Master: Crimson

by Jane Bled

  “It‘s just…ahh, fuck…because of the blood,” Gabriel ground out, his own fangs extending. Raiden lapped light lines up and down his face, still smelling, seeing, tasting, hearing, and feeling the crimson fury and desire. Gabriel’s eyes rolled back in his head and he inhaled deeply.

  “We shouldn’t—it’s—please, Raiden, you can’t do this.”

  Gabriel’s verbal resistance was meaningless, for his body betrayed him. His hips moved up and down, steadily increasing the force and pace.

  “Don’t fucking tell me what I can or can’t do, Gabriel.”

  Sick with pleasure, Raiden lost all sense of rationality and released his captive’s wrists. He grabbed a fistful of Gabriel’s hair with one hand and cupped his chin with the other. In a sensory daze, the older vampire ran his nose delicately along the bridge of his creation’s to absorb the lingering kill-scent. Their olfactory glands collided so that he could smell it from both perspectives. Gabriel muttered a curse, gripping his back with his newly-freed hands. Without meaning to, Raiden laid a finger on the side of his creation’s neck, right where he had originally bitten him. Your invisible scar… do you feel it like I feel mine?

  Then he was lying flat on his back, Gabriel’s preternaturally strong grip pulverizing the bones in his hands. There was a short, sharp cracking sound as four of Raiden‘s fingers broke. He cried out and stopped moving. The combination of pain, surprise, and anger rendered him immobile. Multiple stabs of blue-black agony ripped through his fingers, leaving them limp and screaming.

  “Don’t ever fucking do that again or I’ll tear you to bits and fucking pieces,” Gabriel whispered roughly, the force of his words coming from his conviction rather than the volume of his voice. But Raiden was barely listening. All he could think about was how to eradicate the excruciating pain in his hand. And he knew exactly how to do it. The injured vampire tore open the flesh of his own wrist; the blood dripped dark scarlet down his chin. Without hesitating, he began to feed off himself. Gabriel uttered a pathetic, hurt noise before fleeing to the opposite side of the boat. Raiden had a brief moment to wonder what the fuck just happened between them. Then, he was abruptly lost in the tantalizing taste of his own blood. Little by little; the pain faded.

  * * * *

  Thirty minutes later, after the bones in his fingers had mended, he realized that Gabriel had somehow managed to steer them to shore. Raiden’s posture was stiff as he harbored the boat. Well, this is awkward. He avoided eye contact with the actor as he spoke to him.

  “When we get back to my house, we‘ll clean up the car. Then you can go home.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  Raiden stepped off the boat and gave an easy chuckle. Over the past five years, he had perfected his fake laugh.

  “The same way I do. Lie through your teeth, and rely on your fucking charm to get you through it. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that you’re still good-looking despite all that plastic—I’m sorry—cosmetic surgery. Use what you got. Today’s no different from any other day. If you play your cards right, no one will even notice your recent modifications. Shit, from what I saw, you were barely human anyway. Keep the wattage up on that smile of yours and you’ll be just fine,” Raiden proclaimed. He hopped nimbly into his car, as if Gabriel hadn’t just broken four of his fingers.

  “Were you like this before?”

  Raiden looked at him. “Before what?”

  “Before you became a vampire.”

  “What do you think?” He barely allowed Gabriel to get a foot in the door before starting the car engine.

  The actor gave him a withering glare. “I think you’re a pathetic son-of-a-bitch who doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

  “Hmm. I think you just described yourself perfectly.”

  Gabriel kneaded his forehead with a tired hand. “At least I try to care about other people.”

  Raiden stopped the car in the middle of the street, heedless of any traffic laws, signs, or signals. Sighing, he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to face Gabriel, expecting to endure an onslaught of complaints. Instead, the younger vampire folded his hands patiently, waiting for him to begin speaking. Though he was inclined to be suspicious of Gabriel’s unpredictable behavior, Raiden was too exhausted to try and dissect it.

  “Look, you’re gonna have to cut that shit out if you wanna hack it as a vampire. Get it through your head—these people are your food now. Sure, you don’t have to go around killing everybody you meet, but you can’t get all cozy with ‘em either. ‘Cause you never know when you’re gonna get hungry.”

