Boston, MA 1910

As his feet met the pavement, he was met with a sense of unease. The clouds hid the moon, an omen of soon impending darkness. A mixture of soft glows from the street lantern and the moon, illuminated the alley, revealing the gruesome scene before him. The heady scent of rust filled his brain, igniting the hell within. The monster's hunger grew.

Blue caught sight of thick crimson trickling down that alabaster throat. He could hear the blood's song singing through the mortal's veins. 'No. He mustn't give in.' he thought and quickened his pace.

"Please, no." the victim begged through choked sobs and weakened slaps against the ground. The soft sound of fading hope echoed faintly through the night.

His plans to pass the men without another glance had failed once he saw the attacker's face. His love. Abandoning all reason, he approached his one and only.

At his partner's arrival, the lean man smiled, "Ah, Welcome my love." he said amusedly. "Come to join me for a bite to eat, have you?" he asked with all the casualness of a weather inquiry.

Justin glanced towards the paling man at his companion's feet. The poor soul's life was evaporating into the night's heavy fog.

"Stop it. He cannot take much more!" Justin pleaded.

"Oh come now Justin, I was only fooling. My my, so touchy." the taller man clicked his tongue, and brought the meal to his feet.

The blond watched as his creator demanded the eyeline of the trembling stranger. Many times he'd bore witness to this, many times he'd done it himself.

"You will remember nothing of meeting me. You were on your way home, felt ill and stopped to rest." Brandon commanded.

"Felt ill. Stopped to rest." the man confirmed in monotone.

Brandon clapped once, "Good." then turned to face the blond.

"See my Love? No harm done."

Justin hadn't felt the same. 'No. Something still felt off.' He had been determinedly trying to figure out said flaw when the screaming began.

"Monsters! Bloodsuckers..." The human yelled through hysterical gasps and ragged breaths.

"Why didn't it work? He's not compelled!" the blond exclaimed frantically.

"Hmm, it seems he is diseased. Why didn't I taste it?" Brandon muttered almost absentmindedly, pacing back and forth. Quickly coming to a decision he straightened his posture and met his mate's eyes. "You must kill him Justin. He shall ruin us, he has seen us both."

Justin's face raced his heart to fall through his feet first. It was a tie. He froze.

"No. I cannot take a life. I won't." he declared.

"Dammit you insolent coward! You must! Quickly now. I am weakened. The sickness in his bloodstream makes him resistant to my coercion for too long." Swiftly he found Justin's collar, and soon what lie beneath it. He removed the locket with one rough tug, and met blue. "Kill him!" the words were spoken directly to the creature within the blond. The creature that Brandon himself had placed there. "We haven't long. Rip his throat." he commanded.

Worriedly he knew the order would soon wear off. Though, he'd promised the other man he would never compel him against his will, this was for the sake of their survival. Besides, he himself couldn't let his hands get dirty. If any of this came to light, he had to be readily willing to turn on the blond and deny any prior knowledge. Though the blue eyed beauty had believed it was his heart (figuratively speaking) that Brandon had loved, he'd been wrong. His creator had fallen in love with Justin's talent. Jealousy of his gift had fueled the man to make Justin believe they were soul mates. Even now, Brandon often had a laugh at the blond's naviety. His music had been what had captivated him and the only thing Brandon had wanted to own.

Only one's creator had the power to compel another vampire. Justin stood shocked as Brandon yanked his locket, simultaneously ripping away his remaining shred of humanity.

Tearing the soul right out of him...for a second time.

Too soon to protest, his eyes locked with his commanders.

'Kill him.' resounded loudly through his hollowed soul. He felt fucking sick. Justin was no killer. His hands had remained free of blood for multiple decades to date. Genuinely a lover, Justin Taylor had also been a fighter. Strenuously fighting not to defeat himself.

Two spoken words from the mouth of he whom he'd trusted, had turned the blond into what he'd always feared the most. 'A Soulless being'

As he felt the warmth of flesh underneath his teeth, he trembled. Never had he both craved and loathed something so intensely. The human's fear tasted bitter, but sweetened as he became delirious.

The moment the man's heart ceased to beat, Justin pulled back. No longer under his lover's spell, he starred in horror.

Worry and regret illuminated the night like the light of a thousand suns, that he would never see.

"How could you make me do that? You have broken your promise." he cried whilst wiping the blood from his face, however was unable to remove his shame with his sleeve. He was disgusted with his companion, but more so with himself.

"I'm sorry. I was weakened from his tainted taste." Brandon reasoned. "If you hadn't killed him we would have had a stake through our hearts before dawn." he thought he sounded sensible.

He however chose not to disclose those other thoughts vastly finding their way to the surface of his twisted mind. For instance, how utterly delicious he'd found it to watch his blond take a life. Or perhaps the erotic excitement that spawned at the sight of Justin's mouth tearing into innocent flesh. A lustful shiver found it's way through the length of Brandon's body. Music aside for a moment, his craving for Justin had never been so intense.

He felt the metal locket in his palm, it's coolness undetected against the ice of his skin. Reluctantly, he returned the jewelry back to his companion.

Though he knew that this had been the first time Justin Taylor had taken a life, and though it may have been the first time he had ever compelled his mate; it most certainly would not be the last. For either.

Justin hurriedly re-clasped the locket around his neck. A wave of sadness broke as he no longer felt that he possessed the right to wear it. It had been his mother's when he had had a heartbeat. The final shard of his life, and the only thing standing between his free will and Brandon's control.

'How had his lover of so many years so frivolously done this to him? Had he no care for Justin's heart?' he knew how much the blond loathed the thought of murdering an innocent. He preferred to simply feed, make them forget and move on.

Tonight had changed everything.

He looked now at Brandon who looked...'Amused?...Turned on?' Observing fully, his companion's frighteningly smug grin, Justin had never felt more alone.

Any strand tying him to his humanity had been severed by the one man who'd claimed to love him. Leaving him falling fiercely into the depths of hell. 'Where he belonged.'

He felt Brandon's hand wrap around his waist, he cringed. The blond's thoughts swirled in a haze of confusion and repulsion. He had once begged this man to turn him in to this vile creature of the night. He had spoken tales of true love and eternity; but Brandon was not the man he'd once perceived. Each time that he'd listened, his lies he'd believed.

His insides restricted. Withering further still as he realized the numbing truth. Now that it was too late. 'True love didn't exist.'

Wordlessly, he'd turned from his companion and sauntered off. The hurt increased with each step in his stride, on this night of his second death.

Emotions ran rampant with no destination, freely they flowed without hesitation.

'He was an abomination. He had to get away. He was never going to kill again.'

...If only that had been true...