Strange future AU fic [PG-13]
He wanders, lately. From universe to universe, ever since the city rejected his presence. He never really fell back asleep, but he’s not Awake, either. Instead, he can skim between universes without effort, slipping into the shadows of each of the dream worlds.
He’s on a train, in this one. The low hum of the wheels, the way it rocks over the tracks. Side to side, gentle. Something to do with the way they structure the train tracks, here.
It’s a darker world. The sun is a deep red. Humans live in fear, mostly.
Of vampires.
His eyes are closed, his neck bare. Leather snug around his shoulders; the jacket he found in a world similar enough to his own that he didn’t have to weave around the language that he speaks.
He’s seen the vampires here. They creep around the streets, edging into the shadows. The humans live in fear, yes. But not as much fear as the undead.
The door to his compartment slides open, near soundlessly, but Derek Rayne hears it. He doesn’t move. Doesn’t really care, until -
The touch is feather-light on his neck. Tracing along the line of his pulse, from jaw to collar.
He opens his eyes, freezing very, very still.
The vampire is a woman, with long dark hair and glasses. She doesn’t look much like Rip. At least, how Rayne remembers Rip’s face. It’s been a while - five hundred years, he thinks. Maybe a thousand.
But Rayne’s hand loosens, from the stake, regardless.
Rare, in this world, to find a man like Rayne without the scar of a vampire’s bite. She’s probably surprised at that.
Rayne half-smiles. She can’t kill him. He’ll just slip away to the next world in his path.
She sinks her fangs into his neck, and Rayne’s spine tightens, arches. He gasps for air, desperately - and it doesn’t hurt, not like Rip’s fangs must have. This is ecstasy, instead, sharp and fine as a knife.
“You taste,” murmurs a German voice, in his ear, “just as I remember you.”
And Derek Rayne Awakens.
He’s on a train, in this one. The low hum of the wheels, the way it rocks over the tracks. Side to side, gentle. Something to do with the way they structure the train tracks, here.
It’s a darker world. The sun is a deep red. Humans live in fear, mostly.
Of vampires.
His eyes are closed, his neck bare. Leather snug around his shoulders; the jacket he found in a world similar enough to his own that he didn’t have to weave around the language that he speaks.
He’s seen the vampires here. They creep around the streets, edging into the shadows. The humans live in fear, yes. But not as much fear as the undead.
The door to his compartment slides open, near soundlessly, but Derek Rayne hears it. He doesn’t move. Doesn’t really care, until -
The touch is feather-light on his neck. Tracing along the line of his pulse, from jaw to collar.
He opens his eyes, freezing very, very still.
The vampire is a woman, with long dark hair and glasses. She doesn’t look much like Rip. At least, how Rayne remembers Rip’s face. It’s been a while - five hundred years, he thinks. Maybe a thousand.
But Rayne’s hand loosens, from the stake, regardless.
Rare, in this world, to find a man like Rayne without the scar of a vampire’s bite. She’s probably surprised at that.
Rayne half-smiles. She can’t kill him. He’ll just slip away to the next world in his path.
She sinks her fangs into his neck, and Rayne’s spine tightens, arches. He gasps for air, desperately - and it doesn’t hurt, not like Rip’s fangs must have. This is ecstasy, instead, sharp and fine as a knife.
“You taste,” murmurs a German voice, in his ear, “just as I remember you.”
And Derek Rayne Awakens.