Archive of Our Own

Zayne’s head is throbbing as the world spins around him. His vision starts to fuzz as if he wasn’t wearing his glasses. He feels something hit his back hard, it's the floor, he realizes as he looks up towards the sky. He thinks he was going somewhere before this. He can’t…remember. He hears a voice groaning loudly and discovers it’s himself. There is this pain in his neck that continues to grow like it hit a nerve that now caused his whole body to buzz. His eyes start to close till he hears the sounds of gunshots. It makes everything worse as his head is starting to feel like it will fall off his body at any moment.

“Boss is going to be so mad.” A voice says.

“Should we just kill him?” Another voice says.

He wants to say something, but he can’t even seem to get any words out other than more sounds of pain.

“No. Boss said if they are-take them in. -be useful.”

Zayne can’t hear them clearly anymore and he fades away completely.

🩸

When Zayne wakes up it feels as if he’s no longer a part of his body. He tries to take in a big breath and open his eyes, but it doesn’t feel right. It’s like he hasn’t taken a breath at all. He breathes again and again and it still feels wrong. It’s all he can focus on, till he's clearly painicing.

“You’ll get used to it, sweetie.” He hears a man's voice say. “Why don’t you try and open your eyes first.”

Zayne, still trying to breathe right, opens his eyes. He breathes even harder as the world starts to heighten. He’s looking at the ceiling, but it is as if he was face to face with it as he could see every detail and spec of colors that make up on shade.

“Ah, you’ll get used to that too.” The man says.

Zayne decides to push his body up to a sitting position to find out he could with ease. The pains from his recent memory seem to have faded. The room was darkly lit however that didn't seem to matter as he could see perfectly. He was in some bedroom, themed in dark green and black, with a reading chair and bookshelf in the corner. There was a man in the chair, his red eyes glowing and his silver hair perfectly styled. His arms are crossed and he is wearing a curious expression. He is one of the most handsome men Zayne has ever seen.

“I do apologize for the situation. My name is Sylus.”

Zayne tries to reply. It comes out in a crack. He registers how thirsty he is at that moment. The thought suddenly consumes him. His eyes widen and he looks around. He notices a cup next to the bed and takes it right away. He downs about half of it before stopping. It isn’t water. He glances into the cup. It’s red. The coppery taste is still in his mouth. Zayne knows it’s blood he just drank. He still wants to drink the rest. He knows exactly what this all means. Anxiety creaps into his mind.

“Why did you bite me?” He questions the man, Sylus, for answers.

“Now, If I were the one to have bit you, we would be in my bedroom and not here.” he laughs at him lightly.

“I thought we had killed all the vampires off?” Zayne knows about as much as anyone in Linkon city. About 57 years ago, around 15 years after the vampire disease started to spread, the Linkon government killed off the last of the vampires and the disease had been stopped. Clearly that wasn’t the truth as a vampire stood before him.

“Bold of you to say ‘we’, as you are now one of us, sweetie.” He smirks and Zayne can see one of his fangs peeking under his lips.

“Answer my question.” He demanded, staring straight into Sylus’ ruby eyes.

Sylus chuckles. “So demanding. Do you really think that the government could kill all of us when we can blend in so easily? They lied to the people of Linkon and covered us up. We are relatively smarter now. Hiding is much easier and we use the fact that the government doesn’t want people to know of us.”

It doesn’t surprise Zayne that the government has been hiding this. The vampires had been serious problems for years and for everything to just be okay so quickly had been suspicious. But Zayne wonders how they have been able to truly hide this whole time. His thoughts are interrupted by the still lingering taste of blood on his tongue.

“Where did this blood come from? Why haven’t you just killed me?” He nervously glances back down at the cup still in his hand.

“Don’t worry, Doctor Zayne.” Sylus’ says and Zayne’s eyes narrow at the mention of his name. “We don’t tend to kill or take from the unwilling anymore. I have plenty of resources. But we are getting off topic. I’m sure you are wondering who bit you. Freshen up and meet me in the main room. No wandering around, though I doubt you will find anything useful.” He gets up from his chair and walks out. Leaving Zayne to stare at the back of the door, seeing the details in the woodwork.

Zayne sees that his phone is on the nightstand. He picks it up to see a swarm of text messages all from over a week ago.

“How long was I even out?” He mumbles.

He sighs deeply, remembers he can no longer sigh deeply, and gets up

🩸

Zayne does not remember what had happened to him. He doesn’t remember where he was going or was at the time. He just remembers the pain. So when he greets Sylus in what seems to be his living room, after having freshened up, he has plenty of questions. Before Zayne could finish any of them Sylus answers.

