(A/n: I honestly couldn't come up with a better title.
EDIT: I did in the end lol Please enjoy)
Chapter 13: Sympathy For The Hapless
"I thought the nurse wasn't letting anyone in," Ike brings up as Stan leads him, Pip, and Gary to the infirmary.
Ike is still a bit lost on their current situation, the main thing confusing him is Gregory's abrupt departure. Why did he leave, and where did he even go with Mr. Akuma anyway? Just the mere thought of the man again and his sharp red eyes sends a shiver down Ike's spine, he's seen him once today in his last class, and that was enough for him.
They stop in front of the closed white door, the note is still stuck to it. Stan raises a fist to knock on the door. "We're an exception since we're Tweek's friends." As they wait, Ike glances around the hallway, finding out that they're the only ones out here. He faces forward when the door is pulled open, Dr. Kero first peeping through the thin gap. He then opens it wider so the group can enter.
"Did you find him?" Dr. Kero asks. He closes the door once all four of them are inside.
As they approach Tweek's bed, Stan's expression changes into a look of anger. Ike, Pip, and Gary grimace at the sickened state the teen is in, he looks as if he'd came down with a terrible fever. It even effected the color of his once blonde hair, gradually it is looking bleached.
"Yeah," Stan answers, his scowl directed at Tweek. Recalling the short encounter he had with Kenny in the hallway earlier irritates him even more. "But he said Kyle was gone before he got here so he didn't see him do anything."
"I see," Dr. Kero hums sitting down in his chair with the cross of his arms. He turns to face the quartet. "That's unfortunate."
"Tch, unfortunate, my ass," Stan grumbles.
A tense silence fills the room. The rapid raindrops continue to hammer down against the building.
"Can't we just check the cameras?" Gary asks, brave enough to break the awkward atmosphere.
Dr. Kero shakes his head. "There's not a single camera within this building."
"Oh..." This information strikes mixed feelings within the humans, but they all feel one similar emotion: dread for their own and each other's safety.
Dr. Kero cocks his head back to glimpse at his computer screen, the desktop wallpaper is a plain blue, and there's approximately five small icons off to the left side. He turns away and just when he's about to tell them that they must leave, someone asks another question.
"T-Tweek isn't dying, is he?" The timid query came from Pip, looking on the verge of shedding some tears. The other three give the old man their full attention, anxious for his answer yet only Pip looks like he will be affected the most.
Dr. Kero's lips form into a grim, thin line. "I'm sorry to say this, but Tweek is...-"
Just when Cartman's fist is merely inches away from smashing Gregory's face in, Gregory quickly moves out of the way, narrowly avoiding the punch. Cartman hits the wall, not only was the sound of the strike akin to a thunderclap, but the force itself was strong enough to cause broken pieces of bricks, dirt, and other debris to fly into the air; leaving a hole big enough to appear as if it had been struck by a car.
Gregory ends up near the storage house, his sudden evasive maneuver agitates his arms and he lets out a quiet hiss, dropping down on one knee. A low growl comes from within the thick dust cloud that emerged from Cartman's monstrous strength, Gregory able to see the teen's shifting silhouette inside it. The rain begins to clear away the brown blur of clouds with their expeditious flow, and not long after is Cartman visible, glaring daggers at Gregory as he stands in the rubble he made.
The brunette's teeth are tightly clenched, two lines of blood are smeared down his chin. He isn't even aware of the nipping pain in his gums due to the anger raging inside of him. "You are so fucking dead now," he snarls stepping over the remains of the wall. He approaches Gregory as bright red auras surround his fists. "I'm gonna make your death a painful one." He grins evilly.
Gregory tenses as he narrows his eyes nervously. This bastard is lucky that he doesn't have his cutlass, and that he is also weakened. But even so, he can use Cartman's killing intent to his advantage since he's solely focused on that alone. Gregory is aware that his plan will be risky to execute, however combat isn't the only thing he's good at.
"Before you kill me," Cartman pauses mid-step, about five or so steps away from Gregory. "Can I ask you something?"
Closing the gap between his feet, Cartman gives him a skeptical glare, keeping the red energies active around his hands. He ponders if he should let Gregory question him or not for a moment. "Hmph, fine. Since it's gonna be your last words."
