Title: Blood Contract
Rating: M
Pairing: Shizuo x Izaya
Prompt : HALLOWEEN SPECIAL. Vampire Izaya and Priest Shizuo story! This is an AU story!
Author's Note: Technically this is AU. Please consider this taking place several hundred years back. It also doesn't quite take place in Japan (Probably… lol) but if I changed their names to non-Japanese and took out the entire –san, -chan, the entire fanfic would be just an original story… I also understand that their names should be a saint's name etc… but again, I'm not going to change that due to fanfic sake.
so please understand why I had kept the Japanese names and the honorifics even if this doesn't really take place in Japan.
Thank you.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters!
THIS STORY CONTAINS MALExMALE RELATIONSHIPS. You have been warned.
Shizuo was tapping his foot impatiently as Izaya got dressed in his traveling clothes. It seemed to be a routine now, Shizuo tapping his foot, waiting for something to 'happen'.
"Are you sure we're not going to get caught?" Shizuo asked again for the tenth time or so as he finally sighed and got up. He hated waiting. "That Mikado kid threw another party tonight, won't people notice we're gone?"
"No one will see us so it should be fine. They will have something better to do than looking for us, even you. Here, help me with this." Izaya turned around and gave Shizuo his coat, mostly so the hunter had something to do with his hands and wouldn't keep asking the same questions again. Shizuo was already in his traveling gear and had donned the fancier coat on top. It looked bulky enough to wear double layers when it shouldn't be worn in such fashion but at first glance, most wouldn't notice it looked a bit odd. Since the laces on vampire's clothes were intricate, Izaya had finished dressing Shizuo first before getting into his.
"Maybe this is a bad idea and we should wait a bit longer. I don't want you to get in more trouble or your clans to be in danger." Shizuo frowned as he held the coat for Izaya to put his arms through and adjusted the holes around the vampire's wings. Vampires' coats were cut differently from humans', specifically so the wings would fit through first along with the arms. Then the laces were tied around it in an intricate pattern. Shizuo had no idea how Izaya planned to take this off in a hurry later when they were on the run.
"I'd rather not risk finding out what fun little plans our dear Mikado has this time." Izaya rolled his eyes. Izaya knew for sure that this party was another trap by Mikado and this time, he wasn't planning to walk into it. He had enough.
"Okay, done. Now what?" Shizuo took a deep breath. It was obvious that he was very nervous. It did not help that Izaya was not telling him his plan.
"Now we wait." Izaya calmly sat down on his sofa in his several layers of clothes. It looked uncomfortable and hot but Izaya remained cool.
Shizuo wanted to pace up and down but forced himself to sit on the sofa across from Izaya. Still, waiting was not his forte and again he fidgeted with the bag of traveling gear that Erika and Walker had quickly made for them. It had some food for Shizuo that they had apparently snuck from the kitchen, and spare clothes for both of them. Shizuo had also made sure that the tobacco pouch was around his neck and his gold cross was within his arm's reach. He knew that he was physically prepared for this run but mentally he was not.
"So what are we waiting for?" Shizuo finally changed his question, trying to get a conversation going to calm his nerves.
"I don't know." Izaya replied honestly.
"W-wait, you don't know?" Shizuo's brow creased into a disturbed frown.
"I told him to create a diversion. But I didn't give them any specific instructions since the diversion would depend on a case by case scenario. I left it up to them."
Shizuo took another deep breath and let it out all at once. "Okay, fine. When is it going to-"
Just then, there was a loud screaming in the hallways and several voices shouting, "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE IN THE KITCHEN!"
"...I take it that's-" Shizuo stood up.
The door suddenly opened and before the hunter could grab for his gold cross, Kadota quickly entered. "Okay, let's hurry."
Izaya sighed in exasperation. "Really? Fire? Again?"
'Again?' Shizuo thought as Izaya huffed and walked toward the door.
Kadota shrugged, "Well, it was you who told him he could decide on any diversion. Of course Walker would choose fire."
