Chapter Text
Ch.1- A New Customer and a Bad End to a Bad Day
The afternoon had been relatively quiet, barely any rushes or big orders that would raise your stress levels to the roof. Just a simple, neat, and orderly day in the same bakery you called home. The display cases were stacked and you lazily flipped through your phone as the seconds ticked by.
You had expected more of a crowd today, seeing as the weather was finally starting to turn nice after what had felt like months of non-stop rain and wind. Spring had come in like a lion but seemed to finally be easing into its more lamb-like state as the first days of summer arrived. And with the skies only partly cloudy and the umbrellas not needed, people were venturing out.
But it didn't seem like what they needed was a sweet or two, making you pout into your work. You knew you weren't the most popular or largest bakery operation in the city, but you did put a lot of care and high-quality ingredients into your treats. And knowing that most of them would remain unsold hurt not only your spirits but your wallet as well. At least the homeless shelter and family center would like the free treats… they always did.
You groaned, looking down at the array of treats that you created that very morning: cupcakes, cookies, a cake or two, along with some smaller bite-sized sugary delights. It wasn't easy to be a baker… but then again it was the life you chose for yourself.
Sighing once more, you walked towards the back room to start planning what flavors of cupcakes you thought would be nice to sell tomorrow. Vanilla and chocolate of course, and maybe a mint flavor? No… salted caramel? Yes! That would be the perfect flavor to rotate in for the red velvet you currently had.
The soft chiming of a bell alerted you that after the hours of nothing, someone had finally wandered in. You jumped in joy, happy to see a customer peeking at the selection of morsels, waiting for the employee to arrive back. You did so in a timely and professional manner, smiling softly at the male who was slowly looking up to see you enter.
"Welcome in, how can I help you?" You spoke, making sure to wipe the excess flour from the back room on your apron.
You looked at the man who had entered, seeing as he was fairly bundled up, despite the weather. He wore a dark red hoodie on top of sagging black jeans, as well as burying his hands into his sweatshirt's pocket.
His features didn't share any brighter look on him, as the punk/rebel attire continued even through his features. Cream blonde hair that stuck off in any and all angles, not caring if it looks messy in the slightest as well as a pair of eyes that just seemed to peer right into your soul.
You looked hard into the crimson irises that stared at you, feeling a growing sense of uneasiness radiating from them the longer contact was held. Something about them… just seemed so… so unnatural.
Maybe it was because red wasn't a natural eye color by any standard. However, with the rise in popularity of those colored contacts and how this male was dressed, you couldn't completely say that it wasn't normal.
"Hello?" His voice cuts you from your thoughts and you blinked, shaking your head and looked back up at him.
"O-oh sorry." You apologized, remembering that you did have a customer to serve. "What can I get for you?"
He rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue before pointing to the macarons. "A dozen of them… I don't give a shit what kind they are…"
You nodded, getting back on track and starting your order. You tried to focus, but you could feel him watching you. Were your actions really that interesting? Or was he just the type of person to consider you an airhead since you had zoned out in front of him.
You scooped the small pastries into a box, tying it with a thin green ribbon before passing it off to the man. You touched the iPad cash register, ringing up his order while the male tapped his finger impatiently on the counter surface.
Each clicking of his nails causing you to internally freak out more, each sound hitting your ears like a loud emergency alarm. This guy was giving you major bad vibes and at the current moment, your only goal was to get him paid and out of here.
"That'll be fifteen please." You mumbled, turning the device, its screen ready to scan his card.
He did so without comment, confirming his information and adding his signature before taking his small box and walking back out. You watched his back as the door closed and then followed his person as he disappeared down the street. Out of sight and out of mind after a few moments, and your body finally relaxing.
You sighed, shaking your head and glaring at nobody in particular. Your lips curled into a frown and you let out a quick angered breath. Marching towards the door and clicking off the open sign and locking the door, you had decided to close up early.
"Thanks to you… I'm paranoid at every little thing…" You mumbled, the image of his face flashing through your mind, fists tightening in anger.
You let it pass, however, knowing that he had long left your life. You could care less… you no longer wanted anything to do with him or the life he had attempted to bring you into. After all… she was gone because of him as well, so you had no issue leaving him either.
He deserved to be alone. It wasn't like he cared enough about you either way. If he did he would have at least tried to contact you after all these years. To make amends… but no. He was too good to meddle with you… despite what your relationship was.
And with that, you stuffed the leftover pastries into cartons and headed towards the shelters and banks seeking daily donations. And then for a nice and quiet night at home, one away from any and all bad memories.
