Alright, I had written a long monologue and that stupid website bugged and I lost everything I had written. So no introduction!
I'll just thank all the persons who read/favored/reviewed/followed that story and especially my anonymous guest for their support.
III.
Saturday arrived particularly fast.
When Kol entered the baseball field, the boy was already waiting for him. Kol grinned and walked over to the boy.
"Hey, mate!"
Jeremy' smile widened. "Hey!"
They exchanged smiles and shook hands. Kol took great care not to squeeze the delicate human hand too harshly. Humans were so fragile. They walked to the display of baseball accessories while making Smalltalk.
"How was the end of your week?" the boy asked.
"Boring!" Kol answered. In fact, he had been so excited about spending time with his prey that he hardly could think about anything else; never in a long time had he kill so carelessly.
"Wana start with the baseball thing now or do something else first?"
Kol's ears rang furiously and he stopped dead in his track, frozen in shock. His eyebrows arched up his forehead and his lips slightly parted in confusion. Had the boy really suggested what Kol's perverted mind understood? He cast a quick glance at the boy who was chewing on his bottom lip, head a bit tilted on the side, as would have done a very cute and very oblivious puppy. The comparison snapped the vampire out of his reverie. No, the boy was way too innocent to have been thinking about something so counter-innocent.
He smiled to the boy. However, from the way Jeremy's eyes widened, Kol realized that he had probably not put his predatory traits aside enough. He tried to soften his smile.
"Another time! Right now, I want to play this baseball game!"
The human seemed happy with his answer for he smiled a bright genuine smile.
"All right, then! Follow me!"
The exchange of smiles and gazes had actually lasted no more than mere seconds, yet to Kol they were a cruel reminder of how deep he had to be careful with the boy not to blow up his cover.
A minute passed during which they silently observed the display of bats. Finally, the boy – Jeremy – chose one and cleared his throat. Kol mentally smirked, there had come the moment where the boy would muddle up in his explanation, still convinced the vampire was an ignorant. This should be fun.
"Alright," he began and Kol felt his excitement heightened, "As it's just gonna be the two of us, I'll keep it simple."
Kol raised his eyebrows, feigning interest. The boy cleared his throat again, probably looking for a way to explain simply enough for him to understand (if you knew, my boy).
"So, you have the pitcher and the catcher" he continued, "The pitcher, uh, pitches, using the bat. That is hit the ball with it and the catcher's role is to, well, to catch the ball, obviously..." He stopped and scratched the back of his head. "Sounds pretty lame put like that."
Kol fought back the urge to laugh. He was so cute, just like a delicious little blushing meal on legs. After a few seconds of silence, Kol decided to ease Jeremy's embarrassment.
"No! Sounds fun! We give it a try then?"
The boy bit his lip and shrugged, "Er, yeah, sure. So, who does what?"
"Mind if I catch? I'm feeling too lazy to pitch at the moment." Plus, I wouldn't want to risk smashing your skull, beautiful. Klaus wouldn't be pleased and me neither.
The boy smiled. "No problem!"
Kol returned the smile with equal vigor. The boy – Jeremy – took a glove from the display and handed it to him.
"Stay here, I'm going to ask for a ball."
Kol was going to argue that he did not take orders from a human but kept his mouth shut when his brain intervened with the whole list of consequences if he ever were going to say anything. Therefore, he contented himself with a low growl as he watched that insolent human speaking to a man for a damn ball. He tried to calm down his nerves. He had not forgotten there was a whole display of wood weapons at his disposal. And he was upset. Upset plus weapon never made a good combination when Kol was concerned – for the receiver of his wrath anyway (especially when said receiver was a human boy he was supposed to keep alive). He squeezed his eyes shut and set about taking deep breath. He could not allow himself to slip in front the boy. He had known the risks when he decided to go against Nik's restrictions – and Nik knew his brother. He had to control his temper.
The smell of the human hit his sensitive nose. His yoga moment was over.
"You okay, buddy?" the boy asked, concern in his voice.
Kol repressed a growl.
"I'm good. Sorry I was just having... bad thoughts tis all."
He tried to smile reassuringly to the boy but judging by the look of utter confusion on his face, Kol concluded that his meager attempt had most likely failed. He sighed, discouraged. He had just spent twenty minutes with the boy and lined up two black marks already. Only after twenty minutes... It was not just "not good", it was a pure disaster; the very illustration of his inability to interact with humans if they were to remain alive and unscratched at the end. Quit being the serial killer for Goddamn sake! He was going to scare the boy off and everything would be ruined and Nik would have his head (on a plate for Rebekah). The image made him shudder.
