--

Blaine reached up and brushed several low-hanging cobwebs out of his face, silent and expressionless as the company left the cathedral and descended into a maze of dimly lit catacombs. The paths were narrow and stuffy, the ground streaked with filth and crawling with rats. Blaine kicked one out of the way as he followed Sebastian, ignoring the puzzling looks the members of his company were giving him as they walked for what felt like miles. He did, after all, know exactly where they were going.


"Hey. You, boy."

Blaine had been on his way home from the schoolhouse, holding his jacket tightly around himself as the brisk cold air chilled his skin. He looked over at the source of the voice, his cheeks flushed pink with cold, and squinted through the slowly falling snowflakes at a boy sitting on the church steps.

"Yes?" said Blaine carefully, walking closer--but not too close. His mother had warned him to be wary of strange people in the city.

"Do you have any matches?" the boy asked. He looked to be around Blaine's age, and was dressed in expensive-looking clothes just like he was. He was holding an unlit cigarette, and his green eyes flashed as he smiled at Blaine.

"I'm afraid I do not," Blaine replied, and eyed the cigarette, his lips tightening. "Do your parents allow you to smoke? My mother forbids it, as she despises the smell."

"Do you do everything your mommy tells you?" the boy drawled, smiling mysteriously. Blaine wasn't sure why, but that smile made his heart flutter like a bird taking flight.

"That's no reason to make fun," Blaine replied with a scowl, folding his arms.

"Oh?" The boy paused for a moment, seeming to think. "Shall I make fun of your school clothes, then? Your height? Or shall I say, lack thereof?"

Blaine blushed and huffed, turning to leave.

"Wait," said the boy, springing to his feet.

Blaine sighed and looked up at him, his expression impatient. The boy stuck the cigarette in the pocket of his coat and held out his hand.

"Sebastian," he said.

Raising his eyebrows, Blaine looked down at the hand, then back up at Sebastian's face, which was grinning.

"Come now," Sebastian laughed. "There's no reason to get angry. I like to tease cute boys like you."

Blaine's blush darkened, his heart fluttering anew. No boy had ever said something like that to him before. It was so bold, and for a moment he was almost certain he hadn't heard it. He swallowed and reached out to grasp Sebastian's hand and shake it.

"Blaine," he replied.

Sebastian shook Blaine's hand, still flashing that dazzling smile. "Well Blaine," he said. "Shall I walk you home?"


Dalton Academy was every bit as beautiful as Blaine had remembered--all ornate wood and delicate coils of iron, lavish paintings and crystal windows--though it had aged significantly over the years. A thin veil of dust had settled over everything, and it almost pained Blaine to see a place that had featured so prominently in his youth fall to ruin.

He dragged his hand over a window sill, and stared at the grey film of dust on his palm. He heard Sebastian's footsteps nearby, but didn't look at him.

"Brings back memories, does it not?" Sebastian murmured. "Your silly little school."

"It was once yours too," Blaine replied, looking out at the slate-grey, overcast sky outside.

"For a time," Sebastian replied, leaning against the window sill beside him. "Now, it is what my company calls home. I am certain yours will settle in well enough. Perhaps they will help rid us of some of the rats."

Blaine looked at Sebastian then, scowling.

"What?" Sebastian laughed. "Still so easily offended, even after all this time! You are far too serious, Blaine. Surely all your years as a vampyr have shown you the great irony of life. How simple and banal it is at the best of times... And those humans."

He turned his head, looking down at the streets below. where beggars and vagrants wandered about in the cold, and his lip curled in distaste.

"What a miserable existence," Sebastian murmured. "A desperate struggle to survive and endure their own weakness, only to die in the gutters, remembered by no one."

Blaine said nothing. His eyes followed Sebastian's to the streets, and his mind wandered.


The snow had started to fall in large, feather-like flakes upon the city--beautiful to behold for those nestled within warmth, and a death sentence for anyone outside it. Blaine's family was tightly gathered in a festive revel indoors, enjoying rich food and abundant wine and an always-flickering hearth, and the warm light and laughter from inside the house could be heard through the windows as Blaine stepped outside into the lightly tumbling snow.

He often grew tired of his parents' insistence on attending parties like these, where they and other upper class families mingled to flaunt their wealth and gorge themselves on food and drink. While Blaine loved his family and was grateful for his lifestyle, it often became stifling.

