Fic: Tanz der Vampire, Alfred/Herbert (rated R)
Since I finished and posted my Yuletide story already yesterday, I allowed myself to finish this Alfred/Herbert Tanz der Vampire fic that I had started. It's especially for elnischan because she wanted one and it got me to stop just thinking about writing such a fic and actually doing it. But it's equally for anyone else who would enjoy it!
It doesn't have a title yet because I suck at thinking up them. When I come up with one and maybe get this beta-read and stuff, I might post it on my brand-new Archive Of Our Own account that I've got thanks to Yuletide.
Oh, and a language-related note: while I was writing this, Word kept on informing me that the word "menuet" doesn't exist in English. After checking it, I discovered that the English-speakers have an odd habit of writing it "minuet". I think that's a weird spelling and I'm very stubbornly not using it. So in the case anyone wonders, I'm going à la française on purpose.
Other story info:
Fandom: Tanz der Vampire
Characters: Alfred, Herbert (with brief appearances by Sarah and Krolock)
Rating: R
Description: Herbert finds Alfred during the ball and tries a slightly more moderate approach on him. Slightly. AU, slash.
Warnings (or promises, however you look at them): Vampire stuff, some sexual stuff, slash. I think this manages to be both dark and cute. Anyone who knows the canon should know that Herbert is more eager than Alfred about both the vampire stuff and the sexual stuff, but it's not non-con.
*****
Alfred staggered towards the side of the ballroom, not sure where his partner was. He hoped she wouldn’t find him for a while. She had been so annoyed with his lack of dancing skills - well, where in Königsberg would he have learned last century’s menuets? - that he worried she was eyeing him quite suspiciously, and he desperately needed to catch his breath… and think… If he could set his brain into thinking at all. It was only sending him the usual message of ”Panic!!!” which he was desperately trying to shut down.
He turned his longing eyes to Sarah, dancing with the Count in the front of the room. It made him feel sickly, thinking of her on his side, him who had so savagely bitten her to drink her blood. Alfred almost threw up just thinking of it again. He was still feeling faint from the sight of his fangs on her throat. The Professor, bless his wise old soul, had said she still lived. But for how long? They had to get her away before it would be too late. But how to do it here? There were vampires everywhere and Sarah was at the arm of the Count himself. Alfred tried to make his head stop spinning so that he could think.
Each pair in turn separated when they were at the front and travelled back separately before meeting up with each other then. It was a flimsy hope that he’d manage to whisk Sarah away when she was briefly separated from the Count at that time. He’d never manage it. But still the instinct inside him which drew him towards Sarah no matter what kept him moving on his shaking legs and drawing him back towards the menuet so that he might slip near Sarah at the right time.
He couldn’t move more than a few steps, however, before suddenly a tall, slim form in rich grey and violet outfit was standing in front of him. Alfred lifted his head up slowly, hoping that if he prayed hard enough it wouldn’t be what he feared. It didn’t work.
Herbert von Krolock was gazing down at him with surprise. When he met Alfred’s eyes, a delighted grin slowly spread on his face. Alfred could see the tips of his fangs protrude from beneath his upper lip. He shuddered and stepped back.
”Why, little one, did you lose your way in the menuet? I suppose where you come from you haven’t had time to learn such old-fashioned dances - no doubt you’ve been doing all the latest trendy dances there with all the lovely girls of Königsberg!”
Alfred had little experience either of trendy dances or the lovely girls of Königsberg - in fact, both had evaded his experience outstandingly - and he suspected Herbert knew it. He stumbled back, muttering something that would have been an attempt at an excuse if it had actually sounded like recognizable words. Herbert advanced towards him with a grin, and the sight of those sharp teeth made Alfred feel all woozy again. He almost stumbled and fell when his foot caught on someone’s skirt. But Herbert was by his side and caught him into his arms surprisingly softly.
”Oh, little one, you are ill! I could tell everything wasn’t right with you. That must have been why you wanted to leave so quickly… Oh, come and let’s go to some place more quiet so you can have a rest, my darling.”
Alfred wanted to object that while he wanted to get away from here, getting away to a quiet place alone with Herbert wasn’t his idea of survival strategy. And he certainly didn’t want to let Sarah out of his eyes. But he was afraid to protest too loudly lest the other vampires realize what was going on. Then they might even spot the Professor. Maybe if he got away he could think up some strategy… Find a secret way of taking Sarah out… So he let Herbert drag him to an adjacent room.
