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It was doomed from the start really. They knew that better than anyone. That didn’t stop them though, didn’t stop this unbreakable bond from forming. It didn’t stop them from falling in love from the first time they met. And it didn’t stop the blade that ended everything.
Niall remembers it like it was yesterday, that first meeting in a dank pub that was more shadows than light. It’s not unusual in Niall’s line of work to find himself thrust into the darkness, but that night had had a special energy. Something ominous, and yet exciting. He was fresh off a job, the bitter metallic taste of blood still heavy on his tongue. Harry, his partner, was thrumming with energy next to him, far too excited considering what they’d just done.
Things had been a near miss that night, both of them nearly dying because they hadn’t bothered to properly research their opponent's strength. They were reckless, running into danger without a second thought when a life was on the line. It had nearly gotten them killed more times than not, but they had luck, and not an inconsiderable amount of skill, on their side. They were blessed. That’s what the other hunters said anyways. Niall had never agreed with that sentiment. Nobody who did this was blessed.
“Ni, come on. That was amazing.” Harry giggled, half drunk on cheap tequila and adrenaline that never seems to run out. “Did you see that thing I did with the shotgun?”
“Yeah Haz, I did.” Niall nodded, giving Harry a soft smile. The younger lad hadn’t been around as long as Niall, hadn’t been doing this for so long that the excitement of a particularly spectacular combat flourish was lost on him. “It was- It was a bit sick in the head actually. Who even thinks of something like that?”
“I saw an opportunity and took it.” Harry shrugs with a lopsided grin.
“You shoved a shotgun up a Vampire’s arse and fired.” Niall scoffed. “You had to have planned that. You were just waiting for a chance, and that’s why you let it pin me to the ground.”
“Hey, you didn’t get bitten.” Harry chuckled. “I still think we could add a little flair to our work. A little-”
“Don’t say it.” Niall groaned.
“Styles.” Harry finished with a smirk.
“God, I should have just let that demon possess you and been done with it.” Niall sighed. “Why did I have to save you?”
“Because you wanted to fuck me.” Harry laughed, climbing out of their booth to wander towards the bar.
“Totally not worth the torture you’ve put me through since then.” Niall called after him. Harry didn’t even end up liking boys. He did occasionally provide companionship that was of an acceptable level, helped Niall ease the loneliness that came along with his job by telling stupid jokes and keeping their driving playlist fresh, but he still regrets having gotten Harry wrapped up in all this.
Harry was stubborn, but good with the things that Niall wasn’t. Good with the things that Liam had always been the one to do until he wasn’t there one day. That’s how Niall rationalized keeping Harry around. He needed someone to do the heavy lifting in combat while Niall worked out strategies pulled from his vast mental vault of supernatural knowledge. For those two years after Liam died and before he met Harry, Niall had almost died a lot more times than he had since then.
“This seat taken?” a voice had asked.
Niall looked up at the source of it, and his jaw had nearly dropped. Those eyes were too blue to be real, which in retrospect had ended up being true and if Niall had worked it out he might have saved himself some heartbreak and a lot more. He was proper fit, all sharp features and meticulously quaffed hair. His skin was tanner than most people’s (Niall still doesn’t know how that’s possible), and yet still pale enough to glow a bit in the dim lighting. And it had been so bloody long, which is probably why Niall had said “Not if you want it.”
“Won’t your friend mind?” the stranger had asked, sliding into the worn vinyl anyways.
“Nah, he’s probably too busy chasing birds to notice.” Niall told him, a quick glance to the bar confirming that Harry was chatting up the prettiest girl in the place. Good. That meant Niall would have the hotel room to himself tonight.
“Ah.” he had nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Good. Wouldn’t want to be interrupted. You’re far too pretty to let alone.”
“That line work for you often?” Niall chuckled.
“Not as often as I would like.” he shrugged. “But the question is, did it work on you?”
“Probably wouldn’t if I’d had sex in the last year.” Niall admitted.
