Gangrel stopped suddenly, hands on his hips. He surveyed their surroundings before turning, nodding shortly. "This looks like as good a place to start as any."
"Start what?"
Gangrel rolled his eyes. "To start hunting. We'll even let you do the honors of finding our target."
Christian frowned, brow narrowing. "What am I supposed to do, just pick someone out at random and go, 'hey, can I suck you?'"
Edge snorted. "Well, you could, but that kind of goes along with the lock-jaw thing. People would definitely get the wrong impression about you."
"Who said it'd be wrong?" Edge blinked, prompting Christian to stick his tongue out in a raspberry. "Nyah."
"Don't even start, you two," Gangrel groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. "I don't have the patience for it right now. You --" he pointed to Edge -- "find someone."
"Aye aye, cap'n." He took off without another word, leaving Christian to let Gangrel pull him by the arm into a side alley darkened in shadow. Edge walked casually along the sidewalk, hands shoved into the pockets of his trenchcoat he wore even in the middle of summer, and kept his head low, eyes silently taking in everything around him. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Sarah standing on the corner, back against a stop sign. This was going to be far too easy.
"Hey," he whispered in her ear, making her jump very nearly into the street. She would have, had he not grabbed her wrist and pulled her back onto the curb. She offered her most charming grin in gratitude.
"Hey, you!"
"I thought you said you weren't hooking anymore."
Sarah turned her head, wrapping her arms around herself. "I-I hadn't planned on it, but my boss found out I was still using and I got fired. So here I am."
"Ah. That sucks." He paused to think over the irony of the comment and almost burst into laughter, but that might make him look too suspicious. He didn't have a chance to go on anyway, as Sarah pressed herself up against him, running a bony hand up over his shirt.
"Why? You want somethin', darlin'?"
Though repulsed by the stench of stale smoke on her breath, Edge nodded and toyed lightly with her hair. "Yeah, I do."
"Need a fix?"
"You could say that," he admitted after a brief hesitation, looping an arm around her waist and tugging her back into the alley. She giggled as he pushed her further into the shadows, not stopping until his back was pressed against the wall of a building and she stood in front of him.
"You don't even wanna go somewhere else?" She asked quizzically, head tilted just slightly.
"Here's fine." He leaned his head back, nodding when he saw Gangrel come up behind her. No other words were exchanged before Gangrel reached up with lightning quick speed, twisting her head until her neck snapped cleanly in two with an audible crack. She fell limply to the cold, wet alley floor, and Edge was still wiping the back of his hand across his mouth when he noticed Christian's wide-eyed stare.
"What?"
"Y-You killed her!"
"Actually, Grel did."
"Why the fuck did you have to kill her? Don't you think it looks a little suspicious when bodies start turning up everywhere?"
"Which," Gangrel started, kneeling beside the body, "is precisely why we don't kill unless we must."
"Oh, I get it. This was a special show for my benefit, right? Well, thanks, guys, but --"
"It was easier this way to get enough blood for the three of us, short of breaking into the Red Cross."
Christian sighed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Okay, fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with, huh?"
Gangrel smirked, waving his hand towards the body. "By all means. You get first go-around."
"Um..." Christian faltered, rubbing the back of his head. "I-I don't know what to do."
"If I start, will you join in?" Christian nodded after a moment, watching in horrified fascination as Gangrel sank his teeth into the girl's throat as effortlessly as though it had been water. Having hit a major arterie, a thin line of blood squirted out, and Christian immediately turned and dropped to his knees.
"Chris," Edge started, rubbing Christian's back and holding his hair back as Christian emptied seemingly everything he'd ever eaten from his stomach. "Chris, it's okay. It's not this bad every time, I promise."
The alley fell completely silent, but as soon as he heard the faint slurping noises behind him, Christian began retching again.
"Jesus Christ, Grel, could you stop for just a second? I'm having a hard enough time calming him down without you providing sound effects over there."
