Thane, Harry and Eddy - 1. Part One - when Thane met Harry

Thane looked around at his friends. Jamie and Andrew were sitting cuddled up on one couch, sharing a plate of food. Adam had Ben sitting on his lap in an armchair and Ben was holding their baby, Thomas.

Jackson was sitting on the other couch and was holding Elizabeth, Jamie and Andrew’s daughter, looking every bit the doting grandfather—rather than the hard-faced Senior Elder the community thought of him as.

Casey was the last of the group and was sitting in another arm chair picking at his food and casting occasional glances at Jackson.

Suddenly there was the noise of the front door opening and then a blurred shape came running into the main room and leapt on Thane.

“Did you miss us? I’ve got so much to tell you. You wouldn’t believe the things I saw!” The babbling was coming from a small ginger haired man that was now sitting astride Thane’s lap. In the end Thane stopped his noise with a kiss.

“We have visitors,” he murmured to the man when they broke apart. Turning to the others in the room he looked the amused looks and smiles.

“This is Eddy, one of my mates. As you can see he’s quite excitable.” He laughed when Eddy thumped him.

“That he is, dear,” another voice said from the doorway, “You should have been in the car with him.”

Eddy poked his tongue out at the other man and then hid his face in Thane’s neck.

“And this is my other mate, Harry. Guys, I think you know most people here but just quickly there’s, Andrew, Jamie, Casey and Ben. Adam and Jackson of course have known us for too long to mention.”

“So these are the mates we’ve been hearing about,” said Jamie. “You know Thane you promised to tell us about your life and how you all met.”

“So I did,” Thane agreed. Holding his hand out to Harry the other man joined him and Eddy so they were all squashed into their favorite soft chair.

“So where to start,” Thane mused, “I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning…”

***

The first memory I have is of when I was five years old and my mother had sent me to school. In those days the school was just a one room building in our small farm town run by the pastor’s wife.

Bigotry was rife as well in our town and this was the first time I remember noticing how I was treated differently.

Even at that age I was taller than other kids my age, I was also fairly muscular from helping my father around our farm. I didn’t know then but this was due to my vampire side, my body developed faster, I had advanced hearing and I was stronger.

I remember sitting outside to eat my lunch that first day and I heard some of the kids whispering.

“He’s the one,” one was saying.

“My mum told me to stay away from him,” another said.

“My mum said he isn’t one of US,” from another.

This went on for the whole time I was there, no one wanted to sit near me and if we had to work in groups I was left alone. Even the teacher took no notice of me unless she had to.

As I got older I had to develop a thick skin because children got crueler. I was called freak on a regular basis and what was worse my older brother and sister that I had grown up with joined in. Oh they never let our parents hear them but even my home life got worse year after year.

Then when I was fifteen the worst happened, my parents were killed in a storm. There had been a problem with the weather spell on the island and the resulting wind blew down our barn with my parents in it, they were trying to rescue the horses. They didn’t survive and we had to dig out their bodies.

The next day my brother and his wife came to me and dropped a bombshell on me. Apparently neither of my parents was my biological parents. I had always known I was different and when I’d asked mom why I had to drink blood when no one else did she just told me it was because I was special.

Apparently, my mom had found me floating in a basket in the river and brought me home to raise as her own. My brother had been six at the time and my sister was three. He hadn’t wanted another child around but our mother had been adamant they couldn’t let me die.

He then handed me a very old notebook. “This was given to me when I turned eighteen by mom,” He said, “She told me that when she and dad died I was to give it to you and it would explain everything.”

“Have you read it?” I demanded, afraid that he knew more than he was saying.

“No, I haven’t. It has a spell on it that’s keyed only to you.”

I nodded my thanks, but as I turned to go back into the house he stopped me again.

“You are no longer welcome in this house. We put up with you because mom and dad said we had to. You’re not our blood relation and they are no longer here. We want you out within three days and I would suggest you leave the town too. Mom left some things in a box for you. I’ll make sure you get it before you leave.”

I stared at him for a few moments but I realized he was serious and I no longer had a home there.

***

When I left town I had the notebook and the small box that mom had left me. Otherwise I had the clothes on my back and small bag with some food.

I read the notebook when I stopped to rest. Apparently my parents were both men, one was a witch called Eric and the other a vampire called Keith. They had been living together pretending to be friends who were both widowers that had decided not to remarry.

They lived in a witch community that tolerated Keith because he proved himself to be useful and mostly kept to himself. Eric was the one to mostly go into town for supplies and other things needed for their farm.

When Eric came up pregnant they made sure it was put out he was sick and in isolation. Being a vampire Keith couldn’t get ill so he was the only one able to go near him. He had trouble getting things from town though as the witches had only put up with him because of Eric, when he had to run the errands he was subject to a lot of insults and abuse.

