#claimed series

It was a nice room, with cream-colored walls and a narrow single bed covered in a deep midnight blue comforter. The closet, bedside table, and small desk were also painted white, to imitate a set, but upon closer inspection, Daniel could see the different styles and materials. Still, the mismatched furniture didn’t take away from the charm of the small space, if anything, it gave a kind of whimsical quality to it. There were makeup tubes and hair pins strewn among old notebooks, a colorful scarf on the back of a chair alongside a maid uniform, evidence of an ordinary, inconsequential life being lived. If life was ever inconsequential, Daniel mused as he examined the rare black orchid plant kept on a faux antique ceramic mug, the titles of the few books in a language he could speak: Radcliffe, Poe, Shelley. He could see what Armand had meant back down the street when he had first caught whiff of the girl, half in love with death indeed.

“Daniel,” Armand’s voice cut through his reverie, “quit your delaying”

Right. They were there because of him, after all.

“Beloved, you need to feed” The older vampire’s tone softened as Daniel reached him, “and I chose her just for you”

And wasn’t that just a whole other level of fucked-up, not only Armand’s words but also the way they affected Daniel, warming him up inside the way only a youthful-looking vampire with cooper eyes and coal-black curls who ordered the entire menu of a fancy restaurant for him, or brought home emeralds and sapphires the size of his thumb because they reminded him of his eyes could? But he was too old now, wasn’t he? To try and pretend to be at war with himself. The very least he could do was refuse to be a hypocrite and admit that, when it came to Armand, all his morals, all his idealism, all the equality and human rights he had fought so hard for his entire career, simply flew out the window. What did those matter anyway, when he wasn’t human anymore?

As in a trance, Daniel walked ahead to meet his would-be-prey.

She was lovely. Long brown hair spread on white pillows, older than his daughters -thank god for the small mercies- and paler too, all milky skin so thin he could see the veins running under it, a web of blue and purple strings pulsing with life and heat. Daniel’s throat went dry, the hollow inside his stomach growing deep and black and endless. He felt lightheaded, the weak, slow beat of his own heart reverberating in his ears. Reluctantly, Daniel had to admit to the hunger.

“She’s beautiful”

“She’s perfect” Armand corrected, as if offended by the imaginary implications that he would pick anything less than top quality for his fledgling. Daniel realized she truly was, the shape of her voluptuous and undeniably seductive under the light sheets, enticing in her trusting, helpless sleep. Was this how Armand had felt looking at Daniel? All those nights, so many years ago, when he would wake up to his demonic lover’s weight on top of him, buried fangs deep, cock deep inside of him? Had he looked like this, so innocent, so defenseless, so ripe for the taking?

The girl’s eyes fluttered underneath her eyelids, stirring under Daniel’s gaze as if even in her unconscious state she was aware of the danger. But the soft stroking of Armand’s knuckles against her cheek was all it took for her to settle again, relaxing into the mattress, lips parting as she sighed in contentment.

Armand leaned to place a chaste, almost sweet kiss on her forehead.

"Come nearer, beloved," his maker commanded, hands never stopping their gentle stroking of that warm, pink skin, "focus your attention on her. Can you hear it? Do you feel it?"

It wasn’t hard, to find her heartbeat and let it capture him. To let the half-formed whispers from her mind reach his, even in her sleep, her melancholy, her sadness, her indefinable longing.

“She yearns for it, the rapture, the embrace, something she has only but glimpsed in her dreams, but has slipped from her like water through her fingers,” Armand explained, “yet she knows it exists… Wouldn’t it be cruel, Daniel? To allow her to go on without it, bereft in the isolating wasteland of modern existence, unsatisfied, victim of brute men and their rough deceivings, abusing of her passion and neglecting her?”

If Armand expected a reply, he was left wanting it. Daniel was incapable of replying, mesmerized as he was by the graceful movements of his maker’s hands as it glided over the sleeping beauty in his arms, tossing aside sheets, pushing up her sleeping shirt, uncovering more and more skin as it went.

“Our embrace, my beautiful boy, can penetrate that isolation, can delve into the root of her soul, we can give her that ecstasy she craves. It would only be fair, you see, in return for the precious elixir of her blood…”

“Return?” Daniel frowned, even as his eyes were still glued to the place Armand’s fingers were digging into the supple flesh of her inner thigh, sliding down until they could hook around her knee, parting her legs for him to see.

