Chapter 6
Vampires..Vampires...and oh, vampires!
Harry threw the empty bag into the trash can and quickly wiped the blood off his lips, making sure he was presentable. He then turned around and went to the door.
Harry expected them to be Saorise or Markus, maybe of them coming back to tell him something but as he opened the door, he was surprised to see it was none of them, instead a young man stood across him in black clothes.
"Oh…good evening" a gentle, melodic voice purred out from the man across him. Harry has never seen this man before, but his too-pale skin and flashing fangs immediately gave away what he was.
He was taller than Harry by at least a head - which people seemed to be a lot recently – in top of his head silver-colored hair was pushed back in a stylish cut and his beautiful green eyes stared at him with something Harry couldn't define. He had freckles over his cheek and nose.
"You are Harry, aren't you?" he asked unsure, feeling insecure seeing that the smaller boy wasn't saying anything to him "Please, do tell me if I'm right…"
The young man's unsure tone brought Harry out of his stupor. He scratched the back of his head, smiling apologetically:
"Good evening and yes, that's me" he nodded his head "What do you need?"
The boy's eyes darted to his eyes before looking down:
"I'm so sorry…I meant to introduce myself better but…" he bits his eyes as shook his head "Once you opened the door and I saw you, all the words in my head just vanished"
Harry blinked in confusion up at him, tilting his head in worry:
"Does that happen to you often?"
The silver-haired boy shook his head and scratches his cheek shyly:
"Only when I get starstruck" he gazed silently at the confused Harry, a bright, enthralled glimmer shining in his eyes "I want to talk to you for just a little while. I promise I won't steal much of your time"
Harry chuckled as he heard the last words, opening the door completely so as to let the taller boy enter his room:
"Your presence is appreciated, I assure you…I was feeling lonely"
The boy nodded as his gaze fell down, thanking him with a clear voice:
"Thank you very much"
He slipped inside the room, glancing around curiously as Harry closed the door behind them. A faint, floral scent drifted around him, just barely strong enough to be noticed.
After some moments, he turned back to look at Harry, his dark green eyes intensely fixated on Harry's emerald ones – flicking away now and then, as if he couldn't keep contact with them for too long :
"I didn't mean to catch you off guard, but…I stopped by on, well, impulse" he admitted at Harry who nodded, not really minding about that, rather, he felt it was a welcomed visit "And really…I'm so happy that I did it"
The boy toyed with the fringe of his black scarf, letting out a soft exhale. Harry looked at him for a few seconds but seeing that the boy wasn't going to say anything else, he offered him to sit down on the pushed chairs near the tv.
The boy nodded gratefully, sitting down in the one across him.
"So... who are you?" he asked curiously and the other boy gasped.
"Oh, I'm so sorry – my name is Heath. I already know who you are, of course. And I really hope we'll get to know each other a lot better"
Heath smiled innocently and it made Harry give off a nostalgic smile. Somehow this boy made him think of Neville, even though the boy has changed a lot after those two years, becoming a refined young man.
Last news he had from him were about him and Luna going to France for their honeymoon.
"Nice to meet you, Heath!" he grinned happily, extending his hand for a simple handshake "I could use some new friend after all"
Heath reached toward his hand and took it firmly in his bigger one. He seemed surprised by something as he stared down at the connected hands, marveling about something.
"Of course" he let go of Harry's hand as if he hadn't been marveling about god knows what "I know Saorise and Makus brought you in but, well, neither of them are very comforting to someone who's new in our world"
"I don't know about Markus but yes…Saorise is a little of a wild surprise" he nodded "By the way, how did you know about me?"
"I passed Saorise on my way back in and she told me about what happened to you. What happened is…awful. I'd say I am sorry but apologies won't get your life back, so I wanted to offer you a sympathetic ear - and a shoulder to cry on – if you need it" he spoke quietly, gravely, as if they were attending a funeral for the old Harry who'd died back in that club.
Harry hadn't thought about grieving before but now that he thought about it, a funeral wasn't a bad idea.
"I lost my life not long ago, too" he closed his eyes tightly as he remembers that fateful night "The changes leave you almost numb, at first. But when everything hits you, the loneliness if overwhelming"
Harry thought the same thing, he hates loneliness, he wasn't going to cry for a century about it though.
"I'm not going to mope about it. What's been done is done."
"That's a strong attitude, I'm a little jealous. I just hope you can keep your strength after the weight of everything really hits you" he let out a quiet sigh, running a hand through his feathery hair.
It was a little surprising to Harry how much his situation seemed to upset Heath, considering the apathy or amusement everyone else had shown so far.
