Into the fields of Summer - 78. Sire 3

The sprawling expanse of London started to give way to a more country setting, things became less busy outside, and it certainly felt less urban.

“I thought your sire lived in London” I said to Victor.

He looked back at me from the front seat and said “well...near London, to be exact”

The vampire agent that drove us remained silent throughout the car ride, and I just let myself take in the sights, well the buildings and houses I’ve been seeing outside weren’t exactly beautiful, but being in a different country gave it a certain kind of charm that intrigued me.

While we continued to drive, I saw planes. I ask “there’s an airport nearby?”

“Yes...we’re near Stansted, it’s way closer to Luca’s place but he wanted to give you a nice view of the city when you arrived, especially since it’s your first time in England” Victor said.

“Oh...”

A few minutes later, we took a turn and entered a narrow paved road, the trees surrounding the road sheltered us from the rising sun, however as it was the dead of winter, such shade wasn’t necessary. A few more hundred meters, we passed through a tall iron gate that had already been opened for us, I noticed that the entire property was surrounded by a brick wall, and that it had been so carefully hidden by the trees and shrubs that its presence did not take away from the overall country vibe.

As we entered the property area, I saw a large mansion not far off, it had beige bricks as a wall facade, and had dark gray colored slate as roof.

And when I say large, I mean large, it was easily twice the size that of August’s mansion. Then the cars exited the tree shaded area as the property opened up to a beautifully manicured spacious front garden area. There was a large circular fountain with multiple tiers just off the main entrance.

The cars lined the circular main driveway. There were three men waiting for us atop the stone portico entrance.

Victor and I were first to get off the car, and walk towards the three men, I was nervous, was one of them Luca? Victor hadn’t spoken a single word since we got off the car.

The men were all in white dress shirts, dark pants and shoes.

“Hi Hashim, long time” Victor greeted a guy who appeared to be in his early thirties.

“It’s been too long, Governor” Hashim spoke back, his face absent of any emotion but it seemed it was just the way that he is. His voice was deep and had a slight accent which I later found out was Albanian.

Hashim had short dark hair, he was wearing thin glasses, that almost hid his amazing hazel eyes. He had a closely trimmed dark beard, his athletic and muscular body filled his shirt well.

“Chris...this is Hashim, The Councilor’s Deputy Chief of Security”

I reached out my right hand and Hashim took it and firmly shook it. “Nice to meet you” he tersely said to me. I think he did try to smile at me, and key word is ‘try’.

“Nice to meet you to” I replied.

Hashim stood a little bit taller than me, he was more or less 6’2. The height difference was more than noticeable.

Then after Hashim, I was introduced to a guy that had dark bronze skin, and had Mediterranean features. ‘Could this be Luca?’ I thought. But the dark haired guy that had amazing blue eyes, and a clean shaven face, was introduced to me as Stefano.

“Chris, this is Stefano, The Chief of Security, and Executive Assistant of Luca”

Stefano looked younger than Hashim, he had the appearance of a guy in his mid twenties, this guy had a very reserved and serious aura around him, and being Chief of Security told me that he must be at least a few years older than Hashim.

“Hello, Chris, it’s good to finally meet you” he said, his voice deep, and had a slight Italian accent to it. Stefano had a very handsome face, classic Italian looks, damn, Hashim wasn’t bad for the eyes as well, but damn, Stefano, wow. Good thing I caught myself before I started drooling over him. The man was just 2 inches taller than me at about 6’0.

“Hi” I said as I shook his hand.

Then after Stefano, I set my gaze on the third guy, I didn’t pay him much attention earlier as I was just so nervous, but damn, as I looked at him, it was as if he was just pulled out from the cover of any magazine or ad campaign, this guy was scorching hot! If Stefano was good looking, this guy gave him a run for his money, the third guy had a lighter bronze skin tone, dark wavy hair that was swept sideways, not a single hair strand was out of place, this guy was tall, stood at probably 6’3 and had a chiseled jaw line that was perfectly highlighted by his neatly trimmed beard, and his eyes, those light grey eyes just drew you in, and his supple lips that were just so kissable. This guy looked to be a few years older than Stefano, early thirties or late twenties perhaps? But with vampires you never know.

