How did it get like this?

 I blinked for the umpteenth time this night and couldn’t understand what had happened to me. The world seemed... brighter. More colorful. The dizziness, the shakiness, all because of that awful poison that Judas gave me.

Yet stranger still was my sudden urge. The explicit desire that overwhelmed me... for... him? Judas was in my mind at every minute. Judas... Where did you go? Why did you leave me alone? Can’t you see I just want your...

“How do you feel?” The voice beside me was foreign.

It wasn’t Judas.

“Like shit,” I whispered.

The arm snaking around my side wasn’t Judas’, either. It was this strange man’s. This vampire’s.

“You really do like Judas, huh?”

I swallowed. Why did I even like him? He was the one that forced this drug on me. If it wasn’t for him, I might be back at home in the safety of Blaine’s arms... Blaine? Who was that?

No, if it wasn’t for Judas, I...

Judas took me to that place. It looked like a field, but he said it was once where a large mansion stood. The home of some woman... I didn’t understand it at all, but I figured maybe I could use my abilities to help him. If I did, he’d leave me alone, right?

He was strong, though. Much more powerful than I could have imagined. Even more powerful than the spirits which screamed to me out there in the pasture... “Get away from here!”

And when he came back from whatever he was doing...

“Drink this for me.” He held out that strange potion bottle. As soon as he uncorked it, I could smell the death swarming me.

“I’m not crazy.”

Maybe I was. If I had any guts at all, I would have run the fuck away. But I couldn’t move. Locked under his strange spell, I continued to kneel like I was his plaything.

And as soon as that toxin was on my tongue, I thought I would die. Fallen there in the tall grasses—he would have laughed at me and left me for dead—but he stood with amusement as I screamed...

“Answer me?” The foreign voice snapped me away from the memories. “What do you see in Judas?”

I shook my head. Please just leave me alone!

“He’s a basket case, you know. Just like me.” A chuckle vibrated from the man’s throat. “Or do you think he’ll turn you someday?”

I swallowed, though my throat dry. “It’s... not like that.”

“Hmm? What is it then?”

“He’s...” I don’t know. How could I know why I craved his touch so much. It was this damn shit he gave me. The reason why my whole world was now turned upside down. The reason why the colors were strangely bright.

The man next to me leaned in closer. “I can help you with your desires much better than Judas can,” he whispered.

I glanced at him. “You...”

He raised a brow. “Judas is a hopeless bottom, anyway. You wouldn’t want that, someone without experience. Trust me.” He slithered his hand up my side, toward my nipple. “I can take care of you.”

He leaned in closer. “I promise I won’t bite... hard.”

“You... you wouldn’t.”

The vampire breathed hot in my ear. “I don’t care if you’re clairvoyant. Blood is blood to me. It’s Judas’ fault if he misses this opportunity.”

I wanted to pull away just then, but his grip on my side prevented me. “S-sex doesn’t equal feeding... does it?”

“Ah, no.” He laughed. “Not necessarily. But feeding does equal sex. Come on now, don’t be so shy. I promise you’ll enjoy it, too.”

-----------

 

It didn’t take long to retrieve Dregan. Judas and Cal led him back to the house, all the while he spoke of a strange potion called “luce”. The small vial Judas had found was possibly the last of it, something unrecovered from what once was Serena’s mansion.

She had a lot of it, after all. It was once a product of Chris’, another vampire that Judas had only read about and never met. Though, Chris was asleep now. Perhaps someday...

The strange vampire in the coffin was the first thing Dregan was interested in.

“Should I open it for you, sir?” Judas offered, but Dregan held out his hand.

“No need. Should the vampire within attack, I could fight him better, yes?” Dregan stepped up and carefully bent down to unlatch the lid.

As he opened it, Judas stood on guard. But the vampire lay still as Dregan peeked inside. “Just as I thought. Cal...” He turned to Cal, who had approached at the sound of his name. “I believe this is the one our friend has spoken about. We must hurry and take him back to the mansion.”

Cal nodded. “Yes, master.”

After waving a hand in front of the vampires face, Dregan turned to Judas. “Now, about this man you gave the luce to. Let’s see him.”

Judas was entranced at Cal’s strength and the face the vampire never awoken to being forced out of the coffin. Surely, it was something Dregan did with his hand to prevent any trouble. Was it the same thing he did to Lucious days ago, or the same thing he did to Angel on that same night?

“Judas?” Dregan’s voice flitted through his ears.

Judas shook off the wonder. “Y-yes, sir.”

As Cal left with the sleeping vampire, Judas led Dregan upstairs toward his bedroom. That was another problem, indeed. The bigger problem was he hoped Demetrius didn’t touch Angel and kept to his promise.

“What do we have here?” Dregan said, stepping into the room.

“Son of a bitch tried to bite me!” Demetrius fumed.

They were both facing each other as if they were going to start fighting.

Judas stepped between them. “And what did you do to provoke him, Dee?”

“I... I, well.” He fisted his hands. “Stupid human. He’s got it big for you anyway, Judas. I couldn’t get anywhere near him!”

“It’s not true,” Angel said. “He was all over me!”

“Enough!” Dregan stomped. “We haven’t time for these games. Thank you, Demetrius for watching him, but I must take him back to the mansion now.”

“Take him back? But, why?” Judas couldn’t imagine what would happen to Angel if left in Dregan’s care. Though the master seemed gentle, he most certainly couldn’t trust anyone with Angel, now.

“I must study the effects of the luce. After a few days, he should be ready to return to the world, but without any interference, Judas. You’ve been too much of a burden in this man’s life already.”

“You promise? He’ll go back to his family?” Judas asked, hoping Dregan was telling the truth.

“It shouldn’t bother you too much. I’m sure when Cal returns, he’ll have a word with you about your actions.” Dregan reached out to Angel, who didn’t return the notion.

But the simple brush of a touch on his arm made Angel fall into Dregan. Asleep?

Right. When Cal returned, he would have much more than a word with Judas.  No, he was possibly looking forward to a decade or more of strict servitude for his disobedience. The tremble inside was all too real now as he realized the severity of his punishment.

He wouldn’t see Demetrius for a while. Nor Dregan. Nor Angel, of course. He’d live out the rest of his immortality wondering what exactly happened, but never able to ask nor speak another word of it. He should just give up this search... This was all a vampire’s life could give him.

“We’re leaving, Demetrius,” Dregan said as he approached the door.

Demetrius glanced back at Judas with wide eyes, perhaps he realized it, too.