Chapter Three
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"This is my house."
And he was always keeping an eye on things here.
David didn't move from his place and the boys had also taken his example. No one dared to speak, for they feared the ominous tension in the air.
Michael was the only one who looked straight into David's eyes, welcoming the good and bad. He welcomed punishment and forgiveness, knowing that nothing felt like it'd felt when he'd still lived. Paul's punch had been a wake up call. There was no more blood on his jaw. No bruise. Simply nothing.
He took a step closer, David that is. That usual questioning leer hadn't left his face even when he had announced his leadership to Michael a moment earlier. "I see you have embraced immortality." he commented while squatting down, so that they were more on the same level as they talked.
Michael didn't look at him as he began to get up, but when David's hand landed on his shoulder to stop his progress, he let his guard down and made the mistake of allowing David to use his voodoo on him again. The blonde deity above him pressed his fingers tightly against the leather that protected Michael's skin. Within seconds the burning seemed to penetrate even the jacket and the rascally smile disappeared, as Michael tasted pain again.
He gasped loudly, making David but tilt his head to his left and tighten the grip. "Tell me something." David spoke with a mesmerizing voice that seemed to taunt the wayward boy a bit. The others observed with serious faces and even Star had been silenced. Marko, cherub faced as always, however, remembered this drill and could only let out a sinister smile at this scene.
"Yes, David?" Michael asked with a voice of defiance and attitude. He didn't know how David had returned pain back into his numb world but he surely didn't like any of it. The burning was in his eyeballs now and he fought the emerging tears ferociously. He'd show that fucker just how strong he was. He could take it.
"Why do you find more allure in beating women than just taking what she's been offering all along?" David watched Michael drain every syllable, like it'd been medicine he'd just offered, with great interest. Just what stood at the bottom of this?
David's eyes flickered when the burning advanced further in Michael's body. Michael just clenched his teeth and remained still on the floor while his eyes drilled into David. If David had been here all along, shouldn't he know what lay beneath Star's innocent shell?
"Apparently she finds more… allure in puncturing your heart than fucking you." he answered bitterly. Star seemed to stir further away but Michael didn't even notice. He lived in another universe with just David and him. He couldn't wake up until David removed his fingers from him and stood up.
"Marko, Dwayne, Paul." David called his boys by their names and sent an ominous glare at each of them. "I'd like some private time with Michael."
He watched each fledgling give him some sort of a sign of agreement, before focusing on Michael again. The recently initiated vampire squirmed on the dusty ground, still too possessed by the after effects of the burning to pay any attention to what was going on around him. Paul took Star from her shoulder and begun leading her away with Dwayne, while Marko walked up to David to whisper something in his ear.
Michael began blinking furiously to regain his eyesight, and his fingers reached for his chest where an echo of the burning still remained, in the shape of a ring around his heart. The ghostly feeling didn't seem to disappear even when he partly poked and clawed the skin and flesh over his ribcage. The only thing that kept Michael from accepting defeat was the figures of Marko and David above him. They were exchanging knowing smiles and even the way they stood so close together made Michael feel cruelly excluded.
He buried the emerging cough in his throat and shot them with his anguished eyes, before he pushed himself over his knees and elbows. Noticing his laborious attempts to fight the effects of David's torture, Marko narrowed his eyes and whispered one more thing into the ear of their leader before he apparently excused himself and nearly flew out of the room.
The strength was gone from Michael's muscles that'd torn flesh and bones to apart this very night. He'd been so joyous when the power had rushed from one end of his body to the other. The hitchhiking hippie girl with long hair had had her body beaten and nearly abused before he'd butchered her. The older man walking his dog had been dealt with more carefully and quietly. Sam, however, was above any of the latter, for with that kill Michael had truly shone.
All of this fought with the fact that he was laying on the floor powerless and tortured! The power he'd begun to love was nothing compared to the power that David possessed. The knowledge of finally being omnipotent was proven wrong and amid the ocean of feelings from inferiority to jealousy Michael felt like laughing again, once the burning began to fade.
The warm tears that'd wet his cheeks when David's fingers had burned him had dried out, making dark shadows appear underneath his eyes. He felt his face with his clawed hand carefully not to cut his skin the way he'd done to his victims and realized that the corners of his mouth were already pointing up. This is when he let the desperate laugh free from the restrains of his sanity.
David heard the almost mocking laugh, which was nothing like the sound of a laughing man. He lifted his hand to his jaw and ran his thumb over the unclean and rough stubble. It stung his skin a bit but the stroking was calming his nerves. He stood completely still during the short time Michael practised his impish laughter with his face buried in his arms.
