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ariaachillesaphrodisia · 7 months ago

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To Kill The King Upon His Throne - Vampire Nightwing x Reader - DC Vs. Vampires Fanfiction - CHAPTER THREE (The Final Chapter):

Ship/Character: Vampire!Nightwing x Reader Fandom: DC (specifically DC vs. Vampires) Rating: Mature Content Warnings: Violence, character deaths (mentioned), blood drinking, gore, dismemberment, blood, hunting (of vampires and humans), kidnapping, interrogation, bondage, non-consensual blood drinking, non-consensual vampire turning.

SPOILER WARNING:: Spoilers for all of DC vs. Vampires, but especially spoilers for Issue #6 - #10.

You awoke to find yourself in what you were certain must have been the palace’s dungeon. It smelt rancid, with the heavy scent of decay, blood, and mold filling your nostrils with each inhale. Your limbs ached and tingled, having fallen asleep some unknowable amount of time ago. Your numb wrists dangled down from the cuffs that bound your arms to the wall, and your legs were shackled as well. You had a blindfold on, and therefore could not take in the details within the room apart from what it was you could smell or feel, but part of you thought that might be a blessing in disguise. Given the overwhelming odor of rot and decay, you shuddered to think of the state of those who had found themselves in a similar situation to yourself.

Speaking of the situation you had found yourself in, your most pressing thought at the moment was how to escape it. The chains binding you to the wall were made of some sort of metal. Copper, if you had to guess. And they were too tight for you to pull your limbs out of without having to break a finger or toe first, and even then, you would have to pray that there would be enough room to wriggle free with the little extra bit of slack. With no guarantee that it would help, you were hesitant to risk breaking something.

The good news was, however, that apart from the restraints on your arms and legs – and the cloth blindfold over your eyes – you were not restrained further. This meant that if you could somehow get out of those… you had a fighting chance.

The bad news – well, further bad news – was that you could tell your weapons had all been removed. The bottles of holy water and the crosses had been removed from your coat, and you could feel in your boot that the small knife you had been hiding there was gone. This meant that your ‘fighting chance’ was more of a ‘run as fast as your legs could carry you’ chance, and while you supposed that was better than nothing, you still cursed the fact that you were weaponless.

You were about to start formulating a plan for your escape when a horrid, piercing sound filled your mind. It sounded as though a thousand bees were all buzzing about right next to your ear. You were certain you had screamed, but you couldn’t hear it over all the noise. Your head felt as though it was splitting in two and you would not be surprised if there was blood dripping from your ears. You remained in that agony for what felt like hours, though you were certain at most it was a few minutes.

Then, almost as suddenly as the pain had begun, it stopped.

“I do apologize for giving you such a rude awakening, but I trust that that will set you against crafting any little plots to try and escape, yes?” came a voice that sounded as though it was originating from every corner of the room at once. You recognized it immediately to be that of the Vampire King, and your muscles tensed. You craned your neck, twisting this way and that in a futile attempt to try and calculate where in the room he was. You heard him chuckle at this. “Careful there, little mortal. You might injure yourself if you keep thrashing around like that, and I would really, really hate for you to be in pain,” he said, pausing before saying: “well, at least this early on in our conversation, that is.”

“Is that so? Perhaps you should have thought about that before using whatever little trick you just did to mess with my mind. Or did you not realize that that would, in fact, be painful?” you hissed at him. You had debated on whether to play innocent. To pretend you had no idea why it was you were here, but had ultimately decided against it. He knew you were human, and he knew you were there to kill him. While you might not yet know how he obtained that information, he had it all the same, and you knew that playing the fool would only end up wasting both your time.

“I would apologize for my words being contradictory to my actions, but then again, it isn’t exactly as though you were truthful with me earlier, were you?” questioned the Vampire King.

“Neither were you with me. Need I remind you of all your comments about me ‘being there to improve my status within the vampiric community’? How you told me you thought I’d snuck in because I wanted to up my social standing, I believe it was,” you shot back, and a chuckle echoed throughout the room.

“Ah, yes, I suppose you are right. Our… relationship hasn’t exactly been founded upon truth, has it?” he responded, and though you could not see it, you were certain he was smirking. “How fortunate we are to be able to take this opportunity to correct that.”

“How fortune indeed,” you practically spat.

“I have to say, I am surprised that you still have so much fight left in you. I mean, given that I have you captured and bound in my dungeon, I unraveled your little plot against my life, and…” he began, and then a second later you felt his cold breath against your neck as he whispered into the shell of your ear: “Oh yes, and you are most certainly going to die here.”

