~Sunday 7th January 2018~
Alwynn whined under his breath, covering his mouth with his hand when the familiar bitter taste of his own blood returned. It was the fourth time that morning alone that he had accidentally bitten through his lip, although he had lost count of how many times he had injured himself over the past few days.
Blood no longer seemed to bother him, not when it was all he could think about. It used to make him a little queasy, which he had tried his best to ignore for the sake of Vant feeding from him. That feeling was no longer present. It had no effect on him, not anymore.
Alwynn closed his eyes for a moment, barely aware of the tears falling as he tried desperately to force the change, to make his fangs disappear. They ached, burning every time they grew, a constantly throbbing in his jaw that the boy had had to endure for the past five days. It was agonising, and he wasn't sure if it would ever stop.
Clutching at the fabric of the hoodie he adorned, Alwynn focused more, whining once again when he ripped through the arms of the material. He had no idea what he was doing, no idea how to control himself, he was clueless. Hopeless. And terribly alone.
More tears were spilt at the thought of Vant, out there back home worrying. Alwynn ran his fingers over the cracked gems on his bracelet, basking in the weakening aroma that emanated from them. He had never been able to detect it before, now it just tormented him. Day in, day out, he could imagine Vant with him, only to have the illusion ripped away when he opened his eyes. It was torture far worse than anything Brodie had inflicted.
A soft whimper slipped out of Alwynn's pursed lips when he opened his eyes, his gaze landing on the blonde man crouched in front of him. Zaith, he had said his name was, then again, he also said he was trying to help Alwynn. What little there was to believe in that.
"No... Please, I don't want it," Alwynn whined, trying to push himself back further into the corner but not succeeding in the slightest, "please, go away, leave me alone," Alwynn had spent far too long begging, yet knew there was no point trying anything else.
"I'm sorry, I know you're scared, Alwynn," the boy froze, he had never told Zaith his name, "I know this is a difficult time for you but you have to have my blood. Just this one last time, OK?" Alwynn grimaced, feeling the pull, the craving, of the beast within himself. Taking Zaith's wrist in his hands, Alwynn sunk his fangs into the vampire's flesh, the battle beginning within himself. Disgust fighting against desire.
What little of the humanity Alwynn had retained hated feeding from the stranger, even if he was the boy's maker, it just seemed wrong, especially when he had restricted Vant to only feed on him. It didn't seem fair. And, yet, the vampiric nature that was consuming Alwynn adored every second, marvelling in the taste of the blood, the feeling of it running down his throat and settling nicely in his stomach. It was terribly conflicting.
"Alwynn, Vant is here," Alwynn reared back when Zaith touched his hair, the little gesture just adding to the fear within the boy, "did you hear me? Vant is here, Alwynn, he's upstairs," Alwynn covered his ears, beginning to sob as he did after every feed, the hysterics kicking in at the same time as the reality. He knew Vant wasn't there, Zaith had been saying that since the night previous, it was just another aspect of torture. Another wound to rip open and rub salt in.
Zaith may have acted like he cared for Alwynn but the boy simply didn't trust him. He hadn't met many other vampires outside of Vant and his children, with Killian being a terrible example. How was he expected to trust any of their race with only the first impression of Vant's maker to go on?
They were a sadistic race, Alwynn knew that, Vant had told him it upon multiple occasions. They weren't all compassionate like him, a lot of them were animalistic, savage almost. They were driven by their cravings for blood and they didn't care for humans. That was the only description Alwynn had to go off, so that was exactly how he viewed Zaith. Nice or not, Alwynn wasn't taking any chances. He had learnt from trusting, had learnt from thinking he was safe, letting his guard down. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
"I'm gonna go get him, OK? He's desperate to see you," Alwynn brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his shins and resting his head down, grimacing at the pain in his stomach. He listened to Zaith's receding footsteps, relaxing somewhat when he heard the door shut at the top of the stairs.
That was until he heard more movement in the room, flinching at every sound but not daring to look up. Someone was getting closer, then stopping right in front of Alwynn and sitting opposite him. They were quiet for a moment, an achingly slow moment, before they finally spoke.
"Ali?" the boy tensed, that rich voice an awfully welcome sound in his mind, "Ali, look at me."
"You're not real," Alwynn murmured, sniffling, not daring to lift his head, even though the illusion would dissipate the second he did.