What he loved more than any of that was the fresh air--and while the city was growing filthier by the day, the snow was pure and untouched, descending from the sky on a lazy drift down from the heavens. Blaine closed his eyes and tilted back his head to catch a few flakes on his tongue, and gasped when he heard a voice nearby laugh at him.

"Sebastian?" Blaine turned to look at a familiar face. "I didn't realize you'd left as well."

Sebastian stepped out from the side of the house, smoking a cigarette as usual. He moved to stand next to Blaine, hands buried deep in his pockets for warmth.

"I can hardly tolerate my father's boasting on a normal day," Sebastian replied. "He is only a humble man when it suits him, I suppose."

"You are hardly one to talk," Blaine teased, nudging his friend.

"Say what you will," Sebastian countered. "You are the one attending that swotty school, all set to become a fat old banker like your Daddy."

"You attended that school as well."

"Not anymore."

Blaine raised his brows, peering at Sebastian through the snow.

"My father has made me Rothweil's apprentice," Sebastian explained. "You know, the blacksmith. He says he wishes for me to learn honest work. As if he has any clue what that means."

"Perhaps you'll learn something," Blaine offered.

"Oh please." Sebastian rolled his eyes. "If I learned my destiny were to be a blacksmith, I'd throw myself off the cathedral roof to spare myself the indignity."

Blaine was quiet for a moment, searching Sebastian's face. His sharp, striking beauty was dimly illuminated by the light from nearby window, wreathed in smoke, and Blaine found it captivating.

"What is it you want, then?" he said softly. "You despise the rich, and you mock the poor. Is there anything that would truly satisfy you in this life, Sebastian?"

Sebastian was quiet for a while in return, looking out at the surrounding city, which was slowly becoming blanketed by snow.

"I want more," he said softly. "Our parents have our lives mapped out for us until we die, and to defy them is to condemn ourselves to the life of a vagrant or worse. There must be more to life than such a grim reality, don't you think? More freedom... More power. Like the adventurers in the old tales-- No rules, no limits. A beautiful, unexplored world that is ours for the taking."

"Your eyes see much farther than mine," Blaine murmured. "I can only see what has already be laid out before me."

"You can come with me," said Sebastian softly, lowering his cigarette and turning his face toward Blaine's.

Blaine's heart fluttered wildly in his chest, and his throat went dry. "To where?"

Sebastian's fingers pressed lightly against the bottom of Blaine's chin, lifting it upward.

"Here is a good place to start," Sebastian whispered in reply, and he leaned down to kiss Blaine on the mouth. He tasted like smoke and sherry and something exciting and unexplored, a journey on which Blaine was all too happy to embark.

He closed his eyes and kissed back.


"Blaine? Lost in your own little world again?"

Sebastian's voice pulled Blaine away from his thoughts, and he turned away from the window, drawn toward the line of portraits on the other side of the wall. There was a row depicting busts of all the previous headmasters, and below were renderings of the student body over the years before the school closed down.

After a moment's searching he found his own face, and it was like looking into the eyes of a stranger. He reached out and traced the smooth jawline with the tip of his finger, eyes distant, and tried to remember the boy in the picture. That boy who existed two hundred years ago, who laughed and cried and smiled and believed, who had faith in his family and in his friends and in the goodness of people-- That boy who was once confident that his life would end someday, that he'd die an old man in his bed after having lived to the fullest, that he wouldn't end up a twisted tortured thing wandering the world for far longer than any human should--a walking corpse.

"What happened?" he asked Sebastian after a long period of silence. "Why did the school close down?"

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "Time happened, my dear Blaine," he replied, amused. "It's been two hundred years. It simply decayed along with the rest of this filthy city."

"Why are you still here?" Blaine murmured, still staring at the painting. "You have always despised this place."

"Ah, but now it is in the palm of my hand," Sebastian replied. "We and the humans have struck a deal. We coexist so long as they allow us to prey upon their criminals and disposables. And with the city decaying more and more every day... Let us just say that we have yet to go hungry."

"And you hate humans," Blaine remarked. "You always have."

"They'll all kill each other eventually," said Sebastian, eyes roving over the row of portraits. "And we will outlive them. You may yet see it one day, Blaine..."