There was a divan there, and Herbert fussily made Alfred lay down there. ”Now, take a rest, little darling. I’m so glad you made it to the ball after all - I was terribly upset when you left so suddenly, I must say, but I’m glad you changed your mind. Perhaps I was a bit too enthusiastic? We have only just met, and I have heard you Germans like to take things more slowly. But now we have time to get to know each other and then we will be good friends!” Herbert flashed a brightly fanged smile at him. ”I do believe good friendship lasts forever! And I could tell the second I met you that you were just what I had been waiting for. Oh, darling, you can’t believe how long and boring the winter nights here get. I had been dreaming of such a pretty companion as you, and there you arrive, right at our doorstep! I can’t believe my luck!” The vampire beamed. Alfred tried looking around to see if there was any way out. He couldn’t see any. It started to make him scared. Music was playing in the other room and nobody would hear anything… Surely the Professor would soon miss him? But someone had to be there for Sarah…
Herbert went on. ”And it’s thoughtful of you to change into such a festive outfit… Though I must say, I rather miss that pretty simple little coat you wore, and that endearing tie… Such opportunities, hmm… I do think red is your colour more than blue. Though of course this brings out the green of your eyes, darling. But this does look kind of like it might have been made for someone else. In fact, I quite distinctly remember someone else wearing a coat just like this… My dear, some of your best sides go wasted a little when you wear a coat this long. But well, it’s not a problem - you tried and that’s what matters, and goodness knows you’d look pretty in a sack of flour. But wigs don’t suit you.” Herbert picked it off his head and threw it. ”It’s a shame to hide such pretty locks. I imagine that as a young scholar you haven’t had so much time to get informed on the latest fashions… But we’ll work on that! We’ll have a whole year together here before the next ball, we’ll have time to put together a most smashing outfit for you!”
Alfred wondered what he would look like after being styled by Herbert. ”I… don’t know if I want to stay for the next ball,” he ventured to say.
Herbert’s eyes went wide, and for a moment Alfred wondered if he would begin to cry or throw an irritated fit. But instead he just said: ”Oh, but of course you will! There’s no way you can miss out on that, it’s the biggest event of the year. I’ll teach you the menuet, don’t worry, and in a year you’ll know everyone better and you won’t be nearly so uncomfortable. You’ll be my partner, naturally. I’ve so much been waiting for a new one… The one I was dancing with tonight, well, he’s an old friend, but…” Alfred could have sworn Herbert was batting his eyelashes now. ”I would much prefer a new friend. A new friend just like you!”
”No, I really…” Alfred tried to get up, but Herbert pushed him down again and, just for a good measure, sat on his hips so that he couldn’t move again. ”I really don’t think I will stay that long,” he said, figuring that he had to talk since he couldn’t do anything else.
”And why not?” Herbert pouted.
”I… I want to show Königsberg to Sarah,” Alfred said. The pressure of Herbert sitting on his hips was creating strange sensations in him and he wanted them to end. He tried to wriggle free. Unfortunately the wriggling only increased those sensations.
Herbert laughed. ”Oh, how sweet!” He leaned down towards Alfred, which created still more of those sensations. Alfred began to panic, because he did recognize what they meant -and that couldn’t possibly be. ”Show Königsberg to Sarah, you say? That’s a nice idea, darling, but do you think Sarah will much care, when she can have the castle? Oh, instead you should show Königsberg to me… I would appreciate it, I can tell you…” Suddenly Herbert was almost lying on top of him, bracing with his hands on both sides of Alfred, his cape enveloping them both and his face getting closer and closer. Alfred tried to move and wriggle in panic, but it only made Herbert sigh with an unmistakable sound of pleasure.
”Oh, darling… Mmm, so young, so eager, so passionate…” Herbert moved his hands down Alfred’s sides, which produced a strange sort of shiver which Alfred told himself was only terror. Then Herbert moved his hands even further down, ever so gently now, as though he wanted to make up for his over-eagerness in the bathroom… And then he pressed his hands on Alfred’s thighs, made them part and pressed his body between them.
”No!!” Alfred cried out, telling himself that terror was also causing the reaction of his body. ”I didn’t mean that!”
”Oh, but you do, darling…” Suddenly Herbert’s face was only inches from his own. ”Don’t think I don’t know… Don’t think I don’t know what you dreamed last night.”
The dream. Alfred closed his eyes; it seemed to be the only self-defence. He had tried all day to forget the dream. That someone else had penetrated into his minds and seen the images he did not want to acknowledge… It was too much to bear. His only instinct was to pretend that the outside world wasn’t there.
This was, of course, a mistake when one Herbert-shaped part of the outside world was very much there, lying right on top of him, making indecent moves with his hips and seeking his neck with his mouth. He cried out in fright when he felt Herbert’s lips on his throat. But it wasn’t followed by a sting of the fangs, instead the lips only travelled upward his neck, lightly caressing his skin and creating more of those strange shivers which Alfred couldn’t pretend away no matter how he tried. He could feel how strongly his blood was pulsating on his throat and wondered how many seconds longer Herbert would keep away from it.
When Herbert arrived at his chin, he lifted his head up and looked into Alfred’s face. ”There, my pretty,” he murmured, and his fingers caressed Alfred’s cheek. Alfred tried to turn his head away, but only succeeded in intensifying Herbert’s caress.
