Alejandro curled up into the fetal position on the back seat. His face was scorched, and his eyes perceived only an infinite white haze. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to notice the scent of blood floating from the front seat. Around him was only the calm hum of a car speeding along a road, the barks and growls of weremains having been left behind long ago.
"Where are we-" Alejandro attempted to speak, but his throat felt dry and painful, which made him cut himself off by coughing.
"Go to sleep babe," Fetcher's voice came from somewhere ahead. Alejandro felt Fetcher's hand brush across his briefly, but then he quickly returned his focus on the driving. Sleep, yes, that seemed like an option. It would certainly make him forget the pain for a while. Sleep never came though, instead, Alejandro spent the drive in an increasing haze of pain and delusion.
Alejandro could make out the car stopping at some point, but he struggled to open his eyes, let alone figure out where they had stopped. Fetcher left the car briefly, but soon returned, accompanied by two people, assuming by the sound of their footsteps.
"What happened?" a frantic female voice asked when one of the back doors opened.
"Not important right now!" Fetcher's authoritative voice stated, "Hold the umbrella over us while I carry him. Then Alejandro felt himself being pulled across the backseat, and Fetcher's strong arms picked him up and pressed him against his chest with care and worry. To his relief, Alejandro was brought indoors. Fetcher's scent was a mix of anger, fear, and blood. Alejandro pressed his forehead against Fetcher's collarbone. He felt small and helpless in Fetcher's arms, something that ordinarily would have made him angry, but now felt oddly soothing.
Fetcher deposited him on something soft, a bed most likely. Yes, it was a bed, Fetcher pulled the covers over Alejandro and disappeared again. He didn't appear to close the door though, as Alejandro could hear the voices conversing outside.
"Did someone bite his nose off?" the same female voice from before asked with a quivering voice.
"Don't think so," Fetcher replied, "He was like that before anyone bit him.
"Don't tell me he looks like that all the time," a different female voice said. "At least cheat on me with someone cute!"
"He doesn't" Fetcher assured her. "Also I fucked your brother first." The other female voice let out a snort of laughter, and by the thump in the hallway, the first one might have fainted. After a pause, Fetcher continued, "He needs blood, where do we get that?"
"Not from me," His fiance said quickly, "Let him bite yourself."
"He won't bite me!" Fetcher said exasperatedly. He let out a sigh and stepped back into the bedroom, now closing the door behind him. Alejandro felt him sit on the edge of the bed next to him. "You look like shit," he said calmly, "You need to drink something." Alejandro tried to peer into the endless white haze where his voice had come. The scent of Fetcher's blood drew closer. "Come on," he pleaded. Alejandro tried to hiss at him with a weak voice but was met with a growl ten times more powerful. "Why do you act like an idiot?" Fetcher demanded.
"I don't bite people," Alejandro tried weakly.
"Why?" Fetcher's voice had irritation mixed in now.
"What will people think?" Alejandro tried.
"I'm consenting to it, if anyone thinks of you poorly they will have to go through me," Fetcher growled, though the noise didn't seem directed at Alejandro this time. Alejandro sighed and slowly pulled his hand from under the covers. His skin felt tight, dry and extremely sensitive to touch. He gestured for Fetcher to give his hand. When he did, the smell of blood was extremely strong. Like Alejandro had feared, the scent made his thoughts irrational, the need to drink so strong that he worried he might not stop. A drop of blood was already making its way down Fetcher's arm, so Alejandro licked it off. Then he gagged. He gagged! At no point of his undead life had he ever heard of a vampire being able to do such a thing. Fetcher's blood was vile, a mix of chemicals and pollutants that Aljenadro had never even heard of. He bit down to keep himself from complaining. At least his fears had been proven mute for now. He wondered why the scent of the blood didn't seem affected by the trash in it. Perhaps his sense of smell was just that poor.