"Someone mentioned your House, too" he shifted slightly in his seat "Houses, well – they're supposed to be the core of who we are in this hidden world. What defines us, what sets us apart."
Their gazes met for a few seconds, keeping his head slightly lowered, either from shyness or a conscious effort to be coy:
"I've always found Golgotha like you to be so fascinating…beautiful, in a haunted way. You're different from Markus, still warm and lifelike, not cynical and cold…but there's still a haunting mystery in your gaze, like silk draped over dark secrets."
"It's more of a cotton-polyester blend, but yes" he joked.
"Then there are secrets there, after all…" he muttered curiously, his eyes shifting up at Harry's eyes before dropping down once again "Won't you tell me what it's like? They say the world starts to grow more and more unraveled for the Golgotha, starting from the very moment they're turned"
Harry looked up at the ceiling and thought about it. Ever since he has been turned, the things he saw and thought were not the same as before…sometimes even his speech would change.
It's not that he couldn't fight it but, it was a part of him so he didn't see any reason to block it out. Another thing that changed were the voices, they were here permanently and he can't help but think that if it was anyone else, they would grow crazy.
Maybe Harry was already crazy and it was the reason for them not affecting him.
"I don't mind sharing…but can you handle the secrets I see?" he leaned in with a shark smile, his tiny fangs showing off their whiteness.
"Maybe I can't, but that doesn't mean I won't try…especially if it means learning more about you"
Harry's smile disappeared as his back touches once more the couch. Was he dreaming or the boy was flirting with him?
Heath studied him for a few seconds before getting up from his chair and walking toward the window, his gaze shifting to look outside. Harry followed him and glanced past Heath at the glittering cityscape, only to meet Heath's stare again the glass's reflection. His expression had quickly sobered, the way his moods seemed to shift so quickly caught Harry off guard – it was like they flicked on and off at a whim.
"You know, a few years ago, you would've had a group of Golgotha to welcome you into this new world" he muttered as his hand pushed against the glace, seeing something Harry couldn't "But now, well…with the war going on, everyone seems more interested in protecting themselves than helping each other, even their own House members"
His eyes narrowed with disgust:
"I can't stand it"
Harry just stared, not saying anything. War was cruel and merciless, children's, women, elders… nobody was spared from it.
"You're very empathetic for a vampire" he commented casually and Heath chuckled, although he didn't seem surprised. It was obvious he wasn't the first vampire to tell him that "I'm cursed with a bleeding heart, if not a beating one. That's the nature of many Iscari. We were so sensitive to our humanity in life that it stays with us even past death. It's a double-edged sword, I think"
"Saorise's heart didn't exactly strike me as bleeding" he hmphed, crossing his arms as he remembered her rather hurtful words.
"Oh, Saorise…she puts on that tough exterior because she has to. Otherwise, she'd be seen as weak, attacked by other vampires who want to seize power." He turned away from the window to stare at him sadly "Don't judge her too harshly, Harry, please. Not everyone is what they seem to be"
Harry furrowed his eyebrows, finding it difficult to think that woman was just acting tough but gave in:
"Fine…I guess I can understand that"
Heath gave out a sigh of relief, giving Harry a thankful smile:
"She's a strong ruler – harsh, but fair. If you stay with us long enough, I think you'll start to see her in a different light…I know that's what I did"
For a moment, Heath's smile flickered slightly:
"But listen to me, Harry. More than anything else, I hope you'll remember…if you don't want to be alone, you don't have to be" he pulled at the hem of his shirt nervously "I run a bar downtown – nothing much – just a little nook for starts, and a sanctuary for people like us"
Harry knew he shouldn't judge a book by their cover but still – Heath didn't seem to be someone who would work in a bar.
"It's called Saturnalia. Won't you come by sometime? I don't mean to sound pushy, but…" he stared hopefully at him, the warm lamplight reflecting into his eyes as they flicked toward Harry's. In the following silence, Harry heard sirens echoing from somewhere far, far away. "There's something different about you. Something that I've never seen before. I'd really like to talk to you more…if you'd let me"
"I'd love to come by, Heath. I might even make a surprise visit" he grinned and gave him a thumb up. Heath immediately lit up at that, as if Harry was offering him all the gold of the world instead of a visit.
"Then I hope you won't make me wait too long – I don't know if I could bear it" he giggled before staring out the window "I should leave – the sun's coming up soon. But I'll remember to say a prayer for your success tomorrow!"
