Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[Transylvania, 2017]

Tony hummed as he pins in a new article on his cork board, attaching one end of a yarn to it and linking it to a photo of a map with the other end. He heard the sound of a click, and the turning of the door knob before looking towards the door to find his room mate finally arriving.

The blond grinned, "Hey Adam," he said, "had a nice summer?"

"Found my dad, and had to shut down some Hair company that attacked us, so total coin toss, to be honest." Adam deadpanned, and Tony didn't seem that surprised, as they did exchange emails over the break. The wild-haired brunette stared at the corkboard, its contents added up compared to the last time he'd seen it. "Dude. Please tell me you left this room at least once and saw some sights over the summer."

Tony smiled crookedly, chagrined. "Er, if by sights, you mean other ancient vaults that aren't being used these days, then..." He trailed off at his friend's exasperated expression.

"No, that is not what I meant at all." Adam said, dragging his luggage to his side of the room. "If I had known you'd spend your entire summer proving vampires existed, I would've talked you into going home more."

Tony snorted, going to his desk where other sheets of paper laid. "Not so much a home, since mom and dad are settling their divorce papers and talking about their share of properties." he grumbled.

"I—" Adam paused, blinking. He knew that Tony's parents were going through a rough spot, but he didn't think it was that bad. He felt a bit guilty now, even though he knew Tony wouldn't hold it against him; being able to mend his broken family. "Sorry, man. But, dude, finding vampires? Is this really how you want to go about coping?"

Tony sighed, "It's not about coping, man. Well... Maybe, now, in a way it is. Keeps me distracted but... Even before my parents started arguing a lot, I've been doing this." He glared a bit at his friend, "I'm still wondering why you're not helping me; they rescued you too, you know."

Adam groaned, running his hand through his hair. Tony was talking about that one time, in their elementary years. They were both dealing with their bullies, that day. With reasons, which Adam knew only now after his summer, his legs went out of his control and he went running off the safe course from Tony, and into the forest instead. The bullies on the bikes went after him, while the rich McAshtons continued pursuit of the blond, hence why Tony couldn't go after him. Even if he wanted to, Adam was running too fast anyway. Because of that, he managed to escape his bullies, but still couldn't stop running... Till he slammed into a tree.

According to Tony, when he managed to get away from the rich pricks and went looking for Adam, the brunette was still unconscious and being surrounded by bears. Tony thought he was done for, for sure.  That is, until two vampires swooped in to his rescue, one went about screwing with the feral beasts while the taller one carried Adam to a safer distance.

Tony rushed towards them, when a wolf got in his path. He backtracked, only to slip up a slope and ended up in the same kill circle Adam was rescued from. The vampire who was still in the middle of playing distraction seemed peeved about this, but still did the job of resolving the situation; deciding to finally go with the 'flight' option opposed to the 'fight' one.

"Dude, I said it once, I'll say it again, in the nicest way possible as your longest friend in this boarding school," Adam started, "you have the wildest imaginations; it was dark, you were seeing things. Say vampires did exist, how does that explain why two would come to our rescue out of the goodness of their hearts instead of just feeding on us themselves?"

Tony rolled his eyes, gesturing to the corkboard. "Why do you think I'm tracking them down?" He said, "To ask them myself! And, now, I can tell you for certain, I know what I saw."

"Really?" Adam raised a brow in disbelief, "What happened to the 'He casted a sleep spell' plot? Dude, if you want to get this out of your system, just write a damn book. You can go into a creative writing course, or something, best use of your imagination there."

The blond stood up, and went back to the corkboard. He unpinned one of the newest piece of paper and shoved it to Adam. He huffed, crossing his arms.

"What's this?" Adam snorted, casting a quick look at the contents. "More of your vampire fan... art." He trailed off, frowning at the design of one of the characters. Either the blond was getting better in drawing, or...

Tony breaks in his reverie, "I've been having dreams over the years, only that they've suddenly become more vivid now. That's a rough sketch of the two that saved us," he said. "And judging by your reaction, I'd say I'm not the only one dreaming."

"This" Adam frowned, handing the sketch back. "doesn't mean anything. Maybe you were just dreaming obscured versions of cartoon characters we used to watch together a lot."

Tony groaned, tossing his hands in the air. "Just!" He started, "Just... listen. School won't start, officially, for another month, to give time for students to return, and new ones to settle in. Come with me, to this new lead I found. I'm sure it's a good one this time. If it's still a bust I promise to—" he frowned, pausing thoughtfully. "—to tone done the quote 'obsession' unquote."

