Life with the Undead
By Jordre
Rex has his Territory, his Lair, and his people. But there are still a lot of loose ends to tie up before life can become settled for everyone. The final part (Part Five) of Nomen Vampyri Rex. Still rated M, because hey, vampires, don'tcha know.
Ok; I'd thought that I was done with this, but they just wouldn't stop talking to me… Last part ― Part 5 of Nomen Vampyri Rex ― I hope!
Author's Note : This story follows directly on from The Master of the Twin Cities, and is 98% Original Characters. Illustration for cover art for part five adapted from a cover from the "For Dummies" instructional book series.
Author's Note 2: Again with thanks to my roommate (and beta), Jake; without her able input and encouragement, this story would never have been written. Begun 11/24/12; completed 12/16/12.
Disclaimer: (applies to all subsequent chapters; I'm not gonna write this over every time.) All rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy; Any Humans and Vampires that you might recognize are his. All others are mine; I'll put his back without too much damage when I'm done playing with them. Some situations referred to are taken from both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series, but I'm too lazy to go looking them up to specifically footnote them. I originally read about the concept of the Vampiric Territories of North America in Yanagi_wa's wonderful story, Ulterior Motives. Other than that, if some item or situation sounds like something you wrote, please understand that I didn't intentionally take what was yours; it just apparently made enough of an impression to really stick in my brain.
Additionally, I have never been to Minneapolis or any of the other locations used as settings for this, and have not even tried to be accurate with any street names or areas indicated; any resemblance to actual people or places is sheer coincidence.
Chapter 1
The great house was mostly silent now, shadows standing deep in the corners, where the occasional dim light refused to reach. Slowly he staggered out of his suite, the heavy door closing behind him with a quiet snick of the latch. He wavered briefly on his feet before slowly heading for the dining room, where the rest of the household should be gathered, eating dinner.
He could hear their laughter and quiet conversations as he drew nearer, and smiled despite his exhaustion. The soft chiming of utensils against dishes, the scent of the warm food he could smell now as he stood just outside the door, the scent of warm blood that he could taste on the still night air…
Voices fell silent as he pushed open the dining-room door and stepped inside. They stared at him, at the blood that still stained his chest and shoulder from the wounds that it had run freely from. Frozen in place, they stared. Then he wavered on his feet, and the spell was broken.
"Master Rex!" Collins exclaimed as he and Taylor leapt up from the table to go to their Master.
Taylor said nothing, but he was the first to reach the vampire's side, despite being farther away. He warned Collins away with a look, helping his Master over to the chair which stood empty at the table's head. He accepted the mug of warm blood that was passed to him and offered it to the vampire. "C'mon, Rex; take a drink of this," he urged quietly as he held the mug in front of the vampire's face.
The other humans gathered at the table remained in their chairs, watching curiously. Relief lit their eyes as the house's Master placed a shaky hand on the mug and guided it to his lips, although he did not try to take it from Taylor's hand. All present watched as the wounds on neck and shoulder started to heal. A second, then a third mug were offered and swallowed down before Rex finally gave a sigh and looked around.
Taylor caught his master's eyes and grinned. "He's a messy eater," he said, hiding his relief behind the joke.
Rex shrugged. "He had been sick quite some time; he was hungrier than the other two were. It is not totally unexpected."
"I still wish you'd let me stay with you t' give you a hand with 'im," Taylor grumbled half under his breath. He knew that the vampires present would hear him clearly, although the Stable Kids would not. He also knew, though, why he'd been kept away. New vampires were voracious; the fledge would have been drawn to the scent of the warm blood flowing through his veins. Rex would have had a harder time controlling him, despite the draw he would have felt towards his Sire.
"You know why, my Pet," Rex said, running a gentle hand down Taylor's arm. He smiled at his favored human once more, then looked over at the other two vampires present in the room. "Corey, my Childe, you have a new brother," he announced quietly, letting them all know that not only had the new vampire finally risen, he'd been found acceptable by his maker.
"Great!" Corey replied, truly pleased. He had visited with the new vampire before his turning and had found that he'd liked the man. Now he would have a new friend, and their family had grown once more.
The other young vampire was quieter. Nick, as he now was called, was only a minion, a low-status vamp. While he was glad for his Master, he couldn't help but feel a little left out. Master Rex had taken him into his household, true enough, but he was from a different bloodline; the only one there not of Rex's making. He would never feel the bonds of blood that the others would have drawing them together.
