Author:
beren_writesFandom: Figure Skating RPS
Pairing: J Weir/S Lambiel, J Weir/E Lysacek, J Weir/S Lambiel/E Lysacek
Rating: NC17/18
Warnings: threesome, fantasy violence, explicit sex, strong language
Summary: AU from Kings on Ice in March – while in Moscow, Johnny is attacked by a creature he only thought existed in nightmares. Infected by the vampire his only hope is a group of Vampire Hunters, but some of them think it would be easier to just kill him and be done with it. With more enemies than friends he struggles for his life as well as his humanity.
Links to other Chapters: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Epilogue
Artist:
beadslut Art only post.Mixer
solookup Mix linkLosing Fear
"So, you and Stéphane," Evan said after they had spent two hours playing mindless video games.
It was about as subtle as a brick through the window, but then Johnny wasn't attracted to Evan for his subtlety.
"Me and Stéphane," he replied with a half smile.
"How long have you two been together?" was the curious question.
They were starting off slow, then, Johnny could deal with that.
"Since Russia," Johnny replied, putting his controller down and giving his full attention to Evan, "just like the rumours would have you believe. I was wandering around in a bit of a daze and managed to forget that I have these feelings for him I've been pretending weren't there and kissed him. It got more serious from there."
Evan looked as if he was digesting that information, while he turned off the game and put his controller down as well.
"Then why me?" Evan finally asked and seemed honestly perplexed.
"I asked him the same question when he asked me why I hadn't jumped you the other night," he replied and smiled at the memory, "but Stéphane's a lot more observant and a lot less vanilla than most people seem to think."
Evan just frowned a little as if he wasn't sure what Johnny was trying to say.
"I love him," Johnny said simply, since he wanted to make sure all the cards were on the table, "and he loves me, but we can't be together all that often. Because I'm a vampire I have certain needs ..."
"So you're interested in me as a stand in?" Evan asked and interrupted what he was trying to say.
Johnny gave Evan a look and he shut up.
"That's not what I'm trying to say," he said as soon as he had Evan's attention back. "We might not know each other well anymore, Evan, but you know me enough to know I don't do casual sex, not since the whole exploratory stage finally quit. When I have sex my heart gets involved."
He couldn't change who he was, didn't want to actually. He liked to flirt and the odd kiss and cuddle was always on the cards, but when it came to sex he always wanted more.
"As Stéphane so eloquently pointed out, both he and I find you very attractive," he continued with a smile, "and, unless I was reading it all wrong the other night, you are attracted to me at least."
Evan gave a small nod and showed that at least he wasn't in denial.
"Now," Johnny told him, "if sex is going to mess up everything between us, I don't want it; I'd rather have you as a friend, because I remember when we actually liked each other and it was fun. However, if you're interested, and that means in me and Stéphane, because he can be a possessive bitch, then I think we could have more than friendship. And before you ask, no I don't expect us to come out as the next perfect couple with a twist."
Evan managed a real smile at that.
"So you're suggesting a threesome as a long term relationship," Evan said after a few moments.
"Or just friends," Johnny said, wanting to make himself perfectly clear, "without benefits."
He knew by now that his vampire nature increased rather than decreased some of his more focused character traits, so it wasn't as if he had much choice. He was far too aware of how his mind worked to not put this in simple terms.
"And we could turn the X-box back on and just bro around and you'd be fine with it?" Evan asked and Johnny tried not to feel let down.
"I'd be a little bit disappointed," he admitted, since it would probably show on his face anyway, "but, yes, I'd rather that than things getting awkward."
To his credit, Evan did seem to be thinking everything through, which was really what was required.
"What about the whole vampire thing?" Evan asked in what Johnny thought was a far too logical tone for the conversation they were actually having.
"Oh, he's been in lust with you since the moment he clapped eyes on you," Johnny replied with a somewhat fake smile, "and he's even more possessive than Stéphane, so be warned."
He didn't usually talk about himself, even that part of himself, in the third person, but it got his message across.
"Long distance relationships are hard," Evan pointed out.
"Tell me about it," Johnny said and threw his arms in the air; "you should see my phone bill even with the ridiculously low tariff Tara found for me."
That wasn't quite what Evan had meant and they both knew it, but it was illustrative of the issues.
"I haven't been in a real relationship since Tanith," Evan suddenly revealed, much to Johnny surprise, "all the others have been more because my agent told me I needed to be seen with someone."
It was not a confession Johnny had been expecting at all, but it did explain quite a lot about the length of some of Evan's entanglements.
"One thing at least I don't have to worry about," Johnny said and gave Evan a smile of sympathy.
