grabbing onto Aax’s shirt to anchor himself as he dragged the creature towards the house. Will placed himself in between the two groups, hoping to add at least a road-block in the way of whichever party managed to break loose first.

“I’m sorry—” Aax choked out, and his voice portrayed a sense more of broken defeat than real rage. As Will looked into their eyes, he realised Aax was crying, trying desperately to look away; to focus his gaze on anything other than Rae. “I’m sorry I don’t…” Aax’s words devolved into a guttural growl, and as if jerked forwards by an invisible puppet string, he once again lurched towards Rae.

Ocie and Caspian had managed to drag Aax up onto the porch now, and were trying to pull him through the door. Caspian’s words were lost in a long ramble of thanks and appreciation, and Ocie likewise spewed forth a tidal wave of praise, promising Aax that he was doing great, keeping his composure. The moment they could, Caspian kicked the door shut, separating the two groups from direct line of sight. For a moment, the tension seemed to ease.

“It’s alright, Jamie.” Rae grunted reassuringly, holding the familiar to the ground. “See? They’re gone. They didn’t hurt me, they’re not going to hurt anyone.”

Jamie growled in frustration as Rae finally sat back, and allowed Will to help him to his feet. The hunter realised as he pulled Rae up how utterly useless he had made himself in the interaction. He hadn’t even tried to help hold Jamie or Aax back, he had just stood there, his arms outstretched, hoping his mere presence would be enough to keep them at bay. It felt wrong to feel this useless, to feel so small amidst these larger than life monsters. Will didn’t enjoy it.

“They were going to.” Jamie panted, pulling themselves up to their feet, and making a move towards the door before Rae’s hand shot out and grabbed their wrist.

“Jamie, please.” Rae pleaded. “Please, Jamie, they might be a monster, but… But they’re trying. Just like we’re trying. Please.”

Jamie looked at Rae, their eyes still feral and angry. Slowly, their expression softened, and their entire body seemed to relax, slumping in on themselves as they gave in. “Fine. They can try.”

“Thank you.” Rae nodded.

Will watched the exchange carefully. Rae was so much better with talking to Jamie than he was. Then even Caspian was, and he was the person the familiar had come looking for in the first place. Maybe it was just that they were both monsters, maybe not of the same type, but similar enough to see a common  ground within each other. Except Will couldn’t help but feel there was something more. There was a way Rae carried himself when he spoke to Jamie, even in the way he moved and the cadence of his voice. It was as if he knew exactly how he needed to present himself in order to get Jamie to notice. The feeling joined many others which settled uneasily in the pit of Will’s stomach.

After a few minutes outside spent in awkward silence, Will turned back to the house. “I think they’ve had enough time now to get him to the basement. I haven’t heard any screaming, so I think Chaos is probably alright.”

“No screaming.” Jamie nodded in agreement.

“I suppose… I suppose going to check wouldn’t hurt.” Rae said finally.

Slowly, he released his grip on Jamie’s wrist, however the vampire stayed close to the familiar’s side as they advanced towards the house. Out of the corner of his eye, Will could have sworn he saw something; the flicker of clothing, or perhaps the wayward beam of a headlight. He turned to look, but whatever it was had vanished. Perhaps it was just a car somewhere out on the highway, making a sudden turn. He was wound up and far too on edge, it was probably nothing. Of course it was nothing.

He followed Rae and Jamie into the house. The ground level seemed surprisingly silent after the screaming match which had just taken place outside. They must have successfully gotten Aax downstairs, and the layers of concrete and flooring between them muffled any sounds of conversation.

“Jamie maybe… Maybe it’s best if you don’t go downstairs just yet.” Will suggested, looking at the young person.

Jamie nodded in agreement, although their eyes were locked on the door to the basement, squinted as if inspecting it, waiting for it to burst open at any moment.

“Maybe… Come on, we can go into the kitchen.” Will suggested. He tentatively placed a hand on Jamie’s shoulder, afraid the teen would wheel around and bite him. As much as it was a possibility, Jamie barely acknowledged the presence of Will’s hand. “Maybe I can make you some hot chocolate.”

Jamie blinked, tearing their attention away from the door. “I… I cannot have chocolate.” They said quietly, glancing away as if they were embarrassed.

“Oh.” Will smiled. It was possible the most he had ever seen Jamie respond like an actual teenager would. “Oh, that’s alright, um… How about tea then, we can get you some tea.”

The youth nodded. “Yes. Please, I think… I think I need a distraction, I…” They glanced at Rae, who smiled warmly at them. At least, as warmly as a vampire could manage. “I need to let them try.”

“Exactly.” Will nodded, leading Jamie away into the kitchen.

The two were silent as Will moved around the space, intensely aware of Jamie’s eyes on his back. The atmosphere in the room was so different than it had been a few hours ago when he had been cooking with Seven. Now, rather than homely, the kitchen felt far too big and empty, as if Will was crossing oceans every time he walked to another cupboard or counter. At least, he decided, there was no longer a sense of danger. He was, if not comfortable, then at least unthreatened by Jamie’s presence. And in turn, Jamie seemed to feel the same way. Time slowed and trickled past the two as Will went about making the familiar a cup of tea, which he slid across the countertop to them.

Jamie clutched the cup between their hands. Despite how scoldingly hot the mug should have been, Jamie showed no sign of pain.

“My mother likes tea.” They said after a while. “She prefers flower teas, I think. Things that smell like the gardens.”

Will nodded, leaning his elbows on the counter. “She… She’s a vampire, your mother, isn’t she?”

Jamie nodded. “She is. Like Rae.”

Will pursed his lips, unsure how what to say or how he should say it. He knew that Jamie’s mother was looking for Caspian, but there was nothing to suggest that she was the person who had been experimenting on him all this time. Still, he wasn’t exactly enthused about handing one of his closest friends directly into the arms of a vampire.

He supposed that was one of the many reasons he was suspicious of Rae.

“Is she… Is she a good vampire, do you think Jamie?”

Jamie looked down into their cup of tea. They were so silent for so long that for a moment Will wondered if they hadn’t heard him. Then, finally, Jamie nodded.

“Yes. I think she is. She… They don’t like to hurt people. Not if they don’t have to. Easton pretends to, to have connections with other vampires, sometimes, but they don’t really like hurting people.”

Will tilted his head. What did that mean? Pretending to like hurting people to make connections. “Connections with wh—”

Before Will could finsih, his words were cut short by a frantic knocking at the door. Both he and Jamie went rigid, standing up straight and wheeling to face the direction of the front door.

“Who is that?” Jamie asked quietly. “Who was outside?”

Will hesitated for a moment. “No one was.” He whispered. He ran through the whereabouts of everyone in the house. Seven was sleeping. Jamie was here with them now. Rae, Caspian and Ocie were in the basement with Aax and Chaos.

So who the fuck was outside the door right now?

The knocking came again, this time louder and faster.

“Hello?” A frantic voice yelled from outside. The voice sounded young and scared. “Hello? Is there anybody home? Please!”

Will slid away from the table, tensing himself. “Stay here.” He whispered to Jamie.

“But—”

“Please, Jamie.” Will stressed, slowly walking out of the kitchen and into the main hall. “Trust me. I’ll yell if I need you.”

Jamie didn’t seem happy, but they stayed where they were on their chair by the counter.

Will paused on his way to the door to open a drawn in one of the tables along the hall. He retrieved from it a wooden stake—one of the many hidden throughout the home—before continuing to the door.

The knocking had not ceased, and neither had the shouts from the person on the other side. Slowly, Will cracked open the door.

“This is private property.” Will said sternly, hoping he find a balance between strict and concerned. “What are you doing this far out here?”

The person on the other side of the door was half hidden in darkness. Will had failed to turn the porch lights on in the time they were outside; the others hadn’t needed them, and when looking out towards Ocie’s parked car the moon was enough to light the night sufficiently. Here however, so close to the door, only the silhouette of the small person was visible. They young however, like Will had guessed. They were short, bundled up in baggy clothes with their dyed hair—something vibrant enough that it reflected colour even in the dark, red or maybe pink—flapping about them in the wind.

