Author's Note: Someone asked this question and I thought it would be a good idea to explain. In the case of "mates," there are none. Just imagine a normal relationship, as if it were any other human/human relationship and add a lust for blood, immortality and, in this case, a bit off repressed sexual urges. Also, if another vampire would be interested in the human lover of another vampire, there's no "claim" of a human, they're free to make their own choices, to leave, to stay, whatever. It's not a game of "mine, mine, mine," it's just... a regular circumstance with a little bit of vampirism. Vampires basically follow the same rules of "dating" as humans, they live in that time, so, for the most part, to avoid any unwanted attention, they are like humans. No real social hierarchy or anything.
I also may have repeated some information from previous chapters.
I hope that helps.
As a warning about where they'll be heading- I have no idea about geography, this is fanfiction, and I'm making this up as I go.
Wes walked into the training room, catching site of Kurt pinning Puck underneath his body, a knife at Puck's throat and a wooden stake directly above his heart.
"Damn princess, how many times are you going to do this before you go easy on me," Puck asked, laughing breathlessly.
Kurt cocked his head to the side innocently and smirked, "Depends, how many times am I going to do the same thing just for you to repeat yourself and end up in this position?"
"Puck! What are you doing sparring with Kurt?!" Wes demanded from the doorway.
Kurt moved from his position above Puck and let him sit up before Puck answered, "Anderson wasn't here and so I offered my services, which obviously isn't much," he smiled at Kurt, "Kid is badass, takes me down every time."
Wes sighed, "That's why Blaine is supposed to be here," he looked around, "He should be here," another sigh, "Clean up here and get your gear together, then meet back in about an hour in the dining room, and we'll be leaving tonight."
"You know where the next object is?" Kurt asked.
Wes nodded, "I'm going to find Blaine, I've already told everyone else. Just get ready and meet up like I asked."
LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak
"Blaine, Blaine, hey," Wes called out, voice strained with underlying frustration. He sighed when Blaine stopped his decent through the hallway and allowed for Wes to catch up to him.
His posture was rigid, and he moved slowly to face Wes, face void of any sign that he cared to listen to anything Wes had to say.
"Where the hell have you been? Puck's been training Kurt for the last week, and you're off brooding to who knows where."
Blaine shrugged, eyes not meeting Wes's, "I've been around. Besides, I'm not going to babysit."
"I didn't ask you to babysit, I wanted you to-"
"So I got Puck to do it, he's nearly as good as me."
Wes sighed, "Nearly as good. He needs to be able to handle anyone, and even Puck admits that Kurt has got some power over him. That's why I assigned you to train Kurt," he continued before Blaine could cut in, "I don't care what your problem is with Kurt, when we get back, it's back to training."
"What do you mean 'when we get back'? Where the hell are we going?"
"I've figured out where the next item is. It really wasn't that hard, but I needed to call in some favors. It's not going to be the most pleasant of places."
"Where the hell is it?" Blaine demanded.
Wes grinned, "You'll have to find out with everyone else, and I'm calling in a meeting so that everyone can be ready to set out tonight."
LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak
Everyone took their seat at precisely the time Wes had allotted, all for Blaine who managed to be there earlier than everyone else. Arms folded across his chest, feet propped up against the table and the permanent scowl he wore across his face was all in place when Artie, the first of the rest of them, arrived. Nick and Jeff followed Artie, who were only moments before Santana and Brittney. Puck and Kurt were the last to arrive before Wes. Kurt made it a point to purposefully not glance over at where Blaine was sitting, his golden brown eyes following Kurt's every move, starting when he walked through the door until he sat down beside Brittney. At that point Blaine settled his gaze on a random object, disregarding Kurt.
They were all complete in their gear. They were told to bring all that they could fit, which told them that there would be some serious trouble in their way this time.
Wes came in, carrying the scroll of paper and settled into the head chair.
"So, we're all here, what is it?" Blaine commanded, patience wavering.
Wes merely read from the scroll again.
"To the place where the dead sing
And the stream runs life poison
Inside holds the vial of unholy priests
This you mix with alluring blood"
Blaine huffed, "Okay, now tell us what it is and where it is."
