OC One-shots!

Midnight Snack

Featured characters: Jayden and William

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The wind blew cold on a winter's night, the streets only illuminated by nearby streetlights and the moonlight. The only exception was within the alleyways, which were darkened by the shadows of the surrounding buildings. While most people would avoid these seemingly pitch-black areas, there was one male who thrived in them.
 
His name was Jayden, an eighteen-year-old who had been raised to be one thing, and one thing only; an assassin. And as fate would have it, his killer duties were the very reason he was currently passing through one of these alleyways. With his hood up and mask covering the lower half of his face, he had one hand shoved in the pocket of his jeans while the other occupied itself by tossing a dagger into the air, only to catch it and repeat the process. Currently, he was on his way to take care of his next target.
 
It was deathly silent, the only sound being the odd car passing by every now and then in the distant street. Jayden himself made no sound at all, not even with his footsteps as he walked along. That is until he heard a faint sound come from behind him. Like the scraping of someone's shoe across the ground. He immediately stopped in his tracks, holding his dagger still in his hand as he turned just enough to look back. His steel-grey eyes scanned the pitch-black area, but of course, the darkness made it hard to see anything clearly. It was silent again, too, which only made it more difficult to figure out what had caused that sound.
 
Jayden stayed like that for a few moments longer. When he finally came to the conclusion that it was probably an animal dragging something around, he turned to face forward again, ready to continue on his way. However, that plan was ruined when he came face to face with another man, which startled him enough to make him jump back.
 
"Terribly sorry, I had no intention of startling you," the mystery man spoke with a deceptively kind smile. His whole demeanour instantly felt off. He didn't look like the type of guy you'd find in an alley. His hair was so neatly styled, his clothing was top-notch, though didn't seem like an outfit from this century, and his voice was deep, yet smooth and somehow seductive. And those eyes... they were a beautiful blood red, gleaming softly in the darkness. "My name is William. I require but a moment of your time. I am in dire need of some assistance, you see."
 
Keeping his eyes locked on this guy, Jayden didn't move a muscle at first. He didn't know who he had just run into, or what sort of assistance they needed, but he didn't care either way. He had somewhere to be, so he didn't really have the time to stop and help random strangers with things. "... I'm busy. Sorry," he responded shortly before walking towards the man. He didn't want to, but he had to, seeing as this was the way he needed to go.
 
The man who could now be called William said nothing after that until he quickly grabbed the assassin's upper arm when they were side by side, his grip firm. "You seem to have misunderstood. I was not requesting help. I was demanding it. As I said, it is quite urgent," William's tone was more forceful now, proving that he was being serious. He had no intention of making any of this optional.
 
Now that they were up close, Jayden noticed something strange about the man holding him still. He had fangs. Where his top canines should be there were fangs instead of normal teeth. Now, Jayden was a fairly tough guy. There was little in this world that actually scared him. Despite that, seeing this one unusual feature was enough to send a chill down his spine. It made him feel like he should get away as fast as possible. "Yeah, and like I said, I'm busy. Let me go."
 
It should be noted that the hooded male wasn't exactly lacking in muscle. He wasn't hugely built, but he still had a good amount of strength in him. That seemed like a decent advantage, along with the extra two inches of height he had on William. And yet he found it impossible to pull away. He tried yanking his arm free of the grip he found himself caught in, but it was no good. It was like they were glued together, and the more he struggled, the more futile it seemed.
 
"Do you lack the basic ability to listen? Or are you simply thick in the head?" William questioned with a raised eyebrow, effortlessly pulling Jayden closer until their faces were merely an inch apart. "Allow me to simplify it for you, then. Based on the look in your eyes, I can only assume you have figured out what I am. In which case, you must know that I require blood. I intend to take a small amount of your blood, which you may consider a... donation," a deviously considerate look appeared on his expression after that, and he continued, "I shall not lie and say it will be painless. It will be quite the opposite, in fact. However, seeing as it is for my health-"
 
The rambling William was doing was promptly cut off by his own cry of pain as his arm was pierced by Jayden's dagger. "Shut up. I told you to let me go," the taller male said impatiently as he yanked his dagger back, causing some blood to splatter out of the other's arm. More shocked than anything else, the vampiric male released his grip and staggered a few steps backwards, staring at his fresh wound with wide eyes.
 
Satisfied with this turn of events and now positive he could move on, Jayden gave his dagger a quick flick to rid it of the dripping blood, then continued back down the alleyway as he was originally doing. This was meant to be one of his more simple jobs. Just a simple break-in, a single stab to the heart of his target, and then he was free to go home and relax. But no, of course he had to have some trouble along the way. Oh, how boring his life would be without this sudden drama.
 
And apparently... that drama wasn't quite over yet. He had managed to make it a mere five feet away before his attention was once again grabbed by his unexpected attacker. "Very well... I attempted to use persuasion. Now it seems as though I will need to use force," wary of what those words might entail, Jayden cast a glance over his shoulder. To his surprise, William had somehow managed to silently close the space between them and was already in the process of making his next move.
 
