Chapter Text
1875
A village where the day was night and night was day. The midnight sky was filled with bonfires, laughter, and the sounds of children chasing each other around their parents as they begged them to settle down, only half serious.
It was a vampire coven, small but close-knit. The leader was an elder, barely grey compared to their human counterparts. What could count as middle age in human years was already 700 years for a vampire. The man himself was already approaching a thousand years, a fantastic achievement for how often vampires were hunted. When he created the village, he made it in the image of what he always craved, where vampires could be free to be themselves, to live without judgment.
It was morning before anyone was awake. No one should be awake. Vampires may not turn into dust at the feeling of sunlight, but the feeling of your burning, melting while it's simply blistering would stir anyone from leaving their own in the broad daylight. Well, except (M/N), who used a cloak, layers of clothes, and gloves.
If he were alive, he would be having heatstroke, but instead, it felt like nothing. He climbed out of his window, slowly. He has done this enough that he wasn’t worried about getting caught anymore, but you can never be too careful with protective parents.
Vampiric speed moved him in and out of the village as quickly as a blink, as he ran to his cave with his friend. The friend had never studied this early; his afternoons and evenings were spent at a desk, learning. Something he never really related to. Vampires didn’t participate in society, so there was no need to understand what they did. (M/N) slowed down when he was close enough so he wouldn’t ruin his surprise.
There he was. Bang Chanhyuk. A human boy.
They became friends after the both of them bumped into each other in the woods, running away from their responsibilities. They were both the same age, body-wise, although vampires aged very differently from humans. Chanhyuk was shorter than him; vampires were usually on the taller side, but it didn’t matter.
“Chanhyuk!” (M/N) yelled, removing his cloak from the top of his head. He said that he had immune issues, but that wasn’t entirely a lie. His reaction to the sun was like an allergic reaction.
Chanhyuk jumped up and came up to him. “Hey! I almost got caught by my mom, but I managed to escape. I will have to be careful next time.”
“What did you do yesterday?” The friends sat down next to each other, talking in the dark.
“I had a math test.” Chanhyuk scoffed. When they first met, he had to explain to (M/N) what school was like. Vampires didn’t need school; there was no need if they didn’t engage with humans or wolves. The elder vampire was old and wise and didn’t need school. Why would the rest of the coven? Instead, they learned to hunt.
Animals were becoming more scarce as human villages got closer and closer to the homes of the vampires who had stayed there for centuries. Learning to hunt was essential for a growing group of vampires like them.
Sires of young vampires tend to teach them basics like reading and writing, and no more than what was needed, only enough that the vampires could communicate with each other, which didn’t require being face-to-face or even documenting things that were important, such as hunting logs.
Even now, he is learning how to read maps to find good hunting spots to bring animals back to the village. Once his teeth are fully in, he will begin to go on hunts with the older coven members, like his sires.
“Math still makes no sense to me. What more do you need, another adding and subtracting things together?” (M/N) jokes, causing Chanhyun to giggle at his friend’s antics.
“One day, I am going to teach you everything that I need to learn.”
“I will leave you right now and never come back,” (M/N) said, monotone, before bursting into laughter, crackling. They didn’t speak much about anything important, often just complained about their lives like angsty teenagers. However, that would soon change.
(M/N) blinks, looking at Chanhyuk as he spoke about his younger siblings annoying him. He always had stories about Jinyoung and Chaewon. The twins were about six and very hyper, following their older brother like ducks, hoping the bother him.
Soon, the cave went silent, both of them not knowing what to say but comfortable with just each other’s presence. (M/N) glanced over to Chanhyuk, his eyes closed as he seemed just to meditate. His face relaxed and calm, chest moving with every breath—something the vampire had to learn how to replicate while he was around his human friend. The last thing he ever wanted was for him to realize he had never breathed.
“Hey, Channie.” Chanhyuk opened his eyes, green eyes looking over to his friend. He could tell the mood was starting to dampen at the way (M/N) seemed to fold into himself as he looked down into his lap like he was scared.
