Content: Vampire whumper, human whumpee, defiant whumpee, kidnapping, bad blood drinking etiquette
Hi!!! I've finally edited the first few chapters of @whumpsday and I's RP!! It features Kane with a different, more spicy victim instead of Jim. My OC Keegan!
Next
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Keegan jogs her way down the dimly lit street of her neighborhood. It’s her third time around the block tonight and her restlessness is still not abating. Running used to be one of her favorite hobbies, but ever since she became Lohitha’s guardian, anything other than work feels like a waste of time. Unfortunately, her coworkers practically forced her out the door to take the night off.
She already tried calling her hunting partner twice. The first time she talked Keegan down by saying how important it is to ‘rest your body and mind’. The second time she basically told Keegan to fuck off, as this was also her night off, though she said it in a much kinder way. So now Keegan is stuck here, finishing another lap and trying desperately to relax.
After another ten minutes or so, Keegan comes to a halt at an empty bus stop. Her hands itch for her missing hunting gear. She pulls out a cigarette instead. ‘I’ll have to take a shower when I get home,’ she thinks as she lights it. Otherwise her sister, Lohitha, will yell at her again when she smells the smoke clinging to her skin. Keegan leans back against the rain cover and takes a long drag, watching the moths fluttering around the lamp post.
---
That one.
She looks young enough to last a long time, but still fully-grown, full of all the blood an adult human should have. She smells absolutely delicious. And she's just standing there, all alone.
Kane crinkles his nose at the smell of that thing emitting smoke at her mouth. He'd heard of humans doing that, but he'd never seen it in person. But it won't be a concern once she's his. Running fast enough to catch her off guard in lieu of his missing persuasion, Kane snatches the human girl, holding her tight in his arms as he dashes back to where he parked his car.
---
It happens so fast that for a moment Keegan doesn't even register what is going on. The world is a disorienting blur around her. Then, she recognizes the speed, and the strength of the arms that have grabbed her.
Fuck. Now of all times?
She lets out a shout of surprise and rage and kicks wildly against the monster's hold on her. This fucker chose the wrong human.
The human's kicks are weak, as expected. Kane is definitely glad he took the car, though: dealing with this the whole way back would be incredibly annoying.
"Stop fussing," he snaps as he tosses her into his backseat, quickly grabbing the rope he brought with him.
Keegan whirls around instantly when she hits the seat and aims a kick to his face.
"Fucking leech!" She snarls.
She won't win a wrestling match with a vampire, not even close, but anything to make him flinch will give her the chance to grab her weapon. A small stake, hidden away in her boots. She may be off duty, but no way in hell does she ever leave the house without one. For this reason exactly.
Kane isn't really hurt, but he is stunned for a moment, long enough for the human to get out the stake she was apparently hiding.
"Shit," he hisses under his breath. He grabs her wrist as fast as he can, holding it tight. "Drop it," he orders.
Keegan is surprised that no persuasion follows the order. It's a blessing that she's been able to fight back at all so far. She doesn't have time to wonder why. She yanks her arm with a growl, but the vampire has an iron grip on her wrist. He grabbed her before she could even attempt a strike. Still, she does not drop the stake.
Kane snatches the stake with his other hand and tosses it from the car, then holds her down with a knee to the abdomen so he can use his hands to tie her up.
"Stop struggling!" he orders, frustrated. It's supposed to be easier than this.
Keegan watches helplessly as the vampire tosses away her only weapon.
"Fuck you!" She spits, fighting with all her might against the knee on her stomach.
Her struggles are practically useless. She sees him reach for a coil of rope and her stomach sinks as she begins to realize how fucked she is. She's trapped and alone with no backup. Where are her fellow hunters??
Any moment now this thing is going to get sick of tussling and hypnotize her. She freezes, staring into the vampires angry, red eyes. She's not going to win this fight. Her only hope now is to stall him until someone takes notice. So, she grits her teeth, swallows her pride, and shouts for help.
"HELP! VAMPIRE! HELP ME!"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Kane drops the rope and grabs the duct tape instead, hastily plastering some over the human's mouth. He then gets set, tying her up for the car ride home, looking around frantically as he does so, even though he feels a little pathetic for it. They're just humans.
When he has the human all tied up, he slams the door and gets in the front seat, beginning the drive home.
The vampire silences her with the tape and Keegan screams in rage, which morphs into fear as she's restrained and the door shuts on her. She kicks at the door but can't get a good angle the way she's been tied. She feels the engine rev to life under her and the car starts to move. Her heart beats a mile a minute and she swirls her head around hoping to find something, anything that can help her. But there's nothing.
It all happened so fast that it didn't matter if people were nearby. No one came in time. She's restrained and she's lost her stake. There's nothing she can do. She's being taken. Frustrated, fearful tears well up in her eyes. She stares at the back of the Vampire's head as he drives. Where is he taking her? The blood farms? Why didn't he hypnotize her? Does he want her lucid?
……Is he going to drain her like the one who took her mother?
---
Kane’s irritation fades into giddiness as he drives away. He's done it, he's caught a human of his very own!
It's about an hour's drive back home. He plays classical piano on the car radio, a wonderful invention.
He parks in his driveway, opening the car door to retrieve his prize. "No more struggling," he orders, hefting the human up and taking her inside.
Keegan's panicked thoughts turn to Lohitha as she's stolen away from home. Who knows what's in store for her, but her sister? She'll be all alone. She's only 12… Too young to fend for herself. God, what if she goes back to their dad? anything would be better than that. She prays that her friends will help her out. Her hunting partner always liked Lohitha, maybe she'll take her in?
Her worries are interrupted when the Vampire stops the car and returns to grab her. If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead the moment the door opened. She glares daggers into him but remains still as ordered. She's not getting anywhere tied up like this. Her best bet is to save her strength. Still, she can't stop shaking.
‘Perfect,’ Kane thinks. She was probably just lashing out because it was so sudden, and now that she's had some time to calm down, she'll behave.
Kane carries her into the house and immediately into the human quarters, setting her down on the bed. “I am Kane de Sang, seventh-born of Aldrich de Sang. From this day forth, you will serve as my source of human blood.” He rips the duct tape off. “I presume you have questions.”
Keegan is relieved at least, to arrive at a house. Being a personal bloodbag is probably the better option… Of a terrible selection of outcomes. She immediately takes note of the path from the front door as she's taken deeper into the building.
The vampire's name is apparently Kane. Good for him. She'd much rather call him Dickhead.
Keegan has many questions. The smart thing to do would be to lay low; feel out her situation and start planning an escape accordingly.
Instead, she spits in his face the moment the tape is removed.
"Ugh!" Kane wipes his eye, immediately pissed, and grabs her tightly by the chin. "You little shit! You are going to learn some respect, or you will regret it," he warns. "Do you understand me?"
Oh, Keegan does not Like him touching her face. He could snap her neck easily with just a flick of his wrist. Her only solace is that he'd probably have done that already if that was his plan. If she's to be his food source, then he'll want to keep her alive. She glowers at him.
"You kidnapped the wrong person if you're looking for respect." She growls. "Why haven't you hypnotized me?"
Kane barely restrains himself from violence. It's her first day. He's better than her juvenile retorts.
“I do not require such rudimentary tricks in order to keep one measly human in line," he huffs instead, not looking her in the eye. "You will behave, human."
He lets go of her, pointing to the two other doors as he speaks. "Kitchen, bathroom. There's a notepad in the kitchen where you can write down anything you need. Your sustenance is my sustenance." He starts to untie her. "I will come in here to feed from you once per night."
Keegan picks up on the defensiveness immediately. She decides that she's probably pushed her luck enough for now and doesn't comment, instead filing the information away for later.
She remains still as Kane unties her. Bolting for the door immediately will get her nowhere. "That's all?" She asks, unable to hide her nervousness. "Just the feeding?"
She's dealt with plenty of vampires before and has her fair share of scars. She can handle a little bite. As long as this vampire isn't some kind of sadist, she'll be fine.
"Yes. That is your purpose," Kane confirms matter-of-factly. "You will provide me with blood, and you will behave while doing so. No more spitting. I won't hesitate to discipline you if I have to."
discipline. Like a misbehaving child. Keegan scowls at the phrasing.
Kane gathers the rope. "Do you have any actual questions?"
"No. You eat and I waste away in a windowless room for the rest of my life. Seems self-explanatory." Keegan says sarcastically. Doesn't matter, she won't be here for long.
"Very well. I'll see you tomorrow evening." And with that, Kane leaves her to her devices.
The moment the vampire is out the door, Keegan is up and searching the rooms for anything that could be used as a weapon. The kitchen is stocked with quality knives, not fatal to a vampire, but they'll hurt just the same. She also checks for anything that she could possibly whittle down into a stake. Wooden cooking spoons, a broom handle, even a table leg would do.
She grows increasingly more frustrated as her search turns up nothing. It makes logical sense, but it pisses her off anyway. She kicks the wall next to her in anger. The knives are much more risky, but if she can slice up his ankles or knees then he'll be incapacitated. Hell, cutting up his throat would choke him out, though this all depends on if she can avoid his iron grip.
Keegan flops back down on the bed and holds her head in her hands. She roughly wipes away a few tears that have gathered in her eyes. She is not gonna cry. She needs to be strong. Stay focused and get out.
For now though, she needs to try and get some rest. She’s exhausted. She lies down on top of the covers, not bothering to change her clothes.
----
Kane comes back the next night, full of excitement. He finally has his own human, just like he's supposed to! Sure, she's a bit feisty, but he's sure she'll mellow out with time, once she learns her place. He feels a little bitter that he can't just make her behave with persuasion, but he'll show that he doesn't need it. He'll show them all.
"Good evening, human," he greets as he enters the human quarters the next night.
"My name is Keegan." Keegan says from her place on the bed. She sits up with a huff. She didn't get a wink of sleep. Her head feels foggy. No escape attempts tonight.
“You presume too highly of your status if you believe we are on a first-name basis,” He condescends. This isn't something vampires with persuasion need to deal with. He'd be mortified if his family ever saw his human conversing with him in this way. “Speaking of which, you will refer to me as either Master or Sir.”
‘Oh, absolutely not.’ The idea alone sours her stomach. "You presume too highly of yourself," She mocks, "to think I'll be doing that, vampire."
Kane rolls his eyes and lets it go for now. There will be plenty of time for minor details like that: it's time for the actual important part. "Whatever. I'm hungry." He approaches his human. "Move your head to the side," he orders.
Keegan sighs and strips off her outer shirt, not wanting to risk it getting bloody. Her scars are now on full display. She has a few more than is usual for a hunter, as she tends to take more... active approach to hunting. Her coworkers might call it reckless, she calls it efficient.
There's a handful of scratches down her arms and a bite around her wrist, but the most prominent one is a trio of deep gouges into her left shoulder. That one needed a lot of stitches.
"Does it really have to be the neck?" She asks. "The arm would work just as well." She holds her right one out.
Kane lowers her arm back down for her. "Yes," he insists.
He suddenly realizes he's not quite sure how to approach this. He never received lessons, like most nobles would. He tests out a few different angles before giving up on trying to figure it out and just biting down on his human's neck.
Keegan watches warily as the vampire scrutinizes her neck. She would much rather he bite her arm, the throat is so... vulnerable. She focuses on keeping her breathing steady and tenses up when Kane seems to find what he's looking for. She cries out in pain at the bite. It’s so much worse than she expected.
He's not doing it correctly. He's not quite sucking blood so much as catching the blood that's coming out of her neck and into his mouth, too fast for him to swallow it all. Some blood spills down onto her collarbone.
Keegan’s eyes widen in alarm when she feels hot blood pouring down her neck. Fuck, he's going to kill her! She shoves against his shoulders in a panic, trying to pry him off. "Stop- Fuck, STOP!"
The shoving is bad, it's making everything worse. Kane rips his fangs out to speak. "Stay still!"
Normal vampires don't have to deal with this, a human who screams and fights back. It only sours his mood more. But- “That wasn’t right. It’s not supposed to go like that,” he mutters to himself.
Keegan scrambles back as soon as he lets go, covering her gushing wound. Kane's face is stained red and for a moment, all Keegan sees is the monster... It looms menacingly over her, eyes glowing. It's maw glistening with the blood of her mother who lies motionless behind it-
It takes significant effort to push past the memory. She blinks hard, focusing on the pain to keep her grounded in the present. "N-no shit!' She sputters.