"Yeah and I'm fed up of it," Evan said with a shrug; "I think I'm lonely."
Now that Johnny understood all too well; he had felt that way too sometimes, before Stéphane.
"You could go out and look for a guy or girl that could make this less complicated for you," he suggested gently, "a real, normal relationship."
That was when Evan looked at him directly in the eyes and he saw so many emotions there.
"Only skaters understand skaters," Evan said after a few moments, "no one else does, at least no one else ever understands me. Tanith did, but we fucked that up."
"We could end up competing against each other," Johnny pointed out, but he wasn't trying very hard.
"Then I'll cheer for you and you can cheer for me and we'll be happy whoever wins," Evan said and sounded as if he had just made up his mind.
Johnny couldn't help smiling; it was just what he wanted to hear.
"Want to test out if there's really chemistry there?" he asked, deciding that he had been upfront so far, so he might as well continue.
Evan blushed a little at that, but did smile.
"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm sixteen again?" was the slightly embarrassed question.
"That was the last time we kissed?" Johnny offered and gave his companion a very mischievous little smile.
There had been quite a lot of experimentation going on with hormonal teenagers around that time and they had actually kissed a couple of times. That was before Evan had decided girls were so much easier. Johnny remembered being disappointed, because there had been a spark there.
"How do you suggest we see if this is worth the effort?" Evan asked, finally looking him in the eye.
Johnny slid off his end of the couch and deliberately slinked towards Evan, climbing back on so that he was straddling Evan's taller frame.
"Like the song says," he said and licked his lips; "it's in his kiss."
Evan's hands felt warm and large as they settled on his waist and he took that as acceptance, leaning forward and placing his lips gently on Evan's. It was nothing like when they were teenagers, that much was for sure, as Evan responded very directly. Evan pulled him closer and deepened the kiss and Johnny found a tongue almost instantly questing into his mouth. He reciprocated and the kiss became one hot battle of passion and need and Johnny felt that tingly feeling start at the top of his head and rush down his spine as his whole system came to life. He was going to have to buy Stéphane a whole boatload of chocolate, because this had been a fantastic idea.
Not only did Evan kiss well, he smelled wonderful. It wasn't something Johnny could quite pin down as one thing, but the combination of Evan's deodorant and Evan himself was delicious in a way that Johnny usually associated with Stéphane. He had never thought he was really interested in scent, other than the obvious that someone didn't smell like week old fish or the like, but he was beginning to realise that it must have been something he did unconsciously that was now more obvious to him. He even broke the kiss and nibbled down Evan's neck just so he could stick his nose against Evan's skin. It was wonderful.
He was ready to move back up and go with kissing again when there was the trill sound of an mp3 being blared from very small speakers and he felt Evan tense. Pulling back slightly, he saw the torn look in Evan's eyes, tinged with an edge of panic. He sighed.
"Go on then," he said, climbing off, "answer it. I know that look; you don't want to stop, but if you don't answer it your OCD will kick in and it'll be all you can think about."
Evan looked amazed at the understanding.
"I'm exactly the same," Johnny admitted as Evan reached for the phone sitting on the coffee table.
It did give Johnny a chance to take in Evan's dishevelled state and the large bulge in Evan's jeans made all sorts of promises for later.
"Hi, Yuki," he heard Evan say, "what's up?"
Evan's hair was sticking up at delightful angles and his lips were red from all the kissing; Johnny was very pleased with himself.
"Yes we saw what was going on on Twitter," Evan said and Johnny actually began paying attention to the conversation rather than just Evan. "What? About two hours ago, why?"
Sounded like something interesting had happened.
"Oh, really, we're trending?" Evan sounded so delightfully shocked and Johnny was quite surprised as well. "No, we've been playing on the X-box."
It sounded as if their photo was bigger news than expected and Johnny fetched Evan's laptop from the side when he saw Evan glance at it. Evan mouthed thanks at him, but it was clear Evan was trying to pay attention to what his agent was telling him. Johnny looked at his own phone and saw a message from Tara.
Nice bit of publicity there; making the most of it, will talk to you later. Tara
Johnny smiled; clearly his agent and Evan's had very different approaches, like their personalities really. If Tara was happy, so was he, so he decided to speed Evan's conversation along just a little bit. He was well aware that Evan was a contentious control freak so there was no way his soon-to-be lover would just dump the call, but Johnny was pretty sure he could shorten it considerably. Leaning forward, he put his lips next to Evan's free ear.
"I'll be upstairs," he all but breathed rather than said, "waiting."
Then he stood up, noting that Evan's eyes were firmly on him and sauntered to the stairs. At the bottom he shrugged off his shirt and threw it leisurely over the banister, before walking slowly up the stairs.