Gregory's lips form into a line. "Why do you hate me so much? We've only just met yet you want to kill me already. Why is that?"
His questions catch Cartman off guard, but he regains his composure with a shake of his head. "I can't believe I have to explain this," he grumbles, then his scowl returns. "I thought you being so Goddamn full of yourself was obvious enough to piss people off, do you even realize where you are? You're in a vampire academy, not a human one, idiot!"
Gregory's expression goes blank. What this vampire just said was utterly ridiculous, if he's referring to him wanting to train with Purebloods as being 'full of himself', then...Before Gregory can retort back, a figure suddenly emerges in the doorway of the classroom, crossing their arms.
"So this is where the loud commotion came from."
Standing in plain sight is the teacher Gregory least expected to see again today, Mr. Akuma. Cartman stilled upon hearing the man's deep and soft voice, the energies around his fists disappearing along with his ire, his eyes returning to their original chocolate brown color. Mr. Akuma's eyes slide over to the large crater in the wall, his face darkens.
"Were the two of you fighting?"
Gregory narrows his eyes again nervously. "Damn it, karma you really are a bitch." He carefully rises onto his feet, suppressing a wince at the twinge in his arms. "No, it was nothing like that. Eric was just trying to stop me from going into the storage house, but he ended up going too far." Although it wasn't a good lie, he honestly can't believe the words that came out of his mouth, and he isn't the only one who's shocked, Cartman is gaping at him in disbelief. He then silently mouths, "What the hell are you doing?!" To which Gregory doesn't have an answer to. He just defended the vampire who was dead-set on murdering him just seconds ago after all, so what reason can he possibly have that will justify what he just did?
Mr. Akuma appears unconvinced and perhaps even more angered by Gregory's excuse. "Well whatever the reason, I hope the both of you are prepared to receive punishment for this. Yours will be quite severe, Eric Cartman." He gives said teen's back an intense glare that projects a chill down his spine based from the shudder of his body. He glowers back at Gregory. "What business did you have coming here - no better yet, how did you even know about this area?"
Gregory shrugs. "Was simply curious. If this spot was supposed to be a secret then choosing a backdoor behind a classroom wasn't a very wise choice." His satirical remark causes the man to harden his glare. The small action is enough for Gregory to discern that this is in fact a secret area, seems Mr. Akuma frequents this place by himself. Which leaves Gregory to question how Cartman knew about the storage house if that's the case.
"You sharp-tongued brat, either you answer the question truthfully or we can just go straight to the Principal's office," Mr. Akuma bristles.
Gregory heaves an exhausted sigh, this was also another failed attempt to find Kyle. Why? Because he once again acted recklessly. He was actually hoping that the redhead would be here, but he highly doubts it now since this place is most likely Mr. Akuma's private area, and he has no plans on ever getting involved with this guy again after today.
"How annoying, so much for learning from ones mistake." "Before we go to the office, can I go to the infirmary for my arms?"
"Oh, so you're refusing to answer?" Mr. Akuma then inspects Gregory's arms, spotting red stains seeping through the teen's soaked sleeves. He scrunches up his face in disgust, registering the smell aside from the rain and ashes that's been entering his nostrils all this time. "Let's go to the infirmary then. You're coming too, Eric." With his arms still crossed, he turns around and walks away, Cartman trailing behind him.
Gregory trudges after them, only to pause after a few steps when a brief glint shines in his peripheral from on the ground. He approaches where he saw the weak light coming from, which was through a crack underneath the heap of bricks. He crouches down and uses one hand to move the rubble out of the way until he's able to clearly identify the object. "It's the keys Eric had." He reaches for them, but freezes when the golden ring of keys abruptly emit a dense black aura. Frowning, he retracts his hand away and stands up straight, watching the set of keys dissolve into dark particles.
"Of course, they were fake." As they continue to vanish from existence, Gregory proceeds into the academy building.
"I'm sorry to say this, but Tweek is...gravely ill."