“The man who attacked you was a feral.” He replies to his thoughts while opening up what seems to be a fresh blood bad into wine glasses. “I’m sure you heard about what happens to us vampires when he don’t drink enough blood.” He slides a glass on the counter over to him. “We turn uncontrollable, essentially losing our minds. And that, my dear, is the only way vampires are made.” He says and then downs the whole glass of blood. Licking his lips after the last drop.

Zayne hesitates, but still takes the cup and gives it a slip. He does know about what happens to vampires without blood and would not risk it. He didn’t know, however, that was the only way they were made, a feral vampire bite. “ So that's why there’s not a horde of vampires running around anymore? You have enough blood to keep from going feral.”

“ That’s exactly it, my dear.” Sylus confirms. “Though as you experienced, sometimes we don’t have enough to go around.”

He tries to act calm while gathering all this information. He knew that getting overwhelmed would not help him at all. He is aware that it is considered a disease to become a vampire, but as a doctor, he knew that if he ignored or thought too hard about the idea of drinking blood, he would only hurt himself and others. Will he even be able to go to work? Will he be stuck here with this guy? How long has he even been gone?

“Why bring me here?” Zayne says, deciding that is the best question to ask for now.

“Ah, now here's the thing. Originally I was planning on killing you.” Sylus says casually. “But then I did some looking up on you. And now I believe you to be useful for us and in turn useful for Linkon city.”

Zayne is listening intensely now.

Sylus smirks, “I have plenty of people working inside the city, gathering info on the government's vampire hunters, importing basic supplies into the N109 zone, and-” he pauses for a moment. “Those who collect blood for us.”

He knew where this was going. “No. I cannot help you steal blood from the hospital.”

Sylus watches him closely. “I figured you’d say as much.” He takes out his phone and makes a call. “Boys, come in and take him on a trip.”

Zayne straightens defensively as two figures walk into the room. Both are wearing all black with crow-like masks covering their faces. There was no way to physically tell the difference between them. He felt like one of those victims kidnapped in movies.

“Zayne, this is Luke and Kieran. Don’t worry. They don’t bite.” He laughs. “Unless you ask, of course.”

“Boss,” one of them starts to say. And Zayne recognizes their voice as the ones he heard before, when he was about to pass out. “Are you coming along too?”

Zayne wonders if they have come to kill him now. He starts to think of possible ways he could escape, but he knows if these two were also vampires that he was no match.

“Don’t be so tense, doctor. They will only be taking you on a tour.” Sylus says calmly. Zayne relaxes slightly, but isn’t sure he believes him. “And no Kieran, I have some business to take care of.”

Zayne wonders how Sylus could so easily tell the difference between them.

“Arlight boss, We’ll bring him back safely. We promise.” The other one says, Luke? Zayne isn’t sure, but he swears if they weren’t wearing a mask they would be winking at Sylus right now.

“Go now. “ Sylus says, waving a hand and starting to look at his phone.

Zayne, ready to finally get outside, follows the two out the door.

🩸

As Zayne had expected, the N109 zone is a loud city, even if there was not a person in sight. Zayne could hear the distant sounds of gunshots and Wanderers all around. It was said whatever had caused the vampire disease had also caused wanderers as well. This used to be a city filled with civilians till all of them either died by wanderers or fled. Now it was filled with criminals that escaped to this lawless zone. He is surprised, however, that they were able to walk the streets and not be attacked. The twins had told him it’s because this was Sylus’ zone and mostly vampires lived here. The other people living in N109 tended to avoid stepping into this zone.

“Where exactly are we going?” He finally asks, interrupting Luke and Kieran’s conversation about some recent movie they had watched. Sylus had said this would be a tour, but both of them haven’t really spoken much about their surroundings.

“We’re going to see the kids!” The one who he believes to be Luke says. “They are just in the building down there.”

Zayne stomach drops. It hadn’t occurred to him before that there would be any children vampires left. Much to the dismay of most of the population, children vampires tended to go feral earlier than the adults. And because of that the government tried to eradicate them first. People of course, are way less fearful of children, so children vampires were more likely to spread the disease faster.

