Dave's palms were beaded with sweat, causing his sword to slip slightly from his grip. His hands were shaking, making the tip of the blade quiver. He strengthened his hold on the handle in an attempt to steady the saber, his knuckles turning white from the effort.
He inhaled sharply through his nose, slowly letting his breath steam from his mouth and into the cold winter night. The city roared at his back, abuzz with lights and the sounds of cars and people. He was only half a mile away from the restless din, but it felt like farther.
Dave stood in the deserted part of the city; a place very different than the bustling metropolitan behind him, past even the furthest back-ways and alleys. He was in a place no one dared set foot save those who lurked in the darkness and those who made it their duty to defy them. There were no hermits or beggars or drug-dealers, they all knew to stay away from the domain of the Hunters and the Demons.
There was a total of about fifty members on both sides of the struggle, with very few casualties among themselves. It was very rare that two would come into contact with one another at the right place and time to slit the other's throat, but when they did it was a bloodbath.
That didn't mean nobody died though. Thousands of innocents had lost their lives to those vile beast's constant thirst for blood and murder. It was Dave and his colleague's job to put a stop, or at least slightly hamper, their nightly reins of terror.
Dave himself was placed among some of the best of the Hunters; once he'd even managed to single-handedly kill one of the bastards, a near impossible thing to do considering it usually took a group of at least two or three to even stand a chance in any sort of assault.
So why his hands were shaking so violently was a mystery to him. This was just a mandatory security mission, the exact same as the ones he'd done hundreds of times before. All he needed to do was patrol one of the borders that separated the main city from their territory, and stop any of them from crossing over.
If he saw any that was, which he almost never did. There was rarely any conflict involved in errands like this, unlike some of the more brutal tasks he'd undergone in the past.
But tonight did slightly defy the status quo. It wasn't his normal route. His friend Rose usually took it, but she'd broken her leg last night (not even from anything dangerous. She just fell down a flight of stairs) and Dave had been the only one with sufficient availability to cover for her.
It wasn't even a particularly difficult area to perimeter either, as almost no Demons lived this far from one of the city's main access points. But there was one that Rose had claimed to encounter from time to time.
She'd guessed that he must live right by her route, as she encountered him on a more regular basis than most of the others, who lived deeper in and avoided contact with humans unless completely necessary.
He didn't kill her, just sat there as she passed by and threatened to do so. When Dave asked what was so bad about that, seeing as how the creature hadn't ever made any actual attempt on her life. She'd replied that his threats were often rather...detailed; creating images so disturbingly intricate in her mind that she'd begun to grow nervous while in his presence. And Rose never got scared. Ever.
Perhaps Dave could attribute his nerves to this, the anticipation of coming in contact with Rose's demon.
As it went, his patrol was completely uneventful, as always. Dave had gotten worked up over nothing.
- 2 weeks later -
There hadn't been any real action in a few weeks, the closest being Rose's discovery of a rotting corpse a few hundred feet from their base. The lack of activity had caused an air of angst to spread through the complex, and everyone was restlessly biding their time as they waited for something exciting to happen, Dave included.
So when Rose stated that she couldn't go on her patrol again tonight, he was the first one to volunteer to take it for her.
Dave walked silently across the barren dirt plot that lay between the city and the back-ways. There were probably buildings there at some point, but they'd all eroded with time and now there was nothing left but a few stray bits of rubble and patches of withered grass.
The lights of the city shown in the distance to one side of him, and tall abandoned buildings cast their shadows over the moonlit ground on his other.
The night was peaceful, but Dave remained alert as to any disturbance in the tranquility. All he could hear though was the wind echoing through the empty buildings.
Dave walked almost casually, his hands tucked in his pockets and his sword slung over his shoulder, but in such a way that he could easily access it if the need arose.
Dave heard the sound of something scraping against the concrete, instantly swinging around to face the source of the noise. His hand gripped the hilt of his still-sheathed sword as he readied himself to fight. Everything was silent. Dave kept a hold of his sword, his hands shakily clutching the handle. He was still unconvinced that he was alone.
Finally deciding it must have been some sort of stray animal, Dave turned back, his hand dropping to his side.
Just as he'd fixed his gaze ahead of him, a flicker of a shadow darted across his peripherals. Drawing his sword, he spun around to face the cluster of empty buildings; prepared to cut open whatever was out there.
