Chapter Text
A few years ago...
“You have another town to stop by before we can get out of this hell-hole and back to what we were doing with our lives,” Pamela Swynford de Beufort—commonly known as, Pam—said to her maker as they both sat in the moving car. On normal occasions, they would have just used vampire speed to get to where they wanted to go but unfortunately, due to recent events such as the Great Revelation that resulted in the existence of vampires being known to the world, they had to make appearances and ‘play nice’ to get the humans to accept the vampire community.
Her maker pursed his lips into a thin line. Getting chummy with humans was not supposed to be part of his job description as sheriff but like all the other vampires, he had to follow what was ordered by the vampire council. His blue eyes scanned the scenery that passed him, not really taking anything in (he had had years to roam the Earth, it’s nothing he hadn’t seen before) but rather thinking to the events that happened over the course of a few nights.
The towns that they visited in England had different reactions towards the revealing of vampires. Some were neutral, uncaring as long as no trouble occurred. A few were a bit wary, he could smell the fear that radiated off them and he was undeniably pleased. Others had a few rotten apples that decided to speak their mind but they had been dealt with. The interesting ones were the ones that decided to celebrate their arrival. All the gimmicks, although attention-grabbing, was really unneeded and he enjoyed watching the humans stumble over each other, trying to please him.
The car made a turn into a quaint town. Upon seeing the decorations they had set up, Pam and her maker shared a look. This was going to be one of those ‘celebrating’ towns. The car stopped in front of what was assumed as the townhouse. A crowd—the residents, no doubt— had gathered. Their chauffeur got out of the car and opened the door for them.
“Smile, Eric. They’ll warm up to you more,” Pam advised, jokingly. Her maker—Eric— sent her a wry smile.
“You and I both know that that’s not why we’re here,” he spoke lightly. The two got out of the car and they were greeted by the mayor.
As soon as the usual formalities were done, the mayor had ushered them and their entourage of a few more vampires into the townhouse where they were forced to watch performance after performance of things that had nothing to do with vampires. After that was a buffet and they served Tru Blood. Eric eyed the bottles with distaste. They were artificially flavoured and could not compare to the richness of true human’s—or any other Supernatural creature’s— blood.
“I’m going to get a drink,” Eric said to Pam, lowly. Thankfully, his progeny understood what her maker was implying and nodded. “Keep them busy.”
The tall blond casually walked out of the townhouse and started down a path, hoping to come across a human who he could glamour and suck enough blood out to fulfill his hunger.
“That’s what you get for being a vampire slut, Malik!” a brash voice could be heard over the silence of the night. Curious, Eric stalked over to the source as quietly as he could which was easy because he was a vampire. The voices that were yelling at a certain ‘Malik’ led Eric to an area near the woods. He hid under the shadows that were provided by the trees and watched the scene unfold in front of him.
A young boy—or a teen— was curled up on the ground in pain. He had bruises all over his body, a sign that the three tall kids towering over him had probably beaten him up. Normally, Eric didn’t care for these trivial matters. Human casualties meant nothing to him. He was a vampire, a heartless and cruel one at that. However, there was something about that teen that drew him in.
“Leave,” the teen said, gritting his teeth. He clutched his abdomen fiercely. “Leave before I do something I regret.” One of the kids, the leader perhaps, leaned down and gave him a mocking grin.
“What?” he asked, pretending as if he didn’t hear what the teen said. “Did the vampire wannabe say something?” His two friends laughed, obviously getting a kick out of the situation. Eric wasn’t going to intervene. He didn’t have much of a heart. He didn’t care.
The leader kept egging the teen on, throwing taunts and jeers at him. Eric kept his focus on the curled up teen as he waited for what his next action would be. As the taunts got more and more annoying, Eric decided that maybe the teen had talked a big game. He was obviously staying curled on the ground. With the amount of bruises on his body, Eric doubted that the kid could even do anything against his attackers. He was about to leave when a sudden flash of movement caught his eye.
The teen had shot up like a bullet and had wrapped a hand around the leader’s neck before lifting him off the ground. The teen’s hazel-coloured eyes were filled with hatred and Eric noted that the bruises on his skin were slowly healing. The two minions of the leader were rooted to the spot in fear.
