Blood Ties

Ok guys. I know this took me a while to get it here, but this story is FINALLY done. I can\'t say that I\'m altogether happy with it, and I know that there are a lot of loose ends, but I hope to get those tied up in the near future. I\'ll warn you now that it will probably be a while before I get another story out. RL has really been a bitch lately, LoL. Well, hope ya\'ll enjoy it! Synner

Title: Revelations: Part 3
Summary: Aftermath
Impliments: Hand and Cane
Feedback: PLEASE!!!!
Warnings: Ummm...none?
Notes: Takes place a directly following part 2.
Acknowledgements: To all the very many, many people who have reviewed this, THANK YOU!!!! You guys are the reason I keep posting and I just can\'t thank you enough. Don\'t worry, more WILL be coming, it just might take me a few weeks.

Blood Ties
Revelations
Part 3


Everyone in the car was silent as it pulled up to the manor house. Somewhat reluctantly the two teenagers got out of the deceptive security of the vehicle after Paulos turned it off. They followed him towards the door without a word.

He led them through the house and into the den. Both boys stopped at the entrance in surprise. All four of the other vampires looked at them expectantly from their positions on various furniture around the room. Armand hesitated for only a second before giving Steve a reassuring look and pulling him into the room to stand before Paulos.

“You,” the vampire said to Armand, “I will be dealing with later, but right now there is a greater concern.” The look Steve received sent a shiver down his spine and the other vampires weren’t comforting either. The fact that he had to turn to see them all made him even more nervous.

“I heard what you promised my halfling in the alley. I must commend you for your courage as well as your ability to handle, shall we say, unusual situations. I also heard what Armand promised you.” Now Paulos’s voice turned grim. “Add mine to it.” The blonde swallowed hard, but nodded his agreement.

“I will admit,” the Sire continued with a sigh, “that I am tempted to ensure that promise. I could simply make you forget we ever existed or that this night had ever happened, but that would also end your friendship with Armand.” He saw the hurt and pleading look on his youngest’s face and added wryly, “But which I won’t do because I don’t think he could ever forgive me.” Paulos gave a small smile at the relieved look he got for this but it faded with his next words. “Of course, there is another option.”

The black haired boy knew immediately what he was talking about. Compulsion. It was a deceptively simple thing that would prevent Steve from ever being able to say anything about them or what they were unless he was in their presence. He could think about it, but if he actively tried to speak it would cause him pain until he stopped. Didn’t sound so bad at first glance, especially for someone that intended to keep their promise, but few humans could handle that level of compulsion. It would set a permanent command in his mind and it ran the risk of destroying any sense of self that he had.

Armand had opened his mouth to protest when he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see Erik suddenly standing behind his friend and about to put his hands on his shoulders. The hum in his body from his Sire’s blood suddenly increased to block out anything else and he reacted with instincts he didn’t know he possessed.

Moving faster than he ever had before he grabbed his brother by his throat and bore him backwards towards the couch he had risen from. Only dimly did he perceive Markeen and Arlis scrambling out of the way before they crashed into the space they had occupied. Leaning over the vampire and holding him down with a strength even a half vampire shouldn’t have had, he hissed, “You will NOT touch him.”

“I wasn’t going to hurt him, I swear,” Erik was quick to reassure his suddenly feral brother. The hand around his throat only tightened and a deadly growl came from the normally gentle boy’s throat.

With so much of a vampire’s blood in his system, and a Master vampires at that, for a brief time the halfling had the full benefits of a full vampire. At that moment, they all got a glimpse of the vampire that Armand would one day become. Part of a vampire’s power came from their Sire. As a vampire aged, their powers grew. Therefore, the older the Sire, the stronger the childe. All of his brothers were basically evenly matched, with each successive childe being only a little weaker than the one before them, because of Paulos’s age when each was made. The same would normally have been true of Armand as well. But the Sire’s age wasn’t the only thing that determined a vampire’s power. The most telling factor was the human’s own strength of will. Which was something that the halfling had in abundance.

Looking into glowing eyes, Erik knew he was outmatched. This being he thought he knew so well was never going to be a follower. He was a Master, through and through. As the hand tightened even further on his throat he did the only thing a vampire in his position could do. He turned his eyes away in submission. This was a Challenge he would not be able to win.

