GFD 12: Blood Ties - 33. Chapter 33

Perhaps I imagined it...

The strange looks that I got from human passersby as I walked down the public streets of Chicago. Not a blatant double take, but something that escaped the subtlety of a second glance as they saw the look in my eye.

For a moment, I thought my vampire optrix had betrayed me. Giving them a full view of my glowing eyes through their supposedly authentic blue tint. And to think...Taryn had gone through so much trouble to match it to my eyes original color when he bought them for me.

Taryn...

It hurt to think about him. Just a little bit, but it hurt nonetheless. I'd have to come back to the lot and tell him why I didn't allow him to accompany me on my journey tonight. I'd have to look into those soft green eyes of his and create an excuse that might possibly dissolve the hurt in his innocent gaze. I doubt I'll be successful in accomplishing that.

My only hope was to wait for him to forgive me. And to, once again, see the unconditional flare of love in those beautiful eyes once the offense of my betrayal had passed.

Even other vampires seem to look at me differently. I never paid attention to people on the street the way that I do now. We vampires? We can smell our own. Easily. there's a different swagger in our walk. A different twinkle in our eye. The concept of immortality...of timelessness...it lingers in our daily expression. You can't help but to notice it once you've learned to recognize it for what it is. And for many of them...that display of 'difference' brought with it a certain feeling of menace. Like hungry predators...walking among a herd of cattle. Knowing that they could snatch any one of them into a dark alley at any moment if their thirst demanded it.

Was I so different?

Do they see me...the way that I see them?

It was during that long walk towards Jeremy's blood shack when I realized that....human...vampire...I didn't fit in with either side. Both daylight and darkness had rejected me. Labeled me as abnormal. They would never accept me for who I was...simply because of what I was. And what I was...existed outside of their emotional comfort zone. It's not that they didn't understand. It was that they didn't want to understand that made my truth so threatening to them.

I was surprised that I had remembered the way so vividly. I guess Doc's extra was pretty much running in my brain involuntarily at this point. And that only caused me to remember the look on his face when I stole the Jeweler's location from his thoughts. That sucked. I'll admit, I was desperate at the time...but I was an asshole for that.

Doc was one of the sweetest guys at the lot. One of the first who ever welcomed me into the fold of that place and helped me to feel at home. I just hope that he knows how essential getting this information was from him. Doc maintained a cheerful exterior at all times, but he guarded his true emotions with the stubbornness of an angry pitbull. I invaded those emotions tonight. I violated his trust. And what I'm going to have to do to get it back...will only be revealed at a later time.

I seem to be alienating myself from ALL of my friends lately....

Approaching the fence, I noticed Torsten and Grim guarding their territory with the same dedication as always. But this time, when they locked their gaze upon me, they merely gave me a mellow growl in the back of their throats. As if to send me some kind of polite 'warning', but to also let me know that they recognized me as a friend. Well, as far as friends go with a couple of giant vampire wolves, anyway. I actually reached my hands out to either side to pet them, but the growled a bit louder at me, jerking themselves back and bearing their teeth.

"Alright. Alright. You're 'working'. I get it. No need to cop an attitude." I said with a smirk, and continued my way into the blood shack.

I called out to Jeremy as soon as I entered the door, and he told me to come on downstairs to the lab. I felt a little nervous about seeing Richie again, but the excitement of seeing how he was doing wouldn't slow me down. Even if it meant going down to Jeremy's lab. He knows how much I hate being around death...

Trotting down the steps, I was surprised to see him talking to two of his newest 'customers'. One was a girl with long, dark, hair that looked to be about 19 years old. The other...a young blond boy who seemed to be so visibly shaken that he was on the verge of tears.

