Armand

~I /told/ you… I told you they were watching.~

~…I don’t know, but they believe it can. They say they read of such things in an ancient text. The text is in the room with me now, a book of spells and rituals~

~They are taking my blood in large quantities. I… I fear I won’t survive. If I die, I… I love you.~

~Hannibal. Where are you?~ Armand’s voice sounded distant and weak.

~We need his head. Otherwise we would have.~ She looked at Hannibal coldly before turning and leaving him in quiet darkness again.

They all stood near the door. A hand reached through to hand the woman a blood-soaked bag. She tossed it at Hannibal. ~Something to remember him by.~ The bag fell open and Armand’s hands and feet tumbled out.

we tame you as you tamed Armand?~

The snapping was quaint; the brutes had clearly been body builders, turned at the height of their power. Hannibal was strong, but he wasn’t strong enough for the three. One was able to keep Hannibal’s chin still while the other twisted and pried until each fang was free. ~How long, I wonder, until -

They wrenched Hannibal’s arm away from his body, one of the brutes carrying it dripping over his shoulder. Another pulled Hannibal’s head back by the hair roughly, a pair of pliers now taken to his fledgling fangs. “We can’t have you biting. It’s quite rude.”

and your mad little Maker how serious we are.”

“I have no faith that you are serious. We will wait to see if that changes.” She stood, standing over Hannibal as they continued to saw through flesh and bone. Blood swirled down a sloping drain in the center of the room, next to the iron ring Hannibal was chained to. “For now, this will show you -

~That doesn’t work for me.~ She motioned with her hand and the brutes resumed holding Hannibal down tightly, extending his arm out. They began to saw just below the shoulder.

global influence in the human world. Armand was low-hanging fruit; he has what I need, and he’s been driven mad. I need assurances that his blood, his power, is mine to use. In return, perhaps you could also gain a position of influence.~

She smiled again, lifting a brow. She had porcelain skin and white blond hair, inhuman blue eyes that took him in with interest. ~I am a politician. Something that is very difficult to be when I cannot walk in the day. My goal is to build power for our kind, to hold a high enough position to have -

The woman holds up a hand to stop the brutes, though one punches Hannibal hard enough to break his nose to get him to release the bite. ~I’m listening. What would you offer me that I don’t already have?~

gift. He possesses these qualities whether his mind is sharp or not. You simply did not know what you had.”

“We have an interest in his power. I’m sure you’ve realized consuming his blood grants you some time in the daylight. Or haven’t you? You are so young.” They moved forward now, grasping Hannibal by the arms and slamming him back to the ground. “He also has the fire gift; this is not a common -

“As long as you are in our possession, we can wield his power as we like.” She snapped her fingers and three large brutes strolled in. One was holding a saw. “We must bring to Armand something to convince him we are serious.”

“Does he?” She smirked softly, laying her hands on her knee demurely. “Armand has never known what he wants. That is why he is so useful; we can convince him to want the path we like. And now we have you, the ultimate bargaining chip.”

“Just his. There is much your maker hasn’t told you. Much he has to atone for. Haven’t you ever wondered what caused the car accident that ‘forced’ him to turn you?”

“Very worried. Imagine his shock when he didn’t awake in your bed. You drug him often.”

Finally a door opens, the click of heels on the stone floor. A woman pulls up a chair and takes a seat, looking down at Hannibal as she crossed her legs. “So you are the one Armand made. We thought he would never make another, but you… You must be very special.”

No answer. God knows what they were doing to him. They leave Hannibal alone for the remainder of the night and into the day, in a cold stone room, wrists and ankles shackled to an iron ring in the floor.

The ride took several hours. By the end of it, Armand was twitching, trying to wake. The trunk is opened and they’re pulled out roughly, each thrown over a shoulder and smuggled into a stone building. The sun would be rising soon; Hannibal was chained in a dungeon and Armand was taken away from him.

Once the drug takes effect, Hannibal is scooped up too and they are both carried to a car and placed in the trunk.

“We’ve been searching for him for years. It was only once he met you, he surfaced again. We’ve been tracking you both for some time.” Hannibal would feel the pinch of a needle at his neck. “Sometimes mortal drugs are useful. But you know that already; you drug him often.”

While Hannibal was manhandled, a vampire sweeps in and scoops up Armand from the bed. “Foolish fledgling. You thought you knew better than your feral maker?”

Armand relaxed into the pillows, his eyelids fluttering closed as he was tucked in. The moment he began to feel the presence, the room was invaded. Hannibal is thrown against the wall with great force, his arms wrenched behind his back.

“They’re going to wait until you’re asleep. Please… Please stay awake.” He was very upset now.

“They’re… they’re here. Outside,” he whispered, terrified. “I can’t… I can’t help you…”