Kane grimaces, frustrated with himself and his human alike. "Respect," he snaps, reminding her.
He dashes over and removes her hand from her neck, leaning in again.
The vampire has already torn open her throat, and now he's coming back for more. Keegan screams and tries to block him with her arms. "No! Don't touch me, you're going to kill me!"
"You idiot." Kane yanks her arms out of the way, then swipes his tongue across her wound. The blood quickly clots, stopping the bleeding. "Stop being so prone to panic. We're done for tonight."
Keegan relaxes somewhat when Kane only closes the wound. She feels woozy from blood loss but at least she won't lose anymore. She slumps back against the wall.
" You tore a damn hole in my throat!" She says. "Haven't you done this before??"
“I… have not,” Kane admits begrudgingly, frustrated. "So you're simply going to have to be patient while I figure it out."
Keegan stares at him incredulously. "Wh- seriously? I'm the first?" Maybe that’s a good thing. If he's an amateur then he won't be expecting any serious resistance. But only if he doesn't kill her by accident.
"Well, here's a tip. Maybe avoid the artery next time." She says sarcastically.
Kane glares at her. "Watch the tone. We'll try again tomorrow." He sighs, shaking his head, agitated. "Do you have a list?"
One aspect of having a human with no persuasion that's actually good is that they can pick out their own food. A human would know best what a human eats, and if they eat well, so will he.
Right, the grocery list. Keegan was so caught up in her search for a weapon and general distress that she completely forgot that little detail. She remembers seeing a strange assortment of foods in the cupboards during her search. Keegan doesn't think she can make much out of just those ingredients, this isn't an episode of Chopped. She grimaces. "Right, uh. Give it here and I'll write some shit down real fast."
Kane's glare deepens. "Tone. This is your final warning. You do not give me orders, human. I give the orders, and you listen." He points to the kitchen. "Your notepad is in there. Write down your list and don't keep me waiting."
Keegan rolls her eyes. "Was less of an order and more of a suggestion. You just spilled my blood everywhere and now I'm lightheaded. But fine, since it's such an inconvenience for you.”
She snatches up the notepad and writes a short list of the first things that come to mind. Milk, cheese, rice, some vegetables, etc. After a moment of thought she adds hard cider, mostly out of curiosity to see if he'll get it. She tears off the paper, fold it in half, and hands it to Kane as she walks back into the bedroom.
Kane takes the note without looking at it, surely full of human foods he won't recognize anyway.
He doesn't like the way his human talks to him. "You will come to understand that you are the prey and I am the predator. You will do as I say and you will treat me with respect while you do it. Do not test me."
He leaves her, for now.
‘I've killed more of your kind than you have fingers on your hands,’ Keegan thinks. He'll realize who he's dealing with soon enough.
She takes a quick shower to rinse herself of blood and changes into one of the plain outfits provided for her. The pants are too small and don’t cover her ankles. She sighs in irritation. Then she rummages around in the kitchen to actually eat something, as that is probably a significant reason for her dizziness. She didn't exactly have an appetite yesterday after being kidnapped. Her neck aches fiercely all throughout.
After getting herself settled and fed, she lays out all her potential weapons on the counter. Time to make a plan.
‘‘The Best Of Tom Church’‘, illustration for Role-playing Public Radio.
A humble tribute to the strong right hand of the podcast: the resident high-roller, ghoul enthusiast, catcher of phrases, player of guntoting badasses, sexy monstermen and tough guys who love their mommas.
Illustrations draw from scenes in Operation Downslope, God’s Teeth, Canon, Candle Cove, The Brutalists, Fallen Flag, Know Evil, Bryson Springs and Divine Fire.
Content: Vampire whumper, defiant whumpee, mind control, death threats, loneliness, angst
This one is twice as long as the others lol
First/Previous/Next
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For the first two years, things remain generally the same. The hostility and abuse intertwined with the mundane of everyday life. For Kane, it's all leading up to something. Something big. And as it approaches, closer and closer, he begins to worry he's not ready. His human isn't ready. She's calmed down a bit compared to when he first got her, but she's still defiant. He still disciplines her with frequency. This is bad.
After hemming and hawing over what to do, he enters the human quarters. Before even feeding, he brings attention to the matter at hand.
"I'm laying my cards on the table. I need something from you."
-----
Keegan has gotten far too comfortable with her imprisonment over the past two years. She knows she has, but there's not much she can do about it. There's a few small opportunities over time where she thinks she might be able to escape, but then she remembers how miserable those two months of recovery with her ribs were, and she lets it go. Too risky. She needs something big.
So she copes. She fights back when she's feeling brave, then nurses the bruises she's given for the trouble. She takes out her anger on the poor abused punching bag and tries not to think about the outside world. Stay in the present. Survive each day and keep your head clear. It'll be worth it.
Still, she can't help but perk up when Kane makes a change to their usual schedule. He needs something and he's not just demanding it? She's curious now.
"Yeah?" She asks.
“There’s this… family reunion next week. Well, not just my family. It’s for all of the important families. Mine’s the most important, of course.” His face lights up with condescending pride for a moment before falling back into nerves. “We’re going, and I need you to behave. What's it going to take?"
That's a lot to take in. A family reunion for a bunch of rich vampires?
On one hand, Keegan is almost excited at the thought, even though she'd only be going as an accessory. She's always wanted to go to a fancy party. On the other hand, she hasn't been out of the house since the doctor visit, and just that short time was terrifying.
"What... exactly would I be doing at this event?"
"Oh, not much. Everyone brings their humans as a sign of status. So this- this is the first time I'll be going." Kane wrings his hands anxiously. "All the others will be under persuasion, obviously. All you'll need to do is follow me around, largely silently, and follow orders if given. It will be very easy."
Honestly, it doesn't sound too bad to Keegan. It'd be the first time a vampire hunter has ever observed vampire high society and (hopefully) lived to tell about it. But, it's clear Kane is anxious as hell about this, and willing to offer her something in return. She's not about to miss this chance. She bites her lip, thinking.
What does she want? She'd really like her stove back, microwave meals got old a long time ago, and she misses cooking. Or maybe some time outside? She's been breathing stale air for years. But no, there's something else. Something she needs, and this might be her only chance.
She straightens up, crosses her arms, and looks Kane dead in the eye. "Let me call my sister, and you've got a deal."
"Deal," Kane agrees instantly. "You may make one phone call, supervised, if you behave. That means you will act like a proper human in public. You will not stray. You will obey my orders. You will not speak unless spoken to. You will address me as Master or sir. You will show no signs of defiance or misbehavior. Are we clear?"
Keegan's heart leaps. He's actually agreeing to it? She grimaces at all the ways she has to submit to him, but it's basically meaningless in exchange for that phone call.
"Yes!" She says immediately. Maybe too excitedly, she doesn't want him getting used to this easy compliance, but she can't help it.
"Good." Kane tries to reign in his own excitement, maintain his dignity. His human behaving herself should be the standard, not something to get out of sorts about.
He has to be serious.
“Just know,” he adds, “that if you defy me publicly, I’ll kill you on the spot. I’ll have to, of course, for my reputation.”
"Of course."
The threat gives Keegan pause, not because she plans on being defiant, but because she's not very good at it. She tends to fuck up even when she doesn't mean to.
‘Just focus on the prize, Keegan.’
"Perfect." This might actually work. Kane might actually be presentable. "Now, your neck. I'm hungry."
---
The week passes in a blur. Kane has the human pick out a nice, classy dress from a catalog- he's never had an eye for women's fashion, and he supposes that at least one advantage of having a human with a mind of her own is she can make that decision for him.
On the night of the reunion, he's an utter nervous wreck. He chooses to drive, not wanting to mess his clothes up running and considering it more comfortable for both himself and the human.
"This has to go perfectly," he mutters, half to himself, half to the human in the passenger seat. "No funny business."
"I got it." Keegan insists for what feels like the millionth time.
She's got no idea what's making Kane so nervous, he's cagey about anything relating to his family. It’s making her nervous about what's in store. But, it's a reunion. A party. Whatever has got him rattled is probably some sort of petty drama. Keegan shouldn't panic. She'll follow directions, stay out of the way, and hope for the best. And, hey, the dress is nice.
They arrive just slightly early, exactly as planned. As they enter the decadent ballroom, Kane scans for his parents, but neither seems to have arrived yet. There are lots of other vampires here, though he knows many are still to come. He recognizes several members of his family and of other noble families, but no one he's close to. Each vampire has a perfectly hypnotized human beside them, and it only makes him more self-conscious.
Worse, he gets looks and whispers. He tries to fight the blush that he knows is creeping up his face as he looks around for anyone at all who he knows well enough to chat with.
Unfortunately, just as he's contemplating going to speak with his older sister, Eloise, despite her quite low opinion of him, a far less-palatable sibling approaches him first.
“Kane! What a surprise, I wouldn’t have expected to see you here in a million years!” Anton greets with his human in tow. He grins widely from ear to ear, fangs on display.
-----
Keegan can practically smell the old money of this place. Everyone here has an aura of importance and snobbery, only worsened by their predatory, vampiric eyes. All her fellow humans are dressed up like she is, but unlike her, have all been lost to persuasion. They couldn't have chosen their outfit from a catalog like she did. They're dressed up by their masters like dolls. Trophies.
Objects.
‘Why do they even bother?’ She thinks. ‘We're all just 'food' after all.’
It's awful. Keegan can't watch for long and looks down at her feet, shuffling after her own 'master'. She's so very grateful to have her mind intact, and since they can't feel for themselves, she'll endure their suffering for them. They deserve to be remembered and mourned.
A new voice breaks Keegan out of her thoughts. Kane's older brother, apparently. Keegan's hackles raise immediately when he starts talking. This guy is no good, it's written all over his face. Another very punch-able one, in her opinion. Maybe it runs in the family. Kane though, seems just as uncomfortable as she is and she hopes he'll cut this conversation short.
-----
“Hello, Anton.” Kane says through gritted teeth. “Yes, as you can see, I have a human now. No reason for me not to be here anymore, is there?”
“Yeah, I heard! Only took you a century!” Anton laughs. “I gotta admit, you’ve done well for once in your life, baby brother.” He claps Kane on the back, laughing again.
Kane is not pleased. “Well, no one gives a shit what you think.”
“Oh, don’t be like that, it was a compliment! You’re so sensitive. I mean it! Wrangling a human when you can’t use persuasion at all, it’s very impressive stuff! In fact, the result might be even better. This one’s been hypnotized so much that she hardly reacts even when uninfluenced.” He waved a hand in front of his own human’s face to no response.
Anton turns his gaze directly onto Keegan, eyeing her discomfort hungrily. “See, just like that. I like to see the emotion in their eyes. It’s so boring otherwise.” He leans in close enough for Keegan to smell his shitty cologne. “Having a good time, little lady?”
Keegan's hand twitches at her side, just barely keeping still. He is way too close. She leans as far away as she thinks she can get away with, face full of disgust. What the fuck. If this creep is related to Kane, what is the rest of his family like?? She hopes he can see the murderous intent in her eyes, in lieu of being able to act on them. ‘I'm not afraid of you, leech.’
She might be a little afraid.
Anton loses a bit of interest at her non-response, but the idea has sparked something as he turns back to Kane. “Maybe I’ll try training my next one without persuasion. I mean, it can’t be that hard if you could do it, right?”
Kane rolls his eyes, nudging his human away from Anton. “Thank you so much for that, Anton. Goodbye.”
“Aw, stop, stop, I’m half-kidding. Seriously, great pick. She smells delicious. I’ve just got to have a little taste. You don’t mind, do you?”
Anton takes a step straight toward Keegan and reaches for her neck.
Keegan's heart spikes with fear. She does not want this man touching her. Her hand itches for a stake she hasn't touched in years. Anton is clearly the bully type, and in this case she's the toy he's trying to steal from his victim. He could break her like a twig just to get at Kane. Luckily, Kane steps in and keeps him away, grabbing his wrist and continuing the conversation like her life didn't just flash before her eyes.
“I do mind, actually. If your human’s blood is of such lower quality than mine, I’m sure you can find a suitable replacement on your own, since you’re just so capable.”
Anton rips his hand from Kane’s grasp, the smile never leaving his face. “Of course, makes perfect sense that you’re so possessive of your very first human! Oh, I remember those days. Well, good luck, I can’t wait to see what Mother and Father think.” He smirks before sauntering off.
