This and Porphyria needed updating, but I'm terrible and forget a lot.
I know exactly where I want this story to go, and it annoys me that my brain offers all these excellent ideas and endings for stories but the actual fleshing out is always annoyingly difficult. So if this chapter sucks like a hungry vampire, I'm terribly sorry.
-YD-
With any luck, Ingrid's stunned expression was mistook by Jonno for annoyance at being interrupted. And Adam's twisting stomach full of guilt came across as casual indifference to the hurt on his boyfriends face.
"What the..."
"I would say it's not what you think, but somehow I doubt you would believe me."
Technically, it was true - he was struggling to come to grips with it himself, Jonno was not going to believe the situation at hand.
"So much for being all high and mighty, immune to her charms!"
Adam wanted nothing more than to apologise and explain himself, but he needed to get rid of Jonno and he needed to do it now. Emotional pain be damned.
"So I lied. Now get out of here. Two's company, three's a crowd."
He saw the tears, felt the knife of anguish in his chest twist a little harder as Jonno choked up a little, then turned and ran back down the hill. As soon as her superior senses told they were alone again, she scowled and spat on the ground.
"That was thoroughly uncomfortable. Never do that again."
"Wasn't planning on it. Told you, not my type but nothing else would have got him to go back."
Ingrid turned around, indicating her head towards the castle.
"Grab your bag, we shouldn't talk outside."
Shouldering his backpack, they climbed the steep driveway to the castle doors. Ingrid held up a hand, peering around before she beckoned him in silently. Careful to make as little noise as possible - Adam was in a vampires castle! - he followed her inside, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the almost complete darkness.
He heard Ingrid snap her fingers, then the room was flooded with flickering candle light. He saw the throne at the end of the cavernous room, spotted the bottle of some dark red liquid on the table next to a skull. He could kind of see how Van Helsing snr thought they were vampires now, if he had ever set foot in here.
"So, what are you? Are you sure you weren't adopted?"
Straight to the point then. Ingrid indicated the chair he was nearest, so Adam dropped his bag to the floor and tentatively sat in the offered seat.
"I am one hundred percent positive my mother is my mother. However, I have very recently discovered my father wasn't my father. So apparently, some vampire who turned up at Whitby Goth Festival about sixteen years ago has managed to change my entire life. Well, assuming you can even be half and half?"
"Yep. It's called a dimidius, and it is very, very illegal. Dad, stop loitering in a doorway and be blatant about your eavesdropping."
Adam turned to see Mr Count - or rather, Count Dracula - step into the room, looking rather put out about being caught listening in. He supposed he should probably be concerned - he was apparently an illegal half breed, meaning these vampires may well kill him. That was a vampires usual solution.
"Whitby Goth Festival, you say?"
His accent was more obvious than Ingrid's soft Romanian undertones, but he spoke low and commanding even with nerves writ clear across his features.
"Yeah. My mum said she had some drunken one night stand, but my dad - or step dad, I suppose, said one too many minty alcoholic drinks wouldn't change how he felt about her. I never knew until now."
"What was your name? I don't believe we've met."
Ingrid was eyeing her father closely, as though she knew something Adam didn't.
"Adam. Adam Giles."
The male vampire 'whooshed' off, leaving Adam even more confused.
"Was it something I said?"
"He's an idiot. Ignore him."
He had barely let out a humorless chuckle before there was more whooshing, and then there was a Polaroid picture being jammed under Adam's nose.
"Does she... look familiar?"
Even through the thick white makeup, even before he caught the scrawl at the bottom that said Sally Giles, Adam recognised the picture immediately. His nose, George's eyes.
"That's my mum. Why do you have this?"
He already knew the answer, but he needed to hear it out loud to make it real.
"I... I may have been at that festival. And perhaps had a few too many creme de menthe. I also might have... gotten a little friendly with the breather woman."
"Well, now I've got two mongrel half breed brothers. What is it with you and breathers?"
