Dark Moon (ManxMan)

Being invisible was not a walk in the park.

It's been three days and Colson was coming so fucking close to crying.

It's six and he's in his room back at Aetos' house. The vampire was lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. If you didn't look close enough, you'd never know he was crying. Colson was seated next to him, wishing he could wipe the tears away.

They couldn't find him. Not his body. Not his scent.

Colson tries to place his hand on Aetos' hand but he can't. it's like there's a wall of glass blocking his way. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to face. He just wanted Aetos to know he was okay.

The crazy lady had thankfully left Aetos and Cobie alone.

Colson gets off the bed, pacing in the room.

Going through doors have become a norm for me. Thankfully, Toby and Gabriel were okay. No injury and no scarring. They were fine.

But Colson wasn't.

He was starving and lonely.

There was no one to talk to and the witch was nowhere to be seen. It felt like she was playing peek-a-boo with him. He was her endgame. He knew she was going to kill him at the end of the game. She just had things planned. What game she had planned, Colson wasn't sure. All he knew was that starving to death might be the way he might go.

He walked out of the house, down the street, heading for the pack house. Colson doesn't bother dodging people as he walked, he wasn't going to touch them and they couldn't see him so what. His care and every fucks he could give had turned to dust. He was losing hope and getting so fucking impatient.

It took him a while to get to the pack house. He walks through the door, heading up the stairs to Cobie and Erik's room. He pressed his ear against the door, to make sure he wasn't going to interrupt anything. He walks through the door when he hears nothing.

Cobie was leaning against Erik, his beck pressed to Erik's chest. The alpha had his hands on Cobie's round belly and they were talking. "We're going to find him."

"How, peaches? You can't get his scent and Aetos has looked everywhere." Cobie sniffed, his eyes a rainbow swirl. Cobie looked sad, his hair was spread out in different directions, he had on one of Erik's shirt due to how big the shirt was, his eyes were rimmed red.

"We'll find him."

"Erik, I can't lose him too."

Colson makes his way over to the bed and tried to place his hand on Cobie. However, unlike other people, his hands go through Cobie's. Cobie snapped his head to the side and looks Colson in the eye, almost like he could see him. Colson tries to touch Cobie again and though his hand goes through the skin, Cobie draws in a sharp breath. Colson wants to hope. He wants to believe Cobie actually knew he was there. But hope was a dangerous thing. And right now, Colson had none.

"Erik..." Cobie said, he was still looking right at Colson.

"Cobie, what is it?" Erik asked, pressing his nose into Cobie's hair.

"Colson...is here."

Colson perks up at that. "What?"

Cobie doesn't answer Erik, he doesn't look away from the spot he assumes Colson was sitting. Colson watched as his brother moved away from Erik. Colson wants to move away but he couldn't. He knew Cobie couldn't actually see him. There was no point being happy because his twin could feel him. It's not like he could tell them what was happening, it's not like he could tell them he was being controlled by a bitch.

"Cobie, there's no one there." Erik said, his tone soft.

Cobie ignored his Alpha and reached out. Colson drops his head, his sadness multiplying when Cobie's hand just goes through him.

"He's here." Cobie said, his tone sure and strong. There must have been something else, maybe they communicated telepathically, because the next thing Erik says is...

"I believe you."

"You should call for a pack meeting." Cobie said, still not looking away. "Colson, I'm going to need you to come down with me. I know you're there. Whatever it is that you do, that makes me cold, keep doing it." Cobie said and Colson doesn't bother replying.

Colson looks over at the Alpha who had nodded in reply. He hoped they called Aetos too. They needed to get the vampire out of the house. Aetos hadn't lost hope, he just didn't know where to look. It took Cobie a while to get out of the bed, Colson chuckling as he watched his brother waddle over to the door. It looked like Cobie was getting bigger by the day. And thankfully, it seemed like his cravings had gone down a little. Like by a percent.

He follows Colson down the stairs, Erik by his side, ready to jump if Cobie needed him. Cobie takes a seat on the couch, Erik beside him. Gabriel comes down first, the pack warriors who had been in the house also appeared, there was a sharp breeze and the next time Colson blinks, Aetos was seated on the chair.

Colson rushed over to his side. Going on his knees in front of the vampire and looking up at him. Aetos looked da bit yellow, his claws were out and he looked like he was having difficulties controlling his eyes. They were flickering from his gorgeous grey to a bright red. At least his fangs weren't out. They all sit and wait for all the pack warriors to come.

"Colson is here." Cobie starts and everyone sits up.

"Look, Cobie, I d-" Aetos starts but Cobie cuts in.

"He's here but we just can't see him." Cobie said and everyone goes tense, Aetos was looking around the room, trying to find him. "It's this energy. I felt it in the room when Gabriel was shot." "Cobie felt..." Erik paused. "Cobie felt that same energy a couple minutes ago, in our room.

"He's here but there's something wrong."

Colson doesn't stand up from his position in front of Aetos. He stay there, just watching his boyfriend, his mate. Oh. They haven't mated. Colson hadn't told Aetos what he wanted. It had felt so selfish telling Aetos he wanted to grow old and die with him. He wanted them to be together for a long time before turning to dust.

