Dodger peeked open an eye, feeling a curious hand stroke his naked hip slowly. He yawned, stretching out his legs as he rolled over, the warm rays of sunlight streaming in from the window. God, he had missed his old bed so much. The way it dented in the most comfortable ways and molded around his body... It was the one thing, the only thing he could say he missed from his human life.
It was then that Dodge felt lips on his ear and he let out a soft giggle, turning towards Cole. "Morning, sweetstuff," Dodge whispered softly, snaking his leg between his sires and rubbing their feet together. He could feel Cole's warm breath against his earlobe and it made Dodger squirm under the thin blanket covering them.
"G'morning," Cole's sleepy voice whispered softly, his lips tickling along Dodger's neck. Cole played with the end of Dodge's hair, his arms wrapped tightly around Dodger's middle. The sunlight streaming in from the windows gave his sire's skin a glow, and Dodge couldn't fight the temptation anymore. He ran his hand along Cole's belly, his index finger dipping into his bellybutton. He had never been so content before than he was in his old room, in Cole's arms.
"I think we should sleep all day," Dodger said against his sire's skin, his lips tracing over his Adam's Apple and down to his collarbone. He felt Cole press against him; the feeling of his hard groin made Dodge tingle in all of the right places. "Mmm," he moaned softly, his hand slipping under the covers. "Definitely staying in bed all day."
So naturally, Dodger wasn't surprised when he heard a knock on the door. He stopped teasing Cole's nipple, to give his sire a frustrated glare. "I bet you Corey is whining about something. Should I tell them to fuck off or do you want to?"
"I know how much you like to," was his sire's response as he kissed the soft spot under his ear. As Dodge slipped off the bed, tugging on a pair of boxers, Cole stayed snuggled under the covers. "Hey Dodge?" he called out while Dodger turned around to face him. "Just...I love you."
Dodger blushed softly, leaning over the bed to place a soft kiss on Cole's nose. "I love you too, sweetstuff," he whispered back, tempted to climb back into bed and forget about Corey and Orphan.
But Dodger, being the kindest vampire in the world, left his naked boyfriend in bed. He walked over to the door, glare in action. "What the fuck do yo-" his words were cut off as he came face to face not with his "friends" but with his father. "W-what? Father?" Dodger called out in disbelief, stepping back in fear as his father lowered a set of white pearly fangs much like Dodger's own.
He was knocked on his back in a matter of seconds, his father jumping on top of him. "Found you," he hissed, his hand around Dodger's throat. Dodger could hear Cole's scream, and he glanced over towards his sire, searching for some type of help, but it was too late. He felt fangs piercing his neck and ripping him apart. The last thing Dodger saw before he closed his eyes-
"Holy fuck!" Dodger said as he nearly rolled off the bed. He was sweaty, shaking, and his hands were grabbing his throat, happy to know it was still connected. "Holy shitttt," he said again as he pushed his brown hair out of his eyes and tried to control his breathing. "Effing ridiculous..." Dodger muttered to himself as he looked over at the clock. His lips turned down into a frown as he realized he had an hour to kill by himself. He hated having nightmares, especially nightmares about his father. The more Dodger tried to convince himself he was over the issues with his father, the more his father reappeared in his dreams.
With a yawn, Dodger stood up, running his fingers through his bedhead. The hotel they were currently staying in was small, only one bed, bathroom, TV, and a little table with a coffee pot on it. Dodger sat at the table, turning on the various coffee machine buttons. He had never had coffee before. Of course he knew vampires weren't allowed to drink or eat...but his sire was sleeping, and Dodger would be lying if he said he wasn't a tiny bit curious...
Twenty minutes later, Dodger was spitting out the horrible mud-like substance he had made, and he was not happy. Instead of tossing it out, he added various disgusting things into the mug that he found around the motel, including lotion, soap, and even a sprinkle of garlic that he found under the bed.
Dodger finally heard Cole stir and he instantly sat back on the bed, holding the coffee mug under his sire's nose. "Drink this," he said as he tried to shove it further under Cole's nose. "I made it just for you."
"You don't actually expect me to drink something you've made without me watching, do you? I learned that lesson the hard way with your ‘whipped cream' last week," Cole said, giving Dodger one of his ‘stern' looks.
Dodge had opened his mouth to defend himself when he heard his stomach rumble. "Hungry tonight?" Cole asked him as he rolled out of their bed, Dodge jumping off of it right after him.
"I guess so. Let's go now. I want to have plenty of time to pick out a perfect donor." Dodger hurried to pull on one of Cole's hoddies, tossing his sire his shirt to get him to speed it up.
"First we have to see if Corey is awake..." Cole said and Dodge immediately opened his mouth to protest. "Shush. Five minutes that's it." Dodger didn't like the compromise, but his sire silenced him with a kiss.
