It hadn't slipped Ren's mind that Ashton was still seriously going through a heavy hunger. If it wasn't Ashton's red eyes or the unmistakable fangs peeking out from his top lip every so often, it was the rigidness in his shoulders and the stiff way he walked. His graceful saunter was now a rigid limp.
Ren licked his own fangs, trying to get the sweet taste out of his mouth. It wasn't exactly working. While he swallowed over and over, he was still getting hints of Ashton's blood. His heart had settled some and so had his dick, but the lingering arousal still made his gums throb for what he could not have.
His brows furrowed as he swiped his thumb over his bottom lip.
Ashton was going to burst sooner or later. He'd almost been ready to rip Darrien's throat out and he'd been the only human around them. If Ashton got around a whole group of humans, he might not be able to hold himself back. Attacking in front of half the town was a sure way to get them locked up.
He looked around.
They were alone.
He slowly turned to look behind him. There was nothing but miles of empty road. They were far away from the school. It looked like they were heading nowhere even though they were taking the long way around to the back of the city hall.
A thought came to him.
He'd tasted Ashton's blood. And Ashton needed to feed…
A shiver went through him. He couldn't distinguish whether that was because of disgust, hatred, or another feeling.
It was fair. In a way. And it would solve the really big problem they were facing right now.
That Ashton was facing anyway. It really didn't matter who was affected the most at the moment. The problem was that he needed to get some fucking blood in his system before he starting ripping people's heads off and slurping their blood down like a slushy.
He inhaled through his nose and looked up toward the sky. It was quiet. There was the rustle of the wind breezing through the trees and their feet making soft sounds on the gravel road. The sky was a clear gray—not a cloud in sight. The sun was gone as well.
It was like a painting. Like someone had smeared a thick coat of gray paint across the sky and hadn't bothered to do anything else with it.
The dark branches reached out over the gravel road, interlocking with the trees on the opposite side. Ren wished he could take a picture. Not because he wanted to remember this moment, but because he wanted to capture just this second of beauty and calmness.
Not a calmness before a storm per se. More like time had stopped existing and what came after the end of time didn't matter at all.
He wished that were true. He wished his entire life didn't matter. Making choices and worrying about the effects was too much for him to be responsible for.
He looked back down, staring at the back of Ashton's head. His hair was slightly curly today. More of a wave actually.
Ren was tempted to touch the slight curl that was on the collar of Ashton's coat. He would tuck it back in just after he felt how thick the strands were.
"Mantel?" Calling him Ashton felt too personal. They weren't on that kind of level even though he called him Ashton in his head.
Ashton turned around. Slowly, like he was expecting something else to happen. When their eyes locked, it wasn't like it had been before. The hunger was still there. This need to just take what he wanted from Ashton was lingering—hovering and urging him to sink his teeth into Ashton's neck.
What was going on between them now was something on a different level. It wasn't greater or more than the hunger. There was no simple way of comparing them. He didn't know how to describe it or if he would ever be able to.
He was walking toward Ashton though he couldn't remember actually setting the motion. He didn't remember getting so close. The feeling in his gut, the thing that made him want to tear everything to shreds, was pulling him to Ashton.
Though, it wanted something more evil and destructive from him. It wanted to open his body up and devour his flesh right off his bones. The bloodier the mess the better.
Ren swallowed as he tried to get the graphic violence out of his head.
He took a steady breath and then lifted his wrist.
It was easier than he thought it would be. It took nothing at all to hold his arm out toward Ashton. And there was no fear. He was an empty shell. The anger and the violence he wanted to inflict was far away in the distance.
"They'll kill us if you lose control," he said. His voice wasn't exactly a whisper, but it was far quieter than he'd wanted it to be. He wanted to be stronger in this moment. He wanted to feel like he was making the right choice.
Ashton looked down at Ren's offered wrist and then up to Ren's eyes. His red eyes watched Ren, searching his face for something. Ren kept his face neutral.
This wasn't meant to be mean anything. This wasn't him trying to be friends with Ashton. He just didn't want this to be the reason he was killed.
Ashton grabbed Ren's wrist. Ren stumbled forward, biting his tongue so he wouldn't let out a sound.
Ashton wasted no time. He sunk his teeth deep into Ren's wrist. Ren flinched, almost letting out a hiss as the pain shot up his arm and to the center of his chest.
