Chapter 18:
Blue had collapsed on the bed with her clothes still on but had at the very least managed to toe her shoes off of her feet with a clunk. She curled into a fetal position on her side and turned on Netflix just as Chuck entered their room and tugged a pair of jogging pants out of the dresser, heading to the bathroom for a shower. Blue wished she had the energy to join him, but she felt herself begin to drift as soon as the opening credits had finished.
When she came to sometime later, the sun was higher in the sky and she cussed softly as she fumbled to close the curtains and fought to blink the blindness from her eyes. When she turned back to the bed, Chuck was there with a couple of pouches of blood and she wondered if she looked as awful as she felt.
"Sorry, I kind of passed out." She muttered as she sat beside him, but he shook his head and stabbed a straw into one of the pouches and handed it to her.
Blue drank the blood down slowly and her head swam slightly; it was quenching her thirst, but the spark of renewed energy that normally came with it was absent and would remain so until next month. When she finished it, Chuck handed her the second, but she shook her head.
"I think I'll throw up on you if I even try," She said uneasily.
"You need to try, Babe. You're pale as hell," He urged gently.
Blue stabbed the straw in and took the smallest of sips before setting the pouch on the nightstand and propping herself up against the headboard.
"Have you drank yet?" She asked sleepily.
"Yeah and I fed Hitchcock again. I read that he can eat nuts and seeds and veggies too, so I ordered some groceries for him and us; you never told me about Instacart!" He said enthusiastically, making her giggle despite her exhaustion.
"Slow your roll Martha Stewart," Blue quipped easily.
"Who the fuck is Martha Stewart?" Chuck asked in confusion.
"Oh yeah I keep forgetting about your time gaps. She's just this weird ass broad that teaches people how to be domestic trophy wife pains in the ass," She replied, taking another sip of blood and wincing.
"And I remind you of this bitch how?" He asked incredulously.
"I don't know. She probably invented Instacart," She said dismissively, leaning back and closing her eyes wearily.
"If you weren't so fragile right now, I might be insulted." Chuck mused, earning a soft smile.
"Oh please, I could still totally take you." Blue scoffed, smirking when his eyes shone with challenge as he easily stalked towards her up the bed.
She surprised both of them when she reached forward and pulled him towards her to close the gap between them, capturing his lips with her own in a fierce kiss that would have taken her breath away had she had any.
Chuck groaned needfully into the kiss, one hand making its way under her shirt while the other went to the nape of her neck as he ground his erection into her hip. Blue moaned softly when he nipped her full lips with his sharp fangs, making his way down her jaw and to her neck. She tugged his shirt upward until he helped her yank it the rest of the way off and her shirt and bra followed shortly after, her nails finding purchase on his newly exposed back as his nips turned into frantic bites and sucklings along her collar bone and shoulder.
"Chuck….Chuck please," She whined, fumbling with the waistband of his sweatpants until she was able to yank them down and wrap her hand around him, stroking him with sensuous pulls of her velveteen hands.
"Fuck….." He hissed, the feel of her touch titillating as some sensation he couldn't name seemed to click between them and his senses heightened tenfold.
Blue's eyes shot open; the pupils dilated as she became suddenly very aware of his presence in her mind as they touched.
"Do you feel?...Can you hear me?" She thought as her fingers continued traveling down his length, thumbing the head at intervals as her lips, tongue, and teeth traversed his jaw and neck.
"Yes," His voice breathed in her mind monosyllabically; unable to coherently think any other answer across as he began experiencing a type of shared pleasure loop where both of their feelings, thoughts, and sensations surged back and forth between them.
Blue gasped unneeded breaths as he worked his way to her breasts, both of them moaning in ecstasy when he took a pert nipple into his mouth, kneading the perfect mounds of flesh with both of his hands. She fisted the sheets below them, the sound of tearing fabric rent the air as her body arched, her clit begging for friction and her walls clenching air as she began wordlessly urging him downward.
"So impatient…." He chided teasingly, his fangs ghosting over her ribs tantalizingly slow.
"Do you have a death wish?" Blue ground out aloud, making him laugh as she shoved at his shoulders gently, signaling him to get a move on or else.
"Depends on who's doing the killing," He rasped, and then he was there, filling her, completing her, making her feel alive again.
They both gasped and moaned in turn, the sensation of each other's pleasure both foreign and familiar, old and new, sacred and hedonistic in turns. Chuck growled low in his chest, a fierce possessiveness overtaking his senses as he felt her welcoming heat close around him like a glove.
