IF IT'S NOT THEM, IT WILL BE YOU
Alternate ending to Abigail (2024), where Lazar has Joey stay for dinner.
fandom: Abigail (2024)
characters: Kristof Lazar, Joey (Ana Lucia Cruz), Abigail (mentioned), Frank (Adam Barrett, mentioned), Peter (Terrence Lacroix, mentioned)
content: Post-movie Alternate Ending AU // I Made a Deal with the Devil
WARNING: contains gore, cannibalism, force-feeding, descriptions of human organs
a/n: I wrote like a month after the movie came out. I have more ideas for this relationship and how things go from here, but I don't know if I will ever get around to writing them all and sharing them. I still have hope! because of this, I'm making an AU of it. furthermore, a big thank you to @simpingforclaudette!! I know I'm over a year and a half late, but tysm for being such a huge supporter when I first started writing this! I know I don't put in all the details and thoughts that we had talked about over discord, but it still means everything to me that you were engaged and helped me write this, just by your support and enthusiasm. I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this out and, even still, I had to cut it short. I hope you still enjoy this, if you're still hooked on the fandom.
p.s. my apologies if you don't remember this. i hope you enjoy it nonetheless :)
“I think you should leave. It’s getting… awfully close to dinner time.”
But then he invited her to stay.
She protected his daughter, his daughter liked her more than she liked him, she was the lone survivor, she was the stray Abigail couldn’t turn away. So, what better way to show gratitude than offering the woman a place to stay for the night?
Lazar decided he didn’t want Joey to leave just yet, but rather get to know her a little more. After all, he had just met her. And if Abigail was so fond of her, he definitely wanted to see why. The blood that had painted her body like the finest canvas was the most intriguing smell he’d ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Oh, how he wanted to do more than kiss her hand… more than bite her neck.. more than wine and dine her for a night.
He wanted her to be his… wanted to have his way with her… wanted to more than drain or change her…
He wanted to make her weak, weaker than she could ever imagine and all at his discretion. If she was still human with human potential, he wanted to test them. He wanted to make her vulnerable and exposed… wanted to make her moan, and beg, and succumb to him, but not without convincing her to fight him every step of the way. The ones who fought the process were always the most inviting and fun to handle. He wanted to take his time stripping her down until she was his to own, just like Abigail. However, along the way, who was to say that Joey couldn’t just be Abigail’s adoptive mother and his wife. He could change her any time he wanted to, and wouldn’t she be something as a blood-lusting monster?
He wanted to make her wish she hadn’t come in the first place… make her come in another way… He’d dare to push himself and her far enough to even conceive—
Now, he was getting too ahead of himself. Lazar was far too smart, manipulative, and violent to get too excited with habitual desires. He’d already lured Joey in enough to convince her to stay for a single night, just to get to know the woman who saved his daughter’s life.
He owed it to her… so he said.
He had claimed that dinner time was close, so he dismissed Joey to let her get cleaned up with a shower, while he made their meal. He didn’t give any room for negotiation and made sure to monitor her when she had gone up the stairs and to the bathroom. Then, he had Abigail fetch her some clean clothing.
And when she’d done that, Lazar had ordered Abigail to get cleaned up next. Not that he really cared how she looked after the events of the past 24 hours, but he wanted to have Joey alone. He knew—because of their initial encounter—his daughter wouldn’t trust him being around her by himself.
Now, she didn’t have a choice.
Waiting at the table, Joey couldn’t get her heart to settle. It was a constant drum against her ribcage, and she was sure Lazar could hear it, because he kept chucking to himself and telling her to “relax.” But how could she? Ever since she met him, he watched her like a predator to prey—licking his lips, purring in her ear, and now, dismissing his daughter so they could have some privacy.
She hated it here. She’d never wanted to leave a place more than she wanted to leave this one. Scraping the blood off of her skin was a nightmare in itself, and while she had to admit that it was nice to take a shower, she didn’t want to do it here at all. She didn’t know what would be worse: sitting, covered in blood and sweat, or getting rid of the blood just to expose herself—her true, human scent—to the likes of Kristof Lazar. She knew he was dying to get a taste of her. That long, dramatic kiss on her hand didn’t fool her in the slightest.