"Of course, I'm real, sweet boy," Alwynn winced as he, once again, pierced his lip with the tips of his fangs at the sound of that beautiful, melodic chuckle, "I promise, Ali, I'm real, just look at me," taking a deep breath, Alwynn lifted his head, his eyes meeting Vant's immediately, seeing the tears that welled there and the few that had fallen over, "hi, sweet boy," Vant whispered, a lopsided smile on his lips, "God, your eyes are so pretty, red definitely suits you," Alwynn's lower lip quivered, his fingers trembling as they reached out to brush over Vant's cheek, the skin feeling so different, so much more detailed.
"I was so scared," Alwynn sobbed, what little of the walls he had built around his emotions crumbling immediately. Alwynn clutched onto Vant's shirt, burying his face in the vampire's neck as he crawled into his boyfriend's lap.
"I know, sweet boy," Vant whispered, rocking the boy whilst he cried, "I know but you're safe now, I promise you, you're safe."
It took Alwynn almost half an hour to calm down enough to even be able to speak, let alone find the desire to actually do so. He was quite content simply being cradled in Vant's arms, he felt safe there. But, of course, he knew he had to talk, he couldn't remain in the silence forever. No matter how blissful.
"I thought I was gonna die," Alwynn whispered, lifting his head to meet Vant's gaze, "I tried to get away but..." Alwynn's eyes flickered down to his stomach, knowing there were bandages wrapped tightly around his torso, feeling the occasional spike of pain just to remind him whenever he had almost forgotten.
"Zaith and Syed explained to me what happened, you need to let them give you more venom," Alwynn nodded slowly, not bothering to deny the nerves knotting his stomach.
"I'm sorry for being rude to them, I just, I didn't know whether to trust them or not. Your maker didn't seem like the nicest vampire, I wasn't sure if mine would be the same."
"Killian is a bad example, it's my fault really, I shouldn't have told you that the majority of our kind is like him. Zaith and Syed are good people, they only want to help and I'll forever be in their debt because they saved you," Alwynn played with the hairs at the nape of Vant's neck, his eyes flickering all over the vampire's face, "are you even listening to me?" Vant said with a brief chuckle, finally stealing a smile from Alwynn.
"Yeah, I just never noticed how beautiful you are," Alwynn mumbled absently, "your face is like perfectly symmetrical, it's insane," Alwynn didn't bother to suppress the grin that split his face when he saw the tiniest fault in the colour of Vant's cheeks, "you're blushing."
"I can't help it when you say things like that, the transition certainly hasn't made you any less adorable," Alwynn's smile faltered for a moment.
"Do you still love me?" he asked in a much less confident voice, the anxiety immediately swelling within him, causing that awful pit of nausea in the boy's stomach.
"Do you still love me?" Vant mirrored the question, brushing the backs of his knuckles over Alwynn's cheeks.
"I couldn't imagine ever stopping," Alwynn whispered truthfully, a little hesitant when Vant leaned in, knowing the vampire's intentions.
"Me neither," slowly, Alwynn let Vant kiss him, responding cautiously, afraid of his own fangs. Although he didn't mind when he cut himself on Vant's, Alwynn was still unsure of how best to avoid them. Alwynn was sure they had never kissed that way before, never so tender, so loving, but then again that might have just been his new senses picking up on things he hadn't been able to before.
Alwynn gripped fistfuls of Vant's hair, pressing himself tighter against the man's chest, desperately wanting to be closer than they already were. A gentle moan drifted between the two, originating from the boy, when Vant's tongue managed to slip past the seam of Alwynn's lips. Alwynn was once again hesitant until a new flavour hit him. Vant's blood.
It was heavenly. A rich, burnt caramel type taste that Alwynn would have never imagined enjoying. Yet it was amazing. Alwynn groaned softly, breaking the kiss reluctantly, licking his lips. He wasn't sure about his own control, Vant seemed to make everything look so easy but Alwynn didn't want to hurt his boyfriend.
"You should feed, you'll feel better if you do, I know you've not been drinking much from Zaith," Vant tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck, beckoning Alwynn closer, "come on, I know you want to, sweet boy, just bite me."
"What if I can't stop?" Alwynn whispered, fighting against the near overwhelming cravings that were trying to drive him forward.
"It's easier than you think, plus, my body will replenish the blood quicker than a human, it's not like I really need it anyway," Alwynn shivered when Vant's hands slipped under his hoodie, splaying out across the boy's bare back, "you're not gonna hurt me, Ali," Alwynn leant forward, nuzzling against the crook of Vant's neck, basking in his scent, "you're being a tease, sweet-" Vant's speech ceased abruptly, his head tipping back further, one hand coming to rest on the back of Alwynn's head as the boy began to feed.
