Chapter 19

"Now, listen to me," Sauli whispered, his hands on Tommy's shoulders. "As quiet as possible, you are going to get dressed and get out of the room. Adam's bedroom is the first place where Malcolm is going to look," he added, leading the human near the wardrobe. "I want you to take the stairs in the back. He's in the kitchen and walking near the main stairs. You are going to go downstairs, in the Dungeon, and I want you to lock the door of the room when you're inside and go into the glass cell where you're going to lock yourself in," the vampire explained, giving a set of two keys to Tommy. "It's the safer place; he won't be able to break the windows."

Tommy was getting dressed with difficulty; he was shaking so much that he had trouble keeping his balance. He was so scared; he could hear his heart beating in his chest. He was sure Sauli could hear the blood running in his veins.

"You're not coming with me!? What are you gonna do?" he asked, wondering what was the vampire's plan to get them out alive.

"I'm gonna try to keep him away from you until Adam or someone else arrive to help us…I already called Adam…Damn it! Malcolm's coming, you have to go now! NOW!"

Barefoot, Tommy got out of the room quickly and ran to a door near the music room, giving access to a small staircase leading to the solarium. When he was on the first floor, he stopped a moment to see if he could hear something. But after about a minute, he realised that the entire house was silent. For a second, he thought about getting away, the door leading to the backyard was 2 meters away from him. But he guessed if Sauli told him to lock himself in the Dungeon, it was probably because he had the best chances to survive this way. Vampires could run very fast; if Malcolm heard him,-well, he would hear him for sure, thanks to the ankle monitor- he would catch him after a few seconds, even if Tommy was running as quick as he could. So he forgot that idea.

When he was going to take the stairs to go downstairs, he heard sounds coming from the kitchen. He walked closer and realised that someone was whining. He kept walking toward the kitchen and when he was close enough, he gave a quick glance inside where he found George laying on the floor. He ran to the old man and knelt next to him. He noted blood near the butler's head.

"Oh my god, George…"

"You have to go…He's coming for you…Go in the Dungeon, it's safe…" the old man said, pushing the boy away from him.

"But George…you're hurt…"

"I'm gonna be fine…Go, Tommy, now…"

Tommy hesitated a few seconds before standing up and walking out of the kitchen. But when he passed in front of a particular cupboard, he stopped. He opened it and standing on his tiptoes, he took the small jar from the last shelf. When he had picked the blue morel and when he had prepared the mushroom extract, he had in mind to use it against Adam. But right now, his life was in danger and Adam wasn't really the enemy anymore. He was still looking at the blue liquid when he heard footsteps coming his way.

"Boy…Where are you?" a man's voice said playfully. "You can't run away from me; I can smell you…And you smell really good…Mmmm…I guess you taste even better…"

Knowing he didn't have much time, Tommy removed the lid and drank the jar's contents. It tasted totally awful; he just wanted to throw up. He had never thought about the fact that the mushroom could affect him as well, but now it was too late. Well, at least, if what he read was the truth, he hoped Malcolm would bite him and suck his blood, so he could be easily killed by Sauli, Adam or someone else.

After a few seconds, he felt a bit better, so he decided to try to reach the Dungeon like Sauli and George told him to do. So he stopped at the door frame and listened carefully to find out where Malcolm was. When he didn't hear anything, he looked in the main hall but didn't see any movement. He moved to the other side of the door where a wall could hide him from the living room and the dining room. From where he was, he had good a view of the staircase leading downstairs, and the vampire couldn't be seen anywhere. Guessing it was maybe his only chance, he ran toward the stairs and went down as quick as possible. He was halfway down when he heard footsteps following him, and they were faster than his. When his feet touched the floor, he could see the door of the Dungeon at the end of one of the corridors. He kept running, knowing Malcolm was just behind him. Well, he supposed it was him; he didn't take the time to verify. He finally reached the door and opened it, but when he was about to close it back when he was inside, a hand appeared between the door and the frame. Panicked, Tommy pushed with all his strength, but the vampire was forcing on his side as well.