Perhaps the killing Michael had performed had fucked his mind? Maybe the encountering the truth with the death of his little brother had been a too brutal wake-up call? Or maybe he just wanted to wreck his nerves, because Michael still had some bitterness in him? He'd showed it to Star, so why not at David as well?
Suddenly Michael stopped twitching to himself as if his voice had vanished into thin air. He performed several actions, which included running his hands across his face and brushing his wild hair behind his ears as well as swallowing, at once before he began to rise to his feet, looking slightly unsure as if he doubted his own ability to stand on two feet. Yet once he'd gotten on his feet instead of putting his weight over his knees, it was easy for him to get up.
Had David seen him for the first time in his life, he'd undoubtedly mistaken Michael for a homeless junky for his appearance had changed so much from the law-abiding teenager he'd been when first entering this city. However David had witnessed this scene many times. Even the angelic Marko had been a mess after David had changed him and he'd developed into a fine member of David's posse. Still David found himself missing the shy way Michael had used to look at people around him, especially Star.
"Done with your degrading gloating?" David asked enjoying knowing that Michael knew he couldn't possibly overthrow him.
Michael's eyes shone but their shine was pale, ghostly even. "I bet you're enjoying this." Michael's voice seemed to have diminished into a hoarse whisper, a spiteful one. It wasn't his cruel expression which caught David's expression though. No, he felt the unconscious need to wet his lower lip after his eyes became fixated with Michael's neck: The shining skin, which was made luminescent by the river of sweat that coursed down the little valley behind his ear.
"I am." David admitted sincerely and blocked the smug smile that could've erased the effect of his words. He no longer looked at Michael's face when they talked and even Michael noticed it, without realizing that it didn't make him one bit uncomfortable though. He could feel how his bare skin reacted to David's stare.
"Do you know why I chose you?" David asked after a moment of silence had passed and he'd reached a point of satisfaction in the short fantasy his imagination had quickly conjured up. To Michael's relief he tore his glare away from him and the smooth, firm skin that was that stretched over his muscular body.
"I seemed gullible enough?" Michael retorted as his eyes followed the direction of David's glare and reached nothing but confusion. The undefined target David was eyeing was clearly something Michael couldn't see with his eyes and he felt the feeling of annoyance creep back to him.
David looked like he was about to say something when he instead began removing the biker gloves on his hands and didn't let his temper escape his suppressing will. "I knew you would be easy to corrupt." You could see the blonde's eyes sparkle when he answered with his voice dripping malicious poison.
Michael settled for ignoring the words, knowing that they'd hurt him if he let them. David hurried to continue his story upon noticing his fledgling's denial. "A young fool with a head filled with dreams." He peeled his hand from one glove clearly savouring this moment. "You've lived all your life chasing pussy and cleavage. I just needed a pretty girl."
The other glove vanished into David's pocket as well and lifted his gaze only to observe his handprint with a raised brow. It was needless to say that Michael's gloomy character was a joy to his eyes. "Go ahead." Michael urged him. "Continue telling me how flawed I was."
David barked with laughter. "It was a surprise for me as well." He said sounding enigmatic. Michael's muscles tensed as if he'd sensed the change of direction in their topic. "You truly thought you came chasing for the girl." David added still thoughtful in his reminiscence of their first meeting.
He'd known it then, felt the way Michael's admiring eyes scrutinized his whole body. He'd noticed how the boy had gone from piqued to aroused, in seconds. He'd also noticed how weak his own voice had sounded then and before he had even thought about it, he'd challenged him. And there they were now – alone together.
Maybe it'd been the full moon making Michael crazy but he was feeling that urge to laugh again. His rational solution to everything today had been laughter. His sense told him that he should be walking in limbo by now, because of everything he'd done, but for some reason it simply amused him. He couldn't care less.
"Are you ready to admit that you've chased this moment all along with one single thought circling our head?" David's question didn't seem absurd at all. Michael knew what he meant: that little tickle all around his body that led to sinful thoughts each time he thought of David. He'd mistaken it earlier, thinking that it was something Star had brought along but soon noticed that her weakness just nauseated him.
Of course he'd needed something to project it towards, a reason to justify the insane chase to this place and the fact that David was able to bend him with no trouble. Maybe it should've bothered him that David was aware of his secret but it didn't. Maybe he should've tried to block or amputate it like he'd tried to do through his excuses earlier on, but what was the point?
