Oh dear Adam, you have made a total mess of things!
-AGU-
Sleep didn't find him, so Adam sighed and climbed out of the coffin, stretching and digging through his bag. He may be the only vampire alive... undead who preferred soya blood to animal, and he had never had human blood. Out of either deference to Adam or his human family, Bertrand either hadn't hunted humans or had been careful to hide it while they were living with Jessie. Taking a long swallow, he went for a wonder through the lower levels of the school building they were in. He could smell garlic, but couldn't see it so he assumed there was a concealed garlic pit nearby. "Dad?" "Erika?" Turning, Adam found his daughter. "Are you alright?" "I found out that everything I did to protect the people I care about was so totally wrong it's beyond belief. How are you?" Erika was used to Adam's periodic melancholy - if he was human, Adam would say he had depression but vampire brain chemistry didn't have that setting. "Good. But then nobody blames me for what you did, and everyone's a little excited to see the first child of the 'chosen one' transform. Which reminds me, how old am I supposed to be?"
Erika knew Adam should not have been able to father her before he was sixteen, so when he finally turned up at the VHC to show his fangs, Erika would be given his deal - one exam instead of three and she would be younger to their knowledge. "I was fourteen, so two years off. Congratulations, you get to be thirteen again." "At least I had years of studying with uncle brainbox, not your six week exile in a library. Oh yeah, they've been telling me about back in Stokely, Adrian and Emil were curious so its many fangs, one bite kind of thing." She gave him a hug, the closest his daughter would come to saying she didn't resent him for dropping so much on her all at once - he had no idea what he had been about to walk in on. "Have they mentioned Ryan?" "Just that he got ashed, I have no idea how, when or why."
Not wanting to risk them turning on her, Adam gave his daughter another hug and encouraged her to go back to the others. "You know where to find me, go and get to know your family." Erika gave him a brief smile, then headed off. He recognised the arm that slid around his waist, the body that pressed against his back. "It will do you no good to beat yourself up, what's done is done." "Easier said than done, I've made such a mess of so many things and I have no way to fix it." "You cannot change the past. Now you've come out of hiding, you can only work to change the future." Bertrand was right, but Adam was many things, and logical was not one of them. "I don't want Erika falling victim to the same thing that brought Adrian into this world." The tutor was knowledgeable about almost everything, including the bizarre twist of psychology that had Adam and Ingrid falling for each other in the first place - genetic sexual attraction.
"Given how disturbed all three of your offspring were with that fact, I don't think that's a concern." "I hope so. It's gone daybreak, why are you awake?" "I would ask you the same, but slumber has never been your strong suit." Chuckling, though the short sound was hollow, Adam nodded. "Fair point. Go get some rest, we're heading to the VHC tonight." "Moving quickly?" "I need to, Erika only has a few weeks before she transforms, and those tests need to be passed by then." "She is fully prepared, you just need to get the papers in front of her. I am confident she will pass." "I know, shame you weren't around for my test." Turning around in the embrace, Adam returned the contact before heading back to his own 'room'. Falling against any kind of suitable surface with Bertrand sounded highly appealing, but he wasn't about to risk getting caught by his children and he didn't know the routine here.
His sleep was fitful, and he felt less rested than before he tried when he finally felt the sun sink as night began to fall. Changing into his 'vampire' outfit (which had been his clothing for the Halloween theme at Jessie's pub, Adam still dressed fairly neutral most of the time), Adam stepped outside and found Bertrand waiting for him between their doorways. "Ready?" "Into the lions den first. I want to say goodbye to Erika. You can stay here, or wait outside for me if you like." Bertrand nodded stiffly, flitting off to presumably wait outside while Adam focused on speeding upstairs. The room full of vampires who wouldn't mind seeing him dusted was disconcerting, but Erika still approached him. "Off to finally tell them I exist?" "Yep. If they ask, refuse to answer any questions that aren't about your exams. Safer that way." Hugging his daughter and feeling multiple pairs of eyes on him, Adam dashed away as soon as Erika let him go.
Bertrand was indeed waiting outside for him in the courtyard, and offered him a brief encouraging smile before they shifted to bats and headed over to Transylvania. "Well, at least I can't make things any worse." He mused to himself as they stepped in through the doors. There was a short, slightly balding and rather rotund vampire sat at a desk, chewing on some kind of raw meat and scrawling on some parchment. "Take a ticket and wait for me to call you." The vampire didn't even look up when Adam cleared his throat. "Vladimir Dracula. Chosen One." The meat and quill the vampire was holding hit the desk as he looked up, and Adam recognised him vaguely from the Halloween party the day Erika was born. "Can it be?" "Yes. I only want to go through all of this once, so who do I need to speak to?" The mask of casual indifference was unfamiliar, but still strangely easy to maintain.
