Dragon Knights Fan Fiction ❯ My Immortal ❯ Hemorrhage ( Chapter 10 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

AN: Damn it. I am one of those lame people who actually uses a word like `Hemorrhage' in the title of a chapter of a vampire story after all. (sulks)... (brightens) Hey, but on the plus side, we've reached the conclusion of this story's second arc, which I like to call the `Rune is so Cute!!' arc... no? Hee. I like all three arcs quite a bit (oi, the vanity), but I think the next one may well be my favorite... though it makes me wonder, what with how long it took me to write this, whether I actually managed to keep the tone and characterizations consistent, heh...

Turtle Kid: (claps) O, I like Tsubasa! That's a really cool parallel to draw, I'm flattered that it came to mind XD But seriously, that's a point that I've tried to make for AU fics in the past, so it's really cool to hear someone making it back at me, whether or not it has anything to do with my writing... And yes, you are kind of psychotic for deriving a `feel-good, fluffy' feeling from that last part... but then again, writing it sure made me happy, so I guess we're all just psychos together XD

Sarehptar: Oh, oh! (bounces up and down, okay, so I just had coffee, but still) Your quest for any and all Kharl fan fiction made me think; for one reason or another, I have somebody else's fanfic from a long time ago saved to my computer - so long ago, in fact, that, for one reason or another, it doesn't seem to be archived on ff net anymore. It's called `Phobias', by Pika Cheeka, and it's truly one of the best Kharlfics I've ever read. It's primarily KharlxGarfakcy, your OTP, and it's one of those fics that leaves me feeling like I could never compare and I should just give up on writing forever, oi... So, if you don't think you've read it before, or would just like to have your own copy, I'd be happy to send it to you (it seems wrong not to share this with the world; maybe if I posted it and clearly stated that it was by someone else...?). Hee. (breathe) Okay, moving on... I'm glad you liked the funniness. Humor just worms its way in when I write Kharl; he's incorrigible like that ;) I'm also glad you liked the kiss, grin. It wouldn't creep me out at all if you started waxing poetic on your love for Kharl, believe me, considering that I'd probably agree with everything you said ;) (nervous grin) Ah, yes, that prequel... well, I'm afraid to say that I'm being sucked in to the Eragon (Duuurza) fandom at the moment, but then again that may be just what I need. If I vent some steam over there, I can come back refreshed, kindathing... It's just that I've discovered that it's hard to keep Kharl from getting too serious when I don't have someone kind of silly and violent (spec., Rath or Garfakcy) as a backdrop... heh, I thought I just said that humor occurred naturally around Kharl...? O.o; Shydeman and Shyrendora just suck all the humor out of everything, I guess... (cackles) Ha - this time I did the smart thing, and searched the chapter for every occurrence of `quite' and `quiet'! (I'm so sad, I know...). And yeah, it's more like 68 stories now (:D), but the vast majority of them are one-shots. I think only eight of them are even over 10,000 words o.O; Ah, but I have lots of really long unposted ones...! Well, a couple anyway... heh... (crosses fingers) Well, I managed to update just four days after your review, so I just hope that this stupid site sends out alerts this time :)

Chizz-muffinChik: lol, yeah, it seems that no one got any alerts about the last chapter. I'm glad that you managed to find it anyway :D Thanks for reviewing both chapters! I'm really glad you liked the interaction between Kharl and Rune (that one really seemed to shock everybody, cackle...). I felt bad doing that to them, too... well, actually I had quite a lot of fun, but it was sad too... but in any case, I think Runey will be okay ;) I said nothing, nyah... And, you want more Rath/Kharl goodness? (smirk) Funny you should mention...

Raven of Darkness Shadows: Thanks :) I'm glad the ending surprised you, hee. And is this a quick enough update, you think? ;) And, thanks again, I shall have to check out your fp.com stories - I'm looking at your Zetsuya profile right now, mmm, vampires :D

Xooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooX

Chapter Ten: Hemorrhage

Xooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooX

Rune lay in bed with his headphones on, eyes closed and head bobbing slightly to the music. He sensed the aura of death leave his house even so, but he told himself that he didn't care.

Xooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooX

Kharl, meanwhile, walked the nighttime streets, and thought about many things.

First of all, `walked' wasn't really the right word. His movements were more of a graceful gliding between shadows, nearly invisible to humans, the way vampires do - so it would've taken another vampire to notice how, really, he was dragging his feet.

The thing was that, now that he was actually out of the house, he was seriously kicking himself. But what else could he have done? He seriously doubted that the witch would be much more help to him, now.