Zayne spots a building with the lights still on up ahead. The outside labels it as one of those old fast food chains that ran out of businesses, the tube slide of the old play zone stuck out of the building and back in again. The twins lead him into the building and they immediately start reading the woman by the front door. Seen on the other hand, is too distracted. There are about 20-30 kids, as young looking as 4 and as old as 10. While the outside may have looked like a fast food place, on the inside it looked more like a proper daycare aside from the giant play zone. There were toys everywhere, shelves filled with books of all sizes, a few adults as well, watching over them. And when Zayne stepped in they all stopped and turned to look at him. A small girl who looks around the age of a four year old, eyes glowing a bright blue, is the first one to start walking up to him.

“You smell like Mr. Sylus.” Her tiny voice would have been barely audible to a normal human’s ears.

Zayne bends down to meet her. She’s so small. She’s holding a little stuffed bear in her arms. Zayne wonders how old she truly is. He knows the vampires never age or mature. She will forever be a small 3 year old. He reaches over and pats her on the head and says, “Well, Mr. Sylus did save me and I think this is his shirt.” He says looking down at his outfit.

“Don’t believe him, Chrissy! It was us! We saved him!” Kieran Shouts behind him.

“You’re a newborn vampire?” One of the older boys says curiously. “I’ve never seen you around.” He looks behind Zayne, undoubtedly looking at Luke and Kieran. “Is he going to help us?”

“That’s what the boss hopes for.” Kieran says, and Zayne can feel their eyes on his back.

He knew for sure where this was going. Sylus is guilt tripping him into helping by using these children. He looks at the little girl, her blue eyes are looking down at the bear in her arms as she plays with its fuzzy ear.

Zayne sighs, or well tries to. Maybe he’s given in too easily, but who knows what these children have been through for so long. He imagines for a moment, one of these children going feral and Sylus having to kill them before they reached any human.

“Yes, I’ll help.”

He hears Luke snicker behind him. “Told you he would do it.”

🩸

It was a much simpler arrangement than Zayne had originally thought. Sylus had told Zayne that adults could in fact live off of animal blood for the most part, though it wasn’t that filling, but it was the children that needed human blood. Zayne was able to get back to work as normal, he just required a few more steps in regards to gathering blood. But Zayne was able to make it work. He even found his job to be much easier with his enhanced senses. It was hard for him to even think about what it was like before.

He had visited the N109 zone a few times since this had all started, mostly to see the children. Sometimes Sylus would drag him over to his place, but they mostly talked business. During the past few months he had been working with Caleb in delivering packages. Zayne was surprised to find that his childhood friend was even alive. Sylus had told him that Caleb had been doing research in the N109 zone and was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was bit by a rogue vampire. Similarly, to Zayne’s case, Caleb was taken in to help out.

It was just after dinner when he smelt Sylus coming up the stairs. He was easy to pin out with his usual smell of leather from his jacket and the smokey smell of amber and incense. Zayne went up to open the door right as Sylus was about to knock, his hand was just slightly raised in the air.

“I see your senses have greatly improved.” Sylus smirks at him as Zayne lets him pass and enter his apartment.

“What brings you here, Sylus.” This is the first time Sylus has ever visited him, actually it’s the first time Zayne has ever seen him out of the N109.

“To take you out of course.” Sylus says as he finds Zayne’s sofa. He comfortably leans back and looks at Zayne, playfully.

“What?” Zayne asks, confused.

“Don’t be so dense, doctor. When is the last time you have gone out on a date?” He asks boldly.

Zayne isn’t sure how to reply. It has been a good few years since he’s gone on any sort of date and at this point his life had been too busy for him to even think much about it.

“I have a few places in mind.” Sylus continues before Zayne can even reply to his question.”I’m assuming you have already had dinner?” He glances over to Zayne’s sink filled with a dish from his recent meal. Zayne couldn’t get out of the habit of eating food. “Let’s go out for a couple of drinks tonight. Let yourself let loose a little bit, doctor.”

“I don’t drink.” Zayne says, trying not to recall the last time he drank. Zayne was notoriously lightweight. He must have made a face cause Sylus starts to laugh loudly.

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore. Being a vampire has a few perks, one being our alcohol tolerance is really high.”

Zayne sighs, he’s gotten used to the feeling of sighing now or the lack thereof, and nods to Sylus.

Sylus had insisted on taking his vehicle and Zayne wasn’t sure why until right now as he is looking at a black motorcycle, parked outside of his apartment. Sylus grabs the helmet sitting on the back of it and tosses it to Zayne. “Wouldn’t want to hurt that pretty head of yours.”

“How did you even get this out of N109?” Zayne asks as he puts on the helmet.

“Bold of you to assume I do not have another home.” He laughs while getting on his bike and turning it on.

