"...[Name]?"
Felix holds your limp body in his arms, and with every second that passes, he can feel himself becoming more and more panicked.
You aren't breathing. Your skin, rather than being its usual shade, has accrued a sickly, phantom-like tint that makes the veins beneath the surface unusually prominent. He tries to shake you, gently, but you don't react. You don't even show any sign that you register his presence. You're out cold.
In fact, you might even be dead.
"N-No way."
Felix takes a shaky breath. The reality of the situation is finally dawning on him, and it feels like he just crashed headfirst into an ice-cold wave.
He didn't mean to go this far. He really, really didn't. It's impossible that he actually fucked up this badly, right? He got carried away and took too much of your blood-again-but surely it won't be fatal.
Surely.
"[Name], please," Felix gasps. He carefully pats your cheeks to try and rouse you, but no matter what he says or does, your eyes refuse to open.
Oh, fuck.
All of a sudden, he feels like he's about to throw up. It's ironic how just a few moments ago, he was happily gorging himself on your blood, without so much as a care in the world. He was lost in his own little paradise, convinced that this was the happiest he could ever be.
But now he's gone and fucked it all up. He even promised himself he'd show some restraint this time and prove to you that he's not such a bad guy. He had all these plans for repairing your relationship and eventually getting you to trust him again...
And yet, he may have single-handedly ended your life.
Tears start spilling down his cheeks. He holds you close to his chest and sobs, lamenting his recklessness and irresponsibility. Even looking back on it, what the fuck was going through his head? He hired someone to track you down, to discern the most personal aspects of your life, just to sate his desire for your blood. He broke into your house, probably scaring you beyond belief, just so that he could selfishly take what he wanted-and in the process of doing so, he might have actually killed you.
Felix is disgusted with himself. He never could have imagined committing such heinous acts. He's finally coming to terms with just how horrible his behavior has been, and a shiver rips down his spine when he realizes that right now, he's no better than his shitty father.
The whole reason he left home and moved to the city was to get away from that kind of environment. He wanted nothing to do with those lowlives, those fucking criminals, but ironically enough, he's become a criminal in his own right.
All his life, he's been spoiled. He can admit to that now. And while he can't say he was ever intentionally cruel to others, without even realizing it, he's turned into the kind of person who does anything to get what he wants, even at someone else's expense.
It may very well be too late to right his wrongs. The more his tears fall, the heavier you feel in his arms, like a lump of lead sinking to the bottom of the sea. You had your whole life ahead of you, and he... just for a few brief moments of euphoria, he took that from you.
He's an absolute fucking scumbag.
Felix whimpers and hastily wipes a sleeve across his damp eyes. No. It's too early to give up. He can't let you die here. Not only would it mean becoming a murderer, but he can't allow something so horrible to happen to you. He refuses to be the cause of your demise.
And so, even though it brings him immense shame, he pulls out his phone and proceeds to make a call.
"...yes?"
The man that answers has a calm, leveled voice, and Felix instinctively grits his teeth. It's a voice he's heard time and time again, and not at all what he would've wanted in a time like this, but really, what other choice does he have?
"I need help," he mumbles weakly. "It's really bad. And I know that my dad sent you to watch over me somewhere in the city. I don't know where you've been staying, but I bet it can't be too far. If I text you an address, can you get here right away?"
There's a brief pause, followed by a sigh. "What happened? Don't go into too much detail over the phone. Just give me a rough idea of what I should expect."
"It's..." Felix swallows hard. The sight of you passed out in his arms, looking as though you may never wake again, makes him sob all over again. "I-It's really bad. Someone... is hurt. And I need your help. She's lost a lot of blood. She's not waking up, and I-"
"Stop. Don't say anything else. I get the general gist of things. Do I need to help you clean up the mess and make a disposal?"
Felix's eyes widen. "What? No! I'm calling because I need your help to save her, not make her disappear! Fuck... I should've known that's what you would suggest. It's not fucking funny, and I seriously need your help right now. I'm scared. I really messed up. I messed up, and... I need to fix it."
The line goes completely silent for a few moments, and Felix can already feel himself regretting his decision.
But then there's another sigh. A solemn, resolved one, this time.
"Okay. I'll make a call and figure something out. But if you say she's lost a lot of blood, she may have gone into shock. Until I get there, try to keep her condition as stable as possible. If she isn't breathing, you may need to give her mouth-to-mouth and CPR. There's no guarantee it'll be enough, but at the very least, it could buy her some time."
"I... I can do that," Felix nods. His fingers tremble as he grips the phone close to his ear. "B-But get here as fast as you can, okay? I don't know... how much help I'll be. I've already gone and messed everything up..."
