The luscious scent of blood wafted through the trees, shocking Subaru awake, sharpening the stabbing pain in his throat to a fever pitch. The young vampire bit his lip, sickly sweet blood flowing down his chin, desperately trying to distract from the fact that his throat ached like nothing he’d ever felt before. Not true, Subaru. At least it’s better than the turning. Memories of that night invaded his mind, his body being torn apart cell by cell, acid flowing through his veins and burning him alive, his heart and lungs lying useless in his chest, of desperately trying to breathe, to force air down his throat- Stop!
He glanced up at the starry sky, trying to stop dwelling on painful memories. Twilight. Good thing the sun’s set. Subaru removed his hood and pulled his sleeves back, inspecting his hands and cheeks. No sunburns. That’s good. The young vampire glanced around, desperately trying to ground himself, taking in the sour scent of small animals hanging high above him, the conifer trees rustling in the wind, the sweet-smelling scent of human blood getting closer and closer- God, I’m so thirsty. So thirsty. But I could go and hunt and drink and drink and it’d be sweet, so sweet- No! No! I can’t do that again! He dug his fingernails into his palms, blood pouring through his fingers onto the ground, the sickly-sweet scent inflaming the pain in his throat.
Why don’t you just go and kill something, Subaru-chan? There’s something yummy smelling coming through the woods near you. You’d be able to get rid of it all, allllllll that pain, allllllll that thirst. All you’d have to do is take a bite out of a human, one little bite, and you’d be set. No more pain. All the blood you could want. Delicious, sweet, lovely blood.
I’m not killing again! Hot, sticky tears rolled down his cheeks. Not again. Memories invaded his mind, memories of human screams and visceral fear and hurt and the most wonderful liquid he’d ever tasted in his life flowing down his throat, soothing all that pain from the hellish three days. It hurts. God, it hurts. I...I want it gone! He drew his knees up to his chest, drawing in the scent of fresh denim and fresh leaves, trying to distract himself from the agony in his throat. I need something to make it go away, please make it go away, please, I need something, please, just some person, some dying person, then it’d be okay, I’d be able to get that blood, that sweet, wonderful blood, and I would stop hurting… No, I don’t want to do that again! I don’t want to kill anyone! I’m not a monster! I don’t want to feel anymore of that pain! I’m no-
Subaru jerked up, his eyes catching a figure streaking through the trees, Blood! Subaru’s body jumped towards the scent on pure instinct, panic coursing through him as he flew upwards before he hit something solid, both of them slamming to the ground.
“Fuck!”
Still running off of adrenaline and thirst, Subaru barely thought before he snatched the lovely-smelling thing out of the other vampire’s arms, biting into it without a second thought. Subaru moaned in ecstasy as warm, sweet blood filled his mouth, quenching the fire in his throat. Ohhhhhhhh! So wonderful! So sweet! I love it! I need more!
“Excuse me!”
Subaru looked up. The other vampire glared at him, his fangs bared. “What the hell was that for!”
Subaru’s hands shook as he stood up, the anger rolling off of the other vampire in waves, the young vampire’s body primed to bolt. “I...I was thir…” He glanced around, looking for some sort of an escape route, and his eyes caught onto what he was holding in his hands. An arm, a human arm, Subaru’s puncture marks plainly visible against the pale skin. That’s a fucking human arm! Oh god, oh my god… Disgust rolled in Subaru’s stomach. That’s wrong, that’s so wrong, that’s a dead person, oh, god, is that a wedding band? But it smells so good, so sweet, oh god, that’s just making it more wrong! What the fuck is wrong with me!
The other vampire got up, his piercings glinting in the moonlight. “If you’re just going to stand there and not eat it, could I get my breakfast back?”
How can he just talk so casually about it, like it’s just a bowl of cereal? Subaru fought with himself, but the other vampire made the choice for him by snatching the dead arm out of his hands, a hand pressed against the bottom to keep the blood from leaking out.
“D...did you ki...kill it?” Not like you’re any better, Subaru. Don’t you remember that woman Kisaki got for you that night, the way her sweet blood soothed your broken body, ran through your veins and made you feel truly alive for the first time in your life, how lovely her screams sounded, how sweet her fear felt- Stop!
The other vampire was still staring at him, his eyes narrowed. “What the hell did you say?”
Subaru gritted his fangs. “Did. You. Kill. It?”
The pierced vampire rolled his eyes, winding a strand of dyed purple hair around his fingers. “No. The hell do you take me for?” Subaru could feel the annoyance, the frustration roll off of the vampire, and he felt like shrinking into the ground.
“Then where’d did you get the arm?!”
The other vampire started to answer, then froze. “They’re coming.”
“What?”
The purple-haired vampire grabbed Subaru’s hand. “Ferals. Run!”