Zayne follows behind him and places his hands on both sides of Sylus’ waist in front of him. The smell of his leather jacket now filled his senses. “Is this what those girls feel like getting picked up from the ‘bad boy’ after school.” Zayne mumbles, knowing he doesn’t have to speak up for Sylus to hear him.

Sylus laughs again and pushes the bike off and onto the road. “I was in fact that ‘bad boy’ back in the day. Though that was before you were born.”

“Don’t remind me I’m going on a date with an old man,” Zayne says.

Sylus cackles with laughter. He reaches behind him and pushes closer into him.“Be a good boy and don’t fall off.”

Zayne wraps his hand around Sylus’ waist and they continue to ride into the city.

Eventually they arrive at their destination. It's a small bar that doesn’t seem to have a proper sign name, just the red neon light outside the door saying ‘Open Bar’ on it. The inside was your standard bar, pool table close to the back, old rock music playing, and a few booths if you decided not to sit at the bar. There was one thing that wasn’t typical and Zayne could smell it when entering, there was fresh blood in here somewhere, out of a human body that is…

“Hey Sylus, It’s been awhile since you have been by.” A man at the bar says. He hands a drink over to a customer then motions them over to sit. Sylus and Zayne take their seats in front of the man. “Is this the newbie you were talking about? He’s not bad to look at, that's for sure.”

Zayne knew by the way this man was pretending to breathe that he is a vampire. Sylus had told him that he had connections throughout the city. Guess he shouldn’t be surprised Sylus would take him to one. His dark blue and pink eyes slightly glow and his hair is a soft purple. The man’s face is unaging and beautiful.

“Stop gawking at him, Zayne. You’ll inflate his already way too large ego.” Sylus says mockingly.

The man scoffs. “He can look as long as he likes. My name is Rafael. Am I correct in assuming you are the ‘Doctor Zayne’ Sylus has been talking about so much?”

“You’re correct, though I didn’t know Sylus talks about me.” Zayne says while raising an eyebrow.

“Oh yes, all the time. Good for you getting him outside and away from work. I swear he always has something going on-“ Rafayel says before getting cut off by Sylus.

“How about we order some drinks now. Zayne hasn’t drank since his… new development. How about he tries my usual.” Sylus suggests while causally diverting the conversation.

Zayne laughs, ignoring Sylus’ diversion. “You see, me and Sylus are a lot alike in that respect. Both workaholics.”

“A match made in hell.” Rafayel says while pulling out a dark glass bottle similar to the one he and other vampires use and a bottle of gin. He starts to mix a bit of it together.

“Not all of us can sit on our asses and paint all day, Raf.” Sylus says and Rafayel finishes the drinks. Sylus grabs a cup and takes a sip.

He looks over at Zayne. “We’ll go ahead and try it. It’s a taste truly only vampires could love.”

Sylus was right about that because the old human part of Zayne is cringing at the idea of blood and gin.

“Hey, I added some sparkles to it too! They just kinda…blend in with the blood a little too much.” Rafayel says, offended.

Zayne tries to look at the dark liquid closely and can just barely see the hint of some glitter in it. He finally takes the risk and goes for a sip. Initially, it’s horrible, but then the taste of the blood hits him and he doesn’t seem to care. He knew it was human blood. It didn’t take him long to figure out the different taste in blood. He wondered if this could be from his supply, he doubted it though, much of his supply went into the N109 zone to the children.

Sylus must have seen his reaction as he says, “See? A taste only a vampire could love.”

“This is horrible.” He says while going for another sip.

It didn’t take long to realize, while his alcohol tolerance had gone up, it wasn’t up by much. His vision had started to blur as he was speaking with Sylus only a few drinks in.

“And then Caleb had gotten so mad at us that he stopped talking to me for weeks.” Zayne says, laughing loudly. They had somehow ended up on the topic of his childhood friendships. “Can I get something sweet? I really like something sweet.” He says to Rafayel as the man was walking by about to give a drink to someone else at the bar. Rafayel was about to reply, but Zayne continued. “Your hair looks sweet. It’s purple like berry macaroons. Your eyes too. They look like candy. Did they always have pink in them or was that after becoming a vampire? They are so pretty..”

Sylus makes a noise clearing his throat.

Rafayel starts to laugh and looks over at Sylus. “Have you ever seen a vampire get drunk like this?”

“I’m not.. drunk.” Zayne says in an offended tone. He looks over at Sylus who is smirking at him. “Your hair looks..looks like..” he takes a moment to think. He reaches over a hand to touch Sylus hair.

Sylus eyes widen for just a second then he stares directly at Zayne.