He then started walking toward the door, turning to look once last time at Harry:
"Until then, if you ever need me…you know where I am"
With a gentle bow of his head, he gave Harry one last, long look that made Harry shift consciously:
"Good night, Harry"
"Good night, Heath and sleep well!" he waved.
With that, Heath quietly made his way out the door, slipping outside and closing the door shut behind him.
Harry was once again alone, in a golden, solitary confinement. He stood in the middle of the room for some minutes more before he started feeling a slight burn on his arm.
Like Heath had said, the sun was starting to rise so he hurried and closed the curtains tightly against each other, yawning as he felt all the stress of the day giving away their presence.
He took out his clothes and walked slowly toward his bed, curling underneath the blanket. With the sunrise safely hidden away, he turned off the bedroom lights next to him.
As he stared at the LED glow of the alarm clock, he let his transformed body sink toward something resembling sleep, one last thought drifting into his mind:
It's…lonely
The sense of isolation that Heath mentioned was creeping up on him. Was he really cut off from the waking world forever? He could only cling to the hope that maybe, just maybe, he'd wake up tomorrow in his own hotel bed, and a warm sunlight would be streaming down his window.
With that feeling settled in his chest, his eyes closed. Finally, a comforting nothingness pulled him down into the dark – and away from the coming day.
Harry groaned as he hears the buzzing of the alarm clock, hiding his face against his fluffy pillow, trying to block out that stupid sound that tried to wake him up.
It didn't stop the alarm though and in the end he had to look up from his pillow with bleary eyes.
09:00 pm – another groan found its way out his mouth, his head falling on the pillow as he shuts down the alarm. He would have liked to sleep for at least another hour but it seems fate didn't want things to go that way…or at least the alarm clock.
Lazily, he got up from his bed and walked toward the bathroom.
He needed a nice, long, hot bath.
Ring, Ring.
The ringing of a phone resounded through the room.
12:01 – Harry's been waiting three hours for that call, pacing in the room with nothing else to do. He walked toward the phone and picket it up before the third ring, readying himself for Markus's poetic drawl.
"Hello to our valued Hollywood Heights customer!"
But instead, a boisterous, theatrical voice boomed at him through the receiver.
"Are you paying too much for your car insurance? We're offering a VERY special deal just for Hollywood Heights Platinum Reward members!"
Harry's shocked face morphed into a grin, finding all of this rather amusing:
"Oh YES!" he nodded, yelling dramatically "Give me the deal!"
"That's JUST what I love, an excited customer!" the vampire's voice was heard from the other side of the phone "Did you know we also offer GREAT deals on life insurance? You never know when tragedy will strike!"
Harry gasped in shock as one hand moved to cover his mouth:
"Oh no…what will happen if I'm already dead?"
Markus let's out a thoughtful sound:
"Hmm, that IS a problem…well, never fear, Hollywood Heights insurance will find a plan that's right for you! 'Accidents happen!' That's our motto!"
"Accidents are a tender subject for me…" he muttered in a fake, sad voice. It made him laugh that the older man was using the red cat's words.
"Heh heh heh…" a smug laugh resounded on Harry's ears.
The then call suddenly went silent. Harry didn't hear anything, not even elevator music, until…
"…Hello, brother, ready for the start of your Herculean trials, I hope"
"Aw, but I wanted the car insurance.." he whined childishly as he pouted, looking like an hamster.
"No, no, I assure you, it's much cheaper traveling to hell in a handbasket" his low chuckle rasped at Harry through the line "Down to our business for tonight, however… The place you're to go is July Company Parking, an abandoned garage downtown. That is where the parties of our doomed rendezvous are meeting, you'll need to find Randal and get him to call off negotiations. Do you follow me thus far, brother?"
Harry froze, suddenly the anxiety decided to kick in:
"My performance anxiety is kicking in"
"Just think about something besides the fact that it's a win-or-die tonight, and I believe you'll be just fine"
"I'm not sure if it's that easy to do" he muttered while rolling his eyes, feeling his anxiety settle down for the moment.
"Now, listen carefully, because here comes the best part: There's a knife that Randal loves very, very much. Why, he loves that blade as much a lot's daughters love their fathers. If he thinks someone stole it, it'll drive him completely wild and put him in a very unprofessional mood"
"…And the knife just so happens to be waiting for you at the hotel's front desk. You'll take that knife, show it to Randal, and pretend you took it off a Golgotha who wanted to drive a hard bargain with it. That's sure to ruin negotiations"
" .fuck?" Harry groaned, not believing his ears "You're telling me that you guys stole from a dangerous, big bad world their meat and expect me to survive in their den? And what does it make you think he will mistake me for one of his lackeys?"
