Chapter Three: Interesting Choice of Friends
warning: suggestive content and some brief homophobia mention
“You have to go,” she said, sternly. She shouldn’t even have been here, but here she was. Again.
Midas– much younger here– protested, trying to run away. She was too fast for him. He was forced to look at gray eyes too similar to his own.
“If you don't go to school and behave yourself, I'm afraid I won't bring you anything from the bakery.”
“I didn't recall asking for anything from there.”
She pursed her lips. “So your father wasn't lying when he said you were talking back a lot more. Midas, my darling, I'm only trying to keep you from trouble. Even if you don't like it there, it's not like it will last forever.”
“What if they find out? The Elders might catch us.”
“I don't think they'll suspect it was you. A teacher, perhaps. Even me, placing a spell on you for a heathen ritual. But never you. Never a child.”
Midas hated the feeling, but even then, he didn't trust her. How could he? The other schoolchildren were whispering that she was a witch, and that his father may have to turn her in for magic someday if he wanted to keep favor with them. He wasn't doing poorly with the vampire hunters position, after all. Better than their fathers. And if they weren’t saying she was a witch, they were calling her other names they learned from their parents.
What was worse was that his mother was the one who cursed him with this strange power. She was filled with too much optimism and got so carried away by a spirit of magic she didn’t stop to think about the consequences of her actions. He used to love his “gift”, being able to be a rich child at will, and knowing how much he was loved before he was born. However, as years passed, he realized that maybe, because of his father, they would always stay the same, no matter how much money he generated for them. In fact, those habits would only get worse and worse. Just like today. And because of himself and his mother, they would always be treated as outcasts, even if they did manage to earn money naturally.
His father didn’t even spend much time with them as the years passed, always trailing after the Elders and their approval. As a result, Midas spent less time with him, seeking refuge in his cove or in his treehouse until his dad demolished it as a punishment for his “disobedient spirit.”
Midas woke up to the present time, the memory irking him. It was the day before she vanished. Midas hated remembering anything that made him feel emotions about things he couldn't change. There was no use dwelling over her being gone. She was probably taken somewhere he couldn't follow and she was probably dead. His father didn’t even disguise his disgust for him now that his wife was no longer around to influence him.
Midas suspected that if it weren't for the fact they shared blood together, his father would have exposed him to the Elders and had him burned. One less burden in his life. More money for him that came from the “good” people, not a shameful defect.
He looked outside, trying to focus on the moon, and remember if he had anything planned for tonight. He didn't have to wait for the chance to escape. His father was fast asleep by now.
Midas almost tripped over a pile of books while climbing out of bed. He aggressively kicked them to the side, some of them sliding to the door and hitting it. A lot of them were stupid tales of true love and adventure and happy endings. Others featured things that were much more “romantic,” with villainous immortals and their beloved mortal lovers. He hated them, despised how they taunted people with joy that did not exist. Adventures that could never be experienced. He wasn’t sure why he spent time reading them instead of getting a life like everyone else.
Midas had practically run to his cove, with only Bongo and his slingshot in tow. Terrence and nobody else was present, and he was grateful for that. However, on the way here, he could have sworn he saw two people walking around the woods, probably trying to reach the village. From the corner of his eye, he could catch at least one of them looking in his direction. Oh well. It wasn’t as if he was going to take the trouble of acting like their kind, helpful guide. They should have known better than to stray that far from town without having a good sense of direction. He threw the axe to the side, unsure of why it was there and to whom it belonged. Considering the fact that it had been there when the sun was still up, it was probably abandoned like trash. Maybe he could pick it up on his way back and sell it later.
Midas sat down on his usual rock, debating whether he should take the risk of swimming at night, with God knows what lying in wait to attack. He decided to just soak his feet in the water and toss random objects he found inside. Maybe count the fish that swam by and try to guess what kind they were.
As he was lost in thought, watching the moon's reflection in the rippling water, he eventually heard something curse and run past him so quickly it was a blur. Bongo hissed and hid behind a taller rock. Midas stood up, backing away to try to find the axe he so foolishly discarded or some stones for his slingshot.
“Who's there?!” he yelled. He cursed having to be in such a deserted area with barely any chance of reaching nearby townspeople, much less hunters. He should have known better than to stay at home when Terrence didn't decide to show up tonight.