“Now that is truly a shame worth crying over.” the man laughed. “So-”
“Niall.” he supplied.
“Niall. Would you like to remedy that little- oversight?” the stranger smirked.
“Well that was down to business.” Niall grinned. “I don’t normally do that sort of thing with someone I only met a minute ago. Or someone who hasn’t even introduced themselves.”
“I see very little point in wasting time, no matter how much of it I may have.” he explained. “But my name is Louis if that’ll help push you in the right direction.”
It had. Twenty minutes later they were in Niall and Harry’s hotel room, Louis straddled over his lap as Niall pumped into him. The position played hell with his knee, the one a stray bullet had smashed a few years back, but it was what Louis wanted and Niall was fucking intoxicated on him from the second that their lips had touched. Louis was letting out these delicious little whimpers and pants that Niall had soaked up with pride.
The air felt like it was exploding when he came, burying himself as deep as he could while he stroked Louis to orgasm. “I don’t believe you. There’s no way it’s been a year since you had sex.” Louis mumbled against his lips. “Nobody is that fucking brilliant when they’ve been out of the game for so long.”
“It’s this fucking arse of yours.” Niall had growled out, squeezing the ample bum that more than filled his hands. “Makes me want to build a fucking monument to it. A shrine.”
“I would pay to see that.” Louis smirked, climbing off of Niall’s lap. “I should go.”
“Or, we could wait ten minutes and go again.” Niall offered, a bit desperate for Louis even though it’s only been a moment.
“I always need a meal after a shag that good, and I don’t fancy getting a bullet between the eyes for the attempt hunter.” Louis muttered, pulling on his jeans. “I’ll see you around Horan.”
“You’re- You-” Niall stammered, one word failing to escape his lips, though he’s said it hundreds of times before. Vampire. He reached behind the nightstand for his gun. It only had rock salt in it at that moment, but that might have stunned Louis long enough for Niall to grab his machete from the closet.
“I am.” Louis nodded. “And don’t even think about it. You took out my nest tonight, which I actually think of as a favor, because they were all raging prats. I’d hate to have to kill you after that. You don’t have your warrior here to protect you this time, and it would be a shame to let something as great as your cock go to waste.”
And Niall found his hand releasing the butt of his gun. He was in a bad position, vulnerable and weakened by the strain on his knees. That wasn’t what made him stop though. He didn’t want to kill Louis.
That ended up being a good thing two weeks later, when Niall and Harry had gotten in over their heads on a Werewolf hunt. Niall’s dominant arm had been cut open on the ends of its claws, and Harry chased it off into the woods. He must have lost it though, because Niall heard growling, and he heard it close. The werewolf barreled into the clearing, and Niall raised his gun from here he was slumped against a tree.
“You’re so helpless.” an all too familiar voice chuckled. Louis appeared next to Niall in a flash, grabbing a silver dagger off the ground next to Niall’s leg. “Mind if I borrow this? Thanks.”
He moved in front of Niall, the blond too confused to even croak out a word. “Come and get it Rex.” Louis taunted, tossing the dagger from hand to hand in the cockiest way imaginable. He was such a prick. “Or better yet, roll over and be a good boy while I kill you, yeah?”
The werewolf snarled, lunging forward at the new prey. Niall was wounded, and wasn’t going anywhere. It had time to wait for him. This new prey on the other hand looked as small and helpless as the boy on the ground, but Niall knew that was just a trick. Louis was far from helpless, and he proved it. He danced around, easily avoiding the increasingly vicious strikes the werewolf was aiming at him. Eventually his laughter faded into a bored expression and he dove forward, striking the werewolf in the heart with astounding accuracy.
It crumpled to the ground with a piercing howl, and Louis didn’t bother looking back as he sauntered over to Niall. “Miss me?” he asked with a grin.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Niall growled, lifting his gun back up between him and Louis.
“I’ve been watching you, of course.” Louis hummed, seemingly unphased by the weapon pointed at his chest. Of course, the way Niall’s hand had trembled might have had something to do with that. “You- You fascinate me Niall. Some part of you, some predatory instinct, had to know what I was when you brought me back to yours, and yet you did it anyways. A human hasn’t interested me this much since I was alive.”
