Chapter 25

Archer Warning: “Well, hello sweet thing… hmhm, you are too sweet to be reading this book. Mmmm, maybe Elio will scare you off. I hope he does, so you won’t seduce the big sexy man we have here… fufu~”
⚠️TW Racism

I know you’re sick
Hopin’ you fix whatever’s broken
Ignorant bliss
And a few sips might be the potion
—Reflection

ANOTHER’S POINT OF VIEW

“So you think I’ll stop being hotheaded if I can get Evie to f*ck me?” Glass clarified to Elio while he is bathing naked in the lake. The other male kept his clothes on, sitting on a rock nearby to watch over the unstable vampire whom he is trying to help.

“Resolving the issues with your master will greatly improve your emotional stability, Sir Glass.”

The dark siren sighed while in the water, touching his legs and imagining the many times his lover was between them; sucking him, eating him out, but never doing more. I wanted more.

But first of all, I want this outdated motherf*cker to understand… Glass lifts his upper body out of the water, leaving his long micro braids to stick to his body with some cascading down his back.

“I don’t know how many slaves you’ve encountered in your life, Elio…” Glass’ eyes turn red as the fog increases around them, “But I’m not one of them. I’m a free man… and Evie is not my master. We are lovers, equals… one might say I’m above him with how he bends to a mere finger wave of mine.”

Elio scoffs in disbelief, “Sir—”

“Shh, I’m not done speaking…” Glass sat his hips on the edge of the lake, shamelessly naked in front of the confused man, “Redd is a slave, you’re right about that. But he’s my slave. I own him. You know what that makes me? A master… and you will address me as one. And you will not treat my Redd like he works in this convent. No… he bows to no one but me.”

Elio raised both of his eyebrows in realization. “Oh my, forgive me for the confusion! Of course a very educated and articulate black man such as you will have your own slave. How wonderful, Master Glass!”

Glass rolled his eyes at the bullsh*t coming out of this mentally ill vampire’s mouth. Baby steps… baby steps.

Elio sighed, “How I wish Deidre was still alive to witness a black man having his own slave. He would slap me and make me join his grave!”

“Deidre?” Glass returned to the water, now looking up at Elio. “Who’s that, another plantation owner?”

“Oh no, he could never!” Elio laughed loudly, “He was a colored—he worked for the kitchen and made me the only soup that could cure my fever. Ahh, I remember going through puberty with him. A very confusing time in my life, which he accompanied me in—Deidre was very peculiar in a way I didn’t think was possible for a black person: he could read, could you believe that?”

Glass stared at him blankly. We can read, you dimwit.

“But then I realized, Deidre was always present in my private classroom, cleaning the shelves as I read books out loud for my tutor. Then he told me he would search for that book and read it himself, that’s how he learned.” Elio smiled with fondness in his eyes. “I never knew black people could be smart until I met him.”

“But he’s dead… how did he die?” And how could Elio remember it? This man has dementia. It could only mean that Deidre died before he became a vampire.

“Ahh…” Elio was still smiling, but this time at the ground. “I… I don’t remember. All I knew is that… he’s a dear friend. And I—”

He seemed to choke on his words, tears glossing his blue eyes as they look at Glass with eyes full of… guilt. Glass immediately gets rid of the fog and brightens the moon, making it less dark for Elio. It seemed to work, and the man is breathing a bit calmer now.

“Ahh… forgive me, I… I don’t understand why I’m crying. My parents would reprimand me for shedding tears for a slave.” Elio tapped his handkerchief against his eyes. “They wouldn’t let me be friends with Deidre; but I was never the best in following rules, anyway.”

Glass smiles, chuckling at him. “You’re following rules now.”

“I believe… that’s how I lost Deidre. Not following rules,” Elio sadly said, his eyes fighting to keep tears inside. “My parents may be right. Separation of class and race exists for a reason, mostly for our safety. If I had followed the rules, Deidre may still be alive.”

“So you remember how he died?” Glass grew curious. He wants to know what caused the death of Elio’s friend. He wants to know the root of this man’s dementia; he has a feeling it has something to do with trauma from the past.

“I don’t remember how Deidre died. It shouldn’t be so long ago… but since black people can own slaves now, it really must be a long time ago.” Elio blinked away his tears, swallowed his emotions, and lifts his head to smile at Glass saying, “Let’s not dwell in the past. Especially if it causes pain and discomfort…”

Huh. And yet he is stuck in the past. Glass stares at Elio, still annoyed at the hypocrisy but less angry now. No matter what he, or the others do, Elio is could never be right in the head.

“Would you like to go back inside, Sir Glass? I fear you’ll freeze in these waters…”

“Did you forget vampires don’t feel temperature as much?” Glass scoffs at him, voice softer in appreciation of Elio’s concern. Still, he removed himself from the lake, not cold at all.

