The Immortal Blood

Chapter 32

Alexandra had heard the roar of the Subaru even before she saw it appear on the horizon: she had told Todd to stop and hide the car behind some bushes near the villa where their creator had barricaded himself.
They had caught up as soon as Vernon had disappeared out of the woman's sight, who had then slowed down to stop the bike on which she was riding along the main road.
"Fucking hell!" Todd had roared while jumping out of Adam's car, slamming the door with so much fury that he'd almost smashed it. "Where is he?"
"Easy! He might hear us. The boy's fine for now. He was unconscious, I saw Vernon bringing him inside."
"Explain me what the FUCK is going on, Alex, NOW." Todd had marched towards her at full speed.
"It's my fault he managed to heal himself, Todd. Do you remember when you showed me that damn vial? I was, to say the least, intrigued, so, given your reticence, I decided to investigate. . ."
"Jesus, Alex, are you trying to tell me you went to the one person you hate more than ME?" The vampire had passed a hand through his hair, frustrated
"Actually, no. HE came to me, a few days after you all had moved here, and that should have made me suspicious already, but I was a fool, and I realize that only now. He said he wanted to make amends, to start a new life together again. Of course I wasn't convinced at all, but I still listened to his sweet talk and mentioned that you looked different, showing myself surprised to see him walking without a stick. Vernon talked about a serum, a kind of cure, so I immediately connected the dots: the vial you were hiding and the particular flavor of that blood. . . that was my mistake. I cornered him, but Vernon seemed surprised, and that because. . ."
"He didn't think I'd keep Adam's blood." Todd had looked in his sister's eyes, who were dark like his own. and felt his stomach drop. "I could have had it whenever I wanted, so why would I hide in a drawer what little I stole from him?"
HE was the culprit, and now the boy was risking his life because he was a stupid idiot.
He had tried to get around Alexandra, closer to the haunted house: he had to find Adam quick, before Vernon did something irreparable.
"Wait!" His sister got in his way again. "Todd, you didn't see him! That blood, I don't know exactly what property it holds, but if it has really healed Vernon from such a serious injury. . ."
"It doesn't matter what it can do, Alex. Right now, what only matters is the person who has it in him." Alexandra had stood speechless for a few seconds, staring at him as if she had never seen him before. "Look, I gotta get in there, and I'm gonna do it with or without your help."
"Then you don't understand! It's not just the blood. . . when Axel called me, he told me how, once Vernon had miraculously healed himself, the situation degenerated fast: all he talked about was how you had lost the light of reason and wanted to take that precious remedy away from all of them."
Todd had listened carefully to his sister, suddenly remembering what she had said to him on the phone before.
"Degenerated HOW? What happened to Dimitri?"
"Finally. Vernon persuaded Dimitri to get on your trail, but when he managed to find you, he realized that bastard had not been honest with him; he saw the boy and must have had my own intuition. Once back, he grilled Vernon, but by then it was too late, that asshole only made plans on how to get his hands on his blood and imprison him in a safe place, so he could exploit his skills. He and Axel tried to reason with him, but in the end. . . last night there was a violent altercation, Vernon hit Dimitri on the head, dragged him into the yard and. . . burned him alive."
"Jesus!" The vampire had closed his eyes, a burst of sudden pain hitting him in the middle of his sternum. "I can't believe it, poor Dimitri. . . and Axel?"
"Vernon threatened to do the same to him before he disappeared to come and get you. I told him to be safe, I had him give me your position, then the line fell and I set off, but when I got there, it was already too late."
"So you let Vernon load Adam in the car and bring him here? For Christ's sake, were you too afraid to actually STOP him?" Todd had eyed her with ill-concealed grudge.
"You know there was nothing I could've done against him. Not like this, openly, without a weapon."
"No, but you could have at least TRIED." Todd had interrupted her, diverting his eyes from her, enraged: in fact he was just angry with himself: Dimitri was dead, and Adam was alone at that asshole's mercy.
He felt powerless, completely useless.
"I don't know what the fuck to do!" He cried, with a scream of frustration: without Adam on the team, he felt lost.
"We must eliminate him, Todd. We should have done this long ago." Alexandra had given him a look of unequivocal reproach.
"I know." The vampire had admitted, while the guilt made him sick to his stomach: his act of mercy on Vernon had catastrophically affected all their lives. "That's why Adam and I were getting ready to face him."
He walked to the trunk of the Subaru, opening it to show her the contents.
"Gas cans!" Alexandra had watched him with sudden interest.
"We wanted to set that son of a bitch on fire, but he beat us to it."
"Did you plan to burn the house down?" His sister had questioned, frowning.
"No. Too complicated, and some other idiot could have always decided to get in the way and save him." Todd had sarcastically joked, despite himself.
"So you thought you'd lure him out? How?"
The vampire had frowned, studying the villa in the distance.
"Let's just say we were counting on taking advantage of the fact that Vernon was out of the game, combined with the element of surprise as well as some unexpected supernatural event. Blood isn't Adam's only feature, and his house. . ."
"It's haunted. Vernon mentioned it to me. . . or are you suggesting that the ghosts respond to the boy's presence?"
"Probably, we don't know for sure, but. . ."
"It could have come in handy? I doubt it. There's one other unexpected element you're not considering, though." Alexandra had looked at her brother intensely.
"Which one?" Todd had asked, confused. She had indicated a point behind him, near the stone shed next to the house.
There was a hidden figure in the shadows, who had nodded to him as soon as he'd noticed him.
Axel.