Chapter Warnings: Suicide ideation, implied/referenced sexual abuse, swearing
***
It wasn't long until Lotus's breathing slowed and his body went slack. Checking them over, Rurik huffed out a sigh of relief when he confirmed his servant was merely sleeping.
Scooping Lotus up into his arms, he trudged over to a nearby tree in the blood-soaked clearing and slid down to rest against it. He hissed as the movement caught one of his damaged ribs, but he paid it no mind; the injuries were light enough to heal on their own with the little blood he took in and Mavis could easily wash any bloodstains out upon their return. A few more scars and a brief transformation into his detested bat form were well worth the time he saved dispatching the enemy and getting to his servant.
Watching the gentle rise and fall of his companion's chest as the monster dozed, Rurik maintained half his senses on their surroundings as he let the other half drift with the warm, tingling sensation his servant's touch provided.
~~~
"Hey..."
Rurik paused in his trek down the empty street; a small figure emerged from a narrow alley draped in a long and ragged off-black hooded cloak ending at the knees, a dirty red scarf trailing on the ground behind them, a black shirt and torn dark brown shorts peeking out from a slit in the cloak, and black shoes that were in dire need of repair. The figure seemed to be a skeleton; small enough to be a kid at that.
The figure advanced, commenting in a weary voice, "You smell like blood; did you kill someone?" The question surprised the vampire; he had initially assumed the monster was just hoping to beg some spare change or food off him. Considering he had just left what would be considered a crime scene, it wasn't surprising someone would be able to smell blood on him... he just wasn't expecting anyone to call him out on it, much less some weak homeless brat.
He decided he'd have some fun scaring them. Raising his skull so the stranger could get a good look at his crimson star eye lights and fangs, he smirked, "Yeah, I did; you'd be wise to forget you saw me here or you'll be next."
The hood and scarf shrouded the figure's expression, but he could tell by the way the stranger paused they knew exactly what he was now... then they managed to surprise him again, shuffling forward a bit more with a hopeful lilt to their voice, "Would you? Would you really kill me?"
The smirk fell from Rurik's face; it would be his luck to run into a nutjob. He huffed, "I could, but why are you so interested?"
"Because there's no point to going on," the figure confessed bluntly, their hood dipping forward, "Life's shit and everyone here's a bunch of greedy scumbags. I'm tired of everything, but I'm too weak to do anything myself... but you look strong; you could end it all."
Rurik eyed the monster, the truth of their despair apparent in the familiar odor coming off of them, before stating, "I'm not a charity; I would want something for the trouble... your blood perhaps?"
The kid hunched in on themselves a bit, seemingly at a loss from the request. Before the vampire could tell them to get lost and stop wasting his time, they murmured, "If you bit me... wouldn't I become like you?"
"No," the vampire responded simply, "Becoming a vampire's more complicated than that."
The kid grasped their scarf as they decided, "Good... then you can have my blood; all of it if you can end me."
So they were serious after all.
With a nod, Rurik strode forward. He didn't have a reason to refuse the offering; even if the kid did look frail, they would at least make a decent snack. Towering over them, he commanded, "Remove your scarf and lower your hood then."
The smaller monster balked a bit at the close proximity, but shakily moved their hands to comply. As the hood fell back, Rurik noted they were indeed a skeleton; a male by the looks of it... one with hairline cracks littering their skull and a single dull eye light fixed on the ground. The eye light was red like his, but nowhere near the deep, vibrant color of his own pair that would mark an individual as a vampire.
The small skeleton softly asked, "Will it hurt?"
"Maybe a pinch," Rurik replied honestly before posing a question of his own, "Got a name to go with the meal, kid?"
The kid's face scrunched up as he spat, "No! I hate my name and the shitty monsters that gave it to me... and I'm not a kid; I'm almost twenty-three."
"Still a kid compared to me, but whatever," the vampire shrugged, leaning forward to wrap his arms around their thin frame. The kid squeaked as Rurik's hands began to move under their cloak and shirt, fingers lightly grazing against chipped ribs and rubbing along their spinal column.
The monster gasped as he pinned them against the brick wall of a building and pressed into their collarbone; they pushed frantically against the vampire's chest and stammered, "This isngh... what I ahh... agreed to... you said y-you wanted blood... not this... please... n-not... not this... anything but this... not again... p-please-"
"Relax," Rurik growled as he lifted up from his exploration, "This is just to get your blood pumping and so I can find a good spot to bite; I'm not gonna do anything else."
