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Hiccup went down the hallway before he turned for the stairs. He made his way up to the attic, heading for the roof window which he opened slowly, feeling the chilly wind as it got into the room and caressed his freckled cheeks. It felt nice and calming. But he was not here to relax. He was far from doing anything like that. And so, he climbed up onto the roof and closed the window behind him.
"I thought I'd find you here," the auburn said upon seeing a young redhead man sitting on the other side of the rooftop, his legs dangling over the edge.
"Why are you even looking for me?" the man, Dagur, asked, amusement in his voice.
"Dad said I have to look after you. What else?" the auburn replied, sounding bothered before he carefully approached Dagur and sat down next to him, though he still kept his distance.
Hiccup's father, Stoick, was currently having a meeting with Dagur's dad, Oswald, down in the living room. Their fathers were friends but also business partners, and they always held their meetings at each other's houses. And for some reason, they always brought along their sons. It did not matter how important the meeting was, and whether it was about money, family, or issues related to their respective gangs. Hiccup and Dagur were always there. That was how the two got to know each other, and they never got along since day one.
Dagur huffed. "He still thinks I'm a misbehaved kid, huh? Constantly running off?"
"And aren't you?"
"I'm not a kid."
"Well, you still misbehave and run off, so there's not much difference," Hiccup remarked with a shrug. That was one reason why Stoick always brought Hiccup to these meetings. So he could keep an eye on Dagur and prevent any trouble from happening.
Dagur rolled his eyes at Hiccup's words. There was silence between the two now, which felt awkward. Hiccup turned his gaze up, watching the stars as they started appearing above them since the sun was already set, while Dagur drew in a breath from his vape before releasing the thick sweet smoke into the air.
"Why didn't you fly up here?" Dagur broke the silence, turning his eyes towards the younger guy.
Hiccup looked back at him, his eyes meeting Dagur's. He felt a shiver go down his spine at the sight of those deep emerald eyes which looked as if they were glowing in the dark. They most likely were. Hiccup hasn't seen them in quite some time, seemingly forgetting how much they frightened him.
"I'm more used to being on my feet," Hiccup replied and shrugged.
"You say you take that over flying?" Dagur asked confused, his eyebrows furrowed.
Hiccup sighed. "You know I'm not as good of a flier as you, pure vampires, are."
"But you can fly!"
"Yes, I can, but I suck at it!" Hiccup explained. He brought his knees to his chest as if to hide and protect himself. Dagur found that quite adorable.
"Do you wish you could fly better?" the redhead asked curiously before he let out another cloud of smoke from his lips.
"Sometimes?" Hiccup replied. "Not really. I don't miss it that much. I might not be able to fly since I'm partly human, but at least I get the best of both worlds by also being a half-vampire. And living as a human isn't actually all that bad, you know?"
Dagur began to chuckle at Hiccup's words before he couldn't hold in his laughter. Hiccup glared at him.
"You're funny, I'll give you that! What do you even find so appealing about humans?" he asked before he leaned closer. "Do you enjoy having them around for their wonderful smell?" he teased.
"What? No!" the auburn cried, moving further from the redhead. "I can't even sense it like you do unless I literally shove my face into their skin."
" Oh? " Dagur raised a brow, lips turning up in a smirk. "You got experience with that, brother ?"
Hiccup turned his head away to hide his flushed cheeks. He didn't want to talk about his personal life with someone like Dagur, and he especially refused to talk about the time he smelled his girlfriend's neck for the first time and had to fight the urge to bite her. His girlfriend, Astrid, didn't even know he was partly a vampire back then. "That's none of your business," he hissed. "And I'm not your brother."
Dagur laughed lightly at Hiccup's reaction. "I think it's a bummer that you don't embrace your vampiric side more. You have no idea what you're missing out on."
"I can't exactly embrace it considering I took more after my human mum. I just don't have the traits like you do," he explained. "Only night vision, not much need for sleep, stronger senses, speed, sensitivity to sun… Hey, at least I can actually go into the sun and not burn to a crisp in it like you do," he teased back.
