Ohhh, the plans! The plans I have! Let's see if I can make them go down on paper. Page. Document. Whatever.
-YD-
Adam drank until the voices stopped. Then drank a bit more just to be sure. He felt bloated again, but still better than he did with his reflections chattering away.
"Evening half-breed."
"Evening Ingrid."
Adam slurred, and realised how tipsy he was. Damn. Ingrid noticed, and spotted the two empty bottles next to him on the floor.
"Wow. Not as big a lightweight as I expected if you can still speak."
He gave her a thumbs up, rubbing his temples. Then his head snapped up.
"It's evening?"
"Yup. Want to go out?"
Adam groaned at the thought of standing up. But then he remembered earlier, wishing he could go out and burn off his energy and how he wanted to figure out discipline. It made sense to have his first try outisde when he was so well-fed, surely?
"Kay. If you promise not to let me bite anyone."
Ingrid laughed, then hauled him to his feet. Adam swayed slightly, but managed to stay upright. Probably.
"Not much of a first hunt, but fine. Don't throw up on me."
Before he could ask, Adam felt Ingrid grab him and they were zooming through the air. He felt far less nauseous than he expected, and when they landed in an empty field he actually felt a little bit… exhilarated?
"Whoa. Feels better this side of the Mirror."
As soon as he said it, Adam was shocked with himself. Ingrid looked surprised too.
"Yeah. Want to try yourself?"
Right. He had powers now. Powers like accidentally setting a fire earlier. Adam looked down at his hands, pale skin glowing under the moonlight like it always had. No pulse fluttered visibly in his wrist anymore.
"How?"
Ingrid smiled. Not quite her usual smirk, but it was also still full of her general aura of mischief. She turned and pointed to a hill just visible at the end of the field.
"Close your eyes and picture yourself being on top of that hill. Feel that nothing can slow you down. And go."
He half expected to simply trip and fall flat on his face, but Adam barely even felt the air around him displaced before he opened his eyes and saw Ingrid, pale and glowing just like him in the distance. She zipped over next to him in a blink.
"Harder to focus on how it feels at first, you'll enjoy it as you get the hang of your powers. Again."
He did. Adam realised after a few little zips back and forth that he no longer felt stuffed and bloated, the cool air outside chasing away the lingering haze of being blood-drunk.
"I feel… better."
"If you overindulge, you either have to sleep it off or burn it off. Speaking of burning… let's find somewhere to see how big your fireballs are."
"That sounds wrong."
Ingrid cackled, and she grabbed him again to haul Adam along. She must have already found her way around Garside a bit, as she seemed to know where they were going. They ended up in the shell of a burned out building. The moonlight barely touched them there, but Adam still found he could see just fine.
"Nobody will notice the fire damage here. Have a go Vlad."
Ingrid opened her palm and conjured a bright little flame, then tossed it to her left without looking. Adam reminded himself he was meant to go by 'Vlad' now, watching the flames hit the wall and flare brightly before they faded away and left a smoky tang in the air.
His senses were all so… sensitive now. Adam was still getting used to that. He had already made fire by accident earlier… Adam raised his hand and opened his palm, a flame bigger than the one Ingrid had summoned flaring to life and he flung it away in a panic, instinct telling him he was going to get burnt.
"Idiot. But not bad."
Ingrid teased. Adam let out a nervous chuckle. That was… easy. Part of him - the evil chattering in his head part - was very aware that Adam was capable of more, that he had only created a spark just then but was capable of great infernos.
"You're the Chosen One. Act like it!"
Adam winced and shook his head. Burning off his meal was weakening the effect it had on silencing the voices. Not by much, but they were there.
"Now what? I thought you wanted to hunt."
Ingrid shrugged, opening and closing her hand around a fireball for a minute before she hurled it up against the wall. He was still figuring Ingrid out, but Adam had an inkling something was bothering her.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing!"
She answered sharply. Her face said don't ask again, which only made him even more sure Ingrid was lying.
"I… we can go hunting if you want. I'm kinda full still though."
Ingrid shook her head slightly, more to herself than to Adam.
"No. I just… I need to… doesn't matter. There's blood at home. Find your own way back, breather boy."
And with that, Ingrid was gone. Adam stared at the spot she had vacated, absolutely bewildered. She'd been the one to haul him outside to begin with, and then acted like it was his idea and not even a good one. And she was definitely hiding something.
Adam walked out and looked around. He had absolutely no idea where he was. After a minute of sorting through his chaotic brain, he sighed and closed his eyes. It was strange to actively use his new senses, picking out Ingrid's scent in the air. Her perfume stood out clearly against the rotten wood and burnt was a few miles away, but Adam had run that far easily as a human. It was nothing to him now. Soon enough he was staring up at Garside again. It looked different at night.
Ingrid was absent when he entered the throne room, though the Count (he needed to work on calling him 'dad' for cover soon) was draped over his throne, flipping through a Transylvanian newspaper while Renfield scuttled around nearby.
"Ah, Vladimir!"
"It's Ad- it's Vlad!"
Ugh, it still had not stuck yet. The Count shrugged, smiled a smile entirely absent of warmth and looked over at the moonlit window.
"Been off wreaking havoc my boy?"
"Ingrid took me out to test my powers. Still getting the hang of it."
