The earth was wet and soft against his hands, belly and legs. The air, though cool, was not nearly as damp as underground. A hand tenderly soothed over his spine, patiently waiting for him to uncurl.

Wally licked his lips. The darkness in the cave had blended every second of every day. He had a life before this, he was sure of it, but when he tried too hard to remember, a splitting headache took over with raging force. "H-how lo-long was I….?"

The Count's cold fingers wrapped around his shoulder and gently pulled him into a sitting position. His eyes still watered, but the world slowly came into focus under the bright gleam of moonlight. He could see the blur of bushes and trees before the mass become detailed; leaves that were in various shades of green and yellowing at the edges.

"Years, we have been alone. The seasons have come and gone. The world has moved on without us, but now, we must return." The Count lifted him with such ease that it left him feeling delicate.

Wally's heart plummeted. It all felt so foreign now. Even the trees had their own language and he couldn't stand hearing them rustle. "I ca-can't do this. I can't. I want to go back down into the earth."

He looked over the Count's shoulder. The cave entrance was hidden under the mass of overlapping vines. If they left now, he was sure he'd never find it again. And without the Count, he wouldn't survive the seclusion.

The Count held him tighter. "Nonsense. You're with me. I will not let anyone harm you, but we can't stay hidden any longer. I have been summoned by both the League of Villains and by a vampire coven that I once had ties with. I cannot let this go unanswered."

Wally threw his arm around the Count's neck to steady his own rapid heartbeat. There was no peace within him. He wasn't ready for any of this.

His mind could barely filter all the sounds around them. Being somewhere so dark and void of activity had been torturous, until one day, it suddenly wasn't. The norm had become the emptiness.

The vampire brought him blankets for bedding. There'd been food and water, though limited. Never any clothes and he found he liked this strange sense of freedom from the norm. A collar had been placed around his neck at one point.

The collar hadn't been welcomed at first.

He touched the collar at his throat. He knew the details by touch alone; smooth, one-inch thick leather with studs.

The Count chuckled. The familiar rumble of sound was soothing. "You will wear clothes Mister Beetles. Though advanced, your society would hardly understand a young man walking around wearing only a collar."

Wally laid his head against the Count's shoulder and stared at the different colors in the leaves and brush. A few yellow flowers grew around the trees. Moss hugged everything.

He didn't know the Count's real name. What a weird thing to suddenly be so concerned over.

"Kostya Stanislaus."

Silence settled.

It took a second to realize what he'd been given. A name.

"It's Slavic. I come from a very old family," the Count said, and then, knowing the question before it was even formed, his smile softened as he met Wally's eyes. "I will allow you to call me Kostya in private. You will address me as master in public."

Wally swallowed hard. The lump was from anxiety. He didn't want to be back in public. He liked the hole. He liked the smell of wet earth and the soft drip of water.

"It's too dry up here," he complained.

Kostya threw his head back and laughed. It was another sound that brought entire ease to Wally's soul. "You aren't a mermaid, Wallabee. You'll get used to it again."

A spark of defiance lit inside his belly. "What if I don't? I want to go back to our home."

Kostya hugged him tighter, though his real strength was clearly contained. "The earth is no longer our dwelling. We have places to be. I will give you a few days to adjust, but then we must catch a flight to our residence among the cattle."

Home among the people.

Wally couldn't remember living among people. He couldn't remember the sounds, the way it felt, and the way it tasted on his tongue to dine among friends. He couldn't remember anything about this old life beyond the underground cavern.

oOo

Kostya placed a hand on Wally's knee and tightened it, garnishing his full attention. "Stop fidgeting."

Wally dragged his eyes off the car window to look at the Count. The man was wearing a freshly pressed suit. It was crisp and held no scent that Wally's human nose could catch. The vampire's dark eyes studied every aspect of him and he blushed under that domineering stare.

"Sorry," he mumbled and pressed his fingers into his pants. It didn't ease the nervous tick in his hands or under his skin.

Count Stanislaus kept his promise about dragging him back in town by the end of the week. Now they were in a town car that smelled clean enough, but nothing like the cave. He wore soft brown pants and cotton shirt. Very plain and non-descript. Yet, he felt anything but invisible.

"There is nothing for you to fear here. I won't let anyone take you away." Kostya promised with a pat on the top of his head, careful of his man-bun.