Dagur rolled his eyes. "Well, you can't really fly, climb walls, run super fast and you're not strong. So you're missing out on a lot ."
"Well, I don't need to kill people in order to survive like you do!" Hiccup raised his voice, annoyed.
They went silent again as they were looking at each other, both visibly angry. Dagur turned his gaze away and drew another breath from his vape.
"We don't kill humans anymore… unfortunately," Dagur muttered the last word so Hiccup wouldn't hear. "After your dad got with a human, he and Oswald agreed upon obtaining human blood only in ethical ways from donors. So our whole gang hasn't been hunting humans for years," he explained.
Hiccup listened, then huffed. "I thought it was only like a few years ago when your gang got in trouble for killing someone in the woods. And the body was found shriveled up without a single drop of blood. I was sure you were to blame too."
Dagur growled, his eyes taking on a more orange shade. "That was a long time ago and I wasn't even involved!"
"Yeah, sure you weren't…"
"I wasn't! Not to mention I'm a loner when it comes to actual hunting!"
"So you admit that you still hunt?" Hiccup provoked.
"No! Well- yes, but not humans!"
Hiccup wanted to tease him more, but upon seeing how angry he became and how his eyes changed color, he decided not.
Dagur turned away and took a long breath from his vape to calm his nerves. He did that a few times, closed his eyes, and exhaled the smoke, enjoying the chill of the cold air around them on his skin. Hiccup was kind of impressed by how quickly the redhead had calmed down and didn't get violent.
A few more minutes of tense silence remained.
"Sooo… how's school going for you?" Hiccup eventually spoke, trying to keep up the conversation and ease the mood.
"I'm actually trying this semester. It's been kinda useless so far but it's not nothing."
Hiccup nodded at that. That was a change. He only knew Dagur as a rebel who refused to do anything anyone told him to do. "That's nice to hear…"
More silence.
"You?"
"Well, uh, you know, the usual. A's and a few B's here and there…" Hiccup answered.
Dagur chuckled at that. "You got worse, brother," he teased.
"Hey!" the auburn frowned, looking hurt by those words, even though he knew Dagur was just messing with him.
"You know what I think would help you?" Dagur spoke after thinking for a moment, fidgeting with the vape in his fingers.
"Help with what? My grades?"
"No. With awaking the vampire inside of you. Come on!" Dagur specified while nudging Hiccup’s elbow with his knuckles, and got to his feet.
Hiccup rolled his eyes and stood up with a grunt before he turned the other way. "Don't start with this again."
"No, please! You haven't even given me a chance! It's gonna be fun!"
"Every time you wanna do something fun with me it ends with both of us in trouble. So no."
"I was like that three years ago. I've changed."
Hiccup gave Dagur a suspicious look. He then turned to face him, folding his arms over his chest. "I doubt that."
Dagur sighed. "Look, I'm not gonna take you hunting or to meet up with my fellows, or the gang, or spook some random people on the street, or cause any other trouble. I promise. I just wanna show you how magical this vampire life that you're so afraid of can be."
Hiccup watched as Dagur slowly offered him his hand. He still didn't trust him. "I'm not afraid of it, I'm rather disgusted by it," Hiccup specified. "Not to mention I was told to make sure you won't run off again, so…"
"You can still keep an eye on me though," Dagur smiled. The smile wasn't evil like it usually was. It was playful and welcoming. Hiccup was hesitant. He knew he shouldn't accept Dagur's offer, but there was also this voice in the back of his head telling him to use the opportunity to enjoy the vampiric side of himself after such long suppression.
"Fine," he sighed eventually, accepting the offer and placing his hand into Dagur's. It was ice cold. That was nothing new.
"You won't regret this," Dagur said excitedly, and before Hiccup had the chance to say or do anything, he was dragged over the rooftop where Dagur took him in the air, landing on the next rooftop and ran over the houses into the night.