“I apologize for the wait,” Lazar’s cool voice echoed into the room as he waltzed in. He carried a plate and a tall glass, filled with what looked like blood, which he set across from his guest and took the plate around the table to her.
Joey watched him the entire time, sleep-deprived, dehydrated, and physically-drained, she refused to let her guard down, nor give him any implication that she was running low on her defenses. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fight for an upper hand if a threat was posed, and right now, that scared her more than anything. But she didn’t let it show.
Lazar knew though, and he made sure to instigate her fear, when he positioned himself behind her to set the plate down. He caught everything… her racing heart, the shaking in her breathing, the small bounce of her leg that would instinctively come on before she forced herself to stop, the way her eyes never stilled, even though he knew she had to be on the verge of dropping after everything that she’d gone through whilst here. “Be still, my dear,” he purred, dangerously close to her ear. He took in a deep breath, inviting her scent to tempt him into stealing a small drink of her blood. “Mmmm…” he gently brushed back her hair to catch a glimpse of her neck—the infamous spot he was dying to sink his teeth into.
Joey snapped her head in his direction, glaring up at him cautiously yet daring as his blue eyes immediately locked with hers. He raised a brow, and while she would love to have the nerve to talk to him the way she would to Frank, she couldn’t, just held a tight jaw as her eyes motioned for him to step the fuck back.
A sly smile pulled at the vampire’s lips, and he did as she willed, backing away and taking a seat directly across from her. “I hope you enjoy… the fine delicacy I’ve prepared for you,” he introduced as he folded his hands and set them down on the table.
The other just stared at the contents on the plate. Everything was red. Not bloody, per se, but red. Not as deep a red as rare meat, but it was concerning, nonetheless. And it was definitely not appetizing. There was no doubt in Joey’s mind that this wasn’t meat that had come from an animal. “I-Is this…? Um…” She felt sick just having to say it— question it. “Human flesh?” She had to look away and force herself to glance up at Lazar.
He just smiled and gave a dip of his head, explaining, “So you can taste the fruit of your efforts…”
“Right…” she quietly replied, mostly to herself as she looked down at the ‘food’ again. On the left side of the plate, there was a portion that looked like steak, which she was knowledgeable enough to know was muscle, probably a part of the quadricep region. And on the right, there was something else. It wasn’t striated like the… meat… on the other side. It was smooth. Fuck… That was a heart. A human heart. Having studied Anatomy and Physiology for the sake of a career sounded like a mistake, right now… She hadn’t even taken a bite or touched the utensils sitting off to the side, but her stomach was already flipping—like it was screaming at her to not dare put any of that even near her mouth.
“Cutting up Peter was the obvious choice, with his impressively groomed muscle,” Lazar interrupted the disgustingly-tensioned silence, “But Frank had quite the big heart to offer, on the contrary of his facade. Wouldn’t you say?” He admired the subjects on the plate. “It looks awfully…” He slowly raised his eyes to watch his guest. “Delicious…”
Joey just stared at the dish, unable to fully process what it took to ‘make’ this. Her voice barely surpassed a whisper as she shook her head. “I can’t…”
“I…” Now, she managed to find a little bit of strength, enough to look at him to say, “I can’t eat it.”
That wasn’t acceptable to him though. “You can’t, or you won’t?”
Jesus, was that really a question? She knew what the answer to that question was, but she couldn’t say it. She could feel herself being backed into a corner.
“There’s nothing wrong with the cuisine in front of you, Ana,” Lazar claimed. “I prepared it under acceptable conditions for your sensitive, human stomach to handle.” He then nodded to her untouched silverware, “We don’t have all night, so go on.”
Well, if he said one thing right, it was that they didn’t have all night. She didn’t want to eat in the first place, let alone eat Peter’s muscle and Frank’s heart.
“Shall I rephrase? You will not leave this table, until you’ve eaten the entire plate.”
This made Joey’s heart go from a fluctuating race to a daunting pound. She couldn’t help it. If she were to take even a bite, she knew she’d throw it up, and if she did that, there wasn’t any guarantee that he wouldn’t make her eat that, too. His amused chuckle taunted her and made her run hot. She had to try, no matter how repulsive it seemed. “Um…” But stalling didn’t seem like a bad idea either. “A-Aren’t you going to… eat?”
The man lifted his glass by the rim. “This will satisfy me for a while,” he smirked and took a sip. “No need to worry about me, just eat.”
