The Missing Boy

Chapter 34 - Weakness

"Elias! Elias I know you can hear me!"

Axel doesn't go into the mansion, not again. He stands in the open grassy area behind it and continues to yell his mentor's name until he finally emerges through the trees.

"Axel, back so soon. I see you've cut your hair. I preferred it longer."

"I'm not here to talk about my fucking hair Elias. I'm here to talk about what you told me."

"Ahh, the truth."

"Yes, the truth. About what you did to me."

"Did you speak to your father? Or did he burn with the building?" Elias chuckles. "I must applaud you for that by the way. When I heard that the lab went up in flames I knew it had to be you who struck the match."

"I didn't hurt anyone. No one was in the building." Axel says, trying to defend himself. "I'm not a monster. I'm not like you."

"You're just like me."

"I'm nothing like you!" Axel has had enough of hearing Elias say that. "You kill people. You killed me."

"I gave you life, Axel."

"You turned me."

"I gave you a second chance."

"I never asked for this. I never asked to get between your feud with my father. I never asked to be a vampire. And I swear if I could choose, I would have asked to stay dead."

"That's a lie and you know it Axel. I know it. You should be grateful. You have something others would kill for. Ironic isn't it, that people kill for life. That you're father-"

"Don't you dare mention my dad." Axel is standing right in front of Elias now, their heights similar. "I'm not here to talk about my dad."

"Your frustration is aimed at the wrong person Axel." Now he can hear the irritation in Elias' voice. He's getting angry. "How dare you come to my mansion and disrespect me, your mentor. I treated you like a son!"

"You used my life as a revenge plot!"

"I gave you a gift!"

"Gift?! I'm sick and tired of you calling it a gift. It's a curse Elias."

"And yet you father risked your life for it."

Axel doesn't know what he's thinking, perhaps he isn't thinking at all because all of a sudden his fist collides with Elias' jaw.

Elias dabs his tongue on his lip and tastes blood. He laughs, blood staining his teeth and then punches Axel in his face.

They fight. Fists and fangs. Blood dropping to the ground. Cuts and wounds forming and healing.

The videos Elias had forced Axel to watch play in his mind on repeat. Every deathly tactic, every technique. It's like Axel doesn't have to think about it. Like killing is a reflex.

Elias is the best fighter in the mansion. He's the mentor, the leader, the teacher. But Axel was always his best student. Axel didn't leave the mansion after the first year like all the other vampires. He stayed. For 3 more years. By Elias' side. Becoming his favourite. Elias would save the best tips for him and those very tips are the ones he uses right now.

Sometimes it isn't about how fast you are, it's about how smart you are.

Don't let your opponent find your weakness.

Elias found Axel's weakness. It was his dad.

And Axel has always known Elias' weakness.

Me.

Axel stops fighting and Elias takes the advantage, holding Axel by his throat against the trunk of a tree. Elias' fangs dangerously close to Axel's neck. One of the ways to kill a vampire is to bite them in the exact same place they were first bitten.

Of course Elias remembers. He was the one to do it.

"Go on, Elias. Do it. I told you I didn't want this anymore. Put me out of my misery and kill me."

Elias, taken aback, stares at the boy. Kill Axel? He could never do it.

And this hesitation gives Axel enough time to grab the metal stake that he tucked between his jeans and shirt and plunge it into the vampire's heart.

Axel isn't even surprised that Elias is laughing. Crying. Bleeding. And laughing.

It takes a tremendous amount of energy for Elias to caress Axel's face, it's certain that a bloody handprint would be left on his cheek.

"My weakness." Elias violently coughs out blood and his legs give way. Axel catches his body before he hits the ground. "I taught you well."

Axel lays Elias on the floor, his head in his lap. They're both crying now. Elias' green eyes begin to cloud and with his final breath says "We are so alike, you and I."

Only Elias would die with a smile on his face.

Axel never expected that his mentor's death would cause such a reaction from him. He shouts and then cries and it becomes an endless cycle of anger and sadness and relief.

To think that Elias is really dead and that he was the one to kill him is something Axel doesn't want to believe. He doesn't know if he regrets it yet.

"You took care of me."

"You hurt me."

"You gave me a home even though you took one away from me too."

"You wanted the best for me but did it in all the worst ways."

"You loved me like a son and I-" a sob escapes his lips. "I probably loved you too."

When the stream of tears start to steady, Axel softly places Elias' head onto the grass. He goes to the nearby river, rips the sleeve of his shirt off and wets it. Axel rubs the dried blood off of Elias' face and places his arms down his side. He also washes the blood off of the metal stake and watches the blue water turn red. He contemplates throwing the stake in the river but decides against it, keeping the stake as a memento.

Axel looks down at Elias' clean face and a fresh set of tears begin to fall.

"I'm sorry I had to do this to you." He whispers. "I'm sorry you left me with no choice."

Axel presses a kiss to Elias' cold forehead and he leaves.