Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang - Chapter Seven
Of Flesh, Fur, and Fang
Chapter Seven
“So Zhou mi,” Heechul said sweetly, reclining in his plush arm chair in the small library room he had led the teen too. “What brings you to my home?”
He watched Zhou mi swallow thickly as if he was nervous and then glance around the room, presumably for Ryeowook who had arrived with him. “Ryeowook invited me to meet his friend Yesung. Maybe I should find out where he is and join him.”
Heechul smirked allowing the tips of his fangs to show, “No need for that. You won’t want to be there when they greet each other. It can occasionally get messy. We will just wait here and chat.” He observed Zhou mi’s weariness with satisfaction and relaxed lazily. “So what brings you to town?”
“We just moved,” Zhou mi answered.
“Hm, really? Escaping something rather nasty?” Heechul asked. He didn’t even need to reach into Zhou mi’s mind to know that he had guessed correctly. The teen’s face gave everything away.
“No, we just needed a change.” The words coming from Zhou mi’s mouth were a half truth but Heechul let it pass.
He sighed as if everything was becoming a bore to him and slouched in the chair purposefully lowering himself beneath Zhou mi’s head level and appearing less threatening. “I know what you are,” he said casually, fishing a small coin from his pocket to twirl in his fingers. “And I know you don’t know what I am, not really.”
Zhou mi said nothing and Heechul rose from the chair. He strolled across the room to a bookshelf where he traced the spines of several old books with his fingers. “I am a vampire,” he said as if he were speaking to the books instead of Zhou mi.
“I thought,” Zhou mi began with a bit of hesitation. “That vampires sleep during the day.”
“Some do,” Heechul replied with a shrug. “The youngest of us have to, and some of the older choose to. Sleeping is a waste of time, as it does nothing for us, so I don’t bother with it.” His fingers climbed along the books, until they ran over the spine of a deep green one with gold letters imprinted on the spine.
“I guess it would be a waste of time then,” Zhou mi murmured.
Heechul smiled and couldn’t resist brushing the teen’s mind with his own. He felt weary watchfulness and caution, but not a trace of fear. This Zhou mi was much braver then he looked and Heechul found that he liked that. He pulled the book from the shelf and carried back to the couch where Zhou mi sat. “I like you, which is a good thing since I tend to kill those I don’t like,” Heechul waited for fear to pass through the teens mind and when it didn’t he smiled. “You are a strong Quieter, I can tell.”
“You know about Quieters?” Zhou mi asked and Heechul felt the caution nearly vanish from the forefront of his mind.
“I do. A good friend has one in his seethe,” Heechul confirmed.
Zhou mi’s eyes widened then. “You could turn me into a vampire?” he asked and the caution was back in force.
“No,” Heechul assured him. “No one could. The werewolf blood in you would resist and fight off the change. You don’t need to fear that. What I meant was that a dear friend of mine has a Quieter who joined his seethe as if it was his own pack. He helps to protect the seethe from werewolves that would have hurt it.”
“A Quieter joined with vampires?” Zhou mi asked astonished.
“We are not as frightening as you may think. Werewolves hunt beneath a full moon, and not so long ago their prey was human. Yet they can eat other food just fine, we cannot. Still we do not kill those we feed from, not as the wolves do,” Heechul told him.
“Kangin would never,” Zhou mi blurted out and then clamped his mouth shut. Heechul could feel the immediate regret at saying the other man’s name.
Heechul laughed. “Kangin used to be one of the best man killers around before he moved here and went soft.” He felt Zhou mi’s shock and smiled. “You don’t have to trust me, ask him.”
He could feel the doubts forming in Zhou mi, and the questions. “These are for you,” Heechul pressed the book into his hands and laid the small coin on top. “The book was written by my friend with the help of his Quieter. It contains everything that is known about Quieters and werewolves. I want you to have it. And this,” he tapped the coin, “will show any of mine that you are welcome here.”
Zhou mi tucked the coin away with a nod and then looked at the book. He traced the letters on the cover with his fingers. “Why?”
“I know Kangin hasn’t told you everything. Even though you are not fully werewolf, a part of you is and you will feel the need for a pack. I won’t keep secrets from you. You are welcome to make my seethe your pack if you so choose,” Heechul said offering him what he knew would be taken as a sincere smile. He felt the confusion in Zhou mi’s mind and he patted the teen’s hand lightly.
“You don’t have to make any decisions right now. Why don’t you go sing with Ryeowook for a while? You can come back whenever you like. Keep the book for as long as you want,” Heechul told him.
The door to his library opened and Ryeowook stepped in smiling. “Sorry about that Zhou mi,” he apologized. “Yesung is ready for visitors now.”
Zhou mi nodded and rose from the couch, bowing formally to Heechul when he was standing. “Thank you for the book, the coin, and your hospitality,” he said politely.
“Anytime,” Heechul replied pleasantly. Only when the teen’s back had turned as he followed Ryeowook out of the room did Heechul let his satisfied smirk show on his face. Without the little Quieter knowing it, he had lifted his entire history from his mind showing him exactly the places on which to push to sway him. The boy was as good as his.
He strode to the door across the room, feeling rather pleased with himself, and swung it open. Inside was a simply a bed, as this was one of many rooms around the house just like it. On the bed lay Taemin, dozing lightly with his cell phone by his hand. When Heechul walked into the room and closed the door behind him, Taemin’s eyes blinked open fixing right on Heechul in the dim light.
“I called him,” Taemin murmured his eyes glowing red as he looked at his maker.
“Good,” Heechul purred. “You are a good boy for being awake this early.” He moved to the bed with cat like grace and settled at the foot of it. “Come and eat, I know how exhausted you must be for being up.”
The moment he was invited, Taemin crawled across the bed, his movements jerky and off. He climbed into Heechul’s lap and pressed himself against the man, stretching up so he could press his nose into Heechul’s neck. Heechul murmured encouragement, one of his hands coming up to cradle Taemin’s head to him as the young vampire opened his mouth, his teeth lengthening into fangs. Encouraged by Heechul, he shifted and sunk his fangs into the vampire’s neck. Blood welled forth, full of power and Taemin drank it eagerly.
Heechul chuckled at the needy sounds his fledgling was producing while greedily drinking from him. The puncture wounds weren’t large and the blood wasn’t flowing too quickly - Heechul would have to remind Taemin to aim better in the future - so it would be some time before Taemin had his fill. While he drank, Heechul reached out with his mind, enjoying the boost in range and strength that the fledgling in his lap gave him. On the edge of his property he could feel Hankyung’s mind and another with him.
When he realized the other in the car was Key, a delighted chuckle ran through his body. “Be patient my little one,” he murmured, forcing Taemin to simply lick at his neck instead of sucking the blood from it. Taemin whimpered pathetically but could do nothing but what Heechul wanted. With the feeding slowed enough that it would be prolonged for some time, Heechul reached out to the vampires in his house.
‘Kibum,’ he murmured into the mind of one of the few that was awake. ‘Be a dear and greet our guests. Show them here will you?’ Heechul received the affirmative and the feeling of Kibum rising to do his bidding before he slipped from the other vampire’s mind.
He had to wait even less time then he thought before Hankyung stormed through the door with Key on his heels. “Heechul,” Hankyung growled immediately “you are walking on thin ice.”
“So good of you to drop by,” Heechul purred his eyes focused not on Hankyung but on Key. “You should come visit more often, I think he would like it,” he ran a hand slowly down Taemin’s back.
“I’m not coming to visit any of you,” Key snarled, his eyes flashing.
“Oh but he says you were good friends,” Heechul smirked. As if on cue, Taemin made a small needy noise and shifted against him. Key glared at him angrily and Heechul reached smoothly into his mind. It took little effort to find the memories and bring them to the surface. Once they were there he watched the emotions flash across Key’s face until the realization hit him.
“Taemin?” Key breathed. Shock was first and at the sound of his name his fledgling whimpered. Heechul knew that his fledgling would be too focused on the feeding to respond and he let Taemin drink as he willed once more. Taemin moaned happily, before settling his mouth over the punctures and sucking greedily.
Anger followed the shock, hot and raw through Key. “You son of a bitch what did you do to him!?” Key snarled. He lunged forward and Heechul got the impression of a weapon hidden beneath his clothing.
Hankyung grabbed the teen a second later and threw him backwards. “Get out,” he said lowly, dangerously.
“That fucker has Taemin!” Key snarled moving to charge him again.
Hankyung sprung forward and pinned Key to the wall. “It was his choice, it is allowed. If you attack him you will violate the treaty.” Not releasing the boy he swung his head to face Heechul, “Get out of his mind,” he told the man, his voice icy.