"Couldn't just forget about it completely, huh?" Adam deadpanned, with a raised brow. He sighed, "Fine, I'll take it. It's a start to getting through to you completely."

Tony grinned, instantly cheered by the agreement. "Great!" He turned towards his bed to grab a knapsack, before standing in front of Adam once more. "Let's go!"

"What," Adam balked, staring at his friend and the bag. "You mean 'now'? Dude! I just got back!"

Tony rolled his eyes, grabbing his friend's wrist. "Fine, we'll grab a snack before we head out."

"The cafeteria isn't available yet."

"Duh," Tony snorted, "there's a diner at that gas station. It's near a forest path leading up to where the site is, so we'll save time by covering a distance from it at least."

Adam made a face, shaking his head and wondering why, again, he was friends with a vampire fanatic. Oh, that's right, he snorted to himself, He accept you, big feet, weird quirks, and all... He sighed, smiling slightly and deciding to offer the same favor whole-heartedly for once.

Chapter Text

Rudolph grunted in frustration as Anna went about dressing him for the big celebration tonight.

"It's just another stupid birthday, I was sixteen years old last century, last decade, last year, and I'm sixteen year old for another cycle of it." Rudolph groused as Anna detached his cape, "same routine, same clan members visit, same agenda, same sameness."

Anna rolled her eyes as she fixed the collar, "Not entirely, dear brother," she chided, "we are also celebrating Gregory's betrothal to Lady Mavis."

Yeah, I'm sure Gregory's ecstatic about the arrangement, Rudolph snorted, almost amused as he wondered what their older brother was going to do about it. He nearly made a joke out of it, but stopped himself, as Anna hadn't the foggiest inkling to understand it. She tended to be a prude at times, so Gregory didn't feel it was wise to let her know.

The only reason why Rudolph knew at all was because he caused it, in a way. After all, it was Rudolph who, instead of being a model son for once, went off during his birthday while his clan had been gathering, and Gregory was just sent out to find him, as much as he agreed that Rudolph was old enough to take care of himself. When Gregory finally found him, and tried getting him to behave long enough to drag him back to the vault, they heard a loud racket, and humans chasing each other for some reasons.

For some strange reasons, at that time, Gregory felt a magnetic pull, feeling drawn to the area. Rudolph, taken aback by his brother's sudden out of character behavior, followed him warily. He loved the thrill of being out the vault, flying high and exploring different places, but he is as careful as he can be not to be caught by humans.

And at that time, because of some inexplicably unexpected random desire for Gregory, they ended up saving two humans that night. Fortunately, only one of the two was conscious to see them, but Rudolph was able to put the guy into a trance of sort and had him pass out, too. Though, he didn't normally work on the spell, so he wasn't entirely sure that the human forgot about the incident entirely. A moot point, either way, as Gregory now dragged him as a back up of sorts, when he went out to stalk one of those humans they saved.

"Now, stay here. I'm not quite done," Anna said, giving her brother a glare to which Rudolph just rolled his eyes at, "I need to check with mother about something. Do not go anywhere."

Rudolph waved her off, dismissively. "Stake my heart, hope to die." he said flatly.

Anna snorted at that, half-amused, before floating off.

As soon as she was out of the room, Rudolph went about undressing and redressing to his usual clothes. He debated on throwing out the removed fancy ensemble entirely, but decided against it. It meant something to mother, and maybe some centuries later, he'd grow to appreciate it. But it wasn't going to be at present. He placed the outfit inside his own coffin, before heading out, making sure to avoid running into his family─

"Rudolph!"

The vampire sighed at his brother's harsh call, but figured it could've been worse. It could've been Anna with a stake... He thought. He turned around, grinning at his brother and thinking of some smart opening, when he realized something off. "Aren't you supposed to be in, what Anna calls, your 'party clothes'?"

"Parties are meant to be fun; I highly doubt that's happening tonight," Gregory growled, appraising his brother. "Well, I'm please that she has yet to force you into yours. Come along."

Rudolph was about to refute him, when he stopped at Gregory's demanding tone. "Come... where? I doubt mother or father would be happy, seeing us less than presentable for the occasion."

"As if you really care about that," Gregory rolled his eyes, before grabbing Rudolph's hand. "Now make haste; my dearest has returned."

Rudolph openly showed his disgust, shaking his head. "Years of stalking, and you have yet to learn his name." he muttered, "and why must you drag me into every single one of your excursions?"

"Kill two birds with one stone, in this case, three; I'll be able to see him again, while keeping an eye on you since you're heading out anyway, and if father and mother wonders where we went, I can always say I went to look for you."