Dodger and Cole walked hand in hand down the hall, towards Orphan and Corey's hotel room. Dodger was grumpy and muttering to himself while Cole reminded him that Corey was now part of the family and they had to check and make sure his transformation was going smoothly. But as Cole reached up to knock on the door, it burst open, Orphan running out quickly. Dodge looked at Cole, to where Orphan had ran out of the hotel, back to Cole, and then finally into the room. "What the fuck?" he asked, before hearing Corey moaning around on the bed. At first Dodger thought he was having a real good time, but stepping into the room, Corey looked like he was having a seizure.
"W-Who are y-you?" he asked Dodger and Cole as he sat up on the bed, looking at them as if they were complete strangers.
"Corey... um.... welcome... back? It's us... Cole and Dodger. Are... is something... what the hell happened in here?" Cole asked as he pushed past Dodge and stood at the end of the bed while Dodge walked towards the small table, picking up a note. He read it silently, rolling his eyes.
"He's going to have to come with us, even if he's insane," Dodger said as he passed off the note to Cole and rubbed his stomach. "You're turning out to be a LOT more work, new blood." Dodger glared at Corey, his eyes narrowing at him.
"What...did...did my dad call you? Does he not even care he almost killed me last night? No...wait, I ran away from home, I met...ORPHAN! Where is Orphan? I met Orphan...and then...where is he?" Corey freaked out, while Dodger just yawned and sat on the end of their bed, letting Cole explain for him.
"He's being a moron," Cole said and Dodger watched him roll his eyes. "We'll find him, you'll jump into his arms, and everything will be good again. But we have to get a move on, that boy is fast, if we don't move soon we'll lose him in the city."
"What happened? I ... I woke up and thought I was back home and my dad had beaten me, so I ... I curled up into a ball you know...like...like I used to do, and ... I was just confused, what...I felt like a TRUCK ran me over! What HAPPENED?" Corey continued to freak out as another rumble went through Dodger's stomach. He huffed impatiently, glaring at his sire even though it went unnoticed.
"Yeah, that's the change. Your body was basically completely remade from scratch, it doesn't exactly tickle. It'll subside, I promise, just give it a couple of sleep cycles. I'd guess Lucas saw you recoil, thought you hated him, and took off. Like I said, moron. We'll find him, evere," Cole hissed, slipping into Verzpertillio which usually got Dodge all hot and bothered, but now he was just plain bothered.
"C-change? I'm o-one of you guys now?" Corey asked, his eyes wide with terror, but then a look of acceptance came across his face that puzzled Dodge. "A...vampire?"
Dodger threw his hands in the air, jumping off of the bed with a growl. "NO. You're a werewolf. What do YOU think? Jesus..." Dodger trailed off, narrowing his eyes at the new blood that seemed to be very good at getting under his skin. "I'm hungry, Cole. I don't want to waste time playing baby-sitter for him because Orphan is an emotional roller-coaster. It isn't fair."
Dodge felt bad when he saw Cole run his fingers through his hair and sigh in obvious frustration. "Yeah..." His sire said softly, nodding his head, "You go feed; I'll take the freshman out for a fun game of find the sire in the city-stack. God, that bastard, just running off like this, I swear I'm going to rip him to shreds when I catch him..."
"YOU WON'T HURT HIM!" Corey screamed from the bed, which instantly set off Dodger. He tackled Corey on the bed, pinning him on his back, his hand holding Corey's throat, not enough to cut off oxygen, but hard enough to let Corey know he would lose if he moved an inch.
"DON'T talk to Cole like that or I'LL rip you to shreds," he growled, glaring at the newborn. "You play by our rules and if you threaten my sire I will find the sharpest thing in this goddamn hotel and stab you right through the heart before you even blink. How does that sound to you? It sounds like a fucking awesome time to me," Dodger hissed, his fangs dropping down from his gums as he tasted Corey's fear on the tip of his tongue. The newborn's eyes widened in surprise at Dodger's quick attack and he started to whimper out, the formation of tears starting in his eyes.
A soft hand made contact with Dodger, and he turned his head to see it belonged to Cole. "Come on, Dodger. I'll take Corey to find Orphan, you go eat, and when you're done send me a message. I'll find you," his sire said, leaning in to kiss Dodge's tensed up shoulder.
Dodger snapped out of his protective trance. He took his hand off of Corey's throat, leaning his head side to side to crack his neck. "You know you don't seem too bad for a newborn. I like your temper, just not you." With that, Dodger climbed off Corey but not before pinching his nose with a soft laugh.
The cold night air hit Dodger's face and he breathed it in slowly. Every single bone in his body seemed to tingle with anticipation of feeding. Dodger loved the cat and mouse type games that he played with his "donor."
