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Alex walked ahead while Artimen fallowed closely behind. Their guns were drawn and held downward. Silently they crouched down next to the steal door, each of them on either side. Artimen set the bomb on the door for 3 seconds; both of them immediately got to a safe distance away. The bomb went off creating a massive hole in the wall as well as a huge cloud of smoke. Alex and Artimen rushed in immediately. "Freeze! Down on the ground now!" Alex shouted. The dust cleared a little bit to reveal a boy with brown hair; his white shirt was torn up so only a small portion of it was left on him, he had black pants and was covered in blood, he covered his face with his arms in order to protect himself. He was on the floor leaning against the wall. The smog dissipated completely, the bodies of two men were on the ground, their cloths and flesh torn to pieces.
Alex and Artimen, both shocked at the sight, lowered their weapons. "It's just a kid?" Artimen said. Alex looked at the boy with his trinity vision. "That is no ordinary kid Arty; you should be able to smell that." Artimen snorted the air into his nostrils "Your right, this kid is a vampire." The boy lowered his arms to reveal that he had glaring red eyes, he was crying; blood dripping from his mouth and hands. "I'm sorry." the boy said while weeping with a choke in his voice pattern. Alex walked toward the boy but was pulled back by Artimen before he could get close "Alex, don't get close to him. He's dangerous, and he looks like he can't control himself." Alex replied as he brushed off Artimen's hand from his shoulder and continued to walk toward the boy looking at Artimen with a face of annoyance "I know what I'm doing." He knelt down in front of the crying young vampire and asked "What is your name boy?" The sobbing child responded "Tommy Cornwall........." Alex slowly moved his hand toward his side as if to pull something out. "Please Mister...... don't hurt me." Tommy said fearing his death. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you. In fact I am going to get you out of this place. But before I can do that, I need you to do one thing for me." Alex said as he pulled out a large stick of Leather that was caped off at the ends and had string attached to it.
"What?" Tommy asked with fear in his voice as he stared at the four inch stick that Alex had in his hands. "I need you to sink your teeth into this stick and let me tie it around your neck, okay?" "Why?" Tommy asked with even grater fear. "It's just to make sure that you will not bite me or my friend, I can only get you out of here if you do it. Okay?" Tommy, while hesitant at first, nodded slowly and cautiously took the stick from Alex. He bared his teeth with his prominent fangs on full display being coated in crimson liquid making them all look like red pearls, and sunk his teeth into the stick. Alex took the ends of the string and tied them tightly together behind Tommy's head. Alex picked the blood covered boy up and held him in his arms and said to Artimen without turing around. "Let's get back home Arty, we're done here." Artimen nodded and pressed his to fingers against the communicator in his large fluffy ear and said "Mission accomplished, returning to HQ, have the ship pick us up at the helicopter platform in 10 minutes." "Roger Dogger." Techno said on the other line as he typed on his keyboard. Alex and Artimen made there way out of the building. All of the guards had been executed, and the sun had already set, Tommy was in no danger.
They got to the platform and while they waited, Artimen took out a black fabric bag and placed it over Tommy's head. "Nothing against you Tommy, it's just protocol." Tommy didn't care at this point, the only thing that he wanted now was for this nightmare to be over. The sound of roaring engines pierced Tommy's ear drums, he screamed through the pain, but the engines volume, combined with the leather in his mouth, rendered his cry mute. The sound stopped and he felt like he was moving, but he was still in Alex's arms. About 20 minutes passed by, he felt the ship stop. Everything was still black as he was carried. He heard a car door open, then shut. 10 minutes of driving, the car door opened and closed again. he heard a door open, they walked for a minute.
"Well, lets see, what have you brought me this time Alex?" Dr. Marks said as he pushed up his glasses. Alex sat Tommy on the doctor's medical bed, and took off the black bag. It was bright, Tommy covered his eyes. As his eyes adjusted Alex bundled the black bag, and threw it in the trash as he said "This here is Tommy Cornwall, we found him in a cell. I am sure you can figure out why by the muzzle." Dr. Marks nodded "I see, that would explain why he is covered in blood along with the red eyes." "So I figured you could help him out considering he is one of your kind, after all, who else would know all about Vampirial things better?" Alex continued. Dr. Marks grew a smug smile with his lips. "Naturally, but we have to remove that muzzle, so I suggest you stand back Alex." Alex took three steps back and Dr. Marks untied the string. Tommy's eyes had finally adjusted to the light and when he saw Dr. Marks reaching for the muzzle he griped it in his jaws. When he tried to pull the muzzle away, Tommy refused to let go of it. The muzzle now became a security blanket for him like a child has a teddy bear; the only difference was that Tommy was using it to stop himself from biting anybody again. "Tommy, let go of the muzzle." Dr. Marks said in a commanding tone, Tommy just shook his head to say no. "Tommy, let go of it." Dr. Marks said again in a stronger tone, but Tommy shook his head again and began to cry again. "Tommy, if you don't let go of it I will use a nerve pinch on you and make you let it go." Dr. Marks said in an extremely dark tone. He could just rip it out, but that would just harm Tommy even more. Tommy shook his head again in desperate defiance. Dr. Marks gripped Tommy's lower neck on the right side causing his jaw to open and the rest of his body to jerk downward. Dr. Marks pulled the stick off of Tommy's teeth and set it down in a tray behind him.
He released Tommy's neck; Tommy immediately covered his mouth. "I'm sorry, please don't hurt me, I won't be bad anymore I promise!" Tommy sobbed. Dr. Marks gazed into the eyes of the petrified boy and felt a deep compassion for him; it was quite possibly that because this boy was one of his own that he felt so moved. Dr. Marks closed his eyes, took off his glasses, then opened them to reveal that his eyes began to glow a bright and luminous brown, his pupils had grown huge. He was now looking into Tommy's soul. Tommy looked deep into the bright brown eyes, he became hypnotized, and soon fell into a deep trance, dropping his hands away from his mouth. Dr. Marks looked into Tommy's eyes and could see everything that was in his heart: the boy liked to skateboard, play the guitar, hang out with his friends and solve math problems, he was fascinated in science and loved his mom deeply. He raised his eyebrows once and changed his perspective to look into the dark part of his heart: he was jealous of his friends for being able talk to girls without tripping up, he had stolen candy from a class mate, and he broke his mom's favorite vase. He raised his eyebrows a second time and looked into the fears of his heart. The doctor began to see the cause of the issue at hand.
As the images were being played for him like a movie reel, he began to get uneasy. Men straped the boy down and inject him with glowing red liquid that he assumed to be the vampire virus. The men cut him up, watched him heal, then cut him again and again, he felt Tommy's pain, every ounce of it. They ripped him off the chair, and threw him into a dark room making him go days without food or water. They tantalized him with the smell of blood. Finnaly they threw in unsuspecting victims in to his chamber. Tommy ripped them apart as he gorged on their blood and flesh. The doctor felt the pure essence of the boys fear and pain and it struck him in his heart like a cardiac arrest. The pain from the fear and the fear of the pain became too much and he turned his face away and closed his eyes while grabbing his head in shear pain. He let out a yell that broke Tommy out of the trance. All the while Alex stood back knowing all to well that things could turn for the worst at any moment when Dr. Marks was like this.
Dr. Marks breathed heavily for a few seconds to calm himself, then relaxed; he stood up, put his glasses on with one hand, and opened his eyes. They returned to a normal shade of brown. Turning his head, he looked at the scared boy "Don't worry, your going to be fine, I know what is wrong with you, and that you are scared and that you have so many questions. I can help you if you want me too." Tommy breathed silently, he was trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. "Tommy, I know you have questions, I will answer them if you ask." Tommy snapped out of his thoughts, he looked around at the room what was painted a soft blue, it was a clinic, various shelves were lined with jars and filled with a variety of medical supplies, the room was equipped with what any doctor's came with standard. "Tommy, you are wasting my time. TOMMY!" Tommy looked at Dr. Marks with fear. He gulped, and thought about what to ask.
"What's wrong with me?" Dr. Marks took a deep breath "You are what is known as a Vampire, a being that feeds on the blood of humans, Animeges's, and animals. You became one when they injected you with that red liquid that contained the vampire virus. They tortured you by not giving you any blood for you to drink for five days making you have uncontrolled hunger that can not be satisfied now, once a person becomes a vampire they must immediately drink blood or else the virus can not be stabilized and become settled at set intakes of blood. And it appears that they altered the virus to make it more violent in its cravings. This is why you are always hungry, but you never know why even though you do not have cravings for the taste of blood. The very scent of blood, the sound of a heart beat, or looking at a person's veins pulsing or the color red triggers the virus and excites the hunger. I know you don't want to do it but you have no control and your body takes over." All the while Tommy cried.