You tried to think of a witty response or comeback, but the words died on your tongue as your focus went to suppressing a shudder at his closeness to you. You could smell the blood on his breath and it made you gag.

“Now then, I’m going to remove that blindfold of yours, and you are going to remain still while I do it. If I see even the slightest sign that you are planning to try and attack me, or if I catch any sort of funny business running through that mind of yours, I will not hesitate to use the ‘little trick’, as you’d put it, that I used on you before. Do we understand each other?” he asked you, and you gave a small nod.

You wanted nothing more than to break free of your restraints and drive a stake into his heart. But given your current predicament, it seemed better to go along with what he said for now. Plus, despite your dread of seeing the dungeon, you knew that there were strategic benefits to it. Learning the layout of the room; checking for weak points in the structure; locating potential exits; and investigating whether there was anything you could use as a weapon against the Vampire King, and there were probably others you had not even thought of yet. So as much as it made your blood boil to comply, you planned to do so until you could gain the upper hand.

“Mmm, good. That is very smart of you,” the Vampire King praised, and then you felt his hands moving to your blindfold. He removed it slowly, and you blinked a few times as you adjusted to the lighting in the dungeon. He moved right in front of you, effectively blocking your view and grinning with his fangs on full display. “There we are. Isn’t that so much better? I do so hate not being able to look my captives in the eyes when I’m conversing with them. Especially when they have such pretty eyes,” he said to you, and his voice dropped to a purr on the last sentence. He moved his right hand to stroke your cheek with, but you flinched away from him before he could. He tilted his head to the side as he let out an amused little huff.

“What is it I am doing here?” you asked him, trying to manifest as much hatred and rage into your gaze as possible. He raised an eyebrow at this as a confused expression came upon his face.

“I would have thought that would be rather obvious. You betrayed me, or at the very least lied to me. You likely killed someone to get that invitation, and if they had an invitation, well, I am sure they must have been important in some way. And of course, you were plotting to kill me. Agreed to meet up with me after our dance for the purpose of killing me once you had me alone too,” he recounted before frowning, “I could have sworn we’d already been through most, if not all, of that.”

“I am not asking why I am in your dungeon; I am asking why I am still alive,” you corrected with a roll of your eyes. “Why not simply do away with me once you had found out about my plans?” you asked. The Vampire King took a step back, his lips pursing as he contemplated your question. He opened his mouth to start speaking, but then quickly shut it with a frustrated huff that, coming from someone else, might have even been cute. Finally, he spoke.

“I find you fascinating, little mortal. Most vampire hunters, especially those in Gotham, prefer going after the ‘small fry’. Vampires who hunt alone. Fledglings. That sort of thing. Some of the more experienced ones might attempt to go after some of those who are employed by me, or loyal to me, but usually it is just my patrols. They wait until one of them is alone during their rounds, or maybe has stepped away to make a kill, and then attack. On the rare occasion you get hunters who work in pairs or groups, and they will take on two or more of my patrols but even then, it is not something that makes waves. We take into account a certain amount of… losses, especially when some of our newer recruits start getting a little too arrogant,” he began to explain, and he chuckled at the last part.

You furrowed your brows at this. He was aware of the hunters in and outside of Gotham, and aware that they were even taking out some of those loyal to him or in his employment, and yet he was doing nothing about it? More so than that, he was even laughing about it and telling you how they had ‘taken the losses into account’? You knew the vampires were monstrous towards humans, and from what you had gathered they weren’t exactly deathly loyal to each other, but you thought at the very least he would want to protect those who worked for him. If nothing else simply for his own interests.

But here he was, acting as though his own people were nothing more than toy soldiers which could be discarded when they broke and replaced with ease. It was… disgusting. Appalling. While there was certainly no love lost between you and vampires in general, hearing their leader speak about their death so casually was still revolting to you. Especially when it seemed like the vampiric hierarchy was set up in such a way that you either worshipped the leader willingly and because you genuinely believed in what they stood for, or you did it simply out of self-preservation to avoid their wrath and whatever army that would bring down upon you.