I forgot to introduce myself to the guy and just reached out with my hand for the usual handshake, he met my hand, and shook it but then drew me in for a tight hug which somehow I instinctively returned, my head immediately taking comfort on his defined pecs, and as my hands wrapped them around his body,
I could feel his muscles, muscles that perfectly fit in his shirt. This guy was athletic, not overly muscular but surely very fit underneath all.

“Luca...no perving on the boyfriend” Victor teased with a small laugh. I immediately froze.
‘I was hugging Luca? Like Victor’s sire?’... This is Victor’s sire?!

Luca pulled back from the hug and smiled. “Hi, I’m Luca Tremonti, welcome to my estate” he said, his voice deep and like Stefano’s had a slight Italian accent to it, which I found to be very very alluring. His teeth, were bright white and perfect. Oh god, I could just melt in front of him. And have I told you that he smelled really great as well?

“Uh... uhm, thanks, thanks for having us, uhm, yeah, thanks, Hi, I’m Chris” I almost stuttered those words.

“Luca...you’re making him nervous” Victor remarked. There was a hint of mischief in his voice. He clearly found it cute to see me like this.

“Am I?” Luca asked me. And he just had to smile while saying that, I could only turn pink, god I am so gay.

“Uhm...yeah, maybe a little”
I replied sheepishly.

“Hmm...no need to be shy around here, any friend of Victor is a friend of mine, that also means any boyfriend of Victor is a boyfriend of mine!” He bellowed in a hearty laugh as he pulled me in for a hug again.

“It’s great to finally meet you Chris, I was wondering what type of person would be able to handle my boy Victor here” Luca said, now a little bit more serious and circumspect in demeanor.

“Ok, stop it now sire” Victor was amused.

“Come come...let’s continue this inside” Luca said. Victor and I entered through the large teak doors into a double height reception area, it was a large reception room, with wooden floors, and white plastered walls, we entered as Luca greeted the rest of the crew, dad was introduced to Luca and after him, Luca gave August a good hug, and then Leo, I bet Leo’s reaction to meeting Luca was very similar to mine, much to August’s amusement as well, Leo...he was lost in those soulful eyes.

“Why don’t you all get settled? Let’s have brunch in an hour?” Luca suggested. There was something about him, the way he carried and presented himself, although he did laugh earlier, it seemed that this guy though not the scary sire I’d come to expect, in the end he did feel more formal, and reserved in so many ways, but deep inside I also feel that he is a kind and warm person, and it really doesn’t hurt that he is such a good looking person.

August and Luca had some small talk while the rest of us were escorted by either Hashim or Stefano into our quarters on the second floor, getting to the second floor, we all had to climb the oak balustrade staircase, that swirled around the reception area, damn, this home was grand.

“The attendants will bring your bags into your room in a moment” Hashim said to us as he directed us towards our room.

“Attendants?” I asked.

“This is a large estate, Luca has several attendants that work here, and that’s aside from maybe a dozen or so agents that patrol the area” Victor answered for Hashim.

“Ah. I see” I whispered back.

We entered our large room, that had a king sized bed, it was modern and beautifully furnished.

Victor then hugged me from behind and spoke as he nibbled on my right ear. “Now...that wasn’t too bad was it?”

“I made a fool of myself”
I replied. “You didn’t tell me that...”

“That what?”

“That you know...”

“What?” Victor was teasing me as now he has started to undress me.

“That he’s so hot”

“Like sire, like son, eh?” Victor said as he swung me around to face him and started to passionately kiss me.