“Nonsense, the night is cold and so are you; your skin may be armor against the sun, but you are weak towards the cold,” Elio says as he removes his coat and puts it around the naked vampires’ shoulders. Glass stared at him in wonder, eyes softening at Elio’s genuine act of service towards him, despite his outdated beliefs.

“You’re weird Elio, but… thank you—”

“Glass,” a strict voice rang from the darkness, and it was from none other than Evie. He has his arm closed, half of his hair pinned up, and green eyes glaring at the two of them. “Getting comfy with the KKK, I see?”

“I do not—”

“I’m not talking to you, Thomas Jefferson,” Evie snaps at him, before turning to Glass, scowling. “I understand that you are confident in your body and wants to seduce any creature with a d*ck. What I don’t under-f*cking-stand is you flaunting your sh*t for a man that thinks of you as nothing but a slave!”

Glass was about to talk back, but Elio beat him to it.

“Don’t talk to him that way, he’s a Master too!”

Evie’s eyes turn towards him and it got Glass to fear for Elio’s neck. The green-eyed vampire walks toward him like a stalking Tiger, and since Glass doesn’t want conflict he reached for his boyfriend’s wrist to pull him towards the convent. “Let’s go—”

“I’m not finished here,” Evie refused to budge from where he stood, glaring at Elio with looks that could kill. “I don’t blame you for wanting to f*ck him, Elio. My boyfriend can look at men and break knees from how quick they’ll bend. But I don’t want him anywhere near a deranged racist like you.”

“Eve… don’t,” Glass mutters in shame.

“Excuse me Sir, I do not want to fornicate with him,” Elio answered, while Glass is trying his very best to convince Evie to leave him alone.

“Why?” Evie tilts his head, “Is it because you find his skin disgusting?”

Elio’s face contorted to that of confusion and disbelief. “I could never—”

“That’s right, you could never f*ck him. He’s mine, and I’ll be d*mned if I let you lay those disgusting hands on him—”

“Evie!” Glass yelled at him, making the trees sway without the wind. The leaves rustle around them as a warning to what he is capable of. Evie stopped and finally tore his eyes away from Elio to look at his angry, naked lover. “Enough, he’s not worth it!”

Glass’ eyebrows dip as he looks at Elio apologetically. “Let’s go, Evie. I’m hungry.”

The green-eyed vampire glared at Elio one last time before taking Glass’ hands and pulling him away. Elio stared at Glass until the latter could no longer look at him. Elio thought, Hmm… for a free man, he sure acts enslaved by Sir Everest.

Meanwhile, a Geisha stood by Redd’s door, but she is in her sleepwear: a kimono of grand patterns carelessly draped on his body and exposed his collarbones, nape, and some of his milky white chest. All of his hair is pinned up by golden ornaments, and his face is minimally painted instead of the stark white of his usual image—he is an image of a goddess at rest, but when Redd turned around he jumped at the sight of him.

“Jesus f*cking—! F*ck, Archer! You made me use the lord’s name in vain!” Redd exclaimed, holding his heart which almost jumped out of his chest. “I… didn’t recognize you at first. What do you want?”

Archer smiled politely: no teeth, minimal lift, his movements graceful as he held the doorframe. “I have a cut on my back. I’d like it cleaned up, please.”

Redd stared at him suspiciously. “Vampires heal.”

“This convent doesn’t have any supply of Lucifer’s blood…” Archer pulls out a bloody kimono from his own sleeves. “I was hoping I’d get a turn on your services as a medic.”

Redd blinked once and saw a 7inch gash on Archer’s back, still open and pumping blood. “Oh sh*t…”

Archer is placed on his chair as Redd asked, “What happened?”

“Hehe, I forgot you weren’t here when I was a student. But this is caused by my powers…” Archer removed his kimono, showing Redd not only his slender body, but also a giant tattoo of an Oni surrounded by Japanese text. Some text are torn apart by the injury, and now that it’s exposed Redd can smell the vampire’s blood.

Redd closed his door before pulling out stitches from his cabinet. “What kind of powers tears your body like that?”

“I was practicing… Puppetry. I can control bodies without a soul… the dead, mostly. I can do it easily on animals and corpses. Anything without a soul…” Archer slightly moaned when Redd started cleaning his injury with alcohol around the area, and betadine on the injury itself.

That’s a messed up power… Redd asked, “Did these corpses try to kill you, that’s why you got this?”

“Mmm… see, I was practicing on puppeteering a body with a soul. I tried to puppet Pryce…” he admits, shocking Redd. Archer sighed, “But the soul fights hard, and in response to my intrusion, Pryce attacked me instead. I put him back to sleep, he shouldn’t remember anything.”

“You’re insane. We’re not allowed to control people for a reason. That’s basically possessing, and it’s not allowed by the Vatican, that’s what exorcism is for.”

Archer winced as Redd started stabbing him with a needle to stitch it back up. “We have an entire lifetime to improve our craft, Redd. We are the most powerful creatures on the planet… and yet old men who think they speak for our Mother think they can control us.”