"Don't panic. I'm not sure who this person is, but if she's important to you, we'll figure something out. The most you can do for her right now is stay calm and work on stabilizing her condition. Text me the address. I'll leave right away."
Felix nods once more, despite the fact that no one can see him, and he sends the address the second he hangs up the call. Then, he turns back towards you, using a hand to gently cradle your neck as he lowers you all the way down to the ground.
He knows there's no time to waste. Already, you're on the brink of death. He can faintly feel a pulse, so you are still alive-just barely. He'll do whatever it takes to keep you from crossing over to the other side. Letting you die just isn't an option.
"I'm sorry, [Name]," Felix silently sobs. "I'm so, so sorry. When you wake up, I'll apologize to you properly. I promise, okay? So please, please wake up..."
He lowers his head towards the ground, uses his thumb to carefully part your mouth open, then presses his lips to yours.
...
"...don't know what you were thinking. It's just ridiculous. And you even got a third party involved in your schemes. I thought we taught you never to leave behind that kind of trail. It's sloppy."
"I said I'm sorry, okay? It was a major lapse in judgment. I really don't know what came over me. It was like... an addiction. After one taste of her blood, I just lost sight of myself. It sounds crazy, but it's true. I didn't even realize I was capable of doing something like this."
"I still don't understand why you hired a private investigator in the first place. If you wanted someone to look into her, you could have just asked me to do it. But I'm guessing that was just you being stubborn. You claim you want to be completely uninvolved in your father's dealings, and yet you moved to this city with his money, knowing full well what he did to earn it."
"..."
"Looks like you have nothing to say to that. I just wanted you to know how much of a hypocrite you are. At the end of the day, you're just as much of a gangster as the rest of us. You use the same dirty tactics to get what you want."
"...shut up. I'm seriously not in the mood."
"If you think I'm letting you get off scot-free, you've got another thing coming. You're in no position to be making any demands after the mess you caused. But... I guess we'll have to finish up our discussion later. It looks like she's finally waking up."
Your eyelids begrudgingly open, feeling heavier than ever before. White spots fade in and out of your vision, blurring your surroundings and making you squint uncomfortably. You don't know what's happening. You just barely registered some voices in the background a few seconds ago, but the disorientation is taking a while to clear.
After a few more seconds, your vision starts to return, and you find an unfamiliar man staring down at you.
"You're awake," he says matter-of-factly. "How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?"
It's difficult to form a response. You feel like absolute death, but since the shock and trauma of prior events did a real number on you, it's hard to remember exactly what transpired.
So, you remain silent. For a few moments, at least. Up until you spot Felix hovering nervously behind the other man.
Then, you scream.
"G-Get the fuck away from me!" you cry out. It's all coming back to you now. The broken window in your apartment, the way you were assaulted out of nowhere, and the sensation of having your blood violently and mercilessly drained.
That piece of trash almost killed you.
"Felix, step back," the other man demands, and much to your surprise, he complies. You note that the man you don't recognize is dressed similarly to Xavier, all decked-out in a professional suit. Except for some reason, he gives off a completely different feeling compared to Xavier. He's every bit as poised, but there's a hint of danger in his gaze; a quiet threat that goes unspoken.
You're not sure who the hell he is, but you highly doubt he's a good guy.
"My name is Karl," the man introduces, bowing his head slightly. "I'm sure you must be very scared and confused right now, but I promise you're going to be alright. What happened earlier was a grave oversight on my part, and I would like to apologize for what you went through. You're safe now, but you're still very weak, so you need to rest up and focus on recovering."
You blink in disbelief, trembling all over. What in the world is he on about? He's telling you you're safe? Seriously? When the person who nearly killed you is barely five fucking feet away?
"Get... get me the fuck out of here," you whimper. You've just realized that you're in a bed you don't recognize, and there's an IV hooked up to your arm, attached to a blood bag hanging above. That blood is no doubt what saved your life. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be capable of having this conversation right now.
Karl shakes his head. "You're still too weak. The transfusion hasn't completely finished either. You'll need to wait a bit longer until you've received enough blood."
A humorless chuckle spills from your lips. "Ha. Haha. Wow." A few seconds pass, and your hollow expression turns to a grimace. "How fucking dare you act like you're worried about me. That piece of trash over there almost killed me. Did he tell you that? Clearly, he couldn't give less of a shit what happens to me, so please, spare me the fake sympathetic act. I know neither of you actually give two fucks about me."
"If that were the case, you would be dead by now," Karl says coldly. "Why would we have gone through the trouble of keeping you alive? I even contacted someone I know within the medical system to sell me enough blood for the transfusion. O negative blood is in high demand, since it's a universal donor for humans like you, and it doesn't come cheap. So, your theory doesn't hold up. It's obvious that we did what we could to save your life, and I don't appreciate you suggesting otherwise."
