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Hurriedly finishing up the text message to his mother Charles used his shoulder to push open the door to the club's bathroom. He pocketed his phone as he was about to step into a stall but then stopped in his tracks when his eyes fell onto the scene unfolding right in front of him.
Granted he was a little bit maybe a lot of bit drunk after this long and tedious sprint race weekend. Yet, what he saw sobered him up faster than a cold shower.
Reigning Formula One world champion and his rival since childhood days Max Verstappen had his back turned to him, one hand holding his large frame up against the wall, the other on the hip of a man Charles recognized as one of the bar staff of the club.
Motionless in shock Charles watched Max' mouth working against the smaller man's neck. The bartender's eyes were closed in bliss, a look of pure arousal sprawled on his face.
A strange jolt of electricity that Charles could not quite pinpoint ran through him causing him to take a deep audible gasp for oxygen.
Upon hearing the sound Max' head turned towards him at lightning speed and once his darkened eyes met his, Charles officially lost the last of his senses. Following a horrified glance at the other driver’s blood smeared lips Charles turned in place and marched right back towards the door. Whatever the fuck was going on here, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. He had always secretly assumed Max was into some strange and weird shit, especially since him and Kelly had broken up last year. However this, this was a level he had not seen coming.
He lifted his hand to push open the door but instead of wood, his fingers connected with the material of a cold black dress shirt. How had he gotten there so fast? His eyes met the now once again blue toned ones of the other man who was currently using his shirt sleeve to wipe blood off his chin.
Maybe it was not blood, Charles tried to reason with himself, maybe this was some strange foreplay Max was into. Who was he to judge?
“Charles, wait.” Max’ voice was raspy yet strong. “Let me explain.”
Charles tried to shrug nonchalantly. “Explain what? "You have some strange kinks and are apparently into guys. So what?"
Max had the nerve to chuckle. "We both know that is not what was happening, Charles."
And he was right. Of course Charles knew. Or at least some part of him knew. Mainly he could not believe what he had witnessed. He still tried to make sense of it whilst trying his hardest not to stare at the red spot still prominent in the corner of Max’s mouth. It could not be. This was not real. This was some weird fetish shit. But deep down, Charles knew it wasn’t.
“Please let me explain.”, the Dutchmen tried again. “But not here. Meet me at the hotel? I have to take care of some stuff first.” He nodded his chin toward the bartender leaning against the restroom wall as if in a daze. “Please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to compel you. It fucks with your brain and you need your brain to drive. Please?”
Charles felt himself nod very slowly, his mind not catching up with the situation in any way whatsoever. Because this could not be real. This was some twisted prank and there were cameras everywhere. There had to be. Right?
“We are at the Hilton. This is my key card. I will meet you there, alright?”
Charles stared at Max’s extended hand, his heart beating so loudly he could hear the thumping in his ears. With one last confused yet horrified glance at Max’s face he reached for the card and then got the fuck out of there.
~
Save to say, this was not an ideal situation. Max knew he should have been more careful, should have looked for a locked room, should have taken the bartender back to the hotel. But he had been so thirsty, so filled with adrenaline after he had continued his winning streak. He had not been thinking straight until the warm liquid had been running down his ice cold throat. And even then it had been too late. Post bite clarity really was a thing he realized.
He felt strange knocking on the door to his own hotel room, but he had to try everything in his power to not scare the Monasque on the other side of it. Max could hear steps behind the wood, a faint heartbeat that rapidly grew in speed. It was obviously not his own.
The door opened and he got a look at Charles’ scared face as he waited for Max to come in.
Once they were alone and Charles was apparently happy with their positions - him close to the door and Max very far away from him, not that it would matter if it came down to it - he met his eyes. “What the actual fuck, Max?”
Max groaned. “Believe me, I did not want you to see this.”
“Well maybe you should have thought about that before using a public restroom to suck on some guy’s neck.”
He had him there. Post bite and all that.
“So..” Charles began and gestured wildly as he paced up and down the small space between the door and the bed. “It’s some weird fetish? Because if so, that is totally cool and also totally not my business.”
Oh, how Max wished it was. “It is not, no.”
Charles took a deep breath, his heart speeding up in the process, pumping more blood through his body to provide his lungs with oxygen. Thankfully, Max had just had his fill.
