The Immortal Blood

Chapter 31

A sudden light had dazzled him, causing him to blink several times, confused.
Adam opened his eyes, trying to find his way around, but when he tried and sat down, a dull pain exploded at the base of his head.
"Ah, what the hell. . . ?" It took him a few minutes to focus his eyesight, recognizing little by little the environment that surrounded him: he was in his old basement, the haunted house's one. "Shit. . . Jesus Christ!" He almost screamed, suddenly remembering everything.
Vernon had caught him: he had somehow managed to track them down, and he was not hurt at all.
How was that even possible?
"Welcome back." The vampire had manifested himself at the top of the stairs, making him jump in fear.
"You son of a bitch!" Adam spat on the defensive, caught by suprise. "How did you heal yourself?"
"I always forget how much smarter you are than Todd. . . Can I call you by your first name, after all the history we've had? After all, if I'm still standing, it's just thanks to YOU."
"Thanks to ME? How?"
"Naturally, I had a very bad time after that stab. . . you had hit me in full, and with a silver knife, no less! Someone had done his homeworks." Vernon had come down the last few steps and sat next to him. "I guess it was Todd who gave you a couple of suggestions. . ."
"Maybe." The lawyer grunted, pulling away from him. Strangely enough, he was tied by his arms to the old wooden headboard of a broken bed with a couple of simple ropes, but his legs and rest of his body were free.
"I guess he never told you he stole your blood, though. . . yes, that's right, during one of your first meetings in this house."
"I find that hard to believe." Adam looked at him with disgust, but doubtful.
"Why? Todd is no better than the rest of us, even though he likes to think so. He's killed a lot of people. Maybe I should say he's mutilated them. Slaughtered them. Gutted them, even."
"Stop it! I know who Todd is, he's never tried to hide it. You're just a bastard, Vernon, and I'm not gonna. . ."
"There were four vials of your blood, Adam: three for us, and one for him, stolen while you were unconscious on the floor of your house, while you were so helpless that he could have done anything to you, and you might never have known." The vampire told him fiercely.
"Bullshit." Adam had seen Todd so undernourished in the last few days that he had offered him the blood himself: if he really had a vial, he would certainly have used it. Vernon was just trying to get in his head. "What did you do to him?" He hadn't thought about it before, but what if Vernon had attacked him as soon as he'd left for the gas station, that morning?
"You think I killed him? No, Todd is still alive. . . at least, for the moment."
"What's that supposed to mean?" The boy swallowed a huge knot of saliva.
"You'll see."
"You're full of shit." Adam passed through him with his cerulean gaze, anxious.
"Not at all: as I said, the vials were four, but Todd never could use his. . . because I took it. What amazed me most was finding it still intact. . . but after all, Todd has always been predictable, so I should have known that he would simply preserve it in your memory. And as per his script, he never suspected me of the theft, considering the resentment he feels towards his sister."
"Alexandra, the girl you turned just to get a hold of him." The blonde nodded, shaking with anger. "It takes an incredible perversion of the mind to kill people just to pursue a goal. I'm glad she mocked you and burned your house down."
"Ah, you're definitely the opposite of Todd. Yes, I made the serious mistake of underestimating her, I can't deny it, even though she turned out to be useful in the end, asking me about that vial. Unexpected, but incredibly fortuitous! And once your blood had healed me, I only had to track you down, which took less time than expected: I was sure you wouldn't stray away, after all, you were on the run. I had several properties checked, until Dimitri told me he saw your car half hidden by a cottage outside town." The vampire told him, pleased.
'Oh, shit.' Adam mentally whipped himself: they had excluded the rest of Vernon's group from the equation, only because Todd had considered them harmless, but instead they had taken an active part in that sadistic asshole's plan.
"Even if we decided to leave, instead of facing you, it wouldn't have made any difference, would it?"
"Ah, you bet I wouldn't have given up your qualities for anything in the world." Vernon watched him with a greedy glow in his dark pupils.
"You didn't kill Todd today, even though you could have. . . why?"
"It's really quite simple: you're my best bargaining chip now."
"So you want to use me as BAIT?"
"Sort of." The vampire vaguely nodded after a long pause, suggesting that that was not his only purpose.
