Author's Note:
I'm sorry that I took SO LONG to update! I had a little writer's block! I hope you like this chapter! Thanks everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed! You guys give me the motivation to continue writing!
After soaking for another 10 minutes in the bathtub, Luke got out to rinse himself another time, wore new clothes, and left the bathroom.
While walking back to his room, Luke thought that life there would not be as bad as he thought after all.
- Ending of chapter 2 -
Chapter 3: The Feeding
The next morning, Luke woke up with warmth on his face. He was laying on his bed facing the window with fully opened curtains. He sat up and stretched.
"Good morning, young master. It is time for breakfast."
Chiron was standing by his bedside, holding his clothes for the day.
"Chiron." Luke acknowledged.
"Breakfast at... where?" Luke asked as he slipped out of bed.
Chiron held up Luke's shirt to let him don it and replied, "In the dining room, young master."
"Dining room? They have breakfast in the DINING room?" Luke questioned as Chiron buttoned his shirt.
"That is certainly queer." Luke stated.
"Young master, as a guest of this mansion, you have to adhere to the ways of this family while you are staying here. And if they require you to eat breakfast in the dining room, you shall. That is our principle." Chiron reminded.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I was just saying. Chiron, you are too strict. Even to yourself." Luke responded.
"This is called being principled. One has something he/she can or cannot do, in the position they are in." Chiron asserted, as he finished donning Luke's attire.
"Yes, yes, I understand." Luke uttered with a lazy grin.
They made their way to the dining hall which was on the first floor, and right by the staircase. As Luke stepped into the room, he wondered if he should stop being amazed by the size of the rooms in the mansion, as they were all massive, or at least bigger than the ones at his family's mansion. There was a long table in the middle which could fit at least 20 people, the floor was carpeted, and the walls on either side had mirrors that covered from the ceiling to the top of the table. At the far end of the room, were ceiling-to-floor windows, which seemed to be the style of the mansion, Luke noticed.
As Luke walked towards Percy who was sitting at the start of the long table, not one of the two ends, he noticed that Percy's breakfast consisted of ham, bacon, sausages, a half eaten pizza, a blue egg, and a glass of red liquid, like red wine. Luke sat opposite Percy and greeted him with a smile.
"Good morning!"
Percy's expression when their eyes met was really weird for a second, but then he gave a smile of his own and reciprocated.
"Good mornin' to you too. How was your night? Did you sleep well?"
"Slept like a baby till dawn." Luke replied with a cheeky grin.
Percy chuckled, "That's great!", and continued chewing on his pizza.
As Luke stared at his food on the table that Chiron just served him, he wondered, "Hey Percy, do you always eat this kind of food in the morning?".
"What do you mean 'this kind of food'?" Percy asked in return.
Luke gestured to the food on the plate and said, "I mean human food."
Percy hesitated. "Er, I guess? I have been eating this for as long as I can remember. Why?"
"Because vampires do not need to eat human food. As long as they have blood, it's fine." Luke declared.
"But human food is flavourful. Blood always taste so bland." Percy reasoned.
"What?!" Luke was stunned. "Blood doesn't taste bland, in fact, sometimes it's too strong! What sort have you been drink-... Wait. Is that red liquid in the glass, blood?"
"Yeah, it is. Why?" Percy answered.
Luke poured himself a glass and took a sip. He nearly belched. "What the hell! This taste absolutely horrible! How long have you been drinking this?"
"Since I was born, maybe. Haha, no. For as long as I can remember, at least." Percy replied.
"Where did you get this blood?" Luke asked.
"Grover gets it." Percy answered.
Luke then turned towards Grover and repeated, "Where did you get this blood?".
Grover cast his eyes towards the floor. "I didn't. Master did. We have a blood stock in our basement. Everyday I get our blood source from there. As master instructed when Percy was born, that he and I were never to step foot outside of this mansion, EVER. Unless something changes. I asked him how would I know if something changes, and he replied, 'Trust me, you would.' So I'm going to guess that you, are the change."
Percy gasped. "Grover! Why haven't you told me this before? Every time I ask to go out, you say that it is dangerous outside, and that I should wait till I'm older. And also that I should never let myself be seen. That's why I live in the basement's windowless room!"
"I'm sorry, Percy. But I made an oath to master that I would take care of you, and not tell you till the time is right, so I had to stay quiet about it." Grover apologised and fidgeted with his hands.
"I wonder what exactly are we hiding from..." Percy muttered.
"Can I take a look at your blood stock?" Luke suddenly broke the discussion.
Luke was really interested in whatever was happening. It felt deep, dangerous, and dark. There was this foreboding feeling of impending doom, but he wanted to know more. He wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery, because finally something in his life was interesting. So far all he had ever done was go to school, flirt, take girls, hang out with friends. He wanted more from his life, and this was his chance.
