Light from Shadows - Part Five
Fic title:Light From Shadows
Author name: youaredriving
Artist name: apieceofcake
Genre: RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: R
Word count: ~22,100
Warnings:Slash, supernatural elements (Vampires, werewolves, and others), violence, language
Summary: The madness of the Region’s King slowly drives Jared from his home Region of Houston to the Region of New Orleans. As one of the rarest weres, Jared knows to tread lightly around other supernaturals, especially vampires.
In New Orleans, Jared finds out he’s sharing home with the resident protector and vampire: Jensen Ackles. Through his first moons and the helpful hand of a few rowdy werewolves Jared learns that not all vampires are the same and family can from the strangest of places
Link to art: Here
Jensen had been up for three hours, heated two thermoses of blood and chugged them down and he still hadn’t seen Jared. He could smell him, god the smell of the panther was stronger than it had been when they had gotten home from running in the woods. It made his teeth ache, his chest warm. Jared’s scent was intoxicating. It took everything he had to focus on helping Jared, to find out why the panther had hidden himself in his room. He needed to know if something was wrong with Jared. He couldn’t concentrate; all he wanted was another thermos of blood.
Jensen had never felt so hungry before. He never had a pint of blood be so unsatisfying that he needed more. What had really terrified the vampire was what he thought might causing this to happen. The scent of Jared wrapping around him just seemed to make everything worse. His fangs were still extended, his eyes were still black and he could feel the raw energy of both his and Jared’s anxiety crawling along his spine.
With a hand pressed over his lips he went over what he had learned of Jared in the past few weeks and what he knew now. He knew that Jared had locked himself in his room but it didn’t make sense for him to stay hidden away in his room all night. He had already checked on him earlier and Jared gave a mumbled, ‘go away, I’m fine’ before Jensen began pacing. Something had to be wrong with him.
He still didn’t know what to do for the panther and it felt like he was about to snap. So he did the only thing he could think of. He called Chris.
“What?”
“Jared,” Jensen scratched at the back of his neck, grinding his teeth down to relieve the ache in his gums before continuing, “There’s something wrong with him and he won’t let me in his room to check on him. I don’t know if he’s hurt or if something else is happening to him. He’s just locked himself inside his room.”
“You’re going to have to start at the beginning.”
“He’s been in his room all night!” Jensen barked out. “He’s always in the kitchen or somewhere I can see him when I wake up. This time he wasn’t. He’s locked himself in his room and I can smell him everywhere, Chris.”
“You can smell him?” Chris repeated slowly.
“Yes,” Jensen let out a labored breath, “I can smell him and I can’t concentrate on anything but his scent. I want to make sure he’s okay. I want to help him but I can’t. I-
“I get what you’re saying. I’ll be over as soon as I can.” Jensen could hear Chris moving through his house, snatching up a set of car keys. “I need you to go outside the house and wait for me. Tell Jared you’ll be outside and he needs to stay inside until I get there. I’m going to call Steve and Chad too. Maybe they’ll get over faster. You need me to bring anything? You need any more blood?”
“What’s going on Chris?” Jensen closed his eyes, trying to calm down.
“It’s, I,” Chris stumbled over his words trying to explain what was happening, “look I just need to see him to be sure.”
“Just get here!” Jensen threw the phone across the living room. He closed his eyes counting backwards from ten before he made his way towards Jared’s room. He could hear the small breaths from Jared’s room. “Jared, I need to go outside and you need to stay in here no matter what. I’ve got Chris coming over but even if you start feeling better you have to stay inside until Chris says its okay for you to do different.”
“What’s wrong?” The words were so soft, and laced with fear Jensen pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes.
“I,” Jensen knocked his forehead against the door, “I don’t know. Just stay in here and away from me. Chad and Steve are coming too. They’ll help you. I just can’t. Not right now.”
“Jen,” Jared whispered and Jensen jerked away from the door as if it burned him. He needed to leave now. The sound of Jared’s voice, his scent, everything was pulling at him to stay inside the house. To get closer to Jared. He needed to get out.
He checked the locks before heading towards the road. The humidity pressed against his skin, mosquitoes buzzed in his ears as he waited for Chris to show up. He sat down leaning against the mailbox and tipped his head back towards the sky. Stars dotted the sky next to the nearly full moon. Closing his eyes, Jensen hoped to hell Jared was alright. He was supposed to be the one who protected him not ran out when it got tough.
