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As soon as the cold air hit Tommy's face, his body melted at the smell of grass and mildew in the air. It had been so long since he last saw the outside world. Confined to a room of blankets and concrete walls.
No windows.
No sun.
Although according to his si- Philza, his kidnapper, sunlight apparently hurts him after the first few years of being a vampire.
But it's night, the moon is high in the sky, lighting the world around him.
He sits upon the window sill, the only one that had unlocked with a bit of fiddling on his part, letting the wind fly through his hair.
He feels so free at this moment, after maybe months or years, he isn't sure how long it's been, he can just run and run and run and never turn back.
But one part of him, the most annoying part of him that's been screaming and crying in the back of his brain since his si- since that thing made him drink his blood.
Something Philza has told him was a part of his instincts or coven bond.
Whatever.
He doesn't care what it's called.
Or what it does.
It won't dictate this moment for him. This is his only chance to be free and he isn't letting anything hold him back. Especially not some weird vampire mind thing.
He's a big man and he doesn't need no one.
He especially doesn't need these vampire fuckers.
So with that, the burning desire for freedom comes back full force, pushing away the screaming and crying of his vampire side, he leaps off the window sill and disappears into the night.
The deep night hid its monsters within its shadows. And with it, Tommy hid with them.
It's quite suitable with what he is now.
The town he managed to flee into is less busy at night. Average humans flit through life. Stumbling with the heavy smell of alcohol on them.
So many of Tommy's senses have been boosted because of his change.
Smell, sight, sound.
Everything is so much but at the same time it's helpful.
Avoiding other people that walk under the same moon as he is, is incredibly easy when you can smell, hear and see them coming before they even know he existed.
But when a large group of people, cackling and jeering in the night came stumbling his way, an unavoidable move was made.
Tommy had stayed within the outskirts of the town. Where abandoned buildings and their skeletons lay. So when they get too close and when no hiding spot is found, Tommy slips in a crack in a wall and enters an old building.
The interior is almost empty. A few empty crates, broken barrels and tall concrete and cracked walls make its interior.
Well, maybe he can stay here for the night. He's tired and slow. He's stumbling his steps like those drunkards were. It's unfortunate that after his turning, he's become much more tired than usual.
He thought vampires were strong and shit. Why is he always tired then?
"Your body is still growing into its new form fledgling. You'll be much stronger in a few years when you've built up enough strength and become suited to this life. You'll be incredible, I just know it."
Tommy shakes away the voice of his… of that monster. He had praised and cooed at Tommy constantly. Even when Tommy had become more aware and cursed him out. The vampire had only watched him with so much fondness and amusement that it made it more and more difficult to fight.
Still, it sucks he will have to wait a while until he's strong. If he even makes it that far.
But he will, he's sure.
He's made it this far. He's made it through starving on the streets and being beaten senseless by angry shopkeepers and police officers.
He's made it through being stalked and kidnapped by a vampire and turned into one.
He'll be fine.
"Well well, what do we have here?"
Tommy freezes up at the unfamiliar voice. A light shine of metal reflects from the darkness in front of him and slow footsteps finally reach his ears.
How did he not hear someone approaching until now? His hearing is supposed to be even better than humans.
But somehow someone or something has snuck up on him.
As they step into the light of the moon that shines through the holes in the roof above, Tommy's eyes widen as he realizes what or who he sees.
It's not a vampire but it is so much worse.
A hunter.
A vampire hunter.
The patches on the man's arm that hold the symbol of the hunters academy is the biggest hint. Along with the hunter regalia, the weapons such as swords, knives and guns strapped to every part of the hunters body and black mask over his face along with black goggles.
Definitely a hunter.
Tommy had seen them before patrolling the streets. He met one. She was nice. She had pink hair tied into a bun and gave Tommy a Granola bar.
He never saw her again.
But he's never seen this one before.
"Did you find another one?" A new voice says, entering behind the first hunter. He wears the exact same as the other hunter. And Tommy can remember, the exact same as that lady hunter.
"Is that a kid?" Tommy jumps at the voice behind him and whips around to meet another hunter, sitting on one of the crates behind him.
"Yeah, but he's definitely a vampire. The compass doesn't lie." The first hunter lifts his hand to look at a compass sitting there, pointing it directly at Tommy.
"Also red eyes? Fangs? No kid has those. Even if the street ones are feral, they definitely don't look like that." He directs this at Tommy who feels a moment of being offended before it's pushed down by fear.
"W-wait." Tommy stutters out. He's shaking so much now. That one part of his brain taken over by vampire instinct is crying for his sire, for his coven.
But he left them behind. They are miles away. He walked for so long.
He's alone.
"I… I didn't want this. He took me, he turned me. I didn't want it." His shaking voice turns to quiet sobs. He doesn't want to cry but so many emotions are hitting him all at once.
"This is just sad." A new voice joins and Tommy turns his head to see another hunter. But this one's a female. Definitely not the same one he met a long while ago. Her hair is white and tied into a high ponytail.