"Ugh, that pyromaniac. Well, it is a good distraction, I'll give you that." Izaya shook his head as he poked his head out the door. There were people running around in panic.
"Okay, let's go." Izaya rushed out. Kadota and Shizuo followed. The maids and butlers were running around with buckets of water. One maid bumped into Izaya and apologized as they continued on. They were only stopped by one butler who told them not to go into one hallway as the fire had spread there and pointed them toward the exit. Kadota thanked the man as they rushed down another flight of stairs, and then another… and then another. Shizuo noted that they were going 'down' a lot. Shizuo tried to imagine what had happened but all he could come up with was Walker smiling his usual closed-eyed smile as he threw fire spells at every single firewood and oven and laughed like a maniac. ...Yeah, it was hard to visualize.
"Here." Kadota pointed at one large black ironed door. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked it.
"Where did you get that?" Shizuo asked in curiosity. This didn't look like something Kadota would normally have.
"Stole it from one of the maids who… it-it doesn't matter." Kadota flushed a bit as he heaved the door open. The heavy door groaned loudly as it was pushed open. It was a stoney passageway with more stairs leading down into darkness.
"Okay, this is it." Kadota sighed heavily. "The map said that this wine cellar should lead to the secret passageway that was built in the blueprint, specifically for kings to escape in case of emergencies. It should also lead through a forbidden wine cellar and at the end of the hallway there should be a loose stone. Push it and you should find the cave." Kadota handed the map to Izaya. "I marked the most straightforward trail out of the cave. It has several twists and turns to trap people but it also has several exits, should you get lost."
"Thank you." Izaya said simply. "I expect you to take care of the rest."
Kadota nodded grimly. "I'll make up something. Probably that the Saint grew berserk when he heard of the fire and ran away with you and we couldn't find you afterward or something. I'll make it up along the way," Kadota smirked, "like how you do sometimes when you're running out of ideas."
"I'm not that bad." Izaya laughed like two old friends sharing a joke from a long ago. Then his eyes grew serious, "Be careful. Mikado will probably send out a search party and then question you severely. If…"
'Don't worry, I can handle it." Kadota placed a hand on Izaya's shoulder and gave him a squeeze. "I handled his court all these years, trust me on this one too."
"...Alright." Izaya nodded and said no more.
"Stay safe," Kadota's eyes grew more somber, "and come back to us."
"I will. I promise." Izaya nodded. "Once everything is… settled, I'll come back."
Shizuo wondered if 'settled' meant the curse that was on them. The blood contract.
"Guess we never finished that talk." Shizuo said as Izaya turned to walk down the stairs.
"...No," Kadota said as he held the door. He had the key out to lock the door again once Shizuo stepped through. Then the vampire lord quietly added, "If he gets hurt, in any way… I will hunt you down and kill you."
Shizuo turned and smiled in open honesty. "I expect no less from Izaya's good friend."
Kadota looked a bit taken aback by his word choice, "I'm not his…"
"Yes, you two are. The best kind." Shizuo slapped Kadota on the shoulder.
"Are you coming?" Izaya huffed from the stairs a few steps below.
"Yes, just a minute." Shizuo then turned to Kadota and said, "I promise I won't let him get hurt."
Kadota nodded, his expression looked a bit confused but he closed the door behind them and locked with a heavy clunk.
Shizuo turned forward as his hand touched the cold stone walls for balance and Izaya lit the torch with a small fire spell. Together, they carefully walked down the stairs, eventually coming to a stop before another wooden door and strangely Shizuo felt a déjà vu. Through the door he thought he smelled something foul, triggering him the memory of the locked door where Izaya was once kept in the basement. The door that smelled of everything rotting and blood.
"Izaya… I… I don't think we should…" Shizuo started to say when Izaya turned around to face him. Before he could finish telling him they should not walk through that door, Izaya spoke.
"There's something I need to tell you."
"What, right now?" Shizuo frowned, not liking how the flames lit up Izaya's face in an eerie manner.
"I thought about this through and I think you should wear this." Izaya held up a black long cloth.
