Condolescence (Chapter IXX)
Pairing: Adam (Only Lovers Left Alive) x OFC Language: English Rating: M
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Not even in the slightest was the Palmer Park as famous as the usual sight-seeing spots tourists stormed to in Detroit and especially at this time of the day, with the sun long gone and the moonlight mildly illuminating the soil path before them, a heavy layer of peace and quiet had covered the spot of nature in a soft blanket, clutching it frantically.
Tal leaned in closer to Adam, taking in the scent of his black leather jacket. He had put on his gloves, an arm wrapped firmly but gently around her waist as he pressed a tender kiss on her forehead and stroked her hips.
Compared to him she could barely see her own feet before her, let alone her surroundings and yet, she revelled in the beauty of the night. The shapes of trees and bushes, invisible flowers, usually bright with colours, swallowed by the vast darkness… a soft sigh escaped her lips.
“It’s so beautiful out here…”
“Yeah,” Adam murmured quietly. “I used to come here a lot after Eve died. When the wind rustled through the leaves, I thought I would hear her voice. Now I hear her in my head. It’s like her soul never really left me.”
Perhaps she should be scared away by such a confession. Learning that Adam still mourned his dead wife, an immortal woman he had spent so many centuries with but strangely… she wasn’t. She understood Eve would forever be a part of him. There was no jealousy, not like there had been for Ava before she had introduced herself as Eve’s sister.
“What does she say?” Tal whispered, nuzzling in even closer to him.
“She encouraged me. To keep going, to accept that I fell in love with you, Tal… to tur—“ He paused, pressing his thin lips together.
Tal looked up, attempting to make out his blue eyes in the darkness. Her own eyes widened but her surroundings remained utterly dark. She could barely hear him breathing, yet she noticed he was tensing.
Eve encouraged him to turn her? What was stopping him then when even his dead wife wanted him to embrace this new love to keep for the rest of eternity? She wouldn’t ream. Instead, she sucked in a deep breath and gave him a tight hug to express her understanding.
Adam sighed. “Perhaps I should,” he suddenly said, breaking the comforting silence once more. “Perhaps I’m just too selfish to do it.”
“Adam, I won’t force you. I won’t even speak of it again if you don’t want me to. I can feel how much this is bothering you and I’m sorry to be the one who caused that. I can wait. As long as I can stay with you, I can wait.”
“I love you.” He muttered quietly in response.
“I love you too, Adam.”
They spent two more hours just walking through the park silently, bathing in each other’s presence and enjoying each other’s company right until Tal was freezing from the cold which was clutching at her limbs like merciless claws.
It was nice not to talk, nice to understand each other without any words. The sexual tension, the passionate friction between them, it was tangible when they got in the car and drove back to Adam’s house.
The lights were all out when they arrived, with no music or another person’s presence welcoming them home.
“Where’s Ava?”
“Gone for good, I hope.”
Truth was, Adam didn’t want to worry her. Ava had never cared about taking life to still her hunger, it was likely she was out dancing with strangers only to lure them into an abandoned, dimly lit alley to suck all blood out of their bodies.
He shivered when he imagined it, hoping for Tal’s sake she would return sated.
“I’ll make myself something to eat, I’m rather hungry.” Tal stated with a shy smile, letting go of Adam’s hand rather reluctantly.
“Alright. I’ll prepare you a bath so you can warm up.”
“Thank you.”
Contently, she strolled over into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She would have to go shopping soon again. Tal still hated asking Adam for money but if he noticed there was no more food for her in the house, he would throw a tantrum and scold her anyway. She might as well mention it. Perhaps in the bathtub, where he would hopefully join her? No… if he did so, they would be doing something entirely different. Tal didn’t even care the water would mix with her blood.
She pressed her legs together when she imagined it, wetness pooling in her panties within seconds.
She screamed when she closed the fridge again. Ava was leaning against the wall, her blonde hair frizzy and wild as if she’d spent an adventurous night.
She was grinning when Tal locked eyes with her with raised eyebrows. “Hey…”
“Hi. Bet your night wasn’t even half as fun as mine was.”
“That depends.” The question as to whether she killed anyone lay heavy on her tongue, yet the words wouldn’t come. Don’t provoke her.
“Did Adam get some more blood by any chance?”
“No… I mean, you drank everything, he was pretty pissed about it.” Anger boiled in Tal’s stomach. Ava had seemed likable at first, she’d liked her cheerful nature and now… ever since Adam had warned her about her, she was suspicious. She knew not to judge people by other people’s opinions but Ava… Ava was a murderer. A ruthless vampire who would, so she was sure, not hesitate to kill her.
“Ugh, come on. Can’t you let me take a sip from you then? Just one! I promise I’m gentle! I mean you already know what it feels like.” She flinched when her eyes turned to the familiar golden and brown colour she had come to adore so much when Adam fed on her. Her canines pushed against her lower lip, a silent hiss underlining her change of appearance. This was different… this was… terrifying.
