#immune to vampires steve harrington | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ourautumn86 · 2 years

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BLOOD CURSE

vampire! eddie x fem! hunter reader pt.1

synopsis;

after years away from Hawkins, three founder vampires, long and everlasting friends, come back to their origins in hopes to find a way to scape from the chasing death on their backs. if they only knew their only salvation would be the last descendant of one of the five most powerful vampires in history…

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES X STRANGER THINGS! <3

☆ year 2000s!

Please, under no circumstances, repost my work on any other sites. I do not consent to anyone taking my work and posting it as their own. (!!!!!)

word count;

5k!

a/n;

ALSO! FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW ABOUT TVD!! —so you guys have a little bit of context—; ‘Cruz’ is the last name of one of ‘The five’, a group of five of supernaturally gifted vampire hunters originated in 1110 AD. They hunted vampires and immortals as well, and they can be easily recognized in between potencial hunters due to the ink marks that spread through their skin as a map! (to keep themselves hidden, this mark is not visible for vampires) <3

:¨·.·¨:

`·. lastly; enjoy! <3

‘ You have something of mine, and I want it back. ’

†

Eddie Munson was dead. He had been dead for thousands and thousands of years. Just like his best friend, Steve Harrington and the blonde that always stuck with him, Robin Buckley. Back in Hawkins, their place of residence and origin they’ve decided to — to keep the appearances— enroll back in highschool for their… One again.

Though their plan went to hell, since instead of passing though as normal teenagers, they became the new Hawkins sensation due to their attractiveness and that mystic aura surrounding them.

Steve Harrington, the hot gentle jock.

Robin Buckley, the blue eyes blonde girl day dream.

And Eddie Munson…, the mystery.

†

“Nance. No.”

“Come on, y/n!” she whined, his hands on your arm, pushing and pulling from it, shaking you all up and leaving you a little dizzy. “Please? I’m begging you!” you freed yourself from her grip, rolling your eyes as you stopped on your locker, fingers turning the lock and pulling open the metallic door.

“I already told you. I’m not going any near that fucking party.“ your hands were quick in leaving the heavy books that you held, pushing the ones that you’ll need later on on your messenger bag. “Why are you so obsessed with going? It’s just a party.” you inquired her, your eyes finding her blue ones full of desperation.

“Just a party?!” her voice rose enough to have people’s attention on her, what had her awkwardly clearing her throat. “Just a party?” he repeated, this time not as louder, still with the same emotion. “It’s not just a party. It’s the Mystic party!” you frowned.

“ ‘The Mystic party’ ?” she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah! The Mystic Three’s party!”

“Oh… Yeah, of course, I should have guessed.” now it was your turn to roll your eyes, closing your locker’s door and walking away, towards the cafeteria, where all those teenage hormones hit you once the door opened for you to go in. “The amazing Mystic Three!” you sarcastically half exclaimed, shaking your hands and turning around to your best friend as you took your food tray, your nose wrinkling at the sight.

“Please, y/n, you know what being invited to one of their parties mean...”

“Yeah, yeah…” you sighed, getting a seat on your usual table, Nancy sitting on your left. “Instant immunity and power! It’s like rubbing a magic lamp.” your sarcasm made her almost laugh, although she was being serious about it. She really wanted to go to that party, you could see it. “Look, I know that Robin invited you, and that you’re like… Head over heels for her.” he hushed you, looking around to make sure that no one else had heard you. You rose your hands in surrender, whispering this time. “But you know what I think about them.”

“I know…” she sighed, taking her fork and pinching at her food. “But please?” you were the one sighing now. “Please y/n, I promise you that I’d do anything you ask for for a year if you come with me. Please, I’m begging you, please…”

A little tingling in your bones made you quickly turn your head to your right, straight to the Mystic Three’s table, eyes colliding with Robin Buckley’s, who looked away when she got caught, one of her hands brushing behind her ear her perfect wavy blond hair. Your eyes squinted, that bitter feeling in the pit of your stomach making you turn back to your best friend. “Nancy. I love you.” you said, your free hand squeezing her. “But if you are as smart as I know you actually are, you’ll stay away from them and that party.” her hopeful smile fell at your words. You went back to that strange trio, this time not one, but the three of them looking at you. Straight at you. “There’s something wrong with them. Really wrong.”

The first time that you saw them, something inside of you went cold. So cold you felt like freezing.

“Oh, shit, sorry!” Steve Harrington, the ladies wet dream and highschool sweetheart, apologized when his hard chest had come in contact with you, making the books that you carried spread all around the floor, along with your notes.

He kneeled right after you to help you gather all of your belongings. “It’s fine.” you said, stuttering when his brown deep eyes met yours. There was something in them… Something you couldn’t really put your finger on. He gave you a sweet smile, making you look away and back to your notes, which crumbled a little bit as you pulled them one on top of the other. But it was all in vain, since they went back to a messy spread when his hand brushed yours in a attempt to help.

You didn’t know exactly how, but you’d quickly found yourself inches away from him, eyebrows furrowed and eyes widened at the cold gripping feeling that got a hold on your heart and the sick turning of your stomach, your hand gripping the dangling pendant of that old necklace that you always wore. He seemed just as taken back as you, probably due to your reaction. But there was something else…

You never let your eyes stray away from him as you quickly pushed your notes and books inside your messenger back, not caring if they crumbled or broke. “Excuse me.” your voice reached his ears as you got back on your feet and staggered away in a hurry, only to almost bump into another one of them.

That’s two…

“Woah! That was close…” Robin Buckley chuckled, hands rising in caution, though her smile disappeared at something on your back. Your head turned towards the freckled boy, when your eyes went back to the blonde once again, the sight of a curly haired tatted boy beside her startling you. And there was the third.

A new wave of that sickening feeling hit you, the coldness that seemed to spread in the air making you shiver underneath his black eyes. “Sorry.” you apologized, probably to Robin, looking away as you hugged your messenger bag closer to your chest, fingers gripping at the denim before you started to walk away, not daring to look back. ‘Cause you knew that they were already staring at you, eyes burning your back ‘till you turned right on a corner, away from their sight.

Since that day, you’d done everything you could to avoid them, but that coldness that once infected your heart never left, neither the feeling of being watched at night. You could feel it in your bones, so deep that it scared you. Something was wrong with those three, and you sure were not that stupid to try and get to know what.

Not when everything about them screamed danger. But yet, you seemed to be the only one in that goddamn town to notice that. It was as if everyone in Hawkins High had drank a love potion. They were the main topic to talk about, the goal of every freshman, junior, sophomore or senior being the chance of sitting with them in the cafeteria, to befriend them.

You simply couldn’t understand. And then, it was worse since your best friend couldn’t help but fall for one of them. You almost wanted to beat her head with a stick to put some sense into it, but again, she was already knees deep in Robin Buckley’s spell. You loved Nancy, you really did. But her liking in girls was… Not what you’ve dreamed of being. She could have gone for Nancy Cunningham! She’s blonde and has blue eyes too. What made Robin so attractive?

“Nancy.” your body stiffed when that blonde nightmare’s voice came from the front of your solitary table. The cafeteria went completely silent, all eyes on you and who you supposed were the Mystic Three.

“Robin!” she stuttered, surprised and dripping in happiness at the attention she was getting by her personal dream girl and most popular girl in Hawkins. “Hello.” you rolled your eyes, though no one could see that since you were still deeply staring at your plate. The smashed potatoes looked really interesting that afternoon.

“Do you mind if we sit?” say no. Please, please, please, say no.

“Yeah sure!” her affirmative stuttering made your eyes squeeze shut. Fantastic, amazing.

The air surrounded you got heavier when the empty seats around you got filled. A fidgeting ringed hand came to sight once it’s owner had taken the free sit to your right. It’s fingertips tapping the table slowly, teasingly even. You didn’t have to check to see who it was. You already knew. And he knew that you knew. You felt as if he could sense the change on your breathing, the quickened heartbeat on your chest and the rush of coldness in your veins. And maybe he did, since the silence inside the cafeteria was so damn loud.

Robin and Steve sat down on the seats in front of you, from the blond’s lips falling a ‘thanks’. “So…, are you coming to the party?” she inquired your best friend, and even you could recognize the hope in her voice.

Except hers, two pair of eyes were on you. You changed your strategy to stare at the food to a one more credible: looking for something in your bag.

“Uhm…” Nancy took a peek at you, at your nervous actions and pale face.

“I would love it if you could come.” Robin talked once again when she saw her hesitate. “You could bring your friend too!” and then, everyone was staring at you. You grasped enough courage to straighten your spine and raise your head. “What was her name again?”

“Oh. She’s y/n, y/n Cru-”

You put on a sickly fake smile on your lips when your eyes landed on the blonde’s, your lips parting before Nancy could finish talking. “Sorry. I’ve already made plans for that night.” you were trying so hard to breath normally that you almost stuttered. Why? Why were you the only one that felt that way around them? What was this sickening feeling? This constant feeling of danger?

“You have? Ouch!” you kicked Nancy under the table to try and make her stay quiet.

“Yes. I have. You know…” you smiled at her, your eyes slightly widening before going back to normal, like a warning, a signal.

“Really?” Steve inquired, showing a disappointed look. “That’s a pity.” you stared at him with harsh eyes.

“Yeah.” your smile was so stiff that it almost hurt.

Your eyes flickered to the tapping to your right, which was actually driving you mad. If only there wasn’t so many people watching… If only you could reach into your bag and…

“Well… If you change your mind, we’ll be more than happy to see you...” Robin said, but you were too focused on the rhythm of Eddie’s taps, eyebrows furrowed.

taptap..….taptap, taptap……taptap

It almost sounded like…

taptap…taptap, taptap…taptap

But it couldn’t be…

taptap.taptap, taptap.taptap

No… It’s not possible…

taptap,taptap,taptap,taptap

Your chair made a horrible screeching sound when your suddebly stood up, blood rushing to your head, making you dizzy.

“I’m sorry, I need to go.” you hurriedly said, taking your back and making your quick steps lead you to the cafeteria’s exit.

When you looked back, everyone’s gaze was on you, but only one was able to freeze every single vein in your body. The corner of his mouth rose just the slightliest for you to notice, along with his pale ringed hands, giving you a little and amused wave.

“y/n, wait!” you could hear Nancy behind you, rushing to catch up with you, taking your hand in between hers to make you stop just a few steps out the door. “What’s wrong?” she inquired you due to the look on your face. You looked so lost and terrified at the same time that she was getting this ominous feeling.

“I won’t be able to stop you, right?” you answered her with another question, the echo of your voice filling the empty corridors and her eyebrows furrowing, not really understanding. “You are going to that party, am I wrong?” her hands dropped, guilty eyes staring at you. You sighed when she muttered a ‘i’m sorry’. “It’s okay.” you shook your head, fingers fidgeting with each other. “I understand…” and you did, sadly enough, you seemed to be the only one to understand.

“I just… I really like her.” she sound genuine, and it only made you hate all that situation even more. You really didn’t wanna have anything to do with the Mystic Three, but you were no coward, and firstly… You were a great friend.

“I know…” you smiled at her, sighing before you’d speak once against. “So, what time should I come pick you up on Friday?” she frowned for two, three seconds before her face lighted up, her excited smile blinding you.

“Are you serious?!” she exclaimed, letting out a manic little scream before pulling you into the tightest hug ever when you nodded. “Oh my god, I love you. You are the best friend in the whole world! We’re gonna have so much fun!!” you laughed, hugging her back.

“Yeah…” you eyes bumped against those black ones that observed you across the cafeteria. “I can feel it.” just as you could feel the phantom of a dagger being pushed against the skin of your bare neck.

†

“Does my hair look okay? My mascara hasn’t smudged, right? Oh my god, I’m sweating so much, is it hot in here or is it me?” you rolled your eyes when Nancy tried to open more the window of the passenger seat, which was as far down as it’ll go.

“I mean go ahead, open the door if you’d prefer…” you offered her, sarcasm spilling over your lips and then a laughter when she had smacked your shoulder. “Relax.” you gave her a quick glance, eyes going back to the road as you spoke. “You’re looking great, Nance. Gorgeous even. Anyone, and I mean anyone, would be on their knees for you. And if Robin Buckley isn’t, then she for sure lives for the ‘dumb as a blonde’ thing.” that made her laugh, cheeks flushing at your sweet encouraging.

