Lover Dearest (Ziam Vampire AU)

Chapter 16

Liam isn't all that surprised. Niall doesn't do well with emotional things. He's too empathetic, Liam thinks. Once Liam had cried over this horrible movie where this dog died and Niall had to excuse himself about half way through the film, ducking out of the room with misty eyes. Liam hadn't seen him for the rest of the day after that.

"Back to my story," Louis says, not at all effected. "It all began on a night just like tonight," Louis says, dramatically lowering his voice, "on this very property. Or— shit, it didn't start on the property. It started, like, a half-our walk from here in a village that's long gone, so that's not important either. Anyways, basically there was this group of teenagers, and this was a long time ago, Liam, back before video games or films or anything even remotely entertaining."

Liam nods his understanding, and Louis continues. "This house, the very house we're living in, was rumored to be haunted. The grass was overgrown, the gates were covered in ivy. But everyone who dared come near here claimed that, if you came by at night, you could see the ghost of the man who lived here standing near the windows. And, being me, I said we all had to come check it out. So a group of my friends and I, drunk off our asses, made our way up here." He stops to fix his hair again, and Liam thinks it's more of a nervous habit than a grooming habit. "No one dared actually stepping foot on the property, though. But I, being the bravest, or maybe the stupidest, or maybe a little bit of both, said I would.

"It was dark inside, and I was alone. I promised I'd bring something, a souvenir back to my friends to prove to them that I'd actually done it. So I stumbled through the darkness, searching for a room with windows, hoping that the moonlight would give me a bit of guidance. But I didn't get very far before I tripped. I hit the ground hard, hard enough to split my elbow open. And the next thing I knew, someone was on top of me." Louis stares at the wall behind Liam, eyes out of focus. "It was the most terrifying moment of my life. And I could feel it, I could feel myself dying. Somehow everything got darker, and I couldn't breathe. My head felt so light, and I started losing feeling in my legs, first, then my arms.

"He nearly killed me," Louis explains. "Harry. Almost drained me. Turned me at the last second when he finally got a hold on himself. And I woke up the next morning in a bed with clean clothes on and — he waited beside me to wake up, I guess. The first thing I did was scream. I screamed bloody fucking murder until it felt like my throat was raw, and he didn't even blink. Or I thought that was from the screaming, anyways. Turns out I was just thirsty."

"He attacked you," Liam says in surprise. He can't imagine it, can't picture a Harry that would willingly hurt anyone, even though he logically knows that Harry has, probably many people, over his lifetime.

"I'm certain he didn't mean to," Louis says quickly. "He was a newly bitten vampire, Liam. He'd run off from the woman who bit him because he hated what he was, and he'd been trying to live off animal blood, which is completely impossible, not to mention disgusting. He was blind with hunger at the time. Couldn't have helped himself if he tried, and I was already bleeding when he found me. I'd be more surprised if he hadn't attacked me."

"So you didn't blame him?"

"Oh, no, I did," Louis denies. "Not now I don't, but I did. Do you know what it's like to have your best friend shove a pitchfork through your chest while calling you a demon? I hated Harry for years. I ran as soon as I could, but eventually I came back when I realized I had nowhere else to go. I'd already screwed up a lot by then, killed more people than I care to admit because I was careless and I didn't have a handle on my self control yet. But Harry welcomed me in with open arms, and I think that he does blame himself, still. I'm also fairly sure that I'm the only person he's ever attacked. We all have a lot of blood on our hands, but Harry's are definitely the cleanest."