You grabbed your phone, seeing that the transaction had gone through. You sighed in relief, happy that at least the creep’s money was good, but soon noticed the small mention of the customer leaving a note of his payment.
Curiosity getting the better of you, your finger lightly clicked the message. The screen loaded slowly, making your stomach drop ever so slowly as the words soon became visible to your eyes.
‘See you soon'
You groaned, resting back against the fridge in the back room, dragging a hand through your locks as you realized this guy was planning to come back… possibly even regularly. And even if he continued to buy goods and be out of your way quickly… you couldn't shake the way he looked at you.
It was something that you had only seen from men late at night when you walked home from a night out… something that resembled that of an animal that only saw yourself as some type of prey.
And the more you thought about it… the more nervous you became. And eventually, you went as far as to lock your shop's door twice… just in case. The last thing you needed was another creep hitting on you constantly after all.
Even if he did leave a $20 tip...
~~~~~
"I'm telling you Uraraka… he gave me the creeps. I don't know what to do if he comes back again." You whined, the take out now long forgotten on your dining table.
Your friend chuckled from the other side of the line, obviously finding your behavior rather hilarious. You groaned, alerting the girl that you were on the verge of losing it if she didn't provide some words of comfort and soon.
"Relax (Name). I'm sure he was just some random guy with the munchies who tipped you too much cause his finger hit an extra zero… and besides, he doesn't sound like the weirdest encounter you've had.
Remember the guy who tried to convince you that you were some reincarnate of his lover from another life?"
"Don't remind me!" You screamed, covering your face with your hands and trying to hide the memory from a few months ago. "Why are the weirdos always attracted to me?"
You could hear Uraraka lose it on her end, her laughter at least making you feel better. She continued to chuckle for a few more seconds before managing to collect herself again, or at least attempting to.
"W-who knows, maybe it's cause weirdos run in your family?"
Uraraka listened for your response, hoping that her words were only a small tease, but when no response came back to her, she knew she had crossed a line. And your silence could only mean your mood had turned.
"H-hey… I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have said anything…" She spoke sincerely. "I don't know what happened between you and him… but I won't bring it up again."
"That's probably for the best. Good night Uraraka."
You clicked the line dead, immediately feeling guilt swarm your heart at the thought of having hung up on your friend… but it was for the best. You didn't want to talk about it, and in no way was it called for her to try to tease you about what he did for a living.
You grabbed your dinner, the chow mein cold now but you really didn't care. You walked towards your couch, taking a seat and clicking the TV on. Some mindless television would take your mind off of things, plus you had been meaning to watch that new show that Uraraka had been raving about.
Deciding that a good enough apology for hanging up on her would be to tell her you watched the show and thus animatedly chat with her about it, you got the show ready. You clicked pause as the opening shot showed up.
However, before you watched, you decided to change into some more comfortable clothing instead of your flour covered jeans and a stained t-shirt. The fuzzy shorts and loose top you used as pajamas were calling your name, and your feet carried you towards them.
You stopped once by the verdana, opening the door to let in a small summer breeze and to cool down the room. You always enjoyed a mild breeze as the night rolled on, carrying in sounds of the city from seven stories above and reminding you of the many people that inhabited this world.
Stepping out yourself for a moment and looking out along the city blocks, you couldn't feel more at peace. Away from work and stress… in your favorite city and running a small bakery by yourself. You had a small group of friends who more than gave you the space you needed, but cared nonetheless.
A boring life for some yes… but it was oh so perfect to you. Who would want a more action and adventure-filled life, when they could laze the days away without a care making cookies… that was your ideal situation after all.
Stepping back inside, and closing the door to just being open a crack, you went back to your room. You changed without a care not expecting anyone to waltz into your small single bedroom apartment aside from yourself.
There was one key, one resident: both of them belonging to you. The perks of being twenty-three and having a relatively stable income you supposed. You could be worse off… God knows most people your age are…
But with a business degree as well as one in culinary arts, you haven't done too poorly. And now that your wilder days were behind you, you truly could be described as an ‘adult'. But you were not one to stick to labels, rather opting to make impressions by your own actions.
Walking back out and entering the kitchen to grab something more sweet to enjoy with your cold noodles, you could feel your arms tingle. The air outside seemed to have started coming in more than you thought, and now you were much too cold than ‘just right'
Placing the pint of ice cream down on the counter, you strode towards the terrace. You rubbed your arms again, hoping to warm up again in another minute once you closed the door entirely. However, as the door came into view, the last thing your arm would be doing was warm up.