There was nothing. Sighing, Dave stood erect from the crouched position he'd assumed, but kept his sword unsheathed.
Dave turned around again. Only this time he found himself face to face with a pair of bright blue eyes peering at him through the darkness. He flinched back a step, a small sound of surprise escaping his lips. He raised his sword to the other being, knowing he wouldn't have time to think if this truly was a demon, but only to attack.
But he only stared at him. And was he...smiling? What the fuck? That wasn't normal.
"You're not Rose," he said questioningly, almost innocently. As if he were a lost child asking of the whereabouts of his guardian. "No," Dave said cautiously, keeping his sword only inches from his target's chest; he knew some of them liked to play mind games to lower the guard of their attacker rather than use force right away.
The creature looked almost judgmentally at the sword pointed at his heart. "Would you please put that thing down? It's kind of hard to talk to someone when being held at sword point," he said, pressing the tip of the blade between his index finger and thumb and turning it away from his chest.
It hadn't even looked like he had put much effort into the action, yet the demon had overpowered Dave's firm grip on the weapon.
Acknowledging that any amount of force would be useless in the situation, Dave slowly lowered his sword, keeping a firm grip on it nonetheless.
The creature began circling Dave, as if sizing him up, finally stopping in front of the boy and staring at his face. Though Dave was wearing shades, the Demon seemed to be glaring right into his eyes, as if he could see beyond the two tainted pieces of glass.
He had bright blue eyes that pierced through the darkness like razor blades, with an equally sharp set of ears and teeth. Other than that, the creature looked exactly like any regular human being.
That was what made their kind so dangerous. It was easy for them to blend in with regular people without anyone noticing.
"So new person, what's your name?" he asked. Dave ignored the beast and began walking again, refusing to give him the luxury of any sort of victory, even if it was through providing his name.
The creature, to Dave's great annoyance, ran up and matched his steps with Dave's. "Well that was rude. Not going to introduce yourself, huh? Well I suppose I can go first. I'm John Egbert." he said matter of factly, if not a bit antagonistically.
Dave looked at John for a brief second before returning his eyes to the path ahead of him. John had outstretched his hand towards Dave, perhaps hoping to elicit some form of response through the minor act of consideration.
John's nails were abnormally long and slightly sharpened at the tips, though they weren't painted black as were those of most of his kind. Though they still retained their edge, it looked as if they had been chewed on more than one occasion and there was dirt trapped beneath the nail. This struck Dave as odd, because Demons tended to be rather vain and somehow managed to maintain excellent hygiene despite the squalor they lived in.
"I didn't know your kind had last names," Dave said without thinking, instantly regretting speaking instead of just ignoring the beast as he should have done.
John laughed a little, not manically but as if he were genuinely amused. "Duh. Why wouldn't we? You have a last name don't you? Though I suppose I'll never know if you don't tell me."
"I'm not telling you my name. First or last. And I'm not talking to you anymore either. If you aren't going to try and kill me, then I don't need to deal with you, so fuck off." Dave stated bluntly, quickening his pace.
"Yeah I thought that was weird..." John said to himself, falling back a few paces. "Why haven't you tried to kill me yet? Don't Hunters usually try and kill Demons if they get the chance?" he asked, catching up to Dave.
Despite his better judgment, Dave actually considered the question for a second. Why hadn't he killed John yet? Or at least made an attempt to.
Obviously this was the Demon Rose had been talking about. Dave wasn't an idiot. And if she was right, that John didn't pose any sort of threat, why should he care? Besides, Rose had said she'd noticed that John wasn't always able to see things very clearly, and conjectured he was a cripple. If that were true, slitting that pathetic beasts throat wasn't even worth his time.
John's disability would also explain why he was located so far from any of the main Demon nests. They were very critical of the weak, and often shunned them into exile. That also explained why he hadn't attacked Rose, even though he probably wanted to badly enough, as he must now with Dave. But John knew the desperate disadvantage that he'd hold in any sort of conflict, and instead remained passive.
"I'm not talking to you." Dave said bitterly, hoping that if he refused John an answer the beast would leave him alone.
"You just did." John said snidely, infuriating Dave.
"Ah come on. What's with that look? Why can't you just talk to me like a normal person? I haven't killed you yet have I? I could though. Kill you that is. You Hunters have already slaughtered so many of us, it'd be completely retributive on my part.