"Did what you could to 'save' my life...?" You stare at him with your mouth agape, feeling more outraged by the second. "The only reason I ended up in this position is because he almost killed me! He broke into my fucking apartment and tried to-"
"Quiet. You're giving me a headache."
Karl clamps his hand over your mouth, hard enough that you can't help but feel like your jaw might snap. You can feel how strong he is, and earlier, he said 'humans like you'. Without a doubt, he's a vampire, just like Felix.
So, great. Just perfect. Not only did you nearly die, but now, you're trapped with two overpowered assholes who you don't have the slightest chance of escaping.
As always, your life is a fucking joke.
Tears fill your eyes, and despite how angry you are, you don't quite feel like dying for real, so you swallow your pride and decide to keep your mouth shut.
Karl waits until you've quieted down, then sighs and pulls away. "Obviously, this wasn't supposed to happen. Felix is an immature brat, as I'm sure you've already realized by now. He's spoiled and childish, and worse yet, he has the nerve to think he's got better morals than the average person. He certainly didn't intend to harm you, but nevertheless, he lost control of himself and put you in grave danger. Isn't that right, Felix?"
The vampire in question flinches, visibly ashamed, but after the hell he put you through, you don't have an ounce of forgiveness left in your body. You told him time and time again to stay the hell away from you, but did he listen? No. He just went ahead and did as he pleased, no doubt because he's used to always getting whatever the hell he wants.
As far as you're concerned, he is disgusting, irredeemable trash.
"I'm... sorry."
Felix breathes out the words shakily; hesitantly, even. He's struggling to look you in the eye, and you can see the way his hands are trembling as he grips them together. You know he's not putting on an act. It's clear that he does regret what he did, but most likely only because he was scared he'd never get to drink your blood again. That's undoubtedly why you're still alive. Because he wants to keep exploiting you for as long as possible.
He can apologize as much as he wants, but ultimately, it means nothing, because you know he's only doing this for his own benefit.
"I'm so sorry, [Name]."
Without warning, he drops to his knees, and he lowers his forehead to the ground, almost as some kind of act of subservience. He apologizes over and over again, begging for your forgiveness, and every time he speaks, he gets a bit more choked-up, tears spilling down his cheeks endlessly.
You watch with a stone-faced expression, utterly unimpressed.
"I-I can't even begin to imagine how scared you must have been," Felix continues. He lifts his head and finally meets your gaze, looking all puffy-eyed and pitiful. "No matter what I say or do... I know it can't possibly erase the past. But I want you to know that I would never do something like that on purpose. Your blood... it honestly makes me lose my mind. It's like some kind of drug. I know this isn't an excuse for what I've done, but I really want you to believe me when I say that's not the kind of person I am."
You don't respond. Even now, he still doesn't seem to know how to take any accountability. The least he could have done was apologize profusely and acknowledge that he was entirely to blame, but he keeps trying to avoid culpability by acting like your blood has some kind of bewitching hold on him. Even a drug addict or an alcoholic is still responsible for the choices they make, regardless of how difficult it may be to fight addiction. It doesn't matter how it happened, what matters is that he chose to do all those horrible things to you.
But at this point, you doubt he'll ever change. So, whatever. You're past the point of expecting a genuine apology.
You just want to get the fuck out of here in one piece.
"I can tell you're not entirely convinced," Karl remarks, "but I can't say I blame you. Regardless, this will never happen again. Felix took your blood without consent and gravely harmed you in the process. We are prepared to offer some monetary compensation for what you've endured."
He slides an envelope over to you, and even though you'd love to tell him off and insist that money can't make up for a near-death experience, the fact of the matter is that money has as tight of a hold on you as ever.
You open the envelope, and sure enough, your anger dissipates for a few moments, because it's a lot of money. It almost makes dying worth it.
Almost.
"I hope you find that amount reasonable," Karl says. "It should be more than enough to repair your broken window and have ample left over. I don't intend to put a price on a life, but please understand that this is the most I can offer you. As I mentioned earlier, I also had to cover the cost for your blood transfusion."
"Because Felix nearly killed me," you glared. "I'm not sure I like how you're making it sound like you did me a favor."
"Yes, of course. But that being said..." Karl leans closer, bringing his face mere inches from yours. His expression is nowhere near as stoic as before. His eyes are narrowed, and his jaw is clenched, readily conveying his hostility. "I hope you understand that I was ready to let you die. Felix was the one who begged me to save you. What you fail to understand is that I belong to a group of people that are not very understanding. If the boss of the group were to discover I had spared your life and wasted precious resources on you, he would probably order me to have you killed. So, if I were you, I would accept the money with gratitude and keep my mouth shut. Believe me, we are not the kind of people you'd like to make an enemy out of."