“Now you’re just exaggerating.” she rolled her eyes, making you frown and look at her with a hurt expression after a scoff.

“No, you’re just being stupidly insecure for no reason!” she sighed, falling back on her seat. “Look, Nancy, you are beautiful alright? Start believing it or else I’ll beat it into that tiny little head of yours.” she was about to say something, probably start a little fight, but then the car stopped and you pulled up the hand break. “We’re here!” the two of you could hear just how loud the music inside the house was, teenagers smoking and drinking outside Harrington’s mansion. There were a lot of them, and you as hell knew that there weren’t even a third part of all of them. “Are you really sure about this?” you tried and persuade her, but when you saw the shine in her eyes, you knew there was no turning back.

You sighed when she got out of the car, smearing more lipgloss on her lips before saving it on her purse. You locked your car on your way out, saving the keys on your brown leather jacket’s pockets. The difference between Nancy’s and your outfit were monumental. She had gotten all dolled up, tiny little dress kind of dolled up, with her wavy hair decorated by lace and full on makeup face. And you…, well. You were just not as enthusiastic to be there as her. So you had just popped on a short blue denim skirt and a brown lace and sleeveless tee shirt, adding some white boots and brown hand warmers, since you seemed to be getting cold really easily lately. As for makeup…, well, let’s say the basics. You really weren’t there to party, even less to impress anyone, so your efforts were more than enough.

“Come on!” Nancy enthusiastically said, taking your hand and pulling you towards the house. Harrington was sure as hell loaded. But that was understandable, since he was one of the founder families of Hawkins.

“Nancy, slow down!” you tried to scream above the music, but once inside, even hearing your own thoughts was hard.

The trouble didn’t take long to appear.

“Robin!” your best friend yelled, and in a matter of seconds, blue eyes were on the two of you.

“Nancy!” she smiled at the brunette, steps quick to meet you both. “I’m so happy you could come!” she said, later taking a glimpse of you. “You too, y/n, I’m glad you changed your mind.” you huffed, forcing yourself to give her a smile.

“Yeah…” your eyes roamed though the place, which was bursting in teenagers and hormones. Amazing…

“Do you guys want anything to drink? We have beer, vodka…” she suggested and you shook your head, muttering a ‘no, thanks’. Your friend as always the complete opposite of you.

“I’d love that! y/n will grab us a seat on the sofas, right?” the suggestive look in her eyes made you nod in less than a second, actually scared of her determination and the consequences that saying no would bring you.

“Yeah, sure.” but you weren’t sure about anything. You gritted your teeth before giving them your back to made your way to the full sofas next to the ‘dance floor’, trying really hard to get a seat, but even harder to ignore the hands of the blond on your best friend’s lower back. You felt that crippling anxiety building up a lump on your chest. You did not like this. Nothing about this whole party and invitation. There was this bad feeling in the back of your brain and the need to get away from that house as fast as possible. But you decided to just try and relax, since you wouldn’t like to ruin the party for your best friend. You knew you’d had your own sooner or later, so…

But just as your shoulders fell, they rose once again when everyone around you got up and left, that heavy presence settling by your side on the couch, legs spread and cigarette in between lips. “You came.” Steve Harrington. What was it with those three that you always seemed to end up bumping with them anywhere you’d go? His voice sounded surprised. You were sure he’d be, you were too.

You simply nodded, not really finding yourself to mutter something back.

“Is Nancy with you? Or did Robin already found her?” he seemed amused. Probably by your uncomfortable demeanor, maybe due to the fact that he already knew but still wanted to ask you.

“They’d be back soon.” you said, and his eyebrows rose, surprised to finally hear your voice.

“I’m sure they will…” there was something in his voice that told you that they probably won’t, and that only made you worry even more. He tried and offer you a hit from his cigarette, but you refused without even looking at him. “Are you feeling okay? You seem cold…” your muscles tightened at his words. ‘Cause you indeed were cold, so fucking cold you felt like freezing. But once again, he already knew the answer to that question.

You could see his hand approaching yours, fisted on top of your thigh, and just as his fingertips were about to brush the back of your hand, you stood up, heart pounding in your chest. There was something in your veins that seemed repulsed by his own, as if you were magnets meant to find each other but unable to touch nor interact.

“I’m sorry, I have to go find Nancy.” and before he could even answer, you were now drifting in between the completely still dancing teens, which were all staring at you —or at least you thought they were, though you really couldn’t find yourself to focus in the mess that was your mind—. You headed towards the kitchen, were you thought you’d find her. She wasn’t there. You frowned, eyes meeting the staircase that led to the second floor, wood creaking under your feet as you climbed. “Nancy!” you tried and call out for her, your hands quickly going to the necklace that hung from your neck, fingertips meeting the cold metal in which you always seemed to find comfort. Doors closed and opened, whining coming from the ones interrupted inside of the bedrooms in where you had bursted in, in a hurry to find your best friend and get out of that goddamn house. That ominous feeling was back, making you choke on air and swallow the billis that crept its way up your throat.

You eyes met with the only room left unchecked, at the end of the corridor. And as badly as you wanted to find your friend you found your feet frozen in place.

‘No. Don’t. Don’t go in there. Something’s wrong…’ that tiny little voice in the back of your head screamed, trying to warn you of the inevitable danger in front of you. But you couldn’t listen, not when it was Nancy. Anyone but Nancy.

Your slippery fingers gripped the doorknob, quickly pushing when the lock gave in, making you stumble inside the room. It was cold, big, and old, though full bookcases filled with all of types of books. Some of them seemed a hundred years old, others, not as old. But that was not mattered, not what caught your attention. It was the person that stood silently in the middle of the room that did. “Nancy!” you quickly got to her, shaky hands grabbing her slim arms, a worriedly sick gaze on your face when she just stood there, dead eyes unfocused and unresponsive to your actions or voice. “Nancy? What’s wrong?” you inquired her, your heartbeat spiking up when once again, she didn’t answer, it was as if she were sleepwalking, unable to answer, to blink, to breath. You were shaking her nonstop, the lump on your throat threatening to choke you. “We need to get out of here. I’m going to get you out of here.” you said, holding her hand and tugging on it to make her follow you towards the door, although you froze midway when a voice neither yours or hers filled the room.

“If I were you I wouldn’t do that.” and there it was, that sickening smile. Robin Buckley stared down at you with her shiny blue eyes, something in them seeming unnatural, terrifying.

“What did you do to her?” you inquired, teeth gritting and limbs shaking, you could hear your heart beat in your ears.

“Uhmm, I just told her that she couldn’t leave.” she shrugged, and in a blink of an eye, she had switched places, her fingertips now brushing a lock of your best friend’s wavy her behind her ear as she whispered. “Right, Nancy?” the air left your lungs when she nodded at the blonde’s words.

“I can’t leave.” she repeated and you felt like chocking on air. “I can’t leave or I’ll die.” you shook your head, leaving her hand and taking a step back.

“This can’t be real… This is all just a nightmare. That’s right. I just need to wake up.” you tried to reason, squeezing your eyes shut and trying your best to leave that terrifying dream. “Why can’t I woke up?” your voice sounded strained, and your body froze when cold fingertips pressed against your cheek, making your eyes flutter wide open.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” honey eyes stared into yours with a false sadden face. “You can’t wake up, this is not a dream…” now it was time for Steve Harrington to smile. When had he gotten there? He was downstairs just five minutes ago…

You quickly stepped back, giving him your back to try and get to the door, though it closed behind the last part of the trio’s back. “Leaving so fast?” you were surrounded. It was a trap.

Your quickened heartbeat was making you feel dizzy, your lungs frozen and hands shaking. “What do you want from me?” you heard yourself ask the three of them, smiles on their faces when your back bumped against one of the bookcases surrounding the room, leaving you without any form of scape.

“Aw, poor little thing. I think we’re scaring her guys.” Robin cooed, almost pitiful, though it didn’t last long, her hand slamming on the side of your head in less than a second. “You know what we want, don’t act dumb on us now…”

“You were just in the other end of the room…” you whispered. “How did you…?” you looked at the three of them. “Who are you…?” Steve scoffed, cigarette falling onto the floor and being crushed under his boot.

“You really don’t know? Think hard on it, I’m sure you know. I know you know.”

They could almost see the chimes inside your head turn. All life seemed to leave your eyes when the air inside your lungs left you.

No. No, no, no, no, no…

Harrington just smiled. Bingo.

Your knees failed you, making you fall onto the floor. “It’s not true. It can’t be true. They are all supposed to be simple stories. You’re not supposed to be real…”

“Oh, but you know we are.” Steve said, eyes on you. And that’s when you couple see the shift on them, the reddening, the blood lust as the pulse in your veins reached him. “I think you knew since the very first time…” you shivered at the memory, at his icy cold touch, his gaze…

You were trembling, trembling as if you had been abandoned in the middle of a snow storm without any coat nor clothes.

“Tell me, y/n.” you jolted at the voice of who you recognized as Eddie Munson, eyes meeting your scared ones when his knees bent, crouching in front of you. “What’s your last name?” he inquired and you found yourself flinching when his fingertips brushed the skin of your neck, pushing slightly against your carotid, thirst in his eyes when he felt the warmth of your skin, the living in your veins, the rush of your blood.

“My last name?” you stuttered, trying to get away from his touch, but there was no place for you to scape. “Why would you…?” Robin groaned, harshly tugging on Nancy to push her against her, neck bending and eyes reddening when she started to lean in, what made you scream. “No, please, no! I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt her.” you begged and Steve chuckled, you could almost guess what he was thinking. How pathetic you seemed to him. “Cruz. It’s Cruz.” you spitted out, making them fell silent. You could feel the sudden tension that spread though the room, your skin raising in goosebumps and heartbeat spiking up against Eddie’s fingertips.

It was fast, imposible speed to follow for normal eyes. You whined when your head was smacked against the wall on your left, ringed hand crushing your wind pipe and making you gasp for air. His face was impassible, night dark eyes staring into yours as his other hand caressed your cheek, hushing your choking. “I thought you had killed the last of them!” his loud scream almost made your eardrums pop.

“And I did!” Steve answered, making the curly haired laugh.

“If you did, then what is this, hm?” he inquired the brunette, referring to you existence. “Why is she alive?!?”

Your hands gripped his wrists when his fingers dug deeper in your neck, trying to push him away. You were dying. You were gonna die.

“I’m sorry, doll, but it’s not personal.” he said, giving you a sarcastic smile. “No wait, actually it is! But you understand, right?” your gaping mouth had his hunger spiking up. There was nothing that he loved more than seeing humans struggle to survive. “Since you know what we are, I have to kill you.” he muttered, his breath hitting your face.

But you suddenly stopped your fighting, hands falling limp on your sides and heart beat dropping to almost zero as you stared at him.“And since you know what I am, I guess I’ll have to kill you first.” you smiled, and in a quick twist of your hand, you were freed from his grip, a groan leaving his lips as his free hand flew to his newly broken one.

How the hell…?

“Okay, that was easy. I’m sure I got the three of you, didn’t I? No please! Don’t hurt me! I’m just a hopeless weak girl!” you poured, acting all scared before you burst out in lighter, and they just stared at you in shock for a couple of seconds before they understood what was going on.

Come on, there were not the only one with little secrets and good at pretending.

“You bitch!” Robin screamed, quickly pushing away your best friend and running towards you.

You clicked your tongue, cocking the gun you quickly extracted from the waist of your skirt, which you had been hiding behind your leader jacket.

You chuckled as she tried to attack. “Bad bat.” you mockingly hummed, and then you shot, three wooden bullets bathed in vervain digging and burning the skin of her chest and stomach. She fell onto the floor with a scream, blood spilling into her hands and the wooden tiles. One.

You pulled Steve from his hair, pushing him on his knees with a hard kick on his joints, gun against the side of his head as you spoke. “Compell her to leave and forget all about this shit.” you ordered, referring to Nancy, who stood quietly laid on the floor due to the recent push.