Kostya's strong convictions made Wally's shaft immediately tightened with the first pull of blood hardening the veins. He swallowed and turned away, but not before he caught the vampire's even sharper smile. The Count never talked about it, but he was sure the vampire could smell when he was effected by his presence and, even more so, his words.

There were a lot of people driving, walking, shopping, riding bikes or skateboarding. There was so much happening that it gave Wally a headache. He pressed his eyes shut and leaned his head against the window. He wanted to go back to the cave and exist like a mole person.

Their driver pulled up to a large theater. He remotely remembered visiting one, but the vision was gone as quickly as it had settled.

The Count opened the door and gracefully moved from his seat. Wally didn't feel nearly as refined as he lingered with one foot out the door, wondering how much trouble he'd be in if he insisted on staying put. From the Count's frown, he knew he didn't want to be corrected right here in front of the norms. He slid out and the minute the Count slammed the door shut, the driver pulled away.

They bypassed the ticket stand and went straight through the entrance. The smell of popcorn instantly made his stomach growl. He took a long inhale of the salty scent and tried to ignore the memories the scent conjured. It was wrong to have memories. He wouldn't be able to keep them.

"You're doing so well, Wallabee." The Count took his hand and squeezed his fingers. He wanted to bury his face into the vampire's coat suit.

People were staring at them; mostly children before their guardians adverted their attention. He blushed. Was it wrong? He drew so close to the Count that he bumped into his back when the older man stopped.

The Count reached back, grasped his shoulder and with gentle force, pulled him to his side. "Wallabee, there is nothing to be troubled over."

"It's so loud." Wally hated the sound of his voice. His nervousness showed in his whiny tone. He glanced around the open space at the cardboard signs advertising new movies and the small amount of arcade games. There was nowhere to truly hide.

"Count, it's so good of you to finally answer our summons. You disappeared for so long; we were starting to think one of those brats finally staked you." The man that approached them was big, well over six-foot and built like an ox. The man's shaggy beard met his sideburns. He wore a hat with horns.

For a second, a very brief second, something keen of a memory flashed in Wally's head. The memory didn't hold, but anger and fear remained resolute. The Count's fingers tightened on his shoulder as if he knew where Wally's thoughts had gone.

"Easy Wallabee," Kostya warned.

It didn't ease Wally's growing sense of dread. This man was dangerous. He wanted to kill him.

The burly man with his loud, booming voice, stopped short of them and accessed him. Recognition widened the man's pupils. So they did know each other.

The man's jaw tightened and his hands slid back to grasp something hidden just under his coat. "You brought our enemy with you?"

Defiance made Wally want to stand his ground, but uncertainty had him stepping closer to the vampire. Kostya put his arms around Wally's shoulders and drew him in close enough to kiss his temple. The fear instantly left him, but the anger held tight in his breast bone. He could ponder it later, when he was alone.

"I promise you, my pet is of little consequence to the League of Villains," the Count answered, then waved a gloved hand to the door the man had come from. When the man didn't budge, the Count pressed Wally forward, following him into the room.

The air smelled musky, trapped within the narrow, dark walls. The carpet had been bright red at some point, but the red was dulled by the numerous feet that stomped over it. The chairs were decorated with a maroon fabric, easy to cover spills… or blood.

He shivered. Now wasn't the time to think about the Count pulling his pants down and biting the artery between his thighs. But the thought happened so quickly that it gave him a minor adrenaline rush that had an awkward side effect. Good thing his pants were loose. Too many people were watching him.

There were a number of adults waiting in outlandish outfits. Faces flashed in his minds-eye, swift and without sticking. He found himself drawing closer and closer to the Count. With his anxiety growing, he desperately desired to find his safety by submitting to his master.

"It's that brat Numbuh-Four," the bearded man announced from the doorway.

All eyes turned to them. This must have meant something. The venom in the man's tone was worrying.

Strong hands wrapped around his waist and shoved him tightly against the Count's chest. He buried his face as the older man rubbed circles on his lower back. The vampire's other hand gripped the back of his neck. This was a familiar gesture, used many times when he'd been acting out. It instantly quieted his growing anxiety.

"Psychotherapy is an extremely long process. I would kindly ask that you do nothing to trigger my pet's negative memories," Kostya said. He tsked softly under his breath and forced Wally to look up at him. His tone lowered as he whispered encouragement in his native tongue.

