Breathing By Rote, Chapter 6.
Warnings: slight chan, but content is edited.
1994.
The Eagle's won the state in a night game that went almost to ten o'clock. Almost too late for their coach to take them out in celebration but several of the parents agreed to chaperone, driving the ecstatic fifteen year olds into the city to a youth club. The boys changed out of their baseball jerseys en route, playfully roughhousing until they were free to pile out of the caravan of minivans. Their parents reassured themselves that the club closed at twelve thirty and tomorrow was Saturday.
Riley snatched the French fry out of Josh's hand to his friend's indignation before being jostled by Aaron from his other side. The boys were crowded into a semi-circular booth with those not able to squeeze onto the benches perched on the brightly colored table itself. Their parents and coach had taken a nearby table, chatting away while they kept an eye on the swarm of teenagers. Happily munching his French fry Riley kicked his feet and used his other hand to brace himself on the table's edge as Josh stretched back to grab more fries.
The baseball team had claimed a corner on the first floor of the club, looking out at the electric strobing of the dance floor. The place was better lit than an adult club. There were cameras everywhere, their footage playing on a wall of television screens that dominated one wall. The view was open to the ceiling and the slender blond stared up as he absently accepted another fry. The second floor circled the dance floor with its tall clear walls letting him see a different beat of lights and what he thought might be an arcade.
"Let's go upstairs," he announced, grabbing at Aaron's wrist. They slipped into the crowd, Josh trailing behind, and let it carry them to a bank of elevators. When no one called out for them the three boys grinned.
There was indeed an arcade and Riley almost felt guilty leaving the rest of his team downstairs but Aaron chose Ryu and the game was on. Josh watched for a few minutes till his attention was caught by a classic Pac-Man a few machines down.
The two boys played for a while before Riley suddenly shivered. He felt . . .odd, like he was remembering being angry. Glancing around he started when he couldn't immediately see Josh. His friend had just been a few games away but there was another kid at the Pac-Man now.
"Where's Josh?"
Aaron shrugged, more interested in pulverizing Vega. "Maybe he had to whiz? Hey, are we still playing or what?"
"I'm gonna find Josh." Another kid pointed him to the back of the arcade for the bathrooms, but the short hallway was roped off for repairs. Frowning, Riley started to turn back, but he stopped at hearing a weird noise coming from behind a door marked 'employees only'. He couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. This anger was building in the back of his head, a heavy pressure that was starting a pain at his temples. Without giving it another thought he slithered under the barricade and swung open the door.
Whatever he was going to say froze in his throat when he saw Josh kissing some girl in the storage room. She had him pressed to the wall and was moving against him in a way that made Riley blush. He'd never seen anything like that and he started to back away when he spied blood trickling from the side of Josh's mouth. What the?
/Riley, go back downstairs and tell one of the parents. Now./ The teenager had never heard his inner voice so separate and angry before, his fear tripling. But he couldn't leave Josh if he was in trouble. /Riley, obey me/
"Hey," though it felt like his whole arm was shaking he reached out and tapped the girl's shoulder. "Josh, do you even know this girl?"
The girl glanced back at him with a bloody snarl, revealing impossibly long fangs and a monstrous face. Riley jumped back with a cut off yelp, the cold hand clamping over his mouth from behind muffling his exclamation.
"Now don't scare the food, sweetheart," a deep, growly voice said over Riley's head.
"But I like them terrified," the girl complained. "Makes them taste sweeter." Over her shoulder Riley could see Josh, blood trickling from his slack mouth, his eyes shut. The girl monster's hand fisted in his shirt was the only thing keeping him upright. The blond catcher suddenly did not want to see what was holding him.
Riley threw his elbow into the man's gut and kicked back with one foot, squirming for all he was worth. The man laughed and heaved Riley up into the air with an arm around his waist. The teenager's feet uselessly kicked out and the man buried his face against Riley's sweat damp neck.
"This one smells different. Richer." Something wet laved his neck and Riley realized the man was licking him! "Uhnmm. Like fucking candy."
