The Missing Boy

Chapter 9 - To Forget

"You die."

"Die? What do you mean die?" Miles asks surprised.

"In order for someone to become a vampire they need to be bitten within 24 hours of their death."

Miles' eyes widen at the sudden realisation. "You died in the crash." He says breathlessly. "But you're dad said you were taken at the car crash. He said you were kidnapped."

"Technically I was. The man who took me and looked after me those 4 years, Elias, he turned me into a vampire."

"So this guy, Elias, randomly picked up a dead boy on the street? That doesn't make any sense. Why would he do that?"

"He saw a father lose his son. He saw a boy lose his life. He thought he was doing us a favour."

"By keeping a kid locked up for 4 years?! By making everyone, your parents and I, think you were dead?! That isn't a favour Axel! That's a fucking crime!" Axel has never heard Miles swear before - That's a fucking crime! - He's a little shocked.

"Miles you don't understand. I was dead. I died. Elias brought me back and I had to go away. I had to stay away. If he turned me and left me I would have hurt a lot of people. Being a vampire isn't fucking easy. You need support and training and I got that there."

"And that took you 4 years?" Miles asks suspiciously. Bitterly.

"No it took me 1 years. It took me another 3 to actually grow the balls to leave. I was scared of what would happen, of who I had become. I didn't even know my parents were still living in that god forsaken house. But I saw a newspaper with my face on it and I thought about all the shit I put you guys through. I had no idea that everyone thought I was abducted."

"Did you not wonder what people would think? 4 years Axel. You were gone for 4 fucking years!"

Axel flinches when Miles swears again - 4 fucking years! - He realises then that he hates when he does it. Now Miles is crying and Axel wonders if this is how Miles felt when he was crying. Helpless.

"I'm sorry." Axel says. Miles wipes his tears away. "I regret not coming back sooner."

Miles huffs, rubbing his wet eyes.

"You said you needed to do training. What training?" Miles asks, changing the subject.

"Well we were mainly taught to control our urges so we don't bite everyone we see. We were taught the best places to bite someone. Which are here-" Axel touches the inside of Miles' arm. "And here-" Axel touches the slope between Miles' neck and collar bone. He can feel the faint thudding of Miles' rapid pulse against his fingertips. Miles visibly gulps and Axel watches the action, mesmerised.

"Erm what else?" Miles asks, shattering the moment.

"They taught us to tune into our heightened senses and abilities. We're able to run faster, hear and smell better. We're stronger than the average human and heal faster too."

"Woah. You're like a superhero." Miles says in a childlike awe.

"I erm wouldn't say that."

"So you can never get hurt?"

"I can still feel pain but I'll heal. I'm immortal Miles." Axel doesn't say it like it's a blessing. It's quite the opposite.

Miles doesn't know how to react. 

"And it scares the shit out of me because at some point I'm going to forget everything. It's why I got so upset when I couldn't remember that picture of me on the boat because if I forget now, I'll forget forever." Axel looks down at his hands glumly. "At some point all my memories are going to be of me being a vampire. I don't want to forget being human."

Imagine that, not remembering what it's like to be human. Miles literally can't. Because being human is all Miles has ever and will ever know. Axel is jealous that Miles has that luxury. He's jealous that he has the choice.

"You don't have to forget Axel." Miles reaches for Axel's hand and for a second Axel thinks it's because he's going to hold it, but he doesn't. Miles grabs it, taking both of them across the road to Axel's home.

"I'm not going to let you forget." Miles says. "So we are going to write down what happened in every single photo and if you ever feel like that memory is fading, you can read about it and remind yourself."

Axel smiles gratefully, opening the cardboard box marked as Photos for the second time since returning. He spots the forgotten photo. The one of him on a boat in the river. And he remembers.

"It was my grandad's 64th birthday. I was 12 and he wanted to go fishing with me, his only grandson. My mom came along too. I remember I caught this massive fish and he was so proud of me." Axel wipes a few of his tears away. "My mom said he died 2 years ago. The last time he saw me was when I was 13. He died thinking I was missing."

Miles rests his hand on Axel's shoulder, he rests his head there too before passing Axel the pen. He writes down the memory on the back of the photo. He only writes the first part.

They continue on like this for a while. Miles listening carefully as Axel retells every story in every photo. He doesn't panic as badly as he did earlier whenever he forgets one. He just puts the image to the side and hopes the memory might resurface later. They rest afterwards on Axel's bed, satisfied with the work they've done.

"I've just realised something." Miles says as he sits up. He looks down at Axel. "Why have you grown if you're immortal?"

"I still age. I just can't die from it. If you were turned as a child you still age normally until you've fully developed into an adult. After that, including if you were turned as an adult, you barely age and that's all to do with our venom. Our venom is what allows us to heal and slows down our ageing process. In 10 years it will look like I aged by 1. Eventually you'll look old but we have scientists who are able to use the venom in our bodies to speed up and even reverse the ageing process."

"Woah, woah wait. What do you mean by reverse and speed up?"

"Like I said Miles, we're immortal."

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A/N

I really don't want people to be confused so please ask me questions if you don't get it (I understand if you don't 😅) and I'll gladly answer.