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Adam Walsh had watched the buyer walk between the rooms with an absorbed countenance, wondering how much longer it would take.
He usually didn't come in person to show the house, leaving everything in the hands of the agent, but since the man had assured him that he was more than willing to buy, he had made a break from the rule.
And he was bitterly regretting it.
He had carefully avoided the bedroom, but he could not fail to hear or see THEM, even if only with the tail of his eye.
An ornament had rotated half a turn when he had passed in front of it, in the hallway, also he had found one of the paintings in the living room face down on the floor.
The man with the beard (Todd Valentine, was his name) seemed not to have noticed, after all they were halfway through moving out, things like that could happen.
Shame that, in the course of the year and a half in which Adam, Cleo and the children had lived there, it had happened too often.
"A lovely house. . . great structure. . . they don't make it like that anymore. . . "
"No. " Adam had recovered from his stupor, placing a calm smile of convenience on his face. "As explained, it has been renovated keeping the original walls of the old farmhouse. Some parts are from the early nineteenth century. . . "
"Of course. You can see it clearly. . . "
Adam had maintained a polite behaviour. In retrospect, it made too much sense: old walls, old inhabitants. . .
Something had moved as he strolled through the corridor behind him, raising a cold breeze that had made his skin crawl.
"So, what do you say?" He cut it short, starting to really get nervous. It was a lot worse when he was alone, he just wanted to get the contract signed and leave as fast as he could.
"We'll take it. Did you bring the papers?" Todd nodded, coming in his direction.
"Of course. " Adam had taken them out of his work bag and placed them on the kitchen shelf. He had sent a draft to Valentine a few days earlier, so that his lawyers could evaluate it.
As for him, there was no need for third parties, it was his daily job and he'd practically forged the contract with his own bare hands.
Valentine had signed under the various dots and presented him a hand the size of a wrestler's. He was about one palm taller than him, and yet it was not his stature that put him in awe.
There was something strange about that man, almost like the presences inside the house. . . it was nothing tangible, but you could perceive it under the surface.
"Thank you Adam. . . " he told him, discovering a series of white, perfectly straight teeth.
"Thank you, Mr. Valentine. " He had shaken his hand, taking time to notice how cold it was before suddenly losing consciousness.

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He found himself lying on the sofa in the living room, with only his shirt on and a beginning of headache behind the orbits.
". . . What. . . ?"
"Adam, are you all right?" Todd Valentine's voice had come from miles away.
"Did I. . . pass out?" He asked, confused.
"You went down like a rock, man! Does it happen often?"
"Ah. . . no. . . " it wasn't quite true, not since he started living in that house, at least.
"Do you want me to call someone?"
"No, thanks. " He'd tried to get up, skidding slightly to the right.
"Hey, look out!" Todd had held him up with one arm, like he weighed a couple pounds. He seemed to be carved in marble.
"Oh, sorry. I'm fine. " Adam broke away from him, still feeling shaken up.
"Are you sure? Wouldn't want you to faint behind the wheel. . . " Valentine had addressed him another one of his toothpaste advertising smiles, and that somehow had quickly made Adam come to his senses.
"It's all right. Really. " He had collected the papers and put on his jacket and tie, which had been placed on one of the armrests of the couch. "I'll see you for the key delivery. If you need everything, give me a call. "
"Sure. Let me walk you out. "
Adam had more than willingly agreed to that: to get out he had to enter the corridor that gave straight to the bedroom, so going alone wasn't really an option.
Once reacbed the car, Todd saluted him with a pat on his shoulder a little too long, at least for his tastes, before slipping into a grey Porsche last model and whizzing away.
Adam had stayed a few moments to stare into nothingness, feeling relieved but at the same time frightened by something inexplicable. He finally managed to sell that damn house, now he and Cleo could start living a normal life again. . . so why didn't he feel at all relieved?Todd Valentine had smiled as he put on a pair of Paul Harris sunglasses, looking in the mirror at Adam's reflection that was moving further and further away from him.
He had a confused air, and it was more than natural: when he had fainted, half an hour before, he had caught him unprepared, then his unmistakably unique smell had hit his nostrils, and he had not been able to resist.
He had partly undressed him and placed him on the couch, while the canines were already beginning to sting his upper lip.
He was a handsome boy, blond, blue eyes, but nothing he hadn't seen before. Then what was it? There was something about him. . . he bent over his neck, breathing in deeply. Yes, it was certainly the smell, the blood that flowed through his veins. . . he had listened carefully to his heartbeat before placing his mouth on the tender part between his shoulder and throat and sinking his fangs.
The blood had conquered him, and it had been almost impossible to stop. He had come off, in the end, looking at that man, surprised: yes, he was different and he was also changing him from what he could perceive.
Adam hadn't shown any signs of recovery, so he bent over him again, drinking lavishly, until he had to force himself to stop, before killing him or to becoming too aroused, as was already happening. Couldn't have fucked him like that on the couch, not yet.
Stopping at a traffic light, Todd had passed a hand on his face, the taste of Adam still invading his mouth worse than an aphrodisiac.
"What the hell are you?" He asked himself, determined to find out.

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"Hey, Todd. " A bald man with dark skin had greeted him from one end of the table.
"Axel" Valentine had sat among them, looking at his other companions: Dimitri was chewing distractedly on a toothpick, while Vernon had skipped the preambles and had come straight to the point.
"So, have we found a home?"
"Hell, Verne, where are your ways? You're not even gonna buy me a drink?"
"I don't think you need it. . . " the older vampire had shot him a knowing glance.
Todd had smiled, in spite of himself. "We can celebrate, my friends!"
Dimitri had finally produced himself in a kind of sneer, while Axel had soundly slammed his hand on the table. "Great!"
"Are you going to buy me a round or not?"
"I'll take care of it. " Dimitri was on his way to the bar with Axel in tow, who had smacked a hand on his back as he passed through.
Left alone, Vernon kept staring at him with his arms folded. "Are you sure you have no other reasons to celebrate?"
"Verne. . . "
"I can smell it on you. Who's that?"
"No one. I just needed. . . " he interrupted, noticing the expression in the other's eyes. "Let me figure out a few things first. "
"Interesting. So you haven't noticed yet. . . "
"What?"
"Your eyebrow. The cut. . . it's gone. " Vernon pointed to him with a nod.
Todd carried his hands to his face. It was true. The scar he had acquired as a boy when he fell into the bathtub had completely healed.
"Cheers!" Dimitri had interrupted them, putting four glasses of Scotch in front of them. They had toasted to the new house, but Vernon had kept his eyes fixed on him the whole time.Adam had returned early, made dinner and put the children to bed, before shutting himself in the bathroom for a refreshing shower. He felt the need, after spending the entire afternoon in that damn house.
He had heard Cleo close the door just as he was entering under the jet of boiling water, so he had given her a voice and started to wash his day off.
Once he was finished he felt better, but when the condensation of the water had thinned and he had managed to look in the mirror, he almost cried out loud.
He had a large swelling on the left side of his neck, a purplish spot with two reddish scabs in the center.
"What the hell?" He wondered, open-mouthed, panicked. Had he banged somewhere while falling down? He had checked his head, but had not found any bumps, and the rest of his body was as milky as ever. He had touched one of the crusts, which had fallen off, causing him pain and lose a stream of blood in the process.
"Oh, my God. . . " he had taken a handkerchief to dab the wound, with his head suddenly starting to swirl around in his frenzy. He had fallen unconscious, that had neen the house's fault. But those signs. . . the more he stared at them, the more a memory emerged from the depths of his mind. The feeling of someone bending over him. . . a breath, then teeth on his neck. . . he had taken four steps backwards, cuddling in a foetal position on the floor, trembling like a leaf. He didn't know how, but he was sure. . . yet, why would Todd Valentine bite his throat?

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"Adam, Mr. Valentine for you on line one. " announced Charlene's voice from the intercom a week later."All right, put him through. " He answered with tightly, picking up the phone."Adam!" He was greeted by the man's deep voice, which caused a cold chill to crawl down his back. "Listen, I know the key delivery is in three weeks, but. . . I wanted to ask you if it would be possible to show the house to my relatives. ""Ah, well. . . " he just fumbled, not knowing what to say. Could he refuse? After all Todd had already signed the papers... "I'm not sure I'm. . . ""Please, man, just thirty minutes! My uncle Vernon's pretty upset about moving in, so. . . "Oh, hell. All he needed was for them to try terminate the contract. It wouldn't have been a problem anyway, but they needed the deposit and didn't really have time for other legal arguments."Uh, okay. . . I'll send you. . . " he was about to hand over the delegation to his secretary, when he remembered that that afternoon she would leave early. "I'll bring them to you as soon as I finish, 6:00 pm would be all right?""Great! I'll see you later. "Adam had hung up, his left hand coming back searching for the wounded spot on his neck, even if it could not be seen anymore. It was absurd, there certainly had to be a rational explanation, however, after living in that house, he had learned to trust his instinct.On the other hand, he wouldn't have been alone that time, so there was nothing to worry about. . . unless Todd's uncle wanted to see the bedroom. . ."Hello, brother. "Todd had looked up from his newspaper, meeting a set of two big green eyes. "Alexandra. What are you doing here?""I hear you've finally found a Home worthy of the name. . . ""Hmm. And what else did Axel tell you?""You could have told me. . . ""So you would have invited yourself to live there?" Todd dismessed the paper, annoyed."Of course not! I know you don't like having me around. . . ""Not just to me. Vernon, too. ""Vernon. " The girl had curled her lip, disgusted. "That worm. . . ""Worm whose villa you burned, sending the rest of us to live under the bridge. ""Oh, I'm so sorry! Maybe you should have thought of that earlier... ""And maybe we shouldn't have turned you into one of us at all. " Todd had stared at her with an icy gaze, the fangs that threatened to pierce the inside of her lips.Alexandra had remained silent, furious, her hands so contracted that the knuckles turned completely white."You're a real bastard, you know that?" She had growled in the end, returning the stern look."Maybe, or maybe I'm right. . . ""Go fuck yourself, Todd! " Alexandra cried, standing up, smashing into a couple of waiters on her way out of the bar.Valentine had pushed away his beer, frustrated, promising himself to make a serious speech to Axel, that night. . .

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Adam had waited at the entrance, sweating cold: when he was alone the manifestations worsened exponentially and he was already noticing shadows and strange movements that he didn't like at all.The Valentines additionally were clearly late, another thing weighing down his day.A roar of a car had resonated in the driveway, and finally appeared a grey Porsche that had taken the road at full speed until it parked next to his Subaru.Todd Valentine had come out of the driver's side, while a man in his fifties, with gray hair and olive complexion, had come down from the passenger seat."Adam" Todd had planted himself in front of him, with that perfect smile that made him feel uncomfortable. "This is my uncle Vernon. ""Hello, Mr. Valentine. " Adam had politely extended his hand to the man."Thank you, but my name is Vernon Foley. I'm the maternal uncle. ""Ah, of course. Excuse me. " They had saluted as a sign of mutual greeting, but for some reason Adam had the feeling that the other had held his hand a little too long."If you want to follow me inside. . . " he had distanced himself, trying to keep cool. He had shown them the house, noting that Vernon had stationed in the bedroom for a long time, as if he was feeling something."Beautiful. " He commented on going out, then heading into the kitchen as if nothing had happened.Fortunately, however, the tour had been devoid of strange events, so much that, when they headed to the door to go out, Adam had almost managed to calm down. "So, Uncle, are you all set?" Todd was saying as he was giving the lock a turn of the key."Oh, absolutely. . . ah, damn it. . . must have left my glasses inside. . . could you please let me in again?""Oh, no, no problem. Do you know where you might have left them?""In the bedroom, I think. . . could you get them for me? I need to sit down for a moment. "Adam had swallowed a heavy bunch of saliva, hoping that they would not notice the panic in his expression. "I'll, uh. . . no, I'll. . . check it out. " He took a deep breath on the way in.He had turned on all the lights in his path, but already in the middle of the corridor he had felt the change in the air: the hair on the nape of his neck had risen as if charged by an electric current and the temperature had dropped by several degrees when he reached the bedroom.The glasses were resting on the quilt, in plain sight, but when he had stretched out his hand to get them something had grabbed him by the wrist, while the pictures on the wall in front of him had exploded in a racket of glass. An ethereal voice had called him from inside the walls and the room had begun to spin on itself. He had felt supported before touching the ground, but the touch had been threatening, not friendly.Two arms as hard as stone had wrapped him, moving his head to one side, and a beast had bit him on the shoulder, making him scream with pain.Cold hands had crept under his clothes, into his pants, touching, claiming, and a firm erection had been pressed against his thigh as he fell on the mattress. Afterwards, everything had become dark, but the certainty of what had attacked him had made it in time to cross his brain: it had been Todd Valentine, but he wasn't human at all.

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It took Vernon's strength to rip him away from Adam. The blood. . . the smell. . ."Todd. Todd! We need the boy!"Words without meaning for him, who had managed to get rid of Adam's pants and almost fuck him, unconscious and half-naked, with a sculpted ass more than inviting, although perhaps a little thin for his taste."What the fuck do you want, Vernon?" He'd roared, pushing him back and sending him flying into a nightstand."You'll kill him!""No, I just want to fuck him. . . " he laughed, only noticing with the tail of his eye the bloodstain that was spreading on the blanket under them. "No!" He bent down to collect that precious fluid, but Vernon had moved out of the way, stopping with his saliva the wound on the neck of the lawyer. "You're such a fucking cunt!""You'll thank me later. Come on, now. ""What about Adam?""Put him in the car, and take the bedspread. "So they had done, even though it had not been easy to cover the boy and carry him in his arms without a further taste on his part."All this fuckin' disturbance for a house?!" He had growled, struggling to concentrate on driving with his penis still hard in his jeans."Screw the house! Didn't you realize it was haunted, you idiot?""So what? Are you afraid of ghosts, Vernon?" Todd laughed at him, trying to find the taste of Adam on his lips again. Maybe he'd turn his car around and go back and get some more. . ."It's the boy. His blood. . . ""It's delicious. " nodded Todd, shutting up when he saw the excitement on the other guy's face. ". . . it's not just my impression, is it? He's not like everyone else. . . ""Not at all. "Your body. . . " He could feel it, he didn't need to hear it explained. The change was part of him, just like the burn scar on his right forearm had disappeared in the same way as that on his eyebrow."This can't be true. . . you think Adam's blood. . . ""I've only heard of it, but judging by how you looked. . . "Todd remained silent for the rest of the trip until they arrived at the pub where they had an appointment with the others. "Not a word about him with them. " He warned Vernon before he got off. The man had looked at him in silence, but in the end he had shrugged his shoulders and nodded.Adam had taken a long time to get to sleep that night. He'd woken up in his car, confused and frightened, so caught in terror he'd ran home, hiding in the bathroom upstairs.There he had found confirmation to his fears: the swelling on his neck had reappeared, and even if his memories were tangled he was more than sure that Todd Valentine had caused it to him.It was absurd even to try to imagine the reason, and yet. . . with an inhuman effort he had tried to put the afternoon fragments back together, in vain. The spirits of the house had attacked him, as had Todd, then there was a huge black hole.He had checked every inch of his body, discovering other hand-shaped bruises on his shoulders, hips. . . but nothing else.What was happening to him? Was it all Valentine's fault, or had the spirits gotten worse? One thing was certain: contract or not, he would never meet that man again in person.If he was a MAN at all...

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He had to find a way to see Adam again. Todd had carefully studied the changes in his physique after drinking the boy's blood, and was at the very least disconcerted. It wasn't just the scars that healed, it was much more subtle and impalpable than that. . . a deeper, more radical mutation. . . He absolutely had to see Adam again, but, at the same time, he had to prevent anyone else from knowing. Vernon already worried him, with his nose stuck in his alchemy tomes talking about obscure formulas, for not mentioning his sister Alexandra, cold and severe in her Dior dress as she dissected him with her eyes through a cup of coffee. He had to protect Adam's identity, of course, not that the boy made his life easy, he had to have sensed something, if for no other reason than how he was avoiding him, sending secretaries and subordinates to his requests for meeting. But closing time of the contract was approaching, if he wanted to act, he had to do it quickly...Adam had been looking at the goddamn house for the last goddamn time. That was the final day of moving out, the following week he would hand over the keys to the Valentines. His SECRETARY would have them delivered, not him in person, of course, but the meaning was the same. "Did you get everything?" He asked Cleo and the girls while the van loaded with furniture was leaving the driveway. Soon they'd follow, all he had to do was turn off the power and finally it would be over. "Everything!" She answered him from the car, with the little girls happily shouting in the back. It had been very hard for them too, with phenomena and manifestations happening at any time of the day or night. . . He had caught his breath, imposing himself to be as fast as he could, launching in with determination towards the under-stairs. He had switched off the power sources without any difficulty, making the steps two at a time as he climbed up, but when he reached the door a ghostly shadow had blocked the way, forcing him to return to the back and the bedroom. A strong crash from the bathroom had made him jump into the room, where the voices had called him from the walls, causing him to fall to the ground. He had to get up and leave right away, but he already felt the darkness coming into the antechamber of his mind. One voice above all had brought him back to reality, for a second, and he had found Todd Valentine in front of him before losing completely consciousness.

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Todd had followed Adam several times on his excursions to the haunted house, but he had always been surrounded by a bunch of people who had not allowed him to freely enter into action. That morning, however, had been different, and in fact he found himself with the arms full of an inviting, unconscious blond boy. Without Vernon to interrupt the moment, he had first studied the situation coldly, extracting four vials from a pocket and stapling Adam's blood into each of them, after which he had succumbed to temptation, licking the stream that came down so attractively from his throat, ending up planting his fangs in the flesh. He had been good, after all he had sipped only a small mouthful, leaving the rest in the pale body of the man. Didn't he deserve a prize? They were alone, without Vernon, without anyone. . . he had turned Adam's face towards him and kissed him without shame, discovering that blood was not the only good taste he carried in his body. He had raised his jersey and lowered his pants: even his butt was not the only attractive part under the belt. . . A window had opened itself, making him burst out laughing. "Do you think you're scaring me? Go back to the attic. " He had puffed, releasing his erection with relief. He had slipped between Adam's thighs, turned on like never before: he must have been quite tight, and he couldn't wait to try it out. . . he had taken it in his hand and made to push, but strangely enough he couldn't move on. Adam was completely motionless underneath him, apparently deader than all the spirits in the house, and generally he liked his laids much more aggressive. . . He could have slapped him in the face to wake him up, but he was too hard to fight and submit him, so he did it on his own, realising on the floor, between his legs, his face buried in the hollow of his neck.The orgasm had almost made him faint in turn, but he had managed to recover in time and to slip through the open window, leaving with a certain level of sadism the boy half-naked on the marble floor.Adam came back to himself a few moments after Todd vanished from the house. The initial confusion had given way to terror when he remembered Valentine's face in front of him, in the chaos happened in the former bedroom. He had looked at himself and realized that this time the spirits had little to do with his conditions: he was partially undressed with a new wound on his neck. With ice in his chest he had risen to check himself between his legs, almost certain of what he would find there, but, against all expectations, he had to change his mind. Todd had not raped him, even if he'd gotten quite close to, judging by what was left on the floor. . . rather disgusted, he had moved to the corridor, fixing his clothes quickly to get out of that evil place as soon as possible. It was clear, however, that Todd Valentine had a morbid attraction to him, just as it was clear that he was not entirely human. If avoiding him had proved useless, he probably only had one thing to do, if he didn't want to see the work finished the next time: he had to confront him.

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Todd had waited for the others to join him on the park bench: it was almost deserted at that time of day, with people at work and children at school. He had once again recalled with his mind the memory of Adam's body under his own, the warmth and scent he emanated, then he had thought about his blood, the texture. . . A sound of footsteps had reluctantly drawn him from his thoughts. "Todd. Am I to assume that you have good news?" Vernon asked, behind his back. "Absolutely. " He had smiled, standing up to look at his three companions in the face. He'd put his hand in his pocket, pulling out three vials. Vernon's face had lit up full of expectation, while Axel and Dimitri's had stared at him, confused. "What is it?" "The Holy Grail for all vampires. " "It's blood. . . " "Not just any blood. This is THE blood, my friends. " "Do you mean. . . ?" Axel and Dimitri had exchanged an incredulous glance. "Yes. It exists, and we're all going to take it. Thanks to this. . . " he had distributed the vials to each of them. ". . . we'll be immortal. "The next day, Todd and Vernon had a violent altercation about Adam. Todd had hidden the boy's identity for obvious reasons, but Vernon strangely disagreed. "His blood can heal us all, Todd, you can't keep the truth from Axel and Dimitri!" "Axel and Dimitri would suck him dry in a minute, Vernon. No way! And you'll keep it a secret, too. I'll get the blood for you, and if you don't like it. . . if you try to get your hands on Adam. . . " he had smashed the glass he held in his hand. Vernon was obviously disappointed but had kept quiet, even though Todd had seen him break his favorite walking stick in two. He had spent the rest of the day trying to avoid him, but when he returned to his hotel room where they were staying, he found Alexandra inside. "What are you doing here?" He had asked her, furious, stopping short when he had seen what she was holding in her hands: the fourth vial with Adam's blood. "What a lovely thing, I didn't know you liked to keep souvenirs of your victims. . . " she mocked him, picking up a drop from the edge with her finger and carrying it to her lips. "Mmm, how delicate. . . who is it?" She asked him with a menacing grin. "No one. " He answered her, ripping it out of her hand. He couldn't let her understand more, nor did he intend to make his sister an immortal. "Really?" "Really. It's just a memento, nothing more, Alexandra. What did you come here for?" "I met Vernon. And now that I look at you, I notice it in you too. " Todd had frowned, trying not to give himself away. "You are different. Vernon even stopped limping! I thought the wound was from before his death. . . " "It is. " "Interesting. How did you do it?" "Done what, I don't understand you. " He gave her his back, cursing her with his mind."You don't want to tell me. . . well, I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. . . " Alexandra had shaken her ginger curls with grudge. "You know I'm gonna find out anyway, don't you?" She smiled at him threateningly, passing by, walking out. Todd hissed enraged: he was a fool to make an extra vial! He never intended to give it to his sister, he simply wanted it for himself, because he was a damned idiot. Now he'd put Adam in an even more dangerous position. . . he had to do something about it. His mobile phone rang, and he had answered without paying particular attention to the incoming number. "Mr. Valentine. " That was Adam! "I wanted to ask you if Tuesday would be good for the delivery of the keys. . . " "Ah, Tuesday. . . of course, of course. . . " "Good. I'll see you Tuesday then. What about the Corner café on High Street? Come alone. " He closed the conversation. Todd had stared a few moments at the screen, uncertain. Adam wasn't avoiding him, on the contrary he clearly warned him that it would be a meeting between the two of them. He had probably figured something out... maybe not the whole story, but at least part of it. He had settled on the bed with his hands behind his head: this unexpected development could be to his advantage, after all. . .