"MINE!" The word exploded across his synapses as his hips rocketed forward, hands gripping her hard enough to bruise.
"Yes, yours… yes, please…." She breathed, her words causing the territorial animal within him to purr as he continued to fuck her desperately.
Chuck sank his fangs into her again, tasting her essence, groaning euphorically when her venom rushed against his tongue, crackling like fire along his taste buds like nectar.
Blue called out his name pleadingly, bucking off of the bed as she met him thrust for thrust, her slick folds consuming him.
"I love you…God, I fucking love you…" Chuck's mind-voice gasped in abandon, he was gone.
He was so far fucking gone when he was with her.
"I love you too," Blue replied, sitting up to meet his lips, still managing to keep him inside of her despite their height differential. She rocked with him frantically, her hands coming up to twine into his hair as she suckled his neck, fingers still somehow mindful of the staples at his temples.
He lost himself on the waves of their passion as their limbs entwined, each of them riding the cadence and rhythm of their maddening pace.
It was hours later that Chuck became aware that their room was pitch black and some annoying fucking sound was intruding upon his blissful slumber.
"Babe…. Your phone," He muttered foggily.
"Fuck the phone," She sighed sleepily, and he chuckled softly.
"I think it's Mort." He said, rolling off of her and snatching up her cell from the nightstand.
Blue took the phone from him and squinted her eyes open irritably.
"I'm on sick leave, remember?" She answered without preamble, causing Mort to pause before continuing.
"Hello to you too. I was calling to ask if you guys needed a ride over? For spades? Does any of this ring a bell?" Mort prompted hopefully.
Hitchcock let forth a loud caw from below and Blue nearly fell out of the bed in her haste to turn on the lights.
"Shit, what time is it? I'm sorry, I kinda passed out earlier." She said apologetically, throwing a pillow at Chuck when his shoulders shook in silent mirth.
"It's half-passed six, no worries. I'll come by at seven to get you guys, Okay? We'll all probably be plastered after, so bring some pj's for you guys to sleep in, you can stay in one of the guest rooms," He told her.
"Yeah, okay. See you soon," Blue hung up and flopped back down on the bed beside him, pulling the blanket over her head with a groan.
"You okay?" He asked, reaching passed her for the cigarettes and the ashtray.
"I think I have a sex hang over. If those even exist," She confessed, taking the cigarette he lit for her before lighting one for himself.
"I guess they do, if the sex is good." He snorted, laying down on his side to face her.
"Well, since we both passed the fuck out, I'll take it as a good sign that I don't suck in bed." She replied, running her hand against her side where her wound from the mirror was now an angry pink.
"Only in the ways that count," He teased with a wink, running his fingers against the scar gingerly.
"This still hurt? Was I a little too rough earlier?" He asked her, but she shook her head.
"No, earlier was perfect. I think I just slept kind of weird," She assured him, kissing his lips softly which quickly turned more urgent until he pulled away reluctantly.
"We need to be showered and dressed when our boss gets here," Chuck reminded her.
"Always the voice of reason," Blue sighed with a soft smile.
"One of us has to be," He replied, sliding out of bed, and grabbing a pair of boxer briefs before heading to the bathroom.
Blue trudged out of bed, choosing a simple black blouse and a navy blue embroidered satin wrap around skirt that fell to her ankles and grabbed a black bra and panties out of her dresser before joining him in the shower.
The hot water falling onto her tired muscles was bliss as she massaged cleansing conditioner into her scalp with a sigh.
Chuck was trying not to get distracted by the sight of her curves as the rivulets of water soaked her silky skin, the droplets clinging to her nipples and lush hips and thighs.
Yeah, because I'd have to be fucking castrated not to pop a boner at the view….. He shook his head and scrubbed his body as fast as he could before they didn't make it to Mort's at all.
Voice of reason my ass…. He quickly rinsed and climbed out, wrapping a towel around his waist. He brushed his teeth and his hair and stepped into his boxers just as Blue stepped out of the shower and followed suit, pausing to smile softly at the sight of his toothbrush next to hers.
She came out of the bathroom in just her bra and panties, toweling her long azure lochs dry as he was tying his shoes.
"Do you have to be such a cock tease before we leave the house?" He asked, kissing the back of her neck as she sat to do her makeup.
Blue smirked at him in the mirror as she applied her shadow and eyeliner with practiced strokes.
"It's not a tease when you know I'll fuck your brains out again later," She replied matter of factly, making him laugh raucously.
Chuck pocketed his keys and their smokes while Blue pulled her blouse on and tied her skirt around her and was stepping into black ankle boots when the doorbell rang.