“Niall!” came Harry’s shout, desperate and close. That fucking idiot. He doesn’t know the wolf is dead, but he’s broadcasting his position.
“Oops. Looks like our time is up Love.” Louis chuckled, darting in to press a fleeting kiss against Niall’s lips. “Until the next time.”
He was gone before Niall could get another word out. Harry smashed through the brush only seconds later, his face stained with worry. “It got away-” Harry started before he noticed the body on the ground. “How in the hell did you manage that?”
“I-” Niall sighed, too fucked up to even think properly. His arm was throbbing, and the blood loss was starting to drag him under. “I don’t know.”
It had taken him two weeks to heal properly enough to resume hunts, but now he had a target. Louis wasn’t going to escape again. Except he did, over and over. They would always find each other as soon as Niall was alone, but all they had were fleeting moments that made Niall’s heart clench in his chest. Louis had to die. He had to. Niall couldn’t just let him walk around, not knowing what he was. Who knows how many Louis had fed on? Niall had asked him on their sixth encounter, tugging on his machete where it was embedded deep into a wooden post.
“I’ve lost track honestly.” Louis had hummed, making himself comfortable on a pile of hay while he watched Niall struggle. “That may sound callous to you, but how many burgers or steaks have you had in your life? How many animals have died so that you could eat?”
“It’s different!” Niall snarled. “Humans think! We feel!”
“And who are you to say that animals don’t?” Louis asked. “Humans love to believe that they’re superior, that they’re the top of the food chain, but biology didn’t work it out that way, did it? I was made to do what I do, just like you were made to do what you do. It’s in our natures.”
“I didn’t choose this.” Niall sighed, letting his hands drop away from the machete that has apparently become Excalibur in the stone. “I didn’t pick this life.”
“And neither did I.” Louis replied. “How many vampires do you think chose to be what we are? We were forced into it. And eventually the urge to procreate is so strong that we force others into it to keep the species going. Biology has a funny way of winning out.”
“Just go.” Niall muttered. “Go before Harry can come back and find you.”
“Until next time then Love.” Louis laughed his now standard goodbye, flitting across the room to plant another kiss on Niall’s lips that had lingered long after he disappeared into the night.
“We have to stop meeting like this.” Louis chuckled.
“Shut up and kill them already.” Niall growled, lunging at the closest zombie and bringing his machete down between its eyes. Why did it have to be zombies? Niall hates Zombies.
“You never let me have any fun.” Louis laughed as he danced through a cluster of them, the sound of blades splitting through decomposed flesh never taking its toll on the vampire’s enthusiasm. “Where’s Harry?”
“Tracking the fucker who left these here for us.” Niall explained, rolling across the ground and sweeping the leg out from underneath another zombie. He planted his blade in its skull and then yanked it back out, eyes on his next target.
“He’s going to get himself killed chasing a necromancer by himself.” Louis sighed. “Go after him. I can handle these pathetic excuses for the undead.”
“I’m not leaving until every last one of these things is put down.” Niall huffed, plunging the weapon into the head of a girl who couldn’t have been more than six when she died the first time. “They deserve better than to be used like this. They deserve better than to have someone who won’t mourn for them take their second lives.”
“You’re something else, you know that?” Louis smiled, letting the last of them fall on his blade a few minutes later. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a hunter quite like you.”
“I’ve never met a vampire like you.” Niall countered, his chest heaving as he leaned against a mausoleum wall. Thirty fucking zombies was a lot, even with help. “I’m still going to kill you. Helping me doesn’t change that.”
“Do you want to try now, or would you like a moment to rest?” Louis giggled, sitting on a headstone. Niall would object, but its occupant is lying somewhere in the pile of undead bodies littering the area around them.
“Fuck you.” Niall said with a grimace.
“You can if you want. Been fucking gagging for it lately.” Louis smirked. Niall had never cum so hard in his life.
