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Chapter Text

“Kiddo?” Patton padded down the staircase keeping his eyes trained on the dark figure on the couch, “You ok?”

The dark figure remained still, clinging closely to the edge of the couch. The closer Patton got the more he could recognize the figure as Virgil curled under layers of blankets.

“What are you doing up? Usually you sleep through the entire day, right?” Patton gave a quick wave as he stepped further into the living space. Virgil reluctantly turned towards Patton.

Virgil’s eyes glinted with a bright red, his hair sticking to his forehead. Virgil’s breathing was deep but gave no promises of oxygen. Patton’s senses went into high alert, the only time he ever saw Virgil like this was when-

“Are you hungry again, kiddo?” Patton paused his approach. He understood how Virgil was tense when he was hungry.

“Both of them are gone.” Virgil absently stated. He scanned Patton quickly before peering out the glass back door once more.

“Roman and Logan? Yeah, Roman’s at rehearsal and Logan is at a Parent Teacher Conference tonight. They should be home around eight thirty.” Patton looked at his watch and sharply inhaled. The clock’s steady ticking amplified the silence as Patton realized it was only five. Three hours from now.

“I can’t-“ Virgil choked on his words almost as though his own tongue was trying to swallow itself in hunger. Virgil took an audible gulp. Patton followed suit.

Patton nulled over the problem in his mind and settled on the opposite end of the couch. Virgil usually sleeps through the day, waking up around seven in the evening. By the time he was awake, Logan and Roman had already eaten dinner and was on the couch waiting for him. Taking in account their own health, Roman and Logan would decide who would be available to ‘feed’ Virgil. Patton was the only one that hadn’t ‘fed’ Virgil, giving that he was anemic, his blood wouldn’t do much for the vampire and could be dangerous for Patton as well. Of course, this was just speculation that Logan provided.

Yeah, it was only a guess. Logan is hardly wrong, but it shouldn’t be risky if it’s only a little bit. It just has to be enough to fend off Virgil’s appetite until the others got home. Patton nodded his head in agreement with himself and directed his gaze to Virgil.

Patton jolted in surprise. Virgil was already looking at Patton with a rather unique expression, Patton thought.

“Patton, I can’t.” Virgil’s voice was growing scratchy.

“Now, don’t worry so much! It’ll only be a little snack!” Patton gave a nervous smile to Virgil. He wasn’t particularly fond of referring to himself as a snack. Virgil continued to drill his stare into Patton’s eyes.

“No. I can wait.” Virgil shifted his entire body away from Patton. He burrowed deeper into the blankets as he shivered. Although it was muffled, Patton could still hear the groan of hunger escape Virgil.

“It’s ok, kiddo. I’ve always wanted to help,” Patton scooted across the couch cushions, “Please. I don’t want to see you like this.” Patton shuddered as he closed the distance between himself and the vampire. He could feel his own body heat reflecting off the blankets feeling their stale chilliness in return. Despite the body the blankets cocooned, there was no warmth within them. Patton dissolved his doubts and rested a hand on top Virgil’s shoulder.

“Patton.” Virgil’s voice was a warning against Patton’s reddening ears. Still, Patton pushed forward and tightened his grip on Virgil.

“It’s ok. I trust you, Virgil.” Patton nearly whispered, his voice threatening to expose his fear. He withdrew his hand and nervously unwrapped his cardigan from his shoulders. He slid it off and set it on the coffee table gently before unbuttoning the three buttons of his polo shirt. He took out his phone from his pant pocket, looking at the lock screen, he contemplated texting the others, but chose against it. He didn’t want to concern them while they were busy. He needed to help Virgil.

With Patton’s final resolution, he placed his phone next to his cardigan. He tugged on his collar, pulling it away from his neck.

“Please, I can’t.” Virgil’s voice was no longer muffled by the blankets. Patton looked over at Virgil and saw that he had slowly crept out of his blankets, leaning towards Patton. Patton leaned back and sprawled his arms out as an invitation.

“It’s just until the others get back. Come here, Kiddo!” Patton exclaimed. Virgil slowly crawled towards him, his eyes trained on the bare exposed neck before him.

“I- Thank you.” Virgil stopped his previous thought to thank Patton as he bent over him, “Tell me. If it’s too much.”

“Of course!” Patton tilted his head to the side. Virgil’s breath ghosted against Patton’s skin until a sudden pain pierced Patton’s neck.

Patton arched his back and hissed at the unpleasant feeling, but it died away faster than it came. It felt odd to say the least, but it was consistent, almost rhythmic. After getting use to the pattern, Patton started to run his hand through Virgil’s hair just as he has seen Logan and Roman do countless times while in the same position.

Patton looked to the ceiling as he felt himself slowly being drained. It was just an itchy feeling in the back of his mind, but started to increase into a steady growth of fatigue. Patton gave the fatigue a small grin. It was working. His energy was now Virgil’s. He didn’t need to worry about his kiddo being hungry. He didn’t give any signals to Virgil to stop, even as his eyelids were becoming lead. He stopped playing with Virgil’s hair as his arms felt like they were slowly freezing. His fingers refused to move after a while, but Patton let Virgil continue. He remembered Roman and Logan sitting like this for long minutes before Virgil was full.

How long has it been anyways? Patton tried to steal a glance at his watch, but his eyelids refused. He tried to lift his head, but to no prevail. His rapid heart beat was in his eardrums, drowning out the sound of his watch. He felt like he was drowning, just so heavy. His lips were growing cold as well, peeling back to let Patton’s shallow breaths escape in a race for oxygen.

He didn’t mind, as long as Virgil was ok.

“I’m sorry! I couldn’t-“

“Why didn’t you call us?”

“I was too far gone, Roman. I could hardly think! I didn’t want to – to do this to Patton.”

“I find it strange though, you very rarely require feeding twice in one day.”

“Yeah, I- I don’t know. I was out of it and Patton-“

Patton was slowly brought back to consciousness. His eyes fluttered open as he saw his three roommates talk over him. He readjusted how he laid on the couch to look at his watch. It was only fifteen minutes until seven, they were home early. Worry was etched in everyone’s expressions as they noticed Patton waking up.

“I wanted to help.” Patton abruptly slurred. Logan shook his head, but held a straw to Patton’s lip.

“Drink please.” Logan demanded. Patton complied, finding apple juice swirling into his dry mouth.

“We appreciate the help, padre, but seriously, that was way too dangerous.” Roman sighed, gripping his crossed arms firmly against his puffed chest.

“Thankfully, Virgil was able to detect that you were at your limit early on. It seems though, your anemia had caused you to have more severe side effects.” Logan congratulated Virgil, but immediately scolded the pair.

Patton grinned guiltily. Patton spat the straw out of his mouth and looked Virgil dead in the eyes.

“See, I told you it wouldn’t suck that bad!”

Virgil froze in shock at Patton’s dad joke, but couldn’t stop the laugh that erupted from his lips shortly after.

“Not your best, but still a good one, Pat.” Virgil smirked, rubbing his tongue over his pointed fangs under his lips.

Chapter Text

-1 HOUR AGO-

“Patton.” The scent of clean laundry, baking, dish soap, all too sweet yet so tempting, filled his senses. Virgil threw himself back into control as Patton’s hand tightened against his shoulder.

“It’s ok. I trust you, Virgil.” Patton’s voice was so quiet. He was scared. Virgil was scared, he didn’t trust himself. Virgil’s heart raced, why was Patton so close? His scent was doubling and surrounding Virgil.

The small movements Patton made stirred up the air, the scent guided Virgil’s body out of his blanket cocoon. He peered at the bare neck before him. His throat burned, his eyes focused, but his mind was still so murky and thick. He bit down.

He fed slowly. He let the blood come to him before he began to take it. He felt Patton relax further into the couch before he exerted more force. Patton’s hand ran through his hair slowly. It was just like when Roman and Logan fed him. Easing Patton further into the pace, Virgil’s mind slowly cleared.

Patton had a sweet taste, thick from the lack of water, and overdosed on sugars and fruits. The lack of iron left more to desire but as Virgil could think clearer he reminded himself that Patton was anemic. It wouldn’t be a surprise that his blood lacked iron unlike everyone else. Patton was doing great, Virgil congratulated silently. Virgil’s hunger was diminishing and his senses returned to his control.

“SHIT!” Virgil panicked after realizing that he was still drinking from Patton. He quickly detached and licked away the wound. He was cursing at himself internally, but quickly voiced his shouts out loud as he held up an unconscious Patton.

“NO NO NO… oh no. Patton! Patton!?” Virgil crawled off the couch while trying to cradle Patton’s lulling head. He slowly slid Patton down on his back and elevated his legs on the couch’s armrest. He sat on his heels scanning Patton tentatively. Virgil paid immense of attention on the rise and fall of Patton’s chest. There was a pulse in Patton’s wrist which helped calm Virgil. As he counted each beat the chill of Patton’s skin triggered a thought.

He pulled the blanket from the corner of the couch where Virgil was sitting just minutes ago and let it flutter over Patton. He patted it down against Patton’s shoulders before Virgil collapsed next to Patton’s head. He sat quietly as he listened to each beat of Patton’s heart and breath from his lungs.

Not long after, two car doors slammed and a locking honk followed. Voices were speaking muffled behind the front door before keys jiggled. Virgil stood immediately and darted to the door. He heard the keys scrape around the keyhole as he grabbed the doorknob.

The door swung open with amazing force. Roman and Logan stood on the other side in shock as the wind swept past them from the door opening. Virgil’s wide eyes pleaded Logan and Roman in.

“I’m so sorry.” Virgil began to walk backwards as Logan and Roman advanced into the house, “I couldn’t think, I woke up early all foggy headed. I came down to wait for you-“

“Patton!” Roman pushed past Virgil. Roman’s hands hovered over his unconscious friend before settling against Patton’s forehead.

“Virgil, what exactly happened here?” Logan raised an eyebrow in question. Virgil shrunk into his hoodie and pricked his tongue with his fangs before launching into his answer.

-NOW-

Virgil shivered just thinking about the series of events that happened. After the entire ordeal, Virgil excused himself back up to his room. He could feel everyone’s eyes on his back as he dragged himself up the stairs.

There wasn’t an ounce of tiredness left and he was full, but he still forced himself to stay in the darkness of his room. He had broken a taboo, a promise, that he made himself. He broke it so easily in such short minutes. His entire year of careful planning and cautious rules were for nothing.

Those rules were made a year ago, after Patton joined their household.

Virgil and Roman were roommates first in a smaller, honestly, trashy apartment. Roman found out about Virgil early into their boarding. It surprisingly hardly fazed Roman to find out that his roommate was a vampire. In fact, the man almost immediately offered himself to Virgil after discovering how difficult it was for Virgil to stay fed.

Their perfectly timed routine was thrown for a loop when the apartment building went up in flames. They met Logan who was the quiet neighbor that lived above their former apartment. They quickly befriended him and offered him a room when Virgil found their current four room townhouse.

Either Logan never noticed or was in denial for almost 4 months before confronting both of them about Roman and Virgil’s weird routine and sleeping habits. After multiple failed attempts to derail the suspicion, they finally broke and told Logan everything. Logan disappeared for a week before returning with his portion of rent and a promise to help Virgil.

Patton was the last to settle in. The three had asked for a fourth tenant as rent rose and remained full aware of the risk. Patton was rather easy to sway and too naïve to see through all the explanations the three made up about their lifestyle. Patton only found out when Roman drunkenly started to ask what it was like to be a vampire and fully exposed Virgil to Patton. He explained everyone’s excuses and what they were really doing as Patton sat stunned on the couch.

The next day Patton apologized and asked to move out. He apparently thought that they were looking for a third person to feed Virgil and he feared that his anemia wouldn’t be helpful. He was hoping to move out to give the room to someone else that could help.

Virgil flat out refused his request and told Patton that he never planned to drink from him anyways. Roman and Logan also refused Patton’s request and made a set of rules to help Virgil and his human roommates co-exist happily.

Those exact rules were now useless. All those ridiculous fears now realized.

Virgil stabbed his tongue with his fangs. It was an old habit he did while thinking heavily. Shit, of course an old habit would resurface while he was thinking of the past. He hunched further into his pillows. His comforter was still downstairs wrapped around Patton. Virgil sighed deeply, partially annoyed at the thought that the blanket is going to smell like Patton now. He’ll have to wash it.

There was so much to do now. He had drained them from not just their blood, but their trust, hope, and even their safety.

“What is going on with me?” Virgil growled into a pillow. He let the pillows engulf his head and warm his face with his trapped breath. Soon consciousness failed him in return.

--

“Hey, wake up Sleeping Gloomy.” Roman’s voice rang in the small room. Virgil whined in protest and dug himself deeper into his pillows. “Oh no you don’t.”

An arm snaked underneath Virgil’s chest and pulled him upwards. Virgil clawed at the pillows growling loudly at the unwarranted motion.

“What the hell, Roman?!” Virgil gave in to the pressure and sat up. He tore his pillows away from his face and slammed them onto his bed angrily. He hardly slept the night before. From the small amount of light daring to peek out of his curtain, Virgil could tell that it was early morning.

“It’s time for breakfast. Make it quick.” Roman scooted further onto Virgil’s bed. He pulled his tank top strap further down his shoulder and tilted his head back.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What?” Virgil held Roman at arm’s length in confusion, “Breakfast?”

“Yep. Now less questions, more sucking.” Roman grabbed the back of Virgil’s neck and shoved him closer.

Virgil fought Roman’s grip and scrambled off his bed. He glanced at the clock and back to Roman.

“It’s 6 o’clock IN THE MORNING! WHAT ARE YOUDOING?!” Virgil gestured widely to the sudden demands of Roman. Roman only let out a sigh and shook his head.

“We’ve decided that it would be best to let you feed twice a day; a small bite in the morning and a full meal in the evening.” Roman explained.

“WHAT? WHOSE ‘WE’?” Virgil rushed around the bed to face Roman.

“Us. Your roommates.” Roman looked annoyed at the questions.

“Why?” Virgil’s eyebrows were tightly knitted in absolute bewilderment. Roman flew his head back with an agitated sigh and grasped Virgil’s wrist to pull him closer with.

“We don’t know what’s going on. Logan’s looking into it, but it’s hard to find a full explanation. All that we know is that you were more hungry than usual, so we came up with a plan to help keep that under control.” Roman peered up at Virgil from where he sat. Virgil’s eyes went in and out of focus as he thought deeply.

Control. It was almost funny that Roman used that word. They knew how Virgil lost control. He wasn’t himself and he nearly took Patton in exchange. He expelled a shaky breath and rolled his hand in Roman’s palm.

“I don’t know-“

“I have a rehearsal in two hours. As long as I rest for 45 minutes, Logan says I should be fine. I’m not leaving until you eat and I don’t want to be late. So,” Roman readjusted for the final time, revealing his neck once more.

Roman squeezed Virgil’s hand and outstretched his free arm as invitation. Virgil inched forward until Roman impatiently grabbed the back of Virgil’s neck and pulled him closer. Virgil tensed with the sudden pull and stopped just above Roman’s neck.

“Sorry.” Virgil breathed out before prying his jaws open and sinking into skin.

Chapter Text

Believe it or not, but Logan was Virgil’s personal favorite to drink from. The man knew how to take care of himself and his inhuman way of controlling his emotions kept his blood clear of any flavor-packed hormones. Logan has his sleep deprived days, however, it was Virgil’s guilty pleasure to drink from him on those very days. It was all because when Logan was exhausted, his blood was overdosed on melatonin as his body attempted to drive the teacher into sleep. To Virgil, it was an amazingly soothing taste and after feeding, both of them would eventually drift to sleep happily.

Now that Virgil had a taste of Patton… It became a close tie. Patton’s blood was thick, sweet, and overran with an intoxicating cocktail of hormones. Mixed with the scent of Patton’s shirt and hair, Patton could easily throw Virgil into pure bliss. The only thing that kept Patton at a tie was the subconscious worry of drinking from him due to his anemia. It was only once, but Virgil’s mind strangled his tongue, causing the amazing taste to hold a bitter memory.

Roman, on the other hand, was by no means Virgil’s least favorite… Virgil had drank from countless other humans. Hell, at one particularly low point of Virgil’s life he drank from wild life. His stomach still churns with the memory.

Roman was like ice cream on a hot day or soup on a rainy day. He was seasonal. Roman’s range of hormones dominated in his veins giving the most diverse flavors that Virgil had ever experienced from a single person. When Roman was the only food source for Virgil the first year they met, there were days Virgil had to refuse ‘eating’. After years of taking blood from Roman, Virgil quickly learned how Roman’s attitude would affect his blood. When Roman was stressed it quickly translated to sour blood and the first year of living together, wasn’t very carefree.

THIS chilling morning, Roman was his favorite. Roman’s body was slowly absorbing the last of the ‘morning feels’, as Virgil would call it. There was some sweetness of happiness slightly stirred with some light worry. It was the perfect combination to wake Virgil’s senses slowly.

Roman tapped twice on the back of Virgil’s neck and Virgil withdrew with a shrug of disappointment. It wasn’t everyday that Roman’s taste was this… tempting. Virgil took his time to make sure that there was no evidence on Roman’s neck; watching as his salvia healed the wounds within seconds.

“Alright, sunshine. I’m gonna go eat my breakfast and lay down,” Roman rubbed his neck softly, testing his muscles for any soreness, “Before I do… How are you feeling?”

Virgil poked his tongue with his fangs, but nodded his head.

“Better.” He said shallowly.

He wouldn’t admit it out aloud, but he was thankful for the small bite. Virgil laid back down on his bed, face in his pillow, and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Wonderful. Everyone is downstairs if you need anything!” Roman’s voice was slowly fading as he made his way towards the door. The door clicked open and sudden shuffles reached Virgil’s ears.

“Oh! Sorry Roman! Is he asleep?” Patton’s voice registered immediately in Virgil’s mind. Virgil involuntarily flinched.

“Imma wake…” Virgil mumbled into his pillow.

“He’s awake,” Roman repeated to Patton, then turned to back to Virgil, “I’m sure he would love to let you in.”

Virgil grumbled in response as he heard Roman and Patton’s weight shift on his wood flooring. Patton’s footsteps were hesitant. They stopped at the foot of his bed.

An odd silence fell over the room. Virgil almost forgot that Patton was even in the room if it wasn’t for the unexpected feeling of a heavy blanket falling onto Virgil’s back. Virgil spun around under the blanket to face Patton, his eyes wide with surprise.

“What-the. But…” Virgil watched Patton give him a small smile before Virgil stole a sniff of the blanket. It didn’t smell like Patton… It smelled like…

“I hand washed it then let it air dry with some herbs from the garden in front of the heater… Don’t let Logan into the laundry room for another day or he’ll get a headache.” Patton gave a guilty, but sweet, smile. Virgil returned the gesture.

“Thanks Patton…” Virgil pulled at the end of the blanket, “and I’m sorry-“

“No! Kiddo! Don’t apologize! I wanted to help and ignored the risks. It was more of my fault than yours.” Patton took a stern step forward.

“Yeah, but…” Virgil let his voice die down. He didn’t really know what happened that night. His mind was so full of empty thoughts. His body wasn’t even his own. His instincts were overriding his mind and he broke a promise. A very important promise. Was Patton afraid of him now? Was that why Patton had remained out of arms length the moment he stepped into Virgil’s room? He cleaned the blanket knowing that his scent was on it… Patton was worried about a repeat of last nights events, wasn’t he?

Virgil sat up and leaned into his hands. His head was aching now. His ears were ringing and his salvia was thick. Shit. What’s going on?

“Virgil?” Patton’s voice was piercing. Virgil snapped his eyes up to Patton. When did Patton get so close?

Patton’s hand was hovering over Virgil’s shoulder. His eyes reflecting the worry in his voice.

“Sorry. Sorry. My head-.” Virgil tried to explain when a sharp pain exploded behind his eyes. He gripped his bed and held himself against it. Don’t get up.

It was all red then suddenly dark.

——

Logan was on stand-by next to the entrance of Virgil’s room. He reminded himself that he wasn’t there because he didn’t trust Virgil. No, he was here merely to see that how Virgil was doing… From the other side of the door.

He nodded to Roman as they greeted each other in the hallway. Roman looked fine, slightly tired, but that was expected. As Roman slipped by, Logan noted the lack of bite marks and bruises. That was all good signs.

Logan pressed his back against the wall and leaned closer towards the ajar door. He could hear Patton taking about apologizing. Virgil is conscious of the events last night. Good. Patton really shouldn’t have encouraged Virgil to drink from him, especially after a full shift at the hospital.

It wasn’t on purpose, but their schedules were more or less in-sync. Patton was usually out of the house the moment Virgil was awake. Virgil’s nocturnal tendencies kept him sleeping through the remainder of the day when Patton was around. Virgil’s job was mainly remote. Programming wasn’t too difficult to do from home and the hours were easy to manipulate. It was perfect for a vampire.

Logan shook his head. A vampire. Goodness. He still couldn’t get over the fact they exist. He was past the point of avoiding the idea, but the pure acceptance of the species was difficult. If vampire’s existed, what else in fairy tales are true?

Logan jumped. A scream tore through the wall, shaking in Logan’s chest. Adrenaline threw Logan through the door and analyze the situation.

Virgil’s back was arched as he laid under his blanket. Patton collided with the wall adjacent to Virgil’s bed. His breathing was fast and his eyes were wide.

“Patton, come here.” Logan stretched a hand to Patton. Patton firmly grabbed Logan’s hand and swung away from Virgil who proceeded to thrash in his bed.

“I don’t know what happened! He said his head hurt then just screamed!” Patton’s eyes were twinkling with fresh tears.

“Go downstairs. I’ll see what I can do.” Logan pushed Patton towards the door. He watched Patton make uncertain steps away then turned back to Virgil.

Virgil had stopped thrashing, but his suddenly stillness was all the more frightening.

“Virgil?” Logan steadied his voice and made a slow approach towards the bed. Virgil looked towards him, but his eyes looked through Logan.

Virgil’s breathing was fast, unsteady, no promises of oxygen. His body was frozen under his blanket.

“Logan.” Virgil’s voice was chilling, almost absent.

“I’m here, Virgil,” Logan stretched his arm in front of himself, slowly, “How are you feeling?”

“Patton.” An absent roll-call rolled off Virgil’s tongue.

“He left.” Logan confirmed. He had reached the side of the bed.

“I know what’s wrong.” Virgil’s voice was starting to feel more confident, more present.

“What’s wrong?” Logan’s eyebrows arched up. Virgil verified that something was amiss.

“I want Patton.”

“I don’t think that’s very wise right now. What don’t we calm you down first-“

“No, Logan,” Logan turned to his name in confusion as Virgil continued, “I want to kill Patton.”

A dead silence collapsed in the room.

Chapter Text

Logan didn’t know how to respond. His mind was flickering questions behind his wide eyes. How the hell should he react to that?!

“It’s only Patton. It’s not like you guys. With Patton… I’m-,” Virgil sat up once more, scooting back to lean on the headboard, “I’m hungry.”

“I see…” Logan stood taller. He turned to look at the doorway to make sure Patton had left, “Has this ever happen before?”

Virgil covered his eyes with his arms after tilting his head back. He shook his head.

“The only time I’ve let like this was- No. No, that’s different.” Virgil stopped himself from speaking.

“But similar?” Logan pushed for answers. He was having no luck in his own private investigation. Where do you find reliable information about Vampires?

“It’s only when I’ve gone out of the clan territory. But that’s a place not a person.” Virgil grumbled. He didn’t look like he enjoyed speaking about the topic.

“Clan territory?” Logan sat on the edge of the bed. His eyes never left Virgil as both of them dip with the added weight on the bed.

“My clan’s territory. Basically this entire town. I think there’s a few miles past that, but- I don’t know. You just kinda sense when you’re close to the edge.” Virgil uncovered his face, resolved to answer Logan’s questions. Neither of them knew what was going on, but maybe Logan could figure something out with the information.

“Ah-huh. We’re in your clan’s territory right now, correct?” Logan watch Virgil nod, “How do you feel when you’re outside of this zone?”

“Stressed, more aware. Everything is a predator AND a prey. You’re just hungry all the time. You don’t know when you’ll be attacked or the next time you’ll eat. Just pure hell.” Virgil looked away shyly. He remembered leaving the territory only a few times, but each time was etched into his memory.

“Is there a way to mark your territory, or..“ Logan’s question died down.

“Blood and salvia.” Virgil quickly answered, “I mean, technically, since I drank from you guys, you’re also.. kinda… Territory. If you went out of the clan’s territory you could be targeted or avoided. Depends on what the other clans or Strays feel like.”

“Ah,” Logan paused for a moment, “Who initially marks the clan’s territory? If it’s based off of smell, I’m assuming, how do you know that that specific smell is your territory?”

“The alpha marks it.” Virgil’s eyes met Logan’s. Was Virgil asking him to stop pressing for answers? Was Virgil recognizing the need to have these questions answered? Logan search Virgil’s eyes for any clues, but Virgil pulled the eye contact apart before he could. Fine, Logan will just continue then…

“An alpha. As in a leader?” Logan hoped his nervous swallowing wasn’t too evident.

“Yeah, yeah. There’s an alpha family that runs the whole clan. They’re all pure bloods and everything.” Virgil was shifting uncomfortably.

“There’s a family. Of vampires?” Logan looked down to his shoes trying to process the improbable, “Does that mean you have a family?”

The moment the thought left his mouth, Logan realized how ridiculous it sounded and tried to retract his words.

“That was an odd way of saying that. I meant to ask if you knew other vampires that could help us understand this situation. Are there any vampire families you know? Do you have a vampire family? Are you a pure blood? Were you once human?!” Logan’s thoughts started to snowball. He stopped himself so he could control his breathing as he began to hyperventilate with the overwhelming train of thoughts.

“No, I was born a vampire. I’m a pure blood.” Virgil pricked his tongue with fangs, trying to shrink away from the conversation.

“So, you have family?” Logan bent forward. He could read the atmosphere growing cold on the subject.

“Yeah I do. I just don’t want to bother them! Thomas would be all over me if he knew about this! I promised that I could handle myself, alone. I can’t break another promise, Logan.” Virgil physically growled at Logan. Logan leaned away as Virgil’s voice reverberated off the walls.

Virgil sighed, his cold breath brushing against Logan’s arm resting on the bed.

“Sorry, Logan. I want to know what’s happening, but do we really have to ask Thomas?” Virgil picked at the seam of the blanket.

“I understand your hesitation, but I have no other source of information to run these symptoms through. I would appreciate any form of help. I don’t believe that this is your own fault either.” Logan adjusted his glasses and glanced up to Virgil.

Virgil remained silent, but began to nod his head as he reached for his phone on his nightstand.

“I’ll give you his number. If he asks, just say Virge gave you his number.” Virgil tapped on his screen until a phone number was presented on the screen. He slid his phone across the blanket towards Logan.

“Thank you Virgil. I’m sorry if the subject is rough to talk about, but I believe it would be safe to say, on behalf of everyone in this house, we want to make sure that you’re ok.” Logan pulled his phone out his pocket and began to copy the number down in his contacts.

“Just so I understand the position of this Thomas, what is your relationship with him?” Logan looked up with his fingers floated over his keyboard. Virgil slid further under the blankets to hide his face.

“He’s my older brother.” Virgil’s muffled voice filtered through the layers of blankets as Logan placed Virgil’s phone on his nightstand.

“Thank you Virgil. I will speak to Thomas sometime today. Later tonight I will wait for you on the couch, until then, sleep well.” Logan retreated back into the hallway before clicking the door closed behind him.

The moment his feet landed on the living room floor, Patton’s hand was on Logan’s shoulder.

“Is-is he ok? Was he still in pain?” Patton was choking on previous sobs. His cheeks were wet and his eyes were red. Logan squeezed Patton’s hand and took it from his shoulder.

“He’s fine. I’ve found out some important information that could help us. Until this is dealt with I believe that you, Patton, should avoid making contact with Virgil. He has agreed that his… discomfort, only occurs around you.” Logan guided Patton back to the couch where Roman was resting. He sat Patton down on the couch.

“Me?” Patton withdrew his hands and looked down at his lap, “I’m causing Virgil pain?”