"Tommy," Dr. Marks continued. "I know you are scared and that you just wish that this was all a long nightmare that you could wake up from, but that is not the case. You are what you are, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner I can help you control your hunger. That all depends on you and you alone, only God can help you with that." Rage exploded from Tommy's heart "God! What does he have to do with anything, there is no such thing, if there is a god then why did it let this happen to me!?" Tommy shouted out at the top of his lungs. Alex raised an eyebrow out of astonishment, but then again he didn't blame Tommy for it, he himself had been tested through far worse than that. Dr. Marks pushed up his glasses with his right hand middle finger "Oh there is a God, would you like to see why many vampires fear the cross?" The doctor said as he slowly took his right hand down to his side. Dr. Marks took out a small cross from his pocket. Tommy took one look at it and jumped onto the wall and crawled up to the ceiling leaving hand prints from the blood that was on his hands. His eyes were radiating with vermillion color as he hissed at the small cross. Alex rested his hand on the gun in his holster, waiting for what could happen. "What's the matter Tommy; it's just a shape with 12 sides. I thought that wouldn't matter to you." Dr. Marks said as he held up the little wooden cross. Tommy hissed again and said in a sneering voice that wreaked of demonic influence "Get that thing away from me." the doctor raised an eyebrow "Why? I thought that there was no God. But then again, why would you hate this little object? I mean it only represents when he became human and died for our sins." Dr. Marks said with a smile.
"How can you hold that thing? You are a vampire too!" Tommy said with an evil face. It was almost as if he became someone, or something, different. "Quite simple really, I am saved, so there is no reason for me to fear God, I know that he loves me. Unlike you I was born a vampire into a whole family of Vampirials. So I was to be considered damned from the start of my life, but I discovered that God loves all and desires that none shall perish, but instead he would welcome them with open arms into his everlasting love. You see, because I accepted Jesus as my savior, I was saved from that horrible damnation that you and I know all to well Tommy. And you can escape it too. Believe me, I am proof that it salvation is real." Dr. Marks said as he smiled to display his prominent fangs. Tommy said nothing creating a moment of awkward silence. "Well if God loves me so much, then why did he let this happen to me?" Dr. Marks shrugged "God works in mysterious ways Tommy, I can attest for that because I have witnessed it all the time in my 935 years of life." Dr. Marks said with a completely serious face. Tommy just hung on the wall for 40 seconds and came down slowly to sit on the table. He thought to himself for a few minutes. "Mister, have you really lived for that long? You don't look that old at all." Tommy asked as he examined the doctors face. "I am a vampire, remember?" Dr. Marks replied. "Now are you going to let me help you or not?" Tommy gave a blank stare with his mouth open. He looked back at the wall behind him with the bloody handprints, he turned his head and looked at his hands that still were covered in blood. He looked up and asked "is there a cure?"
Dr. Marks took another deep breath and sighed. He took off his glasses, after he put the cross back in his pocket, and began to clean them with a sliver silk cloth and said "There was a cure. You see way back before the birth of Christ, Alexander the great founded the city of Alexandria, after his death the city became a busy metropolis that was far ahead of it's time with it's advancements in most everything. In that city many people came and researched many things including the vampire virus in both contagious and genetic form. One person actually discovered the cure for the disease and made it publicly known for the whole world when he recorded his findings in the library and put them on display. Thousands of vampires made there way to the city and were cured. But the medicine for the disease could only be maid at the city with it's prosperous trade rout position to bring all of the ingredients to itself, and so there really was no need to take the knowledge else where. But unfortunately the library was ransacked and most of the scrolls were burned, including the cure and the ingredients to the medicine for it, when the Romans attacked the city leaving most of it destroyed. No one has come close to figuring out the cure since then and the knowledge has now been lost to the sands of time. The only man after that who cured the virus was Jesus and he did it without medicine. So as of now there is no cure Tommy." Dr. Marks slid his glasses back on and looked at Tommy; his countenance was that of pure remorse. Tommy pulled his legs together, wrapped his arms around them and rested his head on his knees and said in a sad voice "There is no hope for me." Alex jumped into the conversation before Dr. Marks could say anything "Now don't say that Tommy, there is always hope no matter what anyone says. Now Dr. Marks just said 'for now there is no cure' that does not mean necessarily that there will not be one in the future. And if the cure was already discovered, then that means that it can be found again."
Alex rested his hand on Tommy's back. Tommy looked up at Alex. With a sweet smile, like a father gives to his child when they need to be consoled, Alex put his fingers underneath Tommy's chin and said "You just have to have faith Tommy." Tommy said nothing as he gazed into Alex's eyes; he now for some reason had no hunger, and in its place felt like he had now fount a friend in all of the confusion and horror. His fangs for the first time since he became a vampire withdrew themselves back into his gum. Dr. Marks observed this with great interest and said "And the first step to controlling that hunger of yours Tommy has just been completed." Tommy looked at Dr. Marks with surprise and said "It is? But I didn't do anything." "Oh but you did." Dr. Marks continued "You focused on something else completely, and as a result your body fallowed your example and shut down it's response to the virus. But do not be confused, you still have a long way to go before you have more control over it." Tommy put his fingers in this mouth to feel if his fangs had really retracted, and much to his surprise they had done just that. He couldn't believe it, he felt for them again, but they had disappeared. A smile creeped onto his face for the first time in what seemed like ages. He took his fingers out of his mouth. Suddenly he realized something. "So what am I suppose to do now? I can't go back to my mom like this or my granddad, I might kill them or they just wouldn't understand. I can't go to my friend's home because I could kill them as well, I have got no place to stay and......." He yawned "I am getting tired fast." "That my dear boy is because the dawn is coming soon and you probably should have been in bed a while ago." Dr. Marks said as he looked at the atomic clock on the wall. "As for the home, I am sure that we can make arrangements for you. How about it Alex, can he stay?" he asked turning his head to look at Alex with a friendly smile.
"He is going to have to stay in your room Dr., other than that he is welcome to stay with us for as long as he needs." Alex said as he rubbed Tommy's back. "But I couldn't, I don't want to be a burden on anyone." Tommy said as he shook his head. "Too late my dear Tommy, it has been decided. You are staying with me, now I have a lot of standards for you to hold up to: rule number one – Never touch my medical equipment nor any of my experiments, number two – Always keep the room clean and keep yourself clean, number three – never bring a dead body into my room nor bring your food in my room if it is alive or dead, number four – never be loud, especially if I am in the middle of conducting an experiment, number five – always keep your manors in check and be polite." The list went on and on and on till he got to number 60. "And I could go on for hours to be in specific detail but I will just do that for you later. Now I want you to take charge of that second rule and go clean yourself up." Tommy had his jaw dropped to the floor, after hearing all of those rules. "How the hell am I suppose to have any fun!?" "AH! Remember rule number 10! No swearing! And rule number 4, no being loud!" Dr. Marks said as he snapped his fingers and pointed at Tommy in his face. Tommy pulled in his lips so he looked like he had no teeth. "Good boy, now Alex will take you to the shower room in the mean time in dealing with your cloths…" Dr. Marks began to think and talk to himself so quietly that not even Tommy could hear it. Alex said as he dialed on his cell-phone and put it up to his ear "don't worry, I got it… Hey Justin could you do me a favor on your way home, pick up a few pairs of jogging pants, t-shirts, underwear and socks… I know its short notice but we have an emergency here… no not that kind of emergency… I'll tell you when you get here alright… hold on, I'll find out, hey Tommy what size cloths do you where for shirts and pants?" Tommy thought for a minute trying to recover that information from his brain "uhhhh… medium for shirts and 25, 20 for pants." "Okay, did you get that Justin? … Yeah… no… okay… we ordered Chinese for dinner… yes I got your order… so I'll just stick it in the microwave when you get here… okay… yeah… alright, see you when you get home… okay bye. Alright Tommy, your cloths should be here in about 2 hours so I suggest you take a long shower, now if you will fallow me I will take you to the bathroom. And don't worry about using up all of the hot water, everybody already took their shower for today." Alex said as he closed his cell-phone and put it in his pocket.
Tommy slowly got down off the table stopped for a second, turned to Dr. Marks, looked up and asked in a very polite tone. "Can I please have that stick back?" Dr. Marks nodded. He turned around, grabbed the stick and, after cleaning it, gave it to Tommy. He patted his head and said "Don't worry; this is your home now. Oh, and I have a robe that you can use after you finnish with your shower till your cloths get here." "Thank you." Tommy said as he sank his teeth into the stick of leather. It tasted like rubbing alcohol, or something similar to it. He tied it behind his head tightly and looked at Alex.
With a smile, Alex led him out through the door. Tommy suddenly felt the soft carpet beneath him and looked around. It looked like a normal house. Various photos of people were posted on the walls that were painted an aqua color of some kind. He only took a quick glance at the photos as he walked by fallowing Alex. They walked down a hallway past what seemed to be a few bedrooms due to the fact that they had names on plaques posted on the door. He was led down some stairs, and through a door that looked as if it was out of a science fiction movie in the fact that it was made of metal and was divided in two as it opened. The new hallway's floor was lit up with white light that glistened off of the metallic walls and ceiling. All the while Tommy was awestruck at the sight of all of this, he never thought that this house would have such a thing inside of it. They got to another door that opened upward and inside was the bathroom.
"Okay" Alex said "here we are, the shower is over there and the towels and washcloths are in that cabinet to the left and the soap is underneath the sink, you can use the green shampoo bottle for shampoo. And when you are done with the soap, put it in that little container on the edge of the sink so I know it's yours. Also, there is mouth wash behind the mirror so be sure to use that, and wash your hands before you touch anything, hand soap is on the sink. I'll be back to check on you in an hour okay?" Tommy nodded his head. Alex smiled, stepped out of the room and pushed a button to close the door from the outside. Tommy was alone now.