"Whatever," the girl dismissed, turning back to Josh. "They all taste like food to me. Stop trying to romanticize it and just eat the brat."
Riley barely registered the spill of light from the door opening before he was falling to the floor, dust clouding the air. The girl screeched over his head and then more dust coated him. Before he could comprehend he was free hands were grabbing at him and pulling him back up. Covered in dust and half terrified out of his mind he tried to scream, but a mouth was sealed tightly to his and everything went away with a pair of yellow eyes.
Keeping his entranced childe-to-be tucked under one arm Angelus snagged the other boy, prepared to roll his mind as well, though without the kissing. The brunette teen was limply unconscious, however, though thankfully still alive. It looked as though the minion had been feeding on his tongue. Not very efficient, but they could not have come from a decent House if they couldn't recognize the flavor of a master vampire in Riley's musk. He'd almost lost his boy to recently turned minions and he growled. Des Moines was his city and he would have to deal with whoever turned those dust piles without his permission. This should never have happened. Riley should have never been in this room because he'd have died without his master's intervention.
From outside he'd felt Riley's sudden fear for his friend, somehow sensing the vampires in the club. It had to be Angelus' blood in the boy making him sensitive. Which meant his friend had most likely died in the original timeline. Or his team had never won.
Riley was flavored with his blood and their link was still strong, but the boy's mind was no longer so easily controlled as when he'd been a child. He had completely ignored Angelus' orders and that was intolerable.
Setting the other boy back against the wall Angelus gently petted his child's dusty hair, wishing for a better place to do this. He didn't have time, however, knowing their chaperones had to be looking for them soon. It would be impossible to explain why middle aged confirmed bachelor Dr. Carey was hanging out at a youth club.
There was vampire ash all over the small room and he finally decided the only clean space was the walls. Putting his boy face first before the wall opposite the one his friend was slumped against Angelus guided his palms to the cool surface, tugging his hips back so that his spine arched, feet spread far apart. Usually expressive hazel eyes glazed over, the blond was oblivious to his body and the worshipful touch given to it.
More limb than muscle and not yet into his adult height Angelus could still see the promise of his future childe, beautiful in the way half-grown things are, their potential as alluring as their present achievement. The master vampire draped himself over the smaller frame, licking away the other's taste. The urge to suck, to bite, was strong, but he reined himself in. Only patience would win him this reward. And a showing of cunning that would do his House proud. Seven more years and then he would have eternity to exercise his passions onto this wondrous boy.
Reaching down to Riley's waist he worked open the button and zipper to his jeans. Fifteen year old boys weren't often inclined to explore their bodies in great detail, but as an athlete Riley did publicly shower and that meant a greater risk of an unexplainable mark being seen and commented on. There were places, however, places he actually preferred to mark a childe. Taking the briefs with the worn denim the vampire bared Riley to just above his spread knees, kneeling as he did so.
Slender coltish legs led up to a small round bottom that tempted him to sample. The military would put muscle on his boy's lanky frame, but he enjoyed what was before him now, kneading the baby soft cheeks. Each filled a hand perfectly and he purred, spreading them to kiss each in turn and then his tiny rosette. Even after almost two centuries he remembered sinking into that tight hole. It made him instantly hard and his sub vocalizations changed pitch, growling out his frustration.
The boy's sex hung between his legs and Angelus mouthed his way lower. He was going to mark Riley in the same place he had first marked William, at the base of his scrotum, over the perineum. So close to his sex organs would tie his sexual pleasure into the claiming mark as well. In time, with training, Riley would only know arousal at his touch. It had been a painful conditioning for William to break, but Angelus planned to never give Riley the opportunity to fall in love with another. Shifting into game face he struck.
It was an actual conscious exertion of his powers in creating a claiming mark; the more powerful the vampire the more power invested in the mark, the more control attained. Riley would no longer bear a faint musk of vampire but would reek of him, Angelus, Scourge of Europe. Most of the demon world would be able to sense the marking and know the mortal was valued property. For the rest of his existence Riley would sport a dark discoloration behind his testicles, much like a birth mark but one tied directly to his pleasure center. A mark similar to the one his eldest sister and the twins sported, but a far greater sink of his power. Once he received the second mark Angelus would have a submissive childe.
