“Do you know,” the vampire hummed in their ear, “how young you look right now?”
The protagonist choked on their gag, eyes glaring up at the vampire.
“Like a lamb to the slaughter,” they continued, trailing a finger through the protagonist’s sweat soaked hair. “Did they tell you what you were getting into?”
No, the protagonist thought, they hadn’t. The agency had needed someone to distract— someone new to the battlefield that the vampire wouldn’t recognize, with their memory as sharp as knives and their penchant for removing displeasing individuals from amongst the living.
And so of course, that meant the protagonist, fresh out of training, newly recruited, the littlest sibling of a sacrificial hero long since revered.
Big shoes to fill.
A solemn and silent grave to impress.
If the protagonist could have, they would have cursed the vampire out, but they supposed that would only make things worse.
Still, being in the room with the murderer of their big brother, the person who had left the hero of the city bleeding out in a place so hidden that by the time the protagonist found them—
Well.
They had a grave to impress.
The vampire caught their chin, tilting their head up.
“Little lamb, you look quite like my favorite enemy. Truly, the resemblance is uncanny,” their hand tightened on the protagonists jaw. “Say, our blessed hero didn’t happen to have a mini me, did they?”
The protagonist’s teeth clenched and they snarled through the gag.
The vampire grinned, delighted.
“Oh, how wonderful. It’s a pleasure to meet you, lamb.”
The protagonist simply blinked. The vampire clicked their tongue, as if disappointed. A moment later, the tip of their finger slid across the protagonist’s gag and it disintegrated.
The protagonist spit dust onto the floor, mouth dry with leftover cloth, before baring their teeth at the vampire.
“You piece of undying shit—“
The vampire slide an amused smile their way.
“The mouth on you. Yes, you really do look like them, don’t you? The resemblance is startling.”
“I’ll show you just how startling I can be if you untie these bonds.”
Behind their back, the protagonists fingers were numb. If they tried to punch, they doubted it would be successful. No need for the vampire to know that.
“Such rage for such a young individual. Tell me, little lamb, why do you want me dead?”
The protagonist closed their mouth that had been prepared to spit more venomous words, and swallowed thickly.
“I don’t want you dead—“
“Oh darling,” the vampire waved a hand. “Of course you do. It’s quite villainous of you, but I’m not one to judge morality.”
The protagonist bit the inside of their cheek, examining the edges of the concrete room, if only to avoid meeting the vampires all seeing gaze.
“Is this about your brother?” The vampire guessed casually, like hearing the vampire reference them didn’t stop the protagonist’s heart.
Their stomach clenched.
The vampire’s eyebrows eased in understanding.
“Ah. Well, then. I suppose I understand the sentiment. Nothing I can do about it, however. Bygones, they say.”
The protagonist lurched forward in their chair.
“He isn’t a bygone, he was my brother, and you murdered him—“
The vampire tutted, hand sliding over the protagonists mouth with impossible speed.
“Now, then, don’t say such atrocious things.”
The protagonist bit the inside of the vampires palm, and they raised an eyebrow. Their too cool palm didn’t move, smooth skin resting above the protagonists jaw.
“I did not murder your brother,” the vampire said after a tense moment. The protagonist glared at them.
Of course they had. The protagonist wasn’t stupid, they had seen the injuries on their brother. They had held him, in his final moments, terrified and shaking as their hands tried to cover too many wounds at once.
And then their brother had been dead and their hands had been covered in blood and all the protagonist could think was “It was the vampire.”
The vampire nodded as if they could read the protagonist’s face.
“Some things you are not meant to know,” the vampire murmured. “But I will tell you this—I did not kill your brother.”
They protested against the vampire’s palm, and the hand gripped tighter. For a moment, the protagonist remembered the terrifying strength hidden under that lovely face.
“I understand you are grieving. But I am not responsible for what happened. I am only responsible for what came next.”
They turned confused eyes on the vampire, and the vampire released them, studying the protagonist for a second before striding to the door.
The paused with a hand on the door knob.
“By the way, little lamb. Your brother isn’t alive,” the vampire’s voice rang into the room. “But he is living.”
The door slammed shut.
And the protagonist was left with the horrible realization that maybe when their brother had died, the vampire had done far worse than kill him—maybe the vampire had brought him back.
The protagonist started screaming for the vampire to come back.
Hours later, when they were rescued, the agency asked them what they had learned.
Stonily, faithfully, they looked their supervisor dead in the eye.
And said nothing.
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After everything Whumpee did to her, it felt like a new beginning to see him passed out and chained up in her basement.
Whumper had been so angry when she escaped. So unlike the meek little person she was, even before Whumpee clawed her already tattered confidence into pieces. And it didn't help that the target of all of her newfound ire had been the very person that was housing her, Caretaker.
Whumper tried to behave at first.
Not only was everything that Whumpee did to her so fresh in her mind, but her and Caretaker had never truly been close. There was no bad blood between them, but they'd never bonded the way siblings were expected to. Whumper made peace with it early — they were nearly a decade and a half apart, and she never saw Caretaker much anyways.
She should have tried harder, she realized.
Because Caretaker didn't just house her after everything Whumpee did. They went above and beyond to help her heal.
Keeping their cool even after she'd smashed every piece of ceramic they owned. Ditching soup, coffee, and tea after she had a panic attack from them heating up a kettle. Brushing her hair aside and telling her to let herself heal at her own pace after she'd spent an hour sobbing about a setback.
And now...
Now, this.
Whumper giggled quietly, euphoric at the sight of the numerous tools Caretaker had left her.
A perfect solution to her little anger problem.
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One of the go-to whump scenarios my brain goes to as I'm falling asleep is always Whumpee who's literally never felt a gentle touch in their life. They look at other people getting hugs, friendly pats on the shoulder, handshakes, and think, Wow. I wish I was capable of recieving that. and then go on with their day.
They quite firmly believe that everytime someone makes contact with them, it will hurt. It just will, because of course it will. Why wouldn't it?
Maybe they used to question it, once upon a time, or feel bitter — Why wouldn't it? Why? Why do they always have to hurt? — but, by now... it's just a very simple fact of their life. The sky is blue, water flows, and they are meant to be hurt.
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