"What? Sorry, I missed that," he heard Evan say and he smiled to himself.
He was pretty sure that Evan would be following him shortly, so he walked into his room and began to prepare. The first thing he did was strip out of his remaining clothes and he did ponder flinging them off as if he had been in a fit of passion, but ended up folding them. The shirt was as far as he was willing to go for that part of the game. Once he was naked, he riffled around in his suitcase to find the little bag of essentials he tended to carry everywhere, just in case. He put the lube and the condoms on the bed side table before pulling the top sheets back from the bed to a rather jaunty angle and climbing into the space he had made. Carefully arranging himself, he settled in comfortably to wait.
It was only a few minutes before he heard footsteps on the stairs and then Evan was in the doorway.
"Yuki just ..." Evan trailed off in a way that was very satisfying to Johnny's ego.
Johnny smiled and batted his eyelashes at Evan. He counted the seconds off in his head as Evan just stood there and it was highly amusing.
"While I never argue with someone looking at me in quite the way you are," he said eventually, "I would like to remind you, you are allowed to touch."
As if released from some sort of stasis field Evan launched into motion and Johnny was reminded of just how much poise and balance it took to be a figure skater, as well as flexibility, as Evan managed to remove all of his clothes, including his socks between the door and the bed. There was a reason Evan had a gold medal and Johnny could see it in his eyes then; when Evan wanted something, it seemed, he went for it. Johnny found himself all but pinned to the bed, being kissed all over again, only this time there was plenty of skin on skin. He had already been hard just anticipating what was to come, but, as Evan rubbed against him, he moaned in pleasure. It was heady and hot and, for a while, completely out of control, but eventually Evan had to go up for air, at which point Johnny decided to take charge.
Given Evan's own confessions, he was pretty sure Evan was light on the experience of sex with men front, so he wanted to make sure nothing went too fast. Holding Evan's face between his hands, he refused to let his lover dive straight back in.
"What do you want?" he asked simply.
He was prepared for anything, so it was up to Evan to choose. Surprisingly, Evan did not hesitate and there was no sign of not having thought it through at all.
"You, inside me, now," was the very direct reply.
That hadn't really been how Johnny had imagined this going; he'd rather expected it to be the other way round. Not that Evan's straightforward demand didn't send messages straight to his cock; it definitely had the desired effect as his penis jumped at the very thought.
"You've done this before?" he asked, since he could see no nervousness in Evan's face and first timers didn't tend to be that laid back.
"Once," Evan admitted, "but that was a very long time ago."
That made Evan's request a little odder.
"But," Evan continued speaking before Johnny could ask, "I like toys. So, um, yeah, no problem on that score."
"Ooh," Johnny said with a grin, "kinky; I like."
He lifted his head and kissed Evan again; this was going to be fun. Before they finished the kiss, he slipped his leg over Evan and then flipped them, so they came to rest with him on top and then he continued where they had left off. He could feel Evan's body beneath him, all muscle and strength and he loved it, especially since Evan was surrendering to him. Johnny was equally happy in bed as a top or a bottom; he loved both positions for different reasons and he was pretty sure he could get Evan to top him later, but right then he revelled in the knowledge that Evan's body was his to plunder.
As he rolled one between his finger tips, he noted that Evan had very sensitive nipples; something well worth investigating at a later date, but he was more interested in the direct approach. Grabbing things off the bedside table with one hand and throwing then to the side within easy reach, he shimmied down the bed. Evan's cock was hard and long and almost purple with blood at the head where a bead of precum was smeared down the slit. By the looks of things, Evan was very, very aroused and Johnny couldn't help the delighted smile that emerged onto his face.
"My, my," he said, licking his lips, "aren't we a big boy."
He didn't give Evan much time to reply, however, as he wrapped his lips around that engorged head.
"Holy shit," was Evan's immediate response as Johnny ran his tongue over the sensitive flesh and tasted his new lover for the first time.
What came next happened more by accident than judgement as his vampire nature rose towards the surface, not the whole way, but far enough so that his senses enhanced. As he tasted, he assigned Evan to the memory part of himself that only the vampire possessed, recording the sense memory in a way humans had mostly long since lost. He had learned Stéphane this way already, taking in every part of his Swiss lover, and now he had to learn Evan. It would take time, days probably, but he would do it and he looked up at Evan through his long lashes as he sucked on his current prize.
There was only a flicker, but he saw it as it crossed Evan's face and he realised his other half must have been showing more than he expected. What he saw was fear and that was unacceptable. He pulled off instantly and carefully climbed back up the bed until he was eye to eye with Evan; then he let his vampire rise to the surface completely.