Turning back to Ingrid, Adam raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't you dating Will?"
Ingrid scowled, and Adam had a brief concern for his personal safety. Right now, Adam was trying to think of anything but what it would mean to be a trained slayer and a blooded warrior, when as it transpired he was half the thing he desired to kill.
"You're remarkably calm for a slayer who just found out he's half biter."
"A slayer?"
Count Dracula looked at Adam very strangely, as if he expected this to be some elaborate attempt on his life. Unlife. He did have a bag full of slayer gear... it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility he could slay the vampire who was also apparently his biological father.
"Adam Giles, trained slayer. Freshly graduated."
He tossed his shiny new Slayers Guild ID onto the table. The male vampire snatched it up, scanning it in blatant confusion.
"How could my issue become such a ridiculous thing?"
Growling, Adam felt his temper spike fast and yanked the card back.
"I don't care that you contributed a drunken mistakes worth of DNA to me. You are not my father. My father was killed by vampires, and I trained to protect my family."
Realisation dawned, harsh and painful as he fell back into his seat.
"Now I have to figure out how to protect them from myself."
"Melodrama. Very Dracula."
Ingrid didn't appear much concerned that she had a previously-unknown brother. But then, Ingrid didn't seem all that concerned with anything but her make-up and her boyfriend.
"My name is Adam Giles. I'm not a Dracula."
"When are you sixteen?"
Ingrid dismissed his argument altogether, moving on quickly.
"Next month. Is that important?"
"Well, your sixteenth birthday is going to rewrite your whole body whether you accept this or not."
"Oh, great."
Fiddling nervously with his sleeve, Adam closed his eyes and tried to think straight.
"Wait. Am I... is this going to keep affecting me before? I mean, am I a danger to my family before I'm sixteen?"
Ingrid tilted her head, considering his question and playing idly with her hair.
"It varies. Some people it only affects the last couple of days, others a few weeks. Short temper, bad sleep. Senses going haywire. I once briefly saw nothing but a bloodbag with Will's name on it, and flowers started dying in my hands. That was... two weeks before. Oh, and I set fire to a few things. Broke a door."
Feeling each short, sharp sentence grate on his frayed nerves, Adam cut her off.
"So yes then?"
"Yes."
Pulling his knees up and against his chest, Adam barely restrained the urge to start rocking back and forth like a child.
"What am I going to do? I'd rather die than hurt them."
"Well, you could off yourself. Terribly messy though."
Ingrid was no deep, meaningful confidant, Adam remembered. Gritting his teeth, he ground out a reply.
"Not helping."
"Well, you shall stay here obviously! My son!"
Hearing those words, from Count fucking Dracula's mouth, it made it all close around him until he felt like he couldn't breath. Clutching at his head as he tried to contain it, Adam felt a pulse of molten anger rush through his system - he didn't ask to be half vampire. What sick sort of test of character was this?
"Well you can't blame me for that one."
Ingrid's voice cut through his dark thoughts, and Adam realised he could smell smoke. Turning around, he saw the weird throne-like chair at the head of the dining table was on fire. The Count was shouting something along the lines of 'Renfield!' and glaring at Ingrid for whatever reason.
"What... was that me?"
Ingrid nodded, but Adam got no further than horrified fascination before his mobiles ringtone filled the air. His mums name flashed across the screen, no doubt wondering why he was gone in the middle of the night. He wavered over the 'answer' button until the call was about to cut out, pressing it and suddenly regretting it.
"Hello?"
"Adam Giles, where in the name of sanity are you? Do you know what time it is?"
He didn't have an answer. With his father? His new sister? With vampires? Apparently, he was silent too long, as his mum prompted him again.
"Adam?"
"Me and Jonno had a fight. I needed some air. I'll be home soon. I'm sorry for worrying you mum."
