Chapter Text
It was another horrible morning.
Not that Tommy expected anything less than cloudy skies and gross rain from this city. In fact, he couldn’t quite remember the last time the weather forecast in Manburg was sunny.
All the other animals get to go and hide when the weather outside is shitty, but humans just decided to fight all natural instincts and now he had to go to work today. Which he did, even if he hated his job.
“Can I get a caramel macchiato, with soy milk please?” a short dude in a blue beanie that covered his eyes told him. Tommy hated these customers, who clearly had eyes under that mop of hair yet couldn’t seem to use them to read the menu.
He had literally written that they were out of soy milk in big bold letters, and they didn’t even serve caramel macchiatos, they didn’t even exist. It was called a latte macchiato, which anyone would know if they went anywhere except for Starbucks.
“I’m sorry, sir, but we are currently out of soy milk.” Tommy put on his best customer service voice. “And we also do not serve caramel macchiatos.” The boy, who couldn’t be more than 16, glared at him, and for a second, Tommy saw his eyes flash red. Great, this brat was a vampire.
He didn’t care all that much. It’s not like every vampire he met was one of those bloodthirsty monsters running the city. Covens were the ones in power. At this point, there was more infighting in and between covens then there was between humans and vampires.
But this little child was irking him. Maybe Tommy shouldn’t call him a child, he was only 18, and for all he knew this kid was 400.
“Well I came here last week, and there was soy milk! So fix it.” Oh, he was definitely a child, and an incompetent one. Also a liar, because they have never had soy milk at this establishment. They always just lie and say they are out so customers stop being bitches.
The little man was staring straight at him now, red eyes in full view. Tommy wasn’t a coward, and he wouldn’t back down from a fight. Then he imagined the gaze of his manager behind him, maybe he should back down, just a little.
“We are truly sorry for our lack of soy milk, but if dairy is the problem we have a multitude of substitutes including oat milk.”
The emo kid/old man looked taken aback. Like ‘How dare you suggest I drink oat milk like a peasant.’ It’s not like Tommy dealt with this shit every single day or anything.
“I prefer soy milk. It’s healthier!” It wasn’t but ok. “I’ll just take my business to another establishment if you can’t give me what I want!”
Tommy smirked and waved him goodbye. “Close the door on your way out. We don’t want rain creatures getting in.” He looked deeply offended, and Tommy couldn’t bring himself to care.
The beanie man boy left angrily and Tommy went on to the next, normal costumers. He fell back into a simple cashier-at-a-coffee-shop routine, free of asshole costumers.
He really did hate his job, he didn’t even get free food on his breaks. All the money was for two things; saving up to move out of the city and get the hunters off their backs.
You might ask ‘Tommy, you aren’t a vampire, why worry about hunters?’ The answer is simple, dear friend. His roommate Tubbo is.
A hunter, not a vampire of course. Tubster had defected from the association of hunters because he had found about the fucked up things they do. Vampires might do fucked up things, but like, is it that bad?
There was a lot of philosophical debates and sleepless night over this. In the end, Tubbo left the association and they’ve been on the run since. But it’s not all bad.
They’ve never been attacked by a coven before, and Tommy’s only ever run into low-level or covenless vampires. The whole system was wack. The stupidest part was that anyone could be a sire.
“Huh?” The woman in front of him had said while he was processing her order. Mustv'e said that out loud.
"Sorry ma'am." She dismissed it, so Tommy went back to his internal monologue.
Basically, a sire and their direct relatives are just that, family. But once these few turn some people, that's a coven. And if those turned turn people, those are low levels and they often leave for another coven or ditch the system all together.
Tommy didn't blame them. He would hate being forced to change his own biology and join some stupid family. It would be even worse to be turned by direct family. There was no escape from the coven at that point. Your instincts are completed bound to a guy you've never met before.
It was all so stupid. All this vampire shit, plus a shitty government that didn't do shit equaled a shitty life in Manburg. What could he do but go back to the monotonous work of his coffee shop job.
Which he did. Man, fuck Mondays.
——————————————
He got off work around three. Which was way too long of a shift but whatever. Tommy left the shop and headed straight to his flat, watching his back as he went.
You never know.