He turned to Blaine, and smiled. "What I did to you? It saved your life."

Blaine was silent, falling into darkness again.


Blaine's boots crunched through the thick snow as he made his way to the old cathedral after school, eager to meet with Sebastian. His parents had no idea what he was up to, but he was growing less and less concerned about what they desired of him. Being with Sebastian made him feel more free and happy than anything he could imagine-- Just being near him made his heart take flight, his imagination soar.

This time, though, Sebastian seemed different. His hands shook as he lit his cigarette, and Blaine gasped as he saw bruises peeking out from the other boy's sleeves.

"Sebastian!" Blaine cried, taking his friend's arm. "What is this? What happened?"

"It's nothing," Sebastian muttered. "Just bruises from work."

The way he was moving--stiffly, as if he were in pain--seemed to signify otherwise. Blaine took his face in his hands, looking deeply into his eyes, earnest.

"Let me see," he said softly. "Show me."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Sebastian slipped off his coat. Blaine watched without breathing as Sebastian unbuttoned and parted the collar of his shirt, revealing bruises and what looked terribly like bite marks all over his neck and chest. They trailed down beneath the fabric of his clothes, and Blaine could only imagine where they continued.

"It was Rothweil, wasn't it?" Blaine whispered. "We have to tell someone."

"No," said Sebastian vehemently, buttoning up his shirt again. "No, you won't say a word. I forbid it."

"But Sebastian--"

"I said no."

Sebastian's voice was loud, strangled, painful to hear. Blaine fell silent, stunned by the pain he heard, the depths of which he could never understand. He moved close to Sebastian again, frightened, desperate to give comfort he knew he never could.

"Blaine," said Sebastian, much more softly now. He trailed his hand over Blaine's cheek, tracing the youthful lines of his face. "My dear Blaine. Kiss me."

Blaine was uncertain, uncomfortable, and he had no time to respond before Sebastian's mouth pressed against his, hot and desperate. He let it happen, lost in the taste of the boy he felt so much for, his hands cradling Sebastian's face like something precious and breakable.

When Sebastian pulled away, his eyes were flashing again. "Run away with me," he said suddenly.

Blaine stared. "What? Now?"

"Yes," said Sebastian feverishly, grabbing Blaine by the shoulders. "Let's you and I leave right now. Leave this wretched city and our foolish, insipid families... Have an adventure, like we said we would. We can be free, truly free-- Together."

Blaine felt like a rug had been pulled out from under his feet. He searched Sebastian's face, at an utter loss. "Sebastian..." he murmured, faltering.

"What?" Sebastian demanded, his eyes alight with manic excitement. "You said you'd come with me, didn't you?"

"I cannot just leave my family," said Blaine desperately. "I cannot simply--take to the wind on a wing and a prayer, Sebastian. And neither can you! We can't survive out there. If we leave now we shall die or worse-- We aren't immortal, Sebastian."

Dark, cold, terrible silence fell between them. Sebastian let go of Blaine's shoulders, drawing back, looking utterly betrayed. There was something in his eyes that frightened Blaine, and he was torn between wanted to soothe it away and wanting to run in the opposite direction.

"You're just like them," he said in a low voice. "Like all the others, puffed-up birds who are too afraid to leave their golden perches--"

"I'm not!" Blaine shouted. "I just-- I worry for you, Sebastian." A pause. "I-- I love you."

Sebastian fell silent, stunned by the admission. He stared at Blaine for a long time, and he suddenly seemed very small, thin and frail next to the stately statue of Christ beside him.

"I'll find a way," he said softly.

"Sebastian, please," said Blaine, taking a cautious step forward. "Come home with me. I can treat those bruises, and you can have something hot to eat... No one has to know."

"I don't want your help," Sebastian snapped, but he looked wounded. "I'll meet with you again tomorrow. I have to go."

He pulled on his coat and turned to leave, and Blaine shouted after him, desperate.

"Go where?"he cried, voice echoing throughout the cathedral.

"To become immortal," Sebastian called back, and then he was gone.

--

The church was deathly quiet but for the howling of the wind througb the rafters, the distant cooing of pigeons and the occasional scratching of rats on the ground. Kurt's stomach turned as he thought of one of those rats crawling up onto the altar, and concentrated harder on getting himself free.