Even to his chaotic mind, the words sounded hollow and non-believable. Either his mother was too tired to notice, or it didn't translate over the phone. Either way, she bought it.
"Alright. Don't disappear on us like that again."
Guilt twisting into a sickening knot around his organs, Adam choked out an agreement, then a goodbye. Placing his phone back in his pocket, Adam turned desperate eyes to Ingrid.
"What do I do?"
"Go home. Convince them you're alright. Do what you have to, then come back here. That's assuming you want them to be safe."
"What about Jonno?"
"I'll deal with him."
"You can't kill him!"
His vehement defence won an expression of surprise from Ingrid, but she nodded anyway.
"No, I won't. But where do you think the first place he would look for you was if you vanished?"
Conceding her point, Adam allowed her to put his slayer backpack aside with a promise not to set it alight. For now at least. He had the feeling she wouldn't always be quite so amicable.
As he jogged home, Adam felt sick and shaky under the night sky. Everything... his whole life, it was all falling down around him. It had already cost him Jonno, and it was about to cost him his family. His identity itself was hanging in the balance - Adam was a trained slayer, he had spent the last three and a half years hating, killing, driving himself to defeat vampires.
Even that was tainted - all his advantages, they all came from some fucking hybrid DNA Adam had never known was here he was, thirty days left to decide if suicide was genuinely the best he could do.
"Son?"
He barely noticed he was back until his mum's voice cut through his mind, a blur of George appearing in the kitchen - sleepy and in pyjamas, but awake to see her big brother got home safely.
"Sorry. I didn't plan on scaring you guys. Just needed some air."
"What happened?"
"Long story. Can we talk about it later?"
George deliberated, then grabbed Adam and dragged him to the armchair. She sat across his lap, curly head burrowed in tight against his neck. She hadn't done this since their... her father had died, though she wasn't crying right now.
"Making sure you don't vanish again. Night Adam!"
Accepting he was there at least until morning, Adam shifted to get comfortable and closed his eyes. He should make the most of it really, he was about to lose all of this. Keeping a secure arm around his little sister, he let his mind go blank even if he doubted he would sleep.
To his surprise, Adam opened his eyes to a face full of curls where George and her wild hair had taken over in the night. He was loathe to move her when she was so quiet, but his leg was numb and he needed the bathroom.
"Come on sunshine. Up and at em!"
"Ugh, mornings. Vampires get to sleep in, why not me?"
"Don't let mum catch you saying that, she'll wash your mouth out with garlic water."
George chuckled as she rubbed her eyes, letting Adam claim his lower limbs back and hope she didn't notice his whole body tighten at the mention of vampires. They spent the morning lazing around, but he couldn't avoid the subject of his late night jaunt and it's excuse.
"So, what happened? I woke up and your door and window were wide open, both of you gone."
Adam sighed into his coffee - ignoring the fact his taste buds were beginning to change, the sugar he had added now sickly and overpowering - and placed the mug down.
"I'm not really sure. It was a really stupid fight, he left and I'm so used to climbing I just hopped out my window. Went for a run to clear my head, I am sorry for scaring you though."
That was a total lie, except that he had left through his window, but there was no way he could even begin to explain what had transpired the night before. What was going to happen soon. George's birthday was in two days... could he hold on until then? One look at his baby sister, excited for the beginning of Slayer training, answered his question.
Of course.
Ingrid appeared at his window that night around 2am, the argentalium line across his window already gone. He invited her in automatically, mind on the fact he would need the same thing perilously soon.
"What's the hold up?"
"You didn't say it had to be tonight. It's George's birthday in a couple of days. I'm staying for that, I always said I wouldn't leave before she could start training."
"Sentimental."
"She's my sister. Like you are, apparently. And given that you haven't killed me yet, or turned Will, my guess is there may be a shred of sentimentality in you too. Two days. That's all I want."
She rolled her eyes, but eventually the edges of her frown softened and she nodded. Adam accepted he couldn't stay and put his family at risk, but he would be damned if this monstrous curse would steal making George happy on her birthday.
