"Well? How does it feel?" Carline asked.
Agnés slowly moved his new prosthetic hand. The wires hidden in the skin-tone sleeve that laid three-thirds over his arm picked up the EMG single and helped him open and closed the metal hand.
"Are you sure about this Carline?" Richard asked the chestnut hair women. She gazed up with her yellow contact lenses, which gave Richard chills every time he saw them. She loved to freak people out, even her vampire friends. So for fun—and because she had a prescription for her eyes—she had different colored contact lenses. Different colors for different days of the week and today her eye color was yellow.
"Of course. Why did you think I rushed over here so quickly?"
"Because you're hopelessly in love with me?"
Carline scowled.
Agnés cleared his throat. "Madam, will this change with me when I shift into my bat form?"
"Of course, I think."
"You think?" He repeated doubtfully.
"Well, I don't know any vampires with the ability to turn into bats. I use to think that all vampire could do that, until I found out you were real and so very different from the old tales and stories."
"So, I'm your test rat?"
Carline had a rueful grin. "Sorry."
Agnés sighed. "Richard, did you give your brother a call yet?"
"I tried but I think he turned off his phone. I'm sure he's busy at the moment."
Agnés nodded in understanding. "Very well then." He slid out of bed and took a deep breath.
"It should work." Carline encouraged. "It's something that I've been working on specifically for vampires."
"And yet you don't know if it'll change with him between forms?" Richard remarked.
"It's not like there's magic involved here. How the hell am I supposed to make it change forms along with someone? It's a mechanical hand."
Petty arguments. Agnés thought. He gave his new hand another flex. He admire Carline's work. It almost felt like it was apart of him but now the moment of truth was at hand.
He silently laughed at himself for the pun. Taking a breath, he shifted forms. The black smoke compressed his body and arms. His bones shrank and thinned, and he could feel his new hand merging with his wing.
Richard and Carline watched with anticipation as the smoke swirled around Agnés and grew smaller. When it dispersed, a bat flew around their heads before roosting upon the wardrobe.
"All right! It worked!" Carline cheered. "Migrates are on me tonight!"
Agnés ignored her and flicked his eyes over at the window. A dark presence hung around the area. His ear twitched when he picked up part of a conversation.
". . . .is on his way. Yes, I'll be here watching the house incase they come home. No, I don't know. He's heading to the school right now."
Agnés dropped from his perch flew towards the window. He let out a screech at Richard and hovered around.
"What? You can't chance forms and tell me what you want?" Richard asked, going over to the window. He opened it and suddenly, Agnés flew outside.
"Are you crazy?! You'll kill yourself!" Richard yelled at him. Agnés knew this, even in bat form he couldn't protect himself from the damaging sun, but at least in this form, he had some time while the sun slowly roasted him like lava.
He swooped down and around and mansion grounds then soared down the driveway were a hooded man stood on the corner, popping his phone in his pocket.
Like a screaming banshee, Agnés came dive bombing towards him. The guy threw up his hands to protect himself as he fell backwards. In one swift move, Agnés changed forms, snatched the guy and sped down the street into the shadow of one of the houses near by, and slammed him up against the wall.
"Tell me who you work for and what you want or I'll rip your damn heart out." He threaten in a calm tone and with a dark smile.
The man quickly buckled under his gaze and spilled everything.
Agnés became greatly enraged.
* * *
Sebastian and Adrien paled as Rosetta started at them.
"What. . . .were you two doing in there?" Rosetta asked, giving them a strange look.
"Uh. . . .well un. . . ." Adrien swallowed, not knowing what to say. He looked up at Sebastian for help.
"Nothing in particular," Sebastian started, his cheeks blushing. "Just talking."
"But the door was locked."
"I unlocked it."
Rosetta tilted her head to the side. "You don't have a key Mr. Belmont."
"I can picklock a few things, doors included."
She became suspicious. "When I passed by, I heard something and it wasn't talking."
Adrien shot the vampire an angry look. In apology, Sebastian inclined his head.
"Oh my gosh," Rosetta covered her mouth. "Did you two. . . .have sex?"
"NO!" Adrien hollered, his face burning.
Sebastian closed his eyes and placed his knuckles to his forehead. "Even I won't compel to take such a risk. No Miss Rosetta, we did not. On the contrary, I don't think Adrien is quite ready for that."
