Chapter Nine: Consumed
To Sho's surprise, Jian was true to his word. He had fully expected that, once he had been separated from Kei, he would be killed. They hadn't, however, had much choice in the matter. Jian knew what Kei really was and he also had Shinji. So far none of the men had given away the location of his brother and, as much as it frustrated Sho, he knew that he would have to keep playing Jian's little game for now. Although he tried to act nonchalant as he was led away, inside he felt anything but.
The man that Sho was introduced to was a doctor. Dr Huang was a man entering his fifties with kindly brown eyes and shortly cropped black hair. His face had lines of age marring it and his skin was already starting to wrinkle. His hands shook slightly and Dr Huang had looked at Sho's arm without a word. It would appear that Kei's assessment had been correct and that the bullet had exited, however, Sho knew that he had lost a dangerous amount of blood and, as it was, he was struggling to maintain his consciousness.
The room that Sho had been sent to was set up as a small infirmary of some sort and, so Jian had explained before hand, occasionally there was need for it if a high-ranking member of the gang was hurt during operations. Sho knew that the Chinese cared little for the lowly thugs who fronted them but for the senior men it was different. It was the same with the Japanese and Taiwanese gangs, too. The men that had been killed so that Jian could get to Sho and Kei were small fry in comparison.
Sho winced as again the doctor probed his arm. He had tried to maintain a stoic front but this was fast becoming difficult. Sho couldn't stop thinking of Shinji and Kei and also if Toshi had made it out safely. Perhaps they would have been better to stick together after all?
I don't want anything more to do with either of you. Ever
Again Sho thought of Shinji's words but now any anger he had been feeling had evaporated. All he wanted was to see Shinji again so that they could both make amends.
"You need a blood transfusion," Dr Huang broke into his thoughts. "There is a hospital just outside the City which will do this without questioning me. With approval from Jian, I will take you there now."
"No," Sho weakly shook his head, "I'm not leaving until I know that Shinji and Kei are safe."
"Jian will be as good as his word," the doctor assured him, a flicker of kindness entering his voice as he spoke. "You need that transfusion or you'll die."
Sho again shook his head, declaring stubbornly, "I'll be fine."
"No. You won't," Dr Huang replied shortly. "I will speak with Jian and then we will go to the hospital."
He left the room and Sho heard a key turning in a lock on the other side. He had been seated on a bed but got up as soon as the doctor was gone. Sho felt more than a little dizzy as he stood and crossed over to the window. He recalled little of the journey to the apartment and quick look out of the window confirmed that he was on the top floor. Cursing under his breath, Sho glanced around the room, his heart sinking when he realised that there was no other way out.
A combination of frustration, anger and fear began to gnaw away at him and Sho had trouble forcing this back down. He didn't want to go to the hospital. He didn't want to go anywhere until he knew that Shinji and Kei were fine. He also felt faint and finally he was forced back onto the bed, closing his eyes as a shiver went through him. Dr Huang was right. He could already feel his body weakening further under the strain. If he didn't go to the hospital then he would die.
The door to the room was soon unlocked and Dr Huang re-entered the room. This time he was not alone and Sho was almost grateful for the support when a man helped him to his feet. His legs felt as though they were going to give way at any moment and Sho all but leaned against him, keeping his eyes closed. Frustration again rose to the forefront of his mind, yet he could not dispute going to the hospital any longer. His vision slowly began to narrow and, in a few minutes, turned to darkness.
Jian felt his heart pounding in his chest as Dr Huang left his side. Sho was in a bad way and Jian had given his consent for the doctor to take him to a hospital out of the city. Initially Jian had hoped that Sho could be treated here but this was not the case, Dr Huang had been adamant of this.
As soon as Dr Huang departed, Jian forced himself to refocus and, very hesitantly, he opened the door and stepped into the room. As all guns fired inside the apartment had silencers on them, the doctor and Sho had remained oblivious to the slaughter that had taken place just down the hall from them.
Get out…
Kei's desperate plea still echoed in Jian's mind and he felt sick to the stomach as his eyes surveyed the massacre before him. The first man lay where Jian had killed him, his eyes shot open, his mouth twisted in a petrified grimace. His throat had been torn to shreds and blood caked his shirt and face. His body was sprawled on its back, his arms flailed and legs at an angle. The second was not far from him, slumped up against a wall with his unfired gun still in his hand. His face, too, was frozen in a picture of horror.