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The following Tuesday, Todd showed up at the bar well in advance, choosing a table concealed by a column for a little more privacy. He had watched people go by with little attention, until a specific smell had tickled his nose, making him aware of Adam's presence even before he could see him. The blond man had passed by to sit in front of him, so Todd had had the opportunity to appreciate his more casual look of that day: white shirt and branded jeans that fell tight on his skinny but firm rear. The sudden desire to take him and slam him on the table instead of the glasses to give him a solid nail had caught him off guard, so much so that he had not noticed that the boy had put the keys of the new house under his nose. "Here you go, Mr. Valentine. . . " "Thanks, Adam. . . you could call me just by my name, don't you think?" He had studied him with a half smile: he had a face that was speaking volumes. "All right, Todd. . . " "So, I guess you didn't ask me to meet in such a crowded place just to give me a bunch of keys, did you?" He told him, using a direct approach to screw with him a little. Adam had raised his eyebrows, but he hadn't seemed much disturbed. "No. " "What would you like to ask me?" Todd was all ears by then. "For starters, I'd like to know if you were really only interested in the house or. . . " "Or what? Is that really the first question you choose to ask me, Adam? Isn't there anything else you can think of?" Redness had spread on the cheeks of the other man: Todd was pissing him off, but in the end his purpose was precisely to provoke him. "What are you?" Ah. Much better. "What do you think?" "A vampire?" He said it without believing it too much, and yet after seeing him face a haunted house Todd would have expected better."Yes. " He responded truthfully, even showing him a flash of his protruding canines as evidence. Adam had remained silent for a few seconds, staring at his mouth, disconcerted. Todd had appreciated it, wondering if he should not also be given something better to study. "You're starting to embarrass me, Adam. . . " he had gazed him in turn, sly. In hearing those words, the blond had gotten evidently annoyed. "So what am I supposed to say? You fucking harassed me, Todd. While I was half dead on the floor!" "Oh, did. . . ? "Well, you're not wrong, every time I did touch you, you were asleep. " "Ew, I don't. . . I mean, what the fuck am I supposed to think?!" "That I want to fuck you, maybe. Well, what, you find that so absurd?" "I'm married, Todd. " "Pff, so what? I've fucked people more married than you, believe me. " Todd watched him take the blow, amused. Now that Adam's true personality was surfacing from behind the facade of the stick-up-the-butt-lawyer's one, he was beginning to find him a lot more interesting. "And much less attractive. . . " "Do you always talk shit, or do you do it just to hide what you're really thinking?" This time it was Todd who was taken by surprise. "What do you mean?" "As for the harassment, I don't know what to believe, but that's not all, is it? You could have killed me. . . or worse. . . " "Yeah. You know, the second time you passed out, when Vernon was there. . . I was going to. Fuck you or kill you, I'm not sure. Maybe both. All this to say that there's something different. . . in your blood. I've never experience anything like it. " Adam stared at him open-mouthed, then stood up, but not to leave. He ordered from the bar and came back with a glass of whiskey. "Go ahead. " He ordered him. Todd's nose curled, the alcohol covered the boy's fantastic aroma, but he said, "Your blood is the most dangerous part of you, Adam. It has unique properties for us vampires. It can. . . heal and. . . regenerate our wounds, old or new. It's a sort of elixir of immortality. " The blond had emptied his glass in one sip, signalling a waiter to bring him another. "And that would be dangerous because I imagine that if it got out, everyone would want a part of it. . . " "That's right. You have no idea what kind of beasts we can be. . . maybe you think you've seen the worst of me, but you're wrong. There are much, much more dangerous vampires around. . . " "Who knows? Just you?" "Vernon too, unfortunately. He's smart, he's always had an annoying tendency to pick on the little things. . . " "So he's a vampire too. . . " "Yes. And the rest of my comrades, the ones we bought the house for. " "Vampires in a haunted house. . . ah, I'm sorry. I suppose you've already found out. . . " "Yes, nice lawyer move not to say anything. . . " "Touchè. " Adam had raised the second glass, emptying it in one go like the first. "What am I supposed to do with all this. . . ? I mean, I always thought I was just like any other person. . . " "I believe that, in retrospect, the ghosts of the house acted so violently in response to your talents. " The blonde had stopped with his hand in mid-air, while he was still ordering. "It makes sense. The demonstrations were. . . indescribable when I was alone. You've seen them. . . " "Hm, never been afraid of spirits, by the way. . . " Todd had also asked for a drink himself that time, hoping to blackout at least part of his cravings, because drunk Adam was even more fuckable. "The point of the situation is that I'm trying to keep your identity safe, but I don't know how long I'll be able to do that. . . " "Ironic, considering you were about to fuck me while unconscious the other day. . . " "Hey, I'm not saying I didn't want to, but I stopped. It's no use banging a sleeper. . . and it's your fucking smell that's driving me crazy!""You make me sick. " Adam had frowned, disgusted. "Jesus, you jerked off in between my legs!" "Hm, and I'd do it again now. . . " Todd had gulped down his Scotch in a long sip. "Stop it. I feel like I'm gonna throw up. . . " "That's because you drained half a bottle in five minutes. . . you're not very used to drinking, are you?" "No. . . " the blond guy ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "What am I supposed to do? A year ago I wasn't even sure that there was an afterlife, then I lived with the souls of the dead and now. . . what about my family?" "I don't know. " Todd was being honest again. It was easy with him, partly because he wanted to get into his pants, partly because he was sorry after all. "I want you to understand that I'm telling you these things because your safety isn't just up to me. " "Sure, you've been crystal clear about that. . . shit. . . I got to go to the bathroom. . . " Todd watched him stand up and sway to a small door on the opposite side of the building. Vulnerable with a butt made of steel, lethal combination for his already half hardened penis. He had also left the table with a smile, heading towards the bathroom, noticing with pleasure that it was blocked by a simple snap lock. A dry blow of the arm had been more than enough to open it, and he had slipped in, surprising Adam, bent over the sink. "What the fuck are you doing?!" He had protested, alarmed, when he had smashed the lock so that the door would remain closed. "What do you think?" He had replied, putting himself behind him, his erection resting against the inviting curve of his backside. "Fuck you. Let me out." The blond had pushed, turning around to face him, furious. "No. " Todd almost laughed, appreciating how Adam seemed not to be afraid of him. He grabbed him by the arm and pulled him tight against his body, sinking his nose into his hair."Stop it! Don't touch me!" Todd had used his stature as an advantage, grabbing him by the blond locks on the nape of his neck and at the same time shedding his fangs. A flash of terror had passed in the eyes of the other man, but he had still continued to fight, smashing him with kicks and socks on his face and hips, uselessly. He had bitten him on one side of the neck, to submit him, stealing a few mouthfuls of blood, without exaggerating, he certainly did not want to make him faint, that time. Once detached, he had pushed him with his back on the edge of the sink, raising his shirt on his flat stomach: a trail of almost white hair descended to the belt of his trousers. The younger man had rebelled, giving him a powerful slap that made his ear bleed. He could have beaten him up into submissiom, but it was certainly not his style. He had clutched him by the throat, holding him in place while opening the zipper of his trousers, then, with a sadistic grin, he had begun to masturbate on him, looking him straight in the eyes. Adam had stared back at him with hatred, but a lot less disgusted than he should have, turning him on even more, if possible. He had released with a liberating shout on every exposed inch of his belly, putting his spent dick back in his underwear with a satisfied groan, handing the boy a paper towel. The blonde had ripped it from his fingers, purple with shame, wiping himself so hard he'd almost removed flesh from bones, slamming the towel on the shelf with a murderous expression.Todd, at that point, would have fucked him for real, but he felt that he had humiliated him enough for that afternoon. He had unlocked the door, waiting for the other one to come out first, but Adam had stared at him with rancor, his eyes overflowing with tears of rage. He punched him in the face, splitting his lower lip. Todd had laughed, tasting his own blood, grabbing him and kissing him on the mouth. Adam got even more pissed, bit him and steered away from him as if he had taken an electric shock, spitting on the ground and watching him with dread before he left. Todd had observed him leave unstable on his legs, sure that he would soon see him again anyway. They were tied with a double thread, after all, so he wouldn't have gotten rid of him so easily. . .

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Adam took a cab home, not daring to take the car, drunk as he was. He felt confused and dizzy, maybe because of the alcohol, maybe because of how Valentine attacked him, he wasn't quite sure. He had opened the door, happy to have taken the afternoon off: he had glimpsed in the mirror in the entrance and almost frightened himself by how disheveled he looked. He had undressed furiously, throwing his clothes into the laundry basket and slipping straight into the shower. He stayed under the jet for more than half an hour, rubbing the point that Todd had violated in an attempt to erase it from his mind as well. He ended up bent over the toilet, his forehead touching the lid, in pieces. His life was running out of his hands: since they had bought the haunted house it had been a continuous escalation of horrors, but what Todd had told him, that was, indeed, unbearable. He had dried up, but had to take two more showers before he could get dressed: he continued to smell the vampire's scent on him, as if he had not only branded his skin but also managed to do it more deeply. "Son of a bitch..." he had cursed, looking at the bruises he had left on his neck, purplish lines with the shape of his fingers. How the hell would he explain those to Cloe? He seemed to have just survived a violent assault. . . and in fact, he wasn't so far from the truth. He had prepared a mocha of very black coffee, trying to regain at least some reasoning. He'd been an idiot to get piss drunk: it had lowered his defenses and allowed Valentine to take advantage of him again . . . he felt stupidly guilty and like shit, even if the brute force of Todd would have been insurmountable even if he had been sober. He had rejected him with his whole body, and the vampire had only needed one arm to submit him. . .With the coffee in his hand, he laid down in an armchair, closing his eyes, hoping that he wouldn't develop a fierce headache. Todd Valentine's face had appeared behind his eyelids, his mouth distorted in that mocking grin as he masturbated against his stomach, then the warm and slimy feeling of the seed on his skin, and that revolting moan. . . Adam had run to take his fourth shower, and to punish himself for his own idiocy, he had made it ice cold. He had assessed the situation too lightly and now he was paying the right price. That should served him as a lesson, because he was sure he would soon see Valentine again, not to mention the rest of his vampires' cult. He needed to get ready. Todd had watched Axel and Dimitri talking to two hot girls in the back of the club, smiling to himself. He had let them coerced him to go out for drink, but his attention continued to return to his meeting with Adam, that afternoon. He had practically uncovered Pandora's box, yet the boy had almost never batted an eyelid: either he was drunk, or totally stupid, or maybe he was, simply, equipped with a pair of iron balls. The third option did not bother him, in fact, and judging by how Adam had not shown signs of remission even while treating him as an inflatable doll, it could have been the most probable. He had sighed, feeling the annoying need to see him again: it seemed that it was never enough, Adam was slipping under his skin, and he was not sure that it was a good thing. Shrugging, he had headed out the back to escape the general chaos. When a shadow had followed him, he was not surprised: a blond man had been staring at him since his arrival to the club, if he had something to offer, he was more than welcome. He had forced the door of one of the closets used as temporary cellars, waiting in the dark and opening his zipper. Not even a moment later, the silhouette of the stranger had stood out on the jamb, and from that angle it could almost have seemed Adam. The guy got down on his knees and took him in his mouth, and even then he might have looked like Adam, if only he hadn't smelled so unpleasantly different. He wasn't even particularly good at sucking, even Adam would have done a better job, but if anything, it was more than what he had achieved in the afternoon, and that was enough, or so at least he believed until he had felt his erection wobble dangerously in the other's throat. "Fuck. . . " he had growled, disappointed: it was the first time it happened, it wasn't really like him. . . the stranger had continued to give all his might, but Todd had by then intuited that it wouldn't do him any good, even if he had let him do it anyway. His head had ended elsewhere, distracting him, and he had seen Adam's angry expression as he dominated him, his wild rage when he had continued to strike him even when it had become useless. A thrill of interest had crawled into his pants and he had tried to imagine what would happen if instead of masturbating he had tried to use the boy in a more daring way. . . The orgasm had hit him suddenly, like an unexpected thunderstorm, and he had filled the guy's mouth underneath him even before realizing it. When he was finished, the man had settled and, apparently satisfied, left. Todd was disappointed to notice that he didn't look like Adam at all. "Todd, where have you been?" Dimitri had met him on his way back to the bar to drown his bitterness in the Scotch. He'd never felt so depressed after getting laid. "Hm, to the bathroom. " He had been reluctant to respond, quickly emptying his glass when he got there. "Uh-huh, sure. . . I gotta assume the guy wasn't good?" "Shut up, asshole. What about you, blonde or brunette?""Brunette. You mind going back alone?" "Not at all. I was just thinking about leaving, anyway. I'll see you at the hotel. " "All right. " Todd had gone out on the street, walking for a few blocks, fighting the desire to show up at that late hour at Adam's house: it would have ended badly, and would have put him in danger. With a hiss of frustration, he had marched to his room, lying on the bed to gaze pensively at the ceiling. Soon they would have moved, at last, and in the haunted house there would have been something to laugh about. . .

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Adam had somehow managed to hide his poor health from his wife by faking a strong cold.
He had wrapped himself in two layers of scarves around his throat and put himself on sick leave for a couple of days: he needed time to think about how to devise an action plan.
After a whole morning spent on the internet and a few tomes, he found his brain full of notions but with zero ideas on how to use them against his enemy, so he ordered a pizza and dozed off on the couch.
A gruesome nightmare had made its way into his troubled mind, where Todd fucked him like an animal while Vernon, after killing his family, crept in between them to question him insistently in Latin.
When he woke up, he trembled like a leaf, unable for a few minutes to distinguish reality from fiction. It seemed to him that he was still carrying Valentine's weight, that his huge hands were still holding his hips as he carved him open in two, that he could still feel his hoarse, open-hearted breath. . . he had pulled his knees to his chest, powerless.
One day it could actually have happened, and what could he have done with it? He was unable to protect himself, less than ever his girls or Cleo. . .
He picked up his cell phone, uncertain. It was stupid, especially after what had happened the day before, but he didn't see any other solution.
He had written a text quickly and sent it, before he could regret it, returning to slip into the shower to wash his cold sweat off.Todd had spent part of his morning motionless in bed. None of the others had come to look for him, they were probably still suffering the hangovers of the evening before, except Vernon, who had retired early with the excuse of being too old for certain amusements.
He stretched himself lazily, turning on his back with one hand under the nape of his neck to support himself, discovering the weight of a morning erection against his belly.
He had lowered the edge of the boxers with a raised eyebrow: it was quite hard, certainly because of the alcohol and the bad performance of the night before.
With a slight sigh, he took it in his hand, closing his eyes: Adam's regular features and his pale naked body had taken shape behind his eyelids, allowing him to reach orgasm in record time. He had cleaned himself up satisfied, lazing around for a few more minutes before the sound of a message forced him to get up.
He had read the unbelievable text twice before convincing himself that he had correctly understood, then he ran into the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed.
Along the corridor he had crossed Axel, who seemed to be on his way home.
"Hey, man. I thought you were still sleeping. . . "
"I just woke up. I'm gonna go downtown, I'll see you later. "
"All right. Vernon wants to start the moving tonight. "
"All right. No problem. "
He had taken the door and left, checking several times that he wasn't followed, heading at a steady pace towards a pub in the suburbs.Adam had reached the place first, that time, and he'd inserted himself into a wooden booth worn out by decades of wear and tear.
He had ordered a drink, but that time he had limited himself to beer, accompanying it with a basket of chips, since he was still starving.
Todd Valentine's rugby player silhouette had appeared a quarter of an hour later, making him twist and touch instinctively the offended side of his neck. The vampire had scanned the room and headed in his direction, with an impertinent smile on his face.
"You caught me by surprise. . . " he said, sitting not across, but on the bench next to him.
"Why?" Adam had stared at him coldly, moving towards the wall, uncomfortable. Apparently, not even the most popular of the clubs could dampen the aggressiveness of the other. . .
"Well, I knew we'd see each other again, but certainly not so soon. . . " he had winked at him, mischievous. ". . . are you trying to tell me something?"
"Yes, but not what you think. " At that point, he too had been directed, since Todd seemed to grasp only explicit arguments.
"Ah, what a shame. " He mentioned the waitress, then he ordered a Scotch. "I see you've been holding back this time. . . how's your neck?"
Adam flushed with anger, but didn't address the provocation. "Fine. "
"Is that why you're going around draped like it's December? By the way, this more scruffy outfit looks pretty good on you. . . "
The blonde had looked at the sports shirt of his swimming team and the jeans he only used on Sundays at home. "You're such an asshole. . . "
"Oh, but I'm not kidding you. " Todd had leaned against the carved stall, showing him the swelling in his trousers. That shirt perfectly defined the boy's chest and had triggered an immediate response from his penis.
"That's disgusting. . . YOU are disgusting!"
"Mm, and you would have called me for what, exactly?"
Adam had swallowed roughly: "I've been thinking about what you said. . . not the obscene things, the rest. . . "
Todd had put his arms together, waiting to see where the conversation would lead. "Go on. "
"What you did to me yesterday made one thing clear: I'm weak. I'm just a human being, while you. . . well, you easily knocked me out. In short, despite my efforts, I will never be able to protect myself, or my family. "
"That's pretty much correct." Todd answered honestly, staring at him.
"When I hit you, I hit you hard, you know. Very. And yet you. . . what the hell. . . you almost didn't notice!"
"Well, I wouldn't say I didn't feel a thing, but. . . that's normal. We're supernatural beings, Adam. "
"Exactly. That's why I'm here. It's not easy. . . to ask. . . "
Todd was suddenly illuminated, "You want my help!" He hit his hand on the sticky, damp table.
Adam had shut up, just looking back. "I guess I don't have a choice. . . "
Valentine had brought a hand to his mouth, admired: that boy was smart and, as he had guessed, had balls made of steel.
"You said Vernon knows the truth about me. Sooner or later, the others will know too, and they'll want to rip me apart. "
"And I am the lesser of two evils. . . "
"Lesser. . . " Adam grunted, taking a long sip from the beer bottle.
Todd had studied his soft lips closed around the glass neck, thinking how much better they would fit his cock.
"Surely it's worth another point that you mentioned yesterday: you might be a pig, but there surely are vampires worse than you. . . "
"You're worried about your wife and daughters. I understand and respect that. " Todd had been looking at him sideways. "But what good would it do me, to help you?"
Adam had stopped fellating the beer and eated a few chips. "Of course I didn't expect you to accept out of goodness of your heart. . . "
The vampire got immediately interested. "Really! And what would you offer?" He had studied the attractive man in front of him, wondering if Adam was a lawyer up to his marrow and ready to sell his ass for that kind of deal.
"Not THAT." The boy had hesitated for a second, in obvious embarrassment before continuing: "You can have my blood. . . when you want it. "
"I can take that one already, Adam. . . "
"Not often. Not without risking of being caught. . . without my consent. "
Todd had frowned, unable to deny the logic of that argument.
Of course, he could have attacked Adam at any time, even now, but the idea of seeing himself offered blood by him. . . a shiver of anticipation had fallen between his legs. "So, according to this 'contract', I would commit to protecting you. . . and you would give me your blood. "
"Yes. "
"Where, how and when do I want to?" Todd had pulled the strings, but he needed to hear him say it.
Adam remained silent for a few seconds before he agreed: ". . . Yes. "
The vampire had struggled not to reveal too much of his emotions: certainly the boy thought he had put some clear stakes, conditions, but the point was that the situation was not at all so rational, and he would soon realize it. He might not have sold his ass, but indirectly he got very close to it. . .
"Good. I'm in. " He had stretched out his hand, noticing how much smaller but firmer in the grip was that of the other. "Let's start right away. . . " he looked at him, ravenous. "You're not the only one in need of nourishment, Adam. . . "
"Here? No. Too many people. . . there may be some colleagues. . . "
"At four o'clock in the afternoon? I highly doubt it. . . we can always go out, if you like. " He'd shrugged off, starting to enjoy the situation.
Adam bit his lower lip, uncertain. He had no intention of being left alone with that maniac, but even being felt up in public was not an attractive alternative. . . he had studied the room, noting with relief that the patrons at that middle hour were mostly tourists or alcoholics, too busy with their own business to take care of them.
"All right. " He changed position in the chair, feeling nervous.
"Take off your scarf. . . " Todd commanded him with an irritating smile,
The blond had moved the flaps away from his neck, and the vampire had struggled to contain his own excitement: Adam wore the outline of his fingers as if they had branded them on fire on the tender skin of his throat. "Does it hurt?" He asked him in a husky voice.
"Of course it does, asshole. " The boy replied, dryly.
"What did your wife say?"
"She hasn't seen them. " Still that tone, and that cerulean look of challenge. Todd's penis had promptly responded to the call, even though it would have been useless.
"What a liar. . . lawyer. " He had come closer, with his mouth against his ear, before descending to bite the still undamaged side of his neck.
Adam had held his breath in pain, but he had not kicked him that time, he had let him do as promised and Todd tried not to take advantage of it, although it was not at all easy, not with the fragrant smell of his skin in the nostrils, only partly covered by his shampoo.
He had reluctantly backed off, his erection pulsating between his legs. He had caressed Adam's nape before withdrawing his hand, his blood beginning to work his magic in his body.
"It's not possible. . . " The boy commented, observing him. "The lip I split you open. . . "
"Yeah. " Todd Valentine had smiled, withdrawing his fangs. "See ya. " He had quickly took off to go to the bathroom at the end of the pub.
He urgently needed to release, and not being able to impose it on Adam that time, he would have to settle for a fallback.
Closed in the stall, he unbuttoned his pants, working himself vigorously for a few minutes with the image of Adam in his head giving the most spectacular blowjob in history. He had splashed with too much enthusiasm, also hitting the riser and part of the wall behind, finally feeling, at least in part, satisfied.
When he got out, the boy was gone, but he left the bill paid for him too.
Todd had put on his sunglasses and reached his Porsche, appreciating the mid-afternoon light as he made his way roaring back to the hotel.
He couldn't miss the moving out, or Vernon would have been even more upset with him. They would have to deal with Adam's subject again sooner or later, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't like it. . .