He looked around at the bathroom, it was very futuristic, like something he had seen in a movie. Taking it all in, he walked over to the sink and as he was about to push down the plunger of the soap, it dispensed soap into his hand for him. He raised his eyebrows and thought "Fancy I wonder if..." he moved his hands under the faucet and it turned on automatically "Yep, cool." Tommy thought to himself. "This place has everything." he finished washing his hands. Walked over to the cabinet that Alex pointed to, pulled out a towel and a wash cloth, walked over to the tub and shower, turned on the water, got undressed (not that he had many cloths on other than his pants and shoes, and a small scrap of cloth left over from his pervious shirt); untied the muzzle and took it off. He stepped into the stream of hot water and immediately felt warm again. Ever since he became this monster he felt cold, like he was growing ice on his skin and his insides; but now he felt much better. As the hot liquid caressed down his body taking all of the dry blood with it. He was so thankful for everything and began to cry. He sat down on the tub floor all wet from the hair on his head to the bottom of his feet. He said aloud "Thank you God." He got up and began to wash his hair.
Meanwhile Alex went back to the medical room to find Dr. Marks lifting off the bloody hand prints from the wall like they were made of paper and putting them into a bucket, all the while he was not touching anything but instead he had one hand extended at the wall and his index finger and middle finger from his other hand pressed against his head right next to his eyebrow on the left side of his face. He had finally gotten all of the blood off the walls and now he resumed cleaning it with antiseptic so as to make it up to standards with his health code (his being so strict that it was nearly impossible to keep but somehow he made due and got results). He looked at Alex and said "So is he in the shower?" "Yep, I told him where to find everything so he should be fine. Here, let me help you with that." Alex said as he attempted to grab a bucket and a brush but soon failed in his advent. "No need, I like doing this all by myself, thank you. Now when is Justin supposed to get home again?" Dr. Marks said as he sprayed and scrubbed at lightning speed (literally). "He should be home in about 2 hours. Didn't you hear me?" "Just testing you." Dr. Marks said with a smile as he watched his own hands work. Alex rolled his eyes. "In the mean time I think I might just go and watch some TV with Arty. Care to join us after you are done?" Alex said. "No thank you, I still have some things do after I am done cleaning. I have to accommodate for my new room mate now don't I?" Dr. Marks said with a charming smile as he looked at Alex while still cleaning. Alex replied as he made his way out the door "Very well then, I shall leave you to your work."
Alex closed the door and made his way to the living room where Artimen was already in his Pajamas and flipping through the channels with the TV remote. He thought to himself "Okay, now to get out of these heavy clothes and into my PJ's." He went to his room and changed his outfit to his Pajamas as well as cleaned himself up a bit. He went back to the living room and sat right between Artimen's legs, leaned back and propped his feet up on the table. Artimen grinned and said in sarcasm "What, no flowers, chocolates, or a diamond ring?" "Sorry Arty, I had to pay the bills this month and it was either getting you a nice ring or getting food for all of us." Alex responded back with a slight giggle after he finished. "Oh well, that's okay I love you anyway." Artimen said as he hugged Alex tightly with his free arm. Alex weaved his fingers through Artimen's fingers with the same hand as his and held his hand tightly, tilted his head back to look at Artimen and said "What did I ever do to get such a good friend like you?" "I don't know, say 'hi'?" Artimen said as he shrugged his shoulders. "You know what I mean you big fluff ball." Alex said as he looked back at the TV. "Well, I am not sure then, I mean you have such incredibly high maintenance, your attitude most of the time sucks, your disposition is horrible, and you like to bug the crap out of me. Plus you are horrible with kids, you hate playing video games, you have no intelligence what so ever, and you are just plain ugly; so basically you are crap in plastic wrap. And again I have no idea what has made me stay friends with you." Artimen said in a completely serious tone. "You are horrible, you know that?" Alex rolled his eyes and had a frown on his face. Artimen got a cheeky smirk on his face and said "I know, but that's why you love me." He licked Alex's cheek with his long tongue (this being completely natural to do for a werewolf toward his family and best friends as a sign of love and affection) Alex let out an "eww" and elbowed Artimen in the stomach with his free arm. Artimen jumped and let out a little cough, and giggled; it didn't hurt but it was funny none the less. Alex wiped the slobber off of his cheek and smiled. As he searched through the channels Artimen found that the Phantom of the Opera was playing on the MPT channel (Maryland Public Television) and it had just started.
Fifteen minutes passed when Techno (Artimen's older brother) came out from the hallway in his striped pajama pants and white T-shirt to put away his left over food in the refrigerator, he glanced at Alex and Arty as he walked by through his purple tinted spectacles and "Finally coming out of the closet you two?" Alex turned his head to look at Techno, his physiognomy was that of pure annoyance as he grabbed the nearest pillow on the couch and chucked it at Techno who was in the kitchen. Techno ducked dogging the projectile and said with a smile when he stood up "Ha, missed me, missed me, now you have to kiss me. Oh wait, sorry Arty, I don't mean to encroach on your territory." Arty turned his head to look at Techno and was now equally annoyed as Alex was. He grabbed the nearest pillow to him on the couch, stood up and chucked it at Techno. Techno, instead of dogging, caught the pillow and said with a large grin "Okay, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone then." He tossed back the first pillow that he had in his arms and picked up the one on the floor and did the same as he did with the first. Alex and Arty both caught the pillows and sat down next to each other. Alex said in an aggravated tone "Why does everyone think that we are a gay couple?!" Arty looked at Alex "Well, if you think about it, we pretty much send off gay-dar alarms that can be seen from space. Number one: we are watching Phantom of the Opera on Maryland Public Television. Number two: you were sitting in-between my legs and laid back on to my body. And finally number three: I had my arm wrapped around you and you had your hand interwoven with mine." Alex crinkled his lips to the right side of his face, hopped his whole body over slightly away from Artimen, crossed his arms, leaned against the lycan and rested his head on Arty's shoulder "What ever, I have a girlfriend." Arty rolled his eyes and said "That doesn't matter anymore in this day and age." Alex uttered in a repugnant tone "I know." Artimen looked at Alex and said "Am I comfortable?" Alex looked up without moving his head and said "Yeah, you are." Arty looked back up at the TV and said "Good."
Half an hour passed by and nothing in the house was stirring except for Tommy who was taking his shower and Dr. Marks who was making a place in his room for Tommy to live. Dr. Marks was now finished with all of the arrangements and got one of his shorter bath robes for Tommy out of his massive wardrobe that had accumulated cloths over the centuries, everything from armor to ball gowns for girls and everything in between (no one is sure why he has the ball gowns though) but what was more amazing was the fact that it all fit right into a small 3ft by 2ft closet, it was old and had doors so everyone just assumed that it was enchanted, and they were right. The robe he picked was made of Egyptian cotton and was a deep royal blue and it had his family's insignia on it in golden silk thread that was embroidered with his initials below it. I was the perfect size for Tommy.
He made his way down from his room to the bathroom that Tommy was in, knocked on the door and said "Tommy, I have the robe for you, can I come in?" Tommy thought to himself "Come in?! What is he, a pervert!? Oh wait… he's a doctor, nudity means nothing to him." He said aloud to Dr. Marks "Umm… can you just leave it by the door? I am kind of shy if you don't mind." Dr. Marks rolled his eyes and simultaneously thought and spoke to himself "boy's…" he said "Tommy, there is nowhere to put it, besides I have to examine you fully to see if there is anything else wrong with you, Okay?" Tommy said nothing for a few minutes. He crouched down in the tub and said "okay…" hesitantly and quietly. Dr. Marks opened the door and came in as it closed quickly behind him. He could only see the top of Tommy's head with his wet brown hair that still had suds in it from the shampoo that he used. He said "Tommy, look, here is your robe." Tommy peeked his head out to look at it "uh-huh, yep I see it." And he pulled his head back down. Dr. Marks shook his head; he walked next to the sink and pulled a pole out of the wall to hang to robe on. He put away his glasses into their protective case because they were beginning to fog up and said "Alright Tommy, lets get this over with, if you are going to be living in this house, you are going to have to get over the fear of nudity, trust me on this one. Now stand up." "Do I have to? I mean can't you just read me with that special vision of yours and be done?" Tommy asked desperately. Dr. Marks pulled up a chair that was next to the sink and sat next to the bath tub and said "First of all, yes you have to, and second of all that 'special vision' as you call it will not give me a completely accurate reading. Now the sooner I examine you the sooner I can get out of here. And don't think that if you don't stand up I will leave, because I will stay here all day and night if I have to. So what's it going to be: be waterlogged and uncomfortable for a couple more hours until you fall asleep, or will you stand up, let me check you for a few minutes so I can leave, and then you can enjoy the rest of your shower?"