He simply chuckled, trying to freed himself from your grip, but he knew you weren’t playing when he felt the necklace you so obsessively touched around his neck, the enchantment and vervain on it burning his skin and making him groan as you tightened it. You could rip his head off if you pulled hard enough. And he knew.

“Leave.” he struggled to say, only a whisper. “Forget any of this happened.” and just like that, Nancy got up and left, leaving the four of you to your fighting.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” you paid him back with his stupid little nickname, in a quick movement, snapping his neck and making him fall onto the floor. Two.

You knew it wouldn’t kill him. And that was not your intention, not yet, you just needed to buy time. You ripped your necklace from his neck, pulling it down your head and spinning around just in time to meet face to face with the last one of the Mystic Three. His fangs were fully exposed, red eyes surrounded by thirsty veins staring right into your soul.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” you warned him, gun pointing to his head.

“Lucky for you, you are not me.” you pulled the trigger, but a last minute struggle had the bullet denting and making a hole on the wall in front of you.

It was fast, though the pain was not smaller, fangs digging in the skin of your neck and blood spilling down to your collarbones and into his mouth. He groaned at the taste, heavily slurping as you tried to push him away, but his strong hands had gripped your wrists and waist, probably leaving bruises that would turn purple by tomorrow morning. You felt the dizziness of blood loss get all the way up to your head, the same head that now stood silently counting backwards.

3…, 2…, 1…

A weak smile spread on your face when he pulled away, eyebrows furrowed and pained factions before all the blood he had swallowed bursted out of his lips. You closed your eyes as he choked on it, some of it staining your clothes and dampening your chest.

“What…, did you do…, to me?” he sounded angry, pissed even as he went down on his knees, the burning and stabbing pain in his stomach worsening as the clock ticked.

“No. It’s not what I did to you. It’s what you did to yourself.” one of your hands pressed against the punctures in your neck, trying to stop the bleeding as fast as you could so you wouldn’t pass out in a room full of vampires. “You really thought it would be clever to drink up from a vampire hunter? Come on!” he growled.

“Fucking bitch, I’ll kill you!” you rolled your eyes at his threat.

“Yeah, yeah… Whatever.” he groaned when you gripped his hair for him to look up at you as you bent your knees, face inches away from the other. “Listen, pretty boy. I know why you three are back in Hawkins. I know what’s following you.” his breath hitched and you only smiled wider, pleased by the fear in his eyes. “And I know you know I’m the only one who can actually help you. So don’t play with me. Be clever, think hard on it. Do you really want me dead?” more blood spluttered from his lips. You knew he would pass out soon due to the amount of vervain on his veins. You had chugged almost a litter of it that afternoon.

“And why would you help us?” he stuttered, coughing in between words and fighting hard to stay awake.

“Because you have something of mine, and I want it back. So, when you wake up, have a family reunion with those two, and don’t you try doing anything funny. If I took down the three of you once, I can do it again, hm?” a new groan left his lips when you freed him, body falling harshly onto the floor, dark eyes full of hatred digging in yours. “Night.” and with a last smile from you, you rose the gun, shooting him straight in the head.

to be continued in part two! <3

a/n;

VAMPIRE!EDDIE, VAMPIRE!EDDIE, VAMPIRE!EDDIE, VAMPIRE!EDDIE, VAMPIRE!EDDIE, VAMPIRE!EDDIE!!!!!!!!!!!! <333333

sometimes i love my broken brain for having such great ideas, but anyways… hope y’all liked this pt.1 and love this series even more!!! luv you!

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hbyrde36 · 8 months

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Chapter 9!

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

Clandestine meetings at the Waffle House

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Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Steve merged onto the highway at the first possible opportunity. It served the dual purpose of getting them as far the fuck away from that cemetery as possible, while also getting them to their meeting on time.

“I’m surprised you didn’t want to stay back and try to kill as many of those things as we could. You’re usually more worried about leaving innocent bystanders in the line of fire and all that.”

“Well for one thing, Brenner is controlling them somehow, so I don't think they’ll go too far without orders. Alsooo…” Steve trailed off as he dialed a number on his cell, allowing the call to connect to the car since he was the one driving.

“Preternatural investigations hotline, how can I help you?” An overly perky voice answered when the call connected.

“Hi, I'd like to report a pack of rabid ghouls at Thatcher’s cemetery.”

“Oh my, that is serious. Can you give me your name and a few details, sir?”

“Sorry, I might lose you, I'm about to go through a tunnel and..”

Click.

Nancy snorted. “You think the PD will be able to handle all that?”

Steve offered her a half shrug. “Hopper knows what he’s doing. Maybe if we’d have had a flamethrower or something we could have made a dent in their numbers, but otherwise they would have overwhelmed us in no time.”

Within 15 minutes they were pulling up to park in front of the Waffle House. Steve hadn’t really thought about it at the time, but the wide panoramic windows of this place left the diners inside kind of exposed, especially at night. He supposed he’d have to trust that if the wererat king was comfortable enough to suggest this location to meet, he must have thought it was safe.

The bell above the door dinged as they entered the restaurant, and Steve quickly scanned the occupied tables for a familiar face, realizing a little too late that he had no idea what Gareth looked like in human form.

He gently coaxed a little bit of his power to the surface of his mind. He didn’t really know what he was doing when he tried stuff like this. He was comfortable enough with raising the dead, obviously, and he knew he had a little immunity from vampire shit even before Eddie got his hooks in, but he also knew deep down that he had other abilities too, one’s he mostly ignored, and he could probably sense the wereanimal’s energy if he tried.

Steve just…didn’t love that part of himself. It all felt a little too woo-woo to him, unreliable, intangible. He preferred to work in the physical world. You see a vampire, you kill it. Shotgun, silver blades, stake and hammer, you can feel what you're doing with your bare hands, and see if with your own eyes. He might have to start getting used to more of the mystical stuff though, because the way things were going in his life, he would need all the leg-up he could get.

The magic flared to life, or that’s how he imagined it in his mind's eye, like a flame. He immediately sensed the presence of two supernatural beings in the corner of the room. Unfortunately, he sensed them a little too strongly, likely due to the boost he got from his link to Eddie, and it threw him quite literally off balance. Nancy steadied him with a strong grip to his upper arm, and he smiled at her inbashful apology.

Every eye in the place was on them then, and Steve cursed himself for not practicing more. If he lived through this he’d have to find a teacher or something. Maybe Wayne would be able to help, of course that would mean being willing to explain about the whole human servant business. A problem for another day.

The two boys in the corner were looking right at him. Both had short to medium length brown hair, and slightly mischievous eyes, and yea they were definitely adults in the technical sense, but they reminded Steve too much of the kids he used to babysit for him to call them men in his own head.

Steve tilted a nod in their direction and moved towards the table, knowing Nancy would follow.

On their approach, the taller of the two boys stood, extending a hand to each of them in turn. “I’ll spare us all the embarrassment of you trying to guess, and just tell you that I’m Gareth. I’m aware that you’ve only met me in rat form. This is my partner, Will.”

The other boy, Will, offered them each a small shy smile and a wave, while he kept himself tucked tightly into his king’s side.

“This is Nancy, she’s working with me on this particular..project.”

Gareth waved them to the chairs on the other side of the table as he took his own seat. Will, in an overly formal gesture considering they were in a hygienically questionable 24-hour diner, waited for everyone else to be seated before taking his own chair. It reminded Steve that Gareth was not just the leader of the wererats, he was their king, and maybe that distinction meant something more than he knew.

Before they could get down to business, a server came by to ask if they were ready to order. Steve wasn’t sure if this would be that kind of a meeting, but when Gareth and Will each ordered a coffee and a meal, he and Nancy followed suit, neither having eaten all day. That was the moment Steve realized he didn’t feel the ravenous hunger that had been plaguing him recently. Was Eddie not pulling energy from him anymore? Had something happened to him? No, that didn’t feel right. Steve got the sense that he would know, somehow, if Eddie was dead. Maybe the vampire finally felt guilty about the whole thing. It didn’t matter, Steve reminded himself, Eddie was still a bad guy even if he felt bad for what he’d done.

When the waitress finally walked away, Gareth asked, “So, what is it you think I can do for you, Harrington?”

“I was hoping to convince you to lead us into whatever secret passageway you used to enter that basement room where you found me under the corroded coffin.”

“Not to be too blunt, but why would I do that? What's in it for us?” Gareth said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table.

“You hate that Billy has power over you, right?

The rat king nodded.

“Show us the way in, and we’ll take care of that little problem for you.” Steve didn’t know Gareth that well, but he knew what it felt like for someone to have power over you, and he was willing to bet that the wererats would do anything to get rid of the master of the city.

Gareth tilted his head side to side, making a little show out of considering his offer. “You already know where he is. Just get in yourselves.”

“We can’t just waltz in the front door. Even in broad daylight, especially in the daylight, Billy will have guards there. We’d be killed on sight.”

“Hmm, true enough. How do I know I can trust you? If you fail, and he finds out we helped, me and my people will be in an even worse position than we are now.”

The waitress appeared, balancing a tray of coffee mugs and forcing them to put their conversation on hold. Steve smiled at the woman gratefully and sipped at his cup. He’d been tired enough on his own after waking from his too short nap, and his fatigue had only gotten worse with the fading adrenaline from the fight with Brenner’s ghouls.

Nancy took the opportunity to speak up when their table was left alone again. “I know you don’t know me, and you barely know Steve, but this is what we do, and we’re damn good at it. When I say I can promise you we will end the master of the city, I mean it.”

Gareth subtly sniffed at the air as he looked her over, considering.

“I can only get you in there, we can’t help any more than that. I can keep the small rats and my people from coming to Billy’s aid for a while, but we wouldn’t be able to fight him beside you. His pull on our kind is too strong.”

“That's no problem.” Steve was quick to comment. “Just sneak us in and we’ll do the rest.”

“Okay. I'll do it.” Gareth agreed.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, Steve. There's a part of me that truly thinks I'll be sending you to your deaths. If you survive this, I'll be shocked.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence there, Gare.”

The rat king blinked at Steve for a moment, and then burst out laughing. “When do you want to go in?” He asked.

“Tomorrow, after sunrise” He didn’t want to waste any more time.

Gareth raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting them to want to get to it so quickly. “I like you, Harrington, I hope you don’t die.”

Their food arrived shortly after they finished making arrangements to meet in the city at dawn. As it so often does, the act of sharing a meal let the small group relax around each other a bit more than they might have otherwise. The only exception was Nancy, who remained quiet throughout. It didn’t surprise Steve in the least, she was one of the most private people he knew, and for good reason, though he was sure she was listening intently to every word the others shared.

Gareth told the story of how he and the younger boy met. He had just won a fight against a challenger to his crown, and Joyce, Will’s mom, was the nurse who patched him up. Luckily, Will had taken his older brother’s place in assisting her that day. The two boys took one look at each other and the rest was history.

Steve didn’t have much he was willing to share by way of a personal life, but he happily told a few stories about his years babysitting back in his hometown, finally letting slip that Gareth and Will reminded him of his young charges, a fact that made even the shy boy laugh.

“Not to give too many of our secrets away, but we’re older than we look.” Gareth said.

Steve couldn't help but to tease them. “Oh I'm sorry. Here I was thinking you were a young spry 20 year old. What is it then, a decrepit 24, 25?”

“I’m only 35” Will said with a little smirk. “But,my king is…” Before the boy could finish, Gareth slapped a hand over his mouth.

“You know it’s rude to share a man’s age!” He gasped with exaggerated offense.

Steve gaped at them. “You can’t be serious.”

Jesus, he was younger than both of them. He tried to wrap his head around that fact as Gareth chuckled. “A little tip for you, Harrington, wereanimals age slower than humans. Don’t underestimate one of us just because we look young.”

“Duly noted.”

When all was said and done, Steve and Nancy decided to go back to her hotel in the city to get some rest before the morning, agreeing that it was the safer option than Steve's house with Brenner still on the loose.

Her room housed only a single king bed, which would have been awkward with any of Steve’s other exes. The fact that it wasn’t was a testament to how nonexistent romantic feelings were between the two of them. Steve enjoyed his first dreamless sleep in far too long, and woke rested and refreshed. If he also rose with a vague sense of disappointment, he chose to just push that feeling way, way down.