“Yes, Daniel, in return” He could hear the amused smile in Armand’s voice, “If you thought I brought you here to feast on her sweet, unpolluted blood and give her only darkness for all reward, you misunderstood the whole affaire”

There was a connection there, some parallel to be drawn between all those threesomes back in the seventies, letting Daniel watch Louis feed from him, and what he was proposing now, but Daniel’s mind was too muddled by hunger and desire to be able to examine it. Too far gone to even consider the ethics of what he was witnessing, as Armand popped the buttons of the girl's shirt one by one, baring full breasts and pink nipples to Daniel’s ravenous stare. Armand’s eyes were just as greedy, making sure he had all of his fledgling’s attention before lowering his head to trail open-mouthed kisses down the woman’s neck and chest, and breasts, letting his fangs nip at the delicate skin of her areola, only lapping at the drop of blood that sprung from the tiny cut once it slid down the curve of her tit. The sleeping girl arched her back, the softest of sighs leaving her mouth, and Armand rewarded her by bringing one of his hands down to tease at her covered crotch with the pad of his thumb, a wet patch quickly darkening the light cotton.

“Would you like to sample, Daniel?” The dark-haired vampire asked, the very image of sin with his blood-stained lips and naughty little smirk. Throat too dry for speech, Daniel nodded.

Instead of offering up her wrist or her neck as he expected, his maker slid his hand inside her panties. Daniel watched it move obscenely under the fabric as Armand fingered her for a few moments, before taking his hand out and offering him the glistening digits for him to suck clean.

Obediently, Daniel crawled towards him, taking the proffered fingers into his mouth, moaning at the taste. It wasn't as good as blood, at least, Daniel didn't think it was. The truth was in the forty-six hours he had been a vampire, Armand’s blood was the only one he had tasted. His maker had fed, oh, he had fed plenty, it was obvious by the searing heat emanating from him and by the flush darkening his brown skin, probably sneaking out to hunt while Daniel still slept. But he had only drunk from Armand. Their time since he had first woken up as a member of the undead was spent in a feverish haze of animal, lustful sex, and little drinks from each other. Still, Daniel imagined if there was something to come even remotely close to the blood, it was this, this sweet, almost cloying nectar from their delectable little bride.

Armand smiled at him adoringly, approvingly.

“After all these years, all the distance between us… you are still my good boy, aren’t you, Daniel?”

Before any reply could take shape inside his head, the lovely beauty trapped between them woke up with a start. Daniel could feel her confusion give way to terror, and then to recognition as she took in the monstrous apparitions sharing her bed. It was a surreal thing, to be able to spy, but only partly, on the silent conversation taking place in front of him.

“It’s you, it’s really you… I dreamed of you… No, I’m not afraid… I knew you would come, I knew both of you would come”

It was her the one to initiate the kiss, even if Armand was the one to gently push her into Daniel’s arms, she was the one to part her lips and slip her tongue inside the mouth of the young immortal, moaning as she cut herself on his fang in her eagerness to taste death.

The first taste of her blood was a revelation. It was like sunshine flooding his veins, waking his senses back to life, bringing everything into an even sharper focus. Even time seemed to move slower as he departed from her candied, wet mouth and sank his fangs into her dainty little neck.

There was a struggle, at the beginning. After the initial sobering stab of white-hot pain, she twisted and scratched and beaten at Daniel’s chest with all her might, but her feeble human strength was no match for a vampire, not even one as young as Daniel was, and soon enough she gave into the swoon, letting Daniel press her close to his chest. Letting the hard pebbles of her nipples rub against him, arching her back for him as she melted into his embrace, pliant and supple again. Letting her heat warm Daniel’s lifeless body. Letting her pulse feed Daniel’s veins with every beat, letting his heart feast on her own.

He caught a glimpse of the enchanting dream Armand had woven for her, of the slightly damp moss she laid upon as a fresh breeze graced her skin, of the crickets and forest creatures serenading her to sleep under the night sky bejeweled with the stars she loved so dearly, before her mind faded completely.

“That’s enough, lover mine” Armand coaxed, voice soft but firm, “let her go, lest she drags you into that gentle goodnight with her”

Daniel found that was easier said than done. Letting go of her was as difficult as leaving a cozy bed on a cold winter morning, but Armand’s insistent hands left him no choice but to comply. A soft thumb swept over his lower lip.