Heechul offered him a lazy smirk. “Or you will do what?”
Hankyung narrowed his eyes, a predatory glare in them, “You won’t have to worry about a treaty when I am through with you.”
Something dark and dangerous flashed on Heechul’s face, followed immediately by raw desire, and then a predatory cunningness. As quickly as they had come they were gone, Heechul would never chance Hankyung with Taemin there. The fledgling wasn’t old enough to care for himself yet should anything unwanted happen. He shrugged, turning his attention back to Taemin as if he was bored, withdrawing his mind from Key as he did so.
Key immediately ceased struggling and leaned against the wall, with wide eyes. “Get out,” Hankyung told him, releasing him. Key nodded and nearly ran from the room the moment his was free. When he was gone Hankyung turned back to face Heechul. “You are playing a dangerous game,” he snarled.
Heechul completely ignored him, petting Taemin until the boy suckling lessened and stopped all together. When he was simply licking at the punctures lazily Heechul chuckled and pulled him away. “You’ll get fat if you keep taking more like that,” he told the boy, pulling him away to look at his face.
Taemin’s eyes were glazed and there was blood around his mouth. Heechul licked it from his skin carefully, no sense in wasting anything, before laying Taemin back on the bed. “Good boy,” he murmured as Taemin’s eyes closed and he fell into sleep again.
“Heechul,” Hankyung called his attention back to him. “You are an idiot.”
Heechul smirked and moved from the bed quicker than the human eye could follow. In a fraction of a second he had Hankyung pressed into the wall, their bodies flush together and he wasn’t at all surprised to feel the small bite of a knife pressed to his stomach. He had expected it there, a threat and little more. “You know, it has been so very long,” he purred, tilting his head sideways and exposing the puncture wounds on his neck that were still oozing blood.
He felt Hankyung’s body flush with desire and knew the man was staring at the blood with hunger. “Take it,” Heechul purred. “I offer freely.”
Hankyung growled and closed his eyes, turning his head away. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“No,” Heechul replied casually. “I think you want it though,” his hand came up to palm the evidence of Hankyung’s desire. “I think you want it badly.”
“Heechul I told you to stay away from Zhou mi,” Hankyung growled.
“I am allowed to put a bid in for him if I like. I’m not doing anything that violates the treaty and you know it.” With his free hand he raised two fingers to his neck, swiping some of the blood off. “I’m just telling the kid the truth.”
Hankyung laughed, “Your version of the truth.”
“It counts,” Heechul replied as if he was wounded by the accusation. Silently he lifted his bloody fingers and pressed them to Hankyung’s lips. The reaction was instant, Hankyung snarled and shoved him across the room with force that a human should not be capable of. Heechul hit the bed hard enough to shatter the frame, and he caught himself awkwardly his hand punching straight through the mattress and into the ground in an effort to keep himself from hitting Taemin. He didn’t flinch as there was an audible crack as the bone in his arm gave into the strange angle and pressure and broke.
Heechul wasted no time in shifting, putting himself over Taemin in a protective motion. His eyes glowed brightly as he hissed, fully displaying his fangs. Hankyung, who was crouched in the corner, his knife dripping blood from where it had sliced into Heechul’s stomach was held defensively in front of him. He released an animalistic snarl in response to Heechul’s anger.
“Never again you son of a bitch,” Hankyung snarled. “Never for anyone, and especially never for you.”
“Get out,” Heechul ordered lowly, dangerously.
Hankyung shifted towards the door, keeping the knife between them. When he reached it he glanced at the blood on the blade and threw it forcefully to the floor before vanishing out the door. As soon as he was gone, Heechul lowered himself curling protectively around his fledgling his broken arm cradled around the cut on his stomach.
“Heechul?” he heard Kibum’s voice from the doorway a second before he was going to summon the man. “Are you alright?”
“Just a scratch,” he said dismissively although he didn’t move from where he was. If Kibum was bothered by the state of the room he said nothing. “Hankyung is angry and loose in my seethe. Make sure no one is hurt. He may take Zhou mi and no one else.” He knew Kibum understood him, because a second later he was gone.
Heechul took a deep breath and then snarled as the cut on his stomach would not heal at his command. He had given to much blood to his fledgling to be able to counteract a blessed blade, not to mention whatever magic he was certain Hankyung had placed on it. ‘Yesung,’ he called with his mind. ‘Come to me.’ He wouldn’t have to tell the other vampire where he was, as long as he wanted them to any of his seethe could find him.
It took several agonizing minutes before Yesung opened the door silently. “Do not touch the blade,” Heechul hissed a warning.
Yesung took one look at it and stepped far around it. “Something will have to be done about it,” he said as he moved to the bed.
“Jonghyun can dispose of it when he gets home,” Heechul dismissed. When Yesung sat beside him, he fixed his glowing eyes on the man. “You are well fed?”
“Yes,” Yesung nodded holding out his wrist, “Ryeowook feed me when he got home. I have more than enough.”
It was all Heechul could do not to tackle him the moment he had walked in the room. As it was he didn’t manage words before he sunk his fangs into Yesung’s wrist. Heechul immediately began drinking in large deep gulps and Yesung gasped as his arms moved enough so that he could see the wound in Heechul’s stomach. “Will this close?” he asked softly, moving the fabric of the ruined shirt out of the way with his free hand.
‘With your blood and some help,’ Heechul replied, his eyes sagging closed at the sweet taste of the blood of one of his children.
“It is always a pleasure to feed you, one you don’t indulge in enough,” Yesung murmured leaning towards his stomach.
‘Be careful,’ Heechul cautioned ignoring Yesung’s comment. ‘I don’t know what lingers.’ He slipped easily into Yesung’s mind so that he could monitor exactly what the vampire was dealing with. Yesung waited until he felt Heechul give him permission before he leaned down and began to lap at the wound in his stomach.
There was a brief initial sting and the taint of magic that burnt his tongue, but Yesung punctured the area with his fangs, allowing more of Heechul’s blood to flow into the wound. As it did, it washed away the magic, destroying it, and Yesung lapped at it eagerly.
Heechul finished before Yesung did, licking the wound closed and then lying back to allow the other vampire to finish his work. With both hands free, Yesung shifted one hand on either side of Heechul’s hips to keep him still as he worked. Heechul laughed at that. Yesung had always been his most eager fledgling. He had never had another that had drunk from him so deeply.
The wound was closed sooner than Yesung would have liked and he whimpered while licking the skin clean. Heechul laughed and tugged at his hair lightly in warning. “Come here and clean my neck. Yesung crawled up his body and immediately began licking the half dried blood from Heechul’s neck. When he was finished he laid his head on Heechul’s chest and released a happy noise.
“You sound like you are drunk,” Heechul said with a small laugh, running his fingers through Yesung’s hair.
“Mmm, it’s been a long time since you allowed me the privilege to drink from you. But why me? Kibum is your first born, he would have been able to heal you much more quickly,” Yesung asked.
“Kibum is half starved all the time. If it wasn’t for the humans we have downstairs, he would never eat at all. He fears scaring his Pet,” Heechul answered.
“What does it matter? Shouldn’t he just choose another?” Yesung asked.
“Could you choose another over Ryeowook?” Heechul stated quietly. Yesung growled involuntarily. “Exactly. I think that Ryeowook may become your first born, my child.”
“I could never,” Yesung sounded horrified. “I could never take the life from him.”
“Could you deny him eternity with you? Could you deny him what he wants?” Heechul asked gently.
Yesung thought about it for a minute and then admitted, “No.”
“No more than I could deny Kibum or you. I never wanted to turn any of you,” he glanced at Taemin and stroked a finger down his cheek affectionately. “This is no paradise to spend eternity in, it is a hell.”
“I don’t regret it,” Yesung said instantly.
Heechul laughed. “For now you don’t. Go return to your Pet. Hankyung will be on his way there, but I assume Kibum has him taking the long way.”
Yesung nodded and climbed from the bed. He paused by the door and glanced back at Heechul. “Thank you for what you did for me.”
“I gave you hell as your gift upon your birth,” Heechul said bitterly.
“It isn’t hell. It is a gift,” Yesung replied honestly. Heechul said nothing and he slipped from the room.
Turning onto his side, Heechul pulled Taemin close on the ruined bed and laughed again. “It is a hell; you just don’t see it yet. It is the worst hell imaginable and I grow tired of it.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Are these Yesung’s turtles?” Zhou mi asked, poking lightly at the tank and the three turtles that stared back at him unblinking.
Ryeowook looked up from his keyboard and smiled. “Yes. Did you know that they can live for a long time? Yesung really likes them for that.”