He paused in his musing as the scent of loss and despair hit his sensitive nose. He looked around at the humans there, at Master Rex's gathered Stable. The young ones, children and teenaged runaways that had been rescued, all seemed just pleased to see their Master looking better once more. Dobbs leaned against Corey, his vampiric master, although Corey was technically still a Childe and traditionally not entitled to a Pet of his own yet. Marc, fairly new to the Stable, seemed fine also. Nick let his gaze swing to the last adult in the Stable: Sammy Chen.
Sammy had been added to the Stable this past winter, coming back from Chicago, along with Marc Santos. Master Rex had gone to acquire hunting rights for his Court from the Territorial Master, Don Marco di Salvatore, and had come back with the two humans. Marc Santos had been in the Chicago VA hospital, dying from some odd sort of invasive, proliferating tumors. He'd come with the vampire willingly for turning, but Rex had first tried to cure him with daily infusions of vampire blood. It had worked, and the human, a former Marine corporal, had stayed in the Stable.
Sammy, though, had been the Pet of Don Marco's youngest Childe, Joey. He had first met the young vampire at the Hunter unit, where he'd been assigned as Joey's handler. He had left with his charge when Joey had been rescued by Rex, once the abuses at the Hunter Base had come to light, and had remained with him at Don Marco's Court in Chicago. There he had stayed, until Joey had started to collect his own following, against his Sire's orders. The younger vampire had been feeling too full of himself, was too wayward and headstrong. As punishment, Don Marco had sent Sammy away with Master Rex. Shortly after that, they had received word that Joey had challenged a Slayer and had been dusted.
Always having acknowledged the fact that he was bisexual, Sammy had let himself fall hard for Joey. He was devastated at being sent away from his Master, and had been shocked at the news of his final death. Now he mourned, here in Master Rex's Stable. He was well cared-for, had plenty to do and lots of company, but he deeply missed his vampire. It just wasn't the same when Rex, or sometimes even Corey, fed from him; they weren't his.
Now Nick looked at him carefully, seeing the weight that the human had lost through his mourning. The human needed someone of his own, the young vampire realized, and sighed. Nick knew that he would never have a Pet of his own; he was too low-status, and he knew that he might not be able to stop feeding in time to keep from hurting a human. Maybe in another forty or fifty years, but right now he was too young still. He suspected, too, that Sammy might very well welcome that: suicide-by-vampire. And that would be very bad for the rest of the Stable. They all trusted their Master to stop in time; in the year that Rex had had them, only one had died from the bite, and that had been intentional. All there knew it, and had even rejoiced at that young punk's demise. No; Sammy's being drained by accident would be very bad.
He watched, curious, as the human excused himself and left the table, heading, no doubt, for his own quarters. No one else noticed him leaving, or, if they did, made no comment.
~oOo~
It was quiet upstairs. Sammy Chen started towards his own quarters, but the Stable wing was dark and silent with everyone else still down in the dining room. He paused, then turned to look at the vampires' wing. They were all downstairs also, all except for the newly risen fledge. He didn't know Steve, as the young vampire had been called in life. He had avoided the man pre-turning, deep in mourning for his lost Master.
The idea grew in his mind. He didn't know Steve, but the young vampire didn't know him, either. He would feel no sense of loss, no sense of remorse. Fledges were, after all, little more than walking appetites at first. They had all been warned to stay away from him for the first week or two.
Slowly Sammy headed for the Master's suite, and the young vampire who slept there now.
~oOo~
A strange drumming sound drew him from his contented sleep. There was an enticing aroma in the room that drew his golden eyes. Who or what was this in Sire's room? And where was Sire? Steve sat up, looking at the intruder in confusion, a soft growl rumbling in his chest. The odd thought and memory played through his mind, leaving him confused and anxious. He wasn't hungry yet—Sire had fed him from his own blood—but this smelled so good…
But Sire had told him to stay there until he returned. Steve frowned. Was this being supposed to be in here? Should he hold him—it was male, he could sense that—here until Sire returned? Or should he send him away?
He smelled so good…
Steve wondered what his blood would taste like, if Sire would mind if he tried a bite.
Sire had said that he wasn't allowed to eat any of the humans there…
"Are you a human?" he asked finally, unable to restrain himself any longer.
"Why do you ask?"
"Sire said I couldn't bite any humans here."
"Oh." The being paused in thought, then answered, "I am Chen."
It was Steve's turn to pause for thought. He sensed truth in the statement, but something was still off. He searched his memories further; he'd never heard of a chen before, he was sure of that. But there were many things he'd not been told about, in the before. Things that those in charge had not wished him to know. His ignorance in these matters worried him, causing him to silently vow to learn all he could, as fast as possible. Of course, that didn't help him now.
He took a careful sniff of the air. It was faint, but he could detect Sire's scent on this chen. Also another vampire… So perhaps this chen was a type of human? But why wouldn't he admit it? He had learned caution during his time as a human, serving with the Hunters before becoming sick, even if those memories were just a vague blur right now.