Wally found deep comfort in this. He answered back in the ancient dialect. "I want to go home."

Kostya chuckled then frowned. Wally noticed it a second later. A stranger had the audacity to pull at the long strands of hair coming loose from his messy bun. He felt affronted someone would touch him after all the work that went into looking like this for the Count.

"You were not invited to touch my pet," Kostya warned, pushing the man back.

Wally buried his fingers into the vampire's shirt, wanting them to leave. He didn't like all the eyes on him. He couldn't distinguish what the peculiar looks meant. Some looked as though they wanted… they wanted to do more than to beat him.

"You took the boy and buried his personality? I don't believe it," a lithe man, dark hair and glasses with a bourbon glass in hand, stated. Father?

Wally shook his head. What a weird thing to think about a stranger, yet, deep down, he really felt like this was the correct name for the stranger.

Before anything else could be said, the vampire took his seat in the front row, pulling Wally into a sitting position between his knees. He done this many times and found comfort when the vampire's gloved fingers drew lines at his hairline and down his neck.

He leaned into it, opening his eyes after someone coughed. There were numerous people present, all men that were vaguely familiar now that his heart had slowed its rapid, panicked beating. He buried his face downward into the Count's crotch. He could feel the vampire through his pants, soft but thick. The Count had said no every time he begged for it, had promised the vampire that he was physically ready to advance their relationship.

He had to stay a virgin.

"This is… incredible. I don't believe it even with it right in front of me," one of the men said.

"The Great Wallabee Beetles subservient to the Count?" another voice shouted with undeniable awe.

Wally kept his eyes tightly squeezed. He didn't want to see these strangers analyzing him, pretending they knew and understand him. How could they know him when he barely knew anything about himself?

"Let's get this meeting started, gentlemen. I don't have all night. And, there has been a slight change in my arrangement over the years, I no longer work with children," Kostya said.

oOo

"I signed you into this dating app that lets you hook up with people in your area… uh, it's more like a sex thing, but you're so uptight. I mean, like super not fun, always bossy and in a bad mood, ya know?" Lizzy said.

Nigel choked on his coffee. It burned a path down his throat and down his chin at the same time. He swiped the napkin off the table to catch it from ruining his white, collared shirt. "You said you were downloading the pictures from my Intel mission."

Lizzy shrugged. She'd lost some weight since they were children. Her roundness had grown into shapely curves. Her red hair was held back in intricate braids that softened her face. Her round glasses enhanced her heart shaped face. "It's been what, five years maybe, since you've tried to meet someone. I'm helping you get back on the horse. And it helps that Hoagie said you prefer blonds."

"What?" He leaned into the table, lowering his voice, not because of the mission, but because he really hoped this was a joke. "When did you talk with Hoagie?"

He hadn't talked to his engineer since Hoagie started interning with NASA. That's been almost three years ago. Time was flying and he wasn't calling anyone on the team. They weren't calling him either. The thing they'd tried to bury remained the elephant in the room.

Again Lizzy shrugged. "You really need to get back on the bike Niggie. It's not healthy for you to be alone all the time. Plus, you're a real bear when you get stressed. Work off some off that pent up energy."

Did his ex-girlfriend just tell him to go get laid? It wasn't like he hadn't had a few one night stands in college, but work kept him busy. Too busy to "get laid." She should know that.

His phone dinged and when he swiped his code into the screen, the app instantly came up with a picture of a guy. Heat rushed to his cheeks as he scanned the diner to see if anyone noticed. He was old enough to date who he wanted, but it felt weird, like he was caught red handed being a perv.

"Would you relax? No one cares if you're dating guys." Lizzy flagged down their waitress and gave her the company card before turning back to him. "Get laid, Niggie, because frankly, we aren't supposed to live and die for the CIA. We're supposed to have lives too."

He looked down at the picture. The guy wasn't bad looking. Nerdish with his glasses, sweater over his collared shirt and pens in the pocket. Maybe an intellectual conversation outside of work wouldn't be so bad. It wasn't like he was getting married. He was just trying to fill that void.

oOo

Kostya Stanislaus stood out on the tiny balcony of their apartment. Heat rushed in through the open door. The night brought no relief, but they'd been living in Kuwait so long, that Wally could feel the slightest drop in the sweltering temperature.