Riley moaned, unaware of his surroundings, but responsive to the blood magic weaving tightly about him. A few moments more and the mark was finished. Tucking his boy back into his jeans the vampire carefully put him to rights. With a last kiss he tipped Riley's chin up to meet the still entranced gaze. /No more disobedience from you, boy. You need to find your friend, remember/
oOo
Aaron tried to huddle further into the corner but Josh's mom wasn't releasing his arm, lecturing him at full strength about dogs or something. He couldn't understand what she was so pissed about. It wasn't like Josh or Riley would have left the club so they had to be somewhere. And wherever it was he hoped they were having a good time because he was so kicking their asses when they turned up.
"Holy shit!" One of the other mom's exclaimed and everyone looked to see Riley helping a bloody and dazed Josh out of the elevator. They were both pale though Riley looked angry. Coach Meeson reached them first, scooping Josh up and carrying him over to his mom, who thankfully let go of Aaron. Mrs. Arentz hugged Riley and gave him a little shake.
"You both had us worried half to death, young man! What happened? Where did you disappear to?"
"I went looking for Josh when he disappeared out of the arcade," Riley mumbled, watching the club's security wiping Josh's face and neck free of blood. "I found him in a storage room." The catcher frowned. "I was gonna look for him in the bathroom when this girl came out this door. Smacked me right in the face." He blushed, shoulders hunching. "When I went in and saw the blood on Josh's face I think I passed out."
"It's okay, honey," Mrs. Arentz assured with another squeeze. "Where's your inhaler? You probably had an asthma attack."
"Looks like Josh here almost bit his tongue clean through," the security guard said. "He's going to need to go to the hospital." The man glanced back at Riley. "Do you remember what the girl looked like? They shouldn't have been able to get into that storage room. It's triple locked to keep you kids out of trouble."
"Well, obviously not locked enough!" Coach Meeson angrily snapped. That seemed to open the floodgates, all the mothers starting to shout at once. For himself, Aaron was grateful to no longer being the center of attention. Glancing over at Riley it looked like his friend was about to have another one of his attacks, face reddening as he started to gasp. Opening his mouth to get the parents' attention, he shut it when Riley suddenly calmed. Aaron had never seen Riley fight one of his attacks without his inhaler. Josh was making out with chicks and Riley was okay with his asthma? What the hell was going on? Invasion of the body snatchers or what?
oOo
Adjusting the glasses perched on his nose William the Bloody sighed over his neatly typed notes, now wrinkled and marked in red. Next to him Angelus made a vague squiggle that might have been a bunny rabbit or a notation about the Master's return in Sunnydale sometime estimated in 1998 on the last page of Spike's memories of events. Really, even if his host had never learned his letters Angelus could have made more than a paltry attempt at bettering himself. He said it went with his 'doctor' persona, but William was more of a mind that dyslexia was inheritable from host to demon. His concise timeline now looked like nothing more than the unfortunate victim of a child armed with Luscious Apple Red crayon.
"What's the last reported location of Darla?" Angelus asked, chewing on the end of his pen.
"South America. My minions in New York managed to hide Dru from her fairly easy since she never bothered to imprint either of us." William sneered, thinking of his grandsire. The woman was pathetic that she couldn't track her own childe and kept circling rumors of an insane vampire in New York City in the hope of stumbling upon her errant Angelus. A few bribed demons in Chile and the woman had once again fallen for a ruse that was getting boring in its effectiveness.
The response he received was an old one. "Should have cursed her with the soul, the decrepit cunt," Angelus sulked. It was an old point between them, but that was why his sire kept him around, to rein in his fun when needed.
"We will, sire, but we can't risk such a big change, you know that. Damned bint would more likely than not turn White Hat and bollocks everything up."