I slowed my pace as I reached the bottom of the stairs, and I heard the boy quietly mumbling, "Nooooo. No. I don't wanna. It's gonna be gross." The boy was even younger than I was. Maybe even younger than Dylan. His small boyish frame was trembling as he tried to fight the beginning of his thirst. I could tell that he was hungry. I could sense it. Almost smell it. Not only that...but I could tell that this was his first time drinking blood. There was a certain warmth and sweetness about his life essence that had yet to be tainted. Such a sugary sensation ran through me that it nearly made me dizzy. Such a magical time, the transition from human to vampire. One that I could assume he wasn't taking well.

Jeremy groaned and told the older girl, "Listen...it's been ten minutes now, and 'Baby Bear' here isn't budging. Maybe you should take him to get his porridge from some place else."

The girl protested. "NO! He's going to be fine! Just give me a second." She tried to comfort the shivering boy, and she whispered, "It's ok, Matty. It's alright. It won't be so bad. We just have to get you straightened out before you have an accident, ok?"

Seeing the boy like that reminded me so much of when I was sitting right there in his place. It wasn't so long ago that those same first time jitters had rattled me to pieces right here in this very room. I felt bad for him...but what could I do. It's the price for a life in darkness. There is no other way.

Seeing me standing there, Jeremy quickly came over to put a 'friendly' arm over my shoulder. It confused me at first, until he started going into his sales pitch, that is. "You see this guys right here, Matty? This is my friend, Justin! And less than a year ago, he was sitting on this very table, just as scared and awkward as you are you are now. But I gave him some of my finest stuff, I warmed it up for him so it would go down easy, and Justin took it down just like a champ. Didn't ya?" He looked at me, giving me the signal to back him up on this.

It would be a boldfaced lie. I knew that. But I felt so conflicted when the little boy peeked up into my eyes, his innocence hoping to see some reflection of truth in my expression. It sucked to lie to him...but if he didn't feed...and soon...the pain would be unmerciful. The bloodlust would take over. And he'd end up doing something that he regretted. Like I did. Or worse.

"Yeah. It's not so bad. It's like...drinking warm ice cream..." I said, my gaze lowered to hide my shame.

"Really? Is that true?" He asked. I saw a single tear drop from one of the boy's bright blue eyes. He wasn't even old enough in darkness to have gotten his glow yet. And I had to distance myself from the whole situation before my conscience got the best of me.

I just said, "Trust me, kid. It's good for you. K?" And I lightly pulled free from Jeremy's partial embrace to walk into the next room.

I heard Jeremy say, "SEE? It's a piece of cake! Like liquid candy. Listen, I'll get you a young female sample, no bitter after taste, very healthy. A vegan, no less. It'll be like drinking fruit punch, I promise..."

I couldn't help but to overhear Jeremy doing his thing in the other room, but I tried to block it out anyway. That little boy had a long road ahead of him. And it wasn't going to be a pleasant ride for him at all.

"...Ok, so I'm gonna warm you up a nice little packet and I'll get you set up. Alright? Be back in a few minutes." Jeremy said as he left the lab and entered the side room with me. "I appreciate you backing me up in there, man. Seriously. I swear there's another one of you newbloods born into darkness every fifteen minutes these days. It's insane. And that little poodle wasn't going to be able to make up his mind before sunrise, I can tell you that. But, whatever. Supply and demand. That's my calling. Supply and demand." I didn't say anything about it. Nor did I want to think about my indirect involvement in the process.

I saw Jeremy step into the freezer for a moment, and rummage through some of his blood packets for the clients outside. And then he put them into, what was essentially, a microwave to warm them up. It was so easy for him. So mundane. I don't know how he gets past the overall horror of it all.

Then he wipes his hands off on his black lab coat and says, "So, I guess you're here to take a gander at your special boy, huh? HUH?" He grinned. And without me answering, he led me towards the back room. "Come on. I've got you covered. Let's go."

"You put him in a different room?" I asked.

"His crossover is moving along a little faster than I expected, but everything is normal. I just got him a bigger bed to lay on. His convulsions can get a bit wild from time to time."

