Meetings
At long last, here is Ria and Henri’s first meeting!
CW: Vampires, slavery, scars, female whumpee, anxiety, panic attack, PTSD flashback, low self-worth, angst, emotional whump
Henri nervously paced around the foyer. Leon had just dropped him off, and Aldon would be home any minute. It had been over a year since Al had left for the war. Henri absentmindedly ran his thumb across the scar on his hand from where Eliza had bit him. It had been a rough year and Henri hoped Al never had to leave again. Just then, the rattle of the key in the lock jolted Henri from his thoughts. He broke into a grin as the door opened and Aldon’s broad shoulders filled the frame.
“Al!” Henri yelled, jumping into the vampire’s arms. Immediately, Aldon wrapped his arms around Henri and it was like a cloud had finally lifted. Henri hadn’t felt so safe in months and he began to cry. “I missed you,” he said through his sniffles.
“I missed you too love, I missed you too,” Aldon said quietly, stroking a hand through Henri’s hair. Henri melted into the touch. He buried his face in Aldon’s shirt, his hands tightly fisted in the fabric. He never wanted to let go.
After a moment, Henri raised his head from Al’s chest. That’s when he caught sight of the woman standing just behind Al. She was clearly human, and had long dark hair, a pale face, and a strange metal earring on her left ear. There were crutches under her arms. Henri tightened his fingers in Aldon’s shirt.
“Who’s this?” he asked.
Aldon turned around, Henri still clutched to his chest. “Henri, this is Ria. She used to belong to the Lucian army but she’ll be staying with us from now on. Ria, this is Henri.”
“Hi,” Henri said shortly, a pit opening up in his stomach. Aldon wasn’t replacing him. He wouldn’t do that. Al had said Ria was staying with us, not with me. But Henri’s anxiety kept gnawing at his stomach. What if Aldon decided he liked Ria more?
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Ria replied, her voice unsure. Aldon’s eyes moved from Ria to Henri and back again, like he could sense the tension between them. Henri felt a surge of guilt. He hadn’t meant to be rude, he should say something else, something friendly, but… he was scared.
Al beckoned Ria inside and then closed the door behind them, letting out a sigh of relief.
“I’ll show you to your room, Ria. Henri, I’ll meet you in the study afterwards, okay?”
…
Ria could tell that Henri didn’t like her. The way his eyes had narrowed when he had seen her, the way he had looked at her with distaste when Master said she would be staying with them. This was fucking brillant. She had already made an enemy of the one person who might have been an ally in this strange new life. And she didn’t even know what she had done!
Master led her up the stairs, going slow so she could keep up on her crutches.
“You have free rein of the house, the only thing I ask is that you knock before coming into my or Henri’s rooms. The kitchen’s downstairs, and I always make sure that it’s well stocked.” Master paused in front of a dark wooden door. “And you don’t have to call me Master here. Please call me Aldon or Al.”
That was weird, but Ria had learned quickly that this vampire was different from the rest. She craned her neck to look up at him.
“Okay, Aldon,” she said. He gave her a big grin.
“This is your room,” he said, opening the door. It was spacious, with dark wooden furniture and plush carpets. Ria made her way inside, taking it all in. This one room was bigger than her entire house had been back in her village. Not for the first time, Ria wondered just how wealthy Aldon actually was.
“There’s a bathroom just down the hall. I’ll see about getting you some new clothes tomorrow,” he said.
Ria made her way over to the bed, sitting down. It was soft and squishy and she ran her hand over the thickly knit blanket. She had never felt anything so soft.
“Thank you, Aldon.” She said with sincerity, meeting his eyes.
“Of course, Ria. I’ll bring up some food for you in a little bit.” He turned and closed the door, leaving her alone. She sighed and laid back on the bed, hair spreading out around her head. She closed her eyes as a wave of homesickness hit her. She was alone in a city of vampires, the property of the most powerful General on the continent, and the one other human in the house seemed to hate her guts. She groaned, then she picked up one of the pillows, put it to her face, and screamed, venting all of her frustrations and worries. She felt a little better and hugged the pillow against her chest. It really wasn’t that bad. If she wasn’t here, she would probably be dead in that forest. At least here she would have shelter and food. And once her leg was healed, she was going to escape.
