Never Let Them Hurt You

Never Let Them Hurt You


The door to the apartment building slammed open loudly, shaking the rickety structure on its foundations. Panting, his slim chest rising and falling too rapidly, Brynn rushed for the stairs. He tripped on the third step and fell to his hands and knees. That didn’t stop him; he scrambled up the dirty staircase to the second floor. As soon as his hands met with the stringy, worn carpet he pushed himself to his feet and bolted down the hall.

He wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard a laugh from just behind him.

Brynn hit the door head on, groping into his pockets for his key. Loose twenty dollar bills floated to the floor. Brynn didn’t care. Maybe it was just the pounding of blood in his ears, but he thought he heard footsteps approaching. Refusing resolutely to look back, he whipped out the key and jammed it into the lock. It resisted. Gasping, panic rising, he jerked the key out, turned it right-side-up, and tried again.

A breeze brushed his bare arm.

With a strangled cry he shoved the door open. It slammed against the wall and bounced back in his face. He knocked it aside, only to trip over a pair of shoes some idiot had left lying in his path. Brynn landed on his stomach, barely breaking the fall with his arms.

Silence. Brynn gasped for breath. The sweat, from both fear and exertion, trickled down his face, getting into his eyes and mouth. His vision blurred; he tasted salt. But he was safe. With a quiet whimper, he slowly rolled over onto his back, lifting frightened grey eyes to the door.

Sauda smirked back, bemused. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Brynn’s scream caught in his throat. He backpedaled away as best he could, dragging his body on arms that shook too much. “No! Stay there!”

With a sigh, Sauda looked down at the palm of his hand, tracing a path along the Fate line. “Brynn, I haven’t got all night. Might as well get it over with.” His black eyes rose. “It doesn’t hurt, if that’s what-”

“Stay out there!” Brynn shrieked, forcing himself to his feet and stumbling backwards. “You can’t come in!”

There was a pause. Then the man at the door – a man only barely, he didn’t look much older that eighteen – knelt down, plucking up a few of the bills Brynn had dropped. “Left tonight’s cash out here,” he commented, staying on one knee in the doorframe. “Don’t want to waste it, do you?”

Brynn hugged his arms tighter around himself.

Sauda thumbed through the bills, scowling after he counted them all. “Ninety dollars? Really, Brynn...” He shook his head. “You should demand a little more. You’re pretty enough.”

“Stop it.” Brynn’s voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper.

“I’m serious.” Sauda stood up. “The uptown whores make twice as much as you do, and, I say this from experience, you’re so much more talented...”

“Stop it!” Brynn backed away as far as he could, which in the small apartment wasn’t very far at all. His back pressed against the far wall of the tiny living room that doubled as his roommate Avon’s bedroom. If Avon were here now...

Sauda watched him, folding up the bills slowly and pocketing them. “I know what’s wrong.”

“You don’t.”

“You think I’ve betrayed you.”

“No.”

“Of course.”

“No!”

“Of course.” Sauda shook his head. “We were friends, weren’t we? But you understand, don’t you...”

Brynn whimpered, sinking to the floor and curling up in a ball.

“And I’m not even going to kill you. What are you so upset about? You didn’t have any problem when I had Sull.”

“Sull...” Brynn trembled, causing stringy auburn hair to fall into his eyes. “Sull’s dead.”

Sauda nodded. “Yeah. Sull’s dead.”

“You...”

“What about me?” Sauda asked gently. He moved to cross the threshold, then stopped. He shot the doorframe an annoyed look and stepped back.

Brynn looked up, then down. He tried to push himself to his feet, but his knees wobbled and he fell back down when he was only halfway standing. He shifted to all fours. Hugging the wall, he began to crawl away, off to the side towards the small bedroom.

“Brynn...” Sauda began. He reached his hand out and was stopped just before crossing into the apartment. Rolling his eyes, he folded his arms over his chest. “Brynn, where are you going?”

Brynn’s shaky limbs carried him all the way to his bedroom. He relaxed somewhat once he was in there, focusing all his attention into the dark room. Somewhere comfortable, somewhere safe, he could finally stand, finally try and relax, calm down, breathe.

The church clock down the street tolled three A.M.

Sauda tensed. His time was growing short. He was running out of options, and he was about to lose his chance with Brynn. Not that he couldn’t get anyone else, but he wanted Brynn. He scanned the parts of the apartment visible to him, and his eyes fell to the floor. The shoes Brynn had tripped over still lay in a pile right in front of the door. High-top boots, with bright neon blue laces and stiletto heels. Clair’s, of course.