"Convulsions?" I whined. "Is he hurting?"

"Um, YEAH!" Jeremy snickered. "He's migrating from one species to another, dude. It's not exactly a 'tummy ache' that his body is dealing with right now." He said. I know that I must have looked extremely worried, because Jeremy stopped and tried to calm my nerves by saying, "It's ok, Justin. We all went through it. You did too. You may not remember it, but you did. And chances are, Richie isn't going to remember it either. It's a transformative process. There are a few growing pains involved." but as he opened the door at the end of the hall and pulled back the curtain, Jeremy said, "Quit sweating. I've got nothing but good news for you tonight."

I finally stepped closer...and there he was. Richie. My best friend in the world. The one who made a life in daylight mean anything at all to me. I think I was struck speechless for a moment, just looking at his pale face...lying there, motionless. Almost as if he was just sleeping, but I was sure he would be cold to the touch if I had the guts to reach out and do so.

Not quite dead. Not quite alive. But he was my Richie. One of the biggest highlights in my life. And while I had once felt so helpless before, watching him fade away before my very eyes in that hospital bed...I could now look upon him with a lingering sense of hope. A beauty, a personality of that magnitude, preserved forever in the body of a cute teenage boy. God, I hope he's willing to see the bright side of all this when the time comes.

He was a bit scarred from the battle with Rage at the hospital, but it wasn't as bad as I remembered it. A few cuts and bruises, sure, but it looked as though Jeremy had taken great care to wash away the dried dirt and blood, keeping an eye on his wounds and keeping them free from infection. I have to admit, Jeremy was a pretty good nurse for him.

"Now, Justin...I know that I'm doing this as a freebie and all, but when I do a favor, I do it right." He said with a happy smirk. "You see? I've got the whole set up. Blankets, pillows, emergency aids...just in case..." He said, moving around the bed to show me the equipment in the room. "I've got ice packs for when he gets hot, heating pads for when he gets cold...I've even got some special drips of 'whoopee juice' on the ready to help him out with the pain if he's having a hard time. I've got it all." He said. "Consider this my way of saying thanks from keeping your boyfriend's demon sibling from punching a hole through me the last time we met. You know? It's been a long time since I've owed somebody else a favor. I wanna pay it back. And I pay back BIG." I heard the timer go off on Jeremy's contraption, and he reached in to see if the blood was warm enough yet. He quickly drew his hand back. "YOWW! Too hot! To drink anyway. I'll let this baby cool down a little bit, and get it back upstairs before sissy boy loses his nerve." Jeremy set it just inside the freezer door and came back to stand beside me as my eyes concentrated on Richie's semi-lifeless body. I think this is the first corpse that I've ever seen that didn't want to send me running right out of the room.

Looking closely, I could see the occasional eye flutter, or a twitch of his fingers or toes. And then...I could have sworn that I heard a slight yelp of pain as his thin lips opened slightly to take in a sharp inhalation of air.

I jumped. "He breathed! Did you see that? Is he ok? I mean..."

Jeremy took a nonchalant look at him, but just told me, "Yeah. That happens. His lungs don't really work yet. He takes a deep breath about every 18 hours or so. Almost like a car with a half dead battery, trying to start up again. It's perfectly normal."

I couldn't help but to think of the pain that I went through doing my own crossover into darkness, and it seriously pained me to see Richie experiencing the same thing. At least for me, it was a choice. For him...it was a matter of saving of his life...or letting him die.

Jeremy flipped through a couple of notes on his clipboard, and he said, "He's not quite ready yet. Richie's body still has one hell of a nightmare ahead of it before it matures enough for him to show any real signs of an awakening any time soon. But...from what I've seen so far, so far so good. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Did I do it right? I mean... didn't screw anything up, did I?"