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

They had traveled at night, the few things that had been saved from the fire pushed into Todd's car or collected from a warehouse with a small rental truck. It didn't take long: in two trips they had transported everything and placed the furniture in the various rooms of the house. Without Adam, the villa had remained quiet and practically motionless, the manifestations reduced to a few crackles far away in the walls or in the attic. "That boy was the catalyst. . . " Vernon had looked at him with an accusatory glance as they tasted a Bourbon before retiring to rest. Axel and Dimitri were chatting in the garden drinking beer, apparently more serene and relaxed than they had been those past months. "They accepted it, Vernon. " Todd answered him, frowning. He wasn't in the mood for that kind of conversation, and hoped that the older vampire would leave him alone for at least a couple of days. "Why can't you settle for it too?" "Hm, you've always been a manipulator, Todd. . . but you never shone for your intelligence. . . " Valentine had struggled not to smash the glass in his face. "Wow, don't skimp on the flattery, Vernon, it could go to my head. . . " "You're an idiot, Todd. The boy's not yours. You may have noticed him first, but it doesn't give you the right to make claims on him. " "Yes, it does!" He had roared, barely controlling his tone of voice. "I know what you're up to, Vernon. I've seen you act like this once before. We all know how it turned out. . . " "Your sister is certainly not like him. And I did it for you, Todd. To make you happy. . . " "HAPPY. " Todd spit the term out as if it made him sick. "You called me a manipulator, but she's the one who fooled us all... including you. " "I know, you think I don't feel responsible? I should have figured it out. . . but it doesn't change things anyway. The boy. . . " "His name is Adam. "". . . You can't just keep him to yourself, Todd. His blood must be viable for us, not just when you say so. " "Sure, so you can easily tear him apart. . . " "Of course, we'll have to set boundaries. No one wants to hurt him, Todd, he's precious to us. " "No. " Vernon had looked at him grimly, clearly furious. "I'll have his blood delivered to you when it's needed. What's been said to Alex and Dimitri applies to you, too. " "You're a goddamn bastard, Todd!" "Yes, I've been told before. " He shrugged his shoulders, carelessly, pouring more alcohol into his glass. "You can't expect to treat us this way! You want his blood all to yourself? To be taken when you like?" "It's not his blood I'm doing this for!" He admitted, in turn altering himself. Vernon had been staring at him confused for a few seconds before he realized: "Do you like him? Is that what this is about?" He laughed, shaking his head. "You're more asinine than I thought. . . " "Am I?" "Sure! Do you think the boy's gonna reciprocate? He's married. I saw the wedding band. You're chasing an illusion. " Todd felt the bitterness of bile in his mouth. "He already returns my feelings, Vernon. You don't know anything. . . " he lied with a mocking smile. "You're losing your mind over a good fuck, Todd. . . " "Always a better fuck than YOU were. " He had looked at him with malice and ill-concealed resentment. "Get over it, Vernon. He's mine. Put even one finger on him or his family, and that'll be the end of you. " The older vampire had shaken his head with apparent disappointment, but his dark eyes betrayed the anger of being upset. Todd should have been very careful in the future. "I'm going to bed. Good night, Vernon. " He had given him his back, finishing his drink, irritated. The other one didn't answer, just watched him leave. He was clearly up to something. He had taken his cell phone out of his pocket and sent a message to Adam: they had to talk about it as soon as possible, because whatever plan Vernon would've pulled out, it wouldn't have been good.Adam had been thinking about Todd Valentine's message for most of the night and the following morning. It wasn't much about the words, but the general threatening tone. In the afternoon the vampire had seemed almost stoked, then the sudden change of mood. . . Something serious had to have happened. Perhaps the others had taken a stand against him? Having one more day of his sickness leave, he had tossed his rest plans and agreed to see Valentine at that same pub for lunch. Hoping not to be the main scope, but in the end they had made a pact, and if he wanted to see it respected, could not violate the terms first. He had dressed to go out, changing from his home clothes, that time, though always in a comfortable way, and had walked the three blocks from the bar, looking over his shoulder. He felt nervous and tired, bothered by the continuous loss of blood and sleep. When he arrived at his destination, Valentine was already there, sitting in the same booth with a ruthless air. He dropped himself in the seat in front of him, in wonder. "Hello Adam. " He had told him, without looking him in the face, ordering both a round of what he was already drinking. It looked like Scotch, or Whiskey. "Only beer for me. " He had shaken his head, but when Todd's gaze had crossed his, he had shut up. "Believe me, you're gonna need it. " The waiter had arrived with glasses, and he had twisted his in his hands, listening to the vampire's story with growing anxiety. "He's already put a target on your back, that jerk. " "Fuck. I thought. . . " he had lifted his drink and sipped it. Scotch, of course. "Yes, we believed badly. Vernon has put his eyes on you more than I have: if I know him, he's already worked out a scheme on how best to exploit you to his advantage. . . " "Wonderful. . . and how do we stop him?"Todd had raised an eyebrow, looking at him for the first time that day with the shadow of a smile. "Aren't you scared, Adam?" "Scared? I'm TERRIFIED, Todd, that's why I think we have to act before he gets to us!" "Hm, you have more balls than all of us vampires put together. . . " "Because I'm risking my neck, Todd. Me and my daughters' and my wife's. It's easy to be reckless, when you've got so much to lose. . . " "Yeah, the point is, I don't know what to do. Vernon is very smart. And ruthless when he wants something. . . or someone. " "Tell me about him. . . " "About Vernon?" Valentine seemed to have swallowed a lemon. "Not here. Let's go somewhere else. " He looked around, uncomfortable. "No. I'm not getting in a car with you. " Adam immediately objected, abandoning the liquor in front of him altogether. He'd already been screwed once before, like that. "Adam, I'm not going to rape you, okay, but if I have to talk to you about my past with Vernon, I refuse to do it where everyone can hear us. Besides. . . " he had leveraged their agreement, putting the blonde with his back to the wall ". . . you promised to give me your blood wherever and whenever I wanted, didn't you?" Oh, shit. "You bastard. . . " "Yes, I've been called that a lot lately. . . " Todd had shielded himself, without his usual cheerfulness. "Follow me. " He got up and left the pub, heading towards the Porsche, parked in the shade of a larch. Adam was staring at the car, nauseous. What if the vampire lied to him? Yet he had never done so, even when he could have. . . he had sat down, preferring the known evil to the unknown one. "Where are we going?" "I don't know, away from here. . . " Todd shrugged his shoulders, outstretched. He never told anyone about his past outside his group. "Do you like to swim?" He asked, to break the ice while he was setting in motion. "Yeah, it paid my way through college. . . scholarship. " Adam had nodded, staring at the road ahead. He was as nervous as Todd, twisting his hands in his lap. "I could have done serious competions, but I wasn't interested. I preferred to study. " 'Nerd' Todd had thought with a smile. Sure, that was why Adam had a thin but sculpted physique. . . he had looked at him, feeling a timid return of his cravings. "And you? Rugby?" The boy had looked back. The vampire almost laughed. "Not quite. Football. How did you guess, though?" "I know the type. . . " 'arrogant assholes' Adam had concluded in his mind, remembering his former schoolmates. "Hm, and did you get any?" Todd had teased him, knowing that it wasn't true, but imagining the scene with gusto. "No. " "Of course. . . " "Football, then. How many years ago?" "Fifty. " He took a break, studying the other one's surprised face. "Well, almost sixty, actually. . . " "Sixt. . . sometimes I forget who I'm talking to. So you are. . . ?" "Ninety-three years old. " "Fuck! You were born in the 1920s. Crazy. . . " "In 1925, to be exact. " "Hm, I had a grandfather born in 1923. . . !" Adam laughed, partly venting the stress of those days. "How perverse. . . " "Yes, but age differences were never a problem to me, anyway. . . " Todd had passed a look of appreciation along the other's body, before concentrating and turning at a traffic light. "Have you always liked men? In the fifties. . . ?" "Yes, it wasn't an easy life then. I mean, it was done, but it wasn't talked much around. Especially in the football world. " "That happens even now. . . " "Hm, yeah, maybe you're right. Anyway, it wasn't bad. I didn't care much. . . I played, I drank, I enjoyed myself. . . I wasn't at the highest level, but I was doing well. " "And then what happened?""Vernon happened. " His expression had hardened. He remembered how they met at a party like it was yesterday. "On New Year's Day, 1957. " Adam had been quietly listening to him tell the story. After a while, the words flowed freely: "It was a party organized by a local newspaper, full of athletes, actresses, journalists, and so on. Vernon was more than wealthy at the time, and passed himself as patron of young players. . . " "A Maecenas. . . " "Yes, in every sense of word. You fucked him, and all the doors opened for you. Not my kind, but he was a charming man, in his own way. Or maybe it seemed to me, because after all I was still young and stupid. . . anyway, one of my teammates introduced us. I had some gambling debt, so I could use some help. . . I never imagined what I'd get stuck into!" He laughed ironically, shaking his head. "Vernon immediately took a liking to me. He found my bravado interesting, so he put me under his wing and for a few months it went great. Then I started to get to know him better, and I often found myself waking up after a hangover with signs that I could not understand, or remember. My performance started to drop, I was getting weaker and weaker, some days I couldn't stand up to get to the bathroom, let alone the field. . . " he had clasped his hands around the steering wheel, his knuckles bleached for the effort. "He never asked. . . he turned me without telling me. " "What?""Yes, that's right. Once, during an argument, he admitted it: he had killed me, without even realizing it. He had panicked, he didn't want to lose me, although I think he was actually more afraid of being caught. . . and so he made me into what I am now. It was. . . weird at first, I didn't understand what had happened, and he refused to explain. In the end, he had to. " "Did you kill anyone?" Adam had asked in a low voice, but not aggressively. "More than one. That was when I hit bottom. " He had omitted several other things for personal reasons. "I told you I have a sister, didn't I?" "Yes. " "Vernon turned her for me. He thought I'd be happy about that!" He'd shaken his head, his hands over his face. He had to stop. He had glimpsed an open space, they had just reached the country, and he had parked himself, turning off the engine. "HAPPY. . . " he had repeated the word of the night before, with a sardonic grin. "He soon realized his mistake. Alexandra is. . . to say problematic is a euphemism. . . ! Out of control is more fitting. . . in the end, she burned his house down. " "So that's. . . that's why you were buying mine?" "Yeah. Vernon's lost pretty much everything. I could have left him at that point, but I stayed, and I helped him out. I felt. . . " ". . . guilty?" "Responsible, somehow. Fuck him, that asshole should have burned along with his crappy mansion!" He had hit the steering wheel, opening the door to quench his anger as he walked through the field. "Fuck, I never said that out loud. . . " he sat down. Adam, hesitant, had caught up with him. "You know, when you introduced me to Vernon, I didn't like him. . . without a particular reason. " "Hm, I saw that you noticed. You're not stupid Adam. . . maybe a little too stick-in-butt, but not stupid. ""Thank you. And you're always an asshole. . . " he had settled down next to him, even if he kept a certain distance. Todd had sensed his fantastic smell and the need for blood had taken over him. "Adam. . . " had looked at him unequivocally and the boy had presented him his wrist, without replying. He had given a slight bite, appreciating the rich and full flavor, but in that way he did not like it. "Not like this. " He'd growled him. "Lie down. " The vampire had seen the expression of the other, but Adam had still satisfied him, putting himself on the grass. Todd had stared at him for a second, then slipped off his shirt and lowered his pants, remaining naked. "What. . . ?" Adam had moved sideways, tensed, a raised arm to repel him. Todd grabbed it, standing over him. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. . . " he whispered him, ripping off his scarf and bending over his neck. He had a visceral need to mount him, to feel better, to forget. He bit him, drinking in small sips so as not to drain him to excess. Three days nearby were too many even for a young and strong man, he knew it perfectly. Adam had remained immobile, crushed under his weight, his eyes turned to the blue summer sky in a mixture of fear and indecision. Valentine had been less aggressive and seemed more in search of physical comfort than the usual dominance. . . the problem was that he wasn't sure if he wanted to offer him any. "Todd. . . " he had his erection pressed against his side and his heavy weight was starting to cause him problems. The vampire had loosened his grip, looking at him for a long time with his hazel eyes, before moving next to him, leaving him free to breathe. He had begun to touch himself to alleviate his needs, Adam had not said anything but had turned to the other side, not to see, although he could not avoid hearing.A damp hand had grabbed him by the chin towards the end, forcing him to look Todd in the face as he came on the grass. When he had freed him, Adam had passed the back of his hand over his face, moving away from him. "Take me home. " He'd imposed, on the way back to the car. Valentine had not replied, had dressed up and turned the Porsche towards the city, still tense, though less than before. He had dumped the blond in front of the pub, in case they were followed, but he had vowed to check from a safe distance that he would arrive home in one piece. "I have to think. " Adam had murmured, distracted, the tiredness evident on his pale face. "See you in a couple of days. " The vampire had nodded, also with his mind on Vernon. The boy had just mentioned his assent, giving him his back and walking on the way home. Todd had observed him seriously, his taste still clear on his lips. He had to find a way, even if it cost Vernon his life, he would find it.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The next two days had passed relatively quietly, allowing Adam to return to work, albeit with his head completely elsewhere. He couldn't stop brooding over Valentine's revelations, especially Vernon's aims for him: if Todd was right, then he had good reason to be concerned. His secretary had announced that a man was looking for him in the waiting room, so he replied to let him through, hoping that he would finally be able to concentrate at least in part on the procedures to be carried out. When his studio door opened, however, he was shocked to see Vernon Foley on the doorpost. "What the. . . ?!" He exclaimed, and immediately shut up, why didn't Todd tell him? "Mr. Walsh, please forgive the intrusion. I hope I'm not disturbing you. " Adam had studied the older man, trying to regain at least in part a certain self-control. "Uh, yeah. . . problems?" "Only one, actually. . . " "What's that?" "You. " The blonde had swallowed a big bunch of saliva, uncomfortable. "Listen, Mr Foley, I. . . " "Let's drop the formalities, shall we? "You have something that we all, and by we I mean me and the others I live with, desire. " He sat across from him, seriously. "My blood. . . " Adam in turn had set aside every claim to speech and had stared in the undead's black eyes with apprehension. "Precisely. An elixir of long life for our species. " "Species. . . why should I give it to you?" He had pierced him with his cerulean gaze, irritated. "Unfortunately, I don't think you have much of a choice in this. " "Don't I? So you've come here to do what, threaten me?" Vernon had observed him with detachment: "I don't think it's necessary, from the little I could guess about you, is that you're a smart man. " Adam had sit back in the chair with his arms folded. "Go ahead. "The elderly vampire had interpreted the gesture as an encouragement, so he continued: "We don't want to cause any harm, Adam, in fact, the exact opposite. Of course, it would be a great sacrifice to ask, considering your family and your daughters. . . " "Are you proposing that I come and live with you?" He tried to keep a neutral tone, but he couldn't suppress a sarcastic inflection in his words. "To be placed under our protection, yes. I'm sure Todd mentioned the possible dangers for someone in your situation. . . " The blonde hadn't replied. "Well, I understand this won't be easy for you, but I assure you it would be the best option. We all want your good here, Adam. " "Damn it, Mr Foley, what a commendable offer. . . I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn you down, though. " The change in the other one's face had been immediate: a shadow had passed over his friendly expression, making his face turn to stone. Adam had observed the marked features, surrounded by wrinkles, only now noticing by sitting so close to him that his skin was unnaturally translucent, ethereal. He was certainly a lot older than Todd, he didn't even dare to imagine a number. "You're making a mistake, Adam. . . don't let the heat of the moment get to you. We can find a mutually satisfactory agreement. " Another deal. The boy had flushed, getting even more pissed. "Well, you can't deny that you're a natural born bargainer. . . even if all the alliances you want to make seem only to your advantage. Tell me how I should trust you, you don't seem to bring much security. " "Hm. " Vernon had smiled after taking the shot. "I understand. I guess Todd told you about me. " "Maybe. " "I have no doubt he presented me as a petty antagonist, but believe me, you shouldn't take everything he says for granted. . . " "Never said that. "The vampire had squared him with curiosity and malice: "Todd is a real charmer, isn't he? Fascinating, though overly rude. He always finds the right words, the way to turn a situation to his advantage. " "Forgive me, Mr Foley, but the same could be said of you. . . " "Of course. I suppose he told you about our meeting. . . about the sad story of how I turned him. Believe me, he knew exactly what he was getting himself into. " "Mr Foley, I don't see how this. . . " "Maybe you should also know what Todd says about you. " Adam looked at him, caught off guard. "What do you mean?" "Todd has a weakness for you, and not just for the blood you carry. . . he finds you seductive. He said there was some tenderness between the two of you. " Vernon had been staring at him with a raised, allusive eyebrow. Adam had felt himself blush, but not only in shame. "Even if it were. . . ?" He had heard the lie come out of his lips, disconcerting himself as much as the other. He couldn't explain why, but by then the die had been cast. "Let me tell you something: I know people like you, I see them every day in my work. Todd may not be perfect, he may even have been a murderer. . . but he's certainly not as manipulative as you would have me believe."Vernon's face had gotten a little cramped as he gave his speech. "Be careful, Mr. Walsh. " He hissed at the end. "Remember that in this story there is not only you. . . " Adam stood up at the not-so-sheer intimidation. "Just as I thought!" Eventually, the vampire had revealed his true colours. "If you think threatening my family is gonna get you somewhere, I'll bid you goodbye, Vernon. Go back crawling through the hole where you came from. " He had pressed the button to trigger the studio door opener, inviting him to leave.The vampire had flashed him a look full of resentment that did not promise anything good, but he had still retired, without further scenes. Once he disappeared, the blond had fallen into the chair, his heart beating fast. He had just taken a stand in a war that he didn't understand, he had to talk to Todd, the situation was getting out of hand. He found his cell phone, staring at it with uncertainty for several minutes. He'd finally dialed the number and waited.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Todd had closed the conversation, staring at the phone silently for some time, then left the bar where he was drinking to return home quickly. Axel and Dimitri seemed absent, they had to be out feeding, while Vernon was comfortably seated in an armchair with a brandy between his fingers. "VERNON" he had thundered, walking around the armchair to go towering in front of him. "Oh, someone talked to our young adonis, didn't they?" The other one had looked at him unperturbed. "Did you go to Adam to intimidate him?" "Is that what he said to you? I went to see him to make things clear, Todd. " Valentine had begun to see red, but he had managed to keep control. "There's nothing to clear up, old man. Adam is neither your blood bag nor your future bitch! " "My bitch!" Vernon had raised an eyebrow and laughed. "You mean like YOU?" Todd had smashed a heavy hand on the armrest, going to pour himself a drink. "I'm not proud of my past. But if I was your slut, it was because you made me that way. " He had pierced him with his eyes, his hands trembling with anger. He wanted to pulverize him, but unfortunately it was more complicated than expected. "Oh, of course. We never agreed on that, did we?" "There's little to agree with when you killed me without telling me, you fucking asshole. . . " Vernon had taken a long sip from his glass, shrugging his shoulders. "In any case, I must acknowledge that I was wrong about your adonis. . . " "What do you mean?" "I was convinced it was all your fantasy. . . well, you never stop learning. "Todd had stared at Vernon as if he had two heads, but he had kept quiet, trying to decipher his sibylline speech. "After all, now that I've had an heart-to-heart conversation with him, I can say that I'm not at all surprised. You two are similar, even though the boy seems to have the brains that you miss. " Finally, a switch had plugged into the head of the youngest vampire, leaving him struck. "I understand your involvement, Todd, but that doesn't change things: the boy may warm your bed, but we all need his blood. " Valentine had made a sound similar to a menacing growl: "No. " Vernon had sighed, his head resting on the back of chair, dark eyes closed. "You can't fight it, Todd. You know you have no chance against me, so why don't you give up?" "Never!" Todd had slammed his old-fashioned Scotch on the shelf. "Adam will never be yours, if it's the last thing I do, Vernon. " "I'll have to take your word for it, then. . . " the old vampire had looked at him with detachment, standing up to leave the room. Valentine had repressed the urgency of grabbing his head and smashing his skull against the wall, seizing the liquor and going towards his Porsche to run and talk to Adam. Things didn't look good. They absolutely had to come up with a plan.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Todd had arrived at the studio in the late afternoon, finding the lawyer alone in his studio with the door open and no living soul in sight.
"Doing overtime?" He had joked, observing him while he examined some documents: he had returned to his work uniform, dark suit and light shirt with tie, but his blond hair fell in rebellious locks on his face, making the ensamble jaunty and rather attractive.
"Let's say so. . . " Adam had closed the file he was holding with a thud. "Did you talk to Vernon?"
"Yes. " Todd sat on the desk next to him. "That's why I immediately ran here. "
"Yeah, I could tell from your tone on the phone that it didn't go well. "
"Me? Let's talk about you, instead. . . " he stared at him with a vague frown.
"What do you mean?" The blonde had gotten defensive in turn, annoyed.
"I mean you took a big risk, Adam. Vernon is not me, you can't go and tell him everything that goes through your head! He's really pissed off, and determined to use you with or without your permission. "
"I didn't mean to be so direct, Todd. I'm not stupid! I tried to. . . but he threatened my wife and daughters, so. . . "
The vampire had remained silent, shaking his head. His gaze had fallen on the photographs of his desk, and he had immediately recognized Adam's girls: both had his light-blue eyes, but only one had inherited his untamed hair and the button tip of his nose.
"How old are they?" He asked, looking at them more closely.
"Kate six, Louisa four. "
"They're pretty. They have your smile. " He looked at him and saw him blush. "Vernon is a bastard, but you shouldn't have let yourself be provoked. . . "
"I know. " The boy had replied, frustrated. "How dangerous exactly is he?"
"A lot. " Todd had a hand on his face. "That's why I'm here: I want to put you in condition to defend yourself against him. "
"How? You said my blood makes you vampires practically immortal. . . "
"It can heal us, yes, but it can't literally save us from Death. There are some things to which we are particularly vulnerable, one of which is silver. "
Silver. Adam remembered reading a similar theory in one of the tomes he'd gone through at home.
"Another is fire. " He had caressed his forearm, where until a few days before a burn scar had marked his skin. It was from when he'd pulled Dimitri and the others out of Vernon's burning villa, letting Alexandra flee into darkness to save his comrades. A bitter smile had distorted his lips: how ironic, if he had let Vernon die, all this would not have happened.
"Cool, so I can spoon Vernon to death while lighting up the fireplace. . . "
Todd had been torn from his memories, returning to gaze at the blond boy with increasing irritation. "It's not a game, Adam!"
"I know, thank you so much. " He'd passed frustrated hands through his hair, messing them up even more. "Todd, I don't know what to think! Who can I trust? You, looking at me like I'm a piece of meat? I don't know what to do!"
"Of course you can trust me! I admit that I took a little advantage of the situation, but if you had really rejected me, I would have backed down."
"What?! So this is MY fault?" Adam had moved the chair away from the desk, his cheeks purple with rage.
"Well, you don't know what to think, and what am I supposed to say?! You let me lie naked on you, jerk off on your body. . . " he had looked at him, and would have banged him even then, indeed: when Adam's rebellious side came out, he became all the more fuckable.
The blond had stared at him furiously, and was truly like him, an explosive character under a surface of apparent calm. "What the fuck are you talking about? You forced me to do this, asshole, I certainly didn't ask you to take me to the countryside. . . "
"No, but you did! Now explain the little story you told Vernon. About US. . . " Todd pointed out, waiting to hear his answer. Adam sent mixed signals that he could not understand, first he resisted him, then he seemed almost willing to suck his cock: he had initially assumed that his desire was a unilateral one, but he was starting to be not so sure anymore. . .
"I. . . I took the fall for you. " Adam replied elusive, turning his face towards the wall.
"Yes, of course you could have been less explicit. Do you realize now Vernon thinks we're actually fucking?"
"What the fuck, you're the one who told him first that we had something!" Adam had cried, standing up to confront him.
"I didn't have to, he got there alone because he knows me!" Todd admitted with difficulty. "I only played along to piss him off, but you. . . shit, Adam, to hell with Vernon, let him think whatever he wants, but you're starting to mess with my brain!"
"I'm married, Todd, I don't care about you. I'm trying to work my way out of a situation that I do not understand, where everyone tells me half truths or lies to me!
"I don't!"
"No? You should have heard Vernon today. . . I didn't want to believe him, but. . . "
"He does it on purpose! He gets in your head, messes with your ideas, and then uses them against you. " Valentine had shaken his head, feeling the need to drink something strong.
"All right, so what can we do against him, anyway?"
"I'm not sure. He's an Ancient, which makes him very powerful. . . he likes to rub his superiority in my face, to remind me that after all I was just a game, for him. I still am..." he said bitterly, staring at his shoes. "I don't want you to end up like me."
"Then let's make sure that doesn't happen." Adam had approached him again, carrying his heady scent with him.
"Yeah, it's easy to say. . . " he took his hand to sniff the underside of his wrist, his teeth caming out on their own, responding to the call of blood. He had looked at the boy, whose expression was indecipherable, but who in any case had not escaped his touch. Once again, he acted in contradiction to himself. . . Todd had emitted a frustrated sigh, slightly sinking the canines, drinking a few drops. His eyes had still searched for Adam, feeling a different kind of urgency: it was not the blood he needed, but a more physical and primordial contact. He stood up, towering over him, pushing him against the wall behind him.
The blonde hadn't opened his mouth, just watched him. Todd had put his hands on the sides of his head, bending over his face, and one more time Adam, while retreating towards the wall, had let him do as he pleased.
"Do you like it?" He blew on his mouth, wondering if he had an erection, too. He had moved one hand to check, but Adam had intercepted him halfway with a firm "No. ".
Todd had burst out laughing, incredulous. "All right, then make me stop. . . " he had crushed his body with his own, with an air of challenge, his hardening dick still in contact with the stomach of the lawyer. Adam stood still like a statue, his face only vaguely distressed. "Do you want me to fuck you?" Todd had whispered him, his hands itching from the need to grasp that dry physique. He had looked him in the eye and had seen, in a completely unexpected way, his pupils dilating. "Fuck. . . !" He let it slip, surprised: he really wanted it!
Adam had then pushed him away and Todd had to work to keep his fury under control.
"Let me go, asshole!" the younger man hit him several times, helplessly.
"All right!" The vampire had freed him, studying him carefully as he recomposed himself.
"You're so gross. . . why do you always have to get handsy, jerk!"
"Oh, stop it! Had I put it up your ass, you'd have probably thanked me!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?! You're out of your mind. Let me through. "
"Out of my mind?!" Like hell, he hadn't surely imagined it! "You're not going anywhere. " He growled, turning him violently against the wall, tired of those games. He had literally ripped the pants off him, revealing his thin but firm ass.
"Todd! No!" The boy had raged, trying to escape him, but the vampire had not wavered by an inch.
"What, afraid I'm gonna fuck you for real?" He had laughed, his cock more than ready to fulfill that wish, but he would never impose such a thing on him, especially not now that he was quite sure that Adam wanted it as much as him. "Don't worry, not this time. . . " he had fallen to his knees, his right arm always holding him against the wall. He had placed his face on the muscular buttocks, sinking his nose into them, risking a glance upwards: Adam stared at him from above one shoulder, eyes wide, panting. Todd had resolutely rejected the desire to get up and mount him, instead planting his teeth in a buttcheek, making him shudder with pain. He had held him tight until he felt satisfied with the result, licking the soft curve of skin before releasing him with a groan.
Adam had dressed himself as best he could, moving away from him, his head bent between his shoulders.
Todd had repressed his instinct to jerk off again, even though the other would almost certainly not have stopped him. "Tell me you didn't like it. . . " he'd smirked at him, bringing him closer. He had kissed him on the mouth: Adam had clenched his lips and moved away from him, cleaning himself with the back of his hand, once again a second too late.
"Go away. " He'd dismissed him, furious. "Fucking bastard..."
"Maybe, but at least when I want something, I go and get it. " Valentine went to the door, arms folded. "I'll walk you to your car. "
"Fuck you. "
"You're welcome. . . "
They had walked down the stairs in silence, reaching the parking lot as the sun began to set.
"Remember what I said. "
"I might decide to use it against you, you know?" The blond man had gaped at him from his Subaru's driving seat.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you won't. . . see ya. "
Adam had not responded, starting the engine and heading along the semi-deserted road.
Todd had seen him disappear on the horizon, then walked towards his Porsche, abandoning himself on the dark leather seat. He had opened his pants and relieved himself, but the orgasm, although quick, had been less superlative than usual. It wasn't enough anymore.
With a sigh he left, deciding to avoid going home: he didn't want to meet Vernon, he didn't want to have to deal with him, at least for that night.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Adam had returned without realizing he had driven all the way up to his home, his brain focused somewhere else. He had thrown himself into the shower, then prepared dinner while he waited for his wife and daughters, trying to ignore the pain radiating from his right buttock, As the water started to boil, he had opened an old cabinet where they kept their wedding dowry, bringing out a service of silver cutlery that they had used only a couple of times at Christmas. He had studied the knives with the long opaque blade and slipped one into his work bag and another one into the pool sack.He had tried spending the rest of the evening thinking as little as possible about Vernon, his vampires' cult and Todd, paricularly the accusations he had thrown him in the afternoon. Thanks to Cleo it had been easy: they had surprise sex as the girls watched the television downstairs, and the orgasm had been more than satisfying, he just had avoided showing her his naked rear and lower arm. The night had passed quietly, so much that the following morning Adam got up in a good mood, the black cloud in his head dissipated as it had not happened in months. He had taken another shower, elaborating in his mind some ideas about Vernon, but he was so distracted that he didn't notice the presence of his wife, who had slipped under the jet with him, until it was too late.Todd had stared at his cell phone with concern: he hadn't talked to Adam for almost three days. The boy had sent him a laconic message the morning after their meeting, warning him not to call for some time, from there on there had just been silence. At first he thought he had eloped, but a quick check near his studio had confirmed the presence of his car, and all things considered, it wasn't really in his character to do something like that. He also feared that Vernon might somehow have gotten to him: the situation between them had degenerated into a violent altercation that had prompted Todd to move back to the hotel where they had stayed for months. Axel and Dimitri were clearly worried: their devotion went to Vernon, but after all he was their creator as well, so they didn't know where to stand. "It's a complicated situation, Todd. . . " Dimitri told him two nights earlier. "I know, and I don't want to force your hand. Just be careful, because I don't want Vernon to involve you too. . . " he recommended, knowing that he could count on them anyway. There had also been another holdup, but in that case the old vampire had nothing to do with it: the vial with Adam's blood that he had kept for himself had disappeared, he had realised it while collecting his things, rummaging for twenty minutes before giving up. His sister must have sneaked up on him and stolen it. "Damn bitch. . . " Todd had sneered, powerless. Once again, she had tricked him. These things added to his concerns about the blond boy's disappearance. He was about to call him when his cell phone rang and lit up with his name. "Where the fuck have you been?!" He answered with his heart in his throat. "Sorry, I had a few problems to solve." Adam's voice had come cold and detached. "What do you mean?""My wife. . . " Todd had almost sighed in relief, before noticing his tone. ". . . She knows. " "Oh. " Was all he managed. "She saw the. . . marks. Hell, I should have been more careful!" "Did you two have a fight?" He was almost ashamed of the interest in his question."Yes. She thinks I'm sleeping with someone else. . . " Adam laughed, sarcastically. "I let her believe it. I wanted her to. . . I KNEW that if I pissed her off, she would go to her parents with the girls. So. . . they left yesterday. " The vampire had nodded: Adam was always one step ahead of him. "You did well, you kept them safe. " "Yes. but I still feel like shit. . . probably because I am a dick. " Todd had not replied, but had felt grateful for being on the phone, because had Adam been in front of him, he would surely end up doing some act which he'd then regret. "You did the best thing. " He'd repeated. "And Vernon?" "That bastard. . . we had a little drama over here, too. I'm. . . back at the hotel now, I left them. We need to get this over with, Adam. " "I agree. When will I see you?" "How about tomorrow evening? Can you take a day or two off?" "Yes, that shouldn't be a problem." "Well, I'll come by the studio, then. See you tomorrow. " "Okay. " Todd had closed the communication, relieved to have spoken with the boy, but at the same time anxious for what was to come. Part of him rebelled against the idea of being afraid of Vernon, but the vestiges of his human side were debating at the bottom of his stomach, frightened by the idea of losing the fight against such an ancient being, moreover, his creator. Whatever plan they had devised, it would have to be perfect in the smallest of details, if they wanted to make it out unscathed.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Adam had passed a hand over his face checking the time, exhausted: it was two o'clock in the afternoon, and he still had not eaten.
He had spent the morning at work, trying to do something useful while waiting for the evening to come, when Todd would pick him up: since Cloe and the girls left, the house had become a disturbingly quiet place, causing him a lot of trouble sleeping, not to mention the nightmares about Vernon, who woke him up all the time with bouts of cold sweat.
He had yawned, going down the stairs of the studio to get a sandwich at the corner truck. "Adam"; had called him a voice from behind, making him turn instinctively around. Vernon Foley was there, standing on the sidewalk staring at him.
"Fuck!" He cried, awakened by a surge of adrenaline. He had retreated towards the door but Vernon had been faster, coming like a train on him: he had said nothing, just grabbed him by the neck, pushing him into a parked car. A passer-by cried out in terror, asking for help, but the vampire still didn't let go.
Adam had attacked him with all the force he had in his body, hitting his arm, but it was like oppising a stone wall.
Vernon bent over him, turning his head to the side to uncover his throat. He had bitten him with frightening brutality, a blood spurt ending up on the bodywork and the sidewalk below. Adam had managed to free one hand, searching frantically for the belt of his trousers where he always kept one of the silver knives hidden.
He had grasped it in his fist and had cut into Vernon's neck, who had emitted a choked scream, ruining to the ground, defeated.
Adam hadn't just stood by and watched, he had launched himself back into the studio, taking the stairs four at a time and hiding the bathroom. He had composed Todd's number with such trembling fingers that it took him three attempts.
"Hey, I was just leaving," said the vampire, unaware.
"Todd. . . " Adam had called him in a broken voice, unable to form a meaningful sentence.
"What happened?!"
"Vernon. . . is here."
"I'll be right there! Don't get out, don't move." He had closed the conversation, leaving Adam alone in an ocean of terror. Todd raced at full speed with his Porsche through the city in a blind rage and panic. They should have been less naive. . . less stupid.
"Adam!"; He had screamed, plunging into the studio, where a couple of his colleagues were taking care of him. He was injured, luckily not in a serious way, even if his shirt was half smeared with blood.
"I'm fine." He told him, in an obvious state of shock.
"What the fuck happened?!"
"Could you give us a minute? Thank you." Adam had dismissed the other lawyers, continuing to press a towel on the bite between his shoulder blade and neck. "Vernon was. . . waiting for me outside the door. I was an idiot, I shouldn't have left without checking, but I was tired. . ." his eyes had fallen shut, his expression crushed.
"Hey, it wasn't your fault! It was that fucking asshole! And it's my fault, too. I shouldn't have left you alone. I'm a fucking idiot. . ."
"Yeah, pretty much" the blonde had joked, shivering from head to toe. Todd had placed one hand on his knee for comfort, preferring not to overdo as not to frighten him further.
"How did you. . . ?"
"I had a knife on me. Since you told me about the silver, I never leave it. I hit him in the throat, and he let me go."
Todd had to contain himself once more: that boy had serious balls, so much that maybe he should have borrowed them. "Do you want me to take you at the hospital?"He asked him, concerned.
"No, I'm fine, I'm just. . . fuck, I've never been this frightned. . . in my life. . ."
"That's understandable. Your colleagues?"
"Ah, they. . . they'd like to file assault charges, but I stopped them from doing so. I don't want Cleo to know, she'd come back here, and. . ."
"No, of course."
"Yeah, listen, could you, uh, walk me home, instead?"
"Sure, but you know you can't stay there. Not after today. . ."
"No, no, I just want to get some things before. . ."
"I don't think it's a good idea, Adam. We'd better disappear, at least for a while."
"I understand. All right, then. Give me just, um, a minute to set."
"Okay. I'll wait for you in the lobby."
"Good. See you later."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Todd had walked to the point of leaving a trail on the ground floor of Adam's studio. He couldn't give forgive himself: he should have known Vernon's intentions, especially after their last quarrel, but instead he had only thought of himself without caring about the boy's safety, and now they were both paying for it. "Damn it!" He'd grumbled, shaking with anger: Vernon had crossed the line, Elder or not somehow that dick was going to get what he deserved. Adam had appeared on the stairs with a clean shirt and his neck wrapped in a towel, less shaken than a few minutes before, but always upset. "I'm ready." He told him. "Let's go."Todd had nodded, going out first, studying the road for a long time before allowing the lawyer to walk along with him. They got on the blonde's Subaru, which was less eye-catching, heading out of town. "Where are we going?" Adam sat in the passenger seat, exhausted, leaving the burden of driving to the vampire. "First of all, far from here. Then we'll see.""Ok." They remained silent for a few kilometers, until they reached a dilapidated motel where they could spend the night. The vampire had paid in cash, hiding the car from view by parking it behind bins, had taken the keys and locked himself inside with the lawyer, pulling the dirty and worn curtains on the fogged up windows. They had taken a pizza from a nearby diner, and Adam had munched on it with little enthusiasm, his gaze lost in the void, only partly focused on the TV turned on in the background. "Hey. It's been a bad day. Why don't you lie down and try to get some sleep? You've lost a lot of blood. . .""Sleep. . ." the other one had looked at him with an unexpectedly vulnerable expression. "Relax. Go to bed." Todd had repeated in the most reassuring way possible, while opening pages on pages with the poor internet connection of the motel."What are you doing?" Adam took off his shoes and slipped under the sheets with a slight grimace of disgust. "I'm looking for a place to crash in for a few days. We can't stay here. . . and we should probably change our phones too, even if Vernon sucks at technology.""I agree."Todd had watched him as he tried to find a comfortable position in the broken bed, feeling the need to lie down next to him. "Tell me something. . . " the blond, asked him, evidently nervous. "Like what?" The vampire had resisted the temptation to tease him with some vague obscenity. "I don't know. . . how can you walk in the sun? Shouldn't you, I don't know, catch fire or something?""Catch fire?!" Todd had burst out laughing. "You watch too many movies. . . why should I?""I. . . have no idea.""Do you also want to know if we're vulnerable to crucifixes? Sorry, unless it's silver, no. In fact, some of us, like Dimitri, are very devoted.""Really?"; "It's not all black and white, Adam. We're still very close to being human. We pray, we drink, we fuck, we suffer too. . .""With the difference that you're dead?""Yes with that little difference." Todd had studied him, uncomfortable, but Adam didn't seem to have said it with an aggressive intent. "Tell me about the others. . . tell me about Dimitri and. . .""Axel. They're good guys. Axel arrived a few years after me. A promising golfer." The vampire had smiled, noticing the surprise on the other one face. "Dimitri was the last one, he should have joined the NBA. Then I forced Vernon to cut that shit.""You mean AFTER Alexandra?"Todd had launched a meaningful look at Adam, who had lowered his gaze. "No. She's. . . she was turned before, in fact.""I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. . .""It's okay, don't worry about it." The vampire had returned to study street maps and homes on the internet. He had let a few minutes pass, then he had begun to tell Adam some anecdotes about his evenings with Axel and Dimitri, to ease the tension. "Todd. . . do you think that Vernon is. . . you know. . .?" The boy asked him, in balance between sleep and wake. "He's not dead. But I'm pretty sure that you've kicked his ass: a knife in the middle of your throat is not a walk in the park, even for an Elder like him. You've been amazing." He had told him honestly, watching him blush like when they had clashed in his office. In the end, he had felt his breathing become regular, a sign that he had finally managed to fall asleep. Todd had studied the relaxed features of his face with a strange feeling in his chest: it had been a long time since he had met someone like him. . . he had sighed slightly, noting with bitterness the golden faith that shone on his finger in the twilight of the room, returning to turn his attention to the escape plan. A link had opened, leaving him astonished: how did he not think about it before? Now he knew where they would go.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The morning after, Adam woke up half sore but enough rested in a bed that he had struggled to recognize: fortunately he had avoided nightmares, and apparently Todd had chivalrously slept on the couch, instead of harassing him.
"You're awake!" The vampire had told him, while he was still stetching lazily under the sheets.
"I think so. . . "
"Are you hungry? There's a diner and a Mini Market across the street, we can stock up before hitting the road."
"Where are we going?" He'd joined Todd at the table, suddenly interested.
"I found a place." The other one had smiled at him, satisfied. "Get ready. We're leaving soon. How are you feeling?"
"Ah, better. . . " he'd walked to the tiny bath, studying the wound in the mirror: his shoulder was swollen, but at least the cut had stopped pulsing with pain.
"Good. . . " Todd watched him take his shirt off, making him blush.
Adam had closed the door, to avoid further embarrassment, washing himself in the sink not daring to touch the shower, gray with filth. Once cleaned, they had collected the few things they had fled with the day before and had bought some clothes, food and medications for his injuries.
Cell phones ended up both in the trash, to be replaced with ones with disposable numbers: the blonde would use his own to contact his closest colleagues and keep up to date with the situation, while he would only contact his wife after the ordeal with Vernon was over, so as not to put her and the girls further at stake.
Todd was counting on not having to use his own, except in case of emergency.
At the diner, Adam had eaten with much more appetite, but always with a certain anguish that tightened the mouth of his stomach: it was not simple, he felt hunted, running from a monster that they were not certain to be able to defy.
Once back on the road, Todd had remained silent, but evidently satisfied.
It had taken them almost two hours, but in the end they had parked in front of a dilapidated-looking farmhouse in the open countryside.
"Don't let the outside fool you. Come on in." The vampire had walked up to the door, splitting a large deadbolt hanging from the entrance handle as if it had been made of butter. The interior truly seemed to be part of a different world, clean and freshly restored, furnished in a spartan but sober way.
"All right, explain to me."
"It was a real fluke! I came here to take a look some time ago, when we were still searching for a new house, but it hadn't particularly impressed me, we wanted to be closer to the city. . . anyway, I found out that it's currently out of the market because of a pending lawsuit on the former owner."
"Ah, I see. . . "
"It should be vacant and no one should come and bother us for a while. At least until we find a way to off Vernon permanently."
"Okay." Adam had helped him check that water and light were still connected, then he had placed food in the pantry, familiarizing with the unknown surroundings: there were three master bedrooms, so they would not have problems with privacy, even if the only one that seemed to be concerned with it was him, certainly not Todd . . . bathrooms were complete with modern facilities, all in all the vampire seemed to have conceived a good plan.
Adam had spent the rest of the afternoon washing himself thoroughly under the pleasantly hot shower spray, sleeping and preparing himself a quick meal in the evening. It was strange to eat alone, especially when it was clear that Todd wasn't eating at all.
"It's a little. . . you know. . ."
"Hm, yeah. I'm not used to it, either, it's been a long time since I've shared a meal with a. . . human. "
"Yet I've seen you drink more than once..."
"Alcohol and beverages in general are not a problem. Of course, it's not ideal. . . we have a rather monotonous diet." He'd smiled, sipping a beer.
Adam had felt his appetite disappear. "How did you. . . get used to. . . "
"Drinking blood? Physically, the change was instantaneous, as for the rest. . ." he had sighed, his face taking a dark twist. ";. . . I told you, I don't remember much. The first chapter of my vampiric life was. . . complicated."
"Todd. . . "
"See, it's easy to put all the blame on Vernon: he's always been a huge asshole, but the truth is, I'm not more innocent than he was. I. . . don't have excuses for what I did, I'll carry this weight inside of me forever, and. . . that's okay." He'd turned to the side, his eyes lowered to the ground.
"You know, I just don't understand you!" Adam had tried to lighten the mood. "When you talk about your past, you seem so different... then you start acting like a pig again, and..."
"HA!" Todd had burst out laughing, despite himself. "It's your fault, though."
"Shut up! It's not me, it's my blood."
The vampire had observed him for a few seconds, in silence: "No" he had finally murmured. "It's not just that."
Adam had blushed visibly, taken aback. " We better clear the table, I'm tired."
"I'll take care of it, you go and get some rest."
"All right. Thank you."
The blonde had climbed into one of the rooms he had previously chosen as his own with a plain single bed that he'd hoped would keep Todd away from him.
He had not taken into account one fundamental thing by following him here: they would be alone, in close contact, for God only knew how long. . .
Adam bit his lower lip, uncertain. How long could it last before the balance they had achieved was broken?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The following day, Todd had prepared Adam a hearty breakfast, watching him eat on the other side of the table while sipping a dark coffee. The man seemed to be recovering: there was more color on his cheeks, and even the bite on his neck was slowly beginning to fade, giving him an healthier appearance. "Any idea about how to deal with Vernon?" Adam had gone straight to the point, making him smile behind the edge of the cup. "I see you're healing.""Todd. I know I managed to hurt Vernon, but. . .""What advantage do we have on him? I have no idea. Of course, you seem to have knocked him out, but with his skills. . . it's hard to tell.""Exactly. We need to act while we're on the lead.""I know. There's a problem though. . .""Which one?""As far as I know, there's only one sure way to kill him, and that is with fire. Silver doesn't have permanent effects, so how do we get him out of the way? I mean, it's not easy to control such an. . .""No, I understand." Adam had been playing with the leftovers on his plate. "The last time, though, he got pretty close. Could we somehow lock him in the haunted house and set it on fire?""That's the other problem: Axel and Dimitri. They live with him and they won't ever leave him, even if I try to threaten, or worse, warn them." "How can they be loyal to him?" The blond man had looked at him, confused. "That's absurd!""Unfortunately not, Vernon was much more careful with them. Of course, he transformed them for his own gain, not to be alone, but with time and experience, he became smarter." Todd had laid the half-empty cup, disgusted. "I tried to stop him, but there was nothing that I could actively do, and now you can see the results.""So Axel and Dimitri WANTED to be turned? Is that what you're trying to say?" "Partly. Vernon made them think that."Adam had completely abandoned his claim to be interested in his food, folding his arms. "He manipulated them? How?! It's not possible, Todd, you can't convince people to just walk off a bridge!"; "Vernon can." "Todd. . .""Listen, I know this sounds crazy to you, because you have character, Adam. You stuck a knife in that bastard's neck when he could have shattered you with one hand! We're not all strong individuals, though, and Vernon has a great instinct for finding people... like us.""What do you mean?"; Adam had looked at him, making it even harder for Todd to spell what he was about to admit out loud. "I mean vulnerable. . . susceptible people.""Vulnerable! You!" The lawyer laughed, shaking his head. "I told you, I was young when I met him, and damn stupid. The same goes for Axel and Dimitri, each of us had a weakness: Vernon found it, and used it for his own purposes.""So that's why. . . he turned your sister?"Todd had stared for a long time at Adam's clear blue eyes: of course he'd hit the target at the first shot, even though they had known each other for almost two minutes. ". . . That was the backup plan when he couldn't control me anymore.""Yeah, he tried to trick me, too. Only now I fully realize... he was using my own insecurities, and when that didn't work, he switched to threats." "Threats are his last resort." Todd had nodded, tiringly rubbing his hand over his eyes. "So Vernon wants to kill me to get to YOU. . . ?" It had been worded as a question, but from Adam's countenance, Todd had sensed it was not a question at all."Apparently.""It doesn't make any sense! Unless. . ." he interrupted himself, shifting his gaze to the side. Todd had noticed panic in his tense features, and had hijacked the conversation before making him feel even more uncomfortable: "Insecure. . . that's something you're definitely not, Adam."The blonde had stopped harassing those lips that always made the vampire think dirty thoughts, and had returned to focus on him: "You see me in a strange way, Todd. I'm not as brave as you think, on the contrary, I'm shitting my pants most of the time." He laughed, bitterly. "And I AM worried. I don't understand half the things that are happening to me, nor I have the slightest control on them! The only certainties of my life were my family and my job, and look at me now! I'm not a superhero, Todd. I'm really nobody. . .""Well, that may be true, but you're a nobody who's almost eliminated a vampire a few hundred years old.""A few. . . ? Okay, maybe I would have preferred not to know that."Valentine had smiled, relieved to notice how the moment of embarrassment had quickly been forgotten. "Seems like we think too highly of each other. . ." he told the younger man, sincerely amused. "Hm, yet I just can't imagine you being fragile and helpless.""I've had years to mature. . ." Adam's phone rang in the next room, and Todd was interrupted. "I'm sorry." The blonde had stood up to answer, leaving Todd immersed in his memories for a few minutes. Only when the tone of his voice had changed alarmingly had he recovered and gone to check on what was happening. "Are you all right?" He asked the lawyer from the doorframe. Adam was holding his cell phone tightly in his hand as if he wanted to break it in two: ". . . No. It was. . . my boss. The whole bomb broke out at work, apparently someone witnessed Vernon's attack and filed a complaint. The whole studio knows about the incident and suspended my vacation to put me on a temporary leave, until the matter is resolved.""By 'resolved' they mean once Vernon is apprehended?" Todd could have almost laughed, hadn't the whole situation been dramatic rather than comic. "Yes, they want me to make a statement and work with the police to find him. Can you imagine! They're gonna ask me a lot of questions, Todd... I can decide not to show up, but the firm will put pressure on me. They took it very personally, if I don't take a stand, they will. We must hurry." The vampire had put a hand on his beard, thoughtful: he had not really considered that the matter could get so complicated in such a short time. "All right. Let's get to work." He nodded, walking back to the kitchen.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

