The Immortal Blood

Chapter 13

They had traveled at night, the few things that had been saved from the fire pushed into Todd's car or collected from a warehouse with a small rental truck.
It didn't take long: in two trips they had transported everything and placed the furniture in the various rooms of the house.
Without Adam, the villa had remained quiet and practically motionless, the manifestations reduced to a few crackles far away in the walls or in the attic.
"That boy was the catalyst. . . " Vernon had looked at him with an accusatory glance as they tasted a Bourbon before retiring to rest.
Axel and Dimitri were chatting in the garden drinking beer, apparently more serene and relaxed than they had been those past months.
"They accepted it, Vernon. " Todd answered him, frowning. He wasn't in the mood for that kind of conversation, and hoped that the older vampire would leave him alone for at least a couple of days. "Why can't you settle for it too?"
"Hm, you've always been a manipulator, Todd. . . but you never shone for your intelligence. . . "
Valentine had struggled not to smash the glass in his face. "Wow, don't skimp on the flattery, Vernon, it could go to my head. . . "
"You're an idiot, Todd. The boy's not yours. You may have noticed him first, but it doesn't give you the right to make claims on him. "
"Yes, it does!" He had roared, barely controlling his tone of voice. "I know what you're up to, Vernon. I've seen you act like this once before. We all know how it turned out. . . "
"Your sister is certainly not like him. And I did it for you, Todd. To make you happy. . . "
"HAPPY. " Todd spit the term out as if it made him sick. "You called me a manipulator, but she's the one who fooled us all... including you. "
"I know, you think I don't feel responsible? I should have figured it out. . . but it doesn't change things anyway. The boy. . . "
"His name is Adam. "
". . . You can't just keep him to yourself, Todd. His blood must be viable for us, not just when you say so. "
"Sure, so you can easily tear him apart. . . "
"Of course, we'll have to set boundaries. No one wants to hurt him, Todd, he's precious to us. "
"No. "
Vernon had looked at him grimly, clearly furious.
"I'll have his blood delivered to you when it's needed. What's been said to Alex and Dimitri applies to you, too. "
"You're a goddamn bastard, Todd!"
"Yes, I've been told before. " He shrugged his shoulders, carelessly, pouring more alcohol into his glass.
"You can't expect to treat us this way! You want his blood all to yourself? To be taken when you like?"
"It's not his blood I'm doing this for!" He admitted, in turn altering himself.
Vernon had been staring at him confused for a few seconds before he realized: "Do you like him? Is that what this is about?" He laughed, shaking his head. "You're more asinine than I thought. . . "
"Am I?"
"Sure! Do you think the boy's gonna reciprocate? He's married. I saw the wedding band. You're chasing an illusion. "
Todd felt the bitterness of bile in his mouth. "He already returns my feelings, Vernon. You don't know anything. . . " he lied with a mocking smile.
"You're losing your mind over a good fuck, Todd. . . "
"Always a better fuck than YOU were. " He had looked at him with malice and ill-concealed resentment. "Get over it, Vernon. He's mine. Put even one finger on him or his family, and that'll be the end of you. "
The older vampire had shaken his head with apparent disappointment, but his dark eyes betrayed the anger of being upset. Todd should have been very careful in the future.
"I'm going to bed. Good night, Vernon. " He had given him his back, finishing his drink, irritated. The other one didn't answer, just watched him leave. He was clearly up to something.
He had taken his cell phone out of his pocket and sent a message to Adam: they had to talk about it as soon as possible, because whatever plan Vernon would've pulled out, it wouldn't have been good.

Adam had been thinking about Todd Valentine's message for most of the night and the following morning.
It wasn't much about the words, but the general threatening tone. In the afternoon the vampire had seemed almost stoked, then the sudden change of mood. . . Something serious had to have happened. Perhaps the others had taken a stand against him?
Having one more day of his sickness leave, he had tossed his rest plans and agreed to see Valentine at that same pub for lunch. Hoping not to be the main scope, but in the end they had made a pact, and if he wanted to see it respected, could not violate the terms first.
He had dressed to go out, changing from his home clothes, that time, though always in a comfortable way, and had walked the three blocks from the bar, looking over his shoulder. He felt nervous and tired, bothered by the continuous loss of blood and sleep.
When he arrived at his destination, Valentine was already there, sitting in the same booth with a ruthless air. He dropped himself in the seat in front of him, in wonder.
"Hello Adam. " He had told him, without looking him in the face, ordering both a round of what he was already drinking. It looked like Scotch, or Whiskey.
"Only beer for me. " He had shaken his head, but when Todd's gaze had crossed his, he had shut up.
