Told you there was more! I'm really not that happy with this, but I can't leave a story unfinished! And despite my reputation and some parts of this chapter, I do promise it's only ever a slash fic.
-YD-
"Are you off training again?"
"Jonno is behind, and he will only go along with it if I'm there."
George rolled her eyes, but smiled when Adam kissed her head before shouldering his backpack and shouting a goodbye to their mother.
"Six months and you still haven't convinced him vampires are real? You must be a terrible boyfriend."
"Oh behave George."
His sister grinned cheekily, burying her curly head back in "A Child's Guide to Vampire Slaying", which she had read a dozen times already but apparently it was riveting. He had skipped right to "Expert Slayers", been top of his class from day one. Clearly, he was born to kill vampires.
"Now what are we doing?"
"Rock climbing."
Jonno sighed, but gave him a soft smile when Adam helped fix his harness, then leant in to kiss him.
"It has it's perks. If you ignore your dad saying we might need to break in to a castle."
"Oh, what's that?"
"I get to watch you from behind."
Jonno flushed, dark skin glowing red at Adam's smirk.
"Ingrid Count left Stokely Grammar. Tell me that's not suspicious!"
Mr Van Helsing was still on the "Ingrid and her father are vampires" train, and Ingrid did drop out of school the day before her sixteenth birthday. But she hadn't turned up all that much before, and he imagined she was thrilled to age out of legally required attendance. So he answered stiffly, checking the straps of his harness.
"She's foreign, they might have different customs."
"Don't encourage him! There's no such thing as vampires."
Jonno protested, rolling his eyes at his father and Adam. They both took to the wall, and it was apparent that Adam was the fittest of the three, scaling the wall in no time and sitting at the top, waiting for the other two.
"Don't heights make you dizzy?"
"Not at all. Can your dad actually climb?"
Jonno peered over, chuckled and then looked away, groaning.
"Don't make me look down."
It was another ten minutes before the adult made it up, and Jonno looked a little green but eventually made it back down.
"Well, that was fun."
"Hope so, you have to go again. Quicker."
"Dad!"
Laughing at the two, Adam took himself up and down the wall, confused by his own lack of fatigue sometimes. He wanted to be active all the time. But especially at night. It would be handy when he was hunting vampires for real, but for now it was mildly inconvenient that he could hardly sleep when it was dark.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted. Are we done?"
"I suppose so. One day you'll thank me Jonno!"
"If you say so dad."
Sometimes, watching the two of them together made Adam ache inside, made him miss his father terribly. Suddenly, he needed to be back with his family.
"I should get home anyway. Mum gave me a midnight curfew and it's now one in the morning."
"Oops."
He kissed Jonno on the cheek when he got out of the car, hurried up to his home and let himself in quietly. Creeping through the halls, he found George asleep on the sofa with her book still open on the floor, and his mum dozing in the armchair.
"Mum, you've done it again. Wake up."
"Bats! Where?"
George bolted upright, curly hair in disarray as she squinted through sleepy eyes. Adam had planned to simply carry her upstairs to bed, but now that was unnecessary.
"No bats, just you two falling asleep down here again."
"Y'missed curfew bat brain."
"Blame Mr Van Helsings lack of fitness. Bed, both of you."
Two sleepy females ambled up the stairs, and Adam quickly lifted a cupcake from the "reject" pile - the excess ones George got to ice nearly to death. Sickly sweet but just the right thing for midnight munchies. He looked in to see George splayed across her bed, sighing as he carefully maneuvered her to actually under her covers.
Cleaning icing residue off his teeth, Adam went and changed for bed before hopping up on his window ledge and staring out at the night sky. Sometimes he wondered what it must be like, growing up without knowing about the monsters lurking in the shadows. How strange it must be to only be focused on things like GCSEs, not how to dodge a vampire bite. Still, he had Jonno, who would come around eventually.
Hopefully before Adam turned sixteen and went off to slay vampires.
"What are you eating?"
"Food?"
"Adam, that burger looks raw."
Poking at his burger that smelled amazing a minute ago when he started eating it, some reddish liquid came off it.