/BREAK/
Grover led them down into the underground stairway again. But this time, they did not head for the base. They climbed down the first two flight of stairs and made a left, and a right, and then stopped at the first door. Grover unlocked the metal door and opened it. It was the kind of door whereby it opens outwards, so they made way for it. The room they entered was a wine cellar of sorts, it was filled with rows and rows of wooden shelves that stored wine bottles. Above some of the shelves, there were wooden signage that said, "Human", "Animal" and "Vampire". Grover walked towards one of the shelves under the animal section, the top part of the shelf was already empty.
He pointed to the empty spot beside one of the bottles. "This is where I took the last bottle from, the one upstairs."
Luke walked over to the shelf, and he noticed that there were labels on the shelf, below where the bottles were placed. The one where Grover last took the bottle from showed,
"02/08/1014
Squirrel
Equires Forest"
Luke figured that they were probably drinking the blood of a squirrel from this "Equires Forest" that still existed 800 years ago, before it was burnt down due to the bad dry weather, and his face scrunched up in disgust. Especially since it was from about a THOUSAND years ago, he wondered if blood could expire. The thought of that made his face turn slightly green. But his curiosity won over his disgust.
"How do you decide which bottle to take?" He directed the question to Grover.
"Erm... well, I don't really decide? It's just that from Percy's birth, master has been taking bottles from each section sequentially, so I just mimic what he does. For one week he'll take bottles from the vampire section, then the next, he'll take from the animal section, and then the following one, he'll take from the animal section. And for the fourth week, he'll take a bottle from each section and mix them together. I don't really get it, but I just follow through with it. I'm sure there must be a reason why he does it." Grover answered unsurely.
Luke walked around the area and observed the dates of when the bottles of blood were collected. All of them were collected before Percy was born. Mister Poseidon Jackson must have been preparing for something for a really long time. He turned to face Percy who was still looking over the shelves.
"Percy, have you always been drinking stale blood?"
Percy didn't bother looking over and replied, "I've never drank fresh blood so I have no idea what does stale blood mean."
Luke asked Grover next. "How about you?"
"I have, before Percy was born." Grover said with a distant look in his eyes.
"Before I became the butler for the Jackson Family, I was always roaming the streets, as a human, because I was homeless and broke. But one night, during winter, in one of the alleys, as I was squatting, shivering and nearly dying from the cold, this cloaked individual appeared. Out of nowhere. I could see his startling red irises in the darkness of the alley, and he asked, 'Do you want to live?' I didn't know what to reply, so I just stared at him. He came closer, and used his palm to touch my forehead. His hand was equally cold, I didn't feel any heat from it at all. Suddenly, he spoke, 'I see. Despite being such a weak, fragile, and powerless being, you have shown kindness towards those weaker and less fortunate than you. I believe you deserve a new life, for your good heart.' With that, he suddenly bit my neck, I could feel the blood rushing in my veins, my life practically flashed before my eyes. After having the world spin around me, he stopped and bit his wrist, and placed it in my mouth. He told me to drink. I was really hungry, and tired, so I drank. The liquid felt hot as it went down my throat, I felt my heart rate increasing rapidly, there was this sharp pain racking all over my body, and I felt my neck wound where he bit me, healing. Everything before my eyes blurred, until suddenly, everything stopped. The pain and the blurring. Everything I saw was suddenly crystal clear, I didn't feel any pain, there was feeling in my limbs, and I felt power for the first time in my life, flowing through me. I was able to see the man clearly then. He had jet black hair, and startling sea green eyes, just like you, Percy. He wore a long black coat, and I could still see his teeth being retracted. I was shocked, I didn't know what was going on. So of course what first came out of my mouth was, 'What-, how-, the hell- BLEHH!' The guy chuckled, it was such a strong and heart warming sound. It calmed me as if I were listening to the waves at a beach. He stated, 'My name is Poseidon Jackson, and you are now a vampire, my boy.' I was so shocked, I just stared at him with a slacked jaw. He chuckled again, and said, 'You do not believe me, I see. Or rather, your brain is in denial. But not to worry, just come with me, and you shall see.' He extended his hand towards me, and I took it. From then onwards, I got to know the vampire society, and sometimes when I went to town on a few errands for the master, I would sneak a bite or two."
Grover directed his gaze back to Luke. "And now, the only fresh blood I get is the one from my fiancé, Juniper, the maid of this mansion."
Luke was bewildered. "Did you just say, 'maid of this mansion'?! Everything you just mentioned was astounding, but the most shocking thing was 'MAID OF THIS MANSION'. I thought there were only the two of you living in this mansion! So far, I haven't seen anybody else!"
