How dare she? Admitting she was jealous then sabotaging her chances with Adam! Becky couldn't believe Erin could be such a horrible person! And out of all the things she could have put in her cola, she had to put garlic in it. GARLIC! Becky sprayed some spray into her mouth for the fourth time, hoping it would conceal the garlic. Erin might've asked her not to go out with Adam, but she could sure as hell kiss him. That was what she was going to do. She just hoped that Adam didn't smell the garlic.
With that thought, Adam opened the door and invited her in.
They walked along, and into the dining room. A very gothic dining room. Since they hadn't said a word to each other since Becky arrived, she decided to make a comment about how on trend the room was. But Adam didn't reply. He simply walked around the table to be beside Becky. She kept moving though, finding him a little creepy.
"So... What's on the menu?" She asked as Adam walked after her at a slow pace.
"Take a wild guess." Adam calmly said, as if nothing strange was going on.
"Salmon?" Becky guessed, oblivious to the fact that she was likely to be Adam's lunch.
"Well, it doesn't matter if you haven't got anything!" Becky continued, pulling a box out of her bag "I've got a packed lunch here look. We could share it." She offered sweetly as she handed the clear container to Adam who looked at it with disgust and proceeded to chuck it on the floor.
Becky was evidently confused and slightly offended. "Aren't you hungry?" She asked.
"Hungrier than you'll ever know." Adam said, rocking backwards and forwards on his feet, desperate to rip Becky's neck apart.
"Me too." Becky said, even though she wasn't the same hungry Adam.
Right then and there she flicked her hair back and leaned forward. She puckered her lips, expecting Adam to kiss them. Adam was revolted by the scene in front of him, but decided to go along with it. He sighed, then walked forward, but his head tilted toward Becky's neck rather than her lips. It was only then Adam caught the ungodly scent of the of garlic on her breath.
"AAH! GARLIC!" He yelled as he recovered from the second whiff of garlic he had to endure that day. Everything felt as if it were being stung over and over again, and his eyes began to water. Lucky, tears didn't stream down his face. And if any did, he'd wiped them away before Becky could see.
"I'm sorry! I tried to cover it!" Becky tried to explain herself, thinking Adam just didn't want to kiss her because of the small inconvenience.
"GET. OUT." He demanded in return as Becky got extremely flustered and confused.
"But its not my fault! I swear it was Erin!" She continued to explain as Adam composed himself.
"Erin..." He sneered with disgust as he walked away, leaving Becky baffled.
Frustrated that Erin was right, Becky turned around, hitting a chair as she went in a fluster, and ran straight to Erin. Adam had changed, in more ways than one.
———
"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?!" Erin asked for the thousandth time since Becky had told her about what had happened with Adam.
"No." Becky said quite plainly, "But he's not the guy I thought he was."
"He's just going through some stuff, deep down he's still a good person." Erin tried to argue. She wanted to tell Becky why Adam was acting so weirdly, but she couldn't.
"I think we're wasting our time by being his friend." Becky answered coldly. She walked off to a class she didn't have with Erin, whilst Erin stood in the middle of the yet again crowded corridor.
"I don't." She muttered to herself, feeling rather defeated.
———
It was filed, varnished, everything. It's point was so sharp, when Ingrid placed her finger on it, she bled a little before she healed within seconds. The stake was perfect.
She flitted out of the woodwork classroom, and out into the empty corridors. All the students had gone to attend one of the last lessons of the day. Even more perfect. Now she could stake Adam without anyone noticing. Adam was coming down the stairs. Ingrid could hear it. She decided the staking would be more effective it she attacked stealthily, so she waited until Adam had reached the bottom of the stairs. That's when she started to run.
She was running faster than the speed of light, and decided she'd extend her fangs for extra effect. Why kill the threat to your title looking plain when she could do it looking truly evil. Ingrid was determined to be the only heir to the Dracula throne, and since Adam had appeared, his existence was more than annoying. Letting him un-live was a risk she wasn't willing to take. She thought it best she eliminated her competition before he got too strong. Especially given the whole prophecy thing. If she left it too late, he could become indestructible.
She arrived at the stairs and got ready to plunge the steak through Adam's back and into his heart. But he'd turned around and Ingrid only managed to prick his finger.
Oh no. This was bad.
Adam tutted her and wiggled his finger with disapproval. He was mocking her as if she were a child.
"Adam, let me go." She said with an undertone of fear in her demanding voice.
But Adam merely grinned as he lifted Ingrid off the floor and turned her around, throwing the stake out of reach. His face had taken on a cold and unforgiving look as he looked his half sibling in the eye. He was going to kill her. Adam forced Ingrid out of the door and into the courtyard. A smile rapidly spread across his face the further she was pushed away from him, whilst fear grew in Ingrid's eyes. Ingrid was hurled out of the door and into the scorching sun, left to burn. Adam on the other hand merely ducked out of the sun's way. Smoke could be seen rising from her body as she screamed so earsplitting loud in pain, Adam was baffled no one came to rescue her. He watched her through the door as she scrambled to find shade as her body started to catch fire. It was truly a fun thing to watch, definitely not a fun thing to experience. Before the sun could hurt him, Adam made the door slam shut and a familiar voice started to speak.
