Chapter Text
Daniel was waiting to die.
Maybe he had been waiting to die his whole life.
He had lived many lives, if they could be called that—part of a catering package, a vessel for drugs, a performer, and years and years of being part of the breeding stock—but none of them had been worth living. Yet, none compared to the one he was living now.
He used to see the world, as limited of a view as he got, of dining rooms (when he was being fed from directly) and bedrooms (when the bloodsuckers wanted a little bit of live entertainment). Now he had his cage, a small room with three concrete walls, a little window high on the back wall, and the bars of his cage that let him stare at more concrete across the hall. He had his weekly blood draws and semen collection. And he had his daily slop that he had to eat or they’d tie him down and put feeding tubes down his throat again.
This was the life that Daniel expected to live until they finally let him die.
This was the life that Daniel was living when some rich, well-dressed vampire walked past his cage and paused to look at the aged body curled up in the corner of the cell, huddled on top of a thin mat and staring blankly at the wall in front of him.
There was a time when Daniel had stayed fit but not too fit, hoping to earn extra privileges without getting him sent to the hunting grounds, but those days were behind him. Maybe if he looked weak and unappetizing enough they would finally drain him dry, put a bullet through his head, gas him, hang him, smother him, anything that would mean that this meaningless existence could just be over.
So when the random vampire ordered him to come to the bars of his cage, Daniel just laid there.
“We have plenty of superior specimens, sir.” That was the voice of Stupid-Fucking-Mustache. He had a really fucking stupid mustache.
Daniel would’ve been offended except for the fact that being a good specimen didn’t mean you got a better life. They got linked in the same chain gang when they got taken out as a group. They ate the same slop. They still saw the same three concrete walls, the same bars, the same little slice of daylight and moonlight. Maybe they got to fuck, but Daniel had learned that while he got older, the girls he was sent to fuck stayed the same age. At least when he was younger, they could pretend, whispering in each other’s ears under the blue glow of the lab lights or working together to ignore the bloodsuckers who decided it would be fun to have a pair of humans copulate in their bedroom. At his age, it just made him feel sick, knowing he probably had daughters their age being fucked by a nice human boy if they were lucky and being raped by the fucking bloodsuckers if they weren’t. No, it was easier now to let them probe his ass and make him jizz in a cup. It gave him hope that one day that would dry up too and his life would shrink a little bit more, making it more likely that he wouldn’t be worth the cost to keep him alive.
But apparently the visiting vampire was adamant and when rich visitors wanted something, it was the farmhand’s job to make it happen. Daniel jerked as the implant at the back of his neck activated, sending a sharp jolt of pain in his body. When Daniel didn’t react outside of the spasming of his limbs, another jolt, longer this time, was thrust through his body.
When he finally had control of his body again, he began moving towards the bars. He didn’t bother picking himself up. He just crawled over and then slumped down, staring at the floor.
“Careful, this one bites.” Stupid-Fucking-Mustache was tapping the bite history sign that was affixed to the front of Daniel’s cage. Once a biter, always a biter, according to the farm. Daniel hadn’t bitten anyone in years, but now he wanted to bite just to make a point.
The only problem with his plan was, when rich bitch’s fingers came through the bars and Daniel snapped at them, vampire reflexes. Daniel hadn’t planned on getting dangled by the grip on his lower jaw but here he was, thrashing as his mouth filled with blood and saliva, sharp nails digging into his tongue.
“Don’t bother.” Rich Weirdo said coolly, apparently stopping Stupid-Fucking-Mustache from giving him another shock.
He was suspended in this position, head back, toes barely brushing the ground for a while. Bloody drool was running down the side of his face and down his neck. Probably gross to a wealthy vamp who probably never had to touch livestock in his life.
Fuck, Daniel’s jaw hurt.
Daniel went crashing to the floor when he got dropped. Fuck, he was going to be bruised all over.
“I’ll take him.”
What?
This opinion was evidently shared by Stupid-Fucking-Mustache who encouraged the other vampire to take another turn around the facility, maybe a younger specimen, a less rowdy one, or one of the retired pets, or even, if he wanted a challenge, a rejected pet—anything but nasty old Daniel who couldn’t perform any useful or entertaining household tasks (aside from being fed from and mounting other humans like a mindless beast), who was nearing the end of his usefulness as a breeder, and didn’t taste bright anymore.
But Daniel’s new master, as Daniel had quickly become resigned to his fate, was firm in his decision.
