Renounce your Title (FVK/Keveridge Fanfiction)

Chapter 5- I can help stop the flow

((A/N: Couldn't leave you lot on a cliffhanger could I? ;) Bit of a filler because I'm going to be quite busy this week. Not sure if I can update at much as I'd like. Enjoy))

The delicious prospect of blood had enticed Laurence away from the party, and led him along the streets, its alluring scent growing stronger and stronger. However, it had been a deceitful gesture. The scent had offered him delights and happiness, yet when he saw who the blood stemmed from, the feeling transgressed through to a strong feeling of horror.

For the man splayed on the floor (amidst a pool of his own blood) was the man he'd been seeking. Kier. The red fringed man lay in a red, glistening pool, a few crusts of blood decorating two black voids in his neck. His skin had been reduced to a deathly white pallor, his body limp with blood loss. 

Blinking rapidly to repel the visual reminders of the thirst from his mind, Laurence hastily bit into his own thumb. Granted, it was a weak alternative to the predatory needs that lay within each vampire, but it should cast the thirst away for a fair amount of time. Seconds later, and the Prince found himself clearing the distance between he and the man lain on the floor. 

Up close, Kier resembled a ghost- a beautiful ghost, skin thrown into contrast by the colour of his hair and blood. The young man's soft lips were pale and parted beautifully, a few rasping breaths resonating from deep within his chest. 

"Who could have done this?" Laurence mused, as he hastily removed his jacket, with intentions of using it as a compress. The pale vampire was in the process of balling the article of clothing up when it struck him.

The Cardinal. It was he who had informed Laurence of the bleeding man on the streets. As well as that, the preacher had been adorned in dried up, crusty blood. That blood had been Kier's. 

Kier Kemp. Melissa Kemp. Their little family had been destroyed by somebody whom was held in such high social esteem. It was rumoured that the Kemps often frequented the Cardinal's chapel..Yet, for some reason unbeknownst to him, Laurence couldn't envision Kier in such an establishment.

It was with a momentary sigh of regret that Laurence tore into the fabric of his Prince attire, using the sleeve to serve as a bandage around Kier's neck. The thirst pulled at him, and burnt strongly within him, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself through the struggle. He felt an instinctive need to save Kier- whether it was compassion, he didn't know.

Once he was certain his attire had stemmed the soft flow of blood from the holes in Kier's neck, Laurence scooped the man's limp body up into his arms. He gently cradled Kier so he would be comfortable if he awoke, before discarding his torn jacket and diving into the streets of Grandomina.

~~

Where was he? The last event that came clearly to him was the Cardinal's attack. He'd been left for dead, and had only just accepted his death when he'd lost consciousness. The next thing Kier knew, he was being carried down a dismal side street, and through a narrow wooden door into an equally dismal residence.

A few clicks sounded, and the room was instantly illuminated. The bright, lustrous light was a stark contrast to the streets, and sent Kier into a groaning, squinting state. It was as though the light switch had turned the pain receptors in his brain up to a million. The inferno of pain from his neck consumed him, and the blood loss made it feel as though he was seconds away from disappearing into oblivion.

"Shh, its okay, I'm here," A deep voice reassured him. It occurred to Kier to question the identity of his rescuer, but what else could he inflict upon him? Fukka to it.

Kier's head lolled to the left, eyes drifting shut as his breaths became even more laborious. He fell asleep to the distant sounds of a door opening, and a man ascending some wooden old stairs..

~~

A drunken evening with Diego had led to Laurence purchasing this tiny, crappy little place. It lay aside yet another a whore tainted street of Grandomina (much to Diego's pleasure) and looked as though it housed squatters.

It had lain in the deepest recesses of Laurence's mind, and had presented itself to him as he'd carried Kier through the back streets of Grandomina. Once inside, Kier awoke. The soft stirrings from the injured man caused something deep within Laurence to cry out.

There was no hiding it this time. Concern. He felt an extreme need to care for and tend to Kier- and that was exactly what he planned on doing. Sweet fukka- if the Cardinal found out, he'd be dead. As would Kier. He'd only known Kier briefly, yet he was willing to do whatever it took to conceal him from the atrocity of the Cardinal.

"Shh, its okay, I'm here," Laurence murmured soothingly, as he began to carry Kier up to the top storey of the house, where he intended to look after Kier until he no longer needed him.

Laurence made his way into a sparsely decorated bedroom, gently setting Kier onto the unusually soft linen. His cold, unbeating heart ached as he observed the sleeping, almost lifeless man, but what could he do but wait?

Sighing, Laurence forced himself to stop staring at the beautiful man, before heaving himself over to a broken old piano. It had resided within the house since the night he'd been conned into buying the house. Once again, he wasn't in possession of the knowledge as to how he'd acquired it. Diego had probably presented it to him with a drunken slur, a crooked smile upon his face.

The Prince had almost completely resigned himself to playing, when a few mumbled, sleep infused words came from behind him. Kier was clearly conversing with thin air from the dark abyss of sleep.

"I hate them.. Vampires.. The Palace.. Pray fukka, I do.." Kier groaned, before falling silent.

The silence could have been deafening, if not for the loud resonation of Kier's words sounding in Laurence's ears. The man he cared for despised the Palace, and the monstrous creations that were vampires.

The news didn't come as a surprise to Laurence, yet they served as a reminder for him. Kier would hate him if he knew that he fell into both categories.

So he'd have to conceal his true identity.

((A/N: Hope you enjoyed, feedback appreciated <3))