Bound By Blood - 10. Chapter Ten

I collapsed onto the couch, relieved that the birthday party was a major success, but was also finally over. After the last guest was picked up by her parents, I made it my mission to clean up the entire living room and kitchen rather than wait until tomorrow when the ants could seize this opportunity. Luckily, the girls offered their help, which I was very grateful, and after they taken all of their gifts to their bedroom, they got ready for bed and almost instantly fell asleep from all the sugar they consumed.

Fiddling with the remote control, I then flipped through the channels on the television, most of them not interesting me and making me wonder if I should just cancel the premium package I bought every month just for a hundred more channels that I barely watched.

A knock on the front door was heard, and I called out to the person to come inside. I smiled when I saw Will in my sights, and I motioned my hand for him to come to the couch. After closing the door behind him, he walked to the seat of relaxation and sat down next to me.

After flipping to a news channel, I looked at Will and said, “So…did you talk with your king about the situation?”

Relaxing into the couch, Will said, “More like made an appointment. The king’s a busy man. He always has pressing issues that he needs to attend to. Running a kingdom isn’t easy.”

“Isn’t a possible war between vampires and lycans a pressing issue on its own?” I asked.

“It is when put it that way. But it’s actually more complicated than I previously thought, and an appointment will give me ample time to explain the situation to my king.”

“I see,” I said, glimpsing at the television that was displaying a red-carpet event somewhere in Hollywood.

“Anyways, it’s all just speculation for now. I’m having some of the king’s knights look into it and will inform me with any updates as soon as they find them.” Scooting closer to me, Will rested his hand on my own and said, “But enough about that. What about you? Are you okay?”

I was about to say yes, but then I just shrugged after thinking about what happened with Anthony. “For all the years I’ve known my friend, never would I have thought he was a…lycan. How could I have not known?”

“Well, it’s simple, really. Anthony, as well as other lycans, can actually hide their true form even in their own reflection. However, when they become hot-tempered, which is common, their true form is reveal in any reflected object. And it becomes obvious when their blood literally starts to catch on fire, and their human skin burns away to reveal their lycan form.”

“Yeah, Anthony is usually cool in most situations, even as a bounty hunter, so I guess that’s how he avoided revealing his true form whenever we were together… So what’s the history behind vampires and lycans?”

“It’s a long history filled with conflict, but the cause is rather simple. The lycans and their government known as Cerberus as you already know guarded the undead or the souls that enter the underworld or the afterlife depending on who you ask. You see, Damien, these souls didn’t spend too long in the other realm since their energy or life force is then given to the gods to be consumed. It was prepared as a food known as ambrosia in Greek myth, and it gave the gods and goddesses immortality.”

“Interesting,” I said, intrigued as I rubbed my chin.

“Very. And if you’re wondering, this ambrosia was nectar from a fruit that grew from trees that were able to generate them by absorbing the souls from the underworld. The process is similar to a deceased animal providing nutrients for plants and trees to grow, and the Norse gods used a similar method to grow their golden apples that also granted them immortality. This immortality came in the price of absorbing the souls of deceased humans, and that is why the concept of a heavenly afterlife hasn’t appeared until way later when Christianity and other Abrahamic religions started to gain traction. Unless you were a demigod, hero, or king, in mythologies like Greek, Norse, and Egyptian, your soul wouldn’t survive long perform it was literally consumed by the gods.”

“So…how were the first vampires created?” I asked.

“Well, that was how the lycans came into play. Jealous of the gods’ immortality and their powers, Cerberus and the lycans rebelled against Hades and released the souls of the dead from the underworld and prevented new souls from entering. Without the souls in the underworld, the trees couldn’t bear the fruit necessary to create ambrosia for the gods. The gods then quickly lost their powers, and though they maintained their immortality, the Sun was now their mortal enemy, and they were driven to drink blood from the living out of desperation. Thus the first vampires were born. Drinking blood allowed them to survive, but it only gave them a fraction of the power that ambrosia did, especially since they couldn’t just kill humans in masses just for their blood, not with their other powers gone that is. Because of the rebellion of the lycans, the gods were brought down, and that is why the feud between these two races is so strong even to this day.”

