Bite IV
Eternal PledgeThe ground seemed to rise up underneath Lay's feet. Needless to say, relief washed over him as he felt the pavement meet his shoes. He decided then and there that time traveling wasn't his thing.
Lay cleared his throat. “Do you mind explaining what just happened?”
Tao casually dusted his hands on the front of his pants. “Some of the perks of being a maker, I guess”, he smirked and gestured for them to continue walking down the path they had, for lack of a better word, landed on.
Lay's eyes roamed, attempting to identify where exactly they were. The two trekked along a pavement enclosed by large, systematically spaced out wooden beams and arches. They came closer to the end of the hallway. Lay could see up ahead that they were entering a large room with even higher ceilings than the hall . The two soon reached the room, Lay shocked at the many people- vampires- present.
“We're late, so let's just find spots near the back,” Tao leaned over and whisper.ed
“Late? Did that time travel thing you did not work?”
“Need I remind you it took time convincing you to come?”
Lay silently followed Tao to two empty spaces near the back. He squinted at the ceiling, seeing sunlight pour through the large sheets of glass enforced by wooden beams, much like those in the hallway. This room was constructed like an arena, stairs leading down to the center, however there were no chairs. The mass of supernatural beings was scattered throughout the room on different levels, all standing, paying close attention to the middle of the room. Gathered at the center speaking out to the rest of the crowd was a group of statuesque vampires. Glancing around at the rest, Lay noticed that all the vampires had a graceful air about them, but the ones in the center, even more so. Lay assumed that they were the council that Tao had informed him about.
Stealing a look at his maker, Lay noticed him concentrating intently on what was being said by the council. The discussion revolved primarily around what measures were to be taken in the handling of a group of vampires in rebellion. Lay made a mental note to ask Tao about this later.
Eventually, the man Lay figured to be the Head Council called the meeting to a close. In response, the vampires began mingling among themselves.
Tao tapped Lay's shoulder“I'm going to talk to someone over there for a minute,” he gestured to the other side of the room.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, you should be fine. I'll send the other four over to talk to you.”
Tao noticed a concerned look come over Lay's face.
“Nothing to worry about, Yixing. They don't bite...other vampires.” Tao laughed at his own joke and disappeared from Lay's presence. Lay peered over heads to the other side of the room. Immediately he recognized Tao's tall, thin frame conversing with another male.
“You must be Lay.”
Surprised, Lay whipped around in the direction of the voice.
“You all must be...” Lay started unsuredly, “I'm sorry Tao didn't tell me any of your names.”
“Jongdae.”
“Minseok.”
“D.O.”
“Sehun.”
All four extended their hands cordially to Lay. He shook them one by one with a curious smile.
“Tao sent us over to be your welcoming party, I guess?” The one named Minseok stated. If Lay had met him elsewhere nothing would particularly stand out in order for Lay to think of him as a vampire. He looked quite friendly, incapable of hurting an ant, let alone draining the life from someone.
“Hey, Fresh meat,” Jongdae snickered. The other three quickly reprimanded him by swift elbows to his side and pokes to his back.
“What? It's not like we can hurt him anyways. He's one of us,” Jongdae defended.
Minseok, D.O., and Sehun each shot apologetic looks to Lay. He shrugged it off with a grin, wondering if all of Tao's, for lack of a better word, 'conquests', had such unique senses of humour. He could definitely see himself being friends with these four in real life by choice rather than coercion.
There was a short lull in the conversation.
“So, um”, Lay attempted to break it, “How old are you guys, exactly?”
“Do you mean before or after our change?” D.O asked.
Lay inwardly winced. He had forgotten about the whole staying-one-age deal. He opened his mouth to apologize when Jongdae started.
“We were all changed at 22-”
“Except for me,” Sehun interrupted, “20.”
Minseok chuckled and stated off-handedly, “Imagine being saved by someone younger than you.”
Lay was lost. “Saved? Younger? I don't follow.”
“You know,” Sehun pursed his lips, “I hear that some of the other new no-bloods think that we're privileged to have Tao as our maker.”
“They say it's rare for him to lose control to the point of turning someone”, D.O interjected, “Some of the other makers, like Jonghyun and Heechul, are much more...prolific, if I may.”
“But the part about being saved by someone younger. I don't understand.”
Minseok grinned widely, his fangs showing, “Besides Sehun, Tao is younger than us.”
In awe, Lay glanced over to the other side of the room, seeing Tao still engaged in conversation with the same vampire. So physically-speaking, Tao was younger than him. In a strange way it made sense. He had a playful way about him. Possessing no blood on his own account, Tao's skin was pale, his features sharpened. The same was true of everyone else in the room. However Tao still held his baby-faced, boyish charm.
“So you all think that you were...saved...by him?”
The four exchanged glances amongst themselves. Eventually, Minseok became the hesitant spokesman.
“There is a lot more to this than you think, Lay. I know it's difficult when you're new and all you want to do is return to your old self, but there's more to this than just obtaining blood.” Minseok shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “ So when you ask if we think we were saved by Tao, our answer would be no, we don't think we were. We know we were.”
“Tao got you blood donations from the hospital, didn't he?” Sehun interrupted, asking.
Lay nodded slowly.
“Not just anyone can get donations that easily, Yixing, vampire or not. Rules are still rules,” The youngest added.
The four could tell that Lay was still confused.
D.O sighed, “It's not really our place to talk about things that have been going on for centuries.” He gave Lay a sorry smile. “ We may have been no-bloods longer that you, but we're not that old,” D.O ended humourously.
The five said parting words and soon Lay was soon left alone. He searched the other side of the room for Tao. They had a lot to talk about. However, Lay couldn't locate him. Figuring he would be on his way out, Lay began to walk towards the hall. Near the entrance, he was stopped by an oustretched hand.
“I don't think we've officially met.” The stately no-blood smiled brightly, his fangs unapologetically present. Lay immediately recognized him as the head of the council and proceeded to shake his hand respectfully.
“Yixing, is it?Or Lay? Which do you prefer?” The man asked. Even with such friendliness, Lay could feel the commanding presence this vampire carried.
“Either is fine, I don't mind.”
“My name is Yunho. I take it you already know that I'm the head of council here.”
“I kind of figured that, yes.”
It seemed like the gentle smile never left Yunho's lips.
“Do you have some time, Lay?” Yunho asked, motioning for them to walk down the hall. Checking over his shoulder, noticing that Tao was now where in sight, Lay willingly followed.
“So, how did you like your first council meeting?”
“It was..interesting. I didn't quite understand anything about the rebellion. Jongdae, Minseok, D.O, and Sehun also told me some things that confused me.” Lay paused and turned to Yunho, “I'm sorry, I don't know how useful I will be to you all.”
Yunho shook his head, “Don't be disheartened. You're in good hands.”
Lay followed Yunho's gaze further down the hall. Waiting at the end, leaned against the wall was none other than Tao.
It was obvious that the two had much to discuss.
Hey guys! I hope you've been enjoying Eternal Pledge, Renea and I have been enjoying writing it :)
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- Renea (Beautyfromashes) and Megs (Like Baekhyunandmegs...like Baconandeggs. Get it? This is me btw)
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