In the following couple days, Adam and Valentine had worked side by side to outline the plan to eliminate Vernon.
On paper it worked, all they needed was the surprise effect and speed of execution on their side: Todd would have taken care of Dimitri and Axel while Adam would have acted as bait for Vernon.
Once the Elder was drawn out of the house, Todd would set him on fire, and together they would make sure he didn't get any help until he turned into a pile of ashes.
Simple and concise, but there were still many unknown possibilities to consider.
"If we fail to calculate even the slightest risk, we're screwed."
"Were you always this paranoid before a game?" Adam made fun of him by opening his second beer of the night.
"Worse." Todd had given him an half smile, before going back to staring at the plan of the house that Adam had designed for him: the spirits were perhaps the most difficult factor in the whole matter (apart from Vernon, unpredictable and dangerous as he was), they could have been decisive in making their scheme fall apart.
"Are we really sure we want to do this in that place?" The younger man had expressed his same doubt, albeit amplified.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a choice. I don't like it either, Adam. . . it's hard enough to face Vernon alone, I don't like at all the idea of doing it with tables and furniture crashing around, however, as we have said, it is better to act and take that bastard on the run. If we wait for him to find us, we'll be in serious disadvantage."
"I know." The blond had shaken his head, exhausted: he felt emptied, it was only his determination that still kept him going. "It's just that. . . you've seen what it's like when I'm alone in there."
"Yeah, but believe me, ghosts are gonna be the least of our problems."
"If you say so. . . " Adam's phone started ringing again. "Great, I just needed another call from work. . . wait, what the...?" He noticed the number and took a quick running into his room.
Todd had stood bewildered on the couch, still holding the sheets of paper full of their notes in his hands. He had stretched his ears to catch a few fragments of the conversation, but the floors of stone and old reinforced concrete didn't help.
With a sigh of frustration, he had stood up to go and pour himself a glass of Scotch, he hadn't eaten for days, and he was beginning to feel the symptoms.
Adam had returned back down behind him, his face concerned and his eyes red.
"What happened?"
"Nothing. . . it was. . . my daughters." He answered him without looking at his face, also serving himself.
"Oh." Now everything was clear. "Wait, but how. . . ?"
"Yeah, I. . . I hadn't talked to them since. . . apparently, my wife came to know about the attack, and she tamped everyone in the office until they gave her this number. I convinced her to stay where she is, but. . . it was thought."
"Fuck. I'm sorry. . . " Todd bit his tongue, feeling like a liar since he actually felt sorry for ADAM and not for his wife. "Listen, it will soon be over. . . " he had placed his hands on his shoulders, trying to ignore both the scent and the proximity of the other.
"Yes, I know, it's just. . . I've never been apart from them for so long. And if I think I might not going to. . . I'm not gonna fuckin';. . ."
"Don't say that. Don't even think about it, you understand?" Todd had ironed his grip on him, refusing even to imagine that kind of ending.
Adam had barely nodded, then looked at him with that damn face and those damn eyes, and his canines had sprung out of their own will.
"Shit, I'm sorry." He covered his mouth with one hand, taking a step back. He hadn't noticed it before because the tension was hiding it, but he was literally starving.
"Todd. . . how long has it been since you last fed?" Obviously Adam was much more intuitive than he was.
"Too long." He admitted, cursing the lethal need of his body at a time like that. "I've been too busy to. . ."
"It's all right." The lawyer offered him his wrist with no objection.
"No. Vernon almost killed you! I can't. . . "
"Todd, there's just me within a mile radius, and I don't think you want to go hunting in the city in a moment like this."
"I should have thought of that sooner. Damn it! How did I. . ."
"Todd! It doesn't matter. I'll be fine. But" he had stopped him while the other one began to bend over him. "....only by the wrist." The last time they were alone he tore his pants off, God only knew what would happen if he offered him his neck.
Valentine had nodded, placing his lips on the tender part of his arm, where the blood vessels flow, then he had sunk his teeth firmly, but with little violence, making him only partly jolt in pain. Adam had watched him drinking, his mind running like a pinball machine from the events of the recent days to his family, to Vernon, to his old house, and so on, in a continuous stream.
When Todd had finally detached, sated, it was only because, as always happened to him with Adam, once he had silenced one need, another, more human and primitive, immediately arised. He had looked at him unequivocally, but that time he had not acted, if not only to touch the strong line of his chin, gently.
Adam had felt like an electric shock all over his body, and had separated from him, staring at the floor.
Todd had emitted all his frustration in a long exhale, passing a hand on his face. "I'm gonna take a shower." He said, shaking his head, going up the stairs.
The blonde had silently clung to his glass of liquor, while his hand absently retraced the point where the other one had touched him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The following morning, Todd got up early to prepare, as had become customary, breakfast for Adam: he hadn't cooked in years, yet he didn't find particularly difficult to start again, except maybe for a first disastrous attempt with eggs.
He'd poured the pancake mixture in a pan and watched them cook, distracted.
Adam's blood had healed him and he seemed to be able to think more clearly, but a part of him continued to be restless, giving him torment.
Having the lawyer under the same roof was difficult, considering his growing attraction towards him and the evident indecision of the other; it was more than certain that Adam had some feelings towards him, but it was impossible to define which, at least until he admitted it to himself.
Naturally, this might never happen, and if the confrontation with Vernon had taken a bad turn. . . he had tightened his grip on the frying pan, ignoring the growing concern to concentrate instead on the sound of steps coming from the stairs: Adam must have woken up and followed the smell of food into the kitchen.
"Good morning" he'd greeted him without turning around, spilling the cooked pancakes on an empty plate. "Hungry?"
"Yes." Adam sat at the table behind him, waiting. "Thank you. I'm starting to get used to this, you know. . ."
"Hm, just because I don't eat, doesn't mean I don't enjoy fumbling around the kitchen, every now and then. . ." Todd had smiled at him, watching him wipe out the food with appetite. He had returned pale, but still seemed strong, at least judging by the determination in his eyes.
The vampire had cleared his throat, looking at him from above the edge of his cup of coffee, frustrated: it wasn't the best time for certain thoughts, but the full lips and the shirt one size too small did not help at all, on the contrary, awakened in him desires far from dormant . . .
"Adam, can I ask you a question?" He'd let slip before he could've helped himself.
The blonde had watched him in wonder, and Todd had to clutch the edge of the table so as not to reach over and touch him.
"What?" He'd answered him, but he was interrupted again by the sound of his mobile phone.
Todd had suffocated the impulse to take the damn thing and drown it in the sink, limiting himself to grinding his teeth in anger as the lawyer disappeared to answer.
Several minutes had passed, but this time, despite the walls, he had managed to pick up something. When Adam was finally on his way down, he had intercepted him in the lobby, finding him more upset than the day before.
"I heard. . ." he apologized, while Adam watched him with a lost expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you all right?"
". . . No." The suffering was quite evident on his face. "That was Cleo, my wife. I had to. . . she doesn't get convinced so easily. She's stubborn. . . and would like to help me. Being by my side."
Todd had raised an eyebrow, surprised, but not entirely: after all, if Adam had married her, she mustn' t have possessed less balls than him. . .
"And you managed to convince her to stay out of it?"
"Yes."
"But?"
The boy had looked up, before turning to him with a sad countenance.
"I had to tell her how things are at the moment. Omitting most of the details, of course, but. . . I couldn't lie to her, I couldn't hide the fact that maybe. . . maybe. . ."
"All right. Adam, listen to me for a second, will you?" Todd approached him with his arms folded. "You did well, and I understand. They're your family. . ."
"And you? Wouldn't you. . . say something to your sister?"
At hearing those words, Todd felt like a cold stab inside of his chest.
"I. . ." he wasn't really expecting that question. "It's complicated, Adam. We don't. . ." he had felt his head spin for a moment and had to lean against the wall behind him.
"Todd" Adam came to him. "I know it's none of my business, but. . . you should talk to her."
"You don't know what you're saying." His words had come out in a snarl, but it wasn't him he was mad at. "You don't know. . ."
"Then explain! Please, let me understand." Adam had grasped his forearm and looked him straight in the face, a gesture that was more than unexpected.
"All right." Todd had capitulated, going to sit on the couch. "Do you mind taking the bottle and two glasses? Thank you."
He had grasped the liquor Adam had poured for him, and he had downed in one go.
"I've never talked to anyone about this, but I guess now's the right time. You heard about Vernon and me, and yet you didn't judge me. I acted like an asshole, you're right, because in the end that's what I do best. . . anyway, whatever happens in the next few days, I want you to know about her. . ." he had taken a break, his gaze fixed on an indefinite point in the room.
The blonde had settled next to him, listening to him in silence.
"Alexandra is my only sister, two years older than me. She has always been very intelligent and talented, but for the time we were born in, this was not so important... the women back then would finish school, get married and start a family: Alexandra just couldn't accept it, she would have rather transferred to university to study law, but for our parents the subject was out of the question. So many arguments. . ." he had shaken his head, smiling bitterly.
"When it was up to me to choose, I gave up; a Chicago team had offered me the possibility of putting me under contract as soon as I finished school, so I had accepted on the fly. I might as well have gotten a scholarship and continued my studies, but I just didn't care. All I wanted was play football and have fun. . . my sister took it as a betrayal: all the opportunities she had always dreamed of, I hadn't even considered them at all. Shortly before I left, she confronted me and threw a fit that I will never forget. She accused me of being a lazy, despicable person. . . she probably wasn't completely wrong, but I didn't understand at the time, nor did I care to understand. I went to Chicago, joined the team. Our parents were happy, they couldn't imagine that their only son had certain inclinations. . . of course I always knew, but only far from home could I admit it more openly. There were many clubs in the city. . . they are still there today, but once in towns like the one I came from, certain realities were inconceivable to say the least. I spent two discreet years, then my family came to visit me. . . Alexandra took little to find out, perhaps she had always suspected, who knows, however one evening she saw me with a boy I was dating: it was the end of the world. She said I'd hit rock bottom, and eventually she used it against me." Todd stopped to contemplate the bottle of Scotch in front of him.
"I've never seen my parents again. . . they distanced themselves from me by cutting off contacts."
"You mean that. . . ?" Adam had asked, in a subdued tone.
"The most absurd thing is that I died before they did, and yet I'm still here. How ironic. . . " Todd had emptied the third glass with a grimace. "I didn't speak to my sister for years, until. . . Vernon. . ."
"Did Vernon know about you and her?"
"Of course he did. That worm knows every detail of other people's lives, especially his 'favorites' ones" He almost spat out the last word. "One day, I had just been transformed and I was having. . . a lot of trouble. I went to Vernon's, and she was there. I was shocked."
"Wait, he'd already turned her?!"
"Yes. My reaction wasn't so different from yours. . . I couldn't believe it. I then learned that they had both acted behind my back for months, but after all Vernon wasn't very smart. He thought he had also deceived Alexandra, but SHE had actually been manipulating him the whole time."
"So your sister really wanted to be transformed?"
"Oh, you bet she did. It was her ticket to freedom, and she did the impossible to get it. When Vernon finally realized, his villa was already on fire. . ."
"Todd, I don't understand. If Alexandra got what she wanted, why did she try to kill Vernon? Because that's what happened, isn't it?"
"You're truly smart, Adam." The vampire had observed him with a certain degree of admiration. "Yes, Alexandra hates him, maybe even more than us. She used him for her own purposes, but she could never tolerate his deviant behavior, so, once Alexandra reached her goal, she tried to get him out of the way. She didn't just because I'm a damn idiot, otherwise we wouldn't be here now. . . " he had put the empty glass on the table with malice, sketches flying everywhere.
"Don't be so hard on yourself."
"No? And yet look at us, Adam. If Vernon had died, you'd never have met me. Your life. . ."
"Todd, as much as you hate to admit it, when we met, I was living in a haunted house. My concept of normality was already quite over the top, so don't take on the guilt you don't have."
"Easy to say,"; the vampire had studied his hands, noting how they were contracted because of his anger.
"But it's true! Listen" the blonde had taken his drink to make him concentrate on him. ". . . Despite what Vernon had done to you, you still ran more than a risk to save his life, because in your heart you knew you were doing the right thing. If he had been less of an asshole, he would have taken the opportunity to redeem himself in some way, but we know that was not the case. Either way, it was his choice, Todd, not yours."
"Yeah, I just gave him the opportunity to make the wrong decision." Todd had smacked the blond's arm away to pour more himself Scotch.
"Maybe. But you're not responsible."
"What if we fail again this time?"
"We won't. You said it youself, didn't you?"
Todd had paused with the drink in mid-air.
". . . Yes." He admitted, shaking his head with hoarse laughter. "I can't believe we reversed parts."
"Eh, don't make me say it again, please."
"You really think what you said earlier?" Todd had stared at him with an expression completely different from his usual bravado.
"Every single word." The lawyer had nodded, taking the glass out of his hands. "But don't get any crazy ideas. . ."
Valentine had not replied, he had simply watched him silently for a few seconds before grabbing him by the back of the head and kissing him straight on the mouth. He was partly drunk, but not enough to avoid realizing why he was doing it.
Adam must have known too, because he didn't reject him that time. Todd had deepened the exchange with greater enthusiasm, half-closing his lips and holding the boy against him. Adam had taken his face in his hands, pulling back with difficulty while the vampire continued to chase him so as not to detach himself from him.
"Todd. . . I can't." He told him, studying his face.
"Can't or WON'T?"
"Todd. Please. . . " he'd wriggled away and Valentine had let him go unwillingly. "I'm sorry, I. . ."
"No, Adam, I want you to listen to me, because I'm not going to repeat something like this. It's true, in the next few days everything could go to shit, so I would like to clarify a concept: you're beautiful, hell, you're more than attractive, and this has often led me to behave like I shouldn't have. . . we had a bad start, so I don't expect you to forgive me or understand me, but I never wanted to seriously put you in danger. I don't want you to think that even for a second." He had looked away, ignoring how to deal with the most difficult part of the speech.
"I'm not very good at this stuff, I've rarely met someone like you. . . so it's pretty hard for me to express my feelings. I LIKE you Adam, and not just in the sense that I would love to lay you down on this couch for. . ."
"Listen. . ."
"Yes, I do know that you have a family and that you care about them more than your own life, it's obvious, but at the same time, I think you also feel something similar for me. Am I wrong?"
"Fuck, Todd. . ."
"Look at me and tell me that's not true."
Adam had ran his cerulean eyes back and forth on his face, several times, without saying anything.
"Good."
"I. . . "
"No. Regardless of the other factors, Adam, the point is one and only: it's just the two of us, in here, no one would ever know anyway, if that's what's bothering you.
"But I'd know."
"Look. I trust you, I already told you. I told you about parts of my life that I thought I never would to a single soul, so you know more or less everything about me. The decision is up to you alone, I will not force your hand, nor will I return on the subject, if it is not what you want."
He got up, so the lawyer had time to assimilate his speech.
In fact, he'd sounded a lot more confident to his own ears than what he actually was: his thoughts were a confused whirlwind of disconnected sentences.
Perhaps he had been too straight-forward, he had certainly invested Adam with a claptrap that in retrospect he wasn't even so convinced had a logical meaning.
But he had been honest, and had put his cards on the table, he would never forgive himself for missing such an opportunity just out of fear.
Unfortunately, there was more to fear than that, and despite his forced optimism, he was by no means certain of how it would end. . .