“They are pretty cool,” Zhou mi admitted, straightening. Ryeowook nodded and played a series of notes on the keyboard drawing Zhou mi’s attention back to it. He crossed the room and settled on the foot of the bed, near where Ryeowook was playing. With his legs curled under him, he sat and simply listened.
“Can I ask you something?” he said softly when Ryeowook had finished.
“Sure,” Ryeowook agreed, turning to face him.
Zhou mi nodded. “Is Yesung,” he started and then stopped, trying to think of a more polite way to say it. “I mean are you and he,” he paused again. It would be rather rude to just out and ask someone he just met this week if he was dating a man and if that man occasionally grew fangs.
Ryeowook smiled at him. “You are wondering about Yesung and our relationship?” Zhou mi nodded, trying his best not to look guilty. “Yesung is a vampire,” Ryeowook said without any further pause. When surprise at his bluntness crossed Zhou mi’s face, he laughed. “Heechul let you in here so he must have told you that vampires live here, humans aren’t allowed in otherwise. I’m what we call a Pet. It means that I am a human that only one vampire feeds from. The Pets are special to whoever they feed and at least here, they are really well taken care of.”
“So you let Yesung feed from you?” Zhou mi asked. Ryeowook nodded in confirmation. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
“It did at first, I guess it still sort of does,” Ryeowook admitted then a light flush dusted his cheeks, “But now I don’t mind at all.”
“I make sure he feels good while I am feeding,” Yesung’s voice said. Zhou mi jumped and turned to face the door where the vampire stood.
“Yesung,” Ryeowook said, both in scolding and in greeting.
He moved to rise but Yesung held out his hand. “Don’t,” he murmured. “Zhou mi, it was nice to meet you. I think it would be best for Ryeowook to take you home, now. Hopefully you can come again. I have heard your voice now, so I can help Ryeowook write music for the two of you.”
Strangely, Zhou mi didn’t feel as though he wanted to go, yet he knew it would be unwise to ignore this man. He nodded, rising and gathering his backpack into which he had slipped the book. As he walked to the door, he heard a growl from the hall that made his hair stand on end. A moment later there was a man standing in the doorway, radiating violence, behind the man stood Key, looking shaken and weary.
“Key?” Zhou mi asked confused as to why the teen would be there.
“Hey Zhou mi,” Key replied hesitantly.
“Key will be taking Zhou mi home now,” the man growled, tossing a set of car keys to Key.
Yesung moved fluidly from the door and into the room, putting himself between Ryeowook and the unknown man. “It is Ryeowook’s privilege and right to take Zhou mi, home. You will not take that from him,” Yesung growled. The strange man answered it with an animalistic snarl.
“It’s alright,” Ryeowook said softly yet firmly. He stepped forward and placed a hand on Yesung’s back. At the touch a tremor ran through the vampire. “I forego my privilege. Key may take Zhou mi home in my stead,” Ryeowook said formally.
“It is done then,” Yesung agreed, his hands curling into fists as if he were fighting to remain still.
“Come on Zhou mi,” Key hissed.
Zhou mi nodded, “Thank you for everything,” he said, bowing politely before heading out the door with towards Key. He edged very carefully around the very angry seeming man until he was beside Key.
‘Sorry,’ Ryeowook mouthed to him and he nodded before Key grabbed his wrist and began to pull him off down the hall.
“Don’t mind him,” Key said softly, gesturing to the man who was stalking behind them. “He is having a bit of a bad day. What were you thinking coming here?” Key hissed.
“I didn’t know,” Zhou mi whispered in return. Key said nothing further as he led the way out of the building. Zhou mi followed quietly, all the while feeling like he was being herded forward by something just as dangerous as those in the building he was leaving.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
If Zhou mi’s mother knew anything about where he had chosen to spend the afternoon, she said nothing as he slunk into the house and back to his room. He dropped onto his bed, tossing his bag on the floor beside it and releasing a loud breath as if he had been holding it for some time. All and all he supposed he was lucky to get home without being snacked on although he figured it really wasn’t his fault he had ended up there in the first place.
No one had ever thought to tell him about vampires. Sure he figured they existed. By his count if werewolves and witches were real then vampires, fae, and who knew what else would have to be real too. He just wished that someone would have taken the time to tell him that and perhaps show him what they smelled like. At least now he knew what that strange extra scent that always hung around Ryeowook was, vampire.
So far, in his opinion, for moving in an effort to escape trouble, they had found a good deal of it. His neighbors were werewolves, there was a seethe of vampires in town and if he wasn’t mistaken the man with Key smelled distinctly of magic which meant there was a coven of witches around too. Trust his mother to place them in the middle of a neighborhood full of supernatural activity.
He rolled onto his stomach and propped his head up on his hands, staring at nothing as his mind turned over what he had learned. He hadn’t really been scared, even when he had been in the presence of what he assumed was the vampires’ leader, yet when he had realized that he was living next door to an alpha, he had been terrified. Zhou mi wondered what that said about the different creatures that wondered in the night.
Heechul, whatever his motives had been, seemed friendly enough, but Zhou mi knew too well not to trust first appearances. Still Ryeowook seemed happy and there was so much life and music in a place he would have assumed to be dead, that he was surprised by it. However no matter how appealing it seemed, he knew he would never be alright with anyone drinking his blood, yet at the same time he didn’t know if he could tolerate being in a pack of werewolves.
Either way, Heechul was right; he did feel drawn to be a part of something. When he was home, alone in his room, he felt lonelier then he should. Even in his father’s pack where he had been nothing but fearful, at least he hadn’t felt lonely. If he could simply overcome his fear of werewolves, he knew that everything would become so much better, yet the fear always lingered in the back of his mind. Now added to that were Heechul’s words about Kangin.
Zhou mi knew first hand that what a person used to be meant nothing about who they were now. His mother had been an excellent werewolf hunter in her time, yet now she was mother to a half werewolf child. Simply because Kangin had killed humans at one time, as unsettling as that was, didn’t mean anything about him now. Still perhaps Heechul was right; perhaps they were keeping things from him. There was just so much he didn’t know about everything.
He sighed and rolled to the edge of his bed fishing for the book he had been given. It slipped from his bag and he placed it in front of him on the bed. Flipping open the cover, he read the title printed in neat hand written letters on the inside. ‘All you need to know about Werewolves’ It sounded almost like one of those mock guides to all things supernatural he could find in the library, and he laughed. Still smiling, Zhou mi turned a page and began to read.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“I have an announcement to make before you leave,” Leeteuk declared, calling the class to attention. “In four weeks our annual festival will be occurring again. Every class has been asked to produce two booths, one for entertainment of any sort and another for something edible. You have all weekend to brainstorm for this; we will be discussing our ideas and choosing the two on Monday.”
A sharp tone of a bell carried through the school, signaling the end of the day and the students hurried to gather their things. “Don’t forget!” Leeteuk called over the noise as the students began milling out of the classroom and to the hallway. “Oh Zhou mi!”
“Yes?” Zhou mi asked, forcing his way through the crowd to Leeteuk.
“I just wanted to let you know that Eunhyuk will be there to pick you up an hour or so after school, for our weekend trip,” Zhou mi could feel the excitement in Leeteuk as he spoke. “You just need to bring a few changes of clothing and whatever else you want. We have everything we need at the cabin where we will be staying.”
Zhou mi nodded and swallowed thickly. He had spent the whole day trying to carefully forget that he had agreed to be part of a weekend that would involve a pack of werewolves under the influence of a full moon, a pack of dangerous werewolves.
Leeteuk placed his hand on Zhou mi’s arm. “Don’t worry so much,” he said as if he knew exactly what Zhou mi was thinking. “None of us could ever hurt you, no wolf could and if anyone tried Kangin would protect you.”
Zhou mi nodded despite his opinions on the matter. His supposed abilities as a Quieter hadn’t protected him in the past and he didn’t really expect them too now. Still he pressed down his anxiety, knowing it would only have negative effects on any werewolf near him. “I know that,” he replied smiling.
“I’ll see you this evening then,” Leeteuk agreed with a smile and a shooing motion.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Zhou mi,” at the sound of his mother’s voice he looked up from where he had been digging through a yet unpacked box trying to find his hiking boots. She stood in the doorway with a bundle of bright fabric in her hands.
“Yes?” he asked, worried that she looked so uncharacteristically serious.
She moved into his room and sat on the bed. “I saw something,” she said softly. Those words made Zhou mi sit up and pay her full attention and he shoved the junk off his lap so he could move to sit on his bed beside her.