“Can you believe that guy?” Kane grumbles with a huff.
Keegan relaxes significantly when Anton leaves. "He was... something." Keegan says quietly. Oh, she has opinions alright but doesn't dare speak them outloud, even if Kane might actually share them. She glances around the room, seeing other vampires sharing their humans. It makes her feel ill. "Sir, are... others going to feed from me tonight?" Kane didn't let his brother, but it's clear they aren't friends. No one mentioned she was going to be a party snack.
"No. No one I would say yes to would be tactless enough to ask in the first place." It's an easy answer, one he doesn't have to even consider. The idea of Mother or Father asking to feed from his human is laughable.
Keegan sighs in relief. "OK. Thanks." She's sure it's not for her sake, but still. She's glad for it.
-----
After the encounter with Anton, Kane is too intimidated to try approaching his other older siblings who he's even less close with. He eyes the entrance as people come in, sticking anxiously to the wall, when he finally sees someone he knows well. Unfortunately.
Bellamy comes waltzing in, a human at his side, arm linked with his- and like Kane's own, obviously unpersuaded. “What is he doing here?” he mutters to himself, alarmed.
The entrance garners more gossipy whispers than his own, and that's when he realizes this could be good. “Wait. Wait, this is great, actually. He could take the heat off me.”
That is, until Bellamy locks eyes with him for the first time in decades, and Kane realizes he's screwed. He tries to take off, beckoning his human to follow behind him, but Bellamy catches up easily.
“Kane, my dear, it has simply been too long!” His voice is sing-songy and light.
“Fuck off, I can’t be seen with you! Why are you even here?” Kane hisses.
The woman at Bellamy's side looks to be in her thirties, and perfectly content to be here, despite full awareness of the situation. She waves at Keegan with a warm smile.
Keegan is happy to hide at the edges of the party. Avoiding any more conversation would make the night easier to get through. But of course it doesn't last long, when a vampire and his lucid human make a beeline towards them.
The human lady waves at her. Keegan stares dumbfounded for a moment before sending a small one back. She has so many questions. God does it feel good to look into another human's eyes. She looks kind. Too kind to be in this hellhole.
Bellamy looks genuinely hurt by Kane’s words, his eyebrows knotting together briefly before he regains his composure. “Oh, politics. Some people are hard to get a hold of, and this made for a fantastic opportunity. Though I was unaware you’d number among them tonight! Shall we meet in private, darling? We absolutely must catch up.”
Kane taps his foot, agitated. “Fine, just get away from me before people start thinking we’re together.”
The man winks. “Follow me in five.”
He and the woman disappear down one of the connecting hallways.
Having no one else to gossip to, Kane turns to Keegan. “That guy? He had his entire life handed to him on a golden platter. Cast away everything by refusing to take a human when he came of age. No one who’s anyone would be caught dead associating with him anymore. He was the eldest son in the most important family next to mine and now he’s an even bigger laughing stock than me! Ugh, of course he won’t even use persuasion on the human that he now apparently has. Has to fucking flaunt it. Can’t believe he’s showing his face here.”
Keegan can't tell if he's actually expecting an answer from her. She opens and closes her mouth a few times before settling on, "She didn't seem like she needed it, sir." What's so special about this vampire that his human is perfectly content by his side? Keegan envies her.
"Well, lucky fucking him." Kane responds.
-----
After a short while has passed, Kane follows down the same path the other pair had taken minutes ago. He weaves through corridors before they arrive at the storage room he and Bellamy would always hide out in when they were boys, boxes piled high around the two waiting for them.
As soon as they enter, Bellamy moves toward Kane with arms outstretched, obviously going in for a hug. Kane holds out a hand to stop him. “Cut that shit out. Why am I here?”
“Well, it’s been so long!” Bellamy exclaims. “It’s been, what, eighty-five years? Do you have a telephone, my dear? Marvelous things, humans do simply come up with the most amazing inventions. We should exchange numbers, keep in better touch!”
“Did you somehow forget what happened the last time we spoke?” Kane eyes the woman. “Why do you have a human? Finally come to your senses?”
“Oh of course, where are my manners?” He turned to Keegan. “My name is Bellamy Verta,” He gives a little bow, “and this beautiful young lady is Caroline.” He gestures to his companion with an extravagant flourish.
“It’s nice to meet you both.” she says.
“And who might you be, young lady?” Bellamy asks Keegan.
In stark contrast to the last vampire they spoke to, this ‘Bellamy’ almost immediately puts Keegan at ease. First of all, he calls his human by her name, Caroline. Keegan has never heard her name come out of Kane's mouth. Second, he's speaking directly to her. Not at her, or ignoring her completely.
"Keegan." She responds. Then with a quick glance at Kane, reluctantly adds, "...Sir."
"It's lovely to meet you, Keegan." Bellamy reaches out and shakes her hand, his grip soft and warm in mannerism, even if his hands themselves are a bit cold. "I do hope you're not finding this party completely dreadful."
Bellamy turns back to Kane. “As for your question, Caroline and I have a mutually beneficial relationship. She is no prisoner of mine, and is free to come and go as she pleases. She was kind enough to accompany me to this event, given the stringent requirements for entry. Thank you once again for this, darling.”
“It’s no trouble at all.” Caroline smiles.
Caroline is free? She's free, and she chose to be here. Surrounded by murderous vampires and their dead-eyed humans. Suddenly, Keegan decides she hates her. She's been forced into this hell against her will and here's another woman having a perfectly good time with the first vampire Keegan has ever seen that doesn't want to use persuasion. Why does she get to have it easy? She can't quite mask her disbelieving glare.
Well, maybe Bellamy could help? If... if this reunion goes smoothly at least. He and Kane have history, though they clearly didn't part on good terms. She wants to speak to him more but Kane is right there. His threat hangs over her head. Don't speak unless spoken to. So she stands there silently simmering in frustration.
It's obvious Keegan wants to speak. “Do whatever you want, there’s no one here I need to impress," Kane instructs.
“Perhaps you and Caroline can have a chat?" Bellamy suggests. "Dear Kane and I do have so much to catch up on, some of which are rather private matters.” He motions Kane to follow him to the other side of the room.
“Whatever.” Kane gives an exasperated sigh and walks along with him.
Caroline looks after Kane wryly. "Oh, he seems charming," she says, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Very." Keegan mutters.
She doesn't want to be a complete dick to this stranger, but she has to ask. As soon as the two vampires are conversing, she hisses, "How can you stand it? Being around all... This. Being around him. He's one of them!" Sure he's polite, but he's still a vampire. What if it's all for show?
Caroline smiles at her, pity in her eyes. "Bellamy is the kindest person I've ever met, human or vampire. In fact, in my experience, humans have been the more dreadful bunch." She gestures back toward the ballroom. "Most vampires aren't like this, you know. The stuck-up noble types. They're just regular people. Most haven't even interacted with a human in their lives, let alone hurt one."
That somehow makes Keegan feel worse. She really got the short end of the stick, then. ‘Don't fucking pity me when you won the vampire lottery’ She thinks sourly.
"I don't care!" She growls. "They're predators. They've ruined my life." She turns and kicks a nearby box hard enough that her foot stings. "Why do you get to be free?" She whispers.
The smile disappears. "I'm sorry, hun. But... Kane ruined your life. Bellamy wouldn't hurt a fly. Literally. When there's a bug in the house, I've gotta be the one to take care of it 'cause he's afraid of creepy-crawlies. Vampires aren't a monolith as much as humans aren't. Bellamy saved my life." Though sometimes, she finds herself falling into the trap of thinking of all of humanity as unsalvageable.
"I'm sorry things have turned out so horribly for you. I hope it gets better," she says sincerely.
Keegan wants to shout, to scream. Maybe this would be easier if she was chained up in a basement somewhere, so freedom wouldn't be standing just out of reach and mocking her. But Caroline is being so patient and kind. She has nothing to do with Keegan's suffering.
She deflates. "I'm sorry. I just- Seeing you here, happy..." she gestures vaguely. "It's a lot." Her lip wobbles. "You're the first human I've spoken to in over two years." The first person really, other than Kane.
"You're the first human I've spoken to in over a decade," Caroline admits. She steps forward, her heart aching for Keegan. "You look like you could use a hug. You want one?"
Keegan starts to cry. "...Please." She hasn't felt a kind touch in just as long. Only pain and harsh manhandling. "I wanna go home..." she mumbles, barely audible. It's pathetic, but she's so lonely, and Caroline is someone who will actually listen.
Caroline wraps her up in a warm embrace. "I'm sorry," she says softly. "I know everything's awful right now. Just hang in there. You never know where life will take you. Take it one day at a time."
Keegan cries into Caroline's shoulder, tightly gripping the fabric of her shirt. It feels good to be held. She doesn't want it to end.
"I'm t-trying." She sobs. "Thank you."
Caroline keeps holding her, as long as she needs, gently rubbing her back. She figures Keegan needs this.
-----
“I can’t believe, after everything you’ve been through, that you would just… subjugate someone like this! Look at her, she has bruises on her arm!” Bellamy gestures pointedly at Keegan. "It's awful!"
Caroline lets go of Keegan, turning to watch the argument. She places herself protectively between Keegan and Kane.
“She wouldn't have bruises if she fucking behaved!” Kane retorts. “I don’t know why you suddenly insist on acting like I’m lesser than the rest of my family when you were always the one to tell me I wasn’t. I’m a De Sang, this is what we do.”
“I didn’t mean–” Bellamy pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, “Why is it that the thing you want to live up to is their cruelty?”
“It’s not cruelty, it’s the way the world works! You’re the one who’s a freak.” Kane spits. “You just don’t want me to be happy! Now that I have a human, I can finally get the respect I deserve!”
Bellamy scoffs. “Oh, is that it? Are you happy now, Kane? I can see that sucking up to those pricks has made you so much less of a bitter, miserable person. You’re just the absolute picture of happiness!”
“I need. A minute.” Kane takes a deep breath and glares at Keegan. “Stay. Here.” He storms out of the storage room, slamming the door behind him.
Keegan holds her breath when Kane turns to her with fury in his eyes and flinches when he slams the door.
“I apologize.” Bellamy says, “That got out of hand. I do hope I’ve caused no undue trouble for you, Keegan.”
"It's ok. He, uh, only hurts me when he's mad at me specifically." She says, subconsciously rubbing the bruises Bellamy pointed out. "Which is often, unfortunately. You two used to be friends?" She can't imagine someone as polite as Bellamy wanting to be around Kane.
Bellamy looks to her apologetically, like he's embarrassed of ever having been Kane's friend. "When we were boys. I haven't spoken to him in eighty-five years. He's always been prone to bouts of anger, but not so explosive as he is now. Or perhaps, he simply never had the opportunity."
Keegan sighs. "He just didn't have a human to kick around yet. Thank you for at least trying to talk him out. I've never met a vampire like you before." She feels a bit guilty for calling him a 'predator' just moments ago, but hopefully he was too preoccupied to have heard it.
"I'm sorry my kind has left such a horrible impression on you," Bellamy says sadly.
Caroline nudges him. "Bel, isn't there anything we can...?"
Bellamy shakes his head. "I'm afraid not." Attempting to steal a human from this event would go poorly for all involved, he's sure.
Keegan wants to cry again. "If you could- I know it's a long shot and probably isn't worth it- but if you could keep trying?" God this is pathetic. "Keep trying to convince him?"
"Of course, dear. Of course I can," Bellamy promises.
It's not hard to anticipate Kane’s return, his stomping audible from a mile away.
“My mother’s here. We’re going back out.” he announces, grabbing Keegan’s bruised forearm.
“Kane, wait." Bellamy's voice is firm. He chooses his words carefully in an attempt to appeal to Kane's values. "Please. I know things got out of hand tonight, but none of that is Keegan's fault. She's only a human. Surely, violence against someone so much weaker than yourself is beneath you. You're better than this."
Kane hesitates. "W-whatever. We're going," he says, but his grip on Keegan relaxes just a bit.
Bellamy looks over to Keegan. “It truly was lovely to meet you, dear. I do wish you the best.”
'Just a human- so much weaker'. There's that awful talking-down-to again, but it works at least a little. She and her arm are grateful to Bellamy for trying.