There was nothing for it-- The knots were so tight they were digging into his wrists, and there was nothing within reach that he could use to cut them. He longed for something, some presence of magic in the air at least to comfort him, but everything around him was stale and dead. There hadn't been the faintest whisper of magic around him since he first entered this dreadful city.

The smell around Kurt was terrible. Mildew and dust and rot mingled in the air--and occasionally Kurt would get a whiff of old blood, unmistakable, and he knew it must have come from the altar he was lying upon. Just how many people had been sacrificed here? Countless, more than likely.

And now I am to join them, he thought.

His head fell back and he despaired, exhausted in body and soul, defeated. He'd never been one to give up on anything easily, but he felt like his spirit had been beaten into submission, that the fight in him had been utterly exhausted. Closing his eyes, he thought of Rachel, of his father, of Adam-- And then he thought of his mother, whose face grew more and more distant in his memory every single day.

He'd be meeting her again soon.

--

It had been a few weeks since Sebastian and Blaine had their disagreement, and things were slowly getting back to normal. Blaine had made a point not to press Sebastian about what had happened with the blacksmith, but he couldn't help but notice whenever Sebastian showed up with more bruises or walking with a limp, and it was all Blaine could do not to say something. He felt altogether useless, and frightened at himself for how much he wanted to hurt that man for doing those things to Sebastian. He'd never entertained violent thoughts before in his life--but lying in bed at night, inches away from sleep, he found himself contemplating those things in the darkest corners of his mind. He was just in the middle of a particularly terrible fantasy involving bringing one of those hot iron rods down on Rothweil's balding head when he heard a tapping at his window.

He gasped, straightening up, and fumbled in the dark for his lamp. He lit it quickly and held it at the window, and was surprised to see Sebastian's face outside.

"Sebastian!" he said in a harsh whisper as he opened the window. "What are you doing here?"

Sebastian crawled through his window and onto his bed, flushed with winter chill and intense excitement. He grinned at Blaine, reaching out to hold his shoulders.

"I couldn't wait to tell you," Sebastian said breathlessly. "I met a man-- His name is Hunter. At first I assumed he was just a boy like us, but he's near a hundred, Blaine, and he hasn't aged a day--"

Blaine's eyes narrowed as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing. He was half convinced he were still dreaming.

"What in the world are you talking about?" he said helplessly.

"Blaine-- My love, he is immortal!" Sebastian exclaimed, shaking Blaine gently. "I did not believe it at first, but he knows things, Blaine, he has found a way-- And he said he will show it to me, to both of us! At last, we can have what we've always dreamed of!"

Blaine stared for a long time, flabbergasted. He had no idea what to say.

"Blaine," Sebastian urged, taking Blaine's face in his hands. "Darling, say something."
"How?" Blaine said at last. "Did he tell you how?"

"Not yet," said Sebastian. "But I'll find out-- For now, just... Please say you'll come with me. You'll come with me, won't you?"

Sebastian's eyes were full of hope, of fear, of everything Blaine felt in his heart. He was beautiful, and Blaine wouldn't have been able to say no even if he had wanted to.

He took Sebastian's face in his hands and kissed him deeply.

"I will," he said softly, running his thumb over the fading bruise on Sebastian's cheek. "I will come with you."

Sebastian laughed, a pure sound filled with joy, and kissed Blaine again. When they parted, he took both of Blaine's hands in his own.

"Meet me tomorrow," he said in a hushed voice. "After classes, outside the cathedral, as we always do. I'll introduce you."

Blaine just nodded. Sebastian leaned in to kiss his cheek, then pulled away to climb out the window again, to vanish into the night.


Blaine went to the cathedral after classes as he'd promised, but Sebastian wasn't there. He wasn't there the day after, either.

Initially, Blaine simply felt hurt and betrayed-- And then he started to worry. Sebastian wouldn't simply abandon him like that, especially not now. He set about asking around the city, and sure enough, no one had seen any sign of Sebastian for two days. Blaine began to despair, trapped and alone in his fear and grief, at a complete loss for what to do.