“I told you to leave before I did something I regret,” the teen hissed. All of a sudden, a pair of fangs dropped from the teen’s upper gum, causing Eric to tilt his head in interest.
A vampire? He wondered, feeling intrigued.
The leader was scrambling to get away, evident fear in his eyes and he looked close to crying. “P-please, spare me. Let me go. Please!” The leader kept pleading and pleading and pleading. If Eric was the teen, he would’ve just drained the leader and his cronies to get some peace of mind. The blond vampire watched as the teen seemed to ponder the leader’s begging.
“Fine,” the teen said, contempt shown clear in his tone. His eyes flashed dangerously and Eric recognized it as the telltale signs of a vampire about to glamour someone. “Tell this to no one and leave me alone. You were just out for a smoke and you’ll return to your houses like usual.”
The three kids scrammed as if the devil was on their tails. Eric watched as the teen let out a sigh and went to leave. It was time to make his presence known.
“You shouldn’t have let them run away,” Eric said, startling the teen. He whipped around and narrowed his eyes at Eric. The blond vampire moved out of the shadows so that the teen could view him better. “You should have obliterated them or drained them.”
The teen frowned, “I don’t need to give the townsfolk a legitimate reason to throw me out of town. They already hate me enough.” The blond vampire found this piece of information interesting.
Eric shrugged, “Well, I’m impressed. I didn’t think I’d see a vampire in one of these towns.”
“I’m not a vampire,” the teen protested. He had a scowl on his face as he said that. “I can’t be.”
Eric raised an eyebrow, “Then what are you? How do you explain your extraordinary talents?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “You might think I’m a vampire but I don’t exactly fit the whole package.” The teen seemed like he was going to elaborate but he stopped himself. “Why am I even talking to you? You’re one of the vampires that came to visit, a complete and total stranger to me. I can’t trust you.”
Eric watched the teen turn to leave but he wasn’t done with their conversation yet. Nobody walked away from Eric Northman without a pardon that easily. They either didn’t or died trying. He used his vampire speed to appear in front of the teen, causing him to let out a startled gasp. “You will come with me,” he ordered.
The teen sent him a challenging look. “And why should I?”
Eric gave him an easy-going smile. “Wouldn’t you like to get out of this small town that hates you and has nothing to offer? If you come with me, I’ll make you my progeny and teach you my vampire ways.” Eric was surprised at his own generosity. He would never deal with the likes of a stray vampire but his mouth seemed to have a mind of its own at the moment.
“And if I don’t?”
“You live your life in this little town, getting constant beatings and hate. If you’re lucky, they’ll put a stake through your heart.” The teen seemed to consider this carefully before he agreed. Honestly, Eric knew that it did not take much to sway him.
“All right, I’ll go with you,” he said. “This is only because you seem like the only option I can take that doesn’t involve me dying soon.”
Eric rolled his eyes, “With the way you handled things, it seems to me like you could just glamour anyone that tries to mess with you.”
The teen shook his head, “My glamour doesn’t last long and I have a hunch that the townsfolk are already planning my funeral.”
“Sounds a bit dramatic, little one,” Eric said, grabbing the teen’s arm and pulling him along as he started to walk. His legs were longer than the teen's, taking bigger and wider steps while the teen lagged behind. Eric couldn’t have that. “I’m pretty sure a face like yours is very likable.”
The teen scoffed. “That’s unlikely. There’s a lot that happened that made them hate me.”
“It couldn’t have been that bad, little one,” Eric said, the pet name being used to rile up the teen and get a name without him having to ask for it. Only, he hadn’t caught on yet. “I had to watch my family die.”
“Oh,” the teen spoke, surprised. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”
Eric brushed it off. “No need to be sorry, little one. The only sorry ones are the people that decided to cross paths with me as enemies.”
“That’s unfortunate,” the teen blanched. “And why do you keep calling me little one? I have a name, you know.”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Eric teased. “You are quite small for your age and those kids back there towered over you. If it weren’t for your vampire strength, they would have snapped you like a twig, little one.”
“My name’s Zayn,” the teen ground out. “And I’m not that weak.”