He carefully scanned each human being he passed on the sidewalk, having learned his lesson about carelessly picking his meals a couple years ago. Dodger, of course, was a picky eater. It took him longer to hunt then it did for Cole.
"Mmmm, you look like a good fuck, pretty boy, and you got a nice bum. I'm going to have so much fun with you..." Dodger stopped dead in his tracks, biting back a laugh as he peered into the dark alleyway. He wasn't surprised to find an incredibly old man pinning a young boy against a dumpster. How romantic.
At first Dodge's first thought was that the man was getting his rocks off with some two dollar boy prostitute, but Dodger could smell the increasing fear, and it came from the boy. His fangs dropped as he started to silently creep into the alleyway. Dinner's ready.
"Hey gramps, how about you pick on somebody your own size?" he called out, hands on his hips as he stopped behind the man. His lips turned down into a frown when the man continued to ignore him. "Hey shitforbrains!" Dodger called out, his eyes narrowing at the man's head, "I SAID...find someone your own age you pervert!" He spun the man around, instantly sending a punch to his nose. The bone broke once Dodge's fist made contact. The satisfying crack made his mouth water. "I HATE repeating myself, don't you?" Dodger asked as he turned towards the boy, shaking his head in disappointment. "Drives me absolutely nuts."
The man let out a cry of pain, letting go of the little boy in order to grip his nose. The boy, instead of running away as he should have, backed up against the wall and stared wide-eyed at Dodger.
Slightly distracted by the kid, Dodger lost focus on the old man who managed to get his arms around Dodge's waist in an attempt to lift him up.
"You old motherfucker let me go!" Dodger wiggled around before kicking his foot back right into the man's shin. They both tumbled to the ground, Dodger on top of his dinner. "Oh my god you're hard!" he spat out with disgust. "Unfuckingbelievable," he muttered while grabbing a fistful of the man's hair. "Close your eyes kid," Dodger said as he tossed a glance back towards the boy, "Chances are this won't be pretty." He winked before turning back towards his meal. "It's really a shame that I can't play with you..." Dodge trailed his finger slowly down the donor's neck, feeling him trembling. He lowered his head into the nape of the male's neck, nuzzling it before giving his salty skin a long lick. "Guess I'll have to get over it," he said before biting into the man's neck and drinking. Dodger, having done this plenty of times before, was hardly affected. He had saved a life and taken one. He actually felt pretty damn good about himself right now.
Dodger pressed his fangs more into the man's neck, trying to get a little more blood until he was full. He heard the kid making a commotion and rolled his eyes. He saved the kid's ass! He should be jumping for joy. When the man's head fell to the side, Dodger pulled away, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What are the chances of you never speaking about this again?"
"I- I- I- I won't tell anyone. T-there's no one for me to tell anyway. I'm an – an orphan, my parents are dead. I d-don't have any friends or family. No one loves me...." The boy's reply made Dodger want to throw himself off a bridge...too bad that wouldn't do any lasting damage. There was no way Cole would let Dodger turn this kid, especially since he seemed so whiny. Holding up a finger, Dodge silenced the kid. He closed his eyes, focusing solely on Cole. He knew the chances of him being in trouble were great, but he couldn't fix this mess alone. Concentrating hard, Dodger managed to corner Cole and shut down his sight and hearing.
After a few minutes of waiting, Dodger heard the distant boom of thunder. "No way!" he narrowed his eyes at the storm. "He's going to make me go to him!" He crossed his arms over his chest, bottom lip sticking out in a childish pout. "Can you believe that?" Dodger said completely ignoring the kid's persistent questions mostly asking Dodger WHAT he was. "Hey, you know I totally saved your ten year old ass. You could thank me," Dodger said as he hopped up onto a nearby dumpster.
"O-oh...sorry. Thank you...really thank you. I don't know what I would have done..." the boy said, tears welled up in his big brown eyes.
"No big deal, it was fun. I'm Superman by the way, but you can call me Clark Kent." He extended his hand out to the kid. "Excuse the blood though," he said with a small frown. "Your name is...?"
"I'm...Andrew, Andrew Closel. W-who...well...what are you? Did you really just drink that man's blood? Are you a- a Vampire?" the boy asked, cautiously stepping up next to Dodger to study him more closely.
"What? Vampires? Are you high? I just TOLD you, I'm Superman!" Dodger said, puffing out his chest. "No? Well you're no fun. Yeah, vampire. Grrr...arrrgh you know? Don't worry though I don't eat little kids only mean adults," Dodge said, sitting on the ground, wondering why Cole hadn't come yet because every moment that passed he told the kid more and more secrets. He was going to end up sleeping outside if he didn't shut his mouth.