So he grinned. Caution ruled. He would keep this chen here until Sire returned. He would not bite, but would not let him loose among the other humans, in case he was actually a danger.
The chen grinned back and came to him on the bed. Steve wrapped his arms around the chen, holding him against his chest as he lay back down again. The chen sighed and lay back against him, the warmth of his body soothing, comforting. Steve started to purr, and did so until they both fell asleep.
That was how Rex found them, sleeping together, when he returned to his Childe two hours later. He couldn't prevent the fond smile that crossed his face as he looked at his youngest Childe. Golden eyes opened to look back at him as the fledge sensed his Sire nearby.
"And what do you have there, my Childe?" Rex asked in a gentle voice. He wondered what the human had said; it was clear to him that his Childe had been obedient.
"I'm not sure, Sire," Steve admitted, keeping his voice down, but not stopping the soft purr that had started up again as he woke. "He came in here while I was sleeping. I asked what he was; he said he was a chen. I don't know what that is, but he didn't seem dangerous. I wasn't sure though, so I kept him here until your return. What is he, do you know, Sire? He's warm, and comfortable… and he smells so good…"
Rex stripped and moved to climb into the bed on the other side of his Childe and drew Steve up close to him before answering. "His name is Sammy Chen. I am very pleased with you, my Childe, for you did not bite. He is a human, and he belongs in my Stable."
"But, Sire… Why's he here?" Steve was even more confused now. If this human belonged to his Sire, why would he come in to him?
"He recently lost his Master, my precious one," Rex answered, starting his own purr to soothe the young fledgling. "He used to belong to a Childe of my over-Master, but that Childe was disobedient, so the human—his Pet—was taken away from him and given to me. I think he hoped you would drain him, so he would not have to live without a Master."
"Should I have, Sire?"
"No, Steve; you did the right thing, and I am very pleased with you," Rex assured his Childe. "It is hard to resist the scent of a live human, especially for one so young as you. In time, I will teach you how to drink from one without killing, but that is a lesson for when you are older. Right now, you need to feed from me, and grow stronger. In a few days, I will take you hunting. You have much to learn, much that will seem against your nature. I will teach you, though, and you will help me protect my territory, and make me proud of you."
"Yes, Sire," Steve breathed contentedly against his maker's chest, as he bit down and swallowed several mouthfuls of blood. He licked the wounds closed as he'd been taught earlier, and drifted back to sleep, cradled between his sire and the warmth of the human, Chen.
~oOo~
"Taylor, give me the Thermos—I'll take it in to him. You know you shouldn't go in there yet." Nick kept his voice down, but firm.
Rob Taylor looked down unhappily. "Yeah, I guess," he finally admitted with a sigh. "He wouldn't let me near him for nearly a week when he turned the last two, except to bring him his blood. I miss him, though, Nick. Never thought I'd say that."
"He'll have you back with him soon, Taylor," Nick said, understanding what the problem was. "He's not gonna cast you off; don't worry about it, okay? So gimme the Thermos, and go. I'll tell him you're thinking about him—He'll smell you on this, anyway."
"Okay." Reluctantly he passed the Thermos of warm blood over, along with a mug. Finally he turned away and headed for the room just outside the vamp wing's door, where he and Dobbs were staying at the moment.
Nick waited until the door shut behind Rex's Pet, then tapped lightly on the suite's outer door before pushing his way inside. The scent of Sammy Chen inside had him hurrying through the sitting room in concern. He sighed in relief at the sight of the three men sprawled together on the bed.
"Brought you some warm blood, Master," Nick said at the sight of his Master's annoyed look. "Taylor was worried; he wanted to bring it in himself, but…"
"Thank you, Nick; you did well," Rex smoothed his features as he acknowledged his minion's thoughtfulness. "Tell Taylor that he may come in tomorrow to meet Steve; I will be out later myself." He looked over at his companions and sighed. "Take Sammy out, and secure him in his quarters, please. I will speak to him later, also."
"Yes, Master," Nick said as he lifted the still-sleeping human from the bed. Steve whined unhappily at that, but a soft cuff to the back of his head from Rex cut his protest off. That was interesting, Nick thought as he carefully removed the human from the suite, letting the door shut quietly behind him.
Taylor's head popped out of his room as soon as he heard his Master's door open and shut. He goggled at the sight of Nick carrying Sammy, but he held his questions as he hurried ahead of the young vampire to open Chen's door. He watched in surprise as Nick pulled a long tether chain out of its drawer—all the stable rooms had one, although they were almost never used now that Eddie was gone—and locked it onto Sammy's collar and to a fixed ring behind the headboard of his bed.
