Cursed

14

It was late enough to be considered early morning when Jungkook arrived, joining Yoongi on the large couch in the living room.

The older vampire was idly watching the giant shark swimming in circles over his head, the waves casting light shadows over the walls of the mansion.

"And updates?" Jungkook asked. "It wasn't easy keeping everyone out of the house all day, you know. You better have something for me."

Yoongi tossed him the human's notes.

Jungkook looked unimpressed as he flipped through it, until he got to the last page and stopped.

"Hm." He said finally. "So he's not a total waste after all."

"He's close now." Yoongi said, his deep voice bouncing off the walls. "No one can find out what we're doing, especially not Zazel or the Council."

"They won't." Jungkook cracked his knuckles, glaring.

He glanced at Yoongi after the older vampire said nothing. "Are you prepared for it all? The end? And to lose him?"

Yoongi took a moment before answering. "It's for the best."

Jungkook noted that he didn't answer the question.

-

Namjoon stepped out of the shower the next morning, hungry and wanting answers. He knew he was onto something big, and he wasn't going to stop now.

This was his ticket out of here, Yoongi had even said so himself.

Well, he had asked if Yoongi was going to drink his blood forever now and Yoongi had said no.

Close enough.

He just knew that Yoongi wanted him to figure something out, and once he did, Namjoon would be free to go.

And it had something to do with Virginia Dare, the first English child to be born in the "New World".

Namjoon didn't know what, just that one of the books he had read last night mentioned her in passing. It wouldn't have meant anything, if not for the fact that during the ceremony where Yoongi had claimed Namjoon as his bloodslave, one of the Council members had said something in Latin. A curse and a witch had been mentioned, and the line in the book made the same reference to Virginia Dare.

And then there was the whole Roanoke mystery, where 108 people had vanished without a trace, never to be found again.

Had the lost colony been cursed? Was Virginia the key to Namjoon's freedom? The student had speculated that the curse Yoongi spoke of was being turned into a vampire. He wasn't sure how, but these pieces all fit together somehow.

He toweled off his wet hair and pulled on an outfit from the closet. As he brushed his hair in the mirror, he glimpsed the fang marks on his neck. It wasn't sore anymore, but it still hurt if he touched it, or whenever Yoongi drank from his veins.

Yoongi said the marks would vanish, and Namjoon hoped he wasn't lying. He couldn't go back to his normal life with a vampire's bite still scarring his skin.

Normal life.

His parents, his friends, school, his hobbies, his future.

He missed it more than he could ever put into words.

If Yoongi secretly held some hope that Namjoon would want to stay with the vampire after he was finally set free, he would be sorely mistaken.

-

Yoongi entered the boys room that afternoon, a tray of food in his hands like usual.

"Good morning, pet." He said, even though it was past noon.

"Where have you been?" Namjoon demanded, storming up to the vampire. He grabbed the tray from him, and considered beating it over Yoongi's head. If he wasn't so hungry, he probably would have.

"Why, did you miss me?" Yoongi locked the door to the bedroom and watched as the human stuffed half the sandwich into his mouth and downed the entire bottle of water.

Namjoon ignored him, too fired up to deal with petty banter. He finished the food quickly and cracked open the second bottle of water. "Library. Now."

"You've read every book in there." Yoongi murmured. "It won't help you any more."

"Then take me to a public library." Namjoon grabbed his papers of notes, then realized he didn't have his notebook. "Where is it?"

"Jungkook has it." Yoongi didn't bother trying to act like he didn't know what Namjoon was talking about.

"Why?" Namjoon narrowed his eyes.

"Because he's on our side." Yoongi said simply, his eyes slowly turning red.

Namjoon snorted. "Could have picked a better team."

"I picked you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, and fuck you for that." Namjoon glared at the vampire. "I hope you know I'll be glad to be gone. I hate you for everything you've done to me. And fuck Jungkook too. In fact, fuck your entire species. I hope you all get staked in the heart, and all your grandchildren get burned in the sun."

Yoongi said nothing, letting the student rant. He could see it visibly helping the boy calm down a little.

Namjoon finally took a deep breath and finished his water. "What role does Virginia Dare play in all of this? And why couldn't you just do any of this work yourself?"

"You know by now what my answers are."

"Yeah, fucking nothing." Namjoon muttered. When he looked up, he could see the vampire's red eyes were focused on his neck, and his heart sank.

"It'll be quick." Yoongi said, and he was suddenly standing in front of his human.

"But not painless." Namjoon glared, heart pounding. He hated knowing Yoongi could feel his emotions and heartbeat. It was impossible to have any privacy when he was owned by the vampire. His mind, thoughts, fears and state of being was always monitored by Yoongi. Namjoon couldn't wait to be free.

Yoongi's lips parted, revealing sharp white fangs. "Shh, Joon."

Namjoon blinked, surprised at hearing Yoongi call him that.

Yoongi gently pushed him onto his back on the bed, climbing over him as he brought his mouth to the boys tanned neck.

Namjoon winced as the sharp fangs pierced his skin again, biting his lip to keep from crying out as the fangs went deeper and deeper inside of him. The beginning was always the worst part. He tried to keep his breathing under control as Yoongi fed from him, hoping it would be over soon.

A minute later, it was. Yoongi pulled back, catching a drop of blood with his tongue from where it tried to run down the corner of his mouth.

He helped the human to his feet, supporting the momentarily weak boy.

"Jungkook is getting the car ready." Yoongi murmured in the boys ear as he used a hand to brush Namjoon's hair back. "We'll leave soon."

His hand slid down the boys neck, stopping at the bite marks. Yoongi pulled out a black choker from his pocket, bringing it to Namjoon's neck to wrap around the scars and hide them from view.

Namjoon didn't want it, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. "What's that for?"

"So people don't stare when we go out."

Namjoon winced as the choker was tightened against the sore marks. "We went outside before without it."

"Yes, and we got lucky no one saw or commented on it." Yoongi stepped back and admired the look, which made Namjoon hate it more. It felt like a collar. "Come on, are you ready to walk on your own?"

"Have been." Namjoon muttered.

They walked to the door, and when Yoongi unlocked it, Zazel stood there.