Chapter Text
"Will?"
A groan came from below. Will was splayed out under a tree, legs caught beneath him. There was an obvious bruise on his right cheek, bright and red.
"I'm getting hungry."
Mike put his pointer finger to his sharp canines in anticipation, ready to feed. He's felt increasingly hungry over the past few days, but only for Will.
Tilting his head up, he met Mike's gaze. Visible bites and bruises dotted his neck, the results of Mike's feasts. "Grnngh." Will groaned again, exhausted and worn out. He was really hungry, too, but not for blood.
In an attempt to grab a passerby, Will had received a nice slap to the face, propelling him backwards. Fortunately for him, there were numerous dead bodies with fresh brains, but those couldn't compare with working brains. No struggle, no fun.
That's how Will ended up where he was, sitting up, back against the tree.
Mike pleaded; his hunger was overwhelming. "Please? I'm getting hungry." There was no shortage of blood for him, but he only ever wanted Will's. Mike had tasted other blood, and none had ever tasted quite like his best friend's.
Will sat up from his slouched position, groggy and looking a little pale. They weren't far from Castle Byers, and Will knew the drill.
.
.
It had been approximately two months since the "apocalypse" began, when portals opened, and creatures of all kinds took over. Will had gotten bitten, just like Mike, but from two different species. Will always joked that he wished they were both vampires so they could live off of each other, but the realm of opportunity had faded.
Mike fed off of Will, and Will ate others' brains. Specifically, he wished he could dig into Mike; he would kill (he has) to try a taste of Mike's squishy brain fat.
.
.
"C'mon." Will whispered as he placed a heavy foot on the dirt, practically dragging his legs as he walked. The infection had ruined his stability, and now he walked a little lopsided.
Castle Byers came into view after a minute, shaded by luscious green trees. The small fort was covered in brown blood stains, which stood out from the base made of light brown branches. Will had voiced his complaints about the bloody mess, but Mike had played it off as unimportant.
Will pushed the small brown cloth hanging from a stick aside, stepping in and plopping himself on a blood-crusted pillow. Mike followed, crawling to position himself on top of Will.
Mike leaned on Will's chest, which was cold but soft. He could feel the lack of his usual warmth; Will's infected body had turned cold. Heat was the one thing that Mike really missed about Will. He used to lie on his warm chest as they read comics, but now, it felt like Will had lost that part of himself with his new body.
Mike pulled himself up to Will's neck, his dry mouth on an untouched sliver of skin. He could feel Will's breath on his hair, cold but familiar, blowing on his curls. Will had always commented on his hair, and he vowed never to change it.
He opened his mouth, digging his pointy white canines into Will's soft skin. The bite made two skin openings, growing wider as Mike inserted his front teeth between the holes. Will groaned quietly as he tilted his head back, but the pain felt good. He liked the feeling of Mike's teeth under his skin, piercing his soft flesh.
Mike took an opportunity to lean closer into him, resting his chin below the bite. He secretly wished he could be this close to Will forever, but he knew that was ridiculous.
Mike had realized that lately he'd been craving Will, like he'd craved El. Mike always trashed the thoughts, knowing that it's wrong; he couldn't feel like that for his best friend, much less...a boy. But he couldn't stop the thoughts from coming through, so he ended up thinking about Will a lot.
After he'd swallowed a good amount of blood, Mike was ready to pull back until he felt Will's cold hand wrap around his head. He dug his slim fingers into Mike's dark curls, pushing him further into Will's neck. Will was pulling him even closer, which Mike wasn't totally sure was possible. His whole face was touching Will's neck as he sucked more blood into his mouth.
Mike's teeth dug further into Will's neck, more skin breaking around his teeth. Blood began to pool at the open wound, inviting Mike back in. He drew his tongue over the bite, prompting a moan from above. Mike felt his stomach flip at the sound, his breath hitching.
He'd already drunk enough, but Will's sounds prompted him to continue. His breathing returned to normal. He wrapped his arm around Will's hip, his other hand tilting on his chin, going in for a second round. Will twitched at his touch.