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Adam had laid completely immobile on the couch for the entire afternoon.
He had heard Todd move upstairs, but had made no attempt to get there, which was not very intelligent, considering that they had to finish refining their plan.
His brain, however, seemed derailed in one direction only, unable to assimilate any other concept except the continuous replication of the vampire's confused speech.
Todd had caught him, to say the least, unaware, even though, after all, he had expected some kind of approach on his part, yet not of that kind: as long as the advances were kept on a physical level, he had no problems in reacting, but the more he knew him, the less aggressive he became, and consequently even rejecting him put him in increasing trouble.
How, for example, should he have responded to the other one's aformentioned statement? Todd surely wasn't the first person to hit on him, he wasn't even the first man, and yet Adam had never found himself so caught up in his own emotions, except when. . . he had shaken the image of his wife from his head, pouring himself a drink, but stopping immediately by the middle of the first glass.
It would have been only counterproductive to get drunk, so much so that he'd better have looked at the schemes they had traced the previous days and tried to engage in something useful, instead.
He had climbed quickly up the stairs, stumbling upon the vampire as he was coming out of the bathroom completely naked. He was so distracted that he didn't notice the shower running.
"Hey" Todd had smiled at him, without worrying about hiding the most vulnerable and visible parts of his body.
Adam had swallowed, flushing in a perceptible way, turning his gaze in another direction.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to. . . get something from my room" he had disappeared into his bedroom without further explanations, his heart pounding hard in his chest, turning everything upside down to find the sheets.
He needed to calm down.The rest of the afternoon had passed relatively quietly: Adam, after several attempts, had managed to concentrate and refine the masterplan, which at least had heartened him.
When he lifted his head off the notes, he noticed that dinnertime had come and gone from a long time, so he had moved to the kitchen to fetch himself a quick meal.
Todd caught up with him just as he was sitting at the table, opening a beer.
The lawyer had studied him in detail: it could certainly not be denied that he was (or had been, but semantics didn't really matter at that point) a handsome man, tall, well-built, with a clean face and, despite his difficult character, he certainly had heart.
When he sat in front of him, he explained the variations he had devised hours earlier, the vampire nodded, concentrated, and Adam thought that the most correct definition of his being was 'fierce', because in the end it was exactly what he was: a stormy sea, apparently granitic, but in continuous movement under the surface.
Todd had cleared the table and told him that the next day he would go to the nearest service station to obtain the materials for their mission; Adam would remain hidden, for greater safety, and by dawn they would act to off Vernon once for all.
Valentine had then moved into the living room for one of his countless drinks, while Adam had preferred to retire upstairs, to avoid a repeat of the afternoon scene.
He had gone to bed early, but his eyes were barred in the twilight of the room: his mind continued to bounce between anxiety about the confrontation with Vernon and a flow of conflicting emotions on Todd. After what seemed to him to be an eternity, he had heard the vampire's footsteps along the stairs, footsteps that had hesitated for a few moments in front of his door before continuing towards the end of the corridor.
Adam sat on the bed, soaked in sweat.
He would never have been able to sleep, so he seriously thought about the topic that caused him less anguish at that moment: Todd.
'No one would ever know anyway' he had said, like they were talking about a walk in the park.
But it would still have been a betrayal, even if, he couldn't help but remember with a hint of bitterness, thanks to his lies Cleo was already convinced that he was cheating on her with another woman. . . so what difference would that make?
He twisted on the sheets, agitated; it was easy to think about it that way, it was the perfect excuse for... what?
Adam had slammed the back of his head into the brass headboard to clear his thoughts.
Todd had put him to the test because he knew that their time together was running out. . . a move maybe unfair, maybe understandable. . . perhaps Todd did not trust their plan to the very end, if he had proposed such a thing to him?
The blond had sighed, in the dark: it was all so damn complicated! If only there hadn't been Vernon, if he hadn't been married. . .
'The decision is up to you alone' but it wasn't true at all. . . or was it? He straightened out while a glimmer of light made its way into his mind.
The words he once read in a text at university, 'your perceptions will only become clear when you look into your soul' had unlocked something in his mind, giving him a sort of sudden epiphany.
He had stood up in silence, throwing the blankets to the side, opening the door to walk the few hundred meters that there was between his room and that of Todd.
The vampire hadn't bothered to lock himself up, but as expected he was awake too.
"I can't sleep," said the blonde, stopping by the edge of his bed.
"Yeah, me neither" a voice replied in the dark.
"Can I stay here?"
He heard Todd's unexpected pause before he said: "Sure. BUT" he had stopped him. ". . . I must warn you that I sleep naked."
Adam rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he took off his shirt and dropped it on the floor, followed by his boxers.
"All right." He had climbed onto the mattress, searching for Valentine's lips in the dark, finding the confirmation that had finally calmed the annoying buzz of his thoughts with that first, firm, contact.
There was the part of him that loved his wife and the part that right now needed Todd: both lived together in his body, merged into a single entity, one in perfect symbiosis with the other.
The vampire had only had a moment of uncertainty before responding to his passionate kiss with as much fervor, the big hands that ran on every inch of his skin making him shiver.
Adam in turn had explored the other man's shoulders and wide chest, and Todd was as firm and hard as steel, as was the swollen penis he had between his legs.
Following his instinct, Adam grabbed the tip between his fingers, starting to masturbate him, but he felt crushed almost immediately under the weight of Valentine, who had left a wet path of saliva all over his chest to his lower abdomen, where he had taken him quickly into his mouth.
Todd had sucked on his glans hard, pulling the foreskin back and repeatedly passing his tongue on the cut at the bottom before descending with consummate skill to the base.
Adam was puzzled by his obvious ability to give head, and when the other had caressed his scrotum with his fingertips he had come without even the time to warn him: Todd had however swallowed his load without the slightest protest or difficulty, kissing the inside of his thigh before going back to his mouth.
They rolled over again, studying each other. Adam had grown hard once more in a few minutes and Todd had given him another blowjob, if possible even better than the first one; he had sucked his tip without restraint and when he got back down on him he had moaned at the bottom of his throat a vibration that had spread all over Adam's penis, eliciting an orgasm so violent from him that even Todd had almost choked on his semen.
"I'm sorry" the blonde had wheezed while the other let him go with a guttural laugh.
"Hadn't happened to me in quite a long time!" The vampire had replied, kissing the inside of his buttocks.
"Oh, my God." Adam had felt invaded by his tongue, but had not stopped him, his whole body seemed to have entered the automatic pilot mode.
Todd had partly raised, licking the lower part of his stomach, his knotty fingers trying to insinuate more and more insistently between his buttocks. The tip of one index finger had breached and others had followed, it hurt but not so much that it prevented Adam from having a third erection.
"Have you ever fucked like this?" The vampire whispered in his ear.
"No. . ."
"Ok" the vampire had nodded, taking it slow, slipping it in a little at a time, and never in his life would Adam have imagined he would enjoy so much the heavy weight of a man like Todd Valentine on top of him.
Even if he hadn't gotten all the way inside, Todd had still fucked him expertly, slamming into him from the front and even partly sideways to hurt him less, and when he came Adam had had to cling on his buttocks to prevent him from splitting him open in two, taken by too much enthusiasm. The exit had been more bothering than the entrance, but to be forgiven Todd had fellated him again, opening his mouth and holding his dick still on his tongue while he was coming, swallowing with gusto the little that had slipped out as if it had been the most delicious drink he had ever tasted.
"Fuck. . ." Adam had exhaled, completely drained, his ass aching and soggy.
"Definitely better than what I imagined" the vampire next to him commented, pulling the blonde closer to him.
They had made out in silence and tranquility, but Todd got turned on again, so Adam, unable to handle another round, had matured him with two hands watching him release his orgasm exalted after a few well-directed touches.
Once he made sure that Todd had returned completely to rest, he had cleaned him with a corner of the sheet, drying himself as well, before lying down, unable to keep his eyes open.
The last sensation he'd felt before sinking into sleep had been Todd's firm arms around him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Valentine didn't sleep much, his real need for rest was much more limited and different from that of a human being.
When he opened his eyes it was still dark, and Adam was sleeping prone next to him, lying on his right forearm.
Todd had looked at him, finally fullfilled but also worried: they had fucked taken in the moment and as much as it had been fantastic, it had clearly been an act of impulse.
The boy had literally abandoned himself in his arms, giving him the most inviolate part of his body. . . if he woke up in the morning with regrets it would have complicated not only their already tense relationship, but also their plans.
It was essential that they acted as a team, or they wouldn't have the slightest chance to eliminate Vernon... perhaps he shouldn't have thrown him such an ultimatum, yet he felt he couldn't face his creator with that unresolved matter behind him.
He didn't regret at all what had happened just a few hours before, hell, he hadn't screwed anyone for years with so much transport, Adam had surpassed all expectations from every point of view: even now, looking at the firm curve of his ass half-hidden by the sheets made him want to give him a firm mount, just like he had imagined several times while rubbing one out .
He had shaken his head with a sigh of frustration: certain thoughts would not change the situation, he had to be patient and wait, the decision would again be left to the boy alone, not to him. . . although it cost him a certain sacrifice to admit it.
He had returned to settle on the mattress, lowering his eyelids and trying to ignore his already partially erect penis, uncertain of what he would soon find.He certainly expected everything, but not that kind of awakening.
He must have incredibly fallen back asleep, because when he opened his eyes, he found Adam's cerulean gaze staring at him carefully.
"Good morning" Todd automatically smiled at him, waiting for the reaction of the other.
Adam had been silent for a few moments, looking at his face, then hesitated, looking for the right words: "It was. . ."
"It hadn't happened to me in years. . . maybe even more." Todd had interrupted him, hoping to convey at least part of his optimism: he still had clear in his mind the expressions of his face and the sounds the boy had made while he was tucking his member between his thighs, his screams a cross between a pained groan and an amazed cry, while Todd barely held back so as not to hurt him, but ending up fucking him too hard anyway.
"Yes. . . " the boy had nodded, blushing slightly.
Todd had observed the well-proportioned tip of his nose, the first hint of a beard on his chin (blonde, of course), the vaguely muffled fold of his smile, and he had felt the mouth of his stomach helplessly clutch.
He'd quitted talking, grabbing the boy and kissing him on the mouth. Adam had not opposed him, on the contrary, he had more than appreciated the approach, returning the kiss at first hesitantly, gaining confidence as Todd began to stretch his hands, latching his tongue with his own and pushing it down his throat.
The vampire had tortured his neck, going down to suck on the upright tips of his nipples, squashing them with his thumb until the blonde had started to swear breathlessly.
Todd had smiled satisfied, but soon the lawyer had grown tired of being played and returned him the favor by turning him over on his back and getting to work on his chest, leaving behind a trail of small bites as he descended on his belly.
Todd had felt his Adam peel the foreskin off his dick, but just when he thought that he would finally see the blonde use his mouth to the best, Adam hesitated at the last second, opting for a solid work of hands.
"Fuck" he had grunted, appreciating however the care that the boy put in rubbing the lower part of the glans with his thumbs, bringing him quickly to such a massive erection that, when he had let it go, his cock had stood up like an exclamation mark on his own.
A dampened palm had wetted it briefly at the tip, before Adam, sitting astride him, tried to lower on it with obvious difficulty.
"Hey, easy." Todd had warned him, surrounding his thighs and placing himself at the right position underneath him: Adam had surprised him once more, but he was burning the stages and was in danger of getting hurt. "Can you take it?"
"Yes" the blonde had wheezed with narrow teeth: he was still wet from their previous act, but still too narrow and immature for that kind of penetration.
"Fuck, Adam, this isn't a good idea, we should. . ."
"I don't care, Todd, I want you to fuck me. . . like last night."
The vampire had looked him in the face and had turned so rigid that from the excitement he had started to leak fluids. Adam had noticed and had risen briefly to let Todd use it as a lubricant, and then descended again guided by the hands of both.
"Relax. . . " Todd told him, helping him with his fingers to find the reticent opening, which had finally surrendered to the invasion.
The blonde had contracted his face but had not spoken a word, letting himself be invaded centimetre by centimetre by his pulsating shaft.
Of course not everything had gotten in, yet Adam had compensated for the deficiency by fucking himself with total abandon on him, following his instructions on how to rotate his hips to further improve the penetration angle.
Since the position required Adam to do most of the work, Todd had enough freedom between one suggestion and the next to explore the statuary body on top engaged in riding him with fervor.
He had first teased him to stimulate and incite him in the descent, then, once reached the right rhythm, Todd had begun to masturbate him with two hands to spur him on like a jockey. Adam had followed him, panting with his head turned backwards for the effort.
"Oh, shit, Todd, I can't take this anymore. . . " he had moaned after twenty intense minutes ". . . let me finish. . ."
"Why, are you tired yet?" The vampire had mocked him, supporting his weight from under his thighs to get him away from the most massive part of his erection.
He could have kept it tucked in that warm place all day long, even though he started to feel a certain weight in the scrotum. . .
"All right, wait. . ." Todd had closed one hand on his glans and with the other he had surrounded him to help himself push against his prostate while the boy impaled himself, exhausted and aching. "You like that. . . ?" The vampire had smiled at him, noticing the sudden change in his breath, as well as the expression of pure enjoyment on his face.
"Oh, my God, Todd. . . fuck. . . ahhh. . . aahhhhh. . ." Adam had resisted a few skippings before carving his fingers in the vampire's abdomen and spraying his chest with semen almost up to his chin.
"Shit, holy fuck" had roared Todd in turn, Adam's ass squeezing his cock so hard that it drained his orgasm out even before he'd realized it. He had exploded in three powerful bursts then slipped out, though not yet completely flaccid.
"Christ. . ." the boy had panted in a clearly confused state, looking for some form of support in the headboard behind the other man. Todd had noticed a pearly white stream of fluid flowing silently from the inside of his left buttock.
"Did I hurt you?" He had asked him, trying to suppress the animal urgency to fill him again to the brim.
"Just a little" Adam had smiled, unaware, caressing his chest and leaning over to kiss him, before noticing his state. "You've got to be kidding me. You just came!"
"It's your fault. You've been far too good. . ."
"Sure. . . pig. . ." the blond had scowled him, sarcastic, taking Todd's still erect dick in his hands with resignation to jerk him off.
"Not like this. Lay down. . ." Todd had suggested him, sitting astride his lower back and resting his partly hardened penis in the crack between his buttocks. "I'm not putting it in, don't worry" he had reassured him, starting to work on his penis with vigour.
It didn't often happen to him to maintain an erection after such an orgasm, it certainly didn't surprise him that it had happened with Adam though: the blonde could put it as he wanted, but it certainly wasn't a coincidence.
"You really ARE obsessed with masturbating on other people. . ."
The vampire got stuck in the middle. "Do you want me to stop?" He had almost forgotten the afternoon on the lawn. And that first time in the haunted house. . .
"That's not what I said. . ." the lawyer had looked at him with his pupils dilated, slightly panting.
Todd snorted, shaking his head. "You could help me out..." he'd challenged him, sly.
"And what am I supposed to do from here?" Adam had looked at him amused, an eyebrow raised.
"Just stay like that. Look at me in the face." Todd had whispered hoarsely in his ear.
The boy had flushed, but had granted his request, observing him from above one shoulder with his lips ajar.
Todd had eyed his full mouth and his teeth touching with anticipation the lower lip: he had squeezed his cock between his fingers, imagining a couple of rather hot scenes between the other one's warm thighs, coming on the blankets next to his naked body, amazing himself with the quantity and quality of his own jets.
When he was finished, he finally found himself flagging and let it fall back with a satisfied groan between his legs, vowing to take a long shower later. He laid down on his back, satisfied, turning towards the boy to hold him tight against him.
"You have. . . a little. . . here" he'd pointed out a side of the lawyer's face that must have been soiled with his seed.
Adam had rubbed off the pearly droplets with the back of his hand, blushing ferociously when he'd realized what it actually was.
"Are you all right?" Todd asked him, worried about his reaction.
"Yes," the other one had nodded after a few moments, in obvious embarrassment. "It's just. . . I've never let anyone do such things to me."
"Mmm, that's true, but it seems to me that you did pretty well. . ." the vampire had caressed him with his eyes from head to toe, a hand laid explicitly next to his now resting member.
Adam got caught in the middle of a yawn, turning pink. "You're still my first man, Todd."
"Right. . . and there's nothing to be ashamed of, Adam: you're handsome, intelligent, a great laid. . . and you don't even snore so loudly, which doesn't hurt." He had smiled and heard him burst out laughing.
"Thank you. . . anyway, for what it's worth. . . you're pretty good too." Adam stared at him, shy. "You're a real beast. . ."
Todd had looked at him in silence for a minute before saying: "Come here", holding the lawyer in a powerful embrace, rolling over to kiss him with ardor.
In the end, Adam had fallen asleep again and Todd had studied him for a while, before extricating himself as gently as possible to go wash himself and prepare him breakfast.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Todd slipped into the bathroom on the other side of the corridor, closing the door behind him and opening the water of the huge shower that took an entire wall. He had studied his own image reflected in the mirror, discovering the places where Adam had left his marks during the violent bouts of their previous night: handprints on his hips, scratches on his buttocks and, of course, dried milky stripes on his chest. He had passed his fingertips through his chest hair, arching an eyebrow with a vague smile before bringing them to his lips and entering under the hot jet. He had washed himself from head to toe, soaking himself up with attention and enjoying that moment of tranquility and silence, his mind stubbornly returning to the younger man, who was having a well-deserved rest. In the end, when he'd been ready to turn off and go out, he'd looked down and sighed with resignation, finding a new hint of hardness. Perhaps the boy was not wrong to call him a maniac, but after all, since he met him he had not found a moment of peace . . . even now, he would have been ready to start again. Adam had a strange influence on him. . . not that he minded at all. . . He took it into his own hands, forced himself to leave the boy alone. Sure, showing up in the bedroom and waking him up with something else to play with was a pretty stimulating idea, but he had to keep in mind what the blonde had told him. Adam was not one of his usual conquests, on the contrary, he was very different from the men he had dated up to that moment. Not to mention how receptive he was. . . Todd had begun to rub his shaft vigorously, closing his eyes. Adam had been passionate and unbridled, but every man had his limits, in his case evidently the line of demarcation was oral sex. And it was a real shame. . .he had worked his cock with both hands, imagining the lawyer on his knees, naked, giving him a shy blowjob. He had the perfect mouth for that kind of task, and those eyes, and the innocent shape of his face . . . his imagination had taken over, and Todd had seen himself sucked ff by Adam, who first licked uncertain the tip, then came down, gaining confidence, looking into his eyes, searching for his approval. The vampire had felt his palms wet as the transparent liquid began to flow from the opening on the head. Yes, Adam learned very quickly, he certainly could have done it, just like he could have give a great handojob. . . Todd had worked himself up, panting, his mind fixed on the image of the blonde who polished his dick with commitment without being able to accept it all, using his hands to please the rest, keeping it inside till the end, even as it exploded on his palate in hot bursts that Adam would not be able to swallow and would run down in milky streaks on his chin. Todd had remained with that clear picture behind his eyelids as he painted the shower floor instead of the boy's throat, only partially satisfied. He had run the water again to rinse quickly, making the traces of his misdeed disappear, then he dried himself and descended to the lower floor where he had slipped on a new shirt and his usual pair of worn out jeans. He had looked around for a moment, amazed by the quiet of the place: the sun was just starting to rise, there was still time . . . he had pulled out pots and pans moving slowly. He could have left for the store right away, but he didn't want Adam to wake up without seeing him first, it could've sent the wrong message, and that wasn't what he wanted. In the distance a rooster had started to sing, making him smile: it seemed like a good morning, with a bit of luck it would also have been a good day. . . he had thought, starting to break and stir the eggs in a bowl.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Adam had been woken up by the scent of freshly brewed coffee and grilled bacon: he had opened his eyes, lying in the bed half undone, still tired but definitely satisfied. When he'd entered Todd's room, the night before, he had expected sex, maybe even good sex, but certainly not THAT kind of mind-blowing orgasm. Which had been followed by many others. . . he'd sat down with a grimace, trying to balance himself on unsteady legs to reach the bathroom. He usually preferred to shower, but that day he felt like he needed a nice hot bath: his muscles were sore and he was soaked in sweat. He had passed in front of the mirror, taking a glimpse of himself, noticing the fresh marks that Todd had left on the bottom and inside of his buttocks, blushing slightly. Adam had opened the tap, letting the water flow, slipping into the bathtub with an appreciative moan when it had hit the right temperature. The pain had melted away as he washed himself automatically, his mind constantly wandering about Todd and those huge hands of his. . . his whole body was out of range, in fact, he found himself thinking, unable to refrain. It was impossible to follow the rules with that man. . . he was a real tornado, even in bed, always ready to start over and never satisfied, even after the most exhausting climax. Adam had started to shiver, so he had hurried to finish with his ablutions, paying attention only when he had passed the soap between his legs, jolting lightly. Once dry, he put on clean clothes, running down the stairs to see what the vampire had prepared for him for breakfast. He found him by the stove, intent on buttering freshly roasted slices of toast."Good morning." Todd greeted him, stealing a quick glance in his general direction, before getting back to work. "Did I wake you up?""Wasn't the noise. The smell. . ." Adam had smiled at him, approaching to take the dish Todd was offering him. They had stared at one another for a few seconds; Adam had noticed that the brown of his eyes, in that light, revealed amber-green reflections. Todd had leaned over to kiss him and he had intercepted him halfway through, his nose twitching for the vampire's pungent beard. He hadn't gotten used to ityet, even though that was perhaps the last of his problems. . . in any case, he had taken a mental note to shave his own later. "How do you want your eggs?""Scrambled, please." He responded, sitting down more carefully than he had to. "Are you all right?" Naturally Todd was watching him. "Yes. . ." he had to hold back from replying with a sarcastic joke, it did not seem the most appropriate time, so he slipped half of the toasted slice into his mouth, chewing voraciously. He had underestimated his hunger: after that first taste, his stomach had noisily started to claim more food, making Valentine laugh. "There's bacon if you want it. . . here." He had put in front of him a plate of steaming bacon with well-burnt edges, just as he liked it. "Cool!" Adam had stabbed three pieces off in the air, swallowing them down with the rest of the bread. "I wasn't sure you ate meat." Todd had been looking at him in the face with a smile. "Yes, I don't think I could ever be a vegetarian. . . definitely a carnivore.""I noticed. . ."Adam had faltered, but the vampire had his back turned from him, his attention focused on the pan where he was cracking eggs. It wasn't just him, then, they were both circling the subject. . . he found himself staring at his wide arms and muscular butt even before he realized it. A few hours ago he'd called him an animal, but he'd actually been very attentive and careful. . . a bit too reckless during the first attempt, perhaps, which could be more than understandable, though, but for the rest. . . "Your eggs." Todd had tumbled them directly onto his plate, cooked to perfection. "Salt?" "No, thank you." Adam had resurfaced from his sordid thoughts, focusing on the meal. "You're really good at cooking," he changed the subject, while enjoying the tasty meal. "I'm good at a lot of things." Todd had looked at him unequivocally from above his cup. "Hm, so humble. . ." Adam smiled back at him, amused. ". . . and pig." "Your fault, I already told you. . ." "Stop it. I'm not that attractive.""Eh, I wouldn't be so sure. . ."Adam had raised an eyebrow. "When are you going to get the canisters?" He didn't like to touch that subject, absurdly after the night they had spent together, Vernon seemed like a distant problem. . . instead he was real, and very concrete. "Soon. I should be able to get it done quickly, there's a gas station a few miles from here.""Okay.""I don't want to leave you alone for too long.""Todd. . ." Adam had looked at the vampire, uncertain."Not because of the sex. I'm a little. . . I mean. . ."It toook him a few seconds, but in the end Adam realized: Valentine was worried about him. "Are you WORRIED?" He let it slip, incredulously. "No. I. . ." the vampire had put his hands on his face, frustrated. "I don't know.""Todd." The blonde had stood up to go and put his hands on the other one's wide shoulders. "Don't worry. We can do this, all right?""Sure. It's just that. . . It's a classic, you know, for once that things are finally going the right way. . ." he had interrupted himself, turning towards the window. "Hey." Adam had taken Todd's face in his hands, to look him in the eye: his dark, freshly washed hair revealed reddish shadows in the light. Adam kissed him on the mouth with transport to convey him some of his own confidence: for some reason, he was certain that everything would go according to plan. "It'll be fine."Todd responded to the kiss with his usual enthusiasm. When he let him go, he seemed more serene."I'll clear up. You're spoiling me too much. . ." Adam had started to remove the dirty cutlery and plates from the table, going towards the sink. He'd just had the time to put them inside that Valentine's solid presence had manifested itself behind him. "Can I have breakfast too, now?" He whispered into the younger man's year, trapping him against the marble shelf. "I won't steal much from you." "Ah, so that's why you cooked me all that food. . ." Adam had joked, leaning against that steel body. "All right. We both have to be strong, after all. . ." he had offered him his neck instead of his arm, that time. Todd had sunk his teeth, barely hurting him, drinking a few mouthfuls before letting go. Adam had held him back to kiss him open-mouthed, ignoring the taste of his own blood: he'd been turned on as soon as Todd had placed his hands on him and breathed roughly against his earcup, Hell, maybe he had gotten up already turned on that same morning, who knew, the last couple days he'd been having trouble recognizing himself. . . but he didn't care, he didn't care at all. The only thing that mattered at that moment were Todd's mighty arms, which were locking him in place and those long, knotty fingers, that ran to slip into the belt of his trousers, finding his not yet erect organ and holding it firmly at the base. Adam had wimpered against his lips, ending up suffocated by Todd's tongue, while the free hand of the vampire lifted his shirt to go find and pinch a swollen nipple, making him completely go crazy. He helped him open the zipper, allowing his jeans and boxers to land on the ground. Todd had started to jerk him off and all he could do was reciprocate, creeping blindly into his pants, and immediately finding the prize, as Valentine seemed not to use underwear at all, already hard and partly wet. "Oh, God, fuck me." He'd moaned, unable to restrain his sudden urge."Are you sure?" Todd asked him, still opening his own pants. "Yes." Adam had cut short, determined as he had never been in his life, except perhaps for a couple other times. "Okay, wait. . ." Todd had tried to lift him and put him in a more comfortable position. "No, give it to me here." Adam caught himself say in an almost extraneous tone, but at that stage, it hadn't bothered him much. "Are you fucking serious?!" Todd had sounded both surprised and excited. "Yes! Screw me against this fucking thing." He had leaned with his head against the cabinet door in front of him, waiting. With the tail of his eye, he had seen Todd use the butter next to the fridge in a totally inappropriate way. "What the. . . fuck. . . Oh, my God.""Ah, shit, Adam. . ." Todd had rumbled behind him, forcing his gland between his buttocks. He had only entered when the blond had somehow managed to relax and offer less resistance. After some explorative thrusts, the vampire had begun to bang him vigorously, forcing him to hold onto the wall unit in front of his face so as not to smash his forehead against it. It burned a lot, especially at the sides, making him whine shamefully every time Todd scored. "Aah. . . aahh. . . Christ...""Too strong?"; The vampire had asked him, slowing down the pace. "No, just try. . . try to. . . Oh, shit, yeah, right there!" Valentine had understood him on the fly and had rotated his hips with each blow, rubbing against Adam's prostate. He had let himself go completely, screwing him hard against the shelf, his arms two iron clamps that held Adam firmly in place while he sunk into him repeatedly, opening him in two. Adam had clung to his leg with his free hand, containing the thrusts just enough not to get crashed, moaning his name in a disjointed way. Todd had grunted against the nape of his neck, apparently frustrated: "Fuck, I want to look at your face. . . " he had lifted Adam up and reversed him hard on the edge of the shelf, spreading his knees to mount him from the front. Adam clung to his forearms, looking for a form of balance. "Fuck. . ." he had panted while the vampire hit him repeatedly in the right place. "Do you like it?""Jesus." "Can I come inside?; It was the first time Todd had ever asked him to. Adam had stared at him in his dilated pupils, a thrill that descended all the way down his back. "Yes." He had told him, touching one side of his face. Todd had nodded, beginning to lose control between one hit and another, pounding erratically before finally stiffening between Adam's thighs with a guttural noise. He had peaked in hot gushes with his face sunk into the boy's hair, pulling out satisfied after a few seconds of total silence. Only then did he notice that Adam was still standing. "Let me repay you the favour. . ." Todd had whispered him, lowering between his knees with a smile. He had taken Adam in his mouth and sucked greedily from the tip to the base, without ever taking his eyes off his for a second. He had vibrated again at the bottom of his throat, massaging his scrotum with his knuckles, climbing up to the slit when Adam had warned him a moment before depositing a substantial load on his tongue. Todd hadn't bat a lash, swallowing with dedication the warm shots down to the last drop. "Oh, fuck. . ." the blond had exhaled when the vampire finally let him go, covering his face with his hands. "Yes, I agree."Adam had looked at him as he cleaned the corners of his mouth with a smug countenance and helped him to slid off the furniture. "Ow. . . !""Are you okay?""Yes. . . just a little. . . sore""My fault, I always lose control with you. . . but I made amends afterwards, right?"Adam had laughed, clearly amused. "How modest!""Why, didn't I? I can go on, if it wasn't enough. . ."The boy had felt an interested stir from his resting organ, but had shaken his head negatively. If he had accepted, he would certainly have ended up getting fucked again, and he was not sure that his body would be able to manage the consequences. "Enough, Todd, you literally drained me.""Mmm, really. . . ?" The vampire hadn't resigned, covering him with fiery open-mouthed kisses. Adam hadn't replied, just looked into his dark eyes. They had been both staring at one other for a long time, continuing to tease each other until the game had slipped out of their hands again. They would've fucked on the floor hadn't Adam winced at the worst time. "All right, even if it bothers me to admit it, I think we should stop. . ." Todd had let him go with a sigh. "No! I can. . . ""Adam." The vampire grabbed him by the chin. "Enough. I'd hurt you. . . and anyway, I have to get out. . . go and get some rest. I'll clean this mess up." "Okay." The lawyer had risen unwillingly, heading naked to the stairs. "See you here before you leave?" He'd asked him, uncertain. He didn't like the idea of leaving him that way. "Sure." Todd seemed relieved at the idea, confirming to Adam that he had been right. The lawyer had smiled at him, taking one last look at his handsome body before he disappeared upstairs.

