Blood Lovers

by Jophrael Avario

  "Not until I tell you to, Tamir," he murmured in Tamir's ear, fucking Tamir a little faster.

  "Yes, master," Tamir breathed, his legs trembling worse than before.

  He was desperate to touch himself, to make himself come, but Vidar's thrusts blew all thought from his mind, including Vidar's order. He pumped his cock a couple of times before Vidar slapped his thigh again, leaving a bright red handprint on his skin.

  "Naughty boy, Tamir," Vidar whispered in his ear, then withdrew from Tamir's ass. "Now you'll have to make up for it. Get on your knees."

  Tamir did as he was ordered, and Vidar stood against the wall, his cock at Tamir's lips.

  "Now suck me, Tamir," Vidar ordered, thrusting his cock into Tamir's mouth. "Suck me like a good little whore."

  Tamir took Vidar's cock into his throat, happily sucking Vidar off. Vidar's hands fisted into Tamir's hair, pulling it, but Tamir didn't care, his tongue rubbing against the underside of Vidar's cock.

  Vidar pulled Tamir's head closer and came, his fluid filling Tamir's mouth and forcing him to swallow. Tamir did so happily, continuing to suck Vidar's dick until all of the fluid was spent.

  "Good boy," Vidar purred, pulling him up by his hair. "Now stand with your hands against the wall again."

  Tamir did as he was told, and Vidar pressed his slick cock back into Tamir's ass. Tamir gasped at the feeling, then moaned and bucked his hips. Vidar was doing something, fucking him hard, on an angle that touched something inside him, sending barbs of Heaven deep into his brain.

  "Oh, Vidar," Tamir whispered, and pumped his cock.

  Vidar slapped Tamir's thigh again, but the man couldn't take his hand from his cock. Instead, Vidar fucked Tamir deeper and faster, making the man's knees buckle.

  Vidar continued to fuck Tamir on his knees, holding Tamir's black hair to use as leverage. Tamir spasmed and came, panting, gasping and moaning in pleasure. Vidar continued to fuck him, making his ass hurt, pleasure radiating from his cock to his brain.

  Vidar came again, his cock buried deep inside Tamir. Tamir felt it fill him, and he trembled as Vidar removed himself from Tamir's hole. Vidar slapped Tamir's ass twice, then sat beside him, pulling his lover onto his lap.

  "Good boy," Vidar murmured, cradling Tamir to him. "I love you, Tamir."

  "I love you too, Vidar."

  Tamir drifted off to sleep, his ass sore, his cock sticky, but oddly content, in heart and soul.

  ~ * ~

  Tamir's therapist opened the door to the room. Tamir was lying in the middle of the padded floor, the buckles on his straightjacket glistening in the light of the door. Tamir's blue eyes were open, staring straight ahead at the padded wall in front of him.

  "Tamir?" the man called, stepping into the room and leaving a pair of nurses in the doorway. "Tamir."

  The figure on the ground didn't move, barely breathed. When the therapist pressed a finger to the man's neck, he could barely feel his pulse, it was so slow.

  "Get a doctor," the therapist called, undoing Tamir's straightjacket and laying him out so he could see his chest move. "And notify the family. Something's wrong."

  ~ * ~

  "Tamir."

  Vidar opened his eyes, looking around at all the men around him. The yard was open to the elements, and rain was pouring down so hard and fast that it obscured the people five feet from him.

  It was time to feed.

  Thunder pealed through the sky, bringing more water and a flash of lightning with it. Vidar walked out into the rain, looking for the man he knew would be out there.

  His cellmate.

  The man was dotting a new tattoo into his hand, the blood calling to Vidar, even through the water falling around him. He slid through the night, heading for the blood, and bared his fangs in a smile. There he was.

  Vidar hauled the man from his seat before he or his friends could work out what was going on. Vidar dragged him out into the middle of the yard, where it was guaranteed no one would see him. The man weighed almost a hundred kilograms, his weight almost doubled by the amount of water soaked into his clothes. Nevertheless, he was light to Vidar's thirst-enhanced strength.

  "Hey, let—let me go!" the man cried, struggling. Thunder pealed, drowning out his words.