When Daniel woke up, his whole body ached. His tongue was swollen and his body was bruised.
The first thing he noticed was that he wasn’t entirely naked. There was a soft, thick collar (leather, probably human leather) around his neck with a tag dangling in the front and another ring in the back. There was also a leather harness looping around his waist and around his thighs, securing his cock in a metal cage. He’d seen these on pets before, when he’d visited houses in the past, he’d even fucked some pets who were wearing them, but had never worn one himself.
Second, he was in a small cage with bars on all sides. He could sit up and crawl around, but standing was impossible and he couldn’t stretch out while laying down. The bottom of the cage was lined with a soft bed, softer than anything Daniel had laid on since the last time he’d been brought out to fuck in a house, but there was no blanket, probably so Daniel couldn’t choke himself.
Third, he seemed to be tucked into the corner of a darkened bedroom, just a thin shaft of moonlight peeking through the curtains to his side.
“Welcome home, Daniel.”
Daniel’s head snapped up to see the same vampire that had dangled him by the jaw standing in the doorway to the bedroom. He was dressed in a loose silk robe now and, seemingly, nothing else. Daniel watched, apprehensive, as Rich Weirdo approached and crouched down next to Daniel’s cage. He rested his fingers against the bars of Daniel’s cage. “Are you going to try to bite me again?”
Daniel shook his head. He wasn’t stupid. He could tell the implant was still in the back of his neck and there wasn’t a whole lot of space in this cage for his body to go. It was a recipe for an even worse bruising.
“Good.” Then there was a cold hand in his hair, stroking and scratching at his scalp. Daniel hated to admit it, even to himself, but it felt nice. He hadn’t been touched like this since the last time he’d been properly washed for an appearance and he’d still had black hair then. Bloodstock and breeding stock don’t need to be carefully washed. They just got dumped in soapy water and then hosed down. Unable to help himself, he leaned into the touch and was rewarded with rubs behind his ear.
“My name is Armand de Romanus. This is your home now.”
Daniel nodded mutely. This was Armand, his new master. An old part of him, buried deep under his apathy, wanted to know why, but he was old enough now to understand that a cage was a cage.
There was the cage he was born in.
There was the cage he was transported in the first time, as a boy, he’d been ordered for a party.
There was the cage they threw him in, with a crying girl, the first time they wanted him to breed someone.
There was the cage they put him in when they needed to hook him up for a blood draw.
And there was the cage he was in now. Inside a larger cage dressed up as a bedroom. Which was just another cage inside the bigger cage of a home.
Some cages were bigger and some were smaller, but they were still cages and humans didn’t have anything waiting for them outside of them.
If he tried to escape, he’d be captured and brought back.
If he tried to hurt Armand, he’d be, at best, returned to the farm or, at worst, sent to an even less desirable facility where they spent every hour of the day and night extracting everything they could from your body.
There was no way to get them to kill him except if he managed to persuade his new master to put him out of his misery.
Maybe that was why he was chosen. Maybe that’s what his new master wanted, the thrill of getting to kill a pet without the social sanctions that usually came with killing pet stock (pets could be retired and transitioned into livestock or gamestock after all, killing them would be a waste). It would certainly be different from the usual killing of humans in the hunting grounds that were stocked with game for sport or even the sanctuaries where humans got to live mostly free except for when the richest of vampires paid for the pleasure of hunting one of them down.
Daniel could work with this. He was happy to die. He could make it good for Armand. He could struggle if that’s what Armand wanted or he could just lay there and let it happen to him.
He just had to wait until it was his time and then he could finally rest.
Armand did not kill him the first week. Or the second week. Or the third week.
And the weeks became a month and then another month and another.
This was Daniel’s room, though he was kept in his cage when he slept or when Armand wasn’t home. “For your own safety, of course.”
Crate-trained, one of Armand’s guests had called it. As if it took extra work on Armand’s part when Daniel had spent his whole life in various cages. Armand had chuckled and let his fingers dangle through the top of Daniel’s cage. Annoyed, Daniel had nipped at them, which seemed to be within the acceptable range of behaviors that didn’t merit punishment. Armand had only smiled and played with the inside of Daniel’s mouth before withdrawing his hand to bring his guest to another room.
Daniel thought he was doing pretty well at this pet thing despite not having been bred and trained for this job. He curled up at Armand’s feet under the dining table, draped himself over Armand’s lap on the couch, and let himself be inspected all over by curious rich vampires who had apparently never seen anyone so physically old.