"Believe me, you're gonna need it. "
The waiter had arrived with glasses, and he had twisted his in his hands, listening to the vampire's story with growing anxiety.
"He's already put a target on your back, that jerk. "
"Fuck. I thought. . . " he had lifted his drink and sipped it. Scotch, of course.
"Yes, we believed badly. Vernon has put his eyes on you more than I have: if I know him, he's already worked out a scheme on how best to exploit you to his advantage. . . "
"Wonderful. . . and how do we stop him?"
Todd had raised an eyebrow, looking at him for the first time that day with the shadow of a smile. "Aren't you scared, Adam?"
"Scared? I'm TERRIFIED, Todd, that's why I think we have to act before he gets to us!"
"Hm, you have more balls than all of us vampires put together. . . "
"Because I'm risking my neck, Todd. Me and my daughters' and my wife's. It's easy to be reckless, when you've got so much to lose. . . "
"Yeah, the point is, I don't know what to do. Vernon is very smart. And ruthless when he wants something. . . or someone. "
"Tell me about him. . . "
"About Vernon?" Valentine seemed to have swallowed a lemon. "Not here. Let's go somewhere else. " He looked around, uncomfortable.
"No. I'm not getting in a car with you. " Adam immediately objected, abandoning the liquor in front of him altogether. He'd already been screwed once before, like that.
"Adam, I'm not going to rape you, okay, but if I have to talk to you about my past with Vernon, I refuse to do it where everyone can hear us. Besides. . . " he had leveraged their agreement, putting the blonde with his back to the wall ". . . you promised to give me your blood wherever and whenever I wanted, didn't you?"
Oh, shit. "You bastard. . . "
"Yes, I've been called that a lot lately. . . " Todd had shielded himself, without his usual cheerfulness. "Follow me. " He got up and left the pub, heading towards the Porsche, parked in the shade of a larch.
Adam was staring at the car, nauseous. What if the vampire lied to him? Yet he had never done so, even when he could have. . . he had sat down, preferring the known evil to the unknown one.
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know, away from here. . . " Todd shrugged his shoulders, outstretched. He never told anyone about his past outside his group. "Do you like to swim?" He asked, to break the ice while he was setting in motion.
"Yeah, it paid my way through college. . . scholarship. " Adam had nodded, staring at the road ahead. He was as nervous as Todd, twisting his hands in his lap. "I could have done serious competions, but I wasn't interested. I preferred to study. "
'Nerd' Todd had thought with a smile. Sure, that was why Adam had a thin but sculpted physique. . . he had looked at him, feeling a timid return of his cravings.
"And you? Rugby?" The boy had looked back.
The vampire almost laughed. "Not quite. Football. How did you guess, though?"
"I know the type. . . " 'arrogant assholes' Adam had concluded in his mind, remembering his former schoolmates.
"Hm, and did you get any?" Todd had teased him, knowing that it wasn't true, but imagining the scene with gusto.
"No. "
"Of course. . . "
"Football, then. How many years ago?"
"Fifty. " He took a break, studying the other one's surprised face. "Well, almost sixty, actually. . . "
"Sixt. . . sometimes I forget who I'm talking to. So you are. . . ?"
"Ninety-three years old. "
"Fuck! You were born in the 1920s. Crazy. . . "
"In 1925, to be exact. "
"Hm, I had a grandfather born in 1923. . . !" Adam laughed, partly venting the stress of those days. "How perverse. . . "
"Yes, but age differences were never a problem to me, anyway. . . " Todd had passed a look of appreciation along the other's body, before concentrating and turning at a traffic light.
"Have you always liked men? In the fifties. . . ?"
"Yes, it wasn't an easy life then. I mean, it was done, but it wasn't talked much around. Especially in the football world. "
"That happens even now. . . "
"Hm, yeah, maybe you're right. Anyway, it wasn't bad. I didn't care much. . . I played, I drank, I enjoyed myself. . . I wasn't at the highest level, but I was doing well. "
"And then what happened?"
