Chapter Text
Shapeshifters. The most powerful fae by far. Bred by the two biggest rival species in magical history: vampires and werewolves. A shapeshifter is only born once every one hundred years or more. They are so rare that most people are unaware of their existence, thinking they are only part of stories told to children. However, they do exist. In this current time and age, there is only one shapeshifter alive. He goes by the name Lenore Demetrou.
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Lenore lay on the grassy floor of the forest, bleeding out. This was it, this was how his life would end—a tragic death, but a death that he also wanted. Lenore shifted his weight to the side and coughed up blood. He was calm despite the sharp pain he felt all over his body. The pool of blood under him was warm and sticky from the early summer air. His heart rate was slowing down fast. He closed his eyes and took one last breath before meeting his inevitable death.
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Lenore’s depression began when his mother suddenly died due to being murdered. He was fourteen years old, and his mother was the only parent active in his life. His father left them for a better family when Lenore was about five years old. He had a wife and son who weren’t even his kind. He and Lenore’s mother had brought a burden into this world. If their son wasn’t raised properly, he could cause danger to the world of magic, which was why he chose to leave them. Why settle for a family of outcasts when you could have so much better?
Lenore just came back from a long walk from a store in the town closest to them to his home deep in the forest. He walked through the doorway and was met by his mother’s dead body pinned to the wall by a knife. He screamed, his screams turned into cries. Cries of pain and sorrow. After all, what else could a fourteen-year-old boy who just lost the only person who was ever important to him do?
The first stage was denial.
His mother couldn’t be dead. She was too strong to be dead—she wasn’t even human, she was a werewolf. The second stage was anger; rage flooded through him at the thought of someone so heartless doing that to his mother. He wanted to find whoever killed her and do the same to them. Then came bargaining, countless hours spent practicing his religion in hopes of undoing the loss. The fourth stage was depression.
The fifth stage would’ve been acceptance, but that never came.
All he felt was an indescribable emptiness deep in his heart.
After about two years, he just couldn’t take it anymore. He was done with life; he knew even if he did finish his studies, he would be too mentally unstable to do anything with his life. So, he decided to do something useful for once, one last time. He would go to the Nightshade residence, the only family of blood thirsty vampires in the city.
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Lenore hopped the fence of the Nightshade residence around 10:00 PM. He did his research, 10:00 PM was supposed to be the time true-blood vampires were the most blood thirsty. It was their hunting time. He sat in front of the gate in the forest. He didn’t think the residence would be this huge; he couldn’t even see the house from where he was. The trees were thick, which was expected of vampires. Thick trees provided the perfect environment for their kind to hunt without being spotted. They could hide in the broad brush to conceal their presence. For all he knew, there was probably a vampire watching him this very moment.
It was an hour before Lenore was first attacked. He spotted a bat in the distance and watched as it quickly flew onto the branch of a tree. What, or rather who, emerged from the tree was a vampire. The boy looked to be about his age: sixteen years old. He had long black hair and the deepest crimson eyes. His fangs were those of a real, true-blood vampire. His skin was the palest shade possible; it was so clear that there wasn’t a single blemish, scar, or beauty mark to be found.
Lenore only got to admire the boy’s beauty for a few short seconds before he lunged at Lenore. Everything in his body was telling him to run. To move out of the way and flee. But, he simply didn’t listen. This was what he was here for: he was here to die.
The boy slammed Lenore against the fence by the neck. He was putting so much pressure on Lenore’s neck that Lenore thought he would be suffocated rather than meet a bloody death. The boy wasn’t making any movement for a moment; he was just examining Lenore with what looked like a disgusted face. Lenore couldn’t tell; his vision was blurring by the second.
He suddenly jerked Lenore’s body to the forest floor and slashed Lenore’s chest with his claws – nails? Lenore couldn’t tell the difference. Blood poured out of him fast, too fast. If this continued, he would be dead in about five minutes. He still didn’t move; he just stayed in his position on the ground. Lenore looked at the boy on top of him, his expression one of shock. He slowly pulled his hand away from Lenore and studied it, blood dripping from his nails.