"I got it," He replied, making his way down while she finished spritzing on some perfume and adjusting the bracelet he had given her that she never took off.
"Hey, how is she?" Mort asked as Chuck pulled his hoodie on.
"She's good, just a little beat. She should probably take a couple of pouches of blood with, just in case." He replied, unable to completely hide his smile when he saw her coming down the stairs.
"You look beautiful," His mind-voice spoke in her head and her cheeks reddened softly as she pulled her jacket down off of the coatrack.
Chuck took two pouches of blood from the fridge and handed them over to her to put in her purse.
"Thanks," She muttered, a tingle of self-consciousness making itself known through their bond.
Mort made his way back to the car, stopping himself short when he nearly opened her door for her out of habit and deferring to Chuck, who opened it for her instead.
My two chivalrous boys… Blue thought as he shut the door behind her and got into the back seat.
"So, we uh, have six for spades tonight." He announced, looking uncharacteristically nervous as he pulled off.
"Six? Who else? Besides George and Annie?" Blue asked curiously.
"I uh, I have someone I want you to meet. A friend of mine," He said, and Chuck winced as he saw Blue visibly stiffen in the passenger seat; her posture becoming painfully aware, like a lioness that has stumbled upon the scent of a kill.
"Mort, other than George, you don't have any friends. Who is she?" She asked, her tone almost accusatory.
"Easy, easy. She's just someone I met at the concert," Mort replied, and if he thought that this information would put Blue at ease, he was horribly mistaken.
"At the concert? You mean the concert full of Vampires and Upirs? Are you fucking insane?!" She asked, whipping her seatbelt off so that she could face him properly.
"'Kish, it's okay. She's not bloodthirsty or rabid or something," Mort tried to calm her once more, but with a simple motion of her hand, the car jerked to a stop and a small dribble of blood oozed from her nose with the effort.
"You've lost your fucking mind." She said quietly as he pressed a tissue into her hand from the center console which she slowly placed against her nose.
"No, not really. Besides, this isn't serious. It's not like you and Chuck, it's just…." Mort faltered, at a loss for words.
"Have you slept with her yet? Has she bitten you? Is she an Upir or…?" The flood of questions going through her mind was enough to make her dizzy.
"She's a Vampire, and I think that you should meet her before-
"Before I tear her limb from limb? Mort, Vampires are dangerous! They don't have the same control over their thirst that Upirs do! Hell, they don't even show the same reserve or restraint that we do! They have one thought in their heads and its all consuming and that is the need for blood," She cut across him irritably.
"Take it easy Blue," Chuck interjected, handing her more Kleenex as her nose gushed anew.
"Look, she isn't like that. All I'm asking you to do is meet her," Mort pressed, laying a hand on Blue's shoulder, but she jerked out of his grasp with a glare.
"Fine. But if you just left her in your house with two humans and she killed them in the short amount of time it took to argue about this madness, you've no one but yourself to blame." She replied coldly, facing forward once more, and releasing the car back to his control.
Mort sighed and continued along the main path of the cemetery.
"Mel hasn't even arrived yet," He replied softly in an attempt to steer the conversation back to normal.
Blue remained silent and Chuck met Mort's eyes in the rearview mirror and mouthed good timing sarcastically at him.
When they arrived, Mort parked, and she shot out of the car as though her seat were burning her with Chuck fast on her heels.
Blue looked around the perimeter of the house warily before she went in to be warmly greeted by whom Chuck assumed had to be Annie.
"How are you dear?" The slight blonde woman asked as she embraced Blue in a motherly fashion, followed closely by George; a burly dark-haired bespectacled man.
"I'm good, you guys, this is Chuck." She introduced, and to their credit, they stepped forward to shake his hand without a hitch.
"Nice to meet you," Annie said genuinely as Mort came in and tossed his keys on the antique side table in the hall.
"Yeah, you too. Sorry about the mess we left the other night by the way," He said, thinking about their trashed guest bedroom.
"Oh, don't worry about that. We're just relieved that you two got out safely and that we got our house back, that thing seemed like a nasty customer." George replied, as they made their way into the billiard room where Mort already had the bar lined with drinks and snacks.
A tingle of trepidation skirted along the periphery of Chuck's psyche and he turned to look at Blue, who was lagging at the back of the group.
"Oh, I have to show you what Jenna's done with her hair! You know how much she always looked up to you and now look! Isn't that a beautiful shade of teal?" Annie came around to show Blue a picture on her phone and to Chuck's surprise, Blue smiled a genuinely at the image.