The tense silence returns once again after Dr. Kero's answer to Pip's question, the four teenagers appearing distraught by the news. The verbally quiet ambience lasts for a minute, the group lowering their gaze at the ailing teen in bed.
"S-seriously?" Stan's voice came out in a shaky whisper. He already didn't like this place to begin with since they were brought here through trickery, and now one-no, two of those bloodsuckers have already harmed someone. Screw trying to coexist, the Principal probably lied about that too. Pip's glossy eyes finally sheds some tears, pitying Tweek more than he did before. But then a spark of anger ignites inside of him. Tweek doesn't deserve this, he doesn't deserve to be at death's doorstep because of a certain someone's dumb order. Ike and Gary can only stare at the pale blonde, Ike getting increasingly fearful at the thought of any one of them becoming the vampires' next target. He hugs his bare arms, which are now very cold and riddled with goosebumps. He wants to go home...
"Worry not, I won't let him die," Dr. Kero reassures them. "I could lose my job if that happens." He stands up from his chair, and once again just when he's about to dismiss them, there is a knock at the door. "Who is it this time?" He mutters heading for the door. He pulls it back peeking at three males, two of them are dirty and soaked to the bone, and based from the additional smell mingling in with the rainwater, one of them is bleeding.
"This boy," Mr. Akuma jabs a thumb at Gregory. "Needs his arms taken care of." Dr. Kero frowns at the aforementioned teen, both of his arms are visibly giving off the aroma of blood. "They appear serious enough to tend to."
Well, he isn't wrong, but Dr. Kero just wants to go to his room and sleep. Today has been a stressful day. However, he can't turn a blind eye towards the teen's injuries. "Very well, come in." He opens the door wider for Gregory to enter.
"We'll stand out here until you're finished," Mr. Akuma says. As Gregory walks in, Mr. Akuma gets a glimpse of the other humans he saw an hour or two ago, as well as the missing sixth one laying in bed. The four meet his gaze, but then they direct their attention to Gregory, the taller black-haired one narrowing his eyes. Dr. Kero closes the door halfway and leads Gregory over to the stool he had placed behind his rolling chair, then he ambles over to the cabinets and reaches up for a cloth, a bottle of ointment, and a roll of gauze.
"What the hell were you thinking leaving by yourself like that?" Stan demands sternly.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't get your permission first, mother," is Gregory's sarcastic reply, giving him a dull stare from his apricot-colored eyes.
Stan grits his teeth angrily. "You son of a-"
"Please don't argue or you'll wake the patient," Dr. Kero scolds them, scooting the keyboard back some to put the first-aid materials down on his small computer desk. "Once I'm done with your friend, I'm locking the room so the rest of you can leave now." He plants himself in his chair and spins it around to face Gregory, he tells him to extend out his arms then he rolls his sleeves up for him. The male nurse grimaces at the bright red bruises. "My goodness, what could you have been possibly doing to get such injuries?" Gregory doesn't answer.
Stan and the others make their way out of the infirmary, Pip wiping his face then sparing a worried glance at Gregory, who has a pained look on his face. Once out in the hallway, they spot Mr. Akuma and Cartman stood against the wall next to the room. Neither say a word to each other as the four humans head to their bedrooms, walking down the hallway in silence until Stan breaks it once he's sure the two vampires aren't within hearing range.
"We need to get outta here." His declaration causes three pairs of eyes to gawk at him, he doesn't meet their shocked gazes. "I don't know how, but I'll think of something. It's better than staying here in this hellhole full of freaks."
"But Tweek-" Pip begins to protest.
"I know we can't leave without him, but if we stay here any longer, we're gonna end up just like him. Or maybe worse." Stan stops and so does the others, they face him with a frown. "If he isn't better by the time I have an escape plan, then..."
"...Y-you can't be serious," Ike says incredulously. "I get that you wanna leave, and I'm pretty sure the rest of us do too, but-"
"We're escaping, with or without Tweek." His assertive tone renders Ike, Pip, and Gary unable to argue. He walks away. They watch him until he rounds a corner.
Pip appears troubled. "I certainly hope he didn't mean that..." Together with Ike, the two walk to their shared bedroom. Gary follows after Stan.
