Daytime was the worst time for Shane. Ever since he was a child he had despised it to all: the annoyingly bright sun, the lime green sky, all of the bothersome animals that were brave enough to come out once the darkness had gone away.
It was torture to him.
Right now however he had to brace himself to be spending a good part of the day in the light. It was the first official day of filming for his series with Seth. He was one of the very few people that had caught his attention when the initial process of getting together was established, and not just because he offered one of the higher sums of payment. He was also the owner of a smaller business, one that interested him enough to want to work with him.
Having filmed the small bit that consisted of his introduction to who and what the series will cover half an hour ago, he was now ready to go on site.
"Hey, smelly," he said as he entered the courtyard where Ryland was. He was laying on one of the dark leather sofas (somehow he seemed quite comfortable despite it not being full body length), and on top of him was their pet wolf-dog, Reaper. His pure black pelt was glossy and devoid of any scars or signs of ailment. If anything, based on his lean form and currently content expression, no one would even guess that he was a 'meat eater', meaning that he'd tasted and been fed human flesh since he was a puppy. He was just as violent as he could be, trained to obey his masters only, particularly Shane who could only really bother with him when he wanted something extra during his hunts.
Ryland looked at him with a bland expression. "Hey; hey doofus." The latter portion of his greeting was directed at Andrew, who had been filming and chewing on gum the while. The red-head gave him a rude gesture in response, pointing the camera at him while Ryland took in Shane's appearance. "You guys going already?" "It's a long drive and I don't want to be late." Shane tugged on one of his fingerless gloves that he liked to wear when working. His most popular 'work outfit' consisted of said gloves, one of his merchandise T-shirts which displayed a red design of the head of a wolf facing sideways, its jaw opened and red droplets falling from the teeth and the letters RLP written in silver Gothic letters; black jeans and red high tops.
He reached down to pet Reaper then, the dog instantly sitting in a way that made it easier for him. "How's daddy's little monster doing?" he cooed, receiving a quick lick on the hand as a response. "Where are the other fur brats?" "Killing each other." "Lovely." The other 'fur brats' as he called them were their other pet dog, a black and white female Husky named Malice and an all-black feline named Chaos. All three pets were prone to violence and were trained to attack with very little prompting – although, in Chaos's case, since he couldn't be taken out to join the fun he only had such whenever the fun was brought home.
"You know when you'll be back?" Ryland followed Andrew with his eyes as he spoke, put off by him choosing to film the interaction rather than simply pausing. Andrew was another one that loved pushing boundaries with him. "By this evening. You finished with your thing?" Shane asked, surprising Ryland since he rarely ever took interest in his upload schedule unless it directly affected him.
Not that the videos Ryland did ever had an impact on Shane's channel, but it had been an unsaid deal between them that their schedules should never clash.
"It still needs works – probably it'll be up tomorrow." "OK." Shane then grabbed his face, catching him sorely off guard before their lips met. Taking a quick second to recover from the shock, Ryland soon found himself going along with it, moving his lips and tongue in sync with Shane's. He must've missed this. The debacle with the pool party and what happened before and after the fact had left him avoiding his dominant boyfriend more than usual. He didn't even sleep in their bedroom for a couple nights.
Shane suddenly bit down on his tongue, sucking on the thick appendage when he felt Ryland gasp and flinch. "This is some good ass content right here," Andrew remarked, smirking mischievously when Ryland glared at him from the side. After another minute of making out, Shane ended the kiss, breathing heavily as he leaned into him. "Be in bed when I get home," he whispered in a deep, dark tone. Ryland shivered, holding his chin and giving him a small lick on his jawline, his nail gently grazing the area. Shane hummed in approval, touching his forehead to his before moving away.
"See you later, mutt," he said to Reaper. The dog's ears twitched and his head moved in inclination as though he understood the goodbye. He turned to Andrew then. "Let's go." Once they were out of earshot and near the car parked in the driveway, Andrew said "I know you're going to leave that shit in." Shane smiled while unlocking his Tesla. "Gotta keep the audience engaged." "Gotta keep the audience throwing up." "Oh shut up."
