There was barely a knock.
In the span of a breath, the parlor doors flew open. Adrian staggered in followed by a taller, much less desperate man.
Kallum’s head snapped up at the intrusion, lips curled back and a snarl clawing its way up his throat. The heady scent of panic rushed at him though, and he slowly reeled in the burning fury. Beneath him, Darius fumbled with his sweater, zipping it shut and clambering away.
“A problem!” Adrian blurted, seeming breathless. “There’s…a problem.” Dark eyes shifted to Darius momentarily. A sea of emotions was reflected in them, flying from distrust to sadness in a matter of milliseconds.
The stranger coming up behind him was dressed in black from head to toe. A silver rosary hung from his neck, twinkling in the firelight. Or at least, Darius thought so from first glance. Given the circumstances, he couldn’t be sure his head was in enough order to verify that.
“What is it?” Kallum asked softly, ice threaded through each syllable. He rose languorously from the couch, expression unreadable.
Both men were silent.
Darius suddenly felt a heavy, acrid tension. The sense of not belonging. Intruding. Turning up the hood of his sweater, he headed for the open doors briskly. “I’m going.” The words were tossed over a shoulder, eyes refusing to meet Kallum’s.
Despite thinking he would be stopped, no one made a move to do so. It was bizarre, but he didn’t give it another thought in the moment. The last thing he wanted was to impede his own escape.
He brushed past the pair on his way out, keeping his head low. Tugging out his phone, he called for a taxi hastily, not wanting to spend another second in the house. He tripped over his own feet, a dizzy spell threatening to knock him over.
Like hell I’m staying here.
Powering through it, Darius blinked away black spots and threw the front door open, disappearing into the night.
Kallum’s jaw clicked at the sound of the door slamming shut. The veins in his arms pulsed, fingers tightening into fists. “Speak.”
“The beast broke free.”
“What direction?” he growled, looking angrier at them than at the problem.
Adrian backed up, eyes downcast. “He—”
“It.”
The word felt like a physical strike. Adrian choked on his words, coughing and covering his mouth. Beside him, his companion spoke in his place. “Into the city center. We’re unsure when it escaped from the basement.”
“And who allowed this to happen?” Kallum’s voice remained quiet, deceptively calm. “Yua?” He strode toward them, pausing briefly before the man who refused to meet his eyes. Passing into the hallway, Kallum snatched the dark coat hanging by the door.
Behind him, Adrian and Yua trailed after.
“We’ve imprisoned the suspects for questioning later,” Yua informed as they left the house. “I’ve sent the others out to check various quadrants. It shouldn’t be long before we catch wind of it.”
A dark tinted car was parked by the curb. Adrian hurried ahead, opening the door for Kallum. The gesture was ignored. The silence deafening.
Kallum gazed out the window, posture casual despite the clear tension in every line of muscle. There was fire and brimstone in his bright red eyes that didn’t bode well for anyone who dared step in his path.
“Your…treasure,” Yua treaded lightly, a much dumber man than many people assumed, “has so much sway over you?”
“Even we can experience dying with enough effort,” Kallum murmured, “is that what you want this evening?”
Adrian curled into himself even further, if possible. A mantra of shut up ran through his mind, fear paralyzing him. If he became a casualty because of the fool beside him, he’d return as a vengeful spirit.
“You seemed to have gotten what you wanted anyway,” Yua replied, meeting his heated eyes.
“Brother.”
The warning was clear.
Yua changed the subject. “We’ll explore the surrounding woods. It’s possible it re-routed and escaped there.” He detailed a few other things about the condition of the cage and basement. There had been signs of a struggle, but ultimately the escape was due in large part to expert lockpicking.
The reinforced cage was no longer good enough. They had wrongly assumed lining it with electricity would be a great enough deterrent, but it had been an arrogant thought.
“It said nothing to you?” Kallum addressed Adrian, still frigid.
He shook his head immediately, picking anxiously at the bandages around his neck. “I haven’t been down there since you…allowed me.”
The nod of acknowledgement did little to ease Adrian’s discomfort.
It was going to be a very long night.
***
Darius arrived in front of his building a little before midnight.
The fare was higher than he would’ve liked, but it hardly mattered. His thoughts were scattered, and his body felt weak. Although he didn’t think Kallum drank very much from him, perhaps it was a mixture of the mental exhaustion and that feeding.
He absently rubbed the spot, conflicted over how smooth the skin felt. It made the encounter surreal. A feasible fantasy. Just another way to convince himself that the entire business with the circus and their Ringleader was little more than an insomniac’s musings. Darius gripped the glass egg tighter in his pocket. It was the only thing grounding these experiences in reality.
When he entered his flat, it was dark.
Silently, he crept to the kitchen, searching for juice and a snack. There was little more than half a carton of milk and a dozen eggs. Sighing quietly, Darius checked his phone.
It was late. Very late.
Fuck it.
He reluctantly headed back out, strolling at a slower pace. His lightheadedness wasn’t going away. Perhaps in the future he wouldn’t beg a leech to drink his blood. The excessive encouragement seemed to make even the most collected individuals lose control.
The convenient store was thankfully just around the corner on a well-lit street. Darius shivered against the cold wind, replaying the events from earlier.
Wasn’t it only natural to be an outsider? He didn’t want to be involved with the circus, right?
Just the Ringleader. Just Kallum.
He had made peace with the aching want, but that didn’t mean he would push any further in that world—especially given the obvious dangers. Who in their right mind would surround themselves with monsters?
You’re dying to fuck one. He buried his face in his sweater. The self-loathing was no match for the sheer desire thrumming through his body though.
The store was mostly empty, save for the bumbling drunkard bringing a can of beer to the counter. Darius slipped down a row, picking out a few bags of cookies and chips. Everything looked good though and that’s what convinced him he was severely lacking nutrients. Pausing at the refrigerators, he picked out a large bottle of apple juice.
Arms full, he shuffled up to pay.
Darius ducked out, bag of purchases swinging from one arm. He immediately dug into it, tearing a bag of cookies open and munching.
Had the man beside Adrian really been one of their kind? Why the silver rosary?
An arrogant man. Darius grimaced, thinking of his own arrogant ploys. What had he wanted from his little stunt tonight? Answers to questions? That had only been the excuse. He had wanted Kallum even with all the questions between them.
“M-Master?”
He froze.
The pain and terror in that voice nearly made him break into a cold sweat. Uneasily, Darius glanced in the direction of the whimper, seeing a dark alley. A few trashcans lined the right side, pressed against a brick wall. He backed away from the entrance.
Not interested in playing this game, Darius whirled away, taking off. He didn’t want anything to do—fwump!
He gasped, crashing to the asphalt and skidding. A warm body was clutching him, fingers shaking so violently it rattled Darius’s frame. The plastic bag of goodies tumbled away, glass bottle of apple juice shattered and leaking out rapidly.
“M-Master! I didn’t—!” a very small voice sobbed brokenly, blunt nails digging into Darius’s sweatshirt. “Please…I’ll—”
“Get off me,” Darius wheezed, coughing.
The stranger leapt away.
Struggling to sit up, Darius crawled to his knees but then rolled over uselessly. His head was spinning now, blood pressure too low. Black spots swarmed his vision, blurring the figure crouching over him.
Bright eyes—brighter than the full moon—were the last things he saw before everything faded.
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