Chapter Text
It wasn’t Felix.
Shock consumed Agatha as she realized the man that stood before her wasn’t her brother, but one of her clients instead. Not just any client, either: it was Lord Mannering. Several questions whipped about in her head as she speechlessly scanned the man – the vampire – who appeared to be oddly relaxed. Though she had nothing but good things to say about him, her mind wandered to dark, panicked places as she couldn’t fathom how he had learned of her property’s location.
She had met Lord Ambrose Mannering towards the end of last year’s winter, and since then she had been his escort on a handful of different occasions. Indeed, he had quickly grown to be her favorite client (as he only ever expected conversation from her and nothing more), but she couldn’t help a feeling of dread creep over her in his presence. His kindness did not soothe her discomfort.
What could she possibly tell him? ‘Hello, how do you do? What brings you over so late at night?’ No, the situation was entirely absurd and out of line. How dare he show up to her house unannounced? Moreover, how did he know this was where she lived? What was going on?
As the silence stretched, the man cleared his throat and softened his already disarming gaze. “Apologies for intruding so late, my dear.” He kept his voice hushed. “Unfortunately the matters which I need to discuss cannot wait any longer. Please understand that I know you are confused and possibly frightened, but I promise I will explain everything.”
“You are right.” Agatha’s throat ran dry, as suddenly her quick heartbeat skipped and stalled. “I fail to understand why you are here, my lord.” She took a step back and just prayed that Adam was listening in, so that he could protect her should the vampire do something unexpected.
Lord Mannering shook his head and sighed quietly. “I will tell you everything. I know it is much to ask, but please trust me as the friend that you regard me to be.” He lifted his palms and held them in front of his chest, as if to say you have nothing to fear.
Agatha hesitated, but she realized that she was in no true danger, not with Adam in her proximity. After a few seconds, she nodded and moved aside. Once inside, she closed the door behind him and motioned to sit on the armchair by the fireplace.
“Out with it.” She hissed through her teeth. Though he was nothing short of a perfect gentleman, her confusion steadily fermented into rage, and she was not one to mask her emotions. As he opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off immediately. “Might I also say, before you begin, that this is highly inappropriate. I do not care if the blood in your veins is blue, or if you have only ever been a respectful client to me. This is my home, and you are lucky I did not scream for my husband to come chase you away.”
At the mention of her partner, the vampire’s eyes flashed in acute interest. “So he is here, then? Is he asleep?”
“… Yes.” She lied.
“Please wake him, I wish to deliver this urgent news to the both of you.”
News? Agatha scrunched her nose and boldly paced up to him. She pointed at him accusingly and grinned wickedly. “I care not for whatever game you have dragged me into, but I would sooner die than allow you to drag him into this as well. I am the woman of this household – you state your business to me.”
“Agatha, you are nothing short of a self-sufficient, iron-willed woman and I would not dare suggest that I must speak to the man of the house in your place.” He huffed, somewhat amused and enticed by her fierceness. He leaned forward and gave her a melancholic smile before he continued. “I regret to inform you, however, that this news does concern him.”
“Get out.” She hissed. “How dare you? You do not even know him, and I grow less and less tolerant of this sick excuse for an invasion of our privacy. Begone…!”
He rose from the chair and towered over her. Though not as massive as Adam, he was still a large and imposing man. “I know what he is, love. You do not need to hide him from me.”
Agatha froze. Adam, hearing this conversation tucked behind the hallway door frame, froze as well.
“I am a friend. My only wish is to help and protect you both. Agatha, I know he is awake. I can hear his heartbeat from behind the wall.” They both flinched as he bluntly revealed this. The vampire sighed deeply as he sank back into the chair, and he crossed a leg over his knee. He looked frustrated as he thought deeply about his next words. While he ruminated, Agatha slowly walked backwards until she was by the hallway entrance.
She turned to look at Adam, and her heart writhed upon seeing his distraught face. “It’s okay.” She mouthed, half-believing her affirmation. Thankfully, during the time that she had left the room, he had clothed himself; the only thing that stopped him from coming into view was the sudden fear of being gazed upon by the immortal man.
“Dear friend, do not show yourself if it would make you uncomfortable. I only ask that you listen closely to what I must share.” He spoke at length. Agatha returned her eyes to their guest and frowned.
“Ambrose,” She whispered in response. Hearing his name, the vampire’s face shifted slightly. “What do we need protection from?”
Lord Mannering paused and gently shook his head. “Government officials, state operatives, even townsfolk… a bounty was posted a few days ago to all major cities in Germany, and I am here before those bounties start popping up in smaller places, like here in Ingolstadt.”
She shook her head effusively and waved her hands, as if she was trying to spirit herself away from that mind-bending situation. Denial was her first reaction, but there was a little voice inside her that insisted on his sincerity. “A bounty for what? For him?” Fists clutched to her chest, panic fully replaced her anger.