"It would be so easy too. It'd only take a second to do it painlessly; I could just pin you down before you even had a chance to lift that cheap piece of tinfoil, and slit your throat.
"But what's the fun in that? It'd be much more interesting to drag out the pain, make it last longer. I'd use your own sword too. I'd cut you up until there was barely anything left but scraps, and then I'd tear off your eyelids. That way you could watch as I pressed the blade over your heart, so slowly you'd feel every layer of skin as it broke open, until I'd sunk the blade right through your chest." John's playful tone had turned maniacal, his obvious lust for blood becoming apparent.
Rose hadn't been exaggerating when she said he was creepy.
- Three weeks later -
Dave had volunteered every night for the past few weeks to take Rose's route. Not because he wanted to see John, he didn't like him or anything. Quite the opposite in fact, he hated John.
Listening to that demented creature ramble on about different ways to kill Dave every night for the three hours it took him to walk the perimeter, having to bear through his offhanded remarks on how weak and powerless Dave was in comparison to himself...it infuriated Dave beyond comprehension.
It reminded Dave why he'd vowed to kill them, of their lack of even the slightest trace of humanity and of why they needed to be expurgated from existence.
Dave stepped out into the cold night, shutting the door behind him. It looked like it might rain. Clouds hung dark and heavy in the sky, threatening to unleash their fury on the surface.
Dave hoped it didn't start raining until he got back. Picking up his pace, he made an effort to elongate his strides in an attempt to quicken tonight's patrol so he didn't get soaked. He walked past the cluster of buildings he usually found John slinking around, stuttering a little in his pace when he didn't see the creature running up to him.
It hadn't occurred to Dave that John might not be there. Why did he care though? He shouldn't have even stopped to think about it. Shaking his head, Dave moved onward, trying to eradicate his minor lapse in judgement from his memory.
He continued on in silence for another half hour, trying not to let his thoughts turn to John, and finding it frighteningly difficult. Had he really gotten so used to the beast? What was it that made John so different from every other Demon he'd seen?
Everything about John was weird. He seemed to be in a constant state of euphoria, even though most things he got so excited over were death, especially when he was responsible for it. If John were human, Dave probably would have used the word "dorky" to describe the male.
No, wait, he shouldn't be thinking like that.
But why had his chest felt so weird when he thought of John as a human?
Dave had been so occupied in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed John standing right in front of him until he'd almost run into the Demon. Jerking to attention, Dave managed to stop before colliding with him.
John's face was inches from Dave's, so that he could feel John's hot breath against his face. He hadn't noticed before, but John was a notable three or four inches shorter than him, so Dave had to turn his gaze down slightly to look at John's face.
"You were looking for me," John said, tapping Dave lightly on the nose with the tip of his finger. Dave felt heat rush to the area, and stepped back defensively. How could he have let John get close enough to touch him? How could he have let his guard down around this creature?
"No, I wasn't." Dave said bluntly, the words being the first he'd spoken since their initial encounter. John's face lit up at Dave's final break in resolve despite his hostile tone, responding almost instantly; "Yes you were. You didn't see me where I usually am, and you hesitated for a second. You even stopped and looked around. It would have been nice if you'd made more of an effort, but still."
"I wasn't looking for you. I've just gotten used to listening to the constant horseshit that dribbles out of your mouth at about that time every night, and I did what I did out of habit." Dave tightened his grip on his sword and continued walking.
John sighed in frustration over Dave's denial, but ran after the boy anyway.
"Dave come on you're no fun. You don't say a word to me for weeks and then when you finally do you're only negative."
"I don't have anything to say to you."
"Oh, so if you had things to say then you'd talk to me?"
"God dammit no that's not what I meant," Dave said, grumbling in frustration. "I-" he stopped walking, turning to face John. "I don't 'socialize' with your kind. You're all nothing but cold-blooded murderers, killing anything you can whenever you can just because you want to."
"That isn't true." John said icily, almost condescendingly. It was an identical tone to the one used by Demons when they were speaking to Hunters. This was the first time Dave had heard it from John, and it caught him slightly off guard. "We kill because we have to in order to survive."
"What you do isn't survival. It's slaughter. You can't tell me you don't enjoy it," Dave retorted bitterly.
John smirked. "So what if I find it pleasurable. I still need to eat, just like you and all those other humans you try so hard to protect. We're only trying to stay alive, same as you."