"Well, what do you expect? This is just your second day, scratch that, you haven't even been here for 24 hours yet. And Juniper is kind of shy. Don't worry, you will see her soon enough." Percy grinned.
"I see... Well, anyway, so you do get fresh blood then? But Percy has never ever once drank from living beings before?" Luke asked.
Grover nodded. "Yeah."
"I see, I see." Luke nodded his head in understanding.
"This cannot do then, as a pure blooded vampire, one must know how to control one's urges and body. Teeth, everything included. Do you know how to extend your teeth?" Luke inquired.
Percy shook his head. "Absolutely no idea."
"Ok, we'll start from there then." Luke concluded.
"From now on, I will teach you the ways of us, vampires, and make sure that you won't put yourself or anyone else in danger due to your lack of control."
Percy looked unsure but agreed with a smile. "Ok, thanks man! I really appreciate it."
"No problem! That is what I'm here for. Besides, what are friends for?" Luke grinned.
/BREAK/
As they made their way up the underground stairway, Luke noticed that there were many several other floors and doors in this basement.
"Have you been into all of the rooms in here?" Luke looked at Percy.
"Nope. A lot of them are out of bounds for me. But I think Grover went into quite a few, or at least he knows what's in them." Percy affirmed.
Grover stroked the back of his neck and lowered his head embarrassed. "Blehh! Yeah! Master's instructions. But even I haven't seen everything. This place is HUGE, and it freaks me out every time to come down alone. You never know what you might find." He exclaimed with dread on his face.
"I see. Could I, maybe, start exploring down here with Percy starting tomorrow? I would like to know more about your family history and stuff. Maybe we can understand why your parents are missing." Luke requested. "Plus, we'll get lots of time to talk about ourselves and spend time together." Luke smirked.
Grover seemed unsure, but Percy seemed interested as his eyes gleamed in the dim light of the basement. He tugged on Grover's arm and started pleading, "Please G-man! Let us explore the rooms! I've always wanted to, but you always said no. But now, Luke is here. So pleasseeeeee~".
Grover conceded, "Ok, but provided I come too."
"Deal." Percy grinned.
"Of course, I shall follow too." Chiron stated.
"Haha, oops, I forgot you were here, Chiron." Luke laughed sheepishly.
/BREAK/
Luke and Percy were in Luke's room, sitting face to face at the small wooden round table. "So now, I shall teach you the basics about blood sucking."
Percy gave a chuckle. "Wow, thanks. Teach me the ways of being a mosquito."
Luke rolled his eyes and explained. "So I assume you know absolutely nothing about blood. Neither what it does to our system or the reactions we gain from smelling or seeing it."
Percy nodded his head.
"Ok, so basically, blood is what we eat to live. And I mean, eat to live a LIFE, not survive. We CAN survive without blood, just that we will be parched and weakened, and our powers will be greatly reduced. We might even face the probability of petrifying." Luke said scrunching up his face.
"I heard that petrifying is a slow process. One will slowly start drying up when one reaches a point in which one's throat is so dry it is difficult to even breathe. One's movements will slowly start to get increasingly difficult, till finally when all the blood in one's body is dried up, the process is complete. At that time, the appearance of a petrified vampire will be pale greenish skin, with clear purple veins showing, and the skin will be wrinkled, just like something that had been sucked dry. BUT, I digress. Back to the topic. Blood is like an aphrodisiac to us. In a way, I think that it's only true for fresh blood, straight from the veins. It makes you feel really happy and high, sort of." Luke explained.
"Oh... I see... Wow, I didn't know it worked that way." Percy was slightly stupefied.
Luke chuckled. "Yeah, I know. It can be kinda scary."
"So as I was saying, blood is like an aphrodisiac to us. When we see or smell it, our irises will turn red. Normally, that means we are hungry and need to feed. And I mean feed as in drink blood, not eat human food." Luke stated.
Percy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, ok, I got that."
"So the most instinctive way for a vampire to get blood into our system, is to drink it from the neck of our 'prey', or actually anywhere on the prey's body but the neck seems to be a favourite." Luke supplied with a wide grin. "To do so, they would need to extend their teeth, meaning the canines, to pierce into the prey's flesh. In other words, to break skin. Then vampires would drink till their heart's content before licking the wound to make sure that no blood spills or is wasted. It's a good way to 'eat' cleanly."
Percy nodded his head showing that he understood.
"Ok, now that you understand the gist of it, try extending your teeth." Luke suggested.
Percy opened his mouth in the way of a grin, but not really smiling. It was just like showing his teeth. And nothing happened. Percy stared at Luke and Luke stared back. Then Luke shook his head.
