(Faye)

Faye was careful to close the door as quietly as he could as he left the shelter, not wanting Ruben to hear him leaving so early. The man had a habit of talking down to Faye in the same way vampires did, and he was starting to hate him more and more for it. Even though they were both human, Ruben seemed to consider himself better than Faye since he was Addis’s actual human servant and Faye growled softly to himself as he wrapped the jacket tighter around his shoulders. 

“As if I knew the fuckin’ difference,” the human spat, walking down the steps from the shelter as he began his walk. Adrian had warned him to come in early to the office, and Faye didn’t want to be late again. It was likely the vampire meant to torture him, send him to clean up and then have Faye be his arm candy during the daily meetings. If he was lucky, Adrian wouldn’t have an event to drag him off too, and he could sneak back to the shelter on time. Addis’s warning to his fellow high vampire played through the human’s mind but Faye scoffed. As if something like that would stop Adrian. 

Adrian was slowly climbing his way up the ranks for the high vampires, and nothing else was of much importance to the vampire. Rasvan would never publicly acknowledge Adrian’s business, but there was quite a bit of quiet support under the table for what Adrian did. Heck, the king and his wife were frequent customers, renting out various arm candy for their own use. There were plenty of vampires who had no desire to have human servants to drink from, and renting one from Adrian was an easy way to keep up appearances with others, and have a different “flavor” for every event.

That was Adrian’s business, tricking vulnerable humans and turned into signing blood contracts with him, contracts that gave him their souls, but without turning any of them into his actual servants or thralls. As soon as the contract was signed, the vampire had full control over them, and they didn’t have much room to disobey him. If he said jump, they jumped. If he said crawl, they crawled. If he said to be quiet and look pretty… 

Faye grunted as he crossed the street, avoiding a group of vampires that were watching him hungrily. He wouldn’t have minded it as much if Adrian actually kept him to himself; despite all the offers, Faye was the only escort under Adrian’s care that couldn’t be rented. No, Adrian kept Faye to be a prize dangled in front of others, a prize they had to “earn” by staying in his good graces. Throw enough money his way, rent out his other “dolls”, and maybe you’d get invited to one of Adrian’s private parties, where Faye was the main dish. Where you could finally taste that forbidden fruit, in any way you wanted too.

“Dammit,” the human cursed, his body shaking as he remembered Adrian’s last party. He had been abused in every way a person could be, and still Adrian had done worse once all the guests left. All while reprimanding the human for not doing well enough, for embarrassing him in front of his guests, then to turn and apologize. Reminding Faye if he was just a good little doll, an obedient toy, Adrian wouldn’t have to do this.“Why can’t I just die?”

“Be careful what you wish for, little one,” Faye paused mid-step as he heard Addis’s voice, quickly looking over his shoulder. He didn’t see any eyes in his shadow, and he shivered as he heard the voice laugh again. Hearing it that second time, Faye knew for certain that it was not Addis. “I’d be happy to grant that wish for you.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Faye managed to sound angry despite the fear filling his chest and he quickly turned around as he heard the laughter again. This time there were eyes in his shadow, but they were not red. Instead they were a vibrant, intense green and Faye watched with shock as a being rose from the ground. It almost looked like a photo negative version of Addis, with its green eyes and hair that mirrored the vampire’s. Even its skin was darker than his, and the suit it wore lazily was a parody of Addis’ clean and sharp look.

“Is that any way to talk to the one protecting you?” It grinned and Faye felt his heart nearly stop with the sound. He had no idea what this thing was, but every bone in his body was telling him that it was not a vampire. It was worse. “My master has ordered me to ensure his promise to the princess is kept and that you return to the shelter on time.”

“Well, thanks, but no thanks,” Faye managed, turning away from the creature looming over him. Every cell in his body was telling him not to turn his back to it, to not leave himself vulnerable to the creature, but he had to get to Adrian. Whatever game Addis was playing, he had no time for it. “Adrian is mad enough as is and–”

“You are worrying about the wrong thing, little human,” Faye had no time to think or react as he was grabbed and thrown against the wall, the creature pinning him by his neck. He could feel the pain in his skull as it bounced off the concrete, and he closed his eyes involuntarily as it gripped its fingers tighter. He instinctively brought his hands to its wrist, holding on as he gasped to breathe. “My master ordered me to protect you from Adrian. He never said I couldn’t kill you myself.”

“Then do it,” Faye managed to spit, opening one of his eyes to see the glowing green looming over him. With his clouded vision, he couldn’t quite make out what it looked like, but he could still see its green glowing eyes. “Fucking kill me.”

He closed his eyes again as it leaned into his face, and he could feel it breathing against his skin. Well, doing something against his skin that caused air to move across it. He had a feeling the creature pinning him to the wall didn’t need to breathe and in fact, couldn’t breathe in whatever form it was in. He felt its fingers tighten around his neck, but Faye made no effort to remove them. Instead, he dropped his hands back to his side, giving into whatever the creature decided to do. What was he fighting for anyway?

“You really don’t care,” it said in an amused voice, and Faye reopened his eyes to see it had returned to its former appearance, mimicking the vampire that it claimed was its master. 

“Why the fuck would I? I’m a human in the land of vampires,” he managed to croak, unable to help the hate that rose in his chest. “Death would be a relief.” 

Faye collapsed to his knees as the being released him, allowing him to fall to the ground. He coughed to breathe precious air in his throat, annoyed by the pain in his head. Granted, the pain it had given him was far kinder than anything Adrian would do, but it would be nice to go one day without having someone abuse him. 

“Hmhm, you are amusing, little human,” the creature chuckled above him, and Faye coughed again as he rose to his feet. 

“Glad you find it funny, Chuckles,” he spat, taking the moment to rub the sore spot on the back of his head. Hopefully Adrian wouldn’t notice until the swelling went down. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to get to my owner.”

“Go ahead.” Faye watched as it disappeared into his shadow again, those sharp green eyes winking at him before they disappeared completely. He groaned aloud as he turned to walk toward the office again. So, this was Addis’s way of keeping an eye on him, sending some fucking pet to watch him? 

“Why does this shit always happen to me?” Faye whined as he saw the building come into view, quickening his pace to arrive on time. A billboard with him covered the front of the building, advertising Adrian’s services and he scowled as he saw the look on his own face. He couldn’t remember if he was high or simply drunk when the photo was taken, but he certainly had not been lucid. “Another awful day in an awful place.”

The human hopped up the steps to the large building, opening the doors as he barely acknowledged the receptionist. He made his way straight to the elevator, quickly pushing the button for Adrian’s office. He leaned against the mirror, looking at himself in the reflection; a tired, angry human with no power to change anything. 

“Fuck,” he whispered as he pushed himself off the glass, running his fingers through his white-blond hair to try and make it look more presentable. When the elevator doors finally opened, Faye had a bright smile on his face, as if there was nowhere else in Dephus he'd rather be.