BLAKE

"He has to prove himself," Adrian had said. "If he doesn't leave the party for you, it means he will never care about you as much as he cares about himself. Test to see if he'll give you control."

Thinking about those words now, Blake wanted to vomit. The butterflies in his stomach were merciless, bouncing and smashing up the walls of his organs. And he was so cold. The night had an especially deep bite, the frost creeping through his skin and down to the bone. He cursed, rubbing his hands together and conjuring the last of his warmth into his hands to make a small flame. He used its heat like a reverse sunscreen to protect from the cold. It wasn't as potent as his usual spells. It was because he wasn't focused. He was too concerned with Daniel.

He reached for his cell, debating to phone Daniel up and call the whole thing off. He felt so stupid and immature making demands like he did. Honestly, Blake would've forgiven him in the ballroom... but Adrian's voice had stopped him.

"He needs to show remorse," Adrian's words wormed their way in again. Blake had been listening to Adrian's advice ever since he was a kid and he never steered him wrong before.

Sighing, Blake strolled deeper into the park, remembering a gazebo around here somewhere that would work for at least a little cover. The path was marked with cobblestone and lots of foliage along the way.

The lights from the lampposts were dim, but the Christmas lights wrapped around the pointy naked trees were warm and bright. Some lights were shaped like snowflakes and the posts were wrapped in garland. Blake wished there were some Christmas music, not just the low hum from the city and his thoughts. It was odd to look over trees and see skyscrapers.

Some laughter behind Blake cut through the peace. He glanced behind him as two guys were stumbling and laughing about something. None of them seemed to care about Blake, engrossed in their own conversation. They seemed young. Around his age maybe. A yelp flew out his mouth as Blake hit something hard, and he stumbled back.

"Hey, watch out," the man in front of him said. He was built like a bolder with cropped hair and wore only a sweater in this snowy night. "If you don't look where you're going, you could get hurt."

"Uh, sorry," Blake said and took a step to the side, attempting to walk around him, but the boulder man mirrored his action and stopped him.

"Hey," The man smiled, a flicker of excitement in his eyes as he leaned closer and popping Blake's personal bubble. "You wouldn't be Blake Winslow? Would you?"

That question pulled the air out of Blake's lungs. It deafened all the noise in the world. Suddenly, Blake was hyper aware of this man's size. "Uh," Blake's voice came out shaky as his heart plummeted to his toes. "No. I don't know who that is, sorry."

He turned around, but the laughing guys were there and too close to be an accident. Just two of them felt like a second wall in his way. One guy with icy blonde hair held up a magazine with Blake's stupid face right on the cover. It was a picture of Daniel and Blake exiting the Venture Hotel after their cake tests.

A better time.

"So, this isn't you?" The other guy egged Blake on, treating him like an idiot.

"No," Blake insisted, attempting to go around, but they moved in front of him again. It was getting harder to breathe. They were too close. He was getting boxed in. All his exits were disappearing. 

"Don't be so bashful," the blonde laughed and smacked his shoulder with the magazine. "You should be more confident."

Blake jumped. "So, what if I am Blake Winslow? You know that means there's a castle full of people waiting for me. A small army of vampires that will make you pay if you do anything to me."

This just made them laugh harder and Blake's whole body flushed. He didn't like this. Every look, every laugh was making his skin crawl. The boulder man behind him licked his lips and Blake's stomach acids curdled.

"Spoken like a prince!" The blonde cackled.

His buddy smacked his shoulder and joked, "Where are our manners? Your highness." He bowed, which made the others laugh and bow too.

"Get out of my way," Blake demanded and finally showed his hands, the fire wafting up his hands bright and warm enough to be threatening. They didn't know it wouldn't do much more than a carpet burn. A mild annoyance. Blake was too cold to produce anything more but this looked good enough to threaten a vampire.

"Whoa!" The third guy said and jumped a few feet back.

"Well, that's not nice," The blonde man said, looking past the fire at Blake's face. His eyes flashed red, and Blake had a horrible sense of déjà vu. "Drop it and stay still."

Blake pulled against the enchantment, tugging back at the strings tugging at him. The fire flicked in and out as Blake tightened his jaw and thought about Daniel, Adrian, and about everyone else, thinking about their voices and how they'd be screaming at him to fight back.

