It's been about… six years? But I have had a surge of MUST WRITE YD and some unfinished AUs I missed. Like this one!

Let's goooo.

-YD-

Adam failed to fall asleep, the voices in his head continuing to chatter away and part of him feared the sort of dreams they would give him. After he stared up at the coffin lid for a couple of hours, he gave up on resting and crawled out of his coffin in search of some kind of distraction.

The Count was nowhere to be seen when he stumbled out into the main room, but Ingrid was there flicking through a magazine about coffin decorating. She looked up as he walked in, giving Adam's coffin-rumpled appearance the once-over.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks Ingrid."

Adam said, absolutely sure she was right but with no way to check. His ability to appear in mirrors was now gone for eternity.

"You should drink something. I know it offends your delicate slayer sensibilities, but you are capable of starving to death if you don't. And you are in no fit shape to go looking for animals right now."

"You are fine to go drain some breathers!"

"Every vampire should have their first messy hunt. Take her with you, twice the carnage!"

Adam clutched his head again, groaning. When he opened his eyes, Ingrid had already placed a bottle out in reach. The very idea made him feel sick, but Ingrid was right that he needed to have something, and going anywhere before he got a handle on the evil chattering inside his head was just a recipe for disaster. The lesser of two evils was the bottle before him.

His hand shook as he reached for it. Ingrid watched, but said nothing while he struggled between his conscience and his hunger. Eventually, he managed to grab the bottle and took a swig before he had enough time to think about it. Adam hated himself for how good it tasted, rich and sweet with a lingering aftertaste that reminded him bizarrely of hot chocolate. A second and third swig later, Adam realised something.

As his hunger was sated, the voices grew quieter. They were still there, but the strength from the blood infusing him seemed to mute their noise to a point Adam could almost ignore them completely.

He had drained the bottle before he realised how much he drank, and his stomach felt uncomfortably full as the glass hit the table.

"Better?"

"Unfortunately."

Adam answered. Ingrid rolled her eyes.

"You're lucky I gave you something fresh and light. A real bottle of someone more matured would have gotten a new fang like you drunk."

Adam swallowed thickly, ignoring the faint spark of curiosity about what 'better' blood was going to taste like. At least his reflections had piped down, though he still felt them scrabbling around in his head trying to get his attention.

"So Vlad, you want to start figuring out your powers now? Or are you the type to sleep on a full stomach?"

Ingrid asked. He was still getting used to her calling him that, though Ingrid already slipped up less. Adam felt his tongue catch on something sharp, and realised with a thrill of horror that his very own fangs were down.

"How do I switch this off?"

He asked, indicating his teeth. Ingrid opened her mouth and bared her own fangs, then closed it and opened up again to show flat teeth once again.

"Focus on hiding. Camouflage is why we evolved that trick."

Adam closed his eyes and tried to will them away, focused hard on his desire to never be known as the slayer with a vampire for a father. He tentatively ran his tongue across his teeth again, and blissfully found them flat and fang free.

"Thanks."

Ingrid grimaced briefly at being thanked for being helpful, but she shook it off soon enough. Adam wanted to try out his powers out of morbid curiosity, but he was also a little bit terrified to do so. If he was the Chosen One… would his powers give him away right away?

Although… given his halfling status, Adam supposed he had some plausible variation as his 'kind' were an abomination and a rarity. "For good reason!" He thought to himself, remembering the horrifying moments of realisation he had been through as he learned what he truly was whilst studying to be the best killer of his own kind. Ugh. That made his head hurt.

"I think I'll try and sleep again. I know I'm meant to be nocturnal, but frankly I do not care."

Ingrid smirked as he glared at the dark night sky outside the window. He'd spent most of the day in with the Mirror, and then the last of daylight hours staring up at his coffin lid.

"It'll catch up to you eventually. If you sleep through the night and nobody is around to help you figure out what to drink, avoid anything bottled before the 20th century or you'll be flat on your ass little bro."

Adam wondered if being drunk on blood was as efficient at switching off thinking as alcohol was. Not that he had ever been drunk - with slayer training being the main focus throughout his teenage years until now, Adam had not really had the time. But he knew the way some people would 'drink to forget'.

It sounded appealing. He forced himself to turn and go back to his coffin with a mumbled "goodnight" to Ingrid, detouring to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. The bathroom mirror stayed stubbornly empty, but Adam hoped reliving his usual bedtime routines would help convince his body to go to sleep.

It was riddled with nightmares of his family - his human family - being harmed by vampires while Adam watched, but he did technically sleep. He wished he hadn't bothered. As he got up, Adam noticed he no longer felt full and bloated, and the voices of his reflections were a little louder than they were when he got back into his coffin.