"I'm not like you." Dave's voice was cold and level, almost dangerous; warning John to drop the subject. He got the message.
"That may be what you think," John said sourly before turning and walking in the other direction.
The next few nights Dave didn't see John. He didn't even hesitate when he passed their normal meeting spot, just kept walking like he should have that first night.
It wasn't until almost a week later that John turned up again. Only this time he brought with him a far too swollen black eye and what looked to be a chipped tooth.
"Miss me?" he said snidely, sounding a little ridiculous because he had to talk around the swelling in his cheek.
"What the hell happened to you. Someone actually fight back as you ripped their throat out?" Dave said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Ah, no actually..." John's tone changed. It sounded weird, almost as if he were ashamed. "It was another non-human that did this...a few actually..."
Dave stopped and turned towards John, his eyes widening slightly behind his shades. "Seriously? That's fucked up. What did you do to get beat up so bad?" Dave said, careful to keep any note of shock from his voice.
It didn't make sense to him. Why would Demons attack their own kind? Was this normal? Dave knew they weren't exactly "friendly" to one another, but he'd had no clue they would go so far as to hurt each other.
"I was in the city, actually. I hadn't eaten in months, but, it's kind of difficult for me to kill people. I sort of have a...problem, that makes it difficult for me," he said. For the first time Dave had known him, John sounded almost modest. Almost human.
"Is it your eyesight?" Dave guessed.
"How'd you know?" John asked defensively, his pointed ears flattening against the sides of his head. "Just a guess," Dave replied casually.
"Damn, I guess I'm not as good at hiding it as I thought..." John sounded almost disappointed, his shoulders slumping forward slightly.
"Wait, you hadn't had food for...months?" The thought had just occurred to Dave. John nodded. "Yeah. I told you, I only kill to survive and avoid it if I don't have to. Half of them end up escaping anyway because I can barely see anything.
"Last night though, I finally thought I'd found one. I'd even convinced her to come out were with me; I didn't trust myself enough to do a clean job of it with so many people around. But they were waiting. There were about four of them, I think.
"They taunted me, told me how pathetic I was. They murdered her of course, then beat me up and left."
"Egbert that is just about the saddest fucking thing I have ever heard," Dave said monotonously, meaning to come off as sarcastic. John didn't seem to notice, and just nodded despondently.
Minutes passed in silence.
"I wouldn't lose to you in a fight," John said suddenly.
"What?"
"I just admitted to having a vision impairment, and told you I got beat up. That doesn't mean I'm weak. Just because they were able to hurt me doesn't mean you can. They're a lot stronger and there were more of them. So don't think I would be an easy target just because of that."
At first Dave the statement confused Dave. Then he began to realize what he had meant; John had just shared some pretty personal stuff. Not only that, but he'd confirmed that he had a disability. For his kind no matter who they faced, that almost always meant death. John was just assuring Dave he wouldn't go down without a fight, if he went at all.
But it still disturbed Dave that those creatures would for absolutely no good reason lash out at John, one of their own. He'd gotten so used to John's mildness that Dave had completely forgotten how heartless these things were, that they would attack someone just because they were weaker. It was sick.
The following night, John was silent for the majority of the time, but walked next to Dave nonetheless. "You know it wasn't always like this for me...even though I had bad eyesight back then too, the others used to be too afraid to even go near me. I thought it was because I was powerful, that I was better than them, but it was only because my sister was there," John said, breaking the silence.
"You had a sister?" Dave asked, his interest mildly piqued. "Yeah. Her name was Jade. She was by far the strongest among all of us, and everyone did what she said. She was almost like a leader, actually.
"I didn't even need to kill anyone. She'd just do it for me. I'd go along, sure, but she did all the work. Jade was so kind to me, she helped me so much. Maybe too much, because I became so dependent on her that I never learned how to do anything myself. But a little over two years ago, she was killed by one of- er, well she was killed.
"I had no idea she was the reason they respected me so much. It wasn't even really respect for me either, just extended devotion to her. Strength is everything in our world, and without her I was just a weak, under-experienced Demon with a disability. I was forced into exile before I'd even had a chance to cope with Jade's death.
"I actually got lucky. The only reason they didn't kill me was out of reverence of her," John finished sadly.
Despite Dave's better judgement, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the Demon. He'd had no idea John had been through so much, that this was how these creatures were treated. Dave wasn't one for involving himself in issues that didn't concern him, but this was just terrible.
