Burning

Chapter 6

Adam slowly woke up the next morning as dull sunlight hit his face and the smell of something burning filled the air. He rolled onto his back groggily but jolted awake as cold hard metal dug into his spine, he scowled and sat up before looking down at the familiar shape of Henry's gun along with a note attached to it. He immediately realized it wasn't Valdis burning food in the kitchen as he picked up the note and read it: 'making sure you remember to give this back. Also your dagger is on the coffee table, I can't tell you where I went but it's too risky to take your dagger, I promise to be back soon... hopefully with help.'

            Help? Adam crumpled up the paper and threw it away, what did she mean by help? He decided to worry about that later as a scrapping noise came from the kitchen, perhaps the note had been a joke. "Valdis, what are you doing?"

            There wasn't an answer and when he got out there the coffee table was empty and the curtains, yes he had insisted that she take down the boards and put up curtains, were wide open to allow light to filter through. The burning smell was stronger here and Adam could faintly identify the smell to be more like the scent of burning skin... human skin to be specific... not that he liked thinking about how he would know that.

            "Here you are, all alone... how perfect." Vetis' smooth voice purred as he stepped out of the kitchen and into his line of sight.

            Adam couldn't help but notice his dagger was now in the half-ling's hand yet still remained calm. "You wish to kill me."

            "You're immortal, I can't kill you, I don't want to either." He glared murderously at Adam. "I want to torture you, strip your flesh off your bones one cell at a time, put your skull in a blender, and then run you over with a bus."

            "To be fair, I was only around Valdis because you told me to show up."

            "I had seven glasses of blood filled with alcohol!" Vetis grabbed him by the throat and shoved his head into a wall. "You better hope this kills you permanently."

            "I never trusted you, when Valdis finds out what do you think she'll do to you?" Adam asked as he reached for a knife he kept with him.

            "Blood before all else, after all your years shouldn't you know that by now?"

            "My bloodline is gone." Adam stabbed him in the gut and twisted the knife. "So no."

            Vetis looked down at the wound as blood stained his white shirt that showed off his muscle and back at Adam. "This was my favorite shirt."

            Adam responded to that by pushing the knife deeper as Vetis tightened the grip around his throat so he couldn't breathe. He went still as he felt the rusted metal lightly touch his skin over his original scar, this wasn't how he wanted to find out how to end his curse, he was going to use Henry to test it, not let himself be murdered. Adam glared back at Vetis with as much hatred as he could, which was actually quite a lot as it built up over the centuries, and kicked the half vampire where no male of any species would want to be kicked. It was a cheap shot yes, but to his disappointment Vetis barely loosened his grip, the only show of pain was the groan that escaped his clenched teeth.

            "Don't fight death so much Adam, you'll see the others again soon enough." Vetis snarled and drove the roman dagger into Adam's old wound, twisting it for good measure and to give him payback for his own injury. "Who knows, Valdis could already be waiting for you after where she went."

            Adam gritted his teeth in pain as the dagger was ripped upward through his organs and bones before being pulled out after reaching the base of his throat. Blood flowed from the mortal wound, staining the now ruined black shirt he was wearing crimson as he fought to breathe without choking on the blood that was filling his lungs. Why was he dying so slowly? Shouldn't he be disappearing by now? Pain was blocking out his normal sense of time but he did register the pleased look on Vetis' face as he watched the immortal suffer.

            "Tell me, how do you feel?" Vetis joked knowing Adam couldn't answer. "The best you've ever felt! That's wonderful! Unfortunately I have a date and must get changed for it... meaning I have to leave early, oh but don't look so sad, I'll help you one more time before I leave."

            Vetis smirked as Adam tried to back away with a scowl hiding his pained look before taking the dagger and stabbing Adam in the heart. The immortal gave a choked cough and Vetis twisted the knife in the vital organ until it with just a barely beating pulp that sprayed blood with every pump. He looked at Adam's face to find the immortal looking deathly pale, his eyes barely open as he bleed out and his breathing started to fail him. The only thing that Vetis disliked was the lack of fear, Adam didn't seem to fear the fact he could be dying and never coming back, he hated the fact that the immortal wasn't afraid.

            He dropped the dagger onto the ground beside Adam before turning around and walking out. Nothing was left here to do, and he actually did have a date to go on with Molly in about twenty minutes, as much as she liked his strange belief in vampires, considering she didn't realize he was a real one, he didn't think she would enjoy him showing up to her place with a knife in his stomach and blood covering his shirt. Vetis looked at the sunny sky through the window one last time before with a single thought the rare amount of sunlight disappeared to be replaced with storm clouds that carried a blizzard's worth of snow.