"I will never hurt you," he said slowly and carefully, making sure Evan could see all that he was, "you need to know that."
Evan just looked at him for long seconds.
"Will you bite me?" Evan eventually asked, face all but blank of expression.
"Only if you let me," Johnny replied, because he wanted to; he could feel the want building, but he would never let that need out if it bothered Evan.
The silent staring went on for another few seconds after that.
"I want you to," was the whispered reply.
Only then did Johnny begin to breathe again properly and he let his vampire nature fade away.
"We'll get to that," he promised with a small smile, "but I was busy."
Then he shimmied down the bed again and without further ado took Evan back into his mouth. He had every intention of playing a while, just to find out where Evan's limits were and then he had other plans. Since Evan had liked it so much before, he used his tongue for a while, licking and using the flexible muscle to tease Evan's cock for as long as possible. Evan made some very interesting noises, but only when Johnny employed some sucking as well did they turn completely incoherent. It was fun and more than a little arousing to be able to do that to his lover and Johnny enjoyed it even more when he took Evan's cock in as far as he could, bobbing his head a little and the sounds Evan was making turned rather pleading.
He wasn't actually trying to torture Evan, so he relented a little, but he did rather enjoy having his rival at his mercy, even though they were past that little hurdle. Only when he thought Evan might actually come did he finally pull back completely and gave his lover a very self-satisfied grin. Evan looked back at him and then flopped his head back on the pillow and made a desperate kind of resigned noise.
"Don't worry, Mongoose," he said, flavouring the old nickname with a new warmth, "I'll let you come, once my snake is buried deep in your desperate body that is."
Evan just whimpered and Johnny took that as encouragement.
When he reached for the lube, Evan was clearly still paying attention, because he lifted one leg, revealing just what Johnny was after. Toys and cocks weren't always the same thing, what with the myriad of shapes and sizes available in the toy department, but when he finally slid a finger in to test the waters, so to speak, Evan opened up for him easily. In fact it seemed that Evan was so eager and ready that it took no time at all to prepare him and before Johnny knew it he was kneeling up and reaching for one of the condoms.
The fact that he was likely to end up biting Evan did cross him mind, but certain safety precautions were second nature in modern life. He saw what he suspected was the same thought go through Evan's head, but Evan didn't try to stop him. He rolled the condom on and then surveyed his prize.
"How do you want to do this?" he asked, since he wanted to fulfil whatever desires Evan had in his head. "On you back or on your knees?"
"On my knees," Evan said, voice thick with arousal.
Johnny moved back and gave Evan some space, since the idea sent thrills all over his body. It was clear that Evan had a scenario in his head, probably a long held fantasy if Johnny was any judge, and he was not about to spoil it. As soon as Evan was settled, legs apart, back straight, head down, Johnny moved in, running his hands all over Evan's lower back and thighs. It really was a beautiful view.
"How long have you wanted this?" he asked, finding his curiosity piqued and needing to know.
"Too long," was Evan's breathy response, "and you have no idea how I hated myself for it for a while."
Johnny knew all about wanting things you weren't allowed to have, so he didn't push.
"No more hating," he said, slicking up his cock while running the fingers of his other hand down over Evan's already slick entrance, "no more hating, ever."
Then he carefully lined up and began to push in. It was clear almost immediately that although Evan was used to things up his ass, he was used to being in control of them and Johnny had to pause while Evan adjusted.
"Okay?" he asked just to make sure.
"Yeah," Evan replied, "really, yeah."
Evan's voice was so full of desire that Johnny lost all worries that he might actually be hurting his lover and he pushed in slowly. He did not try for all the way, but went as deep as he dared and then pulled back a little, just letting Evan get used to the intrusion, rocking his hips forward again slowly and gently. Evan was tight around him, clearly not used to something moving this much, which led to a whole load of questions in Johnny's mind that he had to put aside, and Johnny had to breathe deeply to keep himself calm and in control. He did not want to hurt Evan and so he continued to move slowly until Evan loosened up more around him, gradually taking more and more of him with each push forward.
He had been dreaming about this since their encounter in L.A., or at least versions of the same scenario, and now that he had it, it was rather amazing. Evan was under him, spread for him, moaning and making the most delicious noises with every move he made, and it fed both of his aspects. When he had told Evan that his heart always got in the way he hadn't been kidding and it was true now, even more so. He could feel the possessive vampire need moving under the surface and it only pushed his human needs closer to the surface. He wanted to take everything from Evan and give everything to him and he could not help thinking about Stéphane as well.