"Maybe." he admitted playfully.
He'd known it. David felt through the rows dull teeth with his tongue. He'd thought their tryst would turn out to be a violent one but instead Michael was more prepared to play this game of theirs verbally. How interesting…
The initiation had revealed a new side from the simple-minded bodybuilder. Of course he'd known Michael was able to draw out his almost deadly passions but to have stirred him intellectual side as well… Perhaps David shouldn't have trusted his first impressions so lightly.
He shifted his weight from his left foot to his right. "I have been kind to you so far." David said roughly. It was true what he'd said though. He'd treated Michael with unearned kindness, only playing a couple of simple jokes on him, instead of making him tolerate the whims he usually had with the objects of his interest. The coldness of his voice hinted that if David had wanted, he might've just as well ravaged Michael upon sight and left him for death without any grater conflict.
The arrow hit its target, making Michael's will sway. "Kind?" he asked harshly. "If this is your kindness, death would've been a blessing."
"But do you have any options left anymore?" David confronted him with the ugly truth. The world outside this lair held no meaning. Michael had been impulsive when he'd followed the whims of his new nature. He might've still stood a chance, had he not been so eager to prove himself to David, for that was what his murdering spree had been all about.
"No."
"Then will you continue this charade or give up the façade you're so eagerly trying to foist on me?"
David had been keeping his distance even though their discussion had turned highly intimate during the course of things. He hadn't looked at him admiringly or lustfully since they'd begun this race and right now it felt unbearable to Michael. He realized he wasn't too sure about what David wanted anymore. Before he'd known for sure somewhere deep within him that David had also harboured a strong desire somewhere underneath the smiles and then Michael had gotten lost along the way.
"What do you want?" He asked honestly.
But David didn't move forwards and sink his beautiful, long fingers into Michael's hair like in the newly born vampire's imagination. He just stood still, almost anchored to the floor from his feet. Michael was beginning to wish he was anywhere but here. Somewhere far from the reach of this ghoul, who reminded him of the horrors his little brother had feared at nights.
No, not a ghoul - a vampire made from flesh and blood. He was a physical being that had perhaps been tainted but who didn't allow it to define him. He feared and admired David. Deep down he'd wanted to become like him: A being without regret, without restrictions.
He'd eyed the girl but reacted physically only to the man: the biker with platinum blonde hair, some piercing and leather for second skin. As a human he couldn't have accepted the sensations and embraced all of his desires, but were he like David it wouldn't matter. Reality escape – isn't that what everyone wanted?
David's blue eyes had seemed to pacify by now after the earlier ice storm that'd made Michael doubt everything. He knew that all he needed to do was to reach out to Michael and he would bend once again. He'd kill, he'd rape and he'd succumb to be able to stay near him. David simply couldn't understand what he'd done to get Michael so profoundly entangled.
He'd spun a web and this is what had gotten caught in it. How did someone get to be like him? David remembered bringing down each of the boys: The insecure troublemaker Paul, the dark and disturbed Dwayne and even the saintly virgin Marko. They'd all been seduced into this hollow state and they'd all eased the loneliness inside of him. Still the change in Michael disturbed David.
"I want many things." David snapped at Michael feeling hatred towards his perfect frame grow inside. Maybe it was the weakness Michael brought out in him that made him so irresistible. Maybe…
Tucking his hands in the pockets of his warm overcoat, David closed the gap between them setting a mask of disbelief on his face. "You just might be among the rest."
David was still simply magnificent to Michael's eyes. There were no imperfections to be seen, no doubt, no hesitation but there was no proof he was even humane anymore either. Maybe there was nothing more underneath the lust and the mockery than the need to own.
Suddenly an unpleasant memory overcame Michael. There was something he had tried to ignore from even from an early stage. He shivered because of the mere thought of David's harlot. "What about Star?"
David countered his question quickly and lightly as if to show that he saw no problem. "What about her?"
"She's not too thrilled about being your pet."
Michael didn't see why she was here. He'd thought they used her to attract prey but it was pretty obvious that David needed none of her assistance in that. So if she wasn't any help in that area, Michael saw no other usage for the wailing wench.
"She's amusement." David shuddered at his comments and ignored them. He didn't seem to mind that she knew everything about them and had apparently decided to bring David down while she still could. Michael understood that she was weak but he wouldn't have dared to risk it.
"Jealous, are we?"
Michael narrowed his eyes. Ah, yes of course.