”Dad told you he’d show you the Black Grail,” Herbert said, his finger stroking a spot below Alfred’s ear - why hadn’t he known before how sweet it was if someone touched him there? Well, nobody had, of course. ”But he enlisted me to do the specifics to your dreams, because he was rather… busy with other things. And he knew how much I wanted to. I was rather proud of my creation. Wasn’t it pretty?” His hand travelled down to Alfred’s neck again and caressed the soft spot right below the chin. Alfred didn’t know why he arched his neck to meet the caress instead of trying to shy away. Not that there was any way to evade Herbert’s caresses, anyway…
”I could tell from how your mind responded to my suggestions… How easily it created what it did... Oh, you will be ready soon. You’re already ours. More temptingly so when you don’t yet acknowledge it, when the other side is still so strong in you…”
Alfred tried to struggle free again, but Herbert was pinning him down firmly and again the pressure of his body against Alfred only intensified that frighteningly pleasant sensation. Herbert did more indecent things with his hips again, and Alfred flushed hot all over as he tried to desperately press back the vivid images which his body was feeding to his mind. No, he couldn’t want that, not with him, no…
”What do you want of me?” Alfred asked helplessly. At least it made Herbert stop what he was doing with his hips, to contemplate his answer.
”Hmm? Of you? Lots of things, darling…” Then Herbert smiled suddenly. ”But I could start with a kiss.”
”A kiss?”
”Isn’t that how these things often start?” Alfred wanted to protest that he wasn’t having any ‘these things’ with Herbert, but he began to realize it was useless with Herbert’s hips pressing down on his and his hand stroking his face and throat. ”With a kiss…” Herbert caressed his lips with a long-nailed finger.
”You mean on the mouth?” Alfred asked.
”Mouth is good… You have a very pretty mouth… Mmm, yes.” Herbert descended towards him.
Maybe, if Alfred agreed to that, he would win some time, and maybe then the Professor would come and rescue him again before Herbert would turn his fangs on him… Maybe… Not that Alfred really wanted to explain to the Professor what had been going on here, but it was better than the alternative…
Besides, it seemed like a strong possibility he might die some time soon. If he was going to die, he might as well find out first what kissing was like. Even if it wasn’t coming from the quarter he had wanted it from. So… ”All right,” he said tentatively.
Herbert giggled a little. ”Good, chéri,” he muttered and pressed his lips on Alfred’s.
Herbert’s mouth was cold but still soft, and it was very determined. Alfred didn’t know whether he should do something or not, and in any case he was too frightened and confused to do anything, so he simply stayed in place and tried to get accustomed to the sensation of Herbert’ s mouth on his own. But after a while Herbert lifted his head. ”Darling, try to be a little more cooperative,” he said softly. ”It feels like I’m kissing a piece of wood. Just relax. You’ll enjoy it, I promise…”
Then he pressed his mouth on Alfred’s again. Alfred tried to relax, because it didn’t seem like there was a better alternative. He found out that it made the caresses of Herbert’s lips more pleasant. He wouldn’t actually respond to the kiss - that was too scary to contemplate - but he found his lips becoming soft and pliant against Herbert’s. It encouraged Herbert to intensify the kiss, throwing himself into it with the gusto of someone very well used to it… Someone very well used to sucking, Alfred thought as Herbert sucked his lips vigorously. It felt disturbingly nice, and before he realized he had allowed Herbert to pry his lips open and slip his tongue in between. It felt so strange that he whimpered against Herbert’s mouth, but that didn’t seem to stop Herbert, only made him more eager. Alfred felt Herbert’s tongue probing in his mouth and stroking his own tongue. Alfred felt frozen, but Herbert went on and somehow Alfred gradually found himself loosening up and relaxing more against Herbert. He wouldn’t go as far as to do anything to respond, but he did register that what Herbert was doing really felt nice.
Herbert kept a good while at it, and Alfred began to feel breathless and dizzy. He tried to move a little to free himself to breathe, but Herbert understood it wrong and began to caress him - his hands slipping under Alfred’s coat to touch his sides through the shirt - and move his hips against Alfred’s, first gently and then more roughly. Alfred’s pulse began to race and his blood thumped all over his body, and he whined and sharply turned his head so that he could free his mouth from Herbert. Panting, he looked across to the room beside them and inhaled air, hoping it would clear his head.
”I need to breathe,” he managed to say.
”Oh, sorry, I keep forgetting that little thing about humans,” Herbert said cheerfully and proceeded to stroke Alfred's neck while he gulped in air and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. He had set himself a task and it wasn’t this… He was supposed to free Sarah…
”But don’t worry,” Herbert continued, stroking the vein at the base of his neck. Alfred’s flesh curled in fright. ”Soon you won’t have to do it either.”
”No, please, you’ve got it all wrong, I don’t want to… You must let me go…”
Herbert chuckled. ”Oh, but you do want it… Your soul does, your lovely little body does…” Again he rolled his hips suggestively against Alfred’s.
”No, really, let me go!”
”Mmm, darling, I see you like to play hard to get…” Herbert sat up on him again, but was pinning Alfred’s wrists down so that he couldn’t hope to escape. ”Don’t think I don’t enjoy that game, too. You know, I could tie you up if you like.”
