Not my characters, but if anyone with some kind of ownership of YD had made it this far, I probably have bigger issues.
To the ones who might end up lining up outside the castle with flaming torches and really big pitchforks - I'm sorry!
Also, this is probably the longest chapter to date.
On we go...
-VAI-
"Nervous?" Erin was lay against his side, Erika in his arms gnawing on her teething ring and drooling. "I don't know. I mean, I've had over a year to accept this was going to happen, and Ingrid has explained how it goes. And Ryan is yours and Erika's personal guardian, in case I come out different. I won't put you two at risk." Wiping Erika's chin with her bib, Adam didn't think nervous was the right word for his thoughts on the transformation two days away. "I'm not worried about that, I mean you live for Erika, I don't think dying is going to stop you being her father." Bertrand had given him the week off training, if he was with Erika he was fine but most of the time the last week or so his temper was hanging on a thin thread - Erin trusting him around the baby was a big ask until she saw him quiet and calm with her.
Ingrid had taken the storm in his mind fairly well, their times together rough and almost angry, his growing feelings of guilt drowned in the sparking desire. His skin would heal clean when he transformed, right down to the scars on his shoulder though Ingrid wasn't certain - vampire/untransformed teen relationships were hardly common, even less so with such a deep claim on their skin. "Thanks I guess, but I won't go in front of that mirror unless I know there's something between me and the human holding my daughter. Especially when the human in question is her mother. Still, I don't have to worry about mum and George being here for my birthday." Losing his mother and George still stung, but it was preferable to the absolute horror in their eyes when they knew what he did with his other sister.
Erin knew better than to ask any deeper on that topic now, even holding Erika that was a more than delicate topic. Ingrid hadn't pushed more than to check he was still ok with it all the first time after they were found out, if he wanted to talk she would listen but he didn't. Erika started fussing, throwing her arms around and grizzling. "Hungry?" The baby couldn't answer, obviously. "I'll get her bottle." "Already done, she always gets hungry about now." Ryan peered around the door cautiously - he and Adam had a tolerance for the sake of their situation, but Adam was the half breed that knocked up his sister, they would never be friends - and so he was the most frequent victim of Adam's temper. "Thanks Ryan." Erika took the bottle happily, having no trouble gaining weight or developing normally since she was freed from the hospital.
Adam smiled at his daughter, her innocent face free of all the things that led to her even existing. This time she didn't even puke on him when he winded her, so that was a plus. "Is it my turn yet?" Truth be told, Adam didn't like letting Ryan hold her, but he was Erin's brother, the baby's uncle and prepared to face off against vampire Adam to protect them both, so he reluctantly handed over the girl. He couldn't help laughing when Erika tugged on Ryan's long hair, the vampires face scrunching up in pain at the girls surprisingly form grip. "You did ask to hold her, you know that means keep your hair and clothes out of arms or mouths reach." "Just because your hair isn't long enough to be a baby toy." "Erin's is, so is Ingrid's and they both know to keep it away." Ryan scowled, trying to pry his hair free and failing until Adam offered to take Erika back. Erika easily relinquished Ryans hair to go back to her father, gurgling happily and tapping his cheek with her little hand.
"Are you being mean to your uncle?" Erika grinned gummily at him, shaking the toy he gave her almost violently. "I need to go talk to Bertrand, you alright with her?" Erin nodded, no less hands on than Adam but he was addicted to his little girl. Kissing his girlfriend much to Ryan's displeasure, Adam got to his feet and headed downstairs. First on his agenda was coffee, he was struggling to sleep most nights now and spent them with either Erika or Ingrid. Steaming hot caffeine in hand, he went in search of his tutor. "Can I help you Adam?" "Not right now, just giving Erin time with our daughter, and staying out of Ryan's way before we start arguing again. I can't tell Erin not to see her brother." Bertrand nodded, looking at Adam's cup in distaste then back at his book. "Not long now, then I'll apparently hate coffee as much as you do." "Not necessarily, Ingrid still drinks tea at times and I have met the odd biter with a taste for coffee."
