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Continuing to follow Daniel Molloy after he'd erased his memories of their time together was often a special kind of torture, a prison of his own making that Armand willingly returned to time and time again. Brushing his mind and not seeing a single thought of him there. Watching him move on with his life, which is exactly what he'd wanted for him, but having to see it happen was a different kind of pain entirely. Staring from afar as his boy continued to make terrible decisions, interceding on his behalf regularly. Worse of all, being unable to do anything as Daniel kissed other people in clubs, slept around, went on to marry Alice, father her children.
He'd long since lost count of the number of times he'd forced himself not to drag Alice off, drain her right then and there. The only thing that had stopped him had been finding out she was with child, and as seething with jealousy as he'd been, Armand had drawn the line at murdering Daniel's child.
It was his very own addiction, continuing to watch Daniel from the shadows despite his own heart tearing itself into pieces. At some point he became numb to it, focusing on the entertainment of their failing marriage — it also helped to take his mind away from his own failing marriage. Daniel was the cause of it of course, so cold and uncaring to Alice's feelings, prioritising his work over them and their child, regularly hooking up with men behind her back (Armand would drain them soon after, every single one, tasting memories of Daniel's pleasure in their blood). When he went home to Louis, he'd enjoy the brief details and updates on Daniel's life, and it almost felt like they were bonding over something again, the illusion of happiness.
Alice had finally divorced him. Armand lingered as Daniel moped about, feeling all sorry for himself but deep down, he didn't really miss her. He'd been a terrible father to their child as well. What he missed was the illusion of normal life, the American Dream, a perfect nuclear family that his parents always wanted for him before they cut contact. It was nothing like the complete devastation he'd felt when Armand had forced himself to leave for good.
It felt good, he revelled in Daniel's misery, the thought that without him, he would never be happy, no one would compare. So selfish, he'd always been. As if it weren't Armand's own fault he was in this situation. It'd become a terrible habit, draining the majority of those who Daniel hooked up with. Anything to calm the fury boiling in his chest.
Coping with the meaningless, casual sex was a lot easier for him to handle. It was only when from across the other side of the cafe, Armand spotted a girl sit at the table opposite Daniel. How could he not have seen this coming? He was always going to move on, start dating again. It didn't change how he felt his pupils vibrate while watching them, involuntarily shifting through the girl's thoughts.
Bianca. Already, a name familiar from far in his past, that resurfaced old feelings he wished to ignore. She'd been working in the same office as Daniel, and he'd asked her out on a date, which she had clearly accepted. Her thoughts whirled — she was nervous, wanting to impress him. She thought of his handsome beauty, how she found him funny. Armand was still as a statue, his nostrils flaring, claws digging into the table before him.
Daniel's thoughts were worse to listen to. Much more filthy, he wanted to take her home, she would sit on his lap in that short skirt. He'd pull her panties aside and fill her up with his cock. Listen to her shrieks and cries as he pushed her down on the sofa, the slap of his hips into hers, the slick slide of his cock in her tight, wet cunt…
Armand's lip twitched, his nose turning up as he huffed and pushed himself up from the table, striding angrily out the door. His fangs dropped and he snarled, turning into an alley and catching stray thoughts from nearby. Before he could think properly, Armand's hand was thrust into the chest of the source of those thoughts, an unknowing alcoholic leaning against the wall. The force not only pushed the guy back into the brick, but plunged his hand straight through his chest cavity. With no time to scream or even be aware of his fate, the guy collapsed in a spray of his own blood, mumbling incoherently as it filled his mouth and the life left his eyes.
Pure, untamed rage vibrated through Armand. His eyes were wild as he cradled the still beating heart in his hand, sinking his fangs into the dying flesh. The small amount of living blood left trickled down his throat, and when Armand felt it go stale, he tossed the organ into the nearest dumpster. Blood stained his lips and his chin, so unlike him to feed like this, so carelessly, like a pathetic, newborn fledgling.
Life carried on for a while, Armand managed to successfully distract himself by pretending he and Louis were happy together. Letting himself get fucked with his mind discreetly closed off, so Louis would be unaware he was picturing him as Daniel. It wasn't as if his companion were innocent himself, Armand was fully aware he was regularly swapped for Lestat in Louis' imagination when they were intimate.
A few months he'd managed without following Daniel. Armand could almost convince himself he was over him, that he was fine with him seeing other people. But as it seemed with this particular addiction, he could never stay away for long. Before he knew it, he was right back to standing over Daniel's bed as he slept in his shitty apartment, staring directly at him the entire night.
