Chapter Text
How long had it been since sunset? Norton lost track already. The scene was nice, he supposed. Soft breeze kissed his skin and caressed his hair, gently, gently, and he could hear melodies of crickets, of frogs, of the river, singing and screeching all around him.
Not a half-bad place to die.
Well, if one disregarded the tight ropes securing his entire body to the tree behind his back, of course. That was not nice.
Norton still remembered the way they looked at him. Betrayal, anger, sorrow, fear- all these expressions were evident in their clenched jaws and knitted eyebrows, all woven into burning hatred. Not like he could blame them. When the miner managed to crawl out of that hellhole as the sole survivor, these people had lost their friends, their brothers, their fathers, their lovers.
Then rumours started to spread. They said he stole the explosives that caused the tragedy. They said he carried on with his plan even when he was aware of the fatal risk. That he sacrificed his teammates, his friends! For personal gains, taking precious human lives away in trade for nothing but gold...They said, they said…
By the time the trial concluded, Norton had already believed them all. So much he didn’t bother to defend himself. He would have to pay with his life: sacrifice to the blood-thirsty vampires up the hill, and in return, guarantee a temporal peace for the village. Oh, how convenient! The sentence was carried out at sunset, where they tied him up, an inviting meal in the forest, all for good measure.
A life for a life, to save many others. Alone with his thoughts, Norton decided that perhaps this was merciful enough for a dirty, greedy, selfish murderer like himself.
Suddenly the forest fell quiet.
Then a howl. And then the next.
Norton raised his head. Tired gaze went wide, darting around in the darkness, trying to make sense of the moving figures that were starting to surround him. See, Norton had imagined two case scenarios: either he starved to death here, or he got drained of his blood. But never would he expect to be found by five enormous, hungry, snarling wolves. Turned out that the original punishment was too good for someone like him.
- N-no...This can’t be real….
He choked out his last words, devastated. This is it. The end for Norton Campbell.
[cw: light-gore]
Soon, their baring fang would come for his neck, his limbs, his head, his thighs, everywhere. Devouring. Tearing him apart. He wouldn’t have the luxury of instant death- no, the rope would keep him alive for long enough to suffer. Such a worthless death too, because he wouldn’t be able to protect anyone.
[cw ends here]
A wolf lunged at him. He closed his eyes in anticipation, and then…
Nothing.
No, there was something- something coming at them. Something incredibly faster, stronger, it seemed, because the wolves were all suddenly yelping and whining, trying to get away. They couldn’t run far though- Norton could hear them falling to the ground with thuds. It happened and ended so fast, it was hard to comprehend anything.
Was that laughter that he heard?
Norton batted open an eye. Standing there, among the corpses, was a humanoid figure. Blood dripped from the black coat draped over their body, down to their boots, forming a puddle. They laughed for another while, stretching as if finished an exercise, before bending down the wolves and biting at their neck. A horrifying sight, to say the least. Realisation came in: here was a vampire, so very close to him, so undeniably real.
Norton could feel a tingling at his neck, and at that moment, he thought about ending up like that poor thing on the ground. It had sounded better than being eaten up slowly, but now he wasn’t sure about that anymore. Not that he could do anything. The ropes held him firmly into place, making any attempts to escape insufferable.
The trail of thoughts ended abruptly to find velvet eyes piercing directly back at him. His heart skipped a beat.
“My, my, what do we have here?”
They said beauty only has worth when one finds it at the ugliest of situations. To describe this as beauty would be an understatement. The vampire was lean and tall, fine to the eyes, that can’t be denied. But how their pale skin bathed in silver moonlight, their ruffled hair that reminded him of strings of gold- Face carved like a perfect statue- somehow, they glowed in a way against the darkness that made even the blood down their chin look desirable. Ethereal, even.
That didn’t stop Norton from fearing for his life, of course. If anything, it freaked him out even more. Instinctively, he struggled to move, his rapid breathing raspy and heaved. Chill ran down his spine when the vampire remarked.
“Oh? Normally I would tease you a little bit, yknow, but you look scared out of your mind already. Wouldn’t be fun that way, don’t you think?”
What?
Fear burnt out into something else. Incredibly exhausted, Norton somehow found it in himself to snap back.
“Great! Let’s just get on with it already!”
