Chapter Text
3rd POV
A pale young man lies on dark bed sheets deadly still- so much so that one would think he were dead if not for the slight and slow rise and fall of his bandaged chest. Bandages cover much of his body, from his chest and arm, snaking up and around his neck leading to his face. Part of his raven colored hair is cut haphazardly, like someone was trying to quickly fix it. The man soon begins to shift, slowly waking from his pained sleep.
???? POV
It's cold… I think as I struggle to wake. It hurts too… What's going on..? Where am I? I struggle to slowly open my eyes, leading me to see- well, nothing. It was dark. But I believe I must be in a room at least. I then hear the creak of the door, I try to turn my head towards the noise, but my body wouldn’t listen. I hear a voice then:
“Ah- you’re awake.” the voice is deep, familiar I think.. I can’t tell, my thoughts are too jumbled. “How are you feeling boy?” he asks, I feel my mind blank. Oh god. No- it can’t be him no- “I told you I would be back. And that when I returned I would be sure to make you mine.”
I feel my eyes burn, I try to blink it away but I couldn’t. I opened my mouth to speak, but the only sound that left it was a weak groan. “Uugh..”
“Shh..there's no need to try and speak right now, especially not with the condition you’re in.” The man walked closer. “Speaking of which- I need to change your bandages again..” I felt his hand touch my arm, was it my arm? I can’t tell everything hurts too much. The man then grasps me by my shoulder, forcing my painfully raw body into a sitting position. I gasp and sputter in pain, and the man simply tsks at me. “Now, now, there's no need to whine.” he says as he begins to remove the bandages around my torso. “Do you remember any of the events that lead to you being in this state?” He looks at me expectantly.
My throat burns as I try to speak. “N-no.. I-” I try to think, try to remember, what happened to me? What was I doing? “Fire…” I said weakly. “There was pain.. My neck… then smoke..fire. There was a fire.” I rasp weakly.
“Yes, I know about the fire. I pulled you out of said fire,” the man narrows his eyes at me. “How did the fire start? Was there anyone else there with you boy?”
“I-I don’t know…” I really didn’t know. Was there someone else there? I try to scrape my memories but all I can think of is the pain and the fire.
“Well, there must have been someone else involved. After all-” he grabs my neck. “I don’t believe you would be capable of inflicting this type of wound to your own neck..Vincent.”
I cough in pain, it hurts, it hurts. “Stop..stop..” I wheeze out.
“What was that?” he growled.
“P-please stop- Chef please..” I whisper as I look at him. I looked at the man I had hoped to never see again.
He releases his hold on my neck and I fall back, almost crumpling back onto the bed. He looks at me for a second before speaking again. “Now..I understand you’ve gone through much as of late, but that does not mean you can disrespect me. Do you understand?”
“Yes Chef..”
“Good, you’re such a good boy Vincent. That’s why I care so much.” He grabs my chin. “I saved you. Without me, without my power you would be dead.” he traces his finger down my jaw, to my neck- to the unburned side. I can feel his fingers tracing what feels like two little holes in my neck, I feel my eyes widen at the feeling, at the thought of what the man meant.
“Now,” he draws out. “you need to rest, understand? After all, you have a very busy week coming up.”
“W-what..?” I choked out.
“Just because you got a few burns doesn't mean you cannot work. Besides, you're really in no place to argue. You have nothing now, no Bistro, no home. The only thing you do have is your ability to cook- and that pretty little face of yours I so love.” he stood up as he spoke and gave one last long, patronizing look at me as he walked to the door. “So rest well boy, for as of next week, you will be working in my restaurant. My, my, it'll be just like old times, little ember.” He chuckled as he closed the door.
When the door clicked shut, it left the room in darkness once more. I could feel the familiar burn of tears building in my eyes, but none fell, at least on the right side of my face. I could feel the wet track on the left side of my face, but the right remained dry, reminding me of the current state of my body.
I couldn't move my right arm at all, so I used my left arm to slowly reach towards my face. My fingers first met the soft feel of bandages as I moved my hand up, my fingers brushed against the dry, papery skin of my face. I immediately pulled my hand back, startled by the feeling of my own face. I could only imagine how the rest of my body must look, must feel, considering the copious amount of bandages covering it.
I felt horrible, what happened to me?? Why can't I remember… all that I could remember was drinking up in my apartment above the bistro, then hearing a loud noise from below in the restaurant..after that fire. Pain. Nothing else came to mind. But I do wonder, how am I still alive? It feels like most of my body is on fire still and that man mentioned something about my neck- did something happen to my neck? He said I couldn’t have done it to myself so was there someone else in the bistro at the time? If so, why can't I remember?
As I felt my frustration build, my eyes began to flutter as exhaustion forcibly took hold of my body instead. I struggled to keep my eyes open as sleep forced its way with me, still, as sleep took me all I could think about was what had happened to me, and the fear that gripped me at the thought of what was going to happen to me now.
3rd POV
As the door clicks shut behind the older man, he looks to his left to see a woman looking at him expectantly.
“Sir.” she says quietly, her voice almost a whisper if not for the firmness present within it.