He focused back on Jeremy. The boy was staring at him curiously, as if watching some baboons in a zoo. And at that precise moment, Kol felt like a baboon. He tried to recompose himself for the third time since the beginning of their afternoon together.
"Let's play, shall we?!"
His proposition reanimated the previous joy on the boy's face which lit up. Kol grinned inwardly. Humans were so versatile. He made the mental promise to keep this piece of information in the back of his mind, it would probably come in handy later.
They settled on a medium parcel, in the left of the terrain. There were numerous other players displayed all over the lot which was not a surprise since it was a Saturday afternoon. Kol was getting ready to pose when he was interrupted by the boy who handed him a... cask? Was the boy really giving him a cask?
"You should wear that" the boy said and Kol felt his jaw tightened. The human had just given him another indirect order.
"I don't need it" Kol replied on a very surprising neutral tone (while he was boiling with rage inside) with a shrug of shoulders.
"Really, you should. I'm not the best player in the world, by far... I don't want to cause you a trauma or something."
Kol raised his eyebrows, blown away by the boldness of that pathetic human who had just implied he needed protection from a human (the bastard had actually dared). But he doesn't know who you are, his conscience reminded him. His brain once again sang its little consequences song and Kol abdicated. He opted for words instead of his right fist right inside the boy's chest. Elijah would have rewarded him a medal for self-control if he had watched the scene.
"You think you're that strong?" he asked, sounding smug (which was better than murderous in his opinion)
"Oh no! Not strong. Clumsy." The human replied.
Kol tilted his head on the side but kept quiet. He had done enough already.
They began to play. The boy hit the ball (did he seriously call that hitting? Kol would not even dare calling it holding) and Kol would catch it – sometimes he missed it on purpose not to appear too suspicious (he had done enough already). He also had to be particularly careful when he threw the ball back to the boy and keep his strength in check not to make any damage.
All in all, it was radically boring (humans were so slow) and Kol would have probably slipped for good if not for the Smalltalk which punctuated each pitch and catch.
They bantered about family. The boy asked him questions about his parents. Kol replied they were dead. The boy said he was sorry. Kol replied it had happened a long time ago. The boy told him he had lost his parents too, the year before. Kol said he was sorry. The boy replied that it was okay even if both knew this was a lie. They talked about siblings. The boy mentioned his sister. Kol said he had an older brother who was an abusive dick. The boy laughed. They agreed on the profound abusiveness of siblings and the way they were absolutely persuaded to be the center of the Universe.
They bantered about people. The boy said they were strange. Kol agreed. The boy said he often felt like being the only one of his kind on a foreign planet. Kol agreed. The boy said he was fine on his own, that he would rather remain all alone than forcing himself into staying with persons he disliked. Kol agreed. Even if he did not once open his mouth to utter his opinion.
They played and blabbered for roughly two hours. They put their burrowed accessories back in place and exited the terrain.
They walked for a few minutes in silence until Jeremy broke it.
"I'm starving. Fancy a snack?"
Kol thought for an answer. His eyes fell on a boy sat not far from where they were standing. He flicked his gaze on the teenager for a couple of seconds before focusing back on Jeremy.
"Maybe later, but for now I'm good!"
The boy – Jeremy – nodded. "Suit yourself!"
He bought himself a sandwich.
"Haven't you eaten before coming?"
"I have," the boy answered his mouth full, "But still, I'm starving all the same!"
Kol rolled his eyes. Teenager boys, such stomachs on legs.
The boy's – Jeremy's – phone buzzed. "It's Alice, the woman with whom I live" he said. "I have to go home, sorry dude."
Kol smirked : "Are you like twelve or something to have a curfew?"
The boy shook his head : "She usually lets me do what I want. But today she's repainting the living room and I volunteered to help."
"My! That's nice of you."
The boy shrugged. "Well, she and her husband welcomed me into their house. They give me food and a shelter so it's the least I can do."
Kol nodded even if he did not quite understand why the boy bothered. If they welcomed him, it meant they accepted to accommodate him for free. He decided not to dwell on the problem and bade the boy goodbye.
"I had fun today," the boy admitted.
"Me too."
"Are you free next week-end?"