"Let me in, boy, you don't have any chance against me…" Malcolm said, pushing the door completely open and making Tommy fall over on the concrete floor. "Mmmm…you're really pretty…" he added, entering the room.

Malcolm was tall and really thin; the human wondered how he could be so strong. He had long brown hair stopping at the middle of his back. His skin looked like porcelain; it was so pale and so smooth. He seemed to be 40 or 45 years old, but Tommy knew he was much older than that. The vampire was looking at the boy with his evil black eyes.

"I'm not done with you!"

Sauli had suddenly appeared behind Malcolm and grabbing him by his jacket, he pulled him out of the room. The blond vampire had blood on his face and on his bare chest. He looked like he had a bad time with Malcolm.

"Are you kidding me!? You didn't have enough already!" the taller vampire teased, laughing lightly.

"Tommy, lock yourself in the cell…" Sauli ordered just before Malcolm jump on him and push him against the wall.

Tommy who was still laying on the floor, stood up quickly and ran to the cell door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. So he shoved his hands in his pocket, but realised that he didn't have the keys on him anymore. Looking around, he found them about five meters away from him, where he had fallen a few minutes ago. He was going to pick them up, when he saw Malcolm standing in the door frame, an evil grin on his face, with no trace of Sauli.

"It's just you and me now, Tommy boy!" the vampire noted, walking toward the blonde.

Tommy was now trapped in a corner, between the wall and the cell door. Even if he knew he wasn't fast enough to avoid Malcolm, he had to do something. So he tried to get through the space between the vampire and the wall, but failed when Malcolm grabbed him by the upper arm and roughly pushed him on the floor. Caught off guard by the vampire's rapidity, Tommy wasn't able to protect himself, so when he fell, he hit his head on the hard concrete, he felt a sharp pain in his skull and everything went black.

Adam was sitting in an office with four vampires when his cell phone vibrated. He picked it up from his pocket and looked at the message. It was from Sauli and he could read: "Malcolm's here". Panicked, Adam got out of the room and sent a message back: "I'm on my way". He knew he would take him a few hours to get back to the mansion with his car, and a lot of things could happen during this time. So he decided to find another way to go back. He went back inside the office and told to his colleagues that he needed a plane, now. After a few minutes and several calls, Adam found a flight leaving in 35 minutes. He would be able to be home in less than 2 hours if everything would go well. He called Scarlet to ask her for help, but she wasn't there. Despondent, he kept calling her while he was in the car and while he was in the plane as well. Sure he could have call Sutan or Isaac, but they weren't strong enough against Malcolm, and he didn't want them to get hurt or to die. Thinking about dying, he was suddenly very worried about Sauli; he wasn't strong enough either. Malcolm would be able to kill him without much of a fight.

When he landed, he quickly found a car and drove to the mansion. About 20 minutes later, he was entering the front yard and turning off the engine. He got out and ran to the front door. But before he opened it, he stopped and took the time to listen carefully and to smell the air. He couldn't hear anything specific but he could smell blood, from four different persons. The first one he could distinguish was George and he seemed to be very close; Adam could even hear his breathing. The second one was Sauli and he could smell him from different places in the house; upstairs, on the first floor and downstairs. "He probably had a few fights with Malcolm," the vampire thought. He just hoped he wasn't dead, because he couldn't hear him. The third one was the easiest one, Tommy. But it didn't seem like he had bled a lot, because the scent was very light. And the fourth one was hard to forget, Malcolm. Adam was glad that he could smell his blood, it meant that he was hurt, but the scent was light as well, so it wasn't a big wound. With this information that he acquired in about 30 seconds, he knew that George was in the kitchen, and that Sauli, Tommy and Malcolm were downstairs, probably in the Dungeon. But he couldn't say who was alive and who wasn't, except for George.

After about a minute, Adam finally entered his house. First, he went to take a look at George in the kitchen. He found the old man leaning against one of the counters.

"George, are you okay?" the vampire asked, kneeling in front of the butler and looking as if he was seriously injured.