We pulled back from our kiss, and Victor smiled at me. “Don’t worry about Luca...he’s a great guy, you’ll see” Victor reassured me.

We both separately took a quick shower in the large bathroom, and changed into more comfortable clothing. The house or mansion rather was so well heated and insulated that I could wear almost any house clothing I wanted, but Victor and I both decided to wear white collared shirts and shorts for brunch.

Over brunch we were served eggs, toasts, muffins, beans, bacon and a lot of other stuff.

The large dining room easily and comfortably seated all of us, over breakfast it was mainly Luca asking us how our trip went. Lucy did not fail to thank her ‘grandfather’ for giving them his older private jet. Lucy though still a ball of energy, was obviously controlling herself in around Luca.

Stefano and Hashim mainly kept to themselves, but occasionally did exchange a few words and even a smile or two with Henry, Patrick, and Erica who were seated near them.

Dad did not seem uncomfortable as Luca was very warm towards all of us. Over brunch, August and Luca decided to talk about Council to Council matters later in the afternoon after everyone had settled down and rested from the long trip.
There was a mention of what happened to Agatha Thorne and Gustav, but they both did not discuss it in depth. Which made me internally breathe a sigh of relief.

After brunch, most excused themselves to rest, as Victor and I stood, Luca spoke. “Chris...would you mind taking a walk with me?”

I looked at Victor who smiled at me but also gave his sire a look that I couldn’t describe.

“Don’t worry Victor, I just want to talk to Chris, that’s all”

Victor nodded in agreement. “I’ll just be in our room” he said to me.

“Okay” I replied, my voice almost cracking in anxiousness.

The wide corridors of the mansion stood empty as we made our way to the back of the house.

Luca opened a wooden door for me, that revealed the back garden.
Which was more of an entire estate to itself, it had beautifully manicured shrubs, trees, flowers, and grass. And not far in the distance, I can see a large pond, no...more like a small lake.

I felt a tingle in my head and I brushed it off as jet lag or something.

“Come, we’ll just have a quick chat,
I just want to get to know you” Luca said.

I nodded and replied “Uhm...sure”

And I swear I saw Luca smile a bit, the moment I replied and uttered those words, I don’t know why but he surely was smiling deep inside if he wasn’t already on the outside.

We walked through the beautiful yet empty garden, and I just marveled at it, the crisp cold air didn’t bother me at all.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Luca said while looking out into the distance.

“Yes...it’s a beautiful place you have here”

“So...you and Victor?” he turned, looking at me seriously. “You love him?”

“With all my heart” I croaked.

“Good” Luca said, as his head reached out for me and kissed me on the cheek.

“I love Victor so much, and I deeply care about, he is more than a son to me, has he told you that he is my only progeny?”

“No...he hasn’t”

“It’s like he’s my only son, no...he is my only son, and he has done wonderful things, and has certainly made me proud of who he has become and what he has achieved”

“Yeah...he is an amazing guy, he took my breath away the moment I saw him”

“Would you believe I had to force him into becoming Governor of District 4?”

“Really?” I answered in surprise.

“Yes...and look at him now” Luca said, with a hint of pride in his voice.
“And I know, you’ll both do great things together”

“I don’t know about me, but Victor...yeah...” I giggled a bit.

“You underestimate my foresight, young one” Luca smiled at me as we walked through a bed of flowers.

“What makes you say that?”

“This...” he smiled.

And just like that, It happened so fast, in a fraction of second, Luca’s right fist lifted itself, and was headed straight towards me and via instinct, I held my right hand out, I stopped his firm and strong punch a few inches from my face.

“Because of that” Luca smiled again at me.

I was speechless. ‘What’s happening?’

“Huh?” I asked confused.

“Half the time I pull that trick on any of my grandchildren, my fist would make it into their face, Victor being older fairs better, and you, well...you just proved my point”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“No ordinary human could have caught my hand Chris, I’m more than three centuries old” Luca said as if stating the obvious. “Hugging you nearly confirmed my suspicions...and the moment we stepped out of mansion, you’ve pretty much confirmed it the moment you spoke”

“Huh?”