Adam missed having a bed. Still, he was not about to complain to the Draculas about that - they didn't have to take him in, he was a danger to them too but they had anyway.

That only made his head hurt more. Kindness from vampires… the Adam of a year ago would never have believed it possible. He was struggling to let go of the ingrained Slayer instincts to loathe and distrust all biters. Even though he had his very own fangs by then.

After struggling to figure out the 'running water' problem for a bit, Adam eventually worked out he had to stand directly under the shower head and switch it on. Finally able to take a shower, he soaked in the feeling of hot water for a minute. Now he was dead… undead? Either way, his skin was ice cold and the hot water felt almost scalding, but Adam stayed there until it was painful. Then he cleaned up properly and got out to redress, walking out in to the main room to see daylight glowing weakly at the edge of the curtains covering the windows.

"Ah, good morning Master Adam Vlad sir."

Adam blinked, and decided not to correct the butler man puttering about. He wasn't sure where to start. Renfield hovered, and Adam eventually realised he was awaiting orders.

"Uh. Could you show me where the blood is? Please?"

"Vampires don't say please!"

The growing volume of his reflections told Adam he needed to feed again. That was going to take some work, he mused. He was already trained in discipline from the Guild… surely there was a way to figure out how to put that to work managing his noisy mind-selves? But first, he needed to drink before the school filled up with humans, just to be on the safe side.

Renfield scuttled off and Adam followed, ensuring he thanked the man when he located the shelf of bottled blood in the kitchen. There was more in the fridge, because of course some blood was "meant to be enjoyed cold", according to Renfield when he saw Adam's confused look. That made him cringe.

He heeded Ingrid's advice on picking something more recent, and after the first gulp to silence his mind a bit Adam did go to the trouble of using a cup that time. Renfield went off to get some sleep (he assumed) for the day, which left Adam largely alone. Unless he counted Zoltan the talking taxidermy. Which Adam was not quite used to yet.

Unable to go anywhere or talk to anyone, Adam eventually grabbed some books and lit a few candles (with matches), working his way through some studying of vampire lore and law alike. Ingrid had suggested it to help him blend in as a biter, which he didn't really want to do. But, as he reminded himself, he also didn't want to out himself as a half breed ans endanger the Draculas.

(And if he was the Chosen One, maybe he ought to know the world he was supposedly chosen to lead… but Adam had not really gotten his head round that yet.)

"Soy substitute blood? That's a thing?"

Adam asked nobody in particular as he came across the term. It was clearly meant as disparaging - the book was complaining about spiritual and life-respecting vampires. But still…

He scoured the bookshelves again, not totally sure what he was even looking for. Alchemy, maybe? He grabbed a book on alchemical recipes, and after grimacing and gagging over some of the creations available, Adam located a recipe for soy substitute blood. He wasn't about to start up a potions lab, but it did appear to be a real thing.

That thought actually comforted Adam. It was as close as he had gotten so far to imagining a future where he was still a vampire. Rather than a pile of shame and ashes, unable to reconcile blood drinking with his slayer upbringing after Michael's death.

Oh, how his stepfather would loathe Adam now.

He slammed the book shut and pushed it back on the shelf, pacing around the room as he attempted to deal with his restlessness and distress. Before… before, he was the type to go running or climbing or tracking-training to burn off nervous energy. Now he was trapped inside by the sunshine, and while Ingrid and the Count slept, Adam felt so, so alone.

His head began to spin and he curled up on the floor, a strange sense of swirling energy building in his chest before it spread through his whole body. Adam wasn't sure if he was going to throw up or pass out.

Then he smelled burning.

"Oh shit!"

He unfurled and leapt up, seeing that a nearby armchair had caught fire.

Was that me?

"Don't just stand there you braindead cretin!"

Adam looked around, certain whoever was speaking was aiming the insults at him. Instead, he found the Count chasing Renfield into the room, a bucket of water clutched in his shaking hands. Luckily, the flames had not spread much, and Renfield was able to extinguish the fire.

"Well, about time you showed some powers! Although I would prefer you didn't interrupt my beauty sleep in the future, it is really only your first day as a vampire. The first day of the rest of your unlife!"

And with that, Adam watched his father Count Dracula swirl his dressing gown and disappear off back to his coffin. Left alone with his turbulent thoughts and smoke still lingering in the air, Adam felt like any small hope he had about his future as a vampire had been extinguished along with his accidental fire.

Forever sounded like more of a threat than a promise, as though he was not so much chosen as he was cursed. Sensing his messy mind, Adam heard his reflections seizing on it and reached for the bottle, desperate to shut them out. Just for a minute.

-YD-

Adam is straight up not having a good time! Can't blame him!