Like he couldn’t look him in the eyes.
“I know we have been friends for a while now, and I wanted to tell you something about me.” (M/N) rubbed his arm, nervous. His (e/c) eyes were shaking, and if he could, he would be sweating like a pig.
“Yeah, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” The brown-haired man turned to his closest friend, eyebrows pinched in worry.
“The reason that I always wear so many clothes is not really because I have an allergy to the sun. It’s much more than that.” The vampire began to chew on his lip; his teeth were regular, but it wouldn’t be for long. “I’m.. a vampire.”
Chanhyuk stared at the boy before bursting into laughter, doubling over and shaking as the laughter echoed through the cave, mocking him. (M/N) froze. Why was he laughing so much? What was so funny about his confession?
“You’re so funny, (n/n)! You really could be an actor or something. I would love to see that play!” He spoke between the wheezes and giggles. (M/N) blinked.
“I’m serious?”
“How are you a vampire with normal teeth? You can’t be serious!” Chanhyuk stared, realizing that his friend wasn’t laughing at his joke. Was he being for real?
“Well, natural-born vampires get their fangs on their 15th birthday. My canines will probably fall out tonight, and will grow within hours,” (M/N) explained, wiggling one of his loose teeth. If he tried hard enough, he could probably pull it out, but it was tradition to let them fall out naturally. His mother said that his teeth would grow crooked if he pulled them out. Probably a lie, but whatever his sire said.
Every vampire couldn’t wait until their 15th birthday. It was their transition from childhood to adulthood, when their teeth grew into fangs. Until then, they could only drink blood from a bottle or a cup, like humans. However, as they grew into full-grown vampires, their fangs were sharp and hollow. Their fangs were able to suck the blood out of the artery, preventing any blood from being spilled.
“Were you planning on killing me?” Chanhyuk asked, his heartbeat picking up. He may not have his fangs, but (M/N) still had supernatural hearing. The blood began to pump excessively as the anxiety rose in the human’s body.
“No! I would never kill you, Channie! You are my best friend. I could never do you any harm. I haven’t even fed from a human before,” (M/N) explained. Was he wrong about Chanhyuk? They have known each other for a year now, and he has never said anything bad about vampires. Granted, they lived in hiding and were rare compared to wolves, who often lived amongst humans.
Was this a mistake?
“I don’t know if I can believe you. I never met a vampire before. I keep hearing stories about them hunting humans at night, and that they'll be found in a grey husk. You could kill me right now, and no one would find me.” Chanhyuk rose from his seat. He was slowly but surely moving towards the opening of the cave. The sun was rising, and the vampire didn’t have his protective clothes on. If he ran quickly enough, he might be able to escape from his grasp.
“I don’t live like that! My coven doesn’t drink from humans. I never even met a human before you, either! However, you were so lovely that I wanted to prove that maybe vampires could live with humans too! You don’t understand. I never meant to scare you.” (M/N) justified himself as he finally got up from his sitting position as well. This caused Chanhyuk to jerk, his body moving closer to the sunlight.
“How can I be so sure that nothing will happen?”
How could he prove that he could be trusted? There's nothing he could really do that would show his good intentions because everything that humans know about vampires is that they seduce and kill, they will suck you dry with no remorse, and leave you for someone else to find later.
“Okay. When I get my teeth tonight, I will come back, and I can prove to you that I wouldn’t hurt you. Vampires are harmed by fire, but even worse than most creatures. Our bodies will melt even before contact is made. If you are scared of me, you can just point the fire at me until I gain your trust.” You can hear the desperation in his voice. He was determined to keep Chanhyuk in his life no matter what potential problems arose. He doubts Chanhyuk would hurt him. He would never hurt even a fly.
Chanhyuk processed the words before nodding with a slight wary smile. (M/N) smiled back at him, just as weakly, and nodded.