How many shades of red could one person's cheeks get? Adrien hung his head, completely embarrassed but Sebastian was right, he wasn't about to get in a bed with someone else anytime soon.
"Then were you two. . . .making out? Oh my gosh! You two are together aren't you!?"
"Please Miss Rosetta, shout it out a little louder for the whole school to hear and embarrass Adrien." Sebastian said sardonically. He placed a hand on his hip. "I'm sure he would love it. Go ahead, spread that around. Let the world know while you're doing so."
"Who's side are you on?"Adrien gritted through his teeth, not hearing the sarcastic tone.
The vampire gazed down at him, "Yours. And I shall forevermore be on your side."
Rosetta covered her mouth, her eyebrows shot up and her eyes sparkled. Her dimples rose, indicating a smile behind her hand. She almost wanted to do just as Mr. Belmont suggested: tell the whole world.
"Are you two really. . . .?"
Sebastian turned to Adrien and raised a brown, curious if the boy would openly admit to their relationship. But Adrien shook his head, feeling self-conscious about it. He wasn't ready for others to know, although that didn't stop Rosetta from making her own judgment.
"Oh. . . .you two are in love!" Rosetta squealed. She did a little jig then hugged Adrien as tightly as she could. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Oh yes, we definitely are." A venomous voice curled through the air.
Rosetta and Adrien turned to Adrien's right. Sebastian's arm shot out, hitting the boy's chest and forcing him to stand behind him. He quickly coxed Rosetta to do the same as Collin horn stood there with two vampire at his side.
"Well, this is new." Sebastian stated, referring to the back up. "It's smart not to take me on alone so good job, you're actually thinking. I'm surprised that you didn't turn to ash coming here. How sad."
"Scorn me all you want. I want my son." Collin hissed, flashing his fangs at Rosetta.
"What is he?" Rosetta quietly asked Adrien. She grabbed his arm as she trembled. Adrien grabbed her hand and slowly retreated to the janitor's closet. A vampire suddenly made a move after them. Rosetta screamed, fearing that it was the end. She shut her eyes and felt the shadow of the vampire over her quickly.
But she still breathed.
Opening her eyes, she gazed up as Sebastian held the vampire by the throat, lifting him off the ground. He threw the vampire at least thirty feet down the hall.
"How did he—?"
"Questions later my dear." Sebastian said as he pushed the teens into the closet and closed the door. Adrien fell forward and Rosetta toppled over him. She got to her feet. "What the hell are they!?"
Adrien sat up and rubbed his head. So much for keeping the existence of vampires a secret. Hopefully Rosetta would keep quite about this. "They're vampires Rosetta." He said slowly, standing up. "Mr. Belmont. . . . .is one as well."
She started at him hard, reading his unsure expression. Then she laughed. "Nice. You almost had me there."
A loud bang hit the door, making the teens jump. Adrien turned to her with a fearful, but serious, expression. "I'm serious. Haven't you wonder why his eyes are like a golden honey color? He lies about them being contact lenses so people won't think twice. Now my father's a vampire and he's trying to kidnap me."
The fight outside forced a worried look upon Rosetta. "You can't be serious."
"You're talking to a guy who studies mythical creatures and I was freaked out when I found out they existed among us. I'm telling the truth, when have I lie to you?"
Rosetta fanned herself as she sat down. "You lied that nothing was wrong during last semester." She shook her head in disbelief.
Adrien clenched his fist. He didn't want to tell anyone else what had happened to him, although during his breakdown, people had heard that he was raped but they didn't know who and he wanted to keep it that way.
But Rosetta was his friend, the girl who tried to cheer him up when he was down, wanted to help out, sweet and kind. She always listened no matter how ridiculous a story sounded. Quinn had been right, he shouldn't have kept this all to himself, his friends wanted to help. Now, in this heated situation, he probable wouldn't get another chance now that his father just revealed the existence of vampires. His hand was being forced but someone else had to know other than Sebastian.
"I was different." He started. Another bang caused him to snap his head towards the door. "Sebastian?!"
"I'm all right." The vampire reassured. "These guys won't go down easy though."
"Be careful."
There was a few grunts before an irritated replied came. "A little too busy to care about that!"
