QLFC: Season 10- Semi-finals
Team: Montrose Magpies
Position: Chaser 1
Prompt: Dracula(Vampire!AU)
Optional Prompts:
(emotion)afraid
(word) unsettled
(time) 8:45 AM
CW: Mild language and mentions of blood consumption.
WC: 2046
London Bridges Falling Down
Lucius closed his eyes and released a long pent-up sigh as he rested his head against the back of his high-backed chair. A week of applying his mind to what seemed like an impossible problem had left his thinking muddled, and a dull ache had manifested at the base of his skull. Even if his mind had been clear, the pain that clawed at his insides usurped any thoughts that passed across the synapses.
He growled in frustration.
In the past he had found that fasting made his mind sharper, his senses more attuned; allowing him to apply his mind to a problem with more success than when he was in a fed and satiated state.
He was now approaching the end of his fast, and the heightened senses he experienced early on were dissipating, leaving behind a heavy fatigue and malnourished weakness.
And still, the problem was left unsolved and the situation unsettled.
He stretched his senses outward, attempting to take attention away from his gnawing hunger, but they seemed to extend no further than a few feet in either direction. His hearing was so weak that he barely heard the door open from the other side of the room, shutting softly a moment later.
"Is Narcissa already up and about, Adley?" he asked, opening his eyes, straining them against the darkness that surrounded him.
He could make out the moving outline of his butler walking across the room toward him.
"Yes, sir. She's down in the kitchen waiting for you."
He heard the rustling of the curtains beside him.
"Just the outer layer, Adley."
"Yes, sir."
The windows were shrouded in a double layer of material; the outer layer thick and opaque, the inner layer a semitransparent, thin gauze.
Lucius closed his eyes again in preparation for what was to come. Even though he knew that it was only the pale light of morning, the glow, muted by the thin layer of curtain, was enough to debilitate him.
He heard the clatter of the curtain's metal rings and winced as the light pierced the almost translucent skin of his eyelids. Centuries of adapting to the daylight hours did nothing to dispel the sharp pain as his sensitive pupils received their first glimpse of sunlight in their weakened state.
He waited for the pain to dissipate before attempting to open his eyes. He made his eyes into slits, allowing the rays to slip in beneath his lashes. He felt a slight burning sensation, but nothing as acute as before. He slowly blinked his eyes open as his pupils adjusted.
Adley had left the room briefly and was returning with an arm full of clothes.
"Did you schedule my meeting with Potter?"
Adley draped a shirt and suit across a chair, setting a pair of shoes on the ground next to it.
"Yes, sir. He said he can meet you for a quick lunch today." Adley eyed him pointedly, his gaze flicking to Lucius' arms. "I suggest you eat well this morning, sir."
Lucius looked down at his skin, black lines radiated out from the inside of his forearm, tracing intricate patterns beneath the pale flesh. He swallowed against the tight ache in his throat.
"I plan to."
Lucius walked into the kitchen, his fingers trying to manipulate the end of his cufflink through the last two button holes.
Narcissa sat, legs crossed, at the kitchen island, pouring hot liquid into a teacup. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and she carefully placed the kettle down, moving to his side in a single quick and smooth movement.
She turned his chin with a finger and stroked his cheek, tracing a black line that emanated from his jawline. "You went too long this time."
He hummed in reply.
"Did you at least figure out what to do?"
"How did your regeneration go?" he asked, skipping over the question.
She pursed her lips, drawing up a single eyebrow. "Don't change the subject, Lucius," she tapped his chin before dropping her hand. "But it went well."
"Good, good," he replied distractedly, twisting his arm around to get a better look at his sleeve. "Where's breakfast?"
Narcissa turned away, slipping back into her seat to tend to her drink. "Dolohov never showed up with it."
Lucius' eyes flicked up, his hand slipping as he missed the button holes. "What do you mean? Did no one go with him?"
"I sent Yaxley out to find him," she said, stirring her drink with slow revolutions of her spoon, making the china sing.
"Didn't I make it clear that no one is to go anywhere alone?" Lucius could feel his irritation grow, instigated by his voracious hunger.
"Yes, dear," she said, "but you know how he is. He prefers to hunt alone. Besides, he's one of our best. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"A hell of a lot of good that does me," he grumbled, trying to hide his mounting concern.
"We could always do it ourselves. Together. You know, like we used to." She looked over the rim of her cup as she took a soft sip.
"In broad daylight?"
The cufflink slipped from the sleeve again. "Damn it!"
"Here," Narcissa said, setting her cup down. She walked back to him, reaching out to grab his hand, "Let me."
Lucius stood impatiently as his wife deftly clipped his cufflinks in place. A spot of red on her lip caught his eye and his gaze was quickly drawn to the liquid, dark against her pale, pink lips. She was only inches away from him and he could smell the sharp scent of copper on her breath. He ran his tongue over the edge of his teeth, feeling his incisors grow in length as his hunger and frustration increased.
He reached up with his free hand and swiped his thumb across her lip, capturing the liquid in the ridges of his thumb pad.