  Gabriel just kept staring at him with that same, dull expression. If you don’t stop giving me that look, I’m going to gouge out your eyes. And then you’ll be shit outta luck, ‘cause they won’t grow back.

  “What if I expose you? Can you hack that?” Gabriel replied evenly, examining his ruined manicure with a bit of a rueful grimace. Raiden scoffed. Here we go again…

  “You won’t.”

  “Try me.”

  “I already did. You got rid of the body, didn’t you? Quite simply, that means that you don’t want to get found out. And there’s no way you can expose me without exposing yourself.”

  “I can say that you did it. That you made me this way.”

  “Who’s going to believe you? You’re already enough of a joke as it is. Try and live a little while you still can. One day, the shit‘s bound to hit the fan. And then you‘ll go down faster than any of your fanboys ever went on you. Face it. You’re doomed.”

  “And you’re not?”

  “Of course I am. But I’m going to get my rocks off in the meantime.”

  Gabriel stared at him, eyes saucer-huge. “So that’s what you were doing the night you turned me? ‘Getting your rocks off’?”

  “I—”

  “Was it fun making me bleed to death? Was it fun watching me piss my pants?”

  “No, but it was immensely fun watching you bust a nut inside of them.” Snap! More exasperated than ever, Raiden restarted the car and zoomed toward the freeway.

  The fact that the actor had somehow managed to push all his buttons in the span of a single night worried him. Being around Gabriel makes me feel human again. He made a noise of distaste aloud. Gabriel drew in a tight breath that sounded painful, like air through a crushed windpipe.

  “Why do you hate me, Raiden? I mean, I know why I should hate you, but I can’t quite figure why you—”

  “Because you’re a mistake I can’t erase.” Raiden bit his tongue too late. There was nothing to do, nothing to say. No comforting words he could administer to ease the blow he had just delivered. Not if he wanted to keep his distance. He didn’t dare look at him; the rest of the way back, neither of them said a single word. Raiden was in his own personal hell, tortured by his infliction of deliberate cruelty. Yet another sentence to add to the long list of Wish -I‘d-Never-Said-That‘s.

  As they both exited the car, he fully expected Gabriel to try and kick his ass. He wasn’t even completely sure he would try to stop him. At first.

  “Raiden, you’re an asshole,” the actor stated in a clear, crisp voice.

  Raiden whipped his head around to face him. “And…?”

  “And it’s completely your fault that I’m not human anymore. Plus, I‘m not at all familiar with the basic ‘rules’ of being a vampire. So since I’m apparently the biggest mistake of your life, you might as well try and fix it.”

  Raiden gaped as Gabriel stared through him with medical, perfunctory precision. What…the fuck?

  “So what are you getting at?”

  “I figure you owe me. And this is how you’re going to make it up to me,” Gabriel began. He looked down at Raiden over the roof of the car. A weird mélange of unease, excitement, and downright anxiety rumbled through the vampire’s chest. Oh, shit—the other shoe’s about to drop.

  “You’re going to teach me everything there is to know about surviving on my own. Then, in a few days, a few weeks, a f
ew years…whenever it‘s time, I’ll leave.”

  “Leave where?” Raiden asked. His eyes were wide and horrified. It’s like watching a train wreck, only BEING the train.

  Gabriel grinned genuinely for the first time all night, swaggering as he dropped the final bomb.

  “Here, of course. I’m not going back home until I’m done with the necessary education. And who could ask for a better teacher than you?”

  In his mind, Raiden fainted.

  Chapter 8

  The Deal

  Cloaked in anger, he thinks he’s safe;

  Yet his face is but a mask.

  Some secrets skin should never seek to hide.

  Gabriel stepped out of the shower. He dried his body with one of Raiden’s fluffy blue towels as he surveyed his pallid form in the mirror. Two days without blood. Grimacing, he noticed his body was already beginning to show it. His skin was decidedly lackluster, faded and, disturbingly enough, grayish. Sunken, cadaverous eyes looked back at him. He tried to wet his lips, but they were parched, and his tongue felt like sandpaper. No matter how much water he tried to consume, he still couldn’t keep more than a fraction of it down. There was a dull ache in his gums, like hunger—like need.

