The Devil's Shadow | The Empty World Sequence

Twenty

Blade's apartment, New York City, Winter 1994 AD.

Louis was a dark Goldilocks lying in Blade's bed. He shifted in his sleep and as Blade approached her bed he startled her by sitting up quickly and baring his fangs. "Lou," she called and only then did he wake.

"Sorry," the boy-Vampyre murmured. "I was waiting for you. He blinked his eyes a couple times then glanced to Robert who was just closing the bedroom door. "I told Julien I didn't want to deal with being around the next morning with you both home, I came back in through the window."

Blade crawled into the bed, her nose wrinkling. "Gawd, you reek of sex."

"It all he wants anymore...besides his substances." He looked disgusted.

"Really, Louis, it isn't as if you haven't gone through the same thing," Robert said.

"It wasn't the same."

Robert shook his head as he sat on the bed. "It was. I had to go out looking for you nearly every morning. I spent hours trying to talk you out of stupors and bad trips on the phone."

"Well I quit." He rolled his eyes, "Mostly."

"Julien's not a Vampyre, Dear," Blade said, "the stuff could actually kill him. And he's obviously abusive with the stuff, just trying to escape." She pulled off her various garments as Louis stared. He used to never look twice at her, but since the time of the wedding there had been new looks, Louis adored teasing her. Robert caught Louis' eyes.

Robert undressed himself as he listened to Louis whine. "I feel so horrible. I can't stand this much longer. No one can convince him that he's really and truly loved, so he thinks the whole world miserable. It's pretty disgusting actually, like being tied to a chair and forced to listen to Morrissey on repeat."

"But he's had you," Blade said.

"It's not like we haven't tried with him! Steven got him a therapist, a good one, and Steven would do family-like things, dinner and such, and tell him how it gets better, things will get better. But, then he'd be out at a party or event and Dave would start with his activist shit about how The Man won't hire you or let you marry who you want. John told him off, of course, but after a while, we just had to steer him away from certain social circles, which, yeah, probably seemed like something he'd been hearing at home about 'those people' being a bad influence."

"If it's to the point where it bothers you to watch, then you probably aren't the best company for him, now, either," Robert said, "Maybe you need the company of your own kind," Robert said, catching Louis' eyes again.

"Oh, don't even say that," Blade said.

Louis snaked his arms about her and touched his cheek to her breast. "I want him so much now. You don't know how it is, Blade, you haven't had a Human lover yet. You know, don't you, Pa?"

"Yes," Robert said then licked at the nape of Blade's neck.

"Everything's gone wrong," Blade said. "I wanted him to live a normal life..."

"This is normal," Robert said as he curled against Blade's back, "it's, unfortunately common what Julien feels, thousands of others just like him haunt the suburbs, cities too. Humans are far from perfect, you know."

"But surely he'd make a bad Vampyre because of it?" Blade said uneasily.

"I don't know," Robert said. He thought if they could get Julien to believe he might make a nice addition to the family. But that alone seemed impossible.