The Chronicles of Beck and Eli

The 'Rents

Eli would willingly admit that bringing up family unprovoked to another vampire-especially a young vampire- wasn't the best idea. Admittedly, not his worst, but definitely not his best.

The morning had been going better than ever, too. Eli would have even said their outing was going well.

But all good things must always come to a terrible, terrible end.

"What?" Beck hissed, his voice downright venomous. He posture was stiff as he scrunched his face up with a mixture of anger and distaste.

Eli's hand flew up to cup his mouth. Had he really just asked that?

Eli started a nervous chuckle, "Forget I said anything!" he said, "It was a stupid question anyway, I'm sure it's nothing interesting anyway, don't worry about it!"

A shaking hand caught his collar, bringing the taller man down to his level, "The fuck did you just say to me?"

Shit.

 "That's not what I meant! Word vomit y'know?" he chuckled nervously, taking a small step back.

"You know what?" Beck snapped, releasing his collar, "Fuck you. Fuck you and your fucking nosiness. I was just fine by myself but then you had to stick your nose where it doesn't belong and you won't fuckin' leave me alone!"

Ouch. Eli had to remind himself that Beck was angry and people said things they didn't mean when they were angry, didn't they? But what did he know? He and Beck had known each other for no more than 4 months. Maybe Beck had just been humoring him.

Eli bit his lip. "Beck-"

"No!" Beck interrupted,  his finger in front of Eli's nose, "I'm done listening to you and your fucking bullshit!" He got up into his face, "You wanna know what happened with my fucking 'family'?"

Eli shook his head, "No, Beck, look-"

"Shut up." Beck snapped, "Just shut the fuck up. You asked the fucking question, so reap what you sow, dickhead. You really want to know how my family sold their souls? Their only son's soul?"

No, he didn't want to hear it. He knew all too well what kind of awful things a family could do in times of desperation. in all of his years of living, he'd been forced to bear witness to these treacherous things time and time again.

"How my mother had an affair with a fucking blood-sucker and couldn't stand for him to leave?" Beck continued, his fingers tugging at his hair, "Or maybe you'd like to hear how that fucker conned my mother into thinking I'd 'gone bad'!"

Beck was pacing, his eyes pointed down at his feet and looking at nothing.

Eli submitted himself to staying silent, his hands on his forearms, watching Beck go back and forth.  He probably had a lot to get off of his chest.

"And the best fucking part? Oh yeah, the best fucking part was my father." He spat the word out like it was poison burning through his tongue. "'We love you, son.' 'It's for the best.' what fucking bull. They were both under his goddamn spell." Sadness seeped into his tone. Betrayal.

Beck crouched and put his head in his hands, "They  just watched as he threw their hatchling son into the street to fucking die!"

Eli hesitated for a moment before sitting down beside Beck, putting his hand on his shoulder, "Did they know...what he was doing to you? Throwing you out like that?"

Beck shook his head with a bitter scoff, "They didn't ask. Didn't care."

"How did you survive?" Eli asked softly, trying to be careful in his line of questioning.

"Spite." He choked out a bitter laugh, "I promise myself that one day I'd rip his head off of his fucking body for what he did to me. My parents. You could be damn sure that I wasn't going to die before that." He took a breath, "during the day I stole fruits and vegetables. Leafy greens like Spinach or vegetables like asparagus were high enough in iron to keep me alive and from going on a rampage if I ate around the clock. I chained myself up at night."

"You were only fifteen..." Eli mumbled in disbelief with his wide-set on the young vampire.

"Yeah, but vampirism doesn't give a fuck what age you are. Fifteen or ninety, it's all the same to the virus." He glanced at Eli, "You know that."

Eli cleared his throat, an information exchange was only fair. "I was nineteen-"

Beck held his hand up, "You don't owe me shit. I was being a dick."

"No, it's only fair," Eli smiled, "I don't mind."

When Beck gave no other protest, he continued.

 "It was a little over one-hundred and sixty years ago; during a struggle. I had just turned nineteen and I was a happy teenager. At least as happy as a teenager could be during that time, anyway. Our home had been raided by a coven, I don't know what my parents did to them, but they were pissed," He took a deep breath, "they wanted to take me as 'payment' whatever that meant."

"So, your parents knew about vampires?" Beck asked, his eyebrows furrowed a little.

Eli shrugged, "I guess. Or maybe they just didn' know what they were getting into. Anyway, they took me and killed my parents, setting out our house alight and leaving me with kin nor home to return to." This was the hard part. "They took me to their coven base. I didn't know what to expect, going into it. I was confused as to why they didn't kill me with my parents, just get it over with be done with the hassle." His gaze darkened, "Then I found out why."

Beck swallowed, "Why?"

"They wanted me to suffer for my parents' wrongs. They wanted to turn me into an immortal blood-sucker." A pause. "But they didn't think that was enough."

Beck sucked in a breath. He wasn't stupid, he could do basic math. If Eli was bodily thirty, and he came under the coven's 'care' when he was nineteen...

"They held me captive for over ten years. Tortured me mentally and physically, keeping me alive by pure luck. Or lack thereof. They turned me on my thirtieth birthday and I met with my sire every month for the next two years." Eli told him wistfully.

Beck's eyes were set onto the cement at their feet, his shoulders hunched.

Eli slipped his easy-going smile back into place, bumping Beck's shoulder, "Don't look so grim, it's all over now. Thank the gods."

Beck nodded, straightening and pursing his lips, "That's shit."

Eli shrugged and turned his eyes to the sky, "Most stuff is."

"Yeah..." Beck whispered.

And so they sat, side-by-side in companionable silence. Eli felt like he knew Beck a little better, and that was a really good feeling.