Archive of Our Own ^beta

"C'mon Dan! It'll be harmless!" Daithi begged, floating closer to the vampire. Daniel had his arms crossed in blatant disapproval, worry evident on his face. Before him sat three of his four idiots with a large tome they had discovered in his library.

One of many magical tomes he thought he had hidden well enough to avoid detection.

Apparently not well enough.

He made sure to verbalize his disapproval of using magic of all things against their resident human. He looked, desperate, at the only other person who seemed to use their brain when it came to everyone else's antics.

Brian just rolled an eye in response.

Not a good sign.

The werewolf next to Brian turned his exaggeratedly pleading gaze to Dan.

"Daaaan, Kevin has it comin'! You know it took me, like, a week to get all the dye outta my fur!" Seán whined, waving his hands as he spoke. Dan felt an involuntary shudder run through him at the reminder of Kevin's Week Of Terror (as they collectively decided to dub it). Dan himself had spent far too much time (and money, not that money was a concern at this point in his undead life) replacing his poor burnt curtains. None of them even knew what set the man off.

Reluctantly, Dan questioned which spell they even intended to try to cast on the human. Brian handed the tome over with a smirk and pointed at the page. Dan blanched in shock as he read it.

"Why would you choose that one?" he asked, incredulous. In neat Latin script, the words Memento Paenitentia, translated to Remember Regret, were scrawled at the top of the page. Dan quickly read the details, worry taking root in his heart. "It seems a little…cruel," he finished, rubbing at his arms nervously.

Daithi rolled his eyes with a sigh. "It's Kevin we're talkin' about here. His biggest regret is probably that he didn't pet that puppy he saw yesterday!"

Although he was almost offended on Kevin's behalf, Dan had to admit that Daithi had…somewhat of a point. The only real thing he could think of that Kevin might regret that could cause a problem was getting hit by that car years ago, but Kevin joked about that with him all the time. The other lads weren’t aware as far as Dan knew, but Kevin was never one to get too upset. It would be fine. Probably.

Hopefully.

Deciding to cut his losses with a sigh, Dan closed his eyes and shook his head at the other lads before waving them on. Sometimes it was better to just let them do as they pleased when they latched onto a plan. Daithi let out a triumphant “Hah!” as Seán grinned. Brian chuckled before announcing that Kevin had arrived at the front door.

(Dan chose not to question how he knew that, since Kevin never bothered to knock, ring the doorbell, or even send a text message when he dropped by the mansion. Less of a headache to just accept it.)

Seán snickered as he left to go bring him into the library, Daithi moving to hide behind Brian and Dan as he started to whisper the incantation for the spell. It didn't take long for loud thuds to come from the hall as the two raced up the stairs. The door was thrown open moments later with a flourish as Kevin came inside, breathless. Seán was close behind, shoving Kevin lightly with a laugh.

"Geez guys," Kevin said once he collected himself, the faintest hint of nervous energy in his voice. "Ya coulda told me to come earlier if ya were waiting for me!"

Brian gave a sickly sweet smile as he waved Kevin over. "Don't worry about it, Kev," he practically crooned. "We didn't wait long." Dan forced down the guilt starting to rise in response to Kevin's resulting relaxed expression.

Suddenly, Daithi shot up in the air above everyone, exclaiming the last of the Latin while pointing at Kevin, who flashed a bewildered look for all of a second before everything blacked out.

–

Dan awoke with a start, eyes shooting closed almost immediately after opening them as he moved to grab at his aching head, the groans of his three companions sounding off around him.

Wait. Dan froze.

Three?

He looked up in alarm, spotting Brian, Daithi, and Seán sitting up around him. All of them were in an open patch of grass surrounded by trees, the fading evening light bleeding through. Dan almost panicked before he realized he wasn't burning up. In fact, he couldn't even feel the breeze that was shaking the trees around them. The four men shared a puzzled look before starting at the sound of someone approaching.

"Bruno!" a young male voice quietly called, stepping into the clearing. Seán gasped at Dan's side when it became clear who they were looking at.

The face was younger and the hair shorter, but it was unmistakably Kevin. He was the same height as the Kevin they knew, but significantly skinnier, to an outright unhealthy degree. Wide eyes looked around anxiously as he called out again. The teen was getting closer to the group without noticing them despite his careful surveying of the area. With him only a few steps away, Dan started to stutter out the first syllable of his name just in time for the younger Kevin to step forward and through him.

"What the fuck?" Brian shouted, a tinge of disbelief in his voice. He got no reaction from the younger version of their friend, who continued searching the clearing. Sure, they were no strangers to being walked through, but as a general rule it was only the ghost in their group who could do so, and even then only when he was trying to annoy the others.

"Must be the spell," Daithi muttered back with raised eyebrows, the unexpected voice of reason.

Dan felt sick with the realization as he stared at Kevin. They all liked to think the human was an open book, but as the vampire tried to remember the man ever talking about his younger years he found himself coming up blank. "We shouldn't be watching this," he snapped at the others, arms curling around himself in an imitation of a hug to try and calm himself. Seán flinched before responding in a quiet voice.