The meeting place wound up being, more specifically, behind a dumpster in an alley next to a restaurant, which was fitting, and sort of hilarious, Steve thought, considering they were about to be led underground by giant rats.

Gareth and Will were there, which surprised Steve. He had assumed the king would put some lackey’s on the job. He was further surprised when the middle aged woman who joined them turned out to be Joyce. Steve took an instant liking to her, she was very friendly and simply exuded kindness.

She toted along a backpack with her that, when he saw the first aid symbol on the outside, Steve realized must hold medical supplies. The wererats were clearly planning on him and Nancy getting hurt today, at the very least. He decided to view the gesture in a glass-half-full kinda way. If they were planning on administering medical attention, that must mean they think he had a chance, right? No point in bandaging a dead man, after all.

There was one more addition to their group, an older boy named Jonathan who quickly identified himself as Will’s older brother. It seemed this was a family affair.

All present and accounted for, and heavily armed in the case of Steve and Nancy, Gareth led the way down through the cellar doors and into the basement of the building. From there, they entered the city’s sewer system through a grate near the floor. Steve grimaced as they sloshed through the foul liquid in the dark and tried very hard not to think about how gross it all was.

Now that they were in the tunnels, Gareth, Will, and Jonathan all transformed into their rat forms, only Joyce remaining human. Their senses were stronger this way, that much Steve knew, and it would be helpful for getting the group where they needed to go.

It didn’t take as long as Steve expected to reach their destination, only about an hour or so. The trip could have been made quicker if they’d been willing to run, but there seemed to be an unspoken agreement amongst the group to try and splash as little as possible, for obvious reasons.

Gareth approached an opening, not unlike the one they had used to gain access from the other building, and waved Steve and Nancy closer.

“The Corroded Coffin’s basement is through there. We’ll wait down here in the tunnels until dark. If you’re not out by then, I'll assume you failed. If you do manage to kill Billy, I'll know, and we’ll come out to help you if we can.”

Steve nodded at him and yanked on the grate, it was loosened just like the other one. The bars were meant to be welded in place, but someone had come along and cut it free. It could be propped up to give the illusion, but pulled away easily.

He went through first, not knowing if the room would be occupied, though Nancy tried to pull rank as the better shot. The opening was small and close to the floor, and they had to all but crawl to get through.

On the other side, Steve stood up and started across the room, coming to an abrupt stop as he stared at a point on the wall.

“What is it?” Nancy asked, hackles up.

“This is where Chrissy died, chained to the wall like an animal.” Steve’s voice broke.

Nancy clenched her jaw. “I’m sorry, Steve, really I am, but we can’t afford for you to be distracted right now.”

It would’ve been easy to get mad at her, in fact he wanted to. Anything to stave off the tidal wave of sadness and guilt that was building up inside of him for failing to save the girl.

But Nancy was right, and there was no reason to take it out on her. He did his best to push it all deep, deep down, to be dealt with at a later date. He felt like he’d been doing a lot of that lately, and he wasn’t looking forward to the day when he finally had to unpack it all.

“Sorry. I’m good now. Let’s go.”

Steve took the lead again, quietly tiptoeing up the stairs and out to the hall. Luckily, the door wasn’t locked. They would have had to shoot the handle off otherwise, he realized, and that would have entirely defeated the purpose of the sneaky entrance.

He peeked around the corner, shocked to find the immediate area deserted. The vampires would be asleep for the day, but still, he had expected someone to be lurking. Heather at the very least should have been around here somewhere. She was Billy's servant after all, and as a technical human she wasn’t a slave to the sun like he was.

The pair took their time traversing the halls and checking doors until they finally found the coffin room. Each box sat on a little stone dais to keep it up off the floor. They were all different, some larger, some smaller. A few were made of natural wood, stained and adorned with cheap brass fittings. Others were painted and polished to a high shine, more like the modern one’s Steve was accustomed to seeing.

They went for the closest box first. Nancy covered him with her shotgun as Steve opened the lid. He didn’t know this vampire’s name, but recognized him as Chrissy’s overly enthusiastic dance partner from that first night at the club, the one who had looked so perturbed when Steve evaded his mind tricks. He was also present for the debacle in the small graveyard the night of the freak party, and was definitely on Billy’s side of things.

Steve drew a long silver knife from its sheath and readied himself to plunge it into the thing’s chest. That, and a few twists of the blade would shred his heart. A shotgun would be easier, but it would also be messy and loud. He’d have to cut the head off at some point anyway, so the knife would be getting used tonight one way or another.

Nancy stopped him with a hand on his elbow, before he could strike. “I might have an easier way. Have you ever used silver nitrate?”

Steve hesitated, lips pursed.“Like, from the movie Blade? Does that work?”

Nancy rolled her eyes, pulling a small vial of silver liquid and a syringe out of an inner pants pocket to show him. “Yea it works. Any idea how old this one is?”

“No more than a hundred.”

“Better go for a full dose then.” She filled the syringe, leaning over the body as Steve covered her with his own handgun full of silver bullets.

Nancy unceremoniously jammed the needle into the vampire’s neck and depressed the plunger. The body began to twitch, startling Steve, but it fell limp again after only a minute or two of spasms. He stared at it, waiting for some sign that the creature was really dead. When it didn’t seem like anything else was going to occur, he finally took his eyes off of the body to look at Nancy.

“Is that it?” He asked, sounding more than a little disappointed.

“Pretty much, yeah. Why, what did you think was going to happen?”

“I don’t know, just, something more than that I guess?”

Nancy crossed her arms over her chest. “You were expecting him to blow up, weren’t you.”

“I absolutely was expecting that. Yes.” Steve grinned.

She shook her head but smiled back at him. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.”

“Maybe, but I'm still cutting his head off before we leave here. I’m not taking any chances.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged.

The next coffin they checked was empty. It probably belonged to one of the murdered vamps, Tommy maybe, or at least that’s what Steve told himself. Surely it was too early in the day for any of them to be awake

The next was similarly unoccupied, and then they found Neil.

Again Nancy had pointed her gun at the casket while Steve raised the top. He curled his lip in a snarl when he laid eyes on the monster’s face. Not only had this piece of shit bespelled and threatened one of Steve's friends, but he bore half of the responsibility for Chrissy’s death. He almost regretted doing it like this, when the vampire was all but helpless. A real, god's honest fight would be much more satisfying to his craving for revenge, but it would also be needlessly risky.

This time, it was Steve who loaded up the syringe. Nancy had advised that at Neil’s age they should do two full doses of the liquid silver just to be safe. Steve stuck the needle deep in his neck, quickly administering the first shot, anxious to refill it. Before he could so much as pull the needle back out, however, Neil sat up, eyes still closed as if he were half asleep. The move would have sent Steve sprawling to the ground, but as the vampire surged upwards, he gripped Steve by the throat, lifting him clear off the ground.

His ears started to ring as he fought to think through the panic of having his airway cut off. He grabbed on to the vampire's wrist with both hands, pulling to take as much of the pressure off his neck as he could. He kicked his feet, trying desperately to dislodge himself, but Neil’s grip was like a vice, and it became clear that Steve wouldn’t be able to get free unless he chose to let go, or died. Fuck.

Nancy appeared suddenly on Steve’s other side, the only vantage point in the room that would give her a clear shot without risking him. She aimed, and fired nearly point-blank into the side of Neil’s head. Red fluid splattered across Steve's face, and immediately the hand that had been holding him up let go. He crumpled to the ground, sucking in greedy gulps of air as he wiped the blood from his eyes.

So distracted by his own situation, Steve didn’t realize for a moment that Neil hadn’t entirely gone down. His head was a red mess of meat and bone, but his body hadn’t quite gotten the memo yet, and it was grappling hard with Nancy as she tried to gain enough distance from the thing to get another shot off.

Though he was still a little lightheaded, with spots dancing across the edges of his vision, Steve waded into the fray, carefully slicing through the air with his blade to capture the thing’s attention. He got a few good cuts in and it was distraction enough to give Nancy time to line up her shot.

“Steve, move!” She howled.

He didn't need to be told twice. Steve threw himself down and to the side. He even put his hands over his head for good measure. Nancy’s second shot rang out, deafeningly loud in the enclosed space. He hadn’t even registered the sound of it the first time. Steve shuddered, realizing how close he must have been to passing out to have not noticed.

Her bullet hit home, going straight through Neil's chest and out the other side, leaving an impressive exit wound. Finally, mercifully, the body fell limp to the ground. He was dead, permanently this time.

Nancy pulled Steve to his feet, scanning him top to bottom.

“How are you holding up?” She asked.

“I’m fine.” He said, voice rough from the damage to his throat.

She stared at him silently, unblinking.

He sighed. “It looks worse than it is. Come on, let's get this done.”

Steve limped to the front of the room, where the final three coffins were placed. The one in the center, a glossy black lacquer number with gilded handles, had to belong to Billy. Not only because it was the fanciest of the bunch, but because the two that flanked it were wrapped in heavy chains with small crosses dangling from their links like some sort of twisted charm bracelet.

He could tell Nancy was considering blasting a hole through the side of the box with her shotgun, anything to avoid another jack-in-the-box style surprise, but even if she did it would never be a killing blow.

Steve approached the coffin, holding his breath as he lifted the lid. He wished he could say he was surprised when he looked down to find nothing but white satin, but he wasn’t.

“Looking for me?” Billy drawled from the back of the room.

He and Nancy turned towards the voice at the same time, both lifting their weapons to eye level on instinct.

“You didn’t really think at my age that I needed to sleep off the entire day still, did you?”

Steve gulped audibly. Up until he saw Neil’s form move in the daylight hours just a few moments ago, he had thought that.

“Aw, it seems you still have so much to learn, Harrington. Why don’t you put those silly little guns down and we can work this out.”

“There’s nothing to work out, Billy.” Steve said through gritted teeth.

“Sure there is! Look, I know I killed your girl. I would say I was sorry about that, but I don't like to make a habit out of lying. As far as I see it, now that you’ve killed my father, we’re even! Trust me, I don't even mind that you took him out. Saved me the trouble of doing it myself some day.”

“Don’t move.” A female voice said suddenly to Steve's right.

He glanced over to find the human servant, Heather, standing behind Nancy, holding an old fashioned pistol to the back of her head. Her arms were already in the air, and Heather snatched the shotgun from her with her free hand, tossing it to the floor.

“You better drop your weapon too, Steve-O, wouldn’t want Heather to get nervous and shoot your pretty friend there by accident.”

Steve glared at him, but dropped the gun and the knife he was holding to the ground. He had other knives on him, they could have those.

Brenner appeared in the doorway behind Billy. He didn’t look particularly happy to be there.

“Oh good, you’re finally here.” Billy snarked, not turning around but still clearly addressing the man. ”Be a good boy and help Heather check these two over for more weapons.”

Brenner scowled at the back of Billy’s head, but quickly crossed the room to do as he was told.

Heather started to frisk Nancy, while Brenner approached Steve.

“Does he know what you’ve done?” Steve whispered to the older man.

“Shut up.” Brenner hissed as he kicked Steve’s legs apart, doing a much more thorough job at searching him than Steve had been expecting.

He couldn’t be sure if Heather had found all of Nancy’s goodies, but unfortunately, Brenner had found all of his. Even the small knife that he liked to keep tucked in his boot was now living in the other man’s pocket.

“Would you like to see what we’ve been up to while you two were busy sneaking around and killing my father?” Billy asked.

Steve didn’t respond, it wasn’t like he had an actual choice in the matter, so why entertain the vampire with an answer?

“You really know how to take all the fun out of things, you know that pretty boy?” Billy huffed. “Escort them to the basement.” He commanded the two lackeys.

Steve and Nancy found themselves being roughly pushed out into the hall, and he didn’t need three guesses to know where they were going. Back to the same fucking torture chamber of a basement room he was becoming all too familiar with. He wondered if they ever called it a dungeon, it was a fitting name for the awful space.

The small group paraded down the stairs and stood in an awkward half circle.

“Come on out, sweetheart.” Billy called towards one of the dark corners.

There was a soft shuffling sound as something moved in the darkness. Slowly, a small figure with a petite frame and strawberry-blonde hair was revealed under the single dim light that hung in the middle of the room.

