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The sun had set less than an hour before, but to Jack it might as well have been midnight. He'd been rejected for yet another loan, his part-time job had let him go due to lack of funds for paychecks, and tonight was The Night. The final night. The night when his parents' debt would finally be paid, one way or another.
When he spotted the car sitting in the street, Jack's heart dropped to his shoes. He'd thought he would have enough time to at least have one last dinner with Grandma before the collectors showed up. Maybe if he ran for it, he could sneak into his house from the back. Maybe they would leave if they didn't see him come home.
No sooner had the wishful thought crossed his mind than the car doors opened and four guys in dark suits got out. Each of them looked in Jack's direction. He'd been seen. There was no escape now. Still, Jack took a step backward—
—and collided with another body.
Arms wrapped around his waist from behind, a chin sliding over his shoulder until a nose brushed his neck.
"Huh?" Jack let out, turning his head to see who had him.
A young man a few years older than Jack, if he had to guess. Black hair, slightly curled. Plush lips. Long eyelashes. Soft-looking, unnaturally pale skin. Slightly chubby cheeks, as if he'd never quite lost his baby features.
And blood. There were cuts oozing sluggishly from his cheek and visible neck. A glance down showed lacerations on the man's hands and arms as well.
Heart racing more than ever, Jack tried to step out of the shorter man's hold, but it was iron tight. "Hey. Let me go," he demanded, eyes shooting between the four men walking his way and the man perched over his shoulder.
The man's eyes were closed as he visibly inhaled against Jack's skin. Then he smiled and opened his eyes—bright, doe eyes that sparkled even in the dark of evening. For a moment, Jack forgot about his impending servitude to a loan shark, about all his troubles of the day. Everything that mattered was found in those eyes, in that free, blissful smile.
Then one of the debt collectors called out, "Hey," and kicked a can left in the gutter. Jack flinched and the blissful smile vanished into a scowl, those doe eyes going sharp like a knife.
"Are they bothering you?" he asked, and his voice was higher and airier than Jack had anticipated.
"We're collecting on a debt," one of the collectors said. "Now run along and let us handle our business."
In response, Doe Eyes tilted his head into Jack's neck again, even as he kept his sharp eyes on the debt collectors. "Make me," he said, his voice threatening in a way that had the hairs on Jack's arm raising—or maybe it was the guy's breath on his skin.
"Boss won't mind if we rough them up a bit, right?" Collector #1 asked.
"Not as long as he's still useable," Collector #2 said.
"And he won't give a shit about the spare," Collector #3 added.
Collector #4 pulled something from his pocket and, with the flick of his wrist, unsheathed a knife. Doe Eyes grinned, something indescribably wild in the point of his teeth, the glint of his eyes, and the blood on his face. From one blink to the next, the body that had been pressed up against Jack's was gone. The sound of a fight drew Jack's attention forward for the first time in what felt like eons, and he watched as Doe Eyes single-handedly laid out four of Boss's best collectors. He moved so fast that Jack couldn't even tell exactly what moves he used to do it, either.
When all but one of them was down, Doe Eyes grabbed the fourth by the shoulder and neck, pushed his head out of the way, and sunk his teeth into the collector's flesh. But the collector didn't scream or thrash. Instead, he went docile in Doe Eyes' grip, just letting it happen.
As Jack watched, the cuts along Doe Eyes' skin healed, leaving only the stains of old blood behind. His pale skin gained color, until his tone matched Jack's. When Doe Eyes pulled his head back, Jack saw two holes in the collector's neck, and blood tipped fangs retreating behind Doe Eyes' lips.
A vampire.
Jack should run. He should get away while the vampire was distracted, before Jack became his next victim. And yet—His feet wouldn't move. And it wasn't some power, as far as Jack could tell at least. No, confoundingly, Jack simply…wasn't scared.