“Ah, did my words trouble you? Or perhaps they simply surprised you?” inquired the Vampire King with an amused smirk. “Were you under the assumption that I did not know about the presence of vampire hunters within the city and near it? Oh, or was it how casually I spoke of the deaths of my own forces that caused that adorable little look of confusion on your face,” he teased, and you snarled under your breath. He chuckled at this, kneeling down before you and giving you a pitying expression. “Humans are so very naïve as to the workings of vampiric society. To vampiric nature in general,” he said before patting your head as one might do to a dog. He then stood up with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “It is a shame in some ways, admittedly. Perhaps vampires and humans might get along better if humans better understood vampires,” he mused.

“Or perhaps we would get along better with vampires if you had not destroyed the world as we knew it and then proceeded to either hunt us for sport, bleed us dry, or keep us around simply so that you could maintain a regular supply of blood,” you jeered at him.

“See, and there you go again. So much rage. So much bravado. I would say so much confidence, but I truly cannot tell whether it is confidence, arrogance, or just your anger overtaking any self-preservation skills you may have had,” he commented, placing a hand under his chin and narrowing his eyes as he studied you. “You are so terribly intriguing, my sweet captive,” he continued on, and his tongue slowly trailed across his lips. “Tell me, why did you come here to try and do away with me? Surely there must be a reason. A deeply personal one, I would venture, given all the trouble you went through to get this far, and all which are risked by stepping foot in my mansion,” he queried.

You debated for a moment whether to tell him. You knew it was highly unlikely that it would change the outcome of this encounter; it wasn’t as though confessing your innermost secrets and motivations to him would cause him to decide to spare you and let you just walk out of there. Conversely, not telling him was unlikely to bring upon a worse fate for yourself. You doubted he truly cared enough about what drove your actions to torture the information out of you. He was merely curious, you suspected, but that curiosity would either be sated upon hearing your answer, or would shift to another topic of intrigue if you declined to share.

In the end though, you decided to tell him. Not for any particular reason. It was more just that you thought, well, why not? Best case scenario, perhaps he did take a little bit of pity on you and either gave you a quicker death than whatever he was planning or better yet, he let his guard down enough for you to gain some sort of upper hand. Worst case scenario, nothing changed in the grand scheme of things, but at least you got to voice aloud the reasons for your disdain for vampires.

And so, you told him everything.

You told him about Rose. About how she had been one of the closest friends you had in the world. You recounted to him how she had spent weeks training you in not only surviving against the growing vampiric threats, but also how to hunt. You told him about how she was the one you were with when the world went dark, and how that faithful day had been the last day that you saw her. You explained that you did not know even now what fate befell your best friend, and surprised yourself by sharing with him that though part of you felt a gnawing pain at the uncertainty of what had happened to her, another part of you was relieved to not know, because it meant that you could tell yourself – no matter how improbable it was – that she was alright. That she had made it to her family, and that they were all bunked down together somewhere safe and sound.

Then you told him about the day when you had been walking back from a raid on an abandoned store and spotted the group of inexperienced hunters chasing down a vampire. Saw the hunters getting cornered by some other vampires, and so, without really thinking, you had rushed in to protect the hunters. Helped them fight off the vampires that were ambushing them. You told him about how one of the figures had stood up for you when some of the hunters had questioned your presences there, unsure whether you could be trusted. You continued on to say that they had invited you to their group, and you had accepted. You had wanted to help train them. To teach them as Rose had taught you.

You told him about the month you had spent with the group. Told him how not only did you train them as promised, but you had also become extremely close with them. You shared with him stories about Jamie, Yana, Alexander, and everyone else. You fought tears as memory after memory came back to you, and you felt a gnawing pain in your chest as you did your best to remember their faces the way they were before… Another wave of pain and sorrow shot through you, and you pushed it down in order to keep focused on what you were saying.

You told him how the more time you spent with them, the more they began to feel like family instead of just a group you had fallen in with. It had been a welcomed thing, you shared, and you hadn’t been ungrateful for the fact that having people to talk with and just be around helped to take your mind off of the more painful things in your life. Over the month you were there, you had seen them become more and more successful in the hunts, and the overall mood had become more light and joyful. It was something you couldn’t have helped but partake in. With them, you had felt happy, you told him. You had felt at home.

You took a breath before continuing on, and when you did eventually speak again, your fists were balled up and your muscles were clenched so tightly they hurt.

In a quiet voice, you told him of the fate that had befallen your found family. Described to him the massacre that you had awoken to on that horrible day. The pain of recalling those memories threatened to overwhelm you, but stronger yet was the rage you felt. Rage towards the vampires who had done it. Rage towards any vampires who might have known they are going to do it. Rage towards the Vampire King before you who had started this entire thing. And deeper down, rage at yourself, for not having been able to stop it. Even after all this time, you still despised yourself for that. For not being able to protect them. You did not tell him this, but you were certain there would never come a point in time where it did not eat away at you that you had not been able to save them.