His eyebrows furrowed. “You’re not…” He paused. “You’re not a human. Your blood is... blue?”
The boy disappeared in the blink of an eye. Lenore didn’t even get time to process where he had gone before he suddenly felt a sharp pain throughout his body. His breathing was slowing down, and he felt cold. Was this how dying feels? Lenore was starting to question himself and his actions. There was so much he wanted to do now that he thought about it. He wanted to travel the magical world. He wanted to learn how to use his powers effectively. He also wanted love. To experience that ethereal feeling, you can simply be in the presence of someone special. He wanted to feel joy, love, serenity, pride, accomplishment, and many more positive emotions again. But he was dying. He put this on himself. He inhaled deeply, one last time, and closed his eyes. Maybe he would be able to experience those things in another life.
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Lenore’s eyes fluttered open. It was so early in the morning that the sun had barely risen. He was alive. He was alive and somewhat well. This came as a shock to him. He wasn’t dead. He could remember so vividly how it felt to be actively dying. Lenore still felt that cool feeling, but the pain had vanished. He tried to sit up, but he couldn’t move, so instead, he moved his eyes. He looked at himself first. The first thing he noticed was that his skin looked paler. Instead of the usual light tan, he saw when looking at himself, his skin was lighter, almost as if he had never been in the sun to begin with. The blood from yesterday, or perhaps from earlier today, stained his clothing.
He rested for a little while, maybe five to ten minutes, before beginning to question again. And the question he had was, How am I still alive? He was smart; he knew how long it took for bleeding to kill. So was he wrong? His thoughts and questions stopped when he heard a noise in the distance. It was muffled, but he could still make out the words.
“Niko!” He could hear a girl yell. “Niko!” She was louder the second time. “Niko, where are you!”
Was that one of the Nightshade children? Who is Niko? He put two and two together; Niko was one of the Nightshades. He was probably the one who attacked Lenore, as he had run off yesterday. Lenore had just expected that he would go back to the house. What if the girl found Lenore? Would she finish the job?
The voice, or rather voices, were getting closer. There was another voice now, one of a girl that sounded older than the one before, but younger than Lenore. Lenore's heart felt like it stopped the moment one of the girls stepped into the grassy clearing. She looked paler than Niko. It was the moonlight that made Niko look less pale. She had an icy blue glare and rectangular glasses. He hair was white, and it was done in two braids on each side of her head.
“Niko!” The girl called out. She was scanning the clearing, and Lenore was hoping she wouldn’t see him. All thought stopped when her eyes locked on his. “Oh.”
She took a step back. Then a step forward. Multiple steps forward, she kept going until she was just above Lenore. Lenore was petrified. He couldn’t move a muscle, not even blink. The girl crouched down.
“You’re blue. No, you have blue stuff on you.” She was now examining Lenore. “Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
She reached out to touch Lenore. He still didn’t move. She poked his face twice.
“I think he is dead,” She whispered to herself, a note lower than when she spoke.
Lenore tried moving again. This time, it was working. He could move his finger and blink. He tried to do more; he sat up.
“I’m not dead,” He said, it coming out more confidently than he expected.
“Who are you? Why are you here?” The girl demanded.
Lenore didn’t want to answer, but he did anyway. “Lenore Demetrou,” He began. “And I just happened to wander in here.”
“You're lying,” The girl deadpanned. “Vampires don’t just wander into other vampires’ territory.”
“Wha-” Lenore trailed off. He moved his tongue around his mouth. He could feel fangs. “Oh. I’m a vampire.” He said. “I’m a vampire?”
“Uhmm, yeah,” The girl’s eyes narrowed. “Thanks for stating the obvious.”
“Nikooooo,” The other person called out.
The girl’s eyes widened. She pushed Lenore down. “Stay quiet. Stay quiet and hide!” Her tone was harsh, but she was speaking in a whisper. “There is a place near a tree not far from here, go there and hide!”
She shoved Lenore to the floor. And it seemed like she was trying to hide him from the other girl. She stood up carefully, still making an effort to hide Lenore. “He’s not here, Mari. I checked the whole clearing. Let's go.”