"Your vision problem...It's not that you're blind, right? What do you mean by 'you can't see very well'?" Dave asked hesitantly.
"Oh, well...everything's sort of...blurry. Like, I can see things if they're really close, like I can see your face pretty clear right now, but everything else is just a smudge..."
"Huh." Dave said simply.
John's eyes darted to the area just behind Dave's left ear. "You kept your sword sheathed." he remarked, almost incredulously.
"Oh, uh..." Dave stuttered, realizing that subconsciously, he hadn't felt the need to draw his weapon as he usually did in John's presence. "I do have some standards. I couldn't draw a sword against a virtually defenseless blind dude. That'd just be bad for my reputation.
"I could still cut you in a second though, so don't try anything," he said awkwardly.
Dave, his face feeling slightly flushed, turned back to the road ahead of him. He was probably wrong, but he could have sworn he'd seen something that almost looked like a smile cross John's face.
Dave was the first to speak when John jogged up to him the following night.
"I..." Dave trailed off, not sure how to put what he wanted to say. What he was about to do was strictly against Hunter policy, and he could get in a lot of trouble for it. He also knew that if it worked, he was potentially endangering not only his own life, but those of countless others.
"John I...I think I may know how to fix your vision problem." Dave reached into his pocket, holding its contents out in front of John. "Here."
In his hand he held a pair of thick-rimmed, square glasses that he'd found in the storage room. John just stared at the small pieces of glass with a baffled expression.
"I don't see what good these will do me. Seriously, what do you guys use these for anyway? I've seen humans wearing them, but..." John carefully unfolded the glasses, sliding them into place on the bridge of his nose.
"What do..." he trailed off as his eyes came into focus. "I," John's pupils widened in shock, "I can see." he murmured in disbelief.
"I haven't been able to see anything this clearly, not in years, but...Why would you do this for me? I could kill you a lot easier now, just...so why would you...?"
"Strider."
"What?"
"You wanted to know my name. It's Dave. Dave Strider."
"Okay then, Dave," John said, flashing a sharp-toothed grin, "I didn't think I'd ever be thanking a Hunter of all people...but, yeah thanks."
"No problem. Those fuckers that beat you up better watch their backs cause-"
"I could start killing people again. Like I used to, back with Jade," John cut off.
"John, no. I didn't give you those for that. Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have-"
"I don't think I could actually. Not after talking to you. I thought humans were despicable, mindless meat bags that took any excuse to kill Demons, and even each other if they had the chance, but you're nothing like that. You actually talk to me, and honestly you treat me better than my own species does."
"Heh, yeah, okay. Don't get used to it though. I'd still kill you in a second if you tried to hurt me or anyone else."
"And I you."
- Several nights later -
Dave hadn't seen John since he'd given him the glasses. Last night there had been a massacre, right at the center of the city. Hundreds had been killed and nobody had any reasonable explanation for it. Except for the Hunters.
Dave thought he should feel guilty, or maybe even a little disappointed. All he felt was hollow.
- The next night -
Dave found John crouched in a ball with his back to one of the buildings. The palms of his hands were pressed to his eyes, and tears streamed down his forearms.
"I didn't know they would do that," he stuttered when Dave approached him. "They found out I got the glasses from you, and tried to kill me. When they realized they couldn't now that I can see, they went and killed all of them."
The only thing Dave could think to do was sit next to him through the night, his arm wrapped around John's shaking shoulders. His sobs were the only sounds that filled the cloudless night.
- Two weeks later -
Rose walked through the dimly lit hallway that led to the cafeteria. She knew that's where Dave would be; he was always there at this time of night. Her strides were steady and even, albeit a bit sluggish. She wasn't completely thrilled with the news she must soon bear to Dave.
Finally coming to a stop in front of the double doors that marked the entrance of the mess hall, she gripped the handle and slowly pulled the long piece of dingy metal open just enough for her to squeeze inside.
Dave sat with his back to Rose. The rest of the room was empty. It would just be him and her.
Dave heard the door open, but didn't turn to see who had come in.
Rose walked past Dave, sitting directly across from him. Her whole upper body was tense, and her shoulders were stuck stiffly under her ears. She placed her tightly clasped hands on the surface of the table.