The image of Jamie’s corpse flooded your mind as you recalled this to him. Their wide eyes, so filled with panic yet still holding that innocence of theirs. You shuddered as you remember how they had died trying to protect you. Trying to warn you so that you had enough time to get out of there and escape the horrific fate that had befallen every other human soul there. Guilt, heartbreak, and devastation flooded you all over again, and you felt nauseous. It must have been visibly so, for the Vampire King stood up and gave you a bit of space to breathe.

“You do not have to go on –” he began, but a shake of your head swiftly cut him off. You took a moment to collect your thoughts and calm the frantic pounding of your heart, and then you went on.

You explained to him that the deaths of your found family sparked a fury in you, and that you began to hunt down every vampire within the area in order to find out who had killed them. You told the Vampire King how you had eventually tracked down the vampire who had been responsible for the massacre, and within his belongings had found a pendant belonging to Yana, which you took as proof that this was indeed the vampire you had been searching for.

“I killed him,” you declared to the Vampire King in a cold tone. “Poured holy water into his ear and let it eat him away until there was nothing left. Walked away from his little hideout and as I did so, I could hear him screaming. He screamed and screamed until death claimed him, and I just walked on,” you nearly hissed, and you felt a little pang of victory at the look of horror and slight fear that flashed in the eyes of the Vampire King.

You went on to tell him about how, with no real reason to remain in the city, you had traveled. It was during your travels that you had learnt about the blood farms that were being set up throughout the continent, and it was also during this time that you had learned about how there was one city where this was not happening. One city where humans were free to roam the streets… although under constant threat of being attacked and drained by the vampires who were hunting them for sport as much as for food.

“Ah, so that is why you ventured to Gotham,” remarked the Vampire King, who was still standing a distance away from you. “I had been wondering whether you were from out of the city or not… although I would have been more willing to bet against it. After all, most humans attempt to break out of Gotham, on account of the whole ‘vampires hunting them for sport’ thing,” he said, his eyebrow raised slightly.

“Most people do not possess the skills or training that I have when it comes to dealing with vampires,” you answered.

“Most people do not possess the death wish you have,” he countered, and you rolled your eyes but did not bother responding to his comment.

You merely continued on, telling him how you had packed up and made the commute to Gotham. After that, life had followed a routine of sorts: wake up; eat; hunt; return ‘home’; sleep. Hunting daily was exhausting at times, you told him, but once you got more used to it, it gradually became less and less taxing. Not only that, but your skills grew significantly and you began going after more dangerous or well-connected targets.

“Ah, and so I take it that is where you attained the invitation you used to get into my event?” the Vampire King questioned, and you nodded.

“Yes. I had encountered a vampire who had been bragging about being invited to tonight’s event. He’d mentioned it was somewhat of a ‘closed club’ situation, and that only a select view who had managed to impress you and your confidants got in. I thought it was worth investigating, so I tracked down the vampire, interrogated him, and disposed of him after taking his invitation,” you told him.

“And was it worth investigating in the end?” he asked with a cocky grin. You snarled at this.

“We will have to see at the end, won’t we?” you replied defiantly, and he chuckled.

“I suppose we will,” he said before shaking his head, “But I interrupted you. That wasn't polite of me, I apologize. Please, do go on.”

And so, you did. You told him how you had prepared for the masquerade ball by finding ways to avoid vampiric detection and by stoking up on your weapons. How you had taken into account a variety of things: vampire’s sense of smell; their sensitivity to even the slightest whiff of blood; their mannerisms and way of conversing. You had studied up on all of this and more before coming here, and so, on the day of, you had felt as confident as you possibly could be that you would be able to get in undetected, and do what it was you had come there to do.

“I see…” he said in a whispered tone when you had finished speaking. He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, mulling over all that you had told him. He then took a seat across from where you were chained up and looked you dead in the eyes. “Before anything else is said, I wish for you to know that I am truly sorry to hear what happened to the group of survivors that you had taken up with. The fate they suffered… it should go without saying that this is a fate few deserve, and from the sounds of it, those people were not counted among them. So I am truly very sorry to hear about what happened to them, and I assure you that I had no knowledge of this attack, nor was it something I orchestrated,” he told you. And there was a pain in his voice that made you think – despite everything you had seen him do and despite the fact that he currently was holding you captive – that he really did mean it. That he was genuinely sorry for what had happened.