…
Henri stood next to the mantle, body shaking and heart pounding. Aldon would walk in any minute, after he had finished getting Ria settled. Ria, who was younger and probably hadn’t been tortured for years and was pretty and was everything a vampire could ask for in a human. What if Aldon decided he only needed one human? It was obvious that Henri would be the first to go. Aldon deserved better than a broken blood bag.
The door to the study opened and Al walked in. Henri tried to give him a smile, but it came out weak. Weak, he was so weak.
“Henri, are you alright?” Aldon asked, crossing the room. No, Henri thought, you’re going to get rid of me.
Henri breathing was starting to come too fast. He couldn’t survive being sold again, he just couldn’t. He had been lucky when Aldon had bought him and if someone else did it would be just like with Old Master and there would be pain pain pain-
The panic hit him so hard his knees gave out and he would have fallen if Al hadn’t caught him. Aldon gently lowered him to the floor and he was saying something but Henri couldn’t hear him over the pounding of his heart. He was going to die, gods he was going to die. Henri shook in Aldon’s arms as his vision tunneled and his breath came too fast.
He tried to find some semblance of control but he couldn’t. Henri whimpered as sweat coursed down his brow.
“I’msorryI’msorrypleasehavemercy,” he pleaded. Master was going to be so mad at him for this, yell at him for being a worthless human and having a fucking panic attack right when he got home. He hadn’t even fed yet.
“I’ll be goodIpromiseI’llbe good just don’t hurt me please Master don’t hurt me.” The dread and fear clogged Henri’s throat and he let out another sob. Master was going to use the cane, he knew it and it was going to split open the skin on his back and make him scream and Master wouldn’t stop until he passed out and then he would start all over again and the pain would go on and on and on-
“Henri, look at me,” Master said. Henri immediately met Master’s eyes. It took him a second to place the face, to realize that it was Aldon, not Old Master, who was holding him.
“Can you take a breath for me, love?” he asked gently. Henri tried, taking a gasp that was a little deeper than the short breaths that were making his head spin.
“I’m here Henri,” Aldon said, gently taking his hands in his own. “You’re safe, nobody is going to hurt you.” Henri closed his eyes, desperately trying to believe Aldon’s words even as his body told him he would never be safe.
…
Aldon sat with Henri until the human’s breath and heart rate finally started to even out.
“I’m sorry Al,” Henri said, voice raspy from his sobs. He was leaning against Aldon’s chest, his skin slick with sweat.
“You don’t need to apologize, love,” Aldon said. “It’s not your fault.”
“Are you replacing me?” Henri asked, barely above a whisper. Aldon’s heart felt like it was going to shatter. Tears pricked at his eyes and for the first time in a year he let them fall. He pressed a kiss to Henri’s forehead.
“No Henri, no. I could never replace you. I will never replace you,” he said gently, running a hand through Henri’s hair. “When the Lucian’s surrendered, we were given their humans. The other officers said I should have first choice and I saw Ria and… well I just didn’t want to leave her to be taken by gods know who.” He paused. “She tried to run away, actually.” Henri looked up at him, blue eyes wide. “That’s how she broke her ankle. I found her in the woods not a mile from camp.” Aldon sighed, leaning back against the wall. Henri nuzzled against his chest. “She ran because she didn’t want to be fed on anymore. I told her that I wouldn’t feed on her if she didn’t want me to.” Henri stilled at that and Aldon was hit by a surge of guilt.
“I’m sorry that I never gave you that choice, love. It was wrong of me. If you don’t want me to feed on you, I won’t.”
Henri didn’t respond for a moment. “You’re forgiven, Al,” Henri said quietly. “You saved my life, letting you drink my blood is the least I can do to repay you.”
Aldon nodded, hugging Henri a little tighter.
“Let’s go to bed,” he said. “We can talk more this evening.” Henri nodded and started to move. Aldon didn’t let him get to his feet, scooping him up and cradling him against his chest. Henri sighed.
“I’m glad you’re home, Al,” he murmured, already starting to nod off.
…
Ria sat upright in bed, the blankets clutched to her chest. She hadn’t been able to hear everything, but she had heard Henri begging for mercy. She didn’t know how Aldon was hurting him, but whatever it was, it was clearly awful. She swallowed around the lump in her throat. Aldon must enjoy playing with his food. She cursed her ankle, only partly healed. She just hoped she would be able to run before Aldon tired of his nice vampire charade.
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