He caught an extremely handsome young man sitting by the cove. Someone that was there before, but an outline he vaguely remembered. The blond man looked up at Midas with big blue eyes that reminded him of the ocean. He seemed to be wealthy– he was wearing this strange golden circlet, had no less than three bejeweled gold bracelets on each wrist, and he was wearing a rich blue that colored undoubtedly expensive fabric. He must be an idiot to ever walk in public, at night, dressed like that, with gold. Did he have a death wish?
“You claim to have visited here before, and yet, I've never seen you before,” Midas said when the man didn't answer him immediately. He was just ogling him. That unsettled Midas. Maybe he expected Midas to go through all the stupid formalities of introducing himself, and yet, why would he just trust this stranger from this horrid town at night? If Midas was more prone to violent forms of theft, he would have taken the opportunity to knock this fellow out and take everything he had. “Are you lost? I actually saw two people walking around here earlier. Where's your companion?”
“I don't live here. I come from a different place. And my companion is visiting a good friend of his.” He smiled. “This is such an ugly town, and I’m sad to say my opinions about it have not changed. Did you know that your bakery should go out of business? None of the other small towns I visited are this drab and uninteresting. They’re always rather charming.” He stood up and moved closer to Midas, to the point where the latter had to back away. Before he was able to, the man was able to lightly catch a curl of hair. “But you are a unique sight. I’ve never seen you around.”
“I made that observation first, about you.” He jerked away from the man's touch, finding it unwelcome and offensive. Midas then blinked because he was starting to feel radically dizzy. Maybe he should have eaten something before coming here. Maybe he should have kept sleeping. This was most definitely not because of this stranger.
The man only smiled more and kept approaching. Midas almost slipped, and he caught this. He tilted his head, curious.
“Do you need help? You don’t look so well, Nameless Boy.” Another spell of dizziness.
“I’m doing just fine, thank you. As for you, I highly suggest you leave and go back to wherever you came from, because you’ll either get mugged or burnt at the stake for witchcraft. Or, a hunter will think you’re a night creature and behead you.” Midas was able to move farther away from the cove, but this man persistently followed him. “I’m currently not open to new friends, especially not ones that live miles and miles away! So, please leave or I’ll tell my dad!”
The man started laughing, and only came after Midas faster. “What’s your name?”
“What’s yours?” Midas shot back. This person did not understand what no meant.
And then Midas caught it.
As the man was still laughing as if he heard the funniest thing in the world, Midas spotted two sharp fangs from this creature's mouth. He also heard faint shouting from the distance.
“Get the hell away from me,” he hissed, trying not to feel afraid. He backed towards where the axe was. Not too far from a dead tree.
Midas suspected this vampire had been trying to spell him and get into his head, because he was battling thoughts of adoration and love. Considering how this monster couldn't control his body or even effectively get into his mind, Midas suspected that he was very weak for his kind. He certainly didn't even have to use his golden touch to stop him.
Not like that would have solved anything, because he would still be alive, just temporarily encased. And Midas would also be hunted down by the very people he needed to help him.
“I just want to help you,” the vampire called out, desperately trying to make Midas feel safe. Midas picked up his slingshot and was able to find a few stones. The vampire still didn't step back at this silent threat of violence, still trying to talk to him.
“I'm not here to hurt you! I promise! I-”
Midas hit it between the eyes with a larger stone from his slingshot, knocking it out within seconds. It even bled.
He practically ran to the tree now, with his slingshot in hand.
Midas reached for the axe, about to swing this creature's head off his body when he came at it, until something slammed into him, tackled him to the ground and twisted his wrist so hard Midas dropped the axe. The weapon was thrown out of his reach moments later, and both wrists were snatched and pinned to the tree.
It was another vampire, probably that companion trailing after the blue-eyed creep. It had to be a stronger one, maybe even its monarch, because Midas could not look away at the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. His pulse spiked with either fear or excitement. Maybe both.
Midas struggled from the creature's grip as he saw the fangs appearing longer and sharper than ever. Oddly enough, he wasn't scared after all. In fact, he somewhat relished in the closeness of something so beautiful, even if it was technically a horrific creature. The more he fought it, the more it held him in place. However, it finally let him stand up as it glanced at its servant, moaning in pain and rubbing its head. Midas smiled as he saw a trickle of blood roll down its forehead.
“Don’t run,” he–or it– hissed. “You'll only have yourself killed– in a bloody way.”