“Please, I-I’m so sorry to wake you up mister, it’s an emergency!” The teen’s voice was raw with emotion, and Will felt his resolve begin to give. “My family were out driving, and- and my dad hit a deer with his car and we came off the road and we hit a railing,” Their voice cracked, and Will realised they were crying, “Please sir he’s not waking up and we can’t get a signal to call an ambulance, this was the closest place we could find I-I need help please—”

Will slipped the stake into this back pocket before opening the door a little more, trying to get a better look at the teenager. He couldn’t quite tell how old they were in the dark. As young as fifteen, maybe? Hell, they could have been as old as their twenties, he wasn’t sure. There was something about the curve of their face which made it hard to tell.

“Where are your parents?” Will asked, craning his neck to look down the drive for a car. “Are they nearby?”

“N-No, they’re back on the highway.” The teenager sniffed, “Please, d-do you have a phone I can use? Please, it’s already taken so long to walk out here, I- I need to call someone, please.”

Will looked behind him at the house. No one had emerged to see what was happening, leaving him alone in the hall. Still, he didn’t exactly what strangers in the house right now, let alone humans who might be vulnerable to the more monstrous of their company.

“Now isn’t really the best time, I… Maybe my partner and I can drive out with you, take your dad to the hospital—”

“Please, I just need to use your phone, I— I know it’s late, sir I’m sorry, please !” The young person continued to beg.

Will swallowed, his last shreds of resolve crumbling. Letting one lost kid in to use the phone wouldn’t hurt, especially if the others were all still in the basement. Besides, a young person wouldn’t just approach a derelict farmhouse in the middle of the night and beg to be let in by a stranger without good reason. They certainly didn’t seem light a threat.

“Yeah, yeah of course.” Will shook his head, stepping aside, “Of course, come on in kid I didn’t mean… I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I’ll show you the phone.”

“Thank you!” The youth said, throwing themselves over the threshold and wrapping their arms around Will’s chest in a hug. “Oh God, thank you, thank you so much!”

There was a slight change of tone to their muffled voice as they spoke into Will’s chest. The youth stepped away from him, and Will noticed with a sinking feeling of dread that they were smiling. The teen twirled his stake in their hand, slipped from his pocket in the embrace, their red and gold eyes sparkling in the light of the hall.

“Genuinely, thank you for that. You just won me an even three hundred bucks.” The young person raised a hand to their lips and whistled, long and hard, the sound piercing enough to make Will’s ears ache. “Come on in guys! I wanna collect my winnings.”

Out side on the porch, three figures descended from the shadows, appearing out of nowhere. They stepped forwards, gliding easily through the door.

Without a seconds hesitation, Will took off deeper into the house, screaming for the others.

Chapter Text

The basement was filled with hushed but frantic voices as Rae entered, scuttling down the stairs while pressed against the wall, trying to make himself as small as possible in case the creature in the basement was about to launch at him from the lower level. He didn’t need to be so concerned.

Aax was in the cell set into the wall of the basement, their short frame pressed against the bars, glaring at Chaos, who was leaning against the wall at the far end of the space. She had been released from the slab on which she was previously restrained, but she seemed unsteady on her feet, and there was a vacant look in the newly turned vampire's eyes. Rae supposed it was understandable. The body Chaos now found themselves was no longer truly their own—at least, not as they had known it. It would likely take them time to adjust to their undead physiology, and come to terms with the needs and functions of their new vampiric nature.

Rae felt as if he should have known what that was like. Those feelings of being freshly turned. Even if his memory was gone there should have at least been some recognition of the feeling, some kind of distant empathy, except… There was nothing. The knowledge of the body’s transformation after death seemed to come to him from a purely external source, as if he had read it somewhere in a book, or been told it by someone long ago.

A woman, he thought… But what woman? Who was she?

Had he really been a vampire so long that he had lost the memory of being alive? How long had Rae been undead, and who had he been before that? Had he left a life behind when he was turned? Had he been like Chaos, and clung to those last vestiges of consciousness and attachment, holding onto the remnants of their life in an attempt to keep living? Distantly, Rae was afraid that he would not have been so strong. That if he had been someone else, that life had been entirely abandoned for whoever, or whatever, he was now. The thought that he could be so cold in his dismissal of his life hurt him. He hurt for the non-existent friends and loved ones he must have left behind when he died. He hoped that he had been kind enough to leave them alone, and had not hurt them in his undead state. He knew from whatever that distant source of memory was that those recently turned were more susceptible to frenzy and hunger than other vampires, and yet Chaos seemed to be handling the blinding urge for blood well. Then again, it was also likely they were still riding the high of the blood Rae had fed them when they had first awoken.

Rae’s own insides panged in hunger, and for a moment he was made intensely aware of every heartbeat in the room, in the entire house, pounding in a cacophony of irresistible song, becoming him closer… He pushed the drive aside as best he could. Now was not the time. He could feed when this was over, retrieve another of the bags of excess blood from the store room here in the lab.

Except he didn’t want bagged blood, cold and empty. Rae wanted something fresh and alive. He needed fresh blood.

It was not merely a pang from the stomach as a human hunger may have been. The sensation seemed to spread outwards from his chest in a great, single strike, as if his veins had turned to brambles, thorns digging into his nerves as his entire body craved for the relief of blood. His knees buckled slightly, and Rae stumbled down the few remaining steps, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to focus on himself rather than his surroundings.

“Rae?” Caspian asked.

Rae heard the hunter approach before he opened his eyes, sensing the shift in air and scent in the basement. The instinct to hiss and bear his fangs bubbled up inside his chest, and Rae managed to swallow it back down only as the comforting presence of Caspian fully washed over him. There was something about the man which managed to calm him. Something about the pattern of his breathing, or the smell which clung to him; dark and bitter, yet still somehow soft and easy. Coffee with just a touch of sugar. Caspian smelled of mornings, Rae realised. Gentle dew and distant dandelions. Coffee and baked goods and the subtle sweat which clings to the body after hours of sleep.

Most importantly, Caspian smelled of this morning. Of waking up, warm for the first time in his life, the urge to kill completely lost in the hazy comfort of sleep.

“Rae are you—”

“I’m fine.” Rae grunted, forcing himself to stand back up as Caspian got closer still.

The smaller man was right in front of him now, and as Rae stood to his full height, his face brushed painfully close to the hunter’s. They lingered there for a moment, and Rae once again had the urge to lean forwards and kiss him, as he had this morning, in a moment which seemed as if it had taken place an eternity ago.

“I’m alright, I promise.” He forced a smile around his fangs, and Caspian nodded.

The hunter was not entirely convinced, but he let the issue fall away. Now didn’t seem the time to push further, especially with so many eyes watching. Eyes so determined to rip Rae and anyone like him to shreds.

“You shouldn't have come down here.” Aax grumbled from the other side of the bars, squeezing his eyes shut and tilting his head to face away from Rae. “I don’t… They don’t want me to hurt you.”

Rae took a step towards the bars. Caspian reached out and took his hand, holding him in place. Rae looked over his shoulder pleadingly, and nodded at the brunette. Caspian squeezed his hand, before letting it go.

“Aax doesn’t mean…” Ocie’s words died in her throat, and she looked over her shoulder at Chaos, who was staring at the ground as if trying to ignore all of them. “Listen, I still don’t know how to feel about the fact that you’re here. If it wasn’t for Chaos, I’d gladly let him out to put you in the ground.”

“Ocie—” Caspian started, but she cut him off.

“Don’t pretend you wouldn’t, Caspian. Just because you and this thing are… You and him are whatever, I…He’s still a vampire.”

Rae looked at his feet, halfway to the bars of the cell. “She’s right, Caspian, I don’t… I shouldn’t be here, I’m only putting you all at risk.”

“So is Chaos!” Caspian objected.

Chaos shuffled awkwardly. “He’s got a point, Ocie, I… I’m not any different to this guy, I—”

“You didn’t choose this, Ceci.” Oceana said softly, stepping backwards to be closer to her partner, and resting a hand on her shoulder. “We don’t know if… We can find out what to do about your condition, Rae is… We don’t know how many people he’s hurt.”

“Doesn’t matter how many people he’s hurt, he’s going to hurt more people again.” Aax muttered, fully turning away now and sinking to the ground, pressing their hands against the side of their head to dull the voices of the vampires in the room. “All they do is hurt people.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone, I promise.” Rae said, approaching the cell. “I promise, I would never hurt anyone on purpose.”