"Here."
Ingrid held out a closed fist, which Adam stared at in confusion until she yanked his hand out. Something heavy and metallic dropped into his hand, and the silk bag opened to reveal a silver cross charm on a chain.
"What is it?"
"Argentalium. Hence the bag. Stole it from dads slayer trophy collection."
Adam tried not to think about how that probably meant his... father had killed it's previous owner, waiting for Ingrid to explain what it was for.
"Give it to your little sister. Looks like silver, but will keep her safe. I was concerned you would refuse to leave, and I don't want to clean up your mess. You may as well have that peace of mind anyway."
He didn't know what to say. That was a degree of thoughtfulness Adam had learned long ago vampires were in no way capable of. He could feel the specific signature argentalium always had that distinguished it from pure silver, but Adam knew no other slayer could tell. At least, not when it was as well-made as the charm in his hand - usually, the process of blending it with garlic dulled the sheen, but he was holding something bright, shining.
"Thank you."
Ingrid cringed, reminding him she had never been big on sappy words back at school but he couldn't not vocalise his appreciation for the unbelievable gift she gave him. Peace of mind for his baby sisters safety. Clenching the necklace tight in his palm, his skin didn't quite hurt but it definitely knew the thing he held was a danger to him. Or would be. He slipped it back in the bag, pulling the drawstring closed again and placing it on his desk.
"Two days. I'll be back then, and we're leaving if I have to drag you, so be ready."
He nodded stiffly, and she left in a blur of black seconds later. He had no idea what he was heading in to, except it was away from being a vampire in his family of slayers, away from where George was at risk from him.
Adam packed a few things into a duffle bag he hadn't used for a while, small things he wanted to keep regardless of where he was. A few of his favourite t-shirts, pictures of his family, the stake his mum made him for his thirteenth birthday - it had his name on and everything, she had spent days buffing and polishing it up beautifully.
A photo of him and Jonno gave him pause - did he want to remember the crushed expression Jonno had before he ran away every time he looked at it? His mind went back and forth, even in his fitful sleep. He slid the photo out of the glass frame, folded it up tightly and shoved it in his wallet. Just in case.
The foreknowledge Adam had planned to leave by sixteen meant his packing went without comment, though he said mostly it was just tidying up for now. George's birthday rolled up, which led to nearly three dozen people crammed into Stokely's Bowling Alley - half of whom were trainee slayers.
Jonno didn't come - Adam knew his dad was banned from the alley, after the Halloween incident the previous year. He got multiple thinly veiled propositions from the other teen slayers, but each one made him feel like there was ice in his lungs. They wouldn't want him if they knew. And he still loved Jonno. Just, couldn't have him. Not now.
George was in her element at the centre of attention, soundly thrashing everyone at bowling and practically rolling in gift wrap. Anyone who wasn't a slayer, or at the party, would probably be very confused by the books on vampires amongst Indiana Jones and archaeological study. When it came to his gift, he was a little nervous someone would work it out. His mum loved it, cooing admiringly.
"Oh, that's beautiful Adam!"
George scarcely wore jewelry, but she held it up to Adam with a beaming grin, then turned around and shifted her thick curls aside to let him fasten it. His fingertips tingled as he tried to fasten the fiddly clasp, but eventually got it done. It was a tad long, but meant she could grow into it. The silvery cross charm rested against her checkered dress.
"I thought crosses didn't really repel them?"
"They don't. Though they don't like churches. But I just... I saw it and knew it would suit you perfectly. Just... keep it on, yeah?"
George smiled, gave him a big hug and dashed over to eat more cake - an enormous construction in the shape of some Idol from one of George's Indiana Jones movie favourites. Adam's mind was too chaotic to remember which one at this point.
"Are you ok Giles?"