Adrien turned back to Rosetta. "I was different back then. I was beaten and abused for three years since middle school, when I was fourteen. . . .by my father. He raped me Rosetta." Tears formed in his eyes as he pulled off his shirt.
Rosetta's eyes went wide and her breath all but escaped from her lungs as her eyes saw the scared up flesh. From faded white to pink and red, her eyes scanned ever scar till they landed on the S scar. All this time her friend was being beaten by his father when he was supposed to love Adrien as a son.
"Why. . . .didn't you tell me, or Alex, or Quinn? He would've helped you. Actually, Quinn would've gone to the police."
Adrien threw his shirt back on and stared at the door, worried about Sebastian's condition. He prayed that his pureblood vampire could get the upper hand. Sure Sebastian was a pureblood, but it was still three against one and in a public area so he probable wouldn't using too many of his powers, unless his hand was forced.
"I didn't tell because I couldn't bear to let anyone know. Other than Sebastian, you're the only one who I'm telling this to."
"What did he do to you?"
Adrien shook his head. "I don't want to tell you that. I will say this, he did what any other rapist would do. He abused me and raped me while my mother was at work every night except when he went on trips. He would tell me that he loved me; I was his beloved the moment I was born. He's the reason why I never hung out with you guys after school, why I tried to hide in that book so I wouldn't be bullied. I created a shell so people wouldn't see why I coward at their touch. I became dark, wanting to kill him. To see him scream and bleed to death."
Rosetta let out a gasp.
Adrien placed his hand on the wall. "I wanted to kill Rosetta. I was so dark and twisted. Hell, I even took drugs, thankfully that didn't last long." He sighed. "I even drove a knife through Sebastian's chest in hopes that I could get away from his mansion before my father picked me up after a Christmas Eve party. I wanted to kill myself just to get away from the hell I went through. My poor mother didn't know, Father wouldn't let anyone know what he was doing to me, but she found out and now she's dead because of him. I wanted to die so badly Rosetta, I even sliced my arm in hopes of bleeding to death or having Sebastian react in seeing my blood and drain me dry.
"But he didn't and with his help, I'm recovering. I'm understanding now what I was doing and seeing more clearly. Because of that stubborn vampire, I'm coming back from the dark abyss."
"I'm so glad to hear that."
The teens turned their heads and their hearts skipped a beat as the door opened. But in relief, Sebastian stood there, his jacket was gone and his white shirt was ripped and stained with blood and his pant's leg was drenched in it.
"Sebastian!" Adrien gasped.
"It's not mine." He reassured. "Although my leg hurts like hell. Besides, if it was, you shouldn't be worried anyway. My wounds heal, remember?"
Adrien ran into his arms and hugged him. "Did you hear all of that?"
The vampire nodded. "Yes. And I'm very proud that you found the courage to tell your friend." He glanced up at Rosetta, who just stood there blinking. "I assume you told her?"
"I couldn't lie about it."
"True. Are you okay Miss Rosetta?"
Rosetta slid to the floor and fanned herself, still trying to decided to believe Adrien or not. "You're. . . .you're a v-vampire?"
Sebastian quickly formed into mist then reverted. He flashed his fangs as his eyes went red with slit pupils for a moment. Rosetta breathed slowly, taken in what she had seen. "This can't be real."
"It is, my dear. And as a pureblood, I have a form that would give you nightmares."
"Pureblood?"
Sebastian opened his mouth.
"A vampire at the start of birth." Adrien said, stealing the words out of the pureblood's mouth. "His mother was pregnant with him and his brother before she was turned. So he was born a vampire and is more powerful than regular vampires.
"He's able to walk in sunlight and see his reflection due to the belief that his human DAN infused with his vampire DNA. And accordion to some note that he and his brother made, the human DNA is still active in some ways, allowing protection against the sun, allowed them to stop aging at twenty-four, and still allows their hair and finger nails to grown, to name a few."
A delighted smile beamed down at the redhead. "You sure love to study vampires, don't you?"
Adrien grinned as he nodded.
Rosetta let out a shaky breath, taking in what she heard. It was all too much, but for Adrien's sake, she was going to try to comprehend it as much as she could. Finally, she stood and slowly walked towards them. Adrien slid out of her way as she existed then Sebastian and he followed. As the vampire closed the door, a sudden hand shot out and grabbed Adrien. Rosetta screamed and Sebastian whirled around. . . .and a gun fired.
