Life at Stake [Knuxouge Vampire AU]

Into the Monster's Den

Content warnings: decomposition, blood, implied murder/euthanasia, kidnapping

When they touched down, Knuckles found himself in the mountains, standing on a rocky ledge. The surroundings were grey and barren; did the vampire woman really live here? Was this a trick? 

"Woman, I demand to know--" he was about to ask a question, but the vampire interrupted him.

"Rouge." 

"What?"

"My name is Rouge, so you can start being polite instead of calling me 'woman' or 'monster.' And what's your name?" 

"It's Knuckles. Anyway, why are we in this forsaken place? Do you live here in the wilderness?" 

Rouge huffed, then gestured around widely. "There's a secret entrance around here. First, I want you to look around and memorize this location. You might have to find your own way back here if we ever get separated."

Knuckles did this. He identified some landmarks and the general direction the spot was in relation to his old town, then he nodded at Rouge. She smiled and sat down on a specific boulder. The boulder was a lever, and her weight triggered it to open the side of the mountain. The pair walked together into the opening, and then it closed behind them.

There were no lights inside of the mountain, but the vampires didn't need any to see. The inside was like a giant castle, but it was completely carved out of the mountain making it one large sculpture of a castle interior. The ceiling was high, and the walls were covered in ornate painted designs. There were many names on the walls. The oldest ones, faded and cracked, were barely legible; the more recent ones were easy to read. Among them he saw Rouge's name, but also two others he recognized. 

"Amy Rose? Silver!? What are these names?" He asked quickly.

"Everyone who has lived here writes their name on the walls. Amy and Silver are two of our housemates, and we have one other named Shadow. you'll need to add yours soon," Rouge replied, nonchalant.  It made Knuckles almost sick to his stomach to hear her refer to him as one of her housemates. He knew he couldn't live anywhere else right now, and beggars couldn't be choosers, but he still hated her and the idea of living together. That wasn't important now, though.

"Amy and Silver... Those two disappeared from the town years ago. We assumed they had eloped or run away or... Anything but this. Their families were devastated," a lump rose in his throat.

Rouge rolled her eyes and replied in an exasperated tone. "Ugh, Shadow accidentally bit his cheek when he was feeding on them. Of COURSE their blood had to mix and we had two new vampires to take care of. It was such a hassle. Oh well, the castle is big and they're fine now, so all's well that ends well." 

Knuckles rounded on her. "So those two were taken from their families over a stupid mistake? The town mourned them for months! We thought they were dead!"

"And if we had left them in that town, they would have really been dead. We can't fix the past, Knuckie, so why worry about it?"

Knuckles was baffled into silence. Not only was she easily brushing off a tragedy, she had given him some hideous nickname.  Rouge giggled at his shocked expression. She grabbed his hand and led him forward, past the wall with names. She gave him a limited tour of the first floor; there was a library with books from all eras of history, a sort of ballroom, a room with a large carved table surrounded by a hundred seats, an amphitheater, and finally she showed him the main kitchen. It had a wood burning stove, two fireplaces, a sink, and an icebox.

"There are some pouches of blood in the icebox for when you need some," she explained.

Knuckles cringed. He had been avoiding thinking about the whole blood thing. But he had decided to live as a vampire, so he needed to learn about it eventually.