Chapter Text
" Maître, a word if you please?"
Lucien looked at his close friend and nodded, motioning for them to step away from the battle plans.
" The soldier, the young man that fool fledgling tried to turn after the last battle has been spotted again."
" Yes?"
" He is fully human Maître, they have found a way to counter-act the change, provided it is not completed."
" Something to keep in mind, though no threat to us. We must find a secure location for any going through the change."
" My thoughts exactly Maître. However, I am also interested in the soldier himself. I request that he be left alive for me."
" Left alive? Very well, so long as it does not endanger us or our cause, this could be the last battle we face and I will not jeopardize that for anything."
" Of course. Merci, Maître."
Drake bowed and disappeared to make his own plans; the soldier would be his.
If Ryan was being honest with himself he would have accepted that there was no way they were going to win this battle; but if he were being honest with himself he might just run screaming from the fight, and that would not go down well with his superiors. Instead the 23 year-old soldier gritted his teeth, tightened his grip on his flamethrower, the only weapon he still had, and threw himself back into the fray.
When the order of 'retreat' came, Ryan had to work really hard not to cry in relief; instead he looked over his shoulder at the human soldiers backing away from the fight. That small moment of inaction was enough for Drake, who grabbed the young soldier and sank his fangs deep in the sweaty neck.
Ryan cried out as pain shot through him, his hands reaching over his head to claw at the figure drinking from him.
* Mortal reactions will get you nowhere. You cannot match my strength. *
The words echoed through Ryan's head as he pushed desperately at the drinking vampire.
* Why doesn't he just kill me? *
The thought circled Ryan's brain as dimly saw his troop gather and left, his friends throwing desperate glances back at him as he writhed in the vampire's arms. The vampire pulled away and tightened his grip on Ryan before taking to the skies. Ryan screamed, he couldn't help it, as he saw the world drop away below him.
How long they flew, or where they were going, Ryan never knew. He was weak from blood loss, his vision distorted and vague. He passed out sometime during the journey and woke in a large bed in a strange room.
Ryan sat up instantly and groaned as he neck ached and he head swam.
" You shouldn't move so fast, I have taken a lot of blood."
Ryan moved slower this time, focusing bleary eyes on his captor, skimming over the lightly curled black hair that hung to the creature's chin to focus on the eyes. Like the finest jade, interlaid with gold thread, the eyes seemed to emit their own light. Razor sharp nails tapped a light staccato rhythm on the chair's arms before they were retracted as the creature stood.
" Why am I still alive?"
The vampire didn't answer, instead he slid onto the bed, his moments gracefully and menacing at the same time. He dragged Ryan closer and sank his fangs back into the same wound, drinking again.
* You won't be for long. You'll be mine. *
Ryan struggled harder, but his weakened body was no match for the vampire's strength.
When the vampire finally pulled away, Ryan knew that he was dying, his body was slowly shutting down; and yet he turned his head away when the vampire offered him blood.
* You won't be able to refuse it forever. Your body will fight to have it, even as your mind fights to turn away. *
It was true, so very true; already Ryan's hands were reaching for the wrist before his mind caught up to it. With tears rolling down his cheeks, Ryan gave in and drank the heady blood, feeling it suffuse his body and roar through his parched veins.
Drake looked his youngest Childe over as he slept, eyes caressing the muscular form. The man's black hair was shaved into a severe buzz cut, so typical of the modern armies. The eyes were hidden behind closed lids, but Drake knew the soft chocolate brown was already being infused by strands of gold; strands that would overwhelm the brown in the young one's vampiric façade. Already the skin was hardening, the muscles and bones altering their structure to support the rigours of vampiric speed and strength. The nails hardened, lengthening into dangerous points that could be retracted like a cat's claws. Drake enjoyed watching these minute changes, almost invisible to the human eye; he looked forward to this one's awakening, he would be a challenge...and Drake needed a challenge.
The next time Ryan woke, he could feel that the change was complete, his body humming with new power and energy. He got up and moved to the large window, staring out of the rolling sand dunes and the sparkling stars. He remembered it now, the way things had looked and felt while his body fought the vampiric invader last time.
" This time there is no way back. There is nothing human left in you to fight."
Ryan turned to face his Sire and dropped his eyes, unwilling to bring more punishment down on himself.
" Why? You killed so many others, why not me?"