The vampire ran his hand along the collector's neck and the holes healed over like magic. Then he released the collector entirely, letting the man slump to the ground with a groan. In fact, all four of the debt collectors were letting out quiet sounds of pain. So they weren't dead—yet, at least.
When the vampire turned his attention back toward Jack, every muscle in Jack's body tensed, unsure what was about to happen next. The vampire stepped over the body of the man he'd drank from and sauntered over to Jack. When he was close enough, the vampire looked up at Jack through his bangs, his eyes back to being doe-eyed and sweet.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
What an odd question to ask after incapacitating four armed men. Jack lifted an eyebrow and gave a bemused, "Yes?"
The vampire let out a relieved breath, then smiled at Jack. "My name is Joke. What's yours?"
"Um. Jack."
Joke's smile looked like Jack had given him a priceless gift. "Jack," he repeated. "Can I walk you home, Jack?"
…
…
"You have money, right?"
"Right," Joke admitted easily, lounging on his secondhand couch like it was the world's most luxurious settee. Well, the couch and Jack's lap.
Jack looked around the dingy apartment, taking in all the secondhand, mismatched furniture and the old stains on the walls from previous tenants. The TV was the most expensive thing in Joke's apartment. It wasn't the worst apartment in Supanimit, but it definitely wasn't where Jack would choose to live if he was rich enough to afford better.
"You could live with me, you know?" Jack said, though he already knew Joke would turn him down.
In the months since he and Joke had met, Joke had told him a lot about the family that raised him before his turning. They weren't supportive, they were judgmental—except his brother, who was naïve and hopeful that their parents would one day love Joke the way they loved him. With them all gone—dead at the hands of Joke's sire—Joke had inherited their fortune, but he lived like a pauper. And he lived alone.
Jack had seen the way Joke nearly cried the first time Grandma asked him to stay for dinner, the way he spent all his evening hours at Jack's house helping them clean and cook and just spending time together. He knew Joke wanted a family and hated being alone. So why wouldn't he—
"If Grandma learned what I was," Joke said, quietly, his eyes distant, "do you think she would accept me? Or would she be afraid?" His eyes grew misty. "Would it kill her?"
Not likely, but it might kill Joke if she didn't take the news well. With a sigh, Jack ran his hands through Joke's hair, watching as Joke's body relaxed.
Vampires didn't sleep. If they didn't eat every few weeks, they grew unnaturally pale and gaunt. They couldn't go out into the sun. If Joke lived in the house with Jack and Grandma, she would pick up on at least the last of those traits, if not all of them. They wouldn't be able to say Joke was at work during the day, like they did now. Not to mention, she might walk in on them while Joke was feeding.
Speaking of, "Do you want a snack?" Jack asked.
Joke shook his head. "I'm not hungry." He reached up and gently cupped Jack's cheek.
It was small things like that the lit Jack on fire inside. He wanted Joke's soft touches and his rough ones, he wanted Joke's smiles and his tears, he wanted to heal the parts of Joke that his sire had broken. But he was just a normal guy who wanted to open a school for impoverished kids. Joke was a vampire with gifts most people could only dream about. Why would he want someone like Jack?
Heart pounding loud enough that Jack was certain Joke could hear it, Jack asked, "Do you want to watch a movie?"
Now Joke smiled. "A romance movie," he said brightly.
Even as he rolled his eyes, Jack reached over for the remote. His vampire loved watching people fall in love. He was such a sap. But Jack wouldn't have him any other way.
…
…
The car park was deserted except for three remaining cars and one woman who was cursing to herself as she stomped across the concrete.
"I don't know why I even work here anymore," she groused as she reached her car.
She jammed her finger into the unlock button of her car key fob, ripped the back door open, tossed her work things into the back seat, then slammed the door shut and turned around—Only to scream at finding another woman standing behind her.
"Oh," the other woman let out in a high, breathy voice, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "I didn't mean to startle you." She held out her hand. "I'm Jessi. What's your name?"
The angry woman let out a breath and most of her irritation and fear seemed to go with it. Taking Jessi's hand, she said, "Vera."