The vampire's eye lights narrowed when the small monster gave him a searching look, the panic in their expression morphing into something akin to shame as they looked away. "R-right... alright...," the skeleton mumbled, shivering in his hold but relaxing once more in submission.
Rurik shoved away his misgivings and continued his ministrations slowly, taking pleasure in the moans and whines he was able to elicit despite their attempts to stifle themselves, smirking as they clenched their fists into his jacket. A tingling warmth crept across his fingers as he rubbed and teased his target's body; eventually, he managed to find a sweet spot at the base of their neck and sunk his teeth in. Spurred on by the sharp gasp and shudder the bite caused, he pulled back a bit and drank from the resulting wound. The blood was a bit thin from malnourishment, but there was a pleasant sweetness with a certain tang to it that he had been able to smell in the monster's scent earlier; had they been healthy, their blood likely would have tasted irresistibly exquisite.
He tightened his grip around his victim's waist and back to hold them in place as they went limp; the paralytic that accompanied the bite stripping away his victim's ability to support their weight. Their skull fell sideways on his shoulder and a wet feeling seeped through the fabric as they whispered, "Thank you..."
The words prompted Rurik to pause, pulling away from his meal to scrutinize the skeleton in his arms; their skull lolled forward without the vampire's shoulder to hold it up and their sockets had fallen shut, indicating they had lost consciousness. Tear tracks lined their cheeks; their breathing soft and shallow as blood welled up around the puncture holes, threatening to trickle down their dirty, ashen bones.
They looked so... broken.
Rurik frowned, a strange feeling settling in his chest that urged him to do... something. Suddenly, the idea of aiding the skeleton's demise lost all appeal. The entire interaction had sent up red flags, and that final expression of gratitude cinched it; his instincts were telling him not to kill this one.
"Sorry, but it looks like there's going to be a change in plans," Rurik rumbled, leaning forward to lick at the weeping marks on the smaller's neck and seal them shut, preventing the skeleton from bleeding out further. Replacing the hood, draping the scarf back around their neck, and maneuvering the body into his arms, he continued down the street, "Turns out I have space for another blood servant after all; I'm sure Mavis will be thrilled. Who knows, maybe you can find some new purpose in that."
The body dangled silently in his arms as he came upon a flower shop with a few broken windows and copious withered plants alluding to the store's abandoned state. There was a small, dirty pool off to the side with various decayed aquatic plants as well; one variety still managed to thrive within it, though. Rurik glanced down, reading the sign labeled, 'Lotus Flower' with a price marked below. From what he remembered, Lotus flowers were a symbol of rebirth, known for their beauty and hardiness despite their unpleasant environment; the ones in the pool certainly seemed to be surviving well enough in the murky water.
Leaving the shop behind, he turned two more corners and crossed a cobbled street before he spied a silhouette sitting on a barrel in the distance. As he got closer, the figure took notice of him and hopped down from their seat, trotting over to him; Rurik stopped as the golden-furred sheep monster approached him, the green of her chiffon shawl and the accents of her puffed black dress shimmering faintly in the moonlight.
"I thought I told you to wait somewhere hidden, Mavis," Rurik scolded, directing a stern glare at her.
She pouted, puffing out her cheeks as she retorted, "It was dark there and I was bored; besides, you're way more scary than anything around here."
The vampire huffed, mildly dumbfounded by her optimism but wholly unsurprised, "That's not an excuse."
Brushing off his words, the monster's hazel eyes lit up as she noticed the bundle in her master's arms, "Who's that?"
Rurik's gaze fell on the unconscious skeleton; they never told him their name, only that they hated it... well, if he was going to give them a new life, it would be fitting to give them a new name to go with it. Glancing around in hopes of inspiration, his thoughts drifted back to the abandoned shop he passed earlier and the flowers that persisted there... perfect.
"His name's Lotus, and he'll be joining you as a blood servant," Rurik answered with a gentle smirk, "He'll need some care and guidance before he can do any work, so I'll be counting on you for that."
Mavis squealed, bouncing in place, "Ooh, Master's actually smiling! This is going to be exciting!"
"Come on, you're being loud," Rurik commanded with a sigh, ignoring her childish behavior and stepping around her to resume his pace down the empty road with Lotus cradled in his arms as Mavis trotted along behind him.
~~~
A groan brought Rurik out of his memories, drawing his focus to the small skeleton resting in his lap. He recalled their previous conversation and leaned forward, placing his chin lightly on Lotus's hooded skull as he breathed, "Dumbass... as if I could do anything else."
***
This story gave me so much s*** trying to find the word count all because I used tildes for the flashback...
Word Count: 1,835