"I-I don't think I can do this," Christian stammered once he was able to speak again.
Edge nodded sympathetically, reaching over to dab at the stray bits of vomit on Christian's chin with his shirt. He cast a mournful glance to his now ruined shirt before answering. "You drank from me. You can do this."
Christian shook his head vehemently, almost as violently as the trembling that made his body rock back and forth of its own accord. "That was different. This is . . . this is fucking *sick*."
"This is how we survive." Edge cupped Christian's face in his hands, turning him so their eyes were forced to meet. "Look at me, Chrissy. I don't like it anymore than you do, but we don't have a choice."
"Don't call me Chrissy."
"Sorry." He paused, brushing the hair back from Christian's face and forcing a weak, supportive smile. "Will you at least try? Please?"
After an uncertain inner conflict, Christian nodded wordlessly and let Edge pull him over to the other side of the alley, helping him to his knees and kneeling at his side. Seeing how pale the body was already becoming, he immediately turned to run again but was caught by the shoulders in unnaturally strong hands.
"Christian, drink."
"I can't!"
Edge sighed and pushed his brother down next to the body, hating the way Christian let out a startled yelp and began fighting viciously back, struggling to get back to his feet. With the scent of blood already strong in the air, he knew Christian's new fangs would surface whether he wanted them to or not, and it was just as soon as he heard Christian's strangled cry that he pushed his head close enough to the girl's neck to make his teeth pierce the skin. Christian mewled in the back of his throat, a muffled gutteral scream tearing out of him when his sensitive hearing caught the sickening sound of skin and muscle tearing.
"Well," Gangrel started, sitting back on his haunches and wiping at his mouth. "I suppose that's one way to do it."
"It's more polite than what you did to me when I refused to do it voluntarily," Edge pointed out with an angry scowl, hand still on the back of Christian's head. Gangrel scoffed.
"I hardly think so."
"You dropped a dead body on me, you idiot!"
"Potato, potahto. Are you trying to smother him?"
"He's fighting me."
"I'd fight you, too, if you were trying to smother me."
"He doesn't breathe anymore!"
Gangrel huffed. "It's the principle of the thing."
Edge was tempted to continue the argument until he felt Christian's hand reach up to brush his own away. "Are you drinking?" The hand made a thumbs up sign, so Edge shrugged and took Gangrel's place on the other side, drinking all he wanted and then resettling himself at his brother's side, surprised to see he was still drinking hungrily. "Jeez. Slow down, Chris, you're gonna pop something."
Barely a minute later Christian pulled away, wiping his mouth and groaning. Edge glanced over at him worriedly. "You okay?" Christian nodded, stretching out on the ground and resting his head on Edge's thigh, eyes drifting closed as soon as he felt fingers threading themselves through his hair. "I'll take that as a yes."
"That was quite possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever done in my life."
"I thought that was Jeff?"
Too tired to do much else, Christian shook his head. "Believe it or not, I've never slept with Jeff. Or Matt. Too much inbreeding in that family for my taste."
"So says the guy with his head in his brother's lap."
"Chumpstain."
Edge chuckled under his breath, leaning back against the cool brick of the building and staring up at the sky overhead, stars barely visible in the glare of the city lights. Christian caught Gangrel watching them and waved.
"I don't know whether to be touched or revolted."
Christian wisely ignored the remark and countered with one of his own. "So now that it's over with. . .how was that for my first time?"
"Honestly?" Christian nodded. "Disastrous. But you'll get better, I'm sure. I have a lot of faith in you, little one." He bent to press a quick, chaste kiss to Christian's forehead.
"Hey, he likes me!" Christian announced, beaming up at Edge. His brother returned with a smirk.
"Yeah, but that's like the kiss of death. You'll probably wake up with a horse head in your bed."
"I wouldn't do that to him," Gangrel assurred, rising to his feet and brushing his knees off. "You, though...I would put the entire horse in bed with you. Maybe even a cute little baby pony fresh out of its mothers womb."