“Has Victor told you of my ability?”

“Uhm. Yes. You’re an Illusionist”

“Yes...and I just don’t create images... I create sounds too” Luca bent down to pick a flower for me “the moment we stepped into the garden, we’ve been speaking Elvish, young one”

“Wait? What?”

“Yes”

“So...that thing I felt in my head”

“Yes, quite an amazing mind barrier you have, but you being so nervous around me gave me an opening” *sigh* “it all just makes more sense now, all the questions about Elvish history and artifacts, and you surviving a battle with an Anami to say the least, the pieces all just fit together, and the fact that you smell so much of lavender and roses, doesn’t really hide the fact that you’re an elf from someone my age, I’d almost forgotten that distinct aromatic Elvish smell, and it only took one whiff for me to remember it all”

“I don’t know what to say”
I stammered.

“There’s really nothing to be worried about Chris, you being an elf does not change the way I support your relationship with Victor, but your existence does evoke a ton of questions”

“Tell me about it” I muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m actually...half elf”

“What!? Really now?” Luca said in surprise. He rubbed his forehead a bit and then continued with a small laugh and said “now, I can say, I’ve truly seen it all”

“So what now?” I asked.

“Questions...and answers my boy” Luca said looking away, his right hand now playing with the leaves of a nearby shrub. He then turned his head to face me and continued “I’m not expecting everything, but the appearance of an Anami, that’s something I can’t just let go, we have to know what we’re up against, for all we know, there’s an enemy behind the enemy”

*sigh* “I completely understand”

“So...where do we begin?” Luca asked me.

And with that I spent the next hour or so talking to Luca about my heritage, my powers, and all that I know regarding the Anami.

Luca, in order to gain my trust, even allowed me to scan his mind before I started revealing my secrets.

“I see, thank you for your trust Chris, I will alert the High Council, don’t worry, I won’t tell them about you, but the appearance of an Anami, that’s something we have to deal with, and I guess August will do the same with the Crescent Council, Hmm, him being here makes it easier for us to talk about our initial plan of action” Luca mused.

“I’ll let you know what I can gather about them as well”

“Thank you, Chris, I appreciate it” Luca said, hugging me.
“I know it’s kind of late for me to say this but...Welcome to the family”

“Thank you” were the only words
I could say at that point.

—-

Entering our room, I saw Victor sitting upright on the bed, watching tv.

“So how was it?” He asked.

“He knows”

“What do you mean?” Then a second or two later, his eyes widened, and he was immediately in front of me giving me a hug. “So how was it? How did he know?”

“He kind of remembered how Elves smelled when he hugged me, he also said all the questions and me surviving the Anami attack just pointed towards one direction, and also...” I paused, I pulled back a bit from our hug and gave my boyfriend a kiss “also... he kind of used his powers on me, he made me believe I was speaking in English, while the moment we were alone outside, he was speaking Elvish to me!”

“Hmm...sorry about this Chris, it seems there’s no hiding from Luca”

“It’s okay Victor, like you said, he’s a decent man, he did however say, that he’ll have to bring the information regarding the Anami to the High Council”

“Hmm...I thought as much” Victor sighed.

“You didn’t tell me that you’re his only progeny” I teased.

“Well...I kind of left that out huh?” Victor replied, teasing me.

“Explains why you’re such a spoiled vampire” I teased back.

“Hey now...as far as I know, you don’t have any siblings either” Victor said after he gave me a light kiss on the lips.

“Touché” I grinned, and I kissed him back. “So if you’re the only progeny, what about Stefano and Hashim?” I asked.