They looked vastly different from one another—Vera with short, straight black hair, pink lipstick, and an outfit made up of pinks and creams; Jessi with long, wavy brown hair, dark lipstick, and an outfit made up of blacks and greys—and yet they looked good as a pair.
Jack hated how good they looked as a pair. He turned away from the scene even as Jessi leaned in close, her shorter stature putting her mouth near Vera's neck. Jack leaned against the wall inside the stairwell of the garage and closed his eyes.
He knew Joke needed to feed. He knew none of the people Joke fed off would remember the feeding nor have a wound to suggest it happened once Joke was done using his gifts on them. He knew no one was getting killed or even hurt worse than needing a juice box and an iron-rich dinner afterward. But seeing Joke dress up and work other people still made Jack's stomach turn.
At first, he'd thought it was the proof of Joke's unnatural status that made him feel sick. But he'd watched Joke beat up and feed off dozens of Boss's men without batting an eye. Then he'd thought maybe it was because Joke was flirting with guys or dressing as a girl to flirt with girls. Except Jack had never had an issue with any of the other LGBTQ people in Supanimit or beyond, and when Joke flirted with him…well, his stomach was full of butterflies, not acid.
And that was the root of it all, wasn't it? Jack wasn't disgusted by Joke. Not at all. He was just jealous. Jealous that Joke was flirting with and feeding from other people instead of him.
"I don't know why you follow me," Jessi said, announcing her presence. "You don't like watching me work."
Jack opened his eyes to find her leaning against the opposite wall, her hands behind her back and one foot propped up against the stone. She tilted her head to the side, her hair falling gracefully off her shoulder. Jack swallowed thickly and looked away, his cheeks heating.
"You're right," he admitted. "I don't like it."
There was a long period of silence, heavy with the admission. Jack wanted to admit more, but his tongue felt heavy behind his teeth, his heart thick in his throat.
"What don't you like?" Jessi asked, her propped foot dropping to the ground soundlessly. "The fact that I hunt?" When she next spoke, it was with Joke's normal speaking voice. "Or is it the outfit and how I hunt?"
"I don't—" Jack swallowed and turned his gaze toward Joke "I don't like that it's other people."
Joke titled his head to the other side, the wig's hair still falling beautifully around his shoulders, like it was meant to be there. "Huh?"
Taking a deep breath, Jack stepped off the edge of his own fears. "Can you just feed from me? Instead of flirting with all these other people?"
Maybe it was weird to offer yourself to a vampire. Maybe Joke would be disappointed or disgusted. But Jack hated that Joke kept getting close to others, flirting with them and putting his mouth on their neck and letting their hands touch his body. Joke had said the feeding didn't hurt anyway, so could Joke flirt with and touch him instead?
Joke licked his plump, deep red lips, his eyes dark and endless. It was stupid, perhaps the stupidest thing Jack had ever done—other than willingly bringing a vampire home to his grandmother two years ago—but Jack wanted him. He wanted so badly at that moment that he wouldn't be surprised to learn Joke could smell it on him. Vampire or not. Outfit or not. Jack wanted Joke's touch like a physical ache.
Tilting his head to the side, Jack motioned toward his own neck. "It's all yours. Any time."
In the next instant, Joke had crossed the space between them and was delicately trailing his fingers over the skin of Jack's neck. "Every six weeks," Joke whispered.
"Hm?" Jack asked, already feeling overwhelmed. Was Joke accepting his offer? Would he stop going to others?
"Six weeks," Joke repeated. "So you can recover what I take before I feed again. Okay?"
A nod. "Okay."
And though Joke had just finished feeding from Vera, he nosed at the juncture between Jack's shoulder and neck, like how he had the night they first met…and then took a bite.
