Sire Bond (The Vision)
Sequel to Sire (The Vampire Rules)
Chapter 1
Errand Interruptus
Elijah Mikaelson surveyed his bedroom searching for his manservant, and his clothes. He found neither. Having recently emerged from a hot shower, the vampire king wore only a towel covering from his hips to the tops of his thighs. He felt quite undignified.
"Trevor!" He called out, trying to keep his voice below a bellow. There was no reply. After another moment, he heard someone moving towards the closed door of the room. "Finally," he muttered. The door opened, but instead of Trevor, it was his wife Haley who entered.
"What's wrong?" She asked, having heard the irritation in his voice. Before her husband answered, she realized he was standing before her with almost nothing on. Her concern was quickly replaced with lust.
Elijah recognized the look in her eyes and a smile played upon his lips. He let the spark which had ignited between them linger and then answered her inquiry. "Nothing's wrong, except that Trevor has yet to return from the dry cleaners with my suits and I am unable to get dressed."
Hayley closed the door behind her and pushed in the lock on the doorknob. No one would dare enter their Sire's bedroom without knocking, but she didn't want to take any chances. She contemplated if she should remind him that he had a huge closet full of clothes, including many suits that looked just like the ones Trevor was to return with. Instead, she walked slowly towards him, reminding him of a wolf stalking its prey. "Well personally, I don't think you minus your clothes is a problem at all," she stated.
Elijah smiled and took her into his strong arms. "It's not a problem anymore, except perhaps for Trevor when he returns." Hayley reached down and loosened his towel with one hand. It fell silently to the floor.
"Did he say what kind of danger? Marcel Girard asked his brother-in-law Niklaus Mikaelson, referring to a strange phone call Klaus had just completed with Trevor, the personal servant to their king.
"No, he just said Elijah was in danger and he needed to see me here right away," Klaus replied.
"Why didn't he want you to meet him at the compound? Marcel wondered out loud. "Why here at the warehouse?"
The warehouse was a property Marcel had acquired years earlier when he was ruling the vampires in New Orleans. Currently, it was the vampire hangout and party pad. Since their Sire was now married with a baby in the house, he had commanded that any partying take place away from the family compound. Marcel did still live there, with his wife Rebekah Mikaelson, but spent a lot of time at the warehouse with his day and night walkers.
"Let's ask him," Klaus replied to Marcel's inquiry, as the vampire in question hurried in carrying what looked like dry cleaning.
Trevor tossed the suits onto a nearby chair, not even thinking about how wrinkled they would become. He was too distracted by what he had witnessed while walking away from the dry cleaning store.
"My Lord," he addressed Klaus with a quick bow of his head. "Thank you for meeting me here so quickly."
"Never mind the formalities, Trevor," Klaus directed. "Just tell me what's got you in such a state. What's this danger you spoke of?"
"Not what; who."
"Well then who," Marcel questioned. "And how could they be a danger to Our Sire?"
"His name is Tristan DuMartel," Trevor began to tell the tale to Klaus. "He was sired by my Lord Kol after you came to America."
"I've never heard of him," Klaus commented.
"Have you ever heard of 'Sire Bond Sickness'?" Trevor inquired.
"Yes, but it's very rare," Klaus replied.
"What's that?" Marcel asked, unfamiliar with the condition himself.
Trevor looked at him and explained. "When a vampire sires another there is a bond, with the progeny feeling loyalty to the sire."
Marcel nodded his head. "Right, that's normal."
Trevor continued. "But with this sickness, the sired vampire has an unnaturally strong bond to his master. So strong, in fact, that it becomes an obsession. That vampire will do anything to be near his sire, and to ensure no one else has a closer position."
"You sound like you have personal experience dealing with this DuMartel character," Klaus commented. "But why would he see you as a threat to his relationship with Kol, since I sired you?"
Trevor shook his head. "No, not my Lord Kol; this might be the first case of Sire Bond Sickness skipping a generation…"
"Ah," Klaus interrupted. "His obsession was with Elijah."
"Yes, and his behavior towards Our Sire, and everyone close to him including myself, was unstable and threatening. Finally, Sire had enough and banished Tristan. He was told to never come within a hundred miles of where we were again."
"Why didn't Sire just kill him?" Marcel asked.
"He felt sorry for him," Trevor replied. "He said Tristan was ill and it wasn't his fault. But now he is here, in New Orleans. And if he is willing to risk Our Sire's wrath he must be up to something nefarious."
"Or he doesn't know Elijah is here," Klaus offered another explanation. Then he asked, "Why didn't you go straight to my brother and tell him of DuMartel's presence?"
"Because he won't recognize that Tristan poses a threat to him personally, he never has," Trevor reluctantly replied, feeling somewhat disloyal to his king.
Klaus wondered if Trevor wasn't more concerned about himself in this situation. After all, how could someone Elijah never mentioned be a danger to the immortal father of the vampire species?
"Let's go speak with our king," Klaus said; "You too Marcel."
They all headed out of the warehouse. "Don't forget your dry cleaning," Marcel reminded Trevor.
Trevor hurried over to where he had dumped the suits and retrieved them. It was only then he remembered his master would have been waiting for them for quite some time, and that they were now too crushed to be worn by the fastidious Elijah Mikaelson. And that would not bode well for his Sire's mood, or for Trevor's wellbeing.