In all Jian's years he had never seen anything that sickened him quite like this. Although it had been part of his plan to dispose of all but two of the men that had assisted him in betraying his family and not killing Sho when he should have done, he felt a momentary pang of guilt at such cold-blooded killings. There were seven bodies in total. Jian had been the one to send them all to their deaths. He had called for backup and told them that Kei had gone mad, that he was trying to escape and the men had raced into the room to stop him. It was like a scene from a badly written vampire movie, Jian thought to himself and the ploy had worked just as well. The men had all been killed. Shinji had been the one to betray just how Kei had felt about feeding and how he had repressed his appetite for blood for so long. The servant had only wetted this appetite it would seem.
Scanning the room, Jian quickly located the vampire. Kei was sitting against the back wall of the room, only raising his head slightly at Jian's hesitant approach. The vampire was covered in blood, staining both his clothes and skin but this was not the most alarming thing about him. Kei's eyes were narrowed and almost yellow looking under the artificial light of the room. Jian, needing reassurance, touched the gun at his hip. It was this action that caused Kei to break his silence.
"You know I can kill you before you've even pulled that weapon," his voice was strangely devoid of all emotion and this caused Jian's earlier confidence, that he had worked the situation to his advantage, to waver.
"You can," Jian acknowledged this whilst keeping a respectful distance from the vampire, "but you won't."
"I could," Kei, very slowly, stood. His movements were easier now and almost graceful. He seemed to care little for the blood or the bodies that littered the floor, a stark contrast from the man that Jian had spoken to earlier that morning.
What have I done?
With seemingly no effort at all, Kei crossed the room in a heartbeat and Jian found himself pressed up against the closed door, Kei's right hand closing around his throat. He gagged under the pressure that was being used and, in vain, fought to free himself. Kei smirked at this and opened his mouth to reveal a sharp set of fangs, fangs that already had blood on them.
"Kei…" Jian gasped, fear now taking precedent as he struggled to think of something, anything, that could save him from a similar fate of that of his men. "Kei… please…"
His pleas appeared to amuse the vampire and the pressure against Jian's throat increased to the point where stars began to blot out his vision. He could feel Kei inching closing, could feel the fangs scraping against his collarbone.
"Sho…" Jian whispered in a last desperate attempt to regain some of the upper hand that had been snatched from him.
His words had the desired affect and Kei released him. Jian managed to just keep himself from falling to the floor and he leaned against back for some support as he took in deep gulps of air.
"Where's Sho?" Kei demanded, his voice containing a hardened and dangerous edge that Jian had never heard before. "Tell me or I'll cut your throat."
"He's injured but my men are taking care of him."
"Bring him here."
Jian shook his head, "I can't do that."
"If you don't then I will kill you."
"Kill me and my men will kill him," Jian stood properly, keen to assert his position now that it was clear that, whatever had happened to him, Kei still cared about Sho. "You see, Kei, I call the shots here. My men are under very strict orders and will not betray me. Even if you should find Sho, they will kill him before even you can kill all of them." This was a bluff. Jian was well aware that, aside from Dr Huang, there were only two men with Sho but it was vital that Kei believed that Sho was in danger. If he didn't then Jian knew that he was a dead man.
"What do you want?" Kei considered Jian's words before eventually responding.
Jian smiled; finally things were going his way. "My demands are simple. I have something you want and, if you want Sho back, you need to do something for me. I want you to kill Chan."
Long ago Luka had warned Kei of the dangers of going without a feed yet he had never really spoken of what might happen should Kei ignore his words. Occasionally, they were forced to starve themselves for many days, weeks even, but never had Luka allowed things to get out of hand. Then one day he was gone and Kei realised that his lover had taught him very little of what he needed to know to survive on his own. He would have died had Sho not been in the abandoned building that day. Kei had wanted to die but Sho's innocent smile had given him something to live for. He needed the boy more than he cared to admit. Kei was secretly terrified of losing Sho, and, at this moment, he knew that he also losing himself.
