A Reason To Stay {THE LITTLE VAMPIRE) RUDONY [COMPLETED]

Chapter 3

Now, Tony was seventeen. He went out hunting with Rookery every night, and he hated it so much. He understood why Manny had left all those years ago. One thing he didn’t understand was why Manny hadn’t left sooner. Tony had thought of leaving so often, so if Rookery ever suspected that the teenager was having doubts, he would tell Tony if he ever left, he would hunt him down to the ends of the earth. Just like a vampire. That scared Tony, because he knew Rookery would do it. He had raised the boy from three years old, so he practically owned him, and wanted to get as much use out of him as he could.

Tony still stayed up some mornings at his window with the InfraDead, looking for the beautiful vampire, hoping he could see it again. Just one more time. One more time was all that Tony wanted. He was just scared that he’d be seeing the vampire again when he and Rookery were out vampire hunting.

He had never gotten used to watching vampires die. When Rookery went to finish off a vampire they had captured, Tony always stayed behind, refusing to leave the truck or look at the creature tremble as the last breath left its body. He never could look at it because of the guilt. No one should ever have been killed for what they were, and Tony wanted to run away screaming each time he heard the wailing of the vampires. 

Then one night Rookery went out alone. Tony was so happy to get a little rest during the night, and he was deeply asleep, dreaming about being free, going wherever he wanted. He had  driven so far away from Rookery that he wouldn’t be able to be found, with a certain vampire holding his hand along the way. He could almost feel the wind blowing through his hair, the sun capturing his freckles, smiling over at the immortal in the passenger seat. He was suddenly shaken awake by Rookery, opening his eyes to look into hysterical inky black pools. 

“I’ve caught one tonight Tony, and I want you to tag along with me,” he rubbed his hand maniacally, grinning from ear to ear at Tony.

“You want to go now?” Tony rubbed his eyes blearily. The blond glanced over at the digital clock on his nightstand. The red light blinked 3:00 am. He groaned inwardly.

Rookery held Tony by his shoulder. Tony winced at the near gentle touch. “Yes, I want the vampire to be alive when you kill it.”

The teenager’s head snapped up, all the breath leaving his lungs. He had never killed anything in his life, and he would not do it now. Especially doing a thing he was so against. “M-me… kill… it? By myself?” Rookery let out a dangerous, sharp bark of a laugh. 

“Of course by yourself!” the man bellowed, tightening his grip tremendously on Tony’s shoulder. “Why, you haven’t killed one single vampire since you started hunting with me, and it’s completely out of the question to skimp out if you’ll be doing this for the rest of your life… which you will. I’ll be making quite sure of that.”

Rookery’s eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second before he stood up, patting Tony’s head as he let go of the boy’s shoulder. He strutted out of the room, thundering down the stairs with a bang on each step. 

Tony sat up, not getting out of bed. He pulled his knees up to his chest, rocking, trying to reassure himself that it was going to be alright. Everything’s going to be okay. He eventually slid out of bed when Rookery honked the horn of his truck, impatiently calling his name from the driveway. When he had pulled on a pair of jeans and a stiff maroon sweatshirt, the blond teenager couldn’t help but peek through the window one more time, looking for that vampire he had seen so long ago. He sighed when he looked out into the empty sky, turning quickly to rush down the stairs, hopping into his shoes. He climbed into the truck, breathing shallowly and looking to the road ahead as Rookery sent them speeding off into the night.

Rookery tossed the InfraDead into his hands, and when it started up, it immediately began pinging, a red dot of a vampire appearing to be deep in the forest ahead of them. Tony’s stomach dropped. They were already so close to the vampire, and Tony had no idea how to get out of this one. He wasn’t ready. The old man turned on the radio, cranking up the volume as he sang along to the song, banging his palms on the steering wheel. Rookery veered off the road, onto a path he had made before that led straight to the vampire he caught.