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avvail-whumps · 2 months

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Royal Bought: Child’s Play #3

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content warnings: vampire whump, hypnosis, temporary (child) character death, (child) vampiric turning, kidnapping

Luke tried to stifle the shuddering breath that was on the verge of his tongue. There was no way anyone would be stupid enough to invite the vampire in. Once they did, that was it. They would all lose their lives, or they’d be carted straight off to the kingdom.

But since Justinian was the only vampire present, he doubted that if the creature got inside, any of them would live.

One vampire enough to slaughter them all.

Emily was tense and rigid beside him. He didn’t doubt she thought Luke would do anything to save Ten, but he really hoped she didn’t think he was stupid enough to invite the vampire inside.

“If we let you in,” Luke started, trying to keep his voice steady. It was incredibly difficult with the sheer languid power that the vampire exuded, a creature that was superior to them in amost every single way,” you’ll kill us.”

Justinian grinned again, flashing his fangs. Luke supressed a shiver. “Not at all.”

The vampire’s eyes left Luke’s briefly to drop down to Ten instead, who didn’t even seem to react to the way his hand squeezed the back of his small neck a little more tightly. He hated seeing the kid like this - hated that he’d been forced to deal with a vampire alone, as an eleven year old child who didn’t even know any better. Who didn’t know, to the full extent, how ruthless and dangerous these creatures were.

A finger slipped under Ten’s chin, forcing his head to the side and back, staring directly at the vampire.

“The poor thing was lost,” Justinian crooned, and Luke had almost yanked an arrow out of his quiver. “He was terrified. Didn’t know his way back home. Isn’t that right?”

Ten made a wobbly, scared noise of agreement. Despite the compulsion, the vampire had left Ten’s mind to run as normal it seemed, and he didn’t want to imagine all of the raging, panicked thoughts that were racing through him. Justinian smiled in approval, turning back to Luke with a look in those gleaming eyes that said “I told you so.”

“See?” He hummed.

Luke sucked in a sharp breath. “Now he’s back. Let him go.”

The vampire’s smile suddenly looked tight. “What do you mean, let him go?” He glanced at Ten, still stroking the back of his neck gently. “It’s not like I’m holding him hostage.”

“Don’t fuck with me,” Luke bitterly chuckled out, his lip curling into a strained snarl. It probably wasn’t the best of ideas to make a vampire mad when Ten was stuck in its clutches, and could snap his neck with that hand at any given moment, but there was this restless desperation clawing at his chest. All he thought about all day was Ten’s safety.

Justinian continued to smile. “Invite me in.”

Luke seethed. “No.”

“You humans and your manners,” the vampire drawled. “You haven’t thanked me for bringing your offspring back. The least you could do is invite me in, don’t you think?”

His spine went stiff. It was like he was toying with them all, tempting each human soul to let a creature of the night inside their home. People’s eyes were flickering about, not even daring to breathe in case the vampire could hear them. Everyone had settled into the sidelines once they realised that Luke had unknowingly volunteered to be their spokesperson. Not even Emily had pried her lips open, which was severely out of character for the years she used them to complain.

His grip on the bow tightened. Justinian’s attitude felt like it was switching from cold and subtly threatening, to smugness and cruel amusement at the simplicity of the humans in front of him. It made his stomach twist.

“Thank you,” Luke breathed out, but it was difficult to sound sincere. “For bringing him back.”

The vampire raised a brow. His throat had gone all prickly from his pride, trying to close it up, but if the creature would take gratitude over signing their death warrants, he’d take a simple thank you any day. He seemed to consider the words that Luke had chewed up, before his lip twitched into a soft smirk.

“You’re welcome,” he drawled, patting the back of Ten’s neck softly. “You want him back? Come and get him.”

Luke bit the inside of his cheek. “Release him first.”

Those words seemed to strike a chord within the vampire, and his eyes darkened, even visible in the darkness of the night creeping up on them. Luke definitely didn’t miss the way his hand tightened against the back of Ten’s neck, pinching it. It sounded like Ten almost made a strangled, pained noise, but it was lodged in the confines of his throat. It set something fiery off in Luke’s chest.

“If you want him back so badly,” the vampire drawled, his voice having taken a stern tone that sent shivers racing down his spine,” then come and get him.”

Luke sucked in a sharp breath. It would be suicide, wouldn’t it? The vampire was clearly trying to lure him out, trying to use Ten as way for his little meal to wander willingly out of the safety of their camp. Even if he tried to get Ten into the camp before something could happen, the vampire’s reflexes would thwart that instantly.

He felt Emily’s hand on his shoulder, hot to the touch.

“Luke,” she murmured, in a way that told him she didn’t approve of this. When he tilted his head aside to look at her, it was like she was trying to keep her expression together as much as she could. She was tense, but just like him, just like everyone else, she was scared.