It wasn't like he didn't feel guilty about that, anyway. The boy's story had admittedly been rather moving, and in another time and place he might have allowed events to take their course - even if it had only been for one night, because of course Kharl was quite aware that he had been being used, to take up space for someone who couldn't be there anymore... And it wasn't like there was anything wrong with the boy, he was witty and beautiful and all, but...

Kharl found that these thoughts were accomplishing nothing except possibly making him even more frustrated, so he abandoned them. There were only about a million more important things he ought to be attending to anyway. The way he saw it, he had three options right now - he could take the fast option and face Shydeman and Shyrendora head on, or he could take the slow option and try to find enough other vampires crazy enough to fight with him, or he could forget about any chance of saving Rath whatsoever and go into hiding. Each one seemed to end with both him and Rath dying much sooner than he would've liked.

All in all, it really would've helped if he at least had a place to spend the night. So of course he wound up going straight to the one house he absolutely could not enter.

He stared at the mansion on its distant hill from the other side of the iron-wrought fence, and felt like his mind was falling apart. It always seemed to do that at the most inopportune moments...

He really did have to wonder what was wrong with him. He never used to be this bothered by the thought of dying. Like most vampires, there had been times - most of the time, actually - when he had thought immortality was a curse. He wasn't quite certain what he thought of it now, except that he was pretty sure the change had something to do with Rath. He thought it had something to do with not wanting to be apart from him...

A little wary of the potential consequences, but operating on a horrible suspicion that had weaseled its way into his brain, Kharl jumped the fence with ease to land in a quiet wumph of feathers on the other side. He frowned. Hmm... No painful explosions or invisible walls, and no forgetting why he was here or anything like that either. “No vampires can get anywhere near him...” As far as Kharl was concerned, this already qualified, but to each their own he supposed...

I mean... he wouldn't really... Kharl tried to stay on his guard and take his time crossing the grounds, but it was hard.

He reached the ground below Rath's window none too soon in his opinion, but nevertheless he hesitated once he was there. Just what exactly was he planning to do here? If he broke the window - assuming he was allowed to get that close, of course - he'd wake Rath, who would be seriously pissed. And what would his excuse be? `I just wanted to see if I could'? But at least there was a bright side - Rath wouldn't be able to get close to him, either, to try to wring his neck or whatever... hopefully...

So, a bit irresolute and still feeling like he was being rather insane about the whole thing, Kharl spread his wings to fly to the boy's third-story window... and suddenly felt a whole lot less stupid. Because, though it couldn't have possibly been more than forty degrees out here, the window was already open.

And even when he shot up in a complete panic only to find the black-haired youth sleeping peacefully in bed, he wasn't particularly relieved. Because when he hurried over just to make sure that he really was sleeping, though it took him a split-second to realize he was doing it, he found that he was able to reach right out and sweep some stray hairs out of Rath's face.

Rune's points for being `witty and beautiful' abruptly disappeared. He had undeniably stopped the spell, out of sheer spite. Kharl's face fell, and then hardened again into a grim smile.

His options had suddenly been narrowed down to one. All he could do... was protect this boy, for as long as he was able, no matter how pathetic and pointless he knew that seemed. He had decided that it would probably be a lot easier if he stopped wondering exactly when he'd gotten so sappy, and just went with it.

Kharl brushed the rest of the locks of hair out of Rath's face, and bent down to kiss him tenderly, creating a most pleasant tingling sensation in his stomach. “Time to wake up...” he murmured into the boy's lips, “sleeping beauty...”

He felt Rath shift under him, moving his own lips slightly in response... and then he sort of jumped to the side, with a semi-muffled yelp of `shit!' He stared at Kharl in wide-eyed terror for a moment or two, and then pointed weakly at him. “Y-You...”

Kharl smirked. “Were you hoping for someone else?”

Rath just stared some more, still pointing. After a few seconds he bit his lower lip fretfully. And then he wasn't pointing anymore, he was grabbing Kharl by the collar and crushing their lips together. This, Kharl reflected, was something he might be able get used to.

“You bastard,” Rath groaned, fisting his fingers in lavender-tinted hair. “You... you're just a bastard...”

Kharl licked the boy's lips one last time when they parted before moving down his jaw to trail small kisses and nips over his neck, albeit very carefully. Rath threw his head back to give him better access, and shuddered in pleasure. “Would you forgive me...” Kharl said softly, “if I... took you far away from here...?”

Rath opened his eyes halfway to look at him in vague curiosity. “What...?”