The sliding glass door was still open, but much more then it had been when you last left it. In fact… it was all the way open. It was almost in the state an inconsiderate child would leave it in, causing their mother to yell at them for letting in an unwanted draft.
But you were no mother and you certainly had not let the draft in yourself. Shallowing a growing lump in your throat, the anxiety from earlier today growing… you couldn't help but dash back towards the kitchen.
Your bare feet hit the tile flooring as you looked around, seeing that your ice cream was now gone from the counter, having been tossed into the trash. Someone was definitely here and if you were right… then you needed to get into the knife drawer.
You checked your blind spots once, deciding it was now or never. Your hands ripped the drawer open and you're stifled through, being extra cautious to not accidentally injure yourself on the blades.
Finally, you saw what you had been looking for and pulled it out. The wooden object with the decade-old engraving on it staring back at you. Your teeth gritted, not fully believing that the situation had risen where you would need to use his poor excuse of a birthday gift.
Now armed and feeling at least a bit more confident, despite your shaking legs, you walked towards the living room, this time slamming the door to the patio shut and glancing around.
"I know you're here! Might as well come out!" You shouted, trying to make your voice sound confident. But even you could feel the fear in it, sticking out like an obvious lie a child would tell.
Slowly, the sounds of someone walking out of your dark hallway was heard, the black figure coming out slowly and pausing once the first light of a nearby lamp hit him. He smirked, red eyes looking at you with curiosity, but still not hiding the obvious sadistic delight he was feeling.
"You're smarter than most." He clicked his tongue, glancing around the room.
The ash blonde appeared to be looking for something, his scarlet hues dashing from one object in the small room to another as the seconds ticked by. Finally, he turned back to you, raising a brow.
"And here I thought you'd have more fucking pictures of him… guess he was really dead set on keeping you a damn secret, huh?"
Your nose wrinkled and you glared at the foul-mouthed blonde. "I don't know why you're here… but if this is about my father and some feud you have with him… then don't involve me."
He smirked, his head tilting slowly towards the side. "I don't think you understand girly…. Your father made my life a living hell for the past 50 years. And to only find out he's kept a daughter from me for almost two and a half decades. Well, that's no fucking good!"
You stiffened, your mind flashes to memories of your father mentioning this exact person to you… though he had stopped after you had grown into your teen years… but the warning of the old monster seeking to destroy anything your father created appeared to be true.
That monster being a young looking blonde vampire and you being the thing he was intending to end as revenge for your father's actions against him.
"Daughter of the hunter who nearly killed me a dozen times… seems like the perfect ‘Fuck You' if I end you myself. So don't give me too much trouble and maybe I'll let you die peacefully!"
He lunged forward, by your side in an instant. His hands were reaching to grab you, the first pieces of his fangs peeking through his chapped lips. You bent down, watching him crashing into a side table, the lamp falling to the floor with him.
You dashed away, aiming to at least make it to the hallway and scream for help. You could tell this vampire wasn't stupid… he managed to survive this long after all… so he wouldn't risk being seen by more people then he needed.
You felt your side collide with something hard, sending you flying into a chair. Your body hit the furniture with such a force that it tipped over. You groaned out as someone crawled on top of you.
He was focusing on pinning you down, but you would not let him have his way so easily. So when he was focusing on making sure your legs remained underneath his, you used this moment to use the only weapon you had.
You released a blood-curdling scream as you used all your force to drive the stake forward. The vampire barely had any time to react before his hand was punctured by the wooden object. If he hadn't put his hand there when he had… he surely would have been stabbed in the heart.
He groaned, letting up enough on the hunter's daughter for her to crawl away from him. She got up and distanced herself from him behind a table, stake still in hand. Her breath was ragged, but she was still up and kicking, that was for sure.
The red-eyed vampire turned to look at her, a full blood freezing snarl on his features. In all your days, you had seen some terrifying creatures and despicable, corrupted people… but this face… this one anger driven face was enough to make you believe you were looking at Satan himself.
"That's fucking it… I tried to be nice. But you've pissed me off now…" He growled, grabbing the end of the table you were hidden behind and without breaking a sweat flung it against the kitchen counters.
He dashed forward once more, grabbing onto you and forcing you against a wall, your neck tilted to give him access. You squirmed against him, but he had made sure this time to not let your feet touch the ground.