Well, there went that idea… Joey shakily picked up the fork and pressed it into the muscle portion. She took the knife and cut a small piece of it off, before bringing it towards her mouth. She swallowed, telling herself that it would go down easier if she didn’t think about it. And then she forced the bite past her lips and chewed. Closing her eyes to distract herself would’ve been ideal but Lazar’s gaze burned her with an intent that had her staring into his blue eyes. The meat was red, blood was red, muscle was red, the heart was red, but his eyes were blue. Pure blue. So, that psychologically became her focal point.
There was a juice to the muscle that flooded her tongue when she bit down. Myoglobin—proteins in the striated muscle of vertebrates mixed with water. She shivered involuntarily as she swallowed it. If she didn’t know this was human meat, she’d think it had simply come from an animal. The taste wasn’t too far off from pork, but knowing its origins is what made it so intolerable. And, like it was announcing that comprehensive difficulty, her stomach emitted a loud gurgle when the first bite hit it.
This made Lazar laugh, and he caught the soft groan of discomfort that came from the woman’s lips. “Take another bite,” he advised, “You’ll get used to it.” She did so, slowly, but she did. He could see her arm shaking when she brought the fork to her lips, but this time, she couldn’t hold his gaze. This second bite went down easier than the previous one, he could tell. “Better?”
She nodded, even though it wasn’t better. She’d just already done it once, so there was no prerequisite that said she couldn’t do it again. Plus, showing her disgust was vulnerability, and he already knew she was scared shitless of him and being held here for whatever antics he had up his sleeve.
“You’re very beautiful, Ana Lucia Cruz.”
Joey immediately redirected her attention to the vampire, freezing mid-chew.
Lazar swished the blood in his glass, his eyes never leaving her. “When I come upon humans, I don’t typically estimate them by their looks, but by their smell… You, I feel something different…”
There was seduction in his tone that he didn’t bother to hide. No way in Hell was he trying to hit on her. No fucking way. She cleared her throat after she finished swallowing. “Really? Because you acted like you wanted to devour me earlier.”
“Well, you were soaked in blood, my dear,” he smoothly replied, “How could I catch a glimpse of any beauty? Blood can cover up a lot, you know…”
Her brow twitched, but she continued eating. If it were anyone else, she’d have countered that, but not with him. She was sure he was just waiting for her to say anything that he could counteract.
She was able to finish the two slices of muscle-meat that was served in the next 15 minutes, but she already felt full. Not just the type of full that usually came with a normal meal, but the type that came when your appetite and/or tolerance ran thin—wafer-thin—so it refused to allow its typical elasticity in order to avoid any more undesirable food. And one look at the still-awaiting heart had her cringing internally.
This was the real test, and Lazar knew it. He knew she would choose to eat the muscle, in hopes that she could just eat that and then skip the heart. That was not what he said, so when she released a shaky sigh and tried to push the plate away from her, he made sure to make it clear. “Ah, ah, ah…” he teased and pushed the plate back towards her, before lifting her chin with his fingertips. When they made eye contact, he told her, “The entire plate.” Then, he retreated his hand and nodded to the rest, “Eat the heart.”
Frank’s heart still looked whole and intact, like there had been nothing done to it other than drain the blood— Joey raised her gaze enough to find the rich, red liquid that bubbled at the surface of Lazar’s glass. Fuck, was he drinking the drained blood from Frank’s heart? Now, she really didn’t want to even try to eat it… She shifted uncomfortably, well aware of the judging stare she was still receiving.
Just one bite at a time, right? It had worked for the muscle, God willing and the creek didn’t rise, it’d be the same for this.
She stabbed the organ with her fork and forced the knife to cut a stray piece so she could eat it. For this sampling, she closed her eyes as she put it in her mouth and chewed. The texture was slimy and smooth with a few linear raises that she knew were likely the pulmonary veins. She took another bite, but she had to bite back a gag, not only from the smallest structures she noticed but from the taste. It tasted very rich, and that was the last straw for her stomach. She forced it down with a harsh swallow and a sickened groan, before she was sure she couldn’t do any more. She didn’t dare to look up at Lazar as she sat back, slouched against the back of her chair.