Rudolph was snorting at the first two, before balking at the last point, "You're blatantly admitting to using me as your scapegoat? I can't even..."

"Hush, you're used to it." Gregory flew higher up to the ceiling, avoiding detection by the incoming arrivals of their other clansmen. When they found a small gaping hole, they flew passed it in single-file. The older vampire turned to his brother, "At least this way, I can talk father into myself being the one to discipline you, without really doing that."

Rudolph snorted, but had to concede accepting fake discipline was better than being reprimanded for real. "I still don't understand why you're so smitten by a mortal," he said as they started flying further from their home, "I mean, you hate mortals almost as much as father."

"I already explained it to you; why you have yet to comprehend it is beyond me."

"Ah yes," Rudolph gestured his arms vaguely, before transforming into a bat as his brother followed suit. "The whole Zing thing, got it. Would've been much easier if you just had that with Lady Mavis; she's actually more attractive, you know."

Gregory grunted, silently agreeing with his brother. Still, it doesn't change the fact that his affections have already been taken. All I have to do is turn him, once the opportunity presents itself, He thought determinedly, Then, everything will turn out all right... Gregory pointedly ignored the other issue regarding Mavis Dracula.

Nevertheless, things were about to get very not all right.

Chapter Text

"I am going to kill him." Anna groused as she returned in the room, finding Rudolph gone and, checking his coffin for him, finding that he wasted her efforts of helping him get ready. "I will need to get a stake ready once he returns."

Freda fretted, as Frederick sighed in exasperation, already turning to inform the Count and his daughter about the issue. "It's nice for Gregory to take the initiative, but I do wish he had told us first." she admitted, "where has Rudy gone off now?"

"Shall I fly out as well to look for them?" Anna asked, a little bit eager.

Freda smiled kindly to her daughter, "Thank you for the thoughtfulness, dear, but I don't believe your father would be pleased. It's bad enough your older brothers are missing," she said. "he wouldn't want you flying out yourself."

"Father doesn't want us doing anything," Anna snorted, but obliged. "So, shall I simply help you see to our guests?"

Freda gives Anna a quick embrace, "If you'd be so kind."

Anna flies out to the central chambers, where most of the clan, along with the two Draculas, are being gathered. The designated hunters for the night have just returned, and everyone have just started feasting on bears, cows, and fawns.

Anna was grateful that their family are in very good terms with the Draculas. "I'm terribly sorry for my daft brothers, Mavis." she sighed, "Honestly, sometimes I can't believe I'm related with them."

"Oh, that's okay, Anna." Mavis smiled at her, sincerely. Truthfully, she wasn't keen on being intended for Gregory but didn't know how to admit to it without offending their closest family friends. "I hope your brother is okay, though."

Anna smiled back, grateful for her good grace. "Trust me, once I get through to him, he won't be."

──────────────────────────────────

"Hey man," Tony started, placing their order down. "good news—"

Adam forestalled, "—you decided to call this whole thing off, but still getting me free dinner anyway? Sweet." He smirked, before taking his burger.

"Okay, no." Tony scowled, "and you knew that was gonna be way off the mark."

"Worth a shot."

"Anyway, thing is, I talked to a guy, he's a backpacker." Tony continued, stabbing a fork to his steak. "I asked him to guide us to the vault, since it's one of his itineraries."

Adam narrowed his eyes, "Are you serious?" He shook his head, "Dude, don't just ask random strangers for help. They could be a serial killer, for all you kno─" he trailed off.

Looking passed Tony, Adam sees a man enter the diner and as he was the only one present with a fully equipped bagpack, Adam had to assume he was their guide. He stumbled on his shoelaces, but merely got up and laughed it off. The man sees to recognized Tony, easy to remember. As he was wearing his trademark red jacket and was the only blond present right now, he made his way towards their booth. 

"Okay fine," Adam scowled at Tony's smug expression, "He's goofy. But being a doofus doesn't make him innocent. Could be faking it, after all."

The guy finally arrived in front of their booth, "Whazzup little homies?" He grinned, "Better fill up; the vault we're heading to is a bit of a trek."

"Already on it, Johnny." Tony said, "you order something for yourself. We'll watch your bagpack while you do."

Johnny tugged on the straps, a bit possessively. "Whoops, sorry. No can do, I can take it with me." he went through his pockets to fish out twenty dollars.

"Uh, dude, it looks heavy..."

Johnny waved it off, and head towards the counter. "Nah, I'm good." 

"How much you wanna bet he keeps a chopped up dead body in there?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "He's not a serial killer."