  Thinking of blood, Gabriel brushed his teeth. The thirsty vampire told himself he did this to merely eliminate the taste of bile from his mouth, but this was a half-truth. In fact, the real motivation behind the excessive brushing was the resulting red taste. With no immediate end to his slow starvation in sight, he wasn’t completely beyond the possibility of self-cannibalization.

  Naked, he stepped into the adjoining bedroom. Gabriel threw an earnest, anxious glance at the clock. It was past six, almost full-dark, and Raiden still hadn’t returned. He should have been back by now. He promised. In his agitated state, the hungry vampire failed to realize that he was now rubbing the towel against his body hard enough to break the skin. He strained his ears, listening for any sign of the singer’s car, but the only sounds he heard were the buzzing of insects, the occasional passing of cars, and the distant, high-pitched giggling of children. A drop of sadness momentarily diluted his hunger. The boy. Two nights had passed, and he still couldn’t go five minutes without thinking of him. Well, what do you expect? It’s not every day you become a blood-sucking murderer, the Raiden-voice, now a constant companion, reasoned inside his head.

  At the thought of blood, Gabriel’s vision blurred. A stab of guilty lust punctured his grief and he looked down, at last noticing the drops of maroon dotted on the towel he had mindlessly scraped over his skin. With shaking hands, he lifted the fabric to his face and inhaled deeply, the scent reminding him just how much he still craved it. This is so not good. Where the hell is Raiden?

  The morning following Gabriel‘s first kill, the singer had gone out of town on band business. He had made a reluctant promise to return today to help the younger vampire secure another meal. Another victim. It was a hard-won victory on Gabriel’s behalf, considering the argument that had preceded it. After all, Raiden had never wanted him there in the first place. He closed his eyes, recalling the scene.

  “…And just what the hell do you mean, you’re not going anywhere? If you think I’m actually going to let you stay here, you’re out of your bloody skull,” Raiden spat viciously. Gabriel had expected this kind of reaction.

  “You don’t have a choice, Raiden, because this is what I want to do. And if you don’t comply with my wishes, I’ll blow your cover.”

  The actor was lying through his teeth and doing a damned good job of it. At least, he thought so.

  “Yeah, right! We already went over this, remember? You can’t blow my cover without blowing your own, and—”

  “I’ve decided I really don’t give a damn. To hell with it. You’ve already taken my life from me—what’s the use in trying to salvage anything from it? It’s pointless, really.” Gabriel stared past Raiden’s flabbergasted face. He struggled to stay composed. If he let his mask slip for even a split second, the singer would see right through his deceit.

  “I don’t believe you,” Raiden said in a flat tone. “You’re much too self-absorbed to give it all up just like that.”

  “Fine. If you don’t believe me, then you won’t mind if I just make a quick phone call,” Gabriel replied with a breezy wave of his hand. The actor reached for his cell as his pulse reached new levels of erratic. Please, please, fall for it.

  “A phone call to whom? Your agent?”

  “To my bodyguard.”

  Raiden gave a disbelieving laugh.

  “And what’s he gonna do about it? Beat me up?”

  Gabriel chose not to answer him. Instead, he flipped open his phone and selected Joe’s name from his speed-dial. Raiden abruptly stopped laughing and glared at him. Incredulous anger and the smallest bit of terror surfaced on the older vampire’s face.

  “What—what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Again, Gabriel ignored his question. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, he pushed the “send” button. Immediately, the phone began to ring. Unmistakable panic bloomed in Raiden’s eyes; he started to move around the car, closer to where the actor stood. Gabriel backed away slowly, putting more distance between them. The phone continued to ring; with each shrill jingle, his heart tried to thud out of his chest. Its beats were unmercifully loud in his ears; then he realized he could also hear Raiden’s heart pounding. The sound of fear was unmistakable. So, the asshole’s scared! Despite his nerves, Gabriel had to smile. He felt powerful for having secured the upper hand, however briefly.

  “Boss?”

  Joe’s soft inquiry blew all thoughts of victory out of his head like a bullet to the brain. The actor blanched, remembering that in fact, he had not actually formulated a plan. Shit. Raiden stood still, awaiting his next move. Gabriel swallowed hard.