“So you were licking up that guy’s blood because…”
“Because I need it to survive, yes.” Max finished for him.
“Because you are…”
“A vampire.” Max sighed. “I know it sounds super cringey.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
Max sighed again and stood up to move right in front of the other man in the blink of an eye to prove a point. “Yes I am.”
Upon his suddenly close appearance Charles had pressed himself against the door, his eyes wide open in fear.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Charles. I’m not a monster.”
“You drank some guy’s blood!”
Max ran his hands through his hair and returned to the armchair on the other side of the room at normal speed.
“How long…I mean, you were a child when I was a child. I saw you!”
“It happened last year before I broke up with Kelly. It…it wasn’t safe for P to be around me anymore. It was better this way.” Max grimaced. The memory still pained him. One night of hell had turned his whole life around and destroyed the future he had imagined with the woman of his dreams and the girl he had thought of as his daughter. Now he was the asshole who abandoned them. But better the asshole who left than the asshole who lost control of himself and did things he would regret later on.
“Does she know? Kelly?”
Max shook his head, noticing that Charles' breathing pattern had slowed down as he seemed to wrap his head around this. It was happening rather fast. He was impressed. But then, Charles had always been rather methodical.
“The only people that know are GP and Horner. Not even my family knows.”
“But I saw your vitals and stuff on the Redbull screens. You have a heartbeat and all that.”
As he was saying: Methodical. Max liked that about Charles. In hindsight maybe it was good that he had walked in on his feeding instead of someone else.
“It’s all faked. Just please don’t tell anyone, okay? Not even Alex. Nobody.”
Charles scoffed. “Max, they would put me in a mental institution if I told them Max Verstappen is a vampire.”
“So you won’t tell people?”
“Obviously not.” Charles glanced at the door. “Just don’t eat from me or whatever it is you do, okay?”
Then he left without another word.
Max stared at the closed door. It definitely could have gone worse.
~
It was four weeks later and once again Max had found himself in a not so ideal situation. He was actually quite good at finding them, he noticed. Not that he was actually searching for them, they more so stumbled upon him and then he had to deal with the aftermath.
He was currently leaning against the bar in Lando’s apartment, who was celebrating his birthday. All had been fine. Max had socialized, Max had drunk alcohol to dull his senses, Max had pretended to be a human in every way he possibly could. He had made sure to breath, expanding and collapsing his chest in a speed that was appropriate and normal for the setting. He had slowed down his movements, avoided too much eye contact and pretended he could not hear the blood pumping through everybody’s veins in the room. It all had gone very very smoothly.
Until Martin had broken the glass, one of the shards slicing through the palm of his hands, the droplets of dark red blood falling onto the couch table.
Max had held still as a statue, his breathing stopped, convinced that just the scent would make him snap. He had eyed the door judging it as being too suspicious when he left now. This was truly very not ideal.
He was still motionlessly watching the moment of panic unfold, people yelling and bringing napkins and towels to clean up the blood everywhere - hands surely bled a lot, didn’t they? - when out of nowhere a warm hand wrapped around his still forearm and he got dragged along the hallway of the apartment and into Lando’s guest bedroom that was currently used as a coat storage for the guests.
The clicking of the door lock zoned him back into the moment and he stared at Charles’ concerned face in confusion.
“Your eyes are literally black, man. Get a hold of yourself.”, the Monasque scolded him and Max walked over to the floor length mirror by the closet to take a look at himself.
His cheeks were covered in dark blue veins, his irises expanded to their maximum size; he could feel the fangs poking against his bottom lip from the inside. God, he hoped in the chaos nobody had paid attention to him. Well, except for Charles, who had admittedly been avoiding him as best as possible in the past few weeks.
“Are you okay?” There was now more concern than anger in Charles’ voice, his French accent more prominent in the soft way he spoke.
Max closed his eyes, willing the blue to appear back in them, but to no avail. “I’m trying. It’s just…the smell…I haven’t fed in a bit…I…wow.”
“Alright. That’s okay.” Charles slipped right into problem solving mode as he ran his fingers through his already messy mop of hair. “We can fix this…okay…hm.”