Not long after that occasion, Armand found himself trailing behind Daniel on his way back from work. Absentmindedly, he wondered if he was still seeing the same girl from before. He hoped he wasn't. Recently he'd been neglecting to read Daniel's thoughts as often as usual, fearing for what he'd find. The usual absence of himself, and longing for someone who wasn't him.
The route Daniel was taking wasn't the usual one he took home. Armand knew it by heart. He headed to a bus stop, hopping onto the bus as it pulled in, followed by several others. Confused but curious, Armand blended in with the others piling onto the bus behind Daniel, mindfucking the driver to let him on without a ticket. The bus pulled away from the path, jolting everyone slightly, and Armand winced as the crowd suffocated him. All these sweaty, disgusting humans. Somehow he managed to slip between them so that he was standing directly behind Daniel, who was getting his Walkman and headphones from his backpack. He didn't even notice Armand almost pressed entirely along the back of his body as he plugged the headphones in, putting them on his head and pressing play. His boy was so clueless to how Armand was inhaling his scent like he was starving, ears tuned in to the pulsing of his blood through his veins, hands itching to touch what was his.
Then Daniel's phone began to ring, and he sighed, pushing the headphones aside and holding the brick device to his ear. "Yeah, baby? That you?"
Armand inhaled sharply. Daniel used to call him that. What could ever persuade him that this random human woman deserved the title that was his and his alone. Why did she think she deserved Daniel?
"Yeah, work was fine. Just on the bus. Comin' over."
Of course. Armand felt his fangs itch at his gums, threatening to poke through. Catching Daniel's thoughts was a bad idea — they'd been dating for a while now, he seemed to like her to some extent, at least whatever illusion of stability she provided as well as the opportunity for sex. Which, knowing Daniel as he did, hadn't stopped him from getting that elsewhere, multiple times, since he'd started dating this girl. It brought a smirk to Armand's lips — Daniel had never considered anyone else, not even once, when they'd been together. He'd come close during the times Armand would leave for an extended time, but Armand had been in his mind, and he'd always stayed loyal.
Sometimes, Armand would consider whether Daniel even liked women at all. He often seemed miserable, as if he were going through a routine. Continuing an obligation for a sense of stability, the occasional moment of happiness. Almost in the same way he'd been enduring with Louis.
Going by the look of Bianca's apartment, she was clearly well off, or had well off parents. It was spacious and way too large for a single person, which was a bonus for Armand as there were plenty of places for him to hide. Why he'd continued following Daniel here, he didn't even know anymore. Maybe he just loved torturing himself. Pain was a familiar feeling. Happiness was not.
They were kissing on the sofa. Daniel was talking about his work, as usual, and while Bianca was interested, Armand sensed her slight frustration at not being able to get a word in herself. It was something she appeared to be thinking about often, that Daniel had a tendency to only talk about himself and barely pay attention when she got the opportunity to talk about her life. That brought Armand back to fond memories of Daniel's adoring gaze as he rambled to him about random topics, random technology he'd become obsessed with.
A movie was being put on, Daniel's choice of course. His girlfriend had resigned to laying on his shoulder, a hand on his thigh. The thoughts began to rise to the surface of his mind — he could drag her right off of his Daniel, sink his fangs into her throat and rip it out. Drink in her screams as he discarded her dying body on the floor and fucked Daniel right in front of her.
Armand had become so lost in his fantasies he failed to notice things begin to heat up. He ground his teeth together, fangs dropping and piercing his lip as this insignificant woman kissed what was his, touched him, removed his shirt. Armand's claws dug into the plaster of the wall beside him, leaving marks. He bared his fangs subconsciously, pupils surely vibrating at an alarming speed.
"Yes, yes, fuck me, please!"
A low growl rumbled from his throat, he couldn't even see Daniel anymore, just the back of the couch and Bianca's naked breasts as she clearly sat on his cock. Her moans were loud and pornographic, and definitely exaggerated to an extent. Armand could tell when someone was playing up their pleasure for the benefit of the other, and he didn't wish to remember precisely how he'd become so good at knowing that.
The noise was unbearable. The creak of the sofa, her ridiculous moans completely drowning out any noises Daniel made. Rage was boiling in him now, claws having scratched deep marks into the wall. Armand was on his feet, fangs fully bared, barely in control of his own body. He was in the kitchen the next moment, a huge bread knife in his hands. Even from in here he could still hear her. Another growl tore from him and he stormed back into the spacious living room, consumed by pure, untamed fury.
When Armand towered over the woman on top of Daniel, brandishing the knife, it was as if he were merely a passenger in his own body. Rage, jealousy, white hot, Daniel was his and his alone. No one else would touch what was his.