"I wouldn't worry about that. Some vampires successfully turn donors purely by accident while feeding. That's not the hard part. The difficulty is the body that's being turned and how it accepts the toxin and adapts to the change. Your friend, Richie, seems to be adapting just fine. I'm guessing it's a bonus that you two were so close beforehand. I know the crossover execution seems like it's all science and logic, but the truth is...a lot of emotion and subconscious connection goes into making a vampire what he or she is in the long run. Sometimes, it can make or break the transfer process entirely. I can't tell you why, but it does. Weird, right?" I felt a little smile spread out on my lips as I saw Jeremy carefully brush Richie's cheek. There was just a gentle and caring nature about the way he did it. It let me know that he was in good hands. Jeremy said, "I make sure to turn him two or three times a night to prevent bedsores. And I keep the skin moist with a few oils or lotions. I don't want him waking up with permanent dry skin." Then, his eyes widened a bit, and he took a hold of my wrist. "OH! And come here!!! Check this shit out! Feel this!"

"Wait...feel...what?"

"FEEL this! Come here!" He smiled. He brought my hand over to the top of Richie's head. Bald, pale, and cold...it made me cringe to touch it when he was like this. I squinted my eyes slightly, trying not to look. Seeing your best friend like that is a lot harder than you might think it is.

He rubbed my palm back and forth over the top of his bald head, and I wanted to pull my hand away...until I felt the slightly prickly sensation of little bumps on the surface. Or at least, that's what I thought it was. "Wait...what is that?" I asked.

Jeremy gave me the biggest grin. "That, my friend, is a brand new batch of hair coming through."

I paused. "Umm...hair? What does that mean? I don't understand..."

"What I'm saying is...it looks like your best bud is starting to grow his hair back." I think it took a few moments to settle in, because the concept seemed so farfetched before now. What was he saying? What was Jeremy actually telling me?

"He's going to have hair again?" I whimpered. I didn't mean for it to come out that way, but it did. Sudden burst of emotion, I guess.

"Hair? Dude, that's just scratching the surface." He grinned. "It looks like you just might have pulled it off, kid. You might have achieved the unachievable. And just days before it was too late."

"Are...are you saying that Richie...? Richie's going to be cured when he wakes up???"

"Well...I don't know if he'll be cured, necessarily. It's still a little too early to tell. But from what I can gather so far...he's going to feel a hell of a lot better than he ever did wasting away in some hospital bed. That's for sure."

Even I wasn't prepared for the tears of joy that suddenly rushed up into my eyes. I didn't even have a chance to hide them from Jeremy before they began to spill over. Jeremy wouldn't dare let me in on the fact that he was happy to see me so overwhelmed...but a hint of Jenna's extra allowed me to feel a sense of pride and support that I had never sensed in him before. If I didn't know better...I'd say there was a sweet and sensitive guy under all of that blood and death business.

"Well, listen...I'm gonna just...give you two a moment and take care of little Matty before the thirst gets a hold of him." Jeremy said, avoiding the moment by getting his mind back on his work. "Don't touch any of the equipment. Got it? I've got everything set up and calibrated just right. So don't fuck it up."

"Thank you, Jeremy..." I sniffled.

"It's nothin'..." He started to leave, but I turned towards him so he could clearly see the tears on my face.

I looked him in the eye, and I said, "I mean it, ok? Thank you..."

He almost smiled. Almost. "Whatever..." He said with a slightly strained voice, and he headed back out with the warm blood packet to regroup with his clients. "Hey!!! What is he doing? If this kid gets sick on my floor it's YOUR mess to clean up! You get me??? What the hell am I running here?"

I looked back down at Richie, sobbing quietly to myself as I ran the palm of my hand over the soft stubble on his head. And just as I did that, I heard him take in another breath...a little shiver going through his body before he relaxed again.

"We did it, 'Freak'..." I smiled. "You're Superman now..."

I leaned down to hug him close to me. His body was so cold. So stiff, as though his muscles were all locked in mid-flex. But whether he was conscious enough to know whether I was there or not...I hope my lingering embrace gave him some level of comfort.