It's just...

Aetos has been alive for so long. He might not want to age and really, Colson doesn't want to remain young and immortal, watch his family grow and leave him behind. He wanted everything with Aetos. Everything but immortality. Fuck. He should have just told him.

He should have said something and maybe they would have mated and Aetos would be able to see him.

"A couple months ago, we saw people's shadows standing right beside them. Not on the floor, but beside them. Like they were living breathing things. A couple months ago, Colson started having spots on his body." Cobie said and Colson could almost feel just how tense Aetos had gotten. "I think that's where things went to shit. Hell, I didn't even remember about the spot until right now. I'm adding everything up in my head."

"What about the Baba thing?"

"I don't know what that is."

"We've researched it but the only thing popping up is Baba Yaga." Erik said and Aetos looks down. It startled Colson. It felt like Aetos was looking right at him. Like he knew he was here. But like he had grown to understand, Colson knew otherwise. His hope was dwindling down again. Like a candle. It can go off at any time.

"What if it's Colson that attacked Se Ju?"

"The thing that attacked me was black. It blended with the darkness. It couldn't have been Colson." Se Ju said. Aetos gets on his feet, his leg going though Colson. Colson sighs and remained seated on the floor, there's no use standing up. It's not like he was standing in anyone's way.

His tummy let out a loud rumble. Colson was thirsty and hungry. He wondered where the witch was and if she could hear everything. It wasn't like she was omnipresent. She couldn't know everything at once and the one thing Colson had learnt over the years, was, everyone makes mistakes. You might think you had a solid plan but you'd miss a little something.

He doesn't know what it was and he was losing the time to care about it. There was nothing they could do.

"Colson..." Aetos' voice startled Colson. It was coming out scratched and hoarse, like he hadn't spoken in day. He hasn't. "Colson has been tired lately. The other day I saw a spot of blood on one of his shirts. I should have known." Aetos pushed his fingers through his hair.

Colson was shocked. He hadn't known Aetos had noticed.

"There's a fifty percent chance Colson has been the one attacking people and not Michel." Gabriel said, his tone a little lighter. And really, no one could fault him for that. It's has been a song he has been singing for many months. "I think we're missing something."

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"All this started when we opened the borders of Astir and allowed other people, other creatures in." Cobie said, his eyes burning red, hands on his tummy.

"We can't just investigate everybody who has moved to Astir." One of the pack warriors said and Colson hums. They wouldn't be able to find her anyway. He was sure the bitch witch would have spun an interesting tale about her background. "Colson." Cobie said.

Hearing someone calling his name out loud startles Colson but he doesn't bother looking up. There was nothing they could do. Colson couldn't stop looking at Aetos. It seemed like the vampire was getting more yellow by the second, his claws digging into skin. That made Colson sit up.

"Colson we can't do this on our own. We're going to need your help too." Cobie said and Colson shakes his head.

"And if you're shaking your head at me, when we fix this I am going to punch you so fucking hard, your balls would drop. Do you understand?" Cobie snapped, his voice ringing out loud and clear. To let his brother know he has heard the threat, Colson touched him. And like always his hand goes through Cobie's skin.

Everyone could see the way Cobie shivered.

And that sealed it.

Colson looked at everyone in the room and no one was staring at Cobie like he had lost his mind. Maybe it was because he's their Luna, they could feel something through the pack link connecting Cobie to them.

"Good." Cobie said and then stared at his mate and Alpha. "How many creatures have the ability to make someone invisible?"

"Not much, I would think. That involves a great deal of magic." Erik said and Colson moves his gaze from Alphie to Aetos.

"How many creatures can manipulate people's vision?" Se Ju asked, his brows furrowed, his hand holding Randall's tightly. "Not much." Aetos speaks up.

"Why Colson though? What did he do?" Cobie mumbles quietly.

"Maybe he offended someone." Gabriel speaks up and Aetos lets out a loud snarl, his fangs dropping, his bright red eyes focused on Gabriel who shrinks back into his seat. Gabriel might be a little shit but he wasn't wrong. He had offended

someone.

"Aetos, buddy, you have to calm down."

"You wouldn't be calm if Cobie immediately went missing just because you left the room for one fucking minute!" Aetos snapped, pushing his fingers through his hair. "One fucking minute!"

Colson makes his way over to Aetos. He doesn't bother touching the vampire because he knew how that would end. There were a lot of things he had always wanted to say to Aetos that he never did and now he wont ever have the chance to. "I love you. I love you. I love you so much, Aetos Amaya." Colson said. "I will love you till my last breath." Colson adds. He absentmindedly reached up, wanting to feel his mate one more time. He hadn't known the last kiss he would get from Aetos would be the last kiss, he hadn't know the last time he had touched Aetos would be the last time, he hadn't known the last time Aetos touched him would be the last time.

"We need to keep an eye on the witches. We'll look through the lists of witches who moved here and redo a background check-" Erik said.

"We might have missed something." Cobie completes the sentence.