He did not want to be asked to perform. It looked as though he was going to ask anyway, then the Count flicked his eyes over to the burnt chair and chortled.
"Better get practicing, you sleep in a wooden box!"
Adam groaned. The voices were still pretty quiet, only coming through clearly now and then. Adam swiped a half-empty bottle of blood from the table and meandered back to his room.
The blood was for just in case, and he placed it on the side before he went to sit in his coffin. From reading, Adam had learned that vampires often had volatile emotions, and those who wished to have better control turned to training and meditation. It didn't seem like a great hope, but it felt worth a shot while he and his reflection were evenly matched in his head, now he was actually sure he had powers and he wasn't hungry. Or was it thirsty?
Controlling his 'dark side' was just another power, right? Adam was meant to have lots of power, if he really was this Chosen One. So I should be able to manage this! He told himself.
"Master Adam Vlad sir, it's time for dinner."
Adam bit back an angry answer as he was interrupted. It wasn't Renfield's fault - his father sent for Adam every night for dinner time. Although dinner usually happened a little after midnight, rather than closer to dawn as Adam felt like it should have done to make sense.
"I'm coming."
Dinner was raw and meaty, and Adam did not even try to pretend he found it unappealing. It was not as strong as blood at silencing his reflections, but it helped. There was no dinner table conversation beyond the Count shouting at Renfield, and Ingrid was absent the entire time.
Half expecting to be staked or slain somehow for his trouble, Adam still grabbed a bottle from the kitchen and headed along to Ingrid's room. Sure, she was prickly and mercurial, but he knew Ingrid could be much worse to him. He knocked and waited.
"Go away!"
"I brought vintage."
Adam called back, and he waited a few more beats before her door clicked open. He stepped through slowly, and saw Ingrid sitting up in her coffin. She immediately reached out for the bottle, so he handed it over. A single painted fingernail indicated the clean glasses on her vanity table. Adam grabbed her one, which Ingrid raised an eyebrow at.
"Not thirsty?"
"Oh. I didn't know I was invited."
She shrugged and hummed, flicking her finger in the air and Adam watched the cork leap out of the bottle. That was kind of cool, he silently admitted to himself. Ingrid knocked back the whole first glass, then poured herself a second. Adam sipped; he was pretty sure he'd get drunk a lot faster off the stuff he brought for Ingrid.
"Well? Aren't you going to ask?"
Ingrid asked, voice still icy and threatening. Adam frowned.
"No? I just wanted to make sure you had something, you skipped dinner and we didn't go hunting."
She rolled her eyes.
"Annoyingly nice. They had better not be…"
"They? They who?"
Ingrid scowled. Adam was bewildered, but he felt the scratching of his reflections as they urged him to look at her. Really look. He focused, and there was something different around her middle. What could that possibly be…
"Oh."
Her reaction was the clincher, as Ingrid pulled her knees up and covered her stomach, a flash of fear in her face. Adam had never expected to see that.
"Will?"
Ingrid winced, but nodded. Adam supposed it was tough, Ingrid was only a teenager, and they had left Will behind when the vampires fled the Slayers Guild.
Wait.
Will was still human. Which made Ingrid's pregnancy just as illegal as Adam's own existence.
"Hey. Your secrets are safe with me. Who would I tell?"
"Dad?"
Ingrid said. Adam hummed, thinking.
"I guess, but yanno, he really can't cast the first stake there."
He gestured to himself. Ingrid let out a shaky laugh.
"One rule for him, one for everyone else."
Adam reached a hand out and placed it gently on Ingrid's shoulder.
"I'm here for you. I have been nothing but a pain in the neck since we met, and you have helped me so much. I know you hate me mentioning that, but it's true."
"I don't do help."
Ingrid retorted.
"Still. I do. If dad wants to keep me around, he's gonna have to get on board with this" he nodded at Ingrid "or he'll be hiding out here by himself. With only Renfield for company."
Adam was out of his depth in a million ways in his new life. But he knew how to be a good brother. Ingrid reached up and squeezed his hand with her own. Then shoved it off and drained her second glass.
"Enough touchy breathy stuff. Animal blood is not gonna cut it for me right now. That's why we didn't go hunting. At best it would take the edge off starvation if I absolutely had to have something."
"Ah. Well. You can still take me and laugh if I get beaten up by a cow or something? Some other night though, I've had enough tonight."
That won him a small smile. Adam felt warmed by that; it was nice to feel like he was getting something right.
"You're still lying to her. To all of them."
He winced as that voice echoed in the back of his mind. Adam closed his eyes and counted to five, the glass in his hand shaking but he resisted the urge to crush it in his frustration.
"Ingrid?"
"What?"
Adam wasn't sure he was making the right choice, but he was already so sick of trying to figure this thing out alone. And Ingrid had trusted him with her secret. Maybe it was time he tried to trust her, old Slayer instincts rebelling but Adam forced them down - he wasn't a Slayer now.
"I'm the Chosen One."
-YD-
A dimidius baby from your abandoned boyfriend and that's not even the biggest bombshell of the day!
Dracula life is never dull I guess.
I know chapters from the start of the fic were longer, but that was years ago and my physical and mental health have significantly declined since then. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to longer ones again. Send brain cells pls.