"I rather doubt Randal would mistake you for one of his unwashed lackeys, but Saorise says he'll be seeing too much red to care"
Harry wanted to bang his head against a wall…again.
"This sounds sketchier than gas station sushi, but okay" he huffed, shuddering as he remembers about that time where Hermione tried to get him to try it…that will never happen.
f you want to get by in this existence, you'll have to get used to unsavory plays. Now, once you've finished up, return to the hotel bearing all your good tidings" he trailed off for some seconds "…I have faith in you, Harry"
Harry's eyes widened in surprise, something fluttering in his heart. The spell was soon broken though:
"Then again, I also had faith in Jack Kennedy – so maybe don't call yourself the messiah just yet"
Click.
Harry stared down at the phone with a twitching eyebrow, in the end deciding that it would be cruel to throw the phone by the window and putting it back into its place.
"Fine…this situation is one of sink or swim"
Harry didn't have the first idea of what to expect, and it bothered him but…if he'd survived so far in the Wizarding world with a psychopath trying to kill him, then he was going to find a way to do it among the dead.
After picking up the knife from the front desk, Harry left the hotel and skulked out onto the street. It was as lively as it was the day before, the mortals making it seem as if it was barely 01:00 pm instead of 01:00 am.
Harry vaguely remembers seeing that sign before, at least, he had some idea of where to go. Steeling his nerves, he set out in the garage's direction, trying to avoid eye contact with any of the late-night passerby.
He wanted to go directly but after some moments of walking, he started to feel the same aching hunger he'd felt last night. It was just a dull pain at first, but it quickly grew stronger, gnawing at him from the inside.
Harry couldn't focus on anything else. Before entering the parking garage, he will need to find blood to sate himself – or else the pressure will snap him.
Now he understood why the fridge had three blood packs and not just one. Just as he was wondering about what to do, his heightened senses picked up a scent.
Down the alley – the scent of a mortal.
Alone.
There was no one else nearby, which meant…he can feed on them, if he wanted to. The pain was getting worse. His body ached, his head spun, and the whole world pulsed in front of him.
Harry tried to resist; he really did. He knew that he was going to drink from one sooner or later but he still wanted to adapt some more before doing it.
He felt bad for thinking about sinking his fangs into someone, a living being, like a prey but he knew that he wasn't a human anymore…he was a predator.
The hunger kept growing, and growing…and growing.
Just one small taste… he told himself and slipped into the alley, pulled like a magnet toward that wonderful scent. It didn't take long before he caught sight of the source.
It was a young man but Harry couldn't see his face because of his beanie. The young man let out a gasp when he saw the white-haired boy stalking up to him. He'd been taking a piss behind the dumpster, but quickly zipped himself up with a blush and cleared his throat.
"Er, h-hello" the man muttered uncomfortably "Can I help you with something? Are you lost? I'm just…on my way home from work…"
The young man's voice trembled and Harry felt weird, it was the first time someone had ever really been afraid of him. But the only thing he could concentrate on was the smell of his blood – suddenly the most delicious scent in the world.
"Here, kitty kitty…" he cooed, giving way to his inner Golgotha. He will never deny a part of himself and if that part happens to be some crazy vampire…well…people should run away.
The young's man flickered with confusion and embarrassment. Harry took a step toward him, slowly. The man stayed in place, but Harry could see his whole body was tensing up, getting ready to turn and bolt.
Another step…and another, until the young boy was only a foot or two away from the human. Harry stared up at the frightened with the curious eyes of a small kitten but even though physically the man just saw that, what he felt was the stare of a serpent preparing to strike their prey.
What his eyes saw were different to what his instinct told him.
"You can't run away…" pouted Harry, then nodded his head "because you don't want to"
"Wh-What do you…" his eyes shot wide – Harry was right, of course. He knew what the man was feeling, it was lust. Normally he would have been flustered by this but would someone be flustered by their food?
No.
Harry coiled his arms around him, making him lean down so he could drag his pink tongue around his slender throat. For a split second, Harry saw something strange – a pair of bitter green eyes.
Then they vanished…and all he could think about was his burning hunger.
"I'm sorry" muttered Harry and with a shuddering breath, the man closed his eyes, weakly clutching the vampire's shirt. His lips met the side of the human's neck, fang extending and being pressed to the warm flesh under them.
And then he sank them:
"Nnh -! "
Hot blood flooded onto Harry's tongue, down his throat, sending sparks of life into his dead body.