Adam shrugged, sipping at the mug. "Not like it matters." "Well that all depends on you." "You're backing out?" Bertrand sighed, then shook his head. "No. That doesn't mean I approve." "I didn't ask for your approval, I asked for your agreement." "You have it." "Good." The tell tale rise of his temper starting, Adam left before he lost it with his tutor and drained his coffee. "That stuff will kill you." "The blood mirror is going to do that." Ingrid found him in the kitchen, staring at the thick red '16' on the calender. "Surprised you were pried away from your daughter." "Ryan came to visit, I still kind of want to break his face every time I look at him lately so it's best we avoid each other, I'm not going to tell Erin she can't see her brother. Especially when she doesn't stop me seeing you." Ingrid sat at the table, taking measured sips from her goblet of blood. "Do you let her see Ryan out of guilt, since you said that's why she lets you see me."
"Kind of, they wouldn't be here, ex slayers, one a vampire and one a mother without me. They only have each other and that's my fault." The mug in his hand shattered, jagged ceramic slicing his palm and his arm. "Damn, third one this week. Good job they'll heal over soon, or someone would worry I hurt myself, rather than get others to do it for me." Adam knew he was supposed to want blood, but even as he licked the cut on his palm it tasted dull, bland. "Two days left, want this?" Adam held out his bleeding arm to Ingrid, knowing it would inevitably lead to them in her room. Sure enough, when Ingrid was done drinking from his cut arm, she was kissing him and pulling him to her coffin. Adam was rougher with her now, but Ingrid didn't complain as he gripped her hips tighter, bit her lip and sucked hard at the curve of her pale throat. Ingrid gave as good as she got, tearing his skin beneath her fangs, her nails and sucking fresh bruises over his pulse point.
The coffin was too small to bask in the afterglow comfortably, so Adam climbed out and lay on her bed, pulling his shorts back on in case anyone walked in but he couldn't find the energy to care if anyone saw the state of him now. Ingrid showered and dressed before she joined him, scratching gently at his scalp the way she knew relaxed him. "Mmm, can you do this when I have to face my reflection so it's fun?" "Idiot. No, you'll just have to vamp up and... vamp up by yourself." Adam shuffked, resting his head in her lap to enable her to "pet" him more easily. "Is me being a half breed going to make me different other than the 18th choice thing?" Ingrids hand stopped, so Adam nudged at her hand until she resumed, it was impossible for him to relax lately and this was as close as he had gotten without Erika. "Not that I know of, there could be dozens like you and nobody knows. Nightmares aren't uncommon, and there is a lot more of an unknown quantity in you being the chosen one." "I guess."
Adam eventually dragged himself into the shower, pulling clothes over his ravaged skin and enjoying the aches and pains as much as ever. "You going back up?" "Mmm. Erin goes to sleep around now, so I need to go kick Ryan out if I want to sleep in my own bed tonight. For a biter he has no trouble sleeping at night." She nodded, kissing him hard before she let him go. As he expected, Erin was drifting towards sleep by now so Adam relieved Ryan of Erika and the half fang left without more than a goodnight to his sister. "You were gone a while." "Talking to Ingrid about my transformation." "Mmm, talking. I believe you." Adam barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes, Erin brought up the physical aspect of his relationship with Ingrid more than anyone. "Ask her yourself, we were talking about the time between now and my eighteenth." Calming himself down by focusing on changing his - no, their daughter for bed, Adam lowered her to her crib and rocked it gently. "What happened to your arm?" Looking at the scratches, Adam shrugged. "Got angry my cup was empty I guess. Its fine, doesn't hurt." That was a lie, but he reveled in the pain.