“Whatever you say,” Eric said, maneuvering them to the townhouse where the car awaited them. Everyone had gathered outside and that meant that the festivities were over. The blond vampire spotted his progeny putting up a pleasant façade and pretending to be polite to the mayor when all he knew that she wanted to do was rip his throat out.
If this wasn’t such a diplomatic mission, Eric would have done just that.
“It was a pleasure to be here but we really must go,” Eric interrupted whatever the mayor was saying. Pam sent him a grateful look before getting into the car along with their entourage who got into their respective cars. The mayor quickly quieted down and his gaze wondered to Zayn who was standing near Eric.
“Ah, I see you’ve met Zayn,” Eric raised an eyebrow at the tone of the mayor’s voice. It wasn’t exactly nice. “I hope he hasn’t been any trouble to you. God knows what he and his vampire obsession have probably done to you.”
“He’s been great company actually,” Eric said, countering the mayor’s accusations. He felt protective all of a sudden, a feeling that he only felt for his progeny actually. “I’ll be taking him with me. “
The mayor’s eyes bulged out, “What?”
“I do not repeat myself twice,” Eric said, gravely. Ignoring the mayor, he ushered Zayn into the car before getting in himself. “If I cared more, I would have complimented your efforts to entertain us. However, I do not so bidding you a goodbye is as polite as I can be.” With that, the blond vampire closed the door and the car started to move, leaving the town behind.
The blond vampire sighed roughly, feeling liberated at last. Looking over at the teen, Eric watched as Zayn’s eyes flickered to Pam cautiously. The seats in the car were the face to face kind and the teen sat in front of him and Pam. Zayn looked really curious. Time for introductions.
“Zayn,” he said, causing the teen’s eyes to snap over to him. “This is Pam, my progeny. Pam, this is Zayn, my adoptive progeny.”
Pam eyed the teen with little interest. “Hi,” she said in a dry tone before inspecting her nails. “When you said you went out for a drink, I didn’t think that you’d bring back a fangbanger and a pretty one at that.”
Zayn’s eyebrows furrowed, “I’m not a fangbanger.” Pam tilted her head to the side as she looked at him. Eric knew what she was doing. This was her way of saying hello. Insult that person and if they keep fighting, they probably are worth keeping around. If they ignore her, they’re either a goody two-shoes or not worth it.
“Really?” she asked rhetorically. “You sure look like the type.” Her hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Zayn’s, pulling him out of his seat in front of her. “I bet you taste real nice too,” she commented, bending forward so that her face barely an inch from Zayn’s.
Zayn went on the defensive, his fangs dropping on reflex and his free hand pushing off Pam’s with so much force that she slammed into the cushion of her seat with a surprised look on her face. He slumped back into his seat and Eric looked at him with more interest than before. It took a lot to make Pam and him surprised and Zayn just did that.
How did a 17 year-old boy who claimed that he wasn’t ‘a vampire that fit the whole package’ have so much strength to push a vampire older than him away? Either Pam was caught off guard or this teen had something in him.
“You’re a vampire,” Pam’s sentence was more of a statement than a question.
“I’m not,” Zayn said, denying her statement. “I’m not a vampire and I probably will never be.”
“Well, sugar, unless there’s another supernatural being with fangs like ours, I’m pretty sure you’re a vampire,” Pam remarked.
“What makes you think that you aren’t a vampire?” Eric asked. There must be reasons as to why he’s denying it, right?
Zayn looked hesitant to share and Eric spoke up to rectify that.
“I’ll be your mentor or in vampire terms, your maker, Zayn,” he said. “I need to know what I’ll be taking care of.”
“Can you tell me things that a vampire should or should not be able to do?” Zayn asked. Eric sighed internally. He was hoping that they would have gotten straight to the point but never mind.
“We have fangs, which is what you have too. We roam at night or after sundown, which is also what you have done. We are not immune to sunlight and we’ll get burnt so bad that we could disintegrate if we don’t get out of there fast enough. We-“
“I don’t,” Zayn spoke up softly. Eric stopped talking.
“You don’t what?”
“I don’t disintegrate in the sunlight,” Zayn said. “I’ve tested that. It was what made me think that I’m not a vampire. The only worst thing that happened to me was getting an irritating rash that stayed for days. Kind of like a sunburn but far more painful. It felt like my blood was constantly boiling. But I didn’t disintegrate.”