A bright pair of headlights had Jensen standing up to see Chris’s truck pulling up to the driveway. He waited for the truck to roll to a stop before he leaned over and looked at Chris’s worried eyes.
“You okay man?” Chris reached out and rested a hand on Jensen’s shoulder.
“Just check on him?” Jensen shrugged the wolf’s attempt of comfort away, “Make sure he’s okay and then if he is let me know.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Chris nodded and waited for Jensen to step away from the truck.
“I might need to borrow your car, to get to Jeff’s to stay for the night. I,” Jensen shook his head. “You’ll understand once you walk in there.”
“Okay,” Chris nodded before pulling all the way up to the house, leaving Jensen standing by the street alone wondering what the hell was going on or if he was just screwed up.
Chris opened the door and had to cough against the scent that flooded his nose and mouth. It was strong, exotic and it reminded him of the woods after a hard rain. Underneath it there were so many other scents he couldn’t make them out. There were too many emotions to decipher. He stepped quietly through the house to where Jared’s room was.
“Jared,” Chris spoke quietly so not to startle the panther. “It’s Chris. You doing alright in there?”
“Jen, is he okay?” Jared asked, moving around the room and towards the door.
“Yeah, he’s fine. What we’re both worried about is if you’re okay. You going to open the door for me anytime soon or am I going to have to break it down?”
The lock to the door slid back and the door opened a sliver before Jared was scrambling to the opposite side of the room and as far away from Chris as he could manage.
Chris stepped into the room and spotted Jared curled up against the wall. His face was pressed against his knees and his fingers dancing along the tops of his feet. Chris sat next to Jared, leaning against the wall. The heat radiating off of Jared was too much, even for a were.
“Jay-man, what’s going on with you?”
“What’s going on?” Jared snarled and his face popped up. The normally hazel eyes had turned a burning yellow. “You know what’s going on.”
Chris set his hands on either side of Jared’s face and whispered, “You gotta make it to the moon, Jared. One more day and than you’ll be okay.”
“I’ve been a were my entire life. I know what this means. This is going to happen every moon until I give in.”
Chris rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly trying figure out who could make Jared react this way. An unmated were would have a reaction like this if they found someone suitable to be their mate. It didn’t matter if they were human, a different were or even a vampire, if the beast found them acceptable somewhere deep inside the human side of the were did too.
The only person that could have caused Jared to act this was Jensen. He had seen it in the way they had begun to act around each other, how much trust they gave to the other. It was in the way Jared’s beast was scenting the house, almost as if he were marking the house as his and Jensen’s. Everything that was happening pointed to one thing the human side of Jared didn’t want to acknowledge yet and Chris wasn’t going to be the one to point it out to the panther. It was something Jared needed to acknowledge on his own. “Maybe it’s the new Region, pre-moon jitters.”
“I know what it is,” Jared ran his fingers through his hair with a heavy sigh. “There’s too much, I can’t be in here. I need to run.”
“Then we’ll run but I gotta get Jensen out of here. He’s probably going out of his fucking mind that I haven’t gone out there to tell him that you’re okay.”
“Why’d he go outside? What was he afraid of?”
“I think,” Chris scratched at his nose while debating on if he should say something to Jared or not. In a spilt second he decided to go with the truth, “I think he was afraid he might do something to scare you, or even hurt you. I’m going to go get Jensen out of here and then you can do what you need to do.”
Jared watched as Chris drove the truck towards the road and stopped at the mailbox where Jensen was facing the house. He couldn’t hear what they were saying but he could see relief pass through the tension riddled shoulders of the vampire. Jensen glanced back towards the house, his eyes catching Jared’s in a silent good-bye before he slipped into the truck and headed off towards the city.
Jared stood still, staring out towards the woods until Chris stepped beside him. As if in complete synchronicity both he and the wolf inhaled the night air deeply. Chris looked up towards Jared shaking his hands loose, “You ready for this?”
With a nod from the panther they were tearing through the trees. Everything was louder, warmer, more alive and it didn’t take long for Jared to let the energy bubbling beneath his skin take control. The muscles in his legs were burning from the way he was pushing himself, going faster than he could remember ever going in his human form.
Part Six