Still… it changed nothing. It did not bring them back, nor did it make the pain easier to live with. He might not have gave the order, and he might have had no knowledge of the attack, but the world being in this state was still his fault. And how many others just like them had suffered at the hands of the Vampire King? More than you cared to think about, surely. So while you believed his words and the pain within his tone, it did not stop you from spitting in his face. Quite literally.

“Damn you. Damn you to the Hells or whatever worse there is. Your words mean nothing to me,” you screamed at him. Much to your surprise, he did not attempt to defend him nor did he give any sort of witty remark or snarky come-back. He instead gave you an understanding nod, and moved back slightly where he was sitting.

“As they should. I only hope you know that they are true, however meaningless to you they may be,” he whispered. Frustrated tears were forming in your eyes now, and you shook your head to clear your eyes and mind. Wanting to speak no further of those you had lost, especially not with him, you switched the subject.

“How did you know?” you questioned, your voice cracking a little due to your earlier tears. “Despite all of my planning and preparations, you still knew I was human. How?” you clarified. The Vampire King considered your question for a moment before standing up and once again blocking your view.

“Given your current… predicament, I suppose there is no risk in informing you as to how I knew your true nature,” he decided, giving a casual shrug more to himself than to you. “Very well then, I shall provide you with your answer. Or answers, rather, as there were a few ways that I knew you were human,” he revealed, much to your horror. Either sensing this or reading it upon your face, he shook his head. “Oh, there really isn’t any call for that sort of look, darling. In fact, I really ought to be giving you credit, as you covered your track remarkably well. I have no doubt that if you had tried this little stunt at a place with fewer vampires and far less powerful ones, you would have gotten away with it easily. You just… had the misfortune of mixing a lack of knowledge about my kind and well… just a touch of arrogance,” he told you, and though his tone was sweet and almost comforting, you didn’t miss the taunt in his words.

“Lack of knowledge?” you inquired, mostly to encourage him to continue. Although, if you did somehow make it out of this alive, perhaps this knowledge might come in handy. And it couldn’t hurt having the Vampire King as the source of some of your vampire knowledge.

“You are incredibly well versed when it comes to the general knowledge of my kind, I will admit. You know more about us than any human I have encountered, and probably more than most of the less connected vampires. But there is still plenty that you are unaware of. Such as the fact that a vampire’s senses are often tied to how powerful they are, and vice versa. The stronger the vampire – the more powerful and often more ancient the blood – the more likely it is that they have heightened senses. Especially sight, smell, and hearing. So while you did fly under the radar of, oh, I’d say maybe 85% of the vampires here, there were still about 25% who would have been able to see past your little tricks. However, even with those numbers – which are very favorable, I might add – most of that remaining 25% would have only noticed your increased heart rate, which is faster than a vampire’s usually would be. Though they would likely have assumed that you had just been on a feeding frenzy before coming here. It isn’t uncommon, and there are always about five or ten guests whose heart rates exceed even that of a usual human heart rate, never mind a vampire’s” he explained.

You bit back a curse. You hadn’t taken into account heart rates. You knew about their heightened senses to an extent, but you hadn’t even considered that they might be paying attention to something like that at the event!

“You covered your scent well, so congratulations on that. Even I couldn’t find you out that way. But the heartbeat was a dead giveaway to me. I know the difference between a human’s and a vampire’s, and my sense of hearing is strong enough that I am able to tell them apart by even the smallest details. I can tell a human apart from another human. Hells, you could be in a room full of humans and now that I know what your heartbeat sounds like, I could single it out amongst the crowd. So… unfortunately, you didn’t really stand much of a chance with that one,” he gloated with a mocking pout, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes. “But as I said, there was not only one thing that gave away the fact that you were human,” he continued on before letting out an almost frustrated sounding sigh. “I wouldn’t expect you to know this one. I’d be surprised if you did. Plenty of vampires do not even realize they possess this ability unless taken in by the right vampires or unless they were lucky enough to have a maker who taught them right. It almost feels… unfair, because truly it is doubtful that you would have been able to figure this one out. Not unless a vampire told you of it, or you happened to overhear them. Then again, you did overhear a vampire blabbering on about this private event, so I suppose one never knows,” he mused.