“Something bad?” he asked, worried.
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “It wasn’t clear,” Zhou mi swallowed thickly. Her visions were usually crystal clear and detailed, one of the gifts that she possessed as a witch, yet for her to get a vision that wasn’t, it typically meant something huge was involved. “All I know is that there is danger to you.”
“I’m perfectly safe mom,” he reassured her.
“Zhou mi, you have found your way into too much trouble already.”
“I didn’t decide to move next to a pack of werewolves,” he countered.
“They will be good for you,” she insisted. “Zhou mi, believe me when I say I did not make this decision lightly, but I know they will be good for you.”
“What have you seen about them?” he prodded.
“I can’t tell you that,” she responded with a small smile.
“Yeah yeah messing with the future and all that,” he said with a sigh.
“It’s true Zhou mi, just know that they are good and nothing to be feared,” she assured him.
“But something is?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I don’t know what. Be wary of the seethe you found Zhou mi. They are not all they seem and while they don’t seem to be evil, I don’t trust them either, the coven of witches also. Your friends Key, Onew, and Henry are fine, but their leader is dangerous.”
“But it isn’t them,” Zhou mi stated, understanding her words.
She smiled at him. “I don’t know what it will be. Just be weary, and take this.” She handed him the bundle of fabric which he dutifully began to unwrap. When he was through all the layers, a small dagger lay in his hands, encased in a plain sheath. There was a strip of leather with a buckle attached to it that he assumed was used to hold it on the wearers waist.
“A dagger? Mom I can’t exactly carry a weapon with me in public,” he said exasperatedly.
“She isn’t any dagger,” his mother said with a smile. “Her name is Tzina and she was a gift, from a Fae.” Zhou mi gasped in surprise and lifted his hands immediately from where they were exploring the dagger. To receive a gift from a Fae was doubly a blessing and a curse, yet at the same time the gift was typically very powerful.
His mother reached over and slid the delicate looking dagger from its sheath. The metal shimmered in the light coming through his window and he was struck by just how plain it looked. “A long time ago I did a Fae a great favor, a favor worthy of an equal favor in return. She gave this to me, to protect my own. Do not worry about the negative consequences of this object, they will not affect you.”
“Mom it is a tiny knife. I know that Fae items sometimes have a lot of power but what can this really do?”
“This blade acts like iron or sliver and will hurt any with an aversion to either, yet it is designed to cut through anything. She will not be seen unless she chooses to be or her true name is known. She can kill, even the un-killable. With her you will be safe,” his mother said placing the dagger lightly in his hands.
He gazed at the plain metal and, for a moment, he could feel the power of strong Fae magic. Zhou mi nodded and slipped it back into its sheath. “Wear it at all times,” his mother told him seriously, “but be careful never to give it to anyone else. If someone it is not intended for touches it, it has a habit of turning on them. Do not give it to even a friend, do you understand?”
“Yes,” Zhou mi agreed with a nod. “I understand.”
“Good,” she replied ruffling his hair affectionately. “You better get ready. Your ride is going to be here in five minutes.”
“Five minutes!?” Zhou mi exclaimed, looking frantically at his mostly unpacked bag. He stood, buckling the dagger around his waist before diving frantically back into his mess.
“Oh and Zhou mi dear?” his mother called. He paused in his frantic searching to look back at her. “Your hiking boots are under your bed,” she told him with a secretive smile and then walked out of his room.
He dived there, tugging out boxes and finding them half the way beneath it. When he emerged he threw them in his bag and along with the four changes of clothing, just in case. He added his iPod and headphones, as well as a hand held game system. Next was his journal, which he would never leave home without, and an extra notebook just in case he needed scrap paper for something. There were a thousand other things he thought about bringing but he didn’t have time to locate them all and decide if they were really necessary. He figured he had the necessities and would be alright without everything else.
Zhou mi grabbed his small duffle bag from the floor and began to zip it shut. He paused for a minute as his eyes caught sight of the book that Heechul had lent him. He was only part of the way through it, and he was curious to finish it. With a sigh he placed it in his bag as well and then zipped it shut.
Slinging it over his shoulder he moved out of his room and closed the door behind him, trying not to think about the mess he would have to clean up when he got home. His mother met him at the door with a large container. He sighed, and slipped on his shoes.
“Take these brownies with you for the ride there,” she said, placing the container in his hands. “Full werewolves are happy werewolves,” she told him in a sing song voice.
He accepted the container and opened the door, only to come face to face with Kyuhyun who had his hand raised, as if prepared to knock. “Uh I was just going to tell you we are getting ready to go,” Kyuhyun said lowering his hand.
“Right,” Zhou mi agreed. Then he shoved the container of brownies into the other teen’s hands. “These are from my mom for the trip,” Zhou mi told him, stepping past him and moving across the lawn with more confidence then he really felt.
He heard a murmured thank you from behind him, as Kyuhyun was more than likely bowing and thanking his mother. Then the other teen was beside him, falling into stride with him as they crossed to the neighbor’s house. “Eunhyuk is driving us,” he informed Zhou mi. “You should put your bag in the trunk.”
Eunhyuk stood by the nearly full trunk attempting to squish a rather large suitcase into it that looked as though it would never fit. “Uh I’m not sure there will be room for my stuff,” Zhou mi replied.
“Of course,” Eunhyuk paused as he gave the human equivalent of a huge shove to the suitcase, “There will be.” He turned his attention to the young woman who was standing beside him. “Yoona, do you have to bring so much crap?!”
“Oh for the love of,” she rolled her eyes and then shoved him out of the way. “If you want something done right do it yourself,” she muttered. She gave the suitcase a twist and light shove and it slipped into the trunk without protest. “It’s all about the angle Eunhyuk,” she scolded. “I would think as a man you would know that.”
Taeyeon laughed as she stepped from the house. “Believe me, he knows it,” she said flirtatiously. Eunhyuk blushed bright red and sputtered incoherently as the women shared a look.
“Zhou mi,” Yoona said brightly. “I’m glad you are joining us,” she seemed genuinely pleased by the fact and it made Zhou mi offer her an honest smile. “Is that all you are bring?” she asked frowning at his small bag.
“Some of us men can travel light,” Shindong said with a laugh and a pointed look at Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk recovered from his embarrassment enough to appear indignant, “My products are important! Don’t come crying to me when you are full of zits!”
Yoona and Taeyeon rolled their eyes. “Next month we are driving separate,” Yoona told Zhou mi softly as she reached for his bag.
He handed it to her and Kyuhyun laughed. “They say that every month,” he informed Zhou mi.
“This time we mean it,” Taeyeon declared, opening the back door and slipping in the back seat.
Yoona efficiently added his bag to the overstuffed trunk and then shut it, a feat which Zhou mi was surprised to see accomplished. She moved around the car and climbed in after Taeyeon, shutting the door behind her.
“We are going to be a little bit squished in my car, but everyone else comes from work and Leeteuk figured you would rather ride with us then have someone else come pick you up. If the women hog too much of the seat just elbow them over,” Eunhyuk told him with a grin, moving around to the driver’s side of the car.
Zhou mi nodded and followed Kyuhyun to the rear door. Kyuhyun slipped inside and Zhou mi tried his best to squeeze in after him and pull the door shut. When it was closed he found there was more room in the back of the car then he expected there to be.
“Do you want to walk all the way there love?” Taeyeon asked dangerously.
“Of course not,” Eunhyuk said hurriedly as he slid into the driver’s seat. “I mean that your beautiful form couldn’t take up that much space so really if Zhou mi is having a problem, he is too fat.”
“Better,” she said with a satisfied smile, reclining in her seat.
Shindong slid into the passenger’s seat and shut the door. Once everyone was in, Eunhyuk turned the key in the ignition and the car purred to life. He was just backing out of the drive way when Shindong turned his head and sniffed. “Oh I smell brownies!” he exclaimed.
“Here,” Kyuhyun said, offering him the container.
“Ooh sugar,” Shindong peeled the lid off and grabbed one for himself while offering one to everyone else.
Zhou mi accepted one as well, hoping that his mother had had one of her crazy moments that could have caused her to bake a sedative into them. He doubted it, but he could hope. Either way he knew it was going to be a long ride.
Chapter Eight
Masterlist
AN: You guys are all indebted to my wonderful beta to whom I sent this, this afternoon and she returned it promptly all edited.
I am glad to be back to this one, although it took me a few days to get in the swing of things again. However, it is now back strongly and Heechul thinks he owns this fic. Now that it is off hiatus it will probably resume the once a week update, perhaps twice I week. I don't want anyone to be disappointed if life happens but you may all find pleasant surprises if it doesn't. ^_^
Chapter Seven
“So Zhou mi,” Heechul said sweetly, reclining in his plush arm chair in the small library room he had led the teen too. “What brings you to my home?”