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The place the icey-eyed girl was mentioning was a grotto. Lenore couldn’t tell if the grotto was cold or if it was that same cool feeling he was experiencing. Now that he was alone, he was beginning to question again. One of his questions was answered. He was still alive because he probably shifted into a vampire when he was unconscious. How else would he be alive? A new question that emerged was how long he would stay. Would the girl come back for him? Nearly every question he had was one of those that only time could determine.
Lenore was hungry; in fact, he was starving. The transformation had taken up so much of the energy that he felt like he could barely stay on his feet. He wanted to sleep for days and days.
He was hungry, but didn’t know what to eat. He didn’t know if there was a specific type of blood or animal you needed to feed from for vampires. He was just wishing the girl would keep her promise and come back. To pass the time, Lenore decided to rest.
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“Wake up.”
“Lenore!” The girl gripped Lenore’s left shoulder and shook him lightly. “Lenore, wake up!”
Lenore’s eyes fluttered open. It took him a moment to realize where he was and what was happening. He was a little embarrassed after the realization that he had fallen asleep, and a girl, possibly years younger than him, needed to shake him awake.
He cleared his throat and sat up. “Uh, sorry,” His dark green eyes flickered to the side.
The girl sat down in front of him. “It’s okay, we can skip past that. It’s time I properly introduced myself. I’m Amber Nightshade. Sorry, I couldn’t do that earlier.”
Lenore was hoping Amber would get to the point already.
“I talked to my parents about the situation. Y’know, you being on their land.”
Lenore’s eyes widened a fraction, but enough for Amber to detect it.
“But!” She added. “You don’t need to worry about that, they aren’t as territorial as us: my siblings and I.” She assured. “So, anyway, they wanted me to bring you to them. Well, my mom does, and my dad has neutral feelings. So, come with me!”
Amber didn’t wait for Lenore to consent before practically dragging him out of the grotto. She was sprinting to the house. The only thing that Lenore knew to follow to keep up with Amber was the motion of her two white braids whisking in the air. Lenore had never run at this speed before; his hair was clinging to his face. He figured running at these speeds was a perk of being a vampire. He liked this form. He also wondered what the other perks of magical creatures were. He would have to find out by learning how to shapeshift.
The run to the house was short. It felt unnatural to Lenore. The house was large, and it was almost like a mansion. Amber walked Lenore to a room on the first floor of the house to her mother. Amber didn’t stay for long, just saying hello and leaving.
“Hello, I’m Misaki Nightshade. You can call me Misaki. Feel free to take a seat wherever,” Misaki reached for a clipboard on the white desk next to where she took a seat.
Lenore took a seat. “I’m Lenore,” He said, not knowing what else to say.
“I’ll be asking a few questions, if that’s okay with you,” Misaki informed. “I’d like you to answer them honestly.” She picked up a pen that was being held by a mug. “One, what species are you?”
“I’m a shapeshifter,” Lenore answered.
“Interesting! Now, the second one, why did you come here?” She asked.
Lenore’s body tensed; he was hoping Misaki didn’t notice the change. “I-I uhmm,” Lenore paused, his breathing was shaky. “I… uh,” Lenore felt like something was preventing him from speaking.
“It’s okay, you can tell me,” Misaki’s tone of voice was soft and comforting.
“I wanted to…,” Lenore was beginning to get mad. He wanted to say it, but he just couldn’t. “I wanted to do something useful with my life before I died, so I wanted to surrender myself to vampires, thus they could have my blood.” When the words came out, it was like a blur.
Misaki’s expression turned concerned. “And why did you think you were going to die?”
“I wanted to,” Lenore corrected.
“Well, I’m glad you’re still here,” Misaki said. “Have you ever shapeshifted?”
“Yes,” Lenore answered. “Two times. Once when I was five and once a little earlier than today.”
Misaki wrote down a few more notes. “Well, that's all I needed to ask you. I’m assuming you have nowhere to go, correct?”
“Well!” Lenore’s tone was confident until he realized that she was correct; he did, in fact, have nowhere to go. “... yeah.”
“Then you can stay here for a day if you want. One of my children would show you around. I’m sure Mari would love to,” She politely offered.