Mike felt overly excited now, the crimson blood escaping from Will's neck and onto his shirt. Mike put his lip back onto the bite, sucking the blood in with his tongue. His tongue felt warm and slippery on Will's cold skin, but the blood flowing into Mike's throat was warm.
Will might've been cold, but his blood wasn't.
Mike had never tasted blood so good and so fresh; he was having the time of his life. Nothing had ever come close to the feeling of sucking blood from your best friend's neck.
Will continued to dig his fingers deeper into his hair, squishing Mike's nose into his neck. Contrary to his responses, he enjoyed Mike's feeds. He felt guilty about it, but he enjoyed it when Mike touched him, no matter what. Glancing down, Will could see Mike's slender, freckled nose, tip covered in wet blood. He took a lick at his lips, trying to get rid of the drool that was desperately pooling in his mouth.
Mike opted to use his teeth; his tongue wasn't doing what he wanted it to. He bit once more into another part of Will's neck, hard and painfully, drawing out tablespoons of red liquid.
He pulled back from Will. Beneath him, Will was lying out on the small, bloody pillow, head tipped backwards, eyes closed. His mouth was parted slightly, lips wet, like he'd been licking them while Mike fed.
Mike sat for a moment, taking in Will's beauty. Originally, he was just interested in the feed, but never had he seen Will this helpless. Mike wanted to dig in again and suck out every last bit of blood from his body.
Will's eyebrows were knit together, a soft crease in between his closed eyes. His chest was exposed, shirt unbuttoned halfway, revealing his fast-beating heart. Mike felt his own heart skip a beat as he observed Will. The collar of his shirt was stained with multiple layers of blood from past feeds.
What was he doing? He just wanted to feed, that's all. Nothing else. He was just observing Will. Will, who was glowing, Will, who was covered in his own blood. He'd never seen anything better.
Mike attempted a distraction, glancing at an old drawing of Will's pinned to a branch. It was him and Mike, a non-bloody Castle Byers in the back. Mike was happy with how life was now, but he missed those days more than anything. He wanted Will to be happy, not miserable.
It wasn't the time to get sentimental. Mike was stupid. He turned back to Will, still towering over him.
Will's eyes opened as he looked up, the green in his eyes reflected by the glimmer in Mike's.
Mike's arms were on either side of Will's chest, casting a shadow over his body. Mike had a piercing look of hunger in his eyes, as if he was saying, 'I need more.'
His eyes were halfway open, locked onto Will's. Blood continuously dripped from his mouth, his open mouth displaying his red teeth. He circled his tongue around his mouth slowly, making sure to get every last bit. Will felt like he was going to explode.
To make things worse for him, Mike reached his hand back into the wound, covering his fingers with Will's leftovers. He brought his hand to his mouth, using his wet, bloody tongue to suck off his fingers. One by one. He was looking at Will the whole time, observing his reaction.
Will could feel his face warm up, a rare feeling enveloping his cold body. He wanted to reach up and kiss Mike, tasting his own blood in his mouth.
"Are you...finished?" He spoke gravely, propping himself against the branch walls to get his thoughts straight.
"For now."
Will shifted in his spot, turning a bit, before buttoning his shirt.
"..." Mike sat in silence, watching Will. "Thanks," he blurted. "This doesn't make you uncomfortable, does it?"
Will considered his question. He was incredibly uncomfortable, every time, but in a GOOD way. He enjoyed how uncomfortable it was. (He also liked how close Mike was.)
"No," Will turned back around, holding his weight with one arm on the ground. "It doesn't." He felt a little woozy staring at Mike, his vision starting to blur. "I'm just...hungry. Hungry and dizzy."
Mike stood up quickly after Will finished talking, hitting his head on the ragged, wooden roof. He hissed, cursing his six-foot figure. He raised a hand to his head, crouching before Will.
"I'll go get you some food. Stay put, food'll make you feel better."
Will nodded, shifting into a lying down position. Mike glanced over his shoulder, catching Will's half-closed eyes. They looked tired and sleepy, probably from the amount of blood he just drank. He wanted to put Will's beautiful eyes in a jar and stare at them forever.