"You're tougher than you look," the man behind him laughed and not a moment later, something hard contacted the back of Blake's head. Blake crumbled, losing his focus and the fire. His thoughts were replaced by only pain and the throbbing at the back of his skull. Snow clung to his cheek. It had snowed enough that Blake was officially soaked.

Soon.

Daniel will be here soon.

Someone grabbed him by the collar and smiled with his fangs out. "Behave, little witch."

This time, the vampire's bewitchment stuck, and he wore it like a concrete jacket. Blake got yanked upward on his feet, his limbs useless and heavy, like a ragdoll made of stone.

"Hey!" The boulder man snapped, ripping Blake out of the other's hands. "I get the first bite."

"Aw, come on," the smallest man complained. "You're greedy. You always drink too much and all we get is a couple of drops."

"Cowards eat last," the boulder mocked the other, chastising him into silence as he loosened Blake's tie and then, the buttons on his shirt. Blake wanted to struggle, internally screaming at himself but there was too much weight pressing him down.

There was a prick first, a searing pain next as the vampire's fangs sunk into his skin and a tear dropped from the corner of Blake's blank eyes. It felt like getting split apart. The smell of blood bloomed in the air and tickled Blake's nose. Some blood slipped between the vampire's lips and trickled down his collar and back. It was a sinking feeling, getting his blood sucked. He could feel his blood thinning. His life draining. It was a nauseating, head swimming kind of feeling that made Blake wish he could close his eyes.

If Daniel was close, he'll be able to smell the blood.

He was going to be here any second. In a flash and Daniel will pull these guys off Blake just like he did outside of Josephine's bar. Any moment.

"My turn," one snapped and ripped Blake out of the other's mouth, creating ruts along Blake's shoulder. The pain exploded and blackened his vision from the pain, but Blake didn't make a peep. The next man bit right into the other side of his neck and the sounds of his slurping and sucking made Blake cringe in disgust.

Blake's body went colder to the point of just feeling numb and heavy. He focused on his breathing, on staying present enough to keep his eyes open. He didn't want to go to sleep if he didn't know where he'd wake up or in what state.

But Daniel was coming. It was going to be fine.

The third couldn't wait any longer, snatching Blake's wrist too hard. Blake thought his bones were going to snap. His bite on Blake's wrist had a sting like nothing else and another tear escape his eyes.

For whatever reason, as Blake was struggling and failing to keep his eyes open, a little past the men he could see a blurry vision of Henry Winslow. Angelic Henry Winslow shaking his head, but why? Was he upset? Disappointed? Looks like Blake couldn't survive in this life either.

What a joke.

Then, everything and everyone pushing and grabbing and biting and hurting Blake vanished. He was weightless for just a moment until he collapsed onto the ground and regained his senses. Breathing hard, Blake grabbed both sides of his neck and the floodgates opened, all the tears he had held back poured down his sticky hot face. He finally wailed, a mirror shattering sound of anguish.

The noise of someone's bones crunching made Blake pop his head up. Adrian snapped one of the blonde man's arms back too far for comfort and he screamed. Adrian only released him to knocked him around the face, making him spin out and crash into the nearest bush. All Adrian's movements were fluid, but too quick for Blake's mind to register until he stopped moving. Blur here. Adrian kneeing one in the face. Blur there. The boulder man would be thrown over Blake's head, only stopping when his back snapped against a lamppost. Blake turned around to find the last one was on the ground.

In a blink, Adrian appeared in front of Blake with his arms open and Blake was a child again. He reached for Adrian back, who gathered Blake up in his arms. "It's alright," Adrian whispered, but even he was shaking and holding Blake almost too tight. "I've got you. No one else is going to harm you."

"He didn't come," Blake sobbed. His body hurt, but the pain of his heart breaking was unbearable. The world seemed so wrong. The night too dark. Too cold. He wanted to go home. Not to the Sagewick castle, but back across the ocean so he could sleep on his childhood bed.

"I'm sorry. It'll be alright."

"I don't understand."

"I'm here. I'm here."

He cradled Blake even closer, and Blake never felt so small and fragile before. From the sound of Adrian's voice, Blake was lulled to sleep.

#

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This was sooooo sad to write. Oh my god. I was just looping Burn from Hamilton over and over and like tearing up. And I'm just gonna cry more. Lol. The next chapter is THE LAST dream chapter. So much is happening! AH! It's all happening!! 

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