A/N: Hello all, so sorry for the hiatus. This fic is not abandoned, it's just really challenging to write. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this installment. This is the turning point of the story and it marks a very important milestone. I have a Tumblr where you can get more information on the status of my WIPs as well as my Seblaine drabbles and fan art. I'll be honored if you can follow me at "rykerstrom . tumblr . com". Thanks and enjoy.
CHAPTER 7: METAMORPHOSIS
Blaine's body felt like lead. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness without any concept of how much time had passed. All he knew was that he was in a moving vehicle earlier. Blaine was pretty certain that he and Sebastian were the only occupants in the vehicle, because he could only hear Sebastian's voice speaking to him.
"I'm sorry it happened this way." There was sadness in that voice. "Whatever happens tonight, it'll be for the best."
Blaine didn't like the sound of that, but he couldn't do much. He was just so tired.
The car pulled to a stop and there was the sound of a door opening and closing. Sebastian reached in and picked him up effortlessly. Blaine managed to open his eyes briefly; all he could see were dimly lit street lights.
"They're waiting inside." That was Nick.
"Do you have your weapons with you?"
Weapons?
"Yup!" Jeff sounded excited.
"Nick, that question was meant for you."
"Yes, I have it."
"Let's go, then."
They were in some sort of warehouse. Blaine heard Sebastian talking to someone whose voice he couldn't recognize, and then he was being carried through a dark hallway.
"This is the present you were talking about?" Another familiar voice sounded once they entered into a small room.
"See this as a bonus." Sebastian set Blaine down gently on the floor.
"You're saying it's his first time?" A rough hand grabbed Blaine's chin and tipped his face up. "He's pretty."
"Yes, first time doing this."
"Well, I dunno where the hell you found him, but he's fucking perfect." The man gave Sebastian a toothy grin.
"Enjoy then. Where's Tabakov?"
"Last door to the left, he's expecting you." The man was fiddling with a suitcase. "Fuck! This is gonna be great. You and I are gonna have so much fun."
Sebastian ignored the man. Instead, he crouched down and leaned in close to Blaine. "Remember, the more evil they are, the better they taste," he whispered into Blaine's ear. "I'll be right outside."
Blaine could barely keep his eyes open as he heard the metal door slam shut. Even in his weakened state, Blaine knew he was in trouble. Whoever this man was, he definitely had rather perverse intentions.
Rough hands grabbed Blaine and hoisted him to a standing position. Blaine pushed weakly at the man, but to no avail. The man grabbed his face and crushed his lips to Blaine's, thrusting his tongue into Blaine's mouth and holding him still. Blaine did the only thing he could think of – he bit down on the man's tongue, hard.
"You little shit!" The punch caught Blaine on the side of his head, its force sending him crashing into the wall. Pain shot through Blaine's skull as his head connected with the wall. Blaine could feel his body sliding down, but before he hit the floor the man had grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "I'm gonna fuck you up so bad that you won't even remember your name!"
Blaine could smell it. Blood. Blood from the man's mouth from where he had bitten him. The smell was strong, the urge to drink was overwhelming. And the man was close. So close.
The man had managed to get his suitcase open. He took out a scalpel and held it close to Blaine's neck. "I'm gonna cut up that pretty face of yours, and then I'm gonna fuck you to pieces." He licked his lips and pressed the scalpel against Blaine's skin.
The pain of the blade cutting into Blaine's skin was what finally snapped him out his dazed state. It took him a few seconds to realize the inhuman scream was his. Blaine shoved the man away from him hard and he crashed into the cartons full of bottles. The sound of shattered glasses reverberated in the small room. The man clambered up, his face twisted in fury and knife still in hand.