Eric died giving birth to me, they were unable to get the help of a midwife because that would have meant letting someone know not only were they in a mixed mating but they were in a gay one too. Both of these would have meant their deaths and me with them.

The life link meant Keith knew he didn’t have long, he took his diary and wrapped me in blankets then put me and the book in a basket and sent me drifting down the river.

I looked later and found out he had died within a day of me being found by my adoptive mom.

***

I walked for days, finding food where I could and doing odd jobs in exchange for hot food and shelter.

I even found a lonely young man living alone on a farm. His mother had recently died and left him to cope alone. I worked there for a month until he was able to hire reliable workers and he was set up properly. He didn’t want me to go as we had grown very close and had even given each other our virginity. But I knew I couldn’t stay, the workers would realize what our relationship was and then he would be an outcast the same as me. I couldn’t let him go through that, so I left one night while he was asleep.

***

I made my way to the island main town that is now Unison City. Once there I started looking for work. I figured since all the islands species lived there I would be welcomed. But that didn’t happen, I wasn’t a vampire and I wasn’t a witch. Therefore I wasn’t welcomed by either.

A man who called himself Finn found me one day and offered me food and shelter in return for working for him. When I found out what the work was I refused and took to the streets. It only took a week before I was beaten so badly by a group of vampires I had to accept his offer. That started my life as a prostitute, I had just turned sixteen.

Life wasn’t too bad. Once Finn realized I preferred men he found he could charge more for me and would only send me to his highest paying customers. Apparently young boys who would willingly be with another man were few and far between. Especially in a time when gays were looked on as the lowest of the low. Also being part vampire meant the clients didn’t need to be gentle with me like they would have to be with say a full witch. The rest of the workforce was either witches or submissive shifters, so this made me very popular.

I had my regulars and I was treated fairly well, but I was still very lonely. The other workers didn’t like me because I was popular with the rich clients and they soon found out I was strong too. A small group of them tried to get me to leave by ambushing me, it took two weeks for them to heal, I was fine in twenty-four hours.

Then one night I was sent to an inn in the best part of town. The owner knew me and directed me to the room I needed. Inside I did as I had been directed by Finn. I stripped and laid down on the bed to wait for my ‘date’ for the night.

The man that entered from the bathroom was a complete surprise, he was about a foot shorter than my 6 foot, slim and had long black hair. In a word he was beautiful. I knew he was also a vampire so I wasn’t fooled by his size, if he needed to he could hold me down and take whatever he wanted from me. Being only a half vampire I was only half as strong, and I had never really explored my witch half.

He must have liked what he saw because he immediately lost the robe he was wearing and started stalking toward the bed. He grabbed my ankle I assumed to pull me nearer the edge but then dropped it again as though I had burnt him.

“No! You’ve got to be kidding me!” he all but shouted, and before I knew it he had grabbed his robe and flipped the bed covers over me.

I laid there getting worried, if I didn’t bring home the money from this man Finn would give me a good tongue lashing before sending me to bed with no food. If you didn’t earn your money you didn’t eat, simple as that.

“What’s your name?” the man asked, and I really started to worry, we weren’t supposed to give our names out, the clients knew this. But I had a feeling I wouldn’t like the consequences if I lied to him.

“Thane, Sir,” I answered.

“Well Thane, first let me tell you to calm down. I can hear your heart from here and you’re breathing too fast, you’re going to pass out soon if you don’t calm down.”

Watching him carefully I started taking deep breaths until I felt my heart and breathing slow down to a relatively normal pattern. When he was satisfied he nodded and moved to sit by me on the bed. He reached out and touched the side of my face, I felt a sort of static shock at the touch and flinched back. He looked at me like he was searching for something and then sighed.

“You really don’t realize what this means do you?” he asked, sounding a bit sad.

“What, what means, Sir?” I asked, starting to feel confused by his behavior. I had done everything Finn had told me to do, but this man acted as though I had disappointed him.

“Just how old are you?” he asked.

“I turned eighteen three days ago,” I answered honestly, hoping he would tell me where this was going soon. I was getting frustrated when he kept asking me more questions instead of answering mine.

“Eighteen!!” he exclaimed and shoved a hand through his hair.

“Yes eighteen. Look when you hire a whore unless you ask for a specific age you get what you’re sent. I assume like the others you asked for someone you wouldn’t need to be gentle with. I may be young but I am also part vampire, you can be rougher with me than you can my witch co-workers. Now are you going to fuck me or are you just paying me to lie here? Either way my time is money.” I know I sounded rude but the guy wasn’t making any sense and I needed to snap him out of it before I lost the money and my dinner.

“What do you mean part vampire?”

“I’m part vampire and part witch. Now either pay and let me go or fuck me, pay me and let me go.”

“You’re not going anywhere, young one. I assume because you’re so young you haven’t learnt much about vampire ways? What did your parents teach you before you ran away?”