He watched Zhou mi swallow thickly as if he was nervous and then glance around the room, presumably for Ryeowook who had arrived with him. “Ryeowook invited me to meet his friend Yesung. Maybe I should find out where he is and join him.”
Heechul smirked allowing the tips of his fangs to show, “No need for that. You won’t want to be there when they greet each other. It can occasionally get messy. We will just wait here and chat.” He observed Zhou mi’s weariness with satisfaction and relaxed lazily. “So what brings you to town?”
“We just moved,” Zhou mi answered.
“Hm, really? Escaping something rather nasty?” Heechul asked. He didn’t even need to reach into Zhou mi’s mind to know that he had guessed correctly. The teen’s face gave everything away.
“No, we just needed a change.” The words coming from Zhou mi’s mouth were a half truth but Heechul let it pass.
He sighed as if everything was becoming a bore to him and slouched in the chair purposefully lowering himself beneath Zhou mi’s head level and appearing less threatening. “I know what you are,” he said casually, fishing a small coin from his pocket to twirl in his fingers. “And I know you don’t know what I am, not really.”
Zhou mi said nothing and Heechul rose from the chair. He strolled across the room to a bookshelf where he traced the spines of several old books with his fingers. “I am a vampire,” he said as if he were speaking to the books instead of Zhou mi.
“I thought,” Zhou mi began with a bit of hesitation. “That vampires sleep during the day.”
“Some do,” Heechul replied with a shrug. “The youngest of us have to, and some of the older choose to. Sleeping is a waste of time, as it does nothing for us, so I don’t bother with it.” His fingers climbed along the books, until they ran over the spine of a deep green one with gold letters imprinted on the spine.
“I guess it would be a waste of time then,” Zhou mi murmured.
Heechul smiled and couldn’t resist brushing the teen’s mind with his own. He felt weary watchfulness and caution, but not a trace of fear. This Zhou mi was much braver then he looked and Heechul found that he liked that. He pulled the book from the shelf and carried back to the couch where Zhou mi sat. “I like you, which is a good thing since I tend to kill those I don’t like,” Heechul waited for fear to pass through the teens mind and when it didn’t he smiled. “You are a strong Quieter, I can tell.”
“You know about Quieters?” Zhou mi asked and Heechul felt the caution nearly vanish from the forefront of his mind.
“I do. A good friend has one in his seethe,” Heechul confirmed.
Zhou mi’s eyes widened then. “You could turn me into a vampire?” he asked and the caution was back in force.
“No,” Heechul assured him. “No one could. The werewolf blood in you would resist and fight off the change. You don’t need to fear that. What I meant was that a dear friend of mine has a Quieter who joined his seethe as if it was his own pack. He helps to protect the seethe from werewolves that would have hurt it.”
“A Quieter joined with vampires?” Zhou mi asked astonished.
“We are not as frightening as you may think. Werewolves hunt beneath a full moon, and not so long ago their prey was human. Yet they can eat other food just fine, we cannot. Still we do not kill those we feed from, not as the wolves do,” Heechul told him.
“Kangin would never,” Zhou mi blurted out and then clamped his mouth shut. Heechul could feel the immediate regret at saying the other man’s name.
Heechul laughed. “Kangin used to be one of the best man killers around before he moved here and went soft.” He felt Zhou mi’s shock and smiled. “You don’t have to trust me, ask him.”
He could feel the doubts forming in Zhou mi, and the questions. “These are for you,” Heechul pressed the book into his hands and laid the small coin on top. “The book was written by my friend with the help of his Quieter. It contains everything that is known about Quieters and werewolves. I want you to have it. And this,” he tapped the coin, “will show any of mine that you are welcome here.”
Zhou mi tucked the coin away with a nod and then looked at the book. He traced the letters on the cover with his fingers. “Why?”
“I know Kangin hasn’t told you everything. Even though you are not fully werewolf, a part of you is and you will feel the need for a pack. I won’t keep secrets from you. You are welcome to make my seethe your pack if you so choose,” Heechul said offering him what he knew would be taken as a sincere smile. He felt the confusion in Zhou mi’s mind and he patted the teen’s hand lightly.
“You don’t have to make any decisions right now. Why don’t you go sing with Ryeowook for a while? You can come back whenever you like. Keep the book for as long as you want,” Heechul told him.
The door to his library opened and Ryeowook stepped in smiling. “Sorry about that Zhou mi,” he apologized. “Yesung is ready for visitors now.”
Zhou mi nodded and rose from the couch, bowing formally to Heechul when he was standing. “Thank you for the book, the coin, and your hospitality,” he said politely.
“Anytime,” Heechul replied pleasantly. Only when the teen’s back had turned as he followed Ryeowook out of the room did Heechul let his satisfied smirk show on his face. Without the little Quieter knowing it, he had lifted his entire history from his mind showing him exactly the places on which to push to sway him. The boy was as good as his.
He strode to the door across the room, feeling rather pleased with himself, and swung it open. Inside was a simply a bed, as this was one of many rooms around the house just like it. On the bed lay Taemin, dozing lightly with his cell phone by his hand. When Heechul walked into the room and closed the door behind him, Taemin’s eyes blinked open fixing right on Heechul in the dim light.
“I called him,” Taemin murmured his eyes glowing red as he looked at his maker.
“Good,” Heechul purred. “You are a good boy for being awake this early.” He moved to the bed with cat like grace and settled at the foot of it. “Come and eat, I know how exhausted you must be for being up.”
The moment he was invited, Taemin crawled across the bed, his movements jerky and off. He climbed into Heechul’s lap and pressed himself against the man, stretching up so he could press his nose into Heechul’s neck. Heechul murmured encouragement, one of his hands coming up to cradle Taemin’s head to him as the young vampire opened his mouth, his teeth lengthening into fangs. Encouraged by Heechul, he shifted and sunk his fangs into the vampire’s neck. Blood welled forth, full of power and Taemin drank it eagerly.
Heechul chuckled at the needy sounds his fledgling was producing while greedily drinking from him. The puncture wounds weren’t large and the blood wasn’t flowing too quickly - Heechul would have to remind Taemin to aim better in the future - so it would be some time before Taemin had his fill. While he drank, Heechul reached out with his mind, enjoying the boost in range and strength that the fledgling in his lap gave him. On the edge of his property he could feel Hankyung’s mind and another with him.
When he realized the other in the car was Key, a delighted chuckle ran through his body. “Be patient my little one,” he murmured, forcing Taemin to simply lick at his neck instead of sucking the blood from it. Taemin whimpered pathetically but could do nothing but what Heechul wanted. With the feeding slowed enough that it would be prolonged for some time, Heechul reached out to the vampires in his house.
‘Kibum,’ he murmured into the mind of one of the few that was awake. ‘Be a dear and greet our guests. Show them here will you?’ Heechul received the affirmative and the feeling of Kibum rising to do his bidding before he slipped from the other vampire’s mind.
He had to wait even less time then he thought before Hankyung stormed through the door with Key on his heels. “Heechul,” Hankyung growled immediately “you are walking on thin ice.”
“So good of you to drop by,” Heechul purred his eyes focused not on Hankyung but on Key. “You should come visit more often, I think he would like it,” he ran a hand slowly down Taemin’s back.
“I’m not coming to visit any of you,” Key snarled, his eyes flashing.
“Oh but he says you were good friends,” Heechul smirked. As if on cue, Taemin made a small needy noise and shifted against him. Key glared at him angrily and Heechul reached smoothly into his mind. It took little effort to find the memories and bring them to the surface. Once they were there he watched the emotions flash across Key’s face until the realization hit him.
“Taemin?” Key breathed. Shock was first and at the sound of his name his fledgling whimpered. Heechul knew that his fledgling would be too focused on the feeding to respond and he let Taemin drink as he willed once more. Taemin moaned happily, before settling his mouth over the punctures and sucking greedily.
Anger followed the shock, hot and raw through Key. “You son of a bitch what did you do to him!?” Key snarled. He lunged forward and Heechul got the impression of a weapon hidden beneath his clothing.
Hankyung grabbed the teen a second later and threw him backwards. “Get out,” he said lowly, dangerously.
“That fucker has Taemin!” Key snarled moving to charge him again.
Hankyung sprung forward and pinned Key to the wall. “It was his choice, it is allowed. If you attack him you will violate the treaty.” Not releasing the boy he swung his head to face Heechul, “Get out of his mind,” he told the man, his voice icy.