"What are you doing?" Erin demanded as she jogged down the stairs. She didn't show any physical sign of fear, but Adam could tell from her eyes and her faint speedy heartbeat that she was scared "Adam, I'm your friend. I'll get you some blood. You don't have to bite anyone."
Erin could tell Adam considered it for a moment, but quickly changed his mind. "I don't need to…" he paused, "but I want to." he extended his fangs as he approached Erin menacingly.
Adam made it seem as if nothing could stop him from biting Erin, yet Erin could tell he didn't want to bite her when he'd considered her offer. However, he had also declined said offer and was approaching her rapidly. At that moment, Erin realised it must've been Adam's reflection taking over. "He's still in there, isn't he? The real Adam." Erin managed as she tried to catch up with her breath and thoughts, whilst being in the process of trying to save her own life with a few words.
Adam's eyes softened then grew cold again as he spat "I'm the real Adam." baring his fangs and leaning over Erin in an attempt to scare her so much that she wouldn't pry in his mind anymore.
"I'm the powerful one." Adam continued as he leaned in to bite Erin's neck again, hoping he wouldn't fail this time. He wrapped his hands finger by finger on her head and shoulder as he forced her head to tilt, revealing a throbbing artery.
"I know you're in there." Erin said, attempting to mask her fear, and doing so very effectively. "You're strong. You're stronger than him." She cried, in an attempt to reach the original Adam. It was proving to be somewhat effective because she hadn't been bitten yet. Adam leaned his head back and snarled as he prepared to bite her.
"I believe in you!" Erin pleaded.
———
Sally couldn't believe it. Adam had been suspended on his birthday of all days when and an ofsted inspector was at the school. She'd received the call that morning from Miss McCauley but hadn't been able to come and pick him up at the time. She was too busy sculpting a piece that had a deadline that night. At least she was here now. She parked her car under a large tree's shade and headed for the school's reception to meet with Miss McCauley, in hopes the head teacher could explain to her why Adam had pulled the fire alarm in the first place. Sally was unable to find Miss McCauley in her office at the front of the school, so she took it upon herself to search for her. She walked along the corridors of the science block and finally found Miss McCauley with who Sally assumed was the ofsted inspector. The woman looked very proper.
"Ah, Sally. Excuse me for a moment Mrs Cotton." Miss McCauley said awfully politely. "Thank you for coming. We haven't been able to get him off the school's property since this morning. I also tried to get other staff members to get a hold of you, but they all forgot somehow." She explained in a rushed and hushed tone to Sally as Mrs Cotton slowly joined them.
"Who could you not get off the property?" Mrs. Cotton asked abruptly, clipboard in hand, clearly having eavesdropped on the conversation.
Sally and Miss McCauley glanced at each other before Miss McCauley spoke up. "Adam Giles."
"My son." Sally added nervously. She wasn't quite sure if she had made the situation better or worse.
"Why, what happened?" Mrs Cotton questioned and looked at Sally with a judgemental glint in her eyes.
Hesitant but unable to see any other way out, Miss McCauley explained "Adam pulled the fire alarm this morning without any known reason. We decided it would be best if we suspended him for a few days. Sally here wasn't able to come and pick him up until now. Sorry for the inconvenience." Miss McCauley was slightly embarrassed. Not as embarrassed as Sally though, who's face was rapidly reddening.
"Right..." Mrs Cotton stated, clearly judging both Sally and Miss McCauley as she noted things on her clipboard.
"The thing is, he isn't usually a troublemaker. He's never behaved like this before." Sally tried to explain, defending her son, and in truth, her pride. However, Mrs Cotton took no notice of her.
"Well, if it's alright with you Sally, I think it might be better if you find him alone so this can all be over with. He won't listen to me." Miss McCauley said jokingly, only managing to get a nervous giggle from Sally and an even more judgemental look from Mrs Cotton as she scribbled something else down.
"Yes, yes. Perfectly fine." Sally replied smiling at Miss McCauley, who had also become flustered, but was hiding it better than Sally.
Sally had already started walking towards the main staircase. She smiled at Mrs Cotton, waved, and walked as fast as she could to escape. She walked quickly whilst trying her best not to make it obvious that she didn't want to be around the two. Sally eventually slowed down when she got to the main staircase. Then she spotted Erin.
Erin was a very nice girl that always had a smile on her face. Around Sally anyway. Erin was new to the school and had gravitated towards Adam, so they became friends quite quickly. And good ones at that. Sally always teased them about becoming more than that to embarrass Adam mire than anything, but at this point it had become an inside joke.
However Erin didn't have a smile on her face today. She actually looked quite horrified. Concerned, Sally followed Erin's gaze and found herself watching her son throw himself to the middle of the floor…
She and Erin stood in horrified silence as they watched Adam expelling another ghostly version of himself out of his body. They both, the Adams, cried out in pain until one of them threw a demonic version of Adam on the wall right next to where Sally was standing.