* * * * *
"How about you try it on your own?" Dagur suggested after he let go of Hiccup's hand and leaped over a big gap between two rooftops. They have been running over the top of the town for a while, now finding themselves in the center of the city of Berk.
"I told you I can't fly!"
"You said you could a little! And this doesn't really require flying!"
Hiccup looked down at the gap between the houses. The distance was at least 5 meters, and the ground was three floors below. If he falls…
"I don't think I-"
"Well now you're just scared," Dagur didn't let him finish.
"Of course I am!" Hiccup snarled back.
"Hiccup, you're gonna be fine. You just go back a bit and take up some speed before you make that long jump, okay?" he reassured. "I'll catch you."
Hiccup looked at that gap, then back at Dagur. He knew Dagur was right. This shouldn't be that big of a deal. He was partly vampire after all. Although the image of landing in Dagur's arms wasn't really something to look forward to.
The auburn backed up a few feet, then stopped, taking in a deep breath. He had to go all out in order to make it. If he got scared and slowed down, he would only mess this up. He took another deep breath before he rushed forward and leaped at the edge of the roof. He didn't look down at the street below out of fear, and in the next moment, he felt his feet land and found himself standing on the other side of the gap, Dagur gently holding him. The gentle hold then turned into a tight hug.
"You did it, Hiccup! You did amazing!" he laughed with pride before he let go.
"You don't have to shout!" Hiccup warned him in a loud whisper. "There are people below us."
"Doesn't matter if we flee right away," Dagur giggled before he ran forward again and jumped to the next rooftop.
Hiccup didn't have a choice other than to follow him. After a few more jumps, he found himself smiling as he leaped over a much bigger gap and watched the people walking below him. It filled him with adrenaline and excitement. He suddenly understood why Dagur found so much joy in running right above people's heads like this.
They ran over several more streets before Dagur jumped off of the rooftop to the ground and disappeared between the trees. Hiccup followed, now unsure where all of this was going. They made their way up a small hill through the trees before they emerged right before a tall apartment complex.
"Where are we heading anyways?" Hiccup questioned when he managed to catch up with the vampire. He probably should have asked that question at the very beginning of their adventure.
Dagur pointed upwards. Hiccup looked up, then back at Dagur who was already beginning to climb up the wall, holding onto the windowsills.
"How do you even do that?" Hiccup asked when he gave it a try with no success and scratched his palms a little.
"Gravity’s a bitch, isn’t it?" he chuckled before he jumped back down. "Get on my back."
Hiccup frowned. The idea of being that close to Dagur made him feel uneasy.
"I’m not gonna bite you," Dagur joked. "Just gonna give you a piggyback ride. Or if you wanna try it for yourself or go inside and take a lift…" he shrugged nonchalantly.
Hiccup gazed back up. It was at least six platforms to get up there. Hiccup knew he had no chance of climbing atop by himself. He breathed a quiet frustrated “fine” before he let Dagur take him on a piggyback. He felt a shiver at how cold it was to be pressed up against Dagur’s body like this.
When Dagur made sure Hiccup held on tight, he jumped up again, using the windowsills to climb higher and higher before he stepped over the edge of the rooftop. Hiccup immediately let go so he wouldn’t have to hold onto Dagur any longer. The whole way up made him uneasy and tense.
"S-so we're up here…" the auburn said nervously before he glanced at Dagur. "Now what?"
Dagur’s lips turned up into a warm smile before he gestured with his head to the other side of the roof. Hiccup slowly followed him, watching Dagur's muscular silhouette against the light that illuminated him.
Hiccup's jaw fell when he looked ahead. He was now presented with a view over the whole town of Berk. He saw every single light and was able to see streets with cars, people, and colorful lights of distant shops and markets. There was also the hum of the cars and the wind, and he even heard people from nearby windows talk, someone was listening to music, and someone else was playing a guitar. Hiccup has never seen Berk like this. Of course, he has seen it from a lookout tower before, or in photos, but now he saw even the lights from nearby villages which were separated from Berk by woods and sea lagoons.