Fetcher seemed surprised by how painful being bit was, no doubt having thought that it would barely feel at all. Alejandro's fangs weren't thin like a needle, they were fangs, they hurt. Alejandro could hear Fetcher's breathing change, into a more laboured, concentrated kind. He didn't make a sound besides that.
Slowly, Alejandro's vision began to clear. He could make out a small room, mostly taken up by the double bed he was laying on. On his left side was a nightstand with a book and some pictures on it, on the walls were more photos of the area. On his right stood a bird cage, decorated with counterfeit flowers and painted blue and brown. The walls were half wooden panelling, half wallpaper with black dots on a dark blue base. The bedspread matched the shade of blue. At the end of the room, on the right side wall was the door, surrounded by even more photographs.
Once his vision had fully returned, Alejandro let go of Fetcher, almost spitting when the taste of his blood didn't leave his mouth with him. Fetcher stared at him, equally as confused as he was.
"Do I really taste that bad?" Alejandro nodded. "Guess I need to get sober," Fetcher grumbled. Alejandro shrugged. He didn't care, nor was he willing to bite Fetcher ever again. He had already been too pale to begin with, now even the smallest healthy glow had escaped him. Alejandor's eyes stopped on the gash on Fetcher's arm, revealed by a red splotch on his jacket that was growing by the minute.
"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice no longer painful. Fetcher looked at his arm, seemingly only then noticing it himself. He touched it curiously, then cringed in pain. Another wound was on the right side of his jaw, a bite with visible individual tooth markings. The curious thing was that all of it was under his still-perfect beard, which made him look just... wrong, like the hair had been removed, the bite administered, and then the beard put back in. His neck, to Alejandro's relief, was completely fine, thanks to the main.
"I think I'll be fine," Fetcher smiled. He then studied Alejandro's face. "Why do you look like that?" Alejandro shrugged.
"Low blood," he answered dismissively. "It's like low blood sugar with humans."
"Humans don't lose their noses and grow extra fangs with low blood sugar," Fetcher chuckled. All Alejandro responded with was a glare.
"Where are we anyway?" he asked sharply.
"The Big Fox. My fiance runs it with her mom."
"And Brother?" Alejandro raised an eyebrow. Fetcher groaned.
"He lives in the camper outside. Pretty useless if you aren't looking to get high." Alejandro's skeptical look made him hastily add. "I don't like him! It was just transactional, ya know." That made Alejandro settle down in bed better.
"Why here? Don't they know to look for us here?" Fetcher shook his head.
"They won't look for us here first. Besides, grandma is too busy scrubbing me off the family tree for defying her." Alejandro thought for a moment.
"You defy them all the time." Fetcher shook his head again.
"Not like this. I always went along. Until now they could pretend I was the model eldest son." He laughed forcefully. "Oh, boy were they wrong!" Fetcher's expression had gone drained. Worry and uncertainty most likely swirled in his mind relentlessly. Alejandro watched him silently for a moment, then reached for him.
"Come here," he said. Fetcher needed little persuading, he rolled over quickly and rested against Alejandro's side. They lay for a bit in silence, until a knock sounded at the door.
"Mom is fine, she said she can go buy a sacrificial chicken for you!" The door opened ajar and a tan girl with raven black hair peeked in from the crack. "You want it?" Her eyes went wide when she saw Fetcher on the bed, but she said nothing about it.
"Do I look like I need it?" Alejandro asked jokingly. The girl grinned back.
"Yup!" She disappeared, letting the door click shut behind her.
"She seems nice," Alejandro said to Fetcher.
"If I were straight I wouldn't be so whiny," Fetcher grumbled. Alejandro studied his gloomy face in silence. Fetcher chuckled once he noticed it.
"What?" Alejandro asked stupidly.
"You always stare at me with those big dead eyes as if you are in love with me." Fetcher grinned.
"What if I am?" Alejandro asked softly. That made Fetcher grow serious.
"You aren't, we have known each other for less than a month." he pointed out. Then his tone became more gentle. "You can be my boyfriend though."