Erin was asleep by the time their daughter drifted off, so he pulled on his own sleepwear and lay facing the cot. Erin shifted in her sleep, laying an arm over his waist and Adam was surprised by the momentary urge to shrug her off. He didn't, but it was still off and he wasn't sure where it had come from. Forcing himself to close his eyes, sleep did not come easily but he eventually dropped off for a few hours. Erika crying woke him, but he had barely sat up, rubbing sleepy eyes before Ingrid was there bottle feeding her. "Thanks. Want me to take her?" Ingrid shook her head, having the presence of mind to use the special cloth for burping a baby that Adam frequently forgot. Erika patted Ingrid's face, then settled back to sleep in minutes. "Go back to sleep, you look like you need it. I'll watch her down in my room for a couple of hours, bring her up before dawn." Knowing why Ingrid wanted to spend time with her, he didn't argue as he lay back down. "Alright, but wake me if she needs me." "I will. Sleep half breed."
Aside from Erin, there was nobody else he would trust just to walk off with his baby, but he trusted Ingrid implicitly. Adam couldn't fall back to sleep, watching Erin slumber next to him. He still loved her, he knew he did but parenthood had definitely put strain on their relationship, and that was not counting training, Adam's nightmares, Ingrid, or the toll of his upcoming transformation. Erin stirred an hour or so into his semi-vigil, looking over at the crib in confusion. "Ingrid has her, told me I needed to sleep. Well, she said I looked terrible and should sleep." "Mmm. Does that mean we're alone?" "Unless there's someone you have stashed in here that I don't know about?" Erin shook her head, slipping hands under his sleep shirt and kissing him. This aspect of their relationship was somewhat restricted, Erika sleeping in their room and all. "Missed you." "Mmm, you only want me for my body." Erin chuckled against his neck, letting him lift off her shirt and shivering as he touched her.
"Obviously. So stop talking?" Adam smirked up at her, not missing her look of surprise as his shirt was shed. "Does it hurt?" "I've had worse." Her fingers traced the twin scars on his shoulder, the bruises on his throat. He could practically feel her wanting to ask, but that could wait as they stripped each other, his still-cooling body contrasting her warm, living one. "Do you feel cold?" "No, does it bother you?" He had never asked, but then Erin originally bedded him for reasons other than plain desire. She, like Robin had, had always felt burning hot against his skin, but he had rarely pondered on whether that meant he felt ice cold to her. "No, just wondered if you could feel it." Conversation was set aside as they twined, heat and pleasure twisting through him as Erin clung tighter to his body. She curled up against his chest after, always more affectionate after sex. "I do love you." "I never said you didn't." "I know, I just thought I would remind you." Erin hummed absently, dozing back to sleep on his chest and trapping him there until she woke.
Ingrid grimaced slightly as she brought back Erika, but it was obvious with a look that Adam was effectively pinned. "Come down whenever, dad wants us all awake tomorrow for your date with the mirror so it's back to day shift today." "Once Erin wakes up I'll go shower, then yeah I'll be there." "Mmm awake." Erin mumbled against his chest, but didn't open her eyes. "Course you are." Ingrid rolled her eyes, cast one more look down at Erika sleeping and left. Erin didn't move or speak again for almost half an hour, by which time he was tempted to wake her just so he could pee. "I'm actually awake now." "Welcome back to the land of the living, soon to be one less living." "Funny. Go shower so you don't traumatize Ryan. Again." Chuckling as he stood and hunted out clean clothes, Adam smirked at his girlfriend. "In fairness, you were the one who asked him to give us half an hour, wasn't a very generous estimate." Erin tossed a rubber bat toy (a gift from the Count) at him in retaliation, then told him to go hurry with his turn in the bathroom.
Brushing his teeth, showering off the pheromones even he could detect now, and then pulling on clean clothes and inspecting his healing arm, Adam just wanted tomorrow to hurry up and be over with - the anticipation in the air was driving him crazy. Erin was just changing their daughter when he returned, wearing one of the many t-shirts he owned that were too big for him now. "I remember you practicing this, man it seems like so long ago." Erin nodded in agreement, kissing their giggling daughter all over before snapping up her little romper suit. "She's so perfect, I can't believe I love her so much." Smiling at Erin nuzzling Erika's downy hair, he agreed. "She is. Surprising with me for a dad." Erin handed him the baby, then kissed him. "Oh I don't know, you're alright I guess." Erin grinned cheekily, then grabbed her clothes to head for a shower. "We'll be downstairs." Using the little carrier thing, he strapped Erika to his chest to carry her downstairs.