Kharl sighed, and pulled away to rest his weight on his elbows over the boy. “I'm afraid it's not safe for you here anymore,” he admitted, smiling apologetically.

Rath scowled, and reached up to yank the man's hair. “Bastard,” he said again, blandly. Then he sighed too, and let his hand fall onto the pillowcase above his head. “I thought I was `well-protected' or something. What happened?”

“I got kicked out... Well, I was about to be, at least,” Kharl said, with a pained grimace. “It's a long story. But listen, we'd really better get out of here. I don't know how long...” His voice trailed off as he saw that Rath was smirking this time.

“Will you take me to Hawaii?”

He chuckled. “Anywhere you want,” he promised, because he felt so very proud of this boy just now... And then his world exploded.

He heard it coming, too. It made a whoosh sound, as several vampires soared through the window in rapid succession. He just barely had time to register what was happening before one was grabbing him and throwing him away from the bed. Kharl was able to get his footing and catch hold of the new-comer's wing before he could get to Rath, but then another grabbed him from behind... After several very quick moments, he found himself being held back by both the other vampires - back from two white-haired figures, one of whom was holding Rath, kicking and glaring murderously, off the ground by his face.

Needless to say, he couldn't help the scream that escaped him, as he bared his fangs like an animal.

Shyrendora merely tightened her hold around Rath's jaw in response, and Shydeman chuckled. “Really, Kharl, have you no composure?” He shook his head. “Well, I suppose not, we seem to have interrupted a very tender moment.” He face contorted in disgust. “How repulsive...”

Shyrendora sneered. “But don't worry - we won't let you live with the shame long.”

“Well... long enough,” Shydeman amended, stepping closer to where Kharl was being forced to his knees, “for us to find out just what you did here, to keep any of us from getting in until tonight. We're terribly intrigued. The other one, though...” He smirked, fingering a strand of Kharl's hair absentmindedly. “...Unnecessary.”

The voice from the shadows was almost drowned out by the shriek Shydeman let out when Kharl ripped his fangs through the other vampire's hand. Nevertheless, it could be heard to say: “Are you quite done yet?” And then it said something else...

And then, the second-hand blood running down Kharl's chin disappeared, along with the blood flowing from Shydeman's mangled hand. The arms around him, Kharl found, were growing rather slack. Shydeman had just enough time to look decently stunned, before his eyes slid shut... After that, there was a moment or two of silence punctured only by Rath, on the floor, swearing between gasps for breath.

“Rune...?” Kharl whispered, rather stunned himself. He didn't wait for a response, though, before hurrying to Rath's side. He didn't look up until he'd made sure the boy was okay - though the swearing had pretty much already assured him of that - at which point he saw Rune stepping out of the shadows, hands clasped behind his back and smiling pleasantly.

“I'm sorry,” he said cheerfully. “I was here the whole time, I just thought I'd give you a little scare... I... I'm really sorry...” He looked down, biting his lip fiercely, and Kharl could smell tears. He couldn't help but sigh - he might be three hundred, but he really acted as old as he looked sometimes...

Rath, meanwhile, gaped hugely. “Rune?” he managed. “Y-you mean, you did...? What the fuck...?”

Kharl patted him absentmindedly on the head, and rocked back on his heels. “Are you trying to tell me,” he asked, grinning dangerously, “that you nearly let us get killed? No, forget that question, apparently you did. Incidentally, did you really just finally find that spell now?”

Rune stared at him, and then looked to the side, trying hard to choke back his tears. “No,” he said miserably. “I found it the second day after we started. I just... I wanted you to...” He shook his head hopelessly. “And I didn't mean to... scare you like that, really. I was going to lure them here - get it over with - but...” He took a deep, shuddery breath and let the sentence trail off.

“The fuck?” Rath said again, with slightly more force.

Kharl shrugged. “I told you I got kicked out,” he said, and beamed as if he'd just explained everything. Then he stood up, and clasped Rune on the shoulder. “Get a hold of yourself,” he reprimanded gently. “It's not as bad as you're making it out to be, I promise. After all, you learned something at least.” Rune looked quizzically at him, and he smiled. “I mean, it turns out I'm not the only immortal out there.”

“The fuck?” Rath said, sounding lonely.

Kharl's eyes twinkled. “Oh, and thank you,” he added, sending Rath into abrupt hysterics. Rune smiled slightly, though.

Xooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooX

AN: I hate writing climactic-ish battles like that. I suppose it turned out all right in the end, though... (morbid grin) And yes, they are having this touching conversation in the middle of a room full of vampire corpses.