" Because I didn't want to. I wanted you for myself."
A cold hand reached out brushed Ryan's cold cheek in a gentle gesture. The vampire nuzzled Ryan's cheek softly and brushed a gently kiss against the cold flesh that was hardening rapidly.
" Come, you have to feed."
Ryan shivered as the words wafted over his skin, his mind rebelling at the idea.
* You don't have to kill. *
" What does it matter, I'm already the enemy, my friends will kill me when they see me."
The vampire took his hand and pulled him away from the window and into an adjoining room where several people sat watching the TV screen. It took a moment for Ryan to understand what he was seeing.
" They surrendered," he whispered quietly. " It's over."
His Sire nodded, one hand still clasping Ryan's.
" Femme, would you mind?"
One of the young women got to her feet and followed Ryan back into the bedroom.
" You're not angry at Drake," the woman stated curiously as she walked beside Ryan.
" There's no point now...there is no cure for vampirism."
The woman smiled softly and sat down, quickly tying her long hair back over one shoulder.
Ryan stared at her with wide eyes as Drake moved closer to the bed.
" You want me to..."
" To bite me, yes. You need to feed and I am perfectly willing, just as long as you don't intend to kill me."
" Of course not!" The response was automatic and it drew a smile from both of them.
Ryan bent forward, his hands moving to hold Femme as Drake instructed.
" Gently, good...now drink."
Ryan drank, the blood flowing into his mouth tasted good. A gentle tap on his head and Ryan pulled away, healing the wound with a soft brush of his tongue.
" Thank you," he murmured against the woman's fragrant skin.
She stroked her fingers through his hair for a moment and then got up and left.
" You really don't blame me?" Drake asked as Ryan stood and moved to look out the window again.
" It happened in Vietnam as well you know," Ryan said, not answering Drake's question.
" Soldiers started to feel sympathy for the so-called enemy. They kept killing them, but inside they felt bad about it. When the war ended, some married Vietnamese women and braved the criticism to live in the broken country."
" Our war has ended too, but you didn't marry me willingly."
" How I got here is irrelevant, the point is that I am, and I can't change that."
" No, but you can still hate me for what I did."
" You're all I have left," Ryan said quietly, and then he collapsed. He sank to the ground, forehead pressed against the thick glass as he bit on his fist to stop himself from screaming in pain and anger.
Drake followed the newborn to the ground, holding him tight as Ryan trembled.
" Such a coward...didn't want to die. Is that what you tasted? Is that why you did it...cowardice?"
Ryan cried out, suddenly feeling ill as he remembered the taste of Femme's blood, the enjoyment he had taken from it.
" Oh god! Oh god...I can't...no!"
* Quiet, quiet little one, and try to calm down.... *
Ryan's body spasmed violently and he pushed at Drake, desperate to free himself. Drake let him go, concern warring with anger in the older vampire's mind. Ryan leapt to his feet and threw himself into the bathroom, slamming his fist into the empty mirror and grabbing one of the shards that rained down from the shattered glass. He slashed at his wrist, watching as the blood welled and the cut healed.
" No, no, no, NO!" Ryan howled as he slashed at his arm again and again, and each time the result was the same. He washed the blood from his arms, the colour and texture reminding him of the warmth of Femme's body as he fed from her.
" Traitor, traitor...I'm a traitor!" He screamed as he slammed the door so hard it came of its hinges, and then sank to the floor in the corner. Ryan fell silent, his entire body trembling violently as waves of nausea and self-hatred washed over him.
" How could I? How...traitor, I'm a traitor," he whispered quietly as Drake squatted in front of him.
* It's alright little one, hush now. *
Drake lifted his youngest Child easily, carrying him back into the bedroom. He sank down on the bed, Ryan still in his arms. Drake rocked the distraught newborn gently, kissing the top of Ryan's head softly.
When Ryan finally calmed, Drake spoke again.
" I didn't chose you then, I chose you months ago, the first time some idiot fledgling turned you and then let you go. It wasn't cowardice, it was strength, the same strength I see now. You knew then that there was no cure, just as you do now; and yet you tried to make the most of the situation, and even returned to the battle field."
" I drank her blood...I enjoyed it..."
" Better you enjoy it then that I have to force you. It is your strength, your endurance. You do what you have to do to survive, I admire that, and nobody can fault you for it."