“Okay, I think I should go. We will meet here tomorrow, like always. I will bring the fire as you said. I trust you. You are my friend.”
That was the last thing (M/N) heard Chanhyuk say before he ran off, opposite of where the coven was. The run home was only a few seconds, and yet the longest seconds that he had ever felt in his life. It was now approaching noon. He successfully snuck back into the house; however, it felt like he should have never left to begin with.
Looking up at the ceiling of the pitch-black room, the vampire could not sleep. Vampires, though not alive, needed to recharge just as any other supernatural creature did. His coffin was filled with blankets and pillows. It had all the the works of a comfortable bed to sleep in, yet that was the last thing on his mind.
This lasted until dusk.
The celebration of his 15th birthday began as soon as the sunlight faded. His sires knocked on his bed; the dark room somehow showed the gleam of their sharp canine fangs. Throughout the day, his teeth finally fell out, his fangs slowly growing in. By the end of the night, they should be full-grown.
He was surprised by a drink of his favorite animal to eat, a deer. He sipped on it through a straw, quietly. No one seemed to notice anything was going on. Everyone has just begun the celebration. The giant bonfire stood in the middle of the village, and some performed music. People danced around, and the birthday boy was sitting at his special table, presents scattered around for him to accept.
The cognitive dissonance only grew as the night went on. He smiled and thanked everyone for their gifts. He even got up and danced with the young vampires, like younger siblings to him. His teeth were growing more and more until they finally seemed to be full-grown around the early morning.
And then, when the sun slowly started to come up, everyone started to go back into their homes. He did the same, waiting for his parents to go to sleep as well. Just like always, he slipped through the cracks, although tired from the lack of sleep. As the cave came into view, it seemed like Chanhyuk was not there yet.
(M/N) went inside the cave, although it had an odd smell that he didn’t seem to recognize. Did something happen while he was gone? Then he heard crackles from the the opening of the cave, light seeming to come into view.
There he found Chaehyun with a torch, burning bright and out of place in the bright morning sun. (M/N) smiled and went to his friend, but was stopped by his friend's expression. He seemed cold and shaking. He was sweating heavily and upset, with his jaw locked.
“Hey Channie, what’s wrong?” (M/N) asked, worried and eyes darting around as he seemed to realize the smell he was noticing was also coming from that torch as well.
“You,” Chanhyuk growled. “You are a liar, a manipulator.”
(M/N) went to ask what he meant, but he was cut off by Chanhyuk, “When I went home, I told everyone what you were, what we had in our backyard. I didn’t tell you this, but a vampire killed my father. He went deer hunting to feed our family, and he never came back. I found him on my own, days later. I never thought I would see him so hollow and grey. He looked so sick. Only evidence of injury was two bites on his neck.”
After the confession, (M/N) began to shake at the realization. This wasn’t fear as he suspected. This was pain, anger. He was really going to kill him for his father. He didn’t even know who could have killed his father. He wasn’t even old enough to kill someone like that.
“Why? I didn’t do this to you.” His voice trembled as tears welled in his eyes.
“No, but I am sure someone in your coven did. That’s why when I told everyone, they went on the hunt to find your little group as soon as the sun began to rise. They will surround your village with fuel, around every house. They will make sure no one survives. Just like I will sure you won’t either.”
If his heart had a purpose, it would have stopped at the realization of what he just said. He was going to kill him and everyone he loves? He thought he could trust him, but it seems that his elder was right. Vampires were never going to be accepted in society. His entire friendship with Chanhyuk was all a lie.
Nothing will be the same again.
They both stared at each other. (M/N) down inside the cave, as Chanhyuk stared down at him. Finally, a movement occurred. A single flick of the wrist and the torch began to fall to the ground. Using his quick, vampiric speed, he moved deeper into the cave. He couldn’t go outside, but the further he went down, the less fuel Chanhyuk had to reach him. There was no way the flames would reach down. The cave spiraled down into a complex system as he sat there, hearing nothing but the roaring of flames up above him.