“Wow. I already knew that vampires were once gods, but never did I think that was how your people became what they are today, because of Cerberus and the lycans.”

“It’s not common knowledge, even among my people. The elder vampires who are more than a millennium old and are under the highest protection by the vampire kingdoms are still very bitter about how the lycans betrayed their rulers.”

“And what about you? What are your thoughts about the lycan rebellion?”

“I actually don’t care. I mean, I only became a vampire a century ago, so I don’t hold any resentment towards the lycan like the elder vampires do. Also, I think it was best that the gods lost their powers.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If Cerberus hadn’t led the rebellion and released the souls from the underworld, the gods would’ve continued to grow in power, which they already used to sink the city of Atlantis for example. In time, their powers would’ve become even more incomprehensible, and humanity may not have advanced the way they did if the gods’ powers weren’t compromised.”

“Yeah. From what I read in the past, the gods didn’t treat humanity with the utmost respect.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Are…Are there other beings other than vampire and lycans I should know about?” I asked, scooting closer to Will.

“Well, Poseidon was the one responsible for transporting the souls to the underworld by using the River of Styx that was created by his trident. And these souls were transported by the ferrymen who were actually merpeople who used their looks to deceive the souls to follow them into the underworld.”

Woah. Wait a second. Mermaids exist too?”

“Merpeople, yes,” Will corrected and gave me a smirk in return. “And if you’re wondering, their blood isn’t desired by vampires. Too diluted. And drinking lycan blood would be like sticking your tongue in an open flame. Not as bad as your blood, but still very unpleasant.”

I chuckled which quickly turned into full laughter. Will eyed me curiously as I wiped the corner of my eye and tried to stabilize my breathing.

“Sorry, it’s just…when I was just a kid and watching history documentaries I got from a thrift store, never would I have thought that history included vampires who were once gods, lycans who rebelled against their masters, and merpeople.” I laughed again and rested my head against the back of the couch.

“So, you’re a history buff, I see,” Will said, leaning his face towards me.

“I’m not a historian or anything close to that, but I was always intrigued by how people fought in wars that tore down entire civilizations and then worked together to bring the rise of another society. And rinse and repeat. Most of all, I was fascinated by the mysteries behind how certain supposed, man-made structures were created like the Pyramids of Giza and other temples that survived for thousands of years and are still standing.”

“Well, that’s where I can help you,” Will said and brushed his fingers across my cheek. “I have studied various mythologies from around the world along with the creatures and objects associated with those myths. They’re another part of history just whitewashed because of time. If you have questions, like how the Pyramids were built, just ask.”

I smiled. “I’d like that… However, I think I have another use for that mouth of yours.”

Closing the space between us, I pressed my lips against Will’s and soon we were catching up with what we left off earlier today. I was already becoming addicted to the way his lips felt on mine, revitalizing a part of myself that I thought was old and abandoned. Will’s tongue slyly made its way into my mouth, and he was a master on working it against my own. However, that wasn’t enough; I wanted even more.

So, moving Will so that he was now straddling my hips, I lied back against the couch as I grabbed his face and deepened our kiss even further. We were then making out, our lips almost fused together with our tongues dancing in each other’s mouths. Never have I been this sexually charged with a man before, and to think back then I would’ve been repulsed by the idea of kissing a vampire was incredibly stupid of me. I don’t know what it was. His forcefulness of him being another man, his experience of being a vampire, or the combination of the two was making me go insane with lust and passion.

I groaned into Will’s mouth as I felt his hand grab my length that was hard and erect, and I wanted nothing more than him to unzip that fabric prison and—

I heard a crashing sound and who I saw at the foyer was both a relief and a curse. I was glad to see that Anthony returned home, but of course there had to be a catch. He was drunk, no, completely wasted and took the end table with him when he fell to the floor. I looked at Will who nodded and stood up, walking to Anthony with me right behind him.