"Likewise. You too Caroline." Keegan responds. Kane is pulling her back out before she can say much else, but she mouths a sincere "Thank you" as they turn the corner.
Caroline waves at her, sadness in her eyes.
-----
Kane leads her back out to the main room. In the few minutes they’ve been gone, the room has filled out with occupants. Kane lets go of Keegan, trusting her to follow him on her own. He walks up to an older vampire woman, dressed to the nines. “Hello, Mother!” Kane says, a huge smile plastered on his face.
“Oh! Kane, Anton was just telling me you were here!” Kane’s mother exclaims.
“I have a human!” he boasts, gesturing to Keegan.
“That’s very nice.” She nods, not even glancing at Keegan. “Finally catching up! Say, your one hundredth is soon, isn’t it? Maybe we could do something for it!”
“It was two years ago, actually!” Kane’s smile falters for a fraction of a second before returning to its chipper state.
“Oh, well, there’s always two hundred!” she says breezily.
“Yeah!” Kane agrees, glancing around a bit. “U-um, do you know when Father…?”
Kane’s mother smiles. “He was right behind me, should be here any second. Listen, I really would like to stay and chat, but there are so many people I need to speak with tonight.”
His smile really does fall then. “Oh, but I thought-”
She puts a hand near his shoulder, making the motion of a comforting gesture without actually touching him. “You’re doing good. Keep it up.”
Kane beams. “I will!” he nearly shouts as his mother walks away. “That went amazing! That went so well!” Kane enthuses as soon as she's out of earshot.
Did it? That was hard for Keegan to watch. If this is how they treat him, no wonder Kane doesn't talk about his family. She's glad to be ignored by Kane's mother, she wishes he'd stop showing her off like a trophy and drawing attention to her. ‘I'm not an object.’ She reminds herself once again.
Suddenly, all chit-chat dissipates as a new vampire enters.
He doesn’t look much different than any other vampire, aside from obviously being the oldest. He appears in his seventies, though he is likely hundreds, if not over a thousand years in age. But… there is something wrong about him, something any aware human will be able to feel. An energy permeates the room, a deep, human instinct screaming RUN, YOU ARE IN DANGER, YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW. This man, above all, is a predator made to hunt things like Keegan.
The human beside him looks dead, far beyond the entranced looks of everyone else. There is zero spark of life behind his eyes, yet he continues standing and breathing, moving along with the vampire like a puppet, clearly somehow alive.
Kane puts a hand to the center of Keegan's back and begins leading her in a beeline directly for the man.
"Father!” Kane calls, all excitement and nerves.
-----
If Death has a physical form, Keegan is sure she has just found it. This is Kane's father. This monster. The blood drains from her face and her entire body trembles. She's been scared before, sure. She grew up in a toxic, violent household and now kills vampires for a living. Fear has kept her alive. But she's only felt true, primal terror of this kind twice in her life. Once, when her mother's throat was torn out in front of her, and now here. At this moment, despite all logic, Keegan is sure with every bone in her body that she is not going to survive the night.
Kane pushes her forward as if to the gallows.
Kane’s father glances briefly at Keegan before turning his eyes on Kane.
The man sighs, shooting Kane a glare. “What is it?” His voice is deep and cold.
“I-I got a human…” he claims timidly, his confidence draining at the icy reception.
Kane’s father does not ignore Keegan as his wife had. Instead, he turned his gaze directly onto her, piercing red eyes almost digging under Keegan's skin. The man brings a hand to Keegan's chin and tilts her head to the side to expose her feeding scars, his skin devoid of warmth.
“Sloppy work,” he comments.
The only reason Keegan does not rip her head away from him is because she knows it would only bring about her demise that much faster. She doesn't blink, staring straight into his eyes. She feels like a child curled up in bed, watching the closet door through the darkness of the room. The moment she blinks the monster will get her. Her skin burns under his touch despite the cold of his hand. ‘Please, I don't want to die. Not like this.’
Kane rushes to defend himself. “I wasn’t, um, that good at feeding at first, but I figured it out! For the past year and a half, I’ve-”
Kane’s father puts a hand up to stop him, and Kane’s mouth snaps shut instantly. His other hand is still on the underside of Keegan's chin, so close to her throat. “It can’t be helped. Passable.” The man finally lets go of her, and walks away without another word.
Kane’s eyes are wide. “Passable…” he repeats to himself in awe, clutching his hands to his chest.
The rest of the night goes without incident, Kane seeming in high spirits. Anton does give Keegan a few glances as it goes on, but at one point he shrugs, as if to say ‘not worth it’. Kane attempts small-talk with a few other people throughout the night, who all largely disregard him. He spends a lot of time wallflowering by himself. Occasionally he starts chatting with Keegan, then realizes he shouldn't be doing that and stops, embarrassed. After a few hours, people start to leave. Kane only exits once his parents do. As they get back in the car, he grins at Keegan. "That went fantastically. You can make your phone call as soon as we get home. Well done."
Keegan doesn't match Kane's good mood. She takes a while to recover from the interaction with his father. She's shaky, and doesn't want him out of her line of sight. He seems fully uninterested in them which helps, but being trapped in the same building with such a threat is rough on her nerves. She stubbornly holds on to her poker face, keeping all her fear in her clenched fists.
Eventually she's able to relax, especially when Kane dares to talk to her a bit. At least he isn't a threat to her at the moment. It's all worth it in the end too, as he keeps his end of the deal. She lived through the night and she's going to get to speak to her sister for the first time in years! It's so exciting, and also a whole new kind of terrifying after so long without contact.
-----
When they return home, Kane removes his tie. "Go on," he says, nodding at the rotary phone sitting on a small table in the corner of the living room. "You've earned it."
He sits on the couch and picks up a book from the mug table.
‘I shouldn't have to earn it.’ Keegan thinks. She can't find it in herself to be mad though. Not right now.
“Ok!” She practically runs to the phone and begins to dial. She feels sick to her stomach with nerves. She doesn't even know what she's going to say. 'I love you. I'm alive. Are you safe??' Those are at the top of the list. But truly she just wants to hear Lohitha’s voice. It's been so, so long.
The phone rings for a while. Each one builds dread in Keegan's stomach. But it is quite early in the morning. It'll just take a minute for her to answer. Right? Keegan bites her lip. ‘C'mon, pick up. please.’
Finally, the line connects and Keegan hears shuffling of fabric and a quiet yawn. "Lohitha?!" She cries desperately. "It's me, Keegan!"
There's a beat of silence. Then a deep, male voice answers. "Who?"
Keegan's heart stops. "Wh- I'm... I'm Keegan Khatri. I'm looking for Lohitha Khatri? Who are y-"
The man interrupts her, tired irritation in his voice. "You got the wrong number." CLICK
The line goes dead. Keegan gasps. No. no no no. She knows that was the right number. She's had it memorized since the moment they moved to that address. But... It's an apartment. She didn't even THINK about that. Lohi wouldn't be living there alone, of course she'd move. Keegan was so caught up in speaking to her she wasted her chance like an idiot! Her eyes flood with tears and she slowly turns towards Kane. He said one phone call. One.
Kane can quietly hear the other line with his supernatural hearing, even from halfway across the room.
He looks up from his book. "I'm no conman, human. I'm a man of my word. One successful phone call." He looks back down and flips the page.
Of course. Kane's at least practical. She lets out a sigh of relief. Keegan is so anxious that she isn't thinking straight.
“Thank you…”
She's not sure how to contact Lohitha now. She could be anywhere. But there's one person who would possibly know. Her hunting partner.
She dials. Only two rings this time before an answer.
"Vivian speaking."
Keegan sighs in relief and smiles. "Hey, partner."
"Keegan??"
"Yeah Vee, it's me. I'm alive. Surprise?"
"What?? The fuck? Where have you been? We thought you were-"
"I was taken. Still am, but... he let me call."
"Oh my God. Ok. Where are you? I will get a group together and come after you I swear-"
"No- Vivian no." Keegan glances at Kane. "That's not- I'm ok. Mostly. I'm not calling for a rescue," ‘as much as I wish I could.’ "I need to know. Lohitha, is she OK? Tell me she's ok."
"Oh- yes! Keegan she's fine! She's been living with me. She's just fine."
Just like that, a massive weight is lifted off Keegan's shoulders. She finally knows. After all this time. Her little sister is safe. Tears of relief pour down her face. "-Thank you, Vee. Thank you so much." She cries. "Please, can you go get her? I need to talk to her. Please."
"Oh… I’m… Keegan she's not home right now. I'm so sorry-"
"What??" No. No. This can't be happening. She was so close!
"She's on a school trip. She won't be home for a few days! Is there any possible way you can call again?"
"No, this.... this is my only one." Keegan says in defeat. After all that... She can't even hear her sister's voice. Her heart is shattering. "Just... Tell her I love her? And I'm so, so sorry. I'm trying to come back to her."
"Of course. I swear I will. She loves you too. She misses you so much."
Keegan sobs. She can't take this anymore. "T-thank you. Please... please k-keep her safe."
"I won't let anything happen to her. You have my word." Quietly Vivian adds, "is there no way you can tell me where-"
"No. He's listening. I just needed... closure." It sounds so final. But she hopes the wording will appease Kane.
-----
Kane does not like the sound of ‘I'm trying to come back to her.’ If his human escaped, he would be the laughing-stock of the century. No one's human ever escapes. No one else's human has the capacity to even want to.
This is why he doesn't allow phone calls. It puts the wrong ideas in his human's head, makes her think she serves a purpose outside being his. The human on the other line keeps trying to plan a rescue, too. This is not good.
"None of this 'trying to go back' business," he reminds her, not looking up from his book.
Hot anger rushes through Keegan. She whips around, face still streaked with tears. "Excuse me for trying to comfort my kid sister who has lost the only family she has left!" She spits, then immediately flinches from her mistake. Fuck, she didn't mean to talk back, this is the worst time-
Kane gives her a deadpan look. "You're lucky I'm in a very good mood, human. Final warning. Behave." He waves for her to continue her call.
She's on thin ice here. She's definitely lucky. She turns back towards the wall with the phone.
"It's not an option, Vivian. But I'm surviving."
"I cannot sit back knowing you're trapped there." Vivian insists. Keegan can tell she's trying to get her to slip her a hint. But Keegan was never the clever one. There's nothing she can say that would not end badly for her or any humans that tried to rescue her. No hidden clue she can pass on.
"You're an incredible friend, Vivian." Keegan says instead. "The best partner. And I love you too. Tell the squad I say hey. Kick my dad in the balls if he tries coming around. Sober or not."
"Keegan you are not about to end this call. I will kill you myself-"
She has to end it. Vivian will never let it go and Keegan can't handle much more. "Lohitha has always wanted a dog, by the way. Goodbye Vivian."
"Don't you fucking dare-"
Click. Keegan places the phone back on the wall, hanging up. She stares unmoving in the silence that follows.
-----
Kane is honestly torn. He does feel for the human: he knows what it's like to be separated from the love of his family. He honestly considers giving her a second chance to call her sister.
But no, he has to stay firm. He is a person, the human is not. It's very clear that if the human talks to her sister, she's just going to be that more determined to get back to her. And he still remembers the horrible pain of boiling water from two years ago. A clean break is best.
"You can go back to your room now," he suggests in the awkward silence.
His human doesn't speak, doesn't look at him. She just shuffles back to her room, staring at her feet. Kane, quite honestly, forgets about the human's troubles soon after she leaves the room. He heads upstairs to his own room, giddy with excitement about the relatively-positive reception from his parents.
The moment the door is shut behind her, Keegan slides down the wall and cries. She doesn't care if Kane hears. She doesn't care about much at all anymore. Her heart has just split in two.
Keegan struggles to settle into her captivity. Even if she wants to cooperate while she heals, she's not very good at it. Kane is his usual angry, lonely self.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 1/Previous/Next
Keegan spends her week of recovery worrying about her sister. Lohitha can handle herself, but she's still a kid, and Keegan has been gone a while now, and will be for at least another month. She needs to know if she’s ok. That she has a warm place to stay and food to eat. God, she probably thinks Keegan is dead... Or worse, that she abandoned her. The idea alone leave’s Keegan’s heart aching in her chest.
Her anxious thoughts swirl around into a storm of worry in her brain to the point she can't sleep. She's almost glad when Kane returns once her pneumonia clears up. She was about ready to start pounding on the door just for the distraction.