The blood lust was stronger, even after feeding it dominated his thoughts and ravaged down his humanity. Kei was aware that it was happening and tried to fight against it but the vampire did not wish to be repressed and its anger clouded Kei's mind, warping his grip on reality. The scene played itself out like an amateur video. Sometimes he knew exactly what he was doing, what he was saying and other times he would lose focus completely. Everything was muddled and in his confusion, his darker nature had taken control. The vampire and the human had always existed alongside each other. The human needed the vampire and the vampire needed the human. Humanity was what gave Kei access to his victims and the vampire took their blood in order to grant both sides life. Kei had always fought against it to some extent but he had never guessed what could happen if he tried to crush the vampire, to force it down deep inside of him, if he tried to die.
A vampire's instinct was to survive and Kei struggled to maintain his grip on himself as Jian squirmed in his grasp.
Sho…
The mention of his human friend had a profound affect on him. Kei felt the vampire's anger quietening and he was able to focus enough to force himself into letting Jian go. Instead he focused on Sho, trying to convey to himself just how much he cared about the human's welfare and, for now, things became clearer in his mind.
I want you to kill Chan
Kei finally felt something inside of him break and his mind became his own again, rather than being dominated by his natural instincts. He finally became aware of the smell of death and the bodies that littered the room. His legs felt weak and he would have fallen had Jian not been there to hold him up. The man, sensing that the danger from Kei had passed, helped the vampire onto the sofa and Kei's stomach churned when he saw his blood soaked clothes. Despair threatened to overwhelm him and he found that he couldn't even look Jian in the face.
"They were trying to kill you," Jian spoke, his tone almost reassuring somehow. "Do not allow their deaths to be on your conscience."
Despite his words, Kei knew that he would do but he could not admit such a thing to an enemy. Perhaps it would have been better to allow the vampire to keep control, the vampire was the stronger one.
Kei took a couple of minutes to focus, not on the smell of death around him or the blood that soaked his clothes but upon what Jian was asking of him. For a mortal, killing Chan would be an impossible task. The man had thousands of men at his disposal and only employed the most loyal and ruthless of bodyguards. A mortal could not get through to him but the vampire could, which was what Jian had in mind, but why would Chan's son wish to see him dead? It had to be for power. Kei knew more than he cared to about the workings of the Chinese gang that Chan headed and he knew that Jian was not going to inherit anything more than being the second in command that he already was. Now that Xiong was more or less out of the picture, Jian should be the next in line so why not wait until Chan had died naturally or by another gang's hand? Why strike now and risk everything?
"I can see you're thinking about what I said," Jian took a seat in a chair, disdainfully nudging a body with a foot as he did so. "I want you to kill Chan. If you don't then Sho will die."
"You are playing a very dangerous game," Kei answered him quietly. "Do not think you can win."
"Oh but I can," Jian sat back in the chair, and lit a cigarette. "You see you may think that you have the advantage with your superior strength and abilities but I have Sho and you'll do whatever you have to, to keep him from harm."
"That is true," Kei acknowledged, "but I also know that Sho would rather be dead than have us both indebted to you."
"But you already are. Thanks to me Chan thinks that Sho is already dead but one call can change all of that."
Kei considered this, "You are risking a lot by even planning Chan's death. I understand what you have to gain but Xiong is out of your way. You could simply be patient."
Jian frowned a little, obviously not keen to answer this but torn as he wanted Kei on side. "My father's choice is Xiong and this will not change, as will his opinion of me. He will always choose someone else."
"And if I rid you of Chan, surely there are those who would seek revenge for this act?"
"His most loyal aids will be with him. I should imagine you would kill them too for they would defend their leader."
This was true; Kei could not deny it and when Jian again repeated his request, Kei resisted in giving him an answer straight away. If he killed Chan then they would be allowed to leave; himself, Sho and Shinji. They would be free and all of this would be behind them, Jian had given his word that they would be left to live their lives, with the proviso that they leave the Chinese gang alone. Kei did not wish to make that sort of alliance but he also could not risk calling Jian's bluff on this occasion. Despite his earlier words, he would do anything to protect Sho, even if it meant becoming indebted to Jian.
"Then we have an understanding," Kei said at length, "I will kill Chan but if you do not honour your word then you will also die."
Jian nodded, "You have my word."
Somewhere inside of him, Kei felt the vampire stir but he quietened it with the promise that it would get to feed again very soon. It yielded once again yet this time Kei felt a hidden ferocity that he never knew existed before. It was as though Jian had awakened something inside of him, something that Kei wasn't sure that he could control.