“My parents have been dead since I was born and my adoptive-parents were witches and are also dead, so I have been taught nothing of vampire ways. Hell, I didn’t even know I was adopted till four years ago. Now please if I don’t return with money I won’t eat for a day.”

“You were raised by witches and you’re part witch? Well that explains a bit.” He seemed to look thoughtful. “Well my young mate, the shock you felt means we are true mates and it also means you are staying with me from now on. I will make sure you’re clothed and fed and you will go wherever I go.”

I was already shaking my head, “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

With that I was up and out the door before he could blink. I used my magic to conjure some clothes, a useful spell my mother had taught me, and ran full speed out the inn and into the night.

I ran straight back to Finn and was nearly halfway through telling him what had happened so I could beg to still eat, when the door of the house was knocked off its hinges.

Finn thrust me behind him and faced the man I had left in the inn room.

“Give me the boy or I will kill you.” The guy snarled.

“Harry, you try and take him and he’ll run—again,” Finn told him. “This boy can run faster than any full vampire I’ve ever met. If he runs you won’t catch him and you know you only get one mate. If what he told me said was true.”

The man—Harry—seemed to deflate, and I peeked out from behind Finn to see him watching me warily.

“Yes he’s telling you the truth, Finn,” Harry said before turning to me. “Why did you run?” He asked.

I looked at him in shock. “Why did I run? What the fuck! I just had a strange vampire claim I’m his mate and tell me he is going to kidnap me and keep me with him whether I want to be or not.”

Finn was staring at the Harry and shaking his head. “You are an idiot, Harry. If Thane is your mate why the hell would you say those things to him? You know a mate is a precious thing, someone to be cared for and looked after. Not kidnapped and frightened half to death.”

By the time Finn had finished berating him Harry was hanging his head.

“I didn’t say I was going to kidnap him. He was saying I needed to pay him or he wouldn’t eat for a day. I just said that from now on I would make sure he had food, clothes and a place to stay.”

“You did not say that. You said you would feed and clothe me and I had to go wherever you went. That makes it sound like I didn’t have a choice and that makes it kidnapping. Especially since by vampire law I’m still a minor, I’m well under 25. I may have been raised by witches but I have learnt a bit since leaving my only home and finding this one. Now are either of you going to explain this true mate’s thing to me or am I running again?” I crossed my arms and started tapping my foot.

Finn started to laugh and when Harry glared at him he laughed even harder ‘til tears were running down his face. “You have really got your work cut for you with this one, Harry. He won’t let you walk all over him, and he won’t be at your beck and call either. Now I’ll leave you two to get to know each other. I have a door to get repaired.” Finn stopped after a few steps and looked back at me. “Thane, you can use the main living room.” He then continued towards the back of the house, still chuckling occasionally.

“This way,” I said and led the way to the room Finn had suggested.

Once inside I remembered my manners enough to offer him a drink before sitting in the chair furthest from him.

“You know I don’t bite, well not on a first date anyway,” he joked. But he lost his smile when I just continued to stare at him.

“Look I’m sorry if you took what I said the wrong way, I didn’t mean that I was going to kidnap you. You said you needed money so you could eat. I wanted to reassure you that I could provide for you. That you wouldn’t need to worry or continue letting men do what they wanted with you.” Harry was starting to sound desperate and I decided to take pity on him.

“You do realize that for us to officially mate you would need to somehow register me in a community. The law says that as a vampire I’m a minor but as a witch I’m an adult.

“There are no laws regulating half-breeds. We’re not wanted in any community because we’re not one species or another. I’m not welcomed by witches, and I’m only welcomed by vampires because they can fuck me hard and not have to worry about hurting me.” I shrugged. “After all they pay for my time, what are a few bruises that will heal quickly anyway?”

“We don’t need to register you to mate. What have you been told?” Harry said.

“I was told that all half breeds had to register when they entered a community. I did for the first two towns, and after how I was treated I decided to just pass myself off as a vampire and not bother. When I arrived here I did register, because I thought it would be different. But it wasn’t, and I was harassed by vampires and witches. So I unregistered telling the offices that I was moving on. Finn found me after I had been caught unaware by a group of vampire thugs. He took me in and taught me what I needed to know to survive. The other half breeds here taught me there are no true mates for us. Our biology just doesn’t work that way. Or at least that’s what they said. They told me the best I could expect was to catch the eye of a wealthy client and get taken on as their companion.”

Harry shook his head. “I don’t know about hybrid physiology but I do know about vampires. And I also know beyond any doubt that you are my mate. I have looked for my mate everywhere I’ve traveled since I was twenty five—which was fifty years ago. I’ve never been in a relationship because I didn’t think it was fair to accept someone, knowing I would leave them if I found my mate. I started using prostitutes to relieve tension because I was getting older and older and there didn’t seem to be an end to my search in sight.”