She sits on top of the crate, flipping a silver dagger in her hand.
"Yeah, poor kid got turned and he's… what 12? 13?"
He's technically 11 but he's not saying that. He hates people pitying him. But maybe pity will save him at this moment.
"Which is why we have to do this? No kid deserves to live like this." The first hunter says, directing it passionately to the hunter behind Tommy.
"I'm not saying you shouldn't. I'm saying he's so young is all. And you're right, no kid deserves this."
Tommy doesn't like this. They are right, he doesn't deserve this but the insinuation on what to do about it isn't favorable.
"Yeah, yeah, no kid does." He just sounds like he's convincing himself.
The other beside the hunter places his hand on his shoulder. He's slightly shorter than him but they both meet each other's eyes.
"I can do it if you don't want to." He offers but the first hunter shakes his head.
"No, I've got it. Thanks."
And like Tommy feared, the man pulls out his sword that shimmers silver in the moonlight and approaches Tommy.
"Wait, no, don't, please." Tommy stumbles back, away from the approaching hunter. But the hunter behind him jumps off the crate and blocks his path.
"Be careful, he may be a kid and likely newly turned but he's still dangerous."
One of the other hunters warns, he thinks the girl one and the one before him with a sword in his hands hums but doesn't falter in his approach.
Tommy can see his reflection in the sword and he sees his wide fearful eyes and tear stained face. As well as his red glowing eyes and slitted pupils and the tiny fangs poking out of his gums that had come out mere days ago.
Phil had been so damn happy to see them.
He should never have left the mansion.
The sword is lifted until it reaches Tommy's neck. He freezes up, he doesn't move, can't move as the one thing that can kill something like him is inches from his throat.
"Please." He begs in a near whisper.
"Please, I… I never wanted this." He hiccups a sob and the hunter before him sighs heavily.
"I know, sorry kid. But it's better this way. I'll make it quick, you won't feel a thing."
Tommy closes his eyes as the sword is lifted. Feeling another tear being pushed out of his eye and slid down his face.
A faint whoosh and crash echoes in the air and Tommy feels wind and dirt being kicked up in front of him. He hears cries of panic and a loud hissing sound fills the air.
He opens his eyes to meet a dark cloak in front of him along with short blonde hair.
His instincts call and cry in triumph and happiness. And Tommy immediately knows who this is.
His sire is here.
"Fuck! It's the Angel of Death!" Someone shouts and chaos ensues.
The fight begins. The dance of life and death as Philza, his sire, fights against the hunters that had tried to end him moments before.
Phils gleaming fangs extend from his gums and sharp claws slice through air and flesh.
The hunters all immediately jump into action to fight against him.
But even they are outmatched.
Immediately, a hunter is killed. Throat slashed to pieces in one swipe.
Another falls, thrown against a wall and a loud crack rings on impact. The hunter goes limp and blood drips from their head.
Only two left.
"Fuck, we can't win this. We need to run." The girl hunter shouts as she dodges a blow.
"We can't, it'll chase until we're dead."
Suddenly, the female hunter meets Tommy's eyes.
"I've got an idea, distract it." The hunter does just that as the female hunter runs around Phil and straight to Tommy.
Tommy, the entire time, has been still. He can't move. His instincts cry for him to run to his sire and the other side of him cries for him to run the other way. He's stuck on an impasse.
Of either running away or running towards. And it had become his mistake.
The female hunter runs at Tommy, right at the moment she hears a painful cry before silence follows. She knows her last ally has fallen.
So with a final push, she throws her dagger at the fledgling. It flies through the air, aimed at Tommy's head.
It would have been a quick death.
But a black shadow gets to it first. An echoing sound of metal piercing flesh and an eleven year old gets splattered in blood.
He looks up and soft red eyes meet his own.
It's Phil.
His sire.
He's here.
A wet hand of red slowly reaches to his face and his cheek is cupped gently in the vampire's own.
"My fledgling, I'm so sorry."
Tommy realizes his sire is crying, blood pours out of his mouth like an endless stream.
Tommy's eyes are wide, he's frozen. He can't move.
His vampire instincts are silent as they watch on in shock. The other side of him is quiet as well as the moment becomes as delicate as a flower.
But that fades as Phil looks down at the dagger piercing his heart and does something that finalizes his last eternal life.
He grabs the dagger out from his back, pulling it out with a loud and painful sound of wet flesh.
With the dagger in hand, he stands turning with a growing growl at the back of his throat.
Pupils become slits as he turns to the white haired hunter behind him. She doesn't expect this by the look of it. She stumbles on her feet.
Backing away towards the only exit, she turns to run but is given no chance.
Phil slices the air with the dagger in hand and the strike reaches true as the woman's head is cut in half.
Blood splatters everywhere and the body falls to the ground with a final thump.
Silence surrounds them.
Tommy's heart beats hard in his chest. The calm never comes.
Not until he's pulled into an unbeating chest.