Max watched him nod to himself in the mirror as he stepped closer and then opened the first few buttons of his dress shirt to expose his neck.
“Here. Bite me.”
Max spun in non-human speed and stared at his fellow driver. “Absolutely not. I promised you not to do that.”
Charles shrugged. “Well it’s this or going outside. What will it be, Max?”
~
Charles knew this was insane. Offering himself up to whatever the fuck Max was now as some sort of bait. Yet, he had to admit that ever since he had learned of Max’ little secret he had fallen down a rabbit hole of internet searches he only allowed himself to do when he was entirely alone using a VPN and incognito mode. He had found more info than expected, mostly shit probably but some accounts had sounded rather convincing to him. Above all, the common denominator had been that being bitten was a feeling like no other before.
Charles would not call himself curious by nature. He was more of the obsessive type. The type that had to have something once they put their mind to it. He had wanted to drive an F1 car, so he did. He had wanted to be part of Ferrari, so he was. He wanted to know what it felt like, so now he would.
“I can’t.”
“I don’t have HIV or something. Not sure if that matters.”
Max shook his head, the dark veins under his eyes fascinated and petrified Charles equally. “It’s not that. Just…there is too much muscle in your neck..it’s difficult…not that I like thought about it before…my brain just kind of does naturally….always…not that I ever would…bite you…until now…I guess”
Seeing a being that made his instincts scream RUN in a pile of stuttering mess made Charles chuckle quietly. “Where would be better for you then? It’s fine. Go for it. You have my permission, Max.”
Charles blinked, he swore that was the only thing he did. But suddenly he found himself shirtless on his stomach on the bed, all coats and jackets strewn across on the carpeted floor. He felt Max’s cold hands against his sides as he pressed him down against the mattress.
Fucking hell.
“Are you 100% sure about this?” Max questioned again, his fingers seemingly shaking in anticipation against Charles’ skin. “I will heal you right up after it, but it might make you weak for a bit.”
“Next weekend is not a race weekend. It’s okay.”
Charles knew instinctively that this was wrong, that he should neither allow nor encourage this. But god, if he did not want just this. Maybe Max was emitting some sort of weird pheromone that clouded Charles’ mind. It had to be that.
“Alright. This will be quite intense, you won’t be able to tell me to stop. Still sure?”
“Just fucking do it, Max!”
Before he could take his next breath, he felt cold soft lips against the side of his lower back. Shit. This was actually happening. Suddenly he felt very vulnerable in his position of prey. Charles flinched as something sharp pierced his skin in two spots, his abs tightened to distract from the pain of the piercing.
“It’s not even that inten- oh wow.”
Charles squirmed against the mattress as something wet - most probably Max’ tongue ran over his skin to collect the blood that had been pooling in the new wound on his back.
Charles could feel his muscles relax instantly, his brain clouded in some kind of fog that turned into different colors. He had never felt happier, it felt as if euphoria was pumped straight into his veins with every beat of his heart. He could almost hear the blood moving through him, being replaced with joy and colors and fireworks. He had never taken drugs before but he assumed this is what it felt like and now he understood how people got addicted to it.
Unable to move on his own accord, he heard himself moan somewhere far away in pure ecstasy. Was he even in this room anymore? Maybe his body was, his mind felt millions of miles away, swirling through galaxy after galaxy, the milky way just a small dot in the distance.
His hips moved against the mattress and he noticed he had gotten hard as another moan escaped him with the friction. God, he was aroused, and high, and most definitely not in control anymore. His hips kept rutting against the mattress, chasing a release he suddenly so desperately needed. Somehow he was watching himself from above, Max still sucking on the wound on his back, one of his cold hands stabilizing Charles’ hips, the other holding his own body up against the mattress.
Not able to help himself, Charles grunted and humped against the mattress at a feverish pace. He had never needed anything more in his whole life. He was craving it. He felt starved of whatever lay after.
Another deep groan escaped past his lips, this time muffled by a pillow that he was almost sure had not been next to his face moments ago. He clenched his jaw not to scream out a loud, instead he managed to huff out “Oh…fuck…Max…shit.” With a final rut he caught the release he had been running towards, his brain spinning and twirling through colors he was not sure even existed. He could hear the earth moving or maybe it was his own breathing. Everything was bright and ecstatic and wonderful.