Then one evening when returning home from school he heard someone approach him from behind, and then his arm was grabbed and he was yanked toward the old cathedral. He was ready to open his mouth and cry for help-- But then he saw Sebastian's face, and instead let out a sigh of relief that came from his entire body.

"Oh Sebastian," he cried, throwing his arms around the other boy. "My God. I was so worried--"

The other boy felt stiff and cold in his arms, at at first Blaine paid little mind to it, too caught up in his own flurry of emotion. When he pulled away though to touch Sebastian's face, to look him over, to see him, he felt his heart roll out of his chest and fall onto the snow-covered ground.

Sebastian was covered in cuts-- And from what, Blaine couldn't possibly fathom. They weren't scattered over his skin like they might have been if he'd been attacked; instad, they formed bizarre patterns that seemed almost tribal in origin, traveling down his neck to beneath the collar of his shirt and over every inch of skin that was exposed. Blaine could scarcely imagine what the rest of him must have looked like.

"My God," he said again, taking Sebastian's wrist in hand so he could run a finger along the cuts there. "What happened to you? Who did this to you?"

Sebastian's expression was eerily calm. A small smile tugged at his lips as he turned his hand, lacing his fingers with Blaine's.

"Come," was all he said, and he tugged Blaine through the churchyard and into an area of the city Blaine had never seen before. It was dark and filthy, empty but for a smattering of vagrants and clusters of rats and stray animals. Frightened, Blaine clutched Sebastian's hand as they moved through twisted, dark paths, descending deep into the city's underbelly.

They arrived in an empty lot outside an abandoned building, where several crude-looking torches had been set up. A few others had gathered there--and from the looks of it, Sebastian knew them. As Blaine moved closer he could see that they had the same cuts and scars that Sebastian did.

"Sebastian," he said softly. "Who are these people?"

"They are my kinsmen," said Sebastian at last. There was a wild energy in his eyes that frightened Blaine, and he began to feel the urge to run.

"Your kinsmen?" he repeated. "What--?"

Blaine was cut off by the sound of a struggle nearby. He turned toward it, and his mouth fell open in horror as he saw a pair of young men wrestling a man to the ground. The man pitched forward, bound and gagged, and Blaine realized with a jolt that it was Rothweil the blacksmith.

"I told you," Sebastian continued, speaking to Blaine, "that I would become immortal. I have been given a gift, Blaine. And I would like you to see it before I give it to you."

Blaine stood utterly still, paralyzed with fear. Sebastian crouched down near Rothweil, who was bleeding in several places and clearly terrified. Sebastian was utterly calm, gently pushing the man's beefy shoulder so he was rolled onto his back.

Rothweil let out a frightened sound and Sebastian mimicked him, mock-pouting as he tugged the gag out of the man's mouth.

"I want to hear you scream," he said softly.

"Foolish boy!" cried Rothweil, his voice tight with fear. "Your father--"

"My father is a wretched old fool," said Sebastian lightly, tilting his head playfully. "He's next, once I'm finished with you, along with whatever insipid little trollop he's been sharing his bed with this week."

"Sebastian," said Blaine in a strained voice. "What in the world is this? What is going on?"

"Silence, Blaine," Sebastian snapped. He looked over at one of the other boys, who was standing next to a man who had to be Hunter. He was looking at Sebastian with a distinct sense of pride in his eyes, as if he were looking upon his own masterpiece.

"Give me the knife," Sebastian ordered, and held out his hand for the other boy to place the blade within it. Rothweil's eyes widened in horror, and Blaine's stomach dropped.

"Sebastian," said Blaine again, but his voice was drowned out by Rothweil's sudden shouting.

"Help!" the man screamed, struggling in his bonds. "Someone help--"

Sebastian cuffed him hard in the face, then straddled the man's hips. He made a shushing noise, then sat back so he could start undoing Rothweil's trousers. Blaine felt sick, but couldn't bring himself to look away. Something about Rothweil's screaming felt satisfying to him, and the very thought was horrifying.

"I wish to cut off little bits of you," said Sebastian in a sing-song voice. "I want you to bleed before I kill you. I think I'll start with your fat, ugly prick--"

"No, oh God, please, no--"

Sebastian laughed. "I said no, didn't I? But you never listened, you put this filthy thing inside me anyway--"

The knife came down, and Blaine looked away. Rothweil's screams echoed through the hollow buildings around them, but no one was around to hear. It was silent all around them, so Blaine could hear the knife cutting through the flesh, the splattering of blood on the snow, and the cruel sound of Sebastian's laughter underneath Rothweil's tortured cries.