Angelus grunted. "You know, for the last decade or so I was thinking of just burying her alive. Thought that was a better plan than the whole traditional flaying, draw and quartering that is meted out to traitors, but now? What do you think of feeding her to the twins? You should see them: the last couple of moons they have really been doing me proud. This staff sergeant was giving their unit grief . . .it was beautiful. Ian even brought me a leg bone."
Werewolves in the military. Surprising that it wasn't as uncommon as he'd thought. The boys even had proper supervision once all the right people were paid. It should have been harder in this age of science and nosy tests, but there were as many demons gleefully indulging in their mayhem with the full support of the provincial government as there ever was. Was Mankind truly any more civilized from Roman times when just as many atrocities acted in their interests now as then?
Still, and William pursed his lips, knowing he needed to get this order of business out of the way so they could conclude this meeting sometime before dawn. He did still want to see his little princess before he headed back to New York. "Sire, now that you've marked the boy it's probably best to stop feeding him yer blood, don't you think?" Golden eyes slanted his way with clear warning, but William pressed on. "The Initiative might just go into standard testing, but if they don't? Riley cannot show too many unusual markers." Humans saw what they wanted to see, even when looking into their fancy microscopes. Those odd little anomalies found in a Claimed human's blood got blamed on dumb shit like low cholesterol and immune deficiencies. But a doctor studying demons might pay closer attention to any discrepancies. Angelus needed to stop now, to lower the vampiric cell count or whatever the fuck it was that showed up in blood tests. William didn't shop at hospitals with a mind to donate, but he knew there were clans out there who could quote the science at him. He didn't care but for what it meant to getting to a park in Sunnydale in seven years to meet destiny. William couldn't regret advising his sire taking a hand in raising his future brother, not when he'd likely have never met Elaine to take as his own, but could the man bloody well focus?
"I remember what's at stake here, Will," Angelus snapped, "but do you?" William's jaw dropped, but his sire wasn't done speaking. "Yes, you and Xander need to travel back in time, but I need to keep my eye on the big picture, namely my empire. You do remember that I am responsible for thousands of demons? I cannot lose my court."
"And Riley?"
Angelus smirked, twirling his mangled pen. "You, childe, need to learn to trust your sire and master. We're not playing penny ante or trying for some ridiculous bid to take over the world. What does it matter if I turn Riley only to make us both servant to another Master? Or are you looking forward to begging for the lives of your childer because we lost our court to a stronger, smarter demon? I am no longer entirely certain what future you see for the House of William the Bloody?"
What did he see? William stared down at his notes, gnawing his bottom lip. The last page slid over, Angelus' fingers ghosting across his own. "I know it is hard to imagine the world differently than how it happened to Spike, but it is already vastly changed. What will soon happen in Sunnydale are the ripples on the surface. Do you get what I'm saying, lad?"
A sharp knock interrupted anything William would have said, the wolf king Alessandro stepping into the room with two other werewolves flanking him. "My lord Angelus, are you ready to discuss the takeover of Los Angeles?"
"I never did like that blowhard Henri," Angelus smiled at his childe's thunderstruck expression. "I like Des Moines and I can't rule two cities at once, so Aly here has agreed to share Mastership of LA with him dealing with LA's day to day problems."
This was his sire's idea of acting beneath the surface? "Henri of the House of Vasillius is one of the strongest vampires in North America."
"Yes," Alessandro agreed as he took the seat across from them, his grin showing far too many pointy teeth, "but I control most of the packs below the Canadian border and your sire commands the loyalty of thousands. Between the two of us we can finally unseat one of the oldest powers in America."
William leaned into the larger vampire to hiss into his ear. "And you don't think a certain bitch won't notice one of the largest cities in the country coming under new ownership?"
"Alessandro will be spearheading the campaign and by the time we are victorious it will be too late for any outside interference to matter. Remember," and his pen circled a black date on Spike's timeline, "very soon all good, too weak to resist childer will be called to the Hellmouth to die with the former Master of the House of Aurelius."
William looked at his notes. 'The souled vampire Angel appears in Sunnydale, CA to make cow-pie eyes with the Slayer, Buffy Summers. The Master and Darla are slain.'
TBC.