Steve sucked in a sharp breath. He should have seen this coming, in hindsight, but this was cruelty beyond his imagining, even for someone like Billy.

“Chrissy?” His voice broke as he whispered her name, before rounding on Billy and shouting nearly right in his face. “Why?! Why would you do this?!”

The motherfucker smiled like a Cheshire cat. “To torture you mostly, why, is it working?”

Steve raged inside. He wanted to lay Billy out, to spit in his smug face, but he had no wish to set the guy off. Had it only been his own life on the line, he might have risked it, but with Nancy here he had to hold it in. He forced himself to take several steps back.

Billy laughed, so obviously amused with Steve’s struggle to control himself. “Actually, to be honest, I had Martin raise her before you arrived. As an animator I'm sure you’re aware that murdered zombies have a tendency to pursue their murderers, and since Neil landed the final killing blow… let’s just say, I thought I'd give Chrissy here a fair shot to get back at him while he was asleep for the day. Your showing up to witness her impromptu resurrection was just a happy accident.”

Steve gaped, somehow still surprised at the vampire's level of depravity. “He would have destroyed her all over again. That’s…sick”

Billy shrugged. “When you’ve been alive as long as I have, you have to find new and interesting ways to entertain yourself.”

The vampire’s mouth twisted into a predatory grin as his eyes began to glow with blue fire. Steve averted his gaze.

“Speaking of which.” Billy continued. ”Drop to your knees and crawl to me, human.”

Steve stared at the floor and braced himself for the pull of Billy’s power, though knew they had cleaned the bite thoroughly. He felt nothing.

The vampire growled, and Steve chanced a look at his face. He looked pissed.

“What have you done?”

“Just a little routine cleaning with holy water.

”I suppose next time I'll just have to keep you with me to stop that from happening. Or, if you prefer, I could make you into one of us. You could take Tommy's place. It’s really the least you can do since your lack of finding the vampire murderer led directly to his death.”

Steve shot a sideways glance at Brenner’s nervous face before he spoke. “I’d die first”

“One way or another that’s where we’re headed, baby boy.”

Chrissy, who’d been hovering near the edge of the group, mostly looking around in confusion, seemed to finally realize where she was. Steve heard her gasp as she ran her hands lightly over a spot on the wall. He watched in agony as she clawed at her throat, clearly remembering the moment it had been ripped apart, and screamed. She collapsed to the floor sobbing.

Steve tried to lunge for her, desperate to offer what little comfort he could to this echo of his fallen friend, but Heather grasped him by the back of his shirt, shoving her little pistol roughly into his ribs.

“Do you really think i’ll just stand here and watch you torture that poor girl even in death?” Steve snapped, whirling on Heather with a vicious snarl. “You want to shoot me for it? Fucking shoot me then!”

Billy stepped between them, suddenly the picture of cool, calm, and collected. “Let’s just everyone calm down. Why don’t we play a little game.”

“Why?” Steve spat. He didn’t understand why they didn’t just kill him already. Billy knew he was never going to join him willingly. Was he really this enamored with playing with his food?

“Maybe i just want to see how good you really are, besides, if you win i’ll let you comfort poor Chrissy there.”

What other choice did he have?

“Fine.”

Steve was given back one of his knives and told he was to fight Heather, who had apparently trained in many forms of combat over her years with Billy. The rules were simple. If she killed him, she won. If Steve drew her blood, he won. It almost sounded like a fair fight.

Heather looked like a small, unassuming young girl, but Steve knew now more than ever just how much looks could be deceiving, so he didn't let his guard down one bit as they circled each other.

He was pretty good with a blade, Wayne had insisted on training him heavily with them even more so than firearms, because ‘knives can’t run out of bullets, son’.

Still, Heather was better, and she managed several shallow cuts on both of his arms before he could get anywhere near her. She was fast, and she was toying with him. He needed to find a way to gain the upper hand here, and quickly.

“I know who the murderer is.” Steve said casually, never once taking his eyes off his opponent. For a moment, all movement in the basement ceased except for him, and Heather.

“What did you say?” Billy hissed.

“I know who killed your vampires.” Steve reiterated.

Martin spoke over him. “Don’t listen to him, surely he’ll say anything now to save his own skin.”

“Quiet, Martin. Tell me who it is, Harrington, or I'll kill your partner.”

Steve risked a glance at Nancy then, only to find that Billy had stepped up behind her, her hair fisted tightly in his hand.

He opened his mouth to answer, but Brenner interrupted shouting, “NO!” As he pulled Steve’s own handgun out of his suit pocket and aimed.

The room fell into chaos. Billy dropped his grip on Nancy and appeared in front of Brenner like magic. The man had no time to react before the vampire reached up with both hands and snapped his neck.

Heather had finally looked away to watch her master work, and Steve used the opportunity to step into her, and plunged his blade deep in her chest. She wasn’t a vampire, but she was tied to one, and Steve was betting she could be killed like one too.

She stared at him wide-eyed, as she stumbled and fell to the ground. Steve plucked the weapon she’d been using out of her hand and slid it in Nancy’s direction. She caught it, and they both turned in tandem to face Billy.

The vampire had dropped to his knees, weakened as his human servant lay dying. It was everything Steve had hoped for. He’d been told that a human servant would live as long as their vampire master. Which, if you thought about it, translated to, if their master died - so did they. Steve had thought if that was the case, then maybe the reverse could also be true.

Billy tried to gather his power, Steve could feel it in the air, but he was too weak for tricks. Nancy made a go for him first, lunging and slashing but unable to make contact before Billy grabbed her arm, spinning her hard into the nearest wall. Steve came at him from behind as he threw her, aiming as best he could for the man’s heart. The knife penetrated his body, but he must have missed the mark.

Billy heaved himself off of Steve's blade with a grunt, only to be met with Nancy once again in front of him, having recovered quickly from ricocheting off the wall. She jammed her blade down into his chest and he tipped sideways to the floor. Nancy remained above him, holding the knife in place while Steve scrambled for his gun where it had fallen out of Brenner’s hands.

He leveled the weapon at Billy’s head.

“Nance!”

It’s all he had to say. She pushed with her feet, scooting back on her butt to get some distance from the half-dead vampire.

Steve screamed as he shot round after round into Billy’s head until the gun clicked empty, and Nancy had to force it out of his hand. He’d lost time somewhere, he hadn’t seen her get up, let alone approach him.

He blinked at her, and watched as she knelt by Heather's unmoving body to check for a pulse.

“She’s dead.” Nancy said simply.

The vampire’s body was similarly still. His head was utterly destroyed and Nancy’s knife was still sticking up out of his chest. Steve would want to burn the body to make sure, just as a precaution, but it seemed Billy’s reign of terror was finally over.

Steve made his way slowly over to where Chrissy still cowered in the corner, not wanting to spook her when she was already terrified. He sat down next to her and took one of her small hands in both of his.

She looked at him with sad eyes, though she was no longer crying. “I’m really dead, aren’t I?”

Steve whimpered. “I'm so sorry.”

She fell against him, and Steve wound his arms around her, rocking them back and forth for a long time. There was so much he wanted to say to her, and none of it was good enough, so he just held her until she was ready to let him go.

Eventually she pulled back and looked Steve in the eyes. “Can you put me back? I know I'm not supposed to be here, I want to go back.”

“Yea, I can do that.”

When Steve returned from laying Chrissy to rest, the wererats had come. Joyce wanted to treat him, but there were still a few things to be dealt with before his work here was done.

Brenner lay in the spot where he dropped, neck bent at a very wrong angle, but still alive. Steve didn’t know much about the magic that had been keeping this man alive, but he did recall an old rule of thumb he learned from a colleague. A spell can usually be reversed by the opposite of whatever is used to feed it. He’d always liked the idea, it had a certain amount of poetic symmetry. The power in Brenner's necklace was fueled by vampire blood, and what’s the opposite of vampire blood? Steve hoped he knew the right answer.

He knelt by Brenners head and held a shaking hand out towards the man’s throat. The necklace had fallen out of his shirt in the fall, and Steve dragged one of his bleeding cuts along the chain, making sure to leave a fat droplet of the red liquid on the cluster of stones that made up the pendant.

Steve watched the light fade from Brenner’s glassy eyes and felt no satisfaction. He just felt empty.

Joyce again tried to coax Steve to sit down and let her look him over, but he still refused and told her to check on Nancy instead.

He felt eyes on his back as he climbed the stairs, but ignored them, he had one more thing to take care of before he could rest.

Back in the coffin room, Steve searched until he found a key hanging from a hook on the wall. He unlocked the chains from each of the boxes and dragged them off. He knew who was in the two coffins, he could have left right then knowing that when the sun came down Dustin and Eddie would finally be free to leave their confinement, but he couldn’t walk away. Not yet.

He opened the lid of the first coffin and sucked in a breath when Eddie’s face was revealed to the lamp light. His eyes were closed, and if he wasn’t so still Steve could have believed he was sleeping peacefully, but that sort of stillness wasn’t natural. This wasn’t sleep, this was death, temporary as it might be.

He stared down at the vampire's beautiful face and wondered what the right thing to do was. He thought he could save himself a lot of trouble in the long run if he took care of Eddie now. It would be easy to kill him while he was sleeping, while Steve wouldn’t have to look into those big brown eyes. While he wouldn’t have to listen as those pink lips that he’d become so familiar with in his dreams begged for his life.

In the end it came down to Chrissy, and respecting her wishes. She wouldn't want this. She had trusted Eddie. He may have let her down as much as Steve had, but maybe he could be there for others, for Dustin. So, he replaced the lid and turned to the other coffin, hoping his decision wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass.

Dustin, Steve finds, when he opens the other coffin, looks a little more worse for wear than Eddie had. Of course, the younger vampire hadn’t had someone to feed off of while he was locked up.

He knew he should go, but he couldn't stop staring at the boy’s face. Steve had been to a lot of funerals over the years, where the body of his loved one was put on display, but this was one of his kids. He knew Dustin wasn’t really dead, and that in just a few hours he would rise, and he would feed, and he’d be fine, but it still made Steve's chest tight to see him like this.

He heard the soft footfalls behind him as someone entered the room, but didn’t bother to turn around. He already knew it would be Nancy.

When she reached his side and peered over the edge of the box, Steve tensed.

“I hate that he’s done this to himself.” She said softly.

He watched her carefully through his peripheral vision. “Me too.”

Nancy frowned at him. “You can relax Steve, I'm not about to suggest we kill him or anything. I knew him too.”

He believed her, to an extent, but he also knew how much she hated vampires, and it worried him. She might let Dustin live for now, only to come back for him later.

“I’ve spent a little time with him over the past few days, Nance. He’s still Dustin. Almost infuriatingly exactly as you’d remember him, just, with fangs.” Steve explained, trying to keep the pleading tone out of his voice.

“I know it might seem that way sometimes, Steve, but…”

“No, I'm serious. It’s him, and…you know I didn't talk to him, haven't talked to him since he transitioned. I thought I was doing the right thing, but all I did was rob us both of our friendship. Promise me you won’t go after him.”

“I won’t. I swear. I don’t think Mike would ever forgive me if I did.”

Steve wanted to say, I wouldn’t either, but he didn’t think he needed to.

“What about that one?” Nancy asked, pointing at Eddie's coffin.

“That is, something I think I'll call - ‘better the devil you know’ - and all that jazz.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing there.” She said.

“Me too.”

Steve finally let Joyce treat him after that. The wererats promised to clean up the mess and take care of any remaining Billy supporters. Steve thanked them profusely, and soon he and Nancy were walking out the front door of the theater. He was forced to call Robin to pick them up, no uber or taxi would have stopped for them in their current state.

She picked them up, no questions asked, and she even let him get away with silence until they had dropped Nancy off at her hotel. They parted ways with a hug and Steve thanking her endlessly for her help. She assured him it was her pleasure, and that since the master of the city was in fact killed, she would still be getting paid by her client. If anything she should be thanking him, she assured him.

Once they were alone in the car, Steve filled Robin in on everything she’d missed. They didn’t even pick up his car, he was too tired to drive anyway. They could always get it the next day.