Aax shook his head, scoffing. The sound was rough and barking. “All vampires do is kill people and experiment on them and… They cause pain.”

“And what about you?” Rae asked softly. “Do you want to cause pain?”

“I—” Aax’s voice caught in their throat. “I don’t know what you… N-No, of course I don’t want to… No.”

“You’re one of the experiments, aren’t you?” Rae asked, crouching down outside the bars of the cell. “You said they experiment on people.”

Aax nodded. “I… I was. I think so, I… It’s blurry.”

“That’s okay.” Rae assured him. “My memory is blurry too. So is Caspian’s.”

“I was one of their experiments too.” Caspian said weakly. His voice was tense, and Rae looked up to see a look of pain on the hunter’s face as he spoke. Caspian forced a smile at him, continuing, “You’re not alone, Aax, I promise.”

The thing in the cell, however human it was or had been, made an incredibly human sound; a sobbing in the back of its throat, intentionally muffled by their lips.

“Rae isn’t going to hurt you.” Caspian said after a moment, before turning back to Ocie, “Either of you.”

Ocie made a disbelieving grunt, but didn’t object any further to the statement.

“You said they didn’t want you to hurt me,” Rae said, looking back at Ocie and Chaos, “But do…” He swallowed, hesitantly placing his hand on the bar. “Do you want to hurt me?”

Aax took a very long time to answer. “I don’t think I have a choice, I… I can’t control myself, you’re… It’s like when I see something undead, I just…” He shook his head, unable to finish. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Then you don’t have to.” Rae said,resting one of his hands on the bars. “Whatever the vampires who did this to you made you for, you don’t have to be that thing, Aax. You can choose what you want to do. I’m… I know what it's like, to need to kill things, for that urge to be overpowering, but… You can fight that. Or at least try to.”

“I am trying.” Aax huffed out a laugh. “Fuck I’m trying so hars, it’s the only reason you still have a hand is because I’m trying, and I can’t even see you.”

Rae swallowed, removing his hand from the bar. “But it’s a start.” He said softly. “And… And maybe we can help each other. If we’re both trying to fight that drive.”

“Rae…” Caspian muttered, although he found he had no real reason to object.

The vampire shot him a pleading glance, before turning back to Aax, who still faced away.

“Why would you want to help me?” Aax asked hesitantly. “Ocie and Chaos understand, they wanted me to help kill vampires, but you… You’re not… Why?”

Rae took a long moment to answer. “I think… I want to hope that I can do better. And maybe if I can help others, then… Then I can at least be something more than a monster.”

Aax went to speak, only to be interrupted by a scream of panic from upstairs. Ocie swore at the sound, and Chaos let out a rough, gargling hiss past her rows of jagged fangs. Caspian wheeled around to face to open door at the top of the stairs, finally pulling his eyes off of Rae.

“Will!” Caspian realised, the first of them to be yanked from the stunned paralysis. “Jesus Christ what’s—”

“Vampires.” Aax growled, the sound rumbling up from deep within their chest. Rae turned back to look at them, only to find the hybrid creature on their feet, struggling against the bars. “It was a trap, there’s more vampires, there’s—”

There was another crash from upstairs and the sound of laughter. The laughter struck a nerve deep within Rae’s core, his entire body tensing. He knew that laugh, only… He couldn’t remember why he knew it.

“I fucking knew it the son of a bitch—”

“Rae didn’t have anything to do with this!” Caspian froze part way up the stairs, looking down at Rae, his eyes wide. “You… You didn’t, Rae, I—”

“No.” Rae shook his head, emotion catching in his throat as he was spurred from his crouched position and moved to race after Caspian. “No, I would never, I don't… You know I would never.”

Caspian’s face flickered across several emotions, none of which Rae could read. Finally, the hunter grabbed a stake from the wall, and barrelled upstairs into the hall. Rae followed after him, chased by Ocie and Chaos behind him, all four of them charging out into the mess of struggling forms, living and dead, which had overtaken the main hall…

Chapter Text

Will was still screaming when the group emerged onto the top floor, wrestling with each other to pass through the small door.

The hunter was lying sprawled on the ground, his arm thrown up in defence and blood splattered across his face and the wooden floor around him. A vampire with a two-tone, patchwork jacket was pinning Will to the ground, their fangs imbedded deep into the man’s forearm, unreleasing as Will thrashed beneath him.

“We had a deal, we do this my way!” Another vampire was yelling over Will’s screaming, their pink hair bouncing around their shoulders. “No one was going to be hurt!”

“Sorry your highness,” grumbled another, taller vampire in a long cloak, who crouched down beside Will, “But in the real world things need to get—”

Before he could finish, a shape flew from down the hall, a mass of shadow and rage. Jamie slammed into the vampire on top of Will, knocking them backwards towards the door. Will howled as a chunk of skin from his arm was torn out, spraying blood further across the hall.

“Get the fuck away from him!” Caspian screamed out, charging forwards before Rae could stop him.

At the same time, Chaos let out a hollow, guttural hissing noise, swaying on their feet as their eyes began to cloud over, staring at the blood pooling around Will on the ground.

Ocie noticed as the newly turned vampire moved to dart forwards, and she grabbed them around the shoulders. “Fuck, shit, Chaos don’t—”

“Get her downstairs, out of the way, hurry!” Rae shouted, spinning around to half push both women back into the basement.

“If you let them die I’ll kill you myself!” Ocie snapped, slamming the basement door shut and locking it behind her.

Rae certainly wasn't planning to let anyone die, but he also didn’t know how he was supposed to fend off so many vampires by himself, especially when the sight of Will’s blood was making his own head spin and his veins ache beneath his skin.

“Jamie!” Another voice screamed, and a blonde, young looking vampire launched from another room, wrapping their arms around the familiar’s waist and dragging him off the hissing, blood-covered vampire who they had pinned to the ground, and were trying to claw at with their fists. “Jamie, that's the prince you don’t know what you’re doing!”

The pair went tumbling across the room, and Jamie let out a muffled, entirely shocked, “Easton?”

Rae wanted to help Jamie, retrieve them from their struggle against two of the vampires, only to get distracted in the split second before he could move. At the same time Jamie and the blonde vampire went sprawling across the floor, Caspian let out a roar as he threw himself at the tall vampire in the long coat, slamming into him and bouncing harmlessly off his broad chest.

The vampire’s arm flew out and grabbed him around the throat, swinging him around and slamming him against the wall in a single, slick movement. Caspian let out a gargled scream as the motion ripped open the wound in his neck beneath the bandages, and fresh blood seeped into the gauze.

“I remember you, little lab rat…” The vampire growled. “Tell me where the prince is, or I’ll make the experiments look—”

“Get off him!” Rae screamed, launching himself forwards at a speed he didn’t know he was capable of, crashing into the side of the tall vampire, who crumpled under the force of the impact and was knocked back towards the door.

The pink haired vampire screamed, leaping out of the way as the tall figure hit the wall, leaving a considerable dent as he slumped to the floor.

Rae spun to face Caspian, propping the smaller man up against the wall as his legs buckled. The man’s eyes were glazed, and there was a smear of blood against the wall where his head had made impact with the plaster.

“R-Rae?” It was the pink haired vampire that spoke now.

Rae’s head whipped around, and he hissed at them, his fangs bared and his arms still protectively around Caspian, pressed against the wall.

“Rae, it’s me. It’s Athena.” The young looking vampire raised their hands, gesturing to themselves.

“How do you know my name?” Rae asked.

The tall vampire grunted, pulling himself up but only onto his knees, where he stayed knelt, looking up at Rae with disbelieving, purple eyes. “Your highness?” He blinked. “But that’s—”

Rae wrapped his arms under Caspian’s armpit and pulled him back from the wall, the smaller man staggering as Rae backed up to Will, who was pulling himself backwards across the floor. The vampire loomed over both of them protectively.

“Seven.” Will grunted, wrapping his bleeding arm up with the end of the purple cardigan, looking around with hazy eyes. “Where’s Seven, I… Rae what’s happening.”

“I don’t know.” Rae shook his head, his blue, slit-pupiled eyes still locked on the three vampires, now gathered in the doorway.