“So messy…” Armand mused before licking the blood off his chin and mouth, and yes, that was the taste Daniel had craved for all this time, better than the swoon, better than the blood, the sweetest taste was his maker, his Armand. It was as easy and natural as muscle memory to pull him in on top of him and guide him to straddle his legs. Even after all those years, after all he had changed both in life and in death, Armand still fitted with him like a puzzle piece, like a perfectly tailored suit, meant just for him. It was only right, to feel Armand’s possessive touch under his t-shirt, those impossibly soft fingertips trailing his ribs one by one, the scrap of those glass-like nails sending shivers over his entire body.

Daniel’s own hands weren’t idle either, bunching up Armand’s sweater to his armpits so Daniel could suck and bite at those sensitive nipples and hear the pornographic sounds Armand always made when he focused on that particular part of his anatomy.

“Love these tits” Daniel growled low and dirty against Armand’s skin, “prettier than any girl’s”

Armand’s moan was filthy as he tugged at Daniel’s hair hard enough to rip some strands from his scalp, making him almost dizzy with want, if such a thing were possible for a creature of the night. But Armand was so fucking perfect, so hungry for it, hips rolling against Daniel’s, hands ripping his shirt off his body, Daniel couldn’t help but think, for the millionth time, he was going to be his undoing.

“Hey! I liked that t-shirt” He protested, lying through his teeth cuz the truth was he couldn’t give a crap about the old, faded, grey piece of clothing. He simply wanted to hear Armand say:

“I’ll buy you a new one. I’ll buy you a thousand shirts just so I can tear them to shreds to unwrap you” Just like the old times, “You are my gift from Louis, my beautiful boy”

“Am I?” Daniel replied, defiant as always, “Why don’t you tie me up all tight and pretty with a bow then? What you waiting for?”

"So impertinent" Armand tsked, sliding his hand inside Daniel’s jeans in retaliation, "I would punish your insolence, but I know you'd only enjoy it"

Whatever reply hung on the tip of Daniel’s quick tongue, it was left unsaid as Armand’s fingers closed around his length.

It was still as intense, as electrifying, as debilitating as the first time. Daniel couldn’t help to throw his head back, his neck suddenly too weak to support his swooning head. Armand’s hand against his nape, however, pulled him back into place, probably so Daniel wouldn’t get a glance at the quickly cooling corpse right next to him.

“No, keep your eyes open, beloved. I want you to look” He commanded, sounding as breathless as Daniel felt. It wasn’t a hassle to obey, though, not when Armand was taking his own cock out of his pants, thick and long and pulsing with borrowed blood, Daniel couldn’t have taken his eyes off of it even if he had wanted to. And he certainly didn’t want to.

Armand spat on his hand then, nasty and vulgar, before wrapping his hand around both their members. Fingers unable to surround both girths at the same time, he started slowly pumping his hand up and down, in the rhythm that was sure to drive Daniel mad.

What the technique might have lacked in physical stimulation, more than made up for in visuals, the image of Armand’s cock pressed against his, longer, leaking all over his, the contrast of his bronze skin against his, stone white and washed out, they way it seemed to grow and fill even more before his eyes, the way the veins popped…

“Armand…” Daniel pleaded, without knowing what for, “Need… I need”

“Yes, beloved” Armand replied, guiding Daniel’s face to his neck, “here, from my throat”

It was just what the fledgling needed, shuddering with the force of his release the very instant his maker’s blood hit his tongue.

“Yes, like that” Armand husked, the rhythm of his hand growing more and more erratic, the longer Daniel drank, “harder, take it all…”

Daniel bit down deeper, sinking his human teeth on the hard flesh, tearing muscle up, making Armand explode, copious amounts of hot fluid bathing his cock, splashing on his stomach.

He retracted his fangs then, but kept lapping at the open, messy wound with his tongue, relishing in the waves of both aftershocks combined, refusing to let the link between their minds shut down again, holding Armand’s shivering body close against his, uncaring of the mess. There was a desperation, a deep melancholy emanating from Armand’s thoughts as he came down, the same bone aching loneliness he had caught a glimpse of the very first time they had come together at that bar, eliciting the same ferocious devotion in him, and he suddenly understood…

The dance was finally over.

Daniel’s destiny had finally been fullfilled. The devil’s minion through and through, born, dead and reborn, at last reaching his final form. Forever servant and master to the ageless creature clinging to him.

Don’t let me go, it begged, don't ever let me go.

I won’t, Daniel vowed, knowing in his blood there would be no running away for him.

I won’t, a promise and a threat, I love you.

