The Donor House: Advent Story (part 19)

[k_a_webb]

Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5
Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10
Part 11; Part 12; Part 13; Part 14; Part 15
Part 16; Part 17; Part 18

“What happened next?” Georgina asked, hoping that Jean-Luc knew more of the story.

“Cromwell couldn’t take back the decision he’d made – the monarchy was defeated, the way he wanted it to be, and it was up to him to rule, but that meant making compromises with the new people he’d found out existed, even though he didn’t really want to. It was as though he wanted to put the genie back in the bottle, which, as we all know, isn’t that simple. No, my grandfather had done something very dangerous for Cromwell and he wanted his reward.” Jean-Luc shook his head. “His cousins, some of whom were already here when he arrived and others who’d made the journey after, were insistent that coming out to the humans was a really bad idea, so they were actually talking about killing him for the problem he’d caused and hoping that Cromwell believed he was the only vampire. This meant, to keep his life, he needed to prove to them that the decision he’d made, without asking any of them what their opinion was, was the right one, which, of course, meant he had to get Cromwell to agree to some things that he really didn’t like.

“It did help that my grandfather made the decision that having one of Cromwell’s sons onside would be a good thing and after watching them all for a few months he decided on changing Oliver. My uncle was grateful for this, for being given the gift of eternal life, so he helped to convince his father that the best option for him was to give the vampires what they wanted, and for Cromwell it was. Otherwise he would have ended up dead and his son, the son my grandfather had changed, would take over as Lord Protector, which would have changed things in a way they weren’t yet ready for. No one had planned for what had happened. Grandfather had just realised that if he took a chance he might be able to make the world a better place for him and his associates.

“That was what allowed them to set up the schools, to get planning permission for their nightclubs, and making sure that they always have someone in the right place at the right time. If my grandfather wanted to he could have stopped the House from being opened, but he didn’t and I’m sure there’s a reason for that – probably his never ending obsession with Nick. He might even have realised that a gathering place for the misfit vampires was a good thing. Unfortunately not all the vampires who frequent the auctions agree and that’s why they keep trying to get us shut down, keep sending young vampires in this general direction in the hope they’ll do something stupid which will lead to the authorities making the right decision, even though they know that if they do something particularly stupid they may well be banned from every going to one of the auctions run by my grandfather’s family.”

“Your grandfather is still at the right hand of the Lord Protector?”

“Occasionally, when he wants something to happen, but mostly they just keep out of each other’s way. That is the better option for both of them, because they know that of they cross paths too many times then it’s likely to cause the destruction of one or other of them. Grandfather’s always said it’s going to be the Lord Protector, as he still has Oliver by his side, and I know that Oliver would be happy to take the position he always feels should have been his. I think the only reason there is still a Lord Protector now is because his younger brother Richard accepted all the help he gave, even though he was a vampire and Cromwell had told all of his other children to keep away from Oliver, although I’m not certain what would have happened if Richard had of walked away, the way he threatened to a few times. There was no royal heir to take the place of the King and it probably would have meant that Oliver would have stepped into the position, which really would have changed the country.”

“What’s Oliver like?”

“Different.” Jean-Luc bit his lip. “It’s really hard to describe my uncle, even though I knew him well, because he made choices as a vampire I never would have. He’s never believed deeply that he is better than the humans that surround him, he only buys from the auction when Grandfather convinces him to and then he always looks after his humans, but at the same time he’s nothing like Nick. Instead of walking away he accepted the jobs he was given, seeing it as a chore he had to do in order to have other options when he was older, but he never had as much of a problem with it all as others in my family have – I think because it was easier for him to see it as one of those necessities that came about because he had been changed. Obviously there was nothing like the House then, but I think, if he had a chance to be a part of all this, he’d throw his full weight behind it, because it give vampires another option. If he had a place like this to come to when he was younger he would have become a very different vampire.”

“Do you think he will visit?” Kisten asked. “Even though he’s probably someone else who would make Nick uncomfortable.”