Luke’s stomach gave another sickening twist. This was his fault, wasn’t it? All of his hunts had encouraged Ten to run off, he’d made him his own bow that was now broken and coddled to his chest like it was still the most precious thing to him. He wanted Ten to be safe, and he would risk his life just to do it.

When he shrugged himself out of her grip, she didnt’t say anything. Didn’t stop him. If the vampire decided to kill him, then there would be nothing that he could do.

Luke couldn’t feel his legs when he took that first step. Getting closer and closer to the line that separated him from life and death.

But also from Ten.

The kid still hadn’t snapped out of it, but there was nothing he could do when Justinian was the one in control here. His grip on his bow was deadly. He didn’t even think he would be able to pry his own fingers from the sturdy wood if he tried.

Keeping his eyes down low, Luke didn’t dare make eye contact with Justinian now. The moment he passed the line, he had to push the presence of the creature to the back of his mind, and not fall into the deep hypnotic state he knew vulnerable humans could get themselves trapped into.

His feet stuttered to a stop at the line. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest, that he felt like he was going to be sick. But this was for Ten.

Luke sucked in a deep breath, and stepped over the line. It was deadly quiet from the campers behind him. No one even dared to utter a single word as he forced his numb legs over to Ten, slowly kneeling down in front of him. He kept his gaze focused on him, not daring to let it slip over to the vampire for even a moment. Justinian could probably hear how fast his heart was racing right now, the blood rushing to his head and making him dizzy with fear.

“Ten,” Luke whispered, his chest so tight he could barely even get the words out. He placed his bow on the ground. “Ten, look at me. Are you there?”

For a sickening, gut wrenching second, Luke considered whether Justinian was even going to release the kid, like he had planned to play a cruel joke on him the entire time. But then there was a flicker of lucidity in Ten’s eyes, and the kid’s expression suddenly lit up, no longer tense and blank and fixated. Terrified, watery eyes flitted up to meet his.

“Luke?” Ten croaked, clutching the broken bow even closer to his chest. When he went to glance at the vampire, he gently cupped his cheeks, forcing him to meet his eyes instead.

“Don’t look at him,” he whispered, more desperately than he would have liked. Ten’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, but he jerkily nodded his head. Luke realised his own breathing was audibly shaking in the night air, and he tried to put on his bravest face for the kid. He gently took Ten by the hand, rising to his feet, his whole body felt stiff with tension.

He left his bow. He didn’t even think about it.

“Just walk with me,” Luke breathed, almost pleading. “Look ahead. We’re going back now, alright?”

Ten plastered himself to Luke’s side as though he was velcro, and he was sure he could feel the tension and the terror radiating from him. The kid was shaking like a leaf in the wind, no doubt ready to collapse if Luke wasn’t gripping his hand tightly.

One step.

Another step.

He could feel the pinpricks of Justinian’s beady eyes following him as he led Ten to the gate, his foot almost passing over the threshold, ready to jerk Ten to safety as quickly as possible and—

Before they’d made it past the gate, Ten suddenly made a pained, whining noise, and Luke felt him suddenly fight against his grip, making him stiffen. He turned his head aside, glancing desperately over Ten’s wrinkled expression, contorted in pain, and the unwanted confusion stabbed relentlessly at him. His brows twitched.

“Ten,” he pleaded, his voice strained. “Come on.”

When he tried to tug the kid closer to him, he made another strangled hiss of pain, now digging his fingers into Luke’s arm as hard as he could to get him to let go, fighting against his pulling grasp with this squirmy desperation.

“It hurts,” Ten choked out, like there was this pressure around his throat that was making his voice weak. He whined again, and this time, Luke eased his grip on his hand, despite knowing that he wasn’t the one hurting him right now. When Ten skittishly took a few steps away from the gate, he noticed the wrinkled expression faded slightly, reopening his eyes. Luke choked on a breath.

“What did you do?”

The words came out breathless, but there was an underlying fury laced between them. He was still looking at Ten, but he was talking directly to Justinian. He kneeled down, cupping Ten’s face again and frantically inspecting him. The kid’s eyes were wide, dazed and confused. He faintly heard Emily sharply calling his name.

“Luke.”

Ten wasn’t under the influence of Justinian’s compulsion anymore. So why couldn’t he come inside the camp? What did the vampire do to him? He couldn’t contain the fiery rage bubbling inside of him.

All of those questions, and still, Luke knew the answer to them.

Ten wasn’t a vampire, that much he was sure of, and the vampire held no power over him. But who knows how long Ten had been with him. What the vampire had made him do. It sent him into a fit of rage to think there was vampire blood racing through Ten’s system right now, enough to make react impulsively in fury.

“What did you do?” Luke snapped again, his gaze wrenching towards the vampire with his lip curled into a deadly snarl. Immediately, his eyes met Justinian’s, and it was like something had hit him hard in the chest. All of the air was knocked out of his lungs, his vision tunneling through those glimmering, red eyes, and a complacent dizzines washed over him within seconds.