"It's nice to know you care."
"Don't mention it."
******
Date: July 20, 2002 9:25 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: Slacker!
You know, when you said you and Christian wanted some time off, I didn't know you were planning on being gone for the entire millennium. I know I'm an exceptionally nice, charming, well-meaning person, but I don't appreciate being taken advantage of. If you'd like to see another paycheck, I suggest you both get back here ASAP. Unless, of course, you'd both like to work the OVW scene for the next few decades...
Since Matt hasn't seen you for a while, he says hi, by the way.
Shane
-------
Date: July 22, 2002 10:02 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: *poke*
Are you alive? Or are you just ignoring me? I know you're out there! Write back if you value your job.
Your BOSS
-------
Date: July 25, 2002 1:54 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: Should I send flowers?
Alright, Beavis, this isn't funny anymore. You've turned your cell phone off, no one knows where you're at, I have no way to reach you or Christian, and I'm pretty sure I just saw you both on Unsolved Mysteries. If you don't answer this time, I'm sending out condolence cards to your family. Assuming you have one.
Me
-------
Date: July 27, 2002 3:41 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: R.I.P.
I walked into the locker room yesterday and they were holding a candle light vigil for their departed friends. They had yours and Christian's action figures surrounded by flowers and yellow ribbons. D-Von even delivered a nice little eulogy. Jeff wrote a poem for you. It sucked, but it's the thought that counts. Overall, it was a beautiful service.
-------
Date: July 31, 2002 4:22 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: (none)
Dammit, Edge, would you answer your email once in a while? One of the tech guys that runs the website and everything just called me to see if I was spamming you! Maybe if I knew you were still, you know, alive and everything, I wouldn't do this.
PS: Matt's already made it clear that if you bit it, he wants your CD collection.
-------
"Christian?"
"Yeah?"
"I think Shane wants us to go back to work." Pause. "And remind me to smack Matt in the head next time I see him."
"Start what?"
Gangrel rolled his eyes. "To start hunting. We'll even let you do the honors of finding our target."
Christian frowned, brow narrowing. "What am I supposed to do, just pick someone out at random and go, 'hey, can I suck you?'"
Edge snorted. "Well, you could, but that kind of goes along with the lock-jaw thing. People would definitely get the wrong impression about you."
"Who said it'd be wrong?" Edge blinked, prompting Christian to stick his tongue out in a raspberry. "Nyah."
"Don't even start, you two," Gangrel groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. "I don't have the patience for it right now. You --" he pointed to Edge -- "find someone."
"Aye aye, cap'n." He took off without another word, leaving Christian to let Gangrel pull him by the arm into a side alley darkened in shadow. Edge walked casually along the sidewalk, hands shoved into the pockets of his trenchcoat he wore even in the middle of summer, and kept his head low, eyes silently taking in everything around him. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Sarah standing on the corner, back against a stop sign. This was going to be far too easy.
"Hey," he whispered in her ear, making her jump very nearly into the street. She would have, had he not grabbed her wrist and pulled her back onto the curb. She offered her most charming grin in gratitude.
"Hey, you!"
"I thought you said you weren't hooking anymore."
Sarah turned her head, wrapping her arms around herself. "I-I hadn't planned on it, but my boss found out I was still using and I got fired. So here I am."
"Ah. That sucks." He paused to think over the irony of the comment and almost burst into laughter, but that might make him look too suspicious. He didn't have a chance to go on anyway, as Sarah pressed herself up against him, running a bony hand up over his shirt.
"Why? You want somethin', darlin'?"
Though repulsed by the stench of stale smoke on her breath, Edge nodded and toyed lightly with her hair. "Yeah, I do."
"Need a fix?"
"You could say that," he admitted after a brief hesitation, looping an arm around her waist and tugging her back into the alley. She giggled as he pushed her further into the shadows, not stopping until his back was pressed against the wall of a building and she stood in front of him.