The tallest of them, the man with dark hair and the darker coat, who had addressed him as your highness was still kneeling on the ground, his head slightly bowed and causing his long hair to fall partly over his eyes, which were still locked on Rae. The younger one, Athena, has still standing with her arms raised to indicate that they weren’t a threat; a fact which was made hard to believe by the mouth full of lion-like fangs which protruded slightly from their lips. The figure with the patchwork jacket who had attacked Will had stood up too, blood covering their face and the front of their clothes. They licked their lips clean as they stood up, staring at Rae. The fourth vampire, Easton, was crouched on the ground, their arms wrapped around Jamie in a hug.

“Jamie…” Rae said nervously. “Jamie you should get behind me.”

Jamie looked up, their face uncertain. “Rae this is… This is Easton, they—”

“They attacked us, Jamie.” Caspian muttered, his had pressed to his throat to try and stem the bleeding.

“Easton hasn’t attacked anyone.” Jamie said flatly.

Rae opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say. He turned his attention back to the others.

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, or why you’re here, but… But I am not letting you harm these mortals.”

“We’re here for you, dumbass.” The vampire in the patchwork jacket laughed awkwardly. “C’mon, Rae… It’s me. It’s Sherbert… We practically grew up together. Hell, even Athena is here. And your little lapdog, Centross.”

“I swear to god you call me a lapdog and no amount of political clout is going to stop me from gutting you.” The kneeling vampire said.

“Rae, please, y-you’re scaring me.” Athena blinked at him.

Rae shook his head. “Scaring you? What about my friends! You think they’re not scared? You tried to kill them and—”

“These are your friends?” The vampire on the ground, Centross, laughed. “You made friends with-with hunters, and your own fucking experiment? Do you even hear yoursel—”

“M-My what?” Rae blinked. His throat closed, and it felt as if his insides were making an intense bid for freedom through his chest.

“Rae w-what’s he talking about?” Caspian asked. The man stepped away, sliding off of Rae’s arm and staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

The sight of Caspian afraid of him again, after all he had done to forge that trust, after being together this morning… The sight of it pierced Rae’s heart more painfully than any stake could have.

Rae shook his head, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. “I— I don’t know, I… Caspian I don’t know what they’re talking about I promise.”

“You don’t know who we are, do you?” Sherbert asked, raising an eyebrow. “You really don’t. You don’t even know who you are.”

Centross stood up slowly, his arms raised the same as Athena’s. “Your highness, did Perix—”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Rae snapped, his voice cracking as the words flooded out and the tears finally spilled onto his cheeks. “Who the fuck are you people, I— I don’t know you!”

Centross took a small step closer. Rae realised that Caspian had continued to move away from him now, and was a few feet away, leaning against the wall with a stake clutched in his hand. Even Will had backed away, pulling himself towards the stairs. Seven had appeared, so silently Rae hadn’t even noticed, and he was helping prop Will up against the bannisters.

Rae was left alone in the middle of the hallway, isolated between the two sides of the fight.

“You do know me.” Centross said slowly, taking another hesitant step forward. “You know all of us. I’m your bodyguard.”

“Stay away from me, I-I don’t need a bodyguard, I’m not royalty, I—”

“You are royalty, Rae.” Athena said gently. “Just like me. And Sherbert, too.”

“I’m not!” Despite the raw emotion channelled through his words, Rae’s voice was thin and whispered. “I’m not, I’m just Rae, I… I can’t be—”

“Your name is Raemond Everette Morningstar the Second,” Centross said, once again lowering himself onto one knee, “Son of Enderian, ward of Perix, first and only heir to the End Court.”

“You’re what?” Seven stood up suddenly behind him, and Rae turned around to face him.

Seven had always been so calm. His movements were methodical and his words were thought out and carefully curated, every one exact. Rae had barely seen the hunter express any kind of emotion since they had found him, and yet now… Now his face was a mask of genuine anger.

“We brought you into our house.” Seven growled, stepping in front of Wil protectively. “We trusted you, we let you help us, Caspian put his life on the line for you!”

“I didn’t know!” Rae begged, completely turning his back on the other vampires. “Please, I promise I would never hurt you, any of you, I don’t—”

Rae’s words were cut off by a yelp of pain. He had stepped towards Seven, his hand outstretched, and the hunter had thrown out his own hand in response, tossing out a spray of raw iron shavings, which burned as they made contact with the exposed skin of Rae’s hand. The vampire stumbled back, falling as he grabbed his burning hand.

Centross caught him, helping him into a crouch before flinging himself forwards, hissing at Seven.

“No!” Rae screamed, throwing out his still steaming hand and catching the tail of Centross’ coat. “Don’t touch them! If- If I am who you say I am then I order you to leave them alone! All of them!”

Centross stopped in his tracks, every muscle in his undead body tensed as he stared at Seven, emitting a low, gravelly growl from his throat. “Your highness…”

“If you hurt anyone in this house I swear to god I will kill you myself.” Rae sobbed, letting go of Centross’ coat and once again clutching his hand. His pale skin had burst into angry red blisters, and his head throbbed.

“Rae, we don’t want to hurt anyone if we don’t have to.” Athena breathed from behind them by the door.

There was a rush of movement and a muffled grunt of surprise. Seven and Will shouted in alarm.

“Everyone stay still!” Sherbert snapped as Rae and Centross wheeled around.

Rae hadn’t realised how far he had stepped from Caspian as he tried to get closer to Seven and stop Centross in his tracks.

Sherbert had shot forwards, and was now standing with one arm under Caspian’s arm, their hand clasped around their bleeding neck. Their other hand pinned Caspian’s arm to his back, and the stake rolled across the floor.

“Sherbert…” Centross said uneasily.

“Like Athena said, we don’t want to hurt anyone.” Sherbert said casually, tightening his grip on Caspian’s neck. The hunter grunted in pain. “However, any sudden moves and I will rip out this little hunter’s precious throat.”

Near the door, Easton stood up, and Jamie quickly followed suit. “I’m sorry, Prince Raemond, but our mother had requested Caspian’s pres—”

Sherbert made a gentle inhaling click sound with their mouth. “Actually, Easton, The Lady of the World might have to wait… I’m sure she can find some other human to fuss over.”

“Sherbert what are you doing?” Athena asked.

“We had a deal!” Easton snapped. “You said you weren’t going to hurt him, he’s coming with us!”

“I’m sorry, you had a deal?” Centross laughed, “No kid you stand the fuck down, we had a deal, Sherbert. You were helping the kid find their bear, the test subject is mine, I made that explicitly clear. Caspian, Perix, the Prince, anything from the End Court was to fall under my jurisdiction—”

“He’s not property!” Rae snapped, standing up shakily. “And he’s not going anywhere, l-let him go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t.” Sherbert sighed. “You see, yes, I made a lot of deals, but unfortunately, there are other arrangements which complicate them. I am sorry about having to go back on the promises though, to both of you.” The vampire inclined their head towards both Centross and Easton.

“N-No I gave an order, I said you couldn’t hurt—”

“I’m not one of your End lackeys, Rae.” Sherbert smirked, “I’m the prince of my own court. A court which has laid claim to Caspian Solcrest.”

“Rae…” Caspian wheezed out past the choking force of Sherbert’s hand.

Athena stepped forwards. “Sherbert you’re not thinking this through, something like this is going to have repercussions—”

“Which I have thought out, kid. Trust me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, your highness, and your highness,” They nodded at both Rae and Athena. “Caspian and I have an appointment.”

“Sherbert!” Centross threw himself forwards.

Caspian let out a scream, cut off by Sherbert’s grip on his throat as the two of them melted and broke apart, their two distinct bodies being ripped apart into dozens of screeching, flailing crows, enveloped in a thick fog, which flapped hurriedly as they crashed into walls and flocked in unison out the open door before Centross could even get close to where they were standing.

There was a cacophony of screams and yells which mingled with the violent cawing of the birds as they fled into the night.

By far, the loudest and most anguished among the cries was Rae’s...

Chapter Text

Seven was seething as he watched the flurry of feathers vanish through the open door, leaving no trace of Sherbert or Caspian in the hall. For a long moment, everyone was too stunned to move, all of them, human and vampire alike simply staring at the door.