At this moment, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion for Jayden. He was stunned, to say the least. That was the simplest way of putting it. He just found the speed at which things had escalated again to be so extreme. He didn't even have enough time to fully turn back around and defend himself, and because of that, he was gifted with an overwhelmingly strong kick to the stomach, which sent him flying to the side and straight into a wall.
 
A loud gasp of pain escaped him and his breath was knocked out of him as his back hit the bricks. Slowly, he slid down the wall until he ended up on the ground, struggling to regain the air he had lost. He glared at the man who had caused him this hurt, now noticing another rather concerning trait. While the blood remained around the area of William's stab wound, the injury itself appeared to be gone, as if it had never existed in the first place. If it wasn't obvious before, then it definitely was now; he was inhuman. Specifically, a vampire determined to consume some blood.
 
William hummed, seemingly happy with the damage he had caused as he approached the male on the floor at a calm walking pace. "My my, that was quite the disappointment. My first impression of you led me to believe that you would be more difficult to force into submission. It appears I may have been wrong," he spoke as he crouched down, reaching out to grab onto Jayden's shoulders.
 
Said blonde was breathing heavily with a slight wheeze. That one blow had greatly affected him, particularly in the way that he felt like he was moments away from having an asthma attack. He knew that if he wanted to try to get out of this situation, he couldn't rely on brute force. He was clearly outmatched in terms of speed and strength, so he'd have to count on strategy. How on earth was he meant to stand up to a vampire without any special weapons, though?
 
Drip
 
Both males froze and looked down to see what was suddenly dripping onto the ground. From within Jayden's hoodie pockets, there seemed to be some sort of liquid steadily falling to the ground. The owner of said liquids knew exactly what they were; poison. He had multiple small vials of poison in his pockets, which must have smashed upon the impact of being kicked. He glanced at the male in front of him, taking note of the fact that he looked utterly confused... and distracted. This was the perfect opportunity to fight back.
 
In one swift motion, Jayden had removed his hoodie and manoeuvred his way around his attacker. He then wrapped the item of clothing around William's head, making sure the pockets soaked with poison were covering his mouth. Even if the poison wouldn't kill off the vampire, with any luck it would temporarily disable him. Heck, in the scenario where the poison did nothing at all, there was still the chance of suffocation. That would be more than enough to make an escape right now.
 
Of course, this wasn't going to happen flawlessly. There was still the problem of having William fight back, which he most certainly did. He yelled something as he grabbed at the material and tried to pull it away from his face, though his words were effectively muffled. It was a real struggle to make sure the hoodie stayed in place thanks to his inhuman strength. Despite that, it seemed like this plan may be working. William's struggling gradually became weaker, to the point where his hands slowly dropped back to his sides and he stopped moving.
 
To make sure this wasn't some sort of trick, Jayden held the hoodie in place for a bit longer than was probably necessary before he finally pulled it away and backed up on shaky legs. As soon as he did, William's limp body fell forward and he hit the ground, seemingly unconscious. Jayden breathed a sigh of relief and raised a hand to his chest, trying not only to calm his pounding heart but also to try and ease his aching lungs. It did nothing to help either condition, but he wasn't too fussed. He was more concerned with getting out of here before he was no longer the only one awake again.
 
So, with a dagger in one hand and his hoodie in the other, he took a few unsteady steps down the alley, not looking back for even a second. He didn't want to, afraid it would just slow him down. All his training as an assassin taught him that much. Unfortunately, it seems like that may be the very thing that causes his undoing.
 
"You are quite the gullible human, did you know that?" The one voice Jayden didn't want to hear right now spoke. Only it didn't come from behind him as you'd expect. It came from... beside him? He whipped his head around, his eyes widening in shock when he saw that the vampire he thought he had knocked out was somehow sitting in a crouched position on the wall, his head tilted up with a taunting smirk.
 
Jayden just couldn't catch a break, could he? He was beginning to think it was impossible for him to get out of this situation. "How...? I thought you were-"
 
"Unconscious?" William interrupted, his smirk growing. "That was simply the power of acting. Though I will admit, I was beginning to feel light-headed closer to the end. If only you had continued for a minute longer, you may have been able to get away," as soon as he finished, he lunged forward and tackled Jayden into the opposite wall, grabbing both of his wrists and pinning them to the cold bricks.
 
Jayden, surprised by this sudden shift, ended up dropping both the hoodie and the dagger he held in his hands. Not that either item would have been helpful if he couldn't even move his arms. Speaking of which, he tried to pull himself free like his life depended on it, but he was barely able to move at all. "If you don't let me go right now, I swear I'll kill you," he said in the most threatening voice possible, hoping it would be enough to secure his freedom.
 