As he increased his pace and the depth of his thrusts, his mind filled with what was actually happening and the strangely complete memories he had of similar moments with Stéphane. He had been a little afraid that, even with Stéphane's permission and encouragement, it would feel a little like cheating, but it was nothing like that. He so very much wanted them all to come together and he had to concentrate extremely hard not to be dragged into the concept inside his mind.
His vampire demanded to be let out and he did not have the will to stop it. As soon as he allowed it, he felt the power of the creature inside him and his senses became sharper and his muscles stronger. He had to bring his movements to a halt to make sure he did not hurt Evan and he paused, buried deep within his lover.
"Come here," he said, winding his arms around Evan's chest and carefully pulling Evan into a full kneeling position.
It was not the easiest of angles, but he was a lot stronger in his vampire form and thrusting his hips was not difficult.
"Oh god," Evan said at the new angle and Johnny snaked one hand down to wrap around Evan's neglected cock.
It would not take long; he knew that without a doubt and he pushed Evan on before his own control failed him. Evan was crying out with every thrust Johnny made now, not cries of pain, but of need and desire, and he could feel that his lover was teetering on the edge.
"Johnny," Evan said in a broken breathless tone and then Evan came, clenching around him and shooting creamy liquid onto the bed sheets.
It made his nerves rattle as his cock was squeezed in Evan's ass, but he refused to let go himself. He did not want to bite Evan in desperation; he wanted it to be deliberate and recognised for what it was and he rode out Evan's orgasm, holding on tightly. Only when Evan became relaxed in his arms did he slowly pull out, feeling Evan wince as the tender nature of the act, before gently helping his lover to lay down on the other half of the bed.
Evan looked dazed and spent as Johnny slowly straddled him, but their eyes met. He saw recognition and knowledge in Evan's gaze and when Evan turned his head to the side, exposing his long neck, he knew he had been understood. Johnny leant down over his lover, careful to align their bodies without squashing anything that might be tender and he slowly licked the side of Evan's neck. Evan whimpered quietly, the sound of a man who had been thoroughly fucked and was over sensitive, and Johnny revelled in it. It never even occurred to him not to open his mouth and bite down, but he definitely was not expecting what happened after that.
Johnny felt the pleasure burst into him, and through him into Evan and then Evan was rearing up underneath him, almost bucking him off as Evan's whole body reacted. There was a cry, but it seemed stuck in Evan's throat and Johnny felt himself pushed over the edge into the orgasm he had been holding off as the blood set his system alight. It was honestly mind blowing, but, as soon as he felt Evan sink back to the bed, he stopped drinking and drew back, eyes closed and enjoying the high for a few moments. There really was nothing like blood, and blood and sex were the best combination in the whole world.
It was only as he looked down at Evan, expecting to see a very dazed expression looking back at him that he realised something was wrong. Evan was not moving and his eyes were closed and his head was turned to one side; Johnny almost panicked, but he could see the pulse in Evan's neck, he could feel the heartbeat running through his lover. Evan was not dead, but he did not seem to be conscious and Johnny climbed off his lover quickly.
"Evan," he said gently, but there was no response; Evan seemed to be out cold.
Johnny didn't know a whole lot about first aid, but he did remember something about cool things. He ran to the bathroom, dunked a wash cloth under the cold water and then ran back to the bedroom. When he first touched Evan with it there was the faintest of twitches, so he very carefully washed Evan with it all over. Eventually there was a groan and Evan slowly opened his eyes.
"Hi," Johnny said, not sure what else to say, "are you feeling okay?"
He honestly had no idea why Evan had fainted, Stéphane had never done anything like that.
"Wow," was what Evan eventually said, "that was ... that was pleasure overload."
That was not what Johnny had been expecting to hear at all.
"Pleasure?" he asked, since it sounded like a bad romance novel.
Evan had the gall to smile at him.
"Yeah," was the cheerful response, "oh god, I never ... mind blowing."
Johnny swiped at Evan's arm.
"Bastard," he said, even though it wasn't really Evan's fault; "you almost gave me a heart attack. Do you faint a lot?"
Evan just grinned at him.
"Only for you," was the totally unrepentant reply.
It was nice for his ego, but he was screwed, he really was, because there was no way he was ever going to be able to resist Evan, not ever.
Johnny had stayed with Evan for three days and they had had to fend off paparazzi each day once the Twitter thing had hit the rest of the news. Outside the house they had pretended to be friends who bro-ed around when they weren't off in completely different parts of the city; inside they had mostly in bed, although they had remembered to eat most of the time. Johnny had enjoyed his entire stay, but of course he had had to go home and get on with all his other commitments. As it turned out, Evan might have been on the same continent, but it didn't make it a whole lot easier to see each other and Johnny ended up with two numbers on his low rate tariff. He did get to see Evan occasionally though. Then of course he made the big announcement about not competing during the coming season.
