Life at Stake [Knuxouge Vampire AU]

Leaving a Life Behind

Knuckles still didn't trust the vampire woman. Yet he had no idea what to do now that he was one himself. He had been a vampire hunter, he knew how normal mobians regarded... his kind. 

The woman-- he had never bothered to learn her name-- looked him up and down for a moment. Then she turned and started walking away. Knuckles almost called out to her on reflex, but didn't. When she was a bit away, she looked over her shoulder.

"Well? Aren't you coming with me? You can't go back to your mobian town now."

He knew that. There was no way he would be able to hide his condition from the others, and he still didn't know how much blood tempted vampires. But he had so many connections to that town. His family history. His friends. He had to see it once more at least.

"Tell me," he urged, "how much do we lust for blood? Could I go into the town without..."

"Going on a bloodlust-fueled rampage?" She finished his sentence for him. "You'll be fine. It's just like regular hunger. When you're hungry, you can still resist food, unless you're on the brink of starvation. Well, when your mobian friends reject you, just call out and I'll come pick you up." 

"Is that another vampire power?"

The woman shook her head, winked, and pointed to her bat ears. Then she flew off to the north. Her takeoff was graceful, as if she had never been hurt at all.

Knuckles lingered for a moment, then began his walk back to the town. He followed the graveyard's fence to the cobblestone road. after a few minutes of this, sparse buildings appeared, and soon he was in town. It was the dead of night, so luckily nobody was wandering the streets and seeing his state. His shirt was ripped and bloody, but he had no wound anymore. There would have been questions.

His home was on the relative outside of the town, since he had to be prepared to chase after a vampire at any moment. They rarely ran farther into the city. Once he was inside, he grabbed a rucksack and began looking around his house for what to take. Which would be difficult, because he had vampire-proofed everything valuable. 

So sue him for not expecting this turn of events.

A blanket. His good jacket. Some wooden stakes-- you never know. Most of his money was in a safe guarded by a silver cross. He took instead his everyday wallet. A journal and writing utensils. Some hygiene products. That seemed like everything... his eyes swept around the house one more time.

On the shelf above his bed lay a photo album. Inside it were pictures of his ancestors, his family before many of them had passed away, his friends, himself growing up. If he was to be immortal, he wanted to have them. They were guarded by a large silver cross. He hadn't really tested the crosses yet. It was possible he had been wrong about some vampire facts, right? Perhaps crosses wouldn't be so unpleasant.

Knuckles reached out slowly. As he got closer to the cross, a heat seemed to emanate from it, as if from a stovetop. Suddenly he felt an intense burning and reflexively retreated his hand, then stared at it. His hand was singed. It didn't start healing like a normal wound. Okay, so that wouldn't work.

Knuckles looked around and found a shoe on the floor. He threw it at the album, which shoved it off its shelf. He deftly caught it. Now he had everything. 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

...Who was at his door so late? Why would anybody be bothering him now? Should he answer it, or sneak away? He quickly grabbed the blanket and wrapped himself in it like a cloak, then answered the door, being sure to hide his lower face. 

Opening the door revealed his cousin, Tikal. She was his only relative who was still alive, and the only one who hadn't carried on the tradition of vampire hunting. She was a jeweler with a shop in the wealthy section of town, but right now, she was standing in front of his home wearing a nightgown and a frown. 

"Oh dear. Did I wake you up?" her voice was sweet. 

"No, don't worry. Why are you here?" Knuckles' voice was muffled by the blanket. 

"I felt that something had happened to you. Are you alright? " Tikal had always had a mysterious sixth sense. It was usually a blessing. 

"Really, I'm fine. You were wrong, so goodnight," Knuckles closed the door, hoping that Tikal would go away. 

"You're not usually so curt, Knuckles. Well, if you say so... I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

Knuckles felt a bit guilty, Tikal had just been trying to help, and she wasn't wrong. But she couldn't know, nobody could. He waited a few minutes to make sure she was gone, then walked out, carrying his rucksack back past the graveyard. What should he call out to alert the vampire who had turned him? He supposed anything would be fine.

"GET OVER HERE, YOU BATTY WOMAN!" he bellowed. He heard a gasp behind him and whirled around to see his cousin Tikal in the graveyerd.

"Wha- What are you doing here?" he exclaimed.

"I was up anyway, so I was visiting dad... What are you doing? Yelling? And your shirt! I knew something was wrong!" Her voice got higher the more she spoke. 

Then the vampire woman showed up. This situation couldn't possibly get worse.

"Who's this?" the woman said, noticing Tikal. "Your sister or something? Good, I was just getting hungry." 

Tikal stumbled backwards. She was terrified of vampires, it was why she couldn't go into the family business. Her eyes grew large.

"Don't lay a fang on her," Knuckles growled. "She's off limits."

"Oooh, so scary. As a favor to you, then. I am just so selfless today!" the woman tossed her hair. "Well then, grab on." Knuckles wasn't sure how exactly, but decided the least awkward way to do that was to wrap his arms around her waist. He looked back apologetically to Tikal.

"I can't explain it all right now," he cried, "but I'm safe, so don't worry, and don't look for me. I love you."

Tikal was overwhelmed and couldn't respond. The vampire woman lifted off, taking both her and Knuckles on a ride through the misty skies, ever farther away from Knuckles' home.