"Huh. I swear I thought it was done. I must be overdoing it."
His mum gave him a concerned look, echoing the confusion he felt himself as he tossed the potential food poisoning in a bun. Even as he did it, he still sort of wanted it back.
"Maybe you should cut back on training for a few weeks, you're always half asleep during the day."
"I know, but the vampires won't be sleeping at night."
Adam wiped his finger before the urge to lick the red stain off became overpowering, then felt his mum wrap her arms around his shoulders.
"I lost your dad to vampires, I don't want to lose you too."
"I know. That's why I gotta train, so I can hunt them down."
He turned and gave her a squeeze back, then ate a properly cooked burger, perplexed by the notion he had sort of enjoyed the practically blue-rare one more. Definitely overdoing it.
Adam took a couple of nights off, but even when he was just lying in bed he wanted to get up, to run and train and fight. The instincts were there, and strong. Attempting to satisfy himself with studying instead, since he wasn't sleeping either way, didn't work, because it just made him itch to get out there and put the knowledge to the test.
Jonno's fifteenth birthday became a sticking point, because if he didn't start proper training soon he wouldn't be fit to go out hunting with Adam when they were sixteen. And Adam really wanted him there. Chewing on some toast in the caravan kitchen, he watched Jonno bicker back and forth with his dad yet again.
"Vampires don't exist dad!"
"They do Jonno! Tell him Adam."
His food lodged in a suddenly dry throat, leading to a rather embarrassing coughing fit until he managed to swallow some water and breathe again.
"Way to put me on the spot. He's right. They do."
Jonno looked at him like he thought the recent choking had given him oxygen deprivation ans addled his mind, but Adam stood firm and waited. Eventually, Jonno burst out laughing.
"Good one. Dad managed to get you to play along did he?"
"No. This is serious. We gave you time to come around, but it's been too long."
His boyfriends eyes went rather wide, flicking between his dad and Adam for several minutes.
"Ok, you're both crazy."
"No. I need you to believe this. Vampires killed my dad, that's why I became a slayer. That's why I have these scars on my arms" Adam rolled up his sleeve to show the stake-scratches "why I'm good at the training exercises. I'm a slayer. And vampires are real. I can prove it."
He held out a hand, silently begging Jonno to believe him, or at least trust Adam could prove it.
"Alright. Prove it."
The warm hand clasped his, and Adam smiled in gratitude.
"We need to go to my house."
Jonno watched him closely the whole car trip to his house, but followed him dutifully into the building anyway.
"Oh hi Jonno. You should have said you were bringing him over."
"Not staying mum, just showing him vampires exist."
"Oh, ok then."
His mum waved them off, George watching with mild curiousity as they climbed the stairs and Jonno was obviously offset by their casual attitude to his words.
"They believe it too?"
"Mum lost her husband, me and George lost our dad to them. Of course they do."
They turned into his room - Jonno scarcely ever came over, so he didn't see much of it and when he was, the two were generally paying more attention to bodies than books. Adam pulled open his wardrobe, shoving his clothes along to reveal the hidden panel.
"And that is?"
"Slayers stash. Here we have a stake, some specially preserved garlic, a UV grenade. This is a garlic gas canister, acts like knockout gas to a vamp. Slayers journal listing my slays, exams, handy hints."
Adam tossed each item on to his bed, the last staying in his hand as Jonno stared, mouth slightly open.
"Vampire ashes. I stood there and shoved a stake through this monster, and he crumbled to dust before my eyes. Vampires are real."
He hadn't realised until just now he was admitting to a sort of murder. Vampires weren't people, but he was still a killer of sorts.
"Why are you so intent on making me believe this?"
"Because when I turn sixteen and George can start training, I'm leaving to hunt these creatures. Ideally, I want you to train and be ready to come with me. Or at least understand why I had to leave."
He wasn't sure if Jonno was now just certain he was bat-shit crazy, or if he was even taking anything on board.
"Alright."
Adam had to check he wasn't hearing things, looking incredulously at his boyfriend.