"Good evening," Kane greets as he enters. He's had some time to calm down in the week since. He's glad to be back, too. He's trying to look at it as a fresh start. He can feed from his human like a proper vampire, and everything will be fine and normal from now on. "Are you better now?"
Keegan takes as deep a breath as she can with her injuries. 'keep calm. cooperate.' She reminds herself. 'Even though he has a very punchable face.'
"I am. Pneumonia-wise at least. Ribs’ still fucked." She says, sitting up.
"That's good to hear. Hopefully, such things are behind us now."
"Mhm." she hums, not trusting herself with a response.
He almost sounds like he cares that she's feeling better. But Keegan knows he's just glad he has is bloodbag back. She can't believe he's acting so nonchalant now.
Kane decides to feed with his human sitting down, worried about causing more damage to her ribs- he does not want to go back to the doctor. He wishes she wasn't taller than him, so it wouldn't be an issue. He'll choose more wisely next time.
He licks the wound shut when he's done. "I'll take a new grocery list." He says. It's been a week, and his human is surely running low on food.
Keegan shudders with disgust. She put bandages on the list so hopefully she can get him to stop licking her once they're delivered. She hands him the note, mostly just restocking what she had, then after a moment she blurts out, "Do you have a phone?"
"I do. Much more efficient than letters for most things, nowadays." Kane can already see where she's going with this. There's no reason she'd be asking otherwise. "And no, you may not use it."
Her instinct is to snap back at him, but this is too important. "Please, I just need to call my sister. You can listen in if you think I'm gonna try to send a code or something."
Kane is neither amused nor sympathetic. "If you think you are getting any concessions after your little stunt, you are out of your fucking mind. Forget about your sister. You're mine now."
The words hit Keegan like a slap to the face. Anger and desperation bubble up in her stomach in equal measure. "Forget about- How dare you! She's only twelve and she's all alone now. I need to make sure she has somewhere to go! This isn't about me."
"How many times do I have to remind you to watch your tone?" Kane snaps back, unwavering. The thought of his human having a caring family makes him angrier, for reasons he doesn't want to think about. "She's just a human, and what happens back in human territory doesn't concern you anymore. Get over it."
Get over it.
Kane can say whatever the fuck he wants about Keegan. But the moment the words about Lohitha are out of his mouth, she's swinging. No one insults her little sister. "You heartless LEECH-"
Kane grabs her arm before the punch can connect. He's furious now.
"You will show proper respect!" he barks. He lets go of her arm, but takes her neck just as quickly, slamming her into the wall. His grip is tight enough that she can't speak, can't breathe. Can't disrespect him anymore.
Keegan chokes, scrabbling at the bruising grip against her throat. Her vision wavers. She has no air! She kicks her legs wildly in panic.
"What? Can't run your fucking mouth now?" Kane mocks- zero humor in his voice, only rage. But he knows that humans can't survive without air too long like vampires can. After about ten seconds, he lets go, throwing her to the ground. Probably not the best for her healing ribs, but he's too pissed-off to care.
Keegan desperately sucks in air, trying to curl up against the pain, but that only makes it worse. She kneels there gasping for a moment until she doesn’t feel on the brink of passing out. She looks up at Kane, who seems much more menacing now, towering over her. ‘Just like-’
"Learned your lesson?"
She nods in defeat, too afraid to speak, in case she angers him more.
"Good." He leaves her alone.
Keegan remains kneeling on the floor, arms wrapped around herself like a hug, for a long time. Tears burn at the corner of her eyes once again. She fiercely holds them back, thinking only of her hatred for Kane until the ache in her heart is locked away.
-----
Things continue in a similar manner for some time. Kane feeds, his human usually complies, but often mouths off. There are no more major incidents for weeks, and his human's injury seems to be healing. It could almost be called peaceful. He gets her groceries as requested. He never spends more than about five minutes a day with her.
Kane has always been lonely, but being lonely with someone else in his house is a new experience. He knows it's not the same, it's not like she's a person. But one rainy night, about a month and a half later, he's feeling particularly lonely. He remembers how he and Bellamy would play chess on rainy nights like these when he was a boy. He knows it's pathetic, but after feeding that night, he sticks around. "Would you be interested in playing a game or watching a movie? I'm bored."
Keegan can't help herself. "What, you don't have any vampire buddies to hang out with?"
It sours Kane's mood instantly. Why did he think this would be a good idea? "Shut the fuck up. Final warning." He ignores the question. "And final offer."
Keegan backs off. She doesn't want to ruin this chance. She hates him; she should tell him to fuck off and leave her alone. But she also feels like she's going to tear her hair out if she doesn't get out of this room.
"Yeah alright. Sure." She stands up.
Kane is pleased he's gotten her to accept without needing to embarrass himself. He doesn't really like her, but... he's tired of being alone, and she's here.
He holds the door open for her. "Do you want chess or cards?"
"Depends on if you're willing to teach me how to play chess." Keegan says.
"I am. Everyone starts somewhere." With that, Kane takes the chess set out. He positions it in the middle of the couch and begins arranging the black pieces. "Set up the white pieces on your side the same way I'm setting up mine. White goes first and has a slight advantage."
Keegan sits down across from him and follows his directions. "Aw," She smirks. "Giving me the advantage? How sweet."
‘Maybe this will be ok.’ Keegan thinks. If nothing else, to make them less violent towards each other until she’s able to escape. It feels so weird though.
"You're the beginner." Kane says. It should be obvious that she gets the advantage, right? How pathetic would it be if he took the advantageous position over someone just learning to play, when he's been playing chess for nearly a century? "Have you ever played checkers?"
"Yeah, me and my si-" Keegan cuts herself off. Best not to talk about her sister right now. Or think about her. She starts again. "Yeah, I've played checkers. I tried to get into chess a few times but never committed. But, I'm bored enough to learn."
-----
Kane explains the rules: how each piece moves, how to determine a check or checkmate. He even goes over a few basic opening moves and strategies. "While you're learning, you can go back and change moves if you realize you've made a mistake. You go first."
Keegan follows Kanes directions, and actually ends up figuring it out pretty quickly. It's complicated, but in a challenging puzzle kind of way. Halfway through their first game, she speaks up.
"So earlier, what I said was a genuine question. Like, what do you do all day? You even got a job?"
"I don't need a job, I'm nobility. Tonight's too dreary to go out." There are no windows in Kane's house, but the rain can be heard pattering against the walls. "I'd need to drive instead of run, and parking is aggravating..."
He avoids his human's question yet again, too embarrassed to admit he's a hermit.
"Good to know that traffic is just as ass on this side of the border." Keegan says. "I run just for the hell of it and I've done it in the rain, but I suppose it's different if you're going a hundred miles an hour." She'd love to be running right now. She hasn't seen the sun in over a month.
Keegan moves her rook absent-mindedly.
"Oh, look at that! You made check!" Kane points out excitedly. He's glad the human's picking it up fast: it makes for more interesting games than if he had to just babysit her for it. He makes a move away. "Try to do it again. And yes, it's far different when running. Imagine driving in the rain with no windshield."
Keegan blinks in surprise. "Oh, I did?" She moves again with her knight this time.
She ends up close to checkmate a few times before making a mistake and getting cornered. She finds herself enjoying the evening more than she thought. The two chat idly, it's awkward, but bearable.
She beats him in only her third game.
"Very good!" Kane praises. He must be an excellent teacher. This is ideal: it would be boring playing against a beginner so much, tediously building up her skills. The human's even been nice to be around, far more so than he'd expected. "You're an absolute natural."
"Thanks." It was probably a fluke, Keegan is not very good at tabletop games. She hopes he wasn't going easy on her. Or worse, patronizing her. He sounds genuine in his excitement at least. But then it happens again. And again. The game is surprisingly simple for her now that she knows the rules. She can easily guess Kane's moves and prepare accordingly, almost like moves in a fight.
Now this is exciting. Kane has to admit he's gotten rusty: he hasn't had someone to play chess with in quite a while, and often would only practice against himself in solo chess. That must be why this young human with her fresh ideas is beating him. And it means he has something to work towards. That night is the most fun Kane's had in ages.
----
Keegan's ribs eventually heal. Her bruises fade. She regains her full range motion and a new appreciation for the ability to stretch her arms above her head. She's been in Kane's house for two months now. It's been... tolerable. Kane feeds every evening, and although her pain tolerance is high and the bites themselves don't bother her too much, the repetition is starting to drive her up the wall. Kane also didn't accept her proposal to use bandages, stating that it would be "wasting blood". The disgusting licks continue.
Now that she's healed, she wants to stop pretending she's ok with all of this bullshit. Some days, when he invites her out for chess, she and Kane actually seem to get along. They're personalities are similar enough that Keegan thinks they maybe could have been friends if they'd met differently. If he wasn’t an abusive piece of shit that kidnaps people.
Kane has allowed her some amenities to help her pass the time. Books, art supplies, etc. However, Keegan has always been outdoorsy, and being cooped up is making her twitchy. She hasn’t been on a run, seen the sky, or had a goddamn cigarette for far too long. Her temper is even shorter than normal, and she's paid the price multiple times when she's mouthed off at Kane. She's still a prisoner and now that she's healed, her mind is screaming at her to Get. Out.
Which is a problem. Because she has no plan. She has no weapons, any time she's out of the room, Kane is right there, and the door is always locked up tight when she's alone. She wishes she could talk to her hunting partner. Vivian was always the levelheaded one. The one with the plan. Keegan isn’t patient like her. She’s the fighter. The muscle. She isn’t meant to be idle. Something needs to change soon or she's going to blow a fuse.
It all comes to a head one night while Keegan is cooking dinner. She's been extra pissed off tonight, for reasons she can't pinpoint, but everything is making her skin crawl. She's a ticking time bomb. And it's something so small that does it. She's reaching towards the fridge to fill her cup of water, and her sleeve snags on the cabinet. Something snaps in her mind. She sees red and she hurls the glass across the kitchen, shattering it against the wall with a loud BANG.
Fuck.
Kane is on the second floor, and wouldn't usually hear anything going on in the human quarters, but vampires have very good hearing, and that was loud.
He rushes to the door. He hesitates a moment, mindful that the human's attacked before. But he took all her weapons, didn't he? And she's been behaving. Surely, this is unrelated.
He flings the door open. "What was that?"
Keegan stares uncomprehendingly at the mess of glass. Her blood is still boiling. That wasn't enough. She hears Kane behind her and that just makes her Angier. Can he not just leave her alone??
"AUGH, fuck OFF!" she roars. Not even specifically at him. At everything. At nothing. She turns back around and swipes her empty plate off the counter for good measure.
"Hey! What the fuck!?" Kane storms toward her with violent intent, instantly pissed-off.
Slap.
"What's gotten into you? Stop this at once!"
The sting of the hand across her face cuts through the haze of anger, and for a moment, it's no longer Kane standing over her, but her father. Liquor bottle in hand and fist raised with the promise of more pain. Keegan cowers.
"Wait! I'm sorry- I'm sorry! She gasps for breath, her heart pounding. "I just... I need a minute."
"What is this?" Kane gestures wildly at the floor, broken glass and ceramic strewn all over. "You're breaking my things, making a mess, and telling me to fuck off? You'd better be sorry!"
Keegan takes a few deep breaths to collect herself, hoping Kane won't use her silence as a reason to hit her again.
"I can't... I can't do this," She says desperately, grabbing fistfulls of her hair. "I'm going insane in here. I didn't mean to break the- I just got angry."
Kane hates how much he relates to that. He shouldn't be relating to a human. This isn't supposed to be an equal relationship. "Well, you need to clean this shit up and get a handle on it. You're my human now, and you need to get used to it," he says firmly.
"I can't just 'get a handle on it'." She argues. "It runs in my family. I need an outlet or this is gonna happen again. Back at home I had a-" Oh. Maybe that would work? Only if she can convince him though. She stands up.
"Listen, I'll clean this up, alright? I don't like breaking things. Back at home, when I couldn’t go outside, I had this punching bag that I'd take my energy out on, or just hit for fun. If you'd get me one, I promise not to break any more of your things."
It's not proper. Kane pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. He shouldn't be rewarding his human with gifts when she misbehaves.
But... if it works? If it actually helps her behave? He needs all the help he can get.