"Try imagining your canines growing longer, and try to push them out by somehow clenching your mouth muscles? I can't give you a perfect description on how to do it. By right all vampires are able to do it from birth. It's an instinct after all, like breathing." Luke explained.
"Just try again, and focus on the feeling in your mouth, of your teeth."
Percy closed his eyes in concentration, still showing his teeth. He furrowed his eyebrows, and then slowly, but surely, his teeth started to grow longer. They grew at a slow rate, until they reached their full length, which was around 3cm. Percy then opened his eyes.
"They feel weird." Percy said with slight difficulty, seeing as how his teeth kind of blocked his mouth. They took up space.
Luke chuckled. "You'll get used to it."
"So what do we, or I, do now?" Percy inquired.
"Well, you feed." Luke replied.
Percy deadpanned. "Duh, dude. Feed on WHAT?"
"Er... I didn't think about that." Luke laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.
After a few seconds of silence, Luke supplied, "You can feed on me?"
Percy stared at Luke with wide eyes. "Seriously?"
"Yupp! Test feeding. Hahaha. I am the only living thing here right now anyway." Luke answered.
"You don't mind me feeding on you?" Percy inquired.
"Nah, it's fine. Since I am your instructor, it only makes sense that I should be responsible for this as well."
"Wow, you really go all the way to help me, I can't tell you how happy and grateful I am." Percy smiled despite his protruding teeth.
"It's not a problem! Now here, pierce your teeth into my vein and drink." Luke said whilst tilting his head up towards his right, leaving his neck bare on the left side for easy access.
Percy moved closer to Luke hesitantly, looking nervously at the offered neck.
"Are you sure this is ok?" Percy asked again as he placed his hands on Luke's shoulders, licking his lips as his head slowly moved down closer to Luke's neck.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Go ahead." Luke replied.
Percy's mouth was just about an inch away from Luke's neck, and he took a whiff of his prey. He licked the offered neck where he could see Luke's blood pumping through his veins, and Luke shuddered. Luke was starting to feel a little nervous, he hardly allowed himself to be bitten by others. Normally, he was the predator, but surprisingly, he didn't mind one bit that he was about to be Percy's prey. In fact, it excited him greatly such that he could feel his heart pumping more blood through his veins. Percy licked over the vein again, and gave a testing gnaw, before licking over it again, and bit down. Luke felt Percy's teeth entering his skin, he could feel the slight pain, as well as a numbness at the wound, before he felt a little suction over his wound. He could feel his blood being drained out of him slowly, as well as the tentative little licks that followed after a few sucks. The sucking at his wound grew harder and harder, and soon he could hear slurping sounds. His brain started becoming addled after close to a minute of having his blood drained from him. Luke grabbed Percy's arms to pull him away from his neck, telling him to stop. But Percy continued draining Luke's blood, and Luke had no choice, but to forcefully pull him off of himself. Once Percy was away from his neck, he felt his wound closing, and he saw that Percy's eyes were glazed over. Percy approached his neck slowly, seemingly in a trance, and licked the remnant blood off, before pulling back. Percy licked his lips and teeth, before automatically retracting them. He was standing two steps away from Luke, and he still had that dazed look in his eyes.
Luke noticed that Percy was fidgeting about, shifting his weight on his feet. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Percy, observing just what was wrong. Just then, he saw the tent Percy was sprouting in his pants. He was slightly taken aback, but not put off. As a matter of fact, he was extremely pleased.
"That felt good huh." Luke said as he looked into Percy's eyes and smirked.
Percy was baffled. "Huh? What do you mean?"
Luke directed his gaze towards Percy's groin, and stated. "I mean that."
Percy followed his gaze and looked downwards. He was shocked.
"What caused my sexual organ to be in a state of excitement?"
Luke was stunned, but he explained. "Like I said, blood is like an aphrodisiac to us, vampires, and since this is your first time taking fresh blood, and you are at an age where your hormones or testosterone levels are really high, that's why you have a stronger reaction, and get erect. If you were used to drinking fresh blood, most probably you wouldn't have a hard on, even if you are at a hormonal age."
"Then what do I do now? I feel extremely hot, as if I were on fire!" Percy said flustered.
Luke was surprised. "You don't know how to solve the issue of having an erection?"
Percy shook his head frantically. "I've never had a situation like this before!"
Author's Note:
So, how was it? I hope it was satisfactory~ :D
P.S. If you are a Lukercy fan, and you read Fairy Tail, you might want to read the crossover fanfic I wrote for both! It's called "An Unintentional Accidental Meeting Of Two Worlds" and you can read it by going to my profile page and look under my stories! Hope you like it too!