And then everything went black.
~
With a satisfied smile on his lips Max watched Charles stir in his sleep. His messy hair fell softly into his face and he was almost jealous of the way his chest rose and fell all on its own.
Charles mumbled something that sounded like a mixture of French and Italian and then slowly blinked open his eyes against the ceiling light.
“Welcome back.” Max hummed, a little nervous to say or do anything else. He still could not believe that Charles had offered himself up as remedy for his own issues. He had always considered Charles to be one of his best friends to be honest but somehow he had not expected the other driver to feel the same way. And what other reason could there be for Charles' selfless act?
“Did I fall asleep?”
Max’ non-beating heart hurt at the soft sleepy voice that came from Charles. He had never heard him in any way that was not confident or pissed. “Sort of. You blacked out there for a bit.”
His face was still comfortably pressed into the pillow. “Your eyes are blue again.”
“Well, I was properly fed. A negative blood. Somehow I had thought you were gonna be more of a positive type by your smell.”
Charles groaned against the pillow. “What the fuck, Max?” He moved against the mattress only then realizing that Max had covered him with a blanket.
Max watched the other driver turn around to face him before glancing to the crotch of his jeans and grimacing disgustingly.
“Did I…?”
Max held back an anxious laugh and nodded slowly. “Happens more often than you would think.”
“I don’t think I have come in my pants since I was a kid, man.”
“I’m sorry.” Max wasn’t. He had to admit to himself that hearing the man thrash and moan under his body and touch had riled his bloodlust up even more. However, the Monasque didn’t have to know about that.
“It’s okay.” Charles said as he pushed himself up. “Are you feeling better now?”
Max nodded. He was sure an embarrassing blush would have appeared on his cheeks if that was still possible.
“Okay. Cool.” Charles looked around awkwardly. “I’m gonna clean this up. So…yea…bye.”
Max watched his back disappear though the door frame, his dark brown hair sweaty and matted in the base of his neck. He was not sure what to think. Somehow, he could still taste him on his lips. Somehow, he still craved more.
Well.
That was a problem for a later day.
~
Something that sounded an awful lot like something or someone walking against his couch in the other room woke Charles up from a restless dream. Ever since 'the second inchident' as he liked to call it that had happened at Lando's party his dreams had been filled with strange shapes and colorless blobs that appeared to close in on him the more he tried to wriggle away. He was very close to requesting sleeping pills at this point.
Listening closely he slowly moved his hand towards his phone on the nightstand. What if there was an intruder? Should he call the police? But what if nobody was there and a pillow had fallen off the cushion and he was just being paranoid about creepy monsters lurking in the dark and the police would laugh at him?
Another thud.
Should he go investigate?
Not bothering with putting on a shirt he quietly made his way to his bedroom door, his phone clutched tightly in his hand. What exactly was his plan here? Should he just make some noise to announce himself? Maybe whatever was out there would leave. Or maybe then they would know where to find him to kill him and eat his flesh. Wow, he was in desperate need of those sleeping pills.
Slowly and carefully he pulled the door towards himself, expecting the dark and empty hallway behind it.
What he definitely did not expect was Max, eyes black and cheens covered in veins.
Grasping at this chest Charles tried to take a breath but the shock would not let him. Struggling for air he took a few hurried steps back, his eyes never leaving Max - was it even Max? Or was it the creature that had now fully overtaken his body?
Charles' whole body was shaking as two cold sets of fingers wrapped around his naked arms, pressing him against the rough material of the bedroom wall. He wanted to scream, or to run, to do…literally anything except what he was doing now which was standing and staring in fear.
"Max.", he finally managed to choke out and this time it was the other man that went completely still.
"Max?" he tried again as the tight grip on his biceps began to loosen. Alright, maybe there was a chance he was not going to die after all.
Slowly Charles reached up to touch Max' vein-streaked cheek causing the other driver to blink a few times as if to clear his head. Yet still, Charles saw nothing but darkness and the drive to hunt in his eyes.
There had to be something he could do, right?
With the adrenaline still pumping through him he raised another shaky hand and placed it against the Dutchman's face gripping him tightly to force Max to look at him.