”No!” But as Alfred struggled, Herbert began to move the ruffle he had attached to his neck to go with the stolen coat. Once he had freed it, he began to try to remove Alfred’s coat. But to do that he had to move a little, and Alfred saw his moment had come and thrust his body against Herbert with such force that he succeeded in throwing Herbert off-balance, and scrambled up and to his feet.
He made it several steps away, almost to the doorway, before Herbert caught up with him.
”You do like to make me run after you,” Herbert snarled into his ear as he caught Alfred by the arm and the waist. ”Don’t worry, I like it, too.”
Alfred tried to pull free and looked through the doorway, desperately searching Sarah. He was thoroughly ashamed of himself and needed to make amends. He was here to free Sarah, and only to free her. Not to… well, he couldn’t even name it, he felt so embarrassed and terrified.
The crowd nearby moved just enough to reveal Sarah, who was standing rather close to the doorway with the Count. They weren’t dancing at the moment - the song had just ended and the musicians were preparing for another. The Count was holding Sarah’s hand in his own, and his other hand was stroking her arm, making its way ever so gently up towards the lovely round shoulder, bared by that luxurious dress which made her look so beautiful Alfred felt even more ashamed. There was a strange expression on Sarah’s face… She seemed tired and paled by the bite whose bloody trace still sullied that lovely throat, but the expression was not that of pain and horror… She looked lazy, but not unhappy, like… Alfred was running out of words and experiences to describe her. She looked like a woman who had experienced pleasure and was tired out by it, but was still looking forward to more. And the Count’s eyes feasting on her were promising her more. Alfred felt a heavy, painful burning sensation at the bottom of his stomach.
Then Sarah turned her head and looked straight at him. Recognition flickered in her eyes, but she did not seem very interested. Her gaze did not plead for help, no hope lit up at the sight of him. She merely looked bored, and then turned her head away, looking at the Count again and smiling at him.
Alfred staggered back as though he had been hit hard with something. Sarah’s gaze had been more eloquent than any words could have been, more than her evading answers in the bathroom or her running away from the inn while he was searching for her sponge. He felt a terrible certainty making itself known to him, one which he didn’t want to know, wouldn’t… His life depended on not knowing it, not believing it.
It was easy for Herbert to drag him back to the divan; he felt too stunned to resist. Herbert wrapped his arms around Alfred and pulled him close, rocking him with surprising gentleness. ”There you see, darling… No matter what you do, she won’t care. She wants him, she wants what he did to her and she doesn’t want you. Of course it’s very silly of her… Who wouldn't want you if they could have you? You're perfection, sweetie, perfection. She’s a fool and doesn’t deserve you… Wouldn’t you much rather have someone who cares about you? Why, do you have tears in your pretty eyes? She’s not worth it, I tell you… She’s a spoiled little thing, I don’t know when I will forgive Dad for giving all the crystals for her dress, she just wants to use you all and become the queen of our world… You’ll be better off without her.”
”No, no,” Alfred muttered and tried to push Herbert away. ”She’s my life.”
”You darling,” Herbert said and kissed him again. ”What a foolish girl would push away a sweetheart like you? I can’t believe my luck that you walked here… We’ll be so happy together.”
”No! I must rescue her!” But Herbert held Alfred firmly and he soon stopped struggling, for there was no getting away and Sarah didn’t even want it… He would have needed time to put himself together - or bury the pieces and mourn them - but there was no time. Now Herbert’s mouth was seeking his neck, evoking memories of that frightening and tempting dream from last night.
”Even if you rescued her, it’d just be a matter of time before the poison in her works and transforms her into one of us.” He didn’t want to hear it, he didn’t… ”And then she’ll turn her fangs on you. Wouldn’t you much rather be bitten by someone who cares about you?”
This sounded like a rather absurd suggestion. ”I don’t want to be bitten at all.”
”Why, that’s what makes you so tempting, sweetheart. A part of you is already ours, yet there is still that other part of you… That sweet other part… Oh, I can’t resist anymore, darling!”
Alfred cried out for help, but the music had already started again, he didn’t know where the Professor was and Sarah wouldn’t care, and nobody heard him. Only Herbert was there, holding him close and wanting him, only him… And wasn’t it so very tempting when somebody wanted him?
The short while when he quit resisting was enough. Herbert’s mouth sought out the warm, pulsating vein on his neck. There was searing pain when the fangs pierced his skin, a lurch of sickness and fear when Herbert began to suck out the blood and Alfred realized what was happening, what he had allowed… He may have cried out again, but he was powerless and soon there was nothing to do, only to float, float away as Herbert sucked on his neck and seemed to make them one in the most intimate way… Pain transformed into searing, blinding pleasure and Alfred suddenly knew this was the most perfect moment of existence. There was only a faint regret that he couldn’t have shared it with Sarah. But he began to realize how very good it was with somebody who loved him, who wanted him… whom he loved and wanted, he suddenly realized. Why had he resisted until now?