Tommy didn't say anything for 10 minutes, "You are not going to leave, are you?" in a sour but realistically polite tone. Dr. Marks responded with an immediate and serious yet somewhat humorous tone "Nope." Tommy sighed and stood up with his arms open to show himself to Dr. Marks. Dr. Marks immediately began to look and survey his body. He noticed that Tommy's skin had gained a little bit more color from the heat, he also noticed that his lips and nipples had turned a deep pink/red color as if he was a regular human; earlier Tommy's nipples and lips were a pail red like his own. He was a bit astounded buy this but it was nothing major so he commenced to examine him further. But as soon as he touched Tommy on the chest Tommy shivered and said "You're freezing!" Dr. Marks took his hands off of Tommy "Sorry" he rolled up his sleeves and ran his hands underneath the hot running water for a minute. When he pulled them out they had turned a pink color signifying that they were warm now. He further examined him by pressing his two fingers against Tommy's left nipple to feel the temperature of his blood while using his other hand's two fingers to feel Tommy's pulse in his neck (that is if he had a pulse, not all vampires were void of one, it's just that there hearts beat so slowly that it seems that their heart is not beating at all). But Dr. Marks received a huge surprise when he read Tommy. He was so shocked that he actually turned the water off because he thought that it was clouding his judgment. He placed his hands on Tommy again and got the same result. He couldn't believe what he was feeling, so he got up and walked over towards the sink and pushed a button. In the living room a light was going off on the table. Alex leaned forward and pushed a button and said "This is Alex here, what's the trouble?" "Alex, I need you to get down here at the bathroom, now." Dr. Marks said with a fearful voice. "Alright, I'll be down there in a few seconds." Alex let go of the button, got up and began to run to the bathroom. Tommy said in a disheartened voice "Oh come on! Not him too!" Dr. Marks replied "I told you that you are going to have to get over it if you are going to live here." Alex came through the door and Tommy immediately used his hands to cover his private parts. Alex said "what's the matter?"
"I need you to check his pulse for me." Dr. Marks said.
"That's it; that's what was so urgent?"
"Just do it for me, please."
"Why?"
"I need a second opinion on this, please just do it."
"Okay, fine by me, but if he tries to bite me, I will not hesitate to kill him."
"Understandable, now do it please."
Alex rested his two fingers on Tommy's neck for a few seconds. He took them off and said "It's completely normal, just like any other human……!" Alex got a shock and looked directly at Dr. Marks who's eyes were wide and was nodding his head, he also had his hands on his hips as if to simulate that he was more surprised. "What does it mean?" Alex raised an eyebrow. Dr. Marks put his right hand over his mouth for two seconds "I don't know, this is beyond me, I have never come across this… ever. Did he have that kind of a pulse when you first picked him up?" "No, I don't think so anyway." Alex said as he places his left elbow in his right hand and places his left hand in a fist under his chin. Tommy crouched down into the tub "Umm, can I finish taking my shower please if you are done, I'm getting cold again." Dr. Marks went over and checked his temperature again. It was getting colder again but his pulse was still at the same rate. "This is just too weird, I can't explain this." Dr. Marks said as he sat down on the chair again. "Well, I am pretty sure that you can continue on that subject tomorrow night to see if his pulse is still like that. I suggest that you just finish giving him his physical and let him finish his shower. Oh and Tommy, for future reference, if you want some privacy, push this marble button on the wall right here. This will send down black tinted, fogged glass around the tub." Alex said as he pointed at the button. He left the room and went back to watch the movie with Artimen as if nothing happened. Dr. Marks finished checking Tommy and left.
Tommy felt so embarrassed and cold now that he just wanted to curl up in the tub and die. But he wanted to warm up more instead. So he turned back on the hot water and finished cleaning himself. Meanwhile Alex was beginning to dose off while he was laying on Artimen's shoulder like he was before (after all he couldn't help the fact that Artimen was so soft and comfortable); a knock on the door broke him out of the trance. He got up and Artimen fallowed behind him.
Alex opened the door and Justin came in holding many, many bags in his arms. Artimen being the strongest of the 3 took them all and said "alright Alex, where do you want the stuff?" "Go put it in Dr. Marks room, and just the cloths okay, put the food in the kitchen. Justin, is there anymore stuff?" Alex said. "Yeah, there is plenty more where that came from." Justin said as he pointed out the door using his thumb. Alex nodded and fallowed Justin outside to get the bags from the car. In no time everything was inside and the car was locked. Justin put away the food while Alex put Justin's Chinese food in the microwave to heat it up for him. Artimen on the other hand went strait to bed after he turned off the TV. It was now 5:00 in the morning and the sun was about to come up.
Tommy had just finished drying himself off and put the robe on that Dr. Marks picked out for him. It was warm and comfortable, soft to the touch. He tied the muzzle back on and stepped out into the hallway. Now he was totally lost, he had no idea where to go, the house was much bigger than he thought. He tried to retrace his steps. And it led him up to the medical room, but no one was there. So he decided to do some exploring. As he walked down the hallway he could hear some people talking; it sounded like Alex. So he fallowed the voices and ended up in the living room. He turned around and saw Alex talking to someone in the Kitchen.
Justin looked up after he put some sesame seed chicken in his mouth and saw Tommy. He said as he chewed "Who's this little guy?" Alex turned around to look and saw Tommy with the muzzle and wearing the robe. "Oh, that's Tommy, the kid I was telling you about. Tommy, this is Justin, he lives here with us as well." "So you're the one who I had to get all of those cloths for? I hope you like wearing white and grey because that's all the colors I got you, and I also picked up a load of shorts for you as well." Justin said as he took his fork, drove it into another piece of chicken and shoved it into his mouth. Tommy began to blush a little. Justin and Alex were both surprised; they both had dealt with vampires before and neither of them thought that they could blush. Justin chewed a little bit and swallowed "Are you sure he's a vampire?" he said as he moved around some of the rice on his plate. "Yeah, but he is special." Alex Quickly turned around to look at Justin and said "And I mean in a good way." "Oh, right." Justin said with a giggle. Tommy made a look of discontent on his face. Alex turned around and said "ignore him, he's just full of himself, or in this case right now full of sesame seed chicken." Tommy giggled a little bit, Alex continued "Oh and there are plenty more people for you to meet, but we can do that tomorrow. As for right now, you have to go to bed, just like the rest of us. I'll take you to Dr. Marks' room."
Alex escorted Tommy to Dr. Marks' room just like he said. He knocked on the door and asked "Dr. Marks, I have Tommy here, can we come in?" "Come on in, I have everything ready." Dr. Marks spoke from behind the door. Alex opened the door and they both went inside. The room was neatly organized and Dr. Marks was standing in the middle. He waved his left arm and to present Tommy's side of the room and said "Here you are Tommy, I hope you have enough space. The couch will serve as your bed until I can get a real one and I put your cloths away in a trunk behind the couch and laid some out for you to sleep in." Dr. Marks smiled and walked over to what looked like to be one of the boards that you hang upside down from to straighten you back; it was just the very thing. Dr. Marks touched the inverter and continued "This is my bed right here; I hang upside down to sleep by the way so don't be shocked. As for the rest of the room, that belongs to me, but you can use what ever you need as long as you ask first. Now it is time for bed for both of us. And don't worry, I blocked out the windows so no sun can get in." Alex patted Tommy's head "Good morning Tommy, I will see you tonight." And he left the room closing the door behind him. Dr. Marks said as he went into a door that was elaborately carved and seemed to lead to nowhere "You can get changed now, I will be back in a few minutes." The door closed behind him and Tommy took the opportunity to change in privacy. Once he got his pajamas on, he folded up the robe for his new superior. He sat down on the couch and bounced on it a little bit to test it; it was extremely soft and the fabric on it had a unique feel to it almost as if it was a combination of silk and cotton that were weaved tightly together to create a nearly perfect fabric. He laid his head down on the pillow that had a black silk casing on it; it was very fluffy, almost like a cloud. He pulled the blanket up on him, it was a dark green color that seemed to be crushed velvet on the one side and the other was light and soft cotton. His eyes began to grow extremely heavy. And so he closed his eyes and drifted away into a deep slumber that he had not felt for what seemed like ages.
Dr. Marks came back into the room dressed in his pajamas and found Tommy fast asleep on the couch. He smiled to himself and sat on the arm of the couch above Tommy's head and just began to stare at him. For a few minutes he just sat there and watched Tommy breath in and out slowly; he thought nothing as he did this. For some vampires this was a form of bonding and or savoring the vision of there pray. But for Dr. Marks this was neither this nor that. Ever since he was a child he would do this to the mortals in the town that he lived in; but he would never drink there blood after he did this, in fact the very people who he did this too were spared from his hunger for all eternity. One could say that he was fascinated with sleep, but this was just a little more than that or less depending on how you look at it. Even he does not know why he does it, but that is something he plans to ask God when he dies.
He blinked. He rested his one hand on Tommy's somewhat wet but dry hair and began to play with it gently so as to not disturb Tommy. He said to himself "Such a beautiful young boy: Fine hair, thin body, great figure, and such a modest personality. Now granted he may quite a few kinks to work out of him but in due time he will learn. It truly is sad that this has happened to such an innocent boy who now seems to be on the edge of becoming a man. He was so simple before all of this had happened. How is it possible that this world can be so cruel to those that do not have such a nature? He has been through so much in a short amount of time. I can only hope that he will make the right decisions, but I will help him, make no mistake of that. I suppose this is God's way of answering my prayers for a companion of my own kind, but I never expected this to happen in such a way. Now it appears that I have yet another great reason to find a cure for this horrible disease that Satan has given to us. God does work in mysterious ways, and it is funny how you can find him, thee God of light and truth, in the darkest of places. Well, I suppose things will work out, I can only hope." Dr. Marks smiled, he leaned over and kissed Tommy's forehead. He got up, walked over and strapped himself into his so called "bed", flipped it over and he began to hang upside down. He clapped his hands and the lights went out. Of cores he could still see in the dark but this just helped him to sleep better. He crossed his arms, closed his eyes and said to himself "I've got a lot of work to do in two hours, better make them count." And he immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Description
Alex walked ahead while Artimen fallowed closely behind. Their guns were drawn and held downward. Silently they crouched down next to the steal door, each of them on either side. Artimen set the bomb on the door for 3 seconds; both of them immediately got to a safe distance away. The bomb went off creating a massive hole in the wall as well as a huge cloud of smoke. Alex and Artimen rushed in immediately. "Freeze! Down on the ground now!" Alex shouted. The dust cleared a little bit to reveal a boy with brown hair; his white shirt was torn up so only a small portion of it was left on him, he had black pants and was covered in blood, he covered his face with his arms in order to protect himself. He was on the floor leaning against the wall. The smog dissipated completely, the bodies of two men were on the ground, their cloths and flesh torn to pieces.