"Of course. One moment sir... Your Grandness. Chosen One." The vampire scrambled to his feet, hurrying over to a couple of uniformed vampires and whispering. Adam could feel Bertrand fighting amusement at the behaviour of the vampire, having the leeway to act far more casually with the ultra powerful vampire. "Right this way sir." Following the short, fat man, along, Adam found a room full of vampires each wearing dark robes with VHC stitched across the chest pocket. "The Chosen One has returned." "I had personal things to attend to that required me to go into hiding. My tutor has been most proficient in keeping up my training, my powers are finely honed. I'm back, as they say." Adam had zero desire to lead the vampire world, but anything less would be putting his family at risk - they could be hunted down, and Adam owed them more than that, especially now. "What were these... Personal circumstances?"
Spying 'GHV' stitched on the robes of the vampire who spoke, Adam presumed this was the one he would displace. "I had a dalliance, and fathered a child. The vampiress in question transpired to be battier than... Well, a bat and my daughter was my priority. However, as she approaches late teens I wanted to ensure her tests were out of the way. It would be a shame for an offspring of mine to be blocked from their powers." "I see. And is there anything else you require, Chosen One?" "I intend to take my place, though I shall need to take a week or so to oversee my daughter take her tests. Is that a problem?" The look on the soon to be displaced vampire said it very much was a problem, but he wasn't stupid enough to say so. "Of course not, it is your destiny to lead the vampire world after all." "I presume your offspring is competent to take all the tests at once, much like yourself?" "Of course, you expect less from my progeny?"
Forcing the dark 'Dracula smirk' over his face, trying to appear more confident than he really was, Adam waited. "We shall arrange that immediately then. The child's name?" "Erika. Erika Dracula." The council didn't need to know Erika had no such surname, they had no way to check it. "And will you be bringing her here for the exam?" "I can do that. If Bertrand and I are allowed to stay in the room with her while she takes the test, I won't have her at risk." "Very well, though obviously you will not be permitted to speak while she does the work." Leaving with a 'date' two nights from now to have Erika take her test, and then discuss his place there, Adam felt relieved they had both gotten out of there undusted. "Did that go well or am I dreaming?" "I think it went fine, yes." Shaking his head at Bertrand, Adam jumped up and flapped his wings, trying to remember the way back to Garside.
Erika and her two brothers were out in the courtyard, stargazing by the looks of things when he and Bertrand landed. "Well you're not dust so it went ok?" "As well as can be expected." "We have to go back the night after tomorrow, so you can take your test. Then Bertrand will bring you back here, and I will stay and discuss my 'position'. To them you're Erika Dracula, and don't know who your mother is." His daughter nodded in understanding, but Emil didn't appear satisfied. "Why there? Why can't they know who her mother is?" "Because they can't find out about the half human thing, and I don't want to bring the Council down on all of you. She won't be alone, and she will be returned here safely." Adrian laid a restraining hand on Emil, and Adam was surprised to find that Ingrid's son was the calmer of the two - Erin was definitely the calmer of his two ex girlfriends.
"Fine. Go away, you're blocking the view." Biting back a retort - he had no place acting like a father with these boys - Adam nodded. "Sorry" was all he bothered saying before flitting off, knowing Bertrand would follow close behind. A quick sweep with his powerful sensory capabilities satisfied him there was nobody else down here, so Adam pushed Bertrand into the tutors coffin room and pushed the vampires bag in front of the door. It wouldn't hold it closed against any vampire, but would give them a seconds warning. The familiar weight of Bertrand holding him down, pressing bruises into his pale skin and overpowering his skinny frame made the painful twisting guilt in his gut fade for a few minutes, a precious break from thinking how much of a mess he had made of everything.
"Thanks." "My pleasure?" Shoving Bertrand playfully as he stood up to redress, Adam chuckled. "Funny. I meant for everything. They blame you for being part of me bailing, when all you did was what I asked. Erika would be nowhere near this ready for her tests without you, and I probably would have gotten myself dusted if you hadn't taught me how to act like I know what I'm doing. So yeah, thanks. I should go, getting caught in here with you is not going to endear me to any of my... family." Bertrand nodded, hurrying to redress himself and then sitting cross legged on the floor. "Enjoy your meditation. No eating the school children in the day." "So I can eat them at night?" "Don't make me regret thanking you." They shared a grin, then Adam 'walked' through the wall. A little achy, just the right amount of soreness to keep the edge of panic away, Adam paced up and down his room before flitting back outside and landing on the roof.
Stretching out on the surprisngly comfortable tiling, thoughts of family inevitably led to thinking of the human family he had left behind. He had been tempted, random people who had passed through the pub that reminded him of his mother or baby sister, to go looking for them. But he never did, terrified their mindwipe may break and they would remember the monster he was. Still, he missed them acutely and the horror in their eyes when they found out about he and Ingrid still haunted him. "Didn't think I would have to fight for my usual spot." Rolling onto his side and looking up, Adam found Erin. "I'll move. Sorry." Pushing himself into a seated position, he was surprised when she sat down anyway. "In spite of everything, I cannot fault you for Erika. She's brilliant, you obviously raised her well." Shrugging, Adam stared up at the moon.