Jack's whole body went loose and pliant. Only Joke's hands on him kept Jack off the floor. The bite didn't hurt. He couldn't even feel the blood leaving his body. Everything around him went hazy, like the moments before falling asleep. For an endless moment, Jack was floating in a calm nothingness. Then Joke pulled back, his hand immediately reaching up to heal the bite mark and looking up into Jack's face as sensation returned.
"Will you," Jack started, his tongue heavy and his words slow, "make me forget? Like the others?"
"If you want me to," Joke replied, sounding sad, like it was predetermined that no one would want to remember being a vampire's meal.
Jack shook his head and lifted his hands to cover Joke's on his shoulders. "Don't. I want to remember." He frowned. "And I want you to remember that you can feed from me every six weeks. You don't need anyone else. Got it?"
Joke let out a huff of laughter and glanced away for a moment before grinning up at Jack. "Yeah. Okay. I can do that."
…
…
Grandma was snug in bed for the night, her pillows extra plump after Joke fluffed them for her. She'd sent the boys off to sleep with a pat on their shoulders and a knowing smile on her face. Jack didn't know what she was expecting. It was Joke's first time spending the night, and she was one thin wall away. What exactly did she think was going to happen?
Joke took a pallet on the floor, wearing one of Jack's shirts and shorts as pajamas. "It's not like I need to sleep anyway," he'd argued when Jack tried to give him the bed. "The more comfortable spot should be used by the one who actually needs it. So you sleep well."
Now, Jack stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, unable to close his eyes and rest even with the more comfortable bed. There was a vampire lying less than three feet away, wearing his clothes. His life was so different than he had thought it would be only a few weeks ago.
"Can't sleep?" Joke asked from the floor.
Jack shook his head and hummed a negative. "I'm…thinking."
"Thinking about what?" Joke asked.
With a low huff, Jack rolled to the edge of the mattress so he could talk to Joke head on. "Why aren't Boss's guys turning into vampires?" he asked. "You've bitten a least four of them by now, right?"
For a moment, Joke just stared at Jack with his big, doe eyes. Then he snorted and covered his mouth with a hand as he laughed. Jack's cheeks heated with embarrassment. Had he asked a dumb question?
"Sorry. I just forget that normal people don't know." Joke ran a hand through his hair and sighed, looking at the ceiling. "Vampires reproduce…like cheetahs."
Eyebrows furrowing, Jack said, "Huh? Cheetahs?" Vampires were like big cats?
"Cheetahs suffer from anxiety, and it can get so bad that they literally can't mate," Joke said, glancing at Jack for a moment. "It's why they're so hard to breed in captivity."
Jack narrowed his eyes, confused. "Vampires…have anxiety?"
That made Joke laugh again, just once, and shake his head. "No. We just have to have very specific circumstances to pass on the virus." He shrugged one shoulder. "If there's too much normal, healthy blood in the body, it'll fight off the virus and the change won't take, so a vampire has to drain most of it out. Enough that, without the infected blood taking root…the human would die."
The thought of it was terrifying. If a human agreed to become a vampire, they had to take the risk that the change wouldn't take. And if it didn't, they would die. A human had to trust a vampire an awful lot to take that risk.
"You and your…vampire must've been really close," Jack guessed.
Where was the vampire that had turned Joke? Why was he alone? Why had no other vampires come to see him in the time he'd lived in Supanimit?
With a sardonic laugh, Joke said, "No." Though he kept his voice almost level, his eyes grew wet with old regret as he spoke. "My sire broke into my father's house, intending to kill and eat us all. He would've succeeded…except I came home late. I saw him…over my brother's body. I grabbed a knife from the table. They'd been eating dinner when he got them. When he came for me, I managed to injure him. Enough of his blood got in my wounds that, when he was finished with me…the virus took over. He didn't even realize he'd sired me until I tracked him down a week later."
The image of coming home one night and finding someone standing over his grandmother's lifeless body had Jack feeling sick to his stomach. The idea of having to associate with her killer afterward? Of having any sort of connection to that person? How did Joke not rip the man's throat out?