Alex and Artimen, both shocked at the sight, lowered their weapons. "It's just a kid?" Artimen said. Alex looked at the boy with his trinity vision. "That is no ordinary kid Arty; you should be able to smell that." Artimen snorted the air into his nostrils "Your right, this kid is a vampire." The boy lowered his arms to reveal that he had glaring red eyes, he was crying; blood dripping from his mouth and hands. "I'm sorry." the boy said while weeping with a choke in his voice pattern. Alex walked toward the boy but was pulled back by Artimen before he could get close "Alex, don't get close to him. He's dangerous, and he looks like he can't control himself." Alex replied as he brushed off Artimen's hand from his shoulder and continued to walk toward the boy looking at Artimen with a face of annoyance "I know what I'm doing." He knelt down in front of the crying young vampire and asked "What is your name boy?" The sobbing child responded "Tommy Cornwall........." Alex slowly moved his hand toward his side as if to pull something out. "Please Mister...... don't hurt me." Tommy said fearing his death. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you. In fact I am going to get you out of this place. But before I can do that, I need you to do one thing for me." Alex said as he pulled out a large stick of Leather that was caped off at the ends and had string attached to it.
"What?" Tommy asked with fear in his voice as he stared at the four inch stick that Alex had in his hands. "I need you to sink your teeth into this stick and let me tie it around your neck, okay?" "Why?" Tommy asked with even grater fear. "It's just to make sure that you will not bite me or my friend, I can only get you out of here if you do it. Okay?" Tommy, while hesitant at first, nodded slowly and cautiously took the stick from Alex. He bared his teeth with his prominent fangs on full display being coated in crimson liquid making them all look like red pearls, and sunk his teeth into the stick. Alex took the ends of the string and tied them tightly together behind Tommy's head. Alex picked the blood covered boy up and held him in his arms and said to Artimen without turing around. "Let's get back home Arty, we're done here." Artimen nodded and pressed his to fingers against the communicator in his large fluffy ear and said "Mission accomplished, returning to HQ, have the ship pick us up at the helicopter platform in 10 minutes." "Roger Dogger." Techno said on the other line as he typed on his keyboard. Alex and Artimen made there way out of the building. All of the guards had been executed, and the sun had already set, Tommy was in no danger.
They got to the platform and while they waited, Artimen took out a black fabric bag and placed it over Tommy's head. "Nothing against you Tommy, it's just protocol." Tommy didn't care at this point, the only thing that he wanted now was for this nightmare to be over. The sound of roaring engines pierced Tommy's ear drums, he screamed through the pain, but the engines volume, combined with the leather in his mouth, rendered his cry mute. The sound stopped and he felt like he was moving, but he was still in Alex's arms. About 20 minutes passed by, he felt the ship stop. Everything was still black as he was carried. He heard a car door open, then shut. 10 minutes of driving, the car door opened and closed again. he heard a door open, they walked for a minute.
"Well, lets see, what have you brought me this time Alex?" Dr. Marks said as he pushed up his glasses. Alex sat Tommy on the doctor's medical bed, and took off the black bag. It was bright, Tommy covered his eyes. As his eyes adjusted Alex bundled the black bag, and threw it in the trash as he said "This here is Tommy Cornwall, we found him in a cell. I am sure you can figure out why by the muzzle." Dr. Marks nodded "I see, that would explain why he is covered in blood along with the red eyes." "So I figured you could help him out considering he is one of your kind, after all, who else would know all about Vampirial things better?" Alex continued. Dr. Marks grew a smug smile with his lips. "Naturally, but we have to remove that muzzle, so I suggest you stand back Alex." Alex took three steps back and Dr. Marks untied the string. Tommy's eyes had finally adjusted to the light and when he saw Dr. Marks reaching for the muzzle he griped it in his jaws. When he tried to pull the muzzle away, Tommy refused to let go of it. The muzzle now became a security blanket for him like a child has a teddy bear; the only difference was that Tommy was using it to stop himself from biting anybody again. "Tommy, let go of the muzzle." Dr. Marks said in a commanding tone, Tommy just shook his head to say no. "Tommy, let go of it." Dr. Marks said again in a stronger tone, but Tommy shook his head again and began to cry again. "Tommy, if you don't let go of it I will use a nerve pinch on you and make you let it go." Dr. Marks said in an extremely dark tone. He could just rip it out, but that would just harm Tommy even more. Tommy shook his head again in desperate defiance. Dr. Marks gripped Tommy's lower neck on the right side causing his jaw to open and the rest of his body to jerk downward. Dr. Marks pulled the stick off of Tommy's teeth and set it down in a tray behind him.
He released Tommy's neck; Tommy immediately covered his mouth. "I'm sorry, please don't hurt me, I won't be bad anymore I promise!" Tommy sobbed. Dr. Marks gazed into the eyes of the petrified boy and felt a deep compassion for him; it was quite possibly that because this boy was one of his own that he felt so moved. Dr. Marks closed his eyes, took off his glasses, then opened them to reveal that his eyes began to glow a bright and luminous brown, his pupils had grown huge. He was now looking into Tommy's soul. Tommy looked deep into the bright brown eyes, he became hypnotized, and soon fell into a deep trance, dropping his hands away from his mouth. Dr. Marks looked into Tommy's eyes and could see everything that was in his heart: the boy liked to skateboard, play the guitar, hang out with his friends and solve math problems, he was fascinated in science and loved his mom deeply. He raised his eyebrows once and changed his perspective to look into the dark part of his heart: he was jealous of his friends for being able talk to girls without tripping up, he had stolen candy from a class mate, and he broke his mom's favorite vase. He raised his eyebrows a second time and looked into the fears of his heart. The doctor began to see the cause of the issue at hand.
As the images were being played for him like a movie reel, he began to get uneasy. Men straped the boy down and inject him with glowing red liquid that he assumed to be the vampire virus. The men cut him up, watched him heal, then cut him again and again, he felt Tommy's pain, every ounce of it. They ripped him off the chair, and threw him into a dark room making him go days without food or water. They tantalized him with the smell of blood. Finnaly they threw in unsuspecting victims in to his chamber. Tommy ripped them apart as he gorged on their blood and flesh. The doctor felt the pure essence of the boys fear and pain and it struck him in his heart like a cardiac arrest. The pain from the fear and the fear of the pain became too much and he turned his face away and closed his eyes while grabbing his head in shear pain. He let out a yell that broke Tommy out of the trance. All the while Alex stood back knowing all to well that things could turn for the worst at any moment when Dr. Marks was like this.
Dr. Marks breathed heavily for a few seconds to calm himself, then relaxed; he stood up, put his glasses on with one hand, and opened his eyes. They returned to a normal shade of brown. Turning his head, he looked at the scared boy "Don't worry, your going to be fine, I know what is wrong with you, and that you are scared and that you have so many questions. I can help you if you want me too." Tommy breathed silently, he was trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. "Tommy, I know you have questions, I will answer them if you ask." Tommy snapped out of his thoughts, he looked around at the room what was painted a soft blue, it was a clinic, various shelves were lined with jars and filled with a variety of medical supplies, the room was equipped with what any doctor's came with standard. "Tommy, you are wasting my time. TOMMY!" Tommy looked at Dr. Marks with fear. He gulped, and thought about what to ask.
"What's wrong with me?" Dr. Marks took a deep breath "You are what is known as a Vampire, a being that feeds on the blood of humans, Animeges's, and animals. You became one when they injected you with that red liquid that contained the vampire virus. They tortured you by not giving you any blood for you to drink for five days making you have uncontrolled hunger that can not be satisfied now, once a person becomes a vampire they must immediately drink blood or else the virus can not be stabilized and become settled at set intakes of blood. And it appears that they altered the virus to make it more violent in its cravings. This is why you are always hungry, but you never know why even though you do not have cravings for the taste of blood. The very scent of blood, the sound of a heart beat, or looking at a person's veins pulsing or the color red triggers the virus and excites the hunger. I know you don't want to do it but you have no control and your body takes over." All the while Tommy cried.