Having told the world that he was taking time off to reinvent his skating and re-examine his life, that's what Johnny did and he decided it was time to take charge. Johnny Weir was back with a vengeance and for a little while it was impossible to turn on the TV or open a paper without seeing him somewhere. Then with his career back on track he decided to make sure nothing else could be a problem either. With their schedules he, Evan and Stéphane had to plan months in advance, but when Stéphane called and said he was unexpectedly free in three weeks time, Johnny called Evan and managed to arrange a weekend where they could all finally be in the same place at the same time.
It was as he started planning what they could do that he began to feel the unease. Something had shifted in him over time and his confidence was back and with it came some rather unexpected instincts. He was territorial for a start. He'd always liked to have his own space, but he found himself paying far more attention to the people who were around him and when he almost threw out a delivery guy he realised he was dealing with more than simple paranoia.
When he started to sense other vampires, he decided it was time to ask for advice. He'd been emailing with Yuri on and off since he had returned home and he didn't really understand what was going on.
Yuri,
Are vampires attracted to each other, could I be drawing others to me? I've started to feel others, but I didn't before, it's only just begun to happen.
Thanks,
Johnny
It took Yuri precisely two hours to respond.
Johnny,
I have not heard of vampires being drawn to each other, the opposite is usually true. Vampires create a territory and only allow their own vampire children within it. Some of the old vampires occupy an entire city with all the others in their domain being their creations. Moscow is such a city. In America I do not think the bloodlines are powerful enough for such a thing. It may be your abilities are simply developing to allow you to sense others. They may be no closer than before.
Your friend,
Yuri
That wasn't overly settling.
I don't like it. How can I be sure?
Johnny
He definitely did not want to spend every day paranoid.
My friend,
If you can I would suggest you avoid interaction with the vampire population. Your bloodline is stronger, as the encounter in L.A. showed, but you do not wish to draw attention to yourself. If you meet another vampire do not back down, you are stronger and news travels fast among the blood suckers, but I would recommend you avoid all contact. Try not to worry about those you feel unless they come too close.
Yuri
It was good advice, not that it solved the problem.
Thanks. J
Johnny did his very best to follow Yuri's advice as well and managed it for a week, but the feelings of the others would not go away. He stared to wake up from vivid dreams, nightmares really, in which there was blood and fighting and other things that made his heart pound and further sleep impossible. Eventually he woke up after only an hour of sleep and that was it; he decided he had to find out just what it meant, because it was driving him crazy. He chose an all black workout outfit that he hadn't used in a while, a black beanie and a pair of glasses that hid half his face, but weren't particularly dark, so he could easily see through them. Then he climbed into his car and started to drive, following his nose towards what he could feel. The closer he came, the more territorial he began to feel and, by the time he pulled into a virtually empty parking lot, he was more acting than he was thinking.
He wasn't really sure where he was, he hadn't been paying much attention, but he was somewhere with a lot of what looked like warehouse buildings. All he was concerned about was the fact that it was too close to his home for comfort. It honestly didn't occur to him that what he was about to do was incredibly dangerous, he no longer had any choice about it. The original plan had just been to look, but the original plan was long forgotten by that point.
Walking quickly, he entered one of the warehouses and headed towards the back of the building where he found a locked door. Without thinking twice, he let his vampire nature come out and the lock crumbled under a single blow. As soon as he allowed his body to take on its alternative form everything around him was suddenly much more intense, including the feeling of the vampire above him. Using instincts he had never tried before, he catalogued everything his senses were telling him. A small part of him realised it was strange that he was on the offensive, but the rest of him was just getting on with it. He took the stairs behind the door three at a time and walked out into what was a sparsely furnished, but well kept room.
"Fuck off or die," was the greetings from the only occupant.
The vampire was sitting in an arm chair, his face covered in blood and there was the body of a girl on plastic sheeting in front of the chair. She was very dead, Johnny could tell, even from a distance and all of his attention was firmly on the killer.
"I do not think so, Мудак," he said in his best Russian accent, "this is my territory now and I am cleaning house. You will be leaving."
"Fuck that," was the instant response and thus began Johnny's attempt to remove all pests from his neighbourhood.
Yuri,
American vampires are morons. You were right, they aren't closer, but I can still feel them.