It was pure bliss.
Not like food, not even like a buzz – it was a high, a delicious shock that ran through Harry and lifted him up. The blood pack from last night couldn't even compare, it was like tasting ambrosia after licking dirt off the ground.
"Nn…ah…" the man moaned.
It wasn't just the taste that made the moment euphoric. It was the experience – the predatory feeling of holding this mortal, who squirmed with pleasure as Harry fed from him.
The faint whimpers leaking from beneath his fangs, soft and sweet…Harry didn't understand why it was so unnervingly satisfying, but he knew the old Harry wouldn't have liked this.
Slowly, the human's body grew limp in his arms, lightly trembling, chest rising and falling unevenly. Harry pulled back, licking his lips, he'd almost gotten carried away and drank too much.
The man was still slumped in his arms, peacefully unconscious. Harry could still feel his heart beating and his skin didn't look too pale – he will wake up soon…or so Harry hoped.
But he couldn't waste any more time. He needed to head towards the garage to catch the meeting before it ended…so he decided to carry the man somewhere safe.
This was Los Angeles at night, and leaving an unconscious guy lying in the alley was probably only a step away from manslaughter. Funny, how this human was more in danger from his fellow men than from a monster like Harry.
Grabbing the human under his arms, he dragged him like a ragdoll body through the shadows, searching the nearby buildings for a safe place to leave him.
It wasn't long before he found an old dentist's office, long since abandoned. He kicked open the door and set the man down inside the dark, dusty waiting room, tossing the rug on top of him for a blanket.
Better than nothing – probably.
At last, with a somewhat lightened conscience, he hurried back to the street. But as he rushed toward the parking garage, savoring the last drops of blood in his tongue, he couldn't stop thinking about what just happened and how he acted.
So this was what it meant to be a vampire…an urban, unholy apex predator.
A parasite, just like Markus had said, living off somebody else's life…but then, didn't humans do the same thing? At least, Vampires didn't have some sort of Human industry, forcing them to reproduce without stop to be killed after some months of existence…poor pigs.
Anyways, there really was no going back.
JULY COMPANY PARKING GARAGE – CLOSING OCTOBER 8
How many Octobers ago? He wondered. Judging from the litter and grime all around the sign, probably quite a few had passed.
Well, it didn't matter, this was the place.
A bored-looking thug stood by the entrance, obviously stationed as a guard. Harry's first trial, by the looks of it.
Putting on a confident expression, he strode up to him, clearing his throat. The man raised an eyebrow down at him as he held his hands behind his head :
"Place is closed. Go dick around somewhere else" he barked a few short words out at Harry before he could even open his mouth.
Rude he thought annoyed.
"…I'm one of the Golgotha meeting here tonight. Please let me in"
"Oh, yeah? I guess you do kinda look like one of those nutty basters." He peered into Harry's face suspiciously, letting out a grunt "But Randal told me not to let anyone else inside. Too much shit at stake"
Harry's shoulders sagged down in disappointment, how is he going to enter if this man didn't want him to? He was thinking about what to do when one of the voices gave him an idea.
Harry was mortified about what he was told to do but…they have never been wrong until now, so maybe he should try?
He moved his finger toward his mouth, forcing a blush with the blood he drank moments ago. Looking up through his long eyelashes, he asked:
"Even if I promise you something later…?" he whispered shyly.
"…Something, huh? Something like what?"
He faked a whine as he bits on his lower lip then signaling him to lean down, his hands surrounding the Mavvar's ears as if telling a secret:
"I wouldn't mind having a daddy for a night…"
"…Huh? What?" the mavvar frowned. Harry stepped back and sweat dropped, maybe the voices were wrong this time and he just did something extremely embarrassing?
He didn't have to worry for too long though as the thug smirked down at him :
"You're into that? Well, damn…don't mind if I do. When you pass by on your way out, I'll pull ya aside…I'm sure Randal will understand"
Yeah…that's not happening.
"I'm sure he will not…mind letting me through?" he pointed at the door behind the guard, who nodded his head.
"Yeah, sure. Don't be too long in there, heh heh"
The guard stepped aside, and Harry didn't waste any time hurrying into the garage, ignoring the hand that reached to feel his hair as he passed next to the guard.
Harry was lucky they had muscle and not brains in front of the entrance. After darting down a few levels of the garage at top speed, he finally arrived.
Loud whispers and rowdy laughter made it sound like the meeting hadn't started yet, he was just in time. The two groups standing across from each other were pretty clear-cut, and Harry could easily see which house was which.