This was different from anything he had ever seen before. This view was magical not only by itself but also by how they managed to see it. They were two vampires standing on the rooftop of an apartment complex in the night, completely unseen and unknown with no one to bother them.
That's what made the moment special.
"I think now I get what you said about the magical vampire life," Hiccup broke the silence. He then turned his gaze towards Dagur who was already looking at him, that warm smile still in place. If it weren't for the face tattoo and the scar on Dagur's right cheek, he would have looked so innocent and cute with such a smile.
"I told you it'd be fun," Dagur teased.
Hiccup smiled, then returned to the view to admire it more. He even sat down, confident enough to let his legs dangle over the edge. Dagur joined him and together, in silence, they took in the view.
"I told you you were missing out. Being a vampire isn't all about blood and hunting and all the stuff that you don't like. It's also about this," Dagur pointed forward. "The views, the adventures, the opportunity to be alone like this and enjoy the city, the woods, anything! It's about the freedom ."
Hiccup listened intently, amazed at how poetic Dagur sounded. Dagur also had this expression of genuine happiness on his face that forced Hiccup to smile as well.
"Yeah… I was really missing out," Hiccup admitted, looking into the distance again.
He felt Dagur's eyes on him.
"I think we could change that." Those words forced Hiccup to turn back to Dagur. "I could take you out like this every now and then and we could try to get you more in touch with the vampire inside of you. What do you say?"
Hiccup was intrigued. "How do you wanna do that?"
Dagur shrugged. "I think some training could do the trick. I taught you how to run and jump over the rooftops. Pretty sure I can teach you to climb and get some strength out of you as well," he chuckled and winked.
Hiccup laughed as well, looked at the view once more, and thought for a second. He wasn't sure if he wanted to willingly spend his time with Dagur, but he had to admit that Dagur seemed different and his intentions more genuine. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"I'll think about it."
A short moment of comfortable silence followed before Dagur got to his feet. "Come on. I wanna show you one more thing."
* * * * *
Dagur had brought Hiccup to another part of the town, which Hiccup recognized, but didn't know why. He had definitely been here before, maybe with his dad. Maybe he saw it while being at one of their fathers' meetings? He was led to a small, empty-looking building, but they didn't go inside. Instead, they took the stairs that led to a door, seemingly leading to the basement. Dagur took out a key and unlocked it.
"Am I getting kidnapped?" Hiccup asked sarcastically.
"No, don't worry," Dagur huffed. "I'll leave the door open if that makes you more comfortable."
They went through a small hallway with very weak and cold white light. There were several doors around. Dagur led them to the very end of the hallway and unlocked another set of doors. Another staircase followed before there came the last door.
"You ready?" Dagur asked when he unlocked it. His eyes were glowing in the darkness again.
"I guess?"
They both went into the room and Hiccup immediately felt how cold it was in there. It almost felt like a freezer. Dagur flicked the switch, white light blinding Hiccup's eyes. He then realized two things. The first being that the room was in fact filled with small freezes, the second being the familiar iron smell.
"So you just brought me here for a midnight snack?" Hiccup asked with amusement when he read the labels over the freezers. This was what seemed to be a storage room for blood, which wasn't anything new to him considering his dad had his own in the basement of their house.
"Yep," Dagur replied, opening a big freezer with the label human on it. He took out one transfusion bag filled with rich red blood, closed the freezer, and walked towards Hiccup.
Hiccup was looking around the room, then turned to see what was Dagur holding. A hint of fear appeared in his eyes upon seeing the label of the bag. "No," he said and took a step back. "No, I'd rather not."
Dagur chuckled. "Oh come on, why not? Why are you so against drinking human blood?" he asked smugly as he slowly started opening the bag.
"Because I am human, that's why!" Hiccup explained. "I can't drink something that's from the same species as I am. That’s kinda against my morals."
"Firstly, you're only half human, so fuck some stupid morals," Dagur corrected him a bit harshly. "And second… you have absolutely no idea what you’re missing out on," he added before he released the plug on the plastic tube and brought it to his lips. "Have you ever even tried it?" he questioned before he closed his eyes, sucking in the red liquid through the tube.
