A.N. - The first of the Thursday uploads! I lobe how I promised Thursday uploads and then had just a weird and chaotic week that I only managed to write the new chapter today. SMH. Still, I'm a creature of my word so here you are.
When the village came into view, Kyle could have cried with relief. He was so tired of the long drive in a desert, the tension between the others building with every half hour that passed. He knew the tension was building up within himself as well, but he tried not to think it. He'd done everything he could to ignore Esial in the time since he'd recovered from being shot, but here he was. In Sudan. Looking to rescue him. He tried to tell himself that he was just here to pick up a job at the Nubian pyramids afterward, which would be a rewarding experience of course, but he knew that wasn't really the truth.
Muir pulled up to the village, wiping at his eyes before getting out, wobbling a little. They had stopped once to refuel from the containers of gas they'd brought with them, but beyond that, they hadn't stopped to stretch.
"Joseph," Muir said, reaching through the back window to shake his bond mate awake.
Joseph stirred, yawned, and sat straight up when he saw the village.
"We're here," he gasped, getting out of the vehicle.
The others were getting out of theirs, looking around and stretching as the nearby villagers watched on in interest. Most seeming to be carrying food items to their houses. If Kyle remembered right, they were in the middle of Ramadan, so they were probably preparing an elaborate meal to break their fast when the sun set.
Kyle stepped forward, raising his hand and speaking a typical Arabic greeting.
The people nearby lifted their hands and one of the older members stepped forward. "What are you here for? For good or for evil?" she asked.
Kyle was relieved to realized she was speaking in a dialect of Arabic he did know. Sometimes the language drift in small villages in the middle of nowhere was so bad you were better off trying to play a game of gestures to get what you needed.
"For good, I hope," Kyle said. "We are looking for a friend who was at the worksite the Sayidi set up recently in the desert. We received a call from a young man named Khalid."
Her eyes lit up. "Khalid! Yes, he came home recently. We have not seen him much. There are many rumors, sir."
Kyle nodded, trying to keep her attention on him rather than Muir and Granger who moved much like hunting beasts under approaching evening shadows. "Yes. Do you know where we should go to find him? We need his help in finding our friend."
She nodded. "Follow."
Kyle turned to the others and gestured.
The Chief and Aaron stayed back with the vehicles to make sure no one tried to sneak any of their supplies out as Granger, Orville, Muir, and Joseph followed Kyle through the village.
They stopped in front of an unremarkable hut and the woman called through the thin door.
An older woman opened the door, making certain her hijab was in place.
Her eyes went wide when she saw the rather intimidating group on her door step and Kyle smiled a little at her apologetically. "Hello. I am Kyle. Khalid called my friend here about what happened at the worksite."
"Are you from America?" she asked, eyes wide.
He nodded. "Yes, we are. May we see Khalid?"
She hesitated. "He has been strange all day. He weeps and cries and says he is in pain, but there is no wound. I know that he......" she glanced at the old woman nearby who had stuck around and was hanging on to every word.
Granger turned, folding her well built arms over her chest and the nearby villagers scattered.
Kyle leaned forward and she did so as well, her lips nearly touching his ear as she whispered, "He has been changed, this I know. Can you heal him?"
Kyle leaned back and shook his head.
She wailed, gripping at her clothing and hijab. Kyle waited for her to get control of herself. Instead of getting back in control, she pushed the door open and stepped outside, falling against the outside wall to cry. Kyle stood back to let Muir go in first before following.
Muir saw a teenage girl sitting next to a young man, who was sobbing into his arms.
"Khalid?"
The young man sniffled and coughed, finally lifting his face. There was pain and hunger there, and Kyle took a careful step back behind Granger. He wasn't stupid enough to get too close to a fledgling, especially one that had been separated from his sire so soon.
Muir stepped forward, Joseph at his side, and they crouched down by the young man.
"Hello, Khalid. I'm Muir. We spoke on the phone, remember?"
Khalid rubbed hard at his face and looked up, trembling. "You came? I didn't think you would be here till much later. Tomorrow at the soonest."
"We left as soon as we got off the phone," Muir said, "But it sounds like we still have a long way to go. What news do you have for us?"
"Esial is in pain," Khalid whimpered. "So much pain. And I am in pain. There is this hole."