"Would you shut the fuck up for one minute," hissed Santana, slamming her hands on the table. Blaine looked on, unfazed, "And drop the attitude while you're at it, it's piss poor and making me angry."
"Santana," Wes placated, continuing when she sat down at Brittney's insistence, "Now, It's going to be quite a trip. We're headed to Romania. We've got to go through a forest to find a cave. We need to find a vial of holy water, blessed by vampiric priests."
Kurt spoke up first, "Isn't that supposed to be a myth? Something about a group of vampires who began calling themselves 'priests' and, in their own perverse fashion, shaped their version of holy water. They concealed it someplace deep in a forest, inside of a cave, and, if I'm not mistaken and this is all true, the stream that flows through the cavern is toxic for humans," He faltered when all eyes drifted to him, "But it's just a myth," Kurt added, and grew weary when the eyes on him became too much, "Well isn't it?" He asked harshly.
Artie started, "It is but-"
"But you're not supposed to know anything about that." Blaine cut in.
Kurt's eyes narrowed, "And why not? It was kind of my job to know about things like this. I didn't entirely overlook all of my teachings."
"Because it's a tale only vampires should know about," Wes explained, calmly ignoring Blaine.
"None of you little hunters are supposed to have an idea about that."
"Why? It's a myth." Kurt directed his question to Wes; he figured that Wes was the only one right now going to give him a straight answer.
"Because we're nearly positive that it does exist, if it does, we wouldn't want any humans to have contact with it, we don't know what they could use it for…well…now we have some idea of what it can be used for. It's been pretty kept quiet, even for a myth that has some truth to it, so it is a surprise to hear that you have heard about it." Wes shrugged, "Nothing we can do about it now, and when we obtain the vial of holy water, there should not be any immediate concerns where any humans should be concerned.
No one questioned him any further.
"Now I know you all know where it is and the legend, there is the matter of the stream and its deathly properties."
Blaine scoffed and everyone glared at him, "There's only one of us that actually has to work with us. Why doesn't he just stay here, watch over the house like a good little-"
"Blaine!" Wes stopped him, and pointedly ignored the eye roll, "If you really want him to stay, you would be staying right here with him. No one is being left behind." He addressed Kurt, "You'll have to be careful to avoid the water, and there is a very thin line of stones that you can follow on. We'll all watch out for any dangers-"
"Or for you to trip."
"And there shouldn't be any problem. I haven't heard of any activity with the group of vampires that have shown an interest in these items, but that does not mean we should lose our guard. If anything, we should watch out for them even more. I don't like not hearing of anything from them. It's not like them.
LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak
You kind of expect a place that is a supposed myth to be harder to find in some chance forest in Romania, but here they were, only a few feet from the bed of the stream.
"You think they made this easy enough to find?" Asked Santana, taking in their surroundings.
Tall, thick groves of trees enclosed the area. The tops of the trees left very little sunlight to pass through the canopy above them. The cave's opening was led by the stepping stone path, each step half a foot and slick with greenery. A waterfall rushed, just far enough where someone could slip by and remain untouched by the mist.
"I think they were more worried about a human getting in than a vampire," Artie replied, "Which, I guess makes sense, of course vampires would want vampires to rule. Making it easy for humans to gain an edge over us wouldn't be the top of their priority now, would it?"
"I think we'd better hurry our asses up, "Puck said, his voice on edge as he jumped into the water, only knee deep, "Unless, you know, you want to get attacked by the vampires behind us."
They were silent for a moment and they could hear it, the barely audible rustling of vegetation, and the faint sound of a dead heart beating. The noise of a group, light on their feet, picked up their pace.
Blaine hissed, "Shit," and jumped into the water, the rest quickly following.
Kurt, cursing his luck, made his way onto the think stepping stones, thankful for his agility as he crossed the water on the slippery rocks, and again when he caught movement in the corner of his eye, narrowly dodging an attack from a blonde vampire. The others, he could see, were also in the midst of their own fight.
He could hear the dull roar of the orders to head to advance toward the mouth of the cave.