"Really?"
"I don't think you would make all this up, especially about your dad, just to play along with my dad. I just... my mum left us cus of his vampire obobsession. This is a lot to take in."
"I know."
Jonno sank down onto his bed, then jumped up with a grimace. He reached behind himself, hand coming up with the stake Adam had tossed on his bed.
"I could make so many jokes right now."
"Please don't, your dad is outside. And be careful, that's sharp."
Jonno kissed him, and Adam was happy everything was ok, at least for a minute.
He was probably still a little reticent right up until they took him to the guild for his first class, but Jonno threw himself into the slayer training. It was a little frustrating to go through all the early stuff again, but at least he could keep track of how Jonno was doing. Boredom was worth his boyfriends safety.
"Come on, surely you've read enough about argentalium!"
"Just because you've passed all your tests. Top of your class. Swot."
Feeling mature, Adam stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend and resumed his half hearted attempt at the crossword in 'Slayer Chronicles'. Mostly it just talked about how important it was to slay vampires, which was a given. Adam only kept them for the puzzles, and George liked the "Barry the Bat" comic strips - it was a real bat who didn't like vampires making them look bad. Sometimes it had garlic-based recipes like "ten tasty ways to repel vampires", which usually led to their mother cooking a lot.
"Dad is still swearing Ingrid and her dad are vampires."
"I disagree. You only hope he's wrong cus you fancy Ingrid."
Adam had made his peace long ago with the fact any male who wasn't gay like himself looked at Ingrid. And that included his boyfriend, who frequently said "he liked girls, and he liked Adam".
"I don't know-"
"Don't deny it. I'm not bothered. Unless you cheat on me. Then I'll be practicing these vampire torture techniques on you. And I don't mean the feather duster. That's assuming George doesn't just kill you."
"Your little sister is terrifying."
"She will make one hell of a slayer."
Adam was infinitely proud of his sister. George had dealt with their fathers death far better than he had, and she was already excited about being able to become a slayer, and she was only eleven.
"No kidding."
The crossword was finished before Jonno was done studying, Adam colouring in the comic strip with his pen out of sheer boredom.
"Alright, I'm done. I need to pass this test or dad won't take us camping again."
Brown eyes darkened further, near black with desire and Adam felt it wind down into his stomach, following the allusions.
"Hmm. Maybe we should find your dad a girlfriend. Then we could go camping alone."
Jonno chuckled, stacking his books and pocketing his sheaf of notes.
"After that woman who swore she communicated with an alien through an implant in her nose? Pass."
"She was a special kind of batty. If it wouldn't make us step brothers I would say set him up with my mum. Though she's way too good for him."
His boyfriend burst out laughing, the mirth in his face doing funny things to Adam's stomach. Jonno was just too attractive sometimes. Edible. The thought came out of nowhere, and Adam pushed it away, putting it down to the fact they had had very little time for alternative 'activities' since Jonno started believing.
He had two years catch up knowledge and exams to do on top of that year, while Adam was studying for early graduation from Slayer training - he wanted to be ready to leave the day after Georges twelfth birthday, not be stuck doing exams until he was seventeen. He would leave anyway, but graduation meant access to better weapons and Slayer-issue travel gear. It would just make his life easier to have graduated.
"Have they accepted your application for early graduation?"
"First stage, yeah. Now I have to pass preliminary test one and two, then they'll let me take the graduation tests before I turn sixteen."
"You are like, the number one trainee slayer ever."
Adam shrugged, just glad he was being given the chance to be done quicker.
"I mean it, you're amazing. Natural hunter, brilliant reflexes, fast, strong, smart. Hell, even your sense of smell is better than most. And on top of that you're a great big brother, son, boyfriend."
Thoroughly blushing now, Adam couldn't help ducking his head shyly as Jonno sang his praises.
"I love you."
That stopped him short, honesty and emotion blatant in his boyfriends expression. By the time he found his voice, Jonno had gone right to regret and backtracking.
"Sorry, I uh, I don't know where that came from, ignore me."
Kissing him just to shut him up, Adam smiled.