He sniffled, trying to square his shoulders, but he trembled with the weight of fledgling instincts.
"That's just cause you're hungry," Granger said, stepping forward and surprising everyone with the softness in her tone. She crouched down beside Muir and offered her arm. "Here."
"I could feed him-"
"You're much too young to sustain him," Granger replied. "Both of you are."
Khalid hesitated, looking between them and then to his sister, who just shrugged.
He leaned forward and bit into Granger's arm, drinking quickly and shuddering as it soothed his instincts, chirping in the back of his throat. She chirped back at him, bright and friendly, rumbling deep in her chest when he was done.
He leaned back, licking his lips clean.
Granger pressed a hand to her arm until it stopped bleeding and began to seal before their eyes. "Khalid, are you feeling better?"
He nodded, dazed. "Much."
"Good. Do you think you'll be able to lead us out to the work site?"
"Yes," he said. He got to his feet and did manage to square off his shoulders this time, looking at his sister.
"Will you be back?" she asked.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I might have to go where my sire goes."
"You probably should," Joseph said with a nod. "And he will be coming back home with us."
"To America?" she asked, intrigued.
"To America, yes."
"Then you will need to stop by and get me and mother. We will go to America. I want to live there."
Kyle wondered how citizenship worked through vampire lineages, suddenly.
"We'll stop by. I can't promise what will happen," Muir said hesitantly. He looked like he was dealing with the same questions himself. "Alright, let's get going, please."
They had to rig something to hide Khalid from the sun when they realized he would burn almost as quickly as Esial did before he got the sun blocking shot, but soon they were in the cars and on their way again.
The camp was empty. Khalid stared at it from the car, shaking his head. "They were all right here! Esial and I were kept in that tent there. Where could they all have gone?"
"I don't know," Muir said. "Joseph, stay with the kid. I'm going to go take a look with the others."
"But-"
"Please."
"Alright," Joseph sighed. He supposed someone needed to stay with the cars and Khalid, and the others were much better at making sure a site was clear than he was.
Kyle stayed in the other car as Muir walked carefully over the sand with the others.
"Do you think they left?" Orville asked, holding one of the four guns the chief had managed to get her hands on close to his body.
"It's looking like it," the Chief said as she cleared another tent, her own gun held professionally in her arms, settled carefully into her shoulder.
"They must have a place in mind for the ritual," Muir said. "Where, though?"
The Chief raised an eyebrow and looked at Aaron. "Do you think you'd be able to track them."
Aaron considered this before he closed his eyes, concentrating. The sun was going down and the moon was beginning to rise up over the horizon. He nodded. "I could track them."
"Werebeast descendant?" Granger asked.
When Aaron nodded, Muir groaned.
"I told you to stop making bets with her," Orville said as Granger said, "That's a 20 for me, Muir."
"I would stop making bets, but I win about half the time. I was right about their relationship, wasn't I? Can't we call it even?"
"Nope! That wasn't a proper bet."
Muir sighed. "Alright, fine. A 20 for when we get back to the states."
Granger grinned as they finished making sure the rest of the camp was all clear.
"Hey," Orville called. "Found something."
They came around the tents to see a pole coated in melted flesh and viscera. Muir winced. "That would be Esial, then, I suppose."
Aaron leaned closer to the pole taking a deep breath. "Vampire, alright. Old. It was probably Esial. You said the only other vampire here was Amon, right?"
Muir nodded. He sighed and looked up at the moon. It shimmered around the edges. The red patterns rippled and flashed, like light reflecting off of water, and it filled him to the brim. "We had better get started if we have to track them. The blood moon will start closer to morning and we don't know how far they went."
"They can't have gone far," Aaron said. "They went by foot."
Muir shrugged. "Let me go argue with my bond mate, real quick then."
He went back to the cars to see Khalid and Joseph talking quietly. They turned their attention to him as he approached.
"We have to track them on foot. Aaron's a werebeast descendant."
"Dang," Joseph muttered. "I owe Granger a 20."
Muir rolled his eyes. Joseph definitely needed to stop gambling with Granger. Not that Muir could say it without being a hypocrite.
"Alright. Khalid, I think you had better stay here. The ritual says that two vampires are needed and we do not need you getting grabbed and killed, understand?"