"But we have only known for a month," Alejandro echoed stupidly. That earned a flick on the forehead from Fetcher.
"Yet you managed to already fall for me," he pointed out with a grin. Then he winked.
"So we are dating now?" Alejandro asked wearily. "Aren't you still engaged?" Fetcher seemed thoughtful. Then he turned to the door.
"I need to fix that." He got off the bed and disappeared out the door. Alejandro debated on following him, but the matter felt not much like his business. He reached for his bag at the side of the bed but then remembered it was not there. It was still in his room at the Mazie's. He groaned to himself. He would have to get it some other time.
Commotion from down the hall caught his attention and he got up to investigate. Right as he rounded the corner to an open-concept kitchen, Fetcher raised his voice,
"I never liked you like that! It was just a facade."
"Well, then why didn't you break up the engagement?" his fiance asked with a crack in her voice.
"You know I had no choice," Fetcher retorted dryly. "Consider it broken now."
"Good." The girl collected herself with a deep breath, then turned to Alejandro. "Make sure not to bring him here again, or I will spit in his coffee." Then she turned around and walked away like Fetcher did not exist. He was not as mature, resorting to making childish faces at her back as she went off to serve customers in the diner section that opened up beyond them.
"Seriously?" Alejandro asked in disbelief. Fetcher seemed to snap out of his tantrum and looked at him with confusion.
"Where did you come from?"
"Could you retrieve my belongings from the Mazie's?" Alejandro asked in turn. Fetcher blinked and then nodded wearily.
"Sure, what do you need?"
"Tilly will know." Alejandro turned to look at to where Fetcher's ex had gone. "What's her name?"
"Oh, that's Boogie," Fetcher introduced, as he slinked off toward the front door.
When Boogie came back to the kitchen to fetch refreshments, Alejandro was waiting to talk to her.
"I'm sorry for all this," he blurted as she stepped in. She gestured her hand dismissively.
"Anybody would have helped in our position," she assured him.
"Doesn't all of this hurt your business?"
"Are you kidding?" Boogie chuckled. "People tip well when they get to see one of the all-mighty Brees making an ass of himself in our establishment. Rich people are fun to make fun of." Her expression grew more sombre. "I guess now we won't be able to offer that anymore."
"I'm sorry," Alejandro repeated quietly.
"Oh come on," Boogie rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. This was inevitable with his... everything." She sighed. "Just take care of him, okay? He might be a manipulative dumbass but I still like him. There's a reason I wasted five years of my life on this." Alejandro raised an eyebrow.
"I assumed it was contractional."
"Oh, it was, I just found him more charming than I expected, I guess. Now that his family hates him though, he is no use to me," She smiled slyly. "Have fun!" she singsonged as she disappeared into the diner again. Alejandro smiled as he watched her go.
A few minutes later Boogie's mother arrived, holding a live chicken. Still hiding in the kitchen but insisting he would be of help, Alejandro followed as the guests turned around to gawk at the middle-aged woman carrying a confused fowl across the diner in her lap. She passed by the kitchen to avoid contaminating anything there. Alejandro followed her.
"Oh good, you look way better already," she sighed once she noticed him. "Here," she thrust the bird into his arms. "Drink it in the bathroom," she advised him.
"What about the carcass?"
"I'll cook it for the kids," she waved her hand. "No reason to waste good meat." Then she practically pushed him into the bathroom. Once in there, he realized even with the blood he had drunk from Fetcher, he still looked awful. He set the chicken into the sink, from where she stared at him in confusion. He idly pet her as he gazed into the mirror. It was a modern one, hence he could see his reflection. Only mirrors containing silver would conceal him. He touched his face with one hand. His skin was coarse and burned, his hair had fallen off in clumps and since somewhat healing, had left big bald spots behind. His beautiful black and pink buzzcut was ruined! and could only be fixed once he could get magic in his hands again. Until then, he could shave his head and not have to worry about it growing back. Vampires don't grow hair or nails. One needs magic for such. In the mirror stood a man with ebony skin, ghostly white eyes, with a light blue iris and a white pupil, and a cute round face. Even in his current condition, he could still imagine people calling him that word, cute. He wouldn't exactly complain about having good looks, but after living several lifetimes he had started to find that specific word grating. No matter, he turned back to the chicken. She stared at him with uncomprehending eyes. He stared back, unfeelingly. Food was food, after all.