"I love you too. Idiot. Now come on, let's get out of here."
Managing to yank Jonno out of the oh so dull slayer study library, Adam laughed as he was chased down the street by his boyfriend. Both did regular training for fitness, so the ten miles from Guild to Stokely weren't much hardship even at a run. Disappearing behind some trees, he put the newbies tracking skills to the test.
"You and nature at night time."
"Yep. You love it."
Jonno grinned, well, for as long as he could before Adam kissed him, pressing him into the tree and letting hands wander. Even deeply invested in groping at his boyfriend, Adam still felt the hairs rise on his neck, prickling when there was a swooping sound nearby and they broke apart. Flushed and Jonno looking slightly glazed, he recognised Ingrid Count in the woods, pale skin almost glowing. Just like his really.
"Looks like you're not the only night owl. We should go."
Adam was listening, he was, but Ingrid Count was looking right at him. Right through him almost. Something tugged inside him for a minute, almost like recognition. It was madness - he had seen her at school a hundred times and barely even noticed her.
"Hey, I thought you alone were immune to her charms."
Snapping out of their silent reverie, Adam looked back at Jonno.
"I thought I saw... Never mind. Let's go."
He took off running, making sure he heard Jonno's footsteps behind him before he got into speed. Jonno was panting by the time they got back, Adam's higher level of fitness obvious as he caught his breath in seconds.
"What's up? Don't say nothing."
Unsure himself, Adam dragged Jonno into a kiss.
"Tomorrow. Tonight, we're celebrating."
It was gone midnight by now, his boyfriend quietly maneuvered into Adam's bedroom. He felt guilty using the obvious effect he had on Jonno and his attention span, but Adam didn't want to think that night. Tonight he was a normal teenager, celebrating that his boyfriend loved him. Jonno was nervous, but then so was he - they hadn't gone 'all the way' before, hands shaking and nerves thick in the air.
"Come on, I want this."
He whispered it, pleading and praying Jonno took the offer, swallowing pained whimpers as he was prepped and penetrated, guilt marring arousal until pleasure finally quieted his mind. He was sore and aching, but Jonno was smiling and most importantly, he wasn't talking.
It was worse when they woke - Adam couldn't walk straight, and his mother and sister noticed. Jonno, the traitor, ran off home and left him to be mercilessly taunted. Still, he had sidestepped the bizarre moment last night.
The next night, it was three am before he felt brave enough to climb out of his window, knowing it would be churlish not to carry his stake and cursing as it scratched along his forearm. Not bothering to cover it - he was full of powerful painkillers for the ache left by Jonno, Adam set off to Stokely Castle. He was questioning his sanity the entire time, but his legs carried him there anyway.
Ingrid was waiting at the bottom of the hill for him.
"You're bleeding."
She never had been big on "hello", even at school.
"And you... have no heartbeat."
Instinct had him looking for a pulse in her neck, but there wasn't the faintest flicker. Nothing.
Mr Van Helsing was right.
"What were you doing five miles from a Slayers Guild? Are you suicidal?"
Ingrid pressed a finger to her mouth, indicating with her head for him to follow her. Slayers instinct was to stake first, ask questions later. But Adam needed answers, and apparently so did Ingrid - she hadn't killed him yet. So he followed her. How she ran steadily in those heavy boots was beyond him, but he kept pace until they came to a deserted stretch of derelict buildings.
"Charming."
"Private. My father would have killed you on the spot if he overheard us talking."
Perching on the dusty remnants of an old wall (after a cursory check for unstable floors above), Adam rolled up his sleeve, leaving his stake in easy reach. Ingrid eyed the bleeding cut, watching him clean it with practiced detachment. The light came from a splintered, broken piece of wooden furniture that Ingrid set alight, clicking her fingers to flood the room with flickering warmth and crackling sounds.
"Are you suicidal?"
Arms littered with thick white scars, all down from the wrist, he could see how she might get the idea.
"No. Common trainee slayer injury, and the wood we use seems to irritate my skin so they scar pretty badly. So, while we're being all polite and civilised apparently" Adam had to stop and bite his lip as he pressed the dressing over his cut "you're a vampire. I'm a slayer."
