Paul had the boy in a tight grip, not letting the struggle slow him down. The desire to hurt someone weak loosed his Hunger and he gave in fully. The urge he once had to help others had been ground out of him. It still lay on a table in an abandoned warehouse, bleeding as he once did while under the careful ministrations of a crazed Tzimisce. He just didn't care anymore; not even his own Sire's attentions could heal that.
The boy he held now was just one in a series. Boys like himself who were on the street, who were weak and needy. Whores. Paul flung the young man away from him and relished the sharp impact with the cinderblock wall. The crack of skull as it hit was a flash of joy in his otherwise barren heart.
*
He slid down the wall in a daze, hands scrambling to clasp at something...he couldn't remember what it was. It didn't seem very important anymore. He shook his head, trying again to struggle against what was happening. His name, he couldn't find it. Mind working too slowly, clawing at the darkness that was smothering his vision.
A hand slid down his cheek to cup his chin and he surged forward, into instead of away from the cold touch. Ben! His name was Ben... Arms wrapped around him, pulling him up again and he fought with strength not his own until he was slammed into the wall once more. A tangled cry passed his lips, bleeding from his soul.
"Please...don't" He wriggled, trying to move away from the clutching hands on his waist. Nothing stopped.
*
He stripped the boy roughly. It was so easy not to think about what his hands did, what his Hunger pushed him to. The boy could plead, begging for the touch to go away, the pain to end. The struggling was weak, the voice screamed itself down to a whisper and then there was stillness. The tensed body was heavier in his arms and he chose finally to strike.
The warm juncture of throat, slick with the smell of fear, welcomed without resistance. He took it gladly, mouth filling with desperate blood, as his hands moved elsewhere. A few swallows of blood and he had the boy beneath himself. Another few and he was sheathed in that tight warmth, the faint cries only pushing him deeper, harder. He was overwhelmed.
*
Jesse stood transfixed in the doorway for moments he could not count. His heart shredded beneath Paul's thrusting form. The shudder of terror that passed through him woke his mind though and he flung himself at the pair; the mad Childe he had created and the crying boy beneath. There was no thinking allowed; his hands grabbed for Paul, pulling him up and away. Taking the boy up into his arms.
His Childe stared at him silently, the hatred in his eyes speaking more than his thoughts or words could. Jesse whirled, clasping the boy to himself, and returned the anger with his pain. "How could you?" His harsh whisper filled the small room for only a second before he ran.
*
Jesse left the boy in the backseat of his car, leaning against the door until he could start thinking again. Nothing was making sense anymore. Finding Paul abusing anyone was something he had never considered before this summer. And it was his fault. He got into the car, starting it quickly and peeling away from the curb. Suneyva would want to kill his Childe and he had to find a way to convince her not to do that. He understood why she would desire destruction over rehabilitation, but couldn't make himself hate Paul.
Julianna was on the veranda with another dark haired woman when he pulled up to the house. The waved to him briefly before resuming their conversation. He ignored them both for the moment, getting the boy from the car and starting up the steps.
"Need any help, Jesse?" Julianna stepped forward, the blood on his coat alarming him.
"Not just yet. Thank you Julianna...is Suneyva here? I need her. I..." He clutched the boy more tightly. "It's important."
She nodded briefly, "In her study I think." Her friend caught her eye for a moment. "When you need me Jesse, just let me know. I'll be here."
"I count on that." He moved past, hurrying up the stairs to deposit the boy into his own bed. Everything would wait until he could tell his Sire what had happened. She would want to see for herself what the boy's condition was.
*
"He hasn't changed much it seems. Still so open."
Julianna turned to her friend again. "He healed for a bit and now there is a new pain. At least he isn't hiding in the dark to lick the wounds." She signed deeply. "Let's go inside and sit down. We can get you unpacked and moved in before dawn and still have time for chatting. Suneyva will want to talk to both of us I think." She took her friend's arm, an led the way into the old mansion.
"Maybe I should be asking if she has changed at all. Still the controlling bitch she was when we met?" A short laugh softened the southern accent.
"You better believe it." They looked up as Suneyva started down the stair case. "It is a good thing to see you again Meredythe. I fear that we are going to need your help...and don't please don't object because it has to do with men. I know how you Ahrimane work, but this is Jesse and his Childe. He will explain this to us all in a little bit." Her expression chilled considerably.
"His Childe? Was that the young man he was carrying?" Meredythe reached out and took the elder Gangrel's hand.
"No, that was another boy. Jesse will explain when he gets down here. He's helping the boy right now." She reached with her other hand to collect Julianna in half of a hug.
*
His body was being held by a corpse. The cold stiff arms around his chest brought a whimper from deep in his throat and his whole body jerked once. It was too much to wake up to. Ben shuddered all over, feeling each bruise, each scratch that lined his skin. Feeling the cold fingers that brushed the bare skin of his side.
The high pitched shriek was ripped from him and he bucked convulsively for a second or two before he was roughly rolled across the bed. Suddenly caught in eyes that were both blue and violet, cold and forgiving...and he started crying. "Please."
His captor released him, standing against the far wall before he had time to blink the tears from his eyes. "I won't hurt you. I promise. I just wanted to make sure you were safe today." Ben saw a twitch in the smile and stayed still. "I have to explain a few things to you and you have to listen to me. If you can do that you will have everything you could ever dream of having. Everything."
*
There were beginning to be marks in the floor as Suneyva went back and forth across the study. Julianna knew that they were not real, but it was so easy to imagine such a thing when her Sire had been in motion for hours. "That isn't going to solve the problem."
A slow chuckle from the other side of the fireplace underlined her statement as Meredythe added her two cents. "Unless of course this in an elaborate plan to drive us all to become non-existent Malkavians. If that is the case you will accomplish the goal," she glanced at her wrist watch, "in about nine minutes...eight and a half."
"I would not be driving the two of you to distraction if you would both get out. I would not be bothered by useless observation either." The warrior in Suneyva pushed for action, the Sire for forgiveness. Forgiveness because it was Jesse's wish and her younger Childe was still weak, would always be weak. He needed her to be strong and to step away from her desire to kill his own Childe and lover. She stepped away from the fireplace at this moment instead of making that decision.
"I am going out. Do whatever you wish. It matters little now." Suneyva paused in the doorway. "If you go into the city and see Paul bring him home with you. I do not know what I will do yet, but he must be brought here in any case." She sighed, softening for a moment. "I will be in the garden if you need me. Perhaps Odin will have answers for one of his Daughters tonight. Let Jesse know, please."
*
Part Two
Story Links
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