"How is college treating her?" Blue asked, her posture still stiffened to alertness even though her attitude appeared more lax.
"Very good! She's so excited going into her Sophomore year, you really helped her ace her finals last term," Annie replied warmly.
"I think I just helped her get over some nerves is all," She said with a modest shrug.
"That reminds me, she sent these along for you from Poland. She said that she met a clan passing through town that was playing at the pub her and her friends go to on the weekends," Annie pulled a out a small box from her purse and handed it to Blue just as the doorbell rang.
"Hold that thought George," Mort said, halting their golfing chatter.
Blue opened the box with a slight tremor in her hands to reveal a pair of earrings that were made of intricately woven blue, black, and gold fabric with tiny black tassels dangling at the bottom.
"They're beautiful! I have to tell Jenna that she has good taste. I just hope they didn't overcharge her for them," She told Annie, slipping the earrings on and accentuating her already exotic features.
"Gorgeous! Let me just grab a pic for Jenna," Blue smiled and Annie snapped the pic just as Mort returned with a pale, raven-haired stranger.
"Guys, this is Imelda Mondragon. Imelda, these are my friends George and his Wife Annie," Imelda smiled and shook hands with them in turn as Blue inched slightly forward to put herself within tackling range if need be.
"And this is my Daughter Akishla Rainieri," Imelda blinked in surprise momentarily, but quickly composed herself and smiled softly.
"We've met," Blue did not offer her hand, leading Imelda to withdrawal her own quickly.
"Indeed. I'm sure that my Father would send you his regards," Imelda replied uneasily.
"I'm sure he would have. Malciber and I go way back, but not so far as all that. I did see him after the concert, remember?" Blue asked pointedly, referring to Tiffany's kidnapping and attempted murder.
"Yes, an unfortunate incident. Your friend made it home safely that night I hope?" Imelda asked, the smile plastered across her face not quite reaching her eyes.
"Alive and kicking," Blue deadpanned, the flash of hatred strong enough to ripple across their bond, and Chuck was wondering if the feeling were for Imelda or Tiffany or a mixture of both.
"And who is this?" Imelda caught sight of him nursing a whiskey on the rocks behind Blue, his stance outwardly relaxed, though inwardly he was ready to pounce if need be.
This bitch was making his skin crawl.
"This is my Mate, Charles." Blue replied, the tone of her voice as well as her body language made it quite clear that Imelda should not even attempt to shake his hand.
"Ah, a pleasure." Imelda replied.
Chuck nodded once, his face expressionless while his insides squirmed, and his instincts hammered his brain.
"I don't like her… I don't trust her…" His mind-voice thought across to Blue and he felt rather than heard her acknowledgement and agreement.
"Well, can I get you a drink?" Mort offered in an effort to thaw the chill that had settled over the room.
"I'm sure you could," Blue muttered darkly, soft enough that only Imelda and Chuck could hear, and Imelda's eyes flashed irritably for a moment before she turned back to Mort.
"Tequila would be lovely," Imelda replied, taking a seat at the card table in the corner.
Mort bought her a double and seated himself beside her; the sight almost making Blue miss the treacherous Evie.
George and Annie joined them amiably enough, but the chatter fell on deaf ears as Blue sat across from Imelda, instinctually leaving Chuck to sit across from Annie which was furthest from her new nemesis.
Mort dealt the cards and the game began, Chuck taking control of their books because he knew that Blue was only paying attention to the game half-heartedly.
"We bet six," He said, taking a peek at Blue's hand.
Mort whistled low at that as he gazed at Imelda's hand.
"Bet four," He said, placing a casual arm around the back of Imelda's chair.
"I'm gonna be sick," Blue's mind-voice said, and Chuck cleared his throat as he took another hit of his whiskey.
"Ditto Babe," He agreed, tossing a card down and leaving an opening for her to make their first book.
"Akishla?" Mort said as though he had asked her something.
"What?" She asked, confused.
"I was asking if you worked at the cemetery too?" Imelda repeated, mirth dancing in her eyes as she realized that she had caught Blue unawares.
"Yes." Blue replied, making their first book and handing it off to Chuck for safekeeping.
Imelda looked at her as though willing her to elaborate, but Blue asked Annie something about acquiring new paintings; which prompted Annie to go off on a long and excitable tangent about some recent finds.
Apparently, she was an art dealer.
Chuck observed that Imelda simmered just below the surface but concealed it valiantly with questions about Annie's business; which appeared to let Blue off of the hook.
Blue and Chuck won the first two hands, while George and Annie took the next three before they took a break for dinner and more drinks.