What is wrong with you, Mike? Literally, what is wrong with you? That's gross and weird.
Mike's thoughts did a few circus flips as he stepped into the forest, an acrobat routine running back and forth between his feelings and his brain. He really did want to look at Will's eyes forever, but he decided they didn't need to be in a jar for him to do that.
Most of the time, there were bodies gathered near the side of the road. Mike headed towards the main road, and there they were. Stacked on top of each other, dead bodies were piled up 10 feet high, and it smelled like sour milk and decay. He was used to the smell, but it never got any better.
Mike felt bad for Will; he had to work harder for his food. All Mike had to do was bite. Will had to get through the skull.
Mike took out his pocket knife, the blade popping out with the pressure of his hand.
He observed, looking for any recently deceased. The body of a man with a suit lay mostly clean on top of a pile of leaves, the ideal victim.
Approaching him, Mike kicked him in the side to confirm he was actually dead.
No movement.
It was time to get to work.
Mike slid beside the man, holding the head with his left hand as he prepped his knife. Mike began to carve into his skin, pulling individual bloody flaps off as he went. A bloody pile lay next to him. Now, it was time for the hard part.
Holding the skinless skull with a hand on each side, Mike pushed it forcefully into the road. He could hear it crack every time it hit the concrete, a good sign.
The skull was cracked down the middle, with little cracks branching off. He used all the force he had to rip it apart, fingers stinging as the skull broke into uneven halves.
Mike dug his hands into the center of the skull, careful not to dirty the pink mess. It squelched as he pulled it out, slimy and wet in his hands.
He felt responsible, responsible to help Will in any way possible, and this was the easiest thing he could do.
"Mike!" He jerked up, greeted by El and Max, waving their hands across the road.
"Hey, guys!" He replied, cracking a smile as he held up the brain. El pumped a fist as Max rolled her eyes. They were an inseparable duo, and they reminded Mike of him and Will.
He nodded to them, waving with his head a goodbye.
They lived across the road from them, and Mike was eternally grateful they didn't end up dead. El and Max were both zombies who REALLY liked to eat.
He started on his way back, walking carefully so he didn't drop the brain.
.
.
"Will?"
His eyes peeked open at the sound of his name, and he rolled onto his back. There wasn't much room for them in Castle Byers; little Will hadn't predicted it would last this long.
"I'm hungry."
"I brought you food," Mike sat down beside Will, who was looking a little sickly. Will had always fallen into a sleepy daze whenever he was hungry, which was evident now.
Mike hesitated before pulling a chunk of pink from the mass, making sure it didn't fall. "Want me to help you?"
Will nodded as he sat up and opened his mouth, awaiting his meal.
Mike put the brain onto the blanket, for the lack of a better spot. He held the squishy pink chunk in his hand up to Will's mouth, who hungrily accepted it, chewing slowly.
"Thank you, Mike," he groaned. "I'm totally useless when I'm hungry."
"I know." Will shot him a glare. Mike helped him eat the rest, and Will felt better with every bite. He should've eaten earlier.
.
.
Will finished and placed the leftovers on one of his books, which was tucked into a corner. He looked over at Mike, but Mike was already watching him from the corner. He turned around quickly, a blush creeping up on his face. Was there something on his face?
Mike was watching Will put his food away. Will had a bloody nose, and Mike watched it drip down to his mouth from the side.
He wanted to lick it. Lick it.
It's too close to his mouth. That would be weird.
He wouldn't mind, it's just blood. Lick it, Mike.
Mike inched forward; his shuffling made Will turn around.
"Your...nose," Mike pointed, eyes dilated, fixed on the beautiful, bloody drip, currently making its way onto Will's top lip. He quickly brought his finger up to his nose, pulling back, with blood on his finger.
Will looked at Mike. He was staring at Will, pleading with his gorgeous eyes.
"You-" Will paused, suddenly getting all awkward and flustered. "You want?"
Mike could see his whole face, blown up and red like a tomato.
He paused before speaking, due to his own embarrassment.
"I want."