Centross was the first to react. The low, building roar which the vampire let out was enough to make Seven’s hair stand on end. The vampire picked up the nearest object—which happened to be a rather new coffee table Seven had assembled a few weeks ago—and hurled it towards the door. The table shattered into a million splintered pieces, its draw tumbling out and sending stakes and papers and keyrings across the floor. A single chair leg sat impaled in the wall, poking out of the crumpled plaster, and pointing accusingly back at Centross.

So many emotions churned through Seven’s mind that for a long moment he was too completely overwhelmed to react at all. Everything had happened so suddenly, happened while he wasn’t even here, and now… Now it was all over, and he was left in a wreckage he wasn’t sure he could repair. Only a few hours ago it seemed as if his life was finally starting to make sense—finally starting to get better. He had finally talked to Will, not about vampires but about themselves, and he had let his feelings out and had them be reciprocated. For the first time since becoming entangled in this web of undead creatures and battling for survival, Seven was able to think about himself, and about his feelings. They were feelings which wanted to be with Will.

And he had just gotten the chance to figure out what that really meant, when he had been awoken from his sleep, and found the person he loved—was it love? Seven wasn’t really sure, he had never been in love and couldn’t quite pinpoint what love might mean exactly, especially in this context, but yes, it did feel in a way like he supposed love might feel—bleeding out on the stairs below. And now not only was Will bleeding, and their home infested with vampires summoned by the man Seven had grown to trust, but Caspian was gone.

His only other friend, Caspian. Their Lost Boy. The Caspian who had been so willing to rummage through his own trauma for the sake of educating the hunters. The Caspian who had put his life on the line again and again. Who had been so caring that even a vampire, the thing he had spent his life trying to destroy, he spared, and had taken into his arms. A vampire who would betray him. Caspian seemed so happy with Rae, as complicated as such a relationship may have been. Seven had not failed to notice, and, for a few days in which he had grown to trust Rae, it was nice to see his friend so at ease. To see Caspian more comfortable than he had been at all since they first rescued him from that laboratory.

For a brief while, Seven had thought Rae was a friend. He had been so gentle, so kind, everything in contrast to the vampires Seven had encountered throughout his life.

And yet if Rae was indeed the leader of one of these courts, if he had brought these vampires into their home, had any of that been real? Or had it all been some kind of scheme to retrieve Caspian.

“Rae…” Will groaned, pushing himself up onto the lowest stair so he could better see the arrangement of vampires in front of him. “Rae, he trusted you…”

“We all trusted you.” Seven growled, the sound of Will in pain behind him spurring him back into the conversation. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t go down there and release Aax to kill all of you right now.”

At the sound of the threat, the other three vampires all stood, crouched as if ready to flee or attack. Seven wasn’t sure which one he would prefer. Even Jamie had tensed up, coiled up on all fours, and the hunter was a little hurt at the sight. The only one who didn’t move was Rae, who still knelt on the ground between them all, staring at the open front door, his body trembling slightly as he cried.

“I didn’t want this.” Rae said finally, his voice cracking. “I didn’t want this, I didn’t know, I—”

Centross clenched his jaw shut. “Your majesty, with respect pull yourself together this is unbefitt—”

“Would you just shut up!” Athena snapped at him, slowly walking forwards before kneeling down beside Rae, and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Please, Centross, can’t you see he’s grieving?”

“Over a pet.” Centross muttered.

In a flash Rae had launched himself at Centross, slamming the larger vampire against the wall. “Don’t you dare call him that, you have no idea—”

“No you have no idea!” Centross shoved Rae off, which was easily accomplished given their size difference. “I have been searching for you, for the man I swore to protect with my eternal life. I have been to every court, not the mention the Lady of the World’s kids, I have pulled in all of the favours I owed, hell I came here with not just one but two rival court princes because they thought you were being tortured, and now you’re— you’re cuddling up with some hunters and fawning after your own test subject like a lovesick teenager!”

“He wasn’t—” Rae’s voice caught in his throat, “Caspian wasn’t my test subject, I wouldn’t do that to someone not the things that were done to him, I would never… I’m not like that.”

“You were.” Centross scoffed. “You were under Perix’s mentoring. You’ve gone soft.”

“Maybe I’d rather be soft than a monster.” Rae breathed, turning to Seven.

Seven had been watching the interaction with wide eyes, crouched down beside Will and carefully unwinding the bloody cardigan off the man’s arm to survey the wound. It wasn’t as deep as it first appeared, only the uppermost layer of the skin had been torn away, leaving most of the muscle still intact.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” Will said hunter his breath. His green eyes were distant, and his head bobbed slightly as he tried to keep himself awake. How much blood had he lost, Seven wondered? How long had he been bleeding before they had arrived. “When you took a while to show I… I was worried maybe they had—”

“I’m alright.” Seven nodded, leaning down to press his forehead against Will’s comfortingly. “I promise. You’re the one in bad shape.”

“I’m fine.” Will grunted, wincing as Seven flexed out his fingers, making sure he could still move his hand. The muscles in Will’s arm flexed and stretched through the open wound, entirely visible through the pooling blood, and yet his hand still seemed to be functioning.

The vampires were still arguing above them, but Seven tuned them out. Right now, all he cared about was Will. Once he was sure Will was alright, then they could deal with the vampires. Then they could try to get Caspian back.

“We need to get you downstairs,” Seven decided, glancing up at the vampires arranged in the hall, “We can lock ourselves down there and give you some proper treat—”

“No.” Will shook his head. “Ocie and Chaos are still down there, the blood triggered some kind of reaction in Chaos. I don’t think I can go down there right now.”

“Well I’m certainly not going to leave you here to get supplies.” Seven scoffed, “What’s to stop them from killing you the instant I’m gone?”

Will was quiet for a long moment, running his tongue across his dry lips. “I think… I think Rae will stop them.”

“Will, you can’t seriously... You were the one who didn’t— To trust him now is entirely illogical you understand—”

“I know.” Will nodded, looking up into Seven’s grey eyes. “I know it is, but I think… I think right now, if we want to save Caspian, we have to trust Rae, alright?” He lifted up his hand, and cradled the side of Seven’s face.

Seven was so taken aback by the statement that it took him a moment to fully appreciate the gesture. Then, he gently leaned into Will’s touch, pressing his cheek into the palm of Will’s hand. “Alright.” He said softly. “Just… Stay safe. Please.” Seven whispered.

Will nodded.

After a moment's hesitance, Seven leaned gently into the touch, and kissed Will’s hand softly. His cheeks reddened as he did so, and when he looked into the wide eyed expression on his new partner’s face, he had worried he had done something wrong.

“I’m sorry, I just—”
Before he could pull away, Will pulled Seven’s face down close to his own, and lightly kissed him. Their lips touched only for a moment, but it was enough to send an eclectic tingling racing through Seven’s body, his thoughts of the danger around them lost just for a moment beyond the kiss.

“Oh.” Seven said softly as they broke apart.

“Oh.” Will echoed, blushing with what little blood was left in his system. “Sorry, I should have asked before I just…”

“No, no its alright, it was nice.” Seven said quickly. “We um… We should try that again, maybe, I think I would… Yes. When you’re not bleeding.”

“Yeah.” Will smiled slightly, glancing away. “When I’m not bleeding.”

“I’ll be back soon.” Seven assured him, his thoughts momentarily clouded by the kiss as he stood up and ducked towards the basement door, slipping through it before any of the vampires got the chance to oppose his exit…

Chapter Text

For a brief moment as he closed the basement door behind himself, Seven’s body tried to lull him into a sense of relief. He was out of harm's way, his instincts assured him. He could bolt the door and everything would be alright.

Except it wouldn’t. Not while Will was still upstairs, lying prone in the lion’s den. He had to get back out there as soon as he could.

“Who’s there?” Ocie shouted up at him from just out of sight. “I swear to god I have a friend here who will gladly shred you if—”

“It’s Seven, Miss Pine.”

There was a moment of silence, before Ocie called back: “Tall one, blonde hair, quiet?”

Seven took a few steps into the basement. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Alright then.”

There was the sound of footsteps as Seven came into view of the others, as Ocie moved away from the cell. Inside it, Aax lay on the small bed in the corner and was curled in on themselves, grunting as they tossed and twitched on the sheets.