  Vidar sank his fangs into the man's carotid vein as thunder rolled again, light barely glistening through the rain. The man's blood poured through his skin, past Vidar's lips, and down Vidar's throat. The man struggled and fought, but he was losing a litre of blood a minute, more when Vidar sucked it out of him. He was too weak to do anything already, and he couldn't cause Vidar any damage. Vidar's bite was seamless, and he managed to drain all the blood that passed from the man's body.

  Vidar dropped the corpse and licked his lips, coughing as the man's ink-stained blood reached his gut. He pressed the back of his hand to his lips to smother the cough, then smiled. He could feel all his vampiric powers coming back to him, coming to give him freedom again.

  And now would be the perfect time to fly.

  Vidar's grey tracksuit split, and his black wigs sprouted from his arms. Vidar flapped them a couple of times, testing the bat's membrane, before throwing himself into the air, fighting wind and sleet to make it above the walls.

  Vidar fought his way past the guard tower, taking a second to knock one of the guards who'd beaten him from the stone building. He flew through the sleet, finding it easier now that he wasn't lifting off, and headed north.

  Towards where he could feel Tamir waiting for him.

  ~ * ~

  Tamir sat cradled in Vidar's arms, smiling and happy. The man beneath him felt solid, whole and—strangely—warm.

  "Vidar," Tamir whispered, not wanting to spoil their time in the comforting darkness. "Why are you always so cold?"

  Vidar chuckled. Tamir snuggled closer to his chest. "I'm a vampire, Tamir. My skin is cold, because I'm not really alive."

  "But you're warm now." Tamir burrowed further into the man's chest, smiling. "My warm, beautiful vampire lover."

  Vidar kissed the top of his head. "You know that this isn't real, Tamir, don't you? I'm not really here. I am just a figure you've created in your mind to keep you sane."

  "Am I really sane?" Tamir asked, clutching Vidar's black shirt. "If I'm talking to a figure in my own head, am I truly sane?"

  Vidar shook his head. "I can't answer that for you, Tamir. That is something that someone else, someone on the outside, will have to answer."

  Tamir nodded to himself. "That makes sense. I guess."

  Vidar smiled and hugged Tamir tighter. "I have to tell you something, though, Tamir."

  "What?" Tamir lifted his head to look at Vidar's clean-shaven face. "What is it?"

  Vidar stiffened, then vanished. Tamir fell with a thump to the padded surface, then looked around at the walls. "Vidar?"

  The door to the room opened, letting a dark light spill across the man's face. Tamir tried to lift his arms to shield his eyes, but they were tied up.

  "Vidar? Help me. Please!"

  The figure in the doorway stepped closer, and Tamir shrank back. The man's arms weren't arms – they were wings, black, leathery wings. When the man stepped into Tamir's field of vision, the light illuminating his face, Tamir screamed.

  Vidar's beautiful face had been altered. Instead of the wonderful, seductive golden eyes, deep, black pits sucked Tamir in, disarming him. Vidar's teeth were all sharp—not just his fangs, but all his teeth—and his nose had become the snout of a giant bat.

  "Tamir, it's me. Don't you love me?" the bat-Vidar asked, creeping towards Tamir, using its wings to stabilise its walk. "Don't you want me anymore, Tamir?"

  Tamir screamed, convulsing and fainting. The room fell into absolute darkness, and all he heard was the bat-Vidar closing in on him, felt the hot breath as it lowered its teeth to his neck, and the sharp pain as its fangs sank into his skin, sucking the life from his body.

  ~ * ~

  Mirus watched the doctor working on Tamir. He s
tood back, passing the man objects, tools and supplies as the doctor tried to figure out why Tamir was catatonic.

  "Watch him!" the doctor cried, snatching back his hand as Tamir started to convulse.

  He grabbed the man's shoulders, holding him down, as Mirus seized his legs, holding him as still as possible. The therapist stared as blood-flecked foam bubbled up from Tamir's mouth, spilling on to the padded floor. Tamir stared at the ceiling, his eyes paler.

  "What's wrong with him?" Mirus demanded.

  "Epileptic seizure." The doctor held Tamir down, frowning at the foam in his mouth.

  "And the spit?" Mirus snapped. "Is that part of epilepsy?"

  The doctor seemed at a loss. "I don't know."

  "Well, aren't you a wonderful doctor." Mirus looked up as a shadow crossed the doorway. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "You!"

  ~ * ~

  Vidar stood in the doorway, looking down on the three men in the padded room. Tamir was staring at the ceiling, and the other two were holding him down while he fought their grip. Vidar stared down at the humans, his lips peeling back from his teeth.