"And after that? What are you gonna do with me?" Adam could not avoid asking, even though he probably already knew the answer.
"You will remain here at my disposal, of course, as we discussed in your office. . . there's no reason to change the terms of the agreement."
"Right" Adam had clenched his teeth so tightly that the sound came out like a low growl. "And maybe jerk you off whenever you feel like it. Get the hell out of here!"
The Ancient one made a mocking sound with his nose.
"Ah, Mr. Walsh, you are a fascinating contradiction." He approached him, planting his menacing face a few inches from his. "I was almost certain that it was YOU who were pulling the strings of our poor Todd, who, as clever as he may be, does not have many other qualities, apart from perhaps a tender heart, as I thought you had guessed and exploited to your advantage. But imagine my surprise when I saw the two of you this morning, in the kitchen. . ."
"What the FUCK?" The boy exploded, feeling every inch of skin that he had in his body curl in horror. "You. . . ?"
He'd been watching them for some time, waiting for the best time to strike.
"Of course, I had to make sure you weren't concocting a warm welcome for me. But apparently you were engaged in very different activities. . ."
"I don't understand what you're trying to insinuate, here."
"I was pretty sure Todd had a real weakness for you. But you. . . what good would his attraction do to you? Spread your legs in exchange for protection, no doubt. . . but then I saw the total abandon with which you let him screw you against that shelf, and I realized that there was much, much more. Despite your high appearances and speeches, you're far from being a devoted husband. . ."
"Fuck you, Vernon! You don't know me at all, but for sure you won't get a goddamn thing from me!" Adam rebelled, blushing shamefully for the heavy obscenities the vampire had addressed to him, hitting him with a knee in full face before ending up violently squashed on the mattress on which he was lying upon.
Some stacked furniture had shaken around them: the strong altercation was definitely awakening the spirits of the house, but the cellar had always been a place where the apparitions were contained, unlike the bedroom.
"There are your ghosts, pretty useless, like your childish companion." Vernon commented sarcastically, leaning a few inches away from his face. "If I were you, I would weigh the words carefully, because if you don't give me what I want, do you know what will happen? I will eat your wife, starting with the fingers of her hands and feet, then her eyes, piece by piece, until there won't be a single fragment of her left, and then I will move on to your daughters. Unless one of them hasn't inherited your peculiarity. . . in that case I could decide to use them too."
"Jesus, you're a fucking MONSTER. . .!" Adam looked at him, torn between being furious and terrified, defenseless, aware that that evil being would not hesitate for a moment to put his threats into action, if only he wanted to.
"You have no idea what I'm willing to do to get what I need, Mr. Walsh, so don't challenge me." Vernon threateningly closed his meagre hand on his throat, to underline the point, before letting him go, standing up again.
"And should you have the unhealthy idea of trying to attack me again, or even try to escape, I will take you and break your spine, so that I can use you as I please. At the end of the day, your legs and arms are not essential to your survival, aren't they?" He had let Adam contemplate the prospect for a few minutes before continuing: "Things for you may be good or very bad, Adam. You have before you a prospect of life all in all passable, considering the circumstances, this depends only on your behavior."
"You define a life as your slave as 'passable'?" The lawyer eyed him with hate and despise. He felt trapped.
"I wouldn't use such disgusting terms. . . you'd be more of a guest, with an unlimited stay." Vernon scrutinized him with macabre satisfaction. "Now I'll let you rest, I'll come back later to bring you some food, after the strenuous marathon with dear Todd you'll need to recover your strength . . . any special preferences?"
Adam had cast an eloquent glance at him. "No."
He watched walk up the stairs and disappear: until he was locked up in that basement, he would have no choice but to submit to the will of that crazy maniac.
He felt a sudden weight crush his chest and even before realizing it, he found himself sobbing like he had not done for years in the grip of anger and fear: Vernon had threatened Cloe and his daughters, there wasn't much he could do, he needed help, but even if Todd had come to his aid, he would have been at great risk, because that damn bastard was just waiting for him to show up at his door to eliminate him . . . or WORSE.
The situation had completely escaped their control, they would never have made it that way: he had to quickly come up with something or it wouldn't end well, for any of them.