Pain suddenly hit him like a spark of fire. Over and over, stinging his chest. His black blood bubbled out of a round wound as he fell back against the door and crumpled to the floor. Nothing was healing and his body couldn't expel the bullet embedded in his chest.
No, no, no! Why wasn't he healing? Adrien was in danger and now—
Then it finally came to him like last piece of a puzzle being put into place: he had been shot with a silver bullet. He looked up to confront the shooter.
Gabriel stood with a gun in one hand and Adrien in the other. "Sorry son, my patience grew thin."
"Mr. Belmont!" And at the same time, another cry shouted over the other one, "Sebastian!"
The world became out of focus for Sebastian. His vision found Rosetta running over to him, students and teachers hurried to put the school in lockdown, and his father whisking Adrien away. The redhead was crying his name, putting up a fight to get away from Gabriel. Adrien had twisted his arm out of the vampire's grip and tried to run, but it was futile and watching Adrien being dragged away was more painful to Sebastian and the bullet in his chest.
His father was prepared and now Sebastian was helpless to stop him. Adrien, the boy he swore to protect, was now in the hands of danger. There was no way this wouldn't end in bloodshed, Sebastian was a fool to think that he could take the safe route. Now he would have to confront many people he knew and spill their blood to protect Adrien.
It was the only way to end it.
He tried to stand, tried to overcome the pain his body was in. But he didn't have the strength and collapsed and weakly rolled onto his back. Then he heard a yell, a crash, then a tender touch upon his cheek. He turned his head to the side and his eyes glistened. "Adrien."
The redhead couldn't keep the worries off his face as he saw how badly injured Sebastian was. But the moment was all bittersweet as Gabriel came back. With sudden strength, Sebastian pulled Adrien down and rolled on top of him, using his own body as a shield as butt of the pistole came hard upon his back. He lurched up and dragged his father down.
Adrien scooted towards Rosetta as Sebastian struggled to his knees. His fist smashed into Gabriel's face with enough force to admit a bone-crunching sound. Adrien was sure that Gabriel's nose was broken, but the weak state Sebastian was in quickly allowed Gabriel to shove him off and make his way toward the redhead.
Rosetta tried to fend Gabriel off but she was pushed back and Adrien tried to run. But Gabriel took his pistole and caught up with him and hit Adrien upside the head with it. Then he slung him over his shoulder and walked away.
". . .Adrien. . ." Was the last word that left Sebastian's lips before darkness fought to take his sight—and won.
Rosetta fearfully put her hands over the wound. Cringing, her fingers dug into the wound, trying to find the bullet.
Then she heard a clicking noise, the type a bat would make. She looked up as a small brown bat came flying down the hallway. Then before her eyes, a black mist consumed it and in its place was a man.
"Sebastian!" Agnés ran to his side. Rosetta grew pale as she caught sighed of his mutant hand.
"Madam, I need you to focus here." Agnés said, bring her focus off of his arm. His claws dug into Sebastian's chest. A moment later, the silver bullet came to the surface.
"Put your hands upon that wound, stop the bleeding." Agnés ordered. Rosetta did so as police came into the school. Their footsteps echoed. Agnés stood, threw open the door, and pulled Sebastian into the janitor's closet. Rosetta followed and closed the door then quickly placed her hands back upon the bubbling, leaking wound.
"A-are you a. . . .vampire?" Rosetta asked timidly.
A nod was her answer. Agnés ripped open Sebastian's shirt and bit into his neck. A little bit of clear substance leaked from his lips as the rest entered Sebastian's bloodstream.
Rosetta looked down at her hands, now covered in sticky black blood. The wound slowly started to pull itself together and heal. She placed a hand on his chest but no heartbeat could be felt.
"You won't hear a heartbeat, my dear." Agnés explained. "However, a pureblood is capable of breathing." He laid his ear upon Sebastian's chest, listening and feeling for the rise and fall of his breathing.
"Come on, come back to us Sebastian." He bit the young vampire's neck again. Then slammed his hand against his chest.
The young twin remained unresponsive.