The front door of the building appeared before he knew it. The lifts were still broken, so stairs up to the fifth floor it was.
Tommy began his ascent, incredibly tired, and reached about the third floor before he bumped into a figure sprinting down the stairs.
He had been carrying far too many bags for one man to hold. Likely why he stumbled into him.
The stranger apologized quickly until they made eye contact and Tommy found himself staring at a frazzled Tubbo.
“Tubzo, what the fuck?”
“I-me-they’re, fuck!”
Tommy grabbed the panting boy by his shoulders. He had no idea what was being said.
“Calm down. Breathe. What’s up?”
Tubbo made a massive inhaling gesture and started. “The hunters are on my tail again. We gotta go!”
They’ve been on their tail plenty of times. Almost all the time actually. They’d be fine. Yet, Tubbo continued.
“Plus, there’s a coven working with the association temporarily to get me. Get us.”
Well that was certainly a lot more shitty.
“Yeah, yeah. You are definitely right bossman, we gotta go!”
Tommy took a few of Tubbo’s bags, not even bothering risking the time to go back. Every second was precious. It was much less boring than the coffee job, but Tommy wasn’t sure he liked it.
They raced back down the stairs to the first floor lobby and froze at the sight of a man looking rather out of place.
He had long, pink hair and a heavy red cape that flowed in the nonexistent wind. The man stood tall and carried a sword far taller than Tommy.
He would have assumed this man was going to a medieval convention if not for his glare. When the pair dared take a breath, the man shot a death glance their way, and Tommy saw the red eyes.
Shit, shitty shit shit. This was the guy.
Tubbo was whispering to himself. “I thought we had more time.” Over and over again as the man dragged his sword across the floor and drew near.
Tommy wanted to do something, to fight. But with his feet frozen in place and his skinny noodle arms he stood no chance.
The man spoke once he was in stabbing distance. “I assume you are the nerds I was tasked to search for.” Rude.
“There’s two things we can do here.” He held up two fingers for emphasis. “One; you guys can follow me. That’s the easy way. Two; I kick your asses and drag you back. That’s the hard way. Which way do you wanna go?”
Tubbo responded before Tommy could even think of a snarky remark. “We’ll take the easy way, mister.”
“Tubbo! We’re supposed to fight or some shit.”
The vampire grabbed hold of both their wrists, Tommy tried to yank back but the man had an iron grip.
“I dunno. We’d totally lose a fight.”
Tommy suddenly felt a strange sensation in his body as the whole world zapped away.
In an instant it reappeared, in a completely different location. Holy shit he just teleported.
Wait. Vampires can teleport?
“Yeah, but we don’t really like telling people, and it’s kinda hard.”
And he said that out loud too. He really needed to work on his filter. Tubbo stood right where he left him, staring out at something.
Tommy decided to look around as well. The appeared to be in some kind of mansion. One of those rich fancy homes with a big entrance and a bunch of windows. The vampire, still grasping their wrists, led them through the foyer of his stupid ass coven house. They took a turn down one hallway and another, all lined with expensive looking random ass objects.
The man made a sudden sharp turn to the left into some kind of living room. Tommy collided with him and Tubbo. The vampire let go of them and they fell to the floor. He wanted to get up quickly and started throwing hands, but it probably wouldnt' do well for anyone.
There was another vampire in the room who looked just like the one that kidnapped them, only with shorter brown hair. His eyes laid on one more vampire in the room and his stomach dropped. Tommy immediately recognized Death when he saw it.
Death was the vampire that led the Slumbering Coven, one of the smallest yet most powerful covens in all of Manburg. He honestly couldn't believe the hunters cared enough about Tubbo to hire these fucks.
Death spoke, in a pleasant tone no less. "I see our guests have arrived. You can show them to their rooms Techno, I'll call the association."
The other vampire chanted in singsong voice. "We're gonna get paid, it gonna be great."
Tommy hardly noticed when they had shadow-jumped/teleported/whatever the fuck vampires did. They ended up in a small room with no windows, doors, or way out. The bitch that kidnapped them, who was apparently named Techno, left without another word.
Tommy sat paralyzed in shock. It was surprising how quickly these guys worked. How the hunter association would be here soon to take back their deserter. He looked over at Tubbo, who was probably thinking the same thing.
