A/n: Prepare for mass AU-ness for the next couple chapters, but I've had this background story for Kei written for too long not to use it. In case you're wondering, these next couple of parts fit in the gap in the movie between Toshi's death and Sho's ascension to mafia lord. What? You don't think Kei was rotting in prison that entire time. Rewatch the movie to see my inspiration, especially where Yi-Che and Sho are watching the TV news report about the "modern day vampire."
DREAM OF FOREVER
soumanyon
Chapter 12
The worst words you can ever wake up to when you have a hangover-sized headache are "wakey, wakey." But I was greeted with those by the head that popped up in front of my blurry eyes and blocked my view of the ceiling.
"Wakey, wakey!" he called in a singsong voice, grinning down at me, his hair falling down, almost long enough to brush the sides of my face, "Had a nice nap?"
I looked away, knowing better than to turn my head. He'd only turn it back for me, painfully.
But it seemed like the fates weren't with me, because I wasn't meant to escape pain.
He hopped up onto my table, taking a seat next to me after swatting away the hanging strap of the restraint on my wrist. Not like those were needed. I wasn't sure if I could even stand up, much less walk away anymore.
He didn't seem to like my ignoring him and so, still smiling, his knees were brought up to his chest as he sat with a childish air. His platform-shod feet landed conveniently on my fingers.
I ignored it. And he wasn't happy.
Still smiling innocently, his shoes carefully rolled over my fingers, pressing down. I could feel the ridges in the soles digging into my skin. I didn't care.
I only looked back when a crack from my hand jolted me from the haven in my mind that I was trying to hide in. The pain hadn't even fully hit when the first crack was followed by another. I inhaled sharply and choked on the sudden breath, gasping and coughing as tears leaked from my squinted eyes. He saw them and seemed to be content. I'd like to think they were really from my coughing but I didn't feel the need to correct his assumption.
It wasn't until he lifted his shoes that I finally cried out. I would find out that my fingers weren't so much broken as crushed. Right then, I couldn't care. My entire hand felt like it was on fire from the pain and through it, I heard him chuckle happily. I hoped it'd be enough. Of course it wasn't.
"Haido…you're so weak," he tsked, wiping away the cold sweat that had beaded on my forehead. His hand brushed down my cheek until his fingers caressed my lips. They were bleeding. In my struggle to hold back any pathetic sounds, I must have grazed them. It hurt to speak.
"O-oh?" I asked, although the trembling hoarseness of my voice took some of the effect away from the sarcasm, "wonder why?"
He laughed, delighted, it seemed, that my spirit hadn't been crushed by his amusements. I used to wonder why he enjoyed torturing me so much. Tetsu had become a truly sadistic, soulless monster. It was his version of fun and the game would be ended if I gave up.
And then I used to wonder why I didn't. I was giving him what he wanted, by fighting back even after so long. But I guess it was my damn pride that kept me from doing anything else. Even though this man, or the man that Tetsu used to be, had seen the darkest parts of my life with me.
"I can't help it, Haido," He shrugged, not a bit repentant, "and you can't help it either. You just taste so good…"
His tongue peeked out between those smiling lips to lick them enticingly. I turned away. I used to love that mouth.
The feeling of fire brushing my hand made me turn back to him which was what he wanted, it seemed. And it was only his fingers brushing mine, in the lightest of touches.
"Look at me, Haido." Tetsu smirked, picking up the purpling, limp hand. I tried to ignore the feeling in it that was screaming at me like how I wanted to scream.
I wanted to turn away or close my eyes as he singled out my index finger.
"You were being bad, you know that, right?" he shook his head disapprovingly, flexing my finger gently backwards, "Why do you want to leave me?" He pouted and I remembered how those sad, disappointed eyes used to make me melt.
"Did you go back to him again?" Tetsu demanded sharply, studying my eyes as my finger went farther back. I resorted to biting my lip again and felt a small dribble of blood slide off the side of my mouth.
"Oh wait…" he giggled, "he's dead. So…"
Finally, there was another crack and I gasped, holding my breath as I waited for the pain to ease away again. My breaths, when I finally had to breathe again, were short and sporadic. Tetsu ignored me.
"You were going back to that the human, weren't you?" he spat, releasing my index finger. My hand flopped back onto the table next to me. I didn't try to move it. I avoided looking at it.
"The one that looks so much like that other man." Tetsu cocked his head adorably as he touched a finger to his lips thoughtfully. "What was his name again?"
But the memory eluded him and he shrugged, dismissing it.
"Haido, why won't you talk to me?" my ex-lover pouted, gleaming white fangs brushing over his pursed lips that sent shivers down my spine. "I love your voice, you know. It's special. Like you."
I had the spirit to roll my eyes at the painfully pathetic line. Tetsu used to be so cute when he acted like a dork. But he doesn't appreciate my teasing anymore and backhanded me sharply.
"Talk to me!" he commanded, "Or yell. Or scream. Whichever you prefer."
My silence must have killed his sense of play so he changed tactics. Narrowed chocolate eyes flicked to some dark corner of the room behind me and two thugs approached. The one with messily bleached hair cracked his knuckles while the other, holding a rattling box, smirked at me in a way that I didn't particularly like.
Tetsu fished around in Smirky's box and pulled out a small glass jar. This he shattered on the side of the table that was my bed and saved a large glass shard. Oh, time for this again.