Ambrose softly nodded and reached into his breast pocket. A folded, slightly crumpled paper was pulled out and he extended it for her to grab. “Read it for yourself. I do not lie.”
Agatha hesitated, then walked up to Lord Mannering. In one fluid motion, she snatched the flyer, turned around, and brought it to the light. Her eyes read it carefully, but her mind was still not convinced that it was real, nor that Lord Mannering was truly there, nor that their lives were really in danger. Suddenly the walls began to approach her, and then the ceiling felt lower, and everything felt larger and smaller, and the room began to spin, and then Ambrose caught her in his arms before she could fall, darker shadows, humming sounds, until everything finally hazed over.
He laid her gently on the cushions, then he heard a deep, gravelly voice call out to her. “Agatha?”
Ambrose sighed and kneeled in front of her. He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead and rose to procure a damp rag. “She’s only fainted. Is there any clean water available?”
When he turned around, he sucked sharply as he came upon Adam’s hulking frame by the hallway entrance. Though the vampire lord had seen several strange and incredible creatures, beholding Adam was an uncanny experience, as he immediately recognized his own physical qualities in him.
Past the scars, the wolf-like eyes, the cool-colored skin, and the gargantuan size of his body, Ambrose shivered at how similar they looked. It wasn’t quite like looking in a mirror, but something resonated between him and the behemoth before him. Ambrose and Adam gaped at one another, and that’s when the vampire realized that the created man saw the resemblance as well.
“W-water. To soak a rag, for her forehead.” Ambrose finally uttered. Adam slowly nodded and went to a basin they kept by the cooking hearth. As instructed, he grabbed a fresh rag and dipped it in the cold water, then wrung it out before he brought it to his wife’s unconscious body. He tapped it gently along her face and then draped it across her forehead. He sat cross-legged and rubbed her hand in his own, paying no attention to Ambrose.
Lord Mannering gently skirted behind the couch and he stared intently at his monstrous doppelgänger. He was positively engrossed by the creature and did not hide the fascination from his face.
Adam was mostly numb, but he grew even more anxious with Ambrose’s gaze fixed on him. After a minute or two, Adam finally lifted his face and shot the vampire a small glare. A second passed before Ambrose reacted, and he pulled aside immediately as soon as he realized he had been staring at him for an uncomfortable interval.
“Has she… has she fainted before?” Asked the visitor.
Adam gently shook his head and squeezed her palm, hoping she would wake through his tender touch. “I do not understand… she is so fearless. I cannot imagine the terror this must have invoked to have put her in this state…”
The nobleman returned to the armchair and waited for Adam’s shock to pass. He quietly scanned him and felt an ache in his chest; he couldn’t help but compare the large man to a sad child with the way his legs were folded to his chest and his poignant expression would flash with hope each time Agatha twitched.
After a few minutes, Ambrose rose from the chair once he concluded that he overextended his stay. He cleared his throat to attempt to get Adam’s attention, but the creature only focused on Agatha’s still unconscious body. “I regret bringing such ill tidings. Really, I was dreading that it would come to this. Yet I am here because it is in your best interests to flee the country before townsfolk begin to come forward with accounts of sightings and, God forbid, information regarding your whereabouts.”
He patiently waited for any reaction from the somber creature, but after half a minute he realized that Adam didn’t care for him at all. Still, he had to make sure he was at least listening. “Do you understand what I am saying?”
One. Two. Three seconds passed.
Adam gave a slight nod.
“Then please heed my warning. I will come back tomorrow night at the same time, make sure to let her know–”
“Why now?” Adam uttered, more to himself than to the harbinger. “It has been three years. Why now?”
Ambrose remained silent, as he did not expect Adam to say a single word in the state he was in. Carefully, he considered his question, but unfortunately found himself unable to give him a solid answer. “If I had to speculate, I would say that they are trying to move into the next phase of the project but are unable to do so without you."
Project. State-sanctioned. Operatives. Bounty. Next phase. Absolutely meaningless words. After he escaped the laboratory, why couldn’t that just be the end of it? Had he not earned a peaceful life, a loving partner, a corner of the world to call his own? Adam existed outside the bounds of human civilization; save for Agatha, he was, at most, just a rumor to all those who’d heard about him. If he existed outside the minds of everyone, then what reason did these people have to yank him back into their world?
The vampire led himself out. As the door creaked open, Ambrose tensed at the prospect that returning tomorrow night would be too late. If he already knew of Adam’s location, who was to say that others didn’t possess that knowledge as well?
“You are wrong that she is fearless.” He spoke as he stepped outside. These words managed to snap Adam out of his trance; his head craned to look at Ambrose with wide, shattered eyes. The vampire turned around and had a bittersweet gaze as he began to shut the door behind him.
“Her greatest fear is losing you.”
Whatever air Adam had in his lungs was sucked out as the door closed behind their enigmatic guest.