"Vernon happened. " His expression had hardened. He remembered how they met at a party like it was yesterday. "On New Year's Day, 1957. "
Adam had been quietly listening to him tell the story. After a while, the words flowed freely: "It was a party organized by a local newspaper, full of athletes, actresses, journalists, and so on. Vernon was more than wealthy at the time, and passed himself as patron of young players. . . "
"A Maecenas. . . "
"Yes, in every sense of word. You fucked him, and all the doors opened for you. Not my kind, but he was a charming man, in his own way. Or maybe it seemed to me, because after all I was still young and stupid. . . anyway, one of my teammates introduced us. I had some gambling debt, so I could use some help. . . I never imagined what I'd get stuck into!" He laughed ironically, shaking his head. "Vernon immediately took a liking to me. He found my bravado interesting, so he put me under his wing and for a few months it went great. Then I started to get to know him better, and I often found myself waking up after a hangover with signs that I could not understand, or remember. My performance started to drop, I was getting weaker and weaker, some days I couldn't stand up to get to the bathroom, let alone the field. . . " he had clasped his hands around the steering wheel, his knuckles bleached for the effort. "He never asked. . . he turned me without telling me. "
"What?"
"Yes, that's right. Once, during an argument, he admitted it: he had killed me, without even realizing it. He had panicked, he didn't want to lose me, although I think he was actually more afraid of being caught. . . and so he made me into what I am now. It was. . . weird at first, I didn't understand what had happened, and he refused to explain. In the end, he had to. "
"Did you kill anyone?" Adam had asked in a low voice, but not aggressively.
"More than one. That was when I hit bottom. " He had omitted several other things for personal reasons. "I told you I have a sister, didn't I?"
"Yes. "
"Vernon turned her for me. He thought I'd be happy about that!" He'd shaken his head, his hands over his face. He had to stop. He had glimpsed an open space, they had just reached the country, and he had parked himself, turning off the engine. "HAPPY. . . " he had repeated the word of the night before, with a sardonic grin. "He soon realized his mistake. Alexandra is. . . to say problematic is a euphemism. . . ! Out of control is more fitting. . . in the end, she burned his house down. "
"So that's. . . that's why you were buying mine?"
"Yeah. Vernon's lost pretty much everything. I could have left him at that point, but I stayed, and I helped him out. I felt. . . "
". . . guilty?"
"Responsible, somehow. Fuck him, that asshole should have burned along with his crappy mansion!" He had hit the steering wheel, opening the door to quench his anger as he walked through the field. "Fuck, I never said that out loud. . . " he sat down. Adam, hesitant, had caught up with him.
"You know, when you introduced me to Vernon, I didn't like him. . . without a particular reason. "
"Hm, I saw that you noticed. You're not stupid Adam. . . maybe a little too stick-in-butt, but not stupid. "
"Thank you. And you're always an asshole. . . " he had settled down next to him, even if he kept a certain distance. Todd had sensed his fantastic smell and the need for blood had taken over him.
"Adam. . . " had looked at him unequivocally and the boy had presented him his wrist, without replying. He had given a slight bite, appreciating the rich and full flavor, but in that way he did not like it.
"Not like this. " He'd growled him. "Lie down. "
The vampire had seen the expression of the other, but Adam had still satisfied him, putting himself on the grass.
Todd had stared at him for a second, then slipped off his shirt and lowered his pants, remaining naked.
"What. . . ?" Adam had moved sideways, tensed, a raised arm to repel him. Todd grabbed it, standing over him.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. . . " he whispered him, ripping off his scarf and bending over his neck. He had a visceral need to mount him, to feel better, to forget. He bit him, drinking in small sips so as not to drain him to excess. Three days nearby were too many even for a young and strong man, he knew it perfectly.
Adam had remained immobile, crushed under his weight, his eyes turned to the blue summer sky in a mixture of fear and indecision. Valentine had been less aggressive and seemed more in search of physical comfort than the usual dominance. . . the problem was that he wasn't sure if he wanted to offer him any.
"Todd. . . " he had his erection pressed against his side and his heavy weight was starting to cause him problems.
The vampire had loosened his grip, looking at him for a long time with his hazel eyes, before moving next to him, leaving him free to breathe. He had begun to touch himself to alleviate his needs, Adam had not said anything but had turned to the other side, not to see, although he could not avoid hearing.
A damp hand had grabbed him by the chin towards the end, forcing him to look Todd in the face as he came on the grass. When he had freed him, Adam had passed the back of his hand over his face, moving away from him.
"Take me home. " He'd imposed, on the way back to the car.
Valentine had not replied, had dressed up and turned the Porsche towards the city, still tense, though less than before.
He had dumped the blond in front of the pub, in case they were followed, but he had vowed to check from a safe distance that he would arrive home in one piece.
"I have to think. " Adam had murmured, distracted, the tiredness evident on his pale face.
"See you in a couple of days. " The vampire had nodded, also with his mind on Vernon.
The boy had just mentioned his assent, giving him his back and walking on the way home.
Todd had observed him seriously, his taste still clear on his lips. He had to find a way, even if it cost Vernon his life, he would find it.