The vampire blinked and stood up from the wolf’s corpse. They leaped up, so high that they disappeared into the trees, only to face Norton upside down a moment later.
“Get on with what? Oh, my, what are you all tied up for?”
They did a flip and landed gracefully on the ground. With swift, careful movements, Norton was untied. He would have fallen flat on his face if not for these cold hands catching him right on time. Norton almost flinched away. Maybe he was going out of his mind, but he noticed that their eyes on him were filled with...concern?
“Woah, woah- You alright there, buddy?”
Such a funny question. Of course he wasn’t. Everything hurted like hell, and his head felt light. The vampire should have just left him standing, that way he wouldn’t have noticed how the world was spinning around his feets.
Norton shook his head.
“Doesn’t matter- ‘Gonna die anyway.”
“Huh? Why would you say that?”
Did he really have to break it to them? The whole situation spelled nothing short of absurd to him. No one liked being mocked at the verge of their death.
“Don’t pretend ye- just- urgh! I’m here for you to- feast on so- bon appetit!” He chuckled, “Ehee- Whatever. Just finish this already...”
The vampire looked at him funny.
“Now now, easy there. I’m not gonna drink you, okay? Don’t worry about it.”
Huh?
“What?”
“I just had my meal! They are pretty terrible, but one makes do, yknow? Good to let off some steam, too!”
The vampire rambled on. Dizzy, Norton held his head, and nothing made sense anymore.
“Besides, I can’t eat too much, especially during this time of the day! Us acrobats have a reallyyyy strict diet. Gotta keep in shape! Sorry, old habits- Let’s get you home, alright?”
Norton might not be keeping up, but the last thing definitely irked him.
“No…”
“Why not? It’s cold outside at night for humans like you, right? I think. Don’t remember much about it-”
“I can’t-”
“Why?”
“I just- I can’t go back, okay?”
They would kill me for real! Norton clenched his fist. He would rather die here than having to face that again.
“So ‘s best if ye can- ye can just- just end me here, yeah..?”
The vampire stopped talking. Norton’s voice was hoarse and quiet, but it wasn’t hard to miss the emotions filled within.They tilted their head to examine Norton, thoughtful as they do.
“Hey, you’re shaking like a leaf, here-”
They took off their coat and draped it on Norton’s shoulders. For a vampire owned jacket, the fabric oddly felt warm and soft to the touch. The scent was calming, too. Compared to the ropes, it almost felt like a long welcoming hug- one he never expected to receive at a place like this.
“What’s your name?” - The vampire asked.
“Norton…”
“That’s a cute name! You can call me Mike. Say, how about you be my guest for the night? I can’t just leave you here alone anyway, can I?”
Without waiting for an answer, Mike picked him up by the waist, as if the man was merely a ragdoll. Norton stared up at Mike. If he wasn’t so tired and confused, he would probably be admiring the freckles that seemed to glitter across their cheeks like constellations. Norton had always fancied looking at the stars.
The wind blew on and on. Were they walking? Were they flying? Norton couldn’t tell. He shut his eyes again, letting Mike do whatever. This had to be a dream, right? Maybe he was dying and this was only a figment of his imagination. Maybe...Norton murmured, voicing out his thoughts.
“Then you’re gonna drink me later?”
To his surprise, Mike sounded annoyed.
“Oh, this again! What’s all this eagerness for, huh? I know people fancy me, but that’s just too-”
“Ye have to...Or someone else- another vampire- would.”
Norton pointed out with a yawn. He couldn’t care less about his future executioner at this point, and he doubted that he would be allowed to be too picky about something like that. Still, dying in Mike’s arms might feel a tad nicer. Such a weird thought coming from someone like him.
“Hmm? I can assure you, that won’t ever happen.”
Mike’s tone was hard to deduct. He spoke calmly, as if on auto-pilot, devoid of any emotions. Was this another twist? Another turn of events? Norton couldn’t know, not just yet, because when he asked for an elaboration, Mike didn't answer. Or maybe he did, but Norton just didn’t hear it. In fact, his senses were starting to fail him.
It was all still so bizarre to Norton. He decided to stop thinking altogether for now. If the darkness was going to consume him, so be it. There was nothing else to do but wait for his inevitable end anyway.
Or so he thought.