I love you, a blessing and a curse, I love you.

Forever.

He knew the feeling well, after all, he had gotten plenty of samples, taste-tests over the years, the only difference was the intensity now that he was getting the full experience. Daniel was probably the readiest any human had ever been for getting the dark gift, still, he couldn’t say it wasn’t a little overwhelming, perceiving everything in such detail. He could feel the turn of the earth under his feet, knew exactly how many hours and minutes were left before the sun rose again, could smell the oxygen in the air, could hear the whispers of the people inside the cars moving down -all the way down- the street. 

He could see new colors, and a faint glow of energy around some objects, it was fascinating. The penthouse wasn’t a grey and dull tomb of cement anymore, it was a rich new world of shades and textures, every single one of them unique and contrasting, from the flecks of dust reflecting the light coming from the lamps, breaking it into a million colorful rays to the thousands of veins in the marble, that made it look as if he was standing on spiderwebs. From the thousand cracks in the shiny leather of the couch to the hundreds of threads making up the cotton of Armand’s clothes…

Armand. 

If Daniel had thought Armand was beautiful before, now that he could see him, really see him, he had no words enough to describe him. There couldn’t possibly be words enough to capture the delicacy of the curve of his cheekbone, the exquisiteness of the cupid’s bow of his lips, the perfection of his skin under the soft light, smooth as a marble statue and carved with the same level of artistry. It was breathtaking, and wasn’t that something when Daniel did not need to breathe anymore? 

Wasn’t it something that dying didn’t throw him off-kilter as much as seeing Armand in all his real glory for the first time did?

Armand who was staring up at him from his position sitting on the floor, with something akin to wonder in those huge garnet eyes speckled with gold. Armand, his ex-husband. Armand, the monster that had violated his mind and taken his most precious memories. Armand, his savior, and executioner. Armand, his maker. 

“Armand… What did you do?”

The vampire -no, that wasn’t right, Daniel was a vampire too now- the elder vampire seemed to unfreeze then, not so much raising to his feet as floating until he was eye level with his fledgling, then letting his feet touch the ground. Startled by the sudden, unnatural movement, Daniel took a step back. 

“Don’t be afraid, beloved” Armand spoke and for a moment, Daniel thought he had spoken directly into his head as he used to when they were together, that’s how clear it sounded, “I am not going to harm you”

“Harm me? Harm me??” Daniel let out a bitter, incredulous laugh, “You ambushed me, kidnapped me, got me hooked on you, isolated me, made it so I would depend on you for everything and then erased my memories and dumped me at the doorstep of a rehab center like a teenage mom dumping her baby at the steps of a church” 

With every new accusation, Armand seemed to become smaller and smaller, melting into himself, but he didn’t protest any of them.

“You let me beg for years, years, for you to make me like you, to make me immortal,” Daniel continued, aware that he was raising his voice but unable to stop himself, “and then, when I’m finally over it, over you, when I finally got my fucking life together and my business in order so I can die in peace, you drag me back in! And- and force yourself on me?!”

He took a look at this creature, this monster he had loved, standing in that supernatural stillness of his, face perfectly blank, it enraged Daniel, making him want to shake him, slap him, wreck his elegant facade of calm. Daniel himself was a mess, he had no dignity or pride left, Armand had taken everything from him: His youth, his love, his sanity, his memories, and now even his death. Why should Armand be allowed to keep his poise, when Daniel didn’t even have that anymore?

“You used to want it…” Armand objected, but it lacked conviction. Dead or not, Daniel was still a Pulitzer-winning journalist, he could recognize bullshit when he heard it.

“So you thought I wanted it still?” He scoffed, “Don’t give me that crap, you knew I didn’t. it’s why you didn’t ask me in the first place, isn’t it? Because you knew I would have said no”

“You were unconscious, Daniel”

“You could have woken me up.” He insisted, “Hell, you could have walked into my mind. You did it before” More than once, after a particularly bad episode, Armand’s voice had been the only thing able to bring him back. 

“It was hard for me to reach you through the mind gif, it’s been that way for decades. You know this”

Daniel did know. Those last few months before everything had imploded had been strained by the silence hanging so heavily between them. Still, he wasn’t buying it.

“Hard, but not impossible. You were still able to tamper with my memories”

Armand did not reply, which was answer enough for Daniel. A few minutes went by before he could even meet Daniel’s eyes, but when he did, there was fire behind his.