He squeezes your shoulder, hard, just for added emphasis. You do your best to keep the fear out of your eyes, but his words are slowly sinking in, and you've finally managed to put the pieces together.
It all makes sense now. Why Felix always seemed to have so much money to throw around, and why he refused to take 'no' for an answer. He's clearly been given everything he could ever want in life. Just like Kai, he's a spoiled bastard who has their family to thank for their wealth and fortune, except Felix's case might be even worse.
You remember now. Earlier, when you were rousing from your state of unconsciousness, you heard a frightening term being used.
Gangsters.
That's what they are. Because you have the worst luck imaginable, you managed to get yourself involved with some kind of fucking vampire mafia.
It's so ridiculous you're tempted to laugh, cry, and throw up all at once.
In light of what you've just discovered, perhaps you should count your lucky stars that you're even still alive. It really is a miracle that they decided to spare you. Of course, none of this would have ever happened if you'd never met Felix in the first place, but it's too late to lament the past. You need to put this incident behind you and try to forget about it as quickly as possible. That's the only thing you can do at this point.
"I understand." You nod rigidly, clutching the envelope full of money. "I won't... report anything to the police. I promise. Thank you for sparing me. I just... I just want to go home. Please?"
Karl chuckles. "It's funny how quickly you changed your tune. Well, not that I expected any different. At least we're on the same page. There's no reason for you to try and get Felix in trouble, and if we ever found out that you were saying unsavory things about him, you would end up regretting it. I'm glad you're choosing to be smart about this. It's better to end things on amicable terms."
What amicable terms? I almost fucking died tonight, and it's still very much a possibility.
You lower your gaze and swallow uncomfortably. "Okay, so... I can leave now, right? I'm feeling okay. I think the blood transfusion helped. I should be fine."
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to wait a bit longer, just to make sure you're fully recovered?"
Fuck no. Let me get the hell out of here.
"I'm okay. Since I sell my blood regularly, I'm used to being a little anemic. I feel like I'm in the clear, so I'd really like to head home now."
You couldn't have possibly known that your words would give Karl pause. All you wanted was to reassure him that you were fine (despite feeling like absolute shit), so that you could leave and get as far away from these criminals as possible.
But unfortunately for you, Karl is someone who holds his group's reputation in the highest regard, and he really, really doesn't like loose ends.
"When you say you sell your blood... are you referring to that new program they recently launched?"
"Huh? Oh... yeah," you nod unsurely. "Why?"
"That program. It's the one where humans sell their blood directly to whichever vampire they're matched with." Karl furrows his brows, a shadow gradually overtaking his expression. "So then... that's why I saw Felix visiting Plasma Inc. that day. I was wondering what he was doing there."
Felix grimaces. "So, you seriously were following me all this time? I thought I told my dad that I would be fine on my own-"
"Shut up. I'm thinking. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but... the two of you were matched as client and donor, weren't you? I was wondering how you even met in the first place, since Felix kept mentioning how incredible your blood tasted. But now it all makes sense."
Neither you nor Felix says anything, because funnily enough, both of you get the sense that something is about to go terribly wrong.
And based on the glare that settles upon Karl's face, you're right.
"Felix, you dumb fuck," he grits out. "Don't tell me you made a mess over there. You do realize that there are records of the two of you having met before, right? That's a government-funded program. It means they have your name in the system now. They have evidence of you and [Name] meeting each other, and furthermore, proof of a motive if she tries to run to the police with her story."
Oh, fuck. You know all too well where this is headed.
"I-I already promised I wouldn't tell anyone," you nervously interject. "I'm not... stupid. Like you said, I wouldn't want to make an enemy out of you. I get it. You seriously don't have to worry about me. I promise to keep my mouth shut."
Karl directs his glare your way. "I don't think so. Actually, I'm starting to feel like letting you go is an unnecessary risk. Even just monitoring you will turn out to be one hell of a pain. We should have just let you die. Fuck. What a goddamn nightmare this has turned out to be."
You feel sick. Holy shit, is this really happening right now? You thought you were free to go. You nearly died tonight, and that should have been the worst of it. After all, what could possibly be any worse than dying?
But as always, you are sorely mistaken. You must have been a fool to believe that your life was ever your own. Time and time again, scumbags like Karl and Johnny prove that no matter how much you struggle, you will always be dancing in the palm of their hand.
How much longer will it be until you're finally allowed to taste the sweet freedom everyone else is allowed to enjoy? In fact...
Will that freedom ever come?
"I've changed my mind," Karl says darkly. "We're not done with you yet."
...
Character appearances:
Karl