He joined the vampire. "Master?"

Kostya looked magnificent in his matching, black silk sleep wear. His shirt was unbuttoned and the breeze blew it open, exposing his long, pale torso. It was so taboo to show this much skin. "I have enjoyed our time here, Wallabee."

They risked the death penalty if they gave the slightest hint to their relation, so Wally kept space between them. "Are you leaving me, again?"

Very little was happening down below. Less than a handful of lights were on in the surrounding apartment buildings. The world was asleep at this strange hour. It'd felt weird at first, knowing that humans were only active during the daylight hours.

With Kostya buried in the back room, he would wander onto the porch and watch the humans down below rush off to meet the demands life brought them. And he still liked the feel of the sun on his skin.

"We're done here, kiddo," Kostya verified. The vampire glanced back at him, his black hair wet and plastered to his head. His clothes were still damp from barely toweling off before getting dressed.

Wally leaned against the railing and watched his master. The man was brilliant. He'd follow him forever if it meant gleaming a tiny bit of intelligence.

"You're unsettled," Kostya said.

Wally dropped his hands when he realized he was hugging himself. "I… I was wondering when you'd need me again?"

In the three years that they'd been here, Kostya had touched him less than a handful of times and within those times, only twice had he taken blood. He needed it badly. Not just for reassurance, but to calm the uncanny need.

"Let's get inside, baby." Kostya's voice was low, demanding. Sexual.

He barely stepped into the deep shadow of their living quarters, before the vampire drew him up against the wall, trapping him. His heart raced. The tiniest voice of reason said this wasn't safe, that he shouldn't like the feeling of being trapped. He shouldn't want to be the prey. The largest voice, the one full of unbridled lust was screaming for the Count to fuck him.

A word he shouldn't use. The Count didn't like when he cussed. It leads to spankings and sometimes even rougher forms of punishment.

He moaned at the thought.

Kostya licked a path from the dip in his throat, all the way to his ear. "I know, baby. Your inner masochist wants to come out and play. But not here. We don't have time for your extended recovery."

Nimble fingers grabbed at the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head. He tried to bite back the moan and failed.

The vampire's lips were on his, sucking down every noise he made. The Count nipped at his skin, sucking at the surface cuts he made with his fangs. It stung. But felt so, incredibly good.

The sharp aches made blood rush straight to his shaft. His loose pajamas allowed his tip to poke straight up. Pleasure tightened in his stomach as the vampire pulled and sucked on his nipples. He arched into the vampire's mouth, wanting him to suck harder. The little suckling sounds along with the pressure, pulled at the lines that connected every part of him back to the growing ball of heat building low in his pelvis.

"I knew you'd like this," Kostya said. He mentioned it almost every time he made short work of Wally's body, handling it like a well loved map under the grip of an explorer's calculating fingertips.

Kostya's fingers slid into the hem of his pajamas and pulled them down while licking the lines of his washboard stomach, tracing straight from his belly button to his pelvic bones. He licked Wally's shaft with his cold tongue, wet from his blood. He liked when Kostya's mouth was wet with his blood. It added to his morbid pleasure.

At the soft tap on his side, he opened his legs and once again found his balance. The Count's tongue drew up his inner thigh, cold, not like ice, but cool just the same. It didn't chill his overheated body.

"You've been sitting in the sun again. I can taste it on your skin." It wasn't a reprimand.

He'd come to realize a while ago that the Count experienced the world by smell that translated into taste when he sucked from him.

Wally pressed his hands back against the wall to keep from grabbing at the Count's head. Kostya chuckled, knowing how impatient he was starting to feel.

Kostya sank his fangs into Wally's inner thigh and moaned the same time Wally did. Wally threw his head back against the wall, ready to go boneless. Sheer will kept him standing, but everything inside him was gone.

The first pull of pressure on his thigh and the flood gates opened. His orgasm exploded, sending strand after ropy strand of semen jutting over his stomach. The Count dug his teeth in deeper. The feeding was always hectic, like Kostya would one day swallow him in entirety.

It took a second to come down from it. When he did, he could focus on the Count's sucking. His body slowly went from euphoric to quiet. His thoughts slowed. His heart slowed.