Zayne runs his hands through Sylus hair. “Oh! it’s so soft.”

Sylus reaches up to grab Zayne by the wrist and pulls his hand down. He chuckles and says,”You are like a curious kitten, so touchy. Just how lightweight were you before changing?”

Zayne ignores his question. “Isn’t this supposed to be a date? I’m allowed to be touchy.” He tries to pull his hand out of Sylus grasp, however his vision swims again and he starts to fall out of his chair. He quickly feels arms holding him up and his head is against someone’s chest.

“Maybe it’s time we head back.” Sylus says playfully and Zayne realizes it’s Sylus he’s leaving against. He keeps his eyes closed to try and clear his head. He can feel Sylus shirt on his cheek and he rubs into it.

“You are truly a kitten.” Sylus says and starts to get up. Zayne groans in annoyance has suddenly he’s pulled to his feet.

“You too have fun now. Come back again soon.” He hears Rafayel say.

Zayne tries to turn around to wave, but Sylus pulls him in closer and faces him towards the door.

Zayne doesn’t remember how he got back to his apartment, sitting on the edge of his bed, with Sylus kneeling in front of him.

“I’m not going to allow you to sleep with your shoes on.” Sylus says while starting to take off his right shoe. Once he’s done he stands up and he looks at Zayne and they lock eyes.

One moment Zayne is watching Sylus, the next Zayne suddenly decides to stand up. He almost falls right back into bed, but Sylus holds the back of his waist and pulls him in. Zayne raises his hand and grabs the front of Sylus' shirt and yanks him closer. Their lips meet and it’s a little uncoordinated on Zayne’s part at first, but it smoothes out into something much more pleasant. Sylus tastes the blood and gin Zayne had been drinking all night, but there is still something nice in the taste of the blood, and he’s, unsurprisingly, a great kisser. His lips move with the practiced ease of a man who has lived a long time, and laughs softly against Zayne’s mouth when Zayne gasps as the one Sylus’ tongue traces the seam of his lips.

Time passes slowly. Zayne lifts his free hand to Sylus’ shoulder, slides it up the sides of his neck. His hand settles there making it easier to hold them as they kiss.

Zayne is starting to feel a little less dizzy when they break apart. Sylus lets go of him and Zayne falls right back on the bed. Zayne can feel his brain start to work properly again as he looks up at Sylus with wide eyes.

“That was fun, kitten.” Sylus says. “Do you think you will be okay for the night? I do have business to take care of and as you had said, I am a bit of a workaholic.” He leans over and pushes Zayne down onto the bed. Zayne looks into his ruby eyes glowing in the dark room. “You, on the other hand, should try and rest.” He lets go and stands up straight. “Goodnight, sweetie.” Sylus says and Zayne hears the bedroom door close shortly after.

Zayne looks up at his ceiling once more, the details of the paint lines clear even in the dark. He closes his eyes and his mind drifts away.

The thing is, as a vampire, Zayne no longer fully slept, so after Sylus left he just laid there in bed as his mind began to clear more and more about the events of that night. By the time it was 6 AM he was bored thinking about everything, and he wasn’t even hungover. “Goddamn vampire shit,” he mumbles and he gets up to start his day. He picks up his phone and notices a notification from Sylus and an unknown number. He checks the unknown number first and immediately cringes as it is a photo of him with his head on Sylus’ chest, with a message that reads, “Right in front of my salad.” Zayne has no idea what that means, but knows it from Rafayel. He sighs and leaves him on read, but still adds Rafayel’s number to his contacts. He looks at Sylus message and it says “Hope you rest well, kitten.” with a cat emoji at the end.

Zayne groans in embarrassment.

🩸

Zayne gets back into work over the next few days. Ignoring most of Sylus’ now persistent use of the pet name ‘kitten’ in their texts. Zayne had always been the standard in the hospital when people talked about doctors, but now with his stronger senses, more and more people call him for aid in any emergency. He is glad that there has been one useful thing about being a doctor as a vampire. There are times when he thinks it might even be smart to have more like him in the hospital, but in all truth no one has as much strength and willpower not to go hungry at the sight of blood. It wouldn’t comfort some people to know, but he likes to compare it to walking into a bakery and not being able to eat any of the bread. He knows it would taste great, but he's not going to just suddenly try every loaf.

During one of his few seconds of time where he doesn’t have people rushing him, he notices a message from Caleb.

“Hey Doc, I’ll be in town later today. Sorry for the late notice, but I figured I’d do a pick up early.”

He replies, “Sure. Busy today. Should be free around 11pm.”