"A blindfold?" Shizuo scoffed. "That's a really bad idea. Forget that I might bump into things or trip but if we get attacked-"
"I really insist…"
"No Izaya." Shizuo replied firmly.
"I was afraid of this but we have no time. Fine, no blindfold. Then we're going to run through the cellar. Don't look into the tubes."
"Tubes?"
"Just… don't inspect them." Izaya started to open the door. "We have no time, we need to hurry. Whatever you do, don't stop."
"..." Shizuo had a really bad feeling about this but since Izaya always made the plans and since he had agreed to trust him, he followed.
Before Shizuo could see, it was the intense smell that caught him off guard. The cellar was darkly lit, not much was visible. But the rank stench of dead and rotting blood was what stopped Shizuo before Izaya grabbed his wrist and pulled.
"Hurry!"
Shizuo ran along with Izaya, trying to hold in his breath. As he was told, he tried not to look at the long tubes that were lined down the hallway when…
…Something moved inside the tube.
Thinking it was an enemy, Shizuo grabbed his golden cross from his back and quickly took a defensive position, ready to strike at the movement when he came face to face with the dimly lit tube. Or rather, what was in it.
Shizuo almost dropped his cross as his grip weakened and his mouth gaped open as he saw a young human girl, her hands on the glass tube and mouthing something to him. There were small tubes pricked into her body to drain her blood. She looked sickly and malnourished, her skin too pale and almost flaky.
"Shizuo."
The hunter's attention snapped back into focus when Izaya came in between them and broke his line of vision. "I told you not to look."
"W-when you said… wine cellar…" Shizuo started to realize what that meant.
"Of course, fresh human wines. Where do you think those blood wines come from." Izaya bit his lower lip.
"You knew. You knew all along that these humans…! They're-!"
"We don't have the time to save all of them." Izaya interrupted Shizuo as the hunter started to build up his anger.
"You told me that humans lived in peace with the vampires in the Dollars!" Shizuo pointed at the little girl who seemed to be mouthing for help. "Does this look like peace to you?!"
"Okay, so I might have been a little off-"
"A LITTLE OFF?!"
"Shizuo! If you really want to save them, we'll go and report it to your church okay? I already know you have to make this report, so go ahead and tell them the location! You can bring an entire army here but we can't save all of… all of these!" Izaya spread his arms and now Shizuo looked around them. Rows and rows of giant tubes with humans, their lifeblood slowly being drained to be turned into wine for the party.
Shizuo felt sick to the stomach. Now that he could see what was going on in each tube, it horrified him. Inside one was a boy who was being tortured with bugs, spiders, and worms as the blood was drained. In another was a woman who had clips on her genitals and was being electrocuted as her blood was drained. Each tube had some sort of different method for each human to feel something different while the blood was being drained so the wine had a different 'flavor.'
"And you… drank these wines at one point?" Shizuo didn't know why he asked that. He already knew the answer.
"Yes. At one point." Izaya lowered his head.
"And if… the contract ends. You will be-"
"Look, vampires drink blood for living. That's not going to change. You've mentioned that one day you believe… vampires and humans will be able to co-exist?" Izaya scoffed as he shrugged. "Look around you. This is the reality. We farm you like you farm chickens and pigs. Like I said before… you're just food to me."
He didn't mean that, Shizuo thought. He couldn't mean that. They shared… things together. Emotions. Adventures. A journey. Moments. Feelings. Things that he thought were mutual.
"If you get it now, let's go." Izaya sounded tired as he started to turn. Then he paused.
Despite feeling shocked and lost, and despite the flickering light from the torch flame, Shizuo still caught how all color drained from Izaya's face as his eyes widened when he looked at the certain tube next to the girl.
"Chateau Sans Couleur Potion X-179" Izaya murmured as he read the plaque labeling the tube's wine. "It's Chateau Sans Couleur…!" He repeated as if it was a revelation.
"?" Shizuo frowned as he watched Izaya run deeper into the cellar instead of following the passageway to their exit. "Izaya? Hey!"
