[Fic] kelleigh: It Begins in the Blood
[Themed: Vampires]
Title: It Begins in the Blood
Writer: kelleigh
Alternate links: AO3
Status of work: Complete
Characters and/or pairings: Jensen/Jared
Rating: NC-17
Warnings, kinks & contents:[Click to read]Light blood!play
Length: 6200
Summary: To protect his parents, Jared makes a deal that goes against everything he believes in. Despite his fear, Jared intends to keep his end of the bargain, no matter what gets in his way. But when a man Jared hasn't seen in three years shows up just in time to prevent Jared from losing everything he is, Jared begins to wonder what kind of deal is worse -- one with a known enemy, or one with Jensen Ackles.
Reccer's notes: This time, it’s Jensen who’s sporting fangs. I absolutely adore kelleigh’s writing, and her venture into vampland is no exception. Her “It Begins in the Blood” comes across as a softer, gentler vampire tale. Oh, the heated bloodlust, bitey sex, and sense of danger are there in spades, but this one turns out to be a bit more of a love story than your usual vampire yarn. This author has a true gift for writing vivid, visceral scenes. Virtually every sequence takes place well after dark, and her renderings of deep, starry skies and dense shadows (not to mention what might very well be lurking in those shadows), rings perfectly, frighteningly true. The story is told from Jared’s POV, and despite the fact that he is the mortal so many vamps are thirsting after, despite the fact that he has definite reason to fear for his safety, he manages to hold his own, giving Jensen and every other fang in town a run for their money. Short but sweet, and very much worth your time.
kelleigh has also written a sequel -- Paint over everything mundane -- which introduces a few new characters and opens up the universe a bit further. I really hope she keeps going with this and turns it into a nice, long ‘verse.
[Short excerpt]… In another flash of movement, Jensen’s sitting on the couch and Jared’s looking at the back of his head. Jensen presses a concealed button in the arm of the couch and the same door Jared walked in through slides open. “Go ahead. No one will get in your way.”
Jared wants to leave. Being holed up in a vampire’s soundproof snack chamber isn’t his idea of a good time. He’s heard too many stories about the sick pleasures vampires take when they fang a human. It’s said that their depravity knows no bounds.
And yet Jared isn’t moving towards the door. Instead, he sits between Jensen and the arm of the couch, reaching out for the hidden button and watching the door slide closed again.
Vampires are evil. That’s the mantra Jared grew up repeating to himself. They’re ruthless and cunning, and they rule Richardson with their games and their deals. Humans like Jared are tools-the disposable kind-and they’ve served the vampires for over a century. The humans kept their own mantra: stay in line, stay on the vampires’ good side and you survived.
But in all the years Jared has known Jensen, even watching him from afar before their lifelines crossed, he’s never seen him be violent or cruel aside from threatening his own kind. The Ackles were Founders, and maybe that title came with expectations of decorum, but Jared has yet to witness Jensen be anything close to evil. He’s arrogant, brash, and confident; Jensen knows what he wants and pursues it. A far cry from the atrocities carried out by other vampires.
If anything, the last three years appear to have softened Jensen to the point where Jared can see past the marble façade of immortality to the man who was trapped beneath.
Jensen is studying the stone blocks where the door had appeared as if he expects it to open again. “It’s been a long time since you’ve listened to me,” he says.
“Been a while since you’ve said anything I wanted to hear.”