Caleb responds only a few minutes later, “Don’t work too hard Doc. See you at the usual spot.”

While Zayne does not get tired physically the same way anymore, he does in fact get mentally and socially tired. And by the end of the day he is ready to retreat home. He’s already late for his meeting with Caleb, though he knows Zayne’s schedule can be unpredictable, Zayne still feels bad when he arrives at their usual spot forty-five minutes after their scheduled time.

“Hey Zayne!” Caleb says waving to him. “I know you're about to say sorry for being late, but I know how crazy work can be.”

“Either way I’m still sorry.” Zayne mumbles.
Caleb is wearing his uniform today. Zayne thinks he may have just gotten off work or may still be on duty. Zayne himself had quickly changed back into his casual wear, knowing if he didn’t he would be stopped down the halls every second.

“You got the goods?” Caleb says as if they were doing a drug deal, which at this point it was.

Zayne sighs and hands over the coolant bag filled with blood packs. And Caleb hands him back the old container they last used.

Caleb’s face gets more serious and he asks, “Now that I have you here, has Sylus talked to you about the new hunter patrols?”

He thinks back on the last few days and how many messages he’s gotten from Sylus asking only about him and wishing to have another night of drinks. Zayne makes a face and says, “No. Has something been going on?”

“Well you know how we have eyes inside with Xavier and pipsqueak?”

Zayne nods. He had mixed feelings when he learned not just one, but both of his childhood friends were vampires.
“As you know, normally hunters are not allowed to go into the zone, but Xavier has started to tell us that there have been some recent new plans. Some small groups of hunters are going into N109. Xavier has been a part of some of the crews and so far it’s just been some other areas, doing some investigating on wanderers. I haven’t heard anything more about it on my end yet. But I thought I'd let you know. “
He will have to message Sylus about this later. He knows that people don’t tend to walk into Sylus’ territory and he fears what would happen to those hunters if they do.
“Thank you for the info. I’ll ask Sylus about it later.” He says to Caleb distractedly.
“I heard from Raf that you two have been hitting it off well.” Caleb says with a mischievous look on his face. “Tell me, who tops in that kind of relationship?”
Zayne makes a strangled coughing sound.
“Haven’t gotten that far yet? I’m shocked…just thinking about the time I’ve seen you drunk and-”
Zayne stops him. “Caleb, I really am tired. I’m going now.”
Caleb raises an eyebrow at Zayne’s lame excuse, knowing he can’t even ‘sleep’ anymore. “Alright, Doc. See you next pick up.”
He waves goodbye and they both walk away.

🩸

Zayne does ask Sylus later about what was going on with the hunters in the N109 zone. Sylus had only stated he would deal with it when the time comes. Zayne didn’t like that response. In most hunters' eyes they were just doing their job, killing wanderers. If they happened to cross with a vampire and get killed, Zayne isn’t sure how he felt about it. Sylus was very protective of his people, their people, and Zayne still felt connected to the human world. He knows, however, that if news got out about vampires in the N109 zone, a new war would start again. He recalls when Sylus had told him of Luke and Keiran’s life during the war.

“I had found them in the N109 zone. It was where they were born and raised.” Sylus had said while they sat at his kitchen island. “They had both been caught in the crossfire before changing. They are identical twins…” Sylus sighed softly. “One of them had been burnt badly on half of his face and even though they had been bit, the burn scar, having been before he was bit, had remained on his face.” Zayne noticed how he didn't say which one of the twins is scarred. “From that point on the twins started to wear masks so they could remain the same forever.” He took a sip of his wine glass of blood. “We all lost something in that war. Some more than others.” They had both remained silent for a time after that.

Zayne knew it was pointless to try and stop Sylus from anything that meant protecting what he has.
A few days later Zayne is sitting in his home office working on a new project. He finds now, since he doesn’t need to sleep, that studying at 4AM is no problem for him. Something young 14 year old Zayne studying hard at night, would have loved. He starts to fill out some more documents when he hears his phone start to vibrate. He looks over to see a call coming in from Kieran. This wasn’t too odd as sometimes the boys invited Zayne over to play games at Sylus’ place while he’s working.He imagines the twins must have been in their late teens early 20s by the way they acted, but also Sylus was just very soft with them. He clears his thoughts and picks up the phone

“Hey Kieran. A bit busy today for games.”

“Hey um. Mister Zayne…I think you should come over. There was an incident with the hunters and uh Sylus is a bit injured.” Kieran says cautiously.