“Not necessarily. He admitted to feeling extreme hunger when near you. I believe the pain is caused by Virgil trying to contain such feelings.” Logan watched Patton shrink into the couch. He looked to his phone and looked at Thomas’s contact.

“Roman, you have known Virgil longer than either of us.” Logan absently said, but redirected his attention to Roman.

“Yeah, why?” Roman readjusted on the couch, propping up his head to look at Logan.

“Do you know anything about Thomas?” Logan saw Roman tensed.

“Thomas? Does he know about this? Is he coming over?!” Roman looked to the front door then back at Logan. His response wasn’t what Logan expected. If Roman knew who Thomas was, shouldn’t he be happy that Thomas could help?

“No, not yet. I just learned about him a moment ago. Virgil gave me his number and I was planning on calling him about the current events later today. Why do you seem so panic about the mentioning of Thomas?” Logan walked around the coffee table acting as a barrier between Logan and Roman. Roman sat taller as Logan approached.

“Well, the only time I met him was after our apartment was a victim of arson. He came barreling down towards us in a sport car and immediately ran at Virgil. It scared the hell out of us! We were watching our belongings going up in flames then suddenly this man appears! He wasn’t harsh, in fact, he was really dashing… He heard about the fire then got seriously angry when he found out what caused it. He took Virgil and I didn’t hear from them for days!” Roman flung his arm in a gallant show of the past events that haunted him.

“Your apartment was burned?” This was news to Patton.

“Indeed, I use to live in the apartment above them. In total, six apartments were burnt beyond repair, including my own. I was lucky enough to have left my computer in my car that night.” Logan looked to the dining room table that was currently occupied by ungraded assignments and his newest laptop.

“Oh, I never knew that.” Patton was almost disappointed that his roommates never told him.

“It’s perfectly fine that you don’t, Patton. It’s in the past and although it affected us then, it holds no consequences today,” Logan returned his attention to Roman, “I knew that it was arson that caused the fire, but why was Thomas so upset about it?”

“It was my fault.” Roman stated with a stern tone.

“What?” Patton looked to Roman. Confusion and concern dug deep into Patton’s expression.

“How?” Logan shook is head in surprise. It was to his understanding that the police had a suspect that fled the scene. Roman was still in his apartment when the fire department came. Logan could remember making eye contact with Roman as they scattered down the fire escape.

“I was lazy. When Virgil only had me to drink from he couldn’t heal the marks as well. There were days that Virgil refused to drink. Apparently when I’m stressed it wasn’t good for Virgil, so he wasn’t very healthy altogether. I usually just applied some make-up to the marks and bruises and lived out my days. I got lazy one week with my make-up and someone started to notice. He was just a techie in the backstage crew. He once cornered me to ask if I believed in vampires. I avoided him the best I could, but one day he followed me to my apartment! Virgil once caught him stalking the apartment from the parking lot. When the play was over, I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about him so much… I was wrong.” Roman looked between Patton and Logan before continuing:

“I came home one day to the apartment door open and everything thrown around. Virgil was trying to fight off the techie. The techie had a knife and was telling me to run. The guy was convinced that Virgil was brainwashing me and keeping me as livestock! When I ended up helping Virgil fend off the guy, he started a fire… He had a bottle of fire starter in his bag. He poured it everywhere… then-… then he lit a match. I tried to put it out, but it just made it worse. Virgil had to drag me out of the window onto the fire escape after minutes of trying. It was all because I got lazy and didn’t think anyone would notice. It ended up destroying people’s apartments… their homes.”

“And Thomas was angry that Virgil was attacked and your apartment destroyed?” Logan finished.

“So it seemed.” Roman picked at his nails.

“Aw, Roman. I had no idea.” Patton reached over and held Roman in a tight hug.

“It’s fine. It’s fine, Patton.” Roman peeled Patton off of himself with a smile, “But to answer your question, Logan; The only time I saw Thomas was when he was angry and worried, but I know that without a doubt, he would be willing to help, especially if it involves Virgil.”

“Patton? How do you feel about asking this ‘Thomas’ for help?” Logan gestured towards Patton.

“Me?” Patton pointed at himself and looked at Logan and Roman for clarification.

“Yeah, padre. We want to make sure that everyone agrees.” Roman said happily.

“Well of course I want Virgil to feel better! If Thomas can help us, then I trust him!” Patton stood up with confidence. His kiddo was hurt! Patton could do anything for his kiddos. Even if that meant keeping his distance from Virgil.

“Very well. I will make the call after work today. Until then, we should have our breakfast before we leave.” Logan nodded at the group.

“Of course! I’ll start breakfast!” Patton ran to the kitchen with newfound happiness.

“Aren’t you going out with some co-workers today, Patton?” Roman stretched across the couch. He reclaimed the cushions as his own as he resumed his rest.

“Yep! We’re going go get some coffee at my favorite café!”

“That’s wonderful.”

Chapter Text

A busy day came to a stand still. The sun had finally retreated beyond the horizon and forced the room into artificial light. It was time to make a needed call.

Logan paced the living room after dinner, phone in hand. He wasn’t sure how the conversation would go or if Thomas would be willing to even speak about it at all. Roman stayed seated at the table looking down at his script as he practiced his lines to pass the time. Patton had started to clear off the table causing the still silence to be filled with small clinks of silverware and plates as he transported them to the sink. Logan continued to pace.

“Logan, it’s ok. Virgil wouldn’t have given you Thomas’s number if he didn’t think Thomas could help.” Patton’s encouragement delayed Logan’s pacing.

Logan paused for a long second before nodding his head to Patton and bowed his head to watch his thumb hit the call button. He rose the phone to his ear. The ring tone gradually grew louder as the phone finally pressed against Logan’s ear.

There was a click as the phone was answered:

“Hello, this is Thomas.” The voice was strong and filled Logan’s ears with clean and precise pronunciation.

“Salutations. I am Logan. I have received this number from,” Logan paused as he remembered what Virgil told him, “Virge?” It was odd to say ‘Virge’ in place of Virgil’s name.

“Virge?!” Some shuffling crackled through the speaker, “ What happened.”

Logan was hesitant to answer. Thomas’s voice had gone from neutral, to concern, then near anger. It made Logan wonder how often Thomas had received phone calls about Virgil that weren’t so pleasant.

“Nothing. Well, that would be false, something did happen, but it is under control and currently does not need intervening. Virgil gave me your number so I could ask a few questions.” Logan sat down on his armchair next to the couch and listen tentatively to the noises on the other side of the line.

There was some distance clamor and far away voices. Thomas, however, sounded as though he was sitting rather still.

“Who is this, again?” Thomas’s voice bit through the speaker. Did Logan already upset the man?

“This is Logan. I am one of Virgil’s roommates.” Logan replied quickly. A background voice came closer, seeming to speak to Thomas. Thomas pulled his phone away from his ear to reply to the person.

“It’s about Virgil…. Yes…. Ok I will,” Thomas returned his phone to his ear, “I’m sorry, just got out of a meeting. You’re Virge’s roommate? Did he not pay rent or something?” Thomas’s voice thankfully lightened up a bit. A small chuckle was choked back in his words.

“No, Virgil is very responsible with paying rent. The issue has to do more with…. His ‘vampire habits’.” Logan tested the term on his tongue. How else could he explain it?

“Oh! You’re in on the big secret?! That’s fantastic, definitely makes it easier to talk you! How can I help? Is he chasing squirrels, again?” Thomas brightened up, far more cheerful and open to conversation.

“Uh, no he is not chasing squirrels… He once did that?” Logan shook the thought out of his mind and refocused, “Never mind. I called because Virgil is starting to have unusual behavior towards another roommate of ours.”

“Are they in on the secret, too?” Thomas was easing into a nice casual tone.

“That Virgil is a vampire? Yes. All three of us are well aware. Myself and Roman, one of our roommates, alternate shifts to feed Virgil.” Logan stole a glance at Roman at the table as he spoke his name. Roman looked away from his rehearsing script and peered back at Logan curiously. Patton rinsed the last plate and gave a shy smile as he wiped his hands with the kitchen towel. They were both patiently waiting to hear what Thomas had to say.

“Roman? Wasn’t that Virgil’s old roommate? The actor? He was really sweet. I never got around to actually introducing myself.” Thomas’s voice peaked at the mention of Roman.

“Yes, Roman told us about his first and only encounter with you after the incident at their apartment.” Logan reclined in his armchair. Roman used the free space to sneak by to sit on the couch, trying to pick-up the other side of the conversation. Patton joined them in the living room to give an awkward hug goodnight to both Roman and Logan and made his way to his room.

“Yeah… That was a terrible first impression,” Thomas gave an embarrassed chuckle, “He surprised me. Him and Virgil seemed like good friends. Is /that/ the roommate Virgil’s having difficulty with?”

“No, that would be our third roommate, Patton. He’s been living with us for about a year now and it was just yesterday that a particular incident happened that has us concerned,” Logan was met with silence, so he continued, “Patton is anemic, so we have refrained him from feeding Virgil for both of their sakes. Last night, when Patton and Virgil were home alone, Virgil claimed that he ‘wasn’t himself’ and fed from Patton after Patton made an ill advised offer.”

“Hhmmm.” Thomas hummed softly as if he was thinking deeply, “I’m going to go out on limb and say that wasn’t all that happened, was it?”

“No, sadly not. This morning, Patton had entered Virgil’s room to return a blanket. Virgil said that he was experiencing a headache then seemed to be in immense pain. After the incident, he told me…” Logan glanced to his side to watch Patton halt in his ascending of the stairs, “he told me that he wanted to kill Patton. He said the feeling was similar to ‘leaving the clan’s territory’.” Logan turned away from Patton’s shocked expression from over the railing. Patton only paused a moment more before ducking his head and rushing up the stairs to his room.

There was some more shuffling on the other end of the call. A small ding rang into the speaker then a muffled slam. Logan pulled the phone away from his ears as a loud jingling (keys?) echoed into the phone’s receiver.

“Thomas?” Logan called out. A quick rummage and Thomas’s breath answered.

“I’m here, sorry.”

“Do you wish to speak another time? You seem busy…” Logan slid his hand down his neck tie. He wanted answers, but also required cooperation from Thomas. If Thomas was too busy, it only meant that he was distracted and answers may take longer to receive.

“NO! No. You have my full attention, sorry. To tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s going on with Virgil,” Logan tensed at Thomas’s words, “unless I’m there myself. Would you mind if I came over for a visit?”

Logan straightened up, hope filling his mind.

“Of course not. You are more than welcome.”

“Fantastic.” Thomas smiled through the phone. Logan could hear metal sliding and a small huff from Thomas. Logan was about to ask for details about a potential meeting when a loud noise distracted him.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” That was Virgil’s voice… It echoed through the phone and throughout the house. Logan threw his phone to the side and rushed up the stairs to the erratic noises emitting from Virgil’s room. He could hear Roman’s footsteps following him in a frantic dash.

Logan failed to knock and swung the door open in panic. He soon froze. Roman nearly slammed into his back.

“NO ONE INVITED YOU IN!” Virgil was snarling at a figure that stood tall in front of the open window.

“Logan did. Didn’t you Logan?” The figure had Thomas’s voice. The tall man had on a letterman jacket with a simple floral shirt and jeans. His hair was swept to the side carefully placed. Even where Virgil stood hunched over on the opposite side of the bed, the man was a good foot taller than Virgil.

“Thomas?” Roman recognized the confident man smirking at Logan.

“Hello! I guess I should have asked who was all home, huh? Sorry, my big brother senses were tingling.” Thomas laughed as he reached across the bed to force Virgil into an embrace.

“NO! Stop! How could Logan invite you THROUGH A WINDOW?! Why didn’t you go through the front door like, I don’t know, A NORMAL PERSON?!” Virgil looked like a stray cat puffing up to look bigger. His fangs only helped Roman imagine it in more detail.

“Logan said I was welcome to come over.” Thomas gave up on his attempt to hug Virgil from across the bed and instead decided to join the others at the door.

“It was not to my understanding that you meant this exact moment. I am surprised, but all the more relieved to finally meet you, Thomas.” Logan straightened his glasses then reached out his opposite hand for a hand shake. Thomas gladly complied and made his way to close the gap between them.

Thomas froze just centimeters away from Logan’s hand, his open palm slowly curling in on itself. He continued to inhale, the rushing air became more noticeable every second.

“OW!” Thomas finally released the air trapped in his lungs and glared at his left leg.

Digging his nails through Thomas’s jeans and piercing his skin was a very pissed Virgil. Virgil held a deep growl rumbling in his throat. He was sprawled on the floor as if he leapt and was just barely able to claw at Thomas. Virgil’s eyes shifted to reflect a red glow and glared up at the owner of the leg he had attacked.

“Are you trying to take my leg off?!” Thomas lifted his leg and dragged Virgil up with it.

“If that’s the only way to stop you. Yes.” Virgil protested against Thomas moving. Thomas simply grabbed Virgil by his scruff and detached his younger brother from his leg.

“That freaking hurts, Virge.” Thomas’s voice dropped an octave and his eyes flashed dangerously. With a flick of Thomas’s wrist, Virgil went careening across the room and slammed into his mattress.

“DON’T YOU TOUCH THEM!” Virgil scurried to the edge of his bed and jabbed a finger at Thomas.

“Virge, relax. I get it. I’m in your space, your territory, but don’t forget that I’ m here because your friends are worried about you.” Thomas motioned towards Logan, Roman, and small peek from Patton coming to see what was happening.

Virgil looked towards his roommates and his tensed shoulders dropped a little. He took a couple deep breaths and his eyes slowly lost their eery red hue.

“Ok, ok. Sorry… Just no tricks with them, ok?” Virgil glared sharply at Thomas while shoving his hands deep into his sweatshirts pockets.

“I would never, Virgil.” Thomas drew an ‘x’ over his heart. Virgil rolled his eyes, but didn’t say or do anything more.

“Tricks?” Patton’s voice piped up from behind the wall he was partially hidden behind. He had just slipped into his pajamas and was peeling back his blankets for night’s rest when all the commotion happened. He was in his cat onesie and missing his glasses, but Patton came running nonetheless.

Thomas tittered on his feet to look around the wall at Patton. Patton immediately noticed the soft smile Thomas wore on his face.

“Where are you’re fangs?” Patton added on to his previous question after realizing how Thomas’s teeth lacked the sharpness like Virgil’s.

“Oh! My fangs are retractable. Literally the only thing nice about being an alpha.” Thomas spoke as he poked at his teeth. After a moment he opened his mouth wider and they watched as fangs quickly sprung out from behind his canines. He closed his mouth slowly and his fangs slide back into their hiding place.

“Virgil’s fangs don’t do that…” Roman nervously noted.

“Alpha?” Logan looked past Thomas and at Virgil, “You never mentioned that your brother was part of the Alpha family you spoke of. You are biological brothers, correct?” Logan scanned Thomas. He could see the similarities almost instantly. Their jaw line was almost identical, their eyes were both a deep brown, and their hair had a similar pesky strand that taunted them as it laid across the bridge of their nose to their opposite cheek. Their posture was opposite of each other at the moment, but Logan could remember some events that Virgil stood to attention with a straight back and broad shoulders. Given that it was only twice that Logan had witnessed Virgil as such, but Thomas was a living replica of those moments.

“Yep! I wouldn’t trade my little bro for anything.., Virge is what you call, a ‘Con-dish-shun-al Al-pha’.” Thomas twisted around making air quotes as he enunciated Conditional Alpha syllable by syllable. Virgil unraveled himself from his sweatshirt and stomped his foot.

“I haven’t told them that much!” Virgil spoke through his teeth.

“Why not? They feed you don’t they? Don’t you think it’s important that they know who they’re giving their blood to?” Thomas stalked back over to Virgil. He towered over Virgil but his demeanor was gentle and worried. He slide his hands behind Virgil’s ears and flipped up the hood to Virgil’s sweatshirt.

“Sorry that I’m not at open as you are.” Virgil released a weak retort and shook out of Thomas’s reach, but didn’t bother to take off his hood.

“It’s ok, Doom and Gloom. This is a lot of information to take in. We’ll wait for when you’re ready to share.” Roman dawned his iconic grin from the doorway.

“Yeah, kiddo! Don’t worry about that right now. We just want to make you feel better first!” Patton wiggled where he stood with a bubbly shine in his eyes.

“Conditional Alpha?” Logan mumbled in fascination. Roman nudged him with his elbow, “ I mean, I agree. Thomas, since you are already here… Is there anything you have noticed thus far?”

Thomas gave a wicked grin. He faced the three humans full-force and lifted his hand until it was parallel with the ground. With a shout, his hand snapped into a pointing stance.

“Roman stinks!” Thomas proclaimed. His verdict bounced off the way.

Roman scoffed in disbelieve clapping his hand against his chest as if he had just been shot.

“Me?!” Roman was offended. Thomas’s face suddenly contorted into confusion.

“Wait. No. Not you. The- the smaller one in the onesie… “ Thomas pointed at Roman then back to Patton, “Sorry.. You didn’t introduced yourselves so I was just making guesses at this point.” Thomas gave a shrug to the confusion.

“Oh! I’m sorry! I’m Patton!” Patton pointed at himself, “The guy with the neck tie is Logan and this wonderful person is Roman!” Patton blindly waved at the blotches of color he had identified as his friends. In fact, Patton started to wonder how he made it to Virgil’s room without bumping into anything…

“Ah, I see. Pleasure to meet you all. Good to see you again, Roman. I didn’t recognize after all these years! As you know, I’m Thomas.” Thomas gave a wide smile and gestured to himself.

“I would say it’s nice to SEE you, Thomas, but I don’t have my glasses!” Patton giggled at his dad joke and was surprise to hear Thomas’s chuckle join in. Patton already like him.

Chapter Text

Patton quickly stepped down the stairs, his newly found glasses bouncing on his nose. He rounded the corner and took a seat at the table as the others adjusted in their seats.

“It’s definitely scent related. Virge has always been sensitive to smells… I just can’t pinpoint it.” They had moved their conversations downstairs at the dining table. While everyone huddled close at the table, Virgil sat on the farthest corner of the couch. Thomas sat back in his seat and studied Patton from the opposite side of the table.

“I got new shampoo a couple days ago…” Patton pulled at his locks with concern.

“I noticed, it smells nice. But that’s not what’s setting Virgil off. It’s a very light scent, but it’s…. it’s very unpleasant. Makes my skin crawl just smelling this small amount…” Thomas chewed at his lips as he stared harder at Patton. The scent was so faint like a glimpse in the wind, but it had Thomas on high alert. He knew that Virgil had far better control when confronted with similar scents, especially in such a small quantity. As far as he could tell, the main source of the scent wasn’t presently on Patton.

“Logan.” Virgil’s voice drifted over to the table.

“My apologizes, Virgil.” Logan pushed his chair back and made his way to the couch. He sat on the middle cushion and began the nightly routine of feeding Virgil. Logan loosened his tie, but froze when his eyes met with Thomas.

“I hope that me feeding Virgil won’t bother you.” Logan was reminded that Thomas was also a vampire. He hoped he wasn’t breaking any social rules within the vampire culture.

Thomas shook his head quickly, “Not at all! I’m sorry for staring! It’s been forever since I’ve seen Virgil hungry... All of you take such good care of my baby brother.” Thomas twisted his face away from the duo on the couch.

Logan nodded his head as his hands swiftly continued their task. He took off his glasses and placed his them next to his tie on the coffee table. Patton tried to hide his shiver. Logan’s actions were like a mirror of Patton the night before. Patton’s lip pressed thinly as Virgil leaned over Logan expectingly. Logan showed no signs of discomfort, other than a minuscule eye twitch the moment Virgil made contact. Everyone sat quietly.

Patton almost felt envious. Roman and Logan were able to help Virgil every night and now even the mornings were spent with Virgil. As Logan’s hand rose to run his fingers through Virgil’s hair, Patton looked away. His movement was small, but Thomas was very keen.

“Does it hurt?” Thomas broke the long minute. Patton flinched assuming that Thomas was referring to his emotions about feeding Virgil. No one answered.

“When Virgil drinks, does it hurt?” Thomas expanded his idea, looking between everyone in the room.

“There’s a pinch but nothing too serious.” Logan joined them slipping on his glasses. Thomas jump in his seat, surprised by Logan’s sudden presence.

“Whoa! That was quick!” He looked over to Virgil and whipped back to Logan, “Not even a mark!” He encroached into Logan’s personal bubble to look closer at his neck where Virgil had just bitten into. Logan didn’t mind the attention, he too found it fascinating.

There were many nights that Logan studied his own neck after feeding Virgil. When it was a rather new routine, the bite marks took longer to heal allowing Logan to watch his own skin mend over the holes within a couple minutes. By morning, there was nothing to mention. Countless times Logan had seen Virgil ‘kiss away’ injuries Patton received while in the kitchen. Paper cuts from the cook books, sliced knuckles from the cheese grader, even small burns were quickly licked away.

Compared to the first experience to now, Virgil’s healing was almost immediate. Logan feared that there would be nothing left to observe, but yet Virgil has proven him wrong. With Thomas now in the mix, more information than Logan could ever dream of had become available at an alarming rate. Logan couldn’t have asked for anything else, except, perhaps, Virgil being able to interact with Patton as per usual.

“Has he always drank from the lower neck?” Thomas asked.

“Yes… As far as I’ve known him.” Roman piped up, noting that he was the first to meet Virgil.

Thomas huffed a some chuckle. He quickly slapped his hand over his mouth as Virgil glared from the couch.

“I wasn’t make fun of you, Virgil!” Thomas waved his hands in surrender, “Within the clan, those that bite that low on the neck are considered to be gentle and caring while feeding. I only laugh because Virgil likes to hide that part of himself… But in reality the placement of our bites don’t have a saying on our personality. It’s more about what’s the easiest place for us to feed from.” From the corner of Thomas’s eye, he caught Virgil lose interest at glaring at him.

“Yeah, well, you’re a high bitter. They say those people are stubborn. Sounds pretty accurate to me.” Virgil grumbled in retort. Thomas laughed it off.

“Stubborn BUT playful! It definitely suits me, huh?” Thomas happily replied. Everyone nodded their head in silent agreement.

Patton slowly reached for the spot were Virgil had bitten him. It was close to the collar bone and feeling his fingers brush against his own skin, Patton realized just how low that place was on his neck. He looked up to watch Logan loop his necktie, spotting where Logan was bitten. No marks, but the slight glisten of Virgil’s salvia still laid on his skin. Gentle and caring.

Patton nodded again. Even if Virgil claimed to have lost control, Patton could remember hearing Virgil’s scratchy voice, just above a whisper, asking him to announce his limit to Virgil. Patton failed to do so, but Virgil still had caught him. Virgil cared. Virgil was gentle.

Patton softly smiled to himself, raising his eyes up to rejoin the conversation. Everyone had continued to ask more questions about vampires and Thomas was happily answering. Patton’s eyes drifted past the scene before him, straight into Virgil’s gaze.

Virgil was tentatively watching Patton. Patton suddenly realized that his hand was still brushing against his neck. He let his hand drop with a small knock on the wooden table. Everyone at the table looked to the noise, Virgil’s eyes narrowed.

“…But we could do all that later. We should focus on the issue ahead of us. Right?” Thomas arched his eyebrows as he waited for a response from Patton.

“Y-you said that it was scent related? Is there anything I can do…” Patton interjected.

“It’s hard to tell. It could be something on your clothing, an item you usually wear, on your body… it could also be something a little harder to get rid of…” Thomas trailed off as he listed the potential problems.

“It most likely a Stray. A strong one.” Virgil added from his cushion on the couch.

Thomas tensed a little before he turned towards Virgil and gestured him to come closer.

There was a stand-off. Thomas beckoned Virgil forward as Virgil only seemed to sink further into the couch. Thomas’s gestures were getting more strict, his entire arm swinging to direct Virgil. Finally with a sigh, Thomas let his arm to droop.

“Virgil. Come here.” Thomas’s voice dropped again, like before, causing Virgil to flinched. Roman leaned away from Thomas, giving a weird look to the vampires.

“Are you wearing cologne?” Roman looked to Thomas. Roman’s nose was assaulted with a sudden sweet aroma.

“The Blood.” Virgil whispered. There was a spike of fear in his voice as Thomas slowly started to raise his hand once more.

The others watched in awe as Thomas’s final wave of his hand looked as if Virgil was pulled by an invisible force towards the table. Virgil’s eyes shifted to soft red as he stopped in front of Thomas.

“My sniffer isn’t as good yours. I would tell you to look for it… but you seem to react negatively to the scent.” Thomas’s voice remained low watching Virgil shift under his sight.

Virgil looked up confused, but with a slight smile.

“Sniffer?” Virgil questioned humorously. Thomas gave a sly smile back.

“Sniffer.” Thomas repeated with confidence. Patton snorted as he tried to hold a laugh back.

Thomas’s composure broke after hearing Patton’s giggles. He tugged at Virgil’s hood and gave Virgil a soft pat on the back to push him towards the stairs.

“Just keep your distance until I can figure this out. I have to go soon, but I’m gonna set a proper time to come over soon. I don’t think it’ll be too dangerous to wait this out a little. Roman and Logan sound like they have a feeding schedule set up, so I’m not worried about it.” Thomas explained. He gave a small wave to Virgil, “goodnight, Virge. I’m sure you could do some more programming before you hit the hay. I’m sure /they/ would appreciate it.” Virgil shook his head at his brother’s farewell.

“/They/ can bite my ass.” Virgil dashed up the stairs as he heard Patton’s chair screech backwards.

“LANGUAGE!” Patton stood abruptly letting his voice echo through the halls, following Virgil to his room.

Virgil’s voice relaid an apology before the click of his bedroom door met the group’s ears.

“So,” Patton sat back down calmly, “we just wait it out. How long? I don’t want to cause Virgil any more pain.” Patton held firm eye contact with Thomas. The small human made Thomas’s skin crawl.

Patton was just the type to get tangled in vampires. The soft, sweet confidence held a physical scent to vampires. Thomas couldn’t help but to lick his lips as he scanned Patton’s expression. Roman shuffled nervously beside Thomas.

Thomas could feel the overbearing weight of Roman’s mere presence. Thomas could never mention it to Virgil, but Roman was a perfect candidate to be ‘Turned’. Thomas thought the same thing after meeting Roman all those years ago. If Roman’s eyes weren’t so… human, Thomas would have thought him already Turned.

Thomas shifted his gaze to Logan. Logan’s posture and movements were so calculated. Is he sure that he isn’t a vampire already? His speech was constructed as if he had already lived a couple centuries. Thomas watched Logan straightened his tie and pushed up his glasses. Logan’s eyes striking Thomas’s thoughts silent.

“Well… I’m pretty busy and honestly, if Virgil is acting this bad to the scent, I’m afraid to send anyone without me around,” Thomas watched their faces fall in disappointment, “But this is a family emergency, so I’m sure they would understand if I moved a few appointments around.”

Patton’s eyes started to glitter. Logan seemed to relax a little in his seat as Roman gave a wide grin to his roommates.

“Thank you, Thomas.” Logan stood up to meet Thomas’s line of sight.

“Of course. Sorry for the surprise,” Thomas rubbed his hand on the back of his head, “I was just a worried big bro!”

Everyone got up from the table and started to slowly migrate to the front door.

“Before I go…” Thomas ran a finger down the doorframe, trailing a small sliver of blood.

“Thomas!” Patton grabbed Thomas’s wrist, pulling his hand away from the wood.

“Don’t worry, Patton. This will help Virgil and keep this place a reclaimed clan territory.” Thomas stepped outside, sliding his hand out of Patton’s wrist. The blood on the door frame slowly dissolving into the paint. Logan retraced where the blood was in amazement.

“Keep in touch!” Thomas gave a small salute before jogging down the steps and hopping into a sport car parked out front. With a roar of the engine, Thomas drove away.

“That’s the same freaking sport car…” Roman sighed in disbelieve, “From all those years ago… Do they have vampire cars?” Roman turned as Logan and Patton quickly walked away from the outrageous thought.

“Guys?! I’m serious! How the heck did he keep it in such great shape?!” Roman closed and locked the front door as he pursued his roommates deeper into the house.