"Ah my son! Excited to be a proper vampire tomorrow?" "Shh, not so loud, Erika is only just awake." The Count scowled, but didn't shout again as Adam sat at the table with his daughter. "So, are you excited?" "I just want it to be done with, I'm tired of being short tempered and I want my teeth to stop hurting and my stomach to decide what it wants." Ryan fidgeted nearby, wanting to hold his niece but not stupid enough to irritate Adam. "Get her bottle and you can feed her." Ryan flitted off, returning a minute later with her bottle in hand and smiled as Erika let him feed her. "That's my girl" Erika promptly spewed milk over Ryan when he winded her, which at least showed he knew how to do it properly. "Gross." "Well, don't feed her if you can't follow through." Ryan grimaced as he handed her back, disappearing to change into a different hoodie. "Maybe you should tell him about the special cloth you use when you take care of her?" Ingrid looked over at him, painting her nails and smirking. "Where's the fun in that?"
Chuckling, Adam cleaned up the baby's face and sat reading to her about bats over breakfast, which amused Erin no end when she came down after her shower. "Where's Ryan?" "He made the mistake of giving Erika breakfast, so she puked on him." Being parents to a baby meant talking about such things didn't faze either of them now, so Erin merely laughed as she ate her own breakfast and gamely ignored the Count eyeing her neck. "Erika, you can't eat the book!" This didn't dissuade his daughter in the slightest, who merely smiled as she gnawed on the corner of the book. "This is why I don't have more offspring! Such hard work!" "Right, it has nothing to do with mum leaving you?" "And until a year ago, you didn't even know you had me." Erin looked at Adam and Ingrid as they spoke, shaking her head slightly. "What?" "Its just kind of... Eerie how alike you look when you do that." Adam looked at Ingrid, then they both shrugged.
The vampires were tired from being up all night, then all day, so once dinner was done with they all parted ways for the night, Ingrid's eyes dark on his as they stole a moment when Ryan was saying goodnight to his sister and niece. "Not long now." "I know." The feeling of her fangs against his lip reminded him of what tomorrow meant, the two of them clinging tighter to each other. "Anyone would think you were worried I won't come out." Ingrid didn't answer, refusing to meet his eyes now. "Wait. Can that happen?" She nodded, kissing him again before he could question further. "And nobody told me this before, why?" "So you wouldn't back out." "I wouldn't anyway. I better go, you need to sleep and I want to see my daughter through human eyes again." The desperation in her was heavy on his mouth, guilt thick in his chest when she left for her coffin. Bertrand pointedly wiped his mouth, reminding Adam of Ingrid's habit of biting his lip. Scrubbing at his face, Adam looked at his tutor for a minute. Getting the nod he was looking for, Adam headed up to his room.
"Ok. That wasn't there when I woke up this morning." "Think its a hint from your dad?" There was a big black coffin in his room, complete with a red bow on top. "Or a standard sixteenth gift, didn't Ingrids mum get her one for her sixteenth?" "I think so." Shaking his head, Adam just stepped around the big glorified box and went to his daughter. "I'm not getting you a coffin for your birthday unless you ask for one. But your mother would prefer you didn't." Erika blew a raspberry at him, so he guessed that was her answer. "I have long accepted our daughter is half vampire, you idiot." "Yeah, but Robin used to ask his dad every Christmas for a coffin." "Well he did get some vampire in him." Choking on his water at Erin's shameless joke, he covered the baby's ears protectively. "Shhhhh Erika can hear you." "She isn't even talking yet!" "She can still hear you."