One of the few slayers his own age - and hadn't hit on him all evening - held out one of the paper cups full of fizzy drink, which Adam took and pretended to drink. He couldn't stand the way it felt on his teeth, every artificial flavoring and sweetener sticking to his tongue like syrup. Savoury food was still fine, but apparently vampires didn't do sugar.
"Yeah, just worried about her. She's old enough now."
"With an example like you, she's bound to be brilliant."
Words stuck in his throat - George was human and he wasn't, she didn't have his advantages.
"Yeah, I just wish she got to grow up without all this. She's such a happy little genius. Could be anything she wanted if it weren't for them."
He was one of them now, or at least, he would be very soon.
"I dunno. Some people go through life never knowing the truth. This way, she's going to be safe."
Adam shrugged, then indicated he was heading to the bathroom. He dumped the sickly sweet drink down the sink, then splashed cold water on his face and stared into a cracked, dirty mirror. He scanned his reflection, searching for clues others could detect this latent curse. There was nothing, but soon he wouldn't even have a reflection. That could be a giveaway.
There was a proper meltdown lingering under his skin, suppressed for now but he knew it would come. Right now, he needed to be strong for his baby sister. Wiping his face, Adam stepped back out to ensure George had a great birthday. He owed her that much.
The party went on until closing time, a sugar-fuelled and giggling George adamantly refusing to go to bed until past midnight. Adam was exhausted under the strain of holding it together by the time he collapsed in his room, memorizing each little detail. He left his secret slayer stash behind - he didn't need it anymore, he had equipment in the Dracula castle and felt it would be rude to carry his first slays ashes - the vampires were actually being remarkably... accommodating right now.
"Ready?"
He didn't need to look to know it was Ingrid, even if she had landed soundlessly on his floor in the dark. His clock blinked 2:34am, a brief feeling of surprise that he had stared blankly at the ceiling for two hours quashed by the seriousness of the situation.
"As I'll ever be."
He picked up the duffle and slung it across his body, unlocked his bedroom door and cleared out his things from the bathroom. Ingrid watched silently, looking around and shrinking back a little from the argentalium-painted doors. He waited for her to leave through the window, locked it and replaced the argentalium powder line. Just in case. Closing his bedroom door, he padded gently down the stairs.
Painstakingly slowly, Adam slipped out the back door. Ingrid met him there, and somehow locked the door again by snapping her fingers. He held his arm out in waiting, which she took hold of before treating him to the unbelievable speed she was capable of. They landed outside Stokely Castle, which was now almost entirely empty.
"You're leaving?"
"Well. We're leaving, yes. It's necessary, the Slayers Guild know we're here now thanks to your bloody boyfriends father. Even if I hypnotised Jonno to forget... the other night."
Adam cringed - kissing a girl had been uncomfortable, kissing a girl who later transpired to be his sister was just gross. Still, it had done the job he needed it to, and Adam took part in the unspoken agreement to never mention it again.
"He's not my boyfriend. Speaking of... what about Will?"
Ingrid's mouth twisted in a scowl, but he thought she might even look hurt. She didn't answer, and he didn't ask again. His stuff was dumped un the back of the hearse, and Renfield - a strange, smelly man who Adam thought may be chewing a cockroach - mumbled to the Count about a moving van. This was real.
The (frankly dangerous) driving through the hilly streets of Stokely took them down past his home. No. Not home. Not anymore. He still leaned up against the window, ignoring the coffin loaded into the back, the smell coming from Renfield, the weird stuffed dog he could swear winked at him and just stared longingly at the place his mother and baby sister were sleeping peacefully, having no idea of the changes they would wake to, and the things they would never find out.
-YD-
Again, apologies for the fact I personally think this chapter is terrible. However, I'm hopeful the future of the story will be better!
Though this still isn't going to be regularly updated - sorry, but Chosen Two and Rules To Bend take precedence, I meant for this to be a one shot and it's spiralled out of control. Oops. Anyway, I'm rambling, sorry again!