He waited until Sammy's door was shut again before voicing his questions. "What the hell…?!"
Nick looked at him strangely, then sighed. "You know he left dinner early, yeah? I was half-afraid he'd try to do just what he did. You know, try to commit suicide-by-vamp?"
"I know he's been really torn up over losing Joey, but I didn't realize it was that bad," Taylor admitted.
"How would you feel if someone tried to take you away from Master Rex now?" Nick asked, still keeping his voice down as the two of them walked away from Sammy's room.
Taylor stopped briefly, then sighed and caught up to Nick. "Yeah; I guess I didn't think it through. Don't know if I'd go quite that far, but who knows, really? It's easy to say I wouldn't do that now, but if it really happened…? He's okay, though, right?"
"Steve didn't bite him, if that's what you mean," Nick replied with a shrug. "He was curled up tight to him; Master Rex was on Steve's other side. He's pissed; Steve wasn't happy to have Sammy taken away from him, either."
"I bet. You guys are pretty possessive, fortunately for me," Taylor chuckled briefly, and even Nick grinned at that.
"Yeah. Looks like Steve might be wantin' him as a Pet."
Taylor looked sharply over at the young vampire at that. "You ever wish you had a Pet, Nick?" he asked, trying to keep his question sounding casual.
Nick sighed, but was silent for a long moment. He looked at Taylor as he went back into his temporary quarters. "Yeah," he finally admitted with another sigh. "It'll never happen, though; 'm just a minion. Have a good day, Taylor. Rex said he'll see you later."
Taylor watched the young vampire walk away, a thoughtful look on his face.
~oOo~
"You say we're back here on leave—why can't we go see our sire?" Tall and sure of himself, the red-headed vampire barely restrained a snarl at being so thwarted. Craig McElroy had been a Marine lieutenant before being turned in Afghanistan the year before. He had been mortally wounded in an ambush, with no hope of surviving his injuries even long enough to make it back to the base alive, and had asked a visiting vampire to turn him.
Beside him was his "sister," Rebecca Stein, an Army nurse who had been turned by the same Master vampire after the hospital she'd been serving at had been attacked that same night. She, too, would have died if not for their Sire… They had been left in place, although transferred on paper to a special unit, when he had returned home, for their Sire knew that they would be happier if left serving their country. The Nightstalkers—a unit of vampire volunteers—had sent out trained "companions" for the two young vampires, to watch over them and see to their needs.
Now back in the States on rotation for additional, special training, the two young Childer had been "chipped," as was standard procedure for any vampire in this unit under the rank of Master. Computer chips had been implanted in their brains, which would give them a painful shock should they attempt to harm humans here at home. Their companions—handlers, really—had remote controls that could disable these chips while they were on active assignment overseas. In their hands, the chips were merely a safety precaution during training exercises and overly stressful non-combat situations.
"Craig, the general populace still doesn't know about vampires," Captain Jennifer Samuels said with a sigh. She wished that Major Fielding would get back from his leave; she hated having to deal with the undead. They were so demanding and unreasonable…
"So? It's not like we're gonna go around yelling that we're vampires," he retorted belligerently.
Rebecca put a hand on his arm to quell his anger. "Captain," she began, trying to be reasonable, "we were only with our Sire for three weeks. Normally we would have been with him for decades, easily up to a hundred years. We need to see him, to be with him, now that we're not actively serving in the field. We'll come back once it's time to go active again."
"You can't just go off on your own…" Samuels tried again, only to be cut off once more.
"So we'll bring our handlers with us!" Craig snapped, using the terms for their Pets that the humans used when the uninformed thought the vampires couldn't hear them. "We need to go home, Captain. Or do you want to be responsible for us going unstable?"
She turned white at that thought—a good trick, considering her dark complexion. "What do you mean?" she forced out, trying not to back away from them after hearing a comment that could have been a threat.
"He means that we need to spend some time with our Sire," Rebecca put in, "just like a baby needs to be with its parents to develop properly. Infants in foster care don't do as well as those with good parents; it's the same with us. We may look like adults, but our demons are just children. We need our Sire, not just masters from another bloodline."
"I'll… see what I can do, okay?" she finally relented, not wanting to be responsible for any problems developing later. "Do you know where he is?"
"Minneapolis," Craig answered readily. "I have his e-mail address; I can let him know we're coming."
"What about your companions? Will they be safe?" she asked, one last-ditch effort to prevent this trip.
"He keeps a Pet and a Stable—live humans for food, protected ones. They'll be fine," Rebecca said, pleased now herself. "Our companions will be just fine."