Erin shook her head, watching with a smile as he checked Erika was full, changed and satisfied with her pacifier before changing for bed. "Can you believe it's been almost two years since we met?" "No. I can't believe everything that's happened since we moved to Stokely a couple of years ago. Imagine if I had never met Ingrid, what would happen to me tomorrow?" "Who knows? You would probably be diagnosed with porphyria and medicated for a condition you don't have. Blood craving, pale, bad reaction to sunlight." "I wonder if that's ever happened. Irony of being a vampire diagnosed with vampire disease." Erin shrugged, settling into bed next to him and they both looked to check his window covers were solid. "Get some sleep, big day." "Mmm." Erin nestled into his arms, drifting off soon after as he waited. Carefully, quietly creeping out of the bed, Adam hurried to put his plan into action. Stashing the bags in his wardrobe, he peered in at Erika sleeping peacefully.
Carefully slipping back in behind Erin, she shifted and mumbled "where did you to?" sleepily. "Bathroom. Go to sleep." "Mmm you too." Supposing he could do with the sleep, Adam let the sounds of breathing lull him to sleep. It wasn't even sunrise when Erika woke, but again Ingrid was already awake and appeared with her bottle while he was changing her. "Vampire aunt and uncle, gotta love the speed." "Once you're done you can do it yourself." Ingrid took her to feed while Adam dressed, remembering to go sans shirt while he winded her. "They stayed." Looking down, Adam realised his torso was blank, healed completely but the scars on his shoulder were just as dark as they were the night before. "Wow. Feels strange that we finally got this far." He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but even his skinny frame looked a little less scrawny. That could be the sleep deprivation talking, he mused as he wiped milk off his shoulder and pulled on a t-shirt.
"How do you feel?" "Better, less... volatile. I think I'm just happy it's about to be over." "The waiting?" Ingrid was looking at him strangely as she held Erika. "Of course. Its been over a year since you told me, just seems like it took forever to get to this point. And my teeth still hurt, these fangs better come through nice and fast so it stops. Lets go, Erin can sleep more." Ingrid flitted Erika down for him, so Adam walked down by himself and retrieved her. "Big day half breed." "You might be protecting Erin and the baby later but don't think I won't dust you on principle." Ryan pulled a face at him, going back to his goblet of blood sleepily. "Are we ready?" "No, Erin isn't awake and I don't want to ire my slayer girlfriend the day I become a vampire." The Count tsk-ed, giving Adam's bowl of cornflakes (they didn't hurt to chew) a distasteful look. "My teeth hurt, stop leering and it won't annoy you." Bertrand was quiet, sat in the bookcase section reading but looked up on occasion.
Erin didn't wake for another hour, by which time his father was all but climbing the walls. "Finally decided to grace us with your presence?" "Dad, it's 7:30am. I'm not usually awake at this time unless Erika wakes me. And neither are you, for that matter." The Count grumbled but quieted, probably down to Adam glaring at him while rocking his daughter gently. "I'm about to be the only human in the castle. Should I be concerned?" "Only if Ryan turns on you, everyone else is more interested in what happens to me than fighting Ryan to get to your blood." "Somehow, that isn't all that reassuring." "You've been here what, a year? If we were going to eat you we would have by now." "Speak for yourself!" Ingrid was deadpan, their father irritable. "Come on then, lets get this over with." Anticipation was hot in his veins, even though he could tell his heartbeat was slow, barely there and just waiting to stop.
Everyone stood and walked behind the Count, stopping outside a big set of doors guarded by suits of armour. Kissing Erika, then Erin, Adam offered Ingrid a tight smile and stood in front of the door. They opened in front of him, something whispering at him to come closer. "To your destiny!" Stepping through, the doors slammed shut behind him and he was left facing a huge mirror. This one still showed a reflection, though there was a darker edge to it. Nothing happened, just staring at the glass for what felt like hours but could have been seconds. Stepping closer, he lifted his hand to rap on the glass. His reflection lifted its hand too, but instead of tapping, it beckoned him closer. "This is not what's supposed to happen..." Adam muttered to himself as he stepped closer, pressing a hand to the glass. The guardians, the gargoyle-like things he had hardly noticed either side of the mirror suddenly woke, seizing him and tossing him through the glass with a yelp.