"Your funeral," Adam shrugged, although admittedly, he doubted it too. "you're walking beside him then."

──────────────────────────────────

"Where is he?"

Rudolph sighed as his brother climbed into the small room. He waited outside, seated at the window sill, beneath the shadows of the old Academy building. He watched as the sun started to set over the horizon. It's been centuries, and he's forgotten what it felt like when the sun wasn't trying to kill you.

"He's not here." Gregory flew out, and Rudolph raised a brow. That fact was obvious on the get-go; the room was small, if the humans weren't immediately seen then they weren't in. "why isn't he here?"

Rudolph shook his head, "They're mortals; unlike us vampires, they don't stay put... Well, in this case, like us." he shrugged, "We can check on them later, right now, let's explore the woodland." He started towards the said area.

Gregory sighed, but he didn't really have a reason to refuse him. It was better than making their way back to the vault, and figuring out how to slip out again later. He followed after his brother. 

Unbeknownst to them, their presence were being tracked by a radar, in a van only a few miles away.

──────────────────────────────────

"Now, I think we just need to make a left turn at the corner... Or maybe, this is right?" Johnny muttered, "uh, I'm pretty sure this compass works. Does it work?"

Tony took a look himself, as Adam sighed in exasperation. For one thing, they were at a clearing. Whatever corner the man meant, it wasn't seen. So he decided to voice out the obvious; that they were lost.

"I knew this was a bad idea," The brunette shook his head, "totally called it. Plus, it's getting dark, we should probably turn back while we're, you know, alive."

Tony, all too used to his friend's buzzkill, simply waved a dismissive hand. "We made it this far," he reasoned, "might as well see it through. If you're still hungry, I've got some sandwiches."

"Perfect, something to distract the wolves when they come down on us."

"Don't jinx us, Negative Nancy." Tony rolled his eyes, and left Johnny to restudy the map as he faced his friend. "now if you don't want to help us get back on track, at least think positive instead."

Adam snorted, "Sure, because positive thinking does wonders." he said. "So, I just say we'll definitely run into some vampires tonight and we will, right?"

"That's the idea," Tony humored him, pointedly ignoring the sarcasm. "while you're at it, you can specify how we meet them."

Adam groaned, shaking his head. He hears a racket above, probably birds flying to their nests. But since it was almost night, maybe they were bats as they were nocturnal creatures compared to birds.

Now, there was an idea.

"Hey, hear thaaaat?" Adam drawled, "maybe we've got some vampire bats up there. How about climbing trees instead of going all the way to this vault?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Sure, or you could call them down here and ask them to show us the way to the vault instead."

Suddenly, as if summoned by his words, two bodies dropped in the middle of the clearing. The three screamed, backing away from the center. A smaller body crawled out of the larger one, and his wide eyes met Tony's. The blonds eyes widened as well.

He had fangs.

"You... Please, help us."

Chapter Text

It happened all of the sudden.

Gregory and Rudolph made use of their time, racing through the forest for the luxury of free space, something they were deprived with their father's mandate of remaining hidden from the mortal world. There were no roads or man-made paths to trek in this part of the woods, so the vampires figured they were pretty safe. Plus, humans didn't normally go wandering about at night, considering them as mostly morning frolickers. And that assumption was enough for them to drop their guards, falling prey to vampire hunters.

They had been bantering, Rudolph bringing up the issue with Lady Mavis, if nothing else but to rile up his brother for the fun of it, when a particularly blinding beam of light struck Gregory. Next thing he knew, he had to fly off to escape while carrying his brother's body. Which kept getting heavier as they went, eventually leading to Rudolph losing his strength to continue and started spiraling downwards.

Leading to their current encounter and predicament.

"And why should we help you?"

"Why SHOULDN'T we help them?" Tony balked, "we can't have them killed; we've been searching for them for years!"

Adam sighed, looking at his friend with a pointed look. "You've been searching for them for years," he corrected. "Plus, they might drink us dry if we don't let the hunters find them."

"Perish the thought!" Rudolph refuted, "my brother wouldn't have it; you're his, I dare say, beloved after all." He rolled his eyes, visibly shuddering and gagging afterwards, "And you're suppose to help him as such!"

Adam gawked, staring at the vampire openly now. "Whoa, I'm his what now?!"

"Homies..." Johnny called out warningly as bright lights started appearing from a distance, and Rudolph immediately shied away, "I think that's them."

Tony panicked, getting between Adam and Rudolph. "We've got to hide them. Johnny, you don't happen to have a picnic blanket there, do you?"