"Tommy," Dr. Marks continued. "I know you are scared and that you just wish that this was all a long nightmare that you could wake up from, but that is not the case. You are what you are, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner I can help you control your hunger. That all depends on you and you alone, only God can help you with that." Rage exploded from Tommy's heart "God! What does he have to do with anything, there is no such thing, if there is a god then why did it let this happen to me!?" Tommy shouted out at the top of his lungs. Alex raised an eyebrow out of astonishment, but then again he didn't blame Tommy for it, he himself had been tested through far worse than that. Dr. Marks pushed up his glasses with his right hand middle finger "Oh there is a God, would you like to see why many vampires fear the cross?" The doctor said as he slowly took his right hand down to his side. Dr. Marks took out a small cross from his pocket. Tommy took one look at it and jumped onto the wall and crawled up to the ceiling leaving hand prints from the blood that was on his hands. His eyes were radiating with vermillion color as he hissed at the small cross. Alex rested his hand on the gun in his holster, waiting for what could happen. "What's the matter Tommy; it's just a shape with 12 sides. I thought that wouldn't matter to you." Dr. Marks said as he held up the little wooden cross. Tommy hissed again and said in a sneering voice that wreaked of demonic influence "Get that thing away from me." the doctor raised an eyebrow "Why? I thought that there was no God. But then again, why would you hate this little object? I mean it only represents when he became human and died for our sins." Dr. Marks said with a smile.
"How can you hold that thing? You are a vampire too!" Tommy said with an evil face. It was almost as if he became someone, or something, different. "Quite simple really, I am saved, so there is no reason for me to fear God, I know that he loves me. Unlike you I was born a vampire into a whole family of Vampirials. So I was to be considered damned from the start of my life, but I discovered that God loves all and desires that none shall perish, but instead he would welcome them with open arms into his everlasting love. You see, because I accepted Jesus as my savior, I was saved from that horrible damnation that you and I know all to well Tommy. And you can escape it too. Believe me, I am proof that it salvation is real." Dr. Marks said as he smiled to display his prominent fangs. Tommy said nothing creating a moment of awkward silence. "Well if God loves me so much, then why did he let this happen to me?" Dr. Marks shrugged "God works in mysterious ways Tommy, I can attest for that because I have witnessed it all the time in my 935 years of life." Dr. Marks said with a completely serious face. Tommy just hung on the wall for 40 seconds and came down slowly to sit on the table. He thought to himself for a few minutes. "Mister, have you really lived for that long? You don't look that old at all." Tommy asked as he examined the doctors face. "I am a vampire, remember?" Dr. Marks replied. "Now are you going to let me help you or not?" Tommy gave a blank stare with his mouth open. He looked back at the wall behind him with the bloody handprints, he turned his head and looked at his hands that still were covered in blood. He looked up and asked "is there a cure?"
Dr. Marks took another deep breath and sighed. He took off his glasses, after he put the cross back in his pocket, and began to clean them with a sliver silk cloth and said "There was a cure. You see way back before the birth of Christ, Alexander the great founded the city of Alexandria, after his death the city became a busy metropolis that was far ahead of it's time with it's advancements in most everything. In that city many people came and researched many things including the vampire virus in both contagious and genetic form. One person actually discovered the cure for the disease and made it publicly known for the whole world when he recorded his findings in the library and put them on display. Thousands of vampires made there way to the city and were cured. But the medicine for the disease could only be maid at the city with it's prosperous trade rout position to bring all of the ingredients to itself, and so there really was no need to take the knowledge else where. But unfortunately the library was ransacked and most of the scrolls were burned, including the cure and the ingredients to the medicine for it, when the Romans attacked the city leaving most of it destroyed. No one has come close to figuring out the cure since then and the knowledge has now been lost to the sands of time. The only man after that who cured the virus was Jesus and he did it without medicine. So as of now there is no cure Tommy." Dr. Marks slid his glasses back on and looked at Tommy; his countenance was that of pure remorse. Tommy pulled his legs together, wrapped his arms around them and rested his head on his knees and said in a sad voice "There is no hope for me." Alex jumped into the conversation before Dr. Marks could say anything "Now don't say that Tommy, there is always hope no matter what anyone says. Now Dr. Marks just said 'for now there is no cure' that does not mean necessarily that there will not be one in the future. And if the cure was already discovered, then that means that it can be found again."
Alex rested his hand on Tommy's back. Tommy looked up at Alex. With a sweet smile, like a father gives to his child when they need to be consoled, Alex put his fingers underneath Tommy's chin and said "You just have to have faith Tommy." Tommy said nothing as he gazed into Alex's eyes; he now for some reason had no hunger, and in its place felt like he had now fount a friend in all of the confusion and horror. His fangs for the first time since he became a vampire withdrew themselves back into his gum. Dr. Marks observed this with great interest and said "And the first step to controlling that hunger of yours Tommy has just been completed." Tommy looked at Dr. Marks with surprise and said "It is? But I didn't do anything." "Oh but you did." Dr. Marks continued "You focused on something else completely, and as a result your body fallowed your example and shut down it's response to the virus. But do not be confused, you still have a long way to go before you have more control over it." Tommy put his fingers in this mouth to feel if his fangs had really retracted, and much to his surprise they had done just that. He couldn't believe it, he felt for them again, but they had disappeared. A smile creeped onto his face for the first time in what seemed like ages. He took his fingers out of his mouth. Suddenly he realized something. "So what am I suppose to do now? I can't go back to my mom like this or my granddad, I might kill them or they just wouldn't understand. I can't go to my friend's home because I could kill them as well, I have got no place to stay and......." He yawned "I am getting tired fast." "That my dear boy is because the dawn is coming soon and you probably should have been in bed a while ago." Dr. Marks said as he looked at the atomic clock on the wall. "As for the home, I am sure that we can make arrangements for you. How about it Alex, can he stay?" he asked turning his head to look at Alex with a friendly smile.
"He is going to have to stay in your room Dr., other than that he is welcome to stay with us for as long as he needs." Alex said as he rubbed Tommy's back. "But I couldn't, I don't want to be a burden on anyone." Tommy said as he shook his head. "Too late my dear Tommy, it has been decided. You are staying with me, now I have a lot of standards for you to hold up to: rule number one – Never touch my medical equipment nor any of my experiments, number two – Always keep the room clean and keep yourself clean, number three – never bring a dead body into my room nor bring your food in my room if it is alive or dead, number four – never be loud, especially if I am in the middle of conducting an experiment, number five – always keep your manors in check and be polite." The list went on and on and on till he got to number 60. "And I could go on for hours to be in specific detail but I will just do that for you later. Now I want you to take charge of that second rule and go clean yourself up." Tommy had his jaw dropped to the floor, after hearing all of those rules. "How the hell am I suppose to have any fun!?" "AH! Remember rule number 10! No swearing! And rule number 4, no being loud!" Dr. Marks said as he snapped his fingers and pointed at Tommy in his face. Tommy pulled in his lips so he looked like he had no teeth. "Good boy, now Alex will take you to the shower room in the mean time in dealing with your cloths…" Dr. Marks began to think and talk to himself so quietly that not even Tommy could hear it. Alex said as he dialed on his cell-phone and put it up to his ear "don't worry, I got it… Hey Justin could you do me a favor on your way home, pick up a few pairs of jogging pants, t-shirts, underwear and socks… I know its short notice but we have an emergency here… no not that kind of emergency… I'll tell you when you get here alright… hold on, I'll find out, hey Tommy what size cloths do you where for shirts and pants?" Tommy thought for a minute trying to recover that information from his brain "uhhhh… medium for shirts and 25, 20 for pants." "Okay, did you get that Justin? … Yeah… no… okay… we ordered Chinese for dinner… yes I got your order… so I'll just stick it in the microwave when you get here… okay… yeah… alright, see you when you get home… okay bye. Alright Tommy, your cloths should be here in about 2 hours so I suggest you take a long shower, now if you will fallow me I will take you to the bathroom. And don't worry about using up all of the hot water, everybody already took their shower for today." Alex said as he closed his cell-phone and put it in his pocket.
Tommy slowly got down off the table stopped for a second, turned to Dr. Marks, looked up and asked in a very polite tone. "Can I please have that stick back?" Dr. Marks nodded. He turned around, grabbed the stick and, after cleaning it, gave it to Tommy. He patted his head and said "Don't worry; this is your home now. Oh, and I have a robe that you can use after you finnish with your shower till your cloths get here." "Thank you." Tommy said as he sank his teeth into the stick of leather. It tasted like rubbing alcohol, or something similar to it. He tied it behind his head tightly and looked at Alex.
With a smile, Alex led him out through the door. Tommy suddenly felt the soft carpet beneath him and looked around. It looked like a normal house. Various photos of people were posted on the walls that were painted an aqua color of some kind. He only took a quick glance at the photos as he walked by fallowing Alex. They walked down a hallway past what seemed to be a few bedrooms due to the fact that they had names on plaques posted on the door. He was led down some stairs, and through a door that looked as if it was out of a science fiction movie in the fact that it was made of metal and was divided in two as it opened. The new hallway's floor was lit up with white light that glistened off of the metallic walls and ceiling. All the while Tommy was awestruck at the sight of all of this, he never thought that this house would have such a thing inside of it. They got to another door that opened upward and inside was the bathroom.
"Okay" Alex said "here we are, the shower is over there and the towels and washcloths are in that cabinet to the left and the soap is underneath the sink, you can use the green shampoo bottle for shampoo. And when you are done with the soap, put it in that little container on the edge of the sink so I know it's yours. Also, there is mouth wash behind the mirror so be sure to use that, and wash your hands before you touch anything, hand soap is on the sink. I'll be back to check on you in an hour okay?" Tommy nodded his head. Alex smiled, stepped out of the room and pushed a button to close the door from the outside. Tommy was alone now.