“How long did you stay in the sun?” Eric asked.
“More than 6 hours,” Zayn answered. Wow. By normal standards, even the oldest of vampires couldn’t last that long. Normally, within the first hour, if not aided by drinking fairy blood, vampires would disintegrate. But, Zayn didn’t. What was he?
“Anything else I should know?” Eric questioned him.
“I’m allergic to garlic. Like, I can smell it within a ten-feet radius of me. Is that a vampire thing?” Pam scoffed.
“That’s a myth,” she said, dismissing it. “You must have a really sensitive nose then.”
“That’s all I guess,” Zayn said, sinking into his seat. “Is there anything else you need from me?”
“Since you’re my adoptive progeny, I won’t have the same control over you as I do over Pam. I can't use a Maker's command on you but I want to keep that under wraps so if I order you to do something in public with other vampires around, go with it. However, I do want to know where you are at all times and be able to sense you. Therefore, we must drink each other’s blood so that a blood link may be formed,” Eric replied. Zayn nodded, sitting up in his seat again.
Zayn watched as Eric dropped his fangs and proceeded to bite his own wrist. The older vampire pulled back and a stream of darkly- coloured blood flowed down his arm. He offered his wrist to Zayn and the teen knew what to do. He had to drink it. Closing his eyes, he latched onto the wound and started to suck. After a few pulls, he knew that he should let go but it was just too addictive.
A hand pushed him back and he heard a chuckle. “My, my, what a little blood whore you are,” Pam said, smirking slightly. “If you weren’t a fangbanger before, you might be a fangbanger now. Vampire blood is addicting and an aphrodisiac. I wouldn't mind seeing you on your knees in front of-”
"Ehem," Eric eyed his progeny and sent her a warning glance.
Zayn’s cheeks coloured slightly. He was embarrassed about his lack of control over himself. Eric rolled his eyes at Pam who shrugged innocently and turned his attention back on Zayn.
“Your turn,” he said, prompting Zayn to bite his wrist and offer it to Eric. Zayn did just that. However, as soon as Eric latched on and started to drink, he immediately pulled back and rolled down one of the car windows. He ducked his head out and started to retch violently. Pam sent Zayn a glare before looking at her maker with a worried face.
Eric continued retching for a few more moments before he finally stopped. He sunk back onto his seat, tiredly. “What was that?” Pam asked, sounding slightly concerned.
“Your blood is undrinkable,” Eric said to Zayn, looking slightly miffed. “It didn’t taste bad, it was just undrinkable. I felt like I was drinking the sweetest of nectar one minute but the second it went down my throat, it felt poisonous.”
“Are you all right?” Pam asked him. Eric coughed a couple of times and Pam rubbed his back.
“I’m fine,” Eric brushed Pam off, his voice slightly hoarse. “We need to get you checked with the doctor when we get to our home.”
Zayn nodded, feeling fidgety about the whole situation that had happened.
“You need to get checked too,” Pam said to Eric. Speaking of doctors, Zayn just remembered something he needed to tell them.
“Um, I have these monthly things,” he said slowly as if afraid of offending them. “They come once every few months. I-“
“Like a human period?” Pam asked, bluntly. Zayn shook his head.
“No, like I get these urges-“
“Oh, sugar, those are called boners. You’re perfectly normal,” Pam interrupted again. Zayn frowned.
“No, it’s not that. I can survive mostly on animal blood,” Pam made a look of disgust at the mention of animal blood.” But once every three months, I would have this phase where I lose my mind and end up killing humans for their blood. I can’t control myself during those times and I don’t understand why.”
“It’s probably because you’ve been drinking animal blood for so long,” Eric said. “We’ll check with the doctor about this.”
“You know, maybe I was right for once. These urges could possibly be because he is a fangbanger and didn't have a supply of vampire blood,” she said, nonchalant. Eric groaned and Zayn scowled. There was that annoying word again.
“Ignore Pam,” he said. “She’s just pissed that someone managed to make her warm up to them that fast.”
Zayn doubted that but okay. He’ll take what he can get. He'll warm up to Pam, maybe and be a good progeny for Eric. This was his new family now. He will not fail them like he had failed his other family.