Johnny
Out of three he had tracked down that night, one had run and the other two had refused and he had been forced to kill them. He did not like killing, but when given no choice he found he had it in him to destroy the monsters that threatened the people around his home. In the end it took him a week to clear out a twenty mile radius around his apartment, at the end of which the vampires were doing more running than fighting. He was quite pleased with himself and feeling much more settled when he received another email from Yuri.
Johnny My Friend,
I have been hearing many things on the grapevine that I think you may wish to know. We have had enquiries from America asking if one of ours has decided to change continents. It seems there are rumours of a big Russian vampire carving out a territory in New Jersey. The local hunters wish to know what they are up against. I have heard Michal swearing about amateurs.
Johnny smiled to himself even as the news surprised him. That Yuri knew it was him was not the part that was a surprise, that the local hunters were involved and thought he was some big shot from Russia was what had his attention.
Perhaps it is time you introduced yourself. I do not think they will believe us if we tell them it is an American Figure Skater who wishes to have a peaceful neighbourhood. I have included an address where you will be able to make contact.
I see you did not take my advice, but I think perhaps, given what I have heard, I was wrong.
I am impressed,
Yuri
Yuri's reaction meant a lot to him and he read the address at the bottom of the email with interest.
I couldn't just let it go. I tried to run them out, but I meant what I said last time, vampires are real idiots and they don't seem to listen without violence. If they ran I let them go to spread the word and I think my Russian accent is getting better by the day.
Thank you,
Johnny
After writing back, he rang Tara, changed a few appointments and made some plans for the next day, which was why he found himself standing outside a nondescript apartment building in New York wondering exactly how he was going to do this. The address Yuri had given him was not what Yuri had described as a hunter's base, but it was somewhere one or more of them could be found. It seemed the hunters from New York handled the groups in a very wide area, so Yuri had sent him to the top man. He had dressed down in that he was not wearing anything designer or flashy and he had a hat on that was covering his usually flamboyant hair.
After a few more minutes thought, he walked in and headed over to the elevator. Reaching the correct floor was easy and then he walked down the clean, tidy hallway to the completely average apartment door. He rang the bell and waited. The woman who opened the door was perfectly ordinary as far as New Yorkers went and gave him a very cool look. She was wearing designer jeans and a knock off blouse, he could tell a mile away.
"Can I help you?" she asked in tones that could have made the arctic seem warm; typical New Yorker really.
"I'd like to see Philip Drayson please," he said simply, giving her a smile for good measure; "Yuri Petranov gave me your address."
The woman's demeanour changed instantly; it became icier.
"Why?" she demanded somehow seeming to fill the doorway even though she was short and slim.
"We have things to discus," he replied, refusing to back down in the slightest.
"Like what?" asked a very male voice and a man appeared behind the woman.
The way hostility was coming off the newcomer reminded Johnny a little of Anton.
"Russian vampires," he said bluntly, because he didn't think beating around the bush would do any of them any good.
That earned him a surprised look, clearly hunters did not go around talking about vampires in hallways. The man tapped the woman on the shoulder and they parted so he could enter the apartment. It was not the most comfortable of welcomes, but he'd had worse in his time. After dealing with Figure Skating officials for years the hunters were nothing.
"And you are?" a third voice asked as he walked in and he was faced with an older man.
"Johnny Weir," he said without hesitation, "are you Philip Drayson?"
"The halfbreed," was the instant and unhelpful response.
"Nice to meet you too," he replied in his best sarcastic tone.
He wasn't surprised the man knew who he was, but he wasn't overly fond of the term the man used in such a derogatory fashion.
"What do you want?" was the unrepentant reply.
"Well I was going to talk to you about Russian vampires, but if you're going to be insulting I'll just leave," he said and turned on his heel.
The front door was already closed and the woman drew a hand gun from the back of her waistband.
"That will barely slow me down," he said pointedly, "and blood's really hard to get out of cream carpet. Plus if you do, somehow, manage to stop me leaving, my agent knows exactly where I am and will be quite happy to broadcast this address far and wide. Now get out of my way."
He did not like rude people and there was absolutely no reason for them to treat him like they were.
"Wait," the man he thought was Drayson said from behind him.
"Why should I bother?" he asked pointedly; he'd get Yuri to email them when he got home.
The man gave him a very appraising look.
"I apologise," the man said eventually, "I am Philip Drayson. When you have been doing this for a certain number of years you become hard wired to react in a certain way to all things vampire. Please, come and sit down."
It sounded like a sincere apology and the woman had started putting her gun away at the second word. He waited a few seconds, but he really didn't want these people as enemies.
"Apology accepted," he said with a small nod and walked over to take a seat on the end of the rather nice couch.