He brought his thumb to his mouth, his tongue flicking out to swipe up the liquid. His eyes fluttered shut, a groan escaping his throat as the metallic taste filled his mouth.
He opened his eyes to see Narcissa staring at him, her lips parted and pupils blown wide as she watched him.
Lucius snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against his body.
"Sir."
Lucius squeezed his eyes shut. The frustrations just kept growing.
"What is it?"
Silence greeted him.
He released Narcissa and whipped around. "What is-" The growl died in his throat.
Adley stood stolidly in the doorway, his face drawn.
Lucius felt a dread settle over him. For a brief moment, the problem that had plagued them all for the last three months had been forgotten as his primal needs had taken precedence. But the look on Adley's face brought it all back.
"It's Dolohov."
"Are you sure?"
The man jerked his head in a small nod. "Yaxley just called. He found the body."
He felt Narcissa's hand on his arm. "Lucius…"
Lucius' mouth had grown dry. Dolohov was their best. The man was arrogant and rash, and even aggravating at times, yes, but he was their best. If he had been taken out…what chance did the rest of them have?
"Call Potter and tell him I want a meeting. Now," he said in a low, hoarse voice, striding from the room.
"And get me some damn breakfast!" he yelled.
Lucius had been the head of the London coven for only a little over a century, and in all that time there had only been one other incident that had concerned him. It had been near the beginning of his reign, and it had nearly dethroned him.
A rogue vampire had moved in from only God knew where, and had started performing gruesome killings, drawing unwanted attention to himself and, as a result, to the coven. Lucius hadn't taken the time to find where he was from, but he'd stake his life on American. They had an annoying tendency to make their own rules and then force everyone else to play by them. After eight months, he'd finally managed to take him out, but not before he'd made a name for himself among the living.
Lucius' lips curled in a snarl. The mere memory of "Jack the Ripper" sent his skin crawling.
Lucius shifted uncomfortably in the hard plastic chair as he waited inside the police precinct. He glanced at the clock.
8:45.
He'd been waiting for half an hour. He was not used to waiting for anything.
"Mr. Malfoy, he'll see you now." The receptionist waved home toward the closed office door.
Lucius rose smoothly from the seat and entered the office, closing the door firmly behind him.
A large desk dominated the room, including the man that sat behind it. A brass sign on the desk read 'Chief Inspector James Potter'.
"I told your man I would fit you in at lunch," Potter said, not even bothering to glance up as he poured over paperwork on his desk, occasionally jotting something down.
Lucius skipped over the light rebuke. "They took out another one."
Potter stopped what he was doing and looked up over the rim of his glasses. "Are you sure?"
"Am I sure one of my men found a half-dismembered vampire in an alleyway this morning? Is that what you're asking me?"
Potter sighed, throwing his pen down on the table, and leaned back in his seat, sending a hideous squeal through the room. He tapped his fingers against the armrests, eyeing Lucius.
"How many is that now?"
"Seven."
Potter pursed his lips, nodding.
"You don't seem overly concerned about this."
Potter shrugged. "My job is to protect human beings. Live ones. As far as I can tell, whoever this is is only going after your kind. And, not to seem rude, but you guys are already dead."
Lucius' eyes narrowed, and his lips pulled away from his teeth. He'd eaten before leaving the house, but the lack of a fresh meal had forced him to consume pre-harvested and stored blood. It was enough to satiate his hunger and restore his senses to a more attuned state, but it lacked the necessary nutrients to completely satisfy him. Even now, with his heightened senses, he could hear each beat of the Inspector's heart as it sent blood coursing through the thousands of veins that spiderwebbed beneath his skin. Lucius shut his eyes, taking a deep, steadying breath as he fought every instinct to leap across the desk and drain the infuriating man dry. He slowly opened his eyes, once again in control.
Potter must have sensed the danger to which he'd briefly been subjected, because he sat a little more stiffly and a little less self-assured.
Good. Let him be reminded of who he was dealing with.
"I'd remind you," he said slowly, "that the success of your career is a direct result of my agreement with you. If someone is hunting us and killing us off, you'll soon find the crime rate soaring to unprecedented heights."
"Is that a threat?"
Lucius smiled, his canines just visible. "It's a fucking guarantee."
Potter bowed his head, rubbing at the base of his neck. "Fine," he said with a nod, raising back up to look at Lucius. "I'll gather my…resources and put them on the case. Satisfied?"
"I will be when you do you're fucking job," he snarled.
Lucius descended the steps of the station, his steps no lighter than when he'd entered.
Honestly, he didn't expect anything to come of the meeting. There was something dark and sinister at hand; forces beyond James Potter's capabilities, no matter how many resources he marshaled.
He felt vulnerable for the first time in his existence; every person passing by was subjected to brief scrutiny. But how would he even know who he was looking for? They wore no label, held up no sign. The only way he'd be sure of their identity was when they finally came after him.
Because there was no doubt in his mind that his time was coming. He didn't know when or where, or most importantly who, but he knew it was inevitable.
A Vampire Hunter had come to London.