The first several minutes of the drive were spent with them finding anything to discuss about. They went over the plan for the day, which was to basically do a tour of Seth's place, look at the logistics and see what a normal day for him was like. In other words, the most mundane part of the entire series. The second and third parts were what Shane was truly looking forward to, the really fun parts, and they will be filmed over the course of the week.
"I heard he's got a lot of people living and working with him," Andrew revealed, pressing something on the camera that caused a beeping sound. "He has a team that helps him run the joint. I think a couple of them are his relatives." Shane kept his eyes on the road, seeming to concentrate very hard on something. "Oh, he's another Jake then." "Except he's hotter." Shane choked on air when he heard that. He looked at Andrew as though he hadn't even realized he was next him this whole time.
"Seriously? And here I was thinking you weren't gay."
"I'm not, but I know how to compliment people." Andrew did not seem at all bothered by the assumption, nor the fact that he had just called another man 'hot'. "The dude looks like a damn vampire, you can't disagree with that." "I'm not trying to fuck him. I have work to do," Shane responded with a note of finality.
He didn't like goofing off when he had something to do. Play time would come at a later point, but as it was now he was far too deep in his own thoughts to even consider it. He was tense for some reason and he was certain the knucklehead sitting in the seat next to him could tell; he'd been around him long enough to pick up on his moods. It's just because I'll have to re-adapt again. I've been out of it for a couple months. I'll be fine.
Seth DeVoir stood just outside the front door of his home. He lived on an open estate in one of the deeper regions of Northern California along with his team, jokingly referred to as 'The Devourers'. His business was located on the estate, as was the large but not significantly grand house he, four of his friends and his younger brother occupied.
At twenty-six years old, he had done better for himself than most twenty-six year olds could ever wish: he had built a lucrative business in the form of medication. Not the type you'd take if you were sick – no, his medication served a completely opposite purpose. He had done the formula himself – and by accident as well – when he was just eighteen and had first tested it out on kittens.
Then he made his YouTube channel called The Doctor, where he went through the process of concocting and administering his mixtures to animals and humans alike. The channel had five million subscribers and it was doing well for him as it stood. But there was always room for more.
He was elated when Shane chose to accept his bid for a series. After seeing the monumental success of his previous ones, and how much the subjects of those series benefited from working with him, Seth had practically prayed to all the gods that he would have his chance. It probably shouldn't have come as much of a shock as it did, considering the type of person Shane was; the disabling and fatal liquids were right up his alley.
Running a hand through his raven locks, he deliberated on the information he had. So far, a three-parter seemed to be enough for them to cover everything and today was supposed to be the first day of filming. They hadn't met in person as yet, instead conversing via text and Face-timing twice. With everything he knew about the 'Godfather of YouTube' – just one of Shane's many titles – Seth couldn't help but feel just slightly anxious about their first meeting.
The older man was, in a word, crazy – not that anything was wrong with that – but he was very intricate, detailed and precise in his dealings. He couldn't have even a hair out of place; if someone missed a step they were out, no questions asked. He was a perfectionist while Seth, although taking care in his craft, was not nearly as meticulous. He also knew that Shane was very intelligent and observant, noticing even the smallest things that had no real bearing on anything; that added to his sharp, cutting nature and general impatience, he was worried that the personalities of the household wouldn't mesh well with his cold and calculating exterior.
Squinting his red eyes against the harsh glare of the California sun, Seth resided himself to just going along with it as best as he could. Surely it shouldn't take much to keep him happy – just give him whatever he asked for, try not to look at him too much/weirdly, and stay out of his way unless he asked otherwise. Those were the instructions he had relayed to everyone and those would be their lifeline.
Just then he heard the hum of an engine, and saw the car climbing up the driveway. He slapped and rubbed his hands together. "Let's do this."
He walked down the stairs just as Shane and Andrew were exiting the vehicle. "I'm glad you didn't get lost," he said, looking at Andrew to see him already on the mark. He wondered if he would just be filming the relevant parts or film everything that transpired during the day… that would be quite a show if it were the latter. "It's not hard to find your place. You're just off the main road," Shane replied, looking at him without really looking at him. He seemed to make a quick judgement of him based on his appearance in a matter of seconds. Huh, he really does look like a vampire.