"You mentioned Russian vampires," Drayson said as the other two took up positions on either side of the room.
Johnny did not feel relaxed, but he tried to look it never the less.
"Yuri emailed me and mentioned that you were trying to find out about the rumours of a Russian vampire moving into New Jersey," he said as he sat back in his seat.
"The local blood suckers are talking about it," the woman said, "they're afraid to go to quite a large area. Something has been on a killing spree."
"Vampires don't tend to emigrate," Drayson added, "but the word is that there is a Russian moving in and clearing out the weaker bloodlines."
That was exactly what Johnny had been hoping the vampire population would think, what he hadn't realised is that it would get back to the hunters.
"Could the Russian be looking for you?" the other man asked.
Not a possible conclusion Johnny had considered, but now that he thought about it, it could have been a sensible one. The hunters clearly didn't think of him as any type of threat to other vampires.
"The Russian is me," he said, giving them an example of his Russian accent, and rather enjoyed the startled and then disbelieving look Drayson gave him.
"You?" was the incredulous question.
"Me," Johnny replied with a nod. "I didn't like the neighbours."
The hunters clearly thought something was not right and it annoyed him a little; just because he looked harmless didn't mean he was.
"I'm sorry," Drayson said, clearly trying to think of some way to get round what Johnny had said, "but what possessed you to even try something like that."
It was at least a valid question.
"I've found myself becoming more and more protective of my home," he said, deciding that honesty was the best policy, "and I could feel the others out there. I'm more of a peace and love person, but eventually I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went after them, tried to chase them off, but they're dumb and half of them seemed to want to be dead. I didn't want anyone to trace me back so I pretended to be Russian."
He was not about to mention his protectiveness seemed to have a lot to do with both of his lovers being due. His need to make sure his lovers were safe seemed to far outweigh his more peaceful nature. He folded his hands in his lap and waited for Drayson's response.
"From the rumours we have heard you have done a very thorough job," Drayson said eventually, "have you ever thought of becoming a hunter?"
That wasn't quite where he had expected the conversation to go and it made him think. It didn't take him long to realise the truth, however.
"I don't like killing," he said simply, "even when they are murderous little shits who deserve everything they get. I think it's best for all of us that it stays that way. I will protect my home and those close to it, but that's as far as it goes."
"But you could save so many lives," the woman pointed out, totally missing his reasoning.
Johnny gave her a cold smile.
"And what happens if I get to like it?" he asked bluntly. "I'm walking a fine line here; I have urges you couldn't possibly understand, I know because I never would have guessed. You do not want me on the other side of that line and I definitely don't want to find out what it's like. I only did this because I had to."
The cross kept him human enough, but he did not want to push it. Part of him had enjoyed the killing even as it horrified the rest of him and he definitely did not want that part to grow. There was a vampire inside of him, it was caged and hobbled, but he was not about to give it a chance to get out.
"You don't mince your words, Mr Weir," Drayson said eventually.
"Johnny," he corrected, he found 'Mr Weir' far too formal, "and I find it saves time."
Drayson smiled at him for that.
"I like that in a man," the hunter said and slowly stood up. "I see your point about your career choices, however, I would ask a favour."
"I'm listening," he replied, not willing to reject the man out of hand.
"You have advantages we do not," Drayson said, looking him directly in the eyes, "and occasionally there are situations which risk a great many lives, because we have to go in blind. Your abilities would reduce the risk considerably in those unusual circumstances. If on those rare occasions we were to ask for your help to gather intelligence, would you consider it?"
That was an angle he had not thought about and Johnny ran the idea over in his mind. Then he slipped his hand into his bag and pulled out one of his business cards and held it out.
"I'd consider it," he accepted with a nod.
He'd probably be on a different continent when they needed him, but he was all for saving lives and they weren't asking him to kill.
Drayson took the card and then held out his hand.
"Thank you, Johnny," the man said and appeared to genuinely mean it, "I hope we do not have need of each other too often."
Johnny stood and shook the man's hand; their meeting was over.
"Agreed," he said and gave a small smile.
"I will send you a number should you need to contact us in a hurry," Drayson told him as they walked towards the door together. "We will concentrate our efforts outside your territory, but if you need us we will be there to help."
It sounded strange hearing someone else call it his territory, but after all, that's what it was and he had never been one for letting the housekeeping go.
"Thank you," he replied, quite surprised by how amicable the meeting had turned out to be; "let's hope I don't need to use that either."
It was only after he had been seen out and was walking down the street that he realised he had never been introduced to the other two hunters. He was pretty sure he was never going to get used to the cloak and dagger games.
End of Chapter 4
On to Epilogue