"I understand," he said as Kyle walked over from the other car.
"Kyle, you should stay here with Khalid. We don't have a weapon to leave you with. Do you think the two of you will be fine? Joseph could stay if-"
"I am not staying," Joseph hissed with his entire chest.
Muir ran a hand down his face. "But if Kyle and Khalid get attacked while we're away-"
"They won't. Everyone is probably at that ritual site. Khalid gave me the count of all of the humans in camp and Amon only hired enough to fulfill the body count for the summoning ritual instructions we found."
"Still..." Muir said, hesitantly.
"Where you go, I go. There is no place you could go that I wouldn't follow," Joseph said firmly. "Ever. Understand?"
Muir shrugged. "Worth a shot. We'd better get going. If we're not back by dawn..... call someone. Someone with authority, alright?"
Kyle nodded, his only nervousness betrayed by a small tremble in his hand. "Understood. But you'll be coming back."
"We'll be coming back," Muir agreed.
Part 35
From Dust to Ashes Taglist: @whumpsday @honeycollectswhump @writereleaserepeat @tragedyinblue @hyrules-sleepiest-knight
A.N. - Goodness. Sorry this was late. I was at FanX this last week and it was a whole thing. A fun thing, but a whole thing nonetheless..... lots of driving.......
Masterlist - Part 29
Content: vampire whumpee, fledgling whumpee, vampire whumper, multiple whumpees, foot/ankle whump, blood drinking, escape attempt, immortal whumpee, silver burn whump, creepy whumper, vague threat to a child's life
"What's that noise?" Khalid asked after he had finished another prayer. Night was falling now, but the sounds in the nearby camp were still too low for everyone to be back yet. It seemed Amon had kept everyone at the work site late, and now Esial knew why when he heard the distant shouts of victory and celebration.
"They got the amulet," Esial said softly.
This was.... good and bad. He would have tried to sneak out at night and get the amulet, but he doubted that he would be able to get at it without Amon noticing or catching him. This was made all the more difficult with a fledgling nipping at his heels. No matter what he tried to think up, he knew none of it would ever work now.
Well, none of it beside the one idea he was really terrified of.
He sat up, undoing the bindings over his ankles. He would need his feet for what was coming next, and while Khalid had been taking a lot of blood from him, he had enough to grow something before the confrontation needed to take place.
"What are you doing?" Khalid asked, his voice squeaking a little with fear. Amon's threats about what would happen should Esial free his feet had been mostly directed at what would happen to him, after all.
"Khalid, I need you to listen to me and do exactly as I say," Esial said, tossing the bindings to the side, unbothered by the blood dripping down his stump and the gore on the spikes of the restraints. "Do you know how to get to your village from here?"
"Y-yes. It's a three day walk across the desert."
"You're a vampire now. It will be a one night run. As soon as the sun goes down over the horizon you will run and you will run as fast as you can. You will tell people what has happened here and you will do anything you can to contact my friends. Do you still remember their number?"
Khalid nodded, eyes wide and terrified.
"Good. That is what you will do, and I will keep Amon from coming after you. I will be hurt. I might even be killed, but-" Khalid chirped with fear and Esial cupped his face in his hands. "but! My friends will come for you and they will keep you safe if your village and your family won't have you anymore. Most of all, tell them what has happened to me so they can find out if I need rescuing or if I am dead."
"Esial-"
"I have lived a very long time, Khalid. I do not need more. I would like more time to learn more about myself and this world, but I would not mind seeing my parents and my village again, do you understand?"
"I understand."
"Will you run when the sun goes down, no matter what you hear from me?"
"I will, but-"
"Will you call my friends as soon as you are able?"
"Esial, what if I get hungry and I try to eat from someone?" Khalid asked anxiously.
"You can have one more meal from me," Esial said. "Right before you run. I trust you to have the self control not to eat from anyone else. I think your religion has taught you how to have self control enough to keep from feeding on anyone else. See if you can't find some animal blood. It won't be the same and it won't fill you completely, but it will do the job. Okay?"
"Okay.."
"This only works if you believe in yourself. Do you know that you can do it?"
"I.... I will."