  “Oh, hello, Joe. I’m sorry I didn’t respond right away—the connection’s bad.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m still at Raiden’s. Joe, I have something to tell you. I wanted you to be the first to hear it.” His voice was disconnected, like it was coming from a different room, though his hoarse vocal chords begged to differ. What am I doing? As if reading his mind, Raiden shook his head back and forth, but made no move to snatch the phone. Still, Gabriel thought the older vampire smelled desperate.

  “Don’t,” Raiden mouthed, pulse pounding more and more rapidly despite his placid exterior. Gabriel’s smile sharpened. Squirm, you bastard. He felt his lips moving of their own accord.

  “Joe, the reason why I’ve been so elusive of late, the reason why I’ve been so distant, so distracted, is because…”

  He paused for effect, giving the singer one last chance to change his mind. As if on cue, Raiden closed the distance between them and gripped Gabriel’s wrist so intensely, the bones threatened to break. Raiden quickly muffled Gabriel’s cry of pain with his free hand and held him in place. He struggled, but his newfound, awkward strength posed no threat to the older vampire’s practiced reflexes.

  “Stop! We‘ll work something out, okay? Just stop right now,” Raiden whispered. His voice echoed in the small garage. The moment stretched endlessly. Joe called Gabriel’s name over and over again, clearly concerned. With reluctance, Raiden pulled his hand away from Gabriel’s mouth. The warning in his eyes was clear. The fear, however, hadn’t left. The actor wondered if he would ever be able to elicit such a reaction from Raiden again. I hold the ball now, but after I hang up…

  He knew with absolute certainty that the singer would once again steal the control back into his court. But you need me, the Raiden-voice reminded him. You need me to stay alive. Gabriel tried not to choke on his next words.

  “Sorry about that, Joe. Raiden can‘t seem to keep his hands off me,” Gabriel laughed, relishing the disgusted, slightly embarrassed glare the other vampire threw his way. He gave himself a mental high-five.

  “So what’s the big news, boss?” Joe inquired. There was mor
e than a hint of curiosity in his tone. The urge to confess it all bubbled to the surface of Gabriel’s tongue, but he swallowed it. The idealist in him still thought there was a way to survive without repeating the events of the past few hours. The realist, however…the realist knew that killing was no longer an option, but a necessity. Still, that particular practicality had yet to fully penetrate his brain. When it finally did, Gabriel feared he would have to deal with an unfamiliar, scarier breed of angst than to which he was usually accustomed. But for now, I have to keep it together. Breathing deeply, he looked down, holding Raiden’s penetrating stare as he spoke. Suddenly, he knew exactly what to say.

  “Raiden finally agreed to play the part of Akemi! Can you believe it? I told you I’d get him,” he bragged with false bravado. The older vampire couldn’t seem to hold back a strangled sigh of horror-drenched relief. Gabriel smirked, pacing around the car as he continued to babble.

  “Now my dream is becoming a reality! I just can’t believe it’s actually coming to fruition! You know better than anyone how much I’ve wanted this.”

  “That’s—that’s really surprising, boss. I thought he turned you down.”

  Somewhere behind him, Raiden let out a mean-spirited laugh. Frowning, Gabriel paced more rapidly; unaware of how fast he was moving.

  “Well, not outright. At any rate, I convinced him. He’s so enthusiastic, in fact, that he insisted that I stay with him for a while before filming so that we can get more comfortable with our characters, and more importantly, with each other. It’s a little eccentric, I admit, but I think it will really strengthen our onscreen bond. Not to mention, our off-screen one as well.”

  The actor marveled at how he could pull such a ludicrous, yet somehow believable explanation out of his ass and not burst into hysterical laughter. Maybe I’m just a born liar. Or at least, I’ve had enough practice with it. He got a brief, startling glimpse of Raiden baring his teeth before Joe’s voice distracted him.

  “That’s—that’s great, boss. I’m glad you got what you wanted. I have to admit, I was worried about you there for a minute. Thought you were cracking up,” the bodyguard chuckled. Gabriel detected a tad of suspicion in his tone.