Chapter Text

The birds were barely chirping the world awake when Patton slid out of bed. His alarm clock screamed at him a minute later to remind him to move. Patton tapped the snooze causing the numbers to light up the room with a green glow from the harsh digits of 4 am.With a sigh, Patton dragged his feet into the bathroom for a morning shower.

The shower was quick. Patton only hesitated to look at his new shampoo bottle for a moment before finishing up. He shuffled his wet hair under the towel in front of the mirror, checking that his scrubs were still on the counter as he left them the night before. He forgot the towel on his head as he slipped on his watch and a couple bracelets he received from friends and some patients that he looked after. He twisted his wrist around to admire his collection of bracelets remembering every event that corresponded with each of them.

After getting dressed Patton slipped on his glasses as he discarded his towel and dirty clothes in his clothes hamper and entered the hallway silently. The hallway would be pitch black if not for the small flower night light Patton put in the hallway outlet just for this occasion. He had also done it for Virgil’s sake, knowing that he would be up at the darker hours of the night. Although Virgil said he didn’t need the assisting light, Patton felt better having the night light there.

Patton expertly tiptoed down the hallway to the top of the stairwell. He squinted at the stairs and readjusted to the soft glow of dusk through the living room windows. Before he could take his first step down, a silhouette glided into view.

The slouch of the silhouette was familiar and as Patton’s eyes completed their adjustments, Virgil came into clarity. Patton stayed still, unsure what to do. Thomas and Logan both asked him to keep a distance from Virgil and even Patton could sense the seriousness of the situation. Virgil remained just as still.

Truthfully, Virgil was surprised. He had caught the scent of Patton after hearing the shower water stop. It was Patton’s original scent, sweet and calming, but it was suddenly clouded by a different scent. The same scent that swirled into Virgil’s mind and fogged his thoughts to the point that it created physical pain to fight the hostility the fragrance was drenched in.

Virgil had been sitting in the living room when he lost of track of time. He heard Patton’s alarm and the water of the shower, but shortly forgot about the movement. Virgil knew that Patton would be coming down the stairs soon and found himself battling choices in his head. He wondered if he could just shrink into the couch and remain silent as Patton got ready for work. The other part of him said to take the risk and dart to his room. He was frozen in an indecisive stance at the bottom of the stairs. He thought he had a little more time before making a decision, but there Patton stood in his escape route to his bed. The couch it is then.

Virgil couldn’t move. No, perhaps it was the fact that he didn’t /want/ to move. He looked up the stairs at Patton, still homing in on the scent that was suddenly very potent coming from him.

Patton took an audible gulp. He felt like a bunny staring at a hungry fox. He was conflicted about the feeling of fear and worry when face-to-face with Virgil. Dang it! Why couldn’t he be with his kiddo without all these problems?

“Good morning, Virgil.” Patton tried to ease his roommate into a casual conversation.

Virgil averted his eyes and looked to his bare feet. Without much warning, Virgil spun on his heels and sat heavily on the couch, defeated. Patton followed Virgil with his eyes, going down a couple steps to keep Virgil in view.

“Were you trying to get to your room, kiddo? I’ll get out of your way!” Patton stumbled down the remaining steps and scurried into the kitchen. He watched Virgil from over the kitchen counter.

For a moment it looked as though Virgil was trying to say something. His mouth opened then closed, gasping for air and trying to form words. His head was swimming with warnings, red flags, bright lights, it all blinded the backside of Virgil’s eyes. He squeezed his eyes tight until he saw the static universe swirl on his closed eyelids. It was happening. The scent was overwhelming him. His skin felt like it was floating a millimeter away from his muscles underneath, touching the chilled air. His body trying to steer itself towards the scent while his disoriented mind was trying to throw him away from the situation. His chest tightened as he held his breath. Open then close. He gasped for air. Maybe he could give a warning. Maybe if he made a loud noise the others will wake up in time to save Patton. To save Patton from himself. Open then close.

Finally after multiple times of trying, Virgil jerked away from the weird trance and looked towards the stairs again. Where’s Patton?! Did it already happen? WHERE’S PATTON!

He sprung from his seat and spun around frantically, scanning the room until his wide eyes landed on Patton’s figure in the kitchen. An exasperated breath flew from his lungs and his legs gave out.

With a heavy thud Virgil landed on the carpet of the living room. Patton gave a worried whine from the kitchen.

“I’m gonna be on’s couch,” Virgil slurred as he crawled back into his favorite spot, “don’t come ov’ ‘ere.” Virgil shook a lazy finger towards Patton. He curled into a tight ball and flipped his hood up. From his pocket he withdrew a small tissue and held it to his face.

“Runny nose, Kiddo?” Patton cautiously started a cup of coffee.

“It’s got Thomas’s blood onnit.” Virgil leaned away from Patton’s direction. He was more worried than embarrassed.

In his childhood, his strong sense of smell often lead him into dangerous situations to the point where only The Blood, his father at the time, could help calm Virgil down. Because of his behavior, his father gave a handkerchief to him with The Blood’s scent on it. The scent of The Blood made all vampires within the clan more complacent, obedient, and most cases, drowsy. Virgil benefitted greatly with these affects. Thomas once admitted that he was excited to take The Blood’s position, because Thomas knew his blood and scent would become helpful to Virgil. When they were younger, the two brothers were rarely apart, so it certainly made a difference in both boys’ life when Thomas became The Blood.

After parting with Thomas, Virgil felt that he had better control and did not need The Blood’s presence to handle his intense senses. He burned his father’s handkerchief as an informal ‘coming of age’ ceremony. He wasn’t wrong, after all, Virgil lived almost 12 years away from the clan’s headquarters pretending to be human. However, this new scent that found its way onto Patton had Virgil worried that he was reverting back into aggression.

Patton absently started to pour his coffee into his kitty mug when his distracted mind processed what Virgil mumbled. He froze when his brain screamed it’s translations of Virgil’s words and set the coffee pot down slowly.

“Thomas’s blood?” Patton stared down at his mug as he slid his hand against the warm side and lifted it to his lips. The coffee splashing against the side as Patton realized he was shaking.

“It calms me.” Virgil replied and squeezed himself into a tighter ball. Patton nodded his head, but his face betrayed his feigned understanding as his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He set his mug down and grabbed a loaf of bread from the counter.

“How’d you get it?” Patton dropped two pieces of bread in the toaster and turned towards Virgil. Virgil didn’t respond and instead took a shaky deep breath. Patton took the opportunity to reach for the frying pan and started to heat it on the stove.

“I took it. When I tackled him last night.” Virgil’s voice cleared up a little.

Patton paused while grabbing eggs from the refrigerator, trying to recall when Virgil tackled his brother.

“Oh!” Patton shot up with recognition. Virgil jumped in his seat, consequently unraveling from his tightly knotted position.

“Sorry, Kiddo. I just remembered what you meant. Last night, when you grabbed his leg?” Patton hugged the eggs to his chest as he thought back about the events of the night before.

Virgil nodded his head and slipped the tissue back into his pocket. Patton cracked the eggs. The eggs’ mad sizzling interrupted their conversation for a moment. They both sat in silence.

The toast popped up with a mechanical click and both jumped at the noise. Patton gave a soft giggle as he fought to grab the pipping hot toast.

“That must have hurt Thomas, though…” Patton started to dress his toast with cream cheese from the fridge.

“He’s use to it.” Virgil readjusted on the couch. He appeared more relaxed and open to conversation than Patton expected.

“No one should be in pain like that!” Patton looked shocked at Virgil. Virgil only gave a small shrug in response.

“Being ‘the main vamp’ of the clan isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, Patton. He’s got to protect the territory, keep track of clan, Stray, AND Turned activity. Look out for hunters, make new laws, fight off Alpha competition, and basically take shit from no one while protecting immortal toddlers with sharp teeth.” Virgil counted the majority of The Blood’s responsibilities on his fingers before waving them away grudgingly.

Patton was curious about each responsibility of The Blood. It certainly sounded like Thomas was very busy. Patton almost felt bad for putting something new on Thomas’s schedule. He had so much to worry about already and now his little brother isn’t well. Patton’s heart sung for the hard-working kiddo.

“That sounds like a lot… please watch your language.” Patton noted as he slipped the eggs out of the pan onto the waiting toast with cream cheese. Virgil mumbled a small sorry.

Patton moved his plate to the dining table and started to eat. Virgil allowed the silence to fill the room. Better the silence than the painful smell that started to appear. Against Thomas’s warnings and even his own, Virgil tilted his nose up and let the smell trail over to him.

His eyes landed on Patton and thoroughly scanned him. Nothing was particularly different about Patton, other than scent. He had on his cat and dog scrubs he usual wore since he worked at a children’s hospital. His shoes were the same, glasses were the same, watch was the same, but bracelets….

“You got a new bracelet.” Virgil spoke up. Patton finished chewing before answering happily:

“Yeah! I found it on the bed of a room I was picking up! The kiddo that was in there had a pretty bad appendicitis, but they pulled through.” Patton rose his wrist up and twisted it side to side in order for Virgil to see it better…

A majority of the bracelets were woven string or plastic, but the newest one had beads strung on a tight elastic band. The beads were colorful with little swirls of colors, all but one bead that was pure red. Virgil’s stomach suddenly grumbled.

Virgil gripped tightly on the tissue in his pocket, hoping that he wouldn’t need it again. Patton sadly lowered his arm and looked closer at his bracelets.

“I’m sorry, Virgil. I really wanted to help you. I still do, but I-“ Patton looked up blinking away tears, “I’m scared.”

“Scared?” Virgil pricked his fang with his tongue. Iron slowly greeting his tastebuds.

“But it’s ok, kiddo. Thomas will help us out and we’ll figure out what’s wrong with me and-“

“Patton!” Patton whipped his head to the loud exclamation that escaped Virgil, “Nothing is wrong /with/ you. It’s-It’s just some sort of scent that is following you. Thomas will help. Don’t worry so much about it. I’ll live.” Virgil retreated further into the cushions. The last thing Virgil needed was Patton blaming himself. Patton nodded his head leisurely, starting to understand the position that Virgil was taking.

Of course he shouldn’t be thinking this way. His kiddo needed Patton to be strong! Patton looked back at his emptied plate and reached for his mug for another gulp of coffee. He needed to wake up a bit more before he could go to work.

“I’ll protect you, Patton.” Virgil’s soft voice drifted through the room. Patton choked on his coffee.

The coffee sprayed everywhere. Patton tried to direct it back into his cup only for it to drench his arm in coffee. After emptying his mouth, he shook violently with coughs. Virgil looked ready to help, but Patton waved him away while stumbling into the kitchen to cough over the sink for a moment.

“I-I’m sorry. What did you say?” Patton gave a laugh, “did you say you would protect me?!” Patton’s chest swelled with happiness.

Virgil blushed and hid his face into the couch. Patton could only smile widely as he started to clean up the mess he made. Patton took care to take off his watch and bracelets to clean them off promptly to avoid any damage. He left them next to the sink to dry out as he went to the dining table with paper towels.

The spill wasn’t as bad as Patton assumed. There was some misted coffee on the table top, but it seems the majority of Patton’s drink was dripping down his arm that was holding his mug. He wiped himself and the table down before placing the dishes in the dishwasher.

“I’m gonna go change out my scrubs and brush my teeth. I’ll be right back!” Patton giggled as he bounded up the stairs. Virgil tried to claw his way into the couch, hoping to be swallowed by the cushions into the dimension of Logan’s lost bookmarks and Patton’s lose change. Never to have his embarrassed face seen again.

It was only natural to want to protect the humans that feed you. At least that’s what Thomas would try to convince Virgil. It was more than just the feeding aspect that made Virgil want to protect his roommates. They shared their space, thoughts, goals, time, and yes, admittedly, their blood. It would just be rude to not to protect them at this point.

Virgil had warned them about the possible threats of staying with him as a roommate. Roman had experienced it first hand as their apartment went up in flames caused by a vampire-hating pyromaniac. Being around a vampire was dangerous in both personal and indirect ways. The clan vampires aren’t immune to their instincts. If something goes wrong, a clan member could easily harm a human or fellow vampire. Adding on to that, the clan itself had outside enemies, separate clans and Strays still roamed the streets disregarding the local clan laws and harming the humans. It would be idiotic to ignore their potential threat upon humans willingly helping the clan.

So it wasn’t uncalled for to say you’re willing to protect the people close to you. Virgil was just embarrassed that he let it slip from his lips and out loud. To Patton of all people, too! However, Patton needed to hear it. Virgil reminded himself that this whole problem wasn’t just affecting him, but also his roommates. They will start to doubt themselves and Virgil wanted to be there to keep their spirits up. For all Virgil knew, their optimism was the only thing keeping him grounded at this point.

After changing, Patton grabbed his pre-made lunch out of the fridge, said a sweet goodbye, and ran out the door to work. His face still showcasing a wide grin of happiness and proudness. Virgil waved a short goodbye back and watched as the front door clicked and locked shut. Patton’s footsteps grew faint and Virgil was left alone once more.

—

“Hey, Negative Nancy. Wake up.” Roman’s voice sliced through Virgil’s blank dreaming.

“What time is it?” Virgil rubbed his eyes at Roman.

“It’s approximately 5:20 am.” Logan’s voice responded from the kitchen, clinking dishes as he prepared breakfast.

“I have rehearsals again, so fangs out, Gloom and Doom.” Roman already had his shirt pulled back and his back pressed against the couch. Virgil’s mind was still trying to make sense of the environment after waking up so suddenly. He had almost forgotten about the new addition of breakfast to his feeding schedule.

Virgil shrugged and grabbed Roman’s shoulder to pull himself upright. Roman protested the weight shifting on his frame, but was stopped by the abrupt bite into his neck. The usual pattern of Virgil’s feeding growing steady on Roman’s skin.

“Whoa! Don’t ruff me up, I’m a prince, not a piece of steak!” Roman complained. Logan flashed his eyes up for a moment to assure himself the situation wasn’t hostile. Roman was squirming, rather annoyed, but Virgil didn’t seem to be any more aggressive than usually. Logan went back to making breakfast.

After some time, Roman joined Logan in the kitchen, rubbing his neck with slight anger in his eyes. Virgil wiped his lips of with his sleeve and curled back on the couch.

“How are you feeling this morning, Virgil?” Logan dished the two plates on the counter with eggs and sausage. Before Roman could get too far in the kitchen, Logan passed a full plate of breakfast to him. Roman took it thankfully and spun around to sit at the dining table.

“Fine.” Virgil flatly replied. Logan arched an eyebrow to Virgil’s tone, but continued his task. He filled two cups with orange juice and gave one to Roman at the table before grabbing his plate to return for a seat as well.

As Roman and Logan ate breakfast, Virgil looked through his phone. He wasn’t doing anything particularly interesting until a notification dropped down from the top of the screen.

NEW MESSAGE:
JOAN: Yo! Wyd

Virgil recognized the name and felt his stomach drop. Joan was one of the three humans that feed his brother, Thomas. Being The Blood required some more ‘human involvement’ to keep up strength. All the humans Thomas had were very nice and had fed Virgil on some rare occasions. They weren’t usually ones to text him out of the blue. They liked to call Virgil and just chat for a bit, but texting was a little more serious.

VIRGIL: Nothing. What’s up?

JOAN: Nothing much…

VIRGIL: ?

JOAN: Thomas told me about last night. How are you?

VIRGIL: Fine. Patton left for work.

Joan started to text his reply and Virgil scanned the room for any changes then back to his phone.

JOAN: I’m glad to hear that!
JOAN: Thomas said Patton was worried…

VIRGIL: We talked this morning. He’s doing better.

JOAN: THAT’S GREAT!
JOAN: Were you fed this morning?
JOAN: I can come over if you need me to!

Virgil missed Joan. Their willingness to help was intoxicating. An easy target for vampires, but no one dared laid a hand on them in fear of Thomas’s pure protectiveness of his humans. There were times that even Virgil had declined Joan’s help, knowing that Thomas would need them more than Virgil.

VIRGIL: Roman feeds me in the morning.
VIRGIL: I’ve been fed.

JOAN: That’s great.
JOAN: Just wanted to check in on you!
JOAN: We’ll figure this out soon
JOAN: Get some sleep!

VIRGIL: Thanks. I will.

“Everything ok, Virgil?” Logan’s voice startled Virgil out of his concentration.

“Yeah, just texting. Are you guys leaving already?” Virgil noticed their jackets drawn over their shoulders and bags in hand. Logan nodded his head.

“Yes. Patton seems to have forgotten his watch and bracelets, so I plan on running them to him during my planning period today. Patton has another 12 hour shift this evening, so I’m sure he’ll appreciate having them returned to him before his shift is over. Other than that, Roman and I should be home at the routine time.” Logan shifted his briefcase in his hands, watching Virgil closely.

Something in the back of Logan’s head nagged at him about how ‘off’ Virgil was today, but he chose to ignore it. Admittedly, Logan couldn’t sleep very well. With everything happening, he had to write it down then kept himself awake fabricating new questions and theories. Logan, himself, was very tired, so it wouldn’t surprise him if Virgil was just as such.

“Ok, sounds good. Have a great day.” Virgil gave his iconic salute and said his farewell with drained enthusiasm. Logan nodded his goodbye and Roman gave a wide wave before both stepped out the front door. Virgil was alone once more.

——

Logan had dropped off Roman at the theater and enjoyed the silent, heated car ride to Saint Thomas High School. The air nipped at Logan’s cheeks the moment he exited his car and took wide steps to his office to escape the foggy morning chill. Logan quickly looked to his wrist watch: 6:50 am. On time like always.

“Good morning, Mr. Conroy!” A student shouted from across the courtyard to Logan. Logan answered to his last name and gave a dip of his head and small wave before continuing his rush to his classroom.

With a final yank on the door handle, Logan was able to enter his classroom. A soft toss of his briefcase to the bottom, inner corner of his desk and a heavy plop onto his office chair, Logan could just sense it. It was going to be one hell of a long day.

Chapter Text

Other than his new found habit of checking his phone every possible moment, Logan’s day was rather bleak. His students were in wonderful moods and teaching them only gave Logan more energy to power through the day.
This particular unit was on gases that certain stars emit and Logan had rearranged the lab room with different types of light bulbs to demonstrate how to read an astronomy tool, a spectroscope. Students were sprawled around the room talking about how each light caused a different color to appear in the spectroscope. Logan’s heart swelled with happiness as he saw the glitter of curiosity shine in his students’ eyes… Or was that just the multiple light bulbs reflection?

Logan enjoyed having the rare days of self-exploration for his students. It was less work for him. No lecture or specific homework to create. Just a good-old worksheet and multiple items of interest for the students to learn from in their own little cliques. Of course, as Logan suspected, he would be caught in a silent ramble as he made his way around to each group.

“Mr. Conroy! You took my pencil!” Logan paused at the exclamation and looked to his hands to confirm the accusation. Sure enough, a bright yellow number two pencil rolled between his fingertips anxiously.

“My apologizes.” Logan quickly returned the accidentally stolen item and slandered back to his desk. He sat heavily in his seat before stealing a glance at his phone once more. It would be lunch time soon then fourth period, which Logan had as a planning period. During this extended time, Logan planned to drive to the hospital and give Patton his forgotten belongings from this morning.

Logan peered down at his bag to see the bracelets and watch gleam, happily snug in the front pocket. The dismissal bell chimed through the speakers and the classroom quickly became busy with hungry students. Logan gave his individual goodbyes to each student, reminding them of homework and watched them merge into the hallway traffic. The last student to leave smacked the main switch and all the lights came blinking on. Logan gave a quick thanks.

Logan began to turn off each different lightbulb, happy to get rid of the excessive light. Just before he could reach the last light bulb, the main lights flickered off. Logan stood in the dim light of the final light source, assuming a student was coming to visit during lunch and was messing with him.

“I’m afraid I’ll be closing my room during lunch today, so if you could-“ Logan turned to find unfamiliar faces illuminated by the faint light. Five to be exact. Logan scanned them curiously, before his eyes fell on a coffee cup in one of the strangers hands and an orange-brown envelope under another’s arm.

——
YEAR AND A HALF AGO:

“It’ll be dangerous… Now that you know.”

Logan’s grip on his manila envelope tightened. He may have left abruptly. He may have paced the hotel room for hours mumbling all the possible outcomes, but now he wasn’t going to change his mind. Not after days of planning, expecting, doubting, and absolute hell.

He had finally came to the conclusion: So what Virgil is a vampire? Logan had already lived with Virgil and Roman for four months now and other than their few odd interactions, Logan never felt in danger or worried. Virgil was great at keeping up on rent, was rather clean, had weird habit of sitting on the counter tops, but was quiet a majority of the time. If anyone was going to make Logan regret living there, it would be Roman: Loud, often had to be reminded about rent, constantly in some rush, forgets thing, forgets messes. However, Logan started to realize that had he not stumbled upon the ‘truth’, Logan still hoped to live with them for as long as possible.

“It would be boring otherwise.” Logan replied and watched the light in Virgil’s eyes return on that fated day nearly a year and a half ago.

So what, he was vampire. Why did it matter? Logan wished to help. Logan wished-
— —
FOR IT TO STOP

His mind was ripped from the past and forced back to the present. Logan strained against the multiple hands pinning him down. The spark of pain relit by every movement. His mouth open and dry, fighting the urge to scream and alert others. A pair of fangs on Logan’s arm deepened, twisting his wrist to the point that Logan feared it would snap. Logan yanked his arm up and away from the claws and teeth only for his entire body to be slammed back down against the cold tile with multiple growls in response. His lungs seized and he choke on his breath as the fangs sunk back into his arm and the other vampires followed suit.

One on his left arm, two on his right and one chewing at his neck. Only one stood and watch, shades over his eyes and a growing grin on his face. Logan clamped his mouth shut and let his eyes close as more pain rippled through his body.

He missed it. Virgil was gentle and rhythmic. His shallow breaths on Logan’s neck counted down how much longer they had. Logan had noticed that Virgil usually would take about 7-12 breaths between each swallow before pulling away and being satisfied. The vampires that currently swarmed Logan had no sense of care like Virgil. After a few seconds at one spot, they would randomly start to naw at his skin to start a new bleeding wound. Bruises painted his skin as they gripped and released to force Logan’s blood towards their multiple bite marks.

Logan’s mind continued it’s seemingly endless loop of wanting to call for help but worrying about the students getting involved. These ravenous monsters didn’t seem worried about the other humans buzzing just on the other side of the door, around the halls and in the cafeteria during lunch time.

The vampire on his neck finally released only to nip at the skin behind Logan’s ear. Logan couldn’t hold it and a low, exhausted scream escaped his lips in reply.

Then bitter release.

Logan remained on the floor, slowly curling in on himself as if he were a dying a spider, like a dying human. His muscles were sore and his breathing was rapid, adding to the moisture on the floor. Sweat and blood becoming cold as they spread thin around Logan, their previous host. Slowly, the growing puddle stretched out to Logan’s abandoned tie a mere foot away, it laid where it had been wrenched away from Logan’s neck.

The vampires didn’t bother to lick away the wounds or slow the bleeding. They stood over Logan proudly. The four vampires licked their lips and wiped their faces on their sleeves.

“I must admit, I was skeptical at first since he wasn’t the original one we were promised… But this one, this one has to have been one of my favorites!” A vampire with a lip piercing brushed himself off and looked to the by-standing vampire. Logan grimaced, just moments ago that very lip piercing had been pressed into his skin. Beside the two punctures on his neck, Logan knew there are going to be a small bean shape bruised caused by that /THING’S/ lip decoration.

“Yeah, but did he smell a little ‘off’ to you guys?” Another vampire looked to the group for assurances, but was met with glares.

“It’s your fucking imagination again,” The tallest one replied, giving the last vampire a smack to the back of his head, “You’ve never been very good at smellin’.”

After licking some blood away from his lips and metal piercing, that THING, Logan assumed to be the leader, turned to the one wearing sunglasses and dropped his smile.

“Well, a deal’s a deal. I gotta say, you surprised me.” The two vampires exchanged the manila envelope and the four full vampires departed through the door. Back into society, hidden like humans.

Logan stretched towards his desk, but froze as pain bolted through his arm. He retreated his arm into his chest and tried to keep conscious as buzzing, audible pain rang in his head.

A hand slowly combed through his hair and Logan bit his lip to stop a startled scream from escaping his throat. Logan looked sporadically around until his eyes fell heavily on the vampire that silently kneeled next to him. His vision was growing dark around the edges and his body was shaking, but Logan tried to stay as still as possible. This vampire may have not stolen from Logan, but he was just as guilty for leading them into this room. The vampire went to comb through Logan’s hair once more, but was caught by Logan’s shaking hand. Logan grunted as he shifted to firmly hold the wrist of the vampire. The vampire watched as Logan tried to push his hand away, amused by Logan’s struggles.

“Get off me!” Logan’s already slurred voice cracked as he muster just enough strength to shove the vampire’s hand to the side.

A deep laugh echoed through the room, but the vampire didn’t make any more movement towards Logan. The vampire brushed his hand against his jeans as if to clean his hands of Logan’s filth and stood tall once more. The vampire retrieved a phone from Logan’s desk and tapped away on the screen. Once he was done, he let the phone fall from his fingers onto the floor next to Logan with a sad crack. The fanged man happily walked over to the counter near the door, picking up a nearly forgotten coffee cup and looking over his shoulder at Logan. The call tone dully rang between them.

“Don’t die on us yet, Logan. Virge would kill me.” The vampire gave a wicked smile over his shades, letting his ruby eyes shine, before slipping out of the room like the vampires before him.

Logan tried to concentrate on his breathing, but his limbs were freezing up and his eyes were fighting themselves to stay open. He tried to listen to the call tone that continued to ring next to him, hoping to ground himself on something in reality. He jolted as a click interrupted the ringing:

“Logan! Just the man I wanted to talk to! I moved some things around so I could- wait… Logan? Are you ok?” Thomas’s voice pierced Logan’s mind. Thomas recognized the odd breathing and the unusual silence. Logan took a shaky breath, wincing as his ribs expanded, before answering the best he could.

“Vampires at school…” Logan took one last deep breath, “Help.”

Thomas’s voice swirled through Logan’s mind, his head felt like it was in a fish bowl. The world around him slowly losing focus, losing color, losing consciousness. Logan tried to will more power to assure Thomas, but was all too soon to give up. He was too tired. So tired.

No one would mind if he took a little nap, right?

Chapter Text

Virgil tried to play off his low growl as clearing his throat. It would have been convincing if the person he was talking to on the phone wasn’t his lifetime brother.

“I’m sorry! Ok? I’ll buy each of your roommates something nice and pretty! Just SAVE ME! They’re too much for me to handle right now! I see them conspiring against me even now!” Thomas peered around the corner at the only three humans allowed in the clan’s headquarters. Talyn, Joan, and Terrence huddled together with their voices barely over a whisper. Every now and then, one out of the three would peek up to scan the crowd of vampires then ducked down, back to their conversation.

“You know what? You deserve it. I thought you were calling cause you figured something out about Patton and I. I hope they DO THEIR WORST.” Virgil grumpily smacked his phone down on his nightstand and rolled over in his bed. Thomas had terrible timing.

“Love ya too, Virge.” Thomas snarked at his phone after Virgil hung up. He gave a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Meeting after meeting, day after day, time felt like it was slipping through his fingers. Thomas wished it was on better terms, but getting that call to help his brother certainly made him feel like a young kid again. Being able to have his brother at his side and fighting the world together. He thought that becoming The Blood would help Virgil. It did, don’t get him wrong, just not in the way his naïve young mind thought at the time. Virgil was able to control his senses and Thomas’s position in the clan helped Virgil gain the independence he wanted… even if /They/ did not like it.

Thomas hadn’t seen his brother or Virgil’s roommates in a casual setting in ages. He forgot the last time he and Virgil shared a human-like meal together. The meal wouldn’t taste like anything and it wouldn’t fill the two vampires at all, but Thomas remembered how they both enjoyed the practice of it.

