Nightmare // chanlix

Twelve

Chan sat across from Felix, ready to hear his recollection on what happened the night that made him what he was. In all honesty, he was surprised the younger was willingly telling him the story. 

"So, I should start with some background information." Felix began, leaning forward so he was now sat with his forearms rested against the table. "Before I was turned, I found out that vampires existed. I witnessed someone get attacked after a night out with some friends, but I had been drinking, so my recollection was a little hazy. All I remembered was seeing someone bite someone, and the next day the person was found dead. It must've been a pretty reckless vampire, because they didn't see me. I ran away, and spent the next few months trying to find out anything I could about vampires."

Chan nodded, finding the idea of a once-human Felix being as scared and freaked as he was about the existence of vampires quite endearing.

"It didn't lead to much. I tried the internet, but most of it was conspiracy theories and fan-written articles about movies and books. Libraries didn't have any solid publications, so I went on the dark web, and tried anonymous chatrooms. Looking back, and knowing what I know now, most of it was bullshit. Every person had a different answer, so I did the dumbest thing I could think of. I went out at night to try and find another vampire."

Chan remembered how he had went back to the scene of the crime where he had been bitten, and how Felix had reiterated how dumb it was to him. It made a lot more sense now. 

"For weeks, I would visit the alleyway the last attack had been at in hopes of finding another vampire. It sounds dumb now, but at the time I was incredibly curious and my brain wouldn't stop until I got some answers. One night, I saw someone lurking in the alleyway. I stood back, keeping myself on the street as I peered in to see if they were the same person as before. It wasn't, it was someone a lot smarter. He heard my breathing, and once the street had no one walking on it, he grabbed me."

Felix's demeanour seemed to shift. The confident, fearless boy now seemed frightened. Almost as if he were reliving the emotions he felt on the night. 

"Once he grabbed me, he coerced me into following him. It worked for a few minutes, before I snapped out of it. But by then, he had already pulled me down a side street and into an old building. A bookstore." The blonde clenched his jaws at the memory.

"Was it..." Chan began, but Felix interrupted.

"Yes. My bookstore. It wasn't mine at the time, of course. Once I got inside I had snapped out of the coercion, and I immediately tried to run. He grabbed me, and dragged me into the back. The place has a basement, which is where he took me. He threw me down the stairs so hard that I lost consciousness."

Chan winced at the mention of this, only imagining how badly it must have hurt. 

"I woke up chained to the wall with a pounding headache and a broken arm. It was dark, but someone was in there with me, chained to the other wall. Hyunjin." Felix said, eyes becoming glassy at the memory. 

"You know, as a human, Hyunjin was bursting with life. When I started freaking out, he comforted me, told me we'd get out. He distracted me with all these crazy stories of his childhood, and how he once cried after stepping on a snail. Weird to think about it now, but he had a soft, pure heart." 

Chan recalled the two interactions he had with the ravenet. Sure, the first was more than unpleasant, but he had actually been helpful last night, and shown empathy. He wondered if he would have been friends with him if he were still human. 

"I don't remember how long he had us down there. Could have been weeks, it could have been months. He fed from me and Hyunjin, then gave us blood to recover, so he could do it all again. He didn't feed us enough, though, so our bodies began to weaken more and more every time he healed us. We didn't have beds, so we had to sleep on the concrete. It was cold as shit, and there were times I thought I'd die of hypothermia instead." The blond's voice seemed to shake ever so slightly at the last sentence, though he kept his composure. Chan almost thought he imagined it.