It took Bianca a moment to notice his presence, but when she did, she recoiled as a terrified scream began to escape her. Piercing orange eyes, a dark, murderous glare, the gleam of the blade in Armand's hand were the last things she saw before he cut her off mid-scream, slicing her head clean off her body. Sick satisfaction pulsed through him, and this was what finally made Daniel notice something was going on, and he lay there in shock, eyes widening in horror as he processed what the fuck was happening in front of him.
Blood splattered over both of them, and the pristine white sofa. Daniel lay there, heaving, eyes locked with Armand's and filled with a multitude of unreadable emotions. With a sadistic grin and flash of his fangs, Armand strode around the sofa and tossed the headless, blood covered corpse of Daniel's girlfriend off of him and onto the floor. His fangs on full display now, trails of blood running down his face as he growled like a feral animal when Daniel met his gaze again.
"What the fuck, man?!" Daniel finally shrieked, but when Armand glanced down, it appeared that Daniel's erection hadn't flagged one bit the whole ordeal — in fact, he was harder than he had been before.
Armand hissed at him, towering above and ripping his own trousers and pants off. In an instant he was straddling Daniel, now heaving in breaths of his own that he didn't even need to take as he ran his hands across his boy's beautiful blood-covered torso. Daniel stared up at him, eyes wide and there was definitely fear flooding through him, but it was mixed with a delicious rush of arousal.
His eyes slipped shut for a moment, relishing the way his claws dug into Daniel's skin, breaking it and making the boy moan desperately. It hadn't been long since Louis had fucked him, so it was pretty easy to impale himself fully on Daniel's length, using the blood to draw him all the way inside with a breathless cry.
Oh, Daniel was truly divine. His hands gripped Armand's thighs, moans and grunts forced from his lips as Armand lifted and ground his hips like an expert. Trembling and almost screaming his throat raw, Daniel gave as good as he got, fucking his hips up into Armand's tight heat. It took him merely a few thrusts to be falling apart, his back arching up and tears clouding his eyes as his orgasm tore through him. That familiar feeling of Daniel's load filling him to the brim, his brutal grip and those hoarse cries had Armand finishing seconds later.
"Daniel!" the vampire cried out as his claws tore Daniel's flesh, cum shooting up his chest and covering it in even more red. The exertion made him collapse forward, grabbing Daniel's face and shoving their mouths together in a messy kiss. His tongue dove into Daniel's willing mouth, pushing the blood of his dead girlfriend between them as they exchanged long, desperate pecks.
His heart soared, he felt high, most importantly, home. Daniel surely knew who he belonged to now, and the feeling was so much, Armand found himself sinking his fangs into Daniel's throat, right over the scar he and Louis had left many years ago.
Sweet, content mumbles came from Daniel's lips as he drank. That delicious blood, it had been so very long, and Armand relished in the taste of Daniel's awe and arousal at the sight of him.
"Fuck," Daniel muttered, his hands carding through Armand's hair now. "You're a fuckin' vampire."
Armand pulled back, licking the small traces of blood from his lips. "Yes, my beloved."
Daniel's brow furrowed and his eyes went blank for a moment. "Man, that was insane. You're insane! Who are you, man? Why do I feel like I know you?"
The light disappeared from Armand's eyes.
This was his own fault, once again. He may have been able to have Daniel this once, but now he would have to deal with the consequences of his own actions.
Red tears began to cloud his vision. Armand gripped Daniel's hair, and pulled them close together so their noses brushed. The breath was stolen from Daniel, who stared helplessly with those big, adoring eyes.
"Because you do," Armand whispered, a tear falling from his eye to Daniel's cheek. "I am weak. Unable to stay away. I cannot bear it — the sight of you with another."
The gears were turning in Daniel's mind, and Armand could not let him remember. He had to be quick, end it right here and now before more damage was done.
"I will not be so weak again," Armand insisted, the shaking of his voice betraying him. "You will rest, my darling boy, the other half of my soul, knowing that no other will come close to what we had. You will shower yourself, and head home. Your girlfriend ended things, and is moving out of the city. She refuses to contact you again."
His beautiful eyes were clouded over in the familiar trance. Armand's voice continued to tremble as he repeated the words, making Daniel repeat them until they were cemented in his mind.
As he cleaned up the mess when Daniel left, Armand's body thrummed with the pleasure he'd felt in that moment between them earlier. The worst part was that killing Bianca would achieve nothing, and Daniel would simply move onto someone else. Armand swore to himself as he walked the streets that evening that he would get his jealousy under control, and never allow this to happen again.
Of course, he broke that promise the same way he would break the one he'd kept for half a century much later in Daniel's life, fang deep in his neck on a private jet.