Kostya dragged his mouth from his thigh and for a second, was completely breathless for a creature that shouldn't need to suck in air. "I forget sometimes."

It sounded like a confession that made the vampire stoic, but he didn't ask the Count to verify that emotion. He hated emotions anyway and that was something he was sure had always been a part of his personality.

"When are we leaving?" He was still breathless and debauched.

Kostya stood and wiped a hand over his bloody mouth, smearing the blood against his pale cheeks. "Tomorrow night."

oOo

He packed the few things the Count had allowed him to purchase, and pulled his backpack over his shoulders. That's how it went. The world was a huge place.

China had been their next longest destination. He instantly fell in love with the Chinese lantern festival; the music and the clothes. He liked the crowded streets and the massive, bright shops. He loved the food and though he struggled with the language, he felt accomplished when he could read children learner books.

However; the Count had one strict rule: he was not allowed to talk with people. He was always with the Count and Kostya would politely decline people who asked if they could take a picture with Wally. They liked his blond hair, or maybe his bohemian clothing. It was hard to tell.

It wasn't even three years on the dot before they were pulling their things together in the wee hours of morning and head to an island. The work there was short.

They didn't stay in town this time. The citizens were superstitious and guarded. The work there was barely a handful of months, which gave him no chance to learn the language or see more than one bonfire festival.

Kostya fed from him more here on this little island than he had in any of their other locations. It made him painfully aware that the vampire fed from others. It was about both their survival, Kostya had said.

But he didn't care. How could anyone be better than him? It only added to his depression, which shouldn't have been there when Kostya was with him.

And so time continued like this, with them staying in new locations, some longer than others, until Wally truly enjoyed the lifestyle greatly.

That's how his master found him, spread out on the beach, letting the frigid water lap over his feet and thighs. The dryer sand at is hips and back were chill from the approaching winter. He liked it better in the summer when it would burn at his skin.

The Count grabbed him by the arm, hauling him to his feet. "We need to go."

Wally stumbled to catch his balance as Kostya dragged him to their hut. It was the only one on this side of the beach and Wally had built it by hand. "But we barely got here. It's so nice."

"You'll like the next location too, Wallabee. It's in your docile nature." The comment should've stung.

It only served to piss him off. He dragged his feet in the sand. It didn't slow the vampire. "Why are we leaving so quickly?"

What he really wanted to ask was why Count Stanislaus was acting like this… like he was scared of something. What could spook a six-hundred-year-old vampire?

"Don't be a brat, Wallabee. This isn't the time to be obstinate." His tone held a dangerous note.

Wally swallowed. He built the fire earlier, but kept it low for cooking. Now the light danced over the sand and the hut's doorway. He'd been proud of all this a few months ago. Now, he felt sick. They were leaving again.

"I don't want to leave," he tried again.

The packing was getting a little harder after the last two locations. Kostya had gotten him a medium size rolling suitcase for all his souvenirs, his language books, flashcards and the laptop with elementary language courses. It was supposed to keep him entertained and it did, but it slowed down the quick getaway.

He was thrown back onto the sand. He barely caught his breath before the vampire was on top of him. Kostya's lips were pulled up, baring his sharp, white fangs. "I told you this isn't the time, Mister Beetles. I am leaving the coven. They question my loyalty and the price of their loyalty is too high for me to give."

"Are we going home then? Back to our cave?" Wally wasn't so sure he wanted that any more. He liked the outdoors, the sun, the plants and occasionally, even the people, though they stared at him like he was an anomaly. Some had even asked if he were a model. It was embarrassing, but he liked being back among the herd, as Kostya said.

Kostya rolled off of him, but dragged him into his lap. His arms wrapped around him with ease. "No, child. Hiding is not in our foreseeable future."

"What do they want that you can't give them?" He knew it wasn't his position to question the Count. The vampire was wise and knew what was best for them, but he could feel the tension in the way the vampire held him.

Kostya huffed and with gentle force, guided him to lay his head on the vampire's shoulder. "It's not something for you to be concerned over. I will never let it happen. Never."

But he could tell Kostya was analyzing every possible outcome, because Wally was too. The coven could corner Kostya and kill him. "What are we going to do?"

"I think I know someone who might be interested in what the coven's been working on," Kostya said. "But right now, we have to leave, okay? No more questions. Trust me and pack your things. We need to go."