"I can't take all the credit. Bertrand has been brilliant with her, so were Jessie and Wilson." "Who?" "Bertrand's great great... And so on niece, she knew he was a vampire and that's where we went. She made me enroll Erika in school, her son made sure she never got picked on, she gave us jobs and somewhere to stay. Told us we were always welcome to come back too, but the blood mirror beckoned. I had no idea I would be causing this much upset just by coming back, if it were anything but Erika I would have left, but I won't abandon my daughter. And I must confess I would like to know my sons before I'm ousted by you guys, or dusted by the Council." Erin didn't speak again for a while, absorbing the information he had shared. "Why did you leave?" "You have to realise, I didn't know you would remember. I hoped you guys could get on with your lives, which was never going to be possible with me around. I swear if I had known about the boys I would never have left."
"You can't expect us to forgive what you've done." "I don't. I'm genuinely surprised there hasn't been an attempt or two on my unlife yet, aside from the death glares that is. I came back for Erika's sake, not to cause trouble or upset. Once she's transformed, she can decide what she wants to do with her life and I can move on knowing she's as prepared as I could make her. Or she can come with me, it's her choice." "So if she decided to stay and we told you to go?" "Then I would. As long as I know she's safe, her and the boys, then that's all I need." This was unexpected, Erin wasn't even brandishing a stake at him or telling him to fall into a garlic pit and Adam felt way out of his depth. "That's big of you." "Hardly. It's the least I can offer, after everything I've done." "And Bertrand?" "Will follow my lead. Though I know he's very fond of Erika himself, he tolerated her nicknaming him 'uncle B' because a two year old could not pronounce his name." That drew an actual laugh from Erin, probably imagining the stoic tutor reacting to a two year old infant calling him 'uncle B'.
"So did you find a new girlfriend... or boyfriend I suppose, while you were in this witness protection thing?" "Good garlic no, I wasn't about to inflict my ability to poison everything around me on anyone else. I learnt my lessons the hard way." He was itching to ask about Ryan, but he didn't dare risk the tenuous conversational beginnings. "Well at least you learnt something." "I know how to pour a well aged whisky and top a beer with the perfect amount of foam too." "Excuse me?" "My job. I worked in a pub. Well, I'm not sure how much work was involved in watching Bertrand get hit on by middle aged breather women every day." "Not you?" "I attracted the younger ones, daughters of older patrons. Though there was a woman in her sixties who used to come in every Saturday and Sunday, and would only be served by me and spent hours talking Erika's ear off to learn everything about me. She was very popular there, reminded me of you back in Stokely."
Erin looked at him in confusion, like he was talking total nonsense. "You left a whole family behind, ran off with your illegal daughter to work in a breather pub with your four hundred year old tutor?" "Yep. Did you think I was off having adventures or something? I left to raise our daughter, and to give you all a chance to have a life not darkened by me. Even the High Council had no idea where I was. Leader of all vampire clans, and I spent my days checking beer barrels and cleaning glasses." "You gave up a lot for what turned out to be no reason at all." "I know. And I can't take it back, nor could I ever hope to make amends. But once Erika has her day with the mirror, I'm going to figure out how this Chosen One thing works, and try to put the vampire world to rights. It's all I can do."
The moon was starting to disappear, the sky threatening to lighten so Adam hurried off before he could keep rambling on. Emotional and exhausted, sleep found him a little easier that day. Draining the last of his soya bottle, he stretched and changed his clothes back to normal and comfortable before resuming his pacing around the lower levels of the school. He could hear the sounds of breather students above, mindless chatter and raging hormones reminding him of what felt like someone's else's memories in his mind, life before Stokely. Before he alienated his friends and family, found out he was a 'special' vampire and ended up becoming a father. He felt before he saw someone land in the basement rooms next to him, continuing his pacing and looping around. "Count Dracula." "The prodigal son returns." "What do you want? I'm busy angsting until I take Erika for her exams." "Charming. Like it or not, you're still my son." "If you're trying to win some kind of favour with me before I become head of the VHC, you're in the wrong place. The best way to stay on my good side is to keep my children and their mothers safe. Stick with that."
The twitch at the side of his father's mouth told Adam he had been right in his assumptions, content in his choice to barter any favour the Count sought in him for his children's safety. "If you insist." "And stop playing with breathers, there really shouldn't be more like me running around." There was a flicker of something resembling guilt in the vampires face, so Adam focused. A vague vision filled his mind, the Count sitting opposite a brunette woman in what looked like a teachers office as he drawled "Miss McCauley." "Who's Miss McCauley?" The surprise in his father was tangible. "How do you know that name?" "Chosen One remember. Answer me." Waiting, impatiently tapping his foot to try and hurry him along, Adam got his answer. "The headmistress of the school." "Well, either ask her out or get over her, no one night dalliances that end in confused teen halflings." Satisfied he had gotten his point across and with night finally falling, Adam went back to loitering outside on the roof. All he needed was a conversation with Ingrid and everyone would have approached him by now, but if anyone was stubborn and angry enough to avoid him completely, it was her.
-AGU-
Spent the day watching Season Three of YD and writing this chapter, it was really tough for some reason and I feel like a lot of it is kind of OOC but it's all build up I guess.