Esial nodded and released Khalid's face. "I believe in you. I am sorry that you have had to deal with this, that I got you involved in all of this somehow, but I will do everything I can to make sure you get away, alright?"
"Alright. But it was my fault. I took your fang in the first place."
"That is true," Esial conceded. "Still, you are my responsibility. How soon can you break your fast?"
"Not until after the sun has gone down past the horizon."
"Alright. We'll need to be quick. Let's hope everyone is distracted enough to leave us alone until then.
..............................................
Esial peeked out through the tent door one more time. People in the camp were laughing and cooking, congratulating one another on a day's work well done.
"The sun is down," he said, crawling back to Khalid. "Eat, now!"
Khalid latched onto Esial's arm, too distracted by the upcoming task to feel so bad about feeding. Esial was impressed by the boy's tenacity and his ability to control himself. He had not complained once through the day about being hungry despite how his fledgling brain must have been going crazy.
Esial was surprised by how good he felt. His feet had grown back even faster than he expected when he removed the strange shackles and he felt as though had had a lot more blood and energy to give Khalid than he should have.
He suddenly recognized what it was.
"This is good timing," Esial said quietly. "There's a moon event tonight. There's a blood moon -lunar eclipse- coming, I think. That will help you run swiftly and will give us strength in the next few days."
Khalid finished eating, pulling back. "Is that why I feel so good?"
"I believe so," Esial said.
He hesitated, looking at the boy in front of him for a moment. He cupped Khalid's face and kissed his forehead. "I will see you later. Be very careful."
Khalid nodded nervously and stood up, reaching out a hand to help Esial up. Esial took it, turning Khalid around and fumbling with the collar until he got all of the complicated latches undone in the back, nearly impossible to do without looking, and Khalid touched his throat nervously.
"Run," Esial commanded through their bond. "Run faster than you have ever run before. Run as though there will be legends told about you in the future."
Khalid bolted out of the tent, dashing across the sands as Esial ran for the camp.
The men were breaking their fast now with the most delicious food he had ever smelled, and for a moment he wondered if he had done the wrong thing by showing himself instead of letting Khalid slip away quietly, but he quickly spotted Amon running across the camp, eyes fixed on Khalid's retreating figure.
Esial bolted for Amon, crashing into the vampire and fighting with all of his might. He had caught onto Amon's super speed now. Amon was fast, but it was only for a moment, and there were always a few moments in between each one, each gap bigger than the last.
As Esial managed to slip out of the first two attacks by throwing himself chaotically to the side at the right moment, he realized he could actually do alright in this fight. At least, well enough to keep Amon busy long enough for his fledgling to get far, far away from here.
"What is this, Esial!?" Amon gasped, turning to try and grab him by the throat. "Trying to help your fledgling escape!?"
Esial hissed, burying his fangs sharply in Amon's hand.
Amon roared and threw Esial off. Esial tripped on his new feet, still a little too small for him, and scrambled to get up, only just avoiding getting kicked in the gut.
"You thought you would come out and face me!? Naked for all the world to see!?"
Esial didn't really know of any other way to fight. Not like he really had clothes since he had been stripped naked and thrown into the sand to burn, but even back when he fought hippos he did not wear clothes to do it. Clothing was a precious commodity, and one did not destroy their clothing fighting if one could help it.
"I'll kill you," Esial hissed. "I'll kill you before you can get to him."
Amon threw back his head and laughed, easily avoiding Esial's next attack with another speed boost. He did not avoid the next one as Esial dragged his ragged claws down Amon's side, tearing into shirt and flesh as he did so.
Amon was angry now.
Esial only just kept from being slammed into over the next few second when he received a slam to the side of his head to hard, it broke his skull and snapped his neck. Esial went into torpor almost immediately.
When Esial came to, he found himself upright. Pain crackled up and down his neck as it healed and he opened his eyes to see the sands stretching far away ahead of him and the constellations fading as the sky on the horizon began to lighten.
Pain in his wrists and across his bare chest, stomach, arms, and shins let him know he had been bound to a pole with silver chains.
He took one small breath after another. It seemed as though it was back to the pole. The sun would come up and burn him just as it had every day for close to 5,000 years. Esial sighed out all of his air before taking small, controlled breaths again. He would survive. It would hurt, he would melt, but he would be fine.