One was full of rough types, probably gangsters and punks when they were alive. Tattoos, leather jackets, piercings, and wild eyes were everywhere.
The other group, interestingly enough, looked like the complete opposite. Eccentric outfits, soft murmurs, and a large number of eerie smiles…almost instantly, he felt a pull toward them. In this strange, dark world, the Golgotha seemed to shine brightly.
They looked like a library full of answers, answers to all the questions swirling around in his head…but Harry didn't have a choice. He knew he'd have to wait before getting his hands on those answers.
"All right. Let's cut this bullshit and talk conditions" a deep voice suddenly boomed through the garage, making everyone fall silent. Moments later, a tall, muscular vampire pushed his way to the front of the Mavvar group.
The sheer force of his presence made it instantly clear who he was. His head was full of blonde wavy hair and his face was decorated by a beard and two amber eyes that seemed to suck your soul away.
Both of his arms were full of tattoos.
When Harry blinked, he thought he saw some sort of circlet on the Mavvar's head, shining brightly…but it vanished the next moment. Just an illusion.
A king a voice whispered.
"I only agreed to this meeting because I hate those Iscari bastards more than I hate Golgotha. I'm guessing it's mutual" he said loudly, holding his hand up "If you want a truce, there'd better be something to sweeten the deal. I don't think these guys here'll settle for anything less."
"Yeah!" one of the mavvar behind him yelled.
"Don't let them weasel out, Randal!" screamed another.
Cheers of approval rang out from the rowdy group behind him.
"Why of course, !" One of the Golgotha vampires stepped forward, his singsong voice tinged with a British accent "We wouldn't dream of offering anything but the fairest of terms for our Mavvar brethren"
The Golgotha had long hair but Harry couldn't see anything else, his face being shadowed by his hat.
"Fuck you, slimy bastard" a rather old-looking Mavvar screamed as he threw something to the floor "We know what your game is!"
Snarls and jeering instantly rustled among the Mavvar in response.
"…'Fairest', sure…you bastards would cheat a blind guy at dice, if you could get away with it" Randal rolled his eyes "So what are you gonna try to sell us? Fortune-telling services? Voodoo magic? We're gonna need something realer than empty promises."
"…Hmh-hm-hm" the Golgotha vampire let out a smug chuckle, like he had a hidden trump card ready and Harry didn't like the sound of that.
If he had to crash and burn this meeting, then he'd have to do something now, before they worked out a deal. So, like any proper Gryffindor…Harry rushed up to Randal.
"Whoa-!"
"Hey, watch where you're-!"
Pushing through the crowd of Mavvar, Harry bolted up to Randal as fast as he could. He pulled out his knife and held it in his palms, trying to keep his face from revealing anything.
"Whoa, whoa, what the hell're you doing, kid?" he glared at Harry, shocked and suspicious – and Harry realized that if he couldn't convince Randal, that accusing look might just be the last thing he'd ever see.
"I've got a scepter for the rebel king" he answered with a smile, his inner Golgotha sneaking its head out once more.
"…Scep- Christ, who let one of the craziest Golcome over here?" he muttered annoyed "I don't know what you're-"
Cutting off mid-sentence, Randal glanced down at the knife in Harry's hands.
"What the…"
Then, his eyes slid back up to Harry's, meeting his gaze wordlessly for a few moments.
"You got this from?"
Harry felt SO bad for doing this…
"One of my siblings" he answered as he looked into Randal's amber-colored eyes.
"Huh? You mean a Golgotha..?"
Harry nodded and the bigger vampire took a deep breath.
"Those motherf- they stole it from me?" he growled and weirdly, Harry knew he wasn't speaking about the Golgotha "Holy hell…"
"Excuse me...?" the leader of the Golgotha group called over to them, clearly confused "Mr. Randal, would you mind explaining what's going on?"
"Damn it, I can't deal with this shit right now..." muttered Randal near Harry, who looked up at him worriedly. Was he going to lose his head tonight?
"Mr. Randal, I'm awfully sorry to interrupt, but we'd really like to present our ter-"
"Get the FUCK out of here!" Randal's angry command echoed through the garage, loud enough to make a few vampires wince – Harry included - "All of you bastards! Meeting fucking canceled!"
"And you guys – make sure there motherfuckers scurry back to their rat holes" he addressed his own group with a low growl, which was met with hurried nods and eager knuckle-cracking "I'll meet you outside in a little while. Go on, get going!"
"All right. You heard the man!"
"Come on, let's go!"