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Todd had watched the boy climb the stairs on shaky legs with a strange feeling in his stomach: he had to force himself to let him go, despite knowing that Adam couldn't have faced another of their ferocious intercourses. They had reached an almost perfect sexual chemistry in a few attempts, another event that, even from the height of his experience in the field, left him at the very least astonished. Having good sex wasn't difficult at the end of the day, but the one between him and Adam was simply FORMIDABLE, and now that the lawyer had set aside all doubts, like when he had shamelessly provoked him right against the kitchen counter, it was only improving. He had washed the dishes and cutlery, his mind chasing the warm sensations of their last encounter. A familiar downpour had resonated over his head: Adam was taking another bath. With a sly smile, he had finished settling in and had gone on to clean himself, reluctantly removing the boy's traces from his body. However, something remained: the taste of the blood and essence of the blonde in the back of his palate. He had wandered around distracted by dirty thoughts, redressing himself with exhausting lazyness, until he had heard the sound of Adam's footsteps coming down the stairs. "You made it quick." He told him, taking the car keys from the kitchen table. "Maybe I'll sleep later.""You better" Todd smiled at him and went to meet him in the lobby: the boy smelled clean, but that was definitely not his best aroma. "Because I've got some ideas for tonight. . .""You do?" Adam had bitten his lower lip to retain his obvious appreciation. "Just for tonight?""Don't tempt me. . ." Todd had warned him, crushing him against the armored door. "Or what?"Todd had repressed his instinct to make him a certain kind of request, or else he didn't know how it would have turned out. But he was sure he would have ended up staying."I won't answer for myself" he'd kissed him on the mouth instead, holding their bodies together. Maybe not as satisfying as the other option, but it was good enough. Adam responded enthusiastically, seeking dominance as much as he did. Todd had chuckled, amused, and let himself be overpowered: when the other one took the initiative he was even more exciting. They'd made out for a long time, feeling each other up like teenagers, standing on the doorstep. In the end, the vampire had to admonish him. "Mh, enough. . . Adam, either we go all the way or you'd better stop here."The blond had stared back at him without seeing him, blinded by desire. "Okay." He had nodded, taking a step back with difficulty, panting. "If it were up to me, I'd fuck you all day, but. . .""No. You have to go." Todd had seen him return to his lawyer persona and almost got harder. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" "No, I better not show my face around much, you'll attract less attention if you go on your own: at the end of the day, it's me that bastard is looking for. . . but hurry up." Adam had joked. Valentine had studied his cerulean eyes, cursing Vernon and himself for his own stupidity. "You fucking bet I will." He had snorted, opening the door before he could change his mind. Adam had held him back by one hand, an indecipherable expression on his handsome features. "Be careful.""All right." Todd had stolen one last hot kiss from him and one grope from his butt, hard as marble stone, to fix them in his memory, reluctantly turning around to head for the car. "Lock it all up, and put that wordrobe in front of the door. . . don't open to anyone, for any reason, okay?"The blonde had nodded, remaining silent and watching him leave. The vampire had speeded down the street, towards the gas station.

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Adam had waited for Todd's car to disappear from sight, before closing the door behind him and pulling the heavy piece of beechwood in front of it. After a pause, he had also added a couple of old chairs on top of it, just to make him feel more safe. He'd returned to the upper floor, wandering aimlessly through the various rooms before stopping in the one where they had spent the night: they had left the bed half undone with the blankets partly on the floor, so he had removed them and stuffed everything in a garbage bag. There was another master bedroom with a double bed, they could have used that one. . . if they'd needed it at all.He shamefully realized that he was waiting for Todd's return anxiously, and not for the right reasons. They had fucked desperatly, Adam submitting to him as he had never done with anyone else in his life, but the truth was that the visceral need he felt for Todd was not at all due to his supernatural being. He was increasingly realizing that he would've been attracted to the man even if he'd met him at work, or at the pool: the extreme conditions in which they'd found themselves had simply paved the way, making it easier for them both to make a certain kind of decision, but that did not mean that it wouldn't have happened anyway. Biting his lower lip, he had studied the wedding band on his finger: once everything was over, what would happen? He still felt split in two, but such a situation could not last, sooner or later he would have to make a choice. He shook his head, confused: he and Todd had had a pleasant interlude, but Vernon's threat was very real and now needed all their attention. He had looked for the notes to revise them once more before putting them into practice: there were only a few hours to go before dawn, he had to avoid being excessively distracted by Todd and lose sight of the main goal.Vernon was most certainly injured, but in the end perhaps even more dangerous because of it. Adam had layed down on the single bed, concentrating deeply, but after a few minutes he had felt his eyelids getting heavy, so he had closed his eyes to regain his strength. Todd had driven without intrusion to the gas station, where he had refuelled and bought the canisters, which he had subsequently filled with gasoline. He had thought of calling Adam, preferring to leave him alone in the end (maybe he was resting). Instead, he had slipped into the small market attached to the station to grab some milk and a few other things, including a tube of lubricant that would undoubtedly prove to be useful for the night. Adam would certainly look down on him from the top of his impeccable decency, but he was quite convinced that in the end he wouldn't refuse it. He left in a serene mood, pressing on the accelerator to shorten the distance between him and the lawyer: he missed him, and that was also due to the other man's growing enthusiasm towards him, but there was also that background of anxiety that he could not ignore. Adam had reassured him several times, but he knew Vernon: his infinite ability to survive, even in the most extreme situations made him terribly nervous. Of course, the unexpected, long digression with the boy had helped to remove some of the tension, but it hadn't been enough to dispel it altogether.Todd had pressed his back against the seat, sighing: Vernon was perhaps the most painful note of his past, after Alexandra and his parents, his relationship with the lawyer was only making the differences between their lives more obvious. Adam, although had never had a man, had shown all his enthusiasm towards a pleasant discovery, while for Todd had been quite different. However, even though he itched from the desire to grab the boy and mount him on the nearest couch or on the first available surface, once returned, he could submit and leave him control . . . the idea tempted him: after all it had been a long time since he'd felt such a urgent need. He had steered to avoid a motorcyclist coming out of nowhere, shaking his head. Those kind of thoughts wouldn't have helped him to get to Adam in one piece, which was most important to him at that moment. The sense of restlessness had returned to clamp his stomach, making him grasp the steering wheel more firmly. He had accelerated, unable to restrain his primal instinct, eager to conclude the commission: once he'd had Adam in front of him and, why not, in his arms, he would certainly have reassured himself, he had no doubts.