"Max. It's me. Okay? It's me." Max squinted at him, his cold fingers now holding onto Charles' waist. "Just me. I know you don't want to hurt me, Max."
Did he understand? How could Charles make him understand that he was neither his prey nor his enemy?
"Max." Charles leaned in. "It's just me." Should he really? "You don’t want to hurt me." Would he really? "It's me." A little closer. "You know me."
The moment his lips pressed against those of his fellow driver he felt the tension leave Max' body.
"Charles." He hummed against his mouth and then broke their faces apart just to go back in and lean his forehead against his.
Finally, Charles managed to take a full breath and opened his eyes, the usual blue he had seen so many times staring back at him.
"Thank you for not eating me." he laughed exasperated which made Max take a fast step backwards.
"I am so sorry. I don't even know how I got here. I … I'm so sorry! Fuck, I could have killed you!"
"Well luckily you didn’t." Charles ran his fingers through his sweat drenched hair. "I need to sit down. Fuck.”
Max stared at him intently. "I should go."
When he opened his eyes Charles was alone again.
~
“Do you have a minute?” Max was standing in front of Charles who was already in his fireproofs.
It had taken Max a lot of mental strength to walz his dead ass into the ferrari area of the circuit to find the other driver. Because honestly: He was massively embarrassed about the other night. When he had come back to his senses Charles' lips had been pressed to his and finally Max managed to snap back into control. Up until that point he had merely been a spectator to the events leading up to his first kiss with Charles. Had it even been a kiss? If yes, he hated himself for not being fully present for it.
He had watched himself compel the doorman in the lobby to get him Charles’ emergency key from the safe. He had felt himself opening the apartment door to stalk through the dark, his mind and all his senses focused on one thing and one thing only: Blood. Specifically Charles’ blood. There was just something about his blood that had Max riled up and it was all he could think about day in night out.
When Charles motioned towards the back corner of the garage with his chin Max followed obediently.
Before they even came to a standstill Max was already rambling. “Charles, I am so so sorry. I don't even know how to apologize or what came over me. I guess when you freely offered me your blood something clicked in my brain like that has never happened to me before and my instincts just told me to hunt. I just want to hunt all the time. Obviously I don’t. Also that doesn't justify almost killing you obviously, I just wanted to explain and I promise I will do anything I can to stop this from happening again. I will chain myself to my bed if I have to and-”
“You can hunt me." Charles suddenly interrupted him mid rant whilst his hands were nervously fidgeting with the zipper of his racing suit.
Max stopped in his tracks, his mouth still half open. "What?"
"We have been hunting each other all our lives, Max. I'm used to it. Just maybe let me know first and don’t just show up in the middle of the night like a freak." He said it so nonchalantly Max was not sure if he was dreaming. Well, Max was sure because ever since he had died he had not been dreaming anymore. Maybe this was a very vivid daydream fantasy that was playing in his mind while he was driving?
"Are you serious?"
Charles nodded. This could not be real.
"I would probably drink from you again."
Another nod. It could not be real because that meant-
"Other things might happen again."
"For god's sake Max.” The Italian came out in Charles as he gestured wildly with his hands. “Yes. To all of those things. I want you to do your vampire shit again, okay? There. I said it. Happy? Now I kind of have to race so.."
Max smiled to himself as he watched the other driver walk away with an agitated and delicious sounding heartbeat. He perhaps was a little too happy about this.
~
Charles was about to hit the gas pedal when a knock on his rental car window startled him. Pressing the button he rolled it down and blinked up towards Max. It had been a long race weekend and all he wanted was to get away from the media and people in general. "What's up?"
Max smirked before leaning down to be on his level. Before Charles could register what the fuck was happening Max' mouth was on his in a lingering kiss and back out the window.
"Hey, Charles?" Slightly tugging on his top lip Max bared his fangs for a brief moment and then smiled, a daring spark in his darkening eyes. "Run."
..
And so what if Charles drove to his hotel like a maniac?
And so what if he left the room door open on purpose?
And so what if this time Max' lips were on his skin before his teeth were?
And so what if he woke up the next morning weak but content, covered in a warm blanket and engulfed by a cold naked body?
And so what if Max was a dead blood-drinking creature now?
Charles could always run.
But it was a lot less fun without a certain someone chasing him.
≈
the end.