"It's an honour to finally meet you." Seth held out his hand to shake and Shane took it. "Oh, the honour's all yours pal," he said off-handedly, taking note of the careful grip he had. And he's a Blue-Teamer. Disappointing but not surprising. Seth then moved on to greet Andrew while Shane made an assessment of the place. The main house was a two-storey building, white brick, wide patio, not many windows. The laboratory where the 'medicine' was made was in the far back of the property, attached to a slightly bigger grey structure.
There were a few vehicles parked around the property, including a black van with blacked out windows. "That's the Ambulance?" he asked. Seth turned to look, smiling proudly. "Ha, yeah. That's her – she's a beaut, ain't she?" "Very conspicuous." Shane could not understand how the van used to get 'patients' could be so generic. It was a smart move but he expected more from him.
"I can give you a tour of it once we've hit the ground, if you want," Seth offered, to which Shane nodded. "Sure, that'll be fine. Let's get this going." As they walked towards the house's entrance, Shane asked a few brief questions to get a better feel of things.
"So how many people live here exactly?"
"With me included, six. We're a very tight team and work well together."
"Is it just guys?"
"Nah, we have LuLu here. She helps with nabbing people, but I'll let you ask her yourself." He caught himself in time, realizing that he could have potentially ruined a good bit of content there. He already knew that Shane was going to talk to everyone on his own, and him blabbing about the specifics of the group members would put that to waste. Get it together Seth!
Shane did not seem to notice the way he quickly diverted from the question – Andrew however did, and he chuckled. "Rookie."
"OK, I want to get all the questions out of the way today. Another day we'll get into the specifics about the mixture and then… well, you already know what I want to see after that." A feral grin spread to Shane's face and excitement bubbled inside him. "Oh yeah, I definitely can't wait to show you that part of it. We'll make sure to get a special one just for you." Seth winked and Shane laughed, clapping his hands together.
"You better, because this is on my time."
"We won't disappoint you."
Getting inside, they were greeted by an open floor that then went off into two different rooms, presumably the kitchen and living room. There was a door on the wall furthest from them, and it opened just as Seth closed the front door. A man with spikey white hair and huge muscles covered in scars and tattoos came barging out, a grim look on his face before noticing who was there.
"Oh shit!" His deep voice echoed through silent front room, and it made Shane realize how quiet the house was.
Seth groaned, shaking his head and muttering to himself. "Shane, this is Bruiser. He's a very big fan of yours." That distracted Shane from his thoughts about the odd silence long enough. "Oh? It's always nice to meet an admirer." "Dude, you're so fucking sick! I've watched all of your videos since the beginning– a fucking legend, that's what you are!"
Shane smiled, basking in the compliments being rained on him. "I am a legend, aren't I?" "Well YouTube, Jinkies, the PCAs and Devil's Den seem to think so! You deserve all of it, you absolute hell spawn!" Shane laughed, enjoying the comical contrast between the man's physical appearance and the way he was acting right now. "I like you already. I'm definitely going to be talking to you more later on."
"Holy shit, hell yea!" Bruiser fist pumped the air, a pep in his step as he walked into the kitchen. "I hope your other cronies are as enthusiastic as he is." Seth, momentarily lost in a daydream, shook his head and scratched behind his neck. "Oh yeah, they all love you and they want to make sure you have the best experience."
"Where is everyone anyway?" Andrew questioned, already bored with all of it. "They're probably hanging in the game room. I guess we could start the tour there and make our way back up." Seth led them to the door that Bruiser had just exited out from, opening it again. Rowdy laughter and shouts could be heard, as well as someone angrily cursing. They stepped into the room (which was larger than Shane expected it to be), and it was decked out with a full stereo set, console, monitor, a flatscreen and shelves stacked with what was assumed to be different computer and video games.
Two men were wrestling on an armchair and a girl was perched right on top of them, jeering and laughing at them.
"Come on Thatcher! Stick it to him good! Get him in the gut!" The two rolled on to the ground, the thinner of the two pinning the other down. "I'm going to pop you like a fucking bubble, you tub of lard!" he threatened in screech. "Yeah? Not unless I squash you like the ant you are!" the bigger man countered, shoving him roughly and jamming him against the chair. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU, SON!?" the man roared, his fist curled and arm cocked back to punch. "Don't call him son!" the girl demanded, flipping over the chair back and slapping him with the cushion.
