Chapter Text
Renfield woke up what couldn’t have been much later, seeing as the sun was still rising, but shone directly in his eyes now. The mess that surrounded him when he passed out was now gone, much to his surprise, but he wasn’t complaining.
He got up and started his day.
Or, that’s what he thought, until he was interrupted by a loud, blood-curling scream that came from down the stairs of the hospital. He jumped up, immediately regretting it as his bones felt the weight of his body all too suddenly, and fell back down. He was technically healed, yes, but his body still felt incredibly sore from the previous nights. It had been a while since his master had been that violent with him, even the other day when he had punished him for his betrayal was lighter than that. He shivered at the thought and went to grab a spider from the box in his pocket, but found the pieces of his small wooden box broken, and the bugs crushed to death. Quite the frustrating way to add insult to injury.
He stood up more carefully this time and made his way to the blanket by the candles which had gone out in the light and grabbed the small cage he kept his bugs in and grabbed a spider. Now he had the issue of getting a new box, but the energy from the spider helped clear the fog of his brain and he realized he really should figure out what that screaming was.
He quickly made his way down the stairs to one of the middle floors and spotted a young woman curled up on the floor against a wall of one of the rooms, shaking. She was sitting across from the dead priests his master had brought back the night before, their bodies stacked next to an old stretcher. This was one of the darker floors, so he was lucky she happened to be sitting in the light or else he would have completely missed her.
Her head darted up as she heard him step off of the stairs, her dark glossy eyes meeting his. She screamed again, and Renfield was lucky his master’s coffin was *somewhat* soundproof because she absolutely would have woken him up.
He quickly put his hand over her mouth to muffle the screaming, though it didn’t do much because she just started screaming louder.
‘Shh shh, please be quiet, it’ll be worse if you’re too loud- ok you don’t have to bite me please’ he kept his hand over her mouth until she nearly ran out of air, but kept glaring at him and attempting to bite him. It’s a good thing he had just had a spider because she was shockingly strong for her small physique. She nearly overpowered him as is, but he could blame that on him just waking up and feeling like immortal trash. Carefully he removed his hand from her mouth, and she just stared at him in a mix of fear and some other emotion that Renfield couldn’t place.
‘What are you doing here?’ he asked, his tone a bit snappier than he intended. He had lost his usually soft demeanor, but he could blame that on being woken up by literal screaming.
‘I-I heard rumors that there was some creepy stuff, and my friends dared me to go in alone, but I didn’t expect to see all this, I just want to go home-‘ She spoke a mile a minute, Renfield just barely understanding what she was saying. He sighed, realizing this was an innocent person who had stumbled across a huge pile of dead bodies that he had no excuse for. He knew his place and his job, so he had to quickly make a plan to make this painless, for his own sake. Why did human morals have to be painfully confusing?
‘Listen, I’m sorry, but you *really* shouldn’t be here’ he turned around and shut the doors of the room that had the bodies in it, closing with a loud thud. As he started to turn back to the girl, she suddenly jumped up and grabbed onto his back, bending his neck into a headlock. His brain barely had enough time to process that this was the same small girl he assumed was there by mistake before struggling to get her off of himself.
‘Maybe don’t believe every innocent person you see, though I must admit this place is hella creepy’ she said, her scared tone replaced with coolness.
‘Why are you here???’ Renfield’s voice squeaked through, his blood pumping hard through his head. She obviously wasn’t just someone who wandered into an abandoned building. This thought was confirmed as he felt a sharp blade go straight through his back and pierce his chest.
‘’You should have stopped hanging out in our territory, Robert’ she whispered into his ear, her voice snake-like and tainted with venom.
‘Yyyou literally just stttabbed me in the back, huh’ he barely got out, blood starting to drip down his body and onto the floor. He made a loud yelp of pain as she pulled the knife out with one strong pull. He was in fight or flight now, and the answer seemed to always be fight. He grabbed her by the arm as she jumped off of him and he threw her into the doors he had just closed. She flew through them with little resistance and let out a genuine scream this time, unlike the one that had attracted him down here in the first place. She scrambled to get up, failing and yelling in pain. ‘Y-you’re really fucked up, you know that man????’ She cried as he picked her up by the neck. If he hadn’t just been stabbed by her, he would almost feel pity. But those were emotions he had to shut out for his master’s sake.