After becoming The Blood and Virgil leaving, Thomas started to dread his phone’s existences and his reliance on it. Thomas knew the chances of any calls being Virgil was so low, it was depressing. If a call was ever Virgil related, it was often threats, complaints, or spam, but never Virgil himself…

“Oh, well. It was good to hear his voice again.” Thomas said to himself softly and went to rejoin the crowd when his phone began to ring in his hands.

He jumped in excitement. His mind immediately imagining Virgil calling back. Thomas looked at the screen and saw it was Logan calling. Thomas shrugged, it was close enough.

“Logan! Just the man I wanted to talk to! I moved some things around so I could-“ Heavy breathing echoed from the opposite end of the line, “ wait… Logan? Are you ok?” The hairs on the back of Thomas’s neck rose to the unusual noises.

“Vampires at school. Help.” An airy breathe spoke.

“What do you mean? Are you in a safe place right now? Logan?” Nothing responded. Thomas didn’t waste anytime, he stayed on the phone with Logan and ran to Joan.

“JOAN! Here, Logan isn’t responding, stay on the line with him,” Thomas passed his phone to Joan, “Can I use your phone?” Joan nodded worriedly and pulled their phone out of their back pocket.

“Is he ok, Thomas?” Talyn grabbed Thomas by the forearm to steady themselves.

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Thomas said solemnly. All three humans shared worried looks.

-

*BUZZ*

Virgil’s phone lit up and vibrated against the wood of his night stand alerting Virgil to an incoming call.

“UUGHH! So help me, Thomas.” Virgil threw his blankets off and snatched his phone up, “What?!”

“I need you to be calm. Promise me.” Thomas’s reply shocked Virgil. It deeply contrasted their conversation just minutes ago. A cold shiver spread throughout Virgil’s body.

“What is it? Thomas you better-“ Virgil riled up.

“PROMISE ME, VIRGIL.” Thomas’s voice seeped through the speaker thickly. Virgil was paralyzed by the Thomas’s tone. He scooted to the edge of his bed and took a deep breath out.

“Fine. I promise to be calm.” Virgil waited in agonizing anticipation.

“I need you to go the school. Logan is— Logan said he’s there. I’m on my way, but you’re closer. Can you do that?” Thomas asked. The way Thomas spoke was stern, serious, and authoritative; an omen of bad news. Virgil’s tongue pressed harshly against his fangs.

“Thomas,” Virgil focused on his breathing, “Is Logan ok?”

“I’ll see you there.” Thomas avoided the question and immediately hung up.

Virgil clenched his chest and forced short breaths to refill his lungs. He was panicking. What is wrong with Logan? Is he safe? Shit SHIT SHITSHITSHITHSHITSHIT

Hoodie on, shoes on, keys in hand, front door locked, garage door open, start motorcycle, rev rev rev, helmet on, drive out of garage, close garage, gun it, faster faster faster, logan logan LOGAN

The air whipped Virgil’s legs painfully. It was most likely the only thing that kept Virgil from fainting in pure exhaustion and anxiety. He zipped down the street and took every short cut (legal or not) that he knew of until he was in front of Saint Thomas High School.

He quickly parked next to the main office building and dismounted with an added spring in his step. He carefully dodged students returning to their classrooms as lunch ended. He started to run towards Logan’s classroom.

It felt like a physical hit to his gut. The strong scent of blood immediately overtook Virgil’s senses and a small jog shifted into an all out sprint.

Not far from the cafeteria, in fact, the building across the courtyard had the science rooms on the ground level. Half of all the school students were pouring into the halls to go to their fourth class of the day. The remaining half were starting their turn of lunch and fought against the currents to their meals. No one entered Mr. Conroy’s room. Logan didn’t have a fourth period class to worry about, it was his planing period. It was as Logan called it, Pondering Period, allowing him to catch up on future lectures and grading.

As Virgil approached the room, he realized the lights were off, but a soft glow emitted through the blinds on the small door window. Virgil began to doubt that Logan was there. He was suppose to be at the Hospital to return Patton’s stuff to him… It would make sense that Logan would turn off the lights before he left. The man spoke highly of conserving energy at home.

Virgil slowly gripped the handle and pushed the door open. The scent greeted Virgil in an overwhelming embrace and Virgil nearly stumbled out of the room. Usually the smell of Logan’s blood was calming and inviting, but this amount made Virgil’s fangs ache, as if he were a human about to eat a highly sugary treat.

“Logan?” Virgil rounded the counter in the front of the room, scanning the area for any threats.

“Vir-“ A weak voice started but was interrupted with a coughing fit and silent cursing.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Virgil collapsed to his knees next to Logan, carefully supporting Logan’s head up to open his airways. Virgil’s other hand hovered over Logan’s chest, wanting to comfort but too petrified to make the motion. Virgil looked around as if there were something that could assist him. His eyes landing on Logan’s phone on the ground near him.

“Hello? LOGAN!?” Joan’s voice scratched in the speaker.

“It’s Virge, I found Logan. I’ll call Thomas after Logan is stable.” Virgil rushed his words and hung up. He shoved Logan’s cracked phone into his back pocket before proceeding to help Logan.

Logan loosely grabbed the bottom of Virgil’s hoodie. He rubbed the fabric between his fingers and latched on to the familiar texture. Logan knew it was Virgil. It had to be. His guess was confirmed when he felt someone trying to lick away the bite marks and scratches that littered Logan’s skin. It was odd to feel the roughness of Virgil’s tongue against his arms and wrist. The sensation sent Logan’s nerves in a tingling frenzy. Logan tried to escape the feeling and began to squirm in Virgil’s arms.

“I know, I know. I got you… Just a couple more then I’ll be done. You’re ok, Logan. I got you.” Virgil’s voice shook as he gave a gentle squeeze to Logan. Logan gave a heavy exhale, but relaxed slightly.

Virgil was growing more frustrated by the second. How long was Logan here alone? Who did this?! Logan’s injuries were healing slower than usual, but giving the fact that Logan was dangerously low on blood and partially unconscious, it could have been worse.

Oh god, it could have been worse. Logan could be— Virgil stopped that thought from finishing. Like Thomas said, stay calm.

He tried his best at healing Logan’s wounds and decided to move him out of the puddle of blood that Logan was engulfed in. Carefully, Virgil slipped his arms behind Logan’s head and legs and lifted him bridal style. He put Logan on top of nearest table, switching which hand held Logan’s head up, Virgil wiggled out of his hoodie and made a makeshift pillow.

Logan’s eyes fluttered open and close. He was trying so hard to stay awake, for his sake, but mostly Virgil’s. Virgil needed to know that Logan was ok, that he was conscious. Logan’s plan wasn’t going accordingly when Virgil turned his back to Logan to call Thomas on the phone. Logan reached for Virgil’s shirt, but Virgil took a step further away, leaving him out of Logan’s arms length. Logan let his arm go limp and decided to concentrate on staying alive for the time being.

“I found him. He’s in his classroom room 105, bottom floor of the Science building,” Virgil spoke into his phone then shifted his weight from either foot. As he listened for Thomas’s voice, Virgil brought his hand up to bite at his thumb nail.

“Ok, we’re almost there… How are you doing?” Thomas asked.

“I’m pissed Thomas. Seriously angry.” Virgil threw his arms up, his voice rising.

“Should we get Patton and Roman?”

“NO!” Virgil cleared his throat, “No. Don’t get them involved, yet. Let’s focus on Logan first.”

“Fair enough…” Thomas sighed.

An awkward silence fell over the room.

“I’ve gotta kill those fuckers first.” Virgil fumed, baring his fangs to the chilling temperature of the room.

“They’ll get what they deserve, no doubt,” Thomas shared in Virgil’s anger, “We’re here.”

Both brothers hung up and looked to the door of the classroom from opposite sides. The vampires accompanying Thomas carefully watched the last of the students rush into their respective classrooms. The halls were finally empty. Thomas opened the door cautiously, letting the paramedic clan members through first.

The paramedics immediately fussed over Logan. They checked his pulse and tried to get Logan to respond. Their pleads for Logan to answer their questions made Virgil’s heart ache. Virgil stood near Logan’s head, trying to stay out of the way of the paramedics. He gently brushed Logan’s bangs away from his clammy forehead and watched as Logan’s face scrunched up in pain.

“Well?” Thomas took wide strides towards them. The other clan members filed into the room after The Blood, lifting their noses in the air and searching the room for any signs of danger.

“He needs an immediate blood transfusion.” One paramedic announced. They reached into the rectangular bag slung over their shoulder and pulled out some needles and tubes. In rush, but precise, movements the paramedics retrieved a blood bag and began to search for a vein in Logan’s inner arm.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where did you get blood?” Virgil looked firmly at Thomas. Thomas gave a humoring smirk in return.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s blood type 0, a universal donor,” Thomas watched the paramedics at work, “You’ve gotta be prepared now these days.”

Virgil opted out of asking Thomas any more questions for awhile and redirected his attention to Logan. The paramedics were able to locate a vein and were quick to move before the chance was lost. The needle dug under Logan’s skin quickly. Logan hissed at the pain and attempted to roll away from the discomfort. Virgil firmly placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder to stop his motion.

“It’s ok, Logan. They’re helping.” Virgil rubbed his thumb on Logan from where his hand pressed into Logan.

“Virgil?” Logan’s hoarse voice held a sense of coherency for the first time during this ordeal. Virgil was surprised by Logan’s acknowledgement.

“Logan? Hey! How are you feeling, man?” Virgil gave a smile to Logan.

“I’m tired.” Logan’s head lulled and his eyes fluttered open and close. He was obviously exhausted, but putting up a fight against the temptation of sleep.

“That’s good, Logan. Try to stay awake though, okay?” The paramedic piped in, keeping their voice high and encouraging. The paramedics patted Logan gently on his arm as they prepared the trolley that other clan members brought in.

“I’d rather just sleep it off, really.” Logan half-wittily remarked, but continued his battle of consciousness.

“You’re doing great.” Virgil quickly added as the paramedics lifted Logan up and set him into the trolley. They wasted no time, they strapped Logan in and rushed out of the room with their make-shift first aid setup still intact.

“Joan will be with Logan. We’ll take Logan to headquarters. It’s the only place I can trust at the moment,” Thomas looked to Virgil, “Is that ok with you?”

Virgil took his hoodie from the table and shook the wrinkles out of it. He silently slipped his arms into the sleeves, but paused for a moment.

“You know I don’t like the place,” Virgil leaned down to pick up Logan’s tie, “But I know that place will be the best option for Logan, for now.” Virgil wiped away the dirt from Logan’s tie then placed it loosely around his neck, unknotted, for safe keeping.

Thomas nodded in agreement. The clan headquarters wasn’t a particularly pleasant place for anyone, really. /They/ practically lived there and /They/ always had something to complain about. However, it was the only location to have a full medical staff that wasn’t new to vampire attacks…sadly.

Virgil looked towards Logan’s desk and found his glasses. They were uncharacteristically folded on top of some worksheets. Logan never had a reason for taking off his glasses, excluding when he slept. Virgil slowly picked up Logan’s glasses and turned them over in his hands. A clan member looking over Virgil’s shoulder went to grab them, but instantly backed off after a deep snarl shot out from Virgil. Tucking one of the arms of Logan’s glasses into his shirt, Virgil let them dangle from his shirt collar.

“Sir, is this the victim’s belongings?” A clan member rose from behind the desk with Logan’s bag in hand. Virgil nearly climbed over the counter to retrieve it, if not for Thomas stepping in front of him and taking it from the other vampire.

Victim. The word burned Virgil’s tongue. Is that what Logan is to them? Just a nameless, faceless human that was wrongfully attacked? Thomas noted the suddenly red glow in Virgil’s eyes. They were both at their limit from this stressful situation. Thomas quickly dismissed the clan members from the room, asking for two to wait outside the door.

“I’m really sorry, Virgil. Logan should have been untouchable. Clearly, there are things I need to work on with the clan.” Thomas handed Logan’s bag to Virgil. With saddened eyes, Thomas watched as Virgil hugged the bag to his chest.

“You’re just a fancy big shot, not some god… You do your best.” Virgil slouched over the bag. As he released a deep sigh, Virgil shifted the bag in his arms to hold it properly. Thomas wasn’t expecting Virgil to say something of that nature and stood rooted in his spot in silent shock.

In Thomas’s unintentional silence, Virgil made his way to the door, happy to get away from Logan’s stale blood on the floor. Thomas followed suit, mindlessly nodding his head with a dumb smile on his face, despite the horrible scene he was leaving. They stepped out into the hallway when the two clan members standing guard reminded Thomas of the task at hand.

Thomas cleared his throat, “Don’t let anyone in until the cleaning crew is finished. Their on their way now. If anyone asks, say it was a gas leak. Report to me when everything is cleared.” Thomas instructed the two vampires. They both nodded in confirmation of their orders.

Thomas jogged up to catch with Virgil and walk besides him as they crossed the courtyard. The students at lunch made the solemn atmosphere feel like syrup trying to slide off of paper: Thick and dark, but all too sweet. The scent of food and teenagers were fast to distract Virgil’s sense of smell from Logan’s blood that once flooded the scene. Virgil gave a small smile to the few students that met his eyes.

“Uh… Sir! You dropped something!” A student stumbled up to Virgil and Thomas, holding something out for them. The student bypassed Thomas and immediately offered the item to Virgil. Virgil gently took it from the student’s hands sending a soft thank you. The student rejoined the crowd in the cafeteria.

Virgil crouched to drop Logan’s bag down softly against the bottom of his legs and stared at the small bundle in his hands. With his other hand free, Virgil carefully pulled the bundle apart, recognizing the material as a paper towel wrapped around something decently weighted. As he slowly peeled back another layer of paper towel, a small glint of metal shined through.

“Patton’s watch.” Virgil began to unwrap faster. Pulling back the last corner, beads became visible. Virgil flattened his palm to accommodate the multiple items that were in the paper towel bundle.

Tink
Tap tap tink
Tap taptaptapataptaptpatp

A colorfully swirled bead rolled out of Virgil’s hand. Then another and another. Soon ten different beads were littering the cement in the courtyard.

Some children noticed and began to collect them to return the beads to Virgil. Thomas took what was offered as Virgil went rigid with wide eyes.

Rolling one of the beads in between his fingers, Thomas observed, “A bead from a bracelet.”

“It’s Patton’s,” Virgil finally spoke, “There’s a bead missing.”

Thomas watched Virgil’s fist slowly enclose around the remaining objects. A dangerous red glint flashed in Virgil’s eyes.

“Let’s go. The sun is giving me a headache.” Thomas dropped the loose beads into his jacket pocket and grabbed Logan’s bag before pulling Virgil along to the spot car being gawked at by the high schoolers.

Virgil let himself be guided into the passenger seat. Thomas hopped into the driver seat and dropped Logan’s bag at Virgil’s feet. He shoved the key into the ignition and the engine roared to life… and another sound was soon to accompany it…

A sound that Thomas hadn’t heard in years. His hair was standing at attention and his skin grew cold. Thomas didn’t want it to be true. He didn’t want it to be happening. Thomas looked towards Virgil.

“You have a plan, don’t you, Thomas?” Thomas gulped as Virgil’s voice grew dark, “You always have a plan.”

Conditional Alphas were terrifying if the conditions were

Just

Right.

Chapter Text

“You’ll regret this deeply, old friend.” Roman looked down the barrel of the gun to the hooded man that held it.

“Oh, don’t you worry. I won’t be around long enough to do so.”

“Then what’s the point? Why listen to them?! We could-“

“THERE IS NO ‘WE’!”

Silence flooded the space between them before the hooded man spoke again:

“You left ‘us’, so there can never be a ‘we’. It’s too late. IT’S TOO LATE!”

Roman watched as the hooded man nervously adjusted the gun in his grip and repositioned his finger on the trigger.

“Looks like we both broke our promise.” Roman gave a short smile.

BANG

Baited breath hung in front of the hooded man. Roman’s body collapsed on the ground, quick to follow the echo of the gunshot. Hollow silence greeted the scene.

“CUT!” A voice called from the front seat and suddenly the auditorium filled with life. Stage techs adjusted the props, the lights flashed bright, and the speakers crackled as they were disconnected.

“GREAT JOB EVERYONE!” The director jumped up from their seats, waving a clipboard.

The hooded man, a fellow actor, helped Roman up off the hard stage floor. They gave each other a smack on the back and laugh of success before dividing paths.

“Roman!” Roman turned to his name and was met with a thrilling grin from the director, “You are doing great! I mean, yesterday you kinda scared us with how out of it you were. I’m glad to see you back up and running!”

“Ah, about that...My deepest apologizes for yesterday. My roommates have created troublesome drama in the house… Again!” Roman gave a chuckle, trying to derail the seriousness behind the joke.

“Well, if that ‘drama’ gets too much… Let us know? We don’t wanna lose our MAIN STAR!” The director went for a pat on the shoulder but was immediately engulfed in Roman’s broad frame as he gave them a hug.

“Oh, don’t worry my dear director! Your star will never fail!” Roman released the director and gave a twirl as he entered his dressing room. He playfully swatted the door shut then let his smile fall.

A vibration from his jacket, hung from the back of a chair, caught his attention. He dug through his letterman jacket’s pockets before his phone rested into his hands. The phone lit up after sensing Roman’s movements and displayed it’s messages:

One New Message from: Nerd (Logan)
Three New Voicemails: Padre (Patton)
Twenty New Messages from: Padre (Patton)

Roman scrambled to unlock his phone. He immediately scrolled through Patton’s texts seeing the growing panic and shortening messages starting nearly an hour ago. The newest message pleaded:

PADRE (Patton): please answer

Roman immediately did as he was told, running a hand through his hair nervously as the ringtone screamed into his ear.

“Roman! I-I don’t know what to do. I tried to- but it wasn’t. Virgil. I-“ Patton’s broken sobs came through the speaker. The sound wrenched at Roman’s heart.

“Whoa! Padre, what’s going on?” Roman paced his dressing room.

“I-I tried to get a hold of Logan…” Patton’s voice died down. His breaths coming uneven and wet.

“Yes, he gave you back your bracelets, right?” Roman finished. He could hear Patton’s clothes wrinkle, as Patton tried to nod in response.

“Y-yes. But-but he didn’t come. He said he was coming-…. Oh god.” Patton hiccuped.

“Ok, ok. Maybe he’s late?” Roman tried to rationalize. Patton’s crying only seemed to start up again. Patton ducked back into the break room at the hospital to escape.

“That’s what I thought! So-so I tried to call him… It- It wasn’t him. It’s wasn’t him. I-I don’t know. I don’t.” Patton’s shivers were making audible crackles in the call.

“It wasn’t him? Someone else answered?” Roman’s voice cracked and his heart jumped.

“It-It was someone one else. They said- They said…,” Patton prayed under his breath, “Logan was busy and- and Logan will be working late… but I heard him, Roman. I heard Logan scream. Logan screamed that they were v-vampires.” Patton couldn’t hold his composure and hid in the corner of the break room. His hot tears warmed his reddened checks and left wet spots on his shirt. He choked on his breathes, mixing with the disinfectant that filled the room.

“Vampires?” The words fell out of Roman’s mouth, clinging to his escaping breath.

Roman lowered his phone, keeping the call open, he looked through his remaining message. The single and final message from Logan.

NERD (Logan): The cat bit me.

“Roman? What is it?” Patton’s voice broke Roman out of his realization.

“Logan sent me the emergency message.”

“The emergency message?” Patton tried to think through his stuffy nose and aching eyes.

“We each have one. A single sentence that we would send… if…we’re…”

“In trouble.” It was Patton’s turn to finish the thought, “He sent you his sentence?”

“He did… an hour and half ago.” Roman’s stomach dropped and his heart hammered at him.

He didn’t hear his phone go off. He wasn’t there when Logan needed him the most. Oh no. It was his fault. He needed to get to Logan!

A heavy hand landed on Roman’s shoulder. Roman jumped and yelped in surprise, his phone getting tossed in the air.

A swift blur snatched the phone as it flew across the dressing room.

“Oh please, I totally wanted to hear that.” A silky voice replied.

Roman was met with a very large, broad man and a slimmer man. Both men wore black suits, but the slimmer man wore a round hat and black gloves included with his suit. He still held Roman’s phone up from where he caught in mid air with a fanged smirk. As the man peered up at Roman, the burn marks that corrupted the left half of his face came into view from under the brim of his hat.

“Roman Prince, I’m guessing?” The slim vampire gave a wide grin and handed back Roman’s phone, “We’re here to pick you up, cause I really wanted to babysit a human today.” Both vampires turned to leave, but paused to watch Roman’s response.

Roman raised his phone back up to his ear, “Have you tried to call Virgil, Patton?”

“Yeah… But he’s not answering either. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, Yeah. Don’t worry. I- I’ll have to call you back, Patton.” Patton’s concerned questions slowly faded as Roman’s phone drifted away from his ear. Using only two fingers, the smaller, slim vampire pulled Roman’s phone from his grasp and ended the call.

“Don’t worry, indeed. We have special orders to treat you like royalty, Mr. Prince.” The vampire whispered to Roman as the two vampires herded Roman out of his room.

Chapter Text

The car came to a stop in front of a large corporate building that reached into the clouds above them. The dark, silver metal that plated the building shined in a cold welcome. Virgil growled, but got out of the car as Thomas threw his keys to the valet. Marble walls focused on the large glass doors that had systematically placed white lettering, that read: “Valor Medical”. The name of the ‘top notch’ medical equipment and research company in the country (if not the world). If only the world knew the place was ran by vampires, then that would surely cause a few heart attacks.

Virgil gave a small smirk at the thought then he followed Thomas past the secretary and into a large elevator. Thomas slide a key into the panel and promptly poked the button labelled “LAB 2” and the elevator darted down two floors below the ground before opening the doors to reveal a small underground town.

Hushed whispers followed Virgil everywhere he went. He tried to keep Thomas within a few feet of himself at all times, but it was growing increasingly difficult the further the two traveled in the clan’s headquarters. The crowd parted for the two, but many still paused, letting their eyes fall on Virgil. Virgil couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his back.

“Doing ok?” Thomas finally spoke since they got there. Virgil slouched further into himself, blowing his bangs up and away from his eyes.

“I really hate this place…” Virgil sighed out finally. They approached a large lobby area in the center of the ‘town’, hundreds of vampires bustling along. The moment Thomas stepped into the open lobby everyone looked his way attentively, many smiling and waving. When Virgil joined him from around a corner everyone froze. The stares grew very intense.

“Virge is here?” One loud vampire asked out loud catching and drawing more attention towards Virgil. Virgil pulled at his hood, but Thomas tugged his hand away.

“VIRGE!” Everyone suddenly was crowding around Virgil with thrill and happiness. Many vampires dropping addresses and phone numbers scribbled onto paper into Virgil’s pockets and hood.

“I know the perfect human for you!”
“I’ve got a WHOLE group of humans that are all healthy-“
“Just name what you want!”
“Anything for you, Virge!”

The crowd began to chant Virgil’s nickname loudly, still pushing scrap paper into his hands. Thomas gave a loud laugh before spreading his arms to hold back the crowd.

“OK! OK! Give the man some space!” the vampires did as told and took a step back, “Virge is here on important business. Afterwards, he’ll be returning to his ‘human life’.” The crowd all gave a sigh of disappointment.

“It’s good to see you again, Virge.” One vampire gave Virgil a small squeeze on his shoulder before returning to their day.

“Yeah! We really missed you!”
“Still don’t got those retractable fangs, huh? Oh well, hang in there kid, they’ll come in sometime soon.”
“Bye Bye Virge!”

The crowd finally dissipated and Virgil was left with stuffed pockets and a small smile.

“And you said you hated this place.” Thomas watched the vampires, that gawked over his brother, flee back to their tasks at hand.

“Yeah, well, you know that isn’t the part that I hate.” Virgil shook the pieces of paper out of his pockets and hood, shuffling them all up into a stack, “Shit. I didn’t bring my bag…”

Virgil looked down at Logan’s bag and claimed an outside zipped pocket to put the papers in. Usually he plans out his visits. He didn’t know why he thought the other vampires would act any different than usual. They didn’t know about Logan or the Strays. All that the clan members saw was Virge: The adored, young alpha, well known for protecting the clan against strays when he was younger. It was always Thomas and Virge. They always were side by side, protecting the clan, hunting, attacking strays, negotiating with other clans, reporting to /Them/, they were /THE ALPHAS/. Everyone loved them, the clan, even /they/ did at one point… everyone but Virgil.

The smell was too much, it stuck to his skin no matter how many showers he took. It made his fangs ache and made his eyes sting. The smell of all the vampires he attacked, the smell of death. They may have been Strays or intruding Clan members, but it was too much. Virgil much preferred the sweet smell of human. The innocent, clean, scent that the humans gave off and Virgil wished he could smell just. Like. That.

“Logan’s in the private medical bay.” Thomas steered Virgil away from his nostalgic daydreaming and across the lobby to a different narrow hallway.

At the end of the hallway was another elevator with two golden doors and guards. A small plaque on a stand read: RESTRICTED AREA.

The two guards grumpily acknowledged Thomas, nodded their heads at him then scanned over Virgil. One guard nearly lost his composure as Virgil approached them.

“Virge. It’s been a while.” The guard to Virgil’s left said as they waited for the elevator to open.

Virgil gave a half shrug, “It sure has. Wish it was on better terms, guys.” The elevator dinged and the golden doors slide open.

“We heard.” The guard on the right sternly said, but Virgil could hear the sense of sorrow. Virgil gave his signature two finger salute and stepped onto the elevator with Thomas.

The moment the doors slide close, Thomas finally left out a sigh.

“Gosh, I miss this.” Thomas sung as the he watched the floor levels rise up. He gave a glance at Virgil from the corner of his eye with a small smile, “You and me against the world, remember?” Virgil ignored Thomas, nervously tugging his sleeves.

Virgil has always hated /the/ elevator. No scents stuck to the mirrored walls and the air barely moved around. There was no music and the elevator itself, despite it’s long trip upwards, made little to no sound. However, none of those was the real reason Virgil hated this elevator. The one and only reason that really mattered to Virgil was the fact that this very elevator lead to /them/. /They/ were dangerous and the scent that /they/ had…. Virgil covered his nose trying to block the nostalgic smell. Long story short, Virgil didn’t like /them/ and Virgil would very much prefer that he never see /them/ again.

*ding*

Sadly, today wasn’t that day.

The doors silently slid open and a large penthouse invited the two in. Thomas immediately stepped off and Virgil was soon to follow. The moment the doors slid shut behind Virgil a loud voice greeted them from another room.

“Oh! You’re here!” /They/ appeared around the corner with a happy smile. “I was just cleaning up, but whatever, Logan is in room 2.”

/They/ weren’t an alpha. /They/ were much worse. /They/ had control over the entire company and the clan, even more than The Blood. There, picking their teeth, was The Original. The only reason The Blood exists. Any vampire that survived more than 200 hundreds years is considered an Original. The Originals were more like the fairy tale vampires. Burnt in sun, had large fangs, mind-control, ruby-eyed, drink until your dead, type of vampire. They also held a VERY potent scent to other vampires, making lower ranked vampires sink into submission all too easily. Drinking The Originals blood is what makes The Blood possible.

Going against an Original is a death wish. It didn’t stop Virgil from thinking about it every now and then. /They/ caused way too many deaths for Virgil’s liking. Of course, Virgil also had killed in his past, but /They/ had to have some sort of record, probably buried under all the human bodies that laid leaking in their room.

“Thank you.” Thomas gave a small bow and steered down the opposite side of the penthouse. Virgil turned to do the same when he caught the powerful scent of blood. He immediately froze, turning his head towards its’ origin. He found /Them/ leaning against the wall behind him with keen eyes and a small smirk.

“Hungry Virgil? It’s been awhile since we last went hunting or anything, really.” /They/ pushed off the wall with their shoulder to stand at full height, “You know, I remember a time that you were the best vampire out there, well, you still are to me at least.” /They/ reached to Virgil’s face and attempted to caress Virgil’s face. Virgil bared his teeth, trying to stand his ground against the taller vampire. /They/ hovered their hand above Virgil’s cheek and started to smile.

