Gold
Antonio, a vampire saw an abandoned kid and decided to take him in as a future food. Vampire AU oneshot.
Not the usual romantic vampire story. Parody-ish?
Note: In this story, drinking the victim's blood will always result to death. And vampires here burn in the sun, not sparkle (no offense intended).
(Antonio's POV)
I first met him one summer night, sitting in front of the abandoned mansion which was my home. It was very unusual for any normal person, much more of a fragile child, to wander in the area as far as to reach my house, that is why my initial thought about the situation is that he was abandoned.
What a pitiful child, I thought.
I scrutinized the little child and concluded that he was a beautiful foreigner - with long-lashed staring eyes, plump cheeks, dark auburn hair and an unmistakable Italian curl. A frown was ever present on the innocent face, as if he is torn between maintaining a strong facade or succumbing to tears. I know that he is very aware of the situation he was in, though somewhere in his mind, I could see that there is still the faintest hint of hope that perhaps, the person who left him there would still return.
"What's your name?" I tried to act friendly.
He glanced reproachfully at me, finally letting the impending tears fall. "L-Lovino..." he answered shakily.
"It's getting cold, si?" I said. "Come inside with me?"
I led him to the mansion.
This child is lucky. I have just eaten and I'm still too full for another meal. But he will do as a future ration.
...
"Hey! Why aren't you eating, bastard?"
"Why do you only wake at night?"
"Are you afraid of the sunlight?"
I never thought I bit off more than I can chew when I decided to take him in on a whim. He was such a problematic, curious, and rude child. Always jumping up and down and making ruins on my once flawless mansion. I thought I could at least make him clean for me during the day but I guess I was mistaken. In the end, I almost always wake up to broken vases and fallen bookcases. And when he further irritates me with his unending questions while I clean after his mess...
"Hey! Bastard! Answer me dammit!"
"Lovino, shut up!" I bellowed. I regretted it instantly though, as he paled at the sudden rise in my voice. "Just stop pestering me with questions. Emergency food aren't supposed to ask questions."
He was silent for a moment, as if trying to find meaning behind my words. "What do you mean 'emergency food'?" and he was back at throwing questions at me.
...
"Lovino? Where..."
Sometimes, I will bring Lovino with me during my hunts. I don't know why but he really loves to meddle with me. If he wakes up in the middle of the night and find that I left him, he would sulk and refuse to eat for days. Really troublesome. But somehow, I could blame his insistence to come to the fact that I would always buy him a treat just to shut him up.
Right now, he just disappeared to nowhere after saying that he wants to get something.
I saw a glimpse Lovino walking with an old man. Or so I thought.
"Lovi!" I grabbed him.
"Mister? Who-?" asked the boy who resembles the child in my care. He had lighter hair and much less fierce eyes, but the resemblance was too remarkable for a coincidence.
"Feli let's go!" the old man with the boy hurriedly pulled the boy away and went off without sparing me a glance.
Have I just seen Lovino's family?
"Bastard..." there, from behind me, Lovino's voice whispered. I could feel his resentment and hate after seeing the people who had abandoned him. He looks very close to tears, not different from when I first saw him.
On a whim, I wrapped him in my embrace and whispered soothing words in his ear. It took a long time before he relaxed and I carried him back home.
I wonder... Did I take him because I know that he is not different from me? Alone and unwanted?
...
"Lovino! What the hell are you drinking!"
I am careless, I know that. I know that I had just left my blood packs in the refrigerator where Lovino could always see. But never in my wildest dream did I think that Lovino would be fascinated by my food. I snatched the red liquor away from him.
"H-Hey!" he snapped. "That's mine!"
"Yours? Why would you need blood?" I asked him madly.
"What the fuck are you talking about? That's tomato juice, asshole!"
Oh.
"I'm sorry," I returned the juice to him.
"Y-You can t-take it..." he murmured, blushing. "I was planning to give it to you anyway," he said off-handedly.