Less than half a litre of blood later, he looked better, yet still not entirely healed. Good enough however to hide his burns, so Fetcher would not pester him to drink more. Drinking could wait.
He stumbled back into the kitchen, returning the dead chicken to Boogie's mother, and again insisted he should pay them back by helping. They both shrugged and put him on dish duty. The sun had started to set already when Fetcher showed up again, as Alejandro was battling oily stains on a baking sheet. He looked odd, avoiding eye contact and saying nothing. When asked if he found everything, he just nodded. Fetcher helped Alejandro wash the dishes in silence, with a rather hurried pace even, and once they were done he dragged him out the back door, as in grabbed him by the shirt and speed-walked outside. The backyard was a shaded garden, with a pergola covered with grape vines.
"Why are you looking so guilty?" Alejandro asked after the door was closed.
"Because I know if I get caught by either of those two I will get yelled at," Fetcher answered as he pulled a bouquet of flowers the size of a bush from behind a cauldron-like plant pot. It was wrapped in plastic, but the colours were fascinating. Bloodred, almost black tulips and soft pink roses. Alejandro stared at them quietly, which Fetcher seemed to interpret as rejection in his anxiety-riddled haze. They stood awkwardly about a meter apart. "I figured I should ask you to date me properly," Fetcher laughed forcefully. Then his eyes brightened, as if he had had a stroke of brilliance. "Should I get on one knee?" That snapped Alejandro back to moving.
"No no no!" he tried, but too late, Fetcher was already kneeling in the typical pose for proposing. He presented the flowers like a knight would present a sword to a king. "That's too much..." Alejandro whispered through his teeth. Feather smiled slyly.
"Nothing is too much when it comes to you," he said with a soft, cheesily romantic tone. Then he winked, actually winked. While grinning like a mother fucker too.
"Classy," Alejandro pronounced coldly. He took the flowers and admired them. "Maybe next time remove the plastic?" For a moment Fetcher was the one baffled by sarcasm, but he soon caught on. He stood up with a smile. Then he appeared thoughtful again.
"So are we dating now?" clarified.
"Didn't we already establish that?" Alejandro lifted his eyes from the flowers for a moment. "Yes!" he laughed.
"I don't like to leave things halfway," Fetcher said, stepping closer. "Don't act like you did ask the same question just a couple of hours ago."
"Fine," Alejandro closed the gap between them and stood on his toes to plant a kiss on Fetcher's chin. "Happy?" Fetcher smiled and nodded. He put his arms around Alejandro to hug him. "Hey!" Alejandro objected, turning away to shield the flowers like holding a small child. "Watch it." Fetcher burst into laughter and hugged him more carefully.
"Epilogue":
Alejandro lay in a big soft bed, spread eagle, with a big furry blanket paying across him. The weremain snored softly as he pet it. Their new apartment was huge, outfitted with a modern interior and furnishing that Alejandro wasn't a fan of, but tolerated for the simple fact the kitchen was ginormous. That was the reason he had chosen this apartment in Solike, the big city a few hour drive away from the small town of Burneye, where they had met. Funnily enough, the Big Fox diner sat right about the midpoint between the two, which had been the reason both Boogie and Tilly had recommended they move there. The dog had stopped snoring and rolled onto its back, which made it look silly with its paws pointing to the sky and back arched over Alejandro's stomach. Silly, but absolutely fucking adorable.
The End (for now)