The hunter ran as he followed, watching Izaya frantically look at the number plates of each wine tube and countdown. "X-150, X-151, X-152… no, not this way. X-148, X-147…" Izaya was muttering, not even looking at the horrifying human blood-extracting experiments inside the tubes and only focusing on the numbers. What was going on? It was Izaya who had told him they should hurry and forget about these!
He watched from a short distance as Izaya finally slowed down and came to a stop in front of one large tube towards almost the back of the lair. They were far from the passageway they were supposed to be at. The lights here were dimmer, the shadows stretching further. Darker.
From the low blue light shining below the plate, Shizuo could read "Chateau Sans Couleur Potion X-138" as he walked closer to Izaya who's back was turned to him.
"Izaya?" Shizuo wasn't sure how to approach him. They just had a fight and it was Izaya who wanted to leave this cellar faster. But instead, they chased down a rabbit hole, deeper into this creepy lair of rotting tortured humans, unable to die as their blood was drained.
Izaya placed a hand on the tube and the tube reacted, the lights from underneath turning on as if switched. Shizuo's eyes widened as he saw what was inside it.
A young woman with long black hair was in it, her legs and arms entangled with another man, presumably her lover. This presumption from Shizuo was in part because she was kissing him while in the large glass, floating with all sorts of tubes hooked onto her, draining her blood. However, what completely horrified Shizuo wasn't what was going on but what else were inside the tube with her.
Scorpions. A hundred if not more scorpions and long centipedes that were the size of Shizuo's arm if not longer were crawling inside the tube with her and the man. Shizuo held back the vile taste from the back of his throat.
"I-Izaya? What is...this?"
"..." Izaya remained silent for a minute before he quietly replied. "It's Haruna."
"Haruna?" Shizuo repeated, wondering if he was supposed to know who that was. But Izaya added, "Haruna, the other branch of Saika, sister of Anri. She… joined the Dollars many, many years ago. I had Kadota look into her and many other leaders who joined the Dollars earlier and started to disappear."
"Is this what Mikado's doing? Taking humans and… w-wait. Saika? Then this is?!" Shizuo looked closer and to his shock, the girl had fangs. She was drinking the man's blood.
This wasn't human blood wine. It was vampire blood wine.
"I thought it was strange. Slowly the disappearances of members from ancient bloodlines increased, those who joined the Dollars specifically. Kadota said that most of them just used the excuse that… they wanted to retire to their homeland, and that Mikado's court was too daunting but… This. Is the reality."
Shizuo took a step forward, trying to see Izaya's expression. His voice was calm, almost robotic and that worried the hunter.
"You were... Looking for her? Is this a favor for Anri?"
"No. I was looking for the drink Chateau Sans Couleur Potion X-138 for almost two decades. It just happens to coincide with the missing ancient bloodline vampires from the Dollars."
Shizuo looked over and saw how pale Izaya's face was, although it could be from the blue light casting off from the tube.
"So that damn Mikado… he's drinking vampire's blood? That's…." Shizuo frowned. "That's cannibalism, isn't it?"
"No, he isn't drinking this one. This one…. is poison." Izaya's eyes narrowed. Then he took a shuddering breath. "I need to go back and tell Kadota."
"You can't!" Shizuo grabbed the vampire by the shoulder. "Then this whole escape plan…"
"We'll have to escape another day with a different plan. I must go back and tell Kadota, this is too important-!"
Just then, they both felt it. A strange power, so strong that they felt it through the glass. They looked up and Shizuo gasped as the bright red eyes opened and smirked down at them.
The girl, Haruna, greeted them openly with a smile of a serpent as she mouthed a phrase that Shizuo could not hear. But Izaya with his acute vampire ears obviously could because he hissed back, "So you knew all along. You knew but you decided to join him."
She shrugged as she laid her head on the unconscious man's shoulder and softly caressed the man. At first, Shizuo wasn't sure how both of them were alive with all that much venom but it seemed that Haruna was drinking the man's blood to heal herself while casting healing magic on the man so they could live forever, content inside the small glass prison.
