PROLOGUE*

          there  it  is  again.  that  warm  feeling  that  radiates  through  his  chest.  the  feeling  that  only  fae  seems  to  be  able  to  give  him.  he  doesn’t  think  he’s  ever  felt  so  loved  in  his  life,  guard  completely  down,  heart  absolutely  open  to  him.  something  that  he’s  never  had  with  anyone  before,  not  with  harmony,  not  with  hazel.  lyric  isn’t  much  of  a  poetic  person  so  when  it  comes  to  saying  something  back,  for  a  moment,  he’s  speechless.  ❛  i  love  you.  ❜  it’s  the  first  thing  that  comes  out,  but  he  means  it.  maybe  even  more  than  he’s  ever  meant  it  any  other  time.  he  grabs  the  other’s  hands,  brushing  his  thumbs  over  them.  

       now  he’s  heard  some  questionable  things  about  the  pizzeria.  weird  situations, but  he  hasn’t  found  what  the  specifics  of  those  situations.  still,  hunting  has  been  slow  when  he  doesn’t  go  after  every  monster.  he  doubts  he’ll  have  to  use  his  hunting  skills  here,  but  he  figured  he  may  as  well  check  it  out.  plus,  he’s  never  got  to  step  foot  in  one  of  these  places,  it’s  mostly  for  his  own  curiosity.  his  light  source  coming  from  his  gun,  but  as  of  yet,  he  doesn’t  actually  plan  on  firing  it.  ❛  you’re  ----  interesting  looking  to  say  the  least.  ❜

       lyric  isn’t  the  best  when  it  comes  to  dry  humor.  it’s  hard  for  him  to  catch  onto  it.  nose  scrunches  as  he  tries  to  figure  it  out  before  saying  anything.  ❛  gonna  be  honest,  my  dude,  i  can’t  tell  if  you’re  joking  or  not.  ❜

Was this happening? Was this really happening? The blonde man stands there unsure how to react as thoughts come racing to his mind. He doesn’t like the idea of Lyric bleeding for him but he also thinks he’d probably take offense to him declining his offer, which he desperately needed right now. In the end however, he knows Lyric isn’t going to let him go so easily without him being a semblance of his old self again, after all he wouldn’t get very far, if one thing was for sure his boyfriend was an incredible hunter, one with skills that even rivaled a creature as old as him, so he lets out a sigh. ❝ Okay. ❞ he takes a step inside, closing the door behind him, closing them off from the outside world. ❝ But if we’re going to do this I’d rather make the incision myself. If that’s alright with you.❞

          ❛  had  to  be  ten,  ❜  a  beat,  ❛  no  ----  fifty  pirates.  ❜  one,  it’s  an  obvious  exaggeration  and  two,  he’s  definitely  never  fought  pirates.  he  just  decided  that  pirates  sounded  better  than  werewolves.  why  pirates  would  be  more  interesting  he  isn’t  sure.  maybe  it  just  sounds  less  believable  so  it’s  much  more  fun.  ❛  so  not  to  brag,  but  i  think  that’s  pretty  badass.  pirates  beware,  ya  know?  ❜

    ❛  you  good,  dude?  ❜  he  doesn’t  want  to  be  rude,  manners  are  important  and  all.  you  look  like  shit  seems  like  it  may  be  a  bit  rude.  especially  towards  someone  he’s  not  familiar  with.  he  takes  a  moment  to  think  of  his  wording,  ❛  you  look  tired  as  fuck.  like  -  have  you  heard  of  a  nap?  ❜

In truth his memory was a bit fuzzy but if he had to give an honest answer… ❝ Probably over a month ago. ❞ that’s too long for him to go without it, even with how old he is. A pint or two should have him good to go but with his recent supplier being out of town he’s hit a few obstacles in obtaining blood, and considering he doesn’t want to bite a random civilian he’s at a bit of a loss. He lets out a weary laugh, ❝ I, uhm, tried to get an opossum earlier but the little guy outsmarted me. ❞ then he catches himself eyeing up his boyfriend, that isn’t good, and the fact that he can smell his blood wasn’t great either. He takes a step back, ❝ I-you know I shouldn’t of come, probably should of called instead. ❞ though it’s a little too late for that now.

        his  last  hunt  took  a  bit  longer  than  he  expected  it  to.  nothing  that  would   usually  bother  him,  but  once  he  stopped  being  able  to  reach  fae,  it  definitely  sets  off  some   alarms.  it  made  him  want  to  finish  this  job  as  fast  as  he  possibly  could.  so  when  he  did,  there  wasn’t  any  hesitation  to  get  back  home.  he  wasn’t  expecting  what  he’d  see  -  his  boyfriend  looking  like   death.  a  real   walking  corpse  look.  his  stomach  drops  as  he  sees  what  kind  of  shape  he’s  in.  for  a  moment,  he  freezes  -  not  something  that  happens  often.  there’s  a  moment  of   fear  that  washes  over  him  -  not  because  of  him,  but   for  him.  ❛   fae?  ❜  he  snaps  himself,  finally  able  to  move  his  body  once  again.  he  rushes  to  him,  cupping  his  face  and  tilting  his  head  to  look  at  him.  ❛   baby,  what  happened?  when’s  the  last  time  you  ate?  ❜

Meaner, believable, key components to getting the job done but he doesn’t like playing his part at all, even if it was for a good cause. He reluctantly drags the hunter through the house, baring his teeth at any other vampire that dares to get closer to him and his ‘catch’. Though he wonders if he is acting a little too protective. After all, it’s been decades since he’s even been around another vampire let alone a whole coven of them.

As they draw closer to the main hall he notices it gets even more messy, honestly the whole house could have been a set of a horror movie without how many bones and guts littered the floor, he found himself almost tripping over some of it, and god the smell wanted to make him gag. All this violence, all this gore, but what else would he have expected from a coven composed of fledglings. Wretched creatures.

The vampire stands at the door, grip still tight on the hunter. This wasn’t going to be easy even if things went according to plan, he knows it. Red eyes then turn to him, ❝ When I give the signal you take care of the two by the door. I’ll take out their patriarch. ❞ a pause ❝ Are you ready, or do you need a moment? ❞

      internally,  he  can’t  help  but  like  the · protectiveness. outwardly,  however,  he  keeps  up  the  act.  ·angry  and  desperate  to  get  away,  occasionally  letting  out  a  ·pained  whine.  he  hopes  fae  doesn’t  think  it’s  real  pain  or  that  he’s  going  too  far.  he  just  wants  things  to  be  believable.  no  one  about  to  be  a  ·meal  would  be  so  calm,  it’d  throw  things  off  quickly.  in  reality,  lyric  has  a  ·high  pain  tolerance.  he  has  to  for  a  job  like  this.  it’s  not  that  easy  to  get  an  actual  acknowledgement  of  any  sort  of  pain  from  him.  

    despite  his  act,  lyric  keeps  an  eye  around  his  surroundings.  if  he  doesn’t  have  a  good  idea  of  exactly  what  they’re  going  into,  it  won’t  be  ·pretty.  the · carnage  around  them  is  unsettling,  but  nothing  he  hasn’t  encountered  before. there’s  too  many  monsters  that  have  shown  such  brutality.  though  the  smell  is  something  he’ll  never  get  used  to.  ·disgusting.  still,  he  stomachs  it  and  turns  his  focus  onto  the  other.