He shook, thinking about what was happening outside of those walls. He was sure that his family was all dead now. Chanhyuk got to walk away free, and his hate against vampires was avenged. There was so much fuel. How long will it take to finally burn off?
“I did this. I caused all this mess; this is my fault.” He whimpered to himself, sobbing into his arms, finally thinking about the screams from his coven burning and melting to death, just like how he should be at the moment. Nothing was stopping him from throwing himself into the flames except himself.
He didn’t deserve to let himself off that easily.
This lasted for days. There was nothing to feed off of. He went from feeding about three times a day, every day, to absolutely nothing in an instant. His stomach growled, and his teeth were starting to hurt from the lack of use. He couldn’t move too much without his stomach cramping like hell.
Then, rain came. The rain washed down into the cave, the fires slowly dwindling. Almost a week later, (M/N) finally rose from the cave, body dirty from smoke, ash, and dirt. His body was twitching and doubled over.
As soon as he saw a rabbit, he lunged at it like a rapid animal, sucking the blood out of the innocent creature like the monster he felt like he was. He groaned, his fangs finally not hurting after the days of them burning in his mouth. He wiped his mouth and finally got up with wobbly knees.
Despite it all, he walked back to the village. Well, what was left of it. Everything was burned down. The smell of flesh, ash, and fire filled the air. Every single building was burned down to the ground. Nothing was left.
His family home was on the outskirts, the first thing he would have seen, and yet it was unrecognizable. His mother, his father. They were probably dead. If the fires didn’t kill them, the sun burned so bright that their skin would blister, and they could kill them physically instead of using fire.
“Oh God…
What have I done?”
After he found his village burned to the ground, he knew he had to leave as soon as possible in case any other humans were lingering around. Walking deeper in the forest, the trees grew denser. It was impossible to see even a few feet ahead of him. However, he kept walking, ever farther, until he found a cottage. It was abandoned, moss and grass already taking over the stone.
It didn’t matter. He opened the door, having to force it open with an extra push from the years of misuse. He slammed the door shut, taking his cloak off to cover the single window. He sighed and finally limped to the bed.
He looked up at the ceiling, tears finally reaching his eyes again. He closed his eyes as soon as the first tear slipped.
2025
(M/N) opened his eyes, the dark that consumed the house around him was so familiar. He yawned, stretching before relaxing into a hum. Looking around the single-room cottage, he saw the same thing he had seen for the past two centuries. An old, uncomfortable bed, a table, a single chair, and a furnace. It was minimal, but there was nothing else for him. He didn’t have one else.
(M/N) finally got up from his creaking bed, slumped, and shuffled his feet across the floorboards. He went straight outside to find the makeshift clothesline. There were his clothes, ripped and mauled. He has had these clothes for the past fifty years. He grabbed them off a dead hunter who was killed in the depths of the woods. No one would ever find his body this deep, so he drank from his corpse despite the rotten taste of the still, spoiled blood and took his clothes, burying him out of respect.
The young vampire swapped his clothes for the outdated clothes outside, not caring about decency when there was nothing around even to see him, other than maybe forest animals. Then he made sure he had his cloak—remembrance of his coven. There weren’t many around his cottage like when he first began to live in it. They probably sensed his supernatural aura and kept their distance from the lone vampire.
As soon as (M/N) went off, his eyes turned red to increase his ability to see in the pitch dark forest. He was slow and steady as he looked around for any animals; however, it was hard. There weren’t any animals around for once. He was used to that during the the winter months; however, it was in the middle of the summer. There is usually an abundance of animals roaming around this time.
“What is going on?” (M/N) spoke to himself as he closed his eyes and slowly sniffed the air. There wasn’t a single prey animal around him. It made no sense. It was the perfect environment for them to roam around and eat. It may be night, but they were still very active. What could have happened to the animals overnight?