Unable to take that seriously, William simply chuckled in response. "And how, may I ask, do you plan to do that when you are trapped within my grasp?" He asked tauntingly, leaning in to lessen the amount of space between their faces, causing the other male to instinctively press himself further against the wall. "Believe me when I say that there is no point in continuing to fight. You have exhausted all possible chances you have had to escape. Now, allow me to see the face of my latest victim..." With that, William retracted one hand and started moving it to remove the mask covering the lower half of his target's face.
 
Seeing this as quite possibly his last chance to escape, Jayden used his hand that was now free to deliver a strong uppercut right to William's chin. It worked to some degree, making the brunette take a step back and hold his aching jaw with a groan, but in the end, it only seemed to worsen things as he glared and tightened the grip he still had on Jayden's other wrist.
 
"Alright, it was amusing at first, however now you are simply beginning to get on my nerves," William muttered, once again grabbing onto the blonde's free wrist before another attack could happen. This time, however, he also moved both wrists down against the assassin's stomach, holding them in place with only one hand. Afterwards, with his patience long gone by now, he ripped the mask off said male's face, discarding it to the ground. "As I said, there is no escape. My patience has run out, and not even that handsome face of yours can save you now."
 
Before Jayden could even begin to make more threats, his mouth was covered by William's unoccupied hand, and immediately afterwards he felt two sharp fangs pierce the side of his neck. His eyes widened at the sudden and immense pain, a muffled scream escaping him as he tried to pull away. He attempted to yank his arms free, somehow shrink away from the fangs in his skin, but of course, it was pointless. It hurt so badly though, it made him desperate for it to stop, so he started kicking at William's shins.
 
The only response this received was a harsher grip on Jayden's wrists, a silent warning that if he didn't stop, it would only get worse from here. Despite his instincts to keep fighting, he heeded this warning and stopped with the kicking. He was still unable to control the occasional squirming and more muffled cries of pain could be heard, but it achieved nothing.
 
This pain... Jayden could only describe it as a feeling similar to what he imagined it would be like to have two large needles stuck in your neck, drawing the blood from your body until there was nothing left. Couple that with a burning sensation and that's what it was like. Quite frankly, it made him wonder if this would be his end. With each passing second, he could feel himself growing weaker and more tired, to the point where what little struggling he was doing ceased entirely. It was horrible, but he quickly lost the energy to even make a sound thanks to the amount of blood he was losing.
 
Lord knows how long it continued like that, but eventually, William had gotten his fill and pulled away. Blood trickled down from the small puncture wounds he had left, which he then licked to clean up the mess he had made. Slowly but surely, as if by magic, the bite marks began to heal themselves until it was like nothing had happened at all. That didn't change the fact that damage had been done, however, so when he finally let the other male go, Jayden could only bear to stand for a few moments before collapsing to the side, the tiredness being too much for him to handle. He was still conscious, but only barely as he groaned weakly.
 
"Oh my... Perhaps I was a tad greedy..." William realised he may have gone overboard and licked the remaining blood from around his lips, then grabbed the hoodie that had been dropped earlier. After folding it up, he crouched down and slid it under Jayden's head as a sort of makeshift pillow. "Try not to move until you have recovered more energy. After that, go straight home and eat some oranges, if they are available. They will help your body rebuild its blood supply."
 
Glancing over Jayden's form for a moment, William felt a small wave of guilt wash over him before he looked back at the other male's pale face. "I am truly sorry. I must take my leave now, so avoid pushing yourself for the time being," with that apology now spoken, the shorter of the pair stood up straight, then started walking back down the alleyway in the direction from which he came.
 
Soon enough, he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Jayden alone once more. The assassin laid still, his breathing slow. He wanted to get up from the cold and dirty ground but knew he should listen to the words of advice he received. If he tried to stand, he'd likely just fall over again, so he took some time to relax and think over what happened. He was attacked by a vampire, sucked halfway dry of his blood, and then said vampire helped him, even though it was in a very minor way...? He didn't understand it, but he was just glad to still be alive. Well... Sort of.
 
He may have survived this encounter, but it would be nothing in comparison to the rage he'd have to endure from his mother after telling her he failed to complete his job tonight. The thought of her yelling at him over the phone was enough to make Jayden shudder. It was an experience he always dreaded and could rarely avoid. That's why he was almost glad he had to stay here for a little longer.
 
Even this could only last for so long, however. Eventually, he had regained some energy, just enough to stand. Slowly pushing himself back onto his feet with a grunt, the assassin had to lean against the wall to help support himself while a dizzy spell passed. He stayed still for a few seconds longer to make sure he was okay, then went around and picked up all the items that were either dropped or ripped away from him.
 
After shaking his hoodie free of any dirt, he slipped it back on and zipped it up to provide some protection from the chilly air. Gripping both his mask and dagger in one hand, he began the walk back home on shaky legs. Now to prepare for the real horror of tonight...