As soon as the car pulled up opposite the apartment, Son realised that something was wrong. He had brought his guns for he had expected the building to be heavily guarded but instead they found it completely deserted. Even Chan's men had disappeared from the streets. The apartment was dark inside.
"Are you sure this is the place?" He asked Toshi and the other man nodded before jumping out of the car. Son cursed under his breath and followed suit, but not before instructing Yi-Che to stay in the car. Despite her resolve and want to help their friends, Son could see that she was frightened and he promised her that they wouldn't be long.
The entrance to the apartment block was a coded system but the door was easily forced. Toshi made to dart inside but Son clamped a hand down on his wrist and pulled him back. The hallway, too, was dark and Son didn't know what to make of this at all. He slipped a gun free from his belt and went first, straining to hear even the slightest of sounds but there was none.
Floor after floor was deserted and they soon reached the top suite. The moment that Son set foot on the top floor he knew that something was very wrong. The atmosphere was different, more oppressive and Son didn't like it at all.
He moved slowly down the corridor, straining his eyes in the gloom to detect even the slightest movement but there was none. Son paused outside of the first door that he came to. With baited breath he put his free hand on the handle and turned it. It swung open easily enough and Son dared to look into the room. The drapes had been pulled across the window but he could make out shapes slumped on the floor. The shapes appeared to be human and Son did not like this at all.
Swallowing hard, he felt for a light switch and flicked it on. The sight that lay before him sickened Son and his stomach churned and he would have thrown up had he eaten anything in the last few hours. There were bodies in the room. This was nothing knew to him in itself but it was how the men had died that shook him. Someone had obviously dumped them here for there were trails of blood on the carpet. Each man bore the same type of wound, a gash in the neck almost as though an animal had ripped their throats out. Son, however, knew that this was not an animal attack. There was only one person capable of such a massacre.
"Son?" Toshi's voice in the corridor startled him somewhat and he hurriedly flicked the light off and pulled the door shut. His friend had been checking the other rooms and so he had not seen what was inside. Son thanked small mercies that Yi-Che had stayed inside the car. Son would never forgive himself if she had seen what he had.
"Did you find anything?" Toshi was asking him now.
"Just bodies. There's no one here alive."
Toshi swallowed hard at this, "Then Kei and Sho must have escaped?" He asked obviously coming to the same conclusion about the bodies in the room.
"I don't know," Son replied, "Let's go back to the car."
Yi-Che's questioning gaze was upon them as soon as they returned to the car. Without giving her too much detail, Son explained that there was no one inside the apartment block. She nodded and gestured to Son's phone. She wanted him to try calling their friends.
Son nodded and tried Sho's phone first. It was switched off and went straight to voicemail. Son debated leaving a message but decided against it. If they were wrong and Sho and Kei hadn't escaped then he could be putting himself, Yi-Che and Toshi at risk, too.
He very reluctantly tried Kei's phone afterwards and, much to his surprise, the vampire answered.
"Kei, it's Son. Where are you guys? We've been worried."
"I'm at home," came Kei's reply but something in his voice sounded off and Son wasn't sure whether to call him on it or leave matters be.
"What about Sho and Shinji? Are they with you?"
There was a pause before Kei answered this. "No."
"Are they safe?"
"Not yet," the vampire admitted, "but don't worry they will be soon."
"We're at the apartment block but everyone's gone."
"I know," Kei hesitated before adding, "You should go home, all of you. I'll contact you when Sho and Shinji are safe."
"Is there anything we can do? We want to help."
"No. You should just go home," he sounded very distant and not like the Kei that Son knew at all.
"Kei--" Son began but the vampire cut him off with again repeating that he should just take the others home.
Feeling awkward and more than a little angry, Son came off the phone quickly and repeated the conversation to Yi-Che and Toshi. His sister appeared worried whilst Toshi was annoyed. Son didn't know Kei as well as Toshi did but the other man couldn't offer any reasonable explanation as to why the vampire was acting like this either. Son again thought back to Kei's weakened state before and his anxiety increased several notches.
"We shouldn't stay here," he decided at last, "Kei's right it's dangerous."
"So we should just do nothing?" Toshi demanded.
"No," Son shook his head, "You've known Kei for longer so you should head over to his apartment and see if you can find out what's going on. I'll head over to the Chinese wards and see what I can find out."