"Fine!" he concedes. "No more outbursts or I take it away and all your breakables get replaced with plastic. Clean this up. Now. I'll take the remains when you're done." He's not stupid enough to leave an array of sharp objects in the human's hands again.
He actually went for it. Keegan is surprised, but relieved. Losing her cool is always humiliating, but here, it's a threat to her safety. Hopefully this way she can get Kane off her back. And maybe get hit a little less...
"Got it." She says, trying not to grimace at him ordering her around. She wasn't going to just leave it there. She steps past him to the closet for the broom and dustpan, and his eyes bore into her back while she cleans. Why is he just standing there? She doesn't need a fucking chaperone. It makes the anger simmer back to the surface but she forces it down. 'I'm getting what I want here, just relax'.
Kane waits until every shard is swept up into a trash bag, then takes it. "See to it this doesn't happen again."
It's three nights later when he shows up for his feeding with a gift: the punching bag. He hands it over after he's finished feeding, licking the human's blood off his lips. "Here. Vampire punching bags are far too strong for a human, so I've had to order it special from human territory. You'd better appreciate it."
"Thanks!" Despite the circumstances, Keegan is ecstatic about the punching bag. It makes sense that it wouldn't be a vampire's version, and it concerns her how easily Kane can just get things from human territory, but she doesn't dwell on it. He already stole a literal human from there anyway. She's also not surprised that he doesn't offer to help her set it up and unfortunately that means she's going to have to ask him for another favor. Unless she wants to fight with this thing for the next three hours.
"Um, I can set up the stand and everything but... Would you maybe... hook it on the chain when I'm done?" Keegan asks. ‘Please say yes, I don't want to throw my back out before I even get to use it.’
"Only if you ask properly." Kane figures he can use this as an opportunity to get his human used to using proper titles. The punching bag will help her behave in more ways than one.
Keegan grimaces. "I'll do it myself." She turns around and starts to unpack the pieces.
Kane sighs. "You'll have to learn your place eventually. If you end up changing your mind, just leave it and you'll have another chance tomorrow." He leaves her, wondering if he's made the right decision. It's been months, and she's still not respecting him. Maybe he should try forcing his hand more with it. He'll see how this goes, first.
Keegan is smug as she sets up the stand. Maybe it's petty, but she'll take what rebellion she can get. She doesn't need him, she can do it. She'll make a pulley system out of her bedsheets or something.
-----
She can't do it. Not for lack of trying, but she just doesn't have the tools or the strength to lift it high enough. She stubbornly works at it for hours, but eventually she has to call it quits when she hears a small rip from the fabric. Her face burns when Kane returns the next morning.
"Please help me lift it, sir." She forces out between clenched teeth.
To his credit, Kane shows no outward signs of gloating, though he is certainly celebrating on the inside. He wants the human to want to address him properly, he's not going to push her away from doing so. He nods, nice and casual. "Of course." The bag is as light as it was when he carried it inside the previous night, and he sets it up with ease. "That looks like it should about do it. Now, mealtime."
---
Keegan is expecting smugness, and Kane’s calm demeanor is almost worse. She knows she just lost this little game of theirs and she knows he knows that. But, the bag is up now at least. She can tape a picture of Kane's face on it later to make feel better.
She has to wait a little while after the feeding to regenerate her blood sugar before she gets to try it out. When she does, it’s perfect. Her muscles burn with the effort after her lack of exercise, but it's satisfying and stimulating in the best way. For hours, she wails all her frustrations out on it. Her anger, her helplessness, her embarrassment. The loneliness and sadness that she's been holding all this time, released through every strike. By the time she's done she can tell she'll be sore as hell tomorrow. But she feels satisfied and relaxed in a way she hasn't since her captivity began.
Her mind feels clearer too. She'll find a way out of here. She'll find a way back to Lohitha.
Two scenes from Keegan's captivity that aren't quite long enough their own chapters. Featuring Keegan trying to rebel however she can, and Kane earning his "Not As Much of a Jerk as You Could Have Been" Award.
Part 1/Previous/Next
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One evening, as Kane feeds, Keegan's eyes wander over his shoulder. She just barely suppresses a gasp when she sees it. Her little art project, taped to her punching bag and crumpled from numerous bouts of abuse by Keegan's fists. It was an excellent improvement to her self care routine, in her opinion. After Kane's generous donation of fresh bruises after she “sighed disrespectfully" last week. But one that should not have been left out after use.
Keegan rips her gaze away from it and stares a hole into the floor instead. Maybe he won't see it?
Of course he sees it.
"What is that?" he demands, stalking toward it and ripping the paper off--a crude portrait of what looks to be him. Scribbled in crayons.
"Um-" She says dumbly. "You weren't supposed to see that."
"It's not supposed to fucking be in my house!" Kane tears the paper in two, crumpling it and tossing it to the floor. "I thought this punching bag was supposed to make you better behaved, not a sneaky, disobedient little brat. Maybe I should take it away after all, if it's doing you no good!"
The best way Keegan knows to get out of this mess is to apologize. To show respect and beg Kane for forgiveness so he doesn't get angrier. That is not what she does.
"Oh come on, It's just a drawing!" She huffs. "I've been good haven't I? This wouldn't have bothered you at all if you hadn't seen it!"
Kane storms over and backhands her across the face.
"I will not tolerate disrespect!" he screams. "This is not what being good looks like! You will learn your place!"
The strike hurts. Keegan's head snaps to the side and she lets out a shout of pain, but she doesn’t back down. "My God, grow a fucking spine!!" She spits, standing up to tower over him. "I've been your perfect little pet for months! Since I can't knock your lights out, I used what I got. At least this Kane was nicer to look at!"
Kane shoves her, sending her toppling to the ground, then lands a hard kick in her side.
"You've improved. I'd hardly call you perfect," he spits. "This is exactly the problem with you. Nothing works. You know what? Say goodbye to the punching bag. Clearly, this isn't working." He goes to take it down.
For some reason, that sends a jolt of panic through Keegan's chest. More so than the abuse. She fights to get air back into her lungs and reaches out towards Kane.
"W-wait!"
It's not really about the bag. She has other amenities. But they're all generic. The bag is the only thing that's hers. A piece of her personality to light up her dreadful little prison.
She can't bear the thought of losing what little she has.
Keegan pulls herself up to kneel respectfully. "Don't take it, I-I'm sorry." It may not be enough now. Not after her outburst.
It's fake. So obviously fake, how she only deigns to respect Kane when she has something to lose. It only fans the fire inside him further. He needs to break her foolish pride.
He glares down at her. "Beg."
Keegan glares a hole into the floor. She hates him. She hates him with every cell in her body. But punching bag or not, she can't back out now. Any more rebellion and she'll be black and blue for days.
She hangs her head, face burning in shame. "Please... sir. I'm sorry. Please give me another chance... No more disrespect, whether you're present or not."
"Hmph. I'll believe it when I see it. Watch it, human. I'm the one in control here."
And with that, Kane leaves, slamming the door behind him.
Keegan lets out a breath when he leaves. Never has she felt more helpless and tiny. She can’t even exist in peace without the threat of Kane’s interference. Everything is a fight in this place. A fight she's bound to lose each and every time.
But, well... she glances up. At least she still has the punching bag.
She groans, flopping miserably back down into bed.
------
Things continue as normal from there. Kane still needs to violently discipline his human on a regular basis, but the frequency has gone down a bit. He wonders if it's really the punching bag, or just a coincidence. The fact that it seems to be making her behave better is the only reason he doesn't go through with taking it away.
Many months pass and they fall into a routine. Some days are bad, with a defiant human he needs to correct, and some days are good, with the human coming out and playing chess or watching movies with him, countering his debilitating loneliness.
One such good day, while they're watching a movie, the protagonist goes to celebrate his birthday. Kane usually skips this part, hating the sour reminder, but he doesn't want to raise questions from the human. He lets it play without comment.
In all honesty, Keegan hasn't thought about her birthday at all. She's had too much on her mind and no one around to remind her that it's coming up. But the movie scene has her realizing what month they're in. Her birthday is in three days. She’s hit with a wave of depressed bitterness.
It was nowhere near her birthday when she was kidnapped, so it's yet another reminder of how long she's been here. Not only that, but she's turning twenty-one. That's a pretty big milestone and she gets to what, sit in an empty room and sing happy birthday to herself? She won't even get a hug from her sister. She knows her hunting guild enjoys throwing surprise parties. She wonders if they'd have planned one for her.
Her thoughts spiral, and to her horror, she starts to cry. She hardly ever cries. She hates crying in front of others, and here she is sobbing in front of Kane of all people. She tries to hold it back, silent tears falling down her cheeks. She can't even excuse herself. She has to ask to do anything around here and he'll obviously notice her tears if she asks to leave. She sits there rigidly, until eventually a tiny, involuntary sob escapes.
Kane is so wrapped up in his own birthday-adjacent pity party that he doesn't notice the human crying until he hears her sob. He turns to her, caught off-guard. "What's wrong?" he asks. He hasn't been disciplining her, so he's not sure why she's upset.
Keegan is mortified. She hastily scrubs at her face to wipe away the tears, like that'll somehow make it less obvious. God he's actually asking what's wrong? Like he'd care about a human's birthday of all things. He'd probably get mad that she's even making a fuss about it. She can already hear his cruel comment. ‘You’re not a person. You’re food. You don’t have a birthday.’
"It’s- it’s fine." She dismisses. "Can I go back to my room?"
Kane turns off the movie. Something isn't right here. The human's never acted like this before.
"Tell me what's wrong and then you can go," he compromises. Maybe he's feeling soft because of the feelings thinking about his birthday dredged up, or maybe it's the disappointment at a nice night spent not on his lonesome being cut short. "You won't be in trouble."
Keegan puts her head in her hands for a moment, sighing. Even her own sadness doesn't belong to her. But, at least he said she won't be in trouble, and Kane has yet to lie to her. "It's not important. I just... realized my birthday is in three days." Her voice grows quieter as she speaks, mumbling by the end and looking away as fresh tears bubble up. "Can I go now?" She wants nothing more than to get away from this humiliating situation.
For the first time, Kane feels some sort of connection with his human, some sort of guilt for his actions. Here she is, unable to celebrate her birthday- because of him.
"You may go," he concedes, trying to process the unfamiliar emotions.
Keegan wastes no time, scurrying back to her room. She spends a while in the bathroom, calming down and washing her face. She doesn't even feel like using the punching bag, instead lying in bed wallowing in self pity the rest of the night. The conversation isn't brought back up in the following days, so Keegan hopes that's the end of it. The evening of her birthday however, she wakes up in an awful mood.
Kane, for the life of him, decides to do research. It's embarrassing, going to the library and asking for books on human celebrations, but he does it anyway. Most of what he finds is anthropological research on human religious practices, but he does eventually find something on birthdays. Human birthday celebrations seem to be similar to vampire ones in many ways, except for the cake. The cake is apparently a very big part of it, a large, sweet human food. Other than that, the customs of parties and presents are similar.
On the night of Keegan's birthday, Kane comes in and feeds from her as normal. Just because it's her birthday doesn't mean he doesn't need to eat. But after that... "I have something for you. Come on out." He turns to exit the human quarters, gesturing for her to follow him out.
Keegan endures the bite. Same bullshit as always. When Kane invites her out, she follows, curiously. She'd rather stay holed up in her room today, but Kane doesn't usually get her things she hasn’t asked for.
Waiting on the mug table is a large, elaborate birthday cake, the kind that must have cost hundreds of dollars. Next to it is a medium-sized gift wrapped in shiny paper.
"Happy birthday," Kane says awkwardly.
Keegan stares in utter shock. "You- what?" She looks at Kane, then back at the table. Is he serious? It can't be a prank. She can tell from here that the cake is real. But this is a man who has stolen her life away, and her blood, and abused her countless times over the past months. And who's now celebrating her birthday?
"...Why?" She asks quietly.
Kane glances briefly at her, then realizes he's far too embarrassed of his own sincerity to make eye contact, and stares forward at the table instead. "It's your birthday. It deserves to be celebrated."
"oh..." Keegan is tearing up again, but controls it better this time. It feels like a piece of her humanity has returned. She might be nothing but food here, and constantly referred to as "human" instead of by name, but she's still deserving of a birthday? That's a better gift than anything that could be in that box. She still doesn't understand why he cares, he’s the one who put her in this situation after all, but it’s something.