He blinked several times, sensing David's closeness as a cloud of distress now. It felt like a horde of leeches were crawling underneath his skin. Confusion brought along the messy images, wishes and daydreams he'd fought against the past days. The same feeling that'd driven him to Sam's throat began pulsing through-out him.
David took one more step closer leaving only little space between himself and Michael. He noticed that his gaze had become unfocused. Sweat pearled on his face and David couldn't keep his hand from touching his heated brow. The smell of blood and leather was all over Michael. His dark hair was soft and easy to grasp.
The vampire leader remembered his earlier doubts and vicious words with amusement now. The threat he'd made earlier was true but could've it been better than having Michael go haywire and slaughter many when he tried to become what he'd wanted?
David's senses picked the smell of Michael's little brother now and that moment he knew what'd happened. He could picture it just as it had happened. He could see Michael with his unnatural yellow eyes and predator's claws. He could see Michael smiling after it ended.
Michael knew he was losing control when David touched his face with his fingers. Still he didn't deny that touch he'd longed for in secret but savoured it. He even leaned slightly closer, wanting to fall into David's arms. He wanted to hear that confident voice promise him joyous times. Hell, he was shaking when he reached his hand to lay it on David's hip.
It was Michael who proceeded by pressed his lips on David's clumsily. He'd never kissed a man before but when David took control by forcing his lips open and sliding his tongue inside Michael's mouth, it didn't matter anymore. He was all skin and teeth to David, who discovered to his pleasure that the metallic taste of blood still lingered somewhere there.
Their bodies pressed together and David's hand locked Michael still as it sunk in his hair. Bending Michael underneath him, David devoured his lips hungrily, pressing skin on skin so hard that his rought stubble pierced Michael's soft jaw. Michael felt the pain sting him but didn't mind it. All he could focus on was David's tongue snaking within his mouth.
David pulled his hair to ensure that he was tightly in his grip and moved his other hand to between the shirt and Michael's bare shirt. He tore the shirt open whilst his hand progressed down the muscular chest. He reached the navel and he found himself smiling when his fingers felt the starting point of the soft hair.
Michael pushed the leather jacket from his shoulders now, taking David's jaw with his hand when their kiss broke. He connected their lips again only to have David tear them apart when he moved to bite Michael's vulnerable neck that bathered in sweat with his dull teeth. He was bruising that skin, marking this fledgeling as his.
Michael was trembling against David, not because of fear though but enthousiasm. This was his sanctuary, being here with David. Holding him like this, just feeling him so intimately. The feelings building inside of him were new, exciting, and different. He grew hard quickly.
David lifted his head from Michael's neck when he noticed this. The wounds on Michael's jaw had stained his temple in crimson, only making him seem fiercer and more predatory. David stopped to breathe in confusion when he realized Michael had closed his eyes in pleasure.
Was he really giving that boy so much by just fulfilling his own ravenous hunger? David thought about the question, but came to no conclusion. Michael was different from the others, he was sure of that, but he just couldn't conceive why. Michael was pure unlike him, like a prey to a wolf.
Still holding Michael tightly in his arms, close enough to feel the slightest shiver and hear the faintest moan, David felt hesitation enter his body. It cooled his ardour unlike he would've wanted to. That boy didn't think he loved him, did he? His grip on Michael's raven hair tightened, making the boy wince. His tongue snaked out again, licking the wounds on Michael's chin clean from blood.
Still he couldn't ignore the look on Michael's face: So submitting, so happy. And as much as the boy's pristine body drew him close, the doubts in his mind were pushing him away. The sultry air around them, the zealous way Michael seemed to throw himself at him – everything was mocking David now.
David pushed Michael from his arms violently. Michael hit his waist painfully against the bed's edge and fall on the floor. His eyes shot open, surprise visible in their despair. David just looked at him sullenly before he took the steps that parted them for now and escaped the scene.
How could David mortify him like that? Michael clenched his teeth together, to keep them from growing. The rascally laughter no longer wanted to escape his lungs. David hadn't needed any words in his rejection. Simply the look he'd given had been mordant enough.
The only thought that remained in his hurt mind was the question of David's destination. Who was he going to? Who'd fulfil his needs?
A/N: Sorry for the long pause. Had some major exams in between. Ah, yes... about this chapter. The whole chapters speaks its own language, but even though I keep refferring to David as Michael's maker, Max does exist. Its just the fact that Michael doesn't know about it. Also I took some liberties on David's powers with the slight torture in the beginning. Bad me. Anyways... see where this is going? Omg, could it be fluff?