What Blaine did then he would regret for the rest of his life. His stomach was turning, twisting, threatening to empty itself through his mouth, but he opened his eyes and looked back at Sebastian anyway. What he saw was not the boy he knew, the boy he loved-- What he saw was a monster.

Sebastian's eyes were gleaming red in the torchlight, his pale skin streaked with blood. He'd dropped the piece of Rothweil he had severed, and instead lifted his bloody hand to his lips and pressed his fingers deep into his mouth. He sucked away all the blood, and his teeth-- His teeth were filed sharp like a beast's, and his tongue was darting around them, lapping up the blood as if relishing it, and his laughter was sinful, inhuman--

Blaine turned away and ran.

His feet slipped and slid on the ice and snow as he scrambled away as fast as he could, with no clear idea of where he was going. He just needed to get away, as far away as he could, faster, faster-- His foot hit a particularly slippery patch of ice and he tripped, sliding several inches before toppling over and landing on his back underneath a stone bridge. His head collided with the wall and his entire body exploded with pain, his vision blurring-- He blinked rapidly, trying to stop the world from spinning, and he sucked in a terrified gasp as he heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the bridge.

"No--" he groaned. "No, get away--"

The echoes of the footsteps got louder, and Blaine felt someone crouch over him and brush a hand gently through his hair.

"Shh," came Sebastian's voice as Blaine began to lose consciousness. "It will be all right, my love. Soon we will be together forever..."

The world closed in, and Blaine slipped away into blackness.


The catacombs beneath Dalton were once again echoing with the sound of many footsteps as the group of vampyrs, now vast, moved back into the cathedral. Sebastian walked close to Blaine, and at one point Blaine could feel the other's cold fingers brush his own, reaching out like a child. He pretended not to notice it.

When they returned to the cathedral, Kurt was still there. Blaine watched him with numb eyes, at his little sparrow whose fight had all but died, whose beautiful skin was marred by rope burn and bitter tears. He said nothing.

Sebastian seemed to watch him more closely than before, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips as he walked back up the dais to the altar. Kurt began to struggle anew as Sebastian reached into his coat and pulled out a long steel dagger, stared in horror as its blade flashed in the candlelight.

"My friends," he announced, holding the blade up high. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. As promised, we will slay and eat the witch-- But first, I believe one of us has something to prove."
Blaine stared hard at Sebastian, his eyes unblinking as Sebastian beckoned him up to the dais. He walked there slowly, and accepted the knife as Sebastian handed it over to him.

"My Blaine," said Sebastian softly. "As much as I love you, you cannot expect me to trust you to come back to me so simply. Therefore, I wish for you to commit the deed. It should be simple enough. Go on... Kill the little human."

Blaine tightened his fingers around the hilt of the dagger and stepped close to the altar. He looked down at Kurt's terrified face, saw the light completely die from the boy's eyes, and lifted the dagger up high.


Slowly the world came back into focus, but it was not one that Blaine recognized. He seemed to be in some sort of basement; the stench of rot assaulted his nostrils, and there was no light but for dimly lit torches hanging nearby. He went to move, and realized in horror that he had been tied down to a table, stripped of his shirt and shoes.

"Wh-what--" He began to panic, struggling against his bonds.

"Hush Blaine," came a voice from nearby. "Be a good boy."

Blaine's eyes darted around in horror, and he saw Sebastian and the other creatures gathered around him, closing in like hungry animals. They were all holding tools--knives and hooks and fire irons--brandishing them, edging closer, bloodthirsty.

"It'll be over before you know it," Sebastian whispered, stroking Blaine's hair. "Once we finish the ritual, we'll be together always, just like you promised."

"Sebastian, what-- What is this? What--"

Sebastian said nothing. He reached over and took a small, thin blade from one of the vampyrs nearby. He stepped close, and Blaine began to panic in earnest.

"God, no! What are you doing? Stop--"

"Hush," said Sebastian again. "After the first cut is done, you'll barely feel the rest."

He turned Blaine's arm and began to carve, and the stagnant air was soon filled with the sound of Blaine's screams.