The vampire pivoted to attack again he already had a stake pulled from his sleeve. He didn't catch her in the heart, she moved too fast and he was too off balance, struggling to maintain his weight on the sliding rocks. Instead, he caught her in her rips, but it was enough to catch her off and give him enough time to sprint into the cavern.
Kurt felt a tug at his coat and stumbled a step, barley feeling the ends of his pants splash wet and cold, before he sped up his pace and landed swiftly on the hard ground, his boots sounding against the walls. He glanced at the others; each respectively ahead of their pursuers, the blonde was behind them.
His eye caught a lever on the side of the opening; he chanced it and gripped it tightly, pulling it roughly down until he heard a click. Walls shook and the scraping of rock could be heard as a wall descended from the ceiling, it allowed enough room for the others to slip past before it clicked shut. He blinked thrice and they were inside.
Wes glanced at the others, counting bodies and looked back at Kurt, eyes wide when he checked him through.
"Well that sure as hell makes this more of a pain in the ass." Puck commented, "Quick thinking on that lever."
"What happened," Wed demanded, eyes not moving from Kurt, who looked confused, "Your leg," he elaborated.
Kurt jerked his head down and noticed that his pant leg was soaked wet, "I-I'm not sure. I didn't notice. It must have been when I was pulled back for a moment."
"You should be dead," Artie said, "Any contact with that water results in instantaneous death."
LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak
"You had him, you had him and how did you lose him?" Sebastian demanded.
"He hit the water," Quinn seethed, tossing back her blonde hair.
"What-? He couldn't have."
"He did, I saw it myself, shocked me enough to lose him."
His eyes narrowed, "Next time don't fuck up. And be sure to remember that we need him alive. We need that blood, without it there is no power."
LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak
"For some ancient vampire hidden liar, it's not all the impressive," Kurt said as the met a break in the straight forward path they had been walking in. Now it had split into three parts, "I mean, really, one leads to the vial, the others have you walking in circles, for a human, yeah, I can see how that could be an issue, vampires, not so much of an issue."
"I think we've already established that they were keeping it specifically from humans," Santana threw in.
"Then explain to me why no one else has tried to steal this."
"It's an unspoken law," muttered Blaine, "No one tries to find it and take over, and then no one can become too powerful to reveal us. What? You hunters have never looked for it?"
"Of course not, it was supposed to be just a myth, and those that have tried never came back, we assumed out of disgrace," Kurt didn't bother to ask about why they were going to retrieve the water if it was an 'unspoken law,' he knew why. There's no great vampire council to stop them, and if they succeed, no one will be the wiser. They would go on with their eternities believing that the vial was safe; because for it to be known that it was taken by someone who planned on using it would be obvious.
"Alright, so we'll need to split up into teams of three," Wes concluded, "Santana, you'll take Brittney and Artie down the right tunnel. Blaine, you'll take Kurt down the left. Puck, you'll be with me down the middle."
Puck scratched the side of his neck, "Are you sure that's what you want? I can take Kurt, it's no problem."
Wes caught Blaine annoyed expression and Kurt's apprehension, "No, this is what I want. Blaine left you to do his work and he will do as I say. It's more balanced this way. If one of us meets a dead end maze, meet back here, the one that finds the vial, retrieve it and meet back here immediately. We all wait and regroup; I don't want us wandering around looking for everyone."
LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak/LineBreak
Roaming down the tunnel with Blaine was both absolutely silent and utterly awkward for Kurt. They maintained the maximum three feet distance away from each other, the limit due to the width of the tunnel. The only sounds were their muffled footsteps and rocks skittering across the ground when they would be kicked up from their steps.
"Can you tell how much farther it's going to be," asked Kurt, breaking the dead silence.
"Not much further, it's either a dead end or we got the lucky pick," Blaine answered, voice rough.
Kurt nodded and continued with their pace.
Just as Blaine had said the end was obviously near, a light emitting from the pitch black, blue like moonlight, dusted across the walls in strips of color blending into the darkness. They crossed the threshold and entered a nearly bare room, only an alter carved from the ground up stood out, on the far side another tunnel opened up, presumably where someone would normally exit.