"Uhm... Yeah sure!"
"Maybe we could hang out again?" The boy sounded uncomfortable, as if he did not really know the social codes of interactions and improvised his own.
Kol could sympathize with him on that : "I'd love to."
They smiled to each other and parted ways.
H.S.Q.M.Y.P
Kol sat on the sidewalk, watching that boy he had noticed earlier. He recapitulated the events of the day. Things had gone rather smoothly apart from his slight mood swings. But that was Kol's problem, his swings. Contrary to what people might think, Kol did feel emotions. He was not turned off. Yet, he was positively unable to control them. They were too strong, too delicate, too blinding for him to filter them. When he felt sad, he felt desperate. When he felt good, he felt ecstatic. When he felt angry, he felt murderous. He was on eternal edge. There was no in-between. Today with the boy – Jeremy – he had almost slipped thrice. This would never repeat itself again.
His snack stood up and began to walk away. At the same time his own phone buzzed. Nick was calling him. He sighed and picked up while following his prey.
"Hey brother!" he said, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"How are things doing?"
Kol rolled his eyes. "If you're asking me if I harmed that boy then I'm sorry to disappoint but no, Jeremy Gilbert is safe and sound, living his pathetic and mundane human life."
"I assume you stayed away from him?" Klaus' tone was as cutting as a knife.
"Of course I did! What do you want me to do with a human if I'm not allowed to play with him?"
Kol heard his brother sigh : "Good. Please Kol, I know you're not really good at following orders but it's highly important not to draw attention on yourself. We found a way to undo Mother' spell. I will need my leverage more than ever, do you understand?"
Kol sighed, annoyed : "Yes, yes I do understand. I'm not some stupid child, thank you very much."
"Don't be like that. You know I trust you, right? You better not disappoint me."
"Or what, you'll put another dagger in my heart?!"
"Kol..."
"I got it okay? I know what I have to do : watch the boy, stay away, don't draw attention. I got it. Don't worry you won't lose your precious leverage and you'll be able to stay alive so you can have many baby hybrids with your Doppelganger so now if you'll excuse me I have a snack to grab. See you."
And without leaving Niklaus time to add his clever remarks, Kol hung up. He was so sick of being treated like an immature and useless brat. Yes he had impulsion problems, yes he had a predilection for violence and torture and then what? He was a vampire! And Niklaus was no better! Nor was Elijah for that matter. He might act all noble but he was nothing less than a very stoic cold-blooded murderer. He just did it with class, that was his only difference with the rest of his family – Finn the victim set aside of course.
He caught his prey in the lobby of his building. The guy froze and eyed him warily.
"Looking for something?"
Kol smiled brightly : "Yeah, I'm hungry and you are going to let me come in with you and you and I are going to have a great time."
"We are going to have a great time," the human replied absently.
Kol smirked : "That's right!"
He did not waste any time. The boy said to his mother that he and his friend were going in his room. She nodded. Kol unleashed his two hours of frustration onto the boy. He had to compel the mother so that she would not disturb them. He made the boy pay for his wrath towards Jeremy's insolence and foolishness. He made him pay for his wrath towards Klaus who would never see him as anything more than a disposable child. He made him pay for his inability to control his own emotions.
When he was done, the boy was a mess of flesh and blood. Kol had been so mad, he failed to release himself and his frustration was just half gone. Now his snack was deader than dead and absolutely unfuckable. He would have to find himself another one. That stupid Jeremy Gilbert. He had not spent a day with a human for more than a millennium. How was he supposed to know how to behave? What to do, what to say? That human put him in a position of weakness. He did feel like a baboon in a zoo being watched by all those bizarre visitors who expected him to do tricks he could not understand. Out of rage, he tore one of the dead boy's legs and threw it across the room. He was so mad he felt on the edge of crying.
When his crisis cooled down, he went back into the living room and compelled the mother to open the window and jump. She did as told.
He smiled, feeling a bit relieved and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He watched as the blood ran down his body into the hot water to mix with it.
Back in the street, he set about getting another body which he would treat a little less like pudding and a little more like a body.
That stupid Jeremy Gilbert and his stupid ideas and questions.
But most of all, stupid Kol who was the one to have put himself in that situation in the first place. Really, what was he thinking?
There you go! I know the chapters are kinda short but that means I update quicker. I also tried to make an effort with punctuation even if I hate the way the markers stick to the words. I like the French way better!