“Thank you…” She steps hesitantly towards it, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop, but when he doesn't stop her she kneels down next to the table. "Can I open it?" She asks, reaching for the gift.
"You're welcome. Go ahead," Kane encourages. This is weird. Vampires aren't supposed to celebrate their humans' birthdays. She's food. But... he can't deny her this. He just can't.
When Keegan opens the gift, she finds some very fancy hard cider inside.
"I wasn't sure... um. This was one thing I knew you liked that you didn't already have," Kane explains. "Just for your birthday. No refills."
She's not sure why, maybe the way he awkwardly explains himself, or how ridiculous the whole situation is, but it has Keegan bursting out into laughter.
She doesn't want Kane to think she's mocking him so she quickly sputters out, "This is great, thanks." She takes a breath to get control over herself then adds, "You gonna be able to survive my nasty alcohol blood?"
"I'll manage," Kane says, unoffended. In his eyes, she's only insulting herself.
The rest of the night is a peaceful one, spent doing whatever activities the human wants. Though Kane grimaces at the taste of her blood on occasion as she makes her way through the cider in the coming weeks, he makes no comment on it. It was her birthday gift.
Content: Vampire whumper, defiant whumpee, burns, broken bones, begging, alcohol consumption, sickness, medical setting, dehumanization, mind control, non-con removal of clothing (nonsexual)
Keegan's escape attempt goes perfectly and she lives happily ever after. Just don't look at the- ignore the content tags. It's fine. Don't even worry about it.
Part 1/Previous/Next
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Keegan is ready. The plan she's ended up with is a bit crude, but hey, she's working with what she's got. Luckily she managed some actual sleep after the vampire left her, so she's more awake and aware.
She doesn't know how long it's been, but she knows he must be returning soon. She waits with her ear to the door until she hears the telltale sign of footsteps headed her way. She swipes the pot of boiling water off the stove, hands covered by her sleeves in case this goes south, and stands next to the entrance.
-----
Last night, Kane visited the library and read some instructions on how to feed naturally, so he feels a little more prepared this time. He returns to the human’s quarters and opens the door.
Instantly, Keegan swings, drenching Kane in the scalding water and slamming the pot into his face for good measure.
Not wasting a second she whips out the kitchen knife and dives for his throat.
Kane screams as the boiling water instantly scorches his skin, pain exploding all over him and the pot only adding to it. In his state of distraction, he barely manages to dodge the knife in time, the blade slicing through his shoulder instead of its intended target.
He throws a punch straight into the human's chest, close after her attack. With a sickening crack of several bones giving way under the force, she's sent flying back across the room.
"You little shit!" he screams. But he can't deal with this right now: he's hurt badly. He turns tail, slamming and locking the door.
Keegan chokes as the vampire's fist collides with her ribcage. The air is forced out of her lungs but the pain screams for her, only doubled when she slams into the wall. She slumps to the ground with a grunt, barely registering the sound of the door slamming shut. All she can do is shoves her forehead into the floor, teeth clenched tight, riding out the pain. That could not have gone worse. Air slowly trickles back into her chest but every breath is agony as her clearly broken ribs grind together.
He's going to kill her now. There's no way he won't after she injured him so badly. She needs to get up. Grab the knife and be ready for when he returns. She wont go down without a fight. Her first two attempts to rise have her arms giving out on her and falling back to the floor as the pain spikes. But eventually, painfully, Keegan rises to her feet, clutching her stomach with tears running down her face. She hobbles over to the fallen knife and swipes it up, gasping for breath.
---
Kane doesn't return anytime soon.
He spends the night recovering from his injuries, cursing out his moronic, defiant human, boiling with rage as hot as the water that had drenched him. By the next night, he's fully healed, but he doesn't return to his human then, either. He needs a plan. He drinks a blood pack both nights.
Some of the human food he'd bought starts to smell, as he didn’t get the chance to hand it over, so he throws it away, leaving only the things that hadn't started to go bad. Gifting his human anything seems foolish right now, but food is a necessity.
His human will need to be punished, and her access to weaponry taken away. But first, he has to get in there and incapacitate her before she can launch another makeshift attack.
It's two nights after when he carefully opens her door a crack, just enough to peek in.
-----
Keegan watches the door for a long time, tense as a board and shaking with exertion. Eventually though, she can't stand her injuries any longer and half sits half falls back onto the bed.
She stares at the door from there for a while longer, just waiting for him to return. Her whole body throbs and her ribs scream. If this had happened during a hunt, she'd be off to the hospital immediately. But here, there's nothing she can do about it.
She ends up hobbling her way around the human quarters for the rest of the day. Every step threatens to send her back to the floor. Every sound has her whipping her head towards the door.
She's losing her mind from stress and constant pain by the time he returns. She's not even ready for him, lying on the bed propped up by pillows. She flinches, scrambling to get up.
-----
Seeing his human is unarmed, Kane opens the door the rest of the way.
Good. She looks like she's learned her lesson, learned a bit of respect. Unlike him, she still seems to be injured. "Come here, human," he orders, beckoning her forward.
Keegan does not approach. Not taking her eyes off Kane, she feels around for the knife stashed under her pillows. She pulls it out, letting the safety towel she covered it with fall away. It's still difficult to stand, but she hides her hunched position with a fighting stance.
Kane gives her an exasperated look. "You will not win. Drop the knife and come here, now, unless you want to earn yourself even further discipline."
She knows she's setting herself up for failure, but still Keegan does not move. She knows she won't win. But what other choice does she have? She's already hurt. He said discipline, and even if that means he isn't going to kill her, whatever he's planning to do won't be pleasant. She feels unbearably cornered. She can't hold the knife steady, shaking with fear.
"Why-” She swallows. Her voice is raspy and rough. “Why don't you just persuade me." It's both an insult and a genuine, frustrated question. Why is he toying with her? She doesn't want her mind stolen, of course. But this awful helplessness where she can't help but fight, no matter how slim her chances, is driving her insane.
She knows how this will inevitably end. With her in a world of hurt that she could have avoided. But if she gives in now, willingly, something inside her is going to break. So she clings stubbornly to this one-sided stand-off.
"I don't need persuasion to make you behave!" Kane snaps, his prepared excuse falling flat- it's obvious that persuasion would be a massive aid in making his human behave. It only makes him angrier, more determined to prove it.
He rushes forward, his movements quick with vampiric speed. He grabs his human's wrist tightly, ripping the knife away with his free hand. Then he throws her to the floor, hard.
Towering over her, he pins her with his shoe on her back, undoubtedly adding extra pain to her unhealed ribs. "Persuasion or not, you will fucking listen to me!"
Keegan only has half a second to consider his response, that maybe he just can't use persuasion at all, before he's on her. She can't even attempt to defend herself; one moment she's standing and the next he's knocked her prone. Her heart pounds with terror and she chokes, biting her tongue to avoid screaming. Her resolve crumbles though when he steps on her back. The pain racks up to a ten and she screams as her vision goes white. She writhes under him but unsurprisingly gets nowhere. Instead she goes limp, hoping it'll stop him from crushing her ribcage.
"S-Stop, stop Fuck! Stop!" She pleads.
Kane stops pressing down when she goes limp, but still doesn't fully let her up. "That's please stop, sir!" he barks, boiling with rage. He can control this situation. He can force her to respect him.
Keegan sputters, recovering from the agony with shallow wheezing breaths. It's a miracle he hasn't punctured a lung.
She pounds a fist into the floor. She hates this. Hates it. It's humiliating, and there's nothing she can do. She's punching a brick wall. Her knuckles are already bloody and if she keeps pushing, her fingers are going to snap.
Her face burns with shame. "Please stop....... Sir." She grinds her teeth through the words. "Please let me up, or you might suffocate me."
Kane takes a step back, letting her up. He points to the bed with the knife- he has no intent to use it on her, he just happens to be holding it. "Go sit on your bed. Now." Seeing how hurt she already is, he adds, "I'll consider your punishment over if there's no more defiance from you."
Keegan cautiously rises, holding her ribs. She eyes the knife he's holding and flinches when it moves, but then slumps in relief at his words. She shuffles over and sits, stiff as a board, watching him. She doesn't want to promise any more obedience, but also doesn't want to piss Kane off any more. "I... I couldn't be defiant even if I wanted to." She settles on.
"Good. Stay there," Kane orders.
He goes to the kitchen and collects all the knives aside from the bluntest ones, then cuts the power cord to the stove. He takes the pot she'd used as a weapon, too. After removing the offending items, he returns with what's left of his human's food requests.
"No more sharp knives or stove for you. Modify any future food requests to account for that." He leaves the bag of food on the side-table by the bed.
Keegan watches helplessly as Kane takes away her weapons. The pain in her chest has become significantly worse after being shoved to the ground. Every breath is a struggle and she can feel her bones grinding as her lungs expand. She very carefully shifts backwards until she can lean back on her pillows again. She lets out a whine of pain.
She hates herself for being disappointed when Kane breaks the stove. She has bigger issues to worry about, but it still sucks that she won’t be able to cook her meals. Especially now that she's going to be stuck here at least until her ribs heal. ‘Don't think about how it might be longer than that. Don't think about how you don't have another plan.’
She nods in defeat when he returns. She wants to ask for pain meds, but doubts he will oblige given her rebellion being what caused her injuries. Though, she does not like the idea of hobbling around for the next two months in constant pain.
"Could I... get pain medicine? Like acetaminophen?"
"You may not," Kane decides. "This is the consequence of your own actions."
Keegan isn't surprised. It was worth a shot.
Kane doesn't bother trying to get his human to stand for feeding, sitting beside her on the bed. "I am going to feed now. You will behave, and there will be no more discipline."
Her heart rate jumps back up when Kane gets close, the disastrous feeding from three days ago still fresh in her mind. She does not want to deal with that on top of her chest pain.
"Y-yeah, ok." She swallows, trying to speak clearly. "Just- you've figured it out, right?"
"I've got it," he insists, before biting into his human's neck.
The attempt isn't disastrous like last time, but he hasn't 'got it'. He doesn't feed with experience, and it's not comfortable for either of them- though most of all his human- but there's no pressing matter like last time.
When he's done, he licks the wound closed and stands up. "Have a new list ready for me tomorrow night. After that, I'll collect them on a weekly basis."
Keegan grimaces as Kane feeds. It hurts, and it’s weird, but at least she's not gushing blood. She shivers with disgust when he closes the wound, she'd much rather deal with it herself. Maybe she'll put "bandages" on the list too. When Kane stands up she wipes off her neck with her sleeve even though the skin is sore.
"Sure." She says. "Anything else?" ‘Please go away now.’
"No." Kane leaves her alone once again.
He feels some mild sense of success, having broken his human's will. He's won. But something still doesn't feel right. It's a thin mask disguising her boiling rage. But that's the best he's going to get, he supposes.
Keegan slumps back after Kane is gone. She's utterly miserable. Lying painfully in bed and cursing her failed escape attempt. She wants to cry again. She bites her lip to stave it off.
She rummages through the bag Kane left and is disappointed to see that he didn't get everything. He did however get the cider, much to her excitement. She cracks one open immediately. It’s not cold, but it’s better than nothing. And maybe a buzz will help in lieu of pain meds...
-----
The next 24 hours pass slowly. Keegan can't do much, mostly bedridden if not eating or using the bathroom, and there’s nothing really to do in the barren human quarters. The boredom eventually has her trying to pace, but the discomfort becomes too much after a short while.
She writes a new list; lots of protein bars, microwavable meals, and simple snack foods like popcorn and chips. She also tries again with the fridge foods.
She ends up going through half the ciders, just to give herself something to do. It does help with the pain, but only a little, so every couple hours she takes out another. She falls asleep that night- or is it day? She doesn’t know- pleasantly drunk, pretending she's safe at home.
Kane comes back the next night, as promised. "Good evening," he says, like nothing's happened. He's pleased to find that for once, his human is docile, with no plan of attack.
She still looks poorly, so he generously offers her the option. "Can you easily stand?"
When Keegan wakes up she is greeted by the consequences of her actions and a prick standing at the door. "Hi. She says flatly. Her head feels... not great, but her chest is worse, now that the buzz has worn off. She wishes she had woken up earlier so she could've eaten and hydrated before the vampire showed up. Standing sounds hellish right now, but Keegan isn't a quitter. She pulls herself up with a hiss, then straightens up to stand at her full height; almost a foot taller than Kane. It gives her a wave of petty satisfaction.