Bracing himself as he heard glass shatter all around him, Adam opened his eyes to find an empty room, dark and dim and stone all around. "Ok. This is not supposed to happen." Looking down at the floor, there was no broken glass, no cuts on his skin. His heartbeat was gone, and no matter how much he tried, breathing felt unnatural. "Of course it's supposed to happen." The voice sounded like his, echoing around him and Adam whipped round, looking for the source. There was a pane of glass, everyone stood in front of the mirror looking through it. He couldn't hear a thing, but the looks on their faces suggested they definitely thought something was very wrong. He hit the glass, but they didn't react. Wherever he was, they couldn't follow nor could he communicate. "I told you, this has to happen." Turning back, he could see himself - the 'darker' looking one he had seen in the mirror. "Why?" "Because you're unique. You don't have one evil reflection. You have a thousand! And you aren't leaving here without us."
The other him smirked, mouth opening to reveal twin sets of points - fangs. "What? A thousand?" "Well, you are the chosen one. Where do you think this 'untold power' comes from?" He supposed that kind of made sense. "So, what happens now?" "You hold on tight while we take over you, then we slaughter your family and take over the world!" Adam didn't have a chance to argue before the thing leapt at him, blinding pain hitting his body as the thing absorbed itself into him. Pressing a hand to his mouth to muffle the screams on instinct, something sharp nicked his finger. Touching his tongue there tentatively, he felt his fangs. "Ok, so one down, only mine hundred and ninety nine more to to. Piece of cake." Adam had no idea who he was talking to, but the silence was deafening. Nothing moved for a few more minutes, anxiety peaking a little more each passing second until everything burned bright white, and then there were dozens, hundreds of identical silhouette shapes flying towards him. Each one hitting him hurt a little more, every atom in his body agonising as these things tore their way through. It finally, finally stopped, he lost count in the low hundreds as the pain got worse.
Falling to his knees, sweat sticking him to his clothes and his hair damp on his face, he swiped at his face and took a few deep breaths he didn't need. Feeling the pain recede to a slightly more tolerable level, he stumbled to his feet and looked back at the pane of glass. They weren't there anymore, but he had to get back through. Falling through the glass, the sweat and pain vanished as he landed back in reality, groaning at the sudden shift. "Adam?" The doors opened again, everyone stood looking at him. "You're alive?" "Technically, I'm undead. But yeah, I think all my parts came back through." The Count was first in front of him, looking him up and down. "What the blood and garlic happened? We heard you shout, managed to get in and you were gone." "Thirsty." His throat burned, dry and he felt empty, a deep instinctual part of him very aware of the two heartbeats in the room. "Worry about vegetarianism later, drink this." A glass was pressed into his hand, swallowed in one long gulp and he coughed at the sharp, spicy flavour.
Feeling a little less rabid, he looked at his daughter. "Dada!" Lack of heartbeat didn't stop the bubble of happiness in his chest as Erika spoke her first word. "I'm ok, can I?" Ryan stood between him and the two girls, but Erin looked at him for a minute before holding out their daughter. "Dada!" Erika reached out to him as he picked her up, essentially demanding his attention. Erin felt even warmer on his skin now, but Erika felt as perfect as ever in his arms. "This rooms a bit cramped for all of us, can we have this conversation sitting down?" He didn't wait for an answer, his body already instinctively speeding him to the throne room. Sitting down, he watched his daughter smile at him. The others caught up a couple of seconds later, Ryan bringing Erin and still keeping a wary eye on his fanged mouth. "Damn, you're fast."
Adam shrugged, still mostly looking at his daughter. "How do you feel?" "Strange. But oddly peaceful." "So what happened?" Everyone settled around the table, staring avidly at him. "Stood staring at the mirror, the reflection just sort of stood there. Then he kind of beckoned me closer, and when I touched the glass those gargoyle things grabbed me and threw me in." "That's not supposed to happen!" Glaring at his father, Adam bared his fangs - which only seemed to amuse his child. "Do you want to hear this, or interrupt?" His father scowled but silenced, waving his hand for Adam to go on. "I came to in a weird, huge, empty room. Spent a few minutes wondering what the hell was going on, then the reflection me appeared and told me I was unique. That I didn't have one reflection, I had a thousand. I said that wasn't right, but he said it was where my 'untold power' comes from, then they said they would take over and slaughter you all before taking over the world and I was gang rushed by hundreds of things that look just like me. Hurt like hell, I lost count in the low hundreds as they kept hitting me. Then it stopped, and I managed to come back out. That's it really."
