Boy in the Mist (Vampire BoyxBoy)

Caught

     "What do you think of James?"
     Raymond stared down at the logs that remained from the bonfire, trying his best to avoid eye contact with Isaac. The two of them had been sitting there long after James and Andy had left, but Raymond's pocket watch said it was only about 11. They had started early.
     Isaac shrugged. "He's cool. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you, though. He wouldn't do that on purpose."
     "I'm not worried about that." Raymond paused. "I'm afraid you'll hate me if I tell you what I think of him."
     "I won't. Don't worry."
     "I think he's kinda cute. Like..you know, that kind of cute."
     Isaac couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. "Oh! Well..nothing wrong with that. I think that way about boys sometimes, too. Boys and girls, really."
     "I can't help it. I like punks." Raymond smirked, but it seemed more sinister than it should have been. "I like cute little punk boys like you." He gripped his empty bottle tightly, his long nails digging into his palm.
     Isaac suddenly felt cold. He was about to stand up and leave until Raymond started up again.
     "Do you want to go back to the mausoleum? Just to talk? Look at the notebook, maybe?"
     Isaac bit his lip. He didn't like being out this late, and something about the way Raymond was acting scared him. He wasn't being his polite self. "I, uh..I need to go home and get some sleep. Class starts in two days, and I haven't even read the rules yet."
     "Hm." Raymond didn't look sad or disappointed; in fact, he looked irritated at Isaac's refusal. He stood. "I suppose I should make my way back. I'm starved."
     Isaac thought about offering to walk with him, but decided against it. "Be careful what you eat, considering how sick you got."
     Raymond nodded, his face completely blank. "Okay. Sleep well, Isaac. I'm sorry about all this stress."
     "I don't mind it. Being thrown into action like this might help me get used to the place faster."
     "That's good. Have a nice night. Go study in the morning- I won't bother you again."
     Isaac laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. It's okay. Goodnight, Raymond."
     Raymond started to walk away, and Isaac slowly shuffled towards his house. Once Raymond was far away enough, Isaac stopped. He watched his friend get smaller and smaller, and then started to follow him.
He tried his best to stay as far away as possible, and he stayed hidden behind every tree nearby. He knew it was ridiculous to secretly follow his friend home when he could have just went with him, but he wanted to see where Raymond lived and nothing more. He didn't want another awkward conversation, and most importantly he didn't want to get hurt.
It wasn't long before Raymond stopped at the mausoleum and walked inside. Isaac stayed behind a cluster of trees, watching Raymond's shadow move around. He watched as Raymond sparked a match and lit a lantern, then walked over to the doorway. How did he know there was a lantern there?
Raymond picked up one of the glass bottles and inspected the label. He swished the liquid around, popped the cork off, and smelled it. He paused for a second, then brought the bottle to his lips and drank half of it.
Isaac gasped and stumbled backwards, running into a tree and hitting his arm on a branch. Raymond's shoulders fell and a grin spread across his face.
His teeth looked sharper than normal. Way sharper.
Without thinking, Isaac bolted. The cold wind blew loudly through his ears, and his face was freezing. He felt a small amount of blood trickling down his arm, and that made the lump in his throat even bigger. He just had to get to his house. It couldn't be that far. It couldn't.
Isaac was stopped by an ice cold hand grabbing onto his wrist. He let out a high pitched squeal and turned around, looking right into the eyes of Raymond. The look on his face was stoic, but Isaac saw worry in his eyes.
"Let me go!!" Isaac tugged hard, but Raymond's grip was inhumanly tight. His breathing was very quick from running.
"Isaac, I know what you saw, but it wasn't what you think it was. It wasn't blood. I was smiling in relief- it was just colored water. I think someone's trying to trick us-"
"You can't fool me, you freak! Explain your teeth! How did you catch up to me so fast?!" Isaac felt panic looming over him.
Raymond touched his canine teeth, which were still incredibly long and sharp. "I didn't want to tell you so early. I wanted you to feel safe, and..God, you're bleeding. Come with me, we can fix that up and talk about things." He tried to pull Isaac along, but Isaac kept his feet planted.
"I'm not going with you," he said, feeling tears start to well up in his eyes. "I'd rather stay alive."
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"You're hurting me right now." Isaac twisted his wrist, and Raymond's grip immediately loosened. Isaac felt himself starting to cry, which was the last thing he wanted to happen. He cried all the time; he had stopped trying to be manly a while ago.
"I'm sorry, Isaac. Please don't cry." Raymond put his other hand on Isaac's shoulder. "I just want to talk to you. I swear, from the bottom of my heart, I won't hurt you."
Reluctantly, Isaac took a step closer. Raymond gave a sympathetic smile, but kept holding on to Isaac's wrist. "You can have James and Andy come out now," Isaac said.
"Hm?"
"I know this is all some prank. You guys just wanted to see me cry or scream or something."
"I wouldn't do anything like that. I'm glad I haven't taken my contacts out yet so I can prove this to you."
"Contacts?" Isaac asked, his voice strangely quiet.
"Vampires don't have blue eyes."
It was weird hearing Raymond refer to himself as that word- vampire. That's what they had been hunting.
"So all the stuff in the mausoleum is yours? All the stuff you pretended to be amazed about, all actually yours?"
"I live there. It's my house."
"You weren't coughing up wine, huh?"
"Nope. That's why I was so hungry. How about I show you around the mausoleum? We can talk there."
Isaac wiped tears off of his cheeks. Raymond's voice was so soothing that it almost worried him. Was he using some technique on him? Even his eyes were calming. Isaac felt his heartbeat slow down. Was it running that had made him so exhausted?
     He nodded sluggishly. "Okay."