Blaine spun around and brought the dagger down, slicing it across Sebastian's throat.

The reaction was instantaneous. There was an outcry, and Sebastian's vampyrs swarmed toward the dais, trying to reach Blaine. Blaine's company was ready, though, countering swiftly, and the cathedral was suddenly a bloodbath.

Fangs flashed and claws tore as the vampyrs fought one another with no intent but to kill. Kurt could only watch in horror and struggle to wrap his mind around the reality of what had occurred.

Blaine hadn't stabbed him. He wasn't an offering at all. Blaine was saving him.

Sebastian's body crumpled to the floor, and before Kurt could properly react Blaine was on top of him and cutting through the ropes on his left wrist. They were thick and tied tightly, so it took him a considerable amount of time to cut through them--and by the time he got the left wrist free and had started working on the right, Sebastian had gotten to his feet once more.

"Blaine, look out!" Kurt shrieked, and Blaine spun around just as Sebastian reached out to claw him hard across the face. Blaine stumbled and dropped the dagger, and Kurt watched in horror as it clattered to the floor.

Kurt expected Blaine to go and get it--urged him to, even--but Blaine hadn't moved. Instead he was back on top of Kurt, struggling to get the other knot undone with his claws alone. Blood dribbled from the gashes on his face, splattering Kurt's cheek, and Kurt just stared at him, dumbstruck.

Amid the flurry of movement and noise around them, Kurt could hear laughter. Sebastian had quickly appropriated the dagger and was walking back toward the altar, looking down at the scene with no shortage of amusement.

"What a turn of events," he laughed, blood seeping through his shirt from the swiftly healing cut at his throat. "Not altogether unexpected. This part, though..."

"Blaine, what are you doing?" Kurt cried. "He's coming!"

Blaine just kept working on the knot, but before it could come undone Sebastian was behind him with the knife raised. Blaine screamed and blood splattered Kurt as Sebastian brought the dagger down, slicing it through Blaine's shoulder.

"No!" Kurt screamed. "Stop it!"

Sebastian pulled the knife free and continued to drop small, quick stabs all over Blaine's back. They were swift and brutal, but none deep enough to cause any lasting damage. Indeed, it seemed as though Sebastian were only intending to cause Blaine pain and nothing else. He continued his assaults with the dagger then moved away to take a candlestick in hand instead.

Blaine didn't move. He kept his position on top of Kurt, shielding him, and another horrible scream tore from his throat as Sebastian dribbled hot wax from the candle all over the cuts on his back. All around them, throats were torn and limbs were ripped away, splashing the statues of saints and the stained glass windows with blood.

Kurt sobbed as Blaine trembled and screamed in agony, and he tried in vain to push Blaine off of him. Sebastian was laughing.

"This is truly a marvel," said Sebastian, and there was a definite bitterness in his tone. "Do you love that little human, Blaine? Have you really sunk so low?"

Blaine didn't respond. His eyes met Kurt's for a second as Sebastian continued to rain down blows, and Kurt had never seen such an expression on his face before. Blaine's eyes were deep, human, echoing with years upon years of pain that Kurt couldn't even begin to fathom. Then he was working on the knot again, and Kurt didn't even realize it was gone until Blaine was hefting him up off the altar and pushing him to the ground.

Kurt fell roughly onto the dais and rolled onto all fours to push himself to his feet. He looked around frantically and met eyes with Ryder, who had pulled Marley away from the battle.

"Get him out!" Blaine's voice roared over the noise. "Get Kurt out of here!"

Kurt's head whipped around and he saw Blaine's battered body upright again as he faced down Sebastian. It was the last thing he could see before he felt his arm grabbed and he was yanked away from the dais and down the aisle.

"Wait!" he shrieked as Ryder manhandled him and Marley through the flurry of movement, all but dragging them to the back door.

Through the swirl of color and sound Kurt could see Puck, Jake and the others fighting to defend them from their attackers, but he could see no sign of Blaine. He had no time to look back to see how he was faring. He could only let himself be dragged away from the bloodshed and outside into the crisp, cold air, which was frighteningly silent in comparison.

They didn't stop running for a long time, and Kurt had no idea where they were headed. All he could think of was what he was leaving behind.

--