“No, Ava.” Tal spat, backing away with trembling limbs. “Didn’t you feed earlier? I mean, you went out as well, didn’t you?” She tried hard to stop her voice from shaking. Vampires could sense fear and anxiety, that she was very well aware of.
“No… those boys were all so ugly. LA is so much more exciting, seriously.”
“Adam… Adam! Adam, help me!” She shrieked, panicking. When Adam drank from her, it was… intimate. It was something only the two of them shared, the gift she made him fuelling his life, giving him something of her to taste that no other man ever had. If Ava were to take it now… forcefully and without her consent…
“Tal, get in the bathroom.” Relief flooded her veins when she heard his voice behind her. Stern, intimidating and wrathful, it thundered through the old kitchen. Tal obeyed immediately. Rushing past Adam to lock herself in the room he had come from, she pressed her ear against the cool wood, listening to what happened outside. Her heart was still pounding like a steam hammer, the rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins like poison.
“I warned you, Ava, I warned you to get the fuck out of my house.”
“You’re so boring, seriously. Will you ever change? Now that Eve is gone, I would have expected you to become a little more like you were before you knew her.”
“I only ever tolerated you because of her! I fucking hate you, Ava! The only way I want to see you is shoved in a coffin with a wooden stick through your fucking cold heart!”
Silence. For an awful short moment, there was nothing but silence.
“Where’s your sense of bloodlust gone, huh?” She replied darkly. Her voice was shaking, her eyes glistening with disappointment and actual hurt. She wouldn’t let him see, yet both Adam and Tal could hear it. “You know what, maybe I should turn your beloved new girlfriend. I’d love to see her struggle with being a blood-sucking monster like you do. I’d like to see you struggling trying to help her and then losing her!”
Adam flinched, hesitating to answer.
“Oh my God, you have thought of turning her, haven’t you? You are in love with her! Fucking shit, she’s not your pet, you’re in love with her! Come on, Adam, let’s make her one of us right now. If you don’t want to share her with me—it makes sense now, really, you’ve always been a selfish prick—then what’s the point of keeping her around? She’ll die anyway eventually!”
“Don’t you fucking go near her!”
The sound that reached Tal’s ears from behind the bathroom door resembled a light breeze of the wind, right before someone started rattling at the door as if their life depended on it.
“Open up, Tallulah, I got a present for you!” Ava chirped in a singing voice. She was strong. Petite and childish but strong.
“Have you gone mad?!” Tal screamed when she kicked open the door, breaking a hole into it. Dust and splinters of wood sliced through the air, causing her to lose orientation for a moment. The shock was prominent on her face when she slipped on the moist tiles on the floor and hit her elbow on the edge of the bathtub.
Adam stormed in right after, towering over her helpless form like a tiger when Ava darted forward to reach for her, her fangs sharp and ready to kill.
How could this have gotten out of hand so quickly? She had seemed so nice, so cheerful and happy… was this what being a vampire really meant? Turning into a wrathful beast with no emotion and morals when hunger called and lured?
No… no, Adam had been drinking from her for so long now and not once had he lost control. He was different. He was good. No. She should be thankful.
Clutching at her aching elbow, she stared up at the vampires in pure terror, watching how they growled like wild animals. Too fast for the human eye, they moved, fighting, punching and biting until they were out of sight, so merely the sounds of breaking furniture, shattering glass and the dull thuds of feet stomping on the carpets reminded of their restless presence.
“I won’t let you fucking touch her,” Adam spat through gritted teeth, his eyes dark golden, his canines ready to strike. Ava let out a court but scornful laugh. “We’ll see about that. You were always more fun where there were three of us. How could you even say those things? You are my family!”
“You never were, Ava! You never were, look at you! All you do is destroy and kill and ruin everything I work for so hard!”
For just a brief second, he hesitated. Would Eve want this? Them fighting? Them tearing each other apart? Adam was ready to kill her. For all she had done in the past and especially for trying to hurt Tallulah. It was where it ended, where she tripped over the bold red line he had drawn. If something happened to this mortal woman hiding in his bathroom… he would lose himself and finally join Eve wherever she had gone.
“I’m trying to help you! I’m trying to make your miserable life a little better and you hate me for it! You hate me for it!” Frantic sobs escaped her lips as they kept sparring uncontrollably, one trying to off the other like nothing else mattered. In the moment, it didn’t. They tumbled into the kitchen without realising, knocking over the table and the wooden chairs. The legs screeched over the tiles, sending ice cold shivers up and down Tal’s spine as she hugged her knees and began rocking back and forth, praying for this to be a terrible nightmare.
If something happened to Adam… she was sure to lose herself and finally join her family wherever they had gone.
“I’ll give you a reason to hate me, Adam. I’ll fucking kill her for you!”
One second of awful, painstaking and heart-breaking silence passed. The cracking of wood echoed through the house, then the sound of a body colliding with the ground. She couldn’t see it—but she could hear it. The blood, how it splashed, how it stained the remnants of the chair and the bright tiles on the kitchen floor.
Tal’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes widening in shock.
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