"Not much of a choice now…"

The sound of someone being tackled to the ground grabbed their attention before they could argue any further.

Kevin laughed as he was pinned, feigning putting up a fight against the shaggy brown wolf on top of him. They rolled in the grass a few times, the wolf playfully nipping at his arms and sides as he shoved back. Suddenly, the wolf transformed into a lanky, tanned teenage boy with long hair, hands quickly moving to press against the other's shoulders to keep him in place.

–

Seán felt a bolt of recognition hit him at the sight of his cousin's face, worry and regret gnawing at his insides. He had hoped the name was a coincidence…

–

The two boys stared briefly at each other before dissolving into a giggling fit, the taller one dragging Kevin up to stand. The long-haired boy pulled Kevin into a kiss before pressing their foreheads together with a soft smile.

The couple remained ignorant to the quiet gasps from the ones watching them.

"We still on for midnight?" Bruno asked, practically vibrating with excitement. Kevin nodded back, something sad in his smile as he replied.

"We gonna head to your aunt's?” Kevin raised an eyebrow, voice becoming teasing. “Or are we stopping by that mansion you won't stop talking about first?"

Bruno's responding laugh was interrupted by the crack of a branch breaking. Everyone tensed, Bruno pulling Kevin behind him protectively. Kevin's eyes were wide with fear. For several terrifying seconds, there was silence.

As if forgetting what it was they were watching, Daithi muttered, "Maybe just an animal?" Brian glanced at his friend with a grunt, not liking where things seemed to be heading.

The silence was broken by a sickening, wet thunk.

Kevin screamed Bruno's name as the werewolf stumbled back, an arrow lodged in his shoulder, blood rapidly covering the sleeve of his shirt. Three hunters, two women and a man, emerged from the shadows of the trees, weapons drawn. Bruno let out a deep growl as they approached, hand pressed to his bleeding wound as he glared at the approaching humans. Kevin looked into the hunters' faces and let out a gasp.

"Mom? Dad? Trish? How did-"

"Quiet," the gruff, heavily accented voice of Kevin's father (and wasn’t that shocking in itself, Dan thought in a daze) interrupted with disdain. Kevin audibly clacked his jaw shut even as he stepped in front of Bruno. He gulped before trying again, shaking fists clenched at his sides.

"This isn't…he's not-"

The man surged forward without any acknowledgment of his son, grabbing Kevin by the arm before throwing him to the ground. The air was torn from the teen's lungs with a loud huff as he first hit his back and then rolled twice before settling on his stomach, eyes rapidly blinking as he leaned on his forearms, clearly dazed. The two women moved quickly to pin the stunned teen, the elder holding his arms to his back and pressing a knee on his lower back, the younger holding down his legs. Regaining his bearings as they held him down, Kevin began a hopeless struggle as the man drew a silver dagger from his side and stepped closer to the injured werewolf.

Bruno, panicking, yanked the arrow out of his shoulder with a grunt before leaping at the larger man, transforming into a wolf mid-jump. The hunter swung the dagger into the werewolf's side, creating a long, arching gash that caused him to yelp loudly as his blood boiled on contact with the silver and he fell to the side. Snarling on shaking legs, Bruno recovered and made another move at the hunter.

Kevin thrashed on his stomach, screaming for his father to stop. His mother glared down at him, grip unyielding. The younger woman looked down at him with a conflicted look, almost pained, but continued holding him down despite his pleading. The teen repeatedly tried to throw them off but made no progress beyond tiring himself out.

There was a sickening crack as Kevin's father punched Bruno's head to the side, the werewolf crumpling in a heap mere steps away from Kevin. The hunter advanced on the downed wolf, dagger raised. Bruno looked up in despair before desperately turning his head to look into Kevin's eyes. A soft whine escaped his throat that was cut off with a sickening gurgle.

Blood spattered across Kevin's shocked face as the dagger struck its target.

Dan forced himself to look away as Kevin let out an anguished scream, the sound echoing in his ears even as the scene faded.

–

Coming out of the spell was a much gentler experience, darkness giving way to the familiar library as the five men blinked back into reality.

Dan spared a glance at the men next to him, knowing he shared their horrified and shell-shocked expressions. He felt shaky and sick, guilt clawing at his insides painfully. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything as he tried to collect himself.

Seán was the first to look up at the human in the room.

"Kev…" he started, quietly. Said human's eyes were blown wide, looking quickly between each of the men in front of him, skin sickly pale. His breathing started picking up, starting with a stuttering gasp that transformed into full-on hyperventilation. Tears began falling down his face. Eyebrows pinched in sorrow and regret, Seán put his hands up in a non-threatening gesture and made a step forward.

Kevin took a step back in response before turning and running out of the room without a word.

Dan felt tears well up in his own eyes as he watched Seán's hands fall to his sides, shoulders slumped.

"...we fucked up," Brian stated simply, voice lacking any emotion.

As the sound of a younger Kevin's agonized screams played back in his head, Dan found that he couldn't agree more.