A new scent hit Virgil. The same scent that reminded him of his place, of how weak he is against /them/, even more potent then The Blood’s scent of command. Virgil’s knees were beginning to shake, but his square stance didn’t break. /They/ smiled wider, leaning their body closer.

“You were always the last one to remain standing when I did this. Remember? How the others would be on the ground shivering? Choking? How we could look down at them like the weak children they all are. You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Virgil. You would be an amazing ‘Blood’. Even better than your weak- I mean- Thomas .” A deep growl pushed through Virgil’s fangs. It was meant to intimidate /them/ but their smile only seem to shift to pure happiness.

/They/ let their hand drop to their side and shined their fangs back at Virgil. “Ah. The last time I heard that was late at night, in the midst of a fight, right before you devoured an entire-“

“We would like to thank you for your help, Rem. I’m sure Virgil is concerned about seeing Logan, so if you’d let us, we would be grateful.” Thomas interjected, suddenly appearing to step slightly between the two. /They/ took a step back, chuckling under his breath.

“So straightforward, Thomas,” /They/ playfully booped Thomas on the nose, before turning away, “I’m sure you’ll find Logan well taken care of!”

Virgil rolled his eyes at /their/ cheery voice, but with a stern shove away by Thomas, Virgil began to walk away as well.

——

Logan laid awake, looking up at the white ceiling. He could finally breath evenly and was thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the soft layers of blankets that covered him. A small metal tower held up Logan’s blood transfusion, almost empty at this point. A heart monitor rhythmically beeped next to the bed, it was the very beeping that gently nudged Logan awake almost half an hour ago.

Honestly, Logan had no idea where he was. A nurse, or at least someone he assumed to be a nurse, came in five minutes earlier to check his vitals, scribble on a clipboard then promptly leave. As far as Logan could tell, he was safe and that’s all the energy he had to care.

A small knock startled Logan. Behind the door a muffled conversation began:

“You don’t have to knock, just go in!”

“I don’t want to walk in without permission!”

“UGH. This is clan territory we can go in without permission!”

“It’s still polite to knock.”

“Screw you.”

The door swung open to reveal a slightly pissed Virgil and a worried Thomas behind him.

“Virgil! Where are you’re manners?!” Thomas jokingly scowled Virgil’s actions.

Virgil rolled his eyes and continued to walk towards Logan. Realizing Logan was awake, Virgil gave an awkward pat on Logan’s shoulder.

“How you doing, teach?” Virgil nearly whispered. Before he could pull his hand away, Logan had grabbed his hand and gave a soft squeeze.

Logan closed his eyes and gave a deep sigh. It was nice to be around familiar faces and Virgil’s chilled hands felt amazing. He nodded his head and reopened his eyes.

“I’m alive.” Logan smiled.

Thomas’s loud laugh echoed in the room and Virgil gave a small huff in humor as well.

“Yeah. You are.” Virgil replied, a small smile starting to show.

“Those bastards. They came in when I was about to leave. There was four of them and-“ Logan began to explain the events, but Virgil stopped him, squeezing his shoulder in silence.

“You don’t have to explain anything right now, Logan. You still need to recover.” Thomas waved his hand around as if to get the topic out of the room.

“The sooner the better. Details are lost in mere minutes after an event, who knows how many details I’ve still retained!” Logan shook his head and made the movement to get up. Virgil’s grip increased on Logan’s shoulder, but the human resisted. He was adamant about sitting up.

“Logan.” Virgil warned.

Logan paused and Virgil relaxed.

The silence between them was torn when Logan yelped as he was suddenly shoved into his pillows. A large bruise that was pre-existing on Logan’s shoulder was now very angry and screamed in pain from the sudden movement and force applied.

Virgil didn’t mean to put so much strength behind his motion. He could feel Logan tense again after his initial pause and had pushed him back down, but apparently overestimated the power and gave Logan quite the shove. Logan’s shout of pain scared Virgil and the vampire immediately dropped Logan’s bag and shot his hands into the air.

“I’m sorry! Logan? Are you ok?” Virgil kept his hands up in surrender. He watched Logan curl into his side, trying to cradle his sore shoulder as a hiss of pain escaped him.

“I’m fine.” Logan finally collected himself enough to speak, rubbing his shoulder in sour defeat, “That was certainly uncharacteristic of you.”

“Sorry. I’m on edge… /They/ are here.” Virgil rubbed the back of neck with one hand. His other hand slipping into his pocket to play with the tissue that still had Thomas’s blood on it. It was odd to him how Thomas’s scent was so calming, but /Their/ scent was so overpowering and overstimulating. The Blood abilities came from The Original, so why was it so different?

“/They/? I remember you saying something similar at home…” Logan readjusted in his bed. He didn’t dare sit up and instead, fluffed his pillow so he could lie down comfortably.

“He’s ‘The Boss’.” Thomas made air quotes with his fingers, pulling off a rather displeased look in his eyes.

“My apologizes, but I thought /you/ were ‘the boss’, Thomas.” Logan gave a confused look.

“Yeeaaahh, more like co-boss? I’m up there in the ranks, but not exactly the top. /They/ are the ultimate boss. Everything goes through them.” Thomas smiled, but it was empty of emotion. Logan nodded his head.

“Where, in the hierarchy, do you stand, Virgil?” Logan looked to Virgil. Virgil shrunk under his gaze.

Virgil cleared his throat, “Well technically, I… I’m a Hunter, but also the heir to The Blood. So, I’m just behind Thomas.” Virgil finally answered.

“Fascinating…” Logan whispered in awe. “What does a Hunter do within the clan?”

Virgil tensed. He had wished to avoid the topic. The decades he spent as a Hunter rarely held pride or joy in Virgil’s memories.

“Well-“

A loud bang filled the air. Virgil was immediately at the door listening attentively to the other side.

“LET ME GO, YOU HEATHEN!” A loud, full voice followed after a few more bangs and scuffles.

“Was that Roman?” Logan recognized the voice and looked to the other two in the room. Virgil and Thomas shared a glance before Virgil sprinted out the door.

Upon entering the living space of the penthouse, Virgil scanned the room for Roman. Roman was faced away, hung over the shoulders of the new arrival. In the vampire’s other hand, laid an unconscious larger vampire, being dragged out of the elevator.

“Dee…” Virgil acknowledged the new comer hesitantly The slim vampire, Dee, locked eyes with Virgil.

“I-SAID-LET-GO!” Roman interrupted their staring competition and was struggling against Dee’s grip around his waist. Dee gave a short smile to Virgil and released Roman, letting the actor fall onto the ground with a large THUD.

“OW!” Roman exclaimed and immediately got up with a finger pointed at Dee, “How DARE you! I am not a SACK OF POTATOES! I DON’T CARE HOW NICE YOU ARE, YOU ARE SSSOOO ON MY DONE-SO LIST NOW!!” Roman’s strong voiced echoed in the nearly empty room, making both vampires wince.

Roman spun around dramatically with his arms crossed and thoroughly annoyed. He looked to the white tile floor, until he noticed a pair of purple boots nervously frozen a few feet away from him. Roman’s pout became pure joy and met eyes with Virgil.

“VIRGIL!” Roman clashed with Virgil, nearly topping both of them over. Virgil encased Roman in his arms and watched Dee from over Roman’s shoulder.

“Where’s your bowler hat, Dee?” Virgil noticed the unkept hair sticking out from Dee’s head. In fact, the more he looked at him, Dee was completely disheveled, “Scratch that, what happened to /you/?” Virgil released Roman, pushing Roman behind him and scanned Dee closer.

“Well, if you MUST know, your little pet there was a complete angel. It was this new…uh… former clan member that went for him…” Dee looked at the bigger vampire that accompanied him. The unconscious vampire in his hand looked far worse off than Dee, but it still surprised Virgil to see how disorganized Dee appeared.

He could be a real bitch sometimes, but Virgil respected Dee. He was a tough vampire despite his lack of experience and slim build and Dee did everything he could to stay above everyone’s expectations. Virgil had been partnered with Dee numerous times and although it wasn’t obvious, both vampires had a some form of understanding between each other.

“He,” Virgil pointed at the large, unconscious vampire, “went after Roman?” Virgil gestured behind him to Roman.

“The hunk literally leapt at me while I was getting out of the car! Look! Look what he did!” Roman dropped his jacket from his shoulders and rolled up his sleeve. A large bruise blossomed on his tan skin around his biceps. Virgil gently rubbed his thumb over the injury. Internal damage isn’t something he could heal easily.

“He barely touched you, you just bruise easily.” Dee shot a sarcastic remark to Roman, “I didn’t mean for /both/ of your humans getting hurt.” Dee sent his last remark to Virgil. Harming another vampires’ humans, an alpha’s humans at that, would warrant immediate death within the clan.

“Why is Roman here, anyways?” Virgil turned to Dee. Dee shrugged.

“I was told that it was an order from the higher ups. I assumed it was Thomas.” Dee gave a hopeful, but weak smile.

“I didn’t ask for Roman to be brought here.” Thomas crept out from the hallway. He took his position at Virgil’s side.

“I did.” /They/ popped up from their position on the couch between the group of vampires. /They/ looked as though they were napping before re-entering into the conversation, “You’re hungry Virgil, so I asked your little friend to bring one of your humans here for you.”

Virgil glared at /Them/, shifting to face them while keeping Roman behind him.

“I appreciate the offer, but if I were hungry, I would have called Roman on my own.” Virgil angrily.

/They/ raised an eyebrow and slid off the couch to stand. Virgil held back the urge to lunge at them.

“Come on, Virgil. We all know how stubborn you are and I’m sure Roman came of his own free-will.” /They/ gestured to Roman while walking to the unconscious vampire Dee brought, forgotten on the ground.

Virgil snapped a glare at Roman to confirm what /They/ said. Roman gave a nervous smile.

“Seriously?! A bunch of vampires come up to you and you just follow them?!” Virgil hissed between his bared fangs.

“Well I don’t know what you expect me, a human, to do against TWO VAMPIRES!” Roman shot back in response. Virgil stopped for a moment and suddenly realized his mistake. Roman may be loud and dramatic, but the man never failed in good judgement of situations. Virgil’s stare softened and he nodded his head.

“What about Patton?” Virgil didn’t ask anyone in particular.

“Still at work. Although, last I heard, he’s a bit distressed. You should do something nice for him,” /They/ answered, “Stress is never good for a human, especially one you drink from.”

“I don’t drink from Patton.”

“Hmm I thought you did, though.” /They/ smirked.

/They/ kneeled down next to the vampire on the ground and checked their pulse. After a couple seconds went by, /They/ stood, pulling their hand through their hair with a smile.

Virgil didn’t respond. Roman grabbed the bottom of Virgil’s sweatshirt as if to hold him back.

/They/ shook their head at Virgil and looked down at the vampire at their feet. The vampire that was unconscious began to rise, slowly and slightly disoriented, but silently. After standing fully, the vampire stood still. Dee jumped back and subconsciously snarled at the potential threat.

“I’m impressed. I didn’t expect you to be able to take down such a big vampire. You’re so young as a vampire. You were turned, what 10 years ago?” /They/ started up a new topic, pointing his finger at Dee from around the large and deadly silent vampire.

“15 years.” Virgil corrected, watching /them/ carefully.

“Oh~ of course. You would know, huh Virgil? After all, you’re the one that turned him, right? You should have done it sooner, your little vampire is amazing. Maybe you should make me a new one to keep me company now that you’re gone. One isn’t enough, impressive, but not enough.” /They/ looked to Virgil, almost excitedly as if Virgil would obediently do as /They/ wished that very instance.

No one moved.

/They/ slouched in disappointment.

“Gosh, you were way more fun to talk to you before you left.” /They/ snapped their fingers. The large vampire began to move, slowly walking to the back of the penthouse, where /they/ had been in when Virgil and Thomas first arrived.

Roman squeaked when the vampire halted in it’s rhythmic movement to look down at him with unfocused eyes. The vampire didn’t seem aware of its own movement. To Roman it looked as though it was sleep walking. After a few seconds, it turned and continued to drag itself into back room.

“Oh well, the blood transfusion is done, so take your humans and leave me again,” waving away the small group then trailing a finger under Dee’s chin, “at least leave me with /some/ entertainment. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this one in the daylight…” Dee couldn’t help the small whimper that escaped him.

The scent flooded the room once more. The commanding scent of an Original. Dee’s legs gave out almost immediately, left painting on his knees. Thomas was next, landing heavily in a kneeling position, bowing his head in submission.

“What’s going on? Thomas?!” Roman knelt next to Thomas, rubbing his back in comfort. “ Virgil?”

Virgil took a step closer to /Them/, his teeth bared and his eyes a dark maroon red.

“Rem, stop.” Virgil’s dark tone scratched against the marble and for a moment it looked as though /they/ winced at the sound.

/They/ turned to Virgil with an apologetic smile, “Only for you.” And the scent ceased, letting the other vampires choke on the cleansed air.

“Thomas, can you go get Logan, please?” Virgil remained in his spot a couple feet from /them/ talking over his shoulder lowly. Thomas nodded, lifting himself off the floor and went to retrieve Logan.

“Virgil, if I’ve upset you- “ /They/ tried to say something, but Virgil rose a hand. The room went cold and the air suddenly became heavy.

“Dee, you’re coming with us.” Virgil commanded. Virgil caught a glimpse of relief on Dee’s face.

“Ok. We’re ready to go.” Thomas announced, barely above a whisper. Logan grumbled in Thomas’s arms, something about being able to walk on his own. However, the human’s complaints were heard by no one. Virgil nodded and lead the group to the elevator that slid open almost immediately after Dee punched the call button. Everyone filed in, passing by the pouting Original.

Logan finally could feel the tense atmosphere and decided the Thomas’s arms wasn’t the worst place to be. As Thomas walked past /Them/, Logan unintentionally caught their eye. For a moment a flash of recognization spread across Logan’s face, but a stabbing pain in the back of Logan’s head sent him into immediate silence. Now wasn’t the time to start up a conversation as everyone was being herded onto the elevator by Virgil.

“Take care. Come visit soon.” /They/ gave a pathetic wave with a convincing sad tone as the gold doors to the elevators slid shut.

Silence engulfed the odd group.

“What the HELL IS GOING ON!?” Roman finally threw his hands up, letting his façade drop. He couldn’t keep nodding and ‘going with the flow’ anymore.

No one seemed to respond, expect Dee. Dee cleared his throat and looked towards Virgil for a moment before answering Roman:

“I don’t know, but at this point… I’m a little scared to find out.”

Chapter Text

The moment the clock struck 4pm, Patton was clocked out of work and dashed through the doors of the hospital. The ‘radio silence’ was slowly killing Patton. He tried to convince himself that ‘no news was good news’ but the way Roman ended the call reminded Patton of his last call with Logan, a little too much.

His fingers raged war in Patton’s pocket as he shifted through his possessions to find his car keys. The dimming light of the winter sunset was not helping his search or emotions. His eyes were heavy and his chest was tight. Oh goodness, was he having a heart attack? He fumbled his keys into the lock and practically fell into the driver seat. The moment the door slammed shut, Patton’s head pressed against the headrest and he released a deep sigh.

He can’t keep doing this. It’s only been three days since all of this mayhem, but his heart ached as if it’s been years. Years without watching TV with Virgil late at night, giving a hug as Patton went to work and Virgil retreated to his room for sleeping. It’s been forever since a late night dinner with everyone. It’s been forever since Virgil was comfortable, Logan at ease, and Roman relaxed. It’s been forever since Patton has felt this…. Alone.

Patton stared at the beige ceiling of his car. His vision going dark. His eyes sprung open after darkness threatened to blind him.

Patton stared at the white ceiling…. Of…. His room?

Patton blinked a couple times, suddenly aware of the odd change in scenery.

“What?” Patton looked around slowly, his room welcomed his vision. He was swaying in place at the end of his bed, neck sore, a foreign jacket over his shoulders, his glasses in one hand and a piece of paper clenched in the other.

A soft knock rapped at his door.

“Patton? I’m sorry if you’re angry,” Virgil’s soft, cautious voice spoke, muffled behind the door, “I can explain everything. I don’t expect you to forgive me and I understand that there’s a million different things I could have done to prevent this from happening… But… Before all that, please just let me explain!”

“This is ridiculous… Patton, please. We’re all trying our best!” Roman’s voice interrupted and his hands pounded at the wood.

What the heck was going on?! Patton shook his head, confused, dazed, and admittedly scared. He ran to his door and swung it open to invite his friends in.

“Patton? Are you-“ Roman seemed surprised to see him standing uncertainly in the door frame. Patton was sure tears were visible in his eyes and his body shivering. He scanned the people in the hallway, not recognizing one of them, but all the happier to see the others he did know.

Roman stood the closest to the door, Virgil slightly behind him with his hand creeping to his face; most likely to block any unexpected scents. A stranger stood at the end of the hall, watching with worried eyes, but peaked curiosity.

“How did I get here?” Patton finally spoke. His voice shook, much like his hands as they clenched the door frame until they grew white.

“You..” Roman was unsure how to answer and looked to Virgil. Virgil attempted to remind Patton:

“You just came home from work. You looked upset and came to your room… You don’t remember?” Patton looked to the ground, but shook his head, “You didn’t say anything, but when you saw Logan in the living room, you didn’t look very happy. You went to your room and slammed the door… You don’t remember… anything?” Virgil tried to remind him again. Virgil now looked and sounded panicked. The stranger took a step closer.

“I… I was in my car… Then I… I was tired..” Patton tried to retrace his steps, but large gaping holes in his memory bore into him. He leaned against the wall and pressed the back of his hand to his forehead.

“Virgil.” The stranger whispered down the hall. They made a small gesture to Patton’s hand that still clenched to the paper.

“Can I see this, Patton?” Virgil softly touched Patton’s hand that laid against his head. Patton didn’t respond, but let Virgil slowly pry away his fingers from the paper. Virgil gently pulled the paper out and waved it behind him. The stranger approached them and took the paper, unwrapping it from itself. Virgil kept his eyes trained on Patton.

“You use to tell me everything. I didn’t know he was anemic. Love, Rem.” The stranger read from the paper, furrowing his eyebrows at the message. Virgil appeared extremely irritated about the message.

“Patton… What happened?” Virgil begged.

/Let’s keep this our little secret/

Patton winced and began to retreat back into his room. Virgil gently brushed Patton’s wrist and gained Patton’s attention again.

“Come on, Patton. What happened?” Virgil whispered. Another wince, a white pain flashed in Patton’s eyes.

/Virgil really cares about you. If he asks, you can tell him./

“I-I was.” Patton started.

/You are ok. Just stressed, right? It’s just stress/

“I was just- stressed. Sorry I must have spaced out. I’m going take a nap. I’m pretty tired.” Patton gave a small smile and slowly nodded as though he was convincing himself of what he said. Virgil followed suit, letting his hand fall.

The stranger seemed uneasy about something. Roman took a step back, but seemed satisfied with Patton’s words. So, Patton was allowed to slip back into his room. Virgil slowly closed the door after watching Patton rub his head and look confusingly at his glasses in his loose grip of the other hand.

Virgil turned, escorting the other two back down into the living room.

——

“Can I see that, Dee?” Virgil reached out his hand to receive the message Patton held. All three strode down the steps to the living room where Logan sat on the couch.

“Where’s Thomas?” Roman noticed.

“He received a rather alarming call, apparently. It required his immediate attention. He apologized for the lack of farewells.” Logan answered, slowly getting up of the couch to collect his glass of water off the dining table.

“He left you alone?!” Roman grabbed Logan by the forearm.

“Roman… I’m fine. The ‘incident’ was over two hours ago and I’ve been resting for more than half that time. I am more or less ‘gucci’.” Logan brushed Roman off, but let a small smile dance on his face.

Roman was not impressed. Logan ignored him and took a long drink of water.

“I don’t mean to concern you, but,” Dee started to say, “Patton’s jacket. It didn’t smell like him at all. It smelled more like… /them/.”

Virgil tensed up, pretending to read the message for the fifth time. Finally Virgil roared in frustration, crumpled up the paper and heaved it across the room. The paper hit the living room window with a comically small thunk. Everyone watched Virgil closely. His breathing deep and seething, Virgil ran a hand through his hair, lifting his bangs up for a millisecond. Virgil’s eyes were bright red, the brightest anyone in the room had witnessed before. His fangs looking sharper with each snarl.

“Virgil.” Dee softly said, but refused to move.

“GOD DAM IT!” Virgil screamed throwing a fist at the closest wall.

THUD

“Virgil. You’re scaring them.” Dee’s voice choked on itself. Within the split second of Virgil’s outrage, Dee had prevented Virgil’s fist from going through the wall with his palm. The pain shot up his shoulder and tickled at Dee’s neck. Dee knew, as a fact, he barely had a fraction of Virgil’s strength, but his judgement told him that if Virgil physically damaged something, it would only mentally damage the humans around them. Seeing a hole in the wall would only remind them of the stress and instability that found it’s way into their home.

Dee would never say it out loud, but he admire Virgil’s thoughtfulness towards others. Virgil’s worry and vigilance was what convinced him to turn Dee, ultimately saving Dee’s life. Dee would be dammed to let Virgil’s reputation be tarnished by a torn up wall, so a broken hand was well worth it.

Virgil took a few more ragged breaths, before lifting his head and dropping his arm.

“ m sorry.” Virgil fixed the sleeves of his jacket and bowed his head towards Dee. Dee gave a short smile and slowly lowered his arm. Dee caught Virgil’s eyes watching his movement.

“I’m fine.” Dee dismissed. Virgil squinted at Dee, before turning back to the humans settling down quietly on the couch.

“Rem used his abilities on Patton.” Virgil blankly reported.

“Lose of memory, manipulation of actions, usually described after a feeling of tiredness… sounds like Rem.” Dee counted the side effects on his opposite hand. Virgil huffed angrily then chewed on his thumb nail as he paced.

“Patton was at work until, like, 10 minutes ago, how did Rem get to him?!” Roman stood up from the couch. Logan cleared out his throat.

“Do tell me if this is a poor time to ask, but who is Rem and what exactly has he done to Patton?” Logan coughed out, shaking off his nerves.

Virgil paused amidst his pacing to look at his friends.

“Rem is the Original we were talked to you about,” Logan nodded, remembering the conversation they had, “He has the powerful ability of controlling your thoughts and actions as long as you are unconscious and he’s physically touched you at least once.” Virgil strained out the information. Logan sat further back in the couch, trying to process the information.

“We call it ‘Sleep Walker’.” Dee added.

——

Patton didn’t know what drove him to check the mirror before getting into bed. At this very instance, he really wished he hadn’t looked at the mirror at all. He should have ignored his intuition just this once and gone to bed. Maybe he was hallucinating. He slipped his glasses onto his nose and looked closer. It was still there. He let the jacket drop to the ground, panicking as he took a step closer to the mirror.

“No no no.” He’s voice barely coming out. He pulled his shirt further down from the collar. Bite marks. So many bite marks. He glanced at the clock. Large, green, digital digits read back 4:45 pm. He remembers running out the door of the hospital at four, on the dot. He got into his car and feeling a small poke…..

—4 pm—

“ I usually would wait a little bit longer before doing this, but some asshole Strays are giving me- oh right. You’re the one that doesn’t like swearing… my bad.” A slurp of a drink sounded in the back seat. Patton was happily dreaming by now. Rem could feel the nostalgic vibes practically oozing out the guy’s mind. He leaned forward, putting his head next to Patton as he dug through the ice in his drink with the straw.

“You know,” Rem casually struck up a conversation, “You missed out on a real boring party at my place today. I mean, good for you, but I feel like if you were there, it would have been a whole new story.” Rem chewed on his straw as a pair of vampires emerged from a nearby path. Rem looked over the brim of his sunglasses and gave a smirk.

“Whatta say, Pat? 30 minutes of play time with an old vampire?” Patton lolled his head to the side to look at Rem, “I knew you would like the sound of that. Don’t worry I’ll get you home to Virgil before dinner. Before all that…. Mind stepping out of the car, Patton?” Rem scooted to the side, opening the door to the back. Shortly afterwards, Patton sleepily followed the movement, getting out of the driver seat of his car.

“We just wanted to see what we were originally promised… you know us. We’re curious.” Leader Dude, as Rem cared to call him, with his clashing lip piercing, stepped forward from the growing bundle of Stray vampires.

“No, don’t go fluffing-up what you really are now. You,” Rem waved his drink at the crowd, “are just a bunch of dicks.”

—4:10–

And the clock ticked on.

Chapter Text

—4:10–

“You’re the one that invited us.” Leader Dude sassed Rem, making Rem raise an eyebrow at his attitude.

“I brought you into this territory, I can take you out of it, sweetheart.” Rem tossed his drink over the car into a garbage can. “Now, quit being curious and go on your way.” Rem shooed off the strays, but none moved.

“We were promised-“

“Safety and a small portion of the territory. But, sweetie, that was only if you followed orders.” Rem pushed up his sunglasses, “And you aren’t doing that.”

Leader Dude wasn’t happy about that response. He glanced up the parking lot at the entrance to the hospital.

“Perhaps we could talk in private?” The leader looked back at Rem, trying his hand at appearing negotiable. Rem’s laugh answered.

“I don’t think so.” He patted Patton on the shoulder and pointed towards a dark car two spaces down. “Hop in, Eye-Candy.”

Patton shuffled over to the car and opened the passenger door. Before Patton could get in, a stray slammed the door shut, ripping Patton’s grip from the handle. Patton tried to open the door again, but the Stray kept his hand on the edge, preventing Patton from doing anything. Patton looked up at the Stray, eyes unseeing and blank. Taking a step to the side, Patton opened the back door and slid in happily. The stray, surprised, looked back at their leader.

“Come on now. The last guy was amazing. I can’t imagine how this one would taste.” Leader Dude looked hungrily at the car, trying to find Patton’s silhouette through the tinted windows.

“I rather not find out.” Rem answered. The locks on the car clicked shut.

—4:15–

The strays were beginning to circle the car and Rem.

“What about our agreement? You’ve got big important plans, right?” The Leader Dude — Rem was getting tired of his own nickname for the guy— stepped off the curb and came face-to-face with Rem.

“An agreement is when both sides agree.” Rem rose his hand, the Strays snapped at him, “CALM THE FUCK DOWN. Unlike you animals, I can hold a conversation.” Rem took his sunglasses of with his risen hand and tucked them into the collar of his shirt. Mumbling under his breath about how uncivilized the strays were acting.

“I think we should agree to disagree.” The leader glowered down on Rem. Rem gave him a humorous smile.

“It’ll be your asses on the line.” Rem retorted back.

—4:17–

Talking was getting boring, hollow thoughts, empty threats. Rem internally yawned… oops, externally then… The leader noticed the loss of interest in Rem’s body language. In irritation, the leader gripped the front of Rem’s shirt and lifted. Rem didn’t move, until he heard the scrunch of his sunglasses snapping in the leader’s grip.

Rem looked down at the scrunched front of his shirt still in the other vampires grip. The cracked lenses of his sunglasses reflected back the increasing anger in Rem’s eyes against the darkening sky.

“Oh, we are so over.” With that Rem returned the favor.

Rem placed his palm on the leader’s chest and pushed. The leader went sprawling away. His small group attempting to catch him. Three came at Rem. Two went immediately to the car.

“DRIVE.” Rem’s voice carried through the parking lot and suddenly the car sprung to life, peeling out of the parking lot. The driver of the car controlled by Rem’s command. The leader growled in frustration and took off after the car. Rem shoved the others off and followed.

From their belts, multiple strays standing off in the parking lot revealed pistols. Shots ricocheted around Rem. A pop soon followed. Without it’s front wheel inflated, the car dangerous swerved before jumping off the road onto the brush-covered shoulder. The car screeched to a stop and the vampires quickly arrived next to it.

The bastard of a ‘leader’ smiled at his reflection in the tinted windows of the car. Before he could touch the car, Rem tackled him at full speed into the the shrubbery a few feet away from the car. They flew, landing harshly and struggled, clawing and biting at each other. The leader launched Rem off of him with his legs and the two gained some distances from each other. As the leader recuperated, the other strays attacked Rem.