"I'll call him whatever I damn well want to call him! In fact, I'll call him MRS YULE!" "Miss me with that!-"
"Yo! We got company you idiots!" Seth's shouting interrupted the fight and caused everyone in the room to look towards them. At first they seemed shocked to see Shane, and even more to see the camera, but the tension was lost when Andrew burst out laughing.
"What was that? That was the funniest shit I've ever seen!" His laughter ran out loud and hard, and Shane then found himself laughing also. It honestly was quite a sight, seeing a stick-thin man pin down someone who looked to be twice his body weight. The group of roughers quickly got over their surprise, and they too were laughing. "Oh my god, Seth why didn't you remind us that Shane Dawson was coming today?" the girl asked as she lifted her legs up and held them on the chair. "What? I literally told you guys three hours ago." "Well you should've told us again dumbo." "Dumbo? Yo Seth, I didn't know you were a flying elephant," the tubby man chortled and the smaller man barked with laughter.
"What the hell even is this?" Andrew laughed hysterically. "I don't know either. I thought such a well-versed group of killers would've been more put together than this, Sethy-boy." Seth cringed at the jab at the group's wildness, but then relaxed when he realized that he didn't sound angry. He was amused, at least for now, and he hoped he could keep him at that temperament for the day.
"Well, you know, all work and no play makes Jim a dull boy. Anyway, I might as well introduce to everyone. That's my main guy Onyx," he pointed to the bigger man, whose upswept hair and eyes were indeed onyx in colour. "Hey there Mr Dawson – good seeing you around," Onyx greeted, tipping an imaginary hat in good nature. "The twig's Thatcher; he's our scout." Thatcher gave Seth the middle finger before turning to Shane and saying
"Aye, nice to have Mr Bad himself hanging around us common folk."
"Well, with my status and platform, I might as well get some kind of charity work in." Everyone broke out in laughter at that, knowing full well that he would be the last person on earth to do anything remotely charitable. "Mr Jokes too – I see you, boss."
"The purple-haired witch is LuLu." "And this witch is honoured to be at your service, captain," she offered, wiggling her long, black-nailed fingers at him. Her greyish eyes shifted over to Andrew and she grinned like a Cheshire cat. "And I'll be honoured to be in your service too, baby," she said in a suggestive tone, her black painted lips wetted by her tongue running over them. Andrew smirked at her with mischievous intent. Seeing this, Shane growled behind his throat.
He couldn't have Andrew being distracted by some chick on the job. He needed his attention one hundred percent while they were here. I'll deal with that later if it comes to it. "Oh, and that's my brother, Raide." Seth pointed to a corner in the room, where a guy was sitting in another, moss green armchair. Shane literally hadn't noticed him the entire time. Raide, hearing his name, looked up from whatever he was doing. "Hey, nice to meet you," he said before quickly looking down again.
Something inside Shane went off when that happened, something he wasn't sure yet that he liked it or not. Raide looked nearly like Seth, except he was clearly younger, probably only in his early twenties. His dark hair was curly and sprung in ringlets, and his eyes were gold. And he was painfully, obviously shy – or perhaps just intimidated by him. He started thinking of something, something he didn't know why he was suddenly thinking of. It both intrigued and irritated him, and that was not a good combination for him personally. He wanted to do something with him. He wanted to do something to him.
"So, I guess we'll get started on the house tour? When we're finished and you're settled, we could get started." Seth's voice invaded his hearing and he snapped back to reality. "What? Uh, yeah sure, let's do that."
He didn't care about the stupid house tour. He didn't even care about the series anymore. All that was on his mind was getting Raide to himself somehow.
And that was when he determined it, that whatever had went off internally, he certainly did like it.
OK, so something really quickly about this chapter. This is an opening to the larger story, and a main theme that will play out for the duration of this, where Shane is what will be known as a 'Fourth Hunter', which means he has something similar to psychic abilities, but instead of telling the future he can literally sense what 'team' someone is on and is an excellent people-reader. This is very important so remember that; but now that the blah blah stuff is outta the way I hope you guys liked it! I wanted to make Seth and his group somewhat opposite to Shane and his group and this is what I got :p See ya really soon!