  "Let him go," Vidar hissed, his fangs sliding into place.

  "He's having a seizure," the doctor snapped, not looking at Vidar. "We let him go, he's going to hurt himself."

  Vidar stepped into the room. The therapist, Dr. Mirus, staggered back, mouth agape. Vidar ignored him, focussing on the man holding the still Tamir.

  "Let him go."

  The man let go of Tamir's shoulders slowly, as though unsure of whether it was a good idea. Vidar's view focussed on Tamir lying on the ground, his arms wrapped in a straightjacket, and he stepped closer to kneel beside his lover.

  "What happened to him?"

  The doctor glanced up at Vidar. "We don't know. He was fine an hour ago."

  Vidar smoothed back Tamir's hair. "Get out, but leave the door open."

  "I can't just leave him here without helping him—"

  Vidar growled, his throat delivering a noise more threatening than a dog's. The doctor stepped back, taking in Vidar's glowing golden eyes and sharpened fangs, and ran out, leaving the door open as ordered. Vidar rolled Tamir onto his side and undid the straightjacket, ripping it from Tamir's wasted frame.

  "Tamir?" he whispered, pulling the man onto his lap. "Tamir, wake up. I'm here, Tamir. I won't let you go. Please, just...just wake up."

  Vidar held Tamir, feeling his heart breaking with every second that passed. He'd survived jail for Tamir, survived in order to ensure he'd return to the raven-haired man, but he hadn't thought of what Tamir would be going through.

  Vidar's fangs and wings retreated as he gently slapped Tamir's face to make him blink, breathe, anything that would show he was still alive, still sane. Still Tamir.

  Tamir was in a nuthouse, Vidar had no doubt about that. He'd flown so fast through the rain that he hadn't known where he was until he'd seen Tamir's padded room and the straightjacket.

  Tamir shuddered, then was completely still. Vidar looked at him, waiting, hoping. He couldn't hear Tamir's breathing anymore. With a start, he realised that Tamir's slow heartbeat had stopped.

  A tear rolled down Vidar's cheek, dripping onto Tamir's face. Tamir was gone.

  Vidar felt a sob growing in his throat. His fangs stabbed into his tongue, making him curse as he tasted his blood.

  Vidar stilled. Blood.

  "I hope you don't hate me for this, Tamir," he whispered, then kissed the man's neck. "I don't want to lose you ever again."

  Vidar sank his fangs into the pale flesh, seeking out the blood. He couldn't sense the pulse anymore, but he could still smell the cooling life-giving fluid. His fangs hit the artery and he closed his eyes, drawing the blood from Tamir's veins. Memories of Tamir flashed through Vidar's mind, memories dulled only by sadness. He'd been seeing them for almost a year, now, and they were familiar company, like old friends.

  Vidar calculated the amount of blood he'd drunk. It took twenty mouthfuls to drain a living person, twenty-five for someone without a pulse. At eighteen, he stopped and licked the stale blood from Tamir's neck.

  "I love you," he whispered into Tamir's ear, then sank his fangs into his own arm, ripping the skin, tearing himself open so blood poured into his mouth.

  Vidar pressed his lips to Tamir's, forcing his blood into Tamir's mouth, ignoring the pain in his arm and the acidic taste of his own fluid. He was making the blood flow into Tamir's body, forcing it to do its job. Vidar took another mouthful from his arm, sucking it hard to get as much of it as he could into his mouth, and kissed Tamir again.

  The wound in Vidar's arm healed quickly, and he forced the last few drops from his mouth and into Tamir's. He licked the sour blood from his lips and pulled back, rocking Tamir's head in his lap as he waited. Something had to happen. It had to.

  "Wake up, Tamir."

  ~ * ~

  Time passed, and Vidar didn't move, didn't shift his attention from Tamir's body. He'd never heard of it taking so long for someone to turn, but then, he'd never heard of someone turning a corpse.

  No. Don't think of him like that. He's still alive, still Tamir. This will work.

  Something blocked the doorway, casting a shadow over Vidar and Tamir. Vidar didn't break his concentration on Tamir's body until the figure in the doorway tried to pull him away.

  "Vidar Gentson, you're under arrest for—"

  "Fuck off," he said quietly.

  The figure hesitated; Vidar could feel that in his touch. "You're—you're under arrest for breaking—"

  "I said fuck off."