Parts of him were floating away, being sucked away, and something was growing which had always been there and had never been freed, which had only hinted at its existence in the darkest moments of night. That something, himself and Herbert melted together in a powerful surge of painful pleasure that seemed to complete everything, before his living consciousness stopped and descended into darkness.
It doesn't have a title yet because I suck at thinking up them. When I come up with one and maybe get this beta-read and stuff, I might post it on my brand-new Archive Of Our Own account that I've got thanks to Yuletide.
Oh, and a language-related note: while I was writing this, Word kept on informing me that the word "menuet" doesn't exist in English. After checking it, I discovered that the English-speakers have an odd habit of writing it "minuet". I think that's a weird spelling and I'm very stubbornly not using it. So in the case anyone wonders, I'm going à la française on purpose.
Other story info:
Fandom: Tanz der Vampire
Characters: Alfred, Herbert (with brief appearances by Sarah and Krolock)
Rating: R
Description: Herbert finds Alfred during the ball and tries a slightly more moderate approach on him. Slightly. AU, slash.
Warnings (or promises, however you look at them): Vampire stuff, some sexual stuff, slash. I think this manages to be both dark and cute. Anyone who knows the canon should know that Herbert is more eager than Alfred about both the vampire stuff and the sexual stuff, but it's not non-con.
*****
Alfred staggered towards the side of the ballroom, not sure where his partner was. He hoped she wouldn’t find him for a while. She had been so annoyed with his lack of dancing skills - well, where in Königsberg would he have learned last century’s menuets? - that he worried she was eyeing him quite suspiciously, and he desperately needed to catch his breath… and think… If he could set his brain into thinking at all. It was only sending him the usual message of ”Panic!!!” which he was desperately trying to shut down.
He turned his longing eyes to Sarah, dancing with the Count in the front of the room. It made him feel sickly, thinking of her on his side, him who had so savagely bitten her to drink her blood. Alfred almost threw up just thinking of it again. He was still feeling faint from the sight of his fangs on her throat. The Professor, bless his wise old soul, had said she still lived. But for how long? They had to get her away before it would be too late. But how to do it here? There were vampires everywhere and Sarah was at the arm of the Count himself. Alfred tried to make his head stop spinning so that he could think.
Each pair in turn separated when they were at the front and travelled back separately before meeting up with each other then. It was a flimsy hope that he’d manage to whisk Sarah away when she was briefly separated from the Count at that time. He’d never manage it. But still the instinct inside him which drew him towards Sarah no matter what kept him moving on his shaking legs and drawing him back towards the menuet so that he might slip near Sarah at the right time.
He couldn’t move more than a few steps, however, before suddenly a tall, slim form in rich grey and violet outfit was standing in front of him. Alfred lifted his head up slowly, hoping that if he prayed hard enough it wouldn’t be what he feared. It didn’t work.
Herbert von Krolock was gazing down at him with surprise. When he met Alfred’s eyes, a delighted grin slowly spread on his face. Alfred could see the tips of his fangs protrude from beneath his upper lip. He shuddered and stepped back.
”Why, little one, did you lose your way in the menuet? I suppose where you come from you haven’t had time to learn such old-fashioned dances - no doubt you’ve been doing all the latest trendy dances there with all the lovely girls of Königsberg!”
Alfred had little experience either of trendy dances or the lovely girls of Königsberg - in fact, both had evaded his experience outstandingly - and he suspected Herbert knew it. He stumbled back, muttering something that would have been an attempt at an excuse if it had actually sounded like recognizable words. Herbert advanced towards him with a grin, and the sight of those sharp teeth made Alfred feel all woozy again. He almost stumbled and fell when his foot caught on someone’s skirt. But Herbert was by his side and caught him into his arms surprisingly softly.
”Oh, little one, you are ill! I could tell everything wasn’t right with you. That must have been why you wanted to leave so quickly… Oh, come and let’s go to some place more quiet so you can have a rest, my darling.”
Alfred wanted to object that while he wanted to get away from here, getting away to a quiet place alone with Herbert wasn’t his idea of survival strategy. And he certainly didn’t want to let Sarah out of his eyes. But he was afraid to protest too loudly lest the other vampires realize what was going on. Then they might even spot the Professor. Maybe if he got away he could think up some strategy… Find a secret way of taking Sarah out… So he let Herbert drag him to an adjacent room.