“Well, if you are okay with it, sure,” Lenore felt as if he would be a burden on them if he were to stay for just a day.
“Well then, great!” Misaki closed the notebook and capped the pen. “You can be in the guest room. It is located in the hall down from here to the left.”
Lenore awkwardly made his way out of the room and to the room he would be staying in. He observed the house as he walked to the room. In the hallway, the room he was in had another room next to it. The room was on the right side of the hallway, and the door of the room was painted black. The fact that the door was painted differently made Lenore wonder if that was one of the Nightshade’s rooms.
The room he was staying in had white walls and white furniture. There was a bookshelf filled with notebooks, books, and various other items. There was also a bed and a desk. The desk had a few things on it: a light, a notebook, pens, and pencils. The bed had white sheets to match the interior of the room.
The first place Lenore made his way to was the desk. He opened the notebook, but there was nothing in it. He decided to doodle on the pages, making patterns and animals. His drawings began to turn more complex as he continued to draw. He found himself drawing the boy from the previous night: Niko.
Lenore was a skilled artist; art was his only hobby and the only thing he would do to pass the time for more years than he could remember. He was adept in many styles of art, including realism, cartooning, and what some people like to call the “anime art style,” which Lenore never quite grasped, among others. He decided to draw Niko in a decently detailed art style. His way of drawing wasn't realistic-looking, but it wasn’t too cartoonish. There was no name for it; it was simply Lenore’s style.
What he could remember of the boy was that he had straight black hair down to the middle of his neck, piercing crimson eyes, long fangs, long nails, and pale skin. He drew the boy a few times. The first couple of times, he didn’t look quite right. Which was why Lenore kept drawing Niko. It took five tries until Lenore got the look decent. It was getting late, and Lenore was getting tired, so he decided to sleep.
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Lenore woke up and checked the time on the clock above the door. The time was 4:30 AM. He never woke up this early in the morning. He figured it must be something inherent to being a vampire.
Today was the day he would go back to his normal life. He would have to leave all of this in the past. The concept of leaving things in the past wasn’t new to him. It used to happen so often a few years ago. He would make new friends, they would get bored with him, and they would leave him. Sometimes he wasn’t ready to do the same. Sometimes he would get so attached to people that when they eventually left him, he would be so deeply affected by it that he would go days without talking or eating. Sometimes worse than that. Eventually, it happened so much that Lenore learned how to not be affected by it, well, not show it at least.
He didn’t want to return to his normal life, but he had to. He would never get to meet the Nightshades properly, never get to know the boy who nearly killed him.
Lenore dragged himself out of bed. There was nothing for him to take, so he made his way out of the house. As he was walking through the forest, something came to his attention. He didn’t even know the way out, and he was lost.
He was starting to silently panic. He looked around as if that would help him out of the mess he was in. Surprisingly, his looking around somehow made the situation worse. He spotted a boy in the trees above him. He narrowed his eyes to see the boy in the trees. His anxiety became worse when he realized the boy in the trees was the very same boy who attacked him.
Now he was starting to really panic. His palms were becoming sweaty. He tried swallowing, but there was no use even trying.
He was now thinking of a way to get out of the situation. Lenore was now a vampire along with the other boy, but the taller boy still had an extreme advantage. That advantage being that he had been a vampire for his whole life, Lenore became one just two days before he was in his current situation. Lenore was now fast. Fast enough to outrun the boy in the trees? No. Fast enough to outrun him if he somehow got a head start? Also no.
Lenore quickly dropped the idea of running and even thinking altogether. Now he was looking around to see if there were any bystanders. Maybe Amber or Misaki. As he was looking, he managed to make the situation somehow worse by a landslide.
He accidentally looked the boy in the eyes, and the boy was looking right back at Lenore.
Lenore blinked, and the boy was gone. He whipped his head around to look for him. Lenore soon noticed a strange cold on his elbows. He looked, and he swore his heart stopped. The crimson-eyed boy’s hands had a grip on his elbows. He forced Lenore’s arms behind his back and easily held both Lenore’s arms with one hand. With his free hand, he cupped Lenore's cheek from behind and gently pulled him back.
