Born To Be Born Again
The Renegade’s Saviour
Amusement parks are one of the worst headaches that any human thing brings on. Most of the time it’s families or lovers who crowd the amusement park. Humans, being sentimental creatures, find pleasure in something as simple as spending a day together, going on unnecessary rides and eating unhealthy food and sweets. Maybe the thrill of the ride brings them here. After all, Sunggyu feels a freeing sensation when he is running through air and space at superhuman speed or when he is fighting against shapeshifters or werewolves; something he hasn’t done in a long, long time.
He hears news of vampires fighting shifters in the city, countryside; bits and bobs of news, but he never interferes even though his hand itches to take revenge for his kind. But then he remembers how he had turned his own back on his kind long ago and it is too late to go back. Word of betrayal travels fast. Every vampire in the world probably knows about his betrayal.
“Where shall we go first?” Sungjong asks, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Sunggyu watches the glitter in his eyes morosely.
Sighing he replies, “I'm in your hands.”
Giving a squeal of delight, Sungjong takes him by the hand, pulling him through the crowd. He grits his teeth as he tries to avoid the overexcited children - he's generally not fond of children - Sungjong was the only exception - and their awkward parents. It’s crazy and every time he squeezes past another squealing youngster, he brushes the spot vigorously, hoping to get off any human children goo they might get on him.
He waits patiently as Sungjong gets tickets for the rides. Maybe the tickets will be sold out and they can just leave… But Sungjong, strangely, has his way with people and he’s sure that the younger wouldn’t return empty handed. Just as he predicted, the younger returns victoriously.
“Where should we start?” Sungjong asks excitedly.
“How about the exit?” he says glumly.
“Stop being like that hyung, it’ll be fun.” Grabbing his hand tightly, Sungjong steers him through the impossible crowd again. They stand at a huge queue to get onto the roller-coaster. At first, Sunggyu was all for pushing the tiny tots away on the queue but Sungjong glared at him, mouthing, “Behave.”
He doesn’t quite remember the next few hours, only that it involves a lot more queuing and Sungjong’s excited squeals. He kind of zoned out, content with watching the sheer joy in the younger boy’s eyes. By the time they are done, Sunggyu is mentally exhausted, and that is saying a lot because he doesn’t get exhausted easily.
On the car ride home sungjong is a bit distracted. He had a fun-filled day. The last time they had been to the amusement park was on his 5th birthday when he had threatened to jump off the roof if Sunggyu didn’t take him.
"Appa don’t you love me? Won't you cry if I die?" the 5-year old he had asked the older vampire, sobbing noisily, knowing it irritates the vampire.
Sunggyu had smiled a little, then picked him up in his arms.
"I love you more than anything else in the world, okay?" he had whispered quietly to him.
Sungjong shouldn't remember this, but he does vividly. That's the only time Sunggyu had spoken about love or affection for him.
It is actually quite strange with the elder. He has never told him that he loves him like they do in TV shows. Sungjong has said it several times, especially when he was younger.
Sunggyu's response is variable; sometimes he just smiles and sometimes he stares at him with a very distant look in his eyes, like he can’t quite figure him out. But Sungjong is the simplest person he knows; in fact, he’s so simple that he doesn't understand a great part of Sunggyu. He loves the elder completely but that doesn't mean he understands him, or at least all of him. But he trusts him and hopes that at least he has eternity to figure the vampire out.
The ride home continues without incident. Both men are aware of what needs to happen next. Sunggyu, while not a lover of humanity and its apparent weaknesses, is somewhat sad to say goodbye to Sungjong’s beating heart and wide-eyed innocence. He is not sure he’s ready for the man to become like him – cold, dead, invincible. And yet he cannot live with the idea that Sungjong will be fragile and helpless like the humans around him, that he could lose his life so easily, in the blink of an eye and no modern medicine or technology can save him.
“Hyung what are you thinking about so intensely?” Sungjong breaks the silence.
“Nothing really, just about your rebirth. Did you have fun today?” Sunggyu changes the topic, not ready to face the inevitable.
Sungjong claps his hand excitedly, and Sunggyu can’t help the smile, he adores how easy it is to distract the boy.
“Today was unbelievable, hyung. Thank you so much. I know it’s not your favorite place but the fact that you did that for me makes me so happy. You’re the best hyung,” the bright-eyed man says as he gives the vampire a thumb’s up.
Sunggyu chuckles; if he’s honest with himself, he knows he is putty in the boy’s hand. He glances at Sungjong momentarily; he wonders how different Sungjong will be after the transformation.
Will he lose the light that seems to emanate from his being?
The older man wonders. He can’t imagine the boy sitting beside him transforming into the monster that he is prophesied to become.
Then it dawns on Sunggyu how inevitable change is, how his mother probably never imagined he would turn into what he had become either. She probably never imagined that he would be the one to end the beating of her heart. Sunggyu doesn’t ever regret, no vampire does, it is not in their nature. But the fact that the memories linger, the fact that her smile haunts him, tells him that he does have one regret. And tonight when Sungjong’s heart stops beating and the soul is drained from the boy’s being, he will have another.
“Will it hurt?” Sungjong’s question draws Sunggyu from his reverie. He has asked it before - probably he can't help himself.