He looked around at the bathroom, it was very futuristic, like something he had seen in a movie. Taking it all in, he walked over to the sink and as he was about to push down the plunger of the soap, it dispensed soap into his hand for him. He raised his eyebrows and thought "Fancy I wonder if..." he moved his hands under the faucet and it turned on automatically "Yep, cool." Tommy thought to himself. "This place has everything." he finished washing his hands. Walked over to the cabinet that Alex pointed to, pulled out a towel and a wash cloth, walked over to the tub and shower, turned on the water, got undressed (not that he had many cloths on other than his pants and shoes, and a small scrap of cloth left over from his pervious shirt); untied the muzzle and took it off. He stepped into the stream of hot water and immediately felt warm again. Ever since he became this monster he felt cold, like he was growing ice on his skin and his insides; but now he felt much better. As the hot liquid caressed down his body taking all of the dry blood with it. He was so thankful for everything and began to cry. He sat down on the tub floor all wet from the hair on his head to the bottom of his feet. He said aloud "Thank you God." He got up and began to wash his hair.
Meanwhile Alex went back to the medical room to find Dr. Marks lifting off the bloody hand prints from the wall like they were made of paper and putting them into a bucket, all the while he was not touching anything but instead he had one hand extended at the wall and his index finger and middle finger from his other hand pressed against his head right next to his eyebrow on the left side of his face. He had finally gotten all of the blood off the walls and now he resumed cleaning it with antiseptic so as to make it up to standards with his health code (his being so strict that it was nearly impossible to keep but somehow he made due and got results). He looked at Alex and said "So is he in the shower?" "Yep, I told him where to find everything so he should be fine. Here, let me help you with that." Alex said as he attempted to grab a bucket and a brush but soon failed in his advent. "No need, I like doing this all by myself, thank you. Now when is Justin supposed to get home again?" Dr. Marks said as he sprayed and scrubbed at lightning speed (literally). "He should be home in about 2 hours. Didn't you hear me?" "Just testing you." Dr. Marks said with a smile as he watched his own hands work. Alex rolled his eyes. "In the mean time I think I might just go and watch some TV with Arty. Care to join us after you are done?" Alex said. "No thank you, I still have some things do after I am done cleaning. I have to accommodate for my new room mate now don't I?" Dr. Marks said with a charming smile as he looked at Alex while still cleaning. Alex replied as he made his way out the door "Very well then, I shall leave you to your work."
Alex closed the door and made his way to the living room where Artimen was already in his Pajamas and flipping through the channels with the TV remote. He thought to himself "Okay, now to get out of these heavy clothes and into my PJ's." He went to his room and changed his outfit to his Pajamas as well as cleaned himself up a bit. He went back to the living room and sat right between Artimen's legs, leaned back and propped his feet up on the table. Artimen grinned and said in sarcasm "What, no flowers, chocolates, or a diamond ring?" "Sorry Arty, I had to pay the bills this month and it was either getting you a nice ring or getting food for all of us." Alex responded back with a slight giggle after he finished. "Oh well, that's okay I love you anyway." Artimen said as he hugged Alex tightly with his free arm. Alex weaved his fingers through Artimen's fingers with the same hand as his and held his hand tightly, tilted his head back to look at Artimen and said "What did I ever do to get such a good friend like you?" "I don't know, say 'hi'?" Artimen said as he shrugged his shoulders. "You know what I mean you big fluff ball." Alex said as he looked back at the TV. "Well, I am not sure then, I mean you have such incredibly high maintenance, your attitude most of the time sucks, your disposition is horrible, and you like to bug the crap out of me. Plus you are horrible with kids, you hate playing video games, you have no intelligence what so ever, and you are just plain ugly; so basically you are crap in plastic wrap. And again I have no idea what has made me stay friends with you." Artimen said in a completely serious tone. "You are horrible, you know that?" Alex rolled his eyes and had a frown on his face. Artimen got a cheeky smirk on his face and said "I know, but that's why you love me." He licked Alex's cheek with his long tongue (this being completely natural to do for a werewolf toward his family and best friends as a sign of love and affection) Alex let out an "eww" and elbowed Artimen in the stomach with his free arm. Artimen jumped and let out a little cough, and giggled; it didn't hurt but it was funny none the less. Alex wiped the slobber off of his cheek and smiled. As he searched through the channels Artimen found that the Phantom of the Opera was playing on the MPT channel (Maryland Public Television) and it had just started.
Fifteen minutes passed when Techno (Artimen's older brother) came out from the hallway in his striped pajama pants and white T-shirt to put away his left over food in the refrigerator, he glanced at Alex and Arty as he walked by through his purple tinted spectacles and "Finally coming out of the closet you two?" Alex turned his head to look at Techno, his physiognomy was that of pure annoyance as he grabbed the nearest pillow on the couch and chucked it at Techno who was in the kitchen. Techno ducked dogging the projectile and said with a smile when he stood up "Ha, missed me, missed me, now you have to kiss me. Oh wait, sorry Arty, I don't mean to encroach on your territory." Arty turned his head to look at Techno and was now equally annoyed as Alex was. He grabbed the nearest pillow to him on the couch, stood up and chucked it at Techno. Techno, instead of dogging, caught the pillow and said with a large grin "Okay, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone then." He tossed back the first pillow that he had in his arms and picked up the one on the floor and did the same as he did with the first. Alex and Arty both caught the pillows and sat down next to each other. Alex said in an aggravated tone "Why does everyone think that we are a gay couple?!" Arty looked at Alex "Well, if you think about it, we pretty much send off gay-dar alarms that can be seen from space. Number one: we are watching Phantom of the Opera on Maryland Public Television. Number two: you were sitting in-between my legs and laid back on to my body. And finally number three: I had my arm wrapped around you and you had your hand interwoven with mine." Alex crinkled his lips to the right side of his face, hopped his whole body over slightly away from Artimen, crossed his arms, leaned against the lycan and rested his head on Arty's shoulder "What ever, I have a girlfriend." Arty rolled his eyes and said "That doesn't matter anymore in this day and age." Alex uttered in a repugnant tone "I know." Artimen looked at Alex and said "Am I comfortable?" Alex looked up without moving his head and said "Yeah, you are." Arty looked back up at the TV and said "Good."
Half an hour passed by and nothing in the house was stirring except for Tommy who was taking his shower and Dr. Marks who was making a place in his room for Tommy to live. Dr. Marks was now finished with all of the arrangements and got one of his shorter bath robes for Tommy out of his massive wardrobe that had accumulated cloths over the centuries, everything from armor to ball gowns for girls and everything in between (no one is sure why he has the ball gowns though) but what was more amazing was the fact that it all fit right into a small 3ft by 2ft closet, it was old and had doors so everyone just assumed that it was enchanted, and they were right. The robe he picked was made of Egyptian cotton and was a deep royal blue and it had his family's insignia on it in golden silk thread that was embroidered with his initials below it. I was the perfect size for Tommy.
He made his way down from his room to the bathroom that Tommy was in, knocked on the door and said "Tommy, I have the robe for you, can I come in?" Tommy thought to himself "Come in?! What is he, a pervert!? Oh wait… he's a doctor, nudity means nothing to him." He said aloud to Dr. Marks "Umm… can you just leave it by the door? I am kind of shy if you don't mind." Dr. Marks rolled his eyes and simultaneously thought and spoke to himself "boy's…" he said "Tommy, there is nowhere to put it, besides I have to examine you fully to see if there is anything else wrong with you, Okay?" Tommy said nothing for a few minutes. He crouched down in the tub and said "okay…" hesitantly and quietly. Dr. Marks opened the door and came in as it closed quickly behind him. He could only see the top of Tommy's head with his wet brown hair that still had suds in it from the shampoo that he used. He said "Tommy, look, here is your robe." Tommy peeked his head out to look at it "uh-huh, yep I see it." And he pulled his head back down. Dr. Marks shook his head; he walked next to the sink and pulled a pole out of the wall to hang to robe on. He put away his glasses into their protective case because they were beginning to fog up and said "Alright Tommy, lets get this over with, if you are going to be living in this house, you are going to have to get over the fear of nudity, trust me on this one. Now stand up." "Do I have to? I mean can't you just read me with that special vision of yours and be done?" Tommy asked desperately. Dr. Marks pulled up a chair that was next to the sink and sat next to the bath tub and said "First of all, yes you have to, and second of all that 'special vision' as you call it will not give me a completely accurate reading. Now the sooner I examine you the sooner I can get out of here. And don't think that if you don't stand up I will leave, because I will stay here all day and night if I have to. So what's it going to be: be waterlogged and uncomfortable for a couple more hours until you fall asleep, or will you stand up, let me check you for a few minutes so I can leave, and then you can enjoy the rest of your shower?"