There was a divan there, and Herbert fussily made Alfred lay down there. ”Now, take a rest, little darling. I’m so glad you made it to the ball after all - I was terribly upset when you left so suddenly, I must say, but I’m glad you changed your mind. Perhaps I was a bit too enthusiastic? We have only just met, and I have heard you Germans like to take things more slowly. But now we have time to get to know each other and then we will be good friends!” Herbert flashed a brightly fanged smile at him. ”I do believe good friendship lasts forever! And I could tell the second I met you that you were just what I had been waiting for. Oh, darling, you can’t believe how long and boring the winter nights here get. I had been dreaming of such a pretty companion as you, and there you arrive, right at our doorstep! I can’t believe my luck!” The vampire beamed. Alfred tried looking around to see if there was any way out. He couldn’t see any. It started to make him scared. Music was playing in the other room and nobody would hear anything… Surely the Professor would soon miss him? But someone had to be there for Sarah…
Herbert went on. ”And it’s thoughtful of you to change into such a festive outfit… Though I must say, I rather miss that pretty simple little coat you wore, and that endearing tie… Such opportunities, hmm… I do think red is your colour more than blue. Though of course this brings out the green of your eyes, darling. But this does look kind of like it might have been made for someone else. In fact, I quite distinctly remember someone else wearing a coat just like this… My dear, some of your best sides go wasted a little when you wear a coat this long. But well, it’s not a problem - you tried and that’s what matters, and goodness knows you’d look pretty in a sack of flour. But wigs don’t suit you.” Herbert picked it off his head and threw it. ”It’s a shame to hide such pretty locks. I imagine that as a young scholar you haven’t had so much time to get informed on the latest fashions… But we’ll work on that! We’ll have a whole year together here before the next ball, we’ll have time to put together a most smashing outfit for you!”
Alfred wondered what he would look like after being styled by Herbert. ”I… don’t know if I want to stay for the next ball,” he ventured to say.
Herbert’s eyes went wide, and for a moment Alfred wondered if he would begin to cry or throw an irritated fit. But instead he just said: ”Oh, but of course you will! There’s no way you can miss out on that, it’s the biggest event of the year. I’ll teach you the menuet, don’t worry, and in a year you’ll know everyone better and you won’t be nearly so uncomfortable. You’ll be my partner, naturally. I’ve so much been waiting for a new one… The one I was dancing with tonight, well, he’s an old friend, but…” Alfred could have sworn Herbert was batting his eyelashes now. ”I would much prefer a new friend. A new friend just like you!”
”No, I really…” Alfred tried to get up, but Herbert pushed him down again and, just for a good measure, sat on his hips so that he couldn’t move again. ”I really don’t think I will stay that long,” he said, figuring that he had to talk since he couldn’t do anything else.
”And why not?” Herbert pouted.
”I… I want to show Königsberg to Sarah,” Alfred said. The pressure of Herbert sitting on his hips was creating strange sensations in him and he wanted them to end. He tried to wriggle free. Unfortunately the wriggling only increased those sensations.
Herbert laughed. ”Oh, how sweet!” He leaned down towards Alfred, which created still more of those sensations. Alfred began to panic, because he did recognize what they meant -and that couldn’t possibly be. ”Show Königsberg to Sarah, you say? That’s a nice idea, darling, but do you think Sarah will much care, when she can have the castle? Oh, instead you should show Königsberg to me… I would appreciate it, I can tell you…” Suddenly Herbert was almost lying on top of him, bracing with his hands on both sides of Alfred, his cape enveloping them both and his face getting closer and closer. Alfred tried to move and wriggle in panic, but it only made Herbert sigh with an unmistakable sound of pleasure.
”Oh, darling… Mmm, so young, so eager, so passionate…” Herbert moved his hands down Alfred’s sides, which produced a strange sort of shiver which Alfred told himself was only terror. Then Herbert moved his hands even further down, ever so gently now, as though he wanted to make up for his over-eagerness in the bathroom… And then he pressed his hands on Alfred’s thighs, made them part and pressed his body between them.
”No!!” Alfred cried out, telling himself that terror was also causing the reaction of his body. ”I didn’t mean that!”
”Oh, but you do, darling…” Suddenly Herbert’s face was only inches from his own. ”Don’t think I don’t know… Don’t think I don’t know what you dreamed last night.”
The dream. Alfred closed his eyes; it seemed to be the only self-defence. He had tried all day to forget the dream. That someone else had penetrated into his minds and seen the images he did not want to acknowledge… It was too much to bear. His only instinct was to pretend that the outside world wasn’t there.
This was, of course, a mistake when one Herbert-shaped part of the outside world was very much there, lying right on top of him, making indecent moves with his hips and seeking his neck with his mouth. He cried out in fright when he felt Herbert’s lips on his throat. But it wasn’t followed by a sting of the fangs, instead the lips only travelled upward his neck, lightly caressing his skin and creating more of those strange shivers which Alfred couldn’t pretend away no matter how he tried. He could feel how strongly his blood was pulsating on his throat and wondered how many seconds longer Herbert would keep away from it.
When Herbert arrived at his chin, he lifted his head up and looked into Alfred’s face. ”There, my pretty,” he murmured, and his fingers caressed Alfred’s cheek. Alfred tried to turn his head away, but only succeeded in intensifying Herbert’s caress.