"Oh my fledgling. What made you come up with this silly little outing hmm? Did you miss the outside?" Phil and his soft voice wiggles its way into Tommy's brain.
The vampiric side of him purrs in satisfaction and jumps in joy in being in his sires arms. In the net of safety he had left.
Tommy whines and curls into himself. He can't help but feel the guilt. His freedom cost him such an experience he'll surely never forget. And now it's unlikely he'll ever see the light of day again.
"You could have told me, my little bird. I would have taken you outside and let you hear the birds sing."
Phils voice is so soft but it's so… weak. Is he tired? Tommy is tired too. He just wants to sleep.
"I… I just wanted to… I just…" What did he want? He can't recall it anymore. His mind is spinning and it's making him exhausted.
"Shh shh shh, it's okay little one." Phil strokes his hair, slow and softly. It's so soothing. It makes his brain fuzzy and he leans heavily in Phils chest. In his sires embrace.
"It's okay, everything will be okay." He continues, his voice is getting weaker or is Tommy just falling asleep?
(He doesn't notice the black cracks in Phils face as they climb across his skin. His porcelain mask of eons of living crack. He's losing time which he had plenty of. But a single night of his fledgling misadventures have now led to his last.
He didn't think this is how it would end. He just hopes his little one will be okay without him.
But one thing he certainly knows is this.
He doesn't regret saving his child.)
Tommy's silent cries finally leave him in a single breath. The tears have been soaked by his sires cloak and he feels less afraid.
He's just tired now.
His sire has long since stopped petting him but he still holds him to his chest in a tight grip.
Tommy lets himself be held. It quietens the vampire side of him and maybe the other side as well. Maybe next time he should be smarter.
If he ever gets a "next time."
Still, he's surprised they are still here. The smell of blood is strong in the air thanks to the other hunters being dead. Tommy thought other vampires would come to this place like a beacon.
But Phil has yet to move and Tommy's feet are hurting from standing.
"Phil? Are you… are you mad at me?" He questions as he tilts his head to try and meet his sires. But it's hard to do when said sire has his own head on top of the blonde curls of Tommy's.
He hasn't moved from that position since he first hugged Tommy.
There is no answer to his question though which makes Tommy think it's a yes.
Still, he wants to be sure.
"I get that you might be…but… I was… I can't… what you did was…" he can't quite let the words out. He's filled with fear and worry. Even his vampire side is wailing with regret and guilt and is unfortunately mixing within him.
Still no answer. No words. Not even a single movement or reaction.
It's so quiet.
Tommy wiggles his arms loose and plants his hand to Phils chest that is strangely soaked. He's covered in blood from the fight. Another thing for him to be mad at Tommy for.
He hopes the punishment involved isn't too harsh.
Still, they'll need to leave. They can't stay here for so long.
"Phil, we gotta… we gotta go." He pushes firmly at Phils chest but there is no give, no words, no movement.
"Phil, come on man, we gotta go." He pushes harder against the older vampire's chest and finally, he moves.
Phils arms slip off Tommy, no longer embracing him and though a part of Tommy whines at the loss, he is finally able to see the olders face.
But that doesn't seem to happen either. As when Phil peels off Tommy, he falls to the ground. His body slumps limply on the dirt and concrete floor. He doesn't get up.
Tommy stands over his body now, frozen in shock.
"Phil?" He stutters out. Eyes flickering Phils face, his hands, looking for any sign. Of movement or anything.
Nothing.
He's as still as stone.
"Phil, get up! This isn't funny!" Tommy stomps his feet, tears threatening to fall once more. He doesn't like this. He doesn't like this prank or whatever he's doing.
Again, nothing. No words, no movement, nothing.
Tommy decides he'll make Phil move so he kneels beside the man, pushing him, grabbing at his cloak and shaking him.
"Phil, get up! Don't be a dick!"
As he shakes him, he moves Phil on his back, having a full view of his face.
His chest.
Black lines like veins pushed against his skin travel from his eyes down his face. He looks old and sunken. Like the many many years he's lived had finally caught up to him.
And his chest, where his heart would be, as still as it is being undead, is soaked in blood, more than any other part of him.
And Tommy smells it. The blood.
It isn't the blood of the humans.
It's his sires blood.
The female hunters dagger.
Finally, the tears build up again and fall. The realization hits him like a train and his body, his mind, his vampire bond cries. It cries so loud, so angry, sad, scared, devastated, and desperate.
It finally becomes his own.
"No, no, no. Phil, Phil? No, please. Don't leave me. I'm sorry, please. I'm sorry."
Tommy leans down, his forehead meeting the unmoving chest of his sires. One that will never wake up.
One that will never move again.
"Please, I'm sorry. I'll never run away again. Please, don't leave me. Please."
He begs, he begs the air, he begs his sire as he lays in an abandoned building of unknown origin surrounded by bodies of the dead.
Tommy didn't expect his sire to join them.
So with little breath remaining in his lungs.
Tommy screamed.