"Damnit Sebastian. I didn't risk my life just to see you lose yours." He bit his neck once more then waited. "Some help here, would be nice my dear," he said to Rosetta.
Rosetta leaned over and placed her lips upon the billionaire's, forcing air into his lungs. She did this twice before a hand suddenly shot up and pushed her away.
"Adrien." Sebastian sat up and looked around, getting his bearings.
"Easy." Agnés coxed.
"Where's Adrien?" It was more of a plea to know than a demand.
"Sebastian, your father planned to take Adrien during school hours." Agnés informed.
He turned to him, his expression filled with mixed feelings. "You knew about this?"
"Someone was watching the house today. I got all the information I needed from him. Your father plans to use Adrien for necromancy."
The young vampire sprang to his feet, but quickly regretted it. His legs gave out beneath him. Agnés quickly caught him and helped him sit back down. "Ne—necromancy?" He took several breaths and tried to calm himself.
Agnés placed his left hand upon the young vampire's shaking shoulder. "We need to get you home." He slid the skin-toned sleeve to expose his skin and offered his arm. Sebastian sank his fangs in and took a few more sips of blood.
Then reality hit him.
He pulled back, wiping his lips. "Your hand. . . ."
"Richard's friend came over early while you were out. He tried to call you, but I assume you phone was off. Come." He steadied the young vampire to his feet then turned to Rosetta. "I'm not going to have to erase your memory of this, will I, dear?"
Rosetta timidly shook her head.
"You can't say a word. . . .about this." Sebastian said, grimacing at the pain in his chest. "Not to anyone, your boyfriend, friends, parents, no one. Understand?"
Rosetta nodded.
"Good, now can you please help us. And why the hell are you here during morning hours?" Sebastian asked his friend.
Agnés helped him out of the closet. "You realized what hit you right? If I didn't came just in time, you would be dead for real."
Sebastian limped along side him as they hurried to get out of the school. "Curiosity of my father. Now I'm really set on reconstructing Silver Wind. Ow. . .ahg!. . . .Are you sure you got the bullet out?"
"It's going to hurt for a while." Agnés came to a halt. "Where did you park?"
"First row closest to the school doors." He fished out his keys and handed them to him. "Please don't die on the away there. This is such a mess. I shou—"
Agnés placed a finger upon his lips to hush him. "Let's get you home first, then you can doubt and blame yourself to heart's contents. My dear, can you drive?" He turned to Rosetta.
She took a quick glance at the police, wondering why they hadn't them yet. "A little. I'm still learning."
"Can you at least pull a car over here without hitting anyone or anything?"
She nodded.
"It's a black Tesla. Go bring it up to the front of the school." Agnés handed her the keys then helped keep Sebastian steady. "And please be careful."
"You just entrusted my car to a high schooler." Sebastian said, feeling weak in the legs. He hated silver bullets. Even if it didn't kill you it still had an effect of weakening the body that lasted for several days. It was worst than a silver blade or any other silver weapon and only his father would be sly enough to use such things.
"Which is worst: entrusting her with your car or entrusting her to cleanse your blood of silver?" Agnés asked.
What kind of question is—damn it. And again, Agnés was right. Sebastian had a defeated look upon his face before blood started to drip from his nose. He raised his arm and pressed it against his nose.
"Are you casting an illusion?" Agnés asked sternly.
The young vampire nodded and pointed to the police. "I can't let them see us, you in particular." He shook his head. "This is all my fault Agnés. I was such an idiot."
Agnés hushed him again. "You have done nothing wrong. Your father is. . . . ." he paused to collet his thoughts.
"Inhumane like any other vampire. Forgetting that he was human once and goes about kidnapping kids." Sebastian implied. "I should've killed him when I had the chance."
"Blaming yourself isn't going to get Adrien back." Agnés gazed out the glass doors as the black Tesla came into view: moving and stopping, moving and stopping.
"She's not a confident driver, is she." Agnés murmured.
"At least she didn't hit anyone." Sebastian weakly walked over to the doors, holding onto Agnés for support. Rosetta came rushing back over and took Agnés place as he shifted forms and flew into the car, reforming in the driver's seat and thanking Rosetta for not parking the driver's side in sunlight.
Rosetta helped Mr. Belmont into the car. "Do you . . .need me to come with you?"