Midas kicked at the vampire, returning to reality, but it dodged him and held on tightly again. This time it squeezed his throat. His mouth loomed closer to his neck, making Midas’ heart beat faster than what was safe for him. Did it have a name? Oh, this was pointless because clearly monster as he was, he was still a person at one point. Midas didn't even think of how traitorous that would sound to the Elders.
“You tried to kill him,” he went on, rushing in a manner that felt so at odds with his character. “You dared to try to kill the King of the Vampires. My twin.” He loosened his grip on his throat, probably awaiting a response from Midas.
Midas felt the swiftness in his tone was due to a strange battle for self-control rather than pure anger on his supposed brother's behalf. He heard shouting voices, especially an angry woman's, approaching closer, but somehow he didn't bother to pay attention.
“I don't bow down to vampiric royalty,” Midas snapped. “Besides, your king tried to kidnap me! And probably kill me.”
“You're glad I'm choosing to spare your life,” he said, calmer this time. He was no longer trying to strangle Midas, and the current lightness in his touch kind of made his victim go insane. Was it a desire to have a reason to hit back with more force? Or could it be something else he didn't really understand?
After all, Midas hated how he kept thinking that this was a furiously lovely, electric creature. He didn't know if this was envy as a human for immortality or something else. There were even seconds he thought it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to die. At least he’d die in the arms of an infuriatingly perfect monster. And maybe he’d become more of a monster than he already was, just to torture this one in revenge. Though what that torture would consist of, Midas wasn't too sure.
In this moment, Midas wasn't sure of anything, only aware of the heartbeat and the rush of adrenaline and the thoughts about him. How close he was. How if he wanted, Midas could… He was so so so close, and he felt himself gripping this vampires shoulders, not thinking about anything but how it would be better to enjoy being drained to death from every drop of blood he had–
The vampire abruptly backed away, glancing at Rhian, the King, now. His cheeks had the slightest traces of red in them. “No. It’s just a spell,” he snapped. “Don’t think too much of it, mortal.”
Midas inched towards the axe, but paused as the lovely creature swung to him. Staring intently at him. Tense.
Deflect, Deflect, Deflect.
Except, the ways he wanted to do it were stupid and dangerous. God, all he had to do was talk his way out of the situation. Not start kissing monsters in plain sight.
Especially when that plain sight was going to involve the hunters and the townsfolk of Gavaldon arriving to help him, because he could clearly hear them now. Somehow, they knew he was in danger. Midas didn't need to feed their stake for kissing a vampire– a male one at that.
“Is he really the king?” Midas asked, his blasted eyes too fixated on “Rhian’s” brother.
“Of course I am!” Rhian groaned. “Can't you tell?”
“Not really.”
“I have a circlet. Gold, just like your magic!”
“You're making me wish I could turn things to silver now!” Midas backed away from both of them, away from the weapon. Fighting his way out of this himself may not end well, and possibly turning these fellows into gold would only be a temporary– and foolish– decision. They would never let him make it out alive. Especially as Rhian was far more powerful than he could have guessed.
Also, it was eerie how the king knew about it when Midas never even told him. How long had he been watched?
Midas was aching for this stupid crowd to actually take action instead of shouting exorcism prayers. Arrows, knives, anything.
“Rhian, we really don't have time. They're after me. We either leave the mortal or you take him now, before they catch us!”
“Why on earth–”
“That is a story to be told later, Rhian. So will you get him, or will you leave him?”
Rhian, finally fully recovering, dashed at Midas, and yanked him over with surprising force. An arrow grazed his ear, but he was relentless in getting his prey. Midas tried to kick at him, but Rafal rushed to the scene, hissing as a silver cross hit his face, and started talking. Hurriedly. He could hear crowds of Gavaldon citizens shrieking and yelling, Arabella’s mother being the loudest, calling them monsters, demons, creatures from hell, and other ugly names, but Midas soon lost focus because his brain was stormed with thoughts about how much he adored Rhian and would follow him to the ends of the earth. Rhian wouldn’t need to go through all the trouble of dragging him along, because Midas would follow without hesitation. It came to a point where he couldn’t even fight it anymore, and soon he felt pulled around like some doll in a child’s hand, but at ten times the speed. He felt something be placed in his other hand, and he felt the skin of the other vampire, who was also pretty nice to look at and whom Midas certainly did not think about “distracting” before. Midas almost fell forward because his head hurt so terribly, and flooded with thoughts about the vampire king again. It wasn’t too long before he felt a slight prick at the back of his neck and went totally unconscious.
Ao3 version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66931327/chapters/185560631