Jeremy came back into the room a few minutes later to see me bent over the table, holding Richie in my arms. "...Okaaaayyyy, that's weird." He said. "No molesting the patients please." He came over to me and handed me a box of tissues. "I thought you might need these."

I wiped my eyes on my sleeve and took some to blow my nose. "I'm sorry. It's just...I can't remember the last time I saw Richie...healthy, you know? I mean, every time I said goodbye to him...I had to wonder if that was going to be the last time. And now...? Now all I see is hope." I grinned. "I'm gonna have my best bud back."

Jeremy gently pulled the cover up a bit further on Richie's shoulder. "He's a real cutie, you know that? Like, he's naturally beautiful." Then he gave me a sly look, and asked, "Did you two ever...? You know."

"What?" I said, and he raised an eyebrow. "Oh...no. We're just friends. That's all."

"Really? Never? Not once?"

"You seem surprised."

"I am." He said. "Does Taryn know that you guys are just 'pals'? I'm sure he's asked you about it."

"No need to ask. He knows. Besides, Taryn is the only boy I'll ever love. My heart will always belong to him, no matter what."

Jeremy let it go for a few seconds, then he asked, "But, I mean...never? Not a quick circle jerk, or an experimental blowjob? No sexy dry humping on the living room couch? Nothing?"

I giggled. "No, Jeremy. We never did anything like that together. He doesn't even know that I'm...that I like...well, you know..."

Jeremy's eye got even wider. "Ohhhhh...yikes! Hehehe, you definitely have to let me sit and watch you give him the one-two punch of telling him about your sexual AND your immortal abnormalities. That's going to make for one hell of a show." I suddenly saw Richie's body convulse in agony, and the tiniest yelp of pain escaped his frigid lips. His body shook violently for a moment, and I watched as he curled himself up into the fetal position, his arms holding his legs close to his chest. A sweat breaking out on his forehead. Jeremy just petted his shoulder. "It's alright, little guy..." Jeremy told me, "Don't worry, his body is just reacting to the change. During a crossover, you've got to die and be resurrected a number of times before the full metamorphosis takes a hold. He'll be fine. He's a fighter, this one." He took a cloth to wipe the sweat off of Richie's brow, but when he saw me standing there, helpless...he handed it to me. "Go ahead. It's ok."

"I don't...I don't wanna mess anything up..."

"Hehehe, you're not going to mess anything up, doofus. Just wipe his forehead. Go on."

I felt a bit shaky about it. I couldn't figure out why. But I took the soft cloth and I lightly wiped away the beads of sweat from Richie's head. And it was at that moment that he sighed gently, and his muscles seemed to relax, loosening the knot of the tight ball he had curled himself into.

"See? You're a natural. I don't think I've ever seen him calm down so quickly. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he knew you were here."

"Heh...really?" I said, making sure that he was dry and comfortable. "Cool...."

"So, I take it Trevor's busy tonight? Is it feeding time already?" Jeremy asked.

"Trevor? What do you mean?"

"Well, I figured you were here instead of him this time around. I just guessed that he was busy."

I said, "I didn't know that Trevor was coming by all that often."

"Oh, all the time. He's been keeping a watchful eye on your boy here."

"Why?" I asked.

"Don't know. Didn't think to ask. I just assumed that you sent him here to keep an eye on things while you were out in the streets being Mimic 'Vampire Jesus' or whatever." He said. "He hasn't done anything to hurt him. He just seems oddly curious."

I said, "There's nothing about Trevor's interests that can be called 'oddly curious'. He's up to something. I don't want him around Richie. At all."

With a smirk, Jeremy said, "Protective, are we? Come on now, Justin...you know if Trevor comes by and flashes me that smile, I can't say no. That boy's got his claws in me deep."

I had been wondering for ages, but I didn't really ask. Or...at least I never got a solid answer. "So...you and Trevor...? I mean, when he comes over here...is like...are you guys...? Is he...?"