Zayne is already starting to pack up his things before he asks,”Is he alright? How did he get hurt? Does he need medical attention? Did anyone else get hurt?” He’s already putting on his shoes after having grab some medical supplies.

“Whoa whoa. It’s okay. I’m sure he will heal fine, but I bet he would like it if you came over right now. And as for everyone else…” Kieran stops speaking and then he hears Luke take over the phone.

“One of the hunters' groups had been chasing a wanderer and ended up in our territory.” Kieran says and Zayne tenses up, worried about what he will say next. “Sylus went alone to investigate. I guess he somehow got them to get out of town? And he fought the thing alone! I bet boss looked so cool! Anyways you should come and visit!” Luke seems more amazed than worried.

Zayne is actually taken aback by Luke’s words. Then he smiles lightly. Sylus protected his people and the hunters, but was foolish in doing so.

“Alright. I’m heading there now.” He says as he starts to walk out of his apartment building.

“Alright Doctor! Just let yourself in when you get here!” Kieran says after taking the phone back from Luke.

“See you soon.” Zayne replies before hanging up.

Zayne probably reached an all time record for fastest drive to the N109 zone. Luckily Sylus had placed some kind of pass on his car that allows him to drive around without getting shot at by other zones while trying to get to Sylus’ section. He parks his car in his usual spot and heads up to Sylus’ place. It’s in a tall building on the 12th floor that overlooks the city.

He notices Xavier near the elevator, no doubt having just met up with Sylus.

“Hey Zayne.” He says softly. “Sylus was truly foolish today, but I am grateful. I tried to tell him that. He of course wouldn’t listen and just say it was for us vampires.” Xavier chuckles lightly.

“What really happened?” Zayne says conflicted on wanting answers but also wanting to see Sylus.

“I had received a message from Sylus saying they had entered the zone chasing a huge wanderer. I believe it was the one we have been hunting for awhile. Sylus told me to get them out in any way possible. So I faked an emergency message, one that seemed to work.” Xavier says with a grateful sigh. “You know, I don’t think he would have done so a few years ago. You’ve made him a bit soft. Thank you.” He smiles at him.

Zayne nods, not truly knowing what he meant, but grateful just the same.
“Thanks to you as well.”

“Now go and see him. He’s not exactly the best when taking care of himself.” Xavier says, laughing lightly.
Zayne nods and heads into the elevator.

Once Zayne reaches Sylus’ door he puts in his code and walks in.

He’s surprised to see the living area void of the twins and the lights are dim. Normally Luke and Kieran would greet him after having sensed him coming long before going up the elevator. He could smell they left not long ago.. he could smell blood, Sylus’ blood.

“I see the boys must have called you.” Sylus says in a huffed voice.

Zayne isn’t surprised by his voice. He looks over, It’s dark, but he can still clearly see Sylus on the sofa. He walks over to him.

He gasps at the injuries. Sylus shirt has a hole where a huge burnt mark covers the side of his stomach. There are burn marks going up his left arm and Zayne can see his hands gripping the arms of the chair.

“You should see the other guy.” Sylus chuckles. He tries to hide a groan in pain, but it comes out in a soft grunt.

Zayne immediately gets to work and opens up his bag for a healing balm to help the burns.

“You know my body will heal itself right?” Sylus says watching Zayne curiously.

“Yes, but if you just leave it the healing will go slower. I can’t even imagine how it was if it’s still this bad.” Zayne reaches over to Sylus and grabs the cover of his burnt shirt. “Is it okay if I help you take this off?”

“Go right ahead, kitten.” Sylus smirks as Zayne but it quickly turns into a grimace as Zayne doesn’t hesitate to start lifting the shirt up.

Sylus raises his arms, carefully raises his burnt arm. Part of the shirt rubs up against his burnt arm and Sylus makes a face of pain. “I was planning on being the first to undress you, Doctor.”

“Is this what you always do? Ignore your injuries till they heal? Sure for small cuts I could understand, but even with self healing having iy heal within an hour or maybe a few instead of a whole day is surely better?” Zayne says accusingly grabbing the leg rest to sit in front of him.

Sylus doesn’t reply. And Zayne starts to take the balm and puts it on his arm first. He can feel the warmth from his skin as he rubs it on the wound. Zayne can already see the burnt marks start to heal themselves a bit faster as his skin takes in the medicine.

Sylus watches him work. It’s clear on his face the pain is starting to subside with every placement of the balm. Once he’s finished with the arm and has wrapped it, he moves down to Sylus’ side. Sylus grunts as his fingers make contract with his stomach, knuckles clenching a bit as Sylus’ fingers tighten around the armchair. Zayne looks up to see Sylus still watching him closely. His eyes are looking over Zayne, as if he was a painting to admire. Zayne looks back at his work applying as little pressure as possible to the wound. It’s silent, but it’s comfortable.