"R-Really? Thanks," I tried to gulp down the drink. It was as different as possible to blood, but it's not that bad. Seeing Lovino's anticipating stare at me, I chugged down the liquor in one go.
"H-How w-was it?"
"I think it's really good..."
I was amazed at his delight.
"Why don't we plant them?" he remarked. "Though plants needs sunlight to grow so you probably won't be any help at all. I heard from the marketlady that we should water them in early morning."
"I see," I tried to act very interested. Maybe just to humor him. He looks really determined to plant these so called tomatoes...
"But then, it would be a pity that you wouldn't see them under the sun. Hey, have you ever been out to the sunlight? Like you got late and has been caught in daybreak or something?"
"No. I can't be as careless as that."
"Whoa! So you haven't seen the sun yet? Ever?"
"No. Not at all."
He lit up a candle. "Look. The sun is like this fire. Though it's yellower than this..."
He looks really resolved to explain the ball of fire properly. He really is a child.
"Oh... I know!"
I raised my eyebrows questioningly. He sneaked closer to me and pointed at his eyes.
"These! My eyes! They say they shine like the morning sun when they reflect the candlelight," he said excitedly. He grinned. "This way, you can see a bit of the sun."
I really can't understand him. Sometimes, he's difficult to deal with, but when he smiles, he makes me forget that I had a hard time with him.
...
I kept on planning to eat him. And somehow, ten years had passed.
I woke up later than usual. Funny, he would always jump up and down my belly as soon as the sun sets. But this time, no hint of orange can be found on the horizon. I went to find him... Probably he got too engrossed with his tomatoes...
"Hhhnnnngggg!"
I heard his muffled scream and felt my blood go cold as I saw three men towering him, bruises all over his frail body and his clothes almost torn in half.
"Wha-"
"Wait!"
"Aaarrgghhh!"
I vaguely remembered slitting throats and breaking necks.
...
"I'm sorry! It's all my fault!" my beautiful child wailed, trembling and looking very vulnerable.
"It's alright!" I reassured him. "Pack your clothes."
When he refused to move, I pulled him to my chest and kissed his forehead. "It's okay. I've been hunted many times before."
I had been sloppy. One had gotten away and we had to flee at once.
...
We found a much smaller hut to live in. It was as different as possible from our old home, but it doesn't matter. Lovino still planted his tomatoes.
"Thank you for saving me."
He also seemed happy enough with our new environment. It was more peaceful and quiet.
"If ever someone will hurt you, I'll get rid off him," he promised me mightily. Big words for a 15-year old, eh?
"I love you."
...
Another ten years passed. We are now of the same age. And I no longer think of him as food.
"You're growing weaker," he scolded me concernedly. "All you eat is just tomatoes... It's not enough."
"This is a very small town. Even dead animals could cause an uproar and people will track us."
"But I'm here..." he whined exasperatedly. He had been on this argument for a long time now. "I'm more than willing to let you drink my blood!"
"Tell me about the sun and the tomatoes again," I would say. It was my best way to avert the conversation.
He would huff in indignation but would let me have my fun nonetheless.
"The sun is really blinding and warm. At daybreak, it wouldn't be as warm, but seeing the first rays seep into the tree leaves is not different from the way the stars twinkle at their brightest hour at night.
"I wish you could see it at least once. It's a pity only I can appreciate its beauty every morning..."
"No... It's okay. I already have my sun..." I told him as I pulled him into a kiss.
Our happiness felt eternal and timeless.
...
But he is a human. In one strike of a terrible flu, my Lovino closed his pretty eyes.
I looked outside. The darkness is slowly turning into light.
I didn't shed a tear for him, because I know where I could find him.
"There you are."
I walked out of our hut and greeted the rising sun. He wasn't lying. It really resembles the color of his eyes and the way the stars twinkle at night.
Fin.
I uploaded this using my phone so sorry for the mistakes and non-use of text formats.