  The hand came off Vidar's shoulder. Vidar heard him walk out, and the figure talked to someone on the other side of the door.

  "You've chosen your cell, Vidar," the voice said, blocking the light. "We'll see how you feel tomorrow, if you want out or not."

  The shadows vanished, and they shut the door. Vidar guessed they hadn't wanted to risk taking Tamir from him—they weren't quite sure of what he could do if pushed too far.

  Good.

  ~ * ~

  Tamir floated. There was no other word for the sensation. In his little world, there was nothing but darkness. He was alone, alone with the pain in his neck, his heart and his head.

  He was alone.

  "Vidar?"

  Tamir's voice echoed hollowly in the void. He tried to step forward, but couldn't tell if he'd moved or not. There was nothing to mark his progress, nothing to judge against the darkness.

  "Vidar, where are you?" he whimpered, forcing himself to swim forward. "You said you wouldn't leave me."

  I won't, Vidar's voice said in his mind, no echo to it. I won't abandon you. But don't abandon me.

  "I won't—I won't ever. Please don't leave!"

  You are the one swimming away, Tamir. Fingers ghosted over his chest for a second, and then they were gone. But you have to wake up now, Tamir. You have to leave this darkness behind and wake up.

  "I won't be with you if I do."

  Not true. The voice seemed to hesitate. I am waiting there with you, Tamir. The real me.

  "What?"

  No more imagining me, Tamir. The ghostly fingers came back, brushing over Tamir's lips lightly. I am truly there with you.

  "How?"

  I'm a vampire, Tamir. Nothing is outside my powers, even escaping from prison. The voice was light, as though the person supplying it was smiling. All you have to do is wake up, and you'll be free forever.

  "How do I wake up?"

  That, I cannot tell you. It's something you'll have to work out. The voice lowered, and the ghostly fingers traced gently over Tamir's face. I love you. I'll be waiting in the light. Forever, if need be, just to see you again.

  The warm presence Tamir had felt in the darkness vanished, leaving him shivering. He spun slowly in the void—at least, he thought he did—and noticed, for the first time, a small glimmer of light far away.

  Without thinking about it, Tamir pushed off, heading for it. Anything had to be be
tter than this cold, oppressive darkness.

  ~ * ~

  Twelve hours.

  Twelve hours since Tamir had died. Twelve hours since Vidar had tried to turn the man.

  Vidar crouched in the corner of the room, hugging his knees and stared at Tamir's still body. There was a hollow pit in his stomach, a pit that he had never before felt. Tamir, the man who understood him like no one else, was dead, and he couldn't bring him back.

  Tamir's body was stone-still. His heart was silent, he was barely breathing—

  Barely breathing.

  Vidar leaped forward, pulling Tamir's head up into his lap. He gently slapped Tamir's cheeks, murmuring to him in the darkness. "Tamir! Tamir, cica, wake up." He pressed his ear to Tamir's chest, and heard the man's lungs draw in more air. Vidar burst out into a smile, shaking Tamir's shoulders a little more. "Wake up, love!"

  A finger resting against Vidar's leg twitched. Vidar laughed as the man drew in a big breath, then coughed like a smoker dragging up a lung. He hugged Tamir tightly, feeling tears fall from his eyes—tears of relief, joy and all-consuming happiness. Tamir was back.

  "Oh, Tamir," Vidar breathed, smoothing the man's hair back from his face. "You scared the life out of me!"

  "Doesn't look like it," Tamir said with a gruff voice, coughing again. "You're gorgeous, Vidar. I don’t think I ever told you how beautiful, sexy and amazing you are before."

  Vidar smiled, bursting into tears as he laughed. "So are you." He hugged Tamir tightly. "I thought I'd never see you again."

  Tamir smiled, pulling himself up into a sitting position, wincing as his back creaked. He turned to look at Vidar over his shoulder. "Your hair's longer."

  Vidar laughed again, wiping the tears from his eyes. "No it's not. My hair hasn't changed length in years. Yours has, though." He ran his hand through Tamir's hair. "You're even more adorable with long hair."

  Tamir smiled and stood up weakly, holding his hand out. Vidar used it to help pull him to his feet, and then wrapped an arm around Tamir's waist.

  "Can I ask you something?" Tamir asked, wrapping his arms around Vidar's neck.