He was still going over the play by play of their fight with Billy when they arrived at his house. Robin helped him inside and coaxed him right into the bath, sitting on the edge to keep him company and he finished his story.

“What are you going to do about Eddie?” Robin asked, as she trailed her fingers through the bath water.

“I don’t know. Ignore him until I can find a way out of this mess?”

“Babe, is that, like, healthy?”

“I don’t know, I'm too tired to figure it out right now.”

All Steve could think about was getting out of the tub and falling into bed. He wouldn’t have minded some platonic best friend cuddles either, but he didn’t want to put Robin out even more than he had already. It turned out, he didn’t even need to ask.

“Do you want me to stay with you tonight?”

God he loved her.

“Please’

Chapter 10

Author's Note: This fic has two pretty definitive halves, since the au inspiration comes from two separate books. This chapter marks the end of part 1, and puts us at the halfway point of the original plans I had for this story. Now, I'm considering making this into a series to be continued past the end of the main fic. There will be a conclusion of sorts by the end of this, but there will still be so much that could be explored past that. Please, as we continue, let me know if you would like to see more when this main story is over. As always, thanks so much for reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I can’t wait to dive into the back half of this fic!

#steve harrington: vampire hunter #steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #vampire eddie munson #vampire hunter steve harrington #wererat king gareth

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kinghairington · 2 years

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If Eddie were a supernatural creature but not a vampire what do you think he would be?

Vampire is not even my favorite creature for Eddie (though obviously it’s a fanon favorite for multiple reasons and I am here for it), but I’m much more a fan of shapeshifters and I think a werewolf could make a lot of sense for him. Is it a little cliche? Sure. But I love it.

Let us imagine:

Eddie comes from a long line of shifters, but shifters have never been considered people by those around them who are fully human. They’ve never been completely welcomed into society, so a lot of them choose to stay in close quarters as there is safety in numbers and the forest is their backyard at the Forest Hills trailer park. Still, a lot of the kids attend the local school.

His parents died when he was a child and he’s heard all the rumors throughout the years that his father killed his mother in a drunken rage and, yeah, he remembers the man being an asshole, but the stories always sound false to him. Sometimes he dreams of blood, gunshots, a language he doesn’t understand, and screams.

He went through his first few shifts alone before being put in Wayne’s custody. He learned about just being a shifter from Wayne and also came up with ways to cope with the entire horrible process.

Some of his classmates know what he is, some are shifters themselves, but he’s still considered a freak by most of them and Satanic panic still affects him given the family history and rumors of how his parents died.

He’s still the biggest instigator and dramatic and loves the attention that comes with it. Not exactly the greatest traits for someone whose family tries to keep a low profile, but this is 100% Eddie.

There’s an odd tension between him and people like Jason (who wishes he was a hunter, but more on that later), but most people know he wouldn’t actually hurt them because shifters are not immune to the law. Deep down Eddie wants to have a normal life.

As an adult, werewolf Eddie owns a mechanic shop that also houses a cage for times he feels out of control with his upcoming shift.

He’s the type to forget to “track” the full moon, so aside from the fact that he can feel the upcoming shifts to an extent, Dustin (nerdy, overly researched human Dusty) knows all about it and keeps him up to date.

Back to hunters, there are two types: the ones who were born into it and amateurs who cause more issues for everyone than help.

The Harringtons are, of course, a respected family of hunters.

Nothing would make my enemies to friends/enemies to lovers heart happier than werewolf Eddie and legacy hunter Steve joining forces.

I hope this was interesting to read! Thank you for the question. It gave me a lot to think about and I think this is so fitting for Eddie and can still use his canon personality traits and plot without many changes, just add in werewolf and hunters and we still have his journey from season 4.

(If anyone wants more of this, I’m sure I can think of something.)

#eddie munson #eddie munson fic #eddie munson headcanon #steddie headcanon #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #stranger things fic #stranger things headcanon #writing tag #answered

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your-stranger-halfblood-things · 1 year

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Kas!Eddie and FailedVampire!Steve having date nights where they drive up a mountain and watch the sunset while drinking blood and wine (blood for Eddie, wine for Steve)

#its cow blood don't worry #or its steves blood because he is immune to vampire bites because he is a failed vampire #and yes theyre old so they could drink wine and blood #stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #date nights #steddie date nights #wine #blood #tasty #for the wine!!! not the blood or well-#imma shut it #im secretly a vampire guys #shit my secret is revealed #almost a vampire steve harrington

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hbyrde36 · 6 months

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Chapter 13!

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

ao3 link

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12

(Chapter 14-17 coming soon, we're nearly there friends!)

The mismatched group of wereanimals, vampires, and Steve entered the fight from backstage. It was a further route to get there than if they had gone directly through the theater, but fighting against the flow of the crowd all running in the opposite direction would have taken much longer.

They spilled out of the backstage doors in pairs with Steve and Eddie bringing up the rear and only Dustin stumbling in alone behind them. Steve had argued with the kid the whole way down to stay behind and out of harm's way, it wasn’t like he could really help- not being trained in any sort of fighting that Steve was aware of, but he’d adamantly refused. He reminded Steve that out of the two of them he was the more likely to be hurt.

“How do you figure that?” Steve asked. “It’s a giant snake! It could eat you just as easily as me and I'm pretty sure being eaten would kill even you.”

Dustin scoffed. “This isn’t just some run of the mill snake, Steve! That thing is an Egyptian Cobra.”

Come to think of it, Steve had noticed the telltale hood that fanned out from either side of the monstrosity’s head, he just hadn’t cared about the distinction. It was a massive man-eating snake and it needed to be put down, who cared what species it was.

“So?”

“So?! It’s one of the most venomous snakes on the planet! Even a bite from a normal sized Egyptian Cobra can be fatal, could you imagine how much toxin would get pumped into your body if that monster got even one of its fangs in you?”

Wonderful.

Not that it mattered much, Steve was pretty sure that venous or not, if that thing sunk teeth into him he’d be a goner. But he understood what Dustin was getting at. Vampires were immune to things like venom and poison, the same way they couldn't get sick. Still he couldn’t just let Dustin put himself in the line of fire, he was too young, too important to so many people. If something were to happen, how could Steve ever look Mrs. Henderson in the eye and tell her that her son, who should have outlived her even if he wasn’t a vampire, had died.

Steve was bringing his gun to this party anyway and had no intentions of getting any closer to the snake than was necessary, so he offered Dustin a compromise. “If I promise to stay as far away from it as I can, will you promise to do the same and stay behind me?”

Dustin sighed. “Fine, but one of these days you have to stop treating me like a kid.”

“I know buddy, but it’s not gonna be today.”

The snake looked somehow even bigger up close. Most of its body was coiled beneath it in a massive pile on the stage. Its head was nearly two feet wide and hovered about ten feet above the floor. The scales that covered its body were so dark brown it looked almost black, with matching soulless eyes and a thick forked tongue

Steve was surprised to find the members of the band still on stage, even more shocked to find them slowly circling the cobra, trying to distract and surround the thing. He had expected the men to be long gone, or perhaps already eaten, if he was honest. Now that he was down here with them however, he thought he understood why.

There was a sudden explosion of power, magic suddenly so thick in the air that Steve thought he might choke on it. It was nothing you could see, only feel, and it had a distinct and familiar feel to it, though he’d only stood this close to something like it once before, when the wererats had transformed right in front of him down in the sewer. He’d shielded his eyes then out of respect, but now he couldn’t look away.

He watched as one-by-one the musicians dropped to all fours on the floor, writhing as fur began flowing over their skin in a rippling wave. Their faces morphed, mouths elongating into the shape of a snout with long teeth and a vicious snarl. Their legs seemed to bend at an odd angle, something that looked like it should have hurt but none of the men uttered so much as a whimper. It seemed to take both forever and no time at all for the four very human looking figures to be replaced by four very overgrown and ferocious wolves.

Werewolves.

He should have known that the band wasn’t human.

One of the wolves jumped, pouncing on the snake. He hit at about midway down the neck and bit at the thing, his powerful jaws worked as hard as they could but the wolf couldn’t seem to penetrate the cobras thick skin.

The snake threw him off easily and he fell to the stage with a sickening crack. Had he been human, or hell even a standard wolf, Steve would have been sure the man had just shattered his spine, but wereanimals healed fast and were typically harder to hurt. Argyle ran forward, pulling the limp body of the werewolf out of the way just in time to not be hit by a crushing blow from the end of the snake’s tail.

Steve raised his gun, aimed, and fired twice all in a split second while he had a clear shot at the monster’s head. The first round hit the snake just below its left eye, the second only clipped the edge of its hood. It reared back, hissing and flashing its fangs but otherwise seemed unaffected by the blow. It hadn’t even bled that Steve could see.

Fuck.

He lowered the weapon, pointing it at the floor as two of the other other wolves jumped the snake on either side at the same time. Steve caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and a second later saw Max join the fight, stradling the cobra’s back. She wrapped her small arms around its neck as best she could and squeezed, trying and failing to crush its throat.

She and the two wolves were flung off seconds later, landing in a heap next to the bulk of the snake's coiled body. Max rolled quickly, getting out of the way just in time to avoid the swing of its tail.

Unfortunately, Dustin, who had broken his promise and followed her into the fray was standing a little too close.

The tip of the snake's tail swept the kids feet out from under him, and before Dustin could get his legs back under him it had wrapped its tail around his waist, lifting him up and towards its wide open mouth.

Steve’s heart sank and all the blood drained from his face at once. He couldn’t get another shot off now, not with Dustin in the line of fire. His silver bullets, which had done jack squat so far against the snake, would shred the young vampire's heart to ribbons.

Terror burrowed its way into Steve’s gut but it was more somehow, there was an extra edge to it as if he were feeling someone else’s fear running alongside his own. He looked around wildly trying to find Eddie, having lost track of him somehow in the chaos of the fight and found him already springing into action, climbing the curtains directly behind the snake’s head. He was going to try and surprise it by coming in from above and behind.

Eddie looked right back at him as though he could feel Steve's gaze and suddenly it hit him what was happening.

He was sensing Eddie’s feelings as if they were his own. Steve didn’t have time to be angry at the intrusion or to worry about the how or why, not while Dustin was in danger. He assumed Eddie was in tune with him as well and he tried to use that link to urge Eddie on with his plan. He thought the words mouth and weakness, over and over again as he visualized the snake's open jaw and focused on Eddie and the space in his head where he imagined the vampire lurking.

As far as Steve could tell they’d all had very little luck in penetrating the snake’s scales, it was like armor, but if Eddie were to destroy its mouth it would at least buy them some time and perhaps the flesh inside its big maw was thinner than the tough exterior.

Eddie swung and launched himself from the curtain, landing right on top of the snake’s head, and Steve prayed he had gotten the message.

Dustin was struggling in the snake's grasp, screeching as it flung him from side to side. Steve felt helpless and had to remind himself over and over that as long as the kid’s head and heart remained intact he could and would survive this.

Steve holstered his handgun, it wasn’t doing him any good anyway, and instead drew his little knife, as Eddie had called it, and attempted to wade into the fight. He felt Eddie's panic rise suddenly, and with a new desperate edge to it. Steve froze in his tracks, looking up. He expected to find the vampire wounded or in trouble, instead he found Eddie watching him with wide frightened eyes. He could feel in his bones how terrified the vampire was for his safety and how he didn’t want him getting any closer.

Something happened as they stared into each other's eyes, an almost audible snap as though something between them had broken, or maybe… had clicked into place. There was a flash where, for a second, Steve was no longer looking at Eddie but was instead looking at himself through the other man’s eyes. He blinked and landed back in his own body. Blinked again and saw the entire scene around him from a different vantage point. It was incredibly disorienting and Steve found himself falling to the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to regain his balance and tried to ground himself by focusing on the way the hard wood of the floor felt beneath him. Still he found that when he opened his eyes again he could still see the world through Eddie’s as if they were his own, as if they were connected.

Not only could he see, but feel, hear, taste, and smell too.