"Yes blood, and no sun, I tried to test the garlic theory today, but my boyfriend refuses to drink anything I give him so I'm going to try it out on the newborn vampire that woke up today," Dodger explained before the boy could ever ask the questions. Sighing, Dodger placed his chin in his hands. "I also have this nifty mind reading ability. The boy you checked out earlier at Burger King was a fine piece of ass by the way." Dodger turned his head to wink at the kid, attempting to lift the mood.
"What else?" Andrew asked, plopping down next to Dodger on the dumpster. Dodge couldn't help it. The kid was so curious and innocent.
"We have super cool powers! I can take away senses. It's the best power out there, and the most powerful. I'm pretty much the God of vampires, you know? Do you want my autograph? I bet you could totally sell it on eBay for a million dollars."
"If you're the vampire God, does that make me Moses?" Dodger instantly grinned, jumping up from the dumpster to properly greet his sire, by sticking his tongue as far as he could down Cole's throat. His sire wasn't fooled by Dodge's attempt of distraction. "Another human? Are we collecting? Gotta catch 'em all?"
Dodger furrowed his eyebrows together at Cole's lame joke, but he was further irritated as Corey chimed in. "Does that make me Pikachu cause I'm the cutest?" His question was answered by a snort as Dodger rolled his eyes. If Corey was a Pokémon he'd be the one that was made of mud.
"W-Who are these people, Clark?" Andrew said. At first Dodger didn't reply, he was too busy trying to catch Cole's lips with his own as his sire licked off the dried blood on Dodge's face, but Cole stopped, tilting his head as he studied Dodger and his new "friend". "OH...err...he's also on a mixture of drugs and pain medication. I have no idea what he's talking about."
"Yeah, drugs, definitely. I can totally smell them all over his blood; this kid's whacked out," Cole said and Dodger nudged his sire's stomach with a pout.
"Um...what about me? Thank you for saving me, Clark...but what will happen to me now?" The boy looked up at Dodger, who refused to return his gaze. "C-Can I stay with you guys? I can be like you guys! I promise I'll be good. I just have nowhere else to go..."
Dodger looked to his sire, hiding any emotion in his face from the boy. He knew what had to be done; it was a matter of how. "Of course, Andrew," Dodger said, tossing his arm around the little guy's shoulders. "Cole and I just want to talk to you before we take you back to our place." He turned towards Orphan and Corey, giving Orphan a nod so he could watch the entrance of the alleyway.
Cole led the way, Dodger following slowly behind Andrew. Once they were out of sight of the other two vampires, Cole turned, placing his hands on Andrew's shoulders, and giving the boy a reassuring smile. "I hope you can forgive me," Dodger's sire said sadly before attacking the boy's neck. Andrew immediately screamed and Dodger rushed into to cover the boy's mouth with his hand. "Come on, Dodger. I need your help," Cole mumbled into the dying boy's neck. Despite being full, Dodger ducked his head and bit into Andrew's neck. He couldn't bring himself to enjoy the blood.
Walking back towards Orphan and Corey, Dodger could see Corey visible shaking, while Orphan just shook his head at the pair.
"We had to do it, Orphan. We did him a favor, get over it," Dodge said as he walked up to the vampire, wiping the remains of Andrew's blood off of his mouth and smearing it over Orphan's lips. "Sometimes we have to do shitty things to protect us. It's human nature."
"I know we're vampires and all, but I can't... I can't in good conscience kill innocent people. I already hate having to feed, but when I do I'll stick to using the evil people," Orphan replied, giving Dodger a disgusted look as he wiped off the blood as fast as he could.
"If we didn't do that he would have had a worse death. At least I saved him from being raped by someone old enough to be his grandfather." Dodge's eyes narrowed as he fought to defend their actions.
"Enough. Both of you," Cole stepped in, wrapping a protective arm around Dodger's side while Corey molded himself likewise against Orphan.
"Orphie...I...can we go take a shower? You said I needed to, right?" Corey said softly, making googly eyes at his sire.
"Yes. Please do. You smell like you're decaying," Dodger hissed back, rolling his eyes at the newborn who cowered in fear behind his boyfriend. Well at least Corey knew who the boss was. "Cole, let's go get some more candy."
They walked slowly towards the gas station, both lost in their own thoughts about what had just happened. Dodger was not used to feeling sad or upset about a human. He didn't care for these types of emotions at all.
"We also need to see if we can come up with some more money for the motel," Cole said, as he opened the door for Dodger.
"We'll find a way, we always do. You know...if we have to ditch the newborn to save money, I'm ok with that too," Dodger said, giving his sire a serious look to make sure Cole didn't take it as a joke.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, Dodge, you're gonna have to soften up to him sometime soon. Orphan and Corey are pretty serious."
Dodger glared at his sire, fully prepared to make him sleep on the floor.