Shit. Fuck!
Was it really this painful? It was like he was being shot full of hot lava.
Ashton drank down Ren's blood like he hadn't eaten in days. He drank hurriedly without spilling a drop. His tongue pressed under the wound his fangs had created, sucking so he could draw the blood into his mouth.
His eyes were still locked with Ren's. Ren wanted to look away. He didn't know if his own eyes were still grey as Ashton had said and if they were, he didn't want Ashton to see them. He already suspected something strange about Ren.
Though, did it matter?
He must taste the difference. If he'd ever had any kind of blood, he must taste the witch in Ren, right?
He soon forgot what he was even thinking about. The slight pain in his arm turned into a rising heat that flushed his entire body. His mouth dropped open and he almost panted with how hot he was becoming. And even still, he couldn't look away from Ashton's eyes. They were no longer a bright red. They were fading, turning to more of a light pink.
Ren's eyelids drooped. His legs felt like jelly.
"Okay," he gasped, "That's enough."
He pushed as firmly as he could on Ashton's forehead. He was met with resistance. Ashton held firm, sinking his fangs in deeper.
Ren gasped. His cheeks flushed at the sound. It was needy, so unlike him that he couldn't believe it had come from him at all.
To his surprise, when he tried to push Ashton away again, Ashton let out a deep growl. He clutched on tight to Ren's arm, digging his nails in so hard it stung just as bad as his fangs did.
Ren couldn't help it when he got hard again.
It was the adrenaline. It was the feeling of fangs deep in his skin. Vampire biology made him this way, made him lust after exchanging blood with another vampire, but that wasn't who he was. That wasn't who he was going to be around Ashton.
The color in Ashton's eyes finally returned to normal. They were a warm brown illuminated for a second as he came down from the blood high. He detached from Ren's wrist with a wet noise that made Ren's gut twist. Ashton's brows furrowed at the small noise Ren couldn't hide, but he didn't say anything.
He licked his lips, dropping Ren's wrist, gently, but he quickly put on a face of annoyance.
"That was the worst thing I've ever tasted." He ran his tongue over his fangs, getting every last drop.
Ren brought his wrist to his chest.
"You're welcome," he bit out, trying so hard to not start another fight. He didn't want to go through this again.
He looked down to access the damage. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Ashton had been careful to not bleed him too much. It was considerate only because Ren didn't have the advantages of a full vampire. His body was slow at healing and if he lost too much blood, it would take him a while to recover.
Saliva—Ashton's saliva—shined around the two puncture marks.
He was lost in the image before him. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he brought his wrist up to his own mouth. He licked around the wound, swallowing the leftover blood, and cleaning away Ashton's saliva.
He jerked his hand away when he realized what he was doing. Cheeks aflame, he avoided Ashton's intense stare.
"Forget it."
For a moment, he thought Ashton wasn't going to follow him. They seemed like they'd been doing a lot of walking and weren't getting anywhere. He just wanted to get this over with. Whatever Ashton had planned, he just wanted to do it and never have to talk to the Mantel again.
He knew that wasn't going to happen. There was a long ways to go before they could call it quits.
Finding a murderer was never going to be easy.
They continued walking and all the while Ren had to deal with his impeding thoughts. He didn't want to think about all the secrets his mom was hiding, everything he hated about Mantel, or about how he couldn't keep hiding his own body's attraction to said Mantel.
The buzzing—the fire, the thing that wanted violence—inside him wanted more of Ashton's blood. It wanted more of everything.
He clenched his hands. He didn't have to look down to know they were shaking again. The tremors felt like they were getting worse, but he didn't know if it was in his head or it was because he was just now noticing how bad it was to begin with.
The wind cut his exposed skin like ice now. It had grown even colder.
Minutes passed in silence until they finally made it to the short alley way that lead to the block of the city hall. Since the city or town of Montis was so small, the city hall was placed in a strange spot between a grocery store and an antique mall. It looked more like a pawn shop than a government building.
Ren still wasn't thinking when he kept walking toward the space between the retail store and the city hall.
He was dragged back just as he caught sight of a fairly large group gathering on the street.
"Fucking Hell," Ashton hissed.
It was right by his ear. A shiver went down his entire side and he squirmed to get away.
"Do you ever pay attention?"
Ren elbowed him, but he didn't let go. "I didn't see them. Jesus."