“Shush, don’t try and speak Love.” Louis said gently, cradling Niall’s head in his lap. “You’re going to be alright.”
“Louis-” Niall gargled, blood too thick in his throat to get the word out properly.
“Drink it Niall. If you don’t, you’ll die.” Louis insisted, clamping his hand down on Niall’s jaw.
Niall didn’t want to drink it, didn’t want to turn, but he didn’t want to die more. He swallowed the mouthful of Louis blood, and let the chips fall where they may.
“There’s a cure.” Harry exclaimed, looking at Niall hopefully. “You haven’t had any blood yet, so we can reverse this.”
“Fuck you!” Niall growled, tugging at his restraints. The urge to feed, to rip Harry’s throat out and drink him down overwhelming.
“I’m going after him.” Harry said adamantly. “I’m going after Louis.”
“Good. Then he’ll kill you and bring you back for us both to feed on.” Niall snarled. “Going to finally suck you dry Harry.”
“This isn’t you Niall.” Harry said gently. “You’re going to be alright. I’m going to save you.”
“You can’t save me.” Niall scoffed. “You can’t do anything right you stupid fucking peon. I only saved you because I wanted to fuck that pretty little mouth of yours. And I’m going to once Louis brings back your fucking body. Gonna fuck right through the back of your head.”
Louis doesn’t come back though. Not alive. Harry drags his body into the abandoned steel mill where he has Niall chained up. Louis is looking up at him from where his head is separated from his neck. It pains Niall like he couldn’t believe to see him like this. Screams rip their way out of his throat, the sound of Niall’s heartbreak bouncing off the walls as Harry works without looking at him.
“He didn’t have to die Niall.” Harry says quietly. “I offered him the chance to save you without dying, but he refused to take it. All he had to do was give me a little of his blood.”
“I’m going to rip your heart out and shove it down your throat!” Niall screamed. “I’m going to tear off your arms and fuck you with them!”
“You’re going to be okay.” Harry tells him. “I’m going to fix what he did to you.”
He mixes up a concoction using Louis’ blood, and then stabs a syringe into Niall’s leg. The blond’s body feels like it’s on fire, and then he passes out.
He doesn’t wake up for a couple hours until daylight is shining through the window on the second story, and his entire body is crying out in pain. Harry’s arms are wrapped around him. As soon as he moves, Harry wakes up too.
“Niall? Are you okay?” he asks worriedly, his hand reaching towards his machete. He’s so fucking stupid sometimes, taking a risk like letting Niall out of the chains before he knew if the cure had worked.
“No.” Niall sobs. “You- You killed him!”
“I didn’t want to.” Harry whispers. “He left me no choice. When I tracked him down, I asked him to just give me the blood and walk away. He attacked me, saying that you were in love and that you belonged together. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I wasn’t going to let you become like that.”
“Why didn’t you just kill me?” Niall mutters, curling in on himself. “You should have just killed me.”
“I can’t. Niall, even if this didn’t work, I can’t kill you.” Harry mumbles. “You’re all that I have left.”
“Where’s his body?” Niall asks.
“I burned it while you were passed out.” Harry admits. “I had to hide the evidence. You know the drill Niall. I’m sorry that I didn’t let you say goodbye, but I couldn’t risk us getting discovered. You know it was the right thing to do. I marked the spot where I buried his bones though, if you want to go see him one last time. He’s just by the steel mill, out near a patch of trees.”
“Can I go now?” Niall breathes out.
“Of course.” Harry nods, pulling Niall into a tight hug and letting him cry. He never sees the blade coming, doesn’t understand what’s happened until he looks into Niall’s eyes with realization. Harry falls to the floor, a look of pained betrayal frozen on his face as his heart stops beating.
It was doomed from the start. Niall and Louis both knew it. That didn’t stop it from happening though. And it doesn’t stop the blade that ends it when Niall collapses on top of his love’s grave, the life bleeding out of him because there’s nothing left to live for. The memories will just haunt him.