Tudor Rose [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 13 - Haunted

Michael could feel Henri on him still. He would always be able to feel him now that he had his blood inside of him. It felt as if he was being haunted by Henri, his every emotion there with him constantly in the back of his mind. He was astonished at the things he had said to Henri in the portrait room. He had not even considered the thought of loving Henri before then. The love he had professed was doomed to tragedy, that he could feel already.

He was running so quickly that it would have been impossible for any human to notice him. He had no time to wait for a carriage, to create the illusion that he was human. He had to see his grandfather. He arrived at the hotel where his grandfather was staying and scaled the wall to avoid dealing with the concierge or being seen by his grandfather's guards. The window was locked but it only took a small effort for him to force it open without breaking the glass. He climbed in and pulled away the curtains to find his grandfather waiting for him in his throne-like chair. Before he knew it, there were two silver tipped blades pointing at this throat. For him not to have sensed their presence, his grandfather's guards must have been brainwashed into mindless guard dogs.

Vlad the Impaler waved them away. Michael knelt out of habit.

"To what do I owe this unexpected visit, my grandson?" he said, sipping from a chalice. There was no living person in sight, no beating of a human heart, but the blood was fresh—Michael could smell it.

"The girl from the other day, you turned her," he said, trying to keep his voice confident.

"Yes," said Vlad. "Lucy Westenra, beautiful girl, wasn't she?"

"She killed seven children," Michael said.

"There is no blood so pure as that of a child."

"She had to be put down."

"What?" Vlad hissed and he was before Michael's eyes so quickly that Michael could not even see him moving. He grabbed Michael by the throat and lifted him into the air. He was over six feet tall and built like a warrior. His fangs were like small daggers and his eyes were a glowing fiery red. Michael trembled for he had never seen such darkness, such evil, or such power before looking upon his grandfather in this way. It was if he could see and hear all of the people the vampire had slaughtered and consumed, screaming and begging to get out. There were millions of souls trapped in his blood, and their screaming caused Michael to scream. "How dare you kill my progeny, arrogant little boy."

"I..." Michael struggled to say, "D-did not k-kill her." Vlad released him and he collapsed onto the floor. "Vampire hunters killed her. I found the mess of her blood and recognized the scent." Michael stood up, making his face impassive as if being strangled had not affected him. "Don't you think you ought to be more careful?"

Vlad struck him across the face so hard it would have broken the neck of a human. Michael felt his teeth knocked out and blood fill his mouth before it healed. "Reckless, brazen youth. You always have been," he said calmly, almost smiling. "You think you're special and you'll go on thinking that until the day you're proven wrong."

"What are you really doing in London?" Michael asked.

"That is of no concern to you," he said, turning away from him. It was then that he felt it, a sudden sense of panic that he instinctively knew was Henri. He knelt to wish his grandfather good health before disappearing out of the window. He ran through the streets of London. It would take him only minutes to reach the academy at the speed he was going.

He decided he would have to investigate his grandfather secretly. He would need to look into that girl, Lucy Westenra, but first...

He burst through the doors of the Gates Dormitory to find Radu towering over Henri, holding him in a tight embrace.