"Did you want to be with him that much, no matter what the cost?" It was as if Izaya just could not believe that the vampire girl had willingly crawled into this torture tube of endless pain, stung over and over again with venoms just to be with the human man she seemed to love. She smiled, pitying Izaya who couldn't understand her as she mouthed something. This time, even Shizuo knew she said. 'You won't understand.'
"I hope he was worth it. No, you already know. Which is why…" Izaya gritted his fangs together, his hands turning into a fist. "If I had the time, I would murder you and your human lover over and over again."
She shrugged nonchalantly as she replied, and although Shizuo couldn't hear her, it clearly had an effect on Izaya because the vampire lunged to smash the glass.
"Whoa, whoa! Izaya! Hey, hey. Calm down. Don't let her get to you. We don't have time for this. We have to get out or go back, we can't get caught here." Shizuo grabbed Izaya from behind and held him.
"The little bitch willingly! She willingly…! She knew her blood would be made into poison for other vampires!"
Shizuo did not understand what was going on but he quickly covered Izaya's mouth. Because even without vampire's super hearing, he heard it. Footsteps. A lot of them.
"We have to go. Now." Shizuo hissed as he grabbed Izaya and started to run back toward the passageway.
"But…! Kadota!" Izaya started to hiss in a whisper back.
"No time for that, we'll get caught. And I'm pretty sure Mikado will not let us live after knowing what we saw down here!"
Izaya clearly disagreed but they both ran back to the passageway again and followed the long segment until they hit a wall lined up with more tubes. The course abruptly ended as if that was just the end of the road where more blood wines were stored.
"I don't get it, I thought you said this was the exit?" Shizuo was starting to panic as he faced behind him where he could hear multiple footsteps. There were perhaps twenty? No, more like thirty. And if they were vampires, they had better hearing and sight than him. He gripped his gold cross with his sweaty hand.
"It is. It's a secret passageway, I doubt it'd be just a door." Izaya touched the wall behind the tubes, trying to figure out if there was a bump on the otherwise rough brick surface. "Here."
Izaya pushed one of the loose bricks and several other bricks moved back with it. A small hole just large enough for an adult to crawl through broke away. "This way."
Shizuo watched as Izaya crawled through first and then the hunter followed after him. Then Izaya placed the bricks carefully back together. "If they are part of a normal vampire army, they won't find this passageway, however…"
"...If it's that kid, he probably knows about it, won't he?" Shizuo finished for him. Izaya nodded grimly.
"Then let's go."
Izaya carried the torch higher as they started to run down the muddy and narrow trail. Shizuo noticed that the walls were rougher and more uneven looking stones, like a natural cave. Here there were no lights, no markers for direction or even signs of the cave being man-made.
"Are you sure you know the way?"
"Yes." Izaya replied confidently as he held the map. "Turn right at the first fork, then the center, then the second to the left and right again."
"Not quite," replied a voice in front of the two.
Shizuo and Izaya skid to a stop so fast that the hunter bumped into the vampire. Shizuo's jaw dropped as a young boy king stood in front of them at the first fork, waiting for them.
"There was another passageway you missed, a shortcut you see. I guess your Kadota didn't get that copy." He smiled benignly but every hair on Shizuo's body stood on its end.
"Ryuugamine Mikado." Izaya's eyes narrowed into a hateful glare.
Mikado's voice remained neutral, still friendly as he shook his head. "I'm sorry that it had to come to this, Izaya-san. I hoped you wouldn't find Haruna so early. But I suppose we are rather behind schedule, so this isn't so bad either."
"So am I next, is that it?" Izaya sneered. "One of your little experiments in that basement?"
"You? Oh, no. Ahahaha… oh no. Not at all, Izaya-san." Mikado giggled as if that was a pretty funny joke although the other two did not laugh.
"No, Izaya-san. I have something rather more… special, for you."
Author's note: Huge thanks to my beta Sollertis and my friend Kaede for support! And thank you for the lovely reviews, they keep me going!