But Luke forced his eyes shut, and it felt like it was tearing his skull apart just to look away. The air barrelled back into him, and he hadn’t even realised he’d been swaying on the spot until Ten’s small hands on his wrists grounded him, shakily calling out his name. All it did was allow that anger to return like a storm, and before he knew it, he was reaching for an arrow in his quiver, and he was going straight for the vampire.

He heard Emily screeching for him to stop, but Luke was consumed by a different kind of red this time, his own.

Even though he thought he’d moved quickly, it was nothing compared to the reflexes and speed of a vampire. Before he could even blink, Luke felt something twist him into the ground with a hard slam, a hand fisted in his locks tightly, and others digging hard into his arms, twisting them behind his back. He tasted a mouthful of dirt on his tongue, sucking in a ragged, wheezy breath, before he realised that Justinian hadn’t even moved.

On him were two other vampires. And from the shadows, seemingly from the depths of the darkness, a dozen vampires appeared, scattered around them, and Luke faintly heard the soft gasp from Ten’s throat. He thrashed, straining against their hold, but nothing he did would break the strength of one vampire, let alone two.

He could hear people from the gate yelling as he was wrenched onto his knees, the uncomfortable pressure on his shoulder blades making him clench his teeth together to suppress a pained grunt. Ten kept trying to slowly back himself towards the gate, his eyes flickering frantically between each terrifying vampire that prowled closer, but each time, a look of discomfort would pass through him, and he’d be forced to shuffle a little further forwards to alleviate the pain.

This time, there was nowhere else for Luke to go when Justinian’s fingers dug into his jaw, wrenching his head upwards, and meeting his eyes before he had the intuition to close them shut. He instantly felt that swirling dizziness hit him again, being sucked into the tunnels of red.

“Quiet, now,” Justinian drawled, and Luke’s throat immediately closed up. “Be still. You brought this on yourself for lashing out, I’m afraid.”

When the vampire’s sharp fingers left his jaw, Luke realised he couldn’t bring himself to move, just like he’d been ordered. The vampire’s compulsion had him wired to the spot, the two vampires still keeping him on his knees in the uncomfortable, degrading position. He could only watch, his own mind dazed as the vampire took Ten by the arm in a soft grasp, and gently pulled him along, away from the gate.

The kid looked frightened, but Justinian was gentle with him, the same way he had been when he’d found them at the gate. Ten’s eyes were flickering around anxiously, his chest rising and falling rapidly with each scared intake of air. Justinian’s hands landed on his shoulders, settling behind him.

Luke stared.

He wanted to tell Ten that he was sorry. Tears were pooling in his eyes, and the kid was trembling, looking so tiny and vulnerable in front of the creature. Justinian’s hands left his shoulders, sliding up to his neck.

“Luke?” Ten whispered, his voice choking up. It sounded like he could barely get the words out, and his own mind was screaming for him to say something. To reassure him, to apologise, to say something so Ten wasn’t in such an awful position.

Justinian’s hands bracketed Ten’s head.

Luke’s heart broke. Even though he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, he could feel the familiar seething heat of tears sliding down his cheeks. The blurriness of his own tears made his vision even cloudier, and God, he prayed it would stay cloudy so he didn’t have to witness this. Ten was looking at him, big eyes confused and frightened, and as he opened his mouth to speak, Justinian snapped his neck.

His body thumped to the ground.

Even against the high pitched ringing that erupted in his ears, Luke could hear the horrified screams from the campers, the chaos that tore them apart as most fled from the gate, retreating back into camp. Luke wanted to scream, wanted to fight tooth and nail and go out bringing as much damage as he could to the vampire, but he was helpless.

Justinian stepped over Ten’s body.

He watched as a vampire knelt down beside him, and he was sure he heard another disgusting crunch as they set his neck right. The kid’s body was then gently scooped up into their arms, settled comfortably in the crook of their neck.

Justinian let out a soft sigh, tilting Luke’s head back with a single, cold finger.

“You and I both know the moment I found that kid, he was mine to do with as I pleased,” the vampire murmured by his ear, and Luke found himself going even more lightheaded when he forced their gazes together once more. “The stories of immortal children might seem tragic, but I assure you, it won’t be anything like that. Not that you’ll ever see him again.”

Justinian’s lip twitched into a languid smirk, his voice dropping to a low, hypnotic lull.

“Relax,” he purred, and against his own discretion, Luke found himself doing just that, his mind and his body going slack. It was terrifying, but at the same time, he was too far in Justinian’s compulsion to think for himself. He just kept sinking, further and further, his eyes droopy and glassed over. The vampire swiped a thumb over his lips, admiring his face for a moment. “Oh, you’ll set the markets thriving.”

Luke didn’t have the strength to think of the implications of that, because he was falling, and he couldn’t stop. Justinian’s eyes pushed him deeper and deeper, until everything shut off, and he was gone.

tag list – @whumpatize-me-captain @whump-me-all-night-long

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