The vampire didn’t want to walk too far from the cottage, but it may have been the only option at the moment. He took a knife and cut a mark into several trees facing all the possible directions that he could come back to the spot from. It wasn’t needed; he could find his way home at this point. However, it was more habit to show the marking of a vampire.
He walked deep until he heard the sound of a rushing river. Perfect. If there were any animals around, they would be near the nearest water source, in case they needed it. He slowly smelled around and only found the marks of predators.
Wolves.
“Shit.” (M/N) groaned at the thought. It was most likely just regular wolves; however, the idea of werewolves popped into the back of his mind. He hasn’t seen them in years. He had to kill someone many years ago. He stopped counting how long it had been since the massacre of his coven a long time ago.
It was a blood bath. He was just going for a hunt, but he was attacked from behind by the wolf out of nowhere. It lasted longer than it should have. If he weren’t a vampire, he would have been dead, but the wolf wasn’t as fast as he was, and he ripped its throat out with his sharpened nails.
He didn’t know if he was truly stronger than a full-blown wolf or if he just killed it out of blind luck. He doesn’t fight. He doesn’t kill unless it is to feed. That was the first time he was ever attacked by another person, even if it wasn’t in human form, since Chanhyuk.
He sniffed again and turned toward the source. It was a small rabbit. However, it was the only thing around him at the moment, and he was desperate. If he was going to have to deal with this, he might have to change his hunting grounds once more. It happens sometimes, but this isn’t normal. He is the only thing hunting these prey hunters other than their natural predators. There was no way he ate so many animals that they went scarce.
He began to crawl low and slow on the ground as he approached the rabbit. He never learned to hunt properly like a vampire because he only got his teeth until his birthday, and it was ruined by something specific that happened.
So he learned how to hunt from big cats, wolves, and things that needed to be stealthy and quick to take their prey by surprise and kill them without the need for an unnecessary chase. He was definitely faster than they were, using vampiric speed to catch prey meters away in seconds. However, it felt more comfortable doing it this way.
He approached with grace and minimal sound, despite the leaves and grass crunching beneath him. He has had decades to achieve this technique. (M/N) watched the brown rabbit sit there, unmoving, but his ears were going a million a second. He heard something nearby.
Pause.
The rabbit let his head down, eating the grass without a care in the world. The vampire smiled, almost sinisterly, before he pounced on top of the clueless brown rabbit, teeth sinking in one of its major arteries with expert precision. He picked the rabbit with both hands, moving on his knees as he held the small animal in his arms. He closed his eyes with a soft humming coming across his lips at the feeling of the fangs pulling the blood from its prey.
Once he moved his grip from the rabbit, he sighed, looking at the dry husk of the rabbit. He hated having to do this. Consuming blood in general seemed hard to deal with, even all these years. The realization that he had to kill other beings to keep himself alive.
A real parasite.
(M/N) stood up from his kneeling position before heading back to where he had just come from. He would need to go back out for a hunt just before nightfall, but this was enough for a while. He could bring a live animal home with him instead. He made a cage for that anyway.
The walk home would be long, but that didn’t matter. Perhaps he can find the wolf that he smelled before and kill it before it gets too close to him. The last thing he wanted was to be attacked when he was just trying to walk around.
AWOOOOOO..
There he was. It sounded so desperate, too. It was most likely injured. He was a monster, but he didn’t want the animal to die a slow death. He followed the sound, but sniffed around for a more straightforward path to it. However, as he smelled around, he couldn’t help but notice that the smell from the river was not the same as the one he was following. Not only that, there was a delicious undercurrent of blood beneath the prominent smell.
Did two wolves end up fighting?
He would have to be careful about this, then. If he puts it out of its misery, there is a high risk of the pack finding them as well. Not that it mattered, because he could take them out with ease if need be. He sighed and stepped over the overgrown roots and squeezed past the giant trees. Eventually, he was met with the sight of an enormous dark brown wolf.
