When Eleonora's scream reached Trevor's ears, he wanted to let go of the steering wheel so badly. But they had to keep on going. Nothing would do them more good than escaping from the person that put them in that situation in the first place. So he stepped on the gas pedal and felt as he was sinking into the backrest.
Austin had gone to check on the other two, leaving the brunet alone at the front. No one told him what had happened, though he had his theory, as he hadn't heard William's voice in a while. His knuckles became white, while his body was tense, but he didn't stop until they told him to.
He pulled over instantly, ignoring if it was a suitable location to do so. He'd never fastened his seat belt, so it helped him get off his seat quicker. Then he rushed to the back, his steps making the van shake.
'What happened?' he gasped.
Eleonora moved away so that he would see for himself. He saw William's body lying on the floor, lifelessly. His eyes were gently closed like he was sleeping and not dead. His skin lost every colour, so deep red blood stood out from the rest. And thin, white smoke was coming out of his wound. Just looking at it all made the brunet shudder.
Trevor fell to his knees beside him, tears running down his cheeks. He stretched out his hand to touch him, but quickly took it away as if contact would melt him. However, feeling his skin against his was something he needed right now, thus he had to try again. To his surprise, William's skin was warm, maybe too warm for someone who must have been losing his body heat with every passing second.
Eleonora sighed. 'He's not dead, you moron,' she said at last.
The brunet looked up at her, a web of red veins in his eyes. 'W-what? How?' he faltered.
The corners of her mouth slightly rose. 'He's a vampire,' she said like it would change Trevor's worldview. 'It's not that easy to kill him.'
Trevor couldn't believe her words. William was lying dead before him and nothing could change it. But what if she was telling the truth? 'So how're we gonna bring him back?' he asked.
The witch moved and stood up. 'We're going to remove the bullet and let him heal afterwards. It's that simple,' she explained. 'Now get up. We don't need you sobbing.' She waved him up.
That way, the brunet got to his feet before wiping his tears on his sleeve. It brought good memories back because William gave him this grey hoodie. Eleonora and Austin walked around the van, while Trevor stayed close to the blond. He stood shivering and sniffing.
'I see your first aid kit is running low,' she shot while coming back. 'But I managed to find gloves at least.' A beaming smile appeared on her face.
He couldn't make himself smile back. Instead he knelt again beside William. 'How're gonna do it?' His head pointed at the blond, unsure of its move.
'It'll be more like how I am gonna do it,' she corrected. 'It's a one-person job.'
'You sure?' She nodded for an answer, and he bit his lower lip. 'Why is there smoke coming out of it?'
Eleonora shifted as she put on a glove. 'The bullet that he got shot with is probably silver. Which means that it's burning its way through his brain.' She winced.
Trevor's jaw dropped, and a shiver went down his spine. 'What?'
'Yeah, it sounds much worse than it actually is. I promise.'
'"Burning its way through his brain"? Ugh, it sounds the worst already!'
'I know,' she agreed. 'But he'll come back to life. Eventually.'
'Can we start the coming-back-to-life process, please?' Austin joined in. 'Looking at him makes me sick.'
Eleonora nodded again and leaned over the blond. 'Can you go for a walk? Or at least close your eyes? Because we don't have any pliers, so I'll have to do it with my own hands.'
'I'm staying,' Trevor said.
'Yeah, me too,' Austin added, yet sounding less certain.
Her lungs filled up with air before her shaking hands reached for the bullet. William's blood wasn't like human blood, it was much slimier and redder. The process was disgusting but necessary. The accompanying sound might've been even worse, though. It was better to remove the bullet before it could make its way out, leaving a through hole behind.
Within a few minutes she got the bullet out and put it away from any supernatural being's reach. She sighed in victory as she was wiping sweat off her forehead. She'd never expected that she'd become a surgeon one day.
As her part was done, she could make space for Trevor beside the vampire. She reckoned he'd appreciate his presence more than hers.
Trevor had been holding William's hand all that time, and now he felt as the blond started putting some force into their grasp, too. It brought joy onto his face. He peeked every now and then to see the vampire's tissue restoring itself. It was terrifying to look at, but also somewhat remarkable. The process resembled fabric sewing itself up, threads and weaves magically coming back together.
It took William so long to get back in shape that Eleonora had decided to drive the van into a safer place. However, Trevor stayed by his side, watching him and not letting go of his hand. When his eyes slowly opened, he first saw the brunet's blurry silhouette. He ignored that his wound hadn't fully healed, as he sat up wrapping his arms around Trevor.
They stayed in a passionate, tight hug for a while, their chins in one another's shoulders. This time tears that were trickling down Trevor's cheeks were of happiness, not sadness or grief. William must've felt them on his skin. He patted the brunet's back, indicating that it was time to separate.
'I thought he'd killed you,' Trevor sobbed, gazing into his eyes.
'It's not that easy to get rid of me,' he smiled. Although he knew it wasn't the wisest of him to let himself get knocked out. If the witch hunter hadn't been injured, he would've gone for them. It wouldn't have been easy to make it out alive without him.