“You’re rooming with Clair and Avon, aren’t you?”

In his bedroom, facedown on the bed, Brynn fell still.

“It’s three right now, they’re coming home soon, aren’t they?”

Brynn whimpered.

“Because if you’re not interested, I know at least one of them will be...” Sauda paused for dramatic effect. “Or at least, they won’t be inside.”

Brynn sat up sharply.

Sauda listened, waiting. A minute passed. “Well?”

Breathing deeply, Brynn forced himself off the bed, falling against the doorframe of the bedroom. He stared bleakly across the room, eyes not meeting Sauda’s. He looked far too old for fifteen. “C...”

Sauda turned to him, nodding once.

“C...come in.” Brynn trembled.

Sauda stepped in and shut the door behind him.

Brynn clung to the wall, his shaking growing more and more violent. When the front door shut he cringed. When Sauda’s quiet footsteps beat against the floor he shuddered. And when he felt Sauda just two feet in front of him, he broke down and started to cry.

The only sound for several minutes was Brynn’s harsh, ragged sobbing.

Then, as his tears started to slow, Sauda reached for him. Brynn’s flesh was pale, yet even he seemed dark against Sauda’s alabaster skin. He flinched as the firm grip closed around his arm and tried to shrink away. There was nowhere he could go; he was crushed up against the wall, the doorframe painfully pushing into his ribs, with Sauda boxing him in so the only place he could run was further into the bedroom.

Brynn sagged. His knees buckled and he listlessly fell forward into Sauda’s grip. Not resisting now, he pressed his face into Sauda’s shoulder. He felt a pair of cool arms wrap around his waist, holding him almost as if they were dancing. Sauda was a good dancer...

He didn’t fight as Sauda guided him backwards to Clair’s bed. Brynn fell, unrelenting, and then Sauda was on him, his lips so cold on his throat that they burned. Brynn gasped as long thin fingers slipped up his shirt, tracing up his stomach tantalizingly slow. A chill tongue traced the vein where his blood pulsed.

Brynn was just about to give in and touch back when two pinpricks pierced the skin of his throat.
He shrieked, jerking up against Sauda’s surprisingly heavy body, thrashing. He only managed to struggle for a moment before the pain ebbed away. Tingling numbness swept down from the bite, coursing through his limbs and throbbing in time with his heartbeat. Brynn whimpered softly as he started to harden, falling limp and lax under Sauda’s hands and mouth.

Sauda laughed against his throat and pulled back, blood smeared over the lower half of his face. “That’s just half of it, not much left to go…” He kissed the boy with sticky lips. “Huh, Brynn?”

Brynn’s tongue flicked up, tasting the tangy copper of himself. He shivered.

Sauda sat up, his lower body still pressing down on Brynn’s. The room was dark save for a few slats of dim streetlamp light peeking through the blinds. Even still, the tips of his fangs seemed to glint. He sank his canines into his own lower lip, biting hard until two twin drops of blood trickled down to blend with what was already on his face. He licked his lips, tasting the mix of himself and Brynn.

“Sit up,” he ordered, his body starting to shake as soon as the two flavors hit his tongue.

Brynn shifted a little but managed to bring himself up to a sitting position, his eyes a dull flat grey. Sauda’s hands were still up his shirt, tracing slow circles on his stomach and chest. With a sigh of completion Brynn leaned forward, as if of his own will, and let his tongue find Sauda’s bloody mouth.
The Sauda-Brynn mix of blood didn’t taste as sweet and druglike to the boy. He grunted and made to pull back. Sauda pounced as soon as he leaned away, pushing him down into the bed with his hands on either side of the boy’s face. Brynn gasped and let more blood pour into his mouth.

Sauda’s fingers drifted into the soft auburn hair at the base of Brynn’s neck, curling it in little twirls. Locked in their kiss, Brynn whimpered. Sauda finally pulled back, satisfied that the transaction had been adequate.

“You’re mine now. That’s not so bad, huh?” Brynn’s face was streaky with crimson. Sauda leaned down to lick it away. “So now…”

His fingers curled at the neckline of the boy’s T-shirt and ripped straight down. Brynn didn’t even flinch. Sauda shoved the torn shirt aside, tracing bloody kisses down the bare skin. Brynn’s hands moved on their own, out of habit, caressing the forearms and shoulders that were holding him pinned.

Sauda’s kisses were deliciously slow, marking every bit of pale skin with crimson lip and tongue marks. He let go his hold of Brynn’s arms. The whore, knowing what was expected of him, mechanically reached down to un-button and -zip his pants. Sauda was too happy to help him slide them down off his hips.