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Adam had opened his eyes in the bedroom dim light, confused: he hadn't slept very much, something must have woken him up. . . a loud crash? Still drowsy with sleep, he had risen and descended the staircase, looking around: everything looked under control, except for. . . he had stopped in front of the main entrance. The door was wide open, the furniture and the chairs completely in fragments against the opposite wall. "What the. . . Todd?" He had called, doubtfully. Could the vampire have gotten back so soon? But it wouldn't have made sense. . . he had turned and jumped five feet in the air, terrified: Vernon was standing right before him, with a dangerous glint in his narrow eyes. "Hello, Adam." The older man had greeted him with a grim smile, apparently without any type of wound in his body. The blonde couldn't even attempt to react that the vampire had launched himself onto him, full speed, managing only in part to mitigate the counterblow that had followed from their clash. Adam had opposed to Vernon blindly, with all the strength he had in his body, kicking, punching and even biting every piece of flesh he could find. The Ancient vampire had laughed, taking the hits without particular difficulty while pushing Adam up against the wall. "Fierce and stubborn … enchanting, but useless. Now" Vernon told him, closing a hand in a vice grip on his throat. "Since our dear Todd will soon return, would you mind coming with me?" He had whispered a few centimetres from his face, smashing his skull flat against the stone wall and making him lose completely his senses.The cell-phone had started ringing in his pocket, bringing him back to reality. Todd had read the number on the display, recognising it but finding it difficult to believe his own eyes: Adam."Hello?" He had immediately answered, his hands suddenly shaking with worry. "Todd. Don't hang up, just listen to me! Vernon took the boy … the one from the haunted house.""What? Who's this?!" The vampire had exclaimed, taken aback, before connecting the voice to a face he knew far too well. "Alexandra? What the fuck are you talking about?! Why do you have Adam's phone?"The vampire had almost missed a turn and had rolled alongside the first clearing he had found to avoid sliding off the road. "I told you: Vernon took him, I couldn't do anything to stop it.""That's impossible! Adam almost killed him …""Can't you see, Todd? HE had it... he fooled us all. I know that you thought I stole it from you. . . but I never did." It had taken some seconds for the vampire to register his sister's words. "Jesus! The blood vial." Of course, it had been that damned bastard, not his sister. "I am a fucking idiot!" "There is no time for this, now: I followed Vernon through the countryside, hoping he would lead me to you. I understood what was happening only when I saw him load the boy in the car's trunk.""What did you say?""Todd, Vernon is …" "Why didn't you stop him! Alex, what the fuck …""Todd, you aren't listening to me! Vernon is completely out of control! He has. . . Dimitri's dead." "WHAT?!" "We've been keeping an eye on him for days: Axel contacted me once he realised that Vernon was losing his mind, told me about the vial with which he had healed himself. That jerk stayed hidden until he understood where to find you. He had it all planned, Todd."That bastard had fooled them the whole time, he should have known better. Shit."He wants Adam's blood. He'll kill him!" He had lashed out, striking the wheel in rage several times. "Not this time. We must stop him before he commits a mass murder, therefore listen to me: I'm still on his trail, he is going into town. I think I know where he's heading. . .""Where? Of course, right where we were thinking of smoking him out. Call me when you are in a safe hideout, I'll meet you there." The vampire had growled, before closing the conversation and reversing right back onto the road: he had everything necessary to conclude his and Adam's plan in the trunk, at least. He had to save him at all cost and give to Vernon what he'd been deserving for a very long while. It was payback time.

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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..

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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.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"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."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"I still can't believe it." Axel sighed, watching Alexandra move away in the direction of the cellar, where he had seen Vernon lock Adam up .
"Neither do I. Are you sure you want to come with me? I'd understand if you didn't. . . "
"Todd. I have as much of an unfinished business with Vernon as you and Alex now. I'd like you to see for yourself, to understand what I mean." The vampire had led him around the west side of the house, keeping a wide perimeter, until they had crossed the main road in the distance: there, in the middle of the gravel and unkempt grass, there was a big dark spot with a blackened body in the middle, curled up on himself in fetal position.
"Is that. . . ?" Todd had sensed the air being sucked from his lungs, as if a fist had suddenly hit him in middle of the chest: the corpse was completely charred, there was nothing left of the tall, slender boy he remembered.
"Dimitri." Axel had confirmed, with his arms locked tight on his chest. "It took him a long time to burn, you know. An eternity." His entire figure had been shaken by a strong tremor.
"I. . . Jesus." Todd had felt his legs give way, and he had kneeled, unable to look away from his friend's remains. The stench of fire and smoke permeated the air, increasing the feeling of suffocation in his airways. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret having saved that bastard, but today in particular. . . I should have been here, in his place, I would have deserved it."
"Don't even say that."
"You may think you know me, but years ago I was like Vernon too: I killed and slaughtered defenceless men. . ."
"None of us is without sin, each one carries his own cross, I myself have made more than a single mistake in my life, but I can guarantee one thing: you are not like him at all, Todd. Vernon is nothing but a ruthless son of a bitch. He had no right or reason to kill Dimitri, but instead took him out as if his life had been worthless."
"You're right about that, the only thing that matters to Vernon is himself, I can't really explain how could I have thought that there was some trace of humanity left in him. He's corrupt, rotten to the bone. . . I've been nothing but a fool, and we're all paying the high price. But now he'll finally have to face the consequences to his actions." The vampire had felt his jaw contract until his teeth creaked dangerously.
"We've all been fooled. Let's get this over with." Axel had followed him along a trail through the bushes to Adam's Subaru, from where they had extracted the tanks.
"Listen, I want you to know, no matter what happens, that you and Dimitri have been my family all these years." Todd, had grasped his shoulder with too much emphasis, still destabilized by the bloody sight of his friend's remains. "You're still in time to get out of here. . ."
"Fuck you, Todd!" Axel had backed out with a laugh. "You really think I could leave you here, fighting alone against Vernon, after what I've seen him do? You said it yourself, we are brothers, even if not in the literal sense, and by the way, I am much more handsome than you. I hope Alexandra's plan is airtight, because I'm not going to die today." He had added, trying to dissipate the tension.
They had moved up to the main entrance of the house, splitting before taking the path where Dimitri laid.
"Be very careful." Axel had recommended, with an unequivocal look.
"Likewise."Todd had replied, staring at his friend's ashes for the last time and heading at a fast pace towards the door.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Alexandra, just a few feet away from her brother, had heard the bell ringing at the entrance: that was the signal agreed to get into action.
She had slowly moved along the outer wall of the house, crawling towards one of the windows with grille of the cellar, agile and light as a cat, peeking inside.
The boy Vernon had kidnapped was still alive, though apparently bound to a battered bed.
She had listened carefully and heard Vernon open the main door, then an exchange of two different voices on the porch outside: Todd must have convinced him to step out and leave the path clear for her.
As gently as possible, she had inserted an elbow between the bars and pressed it against the glass of the tilt window, giving it a sharp blow and making it ruin over a pile of objects stacked immediately below.
The voices had continued their agitated argument, so she had not wasted any time and widened the thin gratings, leaning into the pertugium.
"Adam";? She had called quietly, trying to catch the younger lawyer's attention.
The blond man had stared back at her, catching her by surprise: he had already managed in part to free his hand from the ropes that held him firmly attached to the old headboard. "I'm here to rescue you." She had added, jumping with some difficulty in the dark room.
"Who are you?" He asked her, suspicious.
"My name is Alexandra and I'm. . ."
"Todd's sister!" He had interrupted her, observing the woman more attentively: her hair and intense gaze were almost identical to her brother's.
"That's right. How. . . ?"
"Is he here?" Adam had finally managed to release his left wrist with a worrying pop from the knot that kept him imprisoned.
"Yes." The vampire had ripped the other tie cleanly from the headboard, helping him to stand up: he was in a worse state than she'd previously guessed, with a black eye and several scratches on his face and arms; additionaly he seemed to have two broken fingers on one hand, judging by how dark and swollen they were. "Are you okay?"
"Kind of, where's Todd?" Adam seemed eager to know.
"He's creating a diversion with Vernon so that I can get you out of here."
"What? No!"; The blonde had launched towards the staircase that went upstairs.
"Stop, what are you doing!" Alexandra had tackled him before he drew the Elder's attention to them.
"Todd is in danger! It was Vernon's plan all along, can't you see?" The lawyer had rejected her, albeit with some difficulty.
"That bastard! I should have imagined..." the woman had growled, angered: of course, he could only have kidnapped the boy to use him as bait. "Don't worry, Todd isn't alone. We have a surprise in store for Vernon, too."
Adam had looked at her confused for a few seconds, then he had an understood: "Did you get the tanks?"
"Todd had just bought them when you were snatched, all he needs to do is lure him to the driveway and then. . ." a strong crash from upstairs had interrupted her. "Damn!"
"What's going on?"
"I knew it, that jerk is just too smart. Come on, I got to get you out of here."
"You want me to leave? No!"
"Adam. . ."
"Todd asked you to, didn't he?" The lawyer shook his head, annoyed. "You'll need my help too if you're going to kill him, he's out of control!"
"Ah, and how would you contribute?" Alexandra had walked in front of him with her arms folded. "You're fragile and completely helpless." She'd underlined the concept by pressing on one of his fractured fingers, making him shiver with pain.
"Vernon won't kill me, he needs me alive. Todd, on the other hand. . ."
"If I were you, I wouldn't be so sure, boy. I've seen him murder people for far less."
Another crash, followed by noises of obvious struggle had echoed on the first floor.
"Damn, he needs my help. I have to go."
"I'm coming with you, I know the house, I know where they are, we'll catch him from behind." Adam had moved back to the flight of stairs and this time Alexandra, although hesitant, had not stopped him.
"Fine." She had nodded, following him closely, preparing to face his creator once and for all.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Todd! I should probably say, 'what a surprise!', but that would probably sound too theatrical." The Elder one had smiled, studying the figure that was standing on the doorstep in front of him.
"Really, Vernon? That's the best you can do?" Todd had moved aside, pointing at Dimitri's charred body behind him. "WHY?"
"Ah, that. I guess you figured out who he is, though it mustn't have been easy, given his current conditions..."
"Christ, Vernon! He didn't do anything to you."
"Didn't he? Just like you?" Foley had stepped onto the porch, the wound Adam had inflicted on his neck almost nonexistent.
"I saved your life, you asshole, the least you could have done..."
"And I gave you longevity, Todd. Don't deny it, hadn't it been for me, with your lifestyle, you would've been rotting deep underground today."
"So you think we're EVEN?" Valentine almost spit out the end of the sentence, disgusted.
"Not at all. You were denying me the source of eternal life, and for what? A good laid! The boy enticed you with his skills, you let yourself be seduced by the call of his blood, and decided to keep him only to yourself, just to be able to fuck him whenever you wished." Vernon had lunged straight at him, threatening, forcing him back onto to the lawn.
"Adam is a free man, and everything that happened has nothing to do with the Immortal blood! Did Dimitri really deserve death for this?"
"Dimitri chose to turn against me, just as you did."
"Then why am I not dead yet?" Todd had challenged him, more and more enraged by their exchange.
"There was no reason." Vernon had looked at him with ill-concealed satisfaction. "Once I had the boy, I knew you'd come looking for him."
"You bastard... what did you do to him? Where is he?" Todd had pierced him with his eyes, barely holding his anger back .
"Nothing, of course. I need him in good health." The Elder one had shrugged with an annoying grin. "Too bad the same can't be said of you at this point. Now that he's here, I'll make sure he doesn't fall into the wrong hands again."
"Wrong hands!" Valentine had hit a patio crossbar so hard that the broken beams had fallen in a thunderous crash on the floor. "There couldn't be worse hands than yours, you filthy murderer!"
"I see you still think you're better than me, Todd, but all those guys you drained and were never heard of again, had families too..."
"I know that." Todd had swallowed with difficulty, his rage turning for a moment into regret. "But unlike you, I'm not proud of it."
"You're so predictable, I really couldn't tell what I thought I saw in you the day we met." Foley had watched him with open contempt. "You were discreet in bed, but nothing exceptional, and you caused me nothing but trouble."
"Christ, Vernon, I've spent years of my life believing you, letting you and your pettiness manipulate me. But you know what? This is the last time you fuck with me."
"Why, because you've come all the way up here to try to KILL ME, maybe? You, and dear Alexandra." The older vampire had caught him off guard, with an hateful smile. "You look surprised! And yet it wasn't at all difficult to notice how she was following me down the road earlier. At last, the two of you united by a common grudge..."
Shit. They hadn't planned this, yet it was typical of Vernon to produce unexpected twists and turns.
"Don't bother denying it, but I'm sure Axel's waiting for your signal in the backyard too, am I wrong?"
"What the fuck," Valentine had let slip, his sister's plan evidently gone up in smoke.
"Yes, you should have asked me about him when we talked about Dimitri, but you were always a lousy chess player anyway. Now you're all exactly where I wanted you to be."
"Son of a bitch... It was all an act!"
"Your sister has always been a thorn in my side, difficult to eradicate: she's cunning, but given the influence she has on you, I've long quenched my thirst for revenge. It wasn't easy at all, believe me." The Elder one had confessed, bitterly. "The boy is the chance I've been waiting for a very long time to get rid of this 'coven'."
"I should have left you in that goddamn fire, God help me, I don't know what the fuck was I thinking when I chose to run back to save you!"
"It's not complicated, as much as it might disgusts you to admit it right now, you LOVE me, Todd. I gave you everything you ever dreamed of: a career, acceptance for who you were, fame, money, sex... I've been a father, a confidant, a lover. And for that, even now, in spite of Dimitri, your sister, even Adam, you still revere me."
Valentine had watched Vernon in silence, the words of his creator cutting him as deep as razor blades.
"It's hard to accept, but you know better than me that I'm telling the truth, which is why, even today, you couldn't hide your true intentions from me."
"Fuck..." Todd had closed his eyes, realizing to his horror that Vernon was right about everything.
"You can't destroy me, I'm part of you, more than your sister or the boy will ever be."
"His name is ADAM, Vernon. And I'm so sorry, but now I see you for who you really are." He'd taken a step in his direction, improvising. The plan was off, he might as well take the satisfaction of landing a few hits before being overpowered. "All the people I've killed... Where were YOU? You talk about them a lot, so you had to you know... you KNEW, didn't you?"
"What would you like to hear me say, Todd? That it's not your fault, that I'm responsible? It's all your doing, not mine."
"You could have stopped me! I didn't know what the fuck was happening to me, for Christ's sake, and you let me make a goddamn bloodbath!" Valentine had planted himself inches away from the Elder one's face, shaking with rage.
"What exactly do you want me to say?" Vernon had squared him away with ill-concealed disdain. "Sure, I could have, but to be honest, I didn't care. Your transformation had never been on the agenda, as your dear sister provided to let you know."
"Yes, you only took care of me when you realized you could use me..." Todd had felt his hands snap shut in two fists. He was about to lose his temper.
"You were out of control, the only other option would have been to kill you, and in retrospect, I should have, even though then, I would've never met ADAM."
"You fucking worm... why don't you go ahead and try?" Todd had challenged him. If he was going to fall, he was going to fall fighting, and so he did what he was supposed to do best, get into action. Letting go every pretense of civility, he hurled himself with all the force he had on Vernon, causing him to fall to the ground beyond the door frame, into the house. He had to gain time, at least to allow Alexandra and Adam to escape, everything else no longer mattered.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Stay back" Alexandra had intimated, getting past Adam and slowly opening the door that led from the basement to the corridor. "I don't see anyone..."
A loud crash, followed by fighting noises and broken glass was heard from the living room, causing both of them to start.
"Damn! We should've had free way into the house by now, with Vernon stuck in the yard, but with the plan blown... Todd will never manage to overcome that bastard on his own!"
"I'm sorry, didn't you say someone was helping him?" The blond man had interrupted the vampire, bewildered.
"Yes, Axel was hiding out by the bushes, waiting for a signal, but at this point I'm afraid my brother didn't..."
"You've got to be kidding me! Vernon will KILL Todd, he's been very clear about it, we can't just leave him here!"
"I know, Adam, but that jerk is not easy to take down. If he attacked my brother, he might have anticipated our every move, not to mention I promised I'd get you-" A chair had flown through the lobby and smashed into the wall a few feet away from them. "Jesus!"
"Look, as I've already explained to you, Vernon has no interest in hurting me right now, which cannot be said about Todd. I know what he asked you to do, but you know better than me he won't make it out alive without your intervention."
Alexandra had looked towards the salon, conflicted: it was undeniable, the boy was right. Her brother, for the first time in a long while, needed her.
"Swear to me that you'll stand aside and run as soon as you get the chance, or I'll be the first in line to bust that stone head of yours."
"All right." The lawyer had nodded, while another deafening racket of furniture covered both their voices.
Together, they had crawled as quietly as possible along the corridor wall to the living room: Todd and Vernon had pulverized the piano, two cabinets and several knick-knacks, during their fierce struggle for dominance.
The Elder one seemed to have cornered Valentine by pinning him against a heavy wardrobe, his hands clamped tightly around his throat.
"What are you going to do, Vernon, strangle me to death?" Todd had snickered, a trickle of blood dripping from his ears and one side of his mouth.
"Oh, you won't die, not until I've ripped your dear sister's body to shreds so tiny you'll hardly recognize them."
"Unlikely" the younger one had snorted. "Alex has almost managed to off you once, she'll be more than happy to try again."
"I sure will" Alexandra had entered the salon, her dark irises sparkling with a sinister glow.
"Ah, the siblings reunited, at last!" The older vampire had lifted his gaze upon her, never releasing his grip on Todd.
"Enough, Vernon, let him go."
"No one will come to save you this time. You're DONE." Valentine had grabbed his wrist, squeezing until he felt the bones break. Foley had taken the hit without giving up an inch, staring at the two, contemptuous.
"You're a fool if you think you can overpower me. As I have created you, I can destroy you, with a snap of my fingers."
"Unless I crush them one by one." Todd had increased the violence of the hold around his hand, noting with pleasure that the Elder one had failed to hide an almost imperceptible grimace of agony.
"I must say, I didn't think you could do any worse, Vernon, but there's no limit to the horrors you can spread. You're a revolting monster, but rest assured we won't let you disappear with the boy, not after what you did to Dimitri."
"Oh, but that's exactly what's going to happen, my dear girl. You, your brother and that Judas Axel will rot in a line beside your friend's remains." Vernon had snapped his teeth, and never more than then had he shown himself for the bloodthirsty demon he was. "And the boy will stay with me as long as I see fit... or find him USEFUL."
Todd's face had contracted into an almost beastly expression. His attention had shifted from his creator to Alexandra, and nothing else than the look in his eyes had been needed to make her understand what was about to happen.
Valentine had kneed the older vampire's side so quickly that he hadn't had the time to prepare to absorb the blow: his ribs had shattered with a deafening sound, causing him to collapse on the floor, panting. Todd had increased the damage by hitting him in the face with a kick that would have smashed the skull of any other living being. Alexandra had ran to his aid, using all the strength in her body to keep Vernon locked to the ground.
"Get out of here and find Axel, we'll burn the whole house down if we have to!"
"Are you sure?" Todd had looked at her with respect but also fear.
"Christ, yes, and hurry up!" His sister had pushed him towards the corridor, where, unexpectedly, Adam was coming up armed with an heavy shovel.
"Todd!" He'd exclaimed, letting it fall to the ground when the vampire had embraced him out of the blue. "Are you okay?"
"I should be asking you! What the fuck are you still doing here, you should have run!"
"I couldn't-"
"Adam, you can't worry about us all, right now, just think of yourself and your FAMILY." Valentine had grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.
"But I don't..." the lawyer had been interrupted by the sudden clamour of Alexandra's lifeless body, thrown at a short distance from the back of Todd's neck, against the French window on the other side of the house.
"ALEX!" The words had come out like a choked scream from the vampire's throat, while an only partially battered Vernon had appeared before them, his face a twisted mask of hatred and death.
"Holy shit" Adam had exhaled behind Todd, appalled.
Todd had immediately stood between him and his Creator with his fists clenched, his gaze partly turned to where his sister had disappeared from sight.
"Get out of my way if you don't want me to end you." The Elder one had warned him, eloquently.
"No, Vernon, YOU step aside or I can promise you will not walk away."
"Oh, will you face me, alone, with Alexandra out of the equation, as helpless as the boy you so stubbornly insist on protecting?"
The blond man had guessed the implication of Vernon's words at the same time as Valentine, and immediately locked his eyes to him, seeing his face morph into an expression of sheer contempt.
"YOU..." Todd had grabbed him by the lapel of his shirt and lifted him at least three feet off the ground. Vernon laughed and broke his right forearm without apparent effort, then hit him in the sternum with superhuman force, knocking him straight to the ground.
Adam had searched for the shovel, almost tripping over it, and had retreated to the other side of the corridor, shaking with fear.
"Did you really think you could get away, Mr. Walsh? There's only country for miles beyond that door, and even if you'd reached your car, you wouldn't have gotten very far." Vernon took one look at Valentine, who was on the ground, sidelined by his wounds. "Now who's going to fight your battles?"
The lawyer had scanned desperately around him, still backing away, knowing the weapon in his hands was more than useless against the demon in front of him. He had suddenly found himself on the threshold of the master bedroom, where he and Cleo had slept together several nights before the ghostly manifestations became unmanageable, and which now evidently belonged to Foley, at least judging by the furnishing inside.
The ghosts... now that he was no longer locked in the basement, he could sense their threatening presence in the air. Something intangible had moved behind the corner of his right eye and he had taken a deep breath and entered the room, waiting.
Vernon was immediately upon him, taking advantage of his momentary distraction to rip the shovel out of his hands and grab him by one arm. He had sunk his razor-sharp teeth into his flesh, making him scream, the dresser to their left responding to Adam's presence by beginning to shake as if under a strong earthquake.
"Ah, your pathetic little spirits," the older vampire had mocked him, letting him go, while the bones that Todd had broken in his wrist welded back in their place. "So what am I supposed to do with you? I warned you what would happen if you didn't submit..."
Fuck. "Go to hell." Adam's voice trembled, and he didn't have an ounce of the confidence he was flaunting, but one thing was more than obvious: he couldn't let a creep like Vernon have the power to regenerate at will, whatever the cost.
"So what are you going to do, kill yourself, maybe?" The Elder one had shook his head, amused. "You're not a hero, Mr. Walsh, I can smell your dread from here."
"I never pretended to be." On the contrary, he was about to shit his pants, he was anything but reckless, but if no one could help him, he had to fend for himself. He'd pulled out a rusty old knife he'd stolen earlier from the closet and pressed it at his neck. "Stay back."
Foley had stared at him for a moment, frowning. "What nonsense. Put it down."
"No."
"You really are a disappointment, Mr. Walsh. Did you really think I could fall for such a foolish trap?" He'd grasped Adam's crippled hand and had squeezed his fractured fingers to underline his words. A ceramic vase had exploded in a loud warning behind them.
'This is it,' Adam had thought, trying to overcome the pain in the offended hand. Vernon had twisted his elbow, forcing him to drop the knife with a raging scream.
"You lost. Soon Todd will be just a distant memory, and if you don't want your family to end up like him, I suggest you to be more reasonable than that."
Adam had stared at the vampire's dark, malevolent eyes; he had looked far past him at the huge wall shelf as it got unhinged by the spirits from its studs: it was ancient, heavy and with a metal soul, perfect for a desperate attempt. He had taken a deep breath and thrown himself at it with all the strength in his body, taking Vernon along with him. The furniture had collapsed on them in a thundering clash, alongside part of the plaster of the wall behind.
Silence had fallen for a long time on the room, while the dust and rubble settled in the air.
Suddenly, an arm had emerged from under the wreckage, removing the massive planks with little difficulty, before pulling out the unconscious blond boy with an irritated sound.
Foley had just had time to caress the idea of breaking Adam's spine, just as he had threatened to do, when someone had quickly slashed his throat with a clean cut: he had turned around, looking incredulously at the blood gushing out of his wound, and on the doorstep was Todd, holding the blade that Adam had lost during the fight.
Vernon had collapsed to the ground, furious, the cut so deep that he could hardly heal despite the protection of the boy's magical blood.
"Don't thank me, I'm not finished yet." Valentine had plunged the blade into his throat, with a sound of pure satisfaction, and only when Vernon had quit moving he rushed to where the lawyer laid unconscious to help him.
"What happened?" the blonde had questioned, confused.
"You threw a bookcase on yourself to kick that asshole's butt. Try to hold still, you're in pretty bad shape." The vampire had smiled at him in awe. "And I thought I had to protect you!"
"Yes, and look at me now... is he dead?" Adam asked, casting a reverse glance at the Elder one's lifeless body.
"I wish he was, but no. However badly I stabbed him, the knife surely wasn't made of silver, and with your blood in his body, I don't know how long he'll be out. We must find a way to reach to Axel, because I have no intention of leaving you alone with him."
"Do you think Alexandra is...?"
"I don't know. I haven't... as soon as I got up, I ran to you." Todd had eyed the door, thinking about how he'd witnessed his sister fall.
"I get it. Are you okay? Do you need blood? Your arm..." Adam had peeked at it, worried.
Valentine had looked back at him, with a somber smile. "No, I'm still in one piece, more or less."
"Todd. I survived Vernon and a wall collapse. You're not going to kill me." Adam had presented him with his arm, where Foley had bitten him a few minutes earlier.
"Forget about it."
"Why do you always have to be so stubborn-"
"What the HELL happened in here?!" A voice had cried above their heads, making them gasp.
"ALEX!" Todd had jumped up in a split second."Are you... you're fine, thank God." He'd taken his sister in his arms, relieved.
"Yeah, but try to be gentle, I think I have misplaced a few discs." She'd backed out, embarrassed. "So, er, what... what happened to Vernon?"
"Ah." Todd had looked smugly in the direction where their Maker laid. "I'll explain later, first we have to burn him once and for all, or we'll have him on us in no time. Can you help me get him out to the patio?"
"Of course." Alexandra had kneeled down to assist him. "And the boy?"
"ADAM is hurt. He'll stay here until this is over. Do you think you can handle the ghosts alone for a few minutes?" Todd went back to bend over his lover, who was unsuccessfully trying to turn into some sort of safe position.
"All right... but be careful."
"Of course." Todd had stroked one side of his face, watching him silently. Adam had sensed from his expression that he wished he could tell him a lot more, and he'd leaned slightly forward in a silent invitation. They had kissed without restraint on the lips, both of their minds going back to the moments they had shared in those few days together.
"Um, we should get to work before he wakes up... I'll get him by his feet." Alexandra had looked away, clearly uncomfortable.
"Yeah. See you later." Valentine had winked at his lover, reluctantly letting him go, disappearing with Vernon's still body in the corridor.
Adam just stood there, suddenly overwhelmed by the strong metallic smell of curdled blood mixed with dust and sweat. His head had begun to pulsate, and he'd found himself in need to close his eyes for the sudden sense of dizziness that the recoil must have caused him: he knew he couldn't fall asleep after such a blunt trauma, but the call of darkness was too strong and he was too exhausted to resist, so he'd let himself slip into oblivion with open arms, abandoning himself completely to a restless sleep.