Tommy didn't say anything for 10 minutes, "You are not going to leave, are you?" in a sour but realistically polite tone. Dr. Marks responded with an immediate and serious yet somewhat humorous tone "Nope." Tommy sighed and stood up with his arms open to show himself to Dr. Marks. Dr. Marks immediately began to look and survey his body. He noticed that Tommy's skin had gained a little bit more color from the heat, he also noticed that his lips and nipples had turned a deep pink/red color as if he was a regular human; earlier Tommy's nipples and lips were a pail red like his own. He was a bit astounded buy this but it was nothing major so he commenced to examine him further. But as soon as he touched Tommy on the chest Tommy shivered and said "You're freezing!" Dr. Marks took his hands off of Tommy "Sorry" he rolled up his sleeves and ran his hands underneath the hot running water for a minute. When he pulled them out they had turned a pink color signifying that they were warm now. He further examined him by pressing his two fingers against Tommy's left nipple to feel the temperature of his blood while using his other hand's two fingers to feel Tommy's pulse in his neck (that is if he had a pulse, not all vampires were void of one, it's just that there hearts beat so slowly that it seems that their heart is not beating at all). But Dr. Marks received a huge surprise when he read Tommy. He was so shocked that he actually turned the water off because he thought that it was clouding his judgment. He placed his hands on Tommy again and got the same result. He couldn't believe what he was feeling, so he got up and walked over towards the sink and pushed a button. In the living room a light was going off on the table. Alex leaned forward and pushed a button and said "This is Alex here, what's the trouble?" "Alex, I need you to get down here at the bathroom, now." Dr. Marks said with a fearful voice. "Alright, I'll be down there in a few seconds." Alex let go of the button, got up and began to run to the bathroom. Tommy said in a disheartened voice "Oh come on! Not him too!" Dr. Marks replied "I told you that you are going to have to get over it if you are going to live here." Alex came through the door and Tommy immediately used his hands to cover his private parts. Alex said "what's the matter?"
"I need you to check his pulse for me." Dr. Marks said.
"That's it; that's what was so urgent?"
"Just do it for me, please."
"Why?"
"I need a second opinion on this, please just do it."
"Okay, fine by me, but if he tries to bite me, I will not hesitate to kill him."
"Understandable, now do it please."
Alex rested his two fingers on Tommy's neck for a few seconds. He took them off and said "It's completely normal, just like any other human……!" Alex got a shock and looked directly at Dr. Marks who's eyes were wide and was nodding his head, he also had his hands on his hips as if to simulate that he was more surprised. "What does it mean?" Alex raised an eyebrow. Dr. Marks put his right hand over his mouth for two seconds "I don't know, this is beyond me, I have never come across this… ever. Did he have that kind of a pulse when you first picked him up?" "No, I don't think so anyway." Alex said as he places his left elbow in his right hand and places his left hand in a fist under his chin. Tommy crouched down into the tub "Umm, can I finish taking my shower please if you are done, I'm getting cold again." Dr. Marks went over and checked his temperature again. It was getting colder again but his pulse was still at the same rate. "This is just too weird, I can't explain this." Dr. Marks said as he sat down on the chair again. "Well, I am pretty sure that you can continue on that subject tomorrow night to see if his pulse is still like that. I suggest that you just finish giving him his physical and let him finish his shower. Oh and Tommy, for future reference, if you want some privacy, push this marble button on the wall right here. This will send down black tinted, fogged glass around the tub." Alex said as he pointed at the button. He left the room and went back to watch the movie with Artimen as if nothing happened. Dr. Marks finished checking Tommy and left.
Tommy felt so embarrassed and cold now that he just wanted to curl up in the tub and die. But he wanted to warm up more instead. So he turned back on the hot water and finished cleaning himself. Meanwhile Alex was beginning to dose off while he was laying on Artimen's shoulder like he was before (after all he couldn't help the fact that Artimen was so soft and comfortable); a knock on the door broke him out of the trance. He got up and Artimen fallowed behind him.
Alex opened the door and Justin came in holding many, many bags in his arms. Artimen being the strongest of the 3 took them all and said "alright Alex, where do you want the stuff?" "Go put it in Dr. Marks room, and just the cloths okay, put the food in the kitchen. Justin, is there anymore stuff?" Alex said. "Yeah, there is plenty more where that came from." Justin said as he pointed out the door using his thumb. Alex nodded and fallowed Justin outside to get the bags from the car. In no time everything was inside and the car was locked. Justin put away the food while Alex put Justin's Chinese food in the microwave to heat it up for him. Artimen on the other hand went strait to bed after he turned off the TV. It was now 5:00 in the morning and the sun was about to come up.
Tommy had just finished drying himself off and put the robe on that Dr. Marks picked out for him. It was warm and comfortable, soft to the touch. He tied the muzzle back on and stepped out into the hallway. Now he was totally lost, he had no idea where to go, the house was much bigger than he thought. He tried to retrace his steps. And it led him up to the medical room, but no one was there. So he decided to do some exploring. As he walked down the hallway he could hear some people talking; it sounded like Alex. So he fallowed the voices and ended up in the living room. He turned around and saw Alex talking to someone in the Kitchen.
Justin looked up after he put some sesame seed chicken in his mouth and saw Tommy. He said as he chewed "Who's this little guy?" Alex turned around to look and saw Tommy with the muzzle and wearing the robe. "Oh, that's Tommy, the kid I was telling you about. Tommy, this is Justin, he lives here with us as well." "So you're the one who I had to get all of those cloths for? I hope you like wearing white and grey because that's all the colors I got you, and I also picked up a load of shorts for you as well." Justin said as he took his fork, drove it into another piece of chicken and shoved it into his mouth. Tommy began to blush a little. Justin and Alex were both surprised; they both had dealt with vampires before and neither of them thought that they could blush. Justin chewed a little bit and swallowed "Are you sure he's a vampire?" he said as he moved around some of the rice on his plate. "Yeah, but he is special." Alex Quickly turned around to look at Justin and said "And I mean in a good way." "Oh, right." Justin said with a giggle. Tommy made a look of discontent on his face. Alex turned around and said "ignore him, he's just full of himself, or in this case right now full of sesame seed chicken." Tommy giggled a little bit, Alex continued "Oh and there are plenty more people for you to meet, but we can do that tomorrow. As for right now, you have to go to bed, just like the rest of us. I'll take you to Dr. Marks' room."
Alex escorted Tommy to Dr. Marks' room just like he said. He knocked on the door and asked "Dr. Marks, I have Tommy here, can we come in?" "Come on in, I have everything ready." Dr. Marks spoke from behind the door. Alex opened the door and they both went inside. The room was neatly organized and Dr. Marks was standing in the middle. He waved his left arm and to present Tommy's side of the room and said "Here you are Tommy, I hope you have enough space. The couch will serve as your bed until I can get a real one and I put your cloths away in a trunk behind the couch and laid some out for you to sleep in." Dr. Marks smiled and walked over to what looked like to be one of the boards that you hang upside down from to straighten you back; it was just the very thing. Dr. Marks touched the inverter and continued "This is my bed right here; I hang upside down to sleep by the way so don't be shocked. As for the rest of the room, that belongs to me, but you can use what ever you need as long as you ask first. Now it is time for bed for both of us. And don't worry, I blocked out the windows so no sun can get in." Alex patted Tommy's head "Good morning Tommy, I will see you tonight." And he left the room closing the door behind him. Dr. Marks said as he went into a door that was elaborately carved and seemed to lead to nowhere "You can get changed now, I will be back in a few minutes." The door closed behind him and Tommy took the opportunity to change in privacy. Once he got his pajamas on, he folded up the robe for his new superior. He sat down on the couch and bounced on it a little bit to test it; it was extremely soft and the fabric on it had a unique feel to it almost as if it was a combination of silk and cotton that were weaved tightly together to create a nearly perfect fabric. He laid his head down on the pillow that had a black silk casing on it; it was very fluffy, almost like a cloud. He pulled the blanket up on him, it was a dark green color that seemed to be crushed velvet on the one side and the other was light and soft cotton. His eyes began to grow extremely heavy. And so he closed his eyes and drifted away into a deep slumber that he had not felt for what seemed like ages.
Dr. Marks came back into the room dressed in his pajamas and found Tommy fast asleep on the couch. He smiled to himself and sat on the arm of the couch above Tommy's head and just began to stare at him. For a few minutes he just sat there and watched Tommy breath in and out slowly; he thought nothing as he did this. For some vampires this was a form of bonding and or savoring the vision of there pray. But for Dr. Marks this was neither this nor that. Ever since he was a child he would do this to the mortals in the town that he lived in; but he would never drink there blood after he did this, in fact the very people who he did this too were spared from his hunger for all eternity. One could say that he was fascinated with sleep, but this was just a little more than that or less depending on how you look at it. Even he does not know why he does it, but that is something he plans to ask God when he dies.
He blinked. He rested his one hand on Tommy's somewhat wet but dry hair and began to play with it gently so as to not disturb Tommy. He said to himself "Such a beautiful young boy: Fine hair, thin body, great figure, and such a modest personality. Now granted he may quite a few kinks to work out of him but in due time he will learn. It truly is sad that this has happened to such an innocent boy who now seems to be on the edge of becoming a man. He was so simple before all of this had happened. How is it possible that this world can be so cruel to those that do not have such a nature? He has been through so much in a short amount of time. I can only hope that he will make the right decisions, but I will help him, make no mistake of that. I suppose this is God's way of answering my prayers for a companion of my own kind, but I never expected this to happen in such a way. Now it appears that I have yet another great reason to find a cure for this horrible disease that Satan has given to us. God does work in mysterious ways, and it is funny how you can find him, thee God of light and truth, in the darkest of places. Well, I suppose things will work out, I can only hope." Dr. Marks smiled, he leaned over and kissed Tommy's forehead. He got up, walked over and strapped himself into his so called "bed", flipped it over and he began to hang upside down. He clapped his hands and the lights went out. Of cores he could still see in the dark but this just helped him to sleep better. He crossed his arms, closed his eyes and said to himself "I've got a lot of work to do in two hours, better make them count." And he immediately fell into a deep sleep.