At that moment, Paulos felt regret because he knew that he had finally chosen to sire a childe that could be his equal. It meant that one day he would lose his young lover. Of all his childer he had ever created, only Dimitri had the personality and force of will to be a Master, but he had consciously chosen to give it up and submit to Paulos. Though he submitted to ONLY Paulos. But Armand had a strength of character that the Sire didn’t think would be able to be denied for very long. One day, though it may be hundreds of years from now, his youngest would likely move on to be a Master Vampire in his own right.

As soon as Erik looked away and surrendered the fight, Armand released him. Returning to his friend, he wrapped him in protective arms and glared around at the other vampires. As his eyes met first Arlis’s, then Markeen’s, both looked away, surprised by their own actions. Dimitri stared for a moment, given a silent challenge of his own, but when Armand’s own eyes brightened even further and a vicious growl rose from him, even the eldest of the childer looked away, though it was clear that it was by his own choice.

Finally, amethyst eyes met emerald and there they stopped. Paulos raised an eyebrow but didn’t say a word. After only seconds, whatever it was that had been guiding the fledgling seemed to leave him and he stumbled slightly at its loss. The vampire reached out a hand to steady him and Armand, once again the seemingly gentle and very human boy they all knew, clutched at his arm.

“Master?” That one confused word held a wealth of questions. ‘What just happened,’ and ‘What will happen next’ among them. Paulos couldn’t help but chuckle as he caressed the boy’s head.

“Looks like my kitten is in fact a tiger,” he said. Armand looked up at him guiltily, biting his bottom lip and wondering if he was in trouble. “Don’t worry, little one, you may keep your pet.” Paulos placed a kiss on the abused lip before adding, “But you might want to give him a little reassurance.”

Armand straightened immediately and looked at his friend. Blue eyes met lavender ones for only moments before the blonde directed his gaze towards the floor. Even from where he stood he could see the slight body trembling. He took the few steps separating him and his friend and then hesitated.

“Steve,” he said tentatively. “Hey, S, come on. Look at me,” he said when his friend didn’t move. Cautiously he looked into concerned eyes. “Do you really think I would hurt you?” The confused question startled the boy and made him think.

“Well, no. No I guess I don’t think you would.” Running a hand nervously through short blonde locks he continued, “But you have to admit, you were a little... intense... there for a minute. This is all just the tiniest bit unexpected and it WILL take me a few days to get used to the idea, you know.” Armand still looked worried, so he put a hand tentatively on his shoulder before continuing, “Hey, I’ll come around. Just give me some time to absorb all this, k?”

The reassured halfling nodded with a small smile. “Ok,” he said.

“Well, I’m glad that that much is settled at least.” Both boys jumped slightly as they had momentarily forgotten that they were being watched. “This isn’t over with, but we’ll deal with the technicalities in the morning,” Paulos said.

Armand wasn’t sure, but he had an idea what the Sire intended and nodded. Steve, seeing his friends acceptance of this statement, decided not to be worried.

“However,” the Master continued firmly, “That wasn’t the only issue to be dealt with tonight.” He watched his halfling wilt slightly at the reminder.

“But-,” he began, but the vampire’s glare cut him off before he could even begin to protest.

“You other boys, the remainder of the night is yours to do with as you will.” At this dismissal the other vampires, still confused and startled by the events of only minutes before, immediately began to leave the room. “You two,” Paulos continued to the teenagers, “are coming with me.”

As the last vampire left the room by another doorway, the two young humans followed, albeit reluctantly. Steve kept casting concerned looks at Armand, but his friend was now refusing to meet his eyes. He didn’t quite know what was going to happen, but he remembered the conversation that had taken place in the club courtyard, though it seemed like it had been weeks ago now, and had a general idea.

The dark haired boy shuffled his feet as he dragged himself towards his own execution. Or at least that’s what it seemed like to him. When the Sire realized that he was leaving his very reluctant halfling behind he turned with a scowl. He waited until the boy came abreast of him and tried to carefully edge his way around the annoyed vampire. No such luck. Lightning quick, a hand grabbed him just long enough for another to land a firm swat to the seat of his jeans. “Move it,” said the vampire.

Picking up their pace, the boys followed the Master to his suite of rooms. This was far from the first time that Steve had been in the house, but there had always been large sections left off limits to him. This was one of them. They were led into what was obviously the bedroom.

“Strip,” said Paulos to Armand as they entered the room. One hand automatically went to his belt buckle but he stopped himself as he looked incredulously from his Master to his friend who had immediately moved to lean against one wall so to be out of the way. As he opened his mouth to protest, the vampire again reached out and landed another stinging swat to his bottom. “NOW, boy.”

