Project Grimm: Hylas
KC

Warnings: Slash

Disclaimers: I don't own these vampires, Anne Rice does. I make no money from this, and only do it for fun.

Spoilers: IWTV

Background: Mosquito Hawks are (huge) insects that eat mosquitoes, not humans, though they'll scare the hell outta ya the first time you see 'em. Hylas was a boy who was trapped in another world by a spirit. For some reason, I thought it fitting. :) KC

It was late at night on the plantation, so late that even the slaves were asleep. The wind blew gently, but not enough to cool the house. Humid air clung to everything and everyone, as if it were trying to suffocate them. A soft hum of the wings of gigantic mosquito hawks passed over the sleeping bodies. And out in the fields were the sounds of horse hooves.

Louis sat on the back of one of his favorite horses, a brown and white mare with a mottled mane. She was nimble enough to avoid the pits along the path, and intelligent enough to be silent around the house. Louis couldn't afford to wake his mother tonight. He had to get away, for just a little while at least. Away from her, away from his family and duties, and especially away from the jasmine bushes his mother had put in under every window. The smell was oppressive.

He rode easily across the fields, allowing his mount to choose her own route through the cotton. He only kept his eyes upon the sky, watching the stars slowly turn. There was only a sliver of a moon out, and it flickered like a candle in the rising heat.

Louis pulled the horse to a halt near the shrine he had created for his brother, and he slid down to the ground. The wind whistled eerily through the tree branches, and the leaves rustled like a ghost's clothing. Then the smell hit him. Jasmine. Even here he could not escape it.

"You chose an odd time to go riding," came the unexpected voice.

Louis turned in surprise and saw his brother coming from around the corner. "Paul? I did not expect to see you out so late."

"Nor I, you. Obviously." Paul stepped closer to him. "Why aren't you asleep? Your mother would not be pleased to see you up."

"Our mother," Louis said, somewhat sternly.

"I have only one true Mother," Paul replied.

Louis did not press the issue. "The jasmine," he mumbled. "The fragrance is overwhelming. I could no longer stand it."

"Ah." Paul smiled almost self-righteously.

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"I no longer notice vain, material things. I wait only in prayer. Tonight I shall receive of vision of what must be done in the future."

Louis made no reply. Speaking with his brother was becoming more and more irritating every day. He wondered if he should stay, then decided not to. He quickly leaped back up into his saddle and turned his mare east.

"Where are you headed?" Paul asked.

"To the rain hole," was the brief answer.

"You should stay away from there," Paul scolded him. "Evil spirits inhabit still water."

Louis narrowed his eyes and glowered at his brother. "You do not see vanity, but you see evil? Perhaps you should stop looking for Satan and try looking for God."

Paul's face turned dark and angry, and he retreated silently back to his shrine. Louis sighed, then spurred his horse on.

Several minutes later they arrived at the large pond. Louis dismounted and walked beside his mare, leading her along the water's edge. The stars reflected beautifully in the dark surface.

"What a wonderful night," Louis whispered.

"Yes, it is."

Startled, Louis looked up and spotted a stranger several feet away. He was sitting on the grass, his legs casually stretched out and his smile cocky. His blonde hair seemed to glow in the darkness, along with his gray eyes. He stood up in one fluid motion and stepped closer to Louis, who backed up fearfully.

"Who are you?" he commanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Simply admiring the view," the stranger said.

"You can see the sky from off of my property," Louis said in a stern voice.

The other smiled and shook his head. "I'm not admiring that heavenly body." He started walking closer again, and Louis pulled out a long knife he always carried for protection.

"Don't take another step," he warned him, "or you'll regret it. I know how to use this."

"I know," the stranger laughed with a grin. He came within arm's reach and held out his hand, as if to catch Louis.

Hesitating no more, Louis slashed with his knife. The blonde disappeared for a moment, and then he was standing next to Louis, holding his wrist in one hand and his waist with the other. He squeezed one hand, and the knife dropped harmlessly into the water. Louis struggled, managing to get out of the stranger's grip, and he ran for his mare.

"Go home," the intruder said in a loud voice, and the horse galloped away as if her master had given the order.

Louis glared at the stranger. "Who are you?" he demanded.

Instead of hearing an answer, Louis was suddenly seized in the person's arms, much stronger than his own. Their faces weren't an inch apart.

"A connoisseur of beauty, my lovely. I've watched you for some time now, your raven hair, your jade eyes, your pale skin...yours is such a sad soul."

"Let me go," Louis ordered, but he was only clutched tight, and suddenly the stranger was kissing him.

It was the first time Louis had ever kissed a man, willing or no, and it felt different from kissing the prostitutes in the city. This was passionate and fiery, and it ignited something he'd repressed for years. It scared him, and he began to struggle. The stranger released him, and he fell back into the pond.

"Who...who are you?" he gasped again, trying to stand.

Not answering, the intruder pounced on him, falling to all fours on top of Louis and pushing his body into the water, below the surface. For a terrifying moment, Louis looked up at the blue eyes from under the water, unable to breathe and unable to help himself. Without letting him up, the stranger bent and kissed him again, and stroked the hair that was floating wildly in the water. Just before Louis was about to breathe in, he was released.

He sat up fast, his lungs heaving, but he was radically off balance. His aggressor was sitting on his legs, and Louis was leaning back...the only reason he hadn't fallen back in was because the other man's arms were around him, holding him up easily. He grinned, revealing two fangs in that flawless mouth.

"What are you?" Louis whispered in awe.

"You should have listened to your brother," was his only answer before there was a bite in his throat. Louis swooned, his body falling limp. There was a strange taste in his mouth after that, and he sucked down greedily whatever had been offered to him. He passed out a second later.

When Louis woke up, he was back in his bed under his covers. No one else knew what had happened, and he wondered if he had dreamed it all. His bedroom window was open, the curtains flapping in the wind. But he always slept with it closed...? He swallowed instinctively, and the taste returned. He didn't know what it was, but he wanted more. He looked around himself, but there was nothing there that could be it. He closed his eyes and groaned, and then looked frantically again. He had to find it! It would drive him insane if he did not. Already he was becoming miserable.

There was a bottle of brandy by his bed, and he swallowed a great draught of it. The fire of the alcohol almost made up for it, and he took another drink. And another.

And outside, the spirit laughed for joy. It would find him again in a few more nights, and make him his.

The End