Heechul offered him a lazy smirk. “Or you will do what?”
Hankyung narrowed his eyes, a predatory glare in them, “You won’t have to worry about a treaty when I am through with you.”
Something dark and dangerous flashed on Heechul’s face, followed immediately by raw desire, and then a predatory cunningness. As quickly as they had come they were gone, Heechul would never chance Hankyung with Taemin there. The fledgling wasn’t old enough to care for himself yet should anything unwanted happen. He shrugged, turning his attention back to Taemin as if he was bored, withdrawing his mind from Key as he did so.
Key immediately ceased struggling and leaned against the wall, with wide eyes. “Get out,” Hankyung told him, releasing him. Key nodded and nearly ran from the room the moment his was free. When he was gone Hankyung turned back to face Heechul. “You are playing a dangerous game,” he snarled.
Heechul completely ignored him, petting Taemin until the boy suckling lessened and stopped all together. When he was simply licking at the punctures lazily Heechul chuckled and pulled him away. “You’ll get fat if you keep taking more like that,” he told the boy, pulling him away to look at his face.
Taemin’s eyes were glazed and there was blood around his mouth. Heechul licked it from his skin carefully, no sense in wasting anything, before laying Taemin back on the bed. “Good boy,” he murmured as Taemin’s eyes closed and he fell into sleep again.
“Heechul,” Hankyung called his attention back to him. “You are an idiot.”
Heechul smirked and moved from the bed quicker than the human eye could follow. In a fraction of a second he had Hankyung pressed into the wall, their bodies flush together and he wasn’t at all surprised to feel the small bite of a knife pressed to his stomach. He had expected it there, a threat and little more. “You know, it has been so very long,” he purred, tilting his head sideways and exposing the puncture wounds on his neck that were still oozing blood.
He felt Hankyung’s body flush with desire and knew the man was staring at the blood with hunger. “Take it,” Heechul purred. “I offer freely.”
Hankyung growled and closed his eyes, turning his head away. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“No,” Heechul replied casually. “I think you want it though,” his hand came up to palm the evidence of Hankyung’s desire. “I think you want it badly.”
“Heechul I told you to stay away from Zhou mi,” Hankyung growled.
“I am allowed to put a bid in for him if I like. I’m not doing anything that violates the treaty and you know it.” With his free hand he raised two fingers to his neck, swiping some of the blood off. “I’m just telling the kid the truth.”
Hankyung laughed, “Your version of the truth.”
“It counts,” Heechul replied as if he was wounded by the accusation. Silently he lifted his bloody fingers and pressed them to Hankyung’s lips. The reaction was instant, Hankyung snarled and shoved him across the room with force that a human should not be capable of. Heechul hit the bed hard enough to shatter the frame, and he caught himself awkwardly his hand punching straight through the mattress and into the ground in an effort to keep himself from hitting Taemin. He didn’t flinch as there was an audible crack as the bone in his arm gave into the strange angle and pressure and broke.
Heechul wasted no time in shifting, putting himself over Taemin in a protective motion. His eyes glowed brightly as he hissed, fully displaying his fangs. Hankyung, who was crouched in the corner, his knife dripping blood from where it had sliced into Heechul’s stomach was held defensively in front of him. He released an animalistic snarl in response to Heechul’s anger.
“Never again you son of a bitch,” Hankyung snarled. “Never for anyone, and especially never for you.”
“Get out,” Heechul ordered lowly, dangerously.
Hankyung shifted towards the door, keeping the knife between them. When he reached it he glanced at the blood on the blade and threw it forcefully to the floor before vanishing out the door. As soon as he was gone, Heechul lowered himself curling protectively around his fledgling his broken arm cradled around the cut on his stomach.
“Heechul?” he heard Kibum’s voice from the doorway a second before he was going to summon the man. “Are you alright?”
“Just a scratch,” he said dismissively although he didn’t move from where he was. If Kibum was bothered by the state of the room he said nothing. “Hankyung is angry and loose in my seethe. Make sure no one is hurt. He may take Zhou mi and no one else.” He knew Kibum understood him, because a second later he was gone.
Heechul took a deep breath and then snarled as the cut on his stomach would not heal at his command. He had given to much blood to his fledgling to be able to counteract a blessed blade, not to mention whatever magic he was certain Hankyung had placed on it. ‘Yesung,’ he called with his mind. ‘Come to me.’ He wouldn’t have to tell the other vampire where he was, as long as he wanted them to any of his seethe could find him.
It took several agonizing minutes before Yesung opened the door silently. “Do not touch the blade,” Heechul hissed a warning.
Yesung took one look at it and stepped far around it. “Something will have to be done about it,” he said as he moved to the bed.
“Jonghyun can dispose of it when he gets home,” Heechul dismissed. When Yesung sat beside him, he fixed his glowing eyes on the man. “You are well fed?”
“Yes,” Yesung nodded holding out his wrist, “Ryeowook feed me when he got home. I have more than enough.”
It was all Heechul could do not to tackle him the moment he had walked in the room. As it was he didn’t manage words before he sunk his fangs into Yesung’s wrist. Heechul immediately began drinking in large deep gulps and Yesung gasped as his arms moved enough so that he could see the wound in Heechul’s stomach. “Will this close?” he asked softly, moving the fabric of the ruined shirt out of the way with his free hand.
‘With your blood and some help,’ Heechul replied, his eyes sagging closed at the sweet taste of the blood of one of his children.
“It is always a pleasure to feed you, one you don’t indulge in enough,” Yesung murmured leaning towards his stomach.
‘Be careful,’ Heechul cautioned ignoring Yesung’s comment. ‘I don’t know what lingers.’ He slipped easily into Yesung’s mind so that he could monitor exactly what the vampire was dealing with. Yesung waited until he felt Heechul give him permission before he leaned down and began to lap at the wound in his stomach.
There was a brief initial sting and the taint of magic that burnt his tongue, but Yesung punctured the area with his fangs, allowing more of Heechul’s blood to flow into the wound. As it did, it washed away the magic, destroying it, and Yesung lapped at it eagerly.
Heechul finished before Yesung did, licking the wound closed and then lying back to allow the other vampire to finish his work. With both hands free, Yesung shifted one hand on either side of Heechul’s hips to keep him still as he worked. Heechul laughed at that. Yesung had always been his most eager fledgling. He had never had another that had drunk from him so deeply.
The wound was closed sooner than Yesung would have liked and he whimpered while licking the skin clean. Heechul laughed and tugged at his hair lightly in warning. “Come here and clean my neck. Yesung crawled up his body and immediately began licking the half dried blood from Heechul’s neck. When he was finished he laid his head on Heechul’s chest and released a happy noise.
“You sound like you are drunk,” Heechul said with a small laugh, running his fingers through Yesung’s hair.
“Mmm, it’s been a long time since you allowed me the privilege to drink from you. But why me? Kibum is your first born, he would have been able to heal you much more quickly,” Yesung asked.
“Kibum is half starved all the time. If it wasn’t for the humans we have downstairs, he would never eat at all. He fears scaring his Pet,” Heechul answered.
“What does it matter? Shouldn’t he just choose another?” Yesung asked.
“Could you choose another over Ryeowook?” Heechul stated quietly. Yesung growled involuntarily. “Exactly. I think that Ryeowook may become your first born, my child.”
“I could never,” Yesung sounded horrified. “I could never take the life from him.”
“Could you deny him eternity with you? Could you deny him what he wants?” Heechul asked gently.
Yesung thought about it for a minute and then admitted, “No.”
“No more than I could deny Kibum or you. I never wanted to turn any of you,” he glanced at Taemin and stroked a finger down his cheek affectionately. “This is no paradise to spend eternity in, it is a hell.”
“I don’t regret it,” Yesung said instantly.
Heechul laughed. “For now you don’t. Go return to your Pet. Hankyung will be on his way there, but I assume Kibum has him taking the long way.”
Yesung nodded and climbed from the bed. He paused by the door and glanced back at Heechul. “Thank you for what you did for me.”
“I gave you hell as your gift upon your birth,” Heechul said bitterly.
“It isn’t hell. It is a gift,” Yesung replied honestly. Heechul said nothing and he slipped from the room.
Turning onto his side, Heechul pulled Taemin close on the ruined bed and laughed again. “It is a hell; you just don’t see it yet. It is the worst hell imaginable and I grow tired of it.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Are these Yesung’s turtles?” Zhou mi asked, poking lightly at the tank and the three turtles that stared back at him unblinking.
Ryeowook looked up from his keyboard and smiled. “Yes. Did you know that they can live for a long time? Yesung really likes them for that.”