Without further protest but flushing brightly he began to do as told as Paulos took his seat on the edge of the bed. As soon as he was finished undressing and his clothes were piled neatly, he was pulled to his Master’s side and then over his Master’s knees. Armand let out an indignant squeak before one firm hand landed on his backside and it turned into a yelp.

He had no warning at all as Paulos started raining down swats on the pale white buttocks in front of him. “You have been defiant and rebellious to me all night long, boy,” the vampire lectured. “You know I don’t put up with such behavior, and you should know me well enough to realize that the presence of your friend won’t save you from receiving punishment for such behavior. It ends NOW.”

It wasn’t long before the white turned to pink and then to red underneath the barrage of swats. He stopped long before he normally would have, but for good reason. He eased the sobbing halfling off of his lap and said, “Corner.” Armand tried to collect himself as he went where he was directed but couldn’t help but allow a few more sobs to escape. He knew it wasn’t over yet.

Allowing the halfling time to finish collecting himself, he turned to the other boy who stared at him with wide eyes. Crooking a finger at him, he motioned the boy over. The blonde came closer, but was careful to stay out of arms reach. “Steve,” began Paulos, “I am going to give you a choice.” The teenager’s eyes narrowed in suspicion but he seemed willing enough to listen, so the vampire continued. “Tonight you did something that put someone I love dearly in a lot of danger. If Armand didn’t care so much about you I would have no qualms in keeping him from associating with you outside of school. However, tonight has proven to hold revelations for all of us, and now I must take them into account.”

The boy was shuffling nervously and Paulos could smell the guilt rolling off of him. He knew the boy felt horrible for what had almost happened to Armand, which was only as it should be. “I will not keep the two of you from each other. It wouldn’t be fair anyways, given the new knowledge you have, but I feel something must be done. So here are your choices. From now on, whenever you are in my halfling’s presence, excluding school of course, one of his brothers or myself must be with you at all times you are together, even at your own home, to make sure the two of you stay out of trouble.” The boy’s eyes widened and he looked both scandalized and somewhat horrified at not having any privacy with his friend. “Or,” Paulos continued, “You except punishment from me, here and now, and we never speak of it again.”

The suspicious look was back again, but not as intensely. Licking his lips nervously he asked, “What kind of punishment.”

“The same punishment you just saw me give Armand,” the vampire replied matter of factly. “You will take down your pants and go over my knee to be spanked.”

“I- I’m not a kid or something,” the boy replied rather hotly, though even more nervously.

“I am well aware of that. By your own culture’s statutes you are close enough to being a man, and as far as I am concerned you were an adult at least 2 years ago. This is not about being a child, or even childish acts, though this was definitely that as well. This is about crime and punishment. Even my oldest childer, more than 600 years old, is punished in this manner, because I have found it works the best.”

Steve bit his lip as he thought about his options. He quickly discovered he didn’t like either one. “I know I won’t be able to stand someone following me around all the time, and I know it would be an inconvenience to all of you if I chose that option. But--” The boy trailed off helplessly, not sure what to do. “Will it hurt much,” he finally asked in a whisper.

Raising an eyebrow, the Master answered wryly, “Well it wouldn’t do much good as a deterrent if it didn’t hurt.”

With a heavy sigh the human took a step closer before reaching for his own belt buckle. Very brave indeed, the vampire thought. Once the jeans were down he received the same pleading look he often saw on his childer’s faces and almost chuckled. “Those too,” he said, nodding to the boxers. “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.” The blonde’s face flushed immediately but he resolutely pulled down the last barrier before being guided over firm thighs.

‘The things I’ll do for my friends’ was his last coherent thought before the first swat landed. He had endured much worse uncountable times in his life, but something about the positioning, or maybe it was just his own guilt, wouldn’t allow him to stop the tears. The swats didn’t stop nearly as soon as he would have wished and it wasn’t long before he was a sobbing mess. When it DID stop he didn’t even notice at first and his sobs were so loud that he didn’t even hear the vampire call his friend out of his corner.

When he was allowed to slide from his place of punishment, he was more than grateful to have Armand’s arms wrap around him. He cried into the bare shoulder and allowed comforting hands to soothe him. Once he had himself somewhat together and readjusted his clothes, he was himself led to the same corner his friend had occupied only moments before. “It’s ok,” said the lavender eyed boy. “It’s all over now. Just stand here for a few more minutes and pull yourself together. Oh, and no turning around, no talking, and no rubbing.” Steve was too busy crying to respond to all this and so simply nodded his understanding. Reluctantly, Armand turned back to his Master.