"Intriguing." "Ever the one with words Bertrand?" "So you don't feel an overwhelming desire to go on a rampage?" "Not so long as Erika is safe, no, I feel perfectly fine. Although I am very aware of the heartbeats around me." Everyone looked at Erin, who shrugged. "She could use stasis spray? I mean, we still have it but she couldn't use it pregnant and by then we didn't think about it." "And to someone new to this vampire slayer world in comparison to all of you, what is that?" "Blocks out the sound of her breathing, her heartbeat, her scent." "Won't that confuse Erika?" "No idea, you break every rule there is as easy as... I was going to say breathing... Biting?" Erin grinned, clearly happy Adam seemed to have come out himself. "Renfield!" Adam couldn't help cringing at the loud noise, his hearing even more sensitive now. "Yes master!" "A feast! To celebrate my son coming of age!" "Yeah, great. How about not shouting?" His father pulled a few faces, his strange thinking process before understanding dawned. "Right. What would you like?" Renfield started listing really gross things, so Adam mumbled "pizza" out of habit. "Pizza? Really?" "I like pizza." That apparently settled the matter, and Adam was surprised to learn he had been in the mirror room for hours - it was almost evening now.
"He's got the speed thing down, what about flying?" Ryan seemed to be challenging him, as though Adam had somehow fooled everyone and this was a ploy. Barely even thinking about the fact he was still holding Erika, Adam imagined the six steps bat transformation rules and suddenly he was flapping, looking down on the room. Circling a little, he dropped back into his chair still holding his daughter. "Did you just perform a tandem transformation without even blinking?" "Uh. Sure? What's that?" "Using your transformative energy with another, you didn't even look strained by it." "Was it supposed to be straining?" Giving Erika her bottle, Adam settled her in her high chair so he could eat but kept his eye on her gnawing at a rubber bat. "Anything else surprising you want to do?" "No idea." Ryan didn't seem fussed either way by the pizza, Ingrid was enjoying it but trying to hide it and Bertrand spent more time looking at it like he was studying a rabid animal than eating it.
"Shall we go tuck you into your new crypt?" "No? I'm not moving rooms, Erika sleeps in the tower so so do I." "You would think he came out a little more vampiric, not a super charged breather with teeth." "I'm still technically half human, at least until I'm 18. So do be quiet Ryan." His father chuckled at Adam's "attitude", Ryan scowled and Erin looked torn between laughing and admonishing him. "Come on, time for baby bath time!" Erika hated bath time, scowling at him and looking eerily like Ingrid as she did so. Erin followed him up, helping him bathe their daughter and laughing when he got splashed. "Yes, it's a terrible injustice but if you insist on getting food in your hair, you need a bath." He merely got another splash, and a lot of grizzling and drooling as they finished washing her. Erin dried her, Adam dressed her and they put her down in her crib.
"Well we know who her favourite is, first word being you." "Don't be silly, I think she just hears dad more because the only mother here is you." Erin shrugged, the motion somehow drawing his attention to her neck and the pulse beating below the skin. "Adam? You ok?" Tearing his eyes away, Adam nodded. "Yeah. Just going to take some adjusting." Erin pulled out a bottle of clear liquid from a bag he hadn't seen much of. She sprayed it over her neck, then wrists and the sound of her heart faded, the heady scent of blood vanishing. "Better?" "Yeah, thanks." Adam didn't feel tired, but Erika was sleeping and Erin was obviously sleepy. "Whats wrong?" "I don't know, just not tired." Erin nodded, kissing him then pushing him to the door. "Go annoy Ingrid, some of us spent all day worrying." "Want me to send Ryan up in case Erika gets hungry?" "If he's still up, don't wake him." Adam flitted off, the speed still a rush in itself and found Ryan, Bertrand and the Count in the main room. "Erin requests you go help her watch Erika, and her exact words were "go annoy Ingrid" when I said I wasn't tired."