Their fight was quickly ended when a surge of loud chants filled the air. They were saying something he couldn't make out. They were yelling so loud, but it was muffled by how far away they were.
And then the crowd's chants died. They went quiet.
A mega phone cracked.
"Welcome! To the official reinstatement of the Hunter Society!"
Ren felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. He swallowed down sour reflex and clenched his fists so hard he he could have pulled a muscle.
He didn't know what he was expecting when he heard about the gathering. It surely wasn't this. He didn't know there were so many supporters of the Hunter Society. When people talked about the HS now, they talked about it like it was thousands of years ago. It was a community even condemned by the Reginae government.
Well, that was until now.
"Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for coming." A round of applause and whistles erupted.
Ren could only see the back of the man. He was average height, not too tall, but with the nice black suit he was wearing, he looked taller. He seemed like he loomed over everyone else, even those that were on stage with him.
Ren's gut clenched as he looked at the awaiting faces in the crowd. He saw people he knew. From school, people he saw frequently everyday, standing in the crowd with huge grins on their faces like they'd won some prize. Or that they were part of a revolution.
The thought that they might actually think that made him sick. They saw vampires as pests, as monsters ruining their perfect society. Everything that was wrong with their lives was because vampires were ruining everything.
He startled when he thought one of the people in the crowd looked right at him.
He cursed under his breath.
"Get down," he said while tugging on the sleeve of Ashton's coat.
They crouched so they were hopefully hidden by any wandering eyes. Maybe it had just been his imagination, but he still had this worrying twist in his gut that someone had seen them.
"I'm sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances." There was a lengthy hush that fell across the growing crowd.
He paused for affect. Ren could see that he was looking out in the crowd, turning his head left and right as if he would be able to meet every single person's eyes at least once. There was something upsetting about the man. Even though Ren hadn't even seen his face, he could just feel something wrong about him.
"As you already know, three young souls were taken away from us. Their families are here with us today to say a few words." He stepped to the side, turning just so that Ren could catch a glimpse of his profile.
His hair was an inky black that fell to just the nape of his neck. It was hard to make anything out besides that he was older—possibly edging close to fifty—and had a slim looking face.
Ren squinted his eyes, hoping to see more of this off-putting man, but then the families of the killed teenagers stepped onto stage.
The families were grieving of course. Ren wanted to look away when a woman sobbed about her son who'd been mauled so bad they couldn't identify his body. But he forced himself to watch. He wasn't sure why he felt like he had to.
Maybe it was guilt
Or maybe it was a last ditch effort to retain some humanity—even if he didn't have a drop of human blood in him.
A few more people spoke about the teenagers that he'd heard about on the news. It felt like the run of the mill things people said about anyone who died. They were good people and they were gone too soon. Ren tried to believe that, but it was hard to when they were supporting a group who killed innocent vampires and witches just because of who they were.
Sympathy had to be given before it can be received.
"The last guests I'd like to welcome before we proceed is Mr. and Mrs. Carsons."
He didn't know how he knew they were the parents of the dead girl—Carla. He knew somehow, on a gut feeling that crushed his insides and caused him an intense pain on the same level as being stabbed in the gut.
The world was swirling around him again. It was for a different reason. He wasn't being overtaken by anger or the dark lust that wanted him to rip people apart. He was shaking because he saw her again.
She was among the crowd. Her bright blond hair stood out not only because it was a golden hue. It was glowing like the sun. The rays shot out like laser beams. If he wasn't so shocked by her presence he would have flinched from how blinding her hair was.
Though that wasn't the strangest thing. Not even seeing the dead girl alive again was as horrifying and strange as when her eyes turned to him and looked right at him.
She stared him down like her life—her lost life—depended on it. Ren's tongue lodged in his throat. He was no longer breathing, no longer feeling anything. He was a mass of flesh being baked by the creepy gaze.
Her eyes were pure black. The whites of her eyes were stained with the dark inky color. She was soulless. Hollow and not the girl who'd lived in that body before.
A large smile stretched across her face. Her skin pulled tight. As if she were wearing a mask.
She kept staring him down until there was a large gust of wind that knocked branches and brush into his vision.
The connection between them was severed.
When he was able to see again, she was gone.