The stale and musty odor of the snake filled Steve's nostrils. As Eddie pried the cobra's mouth open and dug into the monster's flesh with his bare hands, Steve felt the wet sticky blood as if it was pouring over his own fists. When Eddie set fangs into the things impossibly wide neck, having found a weak spot where the hood extended from the thing’s length, Steve tasted its vile blood as it filled their mouth, pouring out of the corners and running down the front of them in a trickling line. This wasn’t the sort of blood that would sustain us, so we didn’t drink it. Steve understood even as he was horrified.

Someone was screaming and Steve really wished they would stop. His senses were already being completely overwhelmed by whatever the fuck was happening to him and that sound was only making it worse.

His eyes had fallen closed again at some point but as he struggled against the torrent of sensations he felt someone grab him hard, hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look up. His eyes shot open and he found himself staring into the cool blue of Max's. She was shouting, trying to talk to him but he couldn’t make it out, couldn’t hear it over the sound of…himself.

It was him that was screaming, he thought distantly, the shock of the girl’s touch had brought him back to himself enough to realize. He stopped, clamping his mouth shut to keep the sound inside as he breathed heavily through his nose.

Finally Max’s words started to sink. “You have to put your mental shields up! He’s not strong enough to maintain this stupid divide between the two of you AND take on that fucking snake!”

“What?” Steve croaked out.

“Shields, man! Your shields!”

Steve thought about the way he’d kept Eddie out of his dreams when he finally learned the truth about what they were. He had no idea what he was doing at the time, still didn’t really, but he’d visualized a sort-of wall inside his mind and that had, to his surprise, worked.

He did the same now, building the walls in his mind's eye thicker and higher than ever before, until he could no longer feel everything the vampire was feelling, until he felt alone in his body once more.

His heart rate began to slow to something a little more manageable and he felt some of the tension drain from his limbs.

“Pretty good, for an amateur,” Max admitted. “But, if you two are gonna keep this up you're gonna want to find yourself a witch to teach you a thing or two.”

“I don't understand. What happened? What was that?”

“You’re his human servant.” She said, as if that answered anything.

He stared at her blankly.

“Fucking humans,” Max sighed heavily. “You know so little. It’s amazing that you’ve gotten this far. The bond that you and Eddie have, incomplete as it is, allows you to share all. Power, strength… uh… souls, for lack of a better word. Once you’ve completed all four marks you’ll be able to live as one in two bodies if you choose to do so. Both with perfectly free will but able to share anything and everything without a thought. Deeper and more intimate than marriage, you will know each other on a level than you can’t even comprehend until it happens.”

The idea was almost as thrilling as it was frightening. The last thing Steve wanted was to be tied to a vampire for eternity. That he was sure of, but he couldn’t deny that some parts of the offer were alluring. Not the immortality, that was never something he longed for, but to always know what your partner was thinking, feeling, to never again have to doubt the truth in their words when they said, I love you?

To be so close to another person, know them intimately, inside and out, and have no secrets between you?

That was something he craved.

The closest thing he had to a relationship like that was with Robin. She was his best friend and he loved her completely, but there was a hole in his life that even she couldn’t fill.

Steve shook himself hard. It didn’t matter how much he might want that. It didn’t matter how much he might want Eddie. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t even real!

Right?

“I don’t have time for this,” Steve said, rising to his feet and turning his attention back to the fight, which had apparently ended without his help. The floor was littered with blood and a few slightly battered allies.

Dustin was okay. He was standing near Eddie, who was bent over what remained of the snake’s massive head, which had somehow, finally been removed from its body.

The only casualty on their side was one of the wolves, apparently the band’s drummer, who’d been crushed under the snake’s weight at some point while Steve was going out of his mind.

Dustin noticed Steve finally up and moving around and rushed over. He had a bit of a limp and he was cradling one of his arms but looked pretty good otherwise, considering.

“Steve! I heard you screaming, are you okay?”

“Am I…?” Steve trailed off, shaking his head. “Dustin, you were almost eaten by a giant cobra! I should be asking you if you’re alright!”

The kid shrugged “I mean, yea it hurt and i’m pretty sore but I can feel my insides healing as we speak! How cool is that?!”

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jesus Christ,” he murmured. This kid was going to give him premature gray hairs.

Dustin grinned. “You’re just jealous of my superior healing abilities. Man, I fucking love being a vampire!”

“Language!” Steve admonished automatically. As if Dustin was still a little kid, as if any of it mattered when he was a fucking vampire now, and he almost died, and...

Steve threw his arms around Dustin’s shoulders and pulled him in, cradling him to his chest, thankful for the first time that his little buddy was no longer human.

When he finally let Dustin go, Steve looked at Eddie over the top of the kid’s head. Though they were no longer sharing thoughts, Steve could see the range of conflicting emotions there in his eyes clear as day. Gratitude that they’d survived. Fear of how much worse this could have gone. Triumph at having slain an enemy, and finally, lust.

The same heavy-lidded desire Eddie had displayed earlier as he’d watched Steve drop to his knees for him was reflected in his eyes again now.

Eddie had ripped the creature apart with bare hands and teeth, and he’d enjoyed it.

A lot.

It was enough.

Enough to remind Steve of all the reasons why he couldn’t trust the vampire. Enough to remind him that the marks were not some gift, and that the bond they shared was forged in trickery and lies. Hooking up tonight had been a mistake, a moment of weakness.

He forced himself to look away.

Eddie was a monster, it was as simple and as complicated as that. They may have been on the same side of this particular fight, he might not be capital-e Evil, but there was nothing else to call him. He was dangerous, and wicked, and deadly, and Steve was human.

He didn’t fall in love with vampires. He waited and watched until their true nature showed and when they inevitably stepped far enough out of line and broke the law, he hunted them down and killed them.

The theater had long since emptied out, and with the fight now over the only sound to be heard in the cavernous space was the panting breaths of the few cohorts present that still needed to draw breath.

Steve wasn’t surprised when, in unison, several sets of the lower theater doors burst open sending police with weapons drawn spilling down the aisles headed directly for them. The air was filled with shouts of “drop your weapons!” and “hands up!” and “freeze!”

There had been too many innocent civilians present to think that no one had called 911.

Instinctually Steve stepped to the edge of the stage, putting himself to the forefront of their assembled group.

His weapons were already out of sight and he raised his hands high above his head with practiced ease. He didn’t try to shout out to the advancing officer’s that the danger was over, that the snake had been the enemy and now it was dead. They wouldn’t be listening, not yet. The police would see vampires and wereanimals and they would jump to conclusions.

So Steve used his humanity to shield them, knowing he was the one person here that the cops might hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later.

He didn’t allow himself to think about why he’d been so quick to protect them all.

It could still have gone wrong, tensions and confusion alike were clearly high among the officers, and with so many nervous trigger fingers present an ‘accident’ was almost to be expected.

Thankfully Hopper appeared, having led in one of the groups.

He started shouting orders the second he recognized Steve.

“Weapons down! I said DOWN! Hold your fire! He’s one of us!”

Hopper rushed the stage, wide eyes sweeping over the carnage as he made his way over to where Steve stood, still with his hands up.

“You can relax, kid. What the hell happened here?”

Steve let his arms drop, rolling his shoulders as he explained to Hopper, in as few words as possible, how bad his night had gone.

When he was done the chief raked a hand over his face and let out a long string of profanities.

“I know I'm going to regret asking this,” he said after a while, “but why the hell would anyone perform with something like that?!”

Steve shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine, Hop.”

“You gotta admit, it was a pretty badass show until the cobra ate its trainer.” Dustin chimed in, suddenly standing right next to Steve where a moment ago he was on the other side of the stage.

“Jesus, Dustin.” Steve yelped. “Stomp your feet or something when you do that!”

“Sorry.”

“Friend of yours?” Hopper asked.

“Yea, one of the kids I used to babysit back home.” Steve answered.

“I was human then.” Dustin added, grinning.

Hopper said nothing but gave Steve a pointed look that told him very clearly that they would be talking about this later.

“Okay folks,” Hopper began, raising his voice a little to address the small crowd. “We’re going to need official statements from all of you. As long as everyone cooperates and we do this in a calm and orderly fashion, we can all get out of here at a decent hour.”

Several hushed but frantic conversations broke out behind Steve. He didn’t blame the preternaturals for being nervous, relations between their kind and the police were still not the best, but with the murder this morning he also couldn’t blame the cops for being wary of the vamps. He just hoped everyone could keep their cool, there’d already been enough fighting and bloodshed for one night.

A bunch of the cops left once it became clear that their numbers weren’t necessary. The act of trust went a long way to relax the wolves, rats, and vampires. Everyone remaining had filed into the backstage area. Eddie gave Hopper access to a few of the dressing rooms so he could conduct the interviews in private, and the whole thing was turning out to be surprisingly civilized.

Everyone who fought the snake sat against the wall in a rough line along the hallway, each waiting their turn to speak with the police, including Steve. Technically Hopper had already given him a pass to go home, accepting his initial comments on the matter as his statement, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet. He wanted to keep an eye on things.

While they waited, one of the werewolves from the band approached Eddie, groveling. “I’m so sorry, master, we didn’t think something like this could happen.”

Steve was a short ways down the line sitting with Dustin and still he couldn’t help overhearing.

Master?

Why would the werewolves be calling Eddie master?

“I told you, you don’t have to call me that.” The vampire quickly replied.

The werewolf shuffled in place. Now that it was all over, he probably thought he would be punished somehow, since they’d been the ones responsible for bringing the snake in here in the first place.

“Right, right. Sorry, it’s just. The last vampire we belonged to who could called wolves was really strict about all that. Titles and stuff.”

“Keep your voice down!” Eddie hissed.

“Sorry! Again, fuck sorry. Just, aren't you going to punish us?”

“We’ll talk about this later.” The vampire replied, a little growl in his voice as he dismissed the wolf from his sight.

“You’re letting them off easy,” Max said to Eddie from her place next to him.

“Not now, Red. I don’t need another lecture from you.”

“Fine, but remember– you are the one who brought me here.”

Steve wasn’t quite sure what to make of it all. Eddie hadn’t had an animal to call before. Had his power grown that much in just a few months? It was odd, usually after a few hundred years that was it for a vampire, as powerful as they would get. It sounded like he didn’t want people to know either, which was a curious thing all on its own.

It took nearly two hours to get through all the interviews but finally Dustin exited the office with Hopper coming out right behind him, the last one to go for the night. Steve stood, intending to give Dustin his goodbyes when a cool hand wrapped around his wrist to stop him.

He whirled, almost drawing his gun until he realized it was Eddie. He wrenched his arm out of the vampire’s grasp and took a step back, rubbing fingers on the spot he’d been touched as though he’d been burned.

Eddie's eyes shimmered with something. Anger? Hurt? Confusion? Steve didn’t know. Told himself he didn’t care. The vampire sighed. “Why do things never go to plan with you?”

“One of the many reasons we should stay far away from each other.” Steve replied.

“Is that really what you still want?”

“Yes.”

“What about your murder investigation?”

Steve grit his teeth. He was sure it was a ploy of some kind, a bid to stay in touch, but on the off chance Eddie actually came up with something helpful, he answered.

“If you think of anything relevant, have Dustin get in touch with me.”

It was around 3am when Steve parked in his driveway, finally home after the night from hell. In comparison this was an early night for him, but he was exhausted regardless for so many reasons. Not the least of which being the presence of an unfamiliar car parked on the street in front of his house. A rental. He wasn’t expecting anyone that he could recall, but he had a pretty good idea as to who might have popped in for an unexpected visit at this odd hour.

The lamp in the living room had been switched on. Steve could see through the sheer drapes in his front windows. At least she wasn’t trying to be creepy this time.

He unlocked the front door and stepped inside, “Hey Nance,” falling from his lips as he pushed it closed and engaged the deadbolt.

She was laying on his couch, feet propped up the cushions, at ease as if she lived there with an open magazine in her lap.

“Hey yourself.” She said, finally looking up and taking in his disheveled appearance. “Rough night?”

Though he hadn’t gotten all that close to the snake on his own, he still looked like he’d been through the ringer, and of course he’d gotten some blood on him when he hugged Dustin.

Steve shrugged. “The usual.”

She raised an eyebrow. “The usual, huh? Do you make a habit out of fighting giant man-eating cobra’s then?”

Steve gaped at her. “How did you…” he trailed off, before answering his own question. “You were there.”