They are parked outside their home, neither ready to enter. Honestly, Sunggyu does not know how to answer that question. He was born human, Sungjong was born vampire. When Sunggyu was turned, it was bloody and horrific and in the human world, it would have been considered murder. There was pain like he had never known and it had lasted for so long. Pain and insanity and bloodlust.
But what Sungjong is about to experience is a re-birth. A rite of passage. Tonight he will become a true vampire adorned with all the powers and full physical capabilities that would make him superior from the humans around him. Gone will be his need for emotional closeness, gone will be his childlike wonder and in its stead, stoic indifference and a thirst for blood will reign.
“I don’t know,” he answers the question truthfully, just as before.
“Mmmm,” Sungjong replies. “Will I change from…from being me?” The voice is shaky, and Sunggyu should be upset by the boy’s show of weakness, but that would be hypocritical.
“I don’t know,” this time he lies. “We need to get inside; the Moon is almost in place,” Sunggyu says as he opens the car door.
Sungjong does not ask any more questions as they make their way inside. Sunggyu had prepared the living room before leaving earlier. The room is still and quiet, but the silence is deafening to both men.
He leads Sungjong to the ritual altar. It was a makeshift one but he has tried his best and he is pleased by the production.
He can feel it, the boy’s trepidation.
“Don’t be frightened. I would never harm you, never do anything that wasn’t in your best interest,” Sunggyu says to the younger man.
Sungjong nods. He knows. And he believes it.
Sunggyu hands Sungjong the ritual clothing, a white cotton garment. He turns to leave, giving the man privacy.
“Please,” Sungjong’s voice is almost a whisper, “Don’t go. Stay.” The boy’s voice is small, and something about the tone has Sunggyu’s feet planted firmly in place.
He nods.
He stands transfixed as Sungjong begins to remove his clothing. The man’s skin is smooth and flawless, and Sunggyu knows he shouldn’t stare, but his eyes won’t close and his head won’t turn away.
Sungjong is beautiful, and once he is transformed and comes into his fullness, he’d be radiant.
With a tingling sensation in his spine, like a thread of fire traveling up the column, he notices the birthmark - the one that looks exactly like his. Sungjong is aware of the fact Sunggyu sports a similar birth mark to him. He has always waved it off to coincidence - they were born as different species, there is no way their birthmarks could be connected.
Once the boy is dressed, Sunggyu places him on the stone table. He smoothens Sungjong’s hair from his forehead and on impulse leans in and kisses the area.
“Trust me,” he whispers.
“I trust you more than anyone, hyung.” Sungjong’s reply causes a coiling in Sunggyu’s stomach.
He smiles at the younger man. At that moment, the clock strikes and Sunggyu looks out the window and is met by the moon's light shining its rays directly on Sungjong. His heart speeds up and Sunggyu feels ashamed that he can hear them, the beats of his heart, raging wildly. He has brought this on.
He turns his focus to Sungjong and concentrates, letting his fangs grow. Bearing his fangs, he leans over the boy. He selects a spot on the younger’s pale neck, his eyes unblinking. As his teeth sink dip into Sungjong’s soft flesh, ripping into the man’s internal jugular, he is mesmerized by the taste of Sungjon’s blood in his mouth. The liquid is warm and sweet; the flavor is different from that of a human, there is no metallic aftertaste. As he continues to , draining the boy Sunggyu feels a fever growing within him. Not the need to devour and destroy that he gets when emptying a human of its life. No, this is akin to desire, to want. When a moan escapes Sungjon’s lips, Sunggyu gives in to the feeling a fraction and deepens the bite.
He can feel it, the life source as it leaves Sungjong’s body. When the younger man goes limp beneath him, Sunggyu stops; the goal is not to kill the boy. He runs his thumb over the indentations on Sungjong’s neck. The man’s neck is stained with blood as is the table and the shoulder of his garment. He has taken care to spill as less blood as possible.
Sungjong’s skin is paler than before but still just as breathtaking - Sunggyu wonders how even now in this state the boy could be so stunning. His fingers reach for the boy’s skin but stop midway.
He needs to leave; he feels too much that he shouldn’t be feeling. He doesn’t understand this visceral reaction that he is experiencing. Then he remembers the bond. This bite, the bite of rebirth has bonded Sungjong to him for all eternity. The thought overwhelms him even more - he needs air. It will be a few hours until Sungjong awakens, till his body adjusts to the lack of a beating heart.
Sunggyu turns and walks toward the door; his hand is on the handle when he hears it. The sound is soft at first like the sound of the wind as it flits over leaves.
It can’t be.
Slowly, Sunggyu walks back to the table; the closer he gets the louder the sound grows. As he stops at the table standing over Sungjong, he knows he did not hear incorrectly.
Sunggyu stands still in shock.
Sungjong is lying on the altar, his body drained of blood, his skin deathly pale, and his heart beating so loudly that it fills every corner of the room. This is not possible. In the years and years of him overseeing this ritual, something like this has never happened. No one knows, in the books, in the tales, of this experience.
Suggyu stares at the young man – a vampire - with one question taking up residence in his mind.
What are you?
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