“Ahh...yeah, Stefano, well, he’s someone Luca rescued and took in from one of the vampire mafias in the 1970s, Hashim fled Kosovo during the Balkan Wars in the 90s, and it was around that time Luca found him and took him under his wing as well, both may not be sired by Luca but damn, those two are very loyal, tried and tested, they’re quiet and reserved now, but I promise you, they’ll warm up soon enough”

“Hmm...so both fairly young as far as vampires go?” I asked.

“You can say that, both are actually in the age range of Raymond and Erica; hmm... if I remember correctly, Stefano is 90 like Raymond but is just 65 years into being a vampire, explains the mid twenties look, while Hashim is 73 years old just 3 years younger than Erica, Hashim, hmm... is just about 40 years into being a vampire”

“Hmm...I see, so they treat each other like cousins then?” I asked.

“More or less” Victor smiled back.

“So...you’re their granddad too?” I teased my boyfriend who was now sensually touching my body.

“I’ll show you granddaddy...” Victor let out a low growl as he undressed me, and then with his vampire strength I let him throw me to the bad, where we ended up having a very passionate lovemaking session, and that afternoon I fed Victor my blood for the second time.

After drinking from me and healing the bite marks with his saliva, Victor rested his head beside mine on the bed, he was breathing heavily as he looked at the ceiling.

“Thank you” he said in the middle of his heavy breaths.

“My pleasure” I replied, not looking back at him, I was just staring at the ceiling as well, a smile plastered all over my face as well.

Victor then turned, and faced me, with his right elbow on the bed and his hand cupping his face. “You’re amazing Christopher Stewart Rogers”

“And so are you...Victor Meyer”
I said before reaching out for his face with my right hand and pulling him in for a kiss.

After taking a nap for almost an hour, Victor and I decided to check out the gardens for ourselves. The sun was just setting, and we saw that we weren’t alone in thinking the same thing as we ended up bumping into Dad, Troy, Henry, and Lucy strolling around.

“Hey dad” I said as we walked over to them.

“This is just beyond magnificent Chris” dad said in amazement of the entire place. “And it’s such an expansive place as well”

“How big is the estate boss?” Henry asked Victor.

“Hmm... I think it’s about 185 acres (75 hectares)” Victor replied.

“Such an expansive place” Troy observed.

“Well...Luca was never much of a lover of cities” Victor answered. “When we traveled together in the 18th and 19th centuries, we always stayed in estates like these, I swear, it seems he just really likes country and nature”

“Well...I can totally see why” Dad remarked.

Then as the sun set beneath the horizon, we all then decided to walk back to the mansion.

“Afternoon tea anyone?” Patrick asked as we bumped into him in the corridor.

“Hmm...come to think of it, I am quite hungry” Troy answered.

“I do have to warn you William, they do make amazing scones here, you’ll never taste one like the ones they make here” Patrick said as he dragged my dad to the tea room, where we found Erica and Mark already helping themselves to some shrimp canapé.

We saw a table not far from them, already set with various cakes, biscuits, and sandwiches. I decided to opt for cucumber sandwiches while Victor opted for the egg sandwiches, all seemed ‘human’ except for the part where the servants brought in glasses of NuBlood for the vampires.

“Want some?” Patrick teased dad as he saw my father eye the drink with curiosity.

“No thanks” dad replied. “I’ll stick to this cream tea thank you very much”

Hashim walked into the tea room a few minutes later and he ended up joining us. He was still mainly quiet and functioned more as an observant but he did speak to Patrick and Erica a few times.

Stefano accompanied a clearly freshly woken Leo into the room to join us.

“August not with you?” I asked.

“Nah...he’s been talking to Luca for the past hour or so, some Council matter, I guess” Leo huffed as he tried to shake the drowsiness off him.

“Hmm...I see”

—-

We had 2-3 hours to spare before dinner, and Victor decided to visit the nearby market town.

“They usually have a holiday market during this time of year, come on let’s give it a visit” Victor invited me.