Paulos watched his youngest lover coming towards him. He was proud of the brave front the boy had put on for his friend, but could now see it wearing off. Armand hesitated in front of him for a moment before coming gratefully into opened arms. The boy didn’t say anything, but the vampire could easily feel the shivers wracking the seemingly frail body. Paulos continued to comfort him for a few moments, rubbing his back and silky black hair. Finally he pulled back to lay a gentle kiss on the halfling’s temple. “Go get the cane, Armand,” he demanded gently but firmly.

It only took moments for the boy to return with the dreaded implement in hand, no matter how much time he tried to take. With downcast eyes he handed it to the Master and couldn’t stop the small whimpers from escaping his throat. Paulos lay the cane on the bed before once again taking his very frightened love into his arms.

“Why am I going to cane you Armand,” the vampire finally asked.

Taking a steadying breath, the boy answered quietly, “B-Because I lied to you. Repeatedly. And because I defied you. And I disobeyed and went behind your back to get what I wanted, e-even though you’d told me ‘no’.

“All very true. But what is the other thing you did? What’s the main reason your going to be caned?”

Armand whimpered again at this mention of his punishment before answering in a near whisper. “I-I put myself i-in danger.”

“That’s right,” Paulos said as he tightened his hold around the young man’s waist. “I could have lost you tonight. If I hadn’t been there... I don’t want to lose you Armand. I’ll do whatever it takes to teach you how valuable you are to me. Understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

Silently, the vampire turned the teenager away from him and bent him over the bed. Armand was afraid of the pain, but couldn’t wait to get this over with so he could be rid of the guilt that hurt so much worse. He jumped when he felt the cane’s coolness touch his already red and sore rear but the memory of his Sire’s blood spilling kept him in place. All thoughts were driven out of his head, however, when fire suddenly exploded across his very tender rear.

He screamed in pain and couldn’t help but stand up and put his hands back to protect his stinging ass. Tears poured down his cheeks as he turned to face Paulos in stunned surprise. The vampire only raised an eyebrow at him and motioned back towards the bed.

“Please, Master, I can’t! That hurt too much,” he complained around a sob.

“I know it did. It was meant too. And it’s going to hurt more in a few minutes.” The vampire’s voice was calm but very determined. “How MUCH more it hurts depends on if you go willingly or not.” He watched the young man moving his weight from foot to foot as he still clutched his bottom with both hands for a moment more before motioning again towards the bed.

“No!” Armand tried to recall the word, but it was already far, far too late as his hands suddenly clapped themselves over his mouth. He saw Paulos’s eyebrows go up in surprise of their own at his halfling’s audacity. You could cry, beg or plead, though it almost never did any good, but you NEVER said ‘no’ to the Master.

The boy wasn’t quite sure how it happened but he abruptly found himself back across the bed, but this time the vampire placed a single hand in the middle of his back to hold him down and he knew without a doubt that he wasn’t going to be going anywhere. He heard the swish as the cane flew through the air and then a crack as it met flesh only half a second before the pain of the strike caught up to him. He screamed again with pain and sobbed and struggled to no avail as the horrible instrument was again brought down on his vulnerable backside.

When he was done, Paulos had left six welts across Armand’s ass, each an inch below the one before it. This was the boys first experience with the implement and though he well knew the halfling COULD take more, he felt that he had more than gotten his point across. Peripherally he noticed Steve had turned from the corner to watch the proceedings and was now standing open mouthed and wide eyed, but he chose to ignore the boy to take care of his lover.

Crawling on the bed he took the boy into his arms and gave him what comfort he could. Tear and pain filled lavender eyes looked up at him in remorse and he gently wiped the tears away. They stayed that way for a number of minutes, silent except for Armand’s sobs and occasional sniffle.

When he thought the young man had calmed enough, he stood up and pulled the covers of the bed back before lifting the halfling in his arms and set him beneath the covers, careful not to allow the sore ass to touch the bed. Placing a kiss on the pale brow he said, “Let me get Steve settled in the guest room, and then I’ll come back.” He waited for an affirmative nod before guiding the still stunned blonde from the room and turning off the light.

As Armand lay in the darkness and sniffled occasionally he thought of all that COULD have happened that night. The what ifs filled his head with possible scenarios, each more horrible than the last. It wasn’t until he felt the bed shift and a comforting arm wrapped around his waist that his fears began to ease. The what ifs really didn’t matter. His faith in his Master was absolute, and he knew with a vampire such as he had as guide, he could never fail and he could never be more wanted or loved.