Sights | Zhongli x Reader [Vampire AU]

• Chapter Three •

"Ugh... my head..."
Once I woke up, I felt a throbbing pain in my head. My skin felt like it had paper cuts all over it, and my throat felt dry.

I got out of bed and went straight to my fridge, rummaging through it to find any spare bags of blood. Nothing - I must have drank them all.

Of course, my only option would be to go and bite someone... though it was too risky after making a contract with Zhongli. I didn't want to know what the punishment was.

"Looks like I'm going to have to leave it for now..." I mumbled under my breath, and slamming the door behind me.

---

"Y/N?" I turned around to see Xiangling at Wanmin Restaurant, as usual. Zhongli was sitting at the storyteller's like he said he would be.

"Oh? Good morning..."
I rubbed my eyes and smiled at the girl. She didn't smile back.

"You don't look so good... do you want me to make you some food? Or I can take you to Bubu Pharmacy?"
She sounded pretty worried, which I did appreciate... but I had to get to Zhongli.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I just had a late night. Also... I wanted to thank you for getting Zhongli to help me out. Is there any way I can repay you?"

"Yes! Could you and Zhongli come here tonight for a meal? I've made a new dish and I really want you guys to try it out!" Xiangling exclaimed.

I laughed and nodded, to which she squealed and pulled me into a hug.
"Thank you!!!"

"Alright, alright, I'm still half asleep..."

She smiled and let go of me.
"Hehe! So, are you going to see Mr. Zhongli again today?"

"Yeah, I'm about to go. He told me he'll be able to find out who killed her, so then I can finally get sweet vengeance on them."

"That's great! I'll leave you to it. Good luck, Y/N!"

I waved and walked away. Iron Tongue Tian was literally diagonal from the restaurant, meaning Zhongli noticed my presence and stood up. He spoke to the storyteller for a brief moment and then came towards me.

"Good morning, Y/N. How did you rest?" He asked, smiling at me as if we'd known each other for years.

"I rested well, and you?"

He chuckled and gestured for me to start walking, so I did. He followed closely next to me.
"I slept fine, thank you. I hope today shall too be prosperous."

We walked in silence for a while. It was slightly awkward, but we were both deep in thought.

"I have to say... you are not looking 100% well this morning. Is something the matter?" Zhongli stopped in his tracks.

"Well..." I lowered my voice so that no one but him could hear me. "I haven't had any blood since yesterday, so my body is slowly getting weaker. It won't be an issue till around lunchtime."

"Is that so...? Then tell me, why have you not gone to get some before meeting me here at the harbor?"
His voice sounded stern again, sending chills down my spine.

"It was too much of a risk. You said that our contract would be broken if I fed on any innocent civillians, and I wouldn't know who is and who isn't."

Zhongli sighed to himself.
"Oh. You need blood to survive. Perhaps you could take blood from say... the fatui? They are not innocent."

"You're right. I should probably start doing that from now on. Um, anyway... what will we talk about today?"

He cleared his throat and started to walk in a different direction. I quickly caught up with him.
"We can talk in my home, as it is too suspicious to discuss these things out in the open."

"Where do you live?"

"Not far from here. A... friend of mine let me borrow some money for it."

---

We arrived at Zhongli's home - it was nice and cozy. He had lots of books and ornaments, which revealed a lot about his interests.

"Ah, let me see..."
His slim fingers ran across the bookshelf, before he stopped and pulled out a book.

"What is that?"
I asked, walking towards him. He showed it to me and I immediately noticed sketches of a vampire.

"Does this look accurate to you?"

The sketches were actually very accurate. The eyes looked severely bloodshot and had the same veins underneath. The fangs were drawn as sharp and pointy as they were in real life.

"Yes. It's exactly correct, though my fangs only show when I'm biting someone." I added.

"Ah, so-"
Before he could continue, a large object came flying through the window. Luckily, I was quick enough to catch it before it smashed anything else.

"What the...?"

Zhongli furrowed his eyebrows and put the book down. "Hm...? It seems to be... a rock with a piece of paper on it? What does it read?"

I separated the paper and the rock.
The paper was crumpled, but it had scruffy handwriting on it.

'You are not supposed to find us. You turned and grew up, we could not prevent that. If you go any further we will burn Liyue to the ground, with everyone in it. You have our word."

My eyes widened and I shoved it into Zhongli's hand for him to read.
I ran towards the window to see if anyone was there.

Nothing, except for broken glass everywhere.

"This is...?!"
Zhongli looked angry. Or irritated. I didn't know, but he was intimidating, maybe even scary.

"What will we do? We can't just let them have control of Liyue! Especially if it isn't who I think it is..."

"No. We have to find them and get rid of them. They clearly oppose a threat to Liyue... though I will not be able to do it alone."

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. I knew my intention was to find these vampires, but deep down I thought they would be dead.

I was wrong.

"I'll help you, but first I have to get stronger. They could have hundreds of years on me."