“Tough talk for someone working for the Vatican…” Redd mumbles.

“I work for myself,” Archer corrects, looking back at the big man, looking at him like he’s thirsty for something residing inside him. “I recall the Vatican inviting you there because of your behavior. That’s where I first heard of you. Hehe… did you sleep with Pryce so he’ll keep you here—?”

Redd stabbed him with a needle again, making Archer gasp softly. He answered, “I’ve never f*cked Pryce.”

“It makes me wonder why he decided to mentor you himself. Pryce never really cared about us back when I studied here…” That statement was hard for Redd to believe, he had to look at Archer.

“What was it like back then?” Redd asked the older vampire, finishing up the stitches. He tries to ignore the moans whenever the needle goes in. Maybe Archer’s just a masochist.

“We were all under the Monsignor. The feeding and s*x was indeed fun, my favorite lover was Evie and Margiela. Then the three of them—Evie, Glass and Marg, got into a love triangle. Mmm, I told them to just focus on the pleasure and not the feelings, but Margiela graduated to get away from the two of them.”

Archer added, “There were a lot more students back then… I remember the triplets always plotting on Leo to make him release Satan. They were Satanists… but Satan equally hated everyone and no amount of devotion could make him grant your wishes.”

Redd scoffed, The same Satan that acts like a puppy around Jude?

Archer continued, “Pryce wanted nothing more than to serve the Vatican, so he was very strict and aloof. He’d put all of us under the bus if it means getting the Monsignor’s approval.”

“That doesn’t sound like him.” Now Pryce thinks of nothing but their well-being. He threatened Margiela and the entire Vatican just to keep Jude and Glass. He is the main guardian of Lucien’s innocence.

“Oh yes,” Archer giggles, turning his head to face Redd. “Something changed Pryce… I wonder what it was. Maybe it was you, Redd?”

The man chuckles in disbelief, “What made you say that?”

Meanwhile, Archer is running a metal fingernail softly up and down Redd’s thigh, “Did he fall in love with you?”

“Psh, no way. That guy? He’s into twinks and whatever the f*ck Evie is. I’m not—”

“But he changed when you came here.” Archer stood up just to lean towards Redd, forcing him to sit on the bed where Archer held him down by the shoulders. Redd froze because those fingernails of his are made of metal, and one deep injury is difficult to heal without Lucifer’s blood. Archer’s kimono still off his shoulders, smile drenched with ulterior motives.

Redd was caught off guard, trying to push him away but the heavy fabric of the geisha’s kimono weighed on his legs. “Archer, I can’t—”

“Kyūhei…” he corrects again, his knee between Redd’s thighs and pinning him in place with those fingernails against his shoulders. “My name… is Kyūhei. Archer is because everyone won’t bother saying my real name. But you’ll say it correctly, won’t you? You’ll moan out my real name, won’t you?”

Archer was leaning towards him, his delicate hands crawling from Redd’s shoulders to his neck, then on his face. He hungrily moans, “Ne~I need blood. Won’t you feed me, Redd? Feed me with your strong, intoxicating blood…”

Redd attempted to push him away, but Archer was older so he stayed still while Redd just pushed himself down the bed. “Archer, I can’t sleep with you! Not without Glass here!”

“Why,” Archer tilts his head, his eyebrows dipping in disapproval.

“Because I can’t do it without Glass—”

“Why won’t you say my name?” Archer’s eyes turn red, and he opened his hands in front of Redd’s face. Red string emerged from each of his fingers and darts toward Redd, sticking to his wrist, elbows, and one on his head. “Say my name.”

Redd clamps his eyes shut, “Stop trying to control us, it’s dangerous!”

“Say my name…” He commanded in Japanese. “You will say my name. You will be mine. You are going to say my name. You are going to be mine!”

Redd can feel those strings embed under his skin and push through his nervous system until his arms start to feel numb. He’s fighting against those strings taking over his head, before he does the same thing Pryce did.

“Kyūhei!” Redd yelled out, making Archer smile in victory. But the name wasn’t from the Puppetry. It was a warning.

“!!!” Redd finally overpowered Archer, but only because his soul fought back against the Puppetry. Now Redd has his hands wrapped around the Geisha’s bare neck. “Ackkk—ckkk!”

Archer couldn’t breathe. But he remained smiling, watching Redd’s eyes scowl at him. Such passionate violence! Such dedication! His soul is strong, his soul is… !

Redd’s hands tighten and made Archer’s eyes roll to the back of his head, while the older vampire unable to keep the strings embedded on him. They retreat back into Archer’s hands, and Redd is finally free of the puppeteering that backfired at the first second. For Archer can only control corpses; never a body with a soul.

That’s when Evie opened the door, “Redd, come on! Let’s feed… Redd?”

Glass was behind him, staring in shock as the two witnessed Redd on the floor, strangling a very happy half-naked Archer.

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