Vampire AU Open post

[dryeyes]

Let's be honest, this probably didn't need its own open post. I love vampires, though, I love them so much, so the presence of this post at least strongly says to the world: hey, what's up, I always want more of this.

For all of your:
• Horribly dramatic, romantic, overwrought vampire and human AUs.
• Star-crossed vampire and werewolf or vampire and hunter AUs.
• Vampire coven politics, intrigue, and all that stuff Aizawa wishes he didn't have to deal with.
• "I got turned and, fml, vampires still have to get an education and my teacher might be a demon on top of being a vampire," AUs.
• "I'm a vampire but no one believes it when I stand next to my scruffy, dark-looking human," AUs.

Comments

for enslaver

[dryeyes]

[It's too close to morning for his tastes. His tastes don't define his actions, of course, as he logically knows that with over an hour until sunrise there was plenty of time to skulk the streets with imperceptible degrees of risk. He just doesn't like it. He's considering heading back to settle down early for the day, taking some time to look over documents, but...]

[There was someone else around. Someone he didn't know. He wasn't exactly a vampire socialite but he kept track of who wandered into his territory. That was just a survival skill. Vampires who stayed in the same place for a long time could be relied on (within reason). Vampires who came in from out of town had no such guarantee. With no one to vouch for their behavior, the general assumption is that they came to do something reckless. A few attacks had been reported over the last week, not through any sort of fancy vampire mind powers, but by their average, functional groupchat. If whatever foolhardy vampire wasn't going to move on, a confrontation would be needed.]

[Not because he particularly cared about humans or anything, that would be ridiculous. It was a matter of keeping his own hunting grounds safe.]

[From the rooftop, he suddenly catches a hint of- something. It's an otherworldly presence, like his own, it's close to one of the attack sites Nemuri pinned on the map, it's worth investigating-]

[Except for the fact he peers down at the alleyway and sees an individual, now awake, that's clearly not prepared enough to muster the attacks they've been spotting. He doesn't look prepared for anything, really. Shit. Somehow, through some sort of supreme misfortune, one of the biting victims had turned.]

[enslaver]

[ Hitoshi wakes up.

That in itself is a surprise. He remembers the attack, the blood - there was so much blood. Blood everywhere, more than he'd ever seen in his life. Surely more than anyone could survive losing. And it was on the ground, and all over him, soaking darkly into his clothes...

Or... or was it? His head swims as he drags himself to his feet, stumbling slightly to the left so that his side collides with a nearby wall. Okay. That'll help keep him upright while he tries to think through the dizziness and shock. He expects to see nothing but dark red when he lifts a trembling hand to his face, but apart from the dirt of the street, it's as clean as it ever was.

What?

There's a rational part of his mind, still, that tells him that what he should be doing right now is calling for help. He's hurt, he thinks, though he somehow can't remember where or how. Someone attacked him in any case, so he should at least report that. But these important thoughts can't penetrate the deepening confusion that's beginning to sharpen into panic, his survey of the alleyway he's ended up in turning into frantic unseeing glances left and right. Breath thinning in his chest, catching in his throat. He has such a strong impression of blood that it feels insane that there shouldn't be any. It seems wrong. It feels like it should be everywhere. It's bothering him far more than it should not to see any at all, not to smell it, where is it... ]

[dryeyes]

[If it were any earlier in the night, he'd just observe, try not to get his hands all over this situation. As it stands, though, an hour or two wasn't going to be enough to acclimate to what was happening. He'd seen it happen, time and time before, some startled novice ending up a pile of ash on the dawn of their first day. That was a form of natural selection but in some cases you see an egg fall from the nest and just have to do something.]

[He briefly sends a text to the others, telling them to check on the sites of the other victims. One was back up and walking.]

[And then he's gone from the rooftop, considering the approach he'd need to take. Even a shaking, fledgling vampire was still a vampire, after all. Approaching too quickly could result in injuries both of them would regret. He appears, blocking the closer path out of the alleyway, putting himself firmly between Hitoshi and the crowds of people that would no doubt either overwhelm his senses or his bloodlust.]