Adam had fallen on the floor, his hood over his head. Her son looked disheveled and exhausted. Sally had no idea what was going on. This could never be real, and if it was, what on EARTH did she just experience?! She had the instinct to scream and run away from this impossible situation, yet he was her son and even though she had no idea what was going on, Sally wanted to comfort him at the same time. Only problem with that was that she was frozen in place out of pure shock and terror.
Adam got up and turned to Erin, fear and confusion plastered on his face. Adam hadn't noticed Sally yet.
———
"Ingrid." Adam muttered to Erin as he looked at the door he'd thrown her out of, then back at Erin. However, Erin kept looking behind him. Adam urged Erin to help Ingrid as he kept looking at the door then at her but Erin kept urging Adam to turn around in the same way. After a few seconds they did what each other wanted. Erin grabbed a blanket and rushed outside with it over her head, and Adam slowly turned around. And when he did, he was horrified.
"Mum..." He said as tears started to brim in his eyes. He rushed to hug her, but she didn't hug him back. Adam hoped it was because she was shocked, or maybe she thought she was dreaming, anything but be scared of him. Of whatever he'd become. He pulled away as tears ran down his cheeks filled with fear and regret.
"Adam," Sally said lovingly as she wiped his tears away. She was terrified, but wouldn't tell Adam that "what's happening? Tell me what's happening."
He would've, but Adam was lost for words. He'd come close to killing three people that day, and had little to no control over what he did. Adam couldn't tell his mother that! He just looked her in the eye and smiled. He was okay now. He'd be fine. The reflection thing had left his body. It wasn't like he had to be one with it, right?
At that his reflection grabbed him from the back by his neck and pulled him back, making Adam choke. He was flung into the wall opposite his mother. As he collided with it, the plaster chipped off and there was a loud thud that echoed around the corridors.
Adam heard his mother scream for him faintly over the ringing in his ears. Before he knew it his reflection was coming at him again, trying to merge. At the last second, Adam dodged his reflection's fist and got back up on his feet. His reflection had swung his fist so hard that it had lodged itself in the dent Adam had created on impact with the wall. The real Adam was quite relieved it wasn't his face the fist has collided with.
"Hah, pathetic! You won't even fight back!" The reflection teased as Adam tried to muster a plan.
Without thinking much about it, Adam sprinted much quicker than he thought he could up the stairs and planned to loop around to the living quarters. Unfortunately Miss McCauley was in his way, and he barged past her and the ofsted inspector.
"Adam! You're not supposed to be in school!" Miss McCauley yelled after him instinctively.
"I've got somewhere to be!" Adam tried to excuse himself as he slowed down.
"Not good enough! I've informed your mother, she's here looking for you!" She said impatiently. Adam was definitely on her last nerve.
"I know she's here, I've found her!" Adam said turning around with pure rage in his eyes. Both he and Miss McCauley were shocked at the harshness in his words. His reflection must've rubbed off on him more than he thought…
Miss McCauley merely stood there, still in shock whilst the ofsted inspector wrote something else down on her clipboard.
Adam was just about to apologize when he caught glimpse of his reflection strutting along behind the two and waved at him as he revealed his fangs. He figured he'd have to sort this mess once he sorted out the much bigger mess he was in.
Adam walked as fast as he could, knowing his reflection was in fast pursuit. He walked around the corner awkwardly and opened the door to the living quarters at long last. He proceeded to run down the rickety stairs, through the blood cellar and the winding corridors of the basement until he finally reached the mirror, or rather the mirror room. His reflection followed him all the way there.
"Get. Back. In." Adam demanded as his reflection laughed in his face. Was he not intimidated?
"You have no clue how this works do you your seriousness?" His reflection mocked him. Adam didn't want him to think he was stupid, so he tried his best to ask what was going on without it sounding like a question, which failed…
"Enlighten me." Adam said, raising a curious eyebrow and crossing his arms.
"You, have to merge with me," The reflection started, pointing to the original Adam and then himself. "and then we become the most powerful vampire to ever exist. Simple." He said with a mock-sweetness.
"Why now?" Adam asked clueless yet firmly, genuinely curious.
"How idiotic can you get? It's your sixteenth birthday! You're to become a fully fledged vampire. Duh." The reflection stated bluntly. "Did your parents never tell you?" He added as he pouted and imitated a voice someone would use when talking to a baby.
Adam was stunned. He knew he was a vampire. He'd figured that one out as soon as he spent a minute with his reflection. However he didn't know anything else, like the sixteenth birthday thing. Memories from the past day were vague as well. He could only remember the three possible murders, and Ingrid's name. Nothing else. Anything else he could do, was told or had done were still a mystery to him.
After a good second of thought, Adam finally retaliated. "Hey genius! I didn't live with any vampires. How was I supposed to know I was one?"
"True." The reflection admitted "But I know who your father is! You did for some time as well."
"You know who my dad is... When we were merged? I knew? Is he a-? TELL ME!" Adam asked, stuttering in disbelief.
"Be a good little boy, surrender your body and you'll find out."