"Astute. I think we both already knew that. Stake. Fire. Fangs."
Ingrid's canines elongated, confirming what he already knew and Adam had to fight the urge to throw his stake. Even more so when she came closer, though she kept her hands held up to show she was technically unarmed - if he didn't count the teeth.
"If I was going to kill you, I would have done it already."
"Then what are you doing?"
His heart hammered slighty as Ingrid leaned in closer to his neck, though he did see she had put her fangs away. Good news since his pulse was spiking nervously.
She sniffed him.
"You smell wrong."
"How do you mean, wrong?"
"You smell like... I don't know. Human. But not."
Ingrid swept back from him, returning to her side of the fire as they surveyed each other. His question fell from his mouth before he could stop it, needing to know.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
"Curiousity."
Rolling his stake between his hands, Adam looked at her. He had been so sure she wasn't... but now he felt stupid for not seeing it.
"Why aren't you waving your stake? Not that it isn't refreshing to have a conversation without drooling."
"I'm gay, you're not my type. As for this?" He held up the stake, point down in a show of... promise? He didn't know "I have questions."
"I was hunting."
"Humans?"
He had to ask.
"Not around here. Churlish, too many slayers. Not that I don't consider sharpening my fangs on the Branagh family every time they turn up in my castle. At least there's plenty of livestock. For now it'll do."
Adam wasn't sure he believed her, but slayers did keep close eyes on any local deaths. So far, no vampiric ones. Her look of distaste said plenty about her future intentions to move up to more... human based hunts.
"Why did you become a slayer? You're a bit young."
"Training starts at twelve now. Vampires killed my father, someone had to protect my family."
Shifting his legs up so he could rest his arms across his bent knees, he wondered where 'chat with vampire girl' came under training.
"Does Will know you're a vampire?"
"No. We aren't supposed to reveal ourselves unless we're turning them. I haven't decided that I am yet."
"Don't. If you cared about him, you wouldn't force your curse on him."
"That's what you see vampirism as? A curse?"
"Slayers saying. Better dead than undead."
He tried to imagine someone turning Jonno, or his mum or sister. Turned into monsters. It made him shudder, nauseated.
They lapsed into silence again, and Adam checked his watch.
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but you should go. Sun will rise soon."
"Want a ride back? I noticed you were grimacing as you sat down."
Adam felt his cheeks flush, considering shaking his head but also an infinitesimal amount of curious about how fast she could go.
"So long as you keep your fangs to yourself."
"Keep your stake away from me and deal."
As he stood still, letting Ingrid grab his arm and pull him along at terrifying speeds, then an exhilarating moment where she made him fly, Adam wondered if he was about to wake up from a dream. It definitely felt like one. Ingrid seemed surprised he didn't throw up though.
The morning dawned, and after a long shower while contemplating the complexities of the war between slayers and vampires, Adam wasn't sure he hadn't dreamt the entire thing. If it weren't for the fresh stake-scratch on his arm, he would be totally convinced it was some huge hallucination.
He was notably distracted all day - Jonno asked if he regretted what they had done, and even George stopped teasing him. Both times, his excuse was upcoming tests.
In reality, he was questioning himself.
He was a vampire slayer, no doubt about it. So why did he warn Ingrid to avoid the sun? Trust her to get him home safely? It made no sense. And he was probably the only guy in Stokely who couldn't blame her being attractive - he saw their point, vampirism aside, but he just wasn't interested in girls.
"What's wrong with me?"
Drowning himself in studies, he passed his two preliminaries with full marks. That meant he was eligible for the early tests, which meant he had to push his physical training harder. He missed school days to study for the big tests, broke curfew constantly while out running or hiking, tracking and climbing.
"Adam. I know you take this stuff seriously son, but I'm worried about you."
"I have to pass my tests to be ready to leave. Would you rather I went unprepared?"