If he were to die, his master would lose his familiar and would struggle to get to full power once again when the church inevitably came for him. But… this was Dracula he was thinking about, why would he need him? It’s not like he hadn’t gotten along perfectly fine without him previously, he was powerful beyond anyone’s doubt. What was he even fighting for?
These thoughts distracted him, and the sinking realization that he wasn’t important to anyone made his heart ache. Well, the ache was already there and covered in blood, but this was in a more metaphorical sense. His thoughts were knocked out as a strong kick to the chest threw him onto the ground, his head hitting a stretcher and knocking it backward. He immediately retaliated by jumping up and lunging at her, throwing her into the wall behind her. He grabbed her by the neck until he felt her go slack.
Shit.
His ideas of “morals” had been thrown out the window the moment he was in danger, leaving him barely a shell of a man. He couldn’t even hold up to his own standards of himself, how could he ever to his master?
His head hurt. He needed to do something, get out of here, hide. He feared his own thoughts and feelings more than the being who quite literally had a hold on his soul.
—————
Teddy Lobo sat in his mo- in his office, staring at the desk in front of him. He felt empty. More physically, he felt hungry and cold to the bone, but he couldn’t keep any food down so that couldn't be helped.
A knock at the door rang through his ears, but he just couldn’t will his body to get up and open it. The more he thought about moving, the heavier his body felt and the less and less he felt he even had executive function left. The knock had been forgotten, slipping right through his mind. The cold seemed to seep even more into his bones, every single one of them aching and crying in exhausted pain, begging him to move.
The door opened behind him, and he barely tilted his head to the side to see one of the strongest members of the gang that he now was in charge of walk in. If he was being honest, right now he would be the strongest. He could very easily overpower Teddy sitting in his chair, still not moving his body, and take the entire empire for himself. Yet he didn’t.
‘Boss, we need to talk’
He didn’t want to talk, he really didn’t.
‘I didn’t say you could come in’ he forced himself to reply.
‘You’ve been in here for 4 days, you’ve barely eaten, and I’m pretty sure you haven’t slept by the looks of it.’ He said matter-of-factly. ‘And it would be bad for me if the head of a gang died of a stupid-ass reason up here all by yourself. Now, business.’
Teddy didn’t respond, but he could tell he was listening to him.
‘Tom's body has been found. Remember how he and his girlfriend were missing?’ He didn’t expect a response but still paused. ‘Well, somebody fucked him up. Real bad. Found him behind a dumpster at a bar, his girlfriend nowhere around. And, on top of that, the guy we sent out to get info on that other girl? He’s missing too, but we found evidence of blood splatter behind that bar. There were also reports of a noise disturbance as well from that night, so chances are he’s dead.’
He stood there, staring at his torn-up boss.
‘What about Lydia?’ Was all he said, slowly processing the information that was just given to him.
‘… she hasn’t come back yet.’
He sighed, his body finally moving to crumple forward, and he put his head in his hands, running his fingers through his dark disheveled hair. He had a gut feeling this was going to happen, and now he needed to start a war over it.
‘Where was the fucker last seen?’
‘We’re pretty sure he’s hiding out in that old hospital in the next district, or at least that’s where he keeps going back to.
Teddy stood up, swaying a little on his feet, but his posture was solid and sure.
‘Looks like it’s finally time for me to do my fucking job’
----------
Renfield stumbled out of the hospital, trying to stand up straight enough that he wouldn’t be suspicious, but failed miserably and kept limping. He couldn’t stand to be in the cramped space of the hospital anymore. Blood was still dripping down his chest and back, soaking his dark undershirt and making him feel dizzy. He kept walking, just wandering through the abandoned streets as the sun’s rays slowly dimmed and dimmed.
He collapsed.
He was still conscious, but he couldn’t stand. He knew he was screwed, now unable to get his master a proper meal. He was a failure.