You glared at this destructive monster in front of you, slamming the stake once more towards him. He rose his arm easily, letting the supposed ‘vampire killing' weapon enter his lower arm with ease.
He smirked as your eyes widened in fear as he tore his arm away, leaving the stake in it. Blood dripped onto your carpet, the thick crimson liquid staining the once beige flooring. Your eyes followed once again to the bloodsucker who was now glowing in victory.
"You put up more of a fucking fight then I thought you were capable of… hell, you even managed to get me twice. Too bad you ain't your fucking dad, maybe you would have lived longer…" He menacingly spoke against your neck.
You chuckled, making him stop momentarily. Looking back up at the weak human he had caught, the ash blonde lowered his gaze, staring directly at you. You smiled back at him, this time catching him off guard.
"I take that as a compliment…"
His brow rose, a soft chuckle escaping his lips as his grip on your neck tightened once more, your breathing cut off. You hands clawed against him, begging him to at least let you breathe in your final moments.
"Well for that… I'll be nice and fucking gentle."
His face crept forward, tongue darting out and running against where he could feel your heartbeat in your skin. The thick saliva running out against your soft skin, coating it deeply. He continued for several moments, your skin begins to feel fuzzy.
Soon enough, your entire body started to feel it as well and grew into a loss of feeling all over. Your hands dropped down, unable to move any longer and your neck stopped fighting against the male's forced position.
As your mind began to cloud over and move you away from your body, you couldn't help but feel as if you were at the dentist. It was a similar feeling to the one when you'd be put on laughing gas and numbed to get a cavity filled or a root canal performed. This feeling of comforting disconnect.
Seeing as his prey no longer had the will to fight or even move, the vampire released his grip, allowing you to at least breath once more. He had promised this girl a peaceful and comfortable death after all… and he wasn't one to break promises.
"P-please…" You whimpered out as he opened his mouth against your skin, the final feeling of teeth grazing against your neck registering in your hazy mind.
"I've already made up my mind… no use begging."
He sunk his sharper teeth down into her soft flesh a moment later, seeing as the girl was close to falling asleep from the paralyzing sedative his saliva contained. It was useful in a moment like this to keep his prey easy and allowed him to be able to feed without issue.
After he penetrated her skin, the blood began to flow into his mouth. The familiar metallic taste earned a soft moan from the male, his tongue gulping down a mouthful easily. And as he continued to drink his fill to the point of no return for the girl, his mind slowly started to wander.
Images, sounds, colors, moments flashed through, some long forgotten, others long buried now emerging once more and making him feel and experience them all once more. And with every single drop, he took in from this girl… there was yet another strange feeling bubbling back up from his long deceased heart.
The warmth of the rustling of leaves in the fall, the sounds of his mother quietly telling him a story, his father proudly rubbing his eternally untamable locks with that kind and aged face of his. A green haired boy following him gushing about some magic book he had found and the warm summer nights where the sky was endless and bright.
But also the cold longing of affection, understanding. The pit in his stomach of being reprimanded as a child and the look of disappointment from his parents. The sensation of immense heat and a tug to leave it behind. The regret of his choices and the pain of his last years and his last moments themselves. Moments long buried in a cold exterior, now cracking and flowing out like a restored creek.
The memories of being human and the emotions that came with it spilled back into his body, every cold and cruel part of him momentarily reigniting in a spark of life and mortality. So much so that he was forced to pull away mid-feeding, the sensations too much and the emotions too familiar to bear in one single sitting. And so with a soft pop and a few droplets of blood cascading through the air, he collapsed onto the carpet.
The ash blonde's knees shook as he gripped onto the girl in his arms, his eyes widening in shock, terror, relief, and guilt at what actions he had just attempted to perform. And yet… he refused to believe it. He had heard the tales but… those were just rumors! Myths! Gossip!
"There's no fucking way…" He cursed, glaring a heated glance down at the passed out female being held in his grasp.
Her body was still, the thin trails of red dripping down her neck from the wound he had made. His hold on her losing its ruthlessness by the moment and instead becoming more gentle. He wasn't sure why he broke his promise to your father… but something had changed.
Something unexpected and something he still didn't entirely believe himself… and yet he knew that he longer saw you the same way. And what he did see you as was still up in the air… but he was certain it wasn't prey or revenge. It was lighter, airier… but at the same time heavy and eternal. A great meter of stress while also being uplifting.
His eyes shut in confusion, not entirely understanding himself. But at this moment… he needed to take care of this idiot before she bled out.
"Just what the hell are you to me?"