Within seconds, the garage turned into a chaotic mess of Golgotha vampires fending off rabid Mavvar, who pushed and shoved them to the exit. It was easy to tell how much Randal's group was hungry for a fight, but the Golgotha vampires stayed placid, like they refused to give the Mavvar what they wanted.
Harry stared at them guiltily as he saw vampires from his own House being treated like shit. It got worse when one of the Gol stared straight at him, shaking their head and smiling as if to reassure him, that's it until a Mavvar pushed them away.
The confusion and shouting went on for a few hectic minutes, but eventually, the garage emptied – leaving only Randal and Harry.
After a long moment of silence, Randal let out a long, tired sight, finally turning his attention back to Harry:
"…Man, you have some balls. That was supposed to be a trick, right? You were trying to turn me against the Gols?" he snorted and crossed his arms "Not gonna lie, it was a pretty shitty attempt. Even if they did bring my knife as a bargaining chip, there's no way they'd be that careless with it, let me guess. Queen Bitch sent you, didn't she?"
"Queen Bitch…you mean Saorise?" he snickered, it wasn't a kind way of naming someone but it did go well with the red cat.
"Who the hell else? Tch…fucking Saorise…figures." He turned to stare up at the ceiling, or rather glare "She must've known I'd see through this. It's too obvious. What the hell is she aiming for?...Iscari and their mind games, damn it…"
Randal growled deep in his throat, fangs bared like a wild animal. But his rage didn't seem focused on Harry, to the white-haired boy's surprise. He was still holding the knife, too, so the younger vampire considered himself lucky.
It didn't stop him from flinching each time the knife shifted, though.
"…ugh" finally, Randal let out a groan, most of the anger on his face fading into annoyance "probably good we didn't bargain with those freaks, anyway. They were up to something, just like always."
Harry flinched when he heard the word freak, stepping slightly back. Randal saw it flinch and turned to study him before shaking his head, finally deciding that they didn't know each other enough to ask about that.
"But you – I've never seen your face before, and I've seen just about every vampire in Los Angeles. And since you were sent on a suicide mission, it doesn't take a whole lot of detective work to see that you're new. Cannon fodder, kicked out to die"
"Fancy way of saying it"
Harry raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling the need to slap a certain red cat.
"What's your name, anyway?"
"My name is Harry" he bowed his head in respect, trying not to shake hands with the man across him. He didn't need a crushed hand, thank you very much.
"…Harry, huh. Well, Harry, way to make a fucking entrance" he didn't sound quite as pissed as Harry figured he'd be "I should probably tear you up for pulling that shit on us, but…man, I guess you didn't get much of a choice."
Oh, lucky me.
"…tch. It's just like Queen Bitch, taking a newbie and throwing him out to the sharks. But…there's not a whole lot I can do for you, not with her on high alert. The Iscari still have the most power in LA right now, so if Saorise wanted you dead…well, you'd be dead. She'd find you, no matter where you tried to hide out. Taking you in right now, well, you'd be too much of a risk, I gotta look out for me and my group"
His shoulders raised in a hapless shrug, one hand scratching the back of his head. He really did sound apologetic, even though he didn't necessarily have any reason to be.
"Well…er…" he shifted nervously, not knowing how to formulate it "Saorise wants a truce with you, eventually. Would you agree to one?"
Randal stared at him blankly before raising a eyebrow:
"…What?"
"She says you're the leader of the Mavvar and wants to be allies"
"…Hah!" a choked laugh of disbelief erupted from his throat, startling Harry. If he reacted like that to just the mention of an alliance, it probably didn't bode well for Saorise.
"That's the dumbest thing I've heard all month, and I just read a magazine ad trying to tell me my dick wasn't big enough"
Harry's eyes fell automatically to Randal's private bits, blushing as he saw a slight bulge before looking back up again…those stupid adolescent hormones affected him even dead.
"Sure, these guys look up to me, but I'm not their leader. They have no leader – that's kind of the fuckin' point". Told her that a hundred goddamn times, too. Hard concept for a dolled-up fascist to grasp, I guess" he muttered his last words spitefully, grinding a stray piece of gravel underneath his boot.
"Yeah, I think Saorise might've been pals with Stalin" he joked.
Randal smirked :
"Hah. She's been around long enough, that's for sure. If you gave that woman Stalin's power, though…"
He visibly shuddered, probably not wanting to picture the scenario any further.