Before Subaru could say anything else, his arm was jerked sharply to the right, and he barely had time to start running before he heard screams like nothing he’d ever heard in his life, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a pack of vampires, fangs bared, their faces twisted into some ugly mockery of human anger.
“Ferals” is an accurate name for them , Subaru thought. They moved more like animals than people, and the bloodlust, the desperate, all consuming desire to eat and kill and consume that Subaru felt from them was like nothing he’d ever felt before, even when surrounded by other newborns.. Panic seized his body, and he followed the other vampire into the dark woods. He flew through the forest at speeds barely imaginable, his feet barely touching the ground, sights and sounds whipping past him. The two vampires sprinted, the purple-haired one still clutching the dead arm to his chest, Subaru almost keeping up, fear racing through his body. Idon’twanttodieIdon’twanttodie!
He could see the purple-haired one sprinting through the trees, a wide grin on his face, a strange mixture of emotions trailing behind him. Does he think it’s fun? He’s insane! Subaru did have to admit to himself though, that it was sort of fun. He felt as though he was flying through the woods, he moved so fast, much faster than he could’ve ever thought of as a human, and even though he’d been running for quite a while, he wasn’t tired. On the contrary, he felt free, freer than he’d ever felt in his life, warm, fresh blood pumping through his veins, invigorating his entire body. Everything was so much more there! Colors were brighter, the forest was so alive, he could smell everything, from the fresh pine and moss to the crisp water flowing from a river to the sour scent of some squirrels hiding in the trees to the scent of some other vampires. Other vampires!? Are we going to run into their territory? If we are, we’re just going to be going from one group of vampires wanting our food to another! Shit!
Suddenly, the two vampires came upon a sharp cliffside, Subaru freezing in his tracks. We’re trapped.
The other vampire skidded to a sudden stop, staring at Subaru like he was crazy, panic and frustration filling the air. “Why the hell’d you stop? Do you want to get eaten?”
Subaru turned around, his ears picking up the hissing and hunger of the feral vampires, body torn between wanting to escape and not wanting to jump to his death. “I don’t want to jump off a cliff!”
The purple-haired vampire rolled his eyes. “You’re a vamp, right? So you can take a little fall off a cliff. I’ll give you till the count of three to decide.”
Subaru tugged at the edges of his coat, fear freezing him in place. I know, logically, I could live falling off a cliff. But that doesn’t mean I want to! And those other vamps might be at the bottom, and they could-
A cracking sound interrupted Subaru’s thoughts, and he could smell the ferals coming closer, feel the all-consuming bloodlust grow more and more evident at the edges of his senses. The pierced vampire obviously smelled them too, and pressed a hand to Subaru’s back.
“Three.”
Subaru barely had a second to register the word before he was unceremoniously shoved off the cliffside, his body making hard contact with the ground a few moments later. Fuck!
The other vampire landed gracefully on the ground before offering his hand to Subaru.
Subaru reluctantly took it. “Why’d you have to do that?”
The purple-haired vampire rolled his eyes. “Did you want to get torn apart?”
“ I’m not the one carrying the arm!”
The other vampire laughed, Subaru feeling his barely-contained frustration. “Oh, you think ferals give a fuck about who took their precious blood? They don’t. They’d tear you apart just because they’re pissed and you’re in the way. Now come on. I didn’t just steal this for myself, you know.”
Subaru followed the other vampire through the woods, the purple-haired vampire moving through the forest like he knew where he was going, determination and- was that an undercurrent of anxiety? The scent of the other vampires was getting stronger, and Subaru was getting worried.
“Do they know we’re in their territory?”
The other vampire turned around, the arm hanging uselessly from his hand, most of its blood drained. “Know? They’re the reason I stole this arm!”
Subaru stood aback. I thought he was just another hungry vampire, only looking out for number one! “The reason?”
“They’re...like my friends. There’s two of them, Koudai and Tomoya. We were both turned around the same time, I think almost three weeks ago? Anyway, Tomoya went a bit too close to the edges of the forest for His Royal Highness Kisaki’s comfort, and one of his guards shot him in the gut. Koudai and I’ve been scrounging around for something to speed up his healing, and I happened to stumble upon some feral pack in the midst of a kill, and I miraculously managed to steal an arm, and Tomoyo would’ve been healed but for the actions of a fucking nearly-feral fledgeling who can’t control himself when he smells a drop of fucking blood!”
Subaru stepped back, guilt suddenly flooding his body, paralyzing him in his tracks, the anger and frustration emanating from the purple-haired vampire’s body almost flooring him. “I...I’m so sorry! If I’dve known, then-”
The other vampire’s emotions kicked up a notch in intensity, the anger and pain bringing tears to Subaru’s eyes. “Then what?! You wouldn’tve stolen that blood!? You wouldn’tve almost killed Tomoya?!”