"Where is your sire now?" Jack asked, clenching his hands in the bed sheets. How long had Joke been a vampire? Would he let Jack help him take down his sire? Could Jack help at all?
It was like Joke could hear Jack's thoughts. He smiled softly at Jack as if thanking him for his anger, his drive. Then he said, "I killed him the night we met."
It felt like a sucker punch. The wounds on Joke's face and arms that night. The wild glint in his eyes, the hard grin on his face before he attacked Boss's men. That was Joke fresh from a battle—from a killing. Part of Jack felt he should be sick, hearing that Joke had killed someone. But mostly, his chest was light with relief that a mass murderer was gone, that Joke's family had been avenged.
"After he taught me everything he knew about being a vampire. I couldn't let him keep destroying families like he did mine," Joke said, defending his actions. So much for knowing Jack's thoughts.
Jack reached out to Joke. After glancing between Jack's hand and face twice, Joke hesitantly reached over to touch Jack's hand with his own. Once he had Joke's hand, Jack laced their fingers together and held firm.
"I'm glad you survived," he said. "I'm glad we met."
From the look in Joke's eyes, he didn't fully believe Jack's words. "Aren't you worried I'll turn on you one day? I could kill you before you had any idea. I could hurt Grandma."
That was true. He could. Even with Jack's taekwondo skills, a vampire was another level. Jack had seen Joke take out four of Boss's guys like dealing with toddlers. He'd be dead before he could deliver a single kick. But Joke had come to his house a dozen nights now, had stood up to Boss's goons multiple times to defend various people, had fed from a few goons too, and hadn't killed a single person. Maybe it was reckless, but Jack trusted Joke with his life—with his grandmother's life.
"You?" Jack asked incredulously. He squeezed Joke's hand. "You wouldn't hurt us. We're family."
Again, Joke's eyes grew misty, but this time he smiled. "Mm," he hummed in agreement, squeezing Jack's hand in return.
…
…
Rosé was beautiful and rich and, while kind, completely removed from what middle-class people experienced—let alone those in poverty. She did her best and tried to understand, to help, but her ideas only skimmed the surface of what the people of Supanimit needed. They helped, but they weren't enough to make any major change. Besides which, half of her desire to help stemmed from wanting reasons to spend time with Jack. If she found someone else to crush on, how long would her help continue?
She invited Jack to meet the latest of her grant recipients for lunch—a pair making tasers for home security, which lightly electrified a door handle or window frame to keep out thieves. Jack was nice and didn't tell her that the reason Tattoo and Hoy were 'clever' enough to come up with such an idea was because they were usually the ones breaking into places to steal. If Rosé's money could help them become legitimate businesspeople, they wouldn't have any reason to steal again.
After lunch, Rosé held Jack back from leaving. "You don't have work at the school today, right?" she asked.
He frowned lightly. "No." He knew where this was going and couldn't help but think back to a dingy third floor apartment where he'd rather spend his free day.
"Then spend time with me," Rosé insisted genially, smiling up at him.
Rosé wasn't a bad person, and her money was helping his neighborhood. She didn't often drag him away from plans—and it wasn't like he and Joke had even made plans to begin with. Though Jack could think of more pleasurable ways to spend an afternoon, he supposed giving one to Rosé wouldn't be too bad.
So, he followed Rosé around as her chauffeur drove them to stores or dinky restaurants in Supanimit so she could 'see how the people live' and 'try local food.' She tried to join some kids in a game, but her heeled shoes kept her from kicking the ball well or chasing after the kids when they ran.
"Next time," Jack assured her. "You'll do better."
She blushed—whether from the reassurance or embarrassment, he wasn't sure—and thanked him. Then, "So, where should we have dinner?"
Jack couldn't believe she was still hungry but pointed to one of the nicer restaurants in town.
Two hours later, the sun had set, Rosé had gone home, and Jack wandered the street wondering why a certain vampire hadn't already come to find him. So he made his way to the apartment building Joke lived in, climbed the stairs, and knocked on the door at the end of the hall. Then he knocked again. When the door still wasn't answered, Jack pulled out his phone.