/
"Done," Dr. Kero announces as faint traces of green energy fades from his palms. He didn't bother bandaging up Gregory's limbs otherwise it would've taken him longer than five minutes to get the job done. His healing ability is the best among the vampires within the academy, which is the reason he's the only nurse here, since vampires can heal themselves. They only come to him unless they receive wounds that could take days to recover from or to lounge around. He only allows that if the student has a free period, but he doesn't know why they come here when there's variant places to laze about at.
Gregory looks down at his arms and moves them a little, the pain and swelling are completely gone. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Dr. Kero stands up and pushes his chair back near his computer desk. "Now hurry back to your room so I can lock up."
Rolling down his soggy sleeves with a frown of revulsion, Gregory gets up, casting his gaze over to Tweek. "If you don't mind me asking, why haven't you tried healing Tweek yet?" He is actually very curious about this, Tweek would've been up and about already had this man gave him similar treatment.
Dr. Kero frowns at Tweek. "Trust me I've tried, three times in fact, but for some inexplicable reason, all of the attempts were futile. I can't give him his prescribed medicine either, he has to be awake for it to fluctuate properly. Since he hasn't nor can he receive any sort of remedy, the venom flowing through his veins caused him to become this badly sick. If I can't stop the venom from spreading any further, then..." He trails off into a sigh, reaching into the pocket of his white lab coat. He pulls out a set of keys on a golden metal ring. Gregory glances over at the nurse when he hears them jingle, widening his eyes slightly when he recalls Cartman holding the familiar item minutes ago. "Anyway, I need to lock up. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so I'll need all the rest I can get," Dr. Kero says. He approaches the door with Gregory right behind him.
"Sorry for troubling you."
Shaking his head as he opens the door, Dr. Kero turns off the lights and the two walk out into the hallway, joining Mr. Akuma and Cartman. They move away from the wall upon their arrival. "It was no trouble at all," Dr. Kero says as he closes then locks the door. He turns around facing the three, stuffing the keys back into his coat pocket. He smiles at Gregory sympathetically. "I would say that you and your friends can come visit Tweek anytime, but..." Gregory nods his head in understanding.
"We'll be on our way now," Mr. Akuma says.
Dr. Kero nods then they go their separate ways, the nurse to his bedroom and the trio to Principal Brimestone's office.
...
...
...
Back inside the infirmary, there isn't a shred of light. The curtains are closed, and the hallways are dark. The only things that can be heard are Tweek's heavy breathing and the relentless rainfall.
After about a minute or two, a figure's shadow appears right next to Tweek's bed. The black haze disappears and reveals an impassive adolescent with damp red hair tied in a ponytail. Slowly, he extends a cold, wet hand towards Tweek's face, grazing a finger over his cheek then down to his bandaged neck. The human groans and squirms under the redhead's cool touch, a mischievous grin spreads across his lips.
"Don't worry, Tweeky. I'll help end your misery."
He pulls his hand away. Opening his mouth slightly, he jabs a thumb into one of his fangs. A bubble of blood springs forth and he lowers his bleeding thumb down to Tweek, going for his partly agape mouth. With gentle care, Luke places his thumb in between Tweek's lips. The pale blonde groans again as the taste of copper enters his mouth, but he doesn't open his eyes as he unconsciously sucks on Luke's thumb. Luke presses his forefinger against the mid-upper part of his thumb to squeeze out more blood, controlling the urge to chuckle as he gets a mysterious glint in his glowing red eyes. His smile broadens.
"Looks just like a baby. How adorable."
Luke removes his digit after a few seconds, then bends down planting a tender kiss on Tweek's lips. It lasts for a mere three seconds until Tweek starts to fidget again, this time rousing from his slumber. Coughing at the disgusting flavor lingering on his tongue, Tweek's eyes weakly flutter open. He makes out the teen's silhouette beside him through blurry vision. His heart jolts at their vibrant crimson eyes, but a finger gently presses against his lips before he can make a sound.
"Shhh, this is just a dream. Who you see in front of you isn't real." His soft words are like a lullaby to Tweek's ears, forcing his eyelids to droop. "That's right, go back to sleep."
Tweek does just that almost instantly.
(A/n: I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)