“I’m not sure.” Jean-Luc glanced over at Nick. “Francis, strangely, is one of Oliver’s children, but he embraced being a vampire in a way that Oliver never did. Even though it was Oliver who convinced his father that he owed a debt to the vampire who helped him end the war he was never what could be called a true vampire, in the way that some are. He has hunted, the same way I think almost every vampire has at some point in their lives because when we’re young we have no choice but to drink human blood to finish the change, but he’s never been one of those vampires who enjoyed the hunt. He did it because that was the way he survived – like he would hunt a deer or a rabbit. He never felt he was better than anyone he fed from and I know he’s made sure to keep an eye on them for the two months following, when they’d be most likely to be gathered, and if anyone he’s ever fed from has ended up at the auction he’s bought them.”

“So, basically,” Georgina said, as she tried to work it through in her head, “he’s accepted what he is, he’s come to the conclusion that being a vampire sometimes means doing things he doesn’t necessarily agree with, and that’s mostly because he’s grateful to the vampire that gave him the gift of eternal life.”

“Pretty much. Oliver’s a nice guy, he’s always kept in contact with his human family as he’s one of the few who was better off that way, and I know he helps to guide all of the Lord Protector’s. Some need his help more than others, but they almost all turn to him if they have a decision they’re not sure of. How much he’s involved does depend on how much the vampires are doing at that particular time, because I know he want to the current Lord Protector to talk about the House and what it meant for the rest of the country, which is another reason I’m certain that grandfather is doing nothing to shut this place down. If that was what he wanted that’s exactly what he would have done, by getting Oliver to tell the Lord Protector that the House would be a problem.”

“Luc, I can’t get my head around the idea that Nick’s creator, the vampire he hates so much, is actually on Nick’s side.” Kisten shook his head. “It seems impossible.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought to begin with, but the longer the House is open the more sure I am. Everything that’s happened so far has been too petty to be a real problem, although I don’t doubt that the auction vampires who don’t agree with Grandfather will be upping their game. They want the House shut down, because they think it’s a danger to the way they’re living their lives, even though it isn’t – it’s Nick who is. He wants the auctions closed down entirely. He has always hated them, even though he knows very little about them, because he always hated being a vampire and he hated Grandfather for making him one.

“Grandfather is not nice. I’m not going to pretend he is. He’s made some decision I hate him for, he truly believes he is better than the humans of this world, and he will do everything he can to make them all his slaves. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a sensible person. He realises that a place like this will keep a number of vampires who would have died otherwise alive, which is, as far as he’s concerned, a really good thing. Of course that doesn’t mean he’s at all happy about the choices Nick has made when it comes to the donors, because there’s far too much focus on looking after them and not enough on breaking them, but that’s Grandfather for you.” Jean-Luc sighed. “At least that’s what my cousins told me. I won’t go back to my family, but there are members of it who are happy to be in contact with me, even though Father isn’t happy about it. He thinks I should be cut off entirely if that’s my choice and I probably will be when those cousins finally gather the courage they need to do the same as me, because they aren’t happy. They don’t want to be a part of the auctions.”

“How did you keep old of your humanity even though your were raised by vampires who believed they’re so much better than us?” Georgin asked, running her eyes over Jean-Luc, surprised by him all over again.

“If I knew that I’d tell you. I know there were times when I thought it was slipping away, but a part of me managed to keep hold of it, no matter what happened.”

Kisten sighed. “There was a time when my humanity slipped away, I think. If I hadn’t heard of the House I might have let it go forever, because I was so tired of fighting what I was. Every day I was losing more and more of my energy to beating myself up because I couldn’t be the right sort of vampire, the vampire my best friend had been from the moment he was changed, but when I realised there was a place I could go, where I could be a vampire but not be guilty about who I was or that I quite liked drinking human blood I breathed a sigh of relief.”

“We all like human blood, Kist.” Jean-Luc smiled. “It’s one of those things we just don’t feel the need to mention here, because we know the humans we’re feeding from and a lot of the time it’s bad manners to mention in front of someone you may have fed from occasionally that you enjoyed their blood.”

Georgina shook her head, trying not to laugh. “Tell me all you like, Kist. I don’t mind if you tell me after you’ve fed from me that you enjoyed it, because I know that’s simply a part of who you are. What you’re doing doesn’t permanently damage me in any way, Nick and Alice have made certain of that, and, maybe strangely, it makes me feel good when I hear that. It reminds me that the House is as much for you as it is for me and I’m so grateful that I can do good things for the vampires I actually like.”

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.