"Wouldn't that figure," said Blaine, walking over to the alter, wrapping the vial in his hand. It was simple. Made of smooth glass and a flask opening, sharp lines and curved edges.
There was movement from the exit opening and a vampire walked through it.
"Blaine, is that you? It's been centuries since we've last seen each other."
"Sebastian," Blaine growled, clenching the glass tighter in his hand, shifting closer to where Kurt was standing, attempting to block him from sight, "I'd love to stay, I really would, but we'd better get going."
The vampire, Sebastian, grinned, cheeky and annoying, "Come now, aren't you going to introduce me?" He walked a few steps forward.
"Blaine, come on, let's just go, now," Kurt hissed.
Blaine took him by the shoulder and went to turn around, stopping when they were faced with a gun staring them down.
"Quinn, how lovely to see you again."
She smiled thinly, "Nice to see you too. We'll be taking that now," she gestured to the vial, "And I do believe we'll be taking him as well," her voice was razor sharp and she kept her gun at Kurt, who set for glaring. He didn't think that it would be the wisest decision of his life to bitch out a couple of vampires, whose capabilities he was unaware of.
"See, just as much as I would love doing that, I'm afraid that," Blaine shrugged, "It's just not possible," he turned his head toward Sebastian, "Now fuck off and continue on your way." He looked back at Quinn, "There's not much you can do here, either of you. You can't kill me, neither of you are that good," Quinn shifted and Blaine readied for her attack.
Sebastian took the second Blaine was distracted by Quinn to come up from behind Kurt, too fast for either of them to notice, knife at the ready and aimed for Kurt's throat as he dragged him back, nicking the skin so that a thin line drizzled from the wound. Blaine spun around, all thoughts of Quinn's attack cut from his mind and she took the advantage, firing her gun, bullet shooting into his shoulder. He fell forward, hissing at the power of the bullet.
"Tut-tut Blaine, I thought you knew better than to turn your back on an opponent, especially one with a gun that hurts like a bitch," Sebastian taunted, "Too distracted by pretty-boy here?" he smirked at the expression on Blaine's face, "Though, I do see why, he is rather pretty," he nuzzled Kurt's throat, licking away the strip of blood, groaning at the taste, "And tastes so sweet too, just like they say. How could you stop yourself from drinking him dry…unless you've already had a taste, I see some fading bruises, did you do these?" He jerked the knife closer to Kurt's throat when Blaine didn't answer.
"No."
Sebastian's smile grew, "No, you didn't leave the bruises or-"
"I've never taken his blood, now back off; we both know that you can't kill him."
His grin grew, "Now Blaine, that's so unlike you. Last time I saw you your attitude was more of a "fuck 'um, drain 'um, kill 'um type. Did you know that sweetheart," he asked, directing the last question to Kurt.
Kurt saw Blaine's face go white.
"Aw, did I reveal your plans for this poor angel? Or have you actually changed? Fallen in love?"
At this point Kurt grew wary of where this was going. He let it slide across his skin and tried not to let it sink in. He hated the position he was in, in the middle of some fight, being held by knife point, accosted by some infuriating vampire.
Using their distraction to his advantage he used the basic technique of lifting his foot, jamming it down Sebastian's shin, and thrusting his head back to bash in his nose. He knew that he'd catch up quickly and twisted Sebastian's arms away from his body, the knife clattering onto the floor as Kurt pushed his distance away, slipping his own dagger out of the sleeve of his jacket, aiming it at Quinn, disarming her.
He sighed in relief when Blaine joined him, both of them rushing into the tunnel. It didn't take long for them to hear the sounds of their pursuers chasing them down the tunnel, not far from where they were running.
"Shit," Blaine muttered, and took Kurt by the hand, pulling him further forward.
Kurt heard the blood pounding in his hears, drowning out all other sounds and then they were at the end of the tunnel and the sounds of footsteps treading lightly were gone. He didn't know if he should be relieved or confused.
Author's Note: I've written over 3,000 words for this chapter, it was supposed to end earlier, but I kept typing and getting ideas to write. I love all of your reviews.
Lots of Love