Blue Eyes, White Lies

Chapter 9

(I wrote part of this to desert song lmao-

(Also TW for anxiety and anxiety attacks. Nothing graphic, (I'm not even sure if it's accurate) but heavy breathing and very obviously not being ok)

The trek home ends in a conversation at the table. After taking off our boots and putting the fish in a back freezer I was unaware we had, Eric sits us down like this is a strange family meeting. 

Eyes focused on us both he starts. "Julian, nose out of your book. Keiji, pay as much attention as you can without going into shock. I know it's a lot to take in."

He pushes the book down, looking Julian dead in the eyes. "It's family time."

Eric's southern something or other seems to have appeared at full strength.

"It's also time I tell you a bit more about myself." He scratches his head, almost sighing. Probably a nervous habit. 

"This is going to sound incredibly stupid, even more so than my last few bad jokes, but I was born in the 70s."

He looks damn good for a guy supposed to be in his fifties.. he's immortal isn't he. I'm calling it in advance, he's immortal. 

He clears his throat. "Before I say all this, I'm warning you, this isn't pleasant."

Julian rubs the bridge of his nose, probably having been told this story before. 

I nod. "Hit me with it."

"Julian's told you part of it. An exaggeration, yes. A slight lie with many, many, edits. But that man was still me. 6'2, blonde, a future ahead. It happened when I was 21."

He takes another deep breath in. It looked like it hurt for him to go back. 

"My birthday, actually. October fourteenth, 1991. University of Atlanta campus."

He takes another breath and a sip of water from his glass.

"I suppose I'll tell you a bit about my younger self. I was in my junior year of college, culinary arts degree. All A's student, not many people to call friends." He sighs again. "I had two friends. Chris and Caleb. They were... a bit more on the extroverted side. Two college kids as stereotypical as possible, big into the party scene... So I got roped into it."

He looked almost ashamed of himself for having followed them. 

"They'd been pestering me all day. The usual 21st birthday excuses."

He looks like he's choking back tears now.

"So I gave in. They suckered me out there. Dragged me out in a suit, gave me fifty bucks and followed me around that night. They wanted me to get a girl, or something. I didn't feel like doing that, so they took me to the bar." He swallows back again, obviously in some kind of distress. 

"I drank too much. A couple shots of vodka, some strange mixer, a beer or two. Yet somehow, that wasn't enough that I wouldn't remember that night like  it was yesterday.  Alcohol does funny things to people."

Julian on the other hand looked scared for Eric, like he was anticipating something. 

"Something that night possessed me to go outside. Some force. Probably all of the alcohol." His voice shakes. "Something was there. Something was waiting. I can remember it's face as clear as day yet I still can't describe it. It came for me. I ran. I failed."

He takes another sip of water, breathing quickly.

"I fell. It managed to get me in my calf. They say you can't remember pain..." his breathing speeds up again. "But I can. Wolf bites... are so much worse than people make it out to be. Burning, broken flesh, blood. That thing tried to kill me in that alley. It almost did, if it wasn't for an ambulance showing up."

I can almost see tears in his eyes as he tries calming down, pulling up his pant leg and putting his leg on the table. 

"This." He points. "Was never a car accident."

It no longer looks like a shrapnel scar to me. The teeth marks look like they never healed right. You can see small black lines around it. 

"Something you have to know about this condition... it's a mix of a genetic mutation and a virus. The bite triggers something.. something vile. Some reaction to the moon. Thirty years later, I still don't know what causes it."

His breathing speeds up again. 

Julian gets up from his chair, pulling his pant leg back over the scar. I'm not sure what he's doing, but I think he's trying to calm him down.

I can see Eric's breathing slow, he's calmer now. It slows down again as he closes his eyes and sighs.

"Thank you, Julian. It still shakes me..."

Julian picks up where he left off.

"The next moon, he dropped out and left. A month later he found me. Eric Bathory is his real name, but he's been presumed dead since then."

Eric clutches a necklace I never noticed on him. It's an old dog tag. I can just barely make out his name on it. 

"You like it?" He points, trying to change the topic. 

I nod.

"It's from Aaron. I've kept it with me since. Gives me some peace of mind."

He leaves out a part that I'm sure he meant to say. "Maybe I'll see him again.".

"Wanna leave this conversation in the past?" I ask.

He nods, pulling out a map and a marker, uncapping it with his teeth. He marks a few places on the map in a different color than the other lines.

"This is where we found the two others. They're dated and color coded. Unfortunately, we don't have any identities, but this is what we have."

——

(Third person) 

Julian and Eric stand in the kitchen again, the same late night scenario as last time 

"You had a chance, you know." Eric pats Julian's shoulder.

"He wouldn't have accepted it, Eric." Julian almost huffs. 

Eric rolls his eyes. "He didn't flinch when he saw me. You're far less scary. Unless he's scared of red eyes or something."

Julian sighs. "But I'm.. so much older. The appearance isn't even the reason, Eric."

Eric chuckles. "Two weeks, Julian. I'll give you that."

—