"N-no," the auburn answered. His stomach twisted when he heard Dagur sigh through his nose in pleasure at the taste. The kind, understanding Dagur he met barely an hour ago was gone and replaced by the old, mean, careless lunatic. "But I don't want to try it."
"Hmm, bummer," Dagur said when he pulled the bag away. Hiccup felt his body tense up upon seeing Dagur’s face. His pupils were huge, not a bit of green, or sometimes orange, visible, and the whites of his eyes were a shade of pink. This was not the first time he had seen the redhead like this, but it still made him tense.
And then Hiccup sensed it.
The scent of the human blood was now in the air around him, getting into his nostrils. He did not want to, but he still inhaled, taking in the smell. It was weak, but the things that it slowly began to awaken in him made him step back closer to a freezer behind him, wanting to be as far away from the blood as possible.
"Oh," Dagur said, a pleased grin on his lips, revealing his elongated sharp fangs. "So you do sense it," he spoke as he took a step closer.
"That’s close enough, Dagur."
But Dagur didn’t listen and got closer anyway.
"You know you can’t fight it, right?"
"I can," Hiccup frowned. "Been doing that my whole life with no problem."
"And look where that got you!" Dagur gestured with his hands, the scent spreading through the room some more. "You can’t even use your powers properly! But I think this could change it."
With those words, he stepped even closer and brought the bag with blood in front of Hiccup. The auburn pressed himself to the freezer and held his breath.
"We’re hunters. We're creatures of the night, living off of human blood. No matter how much you fight it, you can't deny it. This is what fuels us vampires. This is what we’re meant for, brother," he spoke, waving the transfusion bag as if he were trying to hypnotize the auburn. "And I believe that human blood is the key to strengthening your powers."
The more Dagur waved the bag around, the stronger the fumes were and Hiccup could not hold his breath any longer. He was staring at the bag, practically panting as he tried his best to suppress the thirst he began to feel.
"I was born like this. I’m not a vampire like you. I-I wasn't born with the powers, so I'm sure this won't work.” he objected. “And I'm not. your. brother."
Dagur chuckled. "You've been living off of animal blood your whole life, so how would you know?" Dagur teased, ignoring the complaint in regards to the nickname ‘brother’, and brought the tube to his lips to take a bit more blood for himself again. "Mhmm, A+ is delicious! Not as good as AB, though, but my dad would kill me if he figured I had some without his knowledge."
Hiccup scrunched his nose in disgust.
"If we want to bring out the vampire inside you, then you have to start behaving like one and accept reality."
"Then I don't wanna bring it out," Hiccup protested.
"You said something completely different not that long ago," Dagur grinned and ran his finger over the plastic tube to catch a drop of blood that leaked out.
"You told me you were only gonna take me on adventures and runs! I thought you were just gonna train me, not force your twisted manners on me!" Hiccup defended. He was angry and he wanted Dagur to know it. "I thought you've changed!"
Dagur examined the blood on his fingers as if he didn't care even a little for Hiccup's words.
"I'm not touching that blood. And you can't make me drink it. Now get it out of my si-"
Dagur quickly reached out and brushed his finger under Hiccup's nose and over his lips, leaving behind a streak of red. Hiccup gasped in shock, then immediately realized his mistake. The scent of blood burned in his nostrils and the taste of it got from his lips into his mouth, both taking over his senses in an instant. His heart raced as his entire body tensed up.
"N-no…" Hiccup shut his eyes closed and tried not to breathe, but when he opened them again, his vision had changed. It went darker, slowly turning red. His pupils were dilated just like Dagur's and he started to get dizzy.
"No, no, no, no!" Hiccup panicked and tried to fight the hunting instincts that started to take over, but he couldn't.
He wanted more. Gods, he wanted to breathe in the fumes of the rich red liquid, sense it with every taste bud on his tongue, and get completely intoxicated by it. He wanted to give in so badly.