Sometimes, though, he just couldn’t bring himself to be a pet or anything at all. Or sometimes he couldn’t help himself and he’d try to bite or break things. Those were the times that Armand would beat him. And Daniel was better afterwards, with the bruises to remind him to be good, to remind him that each day he was good and indulged Armand’s desire to have a good pet to dote on and then kill, the faster he’d get to finally escape—truly escape into the one place vampires couldn’t follow: death.
And so, Daniel became used to his new cage, his new handler, and his new life.
Instead of slop, he got real food—whole fruits and vegetables, and little protein cubes that Armand assured him weren’t human-based, not that it mattered to Daniel; he’d never been allowed to care before.
Instead of blood draws, sometimes Armand fed from him in little sips in between full meals, feeding from his arm or his neck or his clavicle or his chest or the inside of his thigh. Daniel was now covered in bite marks in various stages of healing and those too were a reminder of his place.
Instead of semen collections, sometimes Armand had him ejaculate. Daniel wasn’t sure what the purpose of this was since Armand didn’t seem to be collecting it for sale, but it was fine, if a little tedious. He’d gotten used to the electric probe at the farm, the muscle spasms and the pain. It was more efficient than the method Armand chose which involved laying out on Armand’s lap and letting the vampire finger his ass until he dribbled onto the floor, but Daniel knew better than to complain. It would make more sense if Armand wanted to fuck him as many owners did with their pets, but he never made any move to.
It was after one of these sessions, after Armand had wiped the cage around his cock clean and placed Daniel on the sofa with his head resting on Armand’s lap, that it finally made sense, or at least made more sense to Daniel.
There was still a puddle of Daniel’s semen on the floor but Armand had taken out a book and begun to read.
“Let me know if I’m turning the pages too quickly.”
Daniel grunted, confused. He looked up at Armand, twisting his neck so that he moved as little as possible from the position Armand had placed him in.
“It’s okay if you want to read.” Armand stroked his sweaty curls gently and Daniel closed his eyes, Armand liked it when he enjoyed his touch. Daniel almost laughed, but instead he just shook his head and went back to resting his cheek on Armand’s thigh, eyes closed. Read? He’d never learned how to read. Some pets talked about having learned, but in his time here with Armand, he’d seen more words than he’d seen in his whole life, on the sides of books and in the documents that Armand sometimes dealt with while Daniel warmed his lap or feet.
Armand’s hand stilled. “You don’t know how to read.”
This time, Daniel did laugh, first silently, then louder, until he was crying into Armand’s soft trousers and shaking under Armand’s hand.
Armand was funny.
He must’ve known what he was buying when he got Daniel from the farm. Most pets could barely read; they knew just enough to be useful around the house. No one was teaching livestock how to read. You didn’t need to know how to read to bleed and breed.
When Daniel finally stopped laughing, he smiled up at Armand (Armand liked it when he smiled and when he sought out Armand’s touch) and shook his head.
Armand was frowning.
“I can teach you.”
Daniel started laughing again, but he was careful to nuzzle into Armand’s stomach while he did so, trying to take the sting out of his response. Why did Daniel need to learn how to read? He wasn’t even planning on being alive for much longer and still spent most of his time in a little cage without any words around him. His laughs petered out into little giggles before, eventually, he was able to breathe again without feeling that funny feeling in his chest.
Shifting onto his back so he could look up at Armand easier, he reached up and pulled the hand in his hair down to kiss it because it seemed like the thing to do. Armand sucked in a quick breath, which was strange because he barely ever breathed. He kissed each fingertip and then the palm and then, eyes locked on Armand’s, he took each finger into his mouth in turn, sucking and licking in the way that a retired pet had once done to him when they’d been placed together to breed. He wiggled in Armand’s lap until his cheek found Armand’s hardness. Putting Armand’s hand back into his hair, Daniel rubbed his face against Armand’s groin until the vampire pulled his cock out with a groan.
It all made more sense when Armand let Daniel put his mouth on his cock.
Daniel barely gagged when Armand finally shoved his cock down Daniel’s throat; he’d had a lot of practice with feeding tubes.
When Armand came and pulled Daniel off his cock, Daniel smiled. This must’ve been what Armand was trying to suggest to Daniel. He wanted Daniel to make the first move.
Daniel understood now.
Little changed after that night, except that now Armand used his mouth. Daniel learned what he liked and gave it to him.
He liked it when Daniel moaned, loud and wanton.
He liked it when Daniel initiated.