"—and we want to thank the Hunter Society and Mr. Glendell. It means so much to us that they're working night and day to find our baby." The woman turned her head away, covering her mouth as she let out a choked sob.
Her husband put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She put her head on his chest and held onto him like it was all she could do. Again, Ren wanted to look away. He'd seen Carla's body. But they hadn't.
"We'll find her. We'll find out who did this."
Ren's blood went cold. He felt Ashton stiffen too at the mention of the missing body. She was mostly burned to bits. When—if—they found her there wasn't going to be much left.
The couple walked off the stage, leaving the man up there by himself. Ren moved closer, angling his head so he could see more of the small stage. There were other people there he hadn't been able to see the first time around.
There were six other men he didn't recognize. They were large bulky men who looked more like body guards than regular people. They have been or they could have been part of the Hunter Society. He didn't know.
He saw someone else by the edge of the stage. They had just walked up there and they were looking around like they were searching for someone. Ren tried to see their face, but he was too far away.
The guy—Mr. Glendell—was talking again.
"It's been a long time since the Hunter Society has been in the public eye. Vampires have turned the tables against us. My grandfather had served as the leading officer in the Society for over forty years before it was forcefully shut down by the government."
He paused.
"But we've been working hard all these silent years. We've kept Reginae safe from violent assailants. I'd like to have a moment of silence for our fallen brothers and sisters."
Slowly, the people in the crowd bowed their heads. Ren held his breath as if they would be able to hear him in the deafening silence. Ashton snickered beside him.
Ren sent him a glare, but Ashton was staring at the man with a wide smirk on his face.
"He's good," he said, slowly and thoughtfully. "They're eating every piece of bullshit he's saying."
He abruptly stood up.
Ren widened his eyes and tried to grab onto the bottom of Ashton's coat, but he missed. Ashton wasn't looking at Ren, he was still staring at the city hall, at the crowd, and at the man who might just be the leader of the Hunter Society.
"Where are you going?" Ren panicked. He looked back at the crowd, knowing they wouldn't be able to hear them, but they might be able to see them hiding in the bushes. That would be hard to explain. It would make them look more suspicious than if they were just walking by.
"I've seen enough. There isn't anything we're going to get from that show. It's all for the public's sake." He headed in the direction they'd come.
Ren thought about staying there and seeing what else would happen at the gathering, but he decided Ashton was right about this one. Something about the whole thing rubbed him the wrong way and it wasn't just the man running the thing. It was all the mystery behind it all. He wished finding information about the Hunter Society was as easy as looking it up on the internet.
If anyone was permitted access in their homes and wasn't being monitored at all times, he would have gave it a go, but that unfortunately wasn't the case.
He got up and walked away. "What now?"
Ashton was hunched down, his eyes downcast on the ground. Ren didn't run after him. He merely watched and tried to guess what he was thinking by his body language.
"I need to see the marks on the other bodies. I don't believe the Hounds went out to kill two others. They weren't even found in the forest."
Ren blinked.
"Are you saying the Hounds killed the girl?"
Ashton let out a frustrated noise. "I mean, who else? It makes perfect sense. You saw how messed up her neck was. Only the most fucked up vampires would mull her like that. There was blood everywhere. Would you waste that much blood?"
Ren audibly gulped. He turned his face away, hoping Ashton hadn't caught the blush on his cheeks.
"No."
"Me neither. If it wasn't a vampire who killed her, high chances are the Hounds did."
He stopped. He grabbed Ren's arm, pulling him in close. Ren had to remind himself to breathe.
Ashton stared into Ren's eyes.
"If you're hiding something from me, I'm going to find out."
Ren narrowed his eyes. He yanked his arm back.
"And if you're hiding anything from me, then I'm going to find out."
Ashton snorted. "Right. Like your stupid threats are going to keep me up at night."
He nodded to the path. "I'm heading back. I'll come find you tomorrow."
Ren was going to ask what they were doing tomorrow, but Ashton was already done with the conversation. Ren stared at his back, wondering if he could stand the Mantel long enough to find out what was going on in Montis.
He walked home. The cold didn't bother him. He enjoyed being numb for a while so he could go over the choices in his head. His thoughts were surprisingly calm considering what had happened.
They had barely made any progress. He knew this wasn't something to be solved in a couple days, but the slow pace they were going, he felt like there was nothing he could do.
It felt so out of his control.
And he could just feel his days were numbered.