He had reopened his eyes after an indeterminate period of time, confused: he felt as if something had snatched him from his rest, yet the reason escaped him, in the same way as the ability, at the moment, to form a single coherent thought.
The pain in his head had worsened: it now seemed as if a line of fire was splitting his skull in two, his brain pulsing in a vain attempt to get out of its case. The fractured hand was sending shocks up to his shoulder and laid unnaturally bent against his stomach. His vision was blurred and his ears were ringing, which was probably the reason it had taken him several minutes before he'd been capable to distinguish the sound that continued to disturb his sleep: a repeated and constant buzz that seemed to come from far away from where he was.
Squeaks.
Noises.
SCREAMS.
Adam's cerulean eyes had widened into the half-light of the bedroom, just in time to see one of Vernon's many items fall to the ground in an explosion of shards.
"Where... Todd?" He had slurred in a mixed voice, as the fog had finally began to dissipate from his mind.
He'd listened to his own uneven breathing, in silence, until the clatter that had pulled him out of the darkness made its way back through the corridors and meanders of his old house.
SCREAMS.
'What's going on...?' His gray matter had stumbled to put the pieces together, spinning like a pinball through all the events of the last two days, until the clear memory of Todd greeting him and telling him not to move had surfaced, like the wreckage of a ship that had long wondered across the ocean.
Todd.
SCREAMS.
"Jesus Christ" he had exhaled, unable to think, at that point: something terrible was happening in the yard, where Todd and Alexandra were supposed to burn Vernon.
'Get up!' He had urged himself, and had had to repeat the concept several times to make it work, until he'd gotten first on all fours, then on his feet, risking to collapse unconscious on the ground once he'd realized that his left ankle must also have gotten seriously twisted, if not fractured.
He had staggered down the long hallway to the entrance, supporting himself with the shovel he had found abandoned under a pile of debris from the now destroyed bookcase. The front door was still wide open, and the scene before him was almost apocalyptic.
Alexandra was screaming with all the strenght in her body, her left arm, still clutching a fuel can, hanging like a helpless stump, tied to the rest of her body only by a few strands of flesh. What must have been Axel laid literally ripped into two separate parts on either side of the driveway, while Todd was desperately trying to contain the murderous fury of his Creator to save his own sister.
"What the fuck... happened...?" Adam had cried, upset, before turning around and hiding away in a corner of the living room. A sudden dizziness had threatened to make him lose his senses, but he'd stuck with all the will he had left to stand on his feet.
Vernon must have woken up earlier than expected, and caught them off guard. If they still had to set him on fire, he must not have been out of the game for a long time.
He'd moved behind the doorway, studying the situation: Vernon had managed to break free from Todd's grip and thrown him like a rag doll to the farthest side of the yard, hurling himself with impressive agility at Alexandra, severing the femur of one of her legs. The girl had fallen hard on the grass, spilling most of the gasoline on herself.
Vernon had laughed with gusto, holding her down with one foot planted on her chest; "At last, my dear. Now I can repay you the favor with the same coin..."
"DON'T YOU DARE, VERNON!" Todd had rolled over the older man like a train, hitting him in the face with a big boulder and dragging him by the hair away from her.
Adam had seen his chance and seized the opportunity before he could miss it: he had thrown the shovel away and staggered in the direction of the girl as fast as he could, collapsing at her side and lauching on the tank she still held between her fingers, trying to break it free from her grasp.
"What are you doing?" She'd asked him, her gaze half blinded by the tears caused by intense pain.
"I don't know," the lawyer had admitted, succeeding after several attempts at his intent.
Alexandra had held him with the only functioning arm she had left:
"The lighter is... it fell right next to Axel."
"All right. Here, drink and go get it, I'm gonna douse that motherfucker in this." He'd intimated, shoving his wrist in her face.
"Adam..."
"I don't think we have another choice! Is Axel dead?"
"Yeah... he... WATCH OUT!" Todd's sister had warned him with a scream of sheer terror, but it was too late: something as hard as concrete had hit Adam across the ribcage, knocking him away from her.
He'd sprawled out on the grass, breathless, his lungs burning as if they were about to burst. He had blinked, dazed: Vernon had his back to him, a few yards ahead, bent over Alexandra.
"NO!" He had screamed with the little air he had left, clutching himself for the consequent stabbing pain in his chest, but luckily Todd was already coming to their rescue, picking up the dropped canister and spilling what was left of the contents on his Maker.
Foley had growled, furious, his anger focused on Valentine again: "What do you think you're doing, Todd? You're one step closer to the end, now."
"I know."
Adam had swallowed a lump of saliva mixed with blood, utterly distressed at hearing the vampire's voice crack.
"We probably never stood a single chance against you, but I will never let you kill them, do you understand? Not until I'm able to try and stop you."
Alexandra had shouted something incomprehensible, but the sentence broke in sobs when the older vampire took a violent blow to the figure of Valentine, who curled up on himself before falling to the ground.
"TODD!" Adam had called at the same time of his sister, feeling sick: Vernon was really obliterating them, one after the other, inexorable and indestructible as the most ruthless of killers.
It was really the end, and his wife and daughters, what would become of them? He had turned his eyes sideways in search of any help the earth could offer him... and then he saw, not far away, among the remains of Axel's body, the outline of the lighter.
He had stood motionless for what had seemed an eternity, while the sense of what he was looking at penetrated slowly into his brain and gave him the strength to lift himself just enough to grasp it and light it on no less than the first attempt.
The flame had flashed like a spark of hope before his cerulean eyes, and before he could realize it he was calling Vernon's name at the top of his lungs, to look him in the face as he hurled death at him.
Only one moment, and tongues of fire had wrapped Foley's body in a splendid blaze of bright colours, consuming first his clothes, then the layers of skin, making them crackle and wither like leaves in an autumn stake.
The Elder one had screamed inhumanly, writhing in an absurd attempt to extinguish his decaying body, but his eyes, those had remained intact and had pierced Adam with supernatural hatred. He had snapped a withered hand around the boy's foot, locking him in a fatal grip, searing his skin and making it impossible for him to escape.
Alexandra had shouted his name, trying to crawl towards him to help him, but Vernon was already wrapping him in a fierce embrace in an attempt to steal the blood that would tear him from death.
Adam had closed his eyes and surrendered to the horror in front of him, reeking of burnt flesh and fuel, waiting for the inevitable epilogue, when something had come at full speed at them, tackling Vernon to the ground on his left. He had turned to look and noticed another figure also surrounded by flames, two amber-colored eyes crossing his gaze, then everything had gone dark again, as he'd lost consciousness for good.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

He had drfited between consciousness and a restless sleep for a very long time, amidst the comings and goings of white coats and sounds of medical instruments. He had been tortured by a long series of tools, hands, unfamiliar voices, until, finally, one late afternoon, he had opened his eyes and indistinctly seen a modular ceiling of neutral colours.
His wife had fallen asleep on a chair next to his bed, therefore it had taken him some time to realize he had one leg locked in a brace, the fingers of one hand heavily bandaged, and his left arm pierced by a long needle attached to an half empty IV.
He had never felt so confused and helpless in his life: his eyelids were so heavy that he could barely hold them ajar, as he tried to absorb informations from the world around him.
Thinking seemed to be an insurmountable task, and his thoughts clashed in perpetual motion in his brain, making his ideas even less clear.
'Where... what...' words returned in a continuous mantra, names suddenly appeared only to get lost in an endless wave of quotations unknown to him, and it had taken superhuman effort to spell out, first silently, then discernibly, a sort of statement in the direction of his wife.
Cleo had woken up with a start, her attention immediately on him, an expression of pure relief radiating rapidly over her tired face, mirroring his own, which could not be more bewildered.
"Hey, honey" she had told him, putting her hand on his only intact arm. "Do you know where you are? Who am I?"
"Hmm" he had managed to mumble, with a vague nod of his head. "Hospital?" He had then added after a long pause, the word struggling to fall out of his mouth.
"Yes! Yes... they found you... how do you feel?" Cleo had watched him anxiously, keeping her voice thoughtfully low.
"I..." Adam had returned to study his body, abandoned in bed, as if it were a stranger's.
"You have a bad sprain and fractured fingers... can you breathe?"
He looked at her as if she were speaking in a foreign language: he could not grasp the reason for such a question until he tried to clear his voice and his entire chest contracted into an excruciating spasm.
He had remained motionless, trying to channel air into his lungs which seemed to have become as hard as concrete, but his muscles did everything but cooperate, as if they had developed their own stream of consciousness.
"Your ribs are cracked, honey. Try to breathe a little at a time. The doctor had to intubate you for a couple days... you almost punctured your lungs."
"DAYS?" Adam repeated, in shock, sobbing as he finally managed to swallow a few gasps of air.
His throat burned as if he'd just eaten a handful of shards.
"You've been here almost a week now, they've given you lots of medicines to make you sleep... you've had a severe concussion. We've been quite worried, but since yesterday you've started to get better." Cleo stared at him with tears in her eyes, her lower lip trembling like it always did when she was about to burst into tears.
Adam had squeezed her cold fingers between his in a familiar gesture of comfort. She looked at him and smiled.
"Do you remember what happened?" She asked, uncertain.
Adam had looked back at her with an empty, questioning look. 'What happened?' His brain had managed to formulate coherently, even though he didn't know the answer.
Something dark and unpleasant had stirred in the depths of his mind: feelings of terror, anxiety and anger, twisted images of faces and bodies surging back from his memory; a shovel, a lighter, and finally the disgusting, revolting smell of burnt flesh, which had caused him to shiver from head to toe.
"It's all right, stay with me." His wife had reassured him, but he was already stuck in another reality, one made of grass, pools of blood and the stench of ignited gas.
"Honey, calm down!"
But the tremor had only exponentially grown, risking to make him fall out of bed, while two malevolent eyes stared at him from the center of a fireball like scorching daggers.
Nurses had rushed into the room to intervene, but all he had been able to see were hands stretched out towards him, clasping him firmly to the ground, then the metallic scent of blood had made him so nauseated that he had almost retched.
Cleo had cried hurriedly, a thousand miles away from him, and the nurses must have increased his dose of sedative, for he had immediately felt himself lifted upwards, away from the infernal scene that surrounded him, to another voice, more masculine and stentorous, asking him how he preferred his eggs.
'Scrambled' he replied, before losing consciousness completely, falling back into a dreamless sleep.This had continued throughout the following week, his memory coming and going in flashes, overlapping sporadically with the waking and sleeping states that were timed by the medications he was being administered.
As the days went by, he had begun to talk again and be able to hold up a good conversation, but it would still take a long time for him to fully recover.
"Are you sure?" The Chief doctor asked him, unimpressed, at his request to try and reconsider the dosage of the painkillers. "The ribs..."
"They hurt, but all I do is pretty much sleep. I just... I just want to be able to think." He explained, frustrated, since, even though he'd by now recovered most of his memories of his fight with Vernon, there were still so many dark spots that he couldn't place.
"We'll give it a try, after all, you're young and in good shape, despite what happened to you." The doctor sighed, shaking his head. "But should you have any problems, you must contact a nurse immediately."
"All right." Adam nodded, watching him scribble something on his chart, before vanishing into the maze of corridors outside his room.
He still had a long way to go.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The following weekend, right after lunch, his wife had kissed him goodbye to go back home, tucking him carefully in before leaving.
Adam had dozed off, tired from the effort of trying to get out of bed and take a little walk on a crutch: he felt as if he had ran a marathon, even though he must have managed only a few steps.
Something had startled him awaken, perhaps the creaking of the door or the sound the visitors chair always did when his wife sat on it, but when he had half-opened his eyes, he'd jumped, caught off guard.
"What...?" He'd mumbled, groggily, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Alexandra?"
"Hello, Adam." She nodded, confirming she was in flesh and blood by placing her hand on his still heavily bandaged one.
They had studied each other in silence for a few moments, their eyes filled with questions they couldn't voice.
"How are you?" She'd finally asked him, pointing to the obviously injured parts of his body.
"Fine." The lawyer had cleared his voice, shaking from his initial state of shock. "Fractures aside, at least."
"Yes, I can see that."
"You too. I mean, your arm... and your leg! Weren't they...?"
"As you can see, they're back where they belong, thanks to your blood, in fact." She'd smiled, vaguely embarrassed. "Not that I took it from you without asking, of course! It was kind of already, erm, AVAILABLE, so..."
"Where's Todd?" The blond man had interjected, piercing her with his cerulean stare. He didn't know her well at all, but it was clear she was stalling. "What about Vernon?"
"Vernon's DEAD, Adam. He burned in the fire that..." She''d stopped, without looking him in the face.
"'What? What aren't you telling me? Is Todd okay? Where is he?!"
"Adam, what do you remember about that day?" Alexandra eyed him almost reticently.
"I know Vernon broke into the house we were hiding in, kidnapped me, then you showed up and set me free... it's all a blur after that. There was a struggle, and I have these flashes of... blood-filled land, and flames..."
"Is that all?" Alex had pressed him, slipping on the edge of the chair like she was hanging onto his every word.
Adam had shrugged, unleashing a strong, painful twitch to the sides of his chest.
"Yes." He'd admitted, angry at himself for not being able to focus better. "I mean, no. I don't know, I can't..." He took a long breath, realizing he was hyperventilating again.
"I want to know what happened."
"All right, I'll tell you." The woman had ran her hands over her face, and only then did the lawyer realize she was crying.
"Todd... is DEAD, Adam."
Adam had stood still like a stone as he absorbed the overwhelming weight of that sentence, the silence broken only by the incessant sound of the monitor picking up his vitals.
DEAD.
'What the fuck are you talking about!' He wanted to scream at her, but he didn't, because he knew it was true.
It had to be, because otherwise there would have been his lover sitting in front of him instead of her, and at that moment, at that very moment, something inside of him had irreparably crumpled, until almost snapping his soul in two.
"Tell me how." He had heard himself demand in a foreign tone, as if he were floating outside his own body.
Todd was DEAD.
"I believe you remember Vernon had been knocked out in his room... I think you somehow managed to overturn a bookcase or something on him, and then Todd stabbed him in the neck. We were supposed to take him out to the yard, call Axel, who had the tanks, and set him on fire, but we never did. He just... Vernon regained consciousness almost immediately and decimated us in mere seconds. He took Axel and literally dismembered him with his bare hands. I don't even... I've never seen him do anything like that before." Alexandra had swallowed with difficulty, hallucinated.
"In the struggle, the first tank had spilled on Axel, so Vernon, once the deed was done, burned his remains. It all happened in an instant. We couldn't even react." She had repressed a hiccup, evidently in conflict with herself.
"Todd figured out what was going on before I did, and told me to run for the other can, but Vernon was ahead of us, and he tore my arm off before I could do anything. Then you came along..."
"Yes." That point was one of Adam's most clear memories. "Todd was keeping him busy, and I went for the lighter, but then I fell..."
"You didn't fall, it was Vernon who cast you back at least two feet. I thought he broke your neck." The girl shook her head. "Instead you ended up landing right next to the lighter, and you set him on fire."
'Of course' Adam thought: the smell of fuel and burnt flesh, the blazing embers staring vengefully at him... yet something important was still missing.
"Todd!" He'd made the terrible realisation, searching for Alexandra's eyes, so similar to his brother's. Eyes that had looked at him through the flames one last time.
"Yes."
"But why... WHY didn't he take my blood?! I was only a few steps away from him..."
"He couldn't. He chose to... keep Vernon pinned to the ground, because..."
"Because he was trying to get to me, and if he did, he'd heal himself, and then we would've been screwed." The boy closed his eyes, trying to stop the cascade of tears that began to sting the back of his lids.
"That's how it is." Alexandra had confirmed, watching him in silence. "He sacrificed himself for us, Adam. By the time that bastard finally quitted fighting, it was too late for my brother."
The blond man had nodded, more to himself than to her, the only undamaged hand he had left clawing around the sheet covering him, to hold onto something solid as an immense black chasm of anger, helplessness and immense pain opened up before him.
He had brought the bandaged arm to his chest, the pain in his cracked ribs suddenly coming back, and it had taken him a long time to realize that what was actually inflicting the most pain was the part of him that had had feelings for Todd, the part that was now leaving him to split into microscopic fragments of the moments they had shared together.
It was atrocious agony, loss, despair and guilt for not being able to do anything to help him. 'Why the hell did you have to be so selfless?' He thought, devastated.
"I had the same reaction as you, you know." Alexandra had clasped him by the shoulder, conciliatory. "I couldn't understand at first how he could make such a decision! But at the end of the day, Todd was like that, and looking at you now, I think I can see why. I haven't always been a good sister, you know. Quite the opposite, I'd say..."
"Yeah, he told me about it."
"Really?" The vampire girl had seemed surprised, to say the least.
"In part." Adam had shrugged, returning with his memory to the conversation of that day, and what Todd had told him about his life as a normal human being. "I think he was sorry in his heart for the way things had gone between the two of you."
"We never really got along, and after what I did to him and my transformation..."
"Alex, I don't really know you, but I'm positive that Todd didn't hate you, and above all, didn't blame you for Vernon's actions. He was a lot smarter than that.
"Damn," the vampire girl had squared him, impressed. "You'll have to excuse me, for a moment there, I thought I heard my father speak again. Our parents have been dead for years, though, and because of me, Todd didn't even get to say goodbye." She'd looked down, taking a remote look. "He didn't deserve it. I was so vindictive and mean to him..."
"Listen to me. Vernon was not only a manipulative son of a bitch, but rotten to the core, and yet Todd was able to get over what he had done to him, what he had done to you both, and decide that he still deserved a second chance. That's certainly not for everyone, and it's for the same reason that I'm sure he got over everything bad that had happened between the two of you."
"That's... Gosh, Adam, this may sound silly, but you've hit the nail on the head. You know, when I saw Todd act all concerned about you, I was confused, I couldn't understand how... I never really understood how he could have such tendences, to be honest. He dated a lot of different men, even married ones, and then Vernon came along. I thought he did certain things out of rebellion, even contempt, it was a slap in the face to our parents, our family values, and that was why I was always mad at him. Then I saw you together, what you were willing to do for each other, and it was undeniable: Todd had never cared so much for anyone before, and I'm pretty sure, looking at you now, that it wasn't much different for you."
"I don't..." Adam had started, shaking his head, but stopped halfway through the sentence once he'd realised that despite Cleo, despite his daughters, he had faced Death and Vernon with his arms wide open for a specific reason: Todd.
"One of the few things I remembered, after waking up, is still haunting me." He'd confessed, looking away from Alexandra.
"He looked at me... while struggling with Vernon in the fire. Todd looked right at ME. And I can't help but thinking that the whole time we were together, we never talked about..." they had chosen not to think about the consequences, what would happen once Vernon had been gone, the inevitable choice Adam would have to make between his family and Todd.
And he would've had to make that decision in the end, he was more than certain, now. If only Todd hadn't...
"There was no need to talk about it, Adam. You just answered yourself." He'd heard Alexandra's voice coming from far away, like through a soundproof wall. "There's another reason why I came here today."
"I don't understand." The blond man had regained his composure, abandoning for an instant the unstoppable flow of memories.
"The secret of your blood. I'm the only one left who knows what you are." The vampire girl had smiled, sadly. "And I'll do what I'm sure Todd would have wanted me to: I won't tell anyone."
"I... I don't know what to say." Adam had just stared at her, speechless.
"You don't have to say anything. It's what he would have wanted." She'd shrugged, turning to the hallway where they were starting to set the carts up for the lunch.
"I think I'd better go." She'd apologized, standing up. "I don't think we'll see each other again, Adam... as tempting as your blood of Immortality may be, that's not why I originally decided to be turned into a Vampire. Nor to spite Todd, for that matter."
The lawyer had watched her move to the door, quietly.
"Are you gonna be okay?" He'd asked her, noticing how, despite her determined words, she too was absorbed in her own dark thoughts.
"Probably, yes, in a while... I've always managed to somehow get through." She had nodded with a long, heavy sigh.
"I have the feeling you will, as well. Goodbye, Adam. Good luck." She gave him one last, quick look before exiting from his life once and for all.
"Goodbye." The blond man had replied to the now empty room, letting the last fragment that kept him connected to Todd and all the feelings he had had for him be painfully buried in his soul, locking them away and guarding them in a corner of his soul where he knew he would never forget them. "Goodbye." END