He liked it when Daniel ejaculated, making a mess of his cage.
He liked it when Daniel curled up on top of him or by his side afterwards.
He especially liked it when they kissed.
Still, Daniel knew that Armand must want to use his hole and was just waiting to not scare Daniel since he must’ve known that Daniel had never been fucked before. Armand was thoughtful like that. It made Daniel feel a little guilty that it took him this long to realize what Armand wanted since Armand was being so nice about it, but once he realized it, he started getting ready.
During the day, when Armand was presumably asleep, Daniel took to probing his hole with his fingers, using his saliva to ease the way. One finger wasn’t so different from the probe they used at the farm. Two fingers took some time to get used to, especially since his wrist tired quickly. Three fingers was pretty uncomfortable with just saliva but Daniel could make it work.
He could make Armand feel good.
Armand was reading aloud. He’d taken to reading to Daniel in the early morning before the sun rose. Daniel liked it, mostly because Armand had a nice voice and because no one had ever read to him before.
Armand was nice in a way no one had ever been to Daniel before.
Daniel had fingered himself open in his cage and was ready. He was just waiting for the best time to interrupt Armand’s reading, since if he interrupted too soon, Armand would admonish him and tell him to wait, and if he didn’t interrupt soon enough, Armand would have to put him back in his cage for the day.
When there was a natural lull in the cadence of Armand’s reading, Daniel stretched and rolled over so that he could rub his face against Armand’s stomach.
“Mmm, is that enough of the story for tonight?”
Daniel nodded into Armand’s belly. He wasn’t really paying attention anyways; it was hard to imagine what was happening in the story when he only knew the farm, labs, and variations on the same rooms he’d seen in different houses. The stories had too many words he didn’t know and it made Daniel feel dumb to be reminded of all he didn’t understand. It was nicer to just let Armand’s voice wash over him like a song.
When Armand set the book on the side table, Daniel drew his knees up so that he could kneel next to Armand, who raised a brow but didn’t tell Daniel off.
Smiling, Daniel shuffled forward and swung a leg over Armand’s lap. He kissed Armand, letting Armand’s tongue into his mouth and grinding forward so that his caged cock rubbed against Armand’s groin.
When Armand grabbed his ass, Daniel moaned encouragingly, making sure he sounded a little breathless. It made Armand’s cock twitch. Daniel moaned again, a little louder, and wriggled down against Armand’s lap. Armand liked it when Daniel moaned and whined and sighed, so Daniel always made sure he made the right noises, pretty noises, not the ugly grunts that he used to make before. Reaching between them, Daniel made quick work of Armand’s fly.
With Armand’s cock out, Daniel pulled back from the kiss to smile at Armand before moving forward on his knees. He reached behind himself and gripped Armand’s cock, guiding it to his hole. Armand gasped, hands coming up to grab Daniel’s waist. His hole had dried out but there was a little wetness at the tip of Armand’s cock. It would have to be enough.
Keeping the smile on his face, Daniel began sinking down. It burned but he kept pushing. The drag Armand’s cock against his hole made it feel like Daniel was tearing open, but Daniel just lifted up slightly and then pushed back down. When the head of Armand’s cock finally fully breached his hole, he clenched down and moaned high in his throat, watching for Armand’s reaction.
Armand was frozen but his pupils were dilated.
Taking that as a good sign, Daniel started rocking up and down, shoving a little bit more of Armand in with each rock down. He whined each time he knelt up and moaned each time he dropped down, pointedly reaching for his own cock with his free hand. He was completely flaccid; he was in too much pain to get hard but it usually wasn’t clear if he was hard or not anyways since the cage kept him small and curved down, so he played with his cock like he was aroused, just like Armand liked.
“Daniel.”
Daniel whimpered and rubbed his cock harder, before he tried to kiss Armand.
But Armand dodged his lips.
“Daniel.”
Daniel tried not to frown, confused; he was supposed to be happy.
“Daniel!” Armand’s grip on his waist tightened, stilling Daniel’s up and down motion. “You’re bleeding.”
Oh— Daniel, tilted his head. There was a wetness on his fingers where they held the base of Armand’s cock. He brought his fingers up and, indeed, his fingers were covered in blood. Smile still fixed to his face, Daniel brought his fingers to his lips and licked.
Armand growled and surged forward, kissing Daniel roughly. Daniel sunk down on Armand’s cock with the movement, finally fully seated. This drew a genuine whine from Daniel which Armand swallowed, tongue in Daniel’s mouth.