" Do you admire me now? I'm a sobbing wreck, clinging to my enemy for security."
" Like you said, I am everything you have left here."
Drake nuzzled a soft kiss on Ryan's cheek and then put both of them back on their feet.
" It's almost dawn, we should get some sleep."
" Dawn...yes I'd forgotten, that will have to change as well."
" The sun won't kill you, you know. It's just that our heightened senses make it more comfortable for us to move about during the night. Would you like to stay up and watch the sun rise?"
" It won't hurt me?"
" No."
" Then please."
Drake shifted his grip slightly so that he was standing behind Ryan, his arms crossed over the young vampire's stomach. The sun rose in all its brilliance over the barren desert and Ryan watched in awe through his vampiric eyes.
When the sun was high in the sky, Drake drew the heavy velvet drapes, plunging the room into darkness. Ryan crossed over to the big bed and slid between the comfortable sheets, tears still drying on his cheeks.
" Drake?"
Drake turned back from the door with a raised eyebrow.
" Will you stay?"
Smiling suddenly, the older vampire nodded. He closed the door, sliding the locks in place, before crossing over to the bed. He kicked off his shoes and socks, shrugging out of his shirt before sliding under the covers, curling around Ryan.
When Drake woke the next evening, the bed beside him was cold. He sat up, suddenly fearing that his newest Childe had done something foolish. His tension eased when he caught sight of Ryan, sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window, the drapes pulled back. The young vampire had one hand up to the meagre light from the moon, inspecting the silver glimmer of his sharp nails. Drake got up, walking across to Ryan and sliding down to sit with his back against the wall, legs stretched out lazily.
" Fascinating, isn't it? Almost a thousand years and the extent of my own powers still amazes me sometimes."
" Fascinating...yes...in an obscene kind of way. What do you want with me? Why me?"
" I wanted a companion, a mate, I grow tired of the young fledglings created today, insipid, worthless. You caught my attention, even as a mortal you drew my interest."
" Mate...you want to fuck me?"
Drake laughed softly. " Yes, among other things."
" Your honesty is refreshing, terrifying, but refreshing all the same."
" You seem much calmer..."
" Yes well, you know what they say about the calm before the storm."
" Still angry?"
" I was never angry, frustrated, disgusted and disturbed yes...never angry."
" Disturbed?"
" By my own...enjoyment. I was...am, excited by all this, by the strength and the power; I can't deny the blood tasted good."
" Survival, normal human reactions to a situation. You make the best of what you have; it's what I find so alluring. You are no more a traitor than a POW who finds a way of making life bearable in a camp."
" But he will be freed eventually."
" You are not my prisoner."
Now it was Ryan's turn to laugh, though it was harsh and cold. " No? Tell me, how can I escape when you sired me, when I depend on your teaching for survival, when you're the only one who can tell me where I am, when you're the only one who will accept me like this?"
" I am not the only..."
" You, your kind...it's the same thing. I depend on the enemy for survival...fuck that, I am the enemy." Ryan surged to his feet and moved to the far edge of the huge window, away from Drake.
" They will take you back, they want immortality and you are the key," Drake said finally, quietly.
" As a lab rat."
" You are free here."
" This can go on eternally, I am not free anywhere because I did not choose to be anywhere."
" You can choose to stay here, to accept what I want to teach you."
" Or I can choose another vampire and ask them to teach me."
" Yes."
" You sound awfully smug for someone who might loose what they've been searching for, for so long."
" I was searching for this, a challenge, intelligence, something beyond the fearful respect the fledglings give me."
" You might loose it yet."
" Maybe. Maybe not."
Ryan threw up his hands in frustration and sank bank into his original position, looking out of the window silently.
" Where in the hell are we anyway?" he asked finally.
" Arabian Desert, a safe house, I didn't want them stealing you away again."
" And if I give in? If I stay and let you teach me, then what? I whore myself in return for your teachings?" Ryan asked after a long moment of deadly silence.
" No!"
" Sounds like it to me, you want someone to fuck and I want to know...fair trade."
" I said I wanted a mate, a companion. I can find a willing body easily. I want this, discussions, arguments, and proper conversation. I'll teach you in return for this."
Ryan raised an eyebrow incredulously.
" Just that, talk in return for survival lessons."
" You wouldn't need the lessons if it weren't for me, it's a fair trade."
" Fine, whatever, deal."
" Deal."