”Dad told you he’d show you the Black Grail,” Herbert said, his finger stroking a spot below Alfred’s ear - why hadn’t he known before how sweet it was if someone touched him there? Well, nobody had, of course. ”But he enlisted me to do the specifics to your dreams, because he was rather… busy with other things. And he knew how much I wanted to. I was rather proud of my creation. Wasn’t it pretty?” His hand travelled down to Alfred’s neck again and caressed the soft spot right below the chin. Alfred didn’t know why he arched his neck to meet the caress instead of trying to shy away. Not that there was any way to evade Herbert’s caresses, anyway…
”I could tell from how your mind responded to my suggestions… How easily it created what it did... Oh, you will be ready soon. You’re already ours. More temptingly so when you don’t yet acknowledge it, when the other side is still so strong in you…”
Alfred tried to struggle free again, but Herbert was pinning him down firmly and again the pressure of his body against Alfred only intensified that frighteningly pleasant sensation. Herbert did more indecent things with his hips again, and Alfred flushed hot all over as he tried to desperately press back the vivid images which his body was feeding to his mind. No, he couldn’t want that, not with him, no…
”What do you want of me?” Alfred asked helplessly. At least it made Herbert stop what he was doing with his hips, to contemplate his answer.
”Hmm? Of you? Lots of things, darling…” Then Herbert smiled suddenly. ”But I could start with a kiss.”
”A kiss?”
”Isn’t that how these things often start?” Alfred wanted to protest that he wasn’t having any ‘these things’ with Herbert, but he began to realize it was useless with Herbert’s hips pressing down on his and his hand stroking his face and throat. ”With a kiss…” Herbert caressed his lips with a long-nailed finger.
”You mean on the mouth?” Alfred asked.
”Mouth is good… You have a very pretty mouth… Mmm, yes.” Herbert descended towards him.
Maybe, if Alfred agreed to that, he would win some time, and maybe then the Professor would come and rescue him again before Herbert would turn his fangs on him… Maybe… Not that Alfred really wanted to explain to the Professor what had been going on here, but it was better than the alternative…
Besides, it seemed like a strong possibility he might die some time soon. If he was going to die, he might as well find out first what kissing was like. Even if it wasn’t coming from the quarter he had wanted it from. So… ”All right,” he said tentatively.
Herbert giggled a little. ”Good, chéri,” he muttered and pressed his lips on Alfred’s.
Herbert’s mouth was cold but still soft, and it was very determined. Alfred didn’t know whether he should do something or not, and in any case he was too frightened and confused to do anything, so he simply stayed in place and tried to get accustomed to the sensation of Herbert’ s mouth on his own. But after a while Herbert lifted his head. ”Darling, try to be a little more cooperative,” he said softly. ”It feels like I’m kissing a piece of wood. Just relax. You’ll enjoy it, I promise…”
Then he pressed his mouth on Alfred’s again. Alfred tried to relax, because it didn’t seem like there was a better alternative. He found out that it made the caresses of Herbert’s lips more pleasant. He wouldn’t actually respond to the kiss - that was too scary to contemplate - but he found his lips becoming soft and pliant against Herbert’s. It encouraged Herbert to intensify the kiss, throwing himself into it with the gusto of someone very well used to it… Someone very well used to sucking, Alfred thought as Herbert sucked his lips vigorously. It felt disturbingly nice, and before he realized he had allowed Herbert to pry his lips open and slip his tongue in between. It felt so strange that he whimpered against Herbert’s mouth, but that didn’t seem to stop Herbert, only made him more eager. Alfred felt Herbert’s tongue probing in his mouth and stroking his own tongue. Alfred felt frozen, but Herbert went on and somehow Alfred gradually found himself loosening up and relaxing more against Herbert. He wouldn’t go as far as to do anything to respond, but he did register that what Herbert was doing really felt nice.
Herbert kept a good while at it, and Alfred began to feel breathless and dizzy. He tried to move a little to free himself to breathe, but Herbert understood it wrong and began to caress him - his hands slipping under Alfred’s coat to touch his sides through the shirt - and move his hips against Alfred’s, first gently and then more roughly. Alfred’s pulse began to race and his blood thumped all over his body, and he whined and sharply turned his head so that he could free his mouth from Herbert. Panting, he looked across to the room beside them and inhaled air, hoping it would clear his head.
”I need to breathe,” he managed to say.
”Oh, sorry, I keep forgetting that little thing about humans,” Herbert said cheerfully and proceeded to stroke Alfred's neck while he gulped in air and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. He had set himself a task and it wasn’t this… He was supposed to free Sarah…
”But don’t worry,” Herbert continued, stroking the vein at the base of his neck. Alfred’s flesh curled in fright. ”Soon you won’t have to do it either.”
”No, please, you’ve got it all wrong, I don’t want to… You must let me go…”
Herbert chuckled. ”Oh, but you do want it… Your soul does, your lovely little body does…” Again he rolled his hips suggestively against Alfred’s.
”No, really, let me go!”
”Mmm, darling, I see you like to play hard to get…” Herbert sat up on him again, but was pinning Alfred’s wrists down so that he couldn’t hope to escape. ”Don’t think I don’t enjoy that game, too. You know, I could tie you up if you like.”
”No!” But as Alfred struggled, Herbert began to move the ruffle he had attached to his neck to go with the stolen coat. Once he had freed it, he began to try to remove Alfred’s coat. But to do that he had to move a little, and Alfred saw his moment had come and thrust his body against Herbert with such force that he succeeded in throwing Herbert off-balance, and scrambled up and to his feet.
