The Immortal Blood

Chapter 23

The following morning, Todd got up early to prepare, as had become customary, breakfast for Adam: he hadn't cooked in years, yet he didn't find particularly difficult to start again, except maybe for a first disastrous attempt with eggs.
He'd poured the pancake mixture in a pan and watched them cook, distracted.
Adam's blood had healed him and he seemed to be able to think more clearly, but a part of him continued to be restless, giving him torment.
Having the lawyer under the same roof was difficult, considering his growing attraction towards him and the evident indecision of the other; it was more than certain that Adam had some feelings towards him, but it was impossible to define which, at least until he admitted it to himself.
Naturally, this might never happen, and if the confrontation with Vernon had taken a bad turn. . . he had tightened his grip on the frying pan, ignoring the growing concern to concentrate instead on the sound of steps coming from the stairs: Adam must have woken up and followed the smell of food into the kitchen.
"Good morning" he'd greeted him without turning around, spilling the cooked pancakes on an empty plate. "Hungry?"
"Yes." Adam sat at the table behind him, waiting. "Thank you. I'm starting to get used to this, you know. . ."
"Hm, just because I don't eat, doesn't mean I don't enjoy fumbling around the kitchen, every now and then. . ." Todd had smiled at him, watching him wipe out the food with appetite. He had returned pale, but still seemed strong, at least judging by the determination in his eyes.
The vampire had cleared his throat, looking at him from above the edge of his cup of coffee, frustrated: it wasn't the best time for certain thoughts, but the full lips and the shirt one size too small did not help at all, on the contrary, awakened in him desires far from dormant . . .
"Adam, can I ask you a question?" He'd let slip before he could've helped himself.
The blonde had watched him in wonder, and Todd had to clutch the edge of the table so as not to reach over and touch him.
"What?" He'd answered him, but he was interrupted again by the sound of his mobile phone.
Todd had suffocated the impulse to take the damn thing and drown it in the sink, limiting himself to grinding his teeth in anger as the lawyer disappeared to answer.
Several minutes had passed, but this time, despite the walls, he had managed to pick up something. When Adam was finally on his way down, he had intercepted him in the lobby, finding him more upset than the day before.
"I heard. . ." he apologized, while Adam watched him with a lost expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you all right?"
". . . No." The suffering was quite evident on his face. "That was Cleo, my wife. I had to. . . she doesn't get convinced so easily. She's stubborn. . . and would like to help me. Being by my side."
Todd had raised an eyebrow, surprised, but not entirely: after all, if Adam had married her, she mustn' t have possessed less balls than him. . .
"And you managed to convince her to stay out of it?"
"Yes."
"But?"
The boy had looked up, before turning to him with a sad countenance.
"I had to tell her how things are at the moment. Omitting most of the details, of course, but. . . I couldn't lie to her, I couldn't hide the fact that maybe. . . maybe. . ."
"All right. Adam, listen to me for a second, will you?" Todd approached him with his arms folded. "You did well, and I understand. They're your family. . ."
"And you? Wouldn't you. . . say something to your sister?"
At hearing those words, Todd felt like a cold stab inside of his chest.
"I. . ." he wasn't really expecting that question. "It's complicated, Adam. We don't. . ." he had felt his head spin for a moment and had to lean against the wall behind him.
"Todd" Adam came to him. "I know it's none of my business, but. . . you should talk to her."
"You don't know what you're saying." His words had come out in a snarl, but it wasn't him he was mad at. "You don't know. . ."
"Then explain! Please, let me understand." Adam had grasped his forearm and looked him straight in the face, a gesture that was more than unexpected.
"All right." Todd had capitulated, going to sit on the couch. "Do you mind taking the bottle and two glasses? Thank you."
He had grasped the liquor Adam had poured for him, and he had downed in one go.
"I've never talked to anyone about this, but I guess now's the right time. You heard about Vernon and me, and yet you didn't judge me. I acted like an asshole, you're right, because in the end that's what I do best. . . anyway, whatever happens in the next few days, I want you to know about her. . ." he had taken a break, his gaze fixed on an indefinite point in the room.
The blonde had settled next to him, listening to him in silence.
"Alexandra is my only sister, two years older than me. She has always been very intelligent and talented, but for the time we were born in, this was not so important... the women back then would finish school, get married and start a family: Alexandra just couldn't accept it, she would have rather transferred to university to study law, but for our parents the subject was out of the question. So many arguments. . ." he had shaken his head, smiling bitterly.
"When it was up to me to choose, I gave up; a Chicago team had offered me the possibility of putting me under contract as soon as I finished school, so I had accepted on the fly. I might as well have gotten a scholarship and continued my studies, but I just didn't care. All I wanted was play football and have fun. . . my sister took it as a betrayal: all the opportunities she had always dreamed of, I hadn't even considered them at all. Shortly before I left, she confronted me and threw a fit that I will never forget. She accused me of being a lazy, despicable person. . . she probably wasn't completely wrong, but I didn't understand at the time, nor did I care to understand. I went to Chicago, joined the team. Our parents were happy, they couldn't imagine that their only son had certain inclinations. . . of course I always knew, but only far from home could I admit it more openly. There were many clubs in the city. . . they are still there today, but once in towns like the one I came from, certain realities were inconceivable to say the least. I spent two discreet years, then my family came to visit me. . . Alexandra took little to find out, perhaps she had always suspected, who knows, however one evening she saw me with a boy I was dating: it was the end of the world. She said I'd hit rock bottom, and eventually she used it against me." Todd stopped to contemplate the bottle of Scotch in front of him.