"No, but, uh, I've got something." Johnny turned towards the vampires, "Sorry in advance, okay?"

An old but sprightly man came running in, with a tall lanky redhead following him at his heels. He stopped short, not expecting to see humans like him when he got to the clearing stood with a pile of clothes at the middle.

"What the..." He blinked, looking at his companion. "Egads, that stench." The man huffed, covering his nose and mouth.

The curly redhead shrugged. "My bad homies, last day of camping. They fell out. I know, stuff due for a fluff and fold." Johnny said. "Just need the dough for it."

The old man ignored him, turning to his companion. "Maney, you said you saw them fall this way."

Maney frowned, covering his nose himself. "No, I believe you said you thought you saw them fall this way." He corrected, "I just said let's take a look."

"Ahem," Tony coughed into his hand, breathing through his mouth. "uh, can we help you with anything?"

Maney nodded, stepping forward. "Yes, in fact. You didn't happen to see some..." He trailed off.

"Maney, shhshh!" The old man hissed, glaring at him. "Don't just... They're going to think we're crazy!"

The redhead rubbed the back of his neck. "Isn't this all crazy, Mr. Rookery sir?"

"Ack," The man, Rookery, shook his head in disbelief. "let me cut to the chase. We're monster hunters, or more to the point, vampire hunters. Yes, they exist. Have you seen a pair fall from the sky earlier?"

Tony continued breathing through his mouth, nudging Adam to say his line because he was the only one present who could do it with a straight face and come off believing. The brunette huffed, breathing the same way Tony was. Only Johnny was breathing normally.

"If you meant bats, no we haven't seen them." Adam grunted, "if you want vampires, maybe try a library or book shop. Just a tip; check out the horror section."

Rookery grumbled, not at all pleased with being ridiculed. He dismissed them completely and departed, or maybe it was just to get away from the stench of Johnny's laundry. Once they were out of earshot, Rudolph flew out of the pile of clothes, flinging them off to the side revealing Gregory slowly coming to.

"Air!" Rudolph gasped, "Heavens help me, mortals are absolutely repulsive."

All mortals cried out an indignant "Hey!" at that.

"But also yeah," Adam added, glaring at Johnny. "burn all that stuff away! Or, at the very least, back in your pack where we can't smell them!" He hissed, which broke into a scream when he felt a sudden grip on his wrist. "Shit! Wha-!"

Gregory was awake, and the one holding him. "It's you," He smiled, "Finally..." He leaned forward.

"Whoa now!" Adam yelped, trying to pull his hand away. When that didn't work, he went for slapping the vampire instead. "Time out, vampire man!" He broke free from his hold, and ran towards his friend. "Tony!"

The blond nodded in unneeded agreement. "That's right, time out. Before all that making out stuff, I've got questions." He pulled out a notepad from his jacket pocket. "and you guys have the answers."

"TONY!" Adam groaned, "wrong track!"

Johnny made placating gestures, "Whoa-kay, my dudes," he drawled. "like my mom always tell me, baby steps. First, intro." He turned to the undeads. "I'm Johnny."

"Rudolph Sackville-Bagg," The smaller vampire supplied, still glaring at the curly redhead spitefully. "not a pleasure."

Gregory was frowning in confusion, but introduced himself either way. "Gregory, his older brother." He said, before looking at Adam once more, eyes beaming hopefully. "and you?"

"Not interested." Adam deadpanned, eyes narrowed distrustfully at the older vampire.

Tony rolled his eyes, turning to his friend. "He meant your name, Adam."

"I know what he meant!" The brunette hissed.

The blond snorted, "What is your deal, man?" He asked. "So the vampire has a crush on you, so what?"

"I beg your pardon," Gregory held up a hand, with a finger raised. "but I do not wish to crush him. I wish to cherish and love hi─"

"Too much information!" Adam interrupted. "Too much!"

Rudolph rolled his eyes at the antics, turning to his brother to make a dry comment before blinking. "Whoa Gregory," he started, floating towards him. "your skin... It's recovered. They were scorched earlier."

"Ah, yes." Gregory seemed to realize this, "I was told that being close to your Zing speeds up the healing qualities in a vampire."

Tony spoke up at that, "Whoa, this is so cool. You guys are actually vampires!" He grinned, "so, what does a Zing mean in vampire speak?"

"There is no 'vampire speak.' There is just 'speak.'" Gregory dismissed, "But to answer, it pertains to one's destined mate."

Adam was really starting to lose his mind.

"Cool baby steps bros..." 

Chapter Text