“You’re the shapeshifter boy,” The boy’s voice was low in Lenore’s ear. “Lenore, is it? I’m Niko. My sister told me all about you.”
Lenore’s previous thinking was right. The boy’s name was Niko, and he was a Nightshade.
Lenore spoke, but the words came out in a whisper. “Pl-please don’t… please don’t hurt me. Please.”
“Hah,” Niko’s laugh wasn’t the cheerful, carefree laugh you usually hear. It was the type of laugh that made your blood run cold. For Lenore at least. “Oh, I won’t hurt you.”
What the hell? “That sounded like a threat.” Lenore turned his head as much as he could in his current position to face Niko. He was starting to gain a little confidence, even though his confidence could kill him at any moment.
“No, no. I knew you were here, so I came to bring you back. We're not down with you yet,” Niko informed, releasing Lenore’s arms and picking him up with ease.
“What?” Lenore called out, choosing to ignore the fact that Niko was now carrying him.
“Oh, you heard me. We’re not done with you yet.” Niko began to run in the direction of the house. “You’re coming with me.”
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Niko had taken Lenore back to the house, and now he was in the same office as yesterday, facing the woman who needed to talk to him.
“Well, what did you need me for?” Lenore asked. He was hoping that this would be over soon, so he could hurry up and go.
“Right…” Misaki paused as if she were looking for the right words to say. “I was talking to my husband the other night about how you are a shapeshifter. Specifically, I would love to study you because the world knows so little about your kind.”
Lenore waited for Misaki to get to the point in anticipation. What was she getting at?
“So my husband and I talked about it, and we would love you to join us since we take it you have nowhere else to go. In exchange for an eternal loving home, I could maybe run a few non-harmful texts on you?”
Lenore’s jaw almost dropped. He was expecting never to come across these people again, but here Misaki was, asking if Lenore wanted an eternal home. “I think… I might need to think about this for a while.”
“How does a day sound? You could get to know us and see if you like us!” Misaki suggested.
“Uh. Sure,” Lenore was not even sure what he was saying; he just accepted the offer in the heat of the moment.
He awkwardly stood up and exited the room, and then the house, and almost the property, until he realized what he had just done. He was really going to get to know all of the Nightshades in one day? This made him anxious, because Lenore didn’t want to get too attached to anything or anyone, in fear of losing them or the power that would give them.
Lenore sat at the trunk of the nearest tree and pressed his legs to his chest. He really didn’t want to talk to anyone today. Lenore realized he hadn’t even changed or bathed since the attack. He hadn’t eaten either. He was now realizing that he was a starving, cold, anxious mess.
He felt the same cold hand grip on his shoulder. This time, he wasn’t as scared as before. Niko sat down next to Lenore, and they waited in silence for a few moments before Niko decided to speak.
“You’re a mess.”
“Wow, thanks for noticing, I couldn’t have done it without you,” Lenore scoffed.
“Come with me, I think I can help,” Niko chose to ignore Lenore’s previous sarcastic comment.
Niko got up, not even checking to see if Lenore was following him or not. Lenore thought about not following him, but did anyway. Lenore obviously wasn’t comfortable with walking with or following the boy who nearly murdered him, but went out of his comfort zone. He still had nothing to lose from two days ago; almost nothing had changed for Lenore; he never showed his emotions on his face; he was exceptional at hiding them.
The place Niko took Lenore was the black door in front of the room Lenore stayed in. Lenore should’ve expected the room to belong to Niko; it just fit his aesthetic so well. Lenore shook his head; now was not an appropriate time to be thinking about an individual’s aesthetic. How stupid, Lenore thought to himself.
Niko opened the top right drawer in the dresser in his room. He grabbed a plain black shirt and a pair of denim shorts. He held out the clothing to Lenore with one hand and looked away from him.
“Here, uh, it’s the least I can do. You can shower and change into these,” Niko leaned his arm a little more forward to Lenore.
Lenore grabbed the clothes. “Thanks.”
Niko grabbed a metal container from on top of the drawer. “Oh, and here. It’s ointment for your… wounds.” Niko held out the tin to Lenore and looked back at him. “Sorry,” He whispered, breaking the little time of eye contact they had.