"Fucking my brains out?" Jeremy grinned. "No no. Nothing like that. Not anymore. Trevor's got his distractions and I have mine." He said. "Besides...I don't know if you've ever noticed it or not, but Michael can be just a little bit intense when it comes to Trevor."

"TRUST me...I noticed." I said. "Love just makes you crazy, I guess."

"Hehehe, oh no...Trevor doesn't do the 'L' word anymore. Never again." Jeremy said. "He's changed over the years. A lot. Had some real heartbreaks back when he was in daylight. He tried again with Gyro. You should have seen how head over heels he was for Gyro. Didn't work out. Tried to distance himself a bit and try again with your boyfriend, Taryn. More heartache. Got a bit more distant when he came my way. And we had some really hot times together, but he knew it wasn't going anywhere. And Trevor's never really been one to play 'pretend'. Believe it or not, there's a die hard romantic at the heart of that boy. As much as he tries to fight it, it's not going away. I'm sure Michael keeps him entertained, but I can never tell if he's really into him or not. Trevor's been burying his emotions for years now. I'm sure even Dion could learn a few tricks from him at this point. Seems lonely, doesn't it?"

"I don't think Michael is the type to let Trevor stay lonely for long."

"Well, being in love and being lonely aren't necessarily dependent on whether or not you've got a warm body to snuggle up to at night. Without love...you can be lonely anyway." Jeremy said. "'Tiny' told me that. Can you believe that? Fucking Tiny. He's actually a really beautiful individual when he's not...ripping the arms off of people and beating them over the with it until they're drowning in their own blood."

Just then, I heard the stomp of heavy footsteps coming towards us, and a deep and husky voice saying, "I hear my ears burning." Stepping into the room, having to duck down just so his head could clear the door, was the massive frame of Jeremy's henchman, 'Tiny Tim'. And he was wiping blood off of his hands with a dirty towel.

"Right on cue! I couldn't have planned that better myself. I think we just had a sitcom moment." Jeremy grinned. "You're back early. I thought it would take you a couple of extra days."

"Nah, the little weasel was hiding out in Detroit for a spell. But he comes back to Chicago to cash in on a gambling debt. Can you believe that? A lousy five grand! Numbskull!"

Jeremy turned back to say, "Justin, you remember Tiny, right? I know it's been a while."

"Yeah..." I said. "...I haven't seen him since the both of you threatened to have my PENIS bitten off by a giant wolf for not paying you your money."

"Ha-haaa, good times!" Jeremy said, shrugging it off of his shoulders. Then he turned back to Tiny and took a hold of the bloody towel. "So...I take it from this that...we have no further issues with Mr. Ramata?"

"None at all, boss. I took care of it. If you're happy, I'm happy."

Jeremy smiled. "I am definitely happy. I hate when equations go unbalanced."

As Tiny left the room, Jeremy turned back to look at me...and he could see a drastic change in the expression on my face. I don't know what he di, or who got hurt, but for a moment there...I had forgotten just how ruthless Jeremy could be whenever he deemed it necessary. I didn't say anything, but he could tell. I don't know if it was shame that he felt exactly...but he definitely realized that our fuzzy friendship moment had now worn out its welcome.

He asked, "If you want to stay for a while, you're more than welcome."

"No thank you. Actually, I was just on my way out. I've got...you know...'Vampire Jesus' duties to attend to."

Jeremy smiled softly, and he put his hand on my shoulder, saying, "Look, I can't just tell Trevor to stop coming by. But if you want me to make sure he's not up to anything creepy, I've got your back. Ok?"

"K..." I said.

"Good. Now get out of here you wacky killer messiah, you!" He let me go, and I knew that Richie was in good hands. But sometimes I wonder just how much of his soul Jeremy had to sell in order to maintain his 'business'. It's hard to know where he draws the line sometimes. And how easily he can cross that line if he finds reason to.