Alwynn didn't experience any type of frenzy, as he had anticipated, in fact, he didn't feel his control slip at all. He remained entirely calm whilst he drank from Vant, even managing to let out a brief giggle when he felt his boyfriend's hardening cock pressing on his ass. That was most definitely something Alwynn had missed the past few days, although, as with everything else, the boy was beyond nervous at the prospect.
"Is there actually ever a time when you're not horny?" Alwynn murmured, sitting up and licking his lips, a little shocked to find his fangs had receded.
"Not when I'm around you, sweet boy," Alwynn hadn't expected to react so negatively, but when Vant rested his hands on the boy's ass, he tensed suddenly, "Ali, what else did Brodie do to you?" Vant growled, the lust in his eyes abruptly masked by fury.
"Not what you're thinking," Alwynn assured sheepishly, "he just... touched me, y'know, it's not a big deal," Alwynn shrugged weakly, although that only seemed to worsen Vant's sudden change in demeanour.
"It is a big deal, Ali, he's fucking sick. I'm gonna do worse than kill him when I find him, he'll be begging to die when I'm through with him."
"I know, I'm OK though, and I don't really wanna talk about it, if that's alright," Vant nodded stiffly, even though Alwynn could still see the fury hidden in his dark eyes, "how are my parents?"
"They're taking it rough, I didn't tell them that Zaith and Syed had found you, obviously, I thought you'd want to make that decision yourself," Alwynn's brows knotted into a frown, "Ali, you're not gonna age anymore, you can't just settle right back into your old life. Not with what you are now. I understand if you want your parents to remain in your life, and I'm not saying we need to leave immediately, but, at some point, you're gonna have to make that call. You're gonna die young for your parents, Ali, this just seemed like a good opportunity if you wanted to run with it," Alwynn was quiet for a long moment.
"Yeah," he murmured uncertainly, "I suppose it would be a good idea, it would be easier for them to just believe I'd disappeared. Never find a body, never have to come up with any cause of death," Alwynn sighed heavily, playing with the buttons on Vant's t-shirt, "only problem is they'll never get any closure. It would be awful for them, having to live with that, I'm not sure I could do that," Vant nodded, peppering a few sweet kisses to Alwynn's lips.
"You don't have to worry about it right now, we can talk about it another time, maybe later tonight. It's your decision, I won't pressure you into anything," Alwynn smiled, draping his arms over Vant's shoulders.
"I missed you," he whispered, trying his best to keep the atmosphere happy, there didn't need to be any more tears.
"I missed you too, sweet boy," Vant shared in Alwynn's smile, trailing his fingers over the boy's hips, "I'm so glad you're OK."
"I was always gonna be OK, daddy, did you really think I'd die or something?" Vant's smile faltered for a moment, his fingers straying over the bandage wrapped tightly around Alwynn's torso, "it's not that bad, I promise," Alwynn's voice had dropped quieter, the atmosphere, sadly, drifting toward something he had been trying to avoid.
"Can I see?" Alwynn didn't protest as Vant pulled off his hoodie, lifting his arms so the bandage could be unwrapped from around his waist. Alwynn bit down on his bottom lip, for once not actually piercing straight through it, awaiting Vant's reaction.
A chill ran over the boy when the bandage finally fell to the floor. Alwynn followed Vant's gaze down to his stomach, where the two half-healed puncture wounds sat prominently, the only blemish in the boy's near perfect flesh. The nerves knotting Alwynn's stomach only seemed to be getting tighter as Vant stared silently at the wounds.
"They're honestly not that-"
"What did he use?" Vant seethed, his fangs immediately growing, the fury in his eyes morphing from a subtle smoulder to two small infernos.
"A-A fire poker," tears blurred Alwynn's vision, with the boy flinching when Vant audibly growled, "please calm down," Alwynn's begged through quivering lips, his body beginning to tremble. He had never seen Vant so angry, it was worse than frightening.
"Sorry," Vant murmured through gritted teeth, taking slow, laboured breaths, "I didn't mean to scare you, I just... the thought of him touching you... I told you our kind is possessive."
"I know," Alwynn cupped Vant's cheek, grazing his thumb over the man's pursed lips, "but I'm OK now, I'm safe," Alwynn smiled feebly, placing a long kiss to Vant's mouth, "I'm yours, he's not gonna get to me again. Not ever."