A figure stood over him, the setting sun shining behind them like an angel. Renfield felt hands on him, carefully pulling him up to lean against the figure.
‘Hey, man you ok?’ He could finally hear again, finally seeing that he was being held by a stronger person. He couldn’t determine their gender, but that wasn’t important. Nothing felt important anymore, all in a faded haze.
As his brain caught up to what was happening, he realized the cruel twist of fate that had just been placed upon him and the kind person who went out of their way to help him. Fuck. But wait, could this help him prove himself? He knew he needed to let go of morals, he just wished it didn’t need to be this hard.
He let go.
‘Y-yeah, I got mugged a few minutes ago, and I’m… I’m scared. Can you help me get back?’ He stumbled through his words, technically not lying about most of it.
‘Of course, where do you need to go? Though I would suggest a hospital.’ The person was nice and surprisingly strong. In Renfield’s defense, he was quite light from his awful eating schedule and could barely move his body on his own. Good news for him, the sun was setting fast.
He guided them back towards the hospital, the person genuinely helping him try to walk. The sun’s final rays sunk below the city’s horizon and Renfield could feel the evil presence of his master as he awoke but could tell he wasn’t coming after him. He knew he was getting his meal, and soon enough they were outside the doors of the hospital.
‘Uh, look man I don’t know if this is where you wanna be right now-‘
‘No no, it’s fine, I’m staying here for now. Just help me right inside.’ Renfield convinced them, a feeling of dread filling him. He ignored it.
They walked through the doors of the hospital, and they stopped as they got to the middle of the large lobby.
‘Oh Renfield, you’re back.’ He heard his master croon from somewhere in the room, his voice almost sweet-sounding. With what strength he had left he pushed the kind person forward and saw the blur of his master jumping down and onto them. The last thing he heard was a yell and his master enjoying his feast of a living, breathing person.
At some point, Renfield ended up on the floor, though he wasn’t quite sure when that happened.
‘Servant, get up’ Dracula demanded, Renfield stumbling to get up. ‘Bring this upstairs and take care of it’ he said, dropping the corpse at his feet, and turning to go back towards the stairs. ‘And then come back. We have work to do.’
‘Yes master’ was his reply as the swarm of bats left him alone with the kind person’s body and more stress put on his already aching chest. He maneuvered them into the elevator, not bothering with the stretcher, and slumped against the door as it creaked slowly upwards. He almost passed out right there on the elevator, but his master had given him a direct order and he was not going to disobey it.
The body now on the stack of others that had collected over the past few days, he shuffled back to where his master awaited him on his throne. Everything hurt, even parts of his body that weren’t injured felt like they were on fire.
‘Master, please-‘ he cracked, the facade of strength breaking as he lost a bit more blood at the movement, and pathetic tears streamed down his cheeks.
‘Are you, my servant, asking me for something?’ His master stared him in the eyes, almost looking through his soul. He had fucked up, he knew that he had fucked up, and he knew his master could see that he knew he had fucked up. He mentally kicked himself, regretting the entire day and his stupidity to get hurt in the first place.
‘no master, of course, I would never ask you for anything’ he shakily responded, willing himself to ignore the growing pain. He felt like a child, but there wasn’t much he could do to stop that feeling while in the presence of his master. He would always be inferior to him, and he knew his place would never change.
Dracula still stared at him, and Renfield could sense that his presence was angering him, and the longer he stood there pulling on the strings that tied them together the angrier his master got. He needed to get out.
‘I’m going to go get you, um, another meal. Now that you’re back to full power you should be eating more-‘ he knew his excuse was pathetic, but it got his point across.
‘Leave’
‘Yes master’ he squeaked out and scurried away from him, quickly grabbing some bugs. He had forgotten that his box was broken, so it seemed the next best option that his pockets offered him was an empty Tictac box. Well, it was better than nothing. Even with Dracula blood, his body wasn’t healing fast enough it seemed.
He stumbled out of the hospital yet again and just started walking. He needed to get away from his master before he made it worse for himself- well, it was better for his master. If his presence was that bad for him, he needed to get out.
