The Vampire’s Redemption

“How’s Danielle’s friend?”

“He’ll be all right.”

Eli sighed in relief. “Thank God. I don’t think he could have taken it if…you know.”

Michael’s face darkened. “Yes,” he said quietly. “I know. Go get some rest, Eli. You look horrible.”

Eli chuckled darkly. “Geez, thanks.”

Michael gave him the ghost of a smirk and then walked away, making a beeline for the living room. He found Stephen laying on his side on the couch, staring blankly at the fireplace where only ashes and charred wood remained, the flames having extinguished themselves a long time ago.

He looked up when Michael entered, and Michael tried not to wince at the bone-shattering sorrow written all over his brother’s features. He knew he had to be as firm and hard as he could without sending Stephen running; he couldn’t afford to be mollified.

Sensing what was coming, Stephen dragged himself up in a sitting position, wordlessly making room for Michael, who sat down beside him.

Michael remained silent for a while, battling his emotions in order to keep them in check and not let them get the best of him. This was a delicate matter, and his own anger and hurt could not dictate the words he would say.

“How are you feeling?” he finally asked.

Stephen didn’t look at him as he responded. “Better.”

“Are you still thirsty?” The “from blood from the vein” went unasked; it was more than clearly implied.

Stephen shuddered. “God, no.”

“Jack is going to be all right,” Michael offered.

Stephen looked like he was going to pass out from relief. “Really?” he said, turning his head to look hopefully at him.

“Really,” Michael said.

“Have you…have you wiped his memory yet?”

“No. Danielle won’t let me.”

Stephen frowned. “What do you mean, she won’t let you?”

“She wants Jack to remember.”

“So that he’ll stay away from me?” Stephen guessed.

Michael nodded. “You can hardly blame her.”

Stephen bit down tensely on his lip. “What if Jack exposes us?”

“He won’t,” Michael said. “Danielle says even if he did, no one would believe him. She has a point.”

“What about her? Will she talk?”

“No.” Michael was sure of it. No matter how angry or disgusted she may be, Danielle would not expose them, if only in order to avoid putting Jack and herself in any more danger. “What happened, Stephen?” he asked then. He was sure he would hate the answer, but he had to know.

Stephen looked away again, curling in on himself. His shame was obvious. “I don’t know.”

“Bullsh*t,” Michael said, hard enough for his brother’s head to snap up and for his brother’s eyes to find his again. “You do know. Now tell me. What happened?”

Stephen swallowed visibly. He licked his lips. “I fell.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “You fell for the guy? You barely know him!”

“No,” Stephen said. “I didn’t fall for the guy. I meant, I fell into temptation.”

“Why? You’ve been tempted plenty of times before and you never strayed. What was different?”

“I don’t know,” Stephen admitted, his voice soft and quiet. “I really don’t,” he reiterated when Michael looked at him skeptically. “Jack is very beautiful and…very pure.”

Michael frowned. He didn’t get it. “You’ve been with beautiful men before.”

“Yes, but not with pure ones.”

Sh*t. Michael did get it then. Jack was beautiful and had a pure heart. Just like Peter. He sighed. “Stephen,” he said, as gently as he could. “He’s not Peter.”

Stephen winced. “I know. But…he…he’s just like him. They even have the same eyes. It was like being with a ghost. The more I talked to him, the more he reminded me of him. I kept telling myself I should go, but I…I just…I couldn’t.” His dark eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry,” he choked out, shoulders shaking. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t want it. I don’t know what happened.”

“I do,” Michael said quietly. He reached out to wrap one arm around his brother’s shoulders and pulled him to his chest. Stephen went willingly, burying his face against Michael’s shoulder. “Peter was the only one you ever loved. Walking away from someone who reminded you of him so strongly…it’s almost impossible.”

“You would’ve,” Stephen said, his voice muffled by Michael’s shirt. “You’re a lot stronger than me, than anyone we know. I keep saying you’re weak because you drink blood from the source, but you’re not. You’re the strong one.”

Michael sighed. Somehow, he wasn’t so sure. He held his brother a little tighter.

“I almost killed him,” Stephen whispered. “I couldn’t stop. It was like with Peter—” His voice broke then, and he was unable to go on.

“It wasn’t like with Peter,” Michael said firmly.

He still shuddered to think back on what had happened back then. Peter had convinced Stephen to drink from him. He seemed to think they would be even closer then, and truth be told, he was not wrong. Peter was convinced that Stephen would stop in time, and so was Stephen. But it had not been the case. It was Stephen’s first taste of human blood directly from the source in over a century, and he had not been able to stop, no matter how much he loved Peter. If anything, the fact that he loved him as he did made him want his blood all the more. Stephen had never been able to forgive himself, and Peter’s death had almost killed him. And now history had almost repeated itself, but Michael thought “almost” was a key word here.

“You stopped. Look at me.” Michael pushed Stephen away enough to catch his gaze and hold it firmly. “You stopped, Stephen. Jack is alive and he’s going to be just fine. You stopped. It wasn’t like with Peter.”

He waited for his words to sink in. Finally, Stephen nodded shakily.

They spent the rest of the time separating them from the dawn sitting on the couch, Michael’s arm wrapped firmly around his brother’s shoulders and Stephen’s head resting on his shoulder. They didn’t talk, there was no need to.

Michael let his mind wander. Inevitably, his thoughts drifted over to Danielle. He wanted nothing more than to be with her, but he knew that was off the table now. Danielle was disgusted by him. She was afraid of him.

“You drink human blood, Michael.”

And then a thought struck him. What if he didn’t? What if he gave it up, for Danielle? Would things be different then? Could she consider the possibility of coming back to him?

The more Michael thought about it, the more it struck him as a good idea—in fact, it was the only idea he had. It was the only way. As long as he fed on humans, he would always be a monster to Danielle; that he didn’t kill them was irrelevant. But he had seen the way Danielle had looked at him before, and he knew there had been a time when he had been more than a monster to her. He was determined to make sure that she saw him in that light again.