It seemed like that was the end of the pack meeting. Aetos doesn't wait. He doesn't walk out in his vampire speed, he just plainly walked out of the house. Colson goes after him, making sure to keep in stride with his boyfriend. "You know how you see things in movies and you think they'd never happen to you? Yeah, well. It sucks. Being so close to you but not close enough. It's been three days, Aetos and I'm about to run out of hope. I can't stop thinking about you. I can't stop wishing I was there with you. I can't stop wishing to fall back into your arms because I know that no matter what trouble comes our way, we'll be able to face it together." Colson sighs.

"Remember when the asshole whose sperm brought us into this world attacked Astir. When I ran down, ready to shot Cobie and you yelled at me to go back in. You called me your mate. I really didn't think about that until the bitch witch pulled this invisible act shit on me. You've always known you asshole. You've always known but you didn't say anything." Colson lets out a small laugh. "This thing with us would have gone faster. You walk up to me, say I'm your mate, push me against the door and kiss me. I would have been fine with that. I'd knee you in the balls but I would have been so fucking flustered."

It was slowly getting dark out. Thankfully, Colson didn't feel cold.

Colson walked with Aetos, not feeling tired in the least. Aetos didn't know he was being followed so he wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere.

"Don't tell anyone but Pytor is my closest friend. Cobie is my best friend, always would be but Pytor comes close too. He's a giant pain in the ass with a love for the color pink but he's an awesome dude. If you ever tell him I said anything of this, you're just going to look for a new mate." Colon said, kicking at the air. "It's not like you can even hear what I'm saying."

"When I was younger, I used to think being invisible would be so cool. Like I could go around doing things and no one would know. Being sixteen and watching to many fantasy movies would make you wish for silly things." Colson said. "I'm invisible now and it sucks."

Colson's tummy let out a loud rumble and he places a hand over it. He was so thirsty. He was so hungry. He wasn't sure what was going to kill him first, the hunger, the thirst or the bitch witch.

"You have to tell Pytor, he and Toby are adorable. You have to tell him, I'm sorry for almost killing his mate. It was not my intention. The bitch witch controls my hands and feet sometimes. Even if I say no, she can still make somethings happen." Colson sniffs, the stinging feeling behind his eyes becoming stronger by the second. He just wanted to fall to his knees and cry.

Colson sniffs and raised his head up high, blinking repeatedly to keep the tears back. He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction that she had won. Colson stays by Aetos' side, hands in his pocket. He doesn't notice how long they had walked for, he doesn't notice how dark it had gotten. He, however, noticed when Aetos stops at an alleyway.

It was dark with a small sorry excuse of a lightbulb. He wondered what Aetos was doing in a place like this.

And that's when he remembered.

"Our beer has to be spiked."

"By what?"

"The blood of an already drunk person."

Colson starts shaking his head no. Aetos always took his blood out of a bag not from an actual person or creature. There's no way he would-

What the fuck was happening?

Aetos never liked drinking, he said he hated the feeling of his fangs sinking into someone's skin. Here he is, in the alleyway next to a bar. The backdoor of the bar was pushed open and a young woman stumbles out, she was obviously drunk out of her ass as she was talking to the door for taking too long to open. Aetos heads right for her, his skin a bright yellow.

Colson screamed.

For Aetos. For the woman.

He made his way to the front of the woman, his hand spread out. He calls Aetos' name, he kept scream but Aetos doesn't stop. Colson tries to reach for Aetos' hand but he couldn't touch him. He was so close to crying. He knew Aetos was going to hate himself for this when he wakes up in the morning. He understood Aetos' urge to drink.

Not like this though.

"You screaming won't help her."

Colson turns to the witch, she was clad in all black, a different black hat blocking off half of her face.

"He's a vampire. Vampires drink out of veins and not plastic bags. Watch your... boyfriend."

Aetos had the woman by the neck, he lifted her up until she was his height. He was squeezing her neck tight enough for her not to scream, she was just struggling in his arms. This was a town filled with wolves with incredible hearing, surely they could hear her struggle and her heartbeat.

The bitch witch was gone and Colson wasn't sure what to do. All he knew was that he needed to stop Aetos from making a big mistake. Just as Aetos was about to sink his fangs into the woman's skin, Colson runs forward, however, he trips, falling face first onto the ground, a sharp stinging sensation shooting through his arm.

He pushes his pain aside and looks up when he hears the woman yelp. Aetos... Aetos was staring in his direction, fangs nowhere to be sin, his skin back to its gorgeous warm tone. Colson knew Aetos couldn't see him, so what the hell was he looking at?

Aetos walks closer and Colson shuffles back onto his ass, moving away from the vampire. Aetos crouched down in front of Colson and placed his hand on the floor, bringing his fingers to his nose. Colson looks at what Aetos had touched and his eyes widened when he sees blood.

He looks down at his hand and-

Oh.

His blood.

That was his blood.

Aetos could see his blood. Aetos knew the smell of his blood.

"Find me, Aetos. Please find me. Bring me back home to you." Colson pleads.