(MxM) Tales of a Shifter (P4)- The Blood

Chapter 23 - Show Me

*Do you love Hovel yet? LOL!*

Chapter 23

Brandon walked behind his father...with heavy feet and a small touch of trepidation in his heart.

This was the first time that Brandon would be put through the procedure back to back. And even though the life energy of the child burned inside of him fresh and vibrant....like oranges or lemons....Brandon still felt hungry and weak....and sad.

Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

All of this was wrong....

But Brandon didn't know what to do about it. He was still too new to theses emotions to use them....or turn them into any kind of action, except obedience.

So....when Hovel deposited him into the arms of two nameless white robed alchemists Brandon went with them.

Once more Brandon was taken to a fresh Observation room, but this time there was no Nora or Jacob behind the glass.

The Alchemists doing this procedure were the same one that had done his procedure earlier. They seemed with impatient....or uninterested in collecting body parts....because instead of using the Black lights to cut him up....they simply tied him down...and cut his throat open. Pain flared across his stomach and spine as Brandon was once more drained of blood.

But the Alchemists did not take enough blood to drag him close to deaths door this time...or siphon off so much blood that it would require Brandon to have a second feeding.

****

Sometime later Brandon woke up in his room. He was freshly clothed. Jacob and Nora were with him and Jacob was sittiing on the bed, caressing Brandons face. All of Brandons injuries had healed....blood no longer flooded his lungs or soaked his skin from where the Alchmists had sliced his throat. Nora was standing back a few feet her eyes locked on Jacob as if she wanted o speak to him.? It was Brandon that spoke first though.

"Ja, why are they doing these things to me?" Brandon asked him. Jacob stopped stroking his hair, which made Brandon sad....but his need for answers trumped the strong urge he always felt to have Jacob near. Searching Jacobs face for answers, Brandon continued to speak. "Nora doesn't like it and neither do I..." he softly insisted.

"Brandon don't." Jacob suddenly sighed and stood up from the bed. He looked both unconvertable and torn about something. The loss of his touch and heat was like a physical slap...and Brandon started to choke up against his will.

And yet....something pushed him to keep talking.

"Ja...." He called. Looking up at Jacob from the bed and ignoring the tears running down his cheeks since he didn't have the energy to reach up and wipe them away. "What if I want the procedures to stop?" he asked directly.

Silence filled the room. Brandon sensed a tension building suddenly...as if his words were somehow going to make the world shatter apart.

After a long pause Jacob beheld him with empty black eyes, seemingly unmoved by Brandon's tears. "They won't stop." He finally and simply relied. "They are too important."

Feeling both lost and exhausted Brandon started to cry harder. "I don't understand!" He nearly shouted at Jacob from the bed. "If I want them to stop.... Why won't they stop the procedures?"

A sharp emotion fled across Jacobs face. IT could have been pain, but because Brandon's face was covered in tears...and he was too tired to think strait, he missed it.

What he did see....was Jacob reach down, and wipe his face clean before once more caressing Brandon's scalp. Then Jacob pulled back. "Stop, Lil One." He simply commanded, as he turned and started to walk away. "Sleep. You are weak."

After that Jacob disappeared out of the bedroom door....but hot on his heels was Nora. She looked angry and sad.

Brandon watched her follow Jacob out of the room, slide the door back into place and start screaming at Jacob.

Sleep was only a few moments away....but as Brandon struggled to remain awake....he caught the fleeting tail end of their conversation as it floated to him through the glass door.

"Jacob you have to...!" Nora was shouting. Just loud enough that Brandon could hear her, strait through the glass door.

"No Nora! You stop...." Jacob shouted back at her. Brandon was too weak to sit up in the bed to watch them.

So all he could hear was their voices as he started to drift away into sleep.

"You can't possibly understand what is truly at stake here!" Jacob continued to shout. "Besides it is too late for all of this! Hovel wants to bring the procedure to an end in a few more weeks."

Silence...then Nora was shouting again. "But....Brandon!" She said objecting.

Jacob growled over her in a stern manner. "Don't!" he said to her. Then there was another pause...and this time he was snarling in what seemed to be outrage. "And don't look at me like that Nora! We both knew what we were signing up for. I can't turn my back on it now! Can you!? Acolyte!?"

Nora didn't speak...and Brandon got the impression that Jacob had left.

Brandon feel to sleep after this.

****

Only to be shaken awake....sometime much later by Nora.

She was kneeling by the side of his bed....her face was stained with tears....and the moment Brandon connected eyes with her, words were pouring out of her mouth too fast and desperate to be understood all at once but Brandon listened as best he could.

"I'm so sorry Brandon! I....I was looking for the strength to keep doing what I know is for the best." Nora, put a hand to her mouth to stifle her voice as she seemed to realize that she was almost shouting for no reason.

With a few deep breaths she eventually started speaking again. "I know. I know I should allow you to remain innocent...and ignorant. But FORGIVE ME! I can't sit by and allow this to continue!" Nora stopped, and wiped at her face. Then she reached out, grabbed Brandon's hands and continued. "Lil One if you want answers? If you want to see? I will tell you....as much as I can."

Seeing her pain....and sensing that Brandon was somehow at the root of a lot of the pain and mysteries occurring Brandon took a deep breath and nodded his head.

"Okay Nora, I trust you so....show me. Tell me everything." He consciously begged of her and she did.