We ended up convincing both dad and Leo to join us. We borrowed one of the SUVs in the estate, and in less than 15 minutes we were all in the middle of some sort of bazaar, stalls selling various foods and gift items were being thronged by people, Christmas songs in the air, and the festive lights decorating the area.

“Should we buy a gift for Luca?” I asked Victor while checking out a stall that sold various ornaments.

“Hmm...he doesn’t like receiving gifts, he’d rather give them”

“Really? I’d just like to find a way to thank him somehow” I said.

“Well...there’s really no need for that, I promise, Luca doesn’t like gifts but he sure likes giving them out, so expect that all of us will receive something either tomorrow or on Christmas morning.” Victor said as he wrapped his right hand around my waist, trying to get me closer to him.

“If you say so” I replied.

“I do say so”

Dad and Leo weren’t far behind us, and I saw Leo having his ‘I can’t decide’ look plastered all over his face. He probably couldn’t decide which stuff to buy for August. I wanted to help him out but it would also be nice if he figured this out for himself.

We ended up checking out another stall, and the guy manning the booth recognized Victor.

“Victor...is that you?” He said, he was clearly happy and surprised to see Victor.

“Rick!” Victor said as he shook the man’s hand. The guy was selling bracelets, rings, and necklaces, all beautiful in my opinion.

“And who might this boy be?” The middle aged man asked Victor.

“This is Chris, my boyfriend” Victor proudly stated, he even kissed my left cheek in public to make a point.

“Oh, I’ll be dammed” Rick said in surprise. “Victor...with a boyfriend, that’s the first time I’ve heard of it”

“Well...he just came to me and swept me off my feet” Victor smiled back at the man. “Oh... where are my manners, Chris... this is Rick, Rick this is Chris”

I reached out my hand to the man and he gladly took it and shook it.

“Rick’s someone I met when?” Victor asked the man, as my boyfriend tried to recall their first meeting.

“Give it 15 or 16 bloody years my boy” Rick huffed.

I gave Victor an odd look and Victor just said “don’t worry... he knows, he’s one of the English agents in town”

“Ohh...okay”

“Okay...now, it’s really nice to meet you Chris, so, as a welcome gift, why don’t I give you any item here in my shop, you choose anything, and consider it as my gift to you”

“Oh... I can’t possibly ...”

“None sense... I insist, so what will you be getting?” He asked.

I scanned the items he had on offer, and I ended up picking a silver ring. I don’t know why, but it somehow caught my attention. It was solid silver, no rocks, no decoration or inscriptions at all.

“Try it on then” Rick coaxed me.

“Okay...” I shyly smiled back at the burly middle aged man.

The ring fit perfectly on me, and it wasn’t a second or two later that I felt the pendant I was wearing grow warm, and my wrist started to tingle as well.

I furtively took a quick glance on my wrist and there it was, barely visible but it was a new tattoo ‘Eyaha’

“So... how’d you like it” Rick expectantly asked me.

It took me a moment to gather my wits and reply. “It’s perfect, thank you Rick” I answered.

“Anytime”

“You should come visit the estate some time” Victor suggested.

“Maybe I will”

“How long is this bazaar for?” Victor asked.

“Just until New Year’s”

“We’ll make sure to visit you again” Victor said as he shook the man’s hand again.

As we walked through the crowd, dad and Leo were maybe 2 or 3 stalls behind us, Victor then pulled me closer to him. “What’s the matter Chris? You’re awfully quiet”

I then pull the sleeves of my jacket and showed Victor my new tattoo.

“Weren’t there just two?” He asked.

“Yes...it just happened now, when I put on the ring”

“What could this mean?” Victor swept his hair as if to gather his thoughts. “Is this one of the Royal Houses?”

“Yes...it’s the third one, House of Eyaha” I somberly replied. This is so confusing.

“Are you feeling okay? Are you warm? Light headed?” Victor said as he tried to feel my forehead to check my temperature.

“I’m fine, this is all just so weird”