Nails down his back and teeth at his neck, Rem screamed at the cold pain that met his wounds. Rem threw one off his back. Reaching behind himself and swinging the vampire above his head and into a small group that was coming. Those that tried to hold down his arms found themselves head butting. And the one fool who was successful in biting and tasting Rem’s blood was immediately met the scorching pain of Original’s Blood. As the vampire withered on the ground, Rem took no time to stomp his life out with a clean kick to the head.

Everyone paused. Harsh breathes echoed throughout the battling group. Some lost the light in their eyes as they watched the injuries on Rem seemingly vanish after mere seconds. Rem rolled his shoulders, trying to play off the discomfort with a sly smile.

—4:21–

The Original was clearly outnumbered, surrounded by the pack of Strays hungrily staring him down, yet what proof they did have of injuring him was gone. His shirt was in shreds and his hair was an undignified mess, but that didn’t wipe the knowing grin off Rem’s face.

Just to mock them, Rem jokingly beckoned them forward with his hand.

One yelled and jumped in front, colliding with Rem’s side. Two more grabbed at Rem’s arms and legs. A kick, a swing of the hand, a throw down onto the ground and all three went scrambling back. Finally, the Leader took a swing at Rem. A death grip on Rem’s shoulder and a hand free to swing with, the two wrestled on the ground. Suddenly pure pain. Six vampires were on top of Rem, holding down whatever they could get a hold of. Nails embedding into his skin and teeth hesitatingly taking bites out of him. A scream ripped through Rem’s throat, startling a few.

Then glass broke and….

“PATTON!” Rem froze for a millisecond, recognizing the sounds and scents of Patton being dragged out of the car from the broken window. Panic flooded Rem’s eyes and his body responded with movements far more desperate than before.

Finally able to free himself from the growing pile up of Strays, Rem crawled his way up to the car. Strays pulled at his legs and climbed on his back attempting to stop him.

“Shit.” Rem took a deep breath and twisted towards the group. The stray closest to him was snatched into Rem’s arm, the vampire’s air flow constricted. The other Strays backed off, watching cautiously. After a few seconds with no interruptions from the others, the vampire tumbled to the ground unconscious.

“Get up, fight.” Rem pointedly commanded and the Stray lifted back up to complete his demands. The others avoided fighting their fellow vampire and tried their best to work around them, still managing to grab hold of Rem. He threw them off, despairingly attempting to make distance towards Patton. His huffs in pain were morphing into whines of worry.

“FUCK IT!” Rem yelled in defeat and pointed at the dead vampire laying a few feet away, “ETERNAL SLUMBER, RISE!”

Everyone watched the corpse. At first nothing. Rem winced, feeling the deadly injury as his own. The body twitched. The pain blossomed throughout Rem’s head, causing him to sway slightly before the body finally began to rise. The moment it was upright, it flew towards the closest stray and ripped apart anything within reach. Using the shocked stillness of the group, Rem made it to the car.

Patton was still, eerily still. Tossed on to the ground and unable to respond. Patton was crowded by the Strays. Multiple vampires pushing and shoving to get at any part of his skin. Rem frantically threw them off of Patton throwing them away back into the brush. Grabbing Patton by his shirt, Rem lifted Patton up and threw him over his shoulder. The scent of Patton’s blood sweeping through the air.

“The fu- YOU’RE ANEMIC?!” The lack of iron in Patton’s blood was evident in the scent. Rem cursed at himself, but slightly relieved for a different reason. “Patton, status?” Rem panted, slowly pressing his back against the car. The vampires slowly crawling back out into the opening.

“Pain. Blood loss.” Patton barely whispered, “Virgil…help.”

Rem nearly crumbled after hearing Patton softly plead.

“Ok Pat, let’s end our play date.”

—4:27–

“Joel, come.” Rem tapped on the still intact passenger window. The driver of the car, surprisingly untouched, got out and moved to Rem’s side. Rem opened the passenger door and used it as an awkward shield between them and the creeping vampires. He passed Patton to Joel. He watched the others over Joel’s shoulders.

“Go to his car. Heal him the best you can.” Rem gave a firm squeeze to Joel’s shoulder. Joel nodded, turning and slowly walking to the edge of the road. The Strays began to straighten up, ready to chase.

“I wouldn’t. Joel is the 60 mile per hour sleep-addict.” With Rem’s warning, Joel shifted Patton higher on his chest and blurred into motion. A small gust of wind announced Joel’s exit. Some vampires attempted to follow, but easily gave up, turning their attention back on the Original, now completely alone.

Rem’s mouth twitched with an uncertain smile. He was out numbered, exhausted, and the dead vampire he ‘resurrected’ was getting the hell beat out of them, sharing their pain with Rem. He stood taller, but grabbed the open car door as he swayed.

“It was fun and all, but I’m getting real tired of this shit.” Rem let the group fall into silence, “So, let’s all take a nap.” Rem rose his hand. A powerful scent overwhelmed the vampire’s senses. Rem’s eyes gleamed in the growing moonlight.

SNAP

With a snap from Rem’s hand, all the opposing vampires collapsed immediately rendered unconscious. The corpse under his control returned to it’s eternal sleep and the pain started to reduce. Rem pushed his hair back, regaining some strength. He reached into the passenger seat and grabbed his jacket. Rem tied it around his waist. He took his time to walk past each Stray and stood above one vampire in particular.

“When you wake up, remember my face, my scent, my strength, and cower in fear. Never return here. Forbid it within your Strays. Run away. That’s the only way you can survive.” Rem poked at Leader Dude’s face and added: “Get rid of that ridiculous lip piercing while you’re at it.”

Another small gust of wind and Rem returned to the parking lot of the hospital.

—4:31–

Rem jogged up to Joel. Joel held Patton in his lap in the back seat of Patton’s car. He supported Patton’s neck as he focused on the bite marks on his neck and arms to heal.

“Patton, status.” Rem tried the command once more.

“Sore. Blood loss.” Patton reported, eyes slowly sliding close. At least the pain was mostly gone. Rem pulled Joel away from Patton, kneeling down.

“Patton, when you wake up… Don’t remember any of this. Go home, go to your room and sleep.” Patton nodded slowly, “Virgil’s gonna worry. He always does. Virgil really cares about you. If he asks, you can tell him.”

Rem stopped himself, standing back up and running a hand through his hair. He paced for a few seconds, thinking deeply and shaking his head to his own thoughts.

“Tell him… don’t tell him the truth. He can’t know that. Uuhhh, when he asks tell him: You’re okay. It’s just stress, right? It’s just stress. He would believe that.” Rem groaned in frustration, pulling a hand down his face. Rem’s legs nearly gave out. He returned to the car, putting a hand on the roof to stabilize himself.

“I was going to do this to you early this morning, but of course Logan had that bead instead. I followed the scent for miles, expecting you’re cute face, but instead got that hot piece of textbook. Real sweet guy, by the way. Despite that set back I moved on, you know me, I totally go with the flow.” Rem gave a soft chuckle. “I just… I don’t want Virgil to be alone. I’m not nearly as strong as I was decades ago. I can’t keep it up. I can’t… shit. I’m sorry. This shouldn’t have happened like this. I’m a fucking mess.” Rem wiped away dirt from Patton’s face.

“Patton,” Patton opened his eyes to his name, “You will survive. You will support Virgil like you always have. Forgive me for my actions. I don’t think Virgil will. Take this and live long and happy with my little Virge, ok?” Rem took his nail and ran it across his wrist. Dark red droplets grew against his pale skin. He tilted his wrist, letting small red rivers run to the side of his arm and drop into Patton’s parted mouth before the injury healed in seconds.

Patton swallowed and immediately began coughing, curling in on himself.

“THROAT. PAIN. HOT. HOT HOT HTOHTOTHOHTHT.” Patton’s voice scratched into the air. Joel held down Patton’s hands as Patton tried to dig at his own throat.

Rem took a piece of gum, hidden in Joel’s suit pocket, and chewed it slowly as Patton coughed and thrashed in Joel’s arms. After a few moments, Rem took it out of his mouth and forced it past Patton’s gasping lips.

“Chew three times then swallow.” Rem, covered Patton’s mouth with his hand and watched as Patton did as told.

Chew. Chew. Chew. Gulp.

Rem withdrew his hand. Patton breathed heavily, gave one last cough, then calmed down.

“Keep this our little secret, ok?” Rem pushed off the car using the open door as a crutch as his legs were growing steadily weaker.

“Patton, drive home. Go to your room and sleep this whole thing off. Joel, you’re with me.” Rem’s words made Joel and Patton move.

Patton slid out of Joel’s lap and opened the door to the driver seat of his car.

“One second, Patton.” Patton paused. Rem untied his jacket from his waist and slipped Patton’s arms through it. Rem felt like Virgil and the others would overlook a jacket instead of the torn and dirty back of Patton’s scrubs. Rem took a shaky step back and felt around his pockets, but didn’t find what he was looking for.

“Do you have a pen and paper, by any chance?” Rem looked to Joel, making a writing motion. Joel pulled a notepad from his back pocket and pen from the inside of his suit’s jacket. Rem scribbled on the note pad and ripped the paper off, loosely shoving it into Patton’s hand. “That’s for later, ok? And when you get home, clean your glasses. You’re fucking filthy.” Patton’s blank stare into Rem made him give a weak shiver. With a dishearten shove from Rem, Patton continued his motion into the car and slammed the door shut.

“Drive safe, Patton.” Patton shifted the car into gear and drove out of the parking lot towards home.

“Joel, you’ve been amazing buddy, but I’m gonna need you to make a call.” Rem yawned out.

“To whom?” Joel bluntly responded.

“To the High and Mighty Kid.” Rem answered and finally let his legs give out. Joel followed him to the ground. Once Rem was safely on the ground, Joel pulled out his phone and dialed Thomas.

—4:35–

It wasn’t odd that Patton was a couple minutes late than usual. The honk of his car locking in the driveway, the clicking of the front door opening.

It was odd was how…. Empty… Patton looked. His face showed little emotion and his actions were stiff. The moment he came through the front door, everyone froze.

Patton began to complete wast his last command asked of him. He went through the living room and paused. His unconscious mind searched for a command that spoke of interacting with others. Patton’s eyes unintentionally landed on Logan resting on the couch. No such command. Patton continued.

Up the stairs, maybe a little too loudly, down the hall. Close the door.

SLAM

A little too loudly.

He grabbed the microfiber cloth off his dresser and cleaned his glasses. He didn’t have any orders to put them back on. So he held the loosely in one hand. The scrunched up piece of paper in the other.

Patton stood in his room there’s no commands after this… Just go to sleep. Patton tilted his head back and his eyes began to close.

Patton’s eyes sprung open as darkness threatened his vision. He stared at…the white ceiling of his room…?

—4:40–

Chapter Text

“Sleep Walker.” Logan tried the term on his tongue. It sounded frightening, not having control of your actions and never knowing that you lost control to begin with.

“And you think he did that to Patton on his way to the house?” Roman piped in. Virgil nodded his head and continued his pacing.

“If Patton was tired enough after his shift. What time did his shift end? Patton doesn’t seem the type to work overtime when he’s worried about friends at home.” Dee clarified.

Everyone exchanged glances with each other before their eyes landed on the clock. The oven, living room clock, and the microwave all read out: 4:45.

A minute went by slowly.

Roman was the first to move. He shook his head as he stood and pulled off his shirt to reveal his tank top. He fiddled with his shirt in his hands and walked to Virgil.

“Patton is home, Logan is healed up, we got a new friend,” Roman gestured to Dee before locking eyes with Virgil, “and you are hungry.” Virgil took a step back.

“I’m fine.” Virgil’s lip twitched. Logan raised an eyebrow and Dee exhaled loudly in disbelief gaining a glare from Virgil.

Roman leaned in as he pulled his collar away from his neck, a replica of the movements he did early in the day. Virgil leaned away and turned his head trying to ignore Roman’s scent and lost of personal space.

“You have bags under those red eyes.” Roman’s breath ghosted against Virgil’s face.

“And you seem to be easily aggravated at the moment.” Logan chimed in and caught Virgil glowering at him from over Roman’s shoulder.

“Shouldn’t you be resting, Logan?” Logan gave a half-hearted shrug and Virgil rolled his eyes, “I’m fine, Roman. I’m more concerned about Patton and how the hell Rem got a hold-“ Virgil tried to argue, but stopped when he felt Dee’s hand on his back push him forward.

“You should take care of yourself.” Dee simply said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you hungry too, Dee?” Roman looked past Virgil at Dee. Dee choked on his breath and began to cough.

Being offered an Alpha’s human is one of the highest honors a mere Turned could be given. A pure rarity, usually only done in dire situations. Of course, Dee totally wasn’t imagining the euphoric experience of drinking from Roman. He had just met the human today, but every movement shifted Roman’s scent to remind Dee of his wild imagination. Logan seemed like an entirely different being, out of this world. Patton, just from that small encounter in the hallway, left Dee absolutely starving. He’d never admit it, but Virgil’s humans were irresistible.

“Roman! You’re not feeding anyone!” Virgil had a glint of jealousy in his voice. He spread his arms to block Roman’s view of Dee.

“But he’s our guest. If you’re fine, then I should at least offer something to Dee.” Roman put a hand on his hip and made wide hand motions. Dee collected himself and turned back to Roman.

“Thank you for the offer, but I would never drink from you.” Dee bowed his head and watched Virgil from the corner of his eye.

Roman gasped in offense. Dee realized his mistake.

“Not in that way! I meant it as respect of Virgil! Drinking from another’s human, an Alpha’s human of all people-“ Dee tried to recover from the misunderstanding. Roman kept an offended glare on his face, but snatched Virgil by the shoulders and pulled him forwards.

“Well, fine then! I EXCLUSIVELY feed ONLY Virgil anyway!” Roman pressed Virgil tightly against himself. Dee blushed slightly in embarrassment.

“Glad to hear, but I’M NOT HUNGRY.” Virgil squeezed his hands up and pushed against Roman’s chest. Surprisingly, Roman didn’t budge. “Roman?”

“I had two friends attacked in one day. I was, to a degree, kidnapped. I saw Thomas and Dee collapse just by being near an ‘Original’ vampire.” Roman started to say quietly.

“Roman-“

“I’m tired, stressed, confused, and just, honestly, so done with it all. I feel so out of the loop, yet I also feel like I’m expected to know what to do. I’m absolutely clueless when it comes to this Rem guy or his Sleep Walker ability or anything vampire related except for one thing. I know that when my dear vampire roommate, Virgil, is hungry and Logan can’t feed him, I can fix that problem. This is one problem I KNOW I can fix. So, please Virgil, stop sucking metaphorically and start sucking physically.” Roman pulled at his collar again. Virgil frowned.

“I’ll feed tomorrow.” Virgil flatly said. The two stared at each other trying to find any form of surrender from the other. Roman’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I’ll go to my room then.” Roman released Virgil and turned towards the stairs, “It was nice to meet you, Dee. See you later.” Roman waved at the two vampires and dragged himself up the stairs.

“I, too, should go to my room. I have to make a few emails.” Logan huffed out and stood from the couch. He adjusted his collar and noticed his lack of tie.

“It’s all in your bag.” Virgil retrieved the bag from beside the front door humbly. Logan silently took it, enjoying the familiar weight in his hands.

“Thank you and good evening.” Logan gave a tired smile, purposefully watching Virgil as he left, then followed Roman up the steps.

“Don’t over work yourself! Get some rest!” Virgil’s voice called after him.

The moment Logan’s door clicked closed, Logan drew in a breath so deep, he could’ve sworn his ribs popped out. He took wide steps to his bed and spun around to unceremoniously flop onto his bed on his back and let the movement knock the deep breath out of his lungs. He pulled his bag on to his chest and let the weight completely empty his lungs before continuing to breath steadily.

Logan laid there for a moment, before deciding to sit up. As he did so, he noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of the front pocket. That was odd. He never placed anything of value in the front pocket. He undid the zipper and was surprised by the overflowing papers in the pocket. Logan shoveled out the papers and spread them out on his blanket. Most of them were small, some were business cards with written in numbers and names.

Carefully, Logan prowled through the papers and began to organize them into small stacks.

-Call if you need anything!-
-You’re my hero-
-Never go hungry again!-
-I’m sorry, it’ll hurt now, but help later. I promise-

Wait.

Logan pulled the last card out of the stack and reread it’s message. The message was longer and neater than all the others. The ink was in bright red and fit neatly across the card in the middle. The card was otherwise blank. Logan nulled it over in his hands. He ran a finger over the red ink then flipped the card over. There was a finger print pressed into the center with dark red ink and the same handwriting as the front read two last words:

-Love, Rem-

Chapter Text

The house grew eerily quiet in the absence of the humans in the living room. Dee leaned against the couch’s armrest, exhausted by the busy and wild day.

“What’s wrong?” Virgil slouched on the cushions. He refused to go to his room, afraid that Roman would intercept him and accidentally wake up Patton and Logan. That and, honestly, Dee seemed like he needed the company.

Dee gave a sigh, unsure how to answer. Before he was called on ‘babysitting duty’ for Roman, Dee was sitting in a café while he ‘people-watched’. He was waiting for night to fall, so he could hunt with the other vampires. Now, he was sucked into a complicated disaster with an old friend and his poor suffering humans.

Virgil gave a playful kick from where he laid across the crouch.

“I can’t read minds, Dee.” Virgil huffed out, seeming a little playful.

“I’m just tired.” Dee lied. His hand ached, attempting to heal the broken bones from Virgil’s punch. His hand twitched as he tried to move it slightly, but a bolt of pain made him freeze up for a moment. He’d never been more aware and awake. His senses on high alert for anything. He jumped when Virgil shifted on the couch.

“Show me.” Virgil reached his hand out towards Dee.

“What?” Dee tried to play it off. Virgil’s eyes narrowed.

“I can’t read minds, but I can read emotions. You’re in pain and cautious.” Virgil sat up and crawled over to Dee. “Show me.” Virgil laid his hand out once more.

Dee hesitated trying to think up a way of derailing the conversation.

“I can read that emotion too.” Virgil nearly laughed at Dee’s desperation. Dee rubbed the back of his injured hand and watched Virgil from the corner of his eye. Virgil patiently sat on the couch next to him.

Dee finally gave in and showed his hand to Virgil.

“Oh,” Virgil frowned realizing the cause of the pain, “that’s when I-”

“It’s ok, it just hurts a little.” Dee explained.

“It looks like it’s healing.” Virgil gently turned Dee’s hand to get a different angle.

“Yeah, I’m just a slow healer. It’s fine.” Dee pulled his hand away and cradled to his chest.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.” Virgil limply fell back onto the couch.

“No. It wasn’t you... It was-” Dee stopped short. His eyes darting to the movements at the bottom of the stairs.

“Rem.” Logan’s weak voice finished. He stood swaying at the bottom of the steps with a small, white business card in his hand.

Virgil jumped off the couch and put a hand on Logan’s shoulder to steady him. Dee slowly followed after him.

“Are you ok, Logan?” Dee gave a worried scan of Logan.

“Rem. He was there.” Logan blinked a couple times and slowly rose the business card up. “When I was attacked. He was watching. He was the one that dialed Thomas. He was the one…..” Logan was visibly shaking.

Virgil took the card from Logan and looked it over. Virgil’s eyes went wide. Abruptly, Virgil darted out the back door and ripped the card up. He then set it free into the wind.

“What was that?!” Dee took Virgil’s place holding Logan steady.

“It was the same scent.” Virgil darkly spoke as he closed the back door behind him.

“It was Rem.” Logan repeated.

“What scent?” Dee tried to get a handle on the conversation.

“Patton… Patton had the same scent on him and it drove me nuts. I’d go hungry just smelling it. It drove me to drink from Patton.” Virgil summarized the previous nights.

“What’s wrong with that?” Dee asked, confused as to why feeding would be a bad thing.

“Patton is anemic, I don’t drink from him… ever.” Virgil ran a hand through his hair.

“Oh.” Dee blankly breathed out.

“It was Rem.” Logan shakily said again.

“Where did you get that card, Logan?” Virgil returned to Logan’s side.

“It was in the front pocket of my bag.” Logan gestured back up the stairs where the bag was lying on his bed.

“I… I was using that pocket for all the notes I got from everyone while coming to see you… How…” Virgil stuttered, rewatching the event in his mind. Rem wasn’t there. Rem was in the penthouse. How? HOW?!

“He could have controlled someone to give it to you. It would be difficult to identify the scent in a crowd… I mean… The whole place smells like /them/ faintly.” Dee was able to rationalize.

Virgil paced around the coffee table scanning the floor for anymore answers. He nodded, taking in Dee’s theory.

“What did it say?” Dee looked to Virgil. He wasn’t able to see it well before Virgil tore it up.

“It’ll hurt now. Help later… Something like that.” Virgil distractedly replied, pricking his tongue with his fangs again.

“It was Rem. It was-“ Logan slurred out, but lost consciousness standing up. He collapsed into Dee. Dee held onto Logan lowering both of them to the floor.

“Whoa! Logan? Logan!? Hey!” Dee gave a soft shake to Logan, but there was no response.

Now that Logan was under the light of the living room lamp, beads of sweat gleamed on his forehead. Logan’s breathing rate was increasing. His breathing becoming closer to a pant with every minute. Logan’s face contorted into discomfort causing his eyes to squeeze shut and his mouth release a hiss in pain.

“I don’t want to forget.” Logan whispered.

Dee exchange glances with Virgil. They were at a lost. Virgil finally made a decision and nodded to himself as he took Logan into his arms… just like he did in the classroom after Logan was attacked. Virgil shivered the thought away and slowly made his way back up the steps. He was tired of panicking in the living room. These past days have put a terrible dampening on the atmosphere of the room. Silently, the two vampires slipped into Logan’s room.

Logan’s room was far messier than Virgil had ever seen it. Logan’s bag was on the bed, spilling it’s contents onto the sheets and floor. The loose beads from Patton’s bracelet littered the floor. The pieces of paper that Virgil received from the other vampires were thrown across the room, scattering at random on furniture and the carpet. Dee quickly gathered everything off the bed and put it on the floor to make room for Logan. Virgil gently placed Logan down, being extra conscious of Logan’s short breaths. It was like the classroom scene all over again. Virgil forced the thought out of his mind a second time.

“Logan?” Virgil wiped away the damp hair from Logan’s sweating forehead. Logans’s eyes strained to open in response making them roll back unnaturally for a moment.

“I don’t want to forget, again.” His voice, surprisingly, failed to quiver.

Virgil grabbed his hand, in an attempt to calm Logan.

“Ok, ok. You don’t have to.” Virgil readjusted Logan on the bed.

“He was there. Rem was there. In the classroom. He was watching. He made sure-“ Logan began to speak quickly, only stopping to soothe the swaying headache that would arrive whenever he tried to recall past events.

“Logan, listen. You don’t have to tell us. It’s ok.” Virgil squeezed Logan’s hand softly.

“Shit.” A uncharacteristic curse escaped Logan. “Patton. Get Patton.”

Dee was already out the door, stumbling across the hall to Patton’s room. The door swung open easily to reveal Patton curling into a ball on the floor. Dee stopped short for a moment to glance down at the jacket curled up next to Patton’s feet. The Original’s scent – Rem’s scent – clung to the fabric. Dee stepped around it slowly to get to Patton. A small whimper from the human set Dee into motion. He scooped up Patton, pressing him firmly to his chest to relieve some weight from his injured hand and carefully exited the room.

“What’s going on?” Roman leaned out of his door and looked down the hall.

“I want to remember.” Patton mumbled in Dee’s arms unaware of what was occurring around him. Dee didn’t have any time to answer Roman, only having a enough patience to glance at Roman in concern and duck into Logan’s room with Patton.

Dee put Patton next to Logan on the bed, helping Patton unravel from himself. Logan turned to Virgil with half-lidded eyes, but a small glint in his iris shined. Logan’s grip on Virgil’s hand became weak.
The two humans on the bed spoke over each other:

“I don’t want to forget.”
“I want to remember.”

Chapter Text

“Joel?!” Thomas stumbled out of his car over to the silhouette of the company driver sitting on the curb of the parking lot. The street lamp above him provided eerily dim light. “What the heck is going-“ As Thomas approached Joel, Rem was revealed lying on the sidewalk. Thomas cursed under his breath.

Joel gave a small smile then leaned against the base of the lamp.

“He did it again. I hate it when he does that, but I can’t help falling asleep sometimes.” Joel gave a weak laugh. Thomas patted Joel on the shoulder.

“It’s all good. It wasn’t your fault.” Thomas scanned Rem. As usual, the Original had no physical wounds, but his shirt and pants was torn and his iconic shades and jacket were missing. Thomas turned back to Joel.

“Any chance you remember anything?” Thomas kneeled down in front of Joel.

“That’s the part that scares me.” Joel’s weak smile wavered and his eyes started to water up. “I remember everything, Thomas. He- he used his ability… so-so many times.” Joel’s voice hiccuped as his breath became uneven with soft cries. “He made a deal with the strays… He-He let them into the territory. They… They were suppose to drink from Patton, but-but got Logan. He d-didn’t know that Patton was anemic. He has a plan. He g-gave Patton his blood and some…. Some gum? Made him swallow the gum. I-I think it was for…” Joel’s words faded as he slowly looked over Rem, half expecting the Original to finish Joel’s thought and reveal his plan. Rem remained still on the cement.

Joel turned to Thomas thoroughly exhausted. Thomas’s eyes were dangerously red and nearly glowing in the darkness. Slowly a snare grew from Thomas causing Joel to shrink further into himself.

“He. Did. It. To. Them?” Thomas crept closer to Rem. He gripped the front of Rem’s shirt, lifting him up to sit up face-to-face with Thomas. “WE WERE STILL TESTING IT! YOU COULD HAVE INJURED YOURSELF AND KILLED THEM!” Thomas carelessly released Rem’s shirt, wincing slightly with the thud Rem’s body made as it rejoined with the ground. Thomas shot up, ran a hand through his hair and began to pace furiously.

Joel watched cautiously as Thomas huffed in the midst of his pacing.

“You said he used his ability?” Thomas’ shoulders lowered as he exhaled his previous anger out.

Joel nodded his head. “Multiple times… at least three times…”

“Ok. Ok. That’s… not good,” Thomas paused for a moment in thought, “Let’s get him to his penthouse first, then we figure this all out.” Thomas held Rem to his chest then lifted him up. Joel began to follow Thomas to his car.

“Wait.” Thomas looked around the parking lot. “Where’s the company car?” Joel jolted in sudden guilt.

“I may have crashed it.” Joel sheepishly admitted.

Thomas’s eyebrows went into his hairline, but he gave a short smile in return.

“That’s fine… We can go in my car then…” Thomas shifted Rem in his arms and continued to walk to his car.

Joel run ahead to open the passenger door, pulling the passenger seat forward to crawl into the backseat, but Thomas laughed and tapped Joel’s leg with his foot to stop him. Joel reversed out of the gap between the passenger seat and the side of the door and took a step back.

“He can lay in the back easier.” Thomas explained. Joel agreed just in time to witness Thomas chuck Rem in the back and slam the passenger seat into place. With a suspiciously wide smile, Thomas told Joel to get in… at this point Joel was a little scared to be in a small space with Thomas, but even more terrified to deny his orders.

As the car pulled out of the parking lot, Joel subconsciously reached into his inside pocket. He didn’t find what he was looking for.

“D- Do you have any gum?” Joel broke the awkward silence in the car. In swift movement, Thomas presented him with a piece.

“Stressed?” Thomas said as Joel gently took the gum. Joel unwrapped it and folded in his mouth as he thought.

“Rem asked me to heal up one of Virgil’s humans and I can taste them. It’s making me unbearably hungry.” Joel forcefully chewed, hoping the flavor of the gum would override the already sweet and tempting taste stuck to his tongue.

The car swerved slightly as Thomas lost track of the road.

“Patton was injured?!” Thomas’s voice cracked slightly. Joel nodded.

“Aaahhh… Mister high and mighty. Thanks for the lift, gurl.” Rem slurred as he propped himself up in the backseat.

“You look like crap.” Thomas retorted to Rem’s reflection in the rear view mirror. Rem rubbed his head and leaned back.