Adam had constant energy lately, spurred on by being so close. And if he was honest with himself, he couldn't question why he hadn't told anyone about the vampires up the hill when his mind was full of staking distance, UV gun charges and the like. His clock blinked 1:37am at him, but he knew sleep was nowhere near. He was getting hungry though.
Tap tap tap.
He just about leapt out of his skin at the sound, turning to see a bat hanging outside his window. Needing to be certain, he stood and looked directly into it's eyes. If he wasn't mistaken, the bat rolled it's eyes. The small furry head turned this way and that, then the bat dropped and Ingrid Count was hovering outside his window. The window itself was open, but Ingrid couldn't get through it. She hadn't been invited in, and he had a line of deterrent across the ledge.
Pressing a finger to his mouth, he made a decision and brushed the line aside before whispering to the vampire floating outside his window.
"Come in."
He was insane. But also very glad the Giles females had argentalium liquid mixed into their bedroom door paint - not that they knew about it. Adam had maybe been a little over the top with precautions for them.
Ingrid zipped past him, then there was a vampire in his room. She looked around in confusion, taking in the anatomically correct bat toys, books on vampires and slaying there was the little bat sticker on his window from George, and she could probably still feel the argentalium in the house even when it wasn't right next to her.
"I'm in a slayers house. Me. Ingrid Dracula."
Oh right. Of course her surname couldn't be Count. That would make her father Count Count.
"There's a vampire in my bedroom. A girl vampire. My boyfriend would be horrified."
They both spoke softly, but caught every word the other said. Adam shoved his books up one end of his bed and sat on the other, indicating Ingrid could sit in his desk chair. She did, flicking through his work with a distasteful look, passing comments.
"Wrong. Wrong. Feel free to try that, you'll be eaten in seconds. All that does is give you an infection. Doesn't bother us at all."
"If you tell me, I can take notes. Though I suppose I would have to explain where I got the information. And you don't strike me as the 'tell the enemy trade secrets' type either."
Ingrid chuckled lightly, one slender hand lifting to brush her fringe off her face a little.
"You still smell weird. Why?"
"How do I know? Everyone smells funny to me, but I've always had a heightened sense of smell. Doctors say it means a tiny part of my brain is a couple millimetres bigger than most. I don't really think about it."
"Or you're a vampire. Though you would probably have noticed by now, eating raw meat and struggling to sleep. Wanting to bite your slayer boyfriend. Excellent refractory period. Hmm, what else happened that was fun? Toothache. Body functions slowing down... I'm still trying to avoid Will noticing I have little body heat now."
Adam felt a lead weight settle in his stomach. He had experienced every single one of those things. No. She was winding him up. Adam was human, and going through a tough situation. Everything she had said could be put down to lack of sleep, puberty, stress. And besides, his parents were both human. Adam would know if he was growing fangs.
"Adam? It is Adam, right?"
"Yeah." Shaking his head to clear the thought, he nodded, voice a little stronger. "Yeah, Adam."
"You look like you just saw a ghost. Wait. You have noticed that stuff. Haven't you?"
Hands shaking, Adam was not dignifying the walking corpse with even considering such a ridiculous notion. What was he even doing? He had invited her in to his home! He had put George and their mother at risk.
He must have lost his mind.
Adam reached for the stake beneath his pillow, standing up and aiming it at Ingrid. She backed up, out of sheer surprise more than actual fear judging by her face.
"Get out. And don't come back if you don't want slayers at your door."
Her face hardened quickly, fangs descending.
"You're almost sixteen. You can't avoid it forever."
And a blink later, she was gone. He replaced the argentalium line, closed his window and dropped to the floor. He was an embarassment to the Guild. Top of his class and letting vampires go free. Though he knew why - Ingrid hadn't once tried to attack him, even when he was bleeding right in front of her. That's why she left alive tonight. And he wasn't going to report them to the Guild... She might tell them she thought he was a vampire. Then he would be killed just to be on the safe side.
Even if it was impossible.
Adam got no sleep that night, trawling through his books for every sign of impending vampirism. Usually, he would be studying this to recognise child vampires. Now he was trying desperately to deny the words fit him. That they kept fitting him.