He kept walking, not quite sure where he was going except for away from the hospital, but-
A strong force slammed into his side, throwing him to the ground several feet away. He slammed into the sidewalk, his breath knocked out of his lungs. His vision started to go blurry and he could barely process anything, but he quickly opened the box from his pocket and ate a spider. As he regained some strength and his vision cleared, he saw a huge dark figure standing over him. In front of him was an 11-foot-tall hulking humanoid wolf, blood dripping from its teeth and onto Renfield’s chest. Holy shit how the hell was he going to get out of this one. The wolf’s blood-red eyes which seemed to glow with bloodlust followed his movement as he slowly tried to get up. He slowly pulled his legs up to his chest in preparation to get up and get the fuck out of there, when he suddenly realized where the blood that was dripping from the monster’s jaw had come from. His entire shoulder had been bitten and he couldn’t move his right arm. Through the initial adrenaline rush, his body somehow managed to miss that.
He needed to move. He braced his body to jump up, preparing for the race against the being.
He sprung up, got his legs under him, and bolted in the direction he was going, away from the hospital. No matter what happened to him, he needed to get away from his master. He sprinted down the sidewalk, the wolf lounging after him and quickly getting closer. Renfield could be fast when under the effects of his blood pact, but he wasn’t *that* fast. He knew he would be caught soon enough, and he needed a plan. What could he even do? There was no way he could fight it head-on, and there were no visible weaknesses. He just needed to keep running, blood flying from his shoulder, the chest injury almost forgotten at this point.
How could a wolf like this even exist? He could almost feel the evil energy seeping off of it, likely uncomfortable for mortals that dared to be anywhere near it. Now thinking about it, that was likely how it got its prey when it needed to-
Teeth snapped near his neck, and Renfield barely ducked and rolled out of the way of the death trap behind him. Ok, no more time to think, fight or flight was taking over again and for once it was flight. He kept running, thankful that it was the middle of the night in a mostly abandoned neighborhood. But wait, he was on to something earlier… what was it? He needed to not get distracted, but he could feel his body starting to crash on him, and his bugs were clenched tight in his immobile arm. Coming up the street in front of them was a large cathedral, possibly his saving grace for once.
Churches had a lot of heavy stones and small places to hide, hopefully enough so he could lose the wolf. With this goal in mind, he ran as quickly as he could towards the huge marble structure, a cross on the top of its large dome signifying its purpose. He nearly tripped on his own feet and into the hard pavement of the street, but he sprinted towards the large wooden doors of the entrance. Finally, now close enough, he rammed his entire body weight into the door but to no avail. They budged forward, but would not open no matter how much he tried to push. He could see the wolf sprinting directly at him, now nowhere else to run. He braced himself for the hit and felt it full force as the giant claws scraped at his chest, the force of the blow knocking him back through the now splintered wooden doors. He flew into the center of the room, landing with a painful crash on his back right in front of the altar. His chest, now adorned with huge claw gashes, kept bleeding down his body and hissed into steam as the blood touched the consecrated ground.
He watched the wolf attempt to charge into the church, but the moment one of its huge appendages hit the floor, he could hear a sizzling sound and the beast whimpering in pain, but it slowly kept moving towards him, gnashing its teeth. There was no way he could survive this, he had failed his master. He could barely feel the pain in his body, the feeling being replaced with a dull emptiness and acceptance of his end.
A loud bang near his ear nearly scared him to an earlier death than he was already getting, and he could just make out that it was a gunshot. The wolf ran out of the church in a cry of pain, and Renfield could hear it howl loudly before it ran away into the moonlight. His vision was blurry and he couldn’t move his body, his blood now feeling like it was boiling alive inside of him, like some twisted holy infection.
From somewhere in the edges of his consciousness, he could vaguely hear his master yelling his name and loud banging at the destroyed wooden church doors, but it was all for naught. He was helpless, and even though the cathedral's holy aura had protected him from the evil of the wolf, it was a double-edged sword that prevented his master from retrieving him and bringing him back to his lair.
He saw a blurry figure in the corner of his eye and then he passed out, the moonlight through the stained glass windows illuminating the blood splatter surrounding him in the middle of the cathedral.