“As dear Virgil would say: ‘bite me’.” Rem tried to smile at his reference but a hot flash of pain interrupted his thoughts. He pressed into his temples and slowly tried to massage the pain away.

“How are you, sir?” Joel turned to peer over the shoulder of the seat.

“Ah, Joel, my man. You did awesome. Thanks a million.” Rem squeezed his eyes shut then slowly relaxed again. Joel blushed immensely from the compliment.

“My pleasure, sir.” Joel whispered, unaware of the avoided answer to his question.

“This is not going to be pretty. Is it?” Rem stayed slouched in the back, softly swaying with the car.

“Sir?” Joel shifted in his seat.

“No doubt, It’s going to be ugly.” Thomas sternly replied.

“That bad, huh?” Rem sighed out. “Listen, Thomas. I know we were still testing it out, but I’m-“

“Not now.” Thomas interrupted Rem, refusing to look at him in the reflection as Rem sat up with wide eyes.

It was odd to see the original without his shades. His permanently ruby eyes pierced through everything he laid his sight on. In the darken state of the world, his eyes seemed to be the only thing that glowed with understanding, but yet a spark of fear. As his eyes bore into the rear view mirror to catch even a glimpse of Thomas’s expression, they seem to dim before giving up and closing once more. Everything was wrong… Nothing will be safe.

“Roman’s the only one left.” Rem blankly announced. Thomas’s knuckles turned white against the wheel. “All we need is Roman then it’ll be over.”

Silence filled the cab.

“Why strays?” Thomas finally spoke at a red light. Rem peeked an eye open, mostly surprised that Thomas was the one to instigate a new conversation.

“Well, it’s not like /I/ could do it. I’m an Original, for fucks sake. One sip could turn into an entire drain.” Rem explained, then leaned forward between the front seats. “I wasn’t trying to kill them. I just knew I could stop another vampire better than myself.” Rem’s eyes turned down in a soft, nostalgic expression.

The light turned green and the car was set back into motion.

“Why not some one else within the clan?” Thomas’s voice was stern and calculating.

“They would brag or Virgil would find out and kill them.”

“Why not control them then?”

“I don’t know what their feeding speeds are!”

“Change it then!”

“It would the same if I were doing it, so NO!”

“THEN WHY NOT ME?!” Thomas foot landed on the brakes making Joel and Rem brace as the car screeched to a stop in front of the clan’s headquarters. “Why don’t you trust me with stuff like this? /You/ are the one that made /me/ alpha… we all know you rather it be Virge… You trusted me enough to include me in the testing… so why not the real thing?”

Joel looked between the two superior vampires. The atmosphere in the small sport car had suddenly shifted to a heavy topic Joel had no idea about and was feeling extremely overpowered at the moment. His small glances to either silent vampire was going unnoticed. The gradual scent of The Blood and Original was making Joel’s lungs seize up as he pressed his back against the passenger door as far as he could.

“I couldn’t have done that to you, Thomas. Virgil needed someone he trusted. If you were in on it, you’re guilt would have rendered the whole thing impossible. Not to mention you have a never ending list of meetings.” Rem sounded sincere. His body language was subdued and slow.

“He’s my brother, I should have at least known-“

“That’s why you didn’t know.” Rem cut into Thomas’s thought. “You would be lying to Virgil and hurting /your brother’s/ humans. No. I would never-“ Rem’s voice faded into a mumble.

Rem leaned away from the front and slouched back into his seat. His body tensing up and his face contorted into pain. A few colorful words escaped him.

With the Original backing down, the crushing scent dissipated and Joel’s unknowingly loud gasp for fresh air scared the two older vampires. Both turned to Joel with concerned faces, now realizing what they did.

“Sorry, Joel.” Thomas smiled. Joel shyly smiled back.

“Let me out of this toy car.” Rem pulled on the back of Joel’s seat.

Joel hurriedly opened the door and pulled the passenger seat forward for Rem to exit. Rem sloppily squeezed out. He nearly fell out of the car face first if not for Joel catching him.

“You know, Joel… Remind me to give you a raise after all this.” Rem flashed a smile to Joel. Joel’s face lit up with surprise, but quickly faded as he coughed down his own excitement.

“Thank you, sir.” Joel slung an arm around Rem’s torso to help him catch up with Thomas waiting by the door.

——

“It’s hot.” Patton’s soft, gasping voice finally broke the suspenseful silence in the room. Logan’s uneven pants answered him as the two vampires sat uncertain on what to do.

The blankets were shoved onto the floor, Virgil moved Logan’s chair over to the edge of the bed and Dee perched on the bed next to Patton. It was difficult to move after Patton found Dee’s sleeve and clung to it. Every time Dee attempted to move, Patton would dig his nails into Dee’s forearm in protest.

On the other side of the bed, Virgil held onto Logan’s hand, watching his breathing and counting how long it would take Logan to regain some form of coherency then slip back under. Logan’s grip pulsed in Virgil’s palm. The deep, hot, rasps that escaped Logan scratched against the vampires’ hearing. It just wasn’t a natural noise a human would make… It only got worse after Patton joined in the odd breathing. Both were growing frantic.

“P-Please.” Patton tried his voice again.

“What do you need?” Virgil tried to accommodate for his friends. He looked over Logan to Patton, watching as Patton slowed looked away from Dee to him. A flash of relief fell onto Patton’s face.

Patton slowly began to sit up.

“Whoa there!” Dee placed a hand against Patton’s chest to push him back against the bed. Patton strained against the force pushing him back, but stubbornly refused to lay back down.

“P-please. Hungry.” Patton’s breath hung heavily in front of him.

“You’re hungry?” Virgil leaned over Logan to reach Patton. Dee let his arm drop from holding Patton back.

“No,” Patton’s mouth twitched with a frown before dragging his arm up and pointing at Virgil, “You.”

“What?” Patton’s statement wasn’t false, but it was certainly a surprise that Patton would be worrying about him at the moment.

Logan shifted and softly pushed Virgil back into his seat. Logan dully looked up at Virgil then joined Patton, sitting up in the bed.

“P-please.” Logan’s softly spoke through labored breaths. Both humans stared down Virgil as he shifted uneasily in his seat. Virgil gave Dee a quick glance from behind the humans only to find Dee covering his nose with wide eyes.

“I-I’ve gotta go.” Dee muffled behind the palm of his hand before tripping his way out of the room. The moment Dee passed Virgil, he caught on to the swallowing scent of…. Pure bliss. Dee skidded into the hallway and slammed the door in a obvious rush to escape.

The scent swirled into the air and quickly surrounded Virgil. A growl from Virgil’s stomach proved Patton’s point, but the scent was so wonderfully overwhelming. Virgil took a deep breath in and gathered as much of the scent as he could. It was Logan and Patton’s scents only stronger, sweeter… and ridiculously difficult to avoid… especially for a ravenous vampire such as Virgil….

The humans only seem to smile at the dangerous flash of amber within the vampire’s starving gaze.

Chapter Text

The moment Dee was outside the room, he tried to clear the scent from his lungs with coughs and wheezes. His body begging for more, but his mind warning him to escape. He pressed his forehead against the cool hallway wall and distracted himself with the carpet.

Slight shuffles brushed against the opposite side of the wall. Dee tentatively listened and tried to keep a hopeful outlook. Virgil wouldn’t kill his humans… but then again...

“D-Dee.” Roman’s voice rang next to Dee. Dee let his eyes slide close and a small huff of annoyance slip past his lips.

“Logan and Patton are okay, I just couldn’t be-“ Dee rose his head to find Roman in the hallway a few feet away. The fear that shined in Roman’s eyes was quickly paired with a stranger slipping out from behind him.

“So… I heard Rem’s making new witches?” A slender woman twirled a strand of Roman’s hair in between her fingers, her other hand occupied by a thin, jagged blade pressed to Roman’s neck.

“H-how.” Dee whispered out. He was shocked to say the least, but tried his best to keep a calm composure as Roman’s eyes stared into him.

“Witches are dangerous, you know,” The woman took a step closer and forced Roman’s chin higher, “You would be wise to tell me where the newest ones are.” She whispered her last words into Roman’s ear with a coy grin on her dark painted red lips. Roman’s uneven breaths alarmed in Dee’s ears.

“I would love to.” Dee began as the woman’s eyes narrowed, “but not to a stranger.”

With a quick scan from her golden eyes and the woman’s smile returned. She stood taller, confidently lifted the blade away from Roman’s neck only to sway it within her thin pointed fingers.

“Of course, manners, manners.” She playfully rolled her eyes. “Call me what you want, but they mostly call me the Dragon Witch.” Her lips parted in a wide grin. The pearly white teeth in her mouth mimicked the very snarl Dee was tempted to make.

“And you, darling?” The so called ‘Dragon Witch’ pointed the end of the knife towards Dee.

Dee gave a playfully shallow bow, “Call me, Dee.”

A hummed emitted from the witch almost sounding like the disapproved noise mothers’ made when children lied. She picked her teeth with the end of the dagger as she thought.

“Play time over, little vamp. I have other toys I want to see at the moment.” The Dragon Witch twisted Roman’s arm behind his back and lifted. Roman’s mouth pried open in a silent scream. “Where are they?”

The Witch tried her question again, but only received a glare from Dee. Not receiving the response she wished, the woman strode forward with Roman squarely in front of her.

Dee stepped to the side as if to block them, however, the moment Dee’s shoulder met the wall three curt knocks resounded against the walls. The Witch froze, her eyes darted at the spot that Dee’s knuckles met the wall then glared back at him.

“Are they in that room?” Her sharp tongue spun silk in Dee’s ears, but he bit his tongue.

“No.” Dee nearly choked on his lie. He took a deep breath in, trying to collect a scent from the new arrival.

“You’re lying.” She harshly smiled, pulling the strand of Roman’s hair back and rising the blade higher up on the now exposed neck. Roman grimaced as his head was jerked and coldness of the blade grew. Dee flinched.

“And? What do you plan to do about that?” Dee snapped back with a nervous smile from the corner of his mouth. Stall. Just stall for time. Was all that rang in Dee’s panicking mind.

——
Shortly after the door slammed shut, Patton and Logan were already leaning forward, practically crawling over each other to get closer to Virgil.

“I-I.. uhh.” Virgil’s mind blanked leaving the only conscious thought of hunger.

“Now.” Logan’s chilled voice dominated the room. Logan pulled at his shirt’s collar with an annoyed growl.

Virgil shook his head. He tried to place the feeling that clung to his senses. It was similar to the fogginess he experienced just a couple nights ago, but it was easier to breath, it made everything that he felt impossibly soft, his vision was improved, in fact, Virgil was focused. It was…

“Tempting.” The word slipped from Virgil’s mouth and Logan’s blood quickly replaced it.

It was cold. Not the blood, but the flavor. It had a small kick to it. The blood almost seemed eager as it flooded Virgil’s senses and meet his fangs quickly. Virgil’s eyes fluttered close now drenched in the scent of Logan. Virgil shifted into his usual rhythmic feeding, pressing Logan closer to sink his fangs deeper. Logan let Virgil settle for a few moments then pulled away.

Virgil growled at the lost of a meal, but before he could open his eyes, his fangs were sunk into skin again. Virgil took a large sip in protest to having to wait.

Wait.

Virgil’s eyes sprung open and he tried to pull away, but Patton and Logan both held him. The new blood that met his sense was… Patton’s. Sugar packed, warm, sweet, and…. Oh… something was different. After relaxing and letting a few more streams to pass over Virgil’s tongue, he was able to pinpoint the difference. Iron. There was more iron in Patton’s blood. The metallic taste mingled with the Patton’s hormones and sent Virgil on a high. It was intoxicating. It was euphoric and Virgil’s worries melted away effortlessly.

Knock
Knock
Knock

Three precise knocks on the wall snapped Virgil back to reality. Virgil growled at the distraction. He didn’t want to stop. Patton had, undoubtably, rocketed up to his favorite in a matter of seconds. The change in Patton’s blood was easily reflected in how the freckle-painted man acted.

Patton shifted higher as if he was using his body to shield Virgil away from the world. Virgil’s eyes fluttered close; a small smile breathed against Patton’s skin.

Logan slid off the bed and softly padded over to the door cautiously. His steps weren’t as precise and if Virgil was paying any more attention, he would have noticed the sway in Logan’s body as drowsiness from slight blood loss. However, in the time it took Logan to cross the length of the room, his posture straightened and his eyes focused rapidly. Suddenly, Logan showed no signs or symptoms.

“Virgil, don’t over do it.” Logan’s voice held a small laugh. Logan looked back as Virgil hesitantly detached from Patton. Virgil wiped his lips and was pulled down to lay on the bed gently by Patton. Patton’s wide smile lit up the room. Logan nodded at the two on the bed before turning back to the door and pulling it open to see the origin of the noise.

A large, solid thud and glass breaking suddenly echoed through the room. Roman immediately fell into the room, eyes shot wide and breathing shallow.

“Roman? What the-“ Logan immediately kneeled next to Roman on the ground trying to tame the flailing limps that snatched at anything within reach.

“V-Virgil! FEEL FREE TO HELP!” Dee’s voice overflowed into the room from the hall. The panic in Dee’s voice sent Virgil springing up and out of the room.

Dee held his ground, back against the concave wall from the large shove the Dragon Witch gave, holding the woman at arm’s length as her blade inched closer with his tiring strength. Dee’s injured hand from earlier did little to help.

It only took a few seconds for Virgil to attack.

--

Thomas held the door open as Joel and Rem dragged themselves through the doorway of the company building. Thomas scanned the landscape beyond the steps of the building, watching the leaves rustle with the wind and the last of the streetlights flicker on. The night air fell onto the city. Thomas shivered at the shift in atmosphere.

“Shit.” Rem's softly cussed. Thomas’ gaze leveled with Rem’s angered expression. A couple more steps into the building, the door closed and locked behind them, and Rem let his arm fall off Joel’s shoulder. His posture was slumped and ultimately defeated. The marble flooring and slick walls towered over the Original. The situation seemed to finally catch up to Rem as his shoulder’s curved inwards, attempting to bare the weight of the past days.

“I really did fuck up.” Rem finally whispered out. “She’s here.”

Chapter Text

“Who?” Thomas stepped over to the Original, giving a small wave of dismissal to Joel as he did so. Joel hesitantly left, giving a quick jog away past the lobby area.

“You know,” Rem’s red eyes pierced into Thomas’ with a shine of apology, “that damn witch.” And just as quickly, Rem’s gaze left Thomas’ in order to distract himself with the pillars that surrounded them.

“The Dragon Witch?! How?” Thomas shuffled in front of Rem to regain his attention urgently, “When?!” Thomas’ voice quickly grew in concern.

Yet, Rem remained silent. His eyes seemingly scanned Thomas’ face, yet they lost the conscious glitter in them moments ago. Rem was searching, but not for something in front of him, but instead something long lost in his mind. The ideas, plans, possibilities, and even strange coincidences clicked and swirled in the Original’s mind. Hundreds of years of knowledge swam around all screaming for equal attention.

“The strays.” Rem finally looked away from Thomas, finding the answer he was searching for.

Rem took a few uneven steps towards the lobby desk before freezing. He barely lifted his head and refused to turn around as he spoke:

“You might want to go check up on Virge.”

“What? Why? I mean- He can take care of himself for now. Right now, we need to find that Dragon Witch and get-“ Thomas’ paused in his outburst. He watched closely as Rem’s shoulders went slack once more before continuing to limp towards the lobby desk to tap something into the computer over the counter.

“No. no no nonono” Thomas was dashing out the door once more with a new spark of fear in his eyes. Not his brother. Why is it always his brother?!

Thomas’ car roared to life and screeched out of the parking lot. The sound of the engine’s roars echoed in the empty lobby as Rem slumped into the office chair. Rem let the echoes die before adding his own with a loud sigh. A cold hand dragged down his face as the vampire leaned forward to look closer at the screen in front of him.

The screen was the only source of light against the faded moon shining through the large pane windows of the lobby. The light dripped down Rem’s face as he sat silently in the large lobby. One last sigh escaped his lips before clicking some more on the keyboard. His eyes skimmed the screen for what felt like the hundredth time before he finally rested his finger on the enter button.

“If I don’t die, this is gonna be one awkward party.” Rem gave a small, empty smile before dropping his hand and sending the email. “Now, time to show off.”

--

Roman was pulled further into the room he fell into. His hands rubbed at the front of his neck where a hairline of blood slowly beaded up as if he was wearing a small choker. His mind was reeling with the commotion and movement that blurred around him.

Patton bounced off the bed to Roman’s side, cooing at him to lift his hand away so Patton could see the injury better. Roman didn’t move, but Patton found it a little too easy to pull Roman’s hand away anyhow.

“W-what is going on? Is she still here?!” Roman’s voice broke through the room, his fruitless attempt to get up stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“You’re ok. It’s fine. Virgil went to go help Dee.” Patton softly said, scanning Roman’s face. Roman looked between Patton, kneeling in front of him, and Logan looking out the door down the hallway.

Logan watched in awe as the vampires faced off with the witch in the narrow hallway. They looked as though they were dancing over the carpet, now sprinkled with glass shards from the picture frames that spilled off the walls. Hardly any noise escaped the three as hands and feet went flying in an attempt to overpower the other.

The Dragon Witch, as she called herself, was all too graceful for Dee’s taste. She twirled her arms around her, spontaneously summoning her knife back into either hand. She blocked punches and kicks with immense ease and Dee swore he saw her wink at him a few times.

Getting upset with the lack of control over the situation, Dee made a desperate lunge, leading with his fist. He hadn’t realized it was his injured hand until she cupped his fist in her palm… and gave a nice squeeze in response.

Dee let out a scream, crumbling quickly to the ground, effectively startling both the Dragon Witch and Virgil.

“Hhhmmm. Looks as though you were rough-housing with someone else before I got here…” The witch gave a coy laugh, releasing Dee’s hand only to stomp him in the chest. Dee squirmed under her foot, his back now flat to the ground and eyes glaring up at her.

“I do admire a man that knows his-“ Virgil tackled the witch before she could say anymore. Both Virgil and the witch fell further down the hall. Now with leverage on his side, Virgil was able to pin her to the ground, keeping both her hands above her head.

Their ragged breaths mingled between them. Virgil growled at the playful giggle that fell from the Dragon Witch’s lips.

“Oh sweetie… I didn’t know you felt that way about me.” She toyed with Virgil.

“Don’t get excited, you bitch.” Virgil snapped, releasing her hands in favor of clasping around her neck. Her smile slowly faded as she tried to pry Virgil’s hands away from her throat. Her golden eyes met with Virgil’s ruby ones.

“Y-you’re-“ She tried to speak, struggling with the lack of air. Her hands loosened around Virgil’s wrists and her eyes softened, almost sober, as she looked up at the vampire choking her life out.

“You’re the child Rem liked so much.” Her voice blossomed in Virgil’s mind. The sudden introduction of a voice within his thoughts startled Virgil giving the witch enough time to shift her weight and throw Virgil off. He fell to the floor next to her, but within seconds both of them were hurriedly getting up to face each other.

The dragon witch coughed as they stared each other down from the opposite walls of the hallway. Her smooth voice now scratching for air as her coughs wetly heaved out of her lungs. Neither moved.

“You alive, Dee?” Virgil finally spoke, keeping his eyes on the woman before him.

Dee shifted on the floor, slowly sitting up. He pressed his hand into his chest, but not before wincing at the pain that shot through him. He gave Virgil a nod, but as he lifted his head, he noticed Virgil wasn’t looking at him, but watching the witch.

“I’m fine.” Dee wheezed out. Virgil gave him a quick glance not believing Dee’s confirmation.

“Now I get it.” Both Vampires returned their attention to the witch as she straightened her shirt, “I came for the witches. “Those witches seemed different, but now it all makes sense. Poor Remy. He always did like you more, Virgil.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Virgil hissed out, standing taller.

“Oh darling, you use to adore me. Then again, I guess Rem did too, before he left me to die with all those damn strays!!!!” In her outburst, the figure before them shimmered. For a moment, a scarred and mangled form flashed in the dragon witch’s place before being replaced with the pristine and pampered woman from before.

“Who’s she? Never heard of her.” Dee gave a cheeky grin as the Dragon Witch narrowed her eyes at him.

“You two are wonderful, but I’ve just now realized what’s really going on.” She wagged her finger around, “Do you know where Rem is, by any chance?” A pearly white grin shined and a shiver rang throughout the men in the room.

Chapter Text

It’s funny how they say that time slows down in moments of such high stress. No matter how fast the wheels spun or feet slammed against the ground. The mind is over attentive of everything around, taking information so fast, the world slows down.

It’s admittedly scary when the earth pauses for a breath and the birds overhead take twice as long to beat their wings. The ground, the coarse bumpy surface below, rushing up to greet Virgil’s back. The screeching of the tires extended into a deep growl as the car slid around the corner at Thomas’ demand. Every watchful eye intensified as the group of vampires, tucked away in their secret society, parted to allow Rem to limp past them. The shout erupting from Logan’s throat, finally reaching Patton and Roman. Their flinches and scrambling to their feet taking twice as long.

Yes, it was terrifying watching it all happen slowly. Like a dream, heavy limbs with a clear conscious. It was infuriating, it was frightening, and it was deadly.

Dee wished he too could experience the slow actions, but his body already kicked into gear before the moment could take hold. The minute the witch had a hold of Virgil again, Dee was springing up to counterattack. It was just a game of catch and release. The two vampires couldn’t do much within the narrow hall, but the scenery changed the moment the Dragon Witch slammed Virgil through the wall. Virgil ripped through the side of the house and out into the driveway, falling nearly 13 feet from the second story.

Virgil wasn’t having a fun time as it was. He finally had more than half of his energy refueled, his hunger completely quenched, and his friends were, for a short second, happily healthy. He imagined this whole ordeal to be tied up with a bow, perhaps over a pizza, anything was better than this suspended moment over the cement.

This was going hurt. Virgil had no doubt.

The moment his back crashed into the ground, but before the scream of pain could leave him, Virgil watched as Dee was able to grab a hold of the Dragon Witch. Her wide grin quickly shifted as her magic developed herself and Dee leaving the gaping hole in their home empty.

“VIRGIL!” A chorus sung Virgil’s name as his back snapped against the concrete. Logan stood in the opening, careful of the splintering wood and cracked pipes hissing. Roman and Patton soon joined to locate Virgil’s silhouette below them in the dark driveway.

Patton gasped and quickly left the opening to hurriedly dash down to Virgil’s side. He fumbled with the front door, still locked after they came home early that night. Finally swinging the door open, Patton froze.

“Dee?” Patton watched the dark figure that crouched over Virgil with a light pointedly checking Virgil for injuries. The light flashed at Patton as the person in question looked towards him.

“Patton!” Patton recognized the voice that approached him. Two hands clamped down on his shoulders and now bathed in the dim light of the porch light, Patton could see that it wasn’t Dee.

“Thomas! Oh my goodness! Thomas, please help! There-There was this lady that came in and attacked Roman then went after Virgil and Dee. She was talking about witches then she said something about-“

“I know.” Thomas’ voice was sober as he spoke. Rubbing Patton’s shoulders as Patton attempted to regain a sense of breathing.

Roman and Logan joined them on the porch, Logan immediately pushing past them to Virgil. Roman soothed Patton for a moment as he looked past Thomas to watch Logan help Virgil sit up.

“What happened.” Roman’s eyes darkened. He didn’t like this situation.

“I-I can explain, but first I have to know. Patton-“ Patton looked up at Thomas’ serious tone- “ Have you or Logan… fed Virgil yet?”

Patton sniffled, wiping his face with his sleeves. He nodded after a moment.

“We both did.”

Thomas looked shocked for a moment before nodding his head. He let his hands drop from Patton’s shoulders and turned back to Virgil and Logan in the driveway.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Thomas.” Virgil practically growled at his brother as Logan helped him walk back to the house.

Thomas gave a nervous smile before following everyone into the house.

--

“Rem! What’s going on?! We’ve been trying to contact Thomas all night!” Talyn, almighty Talyn, stomped up to the Original, a pout engraved into their face. Joan and Terrance followed warily behind.

Rem would have laughed at the expression. Rem would have done a lot things in that moment. In fact, if Rem actually did more in any given moment, this very moment wouldn’t have happened. Rem instead sighed, rubbing at his exposed eyes.

“He went back to Virgil.” He mumbled and attempted to side step the humans. They followed his movement, blocking him.

“Virgil?” Joan drawled out the name. They were suspicious of the way Rem spoke.

“Yes, Virgil. Why are you complaining to me about Thomas wanting to look after his brother?”

“Mainly because, you never use Virgil’s full name.” Joan squinted at Rem.

Rem raised an eyebrow at the duo before him before slouching down as he shook his head. He began to speak when his body tensed and his scarlett eyes widened.

Rem’s legs desperately attempted to sprint, his breaths ragged and shallow. He made it to the elevator to the penthouse and aggressively jabbed the button as the golden doors slide open with an eerie ding. The doors began to close behind him, but not before Joan and Talyn slipped in. Rem glared in disapproval, but had no energy to do much else.

Once the doors slid open, the three of the passengers were treated to the devastated scenery. The couch was ripped to shreds, littering stuffing throughout the penthouse. Paintings thrown and smashed, carpet torn up, holes in the wall, and dark red liquid sprinkled about.

Rem lead them out of the elevator in cautious, short steps, scanning the mess. He dipped his fingers in some of the red liquid, but quickly felt a pang of guilt and worry. The liquid was blood and after lifting it to his nose, he knew who’s it was.

“You two should go. Tell the others to pack up as well. It’s not safe here.” Rem turned to the two humans that stood by the elevator door, too shocked by the state of the room to explore any further.

“Are you sure? What the fuck happened?!” Joan gestured widely, understandably concerned.

Before Rem could say more to convince them to go, a whimper echoed from further inside the penthouse.

“Honey, I’m home.” A smooth voice spoke beyond the walls followed by a loud thud.

“Run! It’s the Dragon Witch!” A young, sorry, broken voice screamed out.

“DON’T SPEAK OVER ME!” Scuffling noises erupted throughout the halls.

BAM

A body flew out of the back hallway, colliding with the wall closest to Joan and Talyn.

“What the- Dee?!” Talyn immediately identified the wounded and sputtering form that crumbled to the ground. Dee coughed and gritted his teeth as he pressed into his ribs to relieve the smallest amount of pain from one of the multiple stabs wounds that littered his body. Half of his face, previously scarred, was now raw and bleeding, agonizingly open to touch the cold air of the room.

High heels clicked against the tile then muffled against the carpet as they approached Rem from behind.

“Turn around darling, let me see those eyes I love so much.” The witch spoke. She glided up behind Rem. Rem kept his back to her, refusing to turn. He let his eyes close, wishing that it was all a dream, hoping that the happy ending flickering against his eyelids was reality. He bit his lip, drawing blood. He didn’t want to leave the images in his head, but the people around him, outside of his sweet paradise, needed him more than Rem needed to fulfil his odd obsession of human caffeinated beverages, so he pinched himself back into the present.

“Go. Everyone run.”

“Rem-”

“GO!” Rem’s voice boomed around the startled humans that slowly backed away in hesitation. He could feel her smile at him, slowly draping her arm over his shoulders to hold his chest.

“Oh, how I’ve missed you.” She smiled and pulled Rem into an agonizing turn to face her. She lifted a hand to caress his chin. “Open your eyes, honey. Face me already.”

Rem’s eyes sprung open with the sudden movement of the witch. Her grip was tightening in frustration, in anger, in vengeance.

“Would you look at that, you always did look nastier in person.” Rem gave a half-hearted smirk. If he was going down, at least he won’t let his humor die.

The elevator dinged once more and Rem could practically smell the scent of human and wounded half-blood slowly dissipate as the doors grinded shut.

“Finally. Alone.” Rem playfully sighed. He gripped onto the Dragon Witch’s wrist and pried her away. “Where were we?”

“Nearly 15 years ago? I believe we were right-HERE!” She lunged at Rem, revealing her dagger in her unoccupied hand. Her blade came close to Rem’s shoulder, but his lips collided with her own much faster.

Rem couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as they kissed, feeling the witch tense and try to push him off. Her struggle was frantic, eyes blown-wide, looking deep into Rem’s. After a few second, he released her.

