Hidden In Plain Sight (MxM)✔

Chapter 13 - The Rebellious Phase

Before reaching the house, Frederick had the coachman pull up to a shop where he got out alone. Luke very strongly considered sneaking out and following him, but then he feared that the driver would out him later, so he decided to stay put for now. When Frederick returned, he was wearing his usual plain clothes.

Luke quirked an eyebrow at the Vampire, but he ignored the human's looks and urged the driver to continue home. When they arrived, the first thing Luke did was head towards his room.

Sitting on his mattress, Luke began to reflect on his relationship with his Master.

Frederick had always claimed that what he was doing was for Luke's safety, but when he put some thought to it, things didn't add up.

Running a hand through what was left of his hair, he traced the spot where Nicholas claimed the tattoo was. His Master definitely knew something about it, which was surprising since he had expected the man to ask 'what tattoo' when he brought it up in the first place. The Vampire's reaction was extremely odd, that was for sure.

 Did that mean there was some significance behind hit? Was it supposed to be there? Was Frederick the one who gave it to him in the first place?

Luke shook his head. That was impossible. He certainly would have remembered getting a tattoo done at that age. Yet if it was done when he was a baby, that'd be a different matter, but then that begged the question, what kind of place did he come from for people to think it was appropriate to give babies tattoos?

When he was just a toddler, Frederick was extremely careful not to injure him. Even when drawing blood, he'd be extremely careful when he inserted the needle, though he didn't do anything about his crying. Afterwards he'd lock the human up in the crawlspace and order him to remain quiet until he said so. Luke was then forced to wait in the dark for his Master to return each night. 

His life was never exciting before. The most eventful thing when he was growing up was mealtime, and it wasn't just for the food. It was also for the company that came along with it. The Vampire made sure he knew he only stayed to make sure he took all his supplements, but that was enough for young Luke, because he craved company above all else. 

The one constant in his life was his Master, and he feared ever losing that because if Frederick disappeared one day, he'd be all alone, and that terrified the human more than any crawlspace ever did. The funny thing was that to this day, whenever he felt stressed, Luke would feel compelled to go down into the basement and wait, because it reminded him that his Master would always return. Just like when he was little.

These memories had the human feeling a bit nostalgic, and he began to reminisce about the few times he had hurt himself, causing the Vampire to fly into a panic. It was a miracle that Luke survived his pre-teens with a creature that had never encountered his kind before.

But wait...Exactly how was it that Frederick knew how to raise a human child in the first place?

Luke hadn't even known about regulating his own body temperature, or what would happen should he go a few days without food. How did this Master know what to feed him? Or what to do when he was feeling ill? 

Growing ever more suspicious of his Master, the human began to find his voice as he spent the next three days arguing through the door with him.

Whenever Luke mentioned the tattoo, Frederick would ghost him. When Luke asked where the Vampire learned about raising humans, his Master would tell him to shut his trap and be grateful to be alive.

The first day, Frederick tried locking him in his bedroom again, and in a moment of bravery, Luke reminded him what Nicholas said about such punishments.