I looked at Harry in shock, this man was over seventy years old? He didn’t look a day over twenty. His clothes reminded me of some rich merchant’s children I had met on my travels. In a nutshell he looked young, rich, and like he didn’t have a care in the world.

On the other hand I was eighteen, and I had seen more things than any teenager should have. I had been thrown out of the only home I had known, I had been beaten and shunned, and then I had been used for men’s pleasure with little, if any, consideration given for mine.

“What are you thinking young one?” Harry asked watching my face.

I shrugged, “I’m thinking that you may have gotten a raw deal.” When Harry frown I explained what I had been thinking about.

Harry was looking angry by the end and I started looking towards the exit again. “No, don’t you even think about leaving. Do you think I care what you’ve had to do to survive? Hell I’ve done things that I’m not proud of and I will probably do more in my long lifetime.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m a con man, I’ve worked my way round the island conning people out of their money, and then disappearing before popping up somewhere else with a different look and name and starting again. I’m good at what I do but I realized a long time ago if I ever found my mate I would need to be able to settle down.

“To that end I’ve put a lot of money by for this day and I’ve even researched the different communities trying to see where would be the best place to settle.”

I listened to what he was saying, and he seemed genuine, but then he did say he was a con man and so he would be used to sounding like that. So I voiced my concerns. “How do I know if you telling me the truth? You’ve just told me you’re a con man.”

Harry smiled. “But that’s the beauty of mates, you can’t lie to each other. Didn’t you feel anything when I touched you?”

I thought back and nodded. “I felt as though I got a static shock.”

Harry nodded frantically and moved to kneel in front of me. “Yes that’s exactly it, except for a full vampire it is a much bigger shock. Here take my hand and see.” He held out his hand and I looked at him suspiciously for a few moments before taking it slowly. As soon as our fingers touched I felt a shock going up my arm, as I tried to pull away Harry tightened his grip and held on. The shock settled into a pulling sensation that made me want to get closer to Harry.

“You feel that don’t you?” Harry asked.

“Fine,” I huffed. “I feel something. So what do we do about it? Because I’m sure not bonding, or mating, or whatever you want to do with me, until I get to know you a hell of a lot better.”

Just as Harry was about to answer Finn burst in to the room.

“Come on you two, we have to get out of here. Someone has reported the house to the guards and they’re heading this way to arrest us. Kavin and Rich are upstairs packing. If there’s anything you want to take with you Thane you need to get it and get out in the next ten minutes.”

With that announcement he ran back out the room and could be heard shouting for the other boys in the house to ensure they got word round town for no one to come home and to head for the safe house on the other side of town. I looked at Harry in panic.

“What am I going to do?”

Harry pulled me into his arms and I felt myself relax a bit. “First things first, do you have things you want to take with you?”

I nodded but held on when he tried to let go of me. “I can get it all down here without moving.”

I muttered a few words and first my suitcase appeared then one by one my clothes and possessions started to fill it. Harry watched with an open mouth as my suitcase filed about halfway before the things stopped appearing.

“That’s everything.” I said pulling slowly out of Harry’s arms.

Harry looked at the suitcase in confusion. “You said you were eighteen. Where’s the rest of your stuff?”

I shook my head. “I was thrown out at fifteen with just a few possessions and the clothes on my back. This is stuff I’ve bought since moving in with Finn.”

Harry shook his head and closed the suitcase before lifting it.

“You’re coming with me, it’s not safe here.” He held up a hand to stop any comments from me. “I know you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but I promise I won’t push for anything more than you traveling with me and getting to know me.”

I searched his face for a few moments and then nodded. Before I knew it we were out of the house and on our way out of town.

***

We travelled for months, going from town to town. I held out a month before I let Harry bond with me, and I never regretted the decision.

Harry taught me the basics of conning someone into believing what I wanted them to, and we made a fairly good team. We made good money as we worked our way across the island.

Until we made the mistake of trying to run a con in one of the shifter communities. They may look human most of the time but back then they were far from civilized.

Harry and I must have been discovered somehow, because one night we were dragged out of our beds and taken into the forest, where we were beaten.

Fortunately for us—but not the shifters—we were near the Chapmistres View border. The guards must have heard us yelling ‘cause they came to investigate. When they found the shifters beating us they stepped in and rescued us.

We were taken to the home of the Senior Elder, which of course was Jackson. He tended us with a witch healer that was passing through. Harry wouldn’t answer their questions, but Jackson got through to me and I told him everything.

To our surprise instead of being thrown out we were offered jobs. Well, Harry was offered a job. Apparently one of the guards had seen me trying to fight the shifters and told Jackson about it. He offered me training to become a bodyguard.

Harry was given a job as an undercover guard, the idea was he blended into the community to keep an eye on new people when they arrived to ensure they weren’t up to no good.

End of Part One