“Are you planning to talk me to death then?” you cut in, hoping he’d get on with it. He shook his head, although you caught a hint of amusement in his eyes as he did so.

“I do apologize if I am rambling, however, I would have thought you would want a thorough answer to one of the last questions you will ever get to ask,” he retorted.

“Perhaps I do, but I could go without all of the banter in-between the bits that are actually useful,” you replied, and he chuckled slightly at this.

“Ah, I will admit I am sometimes prone to the dramatics and to fancy. It is a flaw of mine,” he confessed with a bow, and this time you actually did roll your eyes. “But if you wish for me to get on with it, I shall,” he conceded, and you gave a little nod in thanks, though you could feel the irritation welling up inside you. His mood then shifted from amusement to pity as he regarded you, and then he continued on. “The other reason I knew you were human, darling, is that I can read minds,” he told you, and you felt your stomach drop.

“You… you are a telepath,” you whispered, and he debated this for a moment before nodding.

“I suppose you could say so, yes. I would not consider myself a telepath, as I have very limited telepathic abilities, but I do have them nonetheless, so yes, I suppose technically speaking, I am a telepath,” he responded. Your mouth was dry now, and you felt as though your head was spinning.

“You knew then. From the moment I walked in here, you knew what I was. What I was here to do,” you continued in a hushed tone, although the words were mostly meant for yourself. You had to say them aloud to process what you were hearing.

“Yes, little mortal, that is correct,” he confirmed with a nod. You opened your mouth to speak again and found that you had to swallow a lump that had formed in your throat.

“Why let me live this long then? Why not just do away with me the second I walked into your dwellings? Why converse with me? Dance with me? Why pretend to be unaware of the fact that I was human?” you asked, the questions flowing one right after another in rapid succession. The Vampire King let out a soft exhale.

“Truthfully? There has been some unrest amongst my ranks lately. Nothing of much concern yet; just little things here and there. Rogue vampires operating in territory they were expressly forbidden to. Or worse, creating new vampires without the permission of myself and some of the other higher-ups. Rumors of discontent amongst some of my generals, and those in positions higher than that, but so far those are just rumors. But such things are not to be ignored, or else one might miss the early warning signs of a rebellion,” he explained to you. “I have been doing my best to try and appease those whose loyalty is of great concern and significance to me, and to try and make happy those who might not be as crucial, but who it is still beneficial to have on my side. Given that this is such a high-profile event, it was of grave importance to me that tonight ran smoothly. And well, a human being allowed not only onto the grounds but inside the event… let’s just say that such shows of weakness within my staff and protection detail would not have gone unnoticed,” he finished, a strained expression on his face. After he was done speaking, you scoffed at him.

“I hope they do overthrow you, those who are the source of the unrest. I hope that they do it, and do it soon. And when they do, I hope that they stake you right through that cold heart of yours,” you spat at him, trying to put venom in every word you spoke. He blinked a few times at your outburst, as though attempting to process your words, and then he shook his head.

“No, you do not,” he told you. His tone suggested there was an absolute certainty to his words, and you despised this.

“Oh really? And why might that be?” you snarled.

“Because I am not the worst thing you humans could have to deal with. You think the world is bad with me in charge, darling? You think that I am a monster for what I have done?” he asked you before letting out a sad little chuckle. “Well, you would very much be right about that. But trust me when I tell you, little human, that I am not the worst thing that could happen to this world. If you heard the plans my generals whisper about, you would know that I am far from it.”

“You will forgive me if I do not believe you,” you responded, to which he merely shrugged and turned away from you.

“Believe it or don’t. It matters little to me,” he said, his tone casual, although you could tell from his body language that it irritated him that you were not heeding his warning. He turned back to you before rolling up his sleeve partly to reveal a watch. He glanced down at it and let out a sigh. “We only have a few more hours until daybreak. I suspect the hunt shall end soon, and I will be expected to make an appearance upstairs,” he noted before saying: “I’m afraid that means that I ought to be wrapping things up with you then.”

“Do you intend to kill me?” you questioned. You tried to keep your voice strong and your demeanor brave, but you could feel your body trembling and were certain he would have noticed it too. “If that is the fate you have in store for me, then you should go ahead and get it over with,” you added for two reasons. The first was that you thought it might make you appear less frightened than you were. The shaking stemming from anger instead of fear. The second reason was that you did not wish for him to drag out your untimely demise. You had known – much as you were hoping you could find a way out of your current predicament – that there was a possibility this would end in your death. This had been more of a pressing thought to you when you had ended up in his dungeon, however, you knew stepping foot into the lair of the Vampire King was not without its risks, and that there was a chance you would not have been making it out alive. Some part of you knew that going into this, much as you were hoping it would not be the case. But though you were prepared for the possibility of your death as a result of this venture, that did not mean you were looking forward to nor prepared for a slower, more painful death.