“You were not over it”

“What?”

“You were not over it” Armand repeated, more firmly, taking a step towards Daniel, “You were not over it, and you were not over us. You were unsatisfied, that is the reason you came here, crossing the world in the middle of a pandemic that could very well have been lethal for you. After four decades, after a successful career, after the beautiful family you created,” his voice trembled then as if the mere thought was painful, “there was still a void inside you could not seem to fill-”

“And whose fucking fault was that?!” The lights of the penthouse flickered as Daniel yelled, “Who the fuck took an entire decade of my memories and left a hole in my brain?!”

“Yes, and still your heart could not forget me!”

“And just because I love you, you think that gives you the right to take my choice away?!!”

Daniel had not intended to blurt that out, but the instant softening of Armand’s expression told him he had heard, and Daniel would not be allowed to take back the confession.

“Beloved…” There was so much emotion packed in that single word, enough to break an old man’s heart. But Daniel was not a man anymore.

“Don’t” He stepped out of reach just as Armand was raising his hand, “You don’t get to call me that anymore. It doesn’t mean anything anyway. Just like my feelings for you don’t mean anything”

Lightning fast, Armand did manage to grab his face then, almost sending Daniel’s newly augmented senses into overdrive. 

“Don’t say that,” Armand half begged half demanded, “your feelings mean everything. Everything”

Daniel pushed the older vampire away, astonished when Armand stumbled back. He resisted the urge to press his own fingers to the spot Armand’s had just vacated. He could still feel their imprint there, like a hot brand. Once upon a time, back when he still dreamed about becoming a monster, he had imagined being the same species would make him immune to the power of his vampire boyfriend’s touch. He was ill-prepared for the reality of his vampire senses making him feel it even more acutely. 

“Not to me, not for a long time. You see, you vampires are frozen in time, you died when you were twenty-seven, so you’ll be forever twenty-seven. But me, I grew up, and I grew old and I learned stuff. I learned how to pull myself up by my bootstraps, I learned to deny myself the things I wanted. That’s what sobriety’s all about, baby” There was no joy in Daniel’s smile, but there was pride, “Denying myself the shit that I crave that it’s bad for me. I’m denial fucking embodied, and you are just another drug. I might love you, I might miss you, I might even fucking need you, but I know how to live without you. I know that I can do it, you fucking taught me how”

“Daniel… what are you saying?”

What was he saying? What was the point he was trying to make? Because at first, Daniel had been just rambling, just trying to push Armand away, but the more he talked, the more he realized the truth of his words. Armand had turned him into a vampire, that was done, it was over, there was no going back now. But that did not mean he had to stay with him. If what Louis had told him was true, plenty of vampires were made and abandoned every day. Lestat himself had never counted on his maker and he had managed just fine. Daniel was probably better prepared for vampirism than any other newborn out there, he certainly knew a lot more about it than anyone else beforehand. 

“I’m saying that I’m fucking done, Armand. I’m leaving” He had said those same words so many times before, they felt almost comforting in their familiarity. Armand’s reaction, though, that was entirely new. 

“No” 

“No?” Daniel halted, taken aback. Before, Armand had always let him leave, even when he swore to himself it was for the last time Armand had never stopped him, “What do you mean no?”

“You are my fledgling now, my responsibility. You can despise me all you want, antagonize me to your heart's content, but I have a duty to you now, and I will not forsake it”  

A pang of disappointment pierced Daniel’s chest at Armand's words before he could push it down. Duty. Responsability. Of course. Armand had never loved him enough to stop him, had never loved him enough to chase after him, why would that change now?

“Well, I don’t give a shit about your duties, and I’m sure as hell not your responsibility. So kindly get out of my fucking way”

It felt like a hollow victory, walking past Armand towards the private elevator that would get him out of Armand’s domain, a childish and petty revenge: You don’t give a crap about my wishes and turn me without asking me? Fine, watch me not give a crap when you want me to stay. 

“Daniel, you can’t leave, the sun is coming up” Armand called out, as Daniel pressed the button to call the elevator.

“I’m an old man, Armand,” Daniel replied, knowing full well he had no intention to walk into the sun, “I’m not afraid to die. Hell, I already did, last night”

The mundane, generic ring as the elevator doors opened in front of him seemed so absurdly out of place after the supernatural events that had happened that night, Daniel almost laughed. 

He didn’t get the chance, though, as the next thing he knew, his body was hitting the floor, a furious Armand on top of him.