“Your friend, is he—“

“He can tell they’re upstairs.” Chaos said. She dropped from the ceiling directly behind Seven, and the man leapt forwards, spinning to face her. “So many of them…” chaos’s eyes flicked down to the blood which covered Seven’s hands and sleeves. “You’ve got…” their voice trailed off wistfully. “I can help you with that, clean you up…”

“Chaos…” Ocie said hesitantly. “Chaos, we need to focus here.”

“Y-Yes.” Seven nodded, “Focus. I need medical supplies.”

“Who’s hurt?” Ocie asked, starting forward to help Seven rummage through drawers and shelves. “Is anyone…”

“No.” Seven said quickly, not even letting himself consider the possibility. “No, everyone’s alive, I just… Just Will.”

“His arm.” Ocie nodded. “And the vampires, are they dusted?”

Seven paused, leaning on the edge of a desk. “No. They’re not, Rae… it’s complicated, I don’t know what’s… God I just need this to make sense, they… one of them took Caspian.”

“What?” Ocie started, slamming one of the drawers shut. “What the fuck do you mean—“

“I mean he’s gone!” Seven snapped, letting his emotions slip for not the first time that day. “They grabbed him and flew off in a murder of crows, I didn’t… I didn’t even know it was possible for them to take others too, they… I don’t know. Some of them wanted Rae, and he’s keeping them at bay.”

Ocie shook her head. “No. No I didn’t lose the one trace I might have left of my sister only for him he be fucking snatched up by these blood sucking bastards.” Ocie started towards the stairs.

Seven ran after her, his arms filled with disinfectants and bandages. “Miss Pine I need to ask you to stay calm this is a delicate situation I don’t want—“

“Oh yeah, seems real delicate kid, that’s why your friend is bleeding out on the floor as we speak.” Ocie grumbled. “Chaos, I need you to stay with Aax while—“

“Oh yeah, why wouldn’t I want to stay with my friend who now wants to kill me.” Chaos scoffed. “Sounds like fun.”

Aax mumbled something which may have been an apology from behind the bars. The harsh look on Chaos’ face eroded.

Ocie sighed. “I wanted to kill you most of the time when you were alive anyway, you’re probably used to it.”

Chaos rolled their eyes. “Love you too, Ocie.”

The blonde woman’s lips twitched into a smile. “As you should.” She winked, before stepping out of sight and up into the hall.

When the pair of them emerged, the vampires had gathered closer around Will, and Seven’s heart leapt into his chest. In the back of his mind he saw glimpses of Will’s body, mangled and torn as they feasted on him, all because he had left him alone…

Only Will was fine. Dazed, perhaps, but fine. He sat on the stairs with his head leant against the bannister, watching as the vampires argued in hushed tones in front of him. Jamie was sitting on the stair just below Will, as if guardining him from the assembled undead. As the two hunters entered the room, the vampires fell silent, everyone turning to face the newcomers.

“Where is he?” Ocie snapped. Seven tucked a roll of bandages under his arm to free his hand before reaching out to grab her arm.

“Miss Pine I told you not to—”

“We don’t know.” Centross snapped. His purple eyes bore into Ocie, and even without being the object of the stare Seven found his resolve weakening under the intensity of it. Oceana, however, did not buckle.

“What do you mean you don’t know you filthy—”

“Enough!” Rae shouted, cutting the two of them off, his voice raw. “Centross, just… Please.”

Athena cleared his throat, stepping between the two men. “Rae’s right. We can work together here, we all want to find Caspian here.”

“You’re not getting your hands on Caspian.” Will grunted from the steps. “He deserves to live his life.”

“He does.” Rae agreed, slumping in on himself. “He deserves the world.”

Centross made a disapproving grunt, but didn’t object any further. “If… If you desire it, your highness, then we can work with these mortals. I will remind you, however, both of you,” He shot a glare at Athena, who made a sneering face in response, “That they are vampire hunters, who have no doubt killed hundreds of those under your protection and control.”

“That’s a flattering estimation.” Will smirked.

Seven finally let go of Ocie’s arm, confident at least somewhat that she wouldn’t get herself hurt trying to fight Centross. He slipped past Jamie, who looked at him with wide, pleading brown eyes, and sat down beside Will, taking the man’s arm gingerly and beginning to clean the wound with the deft movements of practised hands.

Easton slipped out of the doorframe they were standing in, and tilted a head at Ocie, inspecting her. “You seem… Familiar.” They mumbled. The woman paid them no attention, still glaring at Centross as if her gaze alone would yield all the answers she was looking for.

Athena turned from Centross to look back up at Rae. “Rae, I know you don’t remember, and that’s alright. But you can still work with mortals. We… We’re like them. You and me more than most, I admit, but we are. We can work together, if you think we should… If you trust them.”

Rae nodded. “I do. I trust them.” He looked back over his shoulder at Will and Seven. Seven averted his gaze, not wanting to look at the vampire any more than he had to. “Even if I know why they can’t trust me.”

“So, I will repeat myself,” Ocie crossed her arms, “Where is Caspian? You obviously came here with whoever kidnapped him, so where have they gone?”

Centross shoved his hands in his pockets, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling as he closed his eyes. The vampire looked tired and bedraggled, his skin sullen and his hair unkempt. It was a motion of defeatedness which seemed so different from the aggression he had displayed earlier.

“I don’t know,” He admitted finally. “Rae and I are members of the End Court, and Athena the Nether Court. Sherbert on the other hand is the prince of Fable’s Court. Our leaders like to keep their true whereabouts hidden from each other, it avoids… Undesirable interactions. Most likely, they’ve returned to their father’s court, but I couldn’t tell you where that might be anymore.”

“And what about them?” Ocie pointed at Easton for the first time.

They young vampire had been inching closer to her this entire time, still scanning her face with curiosity. They started back, their lips twitching into a grimace. “Excuse me?”

“He didn’t list you as one of their courts. You’re like Chaos, your teeth give it away. So do you know?”

All eyes turned to Easton.

“If anyone would, it’s you.” Centross huffed, “So, out with it kid. Where the fuck is your boss.”

Easton looked offended. “Hey, Fable is not my boss. My mother is the Lady of the World, Jamie and I are exempt from all of this court bullshit, I wouldn’t know where they’re holed up any better than you do.”

“Easton…” Jamie warned, narrowing their eyes at their sibling.

Easton looked at them for a long time, the two siblings sharing a silent conversation. “I… Alright fine.” They shoved their hands in their pockets dejectedly. “I know that they relocated to Boston a few years back. Or maybe a few decades, I’m not sure. Fable is keeping it under wraps because of how close it is to Enderian’s territory.”

“That mother fucker…” Centross mumbled.

“Boston is a big city.” Seven noted, finishing bandaging up Will’s arm. Will smiled at him in thanks, and it calmed Seven, settling the flood of emotions and pulling everything into focus. “Do you have any idea where they might be in Boston?”

Easton shook their head. “No. I don’t.”

“Even our mother doesn’t know.” Jamie sighed, “And they keep inviting her to meet there.”

“Could she get another meeting?” Rae asked, turning to look at Jamie, “Just to get the location, and we could follow them, try to get to Caspian?”

“I don’t think so.” Easton shook their head. “Sherbert will be suspicious of Momboo now that they explicitly betrayed our deal with her.”

“Momboo?” Ocie muttered, her brow creasing, “I used to—”

“But,” Easton looked around at them hesitantly, “I might know someone who could find them, if I asked. It might take them time, but… They’re good at finding people. Spying on them, tracking activities. If we can make it to Boston, I can contact them.”

A series of hesitant looks were passed between them all. There were no enthusiastic agreements to the arrangements, however there were certainly no objections.

“Well…” Seven swallowed, standing up from the stairs. “I suppose this is it then. We should start gathering what we need. It’s a long way to Boston.”

“Not as the crow flies.” Centross added. “Sherbert will get there long before we do.”

“All the better reason to start moving now.” Rae nodded, “We might not have much time to lose.”

Finally, Rae caught Seven’s eye, and the two stared at each other. Seven’s mind cycled through a dozen emotions in the span of a few seconds. Curiosity, anger, betrayal, despair, guilt, disgust. It was as if his mind had recorded everything he had felt in the last few days since meeting Rae, and was playing them back to him at high speed.

Finally, as a tear pooled and finally spilled from one of Rae’s eyes, the vampire mouthed: ”Thank you.”