The next morning, skin crawling, Adam made sure to impress on George she should make the most of her time before training.
"Make friends. Do kids stuff. Eat too much cake. You have a year until you can start training, have some fun before you're worrying about stakes and tracking. Please?"
George looked up at him, intelligence beyond her years analyzing the shift in Adam. Eventually, a bright smile split her face and she nodded.
"Sure thing bro. On one condition."
"Which is?"
"You take a break. Me and mum are worried."
"I have a fitness exam tomorrow night. How about the night after, us three do junk food and movies? Deal?"
"Deal!"
Adam passed his fitness test with ease, the run, then climb barely breaking a sweat. Strength wasn't a mandatory test, because the Guild accepted that seventeen year old girls may not be as physically strong as teenage boys full of testosterone. So long as they could carry the standard backpack weight up a wall climb, that was all they needed. And the bag wasn't that heavy.
They let him take his target practice exam that night too, and he was commended by the elder slayers, cheered by his peers and awed by the twelve- and thirteen-year old trainees, everyone turning out to see the slayers golden boy take his early exams.
He was not a vampire.
The promised break night was enough to coconfirm, to his mother, that Adam was just under stress from his tests as he feigned smiles, laughed in the right places when George cracked jokes and ate the pizza and cake like it didn't make his stomach feel turbulent.
He spent the next night with Jonno - who was allowed to stay over one night a month until Adam stopped breaking curfew constantly - and it just made him feel stranger. Jonno was so hot, making Adam acutely aware of what Ingrid had said about her boyfriend noticing her lack of warmth.
"Are you ok? You've been... I dunno, distant."
"It's just these tests. I have a lot of expectations built up after being top of my class and stuff. And I really want to ace these tests. I just... I want to know my dad would be proud of me."
His boyfriends expression softened, warm hand smoothing over his face and pushing his short fringe up. He let Jonno initiate the kiss, but made sure to deepen it, to turn up the intensity until Jonno was a little cross eyed, thinking only of getting Adam's pyjama bottoms off and their bodies connected.
Successful in exhausting Jonno, Adam got to lay silently crying while his boyfriend slept on unaware. He could blame it on pain, he supposed. But that wasn't it. Adam was scared. Terrified. He was sixteen in a couple of months, and two tests off graduating training. Only now, he wasn't sure which side of the war he belonged to anymore.
Rolling over to face the sleeping boy, Adam tried and failed to not look at the base of his neck. There were a couple of fading marks there, mostly disguised by the naturally dark skin and Adam hadn't dared use teeth. The longer he looked at them, the sicker he felt.
That was another night he didn't sleep. Another night where he was fighting the urge to be outside, in nature hunting... anything. His muscles started to shake with suppressing the need. The need to hunt.
Nothing amiss was apparent when Jonno woke up - Adam had already showered, cleaning the evidence of his turmoil away before pulling on comfortable clothes. Jonno followed suit, quietly eating breakfast opposite him - his mum and George were out for the week now, visiting family members. Adam had declined going as it clashed with his tests.
"I need to study for my tests. You?"
"I'll come with, I practically live in the Slayer library anyway."
Jonno's exams weren't nearly as intense as his - Adam was graduating while Jonno was training. So in reality, Jonno was asking if Adam wanted to study some more by saying that was his plan anyway. Mr Van Helsing came by daily to check on Adam, usually bringing Jonno along before collecting him at night. He had been invited to stay in the caravan for the week so he wouldn't be alone, but again he declined citing the fact he had a quiet place to study.
He had to know.
When the two females returned, they could probably read how little Adam was sleeping and eating in his face, but said nothing. He got hugs off them both, escaping to keep up his running and climbing.
The next night, George was out at a friends sleepover or other - she had taken Adam's words to heart.
"Mum?"
"Son?"
"Is... was Michael my real father?"
She dropped her glass, the dark liquid splashing across the floor reeking of coconut. Some kind of tropical alcohol, he supposed.
"What?"
"I'm sorry, but I have to ask. It's getting more obvious by the month that I don't look like him. I'm leaving soon, I want to know."