By the time Brynn started to come out of his druglike daze Sauda had his own clothing shucked off and on the floor. He was feeling more coherent, now, enough to at least realize just what was happening. He tensed. He’d slept with Sauda before, but never…never like…

“Mmm…” Sauda leaned in, pressing their bare bodies together, and reached in to claim his lips for another deep kiss. “Now, Brynn…” The boy sucked in a breath as a finger slid into him. Sauda let him go, let him fall back in a sprawl across the pillows as he worked at him. He caught one of Brynn’s wrists in his hand and brought it to his lips, nipping lightly, and Brynn spiraled back into darkness.

He reemerged when Sauda sank into him. His head stirred, his fingers twitched, and he lifted his dizzy gaze to meet the intense dark eyes above him.

Sauda’s hips moved slowly, rubbing up against Brynn’s thighs with each thrust. He groaned, head bowed, his slim body pressed to Brynn’s even smaller one beneath him. The boy’s hands tensed as if trying to move, though he made no attempt to touch Sauda. Fine. That didn’t matter. Sauda didn’t think he could take any more heat right now.

Sauda’s sweat tasted like blood. Brynn licked his lips as another drop trickled down the other man’s chin and broke free of the skin, falling to splash into his mouth. He gulped it down. It tasted as Sauda’s blood had tasted. Brynn swallowed.

In the living room, a light flicked on. “Dammit, Brynn, don’t leave the door open.” The door slammed shut. “Hey, you here?”

Brynn gave a cry and lost himself all over Sauda’s chest.

“You have a guy in here? Hey…” The bedroom light flicked on.

The bedsprings creaked under the movements of Sauda’s hips. Clair’s eyes darted from Brynn’s panting, glazed expression, to the bite at his neck, to the side of Sauda’s face. He grunted, his body moving yet into the one beneath him.

“What are you doing here?” Her voice was hard edged and cold.

Sauda wrapped his arms tightly around Brynn and buried his face in the pillow, muffling his groan of completion. He lay panting for a moment, his grip loose around Brynn. Then he sat up.

“You aren’t allowed in here. You…Brynn, you didn’t invite him in, did you?”

Brynn blinked, slowly turning his head to Clair. “I…y…yeah…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sauda sat up, wiping himself off on the bed’s sheets – Clair’s sheets. “I’m just here for him.

Her eyes narrowed. “You made him your thrall?” He rolled off the bed naked, and with a grunt of disgust she snatched up his pants and flung them at him. “What happened to Sull?”

“Sull’s dead,” Brynn said from where he lay in a sprawl.

Clair whirled on Sauda, the many piercings in her ears jangling together. “What? How?”

“Wasn’t my fault.” Sauda tugged his shirt on over his head and shrugged on his jacket. “He ODed. See? You could’ve done the same thing.”

“Aren’t vamps supposed to take care of their slaves?”

Sauda clicked his tongue at the word and bent to lace up his shoes. “Wasn’t watching him.” He shrugged. “’Sides, I’m in love with Brynn, you know that.”

Clair glanced at the boy who lay in a mess on the bed. “Some love. You gonna leave him here?”
“You know I can’t take him unless he agrees to go.” Sauda glanced down. “I don’t think he agrees to go yet.”

Clair folded her arms over her chest. “Well, you aren’t allowed back in here. Got it?”

Sauda shrugged. “You can’t take back an invitation once it’s been given. This place is open to me.”

Clair shivered. While the kids and teens of the streets associated with the city’s vampires out of necessity, most were smart enough to forbid them from their homes. Now that one was free to come and go from here as he pleased… “I don’t want to see you here, and neither will Avon. You get the fuck out.”

The dark haired man smiled. “Tell Brynn I’ll see him tomorrow night, will you?” He brushed past her to the door.

Outside, the church clock chimed four. Only the very edges of the eastern sky were starting to pinken. Even so, Sauda held the edge of his coat up close to his face as he breezed down the street to his own hideaway.

In her room, Clair sat down beside Brynn with a heavy sigh. He looked almost as if he were asleep, except for the way his eyes gazed at the wall across from him, like he was coming down from a high. In the other room the door swung open and Avon called his cheerful greeting, voice slurred and obviously drunk, at least. He was singing loudly and off-key, enough to make her want to rip his balls off.

“So~ doncha be ‘fraid, ‘cause I’ll never let them hurt yoooouuu~”

Please R&R. Concrit is highly appreciated.