His father exclaimed "So you should be training!" Bertrand looked at him searchingly, then nodded slightly. "No, he can have one night to shift his sleep patterns. Then we shall begin." Ryan headed up to his sister, and Adam left the two adult vampires to head down to his sister. "Back again?" "Not tired, Erin all but kicked me out so she could sleep." Ingrid smirked, then pushed her crypt door closed and pulled him to her bed. His body was sturdier, needed Ingrid to get rougher with him to make it hurt like before and she rose to the challenge, the feel of her fangs in his shoulder even more powerful than before as they gripped tighter to each other, pain and pleasure one and the same as Ingrid straddled his hips. "Fuck, you weren't kidding about better as a vampire." Ingrid laughed breathlessly next to him, kissing him hard and pulling him into the shower. Chest to back as he pressed her to the tiled wall, he knew what she was asking when Ingrid pushed her hair aside and told him to bite her. "Is it me, or the power you want?" Bertrand had told him - whoever he bit first would inherit powers almost equal to his.
"Both." The pale arch of her throat was appealing, even without a pulse fluttering beneath it and Adam felt his fangs pulse and drop, Ingrid's body shaking in pleasure and anticipation against his as he pressed his fangs to her neck. This was a monumentally bad idea, but marking Ingrid as his was a deep, dark desire he had and it pushed him to bite, sinking his fangs down as they both shivered in climax. Shaking teens cleaned themselves up, and Adam rubbed gently at the marks on her neck. "I'm sorry if that hurt." "Worth it. Your turn?" Her thumb pressed against his neck, asking if she could place a more public claim on his skin. "Save it for when I'm eighteen, it'll mean more when I'm the ultimate power." Ingrid smirked as she kissed him, though they separated and dressed again soon after.
"You rest, I'll see you tomorrow." Ingrid looked at him in confusion as he turned to leave, fingers on her neck where he had bitten her. "Bertrand said the power shift can be a rough ride, I just don't think you'll get the sleep you need if I stay." He left her with a wink, dashing off before he could succumb to staying. Bertrand was the only one waiting when he came back up to the throne room. "Busy?" "Not anymore. Ready?" "Are you certain about this?" "We've been over this. Did you sort everything?" Bertrand nodded, his eyes hard on Adams. "Did you bite her?" "What does that matter?" "Answer me!" His tutor had never raised his voice at Adam, not once. Before now. "Yes. Why?" "Well it makes my job much harder." "Impossible?" "Of course not." "Good. We'll start upstairs, two birds one stone."
They finished quickly, and Adam dropped his bags in the throne room, Erika fed, changed and strapped securely to his chest. "Done with your father. Now Ingrid." Holding his daughter tightly, Adam looked around. "Do it. I'll make sure no evidence is left." Tearing down the calender in the kitchen, Adam tossed it in the fireplace with the pizza boxes and levitated his coffin back to the crypt. Erika started chewing on his tie, so he placated her with a pacifier as they waited. Bertrand returned quickly, nodding seriously at Adam. "Done. You?" "Ready when you are." Bertrand pulled on his own backpack, matching Adam as he shrugged his on and held the baby bag in his free hand. "Hold on baby girl, I got you." Shifting back into his bat form, which felt surprisingly natural as they headed out of a small gap in the wall his father had put in just for this purpose, Adam turned and fast one last look at the castle, another brief glance at his mothers house. Then he pushed away the feeling of loss and guilt, following Bertrand in the night until they landed. "This the place?" "Home sweet home now those four have no idea who you or Erika are."
-VAI-
And that's all folks!
Vl-Adam-Ir is finished!
There may or may not be a sequel... Guess you'll have to wait and see!