“They are pretty cool,” Zhou mi admitted, straightening. Ryeowook nodded and played a series of notes on the keyboard drawing Zhou mi’s attention back to it. He crossed the room and settled on the foot of the bed, near where Ryeowook was playing. With his legs curled under him, he sat and simply listened.
“Can I ask you something?” he said softly when Ryeowook had finished.
“Sure,” Ryeowook agreed, turning to face him.
Zhou mi nodded. “Is Yesung,” he started and then stopped, trying to think of a more polite way to say it. “I mean are you and he,” he paused again. It would be rather rude to just out and ask someone he just met this week if he was dating a man and if that man occasionally grew fangs.
Ryeowook smiled at him. “You are wondering about Yesung and our relationship?” Zhou mi nodded, trying his best not to look guilty. “Yesung is a vampire,” Ryeowook said without any further pause. When surprise at his bluntness crossed Zhou mi’s face, he laughed. “Heechul let you in here so he must have told you that vampires live here, humans aren’t allowed in otherwise. I’m what we call a Pet. It means that I am a human that only one vampire feeds from. The Pets are special to whoever they feed and at least here, they are really well taken care of.”
“So you let Yesung feed from you?” Zhou mi asked. Ryeowook nodded in confirmation. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
“It did at first, I guess it still sort of does,” Ryeowook admitted then a light flush dusted his cheeks, “But now I don’t mind at all.”
“I make sure he feels good while I am feeding,” Yesung’s voice said. Zhou mi jumped and turned to face the door where the vampire stood.
“Yesung,” Ryeowook said, both in scolding and in greeting.
He moved to rise but Yesung held out his hand. “Don’t,” he murmured. “Zhou mi, it was nice to meet you. I think it would be best for Ryeowook to take you home, now. Hopefully you can come again. I have heard your voice now, so I can help Ryeowook write music for the two of you.”
Strangely, Zhou mi didn’t feel as though he wanted to go, yet he knew it would be unwise to ignore this man. He nodded, rising and gathering his backpack into which he had slipped the book. As he walked to the door, he heard a growl from the hall that made his hair stand on end. A moment later there was a man standing in the doorway, radiating violence, behind the man stood Key, looking shaken and weary.
“Key?” Zhou mi asked confused as to why the teen would be there.
“Hey Zhou mi,” Key replied hesitantly.
“Key will be taking Zhou mi home now,” the man growled, tossing a set of car keys to Key.
Yesung moved fluidly from the door and into the room, putting himself between Ryeowook and the unknown man. “It is Ryeowook’s privilege and right to take Zhou mi, home. You will not take that from him,” Yesung growled. The strange man answered it with an animalistic snarl.
“It’s alright,” Ryeowook said softly yet firmly. He stepped forward and placed a hand on Yesung’s back. At the touch a tremor ran through the vampire. “I forego my privilege. Key may take Zhou mi home in my stead,” Ryeowook said formally.
“It is done then,” Yesung agreed, his hands curling into fists as if he were fighting to remain still.
“Come on Zhou mi,” Key hissed.
Zhou mi nodded, “Thank you for everything,” he said, bowing politely before heading out the door with towards Key. He edged very carefully around the very angry seeming man until he was beside Key.
‘Sorry,’ Ryeowook mouthed to him and he nodded before Key grabbed his wrist and began to pull him off down the hall.
“Don’t mind him,” Key said softly, gesturing to the man who was stalking behind them. “He is having a bit of a bad day. What were you thinking coming here?” Key hissed.
“I didn’t know,” Zhou mi whispered in return. Key said nothing further as he led the way out of the building. Zhou mi followed quietly, all the while feeling like he was being herded forward by something just as dangerous as those in the building he was leaving.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
If Zhou mi’s mother knew anything about where he had chosen to spend the afternoon, she said nothing as he slunk into the house and back to his room. He dropped onto his bed, tossing his bag on the floor beside it and releasing a loud breath as if he had been holding it for some time. All and all he supposed he was lucky to get home without being snacked on although he figured it really wasn’t his fault he had ended up there in the first place.
No one had ever thought to tell him about vampires. Sure he figured they existed. By his count if werewolves and witches were real then vampires, fae, and who knew what else would have to be real too. He just wished that someone would have taken the time to tell him that and perhaps show him what they smelled like. At least now he knew what that strange extra scent that always hung around Ryeowook was, vampire.
So far, in his opinion, for moving in an effort to escape trouble, they had found a good deal of it. His neighbors were werewolves, there was a seethe of vampires in town and if he wasn’t mistaken the man with Key smelled distinctly of magic which meant there was a coven of witches around too. Trust his mother to place them in the middle of a neighborhood full of supernatural activity.
He rolled onto his stomach and propped his head up on his hands, staring at nothing as his mind turned over what he had learned. He hadn’t really been scared, even when he had been in the presence of what he assumed was the vampires’ leader, yet when he had realized that he was living next door to an alpha, he had been terrified. Zhou mi wondered what that said about the different creatures that wondered in the night.
Heechul, whatever his motives had been, seemed friendly enough, but Zhou mi knew too well not to trust first appearances. Still Ryeowook seemed happy and there was so much life and music in a place he would have assumed to be dead, that he was surprised by it. However no matter how appealing it seemed, he knew he would never be alright with anyone drinking his blood, yet at the same time he didn’t know if he could tolerate being in a pack of werewolves.
Either way, Heechul was right; he did feel drawn to be a part of something. When he was home, alone in his room, he felt lonelier then he should. Even in his father’s pack where he had been nothing but fearful, at least he hadn’t felt lonely. If he could simply overcome his fear of werewolves, he knew that everything would become so much better, yet the fear always lingered in the back of his mind. Now added to that were Heechul’s words about Kangin.
Zhou mi knew first hand that what a person used to be meant nothing about who they were now. His mother had been an excellent werewolf hunter in her time, yet now she was mother to a half werewolf child. Simply because Kangin had killed humans at one time, as unsettling as that was, didn’t mean anything about him now. Still perhaps Heechul was right; perhaps they were keeping things from him. There was just so much he didn’t know about everything.
He sighed and rolled to the edge of his bed fishing for the book he had been given. It slipped from his bag and he placed it in front of him on the bed. Flipping open the cover, he read the title printed in neat hand written letters on the inside. ‘All you need to know about Werewolves’ It sounded almost like one of those mock guides to all things supernatural he could find in the library, and he laughed. Still smiling, Zhou mi turned a page and began to read.
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“I have an announcement to make before you leave,” Leeteuk declared, calling the class to attention. “In four weeks our annual festival will be occurring again. Every class has been asked to produce two booths, one for entertainment of any sort and another for something edible. You have all weekend to brainstorm for this; we will be discussing our ideas and choosing the two on Monday.”
A sharp tone of a bell carried through the school, signaling the end of the day and the students hurried to gather their things. “Don’t forget!” Leeteuk called over the noise as the students began milling out of the classroom and to the hallway. “Oh Zhou mi!”
“Yes?” Zhou mi asked, forcing his way through the crowd to Leeteuk.
“I just wanted to let you know that Eunhyuk will be there to pick you up an hour or so after school, for our weekend trip,” Zhou mi could feel the excitement in Leeteuk as he spoke. “You just need to bring a few changes of clothing and whatever else you want. We have everything we need at the cabin where we will be staying.”
Zhou mi nodded and swallowed thickly. He had spent the whole day trying to carefully forget that he had agreed to be part of a weekend that would involve a pack of werewolves under the influence of a full moon, a pack of dangerous werewolves.
Leeteuk placed his hand on Zhou mi’s arm. “Don’t worry so much,” he said as if he knew exactly what Zhou mi was thinking. “None of us could ever hurt you, no wolf could and if anyone tried Kangin would protect you.”
Zhou mi nodded despite his opinions on the matter. His supposed abilities as a Quieter hadn’t protected him in the past and he didn’t really expect them too now. Still he pressed down his anxiety, knowing it would only have negative effects on any werewolf near him. “I know that,” he replied smiling.
“I’ll see you this evening then,” Leeteuk agreed with a smile and a shooing motion.
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“Zhou mi,” at the sound of his mother’s voice he looked up from where he had been digging through a yet unpacked box trying to find his hiking boots. She stood in the doorway with a bundle of bright fabric in her hands.
“Yes?” he asked, worried that she looked so uncharacteristically serious.
She moved into his room and sat on the bed. “I saw something,” she said softly. Those words made Zhou mi sit up and pay her full attention and he shoved the junk off his lap so he could move to sit on his bed beside her.
“Something bad?” he asked, worried.