She didn't answer immediately, bending down to clean up her mess and nicking her finger on a glass. The scent of blood hit him, saliva pooling in his mouth and Adam had to bite his tongue to stop the urge to bite his mother. Blood filled his mouth then, plenty distraction for the time it took his mother to clean up the mess and put a plaster over the cut.
"He was your father every way that mattered."
"So, no? I'm not saying he wasn't my father. I just... I wanted to know before I go."
Sally Giles sighed, pouring herself another drink and not meeting his eyes.
"I had a very, very drunken one night stand at Whitby Goth Festival. Michael knew. We weren't quite dating yet, but he said one too many minty alcoholic drinks was not a good enough reason. He never saw you as anything but his own."
"And you never told me."
"He wanted to tell you. When we lost him... I didn't want to taint your memories of him."
Adam had his answer now, so he let the matter seep away.
"Sorry, I was a little bull headed there. I just wanted to know. He was my father, that's still just as true. Thanks for being honest mum."
Adam gave his mother a hug, waited until he thought she wasn't going to break down crying before he went to his room.
He needed to talk to Ingrid.
He needed to pass his tests.
Tests first. Ingrid would still be there after.
Ironically, slaying a vampire was not actually a mandatory part of graduation. Adam's slays were mostly luck - he was training when they came across them. So when he had finished the last paper, half the Guild hanging around waiting with him, it was his last hurdle.
"One hundred percent. Again. Congratulations Giles, you passed."
There was cheering, and Jonno kissed him, George hugged him and starry eyed trainee teens clamoured for his attention, asking for tips and hints. He got his badge, pocket slayers kit and official "Graduation" certificate. Now he could, in theory, grab the correct gear and take off. He was seriously considering it.
He had taken to bandaging his arms in advance now, saving him further injuries from stakes. It did mean always wearing long sleeves, but so did the scars really. As the building started emptying out, Adam started selecting his stuff. Slayer issue backpack, with fifteen individual hidden pockets inside, and several more on the outside. He got his new clothes, camo trousers, heavy weather jumper and military boots.
The growing suspicion in his mind meant he probably shouldn't carry anything directly made from argentalium or garlic. He bagged UV grenades, a crossbow and the stakes it fired. Sleeping bag and tent. Stasis spray. A few of the compact UV torches too, a fairly new invention and far less bulky than the Transylvanian Torch favoured by Mr Van Helsing.
At least now, he was ready to leave anytime. Jonno could keep an eye on George if he had to go before she turned twelve.
"Come on bro! Mum made cake!"
George had waited mostly-patiently for him to be done, knowing he would want to choose his stuff immediately.
"How did she know we would be celebrating?"
"Never a doubt. You're a swot."
Shouldering the backpack over his new outfit, Adam got his Guild ID done up too, then they were ready to go home. He dropped the backpack in his room, packed the jumper and a few other things and ditched the trousers for black.
Adam forced his way through the celebrations, bit his duvet before he gave in to the urge to bite Jonno as they fucked that night, then dropped the heavy duty pack out of the window, following it down and pulling it back on. Looking up at Stokely Castle, he knew this was utter madness. He couldn't be a vampire. But he had to know for sure.
Jogging through the deserted village that night, he stopped more than once, considering just going home and forgetting all of this, clinging to the absolute of "I'm not a vampire."
"Changed your mind?"
Ingrid materialized next to him, eyeing his clothes and bag. Adam was too emotional to care, looking up at her - he was short and she wore heels.
"I need help."
She opened her mouth to answer, then pressed a finger to his and pointed down the way he had come.
"We have company."
Adam dropped the backpack, hid it behind the stone wall and tried to think fast.
"Forgive me."
Ingrid didn't get a chance to ask what for before Adam kissed her. It was weird and awkward and she was cold, colder than him. She didn't respond, but she didn't have to. Jonno's voice was what he needed to hear, to know he had seen it.
"Adam?"
-YD-
I had to rewrite the second half of this, and it ended up being so long my two shot will now be a three shot!