Joke had purchased the phone for him. He'd been trying to do that for years, but Jack didn't allow it until Joke started feeding on him—in case Joke needed a meal on short notice, he said. In reality, he liked knowing Joke could contact him at any time, that he had that connection to Joke just sitting in his pocket. But his pride hadn't let him accept until it felt like repayment for a service.
Before Jack could dial, the door in front of him cracked open, revealing one of Joke's expressive eyes. The room behind him was dark. Vampires could see well in the dark, but Jack knew Joke only kept the lights off at night when he was upset.
"Hi," Jack said, slipping the phone away. "Why are you still here?" He motioned to the sky. "It's dark out."
Without a word, Joke stepped away from the door, letting it swing further open on its own. Jack took the invitation for what it was and pushed his way inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. Even as Joke sat on the couch, Jack flipped the lights on and took stock of the room. Nothing was out of place as far as he could see, and Joke didn't have any visible injuries. Last time Joke had sat in the dark, he'd just watched a cat get hit by a car. The time before that, he'd put off feeding because Jack had been sick and was feeling weak and yet volatile.
"You had fun today," Joke said.
He'd meant for his voice to come out calm and nonchalant, Jack was sure, but his tone was too tight, his body too stiff, to pull it off. And Jack had known Joke for too many years to be fooled.
"Fun?" Jack asked, furrowing his brows. "With what?"
What had Joke heard or seen about Jack's day that would have him upset like this? Hurt and trying to hide it? The only thing Jack had done was follow Rosé around and—Ah. The people of Supanimit were notorious gossips, and Jack had heard their theories about his and Rosé's future wedding often enough.
Smiling, Jack sat next to Joke on the couch. "Rosé is nice," he said, not looking at the vampire.
Joke purposefully stared at the wall away from Jack. "She is," he agreed tensely.
"And she has a lot of money," Jack continued.
"Mm." Joke's nails dug into his pants, tearing tiny holes in the fabric.
Had Jack ever seen Joke jealous before? It always felt like Jack was the one filled with sick dread seeing Joke with others, flirting before a feeding, or just generally charming the people of Supanimit with his earnest ways. Vampire or not, Joke was easy to love. But Jack was just a human. He'd only hoped Joke would get jealous over him.
"But I don't care about the money, and I know someone much nicer. I like him a lot, and I'm hoping he likes me too."
Joke turned to him with hope in his gaze. "Oh yeah?" Joke asked, his voice halting. "Who's that?"
Jack couldn't help but smile. "You." Joke's eyes widened. "I know I'm not a vampire like you, but would you like to be my boyfriend?"
In response, Joke slid across the couch, closing the space between them in an instant. His hands came up to Jack's shoulder, one sliding around to the back of Jack's neck. And then his lips were on Jack's, hungry and demanding, a clear 'YES' screaming through. For once, Jack was just as ravenous.
It took a hand on Jack's throat to hold him back when Joke pulled away. He watched with hungry eyes as Joke leaned forward, down to the juncture of Jack's neck and shoulder. Joke ran his nose along the skin there, inhaling deeply, then up the side of Jack's neck.
"For as long as you'll have me," Joke breathed into his ear.
Jack shoved Joke's hand away—which the vampire allowed—and pushed Joke down onto the couch. Joke looked up at him with those same doe eyes that had captivated Jack over five years ago, but heavy with want. Jack could only see that gaze for a few seconds before he had to dive down for another deep kiss.
"You're gonna be here for a while, then," Jack breathed against Joke's lips.
Joke's lips curled up in a pleased smile, which Jack returned for a moment before crushing their lips together once more.
After all these years, they weren't just friends. They weren't just a vampire and his meal ticket. Jack had Joke right where he wanted him—under his hands, between his thighs, against his lips. And he wasn't letting go any time soon.