The Immortal Blood

Chapter 33

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"What happened?" Todd had hugged him in the half penumbra of the shed, as soon as he and Alexandra had reached him, avoiding to get too close to the villa so as not to be noticed by Vernon.
Axel had held him back, evidently in shock.
"Thank God you're here." He'd said in a broken voice. "Thank God."
"I'm sorry about Dimitri." Alexandra had added as well, in a subdued tone.
"That son of a bitch. . . did he actually kill him?" Todd had growled, looking at his friend.
"Yeah. I still can't believe it, one moment they were fighting, and then. . . I couldn't do anything, Todd. I knew I had to help him, but I was just... petrified." Axel had detached himself from him, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"There was nothing you could have done anyway. You were lucky Vernon didn't decide to kill you, too." The vampire put his hand on his shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze.
"He said that if I didn't cooperate, once he got back, I would end up like him. He's completely gone mad, Todd! I saw him bring a passed out boy into the house, when he's always forbidden us from committing such acts..."
Todd and Alexandra had exchanged a fleeting glance before the man commented: "This is no ordinary guy, Axel. It's HIM."
"You mean the Immortal blood?"
"Not literally. I know I haven't explained it to you, so it's logical that you feel confused. Adam's blood, the boy, is to say the least unique in its kind, for those like us: it can heal even large wounds, thus guaranteeing us in fact eternal life, or that's what Vernon seems to believe. . . he had heard voices, in the past, mostly legends, about a blood with similar properties, even if in fact it does not make us immune to real Death." Todd had contracted his hands in two tight fists. "Dimitri is the proof."
"As is Vernon. Adam almost killed him, if he hadn't had that damn vial at his disposal, perhaps he would be completely out of the game now." Alexandra looked at Todd in the eye with evident scorn.
Fuck it.
"Wait. . . the boy did it? Adam, you said? He's the one who hurt Vernon?"
"Yes, with a silver knife. That asshole threatened him, but Adam is not exactly the kind of person who likes to be intimidated. Vernon ambushed him one afternoon in front of his studio, I'm sure he had every intention of kidnapping him back then. He attacked him in the middle of the sidewalk, hadn't Adam had the knife with him, I doubt that we'd be here now talking about this. . ."
"Unbelievable."
"He was very lucky. But I have to admit, I like him a lot more than you." Alexandra had snickered at his brother, with her arms folded. "I bet the idea to lure Vernon out of the house to set him on fire was also his. . ."
"I'll just ignore what you just said, thank you very much, sister."
"You were going to KILL Vernon?" Axel had squared them both, serious.
"You know where I stand, Axel." The vampire girl had looked back at him without batting an eyelid.
"I never should have. . . it's hard for me to admit, but hadn't I saved Vernon that day, maybe Dimitri. . ."
"You have to recognize it too, Axel. Vernon was never who made you believe, he's neither a philanthropist nor a good person. He's a fucking MURDERER." Alexandra's voice had cracked towards the end of the sentence with resentment and pain. "We have to stop him and this time we can't fail."
"We're not asking you to side with us or help us out, but. . ."
"You're right." Axel had watched them both with his dark eyes, leaving them perplexed to say the least. "I'm not blind nor stupid, I understood Vernon's game some time ago, even if it took me a while. . . of course, I never imagined it would come to that. I thought he was a fraud, maybe even a thief, but. . . when he learned of the blood of Immortality, then he showed his true face. I begged Dimitri to let it go, he was as scared as I was: Vernon was talking about imprisoning people in the cellar and also getting rid of you, so he decided to confront him. . . and got murdered in the end." He'd started crying with rage.
"It's his true nature." Alexandra confirmed, looking at her brother. "And it's not the first time he's killed innocent people."
"We have an idea to try and stop him and save Adam, but we're not sure it'll work." Todd was straightforward and honest, he didn't want to put him in any more danger.
"I want to help you." Axel had nodded, suddenly determined.
"Are you sure? It could be. . ."
"A suicide, of course. But if you want to get Vernon out of the way, you're gonna need me." He had smiled faintly. "I have to do it for Dimitri."
"Sure, like the rest of us." Alexandra had nodded, serious. "Care to tell Axel my plan, brother?"
Todd had avoided correcting her, because in the end she was not entirely wrong, he could not deny that his sister was the mastermind and he himself the hand in the general scheme.
"There's one fundamental point I'm not going to discuss: we won't leave Adam in his hands."
"Of course, Todd, you were very specific about it. Shall we proceed?"
"What do you have in mind?" Axel had looked at the vampires, interested.
Alexandra had smirked. "You'll see."