She nodded.

“Why?”

“I like music.” She hedged.

He didn't buy it, and he was a little pissed off now too. “And when the shit went down, you didn’t think we could have used your help?”

“You and your…friends seemed to have it handled. I didn’t think you’d want me to interfere.”

He let the friend's comment go for now. He was tired and in no mood to argue. Better to find out what she was doing here so he could get to bed.

“What are you doing back in town, Nancy? And don’t try and give me some bullshit about the concert. We both know you can’t stand that kind of music”

She snapped her magazine closed and sat up, scooting back to make some room on the couch and patted the seat next to her in invitation. Steve sighed, but crossed the room anyway and sat down.

“I’ve been offered another contract to kill the master of the city.” She said, no preamble this time.

Steve concentrated on breathing evenly and tried to think. “Okay. His identity is public knowledge so I'm not sure why you're here.”

Nancy furrowed her brow, clearly expecting a different reaction. The problem was, he wasn’t sure which one to give her. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the news. Nancy was far from the only person after the vampire these days, but she definitely posed the most real threat to Eddie’s life.

“I just didn't want to betray our friendship by going after him without talking to you first.” She explained.

“You don’t need my permission. I don’t know why you think I'd care.” He said defensively.

“Okay, whatever you say. Care to help a girl out with a daytime resting place then? I can’t imagine he’s kept the old one after what we did to Billy.”

It was impossible not to react then, and he could only hope she took his flinching as a side effect of reminiscing about what they’d done together and not because he was afraid she would figure out the truth. The vampires did still live beneath the theater. He hadn’t been sure, but after his little run in with Eddie after the interviews he’d walked Dustin under the stage himself. It was probably irrational, but he’d needed to make sure the kid was completely safe before leaving for the night.

Would Steve’s life be easier with Eddie gone?

Probably.

But when he tried to picture a world without the vampire in it, he felt a sharp pang deep in his chest. He wouldn't stop Nancy, but he couldn’t bring himself to help her either.

“Sorry, I can't help you.” It was a bit more honest than he’d meant to be. He could have just said he didn't know. If Nancy caught the double meaning of his words, she didn’t say, and she didn’t share any more of her plan with him.

“No problem.” Nancy said, rising from the couch to make her way to the front door. It was one of her best qualities. She might show up unannounced but she rarely outstayed her welcome.

She paused by the door, turning to face him again. “You know, even if I don't take this contract, someone else will.”

“I know.” He said. What else could he say?

“I’ll have to give the client my answer soon. Do you want to know one way or the other?”

Steve shook his head, already turning away from her and walking towards his bedroom. She’d lock the door behind her. “Have a good night Nance.” He said over his shoulder.

“You too.”

The next afternoon found Steve and Robin working up a sweat as they ran, closing in on the end of their fifth and final mile of the day. He had planned to call and cancel their workout after the action packed night he’d had, but then he woke up with Eddie's name on his lips and a fire in his belly that wouldn’t go out no matter how hard he stroked himself.

He needed the run to clear his head almost as much as he needed to tell his best friend about the colossal mistake he’d made.

They had taken the first mile at an easy pace to warm their muscles and he took the opportunity to fill her in on everything while they still had enough breath to talk. From the murder scene with Hop, to the snake, to Nancy, and everything in between, he told her all, including his transgressions on the floor of the Corroded Coffin’s bathroom. By the time he was done they were warmed up and running full out, neither able to keep up the conversation although he could feel her watching him with concerned eyes.

They finished their final loop around the neighborhood and collapsed on Steve's front porch to catch their breath.

Steve knew she was itching to give her two cents on everything he had shared, but he also knew he had a least a minute or two before she'd be able to form full sentences. He pulled out his phone to check messages, having turned it on silent for their workout. There were two voicemails, both from Hopper. It wasn't a good sign.

First message. Recorded at one thirty nine p.m. “Harrington, sorry to bother you again so soon after last night. I just wanted to let you know we got an I.D. on the vic from yesterday. Rick Lipton. That’s all for now, we’re still gathering information. Give me a call if the name means anything to you.”

Robin was looking at him expectantly, he told her the news while he waited for the second message to play. It had only come in a few minutes ago.

Second message. Recorded at three fifteen p.m. “Steve. Shit, kid, we got another one. I’ll text you the address. Don't worry about calling me unless you can’t make it. Just get here as soon as you can.”

Steve hung up and jumped to his feet. “Shit, Robin I'm sorry I have to go.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Another crime scene. He didn’t leave any details but I'm willing to bet it’s the same as yesterday.”

Steve went inside to change out of his jogging clothes with Robin following close behind.

“You said the first victim’s name was Rick Lipton?” She asked.

Steve kept moving as they talked, pulling on a clean pair of jeans and polo shirt. “Yeah. Do you think you could look into him for me? See if he has any connection with vampires?”

“I don’t need to, I already know he does.”

That stopped Steve in his tracks.

“What? How?”

“He’s a member of Humans Against Vampires. Or at least he was a few months ago. I remember seeing his name on a list when you had me look into the hate groups for the vampire murders a few months ago. I’ll double check to be sure but I've got a pretty good memory for names.”

“Okay, yeah. Do that and let me know but I'm sure you’re right. I’ll tell Hop. I don’t know what it means yet but at least it’s something.”

The second crime scene was in the middle of nowhere and took Steve over an hour to get to and since it was so late into October the sun was already starting to go down by the time he pulled his car in next to Hopper’s SUV. He was definitely going to be late to work.

This victim was female and unlike their previous one, her body had probably been laying there all day before someone had finally discovered it, a product of the off the beaten path location. She was curled on her side rather than laid out flat on her back, but otherwise the two scenes were pretty similar. It was clearly another body dump, as things were far too clean, the woman had to have been attacked elsewhere. Just like the previous victim, this one too carried multiple fresh vampire bites. Steve hadn’t taken the time yet to measure them but he knew without a doubt when he did he would find they were all different sizes.

Hopper stood close by while Steve examined the body, telling him about his own meeting the night before with Jason Carver of the Order of the Eternal. It seemed like the police had gotten the better end of the deal on that split, as their sit-down had been uneventful and not lasted more than five minutes.

The long and short of it was that Jason claimed not to know anything. He said he hadn’t sensed ANY new master level vamps in town, which, fine. Eddie hadn’t sensed their rogue master vampire murderer either, but there were in fact new master vampires in town. Steve had met two of them last night. So either Jason was lying, or he wasn’t powerful enough to sniff out Max and Argyle. Either way, Carver wasn’t going to be any help to them with this case. Steve wasn’t surprised.

He didn’t say any of that to Hopper though, only nodded along as the older man talked. He didn’t like lying to him or keeping him in the dark but Steve was almost sure that the two new vampires had nothing to do with these murders. The problem was, they fit the profile Steve himself had suggested and he didn’t want the police to get distracted in solving this crime by thinking they had discovered viable suspects.

“Eddie wasn’t much more help than that, he isn’t aware of any new masters in town either. I asked him to get in touch with me if that ever changes but that’s about it.”

“Hmm” Hopper hummed in acknowledgement. “It was a good thought but I guess us mere humans are on our own with this one, just like always.”

The sun had fully set as they talked and Steve was forced to use the flashlight on his cell phone to see well enough to measure the bites on the woman’s arm. It was difficult to balance the device in one hand and measure with the other and it occurred to him that he could probably pull on the power he shared with Eddie and be able to see in the dark just fine. It would certainly make his task easier but the more stubborn part of his brain argued that it wasn’t a good enough reason to use the thing he most despised.

He rested his measuring hand lightly on the body and he inched the tape measure out with two fingers. He realized too late that he could have asked Hopper to hold the light, but he was already here and managing so it was fine.

It was fine, until the skin beneath his hand became softer somehow, more alive in a way he couldn’t quite describe. His gaze flicked up to the woman’s face and Steve gasped. He could have sworn that a moment ago she had looked terrible. Drawn, skin a little gray and eyes sunken. Now she looked like she could wake up any minute. As if she’d been walking along this stretch of road and decided to lay down and take a nap.

“Hey, Hop?” Steve called out, voice a little shaky. “Does she look…different to you?”

“Now that you mention it, sorta looks like she’s asleep. What do you make of it?” Hopper said, sounding a little nervous as well.

Steve’s heart rate picked up. He had the sinking feeling that he’d been wrong to assume that these victim’s wouldn’t rise as vampires and may have made a very deadly error in judgment.

“Where did you take the man’s body?” He rushed the question out, terrified of the answer. “The victim from yesterday. Is he at the regular morgue or the one reserved for vampire victims?”

His only hope now was that they hadn’t listened to him.

It was standard procedure to take any victim with a vampire bite to a special morgue in the city that was equipped with a safe room for any bodies who might potentially rise after their death. Steve had told Hopper that these victim’s were safe, but now he wasn’t sure.

“The vamp one I think. Damnit, kid. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Unfortunately, yes. You have to call over there right now, Hop. If I was wrong about this, he could have risen tonight. If they don't have him locked up…” Steve trailed off, taking a deep breath. “I’ve never heard of a vampire rising after an attack like this, I don't know if he’ll be a normal vampire or some out of control revenant.”

“Fuck!” Hopper cursed, stepping away to make the call.

Steve rose to his feet, wiping his suddenly clammy hands off on his pants, and waited.

Hopper was pacing back and forth about 15 feet away with his phone pressed tightly to his ear. He hadn’t uttered a word yet that Steve could hear, and he braced himself for the worst. Finally, the chief came jogging back, a grim look on his face.

“I called three times. No answer. Any chance they’re out to lunch, er, dinner?”

Steve shook his head. “Someone should be there, there’s supposed to be a staff member on site overnight in case someone wakes up. I need to get over there right now.” He turned ready to rush to his car until Hopper intercepted him.

“No chance, kid. We’ll go over there together. You ride with me, I can get us there quicker.”

Steve didn’t like it but he wasn’t the one in charge here, even if this was all his fault. He nodded and got into the passenger seat of the police SUV. Hopper was giving orders to the few remaining officers on the scene, likely telling them to take caution with this body for all the obvious reasons.

Minutes later they were careening down the highway at top speed headed back into the city with the full show of lights and sirens going when Steve’s phone rang. He wasn’t going to answer it and briefly considered throwing the damn thing out the window of the moving car just to make the irritating sound stop, but it was work calling and a glance at the clock told him he was very, very late.

Steve sighed and answered, “Dad?”

“Steven, I…What’s all that noise?”

Fuck. “Police sirens.”

“Why do they sound so close?”

Steve sighed, pressing the heel of his hand hard into his forehead as he tried to keep his cool. “Because I'm inside of a police car.” Idiot. “Look, before you start yelling I…”

“I’m not calling to yell at you, I'm just calling to let you know that when you didn’t call and didn’t show up I took matters into my own hands.”

Steve wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. “What does that mean?” He asked.

“I convinced Wayne to come out of retirement, on a part time basis at least. I sent him out on your appointments.”

“Didn’t I have three raisings booked for tonight?”

“Yes, why?”

Steve pulled the phone away from his mouth and growled a little in frustration. He wanted to say, because Wayne is getting old and tired, and Steve wasn’t convinced he could raise more than one zombie per night now let alone three, but he loved and respected Wayne too much to say all that out loud.

“Nothing, just, isn’t that a lot for someone who’s been out of it for a while?” Steve settled on saying, it was a fair enough question

His dad made a little huff over the line before responding. “If you’re that worried, then I suggest you hurry up with whatever it is you're doing with that awful police chief and meet him at your next appointment.”

Steve would try to do just that, but he didn't appreciate his father’s tone.

“Fine.”

“Oh, Steven, I almost forgot. I also have a message for you. You got a call at the office– something about an emergency staking at the vamp morgue. It seems they had a victim brought in who turned out to have a dying will?”

“When did that come in?”

“A few hours ago.”

“Why didn’t someone call me right away?!” Steve shouted.

“Well, If you’d showed up to work when you were supposed to you would have gotten it right away.”

He wanted to reach through the phone and tear his father's head off. He settled for hanging up on him without saying another word. It wasn’t a fair trade but at least this way he might keep his job.

Chapter 14

Thank you @penny00dreadful 😘

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