"Christ, I can't believe Queen Bitch thinks I'll work under her" he shook his head "Every Iscari's always out to use or kill you for power. That's just how it goes. They say they're all about beauty and peace and words over fighting, but it's all a fuckin' sham. One big bunch of snakes"
"Oh!" Harry clapped his hands together, now feeling more comfortable around the man after talking with him for who knows how many time "So the Mavvar are the Gryffindors, the Iscari the Slytherins and the Golgotha the Ravenclaws?"
"What…?" he stared at him in confusion "Oh…yeah, you're one of the…ah, fuck" he pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, grimacing.
"Kid, I got bad news for you. Your House, you got a lot of talents – weird visions, voices, prophetic dreams, seein' into people's hearts the second you meet them, stuff like that" he rubbed Harry's head "but it's gonna get hard, real hard. A lot of newbie Gols, they can't handle all the new gifts, don't know how to separate reality from fantasy. Completely insane within a week"
He stared down at him and forced a smile:
"So, uh…try and keep it together, okay?"
"That's my secret. I never had it together in the first place" he winked at Randal, who deadpanned.
"…Right. Good to know. Anyway, if you haven't met Markus yet, I should hook you up. He's the best Gol – hell, one of the best guys, period – I know around here"
Harry's heart flutters when he hears the name of Markus, staring down at his chest in confusion before shrugging and looking back at Randal, letting him know about his thoughts of the matter:
"Markus is amazing! Weird sunglasses and all!"
"Right? I've got no idea why the fuck he wears those things, but hey, it's a free country. Markus, man…I used to hate his guts, since he was always playing nice with Queen Bitch. Not to mention that slow, preachy way he talks" he scratches the back of his head "But then, when I shutted up and actually listened to what he said, I realized…he's got it all figured out"
Harry could see some sort of worship in the eyes of Randal as he talked of Markus. The black-haired gol knew a lot of things about Harry and the boy knew it wasn't because he searched about his past…it was just that Markus was special.
"The politics, the mind games, everything" Randal paused, shaking his head in bemused awe. He didn't seem like the type of guy who'd respect just anyone, so the fact that he thought so highly of Markus must've really mean something "That guy could be the king of LA if he wanted to. Hell, probably the whole world"
"Is that so…?" he asked in surprise, he didn't expect the Gol to be that powerful. Maybe special but…
"Yes, but instead, he just hangs out in his porn store and sells giant rubber dicks…really makes you think, doesn't it? Hahahaha!"
Randal clutched his stomach, doubling over as if he'd just cracked the best joke of the century.
Maybe he did.
"So Iscari are the kiss of death, Golgotha are the sound of death. What about the Mavvar?" he asked him and yes, his speech was slightly altered but well, he couldn't really control it so why try?
"…Kind of a fancy way of putting it, but sure. Not a whole lot to say about us, really. Mavvar don't complicate shit, we don't stand for unfair rules, and the Queen is full of 'em. Vampires should be able to do whatever the hell they want."
"No murder sprees, and no revealing your nature in public. Aside from that, we like to live our unlives as we damn well please. Usually on the…wilder side" he grinned as his hand moved to touch his barb "Got a problem with another vampire? Face them head on – no politics, that shit's for the Iscari. We're beast, after all, and Mavvar don't hide from that…we embrace it."
"So being a vampire is an excuse to ignore law and order?" he asked, stepping back some steps in case the vampire got angry.
"It's not an excuse for anything. But we're not mortals, so why do we have to live by mortal rules? Trying to make crazy powerful creatures all play nice with each other is a recipe for fuckin' disaster. Lying, murder, theft, it's all a piece of cake for us" he shook his head, as if explaining something to a child who wouldn't understand "Ah, whatever. You'll understand, one day"
With a wry smile, Randal reached out to clamp a large hand on Harry's shoulder, squeezing it roughly :
"All right, kid. It'd be fun, but I need to go make sure the others aren't running down Gols in the street or anything else too crazy" he grinned, showing his pearly white fangs "I'm usually at the beach with my crew, so if you ever decide to hop onto the winning team…" he trailed off and clicked his tongue playfully, winking at him.
"Thanks, Randal"
"Nah, no need to thank me." He waved his hand "We were all newbies once…I do my best to remember that"
And with that, the man turned his back and started walking away. Harry stood in place without moving and opened his mouth as his eyes darkened :
There are no winners in war
"There are no winners in war"
Both Harry and the voices whispered at the same time as he stared Randal's fading back.
I want to give my thanks to GoofyGoogles and SundayCoffee (Archiveofourown)
This +7k chapter is for you both!
I'm not sure if I will keep updating as it doesn't seem popular in fanfiction...there are views but not reviews so well...it's rather sad to see that there are people reading but not even letting an encouranging review :)