Imelda declined food of course, but she had several more shots of tequila as she and Mort seemed to almost ignore the rest of the present company and focus on conversing with one another at one end of Mort's lavish dining room table.
Blue's gut twisted as she observed the two of them together.
This was the table that Mort shared his first meal with his wife at, the table that his children gathered around with their parents, this was the table she and Mort had eaten at when he had told her about his crippling guilt that he had cursed them all to painful deaths and that he was stuck here now alone until she had come into his life. Mort had introduced her as his Daughter; changing their normal rouse that she was his Niece, but why?
"I need to get some air," She said to Chuck suddenly, leaving her food practically untouched.
He nodded, leaving his plate in much the same way as he followed her out of the house and down the steps.
"I've seen a lot of weird shit, but I think this makes my top ten. He's completely unaware of anything else around him like he's in a fuckin trance. I don't come across that whipped, do I?" He asked her, making her chortle despite her mood.
"No, definitely not. I wouldn't neuter you like that," Blue assured him with a shake of her head.
"I don't even think he realized that we left," He sighed as she lead him around to the back of the mansion and into a moonlit garden complete with an ornate bronze fountain and little pathways leading left and right; but at the center of it all were five headstones that looked ancient but well preserved.
Blue made her way to the graves, kneeling down in shock and dismay when she saw the withered and dried bouquet of flowers and the newly sprouted dandelions.
"Oh my God," She sobbed softly in disbelief.
"What is it?" Chuck asked as she reached out and took the desiccated roses in hand.
"Chuck, this is serious! There's something wrong with him. He never, ever lets their flowers go like this! He has always replaced them weekly and he is constantly weeding here and tending the grass, he never would let it get like this! Never!" She said in a panicked whisper, her hands shaking as she placed the dead flowers back in their marble vase.
"Maybe he's just…. Taking a break? I mean, that's pretty depressing to do every week for a few centuries right?" He offered, but the measure of doubt in his voice did nothing to reassure her.
Blue shook her head and stood, looking over the other headstones and finding similar results.
"What are we gonna do? Can we just dust the bitch? Like Van Helsing?" He asked uncertainly, but she narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
"It's more complicated than that I think, but I need to check it out first to figure out what it is." She replied softly.
"Wha-
"There you are! I was wondering where you guys wandered off to, we're about to deal another hand." Mort said, coming down the path and smiling obliviously.
Blue turned towards him, swiping the tears from her cheeks quickly and stuffing her hands in her pockets.
"Everything okay?" He asked, looking between them.
"I don't know Mort, you tell me." She replied, gesturing to Abbey Beecher's headstone behind her.
Mort looked behind her at his family's resting place with confusion before meeting her eyes once more.
"What is it?" He asked with a frown.
"What do you mean 'what is it', Mort wake up!" She said incredulously, searching his eyes.
"Listen 'Kish, I know that you're stressed out-
"This isn't about me! This is about you for a change," She cut across him, her hands balling into fists inside of her pockets.
"Me? I'm fine! Look, I know that you don't really like Imelda but if you just spend a little time with her-
"I'm not spending any time with that bitch! Mort, where are their flowers? What happened?!" Blue reached out and shook him gently by the shoulders as though desperate to wake him from a trance, but Mort shook her off and took a few steps back.
"You know, some times you really get on my nerves Akishla. Look at you; always the sad, pathetic, bleeding little heart. Always mourning for your Father, always depressed and suicidal. Did you ever think that people move on? I mean, shit, I don't want to end up like you! You know what I think? I think that your Father killed himself to get away from you; and if you aren't careful, Charlie here will follow suit." He said icily, his eyes distant and cold.
Blue stood there stunned, her eyes wide and her body trembling as his cruel words registered.
"You sonovabitch!" Chuck lunged into the air, both the force of his anger and Mort's momentary surprise taking them both off kilter and they landed in a heap, Chuck's upir strength getting the better of him as he punched, kicked, and finally bit his way blindly atop his shocked opponent.
"Chuck stop!" Blue shouted, attempting to pull the two apart by hand and failing as Chuck lashed out again and tore a sizable chunk of flesh from Mort's collarbone and shoulder, causing blood to gush black in the moonlight and onto the grass below them.
"Stop, stop, stop!" She cried, grabbing ahold of Chuck's hoodie and one of his flailing arms and transporting them back to their house so fast that her head spun with the effort.
They landed on the kitchen floor with a bang and untangled from each other; Hitchcock awakening with a loud squawk as Chuck roared with rage like an infuriated lion.