However, much to your surprise, the Vampire King shook his head at your question. He made his way towards you, and lifted your chin so that you were forced to gaze into his eyes. He studied you for a moment before humming softly.

“Killing you was what I had originally planned, yes. However, I’ve since thought of a more fitting punishment” he began, and his tongue darted across his lips. “You came here under the pretense of being a vampire, and wouldn’t you know it? Today is your lucky day, little mortal! Because you are going to leave here actually being one! Well… when you leave. In about, oh, let’s say fifty years? If you are lucky and behave yourself, of course,” he finished.

Then, before you even had a chance to process the words he just said…

His fangs were in your neck.

A pain like a thousand icicles stabbing into your veins shot through you, and a scream erupted from your lips. You thrashed about, tugging violently at the restraints that held you to the wall, but all this served to do was to cause his fangs to further rip into your throat. You could feel the skin of your neck tearing at odd angles as you fought against his bite, and so you stilled to not cause further damage. You could feel the blood flowing through your vein, moving to the spot where his fangs dug into your neck, and then leaving your body as he drank from it. There was an uncomfortable tugging feeling to it as he took his fill, and you could not help the whimper that escaped you at the sensation of it.

You were unsure how long he continued feeding on you for. At some points in time it seemed like the seconds were hours, and at some points it felt as though the world around you was moving at the speed of light. Your head was spinning; your stomach was churring; and your body felt numb. Somewhere along the line, he had switched the side of your neck that he was biting, gently tilting your head to allow him better access. You had let out a small whining noise when he sunk in his fangs the second time, and he had pulled back for a moment to stroke your hair and whisper something to you that your mind failed to process. Then he had gone back to feeding.

Eventually, just when you thought that your heart was going to give out and he was going to kill you after all, he stopped. He took a small step back from you, and you watched through barely opened eyes as he wiped away a dribble of your blood that had been sliding down his lip to his chin. He hummed in content to himself as he observed you.

Then, using one of his razor-sharp nails, he made a small incision on his right palm. You watched a small trickle of blood form and then pool there, and once there was whatever he considered to be a good amount there, he cupped his hand and made his way over to you. Even in your numbed state, you did your best to turn your face away from him in protest, but the attempt was futile. He seized your chin with his left hand and shoved his right up to your lips, the blood smearing them and more than a few drops getting onto your tongue before you even thought to close your mouth.

As soon as you tasted his blood, it felt as though every cell within your body had been electrocuted and set ablaze. Your dizziness and daze faded almost immediately, replaced by an all-consuming hunger, and a craving for more. More of his blood. More of anyone’s blood. You did not care. You felt a ravenousness that you had not known was possible, and you needed to satiate it. Now.

You latched onto his palm, and as you did so, you felt something pushing down from your top gums. It was not painful per se, but it was an odd sensation and not one you particularly cared for. However, this soon mattered little to you when a gush of blood flowed from the punctures your new fangs made in his hand. His blood was sweet like syrup, and you lapped it up greedily. He had winced when your fangs dug into his flesh but had not attempted to pull away from you. Instead, he ran his left hand through your hair, cooing soft encouragements to you.

As you drank, the world around you seemed to change, although you were fairly certain that it was you who was actually changing, and the way you perceived the world was simply shifting as a result of that. Regardless of the reason though, everything around you began to appear more vibrant. Parts of the dungeon that had been hidden by shadows were almost illuminated now, and you could see the other side of the dungeon as clear as you could see what was right in front of you. And the lit areas of the room were heightened too. It was as though before you were seeing everything in the dull shade of their colors but now… now you were experiencing them at their most.

It was not only your sense of sight that had improved though. You could hear the tiny scampers of the mice and insects that roamed about the dungeon with such accuracy that, if you had not been chained up, you could have launched yourself to catch an ant the second before it had made its way under the floorboards. You could smell the bloods of many who had been here before you. Could tell them apart from each other too. You smelt some that had gone stale ages ago, able to catch only a few whiffs of it. Some of the blood was fresher though, and its aroma only served to increase your hunger. Some were sweeter; some more tangy; some more floral; and others you had trouble placing the scent, but all made your stomach growl and your fang ache as you took more and more blood from the Vampire King’s palm.

