Fangs | mlm

Chapter 30 - Repairing the damage

They had to risk driving to the nearest town as Trevor needed urgent help. Although his condition had somehow stabilised, it wasn't ideal to delay the leg treatment any longer, because the wound might get infected. So they could only hope the vampires wouldn't wait in ambush for them.

It was an evening already—the sky navy blue as a storm—when they stopped in the parking lot of the local pharmacy. The logo was neatly lit, as was the inside. Through wall-length windows they could see a woman standing behind the counter. There weren't many cars around.

"Who's going to stay with me?" Trevor asked, more from curiosity than necessity.

"Jackson," Eleonora said and smiled lightly. "I'm sure you're in good hands."

How can you possibly know that? You don't even know him, he thought, but didn't say it out loud, instead folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his seat.

Some part of him wanted it to be Eleonora instead—her comforting hand stroking his hair. While the other wanted it to be William as he loved him or at least had loved him. He'd ask himself: Could his feelings disappear so quickly? Did William start to feel the same about him? Would he use the past tense to describe their love? Or would he hesitate at least a bit? Something had to have changed. His attraction to William stayed the same. But his trust had been breached. He could no longer trust everything William said. He'd lied to him once, so why wouldn't he do it again?

However, he had no say, as Eleonora and William had already left, even though he was sure no part of him would ever want it to be Jackson. He couldn't forget the flames of rage in his eyes when he'd stood on the doorstep. They were too real to be some acting performance. The image caused a shiver up his spine, and he hoped Jackson wouldn't notice. But Jackson could feel the acceleration of his heartbeat, couldn't he? He was a vampire, and his senses must have been keener too as William's were. Besides, he wasn't distracted by Trevor's presence either. So why did he stay silent?

"Why are you helping us?" he began instead. He thought it was a fine conversation starter. Additionally, this type of questions had almost always worked on William, so it might work on Jackson as well.

Jackson stopped tapping his fingers against the wheel and turned his head to him, slightly. "Well, I'm not helping you. Not really, at least not willingly. I'm helping Willy." These sentences didn't come out mean or hostile. They were honest in a way Trevor couldn't explain, like it was a fact he'd always known but was too afraid to admit it to himself.

Trevor cleared his throat, still dry and sore. "Why are you helping William then?"

Jackson sighed. "Our friendship works in mysterious ways. It's gone through lows and highs you can't even imagine. Besides, William's gone through so much himself that I just can't leave him without my help. I don't know if you'd understand."

Trevor's face dropped, while he looked away out the window. "Of course you don't," he deadpanned.

Someone had yet again assumed he wasn't wise or understanding enough to comprehend Jackson and William's friendship. He couldn't help sighing at it. If everyone continued to keep secrets from him, he wouldn't be able to take it any more. He wanted to shout until he lost his voice. For a long time, he had lied to himself that he knew something about these people, when the reality was he knew nothing about them, not in the slightest. And he was oblivious to it until now.

For a moment he thought about escaping. Pulling the door open, the feeling of the fresh air blowing against his skin, the upcoming dose of adrenaline. He hadn't done it since the first week after kidnapping had passed. He'd grown to like—love William, so those thoughts hadn't been on his mind. But now they treated him like a burden, or at least it was what he thought they did. He thought there must have been a way to escape. There had been a crack in the vampires' planning they had managed to slip through. So where was this crack now?