The Dragon Witch immediately stumbled back, bringing her fingertips to her own lip and observed the blood that lifted onto her fingers.

“That’s funny, the last I remembered, you told me that you wanted to sleep with me. But, hun, honestly, you’re just not my type. Your hot, steamy brother on the other hand, he would have made a delicious body pillow.” Rem swayed as well from where he stood. He watched the woman before him stare daggers into his forehead.

“YOU MANIPULATED ME! YOU MADE ME BELIEVE THAT YOU LOVED ME! THEN YOU JUST- LEAVE ME TO DIE? AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU?!” Her voice cracked in despair, hitting a little too close to home for Rem. He tried his best not to flinch at the familiar tone.

“Oh please, I thought I made it obvious. I’m not into women.” Rem admitted. He could feel his legs turning into jelly, his vision twisting and melting.

“My brother… He was going to kill you! I SAVED YOU, I MADE SURE YOU COULD STILL RULE, I-” She shook her head and changed her tone, “you can’t stop me. Only another original can kill me now. Whatever you think you’re doing will slow me down, but i’ll be sure to kill off those pesky witches before I let you win. I will take everything from you!”

Rem couldn’t stand any longer. He fell onto the floor with little effort of stopping himself.

“I don’t know how you made those witches. They felt like yours until that wonder boy bit into them. How-” She actually looked curious, even impress, but quickly snapped out of it, “You’ve grown so weak over the years. By the looks of it, whatever you did to me, is also affecting you. What. did. You. do?” The front of Rem’s shift was pulled up, lifting him off the floor slightly. Rem would have complained, as this was the second time his poor shirt and jacket was stretched like this, but his could feel that he didn’t have the time to say it.

“You and me. Forever.” Rem gave a wink, “See you in dreamworld, hun.”

Blackness greeted Rem’s vision and eternal sleep swallowed his body for the first time in his life.

Chapter Text

Everyone slowly shuffled into the house. Thomas corralling them into the living room, he counted everyone’s head and stopped Virgil as he slumped past him.

“Actually. Uh, Virgil.” Thomas paused as calling out to Virgil caught everyone’s attention, “could I talk to you alone for a second?” Virgil looked suspiciously at his brother.

Virgil gave a reassuring nod to his roommates sitting on the couch and followed Thomas to the kitchen. It wasn’t too far away. Thomas felt that keeping Virgil close to his roommates would help, both could whisper their conversation easily. Thomas hunched over Virgil, blocking the curious eyes from the living room from seeing either of their faces as he began to speak.

The clock in the living room slowly ticked the seconds away. A breeze explored the room from the gaping hole upstairs. Roman and Patton happily curled against each other for warmth while Logan kept his eyes trained on Virgil.

From what he could see, which was still very small, Logan could tell that Virgil was not enjoying the topic.

“No. no no non nnononon. NO!” Virgil gasped, he stretched his arm out as if to keep Thomas away from him.

“Virgil?”

“What’s the matter, kiddo?”

The others rose to Virgil’s level, watching him as he stumbled backwards out of the kitchen. Virgil tried to muster up a glare, something harmful, anything strongly suggested, but fear shined through his eyes at Thomas.

“You can’t do that to me.” Virgil attempted to growl. Thomas stepped closer, causing Virgil to shrink down, “I can’t do that. I’m not ready. I’m not you! I-I can’t-” Virgil curled into himself.

“Breathe.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m here to help. I’m sorry that you don’t like it but-”

“But what?! My opinion doesn’t matter? That you and /Them/ will just do whatever you want anyways?! DO I NOT HAVE A SAY IN MY OWN LIFE!?” Virgil bared his teeth and gathered enough strength to push back at Thomas, face to face, chest to chest.

“I-,” Thomas cleared his throat, turning away, “I didn’t want to do this either. I tried to talk him out of it for years. I knew how much you love your living arrangements, your new life, your….” Thomas looked nostalgically at Virgil's roommates all standing on the opposite side of the counters. “Your family.”

“You’re family too! And even if Rem gets annoying, he’s family!” Virgil took deep, low breaths, “fuck it, where the hell is Rem anyways? I have to talk to him about-”

Thomas placed his palm on Virgil’s chest. It was stern. It was a motion of comfort and of resistance. Virgil scanned Thomas’s expression for explanation.

“Rem can’t-” Thomas tried his voice again, coughing out the quiver in his tone, “Rem can’t be reached right now.”

“What do you mean?” Virgil whipped back towards Thomas, a dull pain running up his spine and nestling behind his fangs.

“Thomas.” Logan took the chance to intervene. “I implore you to explain. Rem is the leader of the clan, correct? Shouldn’t communication within the clan be priority at times of such high stress? Is he aware of the Dragon Witch?”

Thomas nodded his head. He finally let his posture drop. He didn’t need to be The Blood at the moment, nor did he want to be. At this moment, he needed to be a big brother and a friend.

Thomas exhaled, releasing the tension in his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair.

With an empty laugh, he began to explain:

“You’re right, Logan. Communication is key in times of high stress. Rem is fully aware of that. I didn’t say that messages aren’t being passed along… You may not be able to get a hold of him, but he always seems to get a hold of you.” With that, Thomas gestured towards Virgil’s sweater pocket.

A buzzing noise sprung to life from Virgil’s pocket. Virgil jumped in surprise and quickly withdrew the origin of the sound to reveal his phone. He read off of the screen and looked up in curiosity at Thomas before unlocking his phone to read the message he received.

Virgil grew very still.

“Virgil? Kiddo?” Patton slowly approached the frozen vampire. He gave Thomas confused glances, but neither of the vampires were looking to meet anyone’s eyes. Patton reached out to Virgil with soft encouragement under his breath.

Virgil mumbled softly under his breath, letting himself be enveloped by Patton and allow Logan to gently take his phone to read the message that gained Virgil’s reaction.

“What does it say?” Roman trailed behind the group. He tried to look around Logan at the phone.

“I believe that this. This here-” Logan was at a lost of words, only regaining his sense of thought when he met the saddened eyes of Thomas, “This is a will, I believe.”

“What?!” Patton and Roman exclaimed in unison. Patton tightened his grip around Virgil, not seeming to mind the small movements Virgil made to bury his face into Patton’s neck.

“Whose? What? When? Details! Details!” Roman tried to snatch the phone away, but Logan was determined to be the bearer of the news.

“If I’m reading this correcting, which I am, and judging by Thomas’s expression, it is Rem’s, the Original Vampire we met earlier this week. It’s his final wishes for the clan and more specifically, us.”

“Us? As in all of us?” Roman attempted to clarify.

“Yes,” Thomas answered, “Without Rem, it’s not safe here. It’s a known place and Rem wasn’t about making friends, so we don’t have a lot of time until this place is crawling. I’ll save you the time and just say that Rem’s final wish was for Virgil to take half the current clan and find new territory as a new clan’s Blood.”

Minds went spiraling, processing, simulating, recalculating. The silence in the room was oddly busy with thoughts. Roman began to pace with a hand to his chin, Logan reread the message again and again, Patton held onto Virgil tightly, unsure of what this would entail.

“So what’s next?” Virgil finally spoke. He refused to release Patton, Patton’s scent was still sweet and reassuring. He looked over Patton’s shoulder to meet his brother’s eyes.

“Lose the baby teeth and pack up, after that, you decide. You’re the boss now.” Thomas gave a half-hearted shrug and traveled to the couch.

“Lose the baby teeth? What on earth-” Roman started to ask, but a sharp curse from Virgil interrupted.

Thomas tiredly waved towards Logan, “It explains it all on page 7 or something like that.”

Logan scrolled down the message on Virgil’s phone and found what Thomas was referring to:
“Yes, it does give a rather thorough explanation.” Logan confirmed after a quick read of the contents. He lifted his head from the phone when the room went silent.

“Aren’t you going to read it for the rest of us?”

“Oh, why yes. It says: ‘Usually, when a Blood is announced the newest leader, the Original would give their blood to a human to then be bitten and feed the upcoming Blood. After feeding from the human, a drop of Original's venom is given to the vampire, to complete the ceremony. The transference must be quick or else the human and/or vampire may die and the ceremony is incomplete. This filtering of the Original’s blood through a human allows the vampire to take a portion of the Original’s power by making contact with the raw form of Original’s blood and makes them able to withstand the venom that is added soon after.’ How fascinating...”

Thomas took a seat on the couch, tiredly scanning the room before rubbing his face into the palms of his hands. He wished that he could scrub the image out of his head. Just erase this moment. He had practically spent years trying to prevent this only to become an accomplice in the end of it all. Hell, he was the reason the plan was still moving along accordingly while the other dumb-ass took the shortcut out of responsibilities.

“It hurts and not as fun as they say it is,” Thomas gave a laugh at the memory of his ceremony before he continued, “but it gets the job done. Apparently, a long time ago, Blood’s didn’t exist and even longer than that, human’s that gave blood willing were called something completely different. They even were said to have magical abilities and live longer thanks to having Original’s venom, blood and along with a few extra ingredients-”

“Venom, blood and other things? Yuck, who in the world would willing drink all that down?” Roman gagged.

Thomas nearly laughed at Roman’s exaggerated expression, “They didn’t just do full on shots, if that’s what you’re thinking. They would mix into foods, drinks even the humans favorite candy or dessert to mask the taste, or at least making it easier to swallow.”

“Like gum.” An image sparked in Patton’s mind.

A soft voice instructing him, quivering fingers against his mouth, bright amber eyes watching him. /Now swallow/

“In this case, those extra ingredients were in that gum, yes… It was the easiest way to carry potent extracts and make it easier to swallow, oddly enough. That combination however isn't for the ceremony of a New Blood. The combination you're talking about, Patton, with a little bite from a vampire, can turn a human into a… for a lack of better terms, a witch.”

“Pardon me, a what?” Logan jumped in. Disbelief rang in his eyes. First Vampires, now witches? Logan had to stop himself from physically shaking his head at the ridiculous things he’s heard.

“A witch.” Thomas deadpanned answered.

Silence settled in the room again, excluding another soft curse and sudden motion from Virgil.

Without any further interruptions, Thomas completed his thoughts: “Clans were formed by an Original and their witches. Bloods and Alpha’s and such came later… After witches were hunted and utterly destroyed. Originals died out quickly after making large vampire clans, refusing to create more witches in fear of another witch hunt happening. Rem believed that it was time to reintroduce them and dragged me into helping him. He insisted that witches needed to be created or else, as he would say, ‘shit’s gonna hit the fan’ since monster hunting has become an up and coming hobby for humans. He insisted that our clan was too big and stationary for so long that it’s only a matter of time before we’re all found. That’s just the speed round lesson, but long story short,” Thomas rose from his seat, tiredly pointing at Patton and Logan, “You’re witches.”

“What? H-How are they witches? I don’t see any broom sticks and pointy hats!” Roman may have seemed too envious, everyone stared at him in disbelief for a moment as he calmed himself down.

“What the hell is going on?” He finished softly.

Virgil pricked his tongue with his fangs as they began to ache worse.

Chapter Text

The room was left to settle in the thick confusion that swept between them.

Thomas let the friends calm down and comfort each other for a little longer. He could feel his own phone constantly vibrating in his pocket. He ignored it for now, for all he knew, this could very well be the last time he would see his brother.

“Virge, I-” Thomas started to say, but stopped himself. He could see the way Virgil’s eyes were getting wet with tears.

Thomas couldn’t imagine the confusion, stress, and pain Virgil must be feeling suddenly colliding inside himself. Virgil winced once more, bringing a hand up to his mouth.

“How are you doing?” Thomas elected to say instead. Virgil avoided his eyes, but stood still.

Virgil slouched further into himself, an oddly familiar posture for the younger vampire. “What do we do now?” Virgil muttered.

“Well, you can’t stay here.” Thomas waved an arm at the creaking and broken house.

“So… we pack.” Virgil let the words soak deeper, into the carpet, into the cabinets, into the sofa. The house gave a wary groan as if it ached with the thought of them leaving.

With a small step, Logan started, “We’ll go get our things together then,” He straightened his glasses and ushered Patton and Roman to follow.

“Roman.” Thomas grabbed his shoulder. “You stay here.”

Everyone exchanged glances, but lost hope of understanding the older vampire’s wishes and continued up the steps.

“What? Am I not allowed to be with the Witches, or something?” Roman playfully pouted.

“No… Cause you’re gonna be something a little more important.” Thomas gave a guilty glance towards Virgil before reaching into Roman’s pocket.

Roman jumped at the motion, giving a quick ‘hey!’ as Thomas retrieved something then reached it towards Virgil. Virgil held Thomas’ gaze a little longer before taking what was offered to him. Thomas let a small vial softly tumble into Virgil’s hands. Virgil brought the vial up to his face for a closer look.

“No. Please.” Virgil’s eyes began to weld up with tears. “/They/ put that in his pocket, didn’t /they/? Oh gods… No. Thomas- please!” Virgil slowly sunk to his knees, Roman confusedly helping him to the floor.

“What? What is it?” Roman asked Virgil. When he got only sobs and Virgil cradling him closer, Roman knew he wasn’t getting an answer from him.

“Roman.” Roman directed his full attention to Thomas. “You are going to be the one to help Virgil…” Thomas looked as though he was about to choke on tears as well, but continued, “You are the one to help Virgil turn into The Blood. You need to take what’s in that vial and let Virgil drink from you so he can become The Blood of the new clan.”

Roman looked at the vial Virgil was clinging to against his chest. His mind grinding gears to put the thoughts together. He went to reach for the vial, but Virgil jerked it away, holding it tighter and pulling Roman closer into a hug. It finally clicked.

“I’m gonna be the ceremony human...The one Logan read about to us?” Roman said softly. Virgil nodded his head against Roman’s shoulder, undoubtedly rubbing his tears into Roman’s clothes.

“D-do we have to?” Virgil didn’t lift his head, “I can already feel my fangs coming in. I’ll lose the baby teeth like you said. I’ll be a developed Alpha! Please. Please! Leave Roman alone!” Virgil finally tore his head up to meet Thomas’s eyes.

Red streaks of blood ran down Virgil’s chin from his aching teeth. His lips stained with the bright hue. Just from the color of the vampire's blood, Thomas could tell Virgil had drank from Logan and Patton earlier like he said he did.

It was odd seeing a bright color against the pale skin and dark, somber eyes. The stolen iron allowing a vampire’s blood to be so crimson. It was odd to see how alive the shaking fist with the vial buried within it looked. How the sweatshirt Virgil loved so much was torn to show his shaking form with each sob. Unlike his body, his tears were warm against Roman. It was odd.

The last time Thomas saw his brother cry like this. In defeat. In exhaustion. It was before he left the clan’s headquarters to live as a human. It was in front of Rem and himself. The shock that electrified the room that day was nearly incapacitating. The highest ranking Hunter of the clan, returning without a scratch but covered in his enemies flesh. No. Not even his enemies… the clans enemies. He was done. Virgil was begging for an escape… either from the hunting… or the clan altogether.

Was this a cruel way of punishing him for leaving? Thomas suddenly thought. We give him freedom, then make him an exile. Thomas shook his head, he knew that wasn’t it. Rem wanted Virgil to succeed. That would be impossible if he were hunted and killed. Rem wanted Virgil to escape with the best treasure Rem could think of… the clan.

“It’s the only-”

“I’ll do it.” Roman interrupted Thomas.

“Roman, please, I’m trying to help you stay as humanly as possible. I can’t let all my friends forced out of their human living.” Virgil tried to convince Roman. Roman shook his head and gently took the hand the vial was in and pulled it towards himself.

“I want to be helpful. This whole time, I felt as though I was simply in the background or the totally in the way. I tried over and over to help you, but it never seemed to work. This,” Roman looked at the vial in Virgil’s unraveling hand, “this is how I can finally help.”

“Roman…” Virgil let out a whisper.

“It’s my time to shine. What’s the worst that can happen, anyway?” Roman finally could take the vial from Virgil and turn it over in his hands.

“You could die.” Logan added from the top of the stairs.

“Oh hush. Virgil wouldn’t let that happen,” Roman hoped. He gave Virgil a gentle squeeze, “Right?”

Virgil gave a small nod and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. His retractable fangs were piercing his gums, slowly cutting through to the surface so they can lay behind his kanines like Thomas’... like all the other Alphas.

“What do I do, Thomas? Just drink this then feed Virgil?” Roman looked at the vial in his hands, now warmed from the stolen warmth it received through his jacket pocket.

“That’s all you have to do, the rest is on Virgil.” Thomas explained.

Roman gave one last glance at the vial before unscrewing the cap. He held it to his lips as he scanned the room around him. Patton with bags of belongings coming down the stairs, Logan watching from the bottom of the steps. Thomas standing above Roman and Virgil.

Roman closed his eyes. He hoped the scene before him would be engraved in his mind.

He tilted his head back and felt the Original’s blood slip down his throat.

It burned.

Chapter Text

The hectic movements. The voices swirling. Humming of an engine turning into bumps on the road. The bright headlights illuminating the dark road ahead.

Thomas had left with an older member of the clan, leaving a black van in the driveway after giving Virgil the final ingredient to become The Blood, the Original’s venom. It was done. The clans were divided and Virgil was the leader of the newest generation.

Virgil cursed again. His grip on Patton’s shirt tightened as another wave of pain collided inside of his skull. Patton rubbed his back and offered another washcloth to Virgil.

Virgil took it, discarding the one he was using to catch the blood coming from his mouth.

“How long does this usually last, do you know?” Logan looked in the rear view mirror of the van they were given to the open back where Patton, Virgil, and Roman laid.

“I don’t know… I never met another conditional alpha before, I just read about it.” Virgil lowered the towel from his mouth to look at the new red blotches soaking into the fabric. After feeding from Roman, his newer fangs made a full appearance, tearing through his gums behind his duller, smaller fangs. The bleeding was coming to a stop, but the unbearable burning from drinking filtered Original’s blood was agonizing. Virgil could feel the blood coursing through him, making parts of his body warm, before flashing pain then fading.

Roman seemed to be fine now, Virgil noted. Unconscious after fighting to stay awake the moment he drank from the vial, Roman did his part.

“Don’t worry too much, the bleeding is done. It’s just the pain from the Original’s blood and venom, but that’s also going away.” Virgil comforted, noticing the growing concern on Logan’s face as he steered them away from their old home.

“Where to now?” Patton fiddled with the ends of his sweater he had wrapped around his shoulders.

“It’s a long ride from here, but if Rem knew this was going to happen, everyone was already on the move way before Thomas came.” Virgil sat up taller, letting the bumpy road rock him side-to-side. “Just get us on the freeway going north, I’ll let you know when we’re close.”

Logan nodded, feeling the weight of the van on the steering wheel as he pointed them towards the long stretch of road.

“Oh no.” Logan’s voice grew cold as he slowed the van down. The tall medical center towered over them and the filled parking lot as they drove past. The entrance of the building was against the back of two figures staring down the large crowd of people emerging from the cars in the parking lot. Guns, blades, and torches rose up in the hands of the crowd. The two figures in the doorway seemed calm, but so small.

“Hunters.” Virgil scrambled to the empty passenger seat of the van, peering out the window to see the scene before him. The crowd of people were there to do away with the clan. Virgil squinted his eyes to see better and found Thomas staring back from the entrance.

“Wait! Stop- Stop the car!” Virgil yelped. Logan pulled over on the opposite side of the street behind some bushes to keep distance. Virgil watched closely. Thomas gave a shy wave then pointed to the person next to him. Dee stood, slightly hunched and roughly banadaged, but standing.

“Open the door.” Virgil gestured to the large back sliding door in front of Patton. Without hesitation, Patton heaved the door open.

“Oh! It’s Dee! He’s okay!” Patton’s voice grew light and cheerful.

Dee’s posture straightened and he seemed to ask Thomas something. Thomas nodded slipping something into Dee’s hands then stepping forward between Dee and the crowd of hunters. The doors to the building peeled back to reveal more vampires, but only one stepped out.

Joel put Dee over his shoulder then dashed away. In a second, tops, Joel appeared beside the van with Dee. Patton happily welcomed Dee into the back of the van next to Roman.

“Do I know you?” Patton turned towards Joel. Joel jumped in surprise, but shook his head suspiciously fast after catching eye contact with Virgil.

“Joel, I’m sorry-” Virgil began to say, but Joel simply shook it off.

“Congrats on being the newest Blood. You’ll be a great leader.” Joel held his hand out. Virgil sighed sadly and took it, giving it a nice shake as a goodbye.

“Be safe.”

“Of course, you drive safely.” Joel gave a small smirk then turned back to the conflict that awaited him, “and Virgil, come visit once this is over, okay?”

Virgil gave a soft smile back and a slow nod. “I will.”

Joel’s smile widened before he blurred into motion and disappeared.

Patton closed the door and Logan let the van roll farther down the street.

“It’s odd nothing has happened yet, it seems rather tense.” Logan added before the building hid behind the cityscape.

“The hunters won’t do anything outside with humans around, it’s too much trouble. The fighting will happen indoors most likely.” Virgil’s eyes fell onto his twitching feet. He didn’t like that he knew what was going to happen.

He vowed to return once the rest of the… his clan was situated and safe. He had to do that much at least for Thomas and, as much as he hated to admit it, also for Rem.

“It’s good to have you back, buddy.” Virgil gave Dee a pat on the shoulder. “You look like shit though.”

Dee chuckled, “You should have seen the other guy.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, The Original totally defeated her. Hands down.”

“Really?” Patton’s surprise slipped in his voice.

“No. I was thrown at a wall the moment things were finally getting interesting.” Dee sarcastically replied.

“Being kidnapped by the Dragon Witch isn’t interesting enough for you?” Virgil playfully bantered.

Dee gave a tired smile, rubbing his chest before bringing a hand up to his face where bandages covered half of it.

“No new injuries, just old ones reopened.” Dee said absently. Virgil winced at the comment. “How is everyone else?”

“We are witches!” Patton happily added, pointing at Logan and himself.

“Oh. That explains a lot.”

“You know about witches?” Logan questioned.

“A little bit. I remember when I was human, Virgil had the option to turn me or make me a witch.” Dee explained, giving a glance at Virgil.

“What?! Virgil, you turned someone?! Dee, you were human?!” Patton scooted forward on the floor, intrigued by the peek into Virgil’s and Dee’s past.

Dee looked over at Virgil, silently asking if he should continue. Virgil pressed into his temples, partially from a fading shock of pain but also from knowing his headache was only going to get worse.

“Yeah. I use to have the choice, but at the moment, we were low on time, so I turned him.” Virgil gave a very quick and snappy summary.

“I was technically his first clan member.” Dee put a spin of happiness into the dark events of his past. He actually took great pride not only being the first, but the only member for the longest time. Patton gave a small smile to the thought and chose not to pry any further.

“What about Roman?” Dee noticed the limp body laying next to him, “is he a witch too?”

“No, he was the ceremony human.” Virgil answered, crawling over to reposition Roman to a comfier spot on the floor.

Dee gave a long impressed whistle, “wow, that’s even better.”

“It is?” Logan turned onto the freeway.

“Ceremony humans are as human as you can get from coming to contact with vampire blood, but since it’s The Originals, you tend to have a little advantage. Healing faster is the most common one.” Dee poked at Roman before his hand was playfully slapped away by Virgil.

“Fascinating.” Logan mumbled under his breath. He wished he could write this all down, but both hands on the wheel, he reminded himself.

“Not as cool as you guys, though. Found out any cool abilities, yet?” Dee asked Patton, who looked at his hands as if he expected sparkly magic puffs to reveal themselves.

“Not yet.” Patton pouted.

“Well, you guys will have more space and time to figure it out once we get to the new clan location.” Virgil gave a small huff, trying not to laugh at Patton’s reaction.

“Where is that?” Dee asked Virgil.

“It’s a small town about five hours from here.” Virgil plainly said, not giving any major details yet.

“Is that where-” Dee started to say, but grew quiet after Virgil glared at him. “Oh, gotcha-” Dee gave a mischievous grin.

“What?! I wanna know!” Patton whined out.

“As do I, since I will be driving us there.” Logan added, being snarky with his comment.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you where to go, Logan, once we get closer.” Virgil comforted the worrying nerd at the wheel.

“Oh, you’re gonna love it.” Dee smirked at Patton. Patton only whined more.

“Good to know that you are all having fun without me, again.” Roman’s hoarse voice piped in.

“Roman! How are you feeling?” Virgil helped Roman sit up.

“My head is throbbing, but I’m doing better.” He rubbed his head before looking around, “Am I getting kidnapped again or something? Why are we in a van?” Roman tried cracking a joke.

“We are going to the new clan location.” Virgil updated him.

“So soon? And when did you get here?” Roman poked at Dee, who tried to poke him back.

Logan smiled at the scene reflected in the rear view mirror. It was happy, humbled scenario, but Logan was happy to see everyone together at least. Having Dee come along had only peaked Logan’s interest in Virgil’s past. Something that he never thought he would be so insistent to learn about, but after what had happened, he felt he deserved that much.

Dee and Roman’s playful rivalry blossomed and Patton was happy to have his kiddos back in one piece, for the most part.

“Oh! Virgil,” Patton caught the sleepy vampire’s attention, “can I get a hug?”

Virgil was slightly taken aback by the request, but complied, opening his arms for Patton to collide with him. Patton gave a sturdy, happy hug.

“I’ll keep my promise, Rem.” Patton whispered into Virgil’s chest.

“What was that, Patton?” Virgil asked after noticing Patton making noise.

“Oh nothing. I’m just happy I can hug you again, Kiddo!” Patton gave a large smile and squeezed Virgil a little harder.

[The End]

Chapter Text

The large medical building loomed over the vampires and the human hunters.

Their stare down was cold and calculated.

Thomas gave a curt motion towards the lobby and began to walk back inside. He hoped that they could talk it out, but the large weapons in the Hunters' hands and against their hips spoke about a different type of conversation.

"It's kinda funny that you vampires would run a medical company." One of the older Hunters' responded the moment they all shuffled into the lobby.

After Thomas nodded at a few vampires that began to retreat, he responded, "Oh, I agree... very ironic, really." Thomas hid his nervousness behind a smile.

The silence that followed was stifling, thick, and cold. Everyone was on edge, uncertain of the outcome.

"So, why are you all here?" Thomas asked, looking between the faces in the crowd of Hunters.

"We've heard that you and your group of strays are getting out of hand." The older Hunter responded, tightening his grip on his shotgun.

"Strays?" Thomas cocked his head to the side in confusion. "We are clan of over a thousand vampires."

The Hunters all seemed confused by this too, "Our intel says otherwise."

"Where do you get your intel? I mean, I know that we haven't be exemplary as a clan, but nothing that should require this type of action." He calmly stated as the hairs on the back of Thomas' neck rose.

"Whose you're Alpha then?"

"That would be me, technically. Our Original is not available at the moment..." Thomas replied quickly, hoping that the confusion would be resolved and the Hunters would be on their way.

"Original? You mean a First One?" The leading Hunter shifted on his feet. At the very least, he was attempting to communicate, Thomas thought.

"He's the one that started this clan. He is the oldest of us all here, so I guess you could call him a First One..."

"Why ain't he available?"

Thomas tensed. He couldn't just tell them what had transpired in the last week... That would probably make things even more tense.

"He's... he's sleeping right now." Thomas chose to say instead.

"Not much of a leader if he's doing that right now..." Another Hunter piped in, giving a disgusted face.

"No kidding..." The main Hunter scoffed. "So then, where's the rest of your 'clan', kid." Thomas twitched at being called a kid, but let it slide. It was the least hurtful thing the Hunter could be doing right now.

"In the lower levels..." Thomas looked towards the elevator.

"This building only has one basement in the blue prints..." The Hunters mumbled between each other. "You ain't lying now, are you?!" The Hunters' ceremoniously stared down Thomas.

"Absolutely not, if possible, I would like to clear up this whole situation and - " Before Thomas could finish, one of the Hunter's dropped with an echo of a gunshot and the reverb of a distance explosion.

To Be continued.....

NEW SEQUEL

'Ally of the Fangs'

COMING SOON!