“Daniel,” Armand heaved into Daniel’s mouth. He sounded wrecked. “Daniel.”
Daniel hummed and began rocking his hips again, rising up and down without breaking the kiss, breathing calmly through his nose. The blood made the slide easier and Daniel was reasonably certain that he could ejaculate despite the pain; the pain wasn’t any worse than the probe and he knew which muscles to contract. As long as he focused, he could give Armand what he wanted.
Humming, he wrapped his arms around Armand’s neck and rhythmically tensed and relaxed his pelvic muscles.
“I’m close, Daniel, I’m close.”
Daniel angled his hips so that the head of Armand’s cock ground against his prostate with every rise up and fall down. Breaking the kiss to guide Armand’s mouth to his neck, Daniel tilted his head back, baring his neck.
“Please,” Armand begged.
Daniel couldn’t find the words to say yes, too focused on chasing the pressure in his gut. If he lost focus, he wouldn’t ejaculate and if he didn’t ejaculate, Armand wouldn’t be happy.
And Daniel wanted Armand to be happy,
Armand seemed to understand though and sunk his fangs into Daniel’s neck.
The feeling of being fed on by Armand was also nice. Daniel didn’t remember it feeling like this with other vampires, but he was glad for the feeling that spread from his neck and over his whole body, transforming all the pain into a kind of soft pleasure. The timing was good too because Armand began thrusting up, splitting Daniel open.
Pressure and a faint pleasure mixing with the burning pain.
The hot, wet squelch of blood being fucked from his hole.
Counting the seconds to contract his muscles properly.
Then Armand was coming. His cum was a little cold, a shock when Daniel was so hot with blood.
It felt—
Euphoric.
Daniel felt himself ejaculating and finally let himself relax, feeling good for the first time in a long time.
When Daniel came to, he was laid out on the bed. He hadn’t been on it before since he always slept in his cage, followed Armand to other rooms when he was allowed out, and lounged on the sofa when Armand read to him before being put away to sleep during the day.
There was sunlight, pale and tepid with the dawn, creeping in through the crack that always seemed to be in the curtains, but when Daniel opened his eyes, Armand was awake next to him, watching.
Daniel’s mind raced, knowing now that Armand did not have to sleep with the sun, that he was not afraid of the sunlight invading the room, though it currently fell harmless across the floor. How many vampires could do this? Would Armand burn in the sun still? How do vampires learn that they can do this? Daniel squashed those questions down, reminding himself that it didn’t matter, none of it mattered.
What mattered was Armand laying across from him naked, cleaned of the blood that had been smeared across his lips. He’d never seen Armand completely naked before and—
He was beautiful.
Daniel had known that since the first time he’d laid eyes on Armand, but now he could see it without anything between them.
Daniel reached out with a hand to touch Armand’s ear and promised to himself that he’d make his death perfect for Armand. He blinked sleepily at Armand, used to a nocturnal schedule, and scooted a little closer, knowing that Armand liked his warmth.
“Here.”—Armand reached up to his own neck and sliced open his own skin—“Drink.”
Daniel was confused. He wasn’t a vampire. He didn’t need to drink blood. But Armand pulled him forward and guided Daniel’s mouth to his neck.
Licking tentatively, Daniel found that Armand’s blood tasted more. Where his own blood just tasted of salt and iron, Armand’s blood was sweet, rich, and layered. It tasted better than the fruits Armand had fed him (strawberries, pineapples, melon—Armand had been teaching him their names), which were the best things he’d tasted prior to this moment. It also brought a rush to his head and limbs that he hadn’t felt since he’d been weaned off of the drugs they used to pump into him to harvest drugged blood. Not so tentative anymore, Daniel eagerly latched onto Armand’s neck, sucking and licking until the wound closed. Even then, Daniel stayed there, tucked into the cool dark created by the curtain of Armand’s hair.
“That should help you heal, beautiful boy.”
And Armand was right, Daniel did feel better. His hole was not screaming as it had earlier and even though Daniel could still feel a little blood trickling out of him when he shifted his thighs, it wasn’t the same amount that had been dripping out of him when Armand was inside him.
Even though Daniel had just surfaced from the brief nap he must’ve fallen into after Armand came, he was still tired. Yawning, Daniel tried to roll away so that Armand could put him back in his cage, but Armand stopped him and pulled him close with one of his unfathomably strong arms.
“Rest.”
And who was Daniel to disobey?