Kane pulls her down so she's leaning over, then bites. He's instantly hit by the rancid taste: he'd thought she'd smelled off before, but it's worse than he'd imagined. Though his nose crinkles, he finishes his meal, then licks the wound shut.
"Ugh! What happened?" he asks, aghast. "What did you eat? Your blood's horrible!
Keegan just barely restrains herself from swiping at him when he pulls her down. ‘The bite is bad enough, don't fucking touch me.’ She lets him bite and lets him lick the wound closed all while repeating to herself that it's ‘just for now. Just until I heal…’
She's surprised by his reaction though. "Huh? I just ate the shit you gave me." She bristles at him, insulted by a comment towards her blood of all things. "My blood's fine!" Though, as she says that, it dawns on her. He must taste the alcohol in her blood. She certainly over-indulged. She keeps her mouth shut. Maybe if her blood tastes bad long enough he'll let her go.
"It is not fine," Kane insists. He narrows his eyes, suspicious. "You know something. You're doing something. I thought this misbehavior was over with!"
"How am I supposed to know what blood is meant to taste like? You're the vampire." She says, crossing her arms.
"Hmph." Kane goes to the kitchen and rummages through her food, but can't find anything suspicious. He doesn't know enough about human things. "I know you know. Confess now, or everything I've delivered so far will be banned from lists."
"What??" Keegan exclaims. "Oh come on, it's just normal food! Maybe my blood just isn't as good as you thought it was." This is ridiculous.
"Don't lie to me!" Kane begins to get heated. "I'm not stupid! I know you're doing something, and it's not going to work! Quit acting like a petulant child!"
"Then quit treating me like one!" Keegan spits back. "All this talk of 'discipline' and 'behaving' like I'm an unruly kid instead of a person you’ve kidnapped. Give me a fucking break! You're already stealing my blood, sorry if it isn't up to your standards."
Kane slaps her across the face, hard. "You will behave!" he shouts.
But he smelled something on the human's breath- something he'd smelled when going through her food, too. He goes back, picking up a case with some kind of beverage inside. Cider, its label announces. "It's this."
Keegan yelps as her head whips to the side and her cheek explodes with pain. Her headache, that so far had been a dull throb, spikes unpleasantly. She holds her stinging face and watches Kane pick up the drinks. She doesn't answer, but her glance to the side gives her away.
"Get your attitude under control," Kane snaps, but he doesn't hurt her any further. He takes the case of cider, picks up the list he sees sitting on the kitchen counter, and leaves.
'Hypocrite." Keegan mutters after Kane has left.
Her cheek burns with the ghost of a handprint. It's a feeling Keegan hasn't felt in a while, and never from a vampire. She hasn't missed it. Kane's strike was certainly more painful, but the act itself is familiar in a way that Keegan is not a fan of. A fight, with punches and kicks and weapons, is all about survival. A slap is different. It's about control and discipline. It's personal. It makes her want to curl up and hide like she's a child again.
She focuses on hate instead. picturing all the ways she'll kill this monster when she gets the chance, so she doesn't have to think about it.
-----
A week passes with Keegan doing her best to heal. She tries to keep her mouth shut during feeding, but she's not very good at it. Comments and insults slip out more often than not. Her chest is a mess of purple and blue, and breathing is tough, but at least the pain fades a little every day. However, and it concerns her, she cannot stop coughing.
It started on the 5th day after the incident, and has only gotten worse with time. It jostles her healing ribs and makes it even harder to get enough oxygen. It has even interrupted Kane's feeding and given her another painful neck wound on top of everything else. She's absolutely miserable. She hopes for it to get better on its own, (it's not like she can go to Urgent Care) but by the end of the week she's bedridden and coughing up a nasty-looking phlegm.
---
Kane doesn't know much about illness, and what he does know he's heard secondhand from other vampires, more rumor than fact. He's never even had a pet, and knows even less about the phenomenon than those who might have had a sick cat. He knows there are different kinds of illness, some serious and some not. He knows that elderly humans are the more likely to suffer the more serious effects- in fact, he's heard that only elderly humans die of illness. He knows that most illnesses get better on their own, but that humans can also suffer permanent damage.
And he knows that his human is sick, and that she is not getting better.
Her blood tastes worse too, so it's even affecting him. It's a different sort of thing than what the cider did, and it's getting worse and worse by the night.
"What's wrong with you?" he asks when he goes to see his human that night. "Humans are supposed to recover from illness. Why aren't you getting better?"
Keegan groans when Kane returns, which quickly turns into a coughing fit. "It's my ribs. *cough* You fucked them up real bad and I- *cough cough* I can't breathe."
Keegan isn't a doctor, she doesn't know what's wrong either, but she has a pretty good guess. "I need medical attention." A hospital is what she needs.
If she'd asked a week ago, Kane would have dismissed her concerns. But now...
"Fine. We'll go after feeding," he decides reluctantly. "But you will behave yourself in public or else. I will not have you making a fool of me."
"We're actually going somewhere?" She asks, genuinely surprised. She didn't think it would be an option. She supposes it's not too strange for vampires to have somewhere to take their sick humans, but she'd never considered it until now. She kind of assumed they'd just... let them die. Her immediate thought is of course, ‘how can I use this opportunity to escape?’ But Kane's threat reminds her that one, if they're going out, they'll be surrounded by other vampires, and two, she's in absolutely no shape to resist right now.
"Yeah yeah, I *cough* I get it."
Kane’s feeding is a similar ordeal as it's been for the past week. He grimaces after closing her wound, wiping his mouth.
"Alright, come on then." Without warning, he scoops her into his arms, carrying her out the door.
Keegan shouts in surprise when she's lifted into the air. She struggles immediately, though it hurts to do so. "F-fuck! Stop, put me down! I can walk!" Her fatigued body would say otherwise, but she'd rather limp her way around then be carried by this guy. She turns her back just so and chokes in pain as her ribs shift.
Despite the human's struggles, Kane holds her steady. He looks at her like she's an idiot. "We're not walking. Settle down!"
Right, vampires... he's just gonna run there, no cars required. Kane takes off like a rocket and Keegan instinctively grabs onto his shirt as her stomach drops. It's exhilarating, the world around them a blur. In any other context Keegan would be cheering in excitement. Instead she squeezes her eyes shut and holds on for dear life. Kane doesn’t stop until they reach the Doctor’s Office.
-----
The waiting room Kane carries Keegan into is full of vampires, all there for a variety of reasons. Most vampires look perfectly healthy. One is there in a wheelchair, one leg freshly missing and seeping blood. The vampire looks to be in pain, but not otherwise concerned. One vampire couple is there, the wife heavily pregnant. Some vampires are there with humans, ranging from healthy-looking to sick-looking, all of whom share the same unaware, zombie-like gaze. More yet are there with animals: two vampires hold cages carrying cats, and one has an excitable-looking dog on a leash. Apparently, all are here to see the same office, and such matters are not separated by profession in vampire territory.
Kane sets her down. "Behave," he orders under his breath. He motions her to follow as he walks toward the front desk.
---
For Keegan, the doctor's office is culture shock to the extreme. Alarm bells ring in her mind being surrounded by so many vampires. The deadly, blood-drinking monsters that haunt her nightmares. And they are all just... existing. Like normal people. Going to the doctor for their various problems. Some even have pets. Keegan stares in awe.
God, and then there's the humans. horror creeps onto Keegan's face as she watches them, shuffling around with empty expressions like they're sleepwalking. She has an intense urge to save them, to tear them away from their abusers. But as Kane sets her down she realizes she’s just like them. Just another thrall. She might have her mind intact, but she’s no hunter here. She looks at each of them in turn, memorizing their faces. ‘I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.’ She follows after Kane, feeling nauseous.
"How can I help you?" the receptionist asks.
Keegan opens her mouth to explain but is interrupted.
Kane nods toward his human. "My human's sick and not getting better."
The receptionist gives Keegan a sympathetic look, pitying her. "Aw, well we can certainly help with that. Why don't you fill out this form and have a seat."
Kane takes the form and sits in the waiting room. He snaps at his human and points to the seat next to him, indicating her to sit there as he looks over the form. "How old are you?" he asks quietly, one of the questions on the paper.
Keegan does not like the look the receptionist gives her and she really doesn't like how Kane snaps his fingers. "I'm not a dog." she spits. Though she's painfully aware that she has more in common with the animals in the room than with the vampires. She slumps down into the seat and immediately gets hit with another coughing fit. "I'm twenty." She wheezes once she has control of her breathing again.
Kane shoots her a death glare at the outburst, but he doesn't want to make a scene here, so he lets it slide. Only twenty. So young, he almost feels bad. Maybe he would if she were better-behaved.
He writes her age where it says to, then ticks off boxes. Coughing or sneezing. Change in smell or taste of blood. Lethargy. Behavioral problems. He writes a very brief summary of how her injury took place, leaving out details that make him seem pathetic: calling her attack attempted, rather than successful. This is humiliating. He's even more soured when he hands in the form.
It's not long before they're called up. A staff member leads them to a room, chatting with Kane on the way.
"We do offer services for those experiencing difficulty with persuasion," she remarks cheerfully at one point.
Kane glowers. "I've attempted."
The room looks mostly like a regular doctor's office one might find in human territory. The staff member gestures for Keegan to sit in the patient's chair. "Have a seat just there," she says, speaking directly to her for the first time.
Keegan can try to pretend this is a normal doctor visit. If she doesn't look too hard. She sits where indicated, hoping the rest of the appointment will go smoothly.
"Now, since you've indicated your human has behavioral issues and you won't be doing it yourself, we'll be using persuasion on her for the duration of the appointment," the staff member tells Kane.
"Go ahead," Kane agrees, face reddening with embarrassment.
Keegan's eyes widen. She opens her mouth to say ‘wait, no you don't need to do that-’ but the staff member puts her under before she can speak. She's overcome by pure mild contentment, her will and emotions stolen from her.
The appointment does, in fact, go smoothly. Her vitals are taken, the doctor comes in and examines her, ordering her this way and that. Kane looks away when the doctor lifts her shirt to examine her ribs, and doesn't look back until she announces that the examination is over.
The doctor diagnoses her with pneumonia and broken ribs. The ribs will heal on their own in about two months with no further trauma to them, and Kane is given an antibiotic for the pneumonia. The doctor also tells Kane not to feed from her until the pneumonia clears up, which should only take about a week.
He pays for the appointment, and Keegan regains her will and emotions when they're out the door, retaining full recollection of the visit.
Kane shoves the antibiotic at her. "Hold this while I carry you home," he snaps. He's in a bad mood.
Keegan is no stranger to the feeling, but coming out of persuasion is horrible every time. She flinches away from Kane hard, fear written all over her face. She takes the medicine on instinct, then wraps her arms around her stomach defensively. She feels violated. It was completely unnecessary too, she would've cooperated.
At least she can remember what happened. They could have done anything to her back there, but it was just a normal examination. The removal of her shirt doesn't even really bother her since it makes practical sense. Though she still blushes in humiliation. Kane's pissed off though. Why? She didn't do anything wrong. Half the time she didn't have the willpower to anyway. It makes her feel terribly unsafe.
---
It's humiliating. Kane shouldn't need to have the doctor keep his human under control during an examination. He shouldn't need to come in for an ill human because he couldn't keep her under control without violence. He shouldn't need to feed from blood packs again because of it, like a commoner or a child. The way the doctor's staff had said ‘We do offer services for those experiencing difficulty with persuasion’ burns through his mind, over and over, knowing it will never work. Knowing he's tried it all.
He scoops his human up and runs her home, seething over the experience the whole time. He drops her off in her room.
"Follow the instructions on the bottle. I'll see you in a week." He slams the door shut and storms off.
---
Keegan relaxes significantly once Kane is gone. She could feel his anger simmering the whole run home and kept her mouth firmly shut for her own safety. She is glad to have a week to recover without him feeding more. she can't imagine it was helping the healing process. She reads the bottle and takes the medicine, then goes to take a hot shower to wash off the feeling of vampire hands all over her. The heat feels amazing on her bruises as well.
Two months. That's how long it will take her ribs to heal. She has two months to bite her tongue and behave while planning her next escape plan. She cannot fuck it up this time. She might not survive it if she does.