When I was first kidnapped, I hadn't believed it. But it turned out that it had been Tetsu crossdressing. I should have known; as pretty a woman as he makes, there was something off about my buxom brunette drinking buddy. It's too bad I was too drunk to take heed.
At first I didn't believe that Tetsu would stoop to working for the Taiwanese mafia. A vampire working for humans; especially a vampire as power-hungry as Tetsu? But then I learned that he hadn't been working with them. He had only joined their ranks a few days before our encounter.
And that could only mean one thing. Someone from the gang must have found out about me and sold me to him. Who knows how they found out that Tetsu was looking for me? Who knows how they knew I was a vampire in the first place? I thought I was pretty careful with that secret.
So they used me to get Tetsu, and Tetsu to get me, and as long as Tetsu was allowed to keep playing with me, he was content. And if in the course of his play, the gang profited a few jars of vampiric blood a day, that was fine with them.
At first I didn't believe that a human would ever willingly become a vampire. Oh how wrong I was. Vampire blood, it seems, is extremely hard to come by. Few vampires would willingly let their own blood be drawn. And this particular gang had the idea that the bonus of vampiric strength and abilities was worth the curse of eternity.
And so I had been captured to be this gang's supply of vampiric blood, to turn their faithful into demonically powerful monsters. In my ironic phases, I remind myself of a dairy cow.
But unlike a cow, I'm bled each day, or however often I can survive it…and as my twisted, sadistic milkmaid, Tetsu enjoys every second.
Blondy and Smirky were ready with jars to catch my blood, so my fellow vampire, with glass shard in hand pondered thoughtfully over where to bleed. After however many days or weeks or months of this, I had weakened so much that I was beginning to scar. My arms, my back, my chest were covered with crisscrosses of scars—some old and smooth and others red and painful.
Tetsu's fingers ran over my once-flawless skin, trying to find one of those isolated spots. Finally he settled on a spot near my collarbone. He usually avoided my neck but, it seems, he was running out of room.
He seemed to notice this too and playful brown eyes flicked up to meet mine.
"You're so tiny, Haido!" he snickered at the crack on my height and I sighed to amuse him, desperate to put off the bleeding, even though I didn't want to show it. Depending on how creative Tetsu was feeling, it could be extremely painful.
He toyed with the glass shard but a twinkle in his eye hinted of a nastier idea. The tinkle of shattering glass confirmed my suspicions and as I closed my eyes, I felt his warm breath tickling my neck.
On of his hands slipped under my head and a wave of dizziness hit me as he raised it. I couldn't believe that the concussion he'd given me a few days back still hadn't healed. It should've.
His fangs sank into the meaty junction of neck and collar and as he didn't bother being neat, I felt my flesh tear as he bit and pulled to widen the wound. Blood flowed from it in rivulets, pooling in the hollow of my collarbone. As it spilled over, I felt the rims of glass jars scraping my bony chest as the thugs caught every precious drop.
Tetsu lingered too long over the wound, drinking slowly enough that the humans didn't realize he was stealing some for himself. Vampires almost never drink the blood of other vampires, even though it's a thousand times more potent than that of humans—incomparable, like water and wine.
Even though it's such a delicacy, it's illegal. Vampires have few rules, but of all the ones Tetsu taught me as a young fledging, that was the one he stressed the most. It was forbidden. And here was my teacher breaking his own first rule.
After too long, he pulled away, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. The pleasantness was gone. Instead, his eyes had darkened with bloodlust and I could see how much it took for him to stop.
Jars were filled and replaced with empty ones by Blondy and Smirky. Two sets of vampiric eyes followed each brimming jar of dark, dark red blood.
After a while, my head was starting to feel light from loss of blood and my breathing quickened. Tetsu noticed and after a few more jars, ordered the humans to stop. They capped their last jars and slapped a bandage on my wound which was still trickling, before leaving with a full box.
Before he left, Tetsu pressed a soft kiss on my pale forehead. "I'm sorry it has to be like this, love." He whispered, before leaving. The door closed behind him with a loud bang that echoed in my head.
tbc...
I love Tetsu, I really do. He's so wonderful and such a great band leader and wonderful musician. But...(because you know there's a 'but') but it just seemed to write itself in. We'll see what happens. Besides, this isn't real Tetsu. It's Sou's AU-Tetsu, ne?
Sorry for the lack of Sho in this chapter! (Because in the movie they get separated...for a long, long time! -sob-)
Tixxi, Eizoku, fujipuri, Essenity, Emiri-chan, Seiaa, Sky of Destiny, Yvonne, Tanginello, Ahnoutei, Minumiro, Aoi.Shu
A reviewer brought this up in one of my other stories. Apparently reviewer replies are against the rules and my story/account can get removed for them. Sucks, doesn't it?
So here's my new system: I'm still replying to all of them, and I'll leave the replies up for a week or so until everyone has seen them/saved them/whatever. Then I'll replace it with a list of the reviewers that I replied to, because if you take the time to leave a message, I should at least leave an acknowledgement of your contribution, even if I can't leave a couple thousand words of replies, right?
So we'll try this, see how it works out. If it doesn't, I'll switch to email replies. Regardless, always know that I love every single review and every single thing that you guys share with me! Thank you and please know how much I really, truly appreciate your reading and taking the time to comment!