Seven chewed the inside of his lip, and nodded.

Rae shouldn’t be thanking him. Seven wasn’t agreeing to this for him. He was agreeing to this for Caspian. He was agreeing to this for Will. For the future they had so recently seen with each other. A future which would be out of reach until they were able to cast vampires from their lives entirely. And neither would be able to do that with the guilt of losing Caspian without a fight.

The assembled collection of vampires and hunters spread out from their gathering point in the hall, gathering supplies and regrouping before the journey to find their missing friend…

Chapter Text

Venear shifted as he stood in the large highrise office. Outside, the lights of Boston spread out around them in the night, the wind blowing through the giant open windows. His thin blue suit did little to protect him from the chill of the wind as it blew through the empty room. They had always assumed they would not feel cold as a vampire, and yet it seemed these days as if they were always cold. The cold would not harm them, but they were aware of it constantly, desperate for that sense of warmth they could never truly embody.

Something large and warm pressed against Ven’s legs, white fur and muscle pressing against his legs. The giant wolf came almost up to his ribs as it curled around him, wrapping him in its warm body as if sensing his thoughts. Ven wondered if it could do that, somehow. Sense his feelings or desires, like a real familiar. Ven reached down a hand casually, and the pale animal pressed its wet nose gently into his palm. He did not risk looking down at the wolf. It was a miracle he was allowed to have it in here at all, especially unmuzzled and unchained. If it seemed like a distraction or god forbid a threat, his boss would no doubt have it removed from the room, and there was no guarantee Ven would see it again soon.

His boss.

Fable was not happy. Even here in his makeshift throne room, overlooking the city he had brought under his control, there was a thin scowl stretched across his handsome, chiselled face. His hair was slicked back, its salt-and-pepper streaks glistening in the low light of the empty room. It was the kind of style he could have gotten done yesterday, or over a hundred years ago, and it would seem equally at home in either century. The man’s golden eyes stared out at the empty night sky, watching as a cloud passed over the moon beyond.

Ven was about to speak when a distant screeching caught their attention. A mass of black shapes moved towards them across the sky, dozens of birds cawing and squawking as they approached the building.

Fable let out a soft, approving hum at the sight.

The birds continued to get closer, before the murder of crows flew directly into the office, coalescing in a writhing pile of feathers and beaks until finally, the the squawking stopped, and Sherbert stood up, an unconscious man in their arms and a stupid grin plastered across their face.

“The prodigal child has returned!” Sherbert bowed, throwing down the human, who’s limp form crashed and rolled across the floor of the office.

Ven looked down at the bruised and bleeding mortal. His chest rose and fell softly, and his heartbeat was weak but audible. He reeked of the End Court, and the thought made Ven’s hair stand on end. At his side, the white wolf whined softly, and Ven saw Fable’s sneer twitch across his business-like countenance at the sound, before it was replaced with a smile.

“You’re late.” Fable said. There was an underlying malice beneath the approval in his voice, and Ven wondered if Sherbert even noticed it.

“I did have to fly all the way from west of Chicago lugging this thing around.” Sherbert laughed, stepping over the prone body of the test subject.

Fable smiled, opening his arms. Sherbert strode forwards and embraced their father before stepping aside and looking down at the mortal.

“He’s in good enough shape, I hope. I swear he was already broken when I found him.”

Once again that hint of a sneer flashed across Fable’s face. “Yes… I am sure he will be… Sufficient. Mr Atlan, if you would alert our associate to the presence of the test subject?”

Ven swallowed. The wolf whined again, more frantic this time. Despite his reluctance, he couldn’t help but feel a slow rising of hope in his chest.

Almost. He consoled himself. It’s done now. She has to make good on the deal now. Almost there…”

“Yes, sir.” Ven nodded, stepping over to the desk and pressing a button. The faint click was the only indicator that the signal had been sent.

Almost. All of this can be over soon.

In a matter of seconds, the snarling and growling could be heard on the other side of the office door. Ven stepped backwards at the sound, and his own wolf growled back at the door, crouching back on its haunches as the door was thrown open.

The woman that stepped through the door was small, and yet her presence was large enough to entirely shift the mood in the room. The massive black wolf at her side came up to the level of her large shoulder pads, struggling violently against a heavy chain which linked its muzzled snout to the vampire’s wrist. The beast snarled and thrashed, its golden eyes rolling wildly around the space. The woman raised a hand and clicked her fingers, and the beast stopped immediately, collapsing under its own wait to lie on its stomach, chest heaving with heavy breaths.

She pulled her hand back, and tucked a strand of magenta hair back behind her pointed ear, surveying the room with cold, calculating green eyes.

“Doctor.” Fable bowed his head in acknowledgement of the woman’s presence.

“My lord,” She bowed back, the chain around her wrist which connected her to the wolf clinking as she moved. She adjusted her suit as she stood again.

“Miss Perix,” Sherbert bowed in turn, inclining their head at the body on the floor, “I trust this is indeed the test subject you requested.”

Perix squinted at the mortal on the floor, inspecting it. “I see you took no time in brutalising my work, Prince.”

Sherbert raised their hands. “This was the condition I located him in, I assure you.”

Perix hummed. “And the End Prince?”

Sherbert blinked. “Pardon?”

“I was wondering this myself.” Fable stepped away from their child to stand behind Perix.

“No, that wasn’t the instruction,” Sherbert’s voice trembled slightly as they spoke, and Ven couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread on their behalf, “I was tasked to find the test subject, that’s what I did.”

“When you informed us of the End Prince’s involvement you were instructed to locate them too, were you not?” Fable raised an eyebrow. Even the illusion of approval had vanished from his voice now, replaced only with a politely level malice. “Those were my instructions, were they not, Mr Atlan?”

Venear nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, sir. Indeed sir, yes those were the instructions.”

Sherbert shook their head, their smile vanishing. “But I… I retrieved everything else, the research and the test subject I— Father you couldn't have expected me to steal the prince from directly under the nose of his guard!”

“I expect you to follow in my ability and my lead.” Fable said flatly. “If you cannot even subdue a single guard to retrieve an individual—”

“There were more than simply one guard, father, the situation was more complicated than—”

“I do not care how complicated it may have been, child.” The older vampire snapped, and Sherbert fell silent, looking at the ground. “You were given a task, and you failed to complete it. I expected better.”

Sherbert was quiet for a long moment. “I am sorry, father.”

Fable made a grunting sound of approval in response to the apology. “Indeed. I hope,” he turned to Perix, looking down at the vampire, who was still staring intently at the prone and unconcious mortal, “That your work on the project can still be resumed without the need of the princes involvement.”

Perix scowled. “Perhaps. We have made great strides, it is true, however…” She shook her head. “It does not matter. I can continue the research. With the initial subject returned I can certainly resume Project Atlas. It simply may take more time.”

Ven noticed the muscles in Fable’s neck tense.

“How much more time?” He asked tursely.

Perix shrugged. “A few more months. Perhaps years—”

“We do not have years, Doctor.” Fable growled. “I must remind you of your own status, regardless of my own. Has your need for assistance not been filled by the scientist I provided?”

“You have been very grateful in your protection of me and my work!” Perix nodded enthusiastically. At her side, the large black wolf whined. “And the assistant you have given me is quite capable, yes. Not to mention the facilities, however… Without the End Princes’ involvement, without his… Particular knowledge, I will need to redo much of the research from scratch.”

Fable ground his sharp teeth, inspecting the smaller vampire. “Indeed. Take your time. Your research is necessary. In the meantime…” He looked back at Sherbert. “I wish to speak with my child. Perhaps we can come to an arrangement which will get you your End Prince after all. They will bring the test subject down to the laboratory for you.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Perix bowed once again.

Ven waited to be addressed by the woman. For the recognition of their deal, for the fulfilment of her promise. It hung over them like a guillotine, just waiting, and they tried desperately to make eye contact with the scientists. She pointedly ignored him, turning on her heel and exiting the room, dragging the massive animal behind her as it resisted uselessly, pulling against its chain and being dragged along the floor of the hallway beyond.

“Venear?” Fable said coldly.

“Yes, sir?” Ven asked, caught off guard by the attention, his heart sinking as he watched Perix leave. where was she going? They had a deal…

“You are dismissed. Attend to your other duties.” Fable scowled at the white wolf, which still crouched protectively around Ven’s legs. “Take your pet with you.”