"You don't even wanna go somewhere else?" She asked quizzically, head tilted just slightly.
"Here's fine." He leaned his head back, nodding when he saw Gangrel come up behind her. No other words were exchanged before Gangrel reached up with lightning quick speed, twisting her head until her neck snapped cleanly in two with an audible crack. She fell limply to the cold, wet alley floor, and Edge was still wiping the back of his hand across his mouth when he noticed Christian's wide-eyed stare.
"What?"
"Y-You killed her!"
"Actually, Grel did."
"Why the fuck did you have to kill her? Don't you think it looks a little suspicious when bodies start turning up everywhere?"
"Which," Gangrel started, kneeling beside the body, "is precisely why we don't kill unless we must."
"Oh, I get it. This was a special show for my benefit, right? Well, thanks, guys, but --"
"It was easier this way to get enough blood for the three of us, short of breaking into the Red Cross."
Christian sighed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Okay, fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with, huh?"
Gangrel smirked, waving his hand towards the body. "By all means. You get first go-around."
"Um..." Christian faltered, rubbing the back of his head. "I-I don't know what to do."
"If I start, will you join in?" Christian nodded after a moment, watching in horrified fascination as Gangrel sank his teeth into the girl's throat as effortlessly as though it had been water. Having hit a major arterie, a thin line of blood squirted out, and Christian immediately turned and dropped to his knees.
"Chris," Edge started, rubbing Christian's back and holding his hair back as Christian emptied seemingly everything he'd ever eaten from his stomach. "Chris, it's okay. It's not this bad every time, I promise."
The alley fell completely silent, but as soon as he heard the faint slurping noises behind him, Christian began retching again.
"Jesus Christ, Grel, could you stop for just a second? I'm having a hard enough time calming him down without you providing sound effects over there."
"I-I don't think I can do this," Christian stammered once he was able to speak again.
Edge nodded sympathetically, reaching over to dab at the stray bits of vomit on Christian's chin with his shirt. He cast a mournful glance to his now ruined shirt before answering. "You drank from me. You can do this."
Christian shook his head vehemently, almost as violently as the trembling that made his body rock back and forth of its own accord. "That was different. This is . . . this is fucking *sick*."
"This is how we survive." Edge cupped Christian's face in his hands, turning him so their eyes were forced to meet. "Look at me, Chrissy. I don't like it anymore than you do, but we don't have a choice."
"Don't call me Chrissy."
"Sorry." He paused, brushing the hair back from Christian's face and forcing a weak, supportive smile. "Will you at least try? Please?"
After an uncertain inner conflict, Christian nodded wordlessly and let Edge pull him over to the other side of the alley, helping him to his knees and kneeling at his side. Seeing how pale the body was already becoming, he immediately turned to run again but was caught by the shoulders in unnaturally strong hands.
"Christian, drink."
"I can't!"
Edge sighed and pushed his brother down next to the body, hating the way Christian let out a startled yelp and began fighting viciously back, struggling to get back to his feet. With the scent of blood already strong in the air, he knew Christian's new fangs would surface whether he wanted them to or not, and it was just as soon as he heard Christian's strangled cry that he pushed his head close enough to the girl's neck to make his teeth pierce the skin. Christian mewled in the back of his throat, a muffled gutteral scream tearing out of him when his sensitive hearing caught the sickening sound of skin and muscle tearing.
"Well," Gangrel started, sitting back on his haunches and wiping at his mouth. "I suppose that's one way to do it."
"It's more polite than what you did to me when I refused to do it voluntarily," Edge pointed out with an angry scowl, hand still on the back of Christian's head. Gangrel scoffed.
"I hardly think so."
"You dropped a dead body on me, you idiot!"
"Potato, potahto. Are you trying to smother him?"
"He's fighting me."
"I'd fight you, too, if you were trying to smother me."