After some time, you felt him shift about, and he moved the hand that had been stroking your hair down to your chin. Sensing what he intended to do, you bit down on his hand hard, trying to hold it in a vice-like grip. But he was stronger than you, and managed to unhook your fangs as he pushed your face away from his palm. He swiftly stepped back, looking down at his right palm with a slightly troubled expression before shaking his head.

“I always forget how hungry fledglings are, especially shortly after their turnings,” he commented. “I have the feeling you would have drained me dry if I hadn’t stopped your feeding frenzy there," he remarked to you, and you let out a snarling sound as you eyed his palm. He laughed at this. “Oh, hush now, my sweet spawn. You will have more soon enough. Not from me though. This is the only time you will have my blood to feast upon,” he made clear to you before adding: “Besides, in a few minutes, you will not even wish to feed further. The hunger will have ceased clouding your mind, and the horror of what you have become and what you shall have to do to survive will set in.”

You knew his words to be true. The moment he had pulled his hand away to end your feeding and your fangs had retreated back into your top gums, your head had begun to clear. The all-consuming hunger you had felt before was rapidly being replaced by guilt, sorrow, and horror. The lasting drops of his blood that were on your lips still tasted sweet when your tongue darted out to clean what was left upon your face, but the knowledge of what it was you were drinking now brought up a nausea that threatened to overtake you.

“Ah, there we go. The moment of clarity,” he said as he watched your face contort in horror. You looked up at him, lips quivering, body aching, heart shattering, and tears pouring down your face. Only you could feel that they were not like the tears that you used to shed. They were heavier as they slid down your face. Warmer too. You knew without needing to see it that what streamed down from your eyes was no longer saline tears, but rather blood.

After a moment, the Vampire King spoke again.

“The first few days after your turning can be… difficult to say the least. I remember mine as though it was yesterday, and I suspect it shall haunt me until the end of my days, whenever that may be,” he informed you. “So as a courtesy, I shall allow you some time to adjust in private. I cannot trust you to remain elsewhere in the mansion, so unfortunately you will have to remain here alone during that time. Though I suppose you can consider that part of your punishment for your attempt on my life,” he said to you, and you let out an animalistic hiss at him. Your anger turned to shock, however, when your fangs descended at the motion, and you blinked in surprise. The Vampire King regarded you for a moment, looking from your wide-eyed expression to your newly formed fangs, and then chuckled in amusement. “You have a lot to learn about your new form, little fledgling. And about what your life will be like as a vampire,” he informed you. “But you needn’t worry, my darling. I shall be personally overseeing your lessons into the vampiric life, and you can rest assured that you are going to have the best education into this that a fledgling could ask for,” he announced to you with a smirk. When you did not respond and instead shot him a glare, he sighed and waved his hand.

“Thank you, my King. That is most generous of you to offer,” you found yourself saying as fog filled your mind. After the sentence was finished, the fog cleared, and you stared at him in horror.

“W-what did you just do to me?!” you demanded, and he let out an amused chuckle.

“That is what I like to call a precaution, my darling. See, given your… stubbornness and the fact that you are incredibly resourceful and knowledgeable when it comes to killing vampires, I thought it best to implement a little cautionary measure when I turned you,” he explained. “There are many names for it, but I prefer ‘spawn bite’. It creates a very powerful bond between the fledgling and the one who turned them. More importantly, it gives me the ability to control you. Your mind, your words, your actions, and potentially your thoughts,” the Vampire King told you, smirking wickedly at the dread that came upon your face when you heard these words. “But do not worry,” he began to assure you, “It is not something I intend to use often, so long as you behave,” he finished before covering his mouth to stifle a yawn. He shook his head as though trying to clear it and then sighed.

“I really ought to be getting back to the main event upstairs before my absence is questioned. But rest assured that I shall be returning shortly to check up on you. See how your transformation is going. Perhaps feed you, if you have been good, but we shall see,” the Vampire King said to you before dusting himself off. He gave you a small wave before heading towards the door. He opened it, and just as he was about to step through it, he turned back to face you. He took in your captive form silently for a moment before speaking. “I look forward to getting to know you, little hunter,” he called to you with a wink.

Then he walked out of the dungeon, letting the heavy doors slam shut behind him and leaving you there: cold, starving, pained, and completely and utterly alone.

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