The two hadn't spoken much over the last few months; ever since Dave had started talking to John. All he had been able to think about was keeping his conversations with the Demon a secret, and he never kept secrets from Rose. Or at least, he hadn't before. And Dave couldn't stand lying to her. So instead he just avoided her, evading any situation that would involve direct interaction between him and the person who used to be the one he trusted most.
Dave would avoid her in the halls, and always take meals to his room so he wouldn't have to talk to her then. Rose no doubt had noticed something was off, and Dave cringed to think of how it must have made her feel. But that didn't overrule the fact that Rose was a very perceptive person, which endangered Dave's meetings with John.
"Dave, we need to talk," she said, her tone serious and slightly melancholy. "Hmm?" Dave responded, not looking up from the book he'd been pretending to read.
"Dave." Rose lifted Dave's chin with her forefinger, forcing him to look right into her bright magenta irises. "We need to talk."
A feeling of dread swept through Dave. Rose was serious. Very serious. This could only be about one thing, and whatever she needed to tell him about it wasn't be good.
"This isn't going to be easy to say, and it won't be easy to listen to either I'd imagine," Rose took a deep breath, "A few nights ago, Dirk saw you while you were on patrol."
Dave swallowed nervously. He felt an icy chill run down the back of his neck. "What did he see, exactly?" Dave asked, trying to sound casual.
Rose dipped her head solemnly. "He said he saw you...communing with one of them. He didn't believe it at first, didn't think you'd ever be so friendly to one of those creatures, not of your own free will at least. So he decided to follow you out for the past few nights, and discovered that, well...you seem to have a much more casual relationship than is allowed with their species.
"This can't continue Dave, you know it can't. You of all people should know that."
"Damn it Rose there's nothing going on between us, I swear. He hasn't killed anyone the entire time I've known him, and he never tried to kill me, not once."
"That doesn't mean he hasn't killed people before, that he won't do it again. You know their kind, they aren't human. It's easy to forget, I know. I...I don't like to talk about this, but, once a few years ago one of them tried to get 'friendly' with me as well.
"Her name was Kanaya, I believe. For a while, I actually thought that she was different from the rest of them, but the first chance she got she tried to kill me. They may look human, but they're far from it. This won't end well."
"Oh god Rose I know, I just..." Dave trailed off, at a loss for words. "What can I do though?"
Rose inhaled sharply, releasing her breath in a tense sigh. "Dave, you aren't going to like this, but it's better than being charged with treason and getting yourself killed. You've been here a long time, longer than most and you've proven yourself valuable to this facility. So they've agreed to forget about all of this if you just kill the Demon-"
"What kill John?" Dave asked incredulously.
"Yes."
"Fine then, if that's what it'll take then sure why not."
"You're really going through with this?"
"Course. I told you, there's nothing going on between us. I didn't have any reason to kill him before, and now I do. So sure, what the hell."
"Well then..." Rose said, taken slightly aback. She'd anticipated a bit more resistance from him, but was rather relieved that he'd been so willing. Though Rose didn't know what else she had expected from Dave.
"Wait, I'll come with you," Rose said, rising from her chair as Dave did the same.
"Nah it's cool. I got this. It'll be real quick; the dude's got a vision impediment. This'll be as easy as jacking cheap drugstore shades off an old blind man."
Dave walked out of the room, ascending the stairs that led out of the small underground bunker where he had spent the majority of his life. He walked down the path that had become so familiar to him; past buildings that still remained empty and tall and looming, but no longer menacing.
It didn't take him long to arrive at John's usual meeting spot. With no sign of him coming, Dave kept walking. His heart was beating at an uncontrollably quick rate, and his legs felt numb. He had to kill John, had to fulfill his duty to the Hunters, but... Every time Dave thought of his mission, John's quirky, pointed grin came to mind and his determination wavered.
There was an empty lot between the corroding shambles of two buildings just a few hundred yards away. The area was lined by a broken wire fence. John was leaning against the wall of one of the buildings behind the lot.
He must have known Dirk had been following them for the past few nights, and perhaps had even anticipated this sort of response from Dave.
He drew his sword from the sheath on his back. The metal made a scraping noise as it scratched the edge of the metal casing. Taking a deep breath, Dave stepped over the wire.
John slouched against the wall with his hands in his pockets at one end of the lot. Dave, his sword drawn but unwavering glared down at him from the other. John's glasses reflected the light of the waxing moon, shining like two beacons through the darkness.