"He doesn't breathe anymore!"
Gangrel huffed. "It's the principle of the thing."
Edge was tempted to continue the argument until he felt Christian's hand reach up to brush his own away. "Are you drinking?" The hand made a thumbs up sign, so Edge shrugged and took Gangrel's place on the other side, drinking all he wanted and then resettling himself at his brother's side, surprised to see he was still drinking hungrily. "Jeez. Slow down, Chris, you're gonna pop something."
Barely a minute later Christian pulled away, wiping his mouth and groaning. Edge glanced over at him worriedly. "You okay?" Christian nodded, stretching out on the ground and resting his head on Edge's thigh, eyes drifting closed as soon as he felt fingers threading themselves through his hair. "I'll take that as a yes."
"That was quite possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever done in my life."
"I thought that was Jeff?"
Too tired to do much else, Christian shook his head. "Believe it or not, I've never slept with Jeff. Or Matt. Too much inbreeding in that family for my taste."
"So says the guy with his head in his brother's lap."
"Chumpstain."
Edge chuckled under his breath, leaning back against the cool brick of the building and staring up at the sky overhead, stars barely visible in the glare of the city lights. Christian caught Gangrel watching them and waved.
"I don't know whether to be touched or revolted."
Christian wisely ignored the remark and countered with one of his own. "So now that it's over with. . .how was that for my first time?"
"Honestly?" Christian nodded. "Disastrous. But you'll get better, I'm sure. I have a lot of faith in you, little one." He bent to press a quick, chaste kiss to Christian's forehead.
"Hey, he likes me!" Christian announced, beaming up at Edge. His brother returned with a smirk.
"Yeah, but that's like the kiss of death. You'll probably wake up with a horse head in your bed."
"I wouldn't do that to him," Gangrel assurred, rising to his feet and brushing his knees off. "You, though...I would put the entire horse in bed with you. Maybe even a cute little baby pony fresh out of its mothers womb."
"It's nice to know you care."
"Don't mention it."
******
Date: July 20, 2002 9:25 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: Slacker!
You know, when you said you and Christian wanted some time off, I didn't know you were planning on being gone for the entire millennium. I know I'm an exceptionally nice, charming, well-meaning person, but I don't appreciate being taken advantage of. If you'd like to see another paycheck, I suggest you both get back here ASAP. Unless, of course, you'd both like to work the OVW scene for the next few decades...
Since Matt hasn't seen you for a while, he says hi, by the way.
Shane
-------
Date: July 22, 2002 10:02 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: *poke*
Are you alive? Or are you just ignoring me? I know you're out there! Write back if you value your job.
Your BOSS
-------
Date: July 25, 2002 1:54 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: Should I send flowers?
Alright, Beavis, this isn't funny anymore. You've turned your cell phone off, no one knows where you're at, I have no way to reach you or Christian, and I'm pretty sure I just saw you both on Unsolved Mysteries. If you don't answer this time, I'm sending out condolence cards to your family. Assuming you have one.
Me
-------
Date: July 27, 2002 3:41 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: R.I.P.
I walked into the locker room yesterday and they were holding a candle light vigil for their departed friends. They had yours and Christian's action figures surrounded by flowers and yellow ribbons. D-Von even delivered a nice little eulogy. Jeff wrote a poem for you. It sucked, but it's the thought that counts. Overall, it was a beautiful service.
-------
Date: July 31, 2002 4:22 EST
From: shanem@wwe.com
To: awesomedge@wwe.com
Sub: (none)
Dammit, Edge, would you answer your email once in a while? One of the tech guys that runs the website and everything just called me to see if I was spamming you! Maybe if I knew you were still, you know, alive and everything, I wouldn't do this.
PS: Matt's already made it clear that if you bit it, he wants your CD collection.
-------
"Christian?"
"Yeah?"
"I think Shane wants us to go back to work." Pause. "And remind me to smack Matt in the head next time I see him."