He didn't hear any sounds of distress and the bond between him and Khalid still felt full, so he assumed that his fledgling had escaped with his life. Esial hoped he wouldn't be turned away from his village. He didn't want to think about what would happen to both of them if Khalid couldn't get in contact with Joseph and Muir.
He heard someone come around from behind him and Amon grabbed his face in a bruising grip, forcing eye contact.
"Good morning, Esial," Amon purred. "Would you like to explain what all that was about?"
Esial didn't say anything.
Amon growled a little. "Fine. Esial, you have put a small dent in my plans. The ritual is easier to pull off with two sacrificial vampires, but I had the perfect amount of humans before you let Khalid run off. I didn't want to have to kill one of the children, but it looks like I might have to, now."
Esial's chest hitched. "No, you-"
"Ah, ah, ah. This is your fault, not mine. Khalid was supposed to be the youngest to die. Now it will not be the case, and that is your fault. Don't worry, you will have time to think about it and mourn for the mistakes you have made. The ritual will not be performed until tomorrow evening. The blood moon. I hope you're ready, Esial."
Esial squirmed, trying to get Amon's hand off of him. "What ritual? What could you possibly-"
"You wouldn't know, of course," Amon cooed. "I will teach you, I promise. We'll see if you'll get to live to use that knowledge, though. Your life will be in the Sire's hands."
Esial snarled. "You can keep your thrice cursed Sire! I don't want to ever see that monster every again."
"Oh, but you will. I am interested to see what he will have to say about you. He was always.... interested in you, somehow." Amon frowned. "I wonder if he will finally tell me. I hope so."
Amon released Esial's jaw. "At least you have one thing you can cherish, my brother. Your fledgling did get away. I doubt he will live long, knowing the hearts of his people as I do, but he will not die by my hands."
Esial looked forward and away from Amon as the sky on the horizon lightened and tried not to think about the nightmare he was trapped in.
Part 31
From Dust to Ashes Taglist: @whumpsday @honeycollectswhump @writereleaserepeat @tragedyinblue @hyrules-sleepiest-knight
vampire!caretaker let out an exasperated growl and their shoulders drooped as they rolled their eyes. Ever since they had turned whumpee, they had tried to get them to drink their blood. But whumpee, the stubborn bastard, just would. Not. Take it.
“whumpee,” they tried again, mustering up the rest of their remaining patience, “you need to drink some of blood. You will continue to get weaker if you don’t.”
whumpee peaked their head out from their pile of pillows before narrowing their eyes and retreating their face back into their pillows with a small huff.
that was caretaker’s breaking point. Without another word, they sank their teeth into their own wrist, drawing blood. They then grabbed whumpee’s face, yanking them up right. They nearly reconsidered what they were about to do, seeing the scared, bewildered look on whumpee’s face, but they knew this was something they had to do.
they shoved their bleeding wrist in whumpee’s face, “drink. Now.” Whumpee let out what almost sounded like a whine before wrestling their head away. Caretaker seemed almost sympathetic for a second, they knew why whumpee was acting this way. It was also hard for them to come to terms with the fact that they’d have to drink blood after they turned.
but this was the only way to keep whumpee alive. And it wasn’t like whumpee was giving them many other options.
caretaker forced whumpee to look at them again before letting go of their face and placing their hand on the back of whumpee’s head. Without another word, caretaker forced whumpee’s face close to their bleeding wrist, forcing them to taken in the scent of their blood.
whumpee shut their eyes tight, tried to force their head away once more, tried to ignore the overwhelming stench of blood flooding their nostrils. But they couldn’t. And before they even knew it, their newly born instincts took over, and they bit their sore fangs into caretaker’s wrist, finally giving in and hungrily drinking their blood.
caretaker didn’t even flinch when whumpee bit them. In fact, they were relieved. Finally. Finally, they were drinking blood. Caretaker sighed before slowly and rhythmically petting whumpee’s head.
“that’s a good fledgling,” caretaker breathed.
later that day, caretaker carefully tucked whumpee back into their bed after they drank a sufficient amount of blood.
as they walked out of the room, they tried to ignore the heavy feeling in their chest as they remembered the regretful tears pricking whumpee’s eyes as they drank caretaker’s blood.