Sebastian shook his head. "No, it's fine. Thank you for your help." He wiped his bloody nose on his sleeve.
"What. . . .what's going to happen to Adrien?" Rosetta asked in a small voice.
Sebastian took her hand. "I'll do everything in my power to save him. Until then, I'm sorry to say but you can't let anyone else know what truly happened."
"So I can't tell anyone that he was kidnapped."
"You can tell them that, but don't say who. The secret of vampires needs to stay behind locked lips. Am I clear?"
Rosetta nodded and sniffled a little. It was all to much, first vampires existed and now her friend was kidnapped by them?
Madness. This was complete madness. It was so crazy she felt her head was going to pop off. But she was going to remain calm and try to except and embrace a new normal, if it was possible.
She gave a small goodbye wave and sadly trekked back into the school as they drove away.
Sebastian took off his ripped shirt and tossed it in the back, then leaned in the passenger seat, utterly destroyed. He had no one but himself to blame. All of this. . . . .was his fault. For trying to avoid the threat when it should've been eliminated.
"Sebastian," Agnés said quietly, "what's on your mind?"
"I was an idiot for letting this happened. I didn't want bloodshed so I tried to avoid the threat and fend off my father. Now look where it got me."
"We are who we are." Agnés replied, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove through the city. The sun shined upon his new left hand, but he felt no burning sensation. In a way, that was a good thing. It still irked him that he lost his hand though. "We don't asked to be born, we just are. Every person is born with a heart, a mind, but what makes us all unique is our souls. For there will never be another person like you on the planet or in the future. Maybe an incarnation, but you personally will never be reborn on this earth after death—or so I believe. A soul is also what makes us human."
"We're not human. You were born a human, but I was not." Sebastian snapped, shooting a small irritated glare at him.
"But you try to act like one." Agnés calmly pointed out. "My point is that you can't always control fate. We can change it, deny it, but cannot control it. We all make mistakes, it'a apart of life. But we can fix them."
Sebastian flicked his eyes over at him. "So good of you trying to make me fell better. I feel happy already."
Agnés slowed to a stop at the stop sign, then turned to the street with less traffic and sunlight. "No need to get snarky at me. I'm pointing out the obvious and you're failing to see the outcome of this conversation."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
"My whole point is to stop blaming yourself about what choices you made,"—his violet eyes had an eerie gleam to them as he took a quick glanced over at him—"quit complaining, and actually do something about it. That's what having a soul is all about, we make mistakes and when we do, we fix them. That's what it means to be human. And if one choose not to fix a mistake, then they're a heartless jackass."
"By the time I get to France, Adrien will already be dead."
"You shouldn't be negative about this. You love that boy, you should be all hot-the-trot in saving him. The Sebastian I know wouldn't be down in the slumps at a time like this if someone he cared about was in danger."
Sebastian shook his head and watched as the scenery change from down town L.A to Beverly Hills. "What difference would it make? I failed in keeping him safe. If what you heard was true then he'll end up dead for some damn necromancy ritual long before I get a chance to save him."
They fell silent for the rest of the drive. Agnés pulled up into the driveway, making sure he was at a closet distant to run inside. "Now is not the time to lose hope Sebastian."
The young vampire turned to Agnés and watched him get out of the car and made a beeline for the house before the sun set him ablaze. Richard came running out a minute later, closing the driver door and helping his younger brother inside.
"Sebastian, did Father really. . . .?"
The young twin nodded as Richard brought him into the living room. Sebastian sat down but his brother stayed standing, wringing his wrists. "Sebastian, I hate to put another damper on this situation but. . . ."
The younger twin looked up. "What is it?"
Richard swallowed. "It's about 'The Child'.'
"What about him Richard?" He said drearily, loosing hope and will. He laid his arms upon his lap as he hunched over.
Agnés leaned against the far wall, keeping his cloak closed.
The older twin took a deep breath. "I know who he is."
"Yes yes, you mentioned this before. Get to your point if you going to make my day worst." Sebastian snapped. "And don't you dare say that Adrien is 'The Child' or I will be pissed."
"Sebastian. . . . ." He paused.
"Spit it out, damnit!"
Another deep breath. "Sebastian, 'The Child'. . . . . .is you."