"I suppose you've come to kill me then." John said, evenly. There was a critical ring to his words.
"I suppose I have." Dave conveyed no emotion, refused to feel any emotion.
"Well then." John tilted his head down slightly so that one of his luminescent blue eyes became visible behind the glass. His mouth turned up in a twisted grin.
Dave raised his sword above his shoulder and ran at John with full force. John didn't move, just stood there with that maniacal look on his face. Swinging down, Dave tripped forward as he sliced empty air. He heard something behind him, and suddenly Dave found himself pinned against the wall, his sword clattering to the ground beside him.
Dave's face was being pressed against the concrete causing his breaths to come in uneven stutters. He felt like his lungs were being crushed. He couldn't turn his head, couldn't move. He was completely powerless.
John leaned his head next to Dave's, his lips barely brushing the tip of Dave's ear. "I know you came here to kill me Mr. Strider, but I can assure you that I have no intention of dying."
John spun Dave around too fast for him to react. He was still pinned to the wall by his wrists, but now he was facing John. The two were so close that Dave's forehead was pressed against John's. "Actually I had something a little different in mind," John said almost cynically.
"What do you-" he was cut off as John pressed his lips to Dave's. Dave didn't struggle, instead letting his body fall limp.
John let Dave's wrists fall to his sides, gripping the back of Dave's head instead. Dave didn't think, didn't want to think. He just kissed back, wrapping one hand around the nape of John's neck and placing the other at the small of his back.
Dave ran his tongue gently over John's pointed teeth, tracing it from one fang-like incisor to the other. It caught on the last one, the sharp enamel tearing into his tongue. Dave tasted blood, but he didn't care.
He had never felt like this before, never felt so content to just forget about everything and focus on the present. He wished the moment would drag itself out, would last forever. John must have wanted the same, because neither pulled back.
"Dave?" Rose's voice broke the silence.
Dave's heart froze. He forced himself to pull away; John followed him but Dave pushed him back.
John gave Dave a baffled expression, then realization slowly began to register on his face. He whipped around, his eyes falling on Rose and the gun she now held aimed at him with shaking hands.
"Rose, wait don't-!"
Bang
The gun shot rang clearly across the barren landscape, echoing off the buildings so that it sounded as if a hundred guns had been fired all at once instead of just the one.
But it had felt like hundreds.
There was a sharp pain in Dave's chest where the bullet had hit him, right next to his heart. He stuttered, coughing up blood, before collapsing on the ground.
Hot red liquid gushed from the wound in his chest, creeping across his torso and running down his hand. Some found its way to the base of his neck, where it split off and pooled on the ground on either side of him.
He hadn't been thinking when Rose fired, just acted; jumping in front of John at the expense of his own life. John was there now, sitting above him and holding Dave's head in his hands. He was saying something, but there was too much blood to hear anything.
John carefully set Dave's head onto the cracked concrete and stood up. He looked really pissed off. He was yelling at Rose. She was crying.
She tried to bend down next to Dave as well, but John pushed her back. There were tears in his eyes now too. Leaning down next to Dave again, John lifted the boy's head into his lap. They both knew it was too late to save him; the shot had been fatal. It was a miracle he'd stayed conscious for this long.
"Well this is a shitty way to go out," Dave managed to cough. "Dave you're such an idiot." John's voice quivered as he spoke, cracking at the last syllable. Wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his hand, he looked away quickly, perhaps hoping that Dave hadn't seen him crying.
"John you bastard," Dave stuttered.
"Wh-what?" John said, his breath quick and shallow.
"Finally kiss me and it's right before I die. Jackass."
John didn't respond, just looked down at Dave sadly. He saw Rose kneel down too. John didn't push her away this time.
"You're both idiots." Dave said almost fondly, smiling a little before his eyelids fell shut.
The night around them was dark and peaceful. Even the sounds of the city seemed to fall silent in the wake of the brilliant array of stars that hung above the world. The only sound that could be heard was the howling of the wind through the hollow buildings.
A/N : This was so long I'm sorry. I hope I ended it right.
IMPORTANT NOTE! This IS going to be a chapter-based story (no I didn't tag it wrong) , but not in a traditional way. Each chapter is a stand-alone story like this one, and takes place in the same reality but with different pairings each time. (Which means that the chapters can be read in any order, though I'm writing them in this sequence for a reason)
Thanks for reading!