“Yes Louise?” the man responds lazily, looking over at her.
“..What do you plan to do now that you finally have the boy?” she asks, her brow furrowing, eyes narrowed.
“What do you think I plan to do? I want him to be mine and only mine.” the man smirks. “And I know just how to do it.”
“What do you mean..? Isn’t he already due to-”
“Yes, he is mine physically now. On a surface level at least, his transformation isn’t complete yet… he is not a true vampire yet. It seems to be taking longer due to his injuries. Along with something else I believe, something I discovered while bandaging him up.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You knew him and his mother as well, yes?” He asked.
“Yes sir, you knew that already though, that's why you asked for me specifically.” Louise answered. She looked at the man warily, uncertain of what he was trying to imply.
“I know, I know, it was a rhetorical question. Do you remember his mother ever mentioning him having a condition?”
“Are you referring to his lack of taste? You already knew about that-”
The man chuckles. “No, not that. I discovered something even better. The boy is not just a boy at all!” a grin grew on the man's face as he looked at Louise. “Why he, she, is both. That’s what his mother hid from me all this time! It makes him perfect.”
“What-” Louise's eyes widened.
“I couldn’t have his mother- his damned father ruined that for me. But I can have him, all of him. Physically, emotionally, why I could finally have my happy little family.”
“Y-you wouldn’t- he’s just a child and you loved his-”
“Yes, I loved his mother once. But she chose that pitiful man over me.” he growed. “So I chose to play the long game, when I found out she was to have a child. If I couldn't have her, pure and unsullied, I would take the next best thing: her child.” the man hissed as he turned and walked down the hall. Once he reached the end, he turned back. “Make sure the boy is cared for, he needs to be as healthy as he can be for what I plan.”
“...Yes sir.”
Louise POV
As my Master walked down the hall, I found my hands shaking at my sides. I clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to calm myself. How could he, how dare he? I thought. I knew he loved Annette at one point, but clearly that love had turned bitter and then eventually, to something that didn’t even resemble love. It became twisted and corrupt. I remember how the days after Annette's wedding went, the Master at first ignored her completely, bitter and hurt. But then she was with child, when the Master found that out, he became obsessive and even more so once the child, Vincent, was born.
In the years that followed the Master played the role of a caring uncle like friend to them all, easily gaining their trust. When the little boy had shown interest in the culinary world, that was when the Master struck. He encouraged him, nurtured his passion and talent for cooking despite the boy being unable to taste. I do honestly believe the Master had been impressed by that. The Master liked those who exceeded expectations…He went as far as to take the boy under his wing within his own establishment while he went to culinary school. While I do not know exactly what happened all the time during those days, I know his relationship with the boy became strained, to the point that after he had graduated and opened his own restaurant, he stopped speaking to the Master..
I sighed as I looked at the door in front of me. But that doesn’t matter much now.. Vincent was here now whether he wished to be or not.. And he would soon be a creature of the night, just as the Master is, just as I am. I knew from experience just how terrifying the transformation could be, but I imagine his will be much worse due to his injuries… I just hope that the Vampiric healing factor he is bound to obtain would help lessen the lasting effects of his injuries. I pulled my watch out of my left dress pocket, opening it to see the time. It was around three in the morning, it had been about two hours since the Master had been in the room, it was time for me to change his bandages again and to check on the transformation's progress. As I slowly opened the door I pushed my worried thoughts about what the Master had planned for Vincent to the back of my mind. He lies unconscious on the bed with red slowly seeping from in between the bandages on his body.
I needed to be in caretaker mode, I thought stubbornly. I need to make sure that none of his wounds get infected, especially the one on his neck. I have no bloody clue as to what could have possibly caused such a violent wound on him, at least not without considering that it was inflicted by someone else onto him. Which was honestly what I believed must have happened. There was no other explanation, and I knew the Master agreed. Slowly I unraveled the wrappings around his neck, trying my best not to move him too much, lest he wake. The bandages came away red, covered in his blood. The scent of it made my nose burn, it was overwhelming, the copper scent of blood mixed with the smell of burnt flesh that sadly clung to him.
Vincent abruptly stilled, his shallow breaths stopping entirely. His face contorted, shaping itself into a grimace of pain.Then it fell, leaving his expression blank once more, but now his body was completely still. I knew he would start to breathe again shortly, he hasn’t fully transformed yet. Even though it had been the Master himself who had turned him, the transformation would still take time. I changed his bandages, quickly and gently, preventing him from waking up. I stood up from my spot by his side and simply watched him for a moment, while I was patching him up, he began to breathe once more, this time his breathing was more labored. Along with that, I noticed how his body temperature began to rise, signally a fever in the making.
As I turned towards the door to fetch some fresh water to cool him, I heard a soft sound, a whimper.
“Hhnngh..” I turned towards him, about to reach out when he gasped out- “N-no, wait.” he whispered. I paused. “Stop- R-rody..” Vincent whimpered, eyes squeezed tight as he fell back into complete unconsciousness.
All I could think was: who the hell was Rody… and what did he do?