He made it several steps away, almost to the doorway, before Herbert caught up with him.
”You do like to make me run after you,” Herbert snarled into his ear as he caught Alfred by the arm and the waist. ”Don’t worry, I like it, too.”
Alfred tried to pull free and looked through the doorway, desperately searching Sarah. He was thoroughly ashamed of himself and needed to make amends. He was here to free Sarah, and only to free her. Not to… well, he couldn’t even name it, he felt so embarrassed and terrified.
The crowd nearby moved just enough to reveal Sarah, who was standing rather close to the doorway with the Count. They weren’t dancing at the moment - the song had just ended and the musicians were preparing for another. The Count was holding Sarah’s hand in his own, and his other hand was stroking her arm, making its way ever so gently up towards the lovely round shoulder, bared by that luxurious dress which made her look so beautiful Alfred felt even more ashamed. There was a strange expression on Sarah’s face… She seemed tired and paled by the bite whose bloody trace still sullied that lovely throat, but the expression was not that of pain and horror… She looked lazy, but not unhappy, like… Alfred was running out of words and experiences to describe her. She looked like a woman who had experienced pleasure and was tired out by it, but was still looking forward to more. And the Count’s eyes feasting on her were promising her more. Alfred felt a heavy, painful burning sensation at the bottom of his stomach.
Then Sarah turned her head and looked straight at him. Recognition flickered in her eyes, but she did not seem very interested. Her gaze did not plead for help, no hope lit up at the sight of him. She merely looked bored, and then turned her head away, looking at the Count again and smiling at him.
Alfred staggered back as though he had been hit hard with something. Sarah’s gaze had been more eloquent than any words could have been, more than her evading answers in the bathroom or her running away from the inn while he was searching for her sponge. He felt a terrible certainty making itself known to him, one which he didn’t want to know, wouldn’t… His life depended on not knowing it, not believing it.
It was easy for Herbert to drag him back to the divan; he felt too stunned to resist. Herbert wrapped his arms around Alfred and pulled him close, rocking him with surprising gentleness. ”There you see, darling… No matter what you do, she won’t care. She wants him, she wants what he did to her and she doesn’t want you. Of course it’s very silly of her… Who wouldn't want you if they could have you? You're perfection, sweetie, perfection. She’s a fool and doesn’t deserve you… Wouldn’t you much rather have someone who cares about you? Why, do you have tears in your pretty eyes? She’s not worth it, I tell you… She’s a spoiled little thing, I don’t know when I will forgive Dad for giving all the crystals for her dress, she just wants to use you all and become the queen of our world… You’ll be better off without her.”
”No, no,” Alfred muttered and tried to push Herbert away. ”She’s my life.”
”You darling,” Herbert said and kissed him again. ”What a foolish girl would push away a sweetheart like you? I can’t believe my luck that you walked here… We’ll be so happy together.”
”No! I must rescue her!” But Herbert held Alfred firmly and he soon stopped struggling, for there was no getting away and Sarah didn’t even want it… He would have needed time to put himself together - or bury the pieces and mourn them - but there was no time. Now Herbert’s mouth was seeking his neck, evoking memories of that frightening and tempting dream from last night.
”Even if you rescued her, it’d just be a matter of time before the poison in her works and transforms her into one of us.” He didn’t want to hear it, he didn’t… ”And then she’ll turn her fangs on you. Wouldn’t you much rather be bitten by someone who cares about you?”
This sounded like a rather absurd suggestion. ”I don’t want to be bitten at all.”
”Why, that’s what makes you so tempting, sweetheart. A part of you is already ours, yet there is still that other part of you… That sweet other part… Oh, I can’t resist anymore, darling!”
Alfred cried out for help, but the music had already started again, he didn’t know where the Professor was and Sarah wouldn’t care, and nobody heard him. Only Herbert was there, holding him close and wanting him, only him… And wasn’t it so very tempting when somebody wanted him?
The short while when he quit resisting was enough. Herbert’s mouth sought out the warm, pulsating vein on his neck. There was searing pain when the fangs pierced his skin, a lurch of sickness and fear when Herbert began to suck out the blood and Alfred realized what was happening, what he had allowed… He may have cried out again, but he was powerless and soon there was nothing to do, only to float, float away as Herbert sucked on his neck and seemed to make them one in the most intimate way… Pain transformed into searing, blinding pleasure and Alfred suddenly knew this was the most perfect moment of existence. There was only a faint regret that he couldn’t have shared it with Sarah. But he began to realize how very good it was with somebody who loved him, who wanted him… whom he loved and wanted, he suddenly realized. Why had he resisted until now?
Parts of him were floating away, being sucked away, and something was growing which had always been there and had never been freed, which had only hinted at its existence in the darkest moments of night. That something, himself and Herbert melted together in a powerful surge of painful pleasure that seemed to complete everything, before his living consciousness stopped and descended into darkness.