Blaine let his survival instinct take over as he grabbed the metal luggage, the nearest item to him, and swung it with all his might. It connected with the man's skull with a sick crack and he went down with a heavy thud. Blaine didn't wait around to find out whether the man was still conscious. Instead, he mustered all his strength and ran.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins, Blaine didn't even pay attention to where he was going. He thought he heard angry shouting and sounds of gunshots. But that would be impossible. Why would there be sounds of gunshots? He just wanted to get out of this maze of a nightmare and wake up safely in his own bed. His problems of not being able to see his own shadow and getting sunburnt seemed miniscule in comparison to what he had to contend with right now.
Blaine turned a corner and froze when he saw the barrel of a shotgun pointing right at him. The man holding the shotgun was a different one, and in spite of his large size, Blaine could tell that he actually looked frightened.
"Die! You fucking demon!"
Oh, God. No.
The blast hit Blaine right below his shoulder. The force of the shot sent him crashing into the wall behind him. Debris rained down on him, stirring up volumes of dust. Blaine gasped in pain. It hurt like hell and he couldn't move, but somehow he knew he was still alive.
The man approached, shotgun in hand, muttering something that seemed akin to prayers and chants. Blaine's eyes widened when he saw Sebastian behind the man with both hands inside his coat pockets. However, that wasn't what Blaine found unbelievable.
Sebastian was standing on the ceiling, walking along its surface upside down while everything about him, including his clothes, defied gravity. He pulled a gun from his pocket and let gravity take hold as he gracefully dropped down onto the ground. The man turned around in horror, but before he even had a chance to get a shot in, Sebastian put a bullet in his head.
"We need to go now, Blaine." Sebastian crouched down and picked Blaine up gently. Blaine was sure that he had never seen a more welcoming sight.
"Please … I beg you, let me go!" A middle-aged man with a bald spot and beer belly sat tied down to a chair. His face was a mess of blood and cuts as he sniveled and choked.
"I'm not done with you yet." Jeff twirled the switchblade in his hand. "I want to know where he is."
"I don't know!" The man cried. "I really don't know! I just get the drugs from him. I swear I don't know anything else."
"Oh, really?" The smile on Jeff's face was cold. "Andrei Tabakov, one of the big fishes in the area, doesn't know where one of the most notoriously human trafficker is? I know for a fact that some of your men, yourself included, use his services. I want to know where Sterling is."
"I really don't know!" Tabakov wailed.
"Mr. Tabakov," Nick spoke up. "If I were you, I'd listen to him. I've seen what he can do."
"We can either do this the easy way," Jeff licked the blade. "Or the hard way. Do you know how scalping works?"
"Oh, God. Please no, no!" Tabakov babbled. "If I knew, I'd tell you."
"Or maybe I should pull out your teeth first? One by one, that should be fun, right?"
Tabakov could only look on in horror.
"I think you need more convincing." Jeff had a glint in his eyes as he advanced on the man. "I'm absolutely serious about this."
"Jeff, we don't have much time left." Nick eyed the parked cars outside. "Sebastian's expecting us to torch this place in the next fifteen minutes."
"I only need ten," Jeff said quietly.
Nick turned his head away and closed his eyes as Tabakov screamed.
Blaine felt relaxed and comfortable for once. He was on a soft surface and covered by something warm. As his mind cleared, he became aware of the throbbing pain on his throat and his shoulder. But what felt the most pronounced was definitely the incredible thirst that was now pulling at him. He opened his eyes and winced at the bright light.
"Slowly," a gentle voice commanded as Blaine tried to sit up.
He could smell it before he saw it, something incredibly fragrant, savory, and flavorful. Blaine turned his head to his right and saw the familiar shot glass containing red liquid.
I want to live.
Blaine reached out and downed the blood in one gulp.
The initial effect, when it came, made Blaine temporarily lose motor ability of his body. The now empty shot glass slipped through his fingers as his body arched up against the bed, taking in shuddering gasps. It was like molten lava was coursing through his veins, erasing and re-writing every part of him. It didn't hurt, but it was overwhelming in such a way that it left Blaine restless.