Subaru bit back tears. “I...I didn’t mean to hurt anyone! I was just so thirsty, and-” So thirsty. He felt an echo of the fiery pain threaten to climb up his throat, and sunk to the ground.
“Hey, Kuina, stop digging into that kid and bring that arm over.”
Subaru glanced up to see a redheaded vampire sitting on a tree branch directly over their heads, his legs swinging back and forth.
Kuina looked up, a scowl on his face, but he threw the arm up, the redheaded vampire catching it in one hand before dropping down to the ground. The redheaded vampire smirked, his free hand intertwining with Kuina’s.
Are they a thing? The redhead suddenly tapped Subaru on the shoulder, his fingers traveling from his shoulder to his neck, tracing around where his pulse would be, his eyes shining with captured moonlight. “Where’d you find this cutie, Kui-chan?”
Subaru blushed. Wait, what? Kuina responded by baring his fangs at the redhead.
“Don’t call me that. And to answer your question, he knocked me out of a tree and damn near killed me, then, he stole all the blood. Happy?”
A mixture of emotions rolled off of Koudai’s body, his face twisting into a strange expression before he turned around and ran deeper into the woods, Kuina following him.
Subaru took off after them, nearly on instinct. I’m sorry! I’m honestly so sorry! The two vampires moved nearly in sync, twisting and turning through the woods, before suddenly stopping. Subaru crashed into a tree, the calls of startled songbirds filling the sky. Shit!
“Fuck. You okay?”
Subaru glanced up, Kuina was leaning over him, a hand outstretched.
The blonde vampire gave a tentative nod, taking Kuina’s hand. Koudai had retreated inside a dilapidated house, the outside almost completely reclaimed by tangled vines, the scent of another vampire emanating from the crooked doorway.
“Kuina, I’m-”
“Don’t.”
Subaru bit his tongue, sickly sweet blood filling his mouth. His stomach twisted. Does he hate me for stealing Tomoya’s blood? I didn’t know! I was just so thirsty, so thirsty… His throat burned, the blood inside his mouth not helping to quench the fire. Kuina still gave off waves of frustration, making Subaru’s emotions twist in knots. Should I apologize? I know he’s still angry with me, but he said not to apologize, but he could just be trying to make me feel better, but I was so awful and wrong and-
“Subaru?”
The blonde vampire looked to the right, Kuina staring at him, Subaru feeling as though he should bolt off into the forest with the amount of emotion leaking out into the atmosphere, Koudai’s concern over Tomoya, mixed with deep love, though Kuina’s pity smothered it all, making Subaru feel sick, so sick, and he hated it, hated being pitied, hated being treated like a precious, frail thing that needed to be protected!
“Hey, are you okay?”
Subaru looked up. Kuina was sitting next to him. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop feeling bad for me!” Kuina’s shock rippled out through the forest, making Subaru’s stomach twist in revulsion. “I know you do, don’t lie. I can feel it!”
Kuina’s face twisted in confusion. “Feel it?”
Subaru clammed up. Is that not a normal vampire thing? What’s wrong with me! He bit his lip again, the puncture wound reopening, more pity and sadness and concern flooding his senses, mixing with the burning pain in his throat that utterly refused to be quenched, everything flooding and overwhelming and it was all too much please make everything stop existing please-
A pair of tight arms wrapped around him, Koudai’s scent filling his senses.
“Breathe.” Subaru did, the sweet scents of trees and the sour ones of animal blood mingling with Koudai’s vampiric one, intertwined with a strange emotion that Subaru had never felt before. He wanted to sink into it, let it envelop his body like diving into a warm pool of water, all that feeling, so satisfying, mingled with Koudai’s scent, sharp, but with a hint of sweetness, the scent of the last vampire on his clothing, a bit more fruity than the others. He snuggled deeper into Koudai’s arms, the texture of his sweater caressing his cheek. Subaru could feel Kuina’s emotions change, from pity to… satisfaction? It was hard to get a grasp on what he was feeling, but something else invaded Subaru’s senses, causing him to jolt out of Koudai’s arms.
The harsh hunger burned at his mind, adding to the fire in his throat, the contentedness in his body being replaced with fear, his body torn between wanting to stand and fight or bolt off into the darkness. Koudai and Kuina stared at him, as well as the other vampire, feathery-brown hair blowing in the wind.
Kuina walked forward. “What’s wrong?”
Subaru’s hands started shaking, three pairs of slit-pupiled eyes staring directly at him, the all-consuming burning anger radiating through the trees as if carried on the wind, the hunger inflaming Subaru’s own burning throat, pulling at the thirst deep inside his soul.
Subaru balled his hands into fists, the ravenous hunger and fury growing more intense. He turned around to face the small group of vampires.
“They’re coming!”