Lazar took the last sip of blood from his glass and set it down with a small thud. He licked his lips, while looking from the still-occupied plate to its consumer. She wasn’t looking so strong in her defiance now, which pleased him. But he hadn’t changed his mind. “Hmm…” He stood up and rounded the table to approach her. “Those in the Army are trained to eat quickly and efficiently, aren’t they?”
She could barely even scoff as she lazily rolled her eyes.
“Out of practice, are we?” he continued to taunt as he took her fork and knife and sliced another chunk away from the heart. Then, he gathered it onto the utensil’s prongs and held it up to her.
Insulted, Joey tried to push away from the table and from him, suppressing a gag in her throat. However, Lazar’s body was backing her chair so when she went to rear back, he kept her still. She stiffened, bracing herself as far as she could and jerking her chin away, when he moved the fork closer to her lips.
“It’s not that hard,” he insisted.
Easy to say for a fucking vampire, was her first thought. She didn’t dare say it, though. “I can’t…” she admitted, instead.
A noise that sounded inhumane came from behind her and grew louder as Lazar leaned over her shoulder. He moved the fork away, his voice as cold and calm as ever. “Don’t tell me you’re full already?”
Fullness was vulnerability, Joey knew that, but so was vomiting; not to mention, if she insisted she wasn’t, then it was obvious he was going to force-feed her the rest himself. Picking and choosing her battles was something she was used to, but the lines between them blurred when they both led her to being on the wrong side of the gun. Fuck, she should’ve tucked-tail and ran the first chance she had. She reluctantly nodded, hoping that answer would make him give her some leniency.
However, the vampire just mused with a hum and peered down the frontal surface of her body. The clothes Abigail had managed to pull for her was a white tank top and black pants, the top having a cropped style that showed off an exposed portion of her torso. From his point of view, there was no physical stress being put on her pantline, which gave him the audacity to take his free hand and slip a finger beneath the hem to run it along her bare skin, proving his point. “If your stomach isn’t bulging over your beltline, then you can eat more,” he hissed into her ear.
She shuddered at his touch, her entire figure flooding with unsettling heat. She was on fire, every muscle in her tensing as he carefully drew his fingertips up her body.
“So…” Lazar let his actions speak for him as he forced the fork up to her again, making the edge of the heart chunk brush her lips, to which she jerked back. He could hear what sounded like a growl come from her throat, but he didn’t pay any mind to it.
The other swiped her lips with her tongue to try and get rid of the salty tang, before preparing herself with an irked huff.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink.
She eyed the chordae tendineae laced on the fork’s prongs like spaghetti noodles. Now, she was backed into a corner for sure. Literally. With Lazar corralling her from behind, there was only one option… and she’d do anything to be left the fuck alone right now. So, she took the handle from the man and ate it.
She proceeded to finish the plate with a sour stomach, all the while, Lazar watched her like a hawk. He was satisfied enough to go back to sitting across from her, and the ocean in his eyes flashed with delight as she swallowed the last mouthful. He watched her sit back with a tight jaw, like she was forcing herself to keep everything down. So, to make her even more uncomfortable, he took the plate and licked the outer ceramic clean of the leftover juices.
Joey couldn’t watch him do it, even if it was blurred by her peripheral vision. The muscle went down much more easily than the heart did, but she could already feel her stomach churning and gurgling with the unwelcomed consumption. An uneasy moan slipped past her defense as she brought a ginger hand up to her stomach.
“Very good,” the man across from her hummed. He happened to glance down at the small movement of her thumb brushing over her clothed torso at an attempt to soothe it. “I understand digestion may be a bit uncomfortable the first time, but your meal was rich in nutrients. It should manage to aid the healing window of your… wound.”
The other managed to look up to see him eyeing the dressing she’d patched the upper left quadrant of her thoracic cavity with. It was mostly hidden beneath the strap of her tank top, but that didn’t stop the fresh scent of blood from seeping through the gauze and into the sense of the King of Blood himself. She was still feeling a lot of pain from the site of impalement and had to bite back many winces to avoid drawing any more attention to it. It was clear that Lazar was imagining what it must be like to clean or indulge in it himself.
But those things would come with time—all good things did—which a vampire knew all too well. He didn’t mind it, but he wasn’t done with her for the night. Of course, daylight would come, though, until then, he would make her worth his while.