There was a pang of anger in Ven’s chest, and he tried his best to conceal it from his employer’s view. He did not think he was successful in doing so.

“Yes, my lord. Of course.” He straightened the collar of his baby-blue suit, and strode out the door of the office as fast as he could, racing after Perix with the white wolf close on his heels.

Chapter Text

Ven jogged through the halls of the building as quickly as his stuffy, tailored suit would allow. Perhaps that was part of Fable’s reason for dressing him so impractically; it made it harder for Ven to try and run away. Not that he would, of course. Ven couldn’t try to leave now. Not while there was still a chance to save Fengari…

The wolf bounded down the hall beside him, its panting breath echoing through the silence, the sound making Ven increasingly aware that he himself was not breathing.

He had already missed Perix before they reached the elevator, and his best chance of catching her attention was before she vanished into her lab was the stairs, which he now took three at a time, stumbling into walls and gripping the handrails with white knuckles as he threw himself downwards. With every crash into a wall or stumble down steps, the wolf whimpered in empathy, its dark eyes peering out at Ven with concern at every chance he may be hurt. Ven’s chest ached at the sound.

He needed to find Perix.

Venear burst onto the lowest level of the complex, his curly white hair tossed awkwardly across his brow. They wove through the lab, passing the cries of animals and familiars, locked in cages and restrained to walls. Ven passed the large black wolf Perix has brought with her to the office above, and it barked at him as they passed, its golden eyes hurt and pleading. Ven ignored it, pushing forwards into another, larger room.

“Perix!” Ven shouted desperately. 

The short woman stood up from where she was hunched over a desk, keeping her back to Ven as she looked over its contents. Splayed out below her was the notebook Sherbert had recovered along with the test subject. Somewhere across the room, Ven could smell the raw flesh and drying blood of a dissected animal laid across a bench.

“You.” The vampire said dryly, before turning back to her work. “I assumed Sherbert would be returning my subject, but I suppose you will do. Place him on the table—”

“That’s not why I’m here.” Ven said, straightening his jacket. “You have your test subject back. You don’t need Fengari anymore.”

Perix finally turned around, raising an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Ven felt his confidence begin to crumble under her stare. He swallowed. “That was the arrangement, wasn’t it? You got the other mortal back s-so you don’t need him anymore. I want him back.”

The scientist threw her head back and let out a harsh, barking laugh. Behind Ven, the wolf growled, once again crouching dangerously.

“Oh, no no no. I’m not done with him. Without the Prince I need all the subjects I can get and like it or not your little boy toy is expendable to me. And to Fable, too…”

Ven balled his fists, his jaw clenching so hard that his sharp fangs dug into his gums. “Don’t you dare call him that.”

“A boy toy? Well, he is, isn’t—”

“You know exactly what I mean!” Ven snapped.

Perix eyed him curiously, tilting her head and letting her dark hair shimmer as it shifted around her ears. “I’ll admit, it’s brave of you to speak to me like that. For someone of your position in Fable’s Court, I wouldn’t think you could afford to get on my bad side. Especially if you want Fengari back.”

“Fix. Him.” Veneer growled. “Now. Like you said you would.”

“Or what?” Perix sneered. “You can’t order me around, Atlan. You can’t go whining to your boss like a little lost puppy, because he doesn’t know, does he? And even if he did, you know he wouldn’t care. Because I’m more important than you, aren’t I Venear Atlan?”

Perix took a step closer to him. Despite being taller, Ven found himself shrinking into himself as she approached. 

“That eats away at you, doesn’t it?” She asked, grinning, “The fact that you’ve worked for him for so long, and yet I come in and now I’m the favourite. I can tell how that jealousy grows inside you. Like a fungus, rotting away at your core.”

“Shut up.” Ven mumbled, glancing away.

“O, beware my lord of jealousy,” Perix smiled, her lips shifting around her fangs, “It is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”

“I said shut up.” Ven shook his head.

Perix stopped, inches away from him now. “No, because you see Ven, you can’t tell me to shut up. You have no power over me. No authority. You are nothing to me. I am a god in your presence and you are lucky that I have been kind enough to cater to your childish crushes. So, if you ever want to see your pretty little human fiancé of yours again, you will do exactly as I say.”

Ven was silent for a long time, his green eyes glazed over with the overwhelming emotions which flooded through his body. Slowly, he nodded.

“Good.” Perix smiled. “You can tell him to back down now.” She jerked her chin towards the wolf, which was growling, saliva dripping from its trembling maw, it’s teal blue eyes fixed on the scientist.

Ven’s voice trembled as he spoke. “F-Feng…” He whispered his fiancé's name, “Please calm down.”

Fengari snapped his jaws once, before shaking his head and backing down, sitting back on the tiled floor, his ears still pointed upwards and his teeth still bared.

“Good dog.” Perix chimed, reaching up and petting Ven on the cheek. “And your wolf is so well behaved too.”

“You said you would turn him back.” Ven hissed, trying to hold back tears. “You said you would make him human again, you…”

The scientist rolled her eyes. “But why would you want me to? Was he really all that interesting? You still have companionship, and I’m sure his tongue works just as well like—”

“Shut up!” 

Ven screamed, his body releasing itself like a spring as he threw his fist forwards. He could not recall a time ever in his life—or his afterlife, for that matter—in which he had truly thrown a punch, and it showed. The swing was wild and telegraphed, and Perix easily dodged the blow, grabbing Ven’s arm as he overbalanced and throwing him to the ground.

“You disrespectful little—”

Ven slammed into the ground with a grunt, quickly scrambling to his feet. By then it was too late however.

Fengari had launched himself across the room, the massive white wolf snarling as its bulk flew through the air.

Perix screeched, flailing outwards with her arm to protect herself, her forearm connecting with the skull of the massive wolf. The animal went flying, crashing into the wall and collapsing to the ground with a breathy, pained whine.

Ven screamed, throwing himself after the wolf and sliding across the floor as he dropped to his knees, the pants of his pale blue suit staining with the buildup of soot and dust which covered the floor.

“No!” He wrapped his arms around the animal’s head, pressing his forehead between its ears. Fengari was still breathing, still alive , but it was no longer conscious.

“Muzzle it.” Perix hissed at him, clutching her shoulder where the wolf’s claws had dug into her flesh.

Ven looked up, tears spilling down the sides of his cheeks. “W-What?”

“I said muzzle it. ” The vampire growled.

The man stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes. “Y-You promised, you swore you were going to fix him. You were going to change him back, you got your other test subject back, you promised—“

“I promised you nothing, Atlan. I do not make promises, I make deals. And our deal is not fulfilled.”

“You have to—”

“Have to?” Perix laughed, her voice cracking as she threw her head back, the pain pounding across the gashes in her skin. “I will not take orders from Fable’s pathetic little lap dog .”

She studied Ven, cradling the giant white wolf to his chest, eyes hazy with tears. “Perhaps you deserve him in that form after all. A prized pair of mutts .”

“Don’t talk about him like that!” Ven screamed. In a flash he had pulled himself from the limp body of the wolf and was flying at Perix once again.

Even with her injured arm she managed to beat him easily. Her hand flew out and caught him around the collar, dragging the small vampire off balance and pulling him close, their faces inches apart, fangs exposed.

“ Never speak to me like this again, Atlan.” Perix’s voice was ice cold, so far beyond anger that it was entirely calm. Ven whimpered without thinking, the sound spilling from his tongue. “The only reason you’re not dead is because Fable finds worth in you. And the only reason your bitch of a fiancé is alive is because of me.”

She threw Ven down, and the vampire collapsed in a crumpled mass of blue suiting and tears at her feet.

“Do you understand me?”

Ven took a moment to gather themselves, trying to piece together a way out of this. A way to get Feng back, properly this time.

He didn’t find one.

“Yes.” He said softly.

“Yes?”

Ven repeated himself. “Yes, I understand.”

“Good.” Perix purred, rolling her wounded shoulder, which was already beginning to heal. “Now be a good dog and restrain your fiancé, will you? I’d hate to have him too damaged when I make him human for you again. You can chain him up with the other reject from Project Atlas. I’m sure they’ll both be very excited to welcome Caspian back to their pathetic little pack.”