"Sir…I'm fine…I think they are downstairs…" George informed, obviously glad to see Adam back.

Adam nodded and went to pick up a clean towel from one of the drawers. He gave it to the old man to clean his wound before leaving the kitchen. He took the stairs and when he was downstairs, he stopped a few seconds to try to find out what was going on and what the situation was. He could hear a light breathing coming from the Dungeon and a rhythmic noise, like someone hitting repetitively on something. Slowly, he walked closer and noted that the door of the room was half open. When he was in front of the door, he pushed on it and stayed in the frame, looking around the Dungeon. He found Tommy bent over a bench, his arms tied up with a chain on the floor, unconscious and Sauli in the glass cell, his hands tied up with a rope and fixed to a hook on the wall above his head, unconscious as well. Malcolm was sitting on the floor, leaning against a glass of the cell, his back to the blond vampire. He had a stick in his hand, the kind of stick that Adam used sometimes to punish his slaves instead of a whip, and was hitting the floor with it, as he had no greater worries than keeping the beat of rhythm with it. Adam wanted one thing; getting Tommy out of here, but he knew he would have to take care of the other vampire first. And this time, he wouldn't let him get away alive.

"So, you finally decide to show up…" Malcolm said, slowly turning his head and looking at Adam. His voice was calm and arrogant.

"How dare you come in my house!?" Adam demanded, angrily.

"Oh, Adam…You have the right to come to my place, but I'm not allowed to come here…" the vampire noted, standing up and walking in the middle of the room to face Adam.

"I went to your place only once…I couldn't let things get out of control…"

"It wasn't your business."

"Yes it was…You broke the vampires' laws," Adam recalled, making a few steps inside. "You knew exactly what was going to happen…I warned you several times."

"Yea, and you thought that burning the place was the best thing to do?!" Malcolm hissed, pacing the room a few feet away in front of the other vampire.

"I had to destroy all of them…You turned them without thinking about the consequences."

"I don't care if you killed the groups of vampires I created…I always dreamed about leading a vampire army…Maybe I went too far…But you didn't have to kill him, too."

"I told you a thousand of times; I didn't do it on purpose…I didn't know that Cedric was still inside," Adam explained, taking a step forward.

"He was my slave for more than ten years, and he was a bond slave…You knew I cared about him."

"I did, but like I told you…"

"And Kevin told me that your slave was bonding to you…" Malcolm noted, interrupting Adam. He gave a quick glance toward Tommy and looked at the other vampire with his evil grin.

At this information, Adam froze; so Kevin was responsible for Malcolm's return. He was the one who told him about Tommy and the bonding. He knew that Kevin was mad at him after what happened at the Halloween party, but he had never supposed that he would go so far to take his revenge.

"I can't believe that Kevin talked to you and informed you about my slave…He's an asshole!"

"Well, I thought he was a great guy…He just wanted to help!"

"He knew how insane you are…So I'm surprise he decided to give you this information."

"Well, at least he's a better friend than you've been…" Malcolm said, stopping his pacing and standing next to Tommy. "It's unfortunate, your boy is really beautiful…it's a shame that he has to die…" he added, running his long fingers into the human's hair.

"Don't fucking touch him!" Adam warned, moving really fast in front of the other vampire and pushing him away from the bench.

Angry, Malcolm jumped on Adam and they both began to fight, throwing punches and hitting each other against the walls and the cupboards. They had the same strength, so they kept fighting for several minutes before they stopped when they heard a faint whine. They turned around and noted that Tommy was awake.

"Master…" the boy murmured when he found out that Adam was in the room. He was still half knocked out, so he didn't know right away why he was there. But when he saw Malcolm a few feet away, he remembered what happened.

"It's okay, boy, I'm going to get you out of here," Adam assured, trying to get closer.

But as soon as he moved, Malcolm moved as well and went to stand in front of him.

"You'll have to kill me before you touch to your boy again," the vampire said, quickly grabbing something on the floor next to Tommy and charging Adam.

"MASTER! He has a stake!" the human warned.