“Is that...” (M/N) blinked at the sight. This is a werewolf, and he was stuck in a bear trap. He was franting, whimpering, and attempting to bite at the trap. He must be so scared that he can’t even think about shifting back.
The vampire blinked and moved so that the wolf could see him, but slowly. He may be injured, but anything that is hurt and scared is often extremely aggressive. He could probably hurt him if he weren’t too careful with him.
“Hey,” (M/N) said. The wolf’s ears popped up at the sound before its head shot up, growling. It moved itself into a fighting position despite its right back legs being stuck in a giant bear trap. “Hey, calm down. I’m not the one who sat it out.”
The werewolf didn’t believe him, growling and baring his sharp teeth for the vampire to see. This was going to take a while, won’t it? He sighed and pulled his lips to show his sharp fangs. Supernatural creatures didn't need to use traps anyway.
The wolf looked at the teeth and slowly settled down, but was visibly wary of the other male. That doesn't mean he won't kill him, but at least the likelihood was lower.
Wolves and Vampires had an odd relationship. They often didn’t fight each other under the guise that they were both supernatural creatures. However, they also didn’t interact with each other. Wolves often cohabited with humans, mostly because werewolves and humans could have children together. Packs with a human and two were common even back when his elder vampire talked to his coven.
It was only vampires that were the problem. The need to feed on others is seen as demonic, and they were ostracized for it. Wolves were not the ones who pushed vampires away, leading to their deaths. However, many did not help vampires in their time of need. Just stayed bystatnads and often enablers.
“Listen, I'm not going to hurt you. I need to get that trap off your leg.” (M/N) pointed to his leg. Blood was pouring all over the place. There was no way he wasn't going to bleed out unless he was pulled from the bear trap and the wound was adequately taken care of.
The wolf whined. His eyes seemed to shine with tears at the thought of moving. It was already so painful staying still. The idea of pulling the claws out of his flesh seemed like hell. (M/N) slowly moved towards the brown wolf. The growls now seemed weak compared to before.
The vampire smiled at the young werewolf and slowly lifted his hands to soothe him. He scratched behind his ears as someone would do for a dog. However, this is a dog almost as big as a grizzly bear. The wolf flinched but let him continue petting him. He needed all the comfort he could get. Eventually, the wolf began to wag his giant tail, making the vampire smirk at how cute the wolf was. This was the best interaction he has had in forever since he lost his coven.
(M/N) looked down at his foot and looked at the bear trap. It was a pressure plate. He would have to pry it open with his bare hands. Looking deep into his large brown eyes, they spoke to each other silently before the wolf nodded to permit the removal of his leg.
“It will hurt, but don’t worry. I got you.” (M/N) spoke softly in his ear, causing it to twitch before he croach down to the trap. He grabbed both sides of the trap before the teeth away from his leg with ease. As soon as he could, the wolf removed his leg from the trap, and the trap snapped back closed when the vampire let go.
“There.” (M/N) stood up from his squat. The wolf looked up straight at the vampire and suddenly fell to the ground, seizing on the ground. Vampire gasped in shock, scared at what possibly could be going on.
He soon realized that there was nothing on; he was just shifting back in his human form. It made sense, honestly. Most wolves stayed in human form more than wolf form. It took more out of them to remain wolves for so long. The stress most likely made it worse for him.
When he finished shifting back into a human, he was clearly passed out from the pain. The wound from the teeth of the trap dug deeper, much more than the wound in wolf form. He glanced up from his feet, and he was naked.
Of course.
(M/N) pulled his cloak off and wrapped it slowly and softly around his body. The boy was on the smaller side, vampires often taller, so he could cover a good bit of him. He finally looked up at his face. He was adorable. Long dark brown hair that seemed to wave, long eyelashes, and chubby cheeks. His lips were small with a natural pout.
Cute.
The vampire sighed and looked at his leg. He should hurry and get home. He would be able to help him better there. He slowly pulled him into his arms before standing up with ease in bridal style.
“Let’s get home, little wolf.”