"I've never seen my parents again. . . they distanced themselves from me by cutting off contacts."
"You mean that. . . ?" Adam had asked, in a subdued tone.
"The most absurd thing is that I died before they did, and yet I'm still here. How ironic. . . " Todd had emptied the third glass with a grimace. "I didn't speak to my sister for years, until. . . Vernon. . ."
"Did Vernon know about you and her?"
"Of course he did. That worm knows every detail of other people's lives, especially his 'favorites' ones" He almost spat out the last word. "One day, I had just been transformed and I was having. . . a lot of trouble. I went to Vernon's, and she was there. I was shocked."
"Wait, he'd already turned her?!"
"Yes. My reaction wasn't so different from yours. . . I couldn't believe it. I then learned that they had both acted behind my back for months, but after all Vernon wasn't very smart. He thought he had also deceived Alexandra, but SHE had actually been manipulating him the whole time."
"So your sister really wanted to be transformed?"
"Oh, you bet she did. It was her ticket to freedom, and she did the impossible to get it. When Vernon finally realized, his villa was already on fire. . ."
"Todd, I don't understand. If Alexandra got what she wanted, why did she try to kill Vernon? Because that's what happened, isn't it?"
"You're truly smart, Adam." The vampire had observed him with a certain degree of admiration. "Yes, Alexandra hates him, maybe even more than us. She used him for her own purposes, but she could never tolerate his deviant behavior, so, once Alexandra reached her goal, she tried to get him out of the way. She didn't just because I'm a damn idiot, otherwise we wouldn't be here now. . . " he had put the empty glass on the table with malice, sketches flying everywhere.
"Don't be so hard on yourself."
"No? And yet look at us, Adam. If Vernon had died, you'd never have met me. Your life. . ."
"Todd, as much as you hate to admit it, when we met, I was living in a haunted house. My concept of normality was already quite over the top, so don't take on the guilt you don't have."
"Easy to say,"; the vampire had studied his hands, noting how they were contracted because of his anger.
"But it's true! Listen" the blonde had taken his drink to make him concentrate on him. ". . . Despite what Vernon had done to you, you still ran more than a risk to save his life, because in your heart you knew you were doing the right thing. If he had been less of an asshole, he would have taken the opportunity to redeem himself in some way, but we know that was not the case. Either way, it was his choice, Todd, not yours."
"Yeah, I just gave him the opportunity to make the wrong decision." Todd had smacked the blond's arm away to pour more himself Scotch.
"Maybe. But you're not responsible."
"What if we fail again this time?"
"We won't. You said it youself, didn't you?"
Todd had paused with the drink in mid-air.
". . . Yes." He admitted, shaking his head with hoarse laughter. "I can't believe we reversed parts."
"Eh, don't make me say it again, please."
"You really think what you said earlier?" Todd had stared at him with an expression completely different from his usual bravado.
"Every single word." The lawyer had nodded, taking the glass out of his hands. "But don't get any crazy ideas. . ."
Valentine had not replied, he had simply watched him silently for a few seconds before grabbing him by the back of the head and kissing him straight on the mouth. He was partly drunk, but not enough to avoid realizing why he was doing it.
Adam must have known too, because he didn't reject him that time. Todd had deepened the exchange with greater enthusiasm, half-closing his lips and holding the boy against him. Adam had taken his face in his hands, pulling back with difficulty while the vampire continued to chase him so as not to detach himself from him.
"Todd. . . I can't." He told him, studying his face.
"Can't or WON'T?"
"Todd. Please. . . " he'd wriggled away and Valentine had let him go unwillingly. "I'm sorry, I. . ."
"No, Adam, I want you to listen to me, because I'm not going to repeat something like this. It's true, in the next few days everything could go to shit, so I would like to clarify a concept: you're beautiful, hell, you're more than attractive, and this has often led me to behave like I shouldn't have. . . we had a bad start, so I don't expect you to forgive me or understand me, but I never wanted to seriously put you in danger. I don't want you to think that even for a second." He had looked away, ignoring how to deal with the most difficult part of the speech.
"I'm not very good at this stuff, I've rarely met someone like you. . . so it's pretty hard for me to express my feelings. I LIKE you Adam, and not just in the sense that I would love to lay you down on this couch for. . ."
"Listen. . ."
"Yes, I do know that you have a family and that you care about them more than your own life, it's obvious, but at the same time, I think you also feel something similar for me. Am I wrong?"
"Fuck, Todd. . ."
"Look at me and tell me that's not true."
Adam had ran his cerulean eyes back and forth on his face, several times, without saying anything.
"Good."
"I. . . "
"No. Regardless of the other factors, Adam, the point is one and only: it's just the two of us, in here, no one would ever know anyway, if that's what's bothering you.
"But I'd know."
"Look. I trust you, I already told you. I told you about parts of my life that I thought I never would to a single soul, so you know more or less everything about me. The decision is up to you alone, I will not force your hand, nor will I return on the subject, if it is not what you want."
He got up, so the lawyer had time to assimilate his speech.
In fact, he'd sounded a lot more confident to his own ears than what he actually was: his thoughts were a confused whirlwind of disconnected sentences.
Perhaps he had been too straight-forward, he had certainly invested Adam with a claptrap that in retrospect he wasn't even so convinced had a logical meaning.
But he had been honest, and had put his cards on the table, he would never forgive himself for missing such an opportunity just out of fear.
Unfortunately, there was more to fear than that, and despite his forced optimism, he was by no means certain of how it would end. . .