"Come on, up you go." Sebastian took his hand and pulled Blaine up. He led Blaine into the adjoining bathroom, where a bathtub filled with water awaited. "Clean yourself up. We'll wait for you in the lobby."
Blaine peeled off his clothes slowly, dropping the blood-soaked apparel onto the tiles next to the tub. There was no way he would ever be able to salvage them now. While Blaine felt a bit more energized, he didn't feel vastly different. Did drinking blood simply mean that he would be back to normal? What did this all mean?
Blaine stepped into the tub and sat down, somewhat surprised by the fact that his wounds did not hurt. He looked down at the shotgun wound and found that it was still red and raw. But as Blaine looked on, the strangest thing happened.
It started slowly with almost a slight tingling sensation. The area around the wound started to heal itself, skin tissues started to mend together. Blaine watched in silent fascination as several pieces of metal shrapnel pushed itself through the wound and fell into the water. The wound closed over almost right away. Blaine reached up and felt for the spot where he was bitten. It was smooth.
With every passing moment, Blaine became more aware of his surroundings. Everything became more colorful, every sound became sharper and more defined, even his sense of touch became stronger. As Blaine ran his finger across the porcelain, he was pretty sure he could feel the slight microscopic grain that no human would be able to tell.
And then there was this sense of power and strength. Blaine didn't feel it at first, but then now he could sense it within him. It made him feel invincible, like he could do anything.
Am I not human anymore? Blaine wondered.
But aside from his heightened sensory abilities, Blaine didn't feel any different. He didn't feel the insatiable urge to kill things or drink blood. In short, he still felt relatively human in spite of everything.
Finally, Blaine stepped out of the bathtub and dried himself off with a towel. He took a moment to study his surroundings. A preliminary assessment told Blaine that based on the rather extravagant decorations and the rather standard center piece displayed on the table that he was most likely in some kind of an executive suite in a hotel.
Blaine reached out for the clothing that was laid out for him on the bed and dressed himself accordingly. The ensemble was simple, consisting of black jeans, white buttoned down shirt, dark grey coat and a pair of black shoes. It was understated but classic. Blaine went to the mirror to check for his appearance out of habit and stopped himself when he remembered he didn't have a reflection anymore. But something in his peripheral vision made Blaine looked anyway.
There, in the mirror, was Blaine Anderson staring back at him.
My reflection came back!
As silly as it was, Blaine felt like crying in relief at the discovery. It seemed to have restored a sense of normalcy in his life. As he studied his reflection, Blaine started to notice there was a slight difference in the way he looked.
Sure, he was still Blaine Anderson. He still looked like Blaine Anderson. But his features seemed more defined. His amber eyes seemed lighter, his skin seemed a lot fairer, his facial feature became more pronounced, and the stubborn curls in his hair seemed tamer and softer. There was now the same ethereal air that Blaine found on Sebastian, Nick and Jeff.
But if looking this way and feeling stronger were the only differences Blaine had to deal with, he would gladly accept it.
The walk from the hotel room to the lobby was probably one of the longest walk in Blaine's life. The elevator from the suite took Blaine to the top of the grand stairs that led down to the main lobby. As Blaine walked down the large spiral staircase, he saw three familiar figures waiting for him.
"Damn! He looks fine!" Jeff let out a low whistle. "It's like his wedding day or something."
The look on Sebastian's face could best be described as a mixture of awe and adoration as he silently watched Blaine descend the steps until they were a few feet apart.
Sebastian pulled Blaine into a tight embrace before stepping back and stroking his face gently.
"Welcome to the family, Blaine."
(TBC)
Addendum: There you have it, the turning point of the story. Everything will now be different and this is when the really bad stuff starts rolling in. Niff is also happening soon, just as we'll find out more about Sebastian, Nick, and Jeff's background in the chapters to come. Thanks again for staying with this story, if you like it please review and rec it. Also, I'd be honored if you can follow me at "rykerstrom . tumblr . com", where you can find out more info about my WIPs as well as seblaine drabbles and fan arts. Thanks.