Prepahs it was a moment of weakness. Perhaps it was just the way Sylus was looking at him, but once he finished putting on the last of the medicine, his hand starts to go upwards. He lightly touches Sylus chest, admiring his strong body, then makes his way up to caress his shoulder, rubbing his thumb along his collar bone, and then finally up to his face where he holds onto the Sylus’s face. Sylus is smirking at him but closes his eyes and leans into his touch. Zayne’s hands reach to the back of his neck and he leans in for a kiss. It’s much less sloppy than the last time. It’s gentle and soft. Sylus good hand wraps behind Zayne’s and he can feel his fingers go up his shirt to rub the skin on his back

They break away for a moment and Sylus says, “So I either have to get you drunk or get myself injured in order to have you?” He laughs lightly on Zayne’s lips.

“You don’t have to do anything anymore. I’m here for you.” Zayne says, accepting his fate.

He checks off another thing on his list of perks of being a vampire that night.

His seemingly never ending stamina.

🩸

Message from ‘Uncle Zayne and Sons’ chat.

“Uncle Zayne, when are you coming over again! We recently got a new game to play!”
Kieran sends.

“I’ll come by later today. I have something to show you all.” Zayne types.

Luke sends a gif of a cat receiving a gift. “You spoil us. This is why you are our favorite.”

“I’m telling Sylus you said that” Zayne replies.

“You wouldn't dare!!” Kieran sends

“If you do I'm sending a pic to Rafayel from last week!” Luke sends.

“If you do that I may have to kill you, Luke.” Zayne replies.
Luke sends a gif of a cat looking sneaky.

Zayne locks his phone and puts it in his pocket. He has been working extra hard these days. He’s rarely even rested as he's stayed up late every night after working a full shift. Zayne still manages to sneak into his place at night where they spend time together. They find their own comfort in staying in bed together watching a movie or going out hunting for wanderers in the early hours of the morning. They managed to do the work of a whole hunter group in hours rather than days. It lessened the amount of hunters going into the N109 zone and caused less wanderers to reach civilians in Linkon.

Chrissy, the child who Zayne met the first day he knew he was a vampire had gone missing. They had searched for one of the children that had gone missing with no luck, but were thankful for no news spreading of vampires throughout the city.

Zayne looks at his gift in his driver seat on his way to the N109 zone. He would be personally delivering this package today. His hard work over the past months had finally paid off. And it would change everything for them.

He reaches Sylus apartment first and of course is greeted by Luke and Kieran right away.

“Uncle Zayne, have you found her?” They both speak at the same time. Clearly had smelled her before he had entered.

Chrissy is hiding behind Zayne. Holding onto his leg. She sees Luke and Kieran and her eyes brighten. She runs up to them and they both get on their knees to hug her.

“Is this the gift you-” Luke says then suddenly his eyes go wide and he looks at Zayne.

“What…she…how did you do it?” Kieran says as it hits him as well.

Zayne smiles. He can already sense Sylus going up the elevator.

“I figured it out.” He says simply.

He hears Sylus walk up behind him and say, “Zayne, you…” His hand reaches Zayne’s shoulder and turns him around to face him. Zayne is shocked to see tears in his eyes.

“She’s not a vampire anymore? How did you..?” Luke finally asks the question they all had.

“She was farel when I found her. I was…hesitant to use her, but knowing it could save everyone and even herself. I tried the medicine I was working on. It was fast, after only a few hours she was back to normal and now human.”

“Zayne, I am amazed by you everyday.” Sylus smiles at him and then brings him in for a deep kiss.

“Not in front of the kid!” Luke calls in the back.

They both break away from each others lips with a laugh.

🩸

Epilogue

No one was shocked when they heard that both Zayne and Sylus decided to stay as vampires. They had both agreed that both of them were better at their jobs with the disease. Only a few others had also decided to stay. As for all the kids, they were now human, able to finally grow and age. Luke and Kieran also decided they would cure themselves, much to Sylus’ dismay, though he had grown to understand their decision. The twins wanted to have their own lives in the city for once. Zayne had said that Sylus acted like a parent whose children were moving out of the house for the first time.

They Zayne and Sylus both decided that one day there would be a time they would take the cure. When they finally feel their job is done.
They will grow old together,
maybe have their own family.
Live and peace and die together.
But not till their job is done.