"Tubzo, just so you know this shit isn't your fault."
Tubbo let out an exasperated cry. "Of fucking course it is. I made the dumbass decision that ended us up here."
"You didn't make any decsion. We did. A.K.A. not your fault. Our fault. Like communism."
Tubbo laughed. One point for Tommy. "Still, I roped you into this shit."
Honestly, Tommy didn't even know why he was here. He wasn't sure why the hunters decided to hire Death either but both were besides the point. "Ehh. I wanted to follow you anyway."
Tubbo must not have had a comeback to that, because he sprawled out on the floor after and stared at the ceiling. Like any good bestie, Tommy joined him.
He did have a question. "What do they even want with me?"
"I dunno. They probably think they can use you to get to me."
"Maybe."
They fell into silence again. Just staring at the ceiling, like bros do. Tommy had a lot on his mind and nothing to do about it. The walls provided no stimulation. Just dirty, boring white only interupted by a single vent. Vent?
"We should totally escape, Tubbo. Like, it'll be so cool."
Tubbo sat up, confused until his eyes followed Tommy's and he saw the vent as well.
"But bossman. How will we get up there?"
-----------------------------------
They got up there. He doesn't wanna talk about in. The vent had came off easily and the ventilation system was fairly wide and straightforward. It felt too easy.
He approached the first fork in the road, but he could see light out the right side. Tommy had tugged Tubbo along and punched out the other vent.
The pair dropped to the floor. Only ten or so feet but the thud they made was loud as shit.
"C'mon, get up! We gotta go again."
They had landed in one of the bougie-ass hallways they walked through. So, they must've been close to the exit.
"Way ahead of you Tommy."
Tubbo had ran ahead and taken a left turn down the hall when Tommy heard a noise close by. Then footsteps. He ran after Tubbo.
"Don't worry big man, I'm right behind you." The footsteps turned to running and Tommy froze. He had a split second to make a decision. Run after Tubbo and let them both be caught, or cause a distraction and let Tubbo escape.
Tommy chose the latter, and knocked over some ancient looking vase. The clatter it made was ever louder that their thud. He heard Tubbo's steps getting farther and watched as that third vampire from before came bolting down the hallway.
Distraction sufficeint. Tommy ran like his life depended on it, and it really did.
Unluckily, the vampire fucker was fast as shit and within a few seconds had caught up to him. The prick had opened his mouth to say something when a foggy haze settled over him.
Tommy had a few moments of awareness to realize he was being thralled. Which was shit, in case you weren’t aware.
“Stop.”
He stopped.
“Turn around.”
He turned.
“Come here Tommy.”
He walked.
The vampire cupped his cheek with one hand, smiling like a little bitch. Awareness and control had come back to Tommy, but he was in no position to run.
“How are you, Tommy?”
Tommy smacked the hand away from his face. “How the fuck do you know my name? I don’t know yours!”
The vampire contemplated. “My name is Wilbur, or Will once you get to know me.”
“What the fuck do you want!”
Wilbur dismissed his question. “If you’re concerned about your friend, he’s hardly escaped. If the hunters haven’t gotten to him yet, Schlatt will get him on the way out.”
Huh?
“Oh, you probably know him as the Ram. He’s been looking for a new changeling, and so have we.”
That made even less sense. Changelings were what vampires turned by the sire were called. Why that involved him, he had no idea. Unless, shit!
“Nope! You are not fucking turning me into your shitty ass coven. I do not consent! I have a job, it’s very important.”
Wilbur grabbed both his shoulders and held him in place. “Oh I know. We’ve been watching you for quite a while. You’ll fit in here perfectly.”
Tommy yanked himself back. “Well I don’t want to!”
He tried to make a run for it but one turn and his leg was swiped from under him. As Tommy came crashing down, he let out a sob he had been holding in. This was wrong, he didn’t want this.
And Tubbo. Fuck, he was probably doing the same. Wilbur picked up by the chin and drew him in.
“You will fit in here, and you will learn to love it.” Tommy let out a shuddered breath. “No matter how many decades it takes.”
No, no, no!
“Now, it’s time to say hello to dad.”