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “It wasn’t clear,” Zhou mi swallowed thickly. Her visions were usually crystal clear and detailed, one of the gifts that she possessed as a witch, yet for her to get a vision that wasn’t, it typically meant something huge was involved. “All I know is that there is danger to you.”
“I’m perfectly safe mom,” he reassured her.
“Zhou mi, you have found your way into too much trouble already.”
“I didn’t decide to move next to a pack of werewolves,” he countered.
“They will be good for you,” she insisted. “Zhou mi, believe me when I say I did not make this decision lightly, but I know they will be good for you.”
“What have you seen about them?” he prodded.
“I can’t tell you that,” she responded with a small smile.
“Yeah yeah messing with the future and all that,” he said with a sigh.
“It’s true Zhou mi, just know that they are good and nothing to be feared,” she assured him.
“But something is?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I don’t know what. Be wary of the seethe you found Zhou mi. They are not all they seem and while they don’t seem to be evil, I don’t trust them either, the coven of witches also. Your friends Key, Onew, and Henry are fine, but their leader is dangerous.”
“But it isn’t them,” Zhou mi stated, understanding her words.
She smiled at him. “I don’t know what it will be. Just be weary, and take this.” She handed him the bundle of fabric which he dutifully began to unwrap. When he was through all the layers, a small dagger lay in his hands, encased in a plain sheath. There was a strip of leather with a buckle attached to it that he assumed was used to hold it on the wearers waist.
“A dagger? Mom I can’t exactly carry a weapon with me in public,” he said exasperatedly.
“She isn’t any dagger,” his mother said with a smile. “Her name is Tzina and she was a gift, from a Fae.” Zhou mi gasped in surprise and lifted his hands immediately from where they were exploring the dagger. To receive a gift from a Fae was doubly a blessing and a curse, yet at the same time the gift was typically very powerful.
His mother reached over and slid the delicate looking dagger from its sheath. The metal shimmered in the light coming through his window and he was struck by just how plain it looked. “A long time ago I did a Fae a great favor, a favor worthy of an equal favor in return. She gave this to me, to protect my own. Do not worry about the negative consequences of this object, they will not affect you.”
“Mom it is a tiny knife. I know that Fae items sometimes have a lot of power but what can this really do?”
“This blade acts like iron or sliver and will hurt any with an aversion to either, yet it is designed to cut through anything. She will not be seen unless she chooses to be or her true name is known. She can kill, even the un-killable. With her you will be safe,” his mother said placing the dagger lightly in his hands.
He gazed at the plain metal and, for a moment, he could feel the power of strong Fae magic. Zhou mi nodded and slipped it back into its sheath. “Wear it at all times,” his mother told him seriously, “but be careful never to give it to anyone else. If someone it is not intended for touches it, it has a habit of turning on them. Do not give it to even a friend, do you understand?”
“Yes,” Zhou mi agreed with a nod. “I understand.”
“Good,” she replied ruffling his hair affectionately. “You better get ready. Your ride is going to be here in five minutes.”
“Five minutes!?” Zhou mi exclaimed, looking frantically at his mostly unpacked bag. He stood, buckling the dagger around his waist before diving frantically back into his mess.
“Oh and Zhou mi dear?” his mother called. He paused in his frantic searching to look back at her. “Your hiking boots are under your bed,” she told him with a secretive smile and then walked out of his room.
He dived there, tugging out boxes and finding them half the way beneath it. When he emerged he threw them in his bag and along with the four changes of clothing, just in case. He added his iPod and headphones, as well as a hand held game system. Next was his journal, which he would never leave home without, and an extra notebook just in case he needed scrap paper for something. There were a thousand other things he thought about bringing but he didn’t have time to locate them all and decide if they were really necessary. He figured he had the necessities and would be alright without everything else.
Zhou mi grabbed his small duffle bag from the floor and began to zip it shut. He paused for a minute as his eyes caught sight of the book that Heechul had lent him. He was only part of the way through it, and he was curious to finish it. With a sigh he placed it in his bag as well and then zipped it shut.
Slinging it over his shoulder he moved out of his room and closed the door behind him, trying not to think about the mess he would have to clean up when he got home. His mother met him at the door with a large container. He sighed, and slipped on his shoes.
“Take these brownies with you for the ride there,” she said, placing the container in his hands. “Full werewolves are happy werewolves,” she told him in a sing song voice.
He accepted the container and opened the door, only to come face to face with Kyuhyun who had his hand raised, as if prepared to knock. “Uh I was just going to tell you we are getting ready to go,” Kyuhyun said lowering his hand.
“Right,” Zhou mi agreed. Then he shoved the container of brownies into the other teen’s hands. “These are from my mom for the trip,” Zhou mi told him, stepping past him and moving across the lawn with more confidence then he really felt.
He heard a murmured thank you from behind him, as Kyuhyun was more than likely bowing and thanking his mother. Then the other teen was beside him, falling into stride with him as they crossed to the neighbor’s house. “Eunhyuk is driving us,” he informed Zhou mi. “You should put your bag in the trunk.”
Eunhyuk stood by the nearly full trunk attempting to squish a rather large suitcase into it that looked as though it would never fit. “Uh I’m not sure there will be room for my stuff,” Zhou mi replied.
“Of course,” Eunhyuk paused as he gave the human equivalent of a huge shove to the suitcase, “There will be.” He turned his attention to the young woman who was standing beside him. “Yoona, do you have to bring so much crap?!”
“Oh for the love of,” she rolled her eyes and then shoved him out of the way. “If you want something done right do it yourself,” she muttered. She gave the suitcase a twist and light shove and it slipped into the trunk without protest. “It’s all about the angle Eunhyuk,” she scolded. “I would think as a man you would know that.”
Taeyeon laughed as she stepped from the house. “Believe me, he knows it,” she said flirtatiously. Eunhyuk blushed bright red and sputtered incoherently as the women shared a look.
“Zhou mi,” Yoona said brightly. “I’m glad you are joining us,” she seemed genuinely pleased by the fact and it made Zhou mi offer her an honest smile. “Is that all you are bring?” she asked frowning at his small bag.
“Some of us men can travel light,” Shindong said with a laugh and a pointed look at Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk recovered from his embarrassment enough to appear indignant, “My products are important! Don’t come crying to me when you are full of zits!”
Yoona and Taeyeon rolled their eyes. “Next month we are driving separate,” Yoona told Zhou mi softly as she reached for his bag.
He handed it to her and Kyuhyun laughed. “They say that every month,” he informed Zhou mi.
“This time we mean it,” Taeyeon declared, opening the back door and slipping in the back seat.
Yoona efficiently added his bag to the overstuffed trunk and then shut it, a feat which Zhou mi was surprised to see accomplished. She moved around the car and climbed in after Taeyeon, shutting the door behind her.
“We are going to be a little bit squished in my car, but everyone else comes from work and Leeteuk figured you would rather ride with us then have someone else come pick you up. If the women hog too much of the seat just elbow them over,” Eunhyuk told him with a grin, moving around to the driver’s side of the car.
Zhou mi nodded and followed Kyuhyun to the rear door. Kyuhyun slipped inside and Zhou mi tried his best to squeeze in after him and pull the door shut. When it was closed he found there was more room in the back of the car then he expected there to be.
“Do you want to walk all the way there love?” Taeyeon asked dangerously.
“Of course not,” Eunhyuk said hurriedly as he slid into the driver’s seat. “I mean that your beautiful form couldn’t take up that much space so really if Zhou mi is having a problem, he is too fat.”
“Better,” she said with a satisfied smile, reclining in her seat.
Shindong slid into the passenger’s seat and shut the door. Once everyone was in, Eunhyuk turned the key in the ignition and the car purred to life. He was just backing out of the drive way when Shindong turned his head and sniffed. “Oh I smell brownies!” he exclaimed.
“Here,” Kyuhyun said, offering him the container.
“Ooh sugar,” Shindong peeled the lid off and grabbed one for himself while offering one to everyone else.
Zhou mi accepted one as well, hoping that his mother had had one of her crazy moments that could have caused her to bake a sedative into them. He doubted it, but he could hope. Either way he knew it was going to be a long ride.
Chapter Eight
Masterlist
AN: You guys are all indebted to my wonderful beta to whom I sent this, this afternoon and she returned it promptly all edited.
I am glad to be back to this one, although it took me a few days to get in the swing of things again. However, it is now back strongly and Heechul thinks he owns this fic. Now that it is off hiatus it will probably resume the once a week update, perhaps twice I week. I don't want anyone to be disappointed if life happens but you may all find pleasant surprises if it doesn't. ^_^