[As for getting his attention...]

Excuse me. [... he simply calls and raises his hand a little.] Over here, please, there's not very much time. [Listen, he never claimed to be a huge, dramatic showman vampire like some people. His presence is enough as it is, clearly inhuman.]

[enslaver]

[ Hitoshi whips around with the kind of speed of reaction he should by no means have right now, to stare wild-eyed at the origin of the voice. A person. Not a person. He looks like a person, but there's something different, something that Hitoshi feels as though he might be able to put his finger on if he were thinking straight. But panic is still clawing its way up his throat, and now there's another reaction. He feels his hackles raise, distantly, as if some forgotten instinct is telling him that this is a threat he might have to fight off.

He doesn't understand it. He doesn't understand anything right now. ]

Who are you?

[ The thought occurs that the man smells funny. Which doesn't make sense, because they're nowhere near close enough that he should be able to smell anything at all. But there's a quiet authority about him that the terrified teenager is all too eager to latch on to, despite everything. It's... it's shock, right? He was attacked, he got hurt, even if there's no blood (why, why isn't there, where is it). Surely he's just in shock or something. ]

There was...

[ He starts to say 'a guy', but on second thought he can't be sure it was a man who attacked him. He can't remember anything about his assailant at all. It could have been Kimura Takuya and he'd be none the wiser. ]

... someone jumped me. Did, did you...

[ Did you see who it was? Do you know what happened? ]

[dryeyes]

[There's a short grumble. He'd politely given a request and, despite the understandable need for answers, the need for safety should be far more prioritized.]

I'm not an enemy. [That's a simple enough answer to who he is. He idly scratches under his ear, no less intimidating for the languid gesture.] And the one that jumped you isn't here. They've taken off somewhere and left us with the mess. [Was it even planned? Was there something special about this one that it was consciously done, or was it truly just a matter of dumb luck? He wouldn't be able to tell until he'd tracked down the culprit, a process that couldn't be finished tonight.]

I'm going to need you to come with me, one way or another. [It hangs in the air, a little like a threat, except for the fact he doesn't make a move. He doesn't have to, after all. When he decides to move, whether it be to escort the child or collect the child, he could move as quickly as he liked.]

[enslaver]

[ In fairness to him, normally Hitoshi is a pretty practical person. He's not reckless, doesn't see the need for or logic in taking unnecessary risks. And he knows, vaguely, what time it is - at least he can see through the standard orangeish haze of city light pollution that dawn is rapidly approaching. But he has no idea that those two things, risk and the sun, are linked any more now than they ever were. He can take stock of a lot of things even like this, but he can't know that he's already watched his last sunrise.

Had he been a bystander, or someone hearing about these events later on, he'd probably point out that this man is still a complete stranger to him. For all he knows, this could be the very person who attacked him in the first place, back now to finish him off. And he knows that, somewhere in the back of his mind. But he's still a kid at the heart of it. His thoughts are spiralling, leaving tire-screeching circles in their wake, and the idea of leaving the thinking up to someone clearly much more calm is such a tempting relief that it wins over his instinctual wariness. ]

Yeah.

[ His arms are around himself, each hand grasping the opposite elbow, shoulders up around his ears as still-wide indigo eyes flit around with the threat of panic that still sits at the back of his throat. But he does move closer, indicating that he'll follow. ]

I guess I should go to the police or... or something...

[ Because that's the plan, right? He can't think of anything else that would make sense. ]

[dryeyes]

[Without even the slightest change in expression,]

Oh, not the police. They're incapable of helping you, now.

[He could say it so bluntly because it was the truth. If anyone in the police force were equipped to deal with his condition, that would be an issue in and of itself. More than likely he would end up spending too long answering inane questions for an investigation that was going to end in failure and then burn up in the morning light. Of course, the way he says it must raise more questions than answers, so,]

I can answer your questions. [If he didn't have them now, he'd have them later, once his consciousness had faded for the day and he was given time to process. Even being a supernatural terror didn't eliminate the need to rest and assimilate new information.] Just not right now.

Right now, we need to go, and quickly.