'William! You're back!' Eleonora shouted happily from behind the steering wheel.
Austin got off his seat to greet William. It all felt so surreal like he had come from dead. The vampire stood up and hugged him for a moment. However, it wasn't any close to the one he and Trevor had shared.
When they let go of each other, William looked back at the brunet and pulled him closer by his arm. 'I need to talk to you,' the blond whispered into his ear, 'but not yet.'
'Then when?' he asked, his eyes wide.
'Meet me around midnight,' he said, giving him a smile.
Trevor was left clueless.
Sleeping with his head leaning against the window was obviously not comfortable, so Trevor rarely got to sleep at all in this four-people-one-van scenario. But this time was different, he was exhausted after William's presumed death. Once he closed his eyes, sleep came around immediately.
However, he managed to wake up when it was entirely dark outside the windscreen, stars shining brightly in the sky. He had no idea what time it was, though. Panic stunned him at first. What if he'd missed the occasion?
But soon he noticed that William wasn't in his seat, or even in the van at all. Trevor grinned, getting up. He was happy that it would be a face-to-face conversation, without anyone around that could overhear them. He was wondering what the blond wanted to talk about.
With one hand holding the lock and the other on the door handle, he opened the door in order not to make a single sound. Though he could always use a good old need-to-go-to-pee excuse. Shortly the door closed with a quiet creak, caused by Trevor's excitement, but no one spoke on the other side.
Trevor was looking around when a voice reached his ears.
'Over here,' said the vampire.
He wasn't even trying to speak quietly, the brunet wondered. He looked up and saw him sitting on the van's roof, his legs hanging against its wall. It looked like a scene he'd seen somewhere in a movie. He asked himself how to get there, but the answer for his non-verbal question didn't come from him.
'There's a ladder on the other side,' William explained.
Trevor nodded and proceeded right towards it. The ladder was made out of aluminium-like metal, and its steps were narrow and dangerously smooth, so he had to take care not to slip down. When he put his foot on the last step, William got up and stretched out his hand to help him out. The brunet shot him a thank-you smile.
Trevor sat down on William's right, their knees touching. 'What did you want to talk about?' he asked, gazing at him.
The blond hadn't answered immediately. Instead, as usual, he let the question disperse into the air. 'About us,' he said at last.
Trevor's eyes widened. A gentle breeze was ruffling his hair. 'What about us?' He had to find out where he stood. William could have had everything on his mind, and this question was supposed to provide him exactly what.
William took a deep breath and said: 'After I was shot, I still had some consciousness left. It was like I had been locked up in my own mind. Though I couldn't move my body at all, I could see my thoughts. Some images were more vivid than the others.' He glanced sideways at Trevor. 'And you were in most of them.'
'What does it mean?' His left eyebrow went up.
'I think it means that I like you. More than I first thought.' A weak smile appeared on his face. 'And apparently, I needed to almost die to realize that. I'm sorry,' he added.
'Don't be sorry,' Trevor quickly protested. 'It's not like I've ever told you that I like you, either.'
'And do you?'
Trevor couldn't help smiling. 'Of course.' Then he reached for the vampire's hand, and wrapped his fingers around it. 'I like you too, William,' he said.
For them both, it felt like a weight had fallen off their chests, making them feel lighter. The great amount of history that they shared had brought them together. They were closer to one another than ever. They both smiled at each other, with each other. Their hands together like one organism. This moment could last forever.
'We'll see how it evolves,' William said after a while. 'I don't want to rush it. Honestly, I don't even know if you've forgiven me.' He lowered his head, looking away.
'I have.' Trevor squeezed the blond's hand, hoping it would bring joy back on his face. 'And don't worry, me either. Let's keep it slow.'
He raised his head, close to tears. 'Can you make that happen for me?'
'Of course,' Trevor smiled as warmly as he could. 'Damn, I even start to sound like you.'
They both laughed at that. William hid his mouth behind his hand in embarrassment.
'Do I really use "of course" that often?' The blond furrowed his brows.
'Yeah,' he said, suppressing his chuckling. 'But I like it, it's so you.'
'Aww, stop it. You're making me blush.'
'Do I?'
They were gazing into each other's eyes. Trevor couldn't believe that William's irises hadn't stolen his heart earlier. He leaned towards the blond, but a sudden voice caused him to jump back.
'What's going on up there?' a woman's voice said.
William and Trevor exchanged a couple of confused glances.
'We couldn't sleep,' William finally said.
'So no one's tryna kill us?' Eleonora asked, her hands resting on her waist.
'Nobody,' he said. 'You can get back to sleep now. We'll soon come back, too.'
'All right.' She shrugged and went back to the van.
They waited to hear the door close.
'Want to look at the sky for a bit?' the blond proposed.
'Sure. Why not.' He shrugged and lay down beside him.
Every now and then they pointed at the sky, showing each other stars that reminded them of the other person. At some point, Trevor moved to his right, resulting in them feeling one another's warmth during this cold night. They were happy, and most importantly they felt timeless. A thought that nothing could ever separate them stuck in their heads.
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I mean 👀