Toshi nodded, however it was clear in his face that he was worried as Son was becoming. Just what was going on? Things had suddenly headed in a new direction and Son wasn't sure he liked this at all.
When Sho awoke his first thought was that he felt strangely rested. For the first time in what seemed like days he felt stronger. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up as he remembered the events that had brought him here but a hand on his chest pushed him back down.
Dr Huang appeared in his line of vision and warned him against getting up too quickly. As much as Sho wanted to protest, the vertigo that swiftly assaulted him was enough to force him to heed the doctor's words. Uttering a sigh, he laid back against the pillows whilst Dr Huang spoke.
"You're in a hospital just outside of the city. The doctors here have given you a blood transfusion and patched your arm up. You'll be a little weak for a few days but aside from that you'll be fine."
"And what about Kei? I want to see him."
"That isn't possible here," Dr Huang replied.
"Then when will it be possible?"
"Not for a while. My orders are to see that you are fully recovered and then to bring you back to one of Jian's properties in the city."
"You can't keep me here against my will," Sho answered to this, "I see you're alone."
"True but Jian knows the whereabouts of your brother. You wouldn't abandon him would you?"
Do you think I haven't noticed the way you look at him? It's very obvious that you're in love with him and that sickens me. I'm leaving and you can't stop me. In fact, I don't want anything more to do with either of you. Ever
Despite everything, Shinji was still his brother and deep down Sho hoped that they could somehow make things right between them.
"Can I see Shinji?" He asked next and again Dr Huang refused.
"Then how do I know you haven't killed him already?"
"You have to trust us," Dr Huang replied. "If Jian had wished either of you harm then why would he have had me bring you to the hospital?"
Sho did not say anything to this. Despite Dr Huang being with the enemy, he did not feel as though the doctor was lying to him. Although he did not want to admit it, he did feel weak and Sho wasn't sure that he could put up much of a fight. As it was it wouldn't help Shinji or Kei if he left without them.
I'm not leaving either of them. You go. Go and get us some backupToshi and Son were still out there, Sho reminded himself. He just had to be patient and gather his strength again. One thing though, he had already decided. He was not letting Dr Huang take him back to Jian's home.
No. You should just go home
Kei hadn't been sure of what to do once Jian had given him a lift back to his apartment. During the daylight hours launching an attack against Chan would be out of the question and, as it was, the Chinese leader was spending every waking moment at his eldest son's bedside. Jian seemed relaxed enough to let Kei deal with things in his own way but the vampire was sure that this would not last. Jian would become impatient if he delayed too long and Kei had no wish to.
Although he had agreed to Jian's terms, he felt sickened when he thought about what he had to do. He had taken so many lives and no one deserved such a fate more so than Chan but he still couldn't shake off this feeling. Something was different. He felt uneasy and unable to rest. At first he had put it down to his fear for Sho but there was something else. When Son had called Kei had felt annoyance at his interference more than anything. He didn't like these feelings and was quick to banish them to the back of his mind.
After taking the call, he went to his room. The drapes were tightly pulled as normal and the only light was from an artificial lamp in the corner nearest the window. Kei sat down on the edge of his bed, momentarily placing his head in his hands. He hated how empty the apartment seemed without Sho and he hated even more how he had been forced to leave his friend at the mercy of the Chinese gang. Although Jian had given his word that Sho wouldn't be harmed, Kei couldn't shake the feeling that he had abandoned Sho somehow. Sho… it was thinking of Sho that had brought him back from the brink. He might have lost himself to the vampire forever without Sho.
Finally, Kei looked up and he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall opposite the bed. It had been the first time he had seen himself since this nightmare began and Kei felt a rush of fear pulse through him as he noticed straight away the change that had started to overtake him. Before Luka had turned him, his hair had been black rather than blonde. It had been a side effect of the transformation, Luka had assured him. It was perfectly normal but this, Kei knew with certainty, could not be normal. The changes had completed themselves over a century ago so this could not be possible and Kei ventured closer to the mirror to make sure. His eye colour had changed from its usual moss green to a pale yellow.
Kei began to shake as he fought to force down the fear that was rapidly taking hold of him. This couldn't have happened. How could it have happened? Kei tore himself away from the mirror as he realised with a chill that he had no answers. The only person who could have helped him was Luka and Luka was dead. Kei was on his own.