But Adam was distracted by Tommy for a second, so Malcolm had the time to get closer enough to stab him. At the boy's terror, the vampire fell on the floor holding the wooden stake that was still sunk in his chest. But fortunately, the heart had been missed.

Without waiting to know if his enemy was defeated, Malcolm walked back next to Tommy, grabbed his hair and pulled his head up.

"I want to see the fear in your eyes…" the vampire said, showing his fangs. "I can't wait to taste you…"

"Please…Please don't…" Tommy begged, struggling to get away. He could feel the tears running down his cheeks.

"Maybe I can kill you and bring you back so you can be my mate…Would you like to be turned, Tommy boy?" Malcolm asked, patting the human's back and ass with his other hand.

"NO…I don't want to be a monster like you" the blonde protested, looking at the vampire with disgust.

"Okay, as you wish…"

Malcolm grabbed Tommy's hair more firmly and sank his fangs in the boy's neck, making him whine in pain. The human could feel the blood been sucked out his body but after a few seconds, the vampire stopped and looked at Tommy with worry.

"What is this?" he asked, letting go of the boy. "What did you take?" he demanded again, wiping his lips with the sleeve of his coat.

But Tommy didn't answer; he just looked at the vampire and smiled. With the panic he had forgot about the liquid he drank a few hours before. And looking at Malcolm's face, he knew the blue morel was working like he had read in the book. About a minute later, the vampire was on the floor and was moaning in pain.

"What did you do to me?" Malcolm asked with a shaking voice. His body began to convulse lightly like he had a fever.

Adam was looking at the scene in front of him and didn't understand what was happening. "Did I miss something?" he thought. He sat up and slowly, he pulled out the stake from his chest and pressed on the wound with his hand. He was bleeding, but he knew it would stop soon; the advantage of being a vampire!

"Master, you should kill him while he's weak…" Tommy suggested when he noted that Adam seemed to feel better. "I don't know for how long it would work…"

"What happened?" Adam demanded, supporting himself with the wall to stand up. "What did you do, boy?"

"Master, can we talk about his later…" the blonde said, looking nervously at Malcolm. He was scared that the mushroom affected the vampire for only a few minutes and that Adam wouldn't have the time to kill him.

The vampire nodded and walked until he was next to Malcolm. The wooden stake in his hand.

"Please…Adam…can't do that…" the brown haired vampire managed to say between convulsions.

But without thinking twice, Adam stabbed Malcolm in the chest, directly in the heart. In a few seconds, the vampire's skin got dry and covered with cracks. Malcolm yelled a last time before his body turned into ashes.

Sighing with relief, Adam dropped the stake on the floor and got to Tommy to untie him.

"Don't move, boy," he said before bending over and licking at the wounds that Malcolm's fangs had left to heal them. "There, you're going to be okay, now…"

The blonde smiled and hurried to wrap his arms around Adam and hugged him. He missed him so much.

"I should check on Sauli," the vampire said after he had kissed Tommy on the forehead.

Adam looked around to find the key of the cell and found it on the floor just in front of the door. He picked it up and unlocked the cell. Sauli wasn't moving at all, he hoped he wasn't badly injured. Kneeling next to his lover, Adam noted that his chest was covered with bruises and that he had several wounds on his face; his nose had bled, he had a deep cut above one of his eyebrows and on his cheek, and his bottom lip was opened. He also had a wound on the side of the head that was still bleeding a bit. A good thing that Sauli was a vampire, because a human wouldn't survive to these injuries.

"Sauli…Sauli…wake up…" Adam said, shaking the blond vampire gently. He untied his hands and put them on his thighs.

After a few minutes, Sauli shifted and slowly opened his eyes. Adam helped him get out of the cell and joined Tommy.

"How did you beat him?" the blond vampire asked looking at the pile of aches on the floor.

"That's a really good question, actually…" Adam noted, looking at his slave.

Biting at his lower lip, Tommy looked back at his master; he knew he would have to tell him what he did. But he wondered how he would react when he would tell him that when he picked up the mushroom, it was to kill him...

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