But before he could, he shoved Dagur out of the way, running for the door to escape the smell and ease his senses, not realizing in the wave of panic that the blood was smeared under his nose, so there was no point in running. He ran to the other side of the hallway before he leaned with his hands against the cold concrete wall, panting.
By now, there was not a bit of green left in his eyes. His pupils had gotten huge and the whites of his eyes had no white left. They were as red as fresh human blood, and so was his vision. His face had gone pale and the veins around his eyes had filled up with his own dark, almost black blood, making them stand out.
He bent forward with his jaw hanging open while letting out what sounded like something between pants and growls. His fangs had gotten longer than they ever were before and spit was rolling off his tongue and bottom lip. He was practically drooling.
He wanted this to stop so bad, but he couldn't. He hated the feeling of the thirst for blood, the lust for hunting and killing the nearest living creature, and the longing to go completely feral and abandon his humanity. But simultaneously these feelings felt strangely comforting and familiar, as if they were meant to be, which kept him from rubbing the blood off his face.
He thought he was going absolutely insane.
"Hiccup, you alright?" Dagur asked when he came behind Hiccup, unsure of what to say or do. He didn't expect Hiccup's reaction to be this extreme. "I brought you a-" he offered a bottle of water that he took from one of the freezers, but he didn't finish as Hiccup leaned away from the wall and went for the exit.
Dagur caught up to the boy outside and opened the bottle for him. "Hiccup! Water! For you." he spoke in simple words so that the auburn understood him in his current state.
Hiccup snatched the bottle out of the redhead's hand and splashed it over his face before quickly rubbing the blood off his nose and lips. He then splashed it again and drank from it before spitting all the water on the ground. Then he stood there while staring below him, his breaths quick and heavy as he tried to recollect himself.
"Hiccup? Are you alr-"
"Shut up!" Hiccup hissed and raised his head, revealing his eyes that were slowly returning to their original state. Those eyes were glaring at Dagur with pure hatred.
He took in a few deep breaths before he drank some more and washed his face again, his hair and shirt soaking up the water. He swallowed and leaned his head backward, enjoying as the cold air cooled down his wet face and neck. It felt as if his head was on fire.
"I shouldn't have ever listened to you," the auburn spoke quietly. "I shouldn't have followed you."
"I-I didn't mean for this to-"
"Then what did you mean?!" Hiccup snarled in frustration, his eyes almost turning red again. There was still the urge to hunt in him. "What did you expect when you smeared that blood under my nose?! What did you think was gonna happen?!"
Hiccup was met with awkward silence from the other vampire.
"Did you even think about it? About the risk of giving human blood to a vampire who never had it before?"
Dagur was quiet, shame visible on his face. So he in fact did not think this through. Hiccup sighed, drank the rest of the water, and tossed the bottle on the ground. He then turned around to leave.
"Hiccup!"
"Don't talk to me ever again, you fucking psychopath!" Hiccup cursed before he sped up to get out of that place as quickly as possible. Only now he noticed his body was trembling.
Dagur watched as the auburn disappeared into the night and left the redhead behind. He stood there for a moment, thinking about what just happened before he kicked the empty bottle on the ground in frustration and returned to the building. He leaned his back against the concrete wall, slid down to the cold ground, and hid his face in his hands with a grunt.
He had an opportunity to show Hiccup that he was trying to change and that he wanted to be a better person. He could have finally befriended Hiccup, but he completely ruined it with his irrational thinking and sense of superiority. He got so carried away by the power he felt in that moment and by the fear he saw in the auburn's eyes that he completely stopped thinking ahead. Why did he enjoy seeing Hiccup like that?! He really was a psychopath. Gods, he wanted to bring out Hiccup's vampiric side just so they could finally have something in common and something to bond over. He had no intention of forcing him into killing humans or hurting anyone else.
He didn't mean to hurt Hiccup or scare him away.
But he did.
And he might have just completely ruined his chance of getting any closer to the boy he had a crush on since the day they first met.