Groaning, Anthony said, “Oh, God. I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” I said, crouching down to Anthony. “There’s kids in this house, and you’re piss drunk.”

“I’m sorry, Damien! I didn’t mean to drink that much. It’s just…” Anthony burped and the said, “My ex-boyfriend was there, out of all the places he could’ve been, with his new lover, and I couldn’t stop myself from drinking even more… Just to dull the pain.”

I sighed heavily before saying, “Anthony, you should’ve just come back to my home. You’re always welcome here, and there won’t be any crazed people from your past coming to find you here.”

“I know I should’ve… I’m so fucking stupid!” Anthony whined, hitting his fist pathetically on the floor.

“Come on, Anthony. Let me take you to the guest bedroom, and I’ll put something at the side of the bed for the inevitable hangover that’ll happen in the morning, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, Damien.”

I stood back up and helped my friend back onto his feet. With his arm around my shoulders, I secured him to me and made my way to the stairs which was going to be a major challenge.

“I’ll clean this up,” Will said, standing by the broken glass from the picture frame that once stood on the fallen end table.

“Thanks, Will. The hand broom and dustpan are under the kitchen sink,” I said.

Will nodded and went to the kitchen as I guided Anthony up the stairs. Luckily, the man didn’t lose all of his feet coordination, and we were soon on the second floor.

“Did a cab drive you home?” I asked as we entered the small guest bedroom that doubled as my workout room.

“Of course a cab drove me home…but only after my ex-boyfriend called one for me. Said I was embarrassing him in front of his new friend,” Anthony admitted before collapsing again but this time on the bed with the mismatched bedsheets and pillowcases. “Oh God, my car’s still at the bar.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get it back tomorrow. For now, though, you need to rest and suffer the consequences of your actions when the morning comes,” I said, taking a trashcan and placing it at the side of the bed. “You better not ruin the carpet.”

“I won’t,” Anthony muffled with his face pressed against the pillow. “Thank you again, Damien.”

“No problem. Now sleep.”

My friend didn’t respond, instead I quickly heard snoring, and I turned off the lights before closing the door halfway.

I really did feel bad for Anthony. He had a long string of terrible or incompatible boyfriends, and he must’ve run away from his past life that was coming back to bite him in the ass. The latter was what we had in common, so there was no way I was going to let him go back to his apartment or any bar where his past lovers could be at as well.

Entering the foyer again, I saw that all the glass was removed from the floor, which I was thankful for since I didn’t want my girls to get injured from stepping on any glass shards. Will was standing by the end table and was looking at the picture that had fallen. Standing beside him, I knew he was looking at the picture of Annabella and I, smiling together at the beach.

“She’s beautiful,” Will said.

“Yeah…she was.” I took the picture from Will and carefully removed it from the broken frame. “I guess I have to find a new frame to put this in.” Sighing, I then said, “This was taken right after I proposed to her. Funny thing was, I didn’t have a ring for the proposal, so I just straight-up asked her. I thought she was going to say no…but I should’ve known better. She immediately said yes instead, and that was one of the happiest moments in my life.”

“Wow…now that’s true love.” Will turned to me and brushed away a tear from my face with his thumb. “I’m sorry you lost the love of your life, Damien…and I feel like you should know something about her that she might not have revealed to you.”

Looking at Will with furrowed eyebrows, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“It’s…It’s about her family,” Will said, taking a hold of my hands and continued by saying, “She has a sister who I was recently informed about by my king’s knights. And coincidently, she’s hosting a black-tie event at a museum that is fundraising for a new section to be constructed in the building. She’ll be there, and I thought it was only right to tell you now. So, how about you join me to this event where you can meet her yourself?”

I blinked several times, not saying anything at first. Annabella rarely told me about her family, and when she did, she would talk about her sister she was once close with. Whatever caused the rift in their relationship, I didn’t know. But to meet her sister and see who Annabella was before I first met her was something that I wanted and needed to do.

“That…That would be great… Thank you, Will,” I said, hugging Will firmly.

“You’re welcome.” Will hugged back. “It’s a date then.”