The Progeny Returns [Jesse Fforde]

[Axel Rosen]

The two of them have spoken over emails, texts and in a room with others, but they haven’t spoken in person privately yet. Axel’s been away for sometime. Well, not away, but asleep but the ‘away’ descriptor would likely fit what has happened. He can accept that, and work toward fixing whatever consequences have come from that. This meeting is one that may initiate the steps to work on things that he’s messed up by being gone. He’s sure that there’s lot that he needs to work on, and lots of questions. Disconcerting things have been told to him about someone in the family, who he can only describe as his closest thing to a real friend. Kaelyn really does talk a ton.

Axel has decided, upon coming back to the land of the conscious, that he’s going stick to the safety of his ‘family’ - Fforde. He’d had a lot of drama and issues with dealing in other circles of this ‘society’, and doesn’t really want any part of it anymore. The first step to sticking mainly to Fforde, is to (in his mind) get in contact with Jesse. The steps after that are really dependant on what Jesse says. The childe often follows his sire, especially after the mistake that he’d made. Or mistakes, he’s not even sure how many of them there are anymore. All the more reason to follow his sire’s words to the letter at this point and be here rather than somewhere else.

There’s no point in texting or calling ahead as he’s already at Larch Court. Jesse is sure to show up here sooner or later. Axel sits at the forge, working on weapons. Kaelyn has told him that she doesn’t have a sturdy blade, and her melee weapon is a blunt object. Something called a ‘Skylar’, he’s not sure what that is and would like to get a better look at it later. So he’s off building a semi-sturdy weapon for Kaelyn while he waits. He names it for her, etching it’s name into the hilt, under the strips of leather he puts there - ‘Stinger’. It’s a short-sword, not small enough to be a dagger or a knife, but it’ll work. He’ll give it to her later, she’s sleeping at the moment.

Once he’s finished doing all that work, he goes upstairs to the living room area of the house. He takes a seat and pulls out a book, waiting calmly for his sire. Axel has taken to reading old vampire myths, because some of it has to be right, right? There used to be tons of groups of vampires all over the world, so that means that at least one of these myths must be right. He’s looking for information on vampire limitations, powers that haven’t been learned yet, other creatures associated with vampires. So he’s looking at myths that match closely to what vampire are like here in Harpers Rock and focusing on those. It’s the same reason he’s taken to meditation, and the desire to seek out some ‘Elders’. He doesn’t want to go to them for advice on life or how to be a mystic or anything like that. Only to learn more about what was and might be.

[Jesse Fforde]

There’s no reason why Jesse shouldn’t be relaxed.

There’s nothing wrong with his life. There’s no drama. There’s nothing to be anxious about. The things that had potential to be problems are now resolved, in a way. Esperanza has been sired, and Jesse should be relieved, but there’s still that anxiety drifting somewhere beneath the surface. Maybe it’s not so much anxiety, but distrust. Truthfully, he was surprised when Victor announced his siring of the girl. Though, it was just that—an announcement, rather than a welcoming. Of course it wasn’t a welcoming, given that Esperanza hadn’t been told about the Crownet.

Well, now she knows.

But there was something that she said that still niggled at Jesse; still rubbed him the wrong way. He has to tell himself to let it go. To pay it no mind. To not care. But how can he not care? They’re all of his blood, and he feels possessive of them. Far more so lately, and he knows the reason why. He won’t admit to it, though. Oh, no, he won’t admit to it.

Larch Court Twelve is a dwelling that he makes sure to visit every night. It is the family hub; it is where the others sometimes gather, and where he can comfort, sometimes, in finding a group of them all together. A group of Fforde. Each and every one of them spawned by his blood. When he’s by himself out in the city or if he spends too much time away from his hoard, he feels twitchy. It gets worse with each passing day. The more of them that are around, the better that he feels.

So why would he not come home?

He’s been hunting in the sewers and has just passed through the Eyrie to sell the things that he does not need and store the things that might be needed later. As he lands at Larch after taking the portal from his hut, he pulls out his phone to text Grey—to let her know where he is. He heads straight upstairs for the fridge; there’s blood soaking his jeans as well as his abdomen. Two bullets from two different hunters. But Jesse is thirsty. When is he not? Right now, he’s more thirsty than usual. He nods to Axel as he passes through, relieved to find someone home.

After he’s prepared his very large jug of blood (and let’s face it, he’ll probably get up to make some more) he wanders into the lounge and drops down into the corner of one of the couches to drink.

”I’m going to start calling you the ghost of Larch Twelve,” Jesse says, his voice a little huskier than usual.

[Axel Rosen]

There is a sound coming from the basement. When he’d last checked there had been no one down there that is awake, so it must be someone that just recently tomed back. He has the ability, the spiritual power, to check each and every member of the family to see who it is; however, he’d rather just let the person come up the stairs and show themselves. The figure that rises to the top of the floor and then walks to the kitchen belongs to exactly who he’s here to see. Well, Axel’s always here so that’s not exactly accurate.

His sire makes himself what looks like a full jug of blood, like almost a gallon of blood. Axel has always questioned just how much his sire drinks in a night, the death toll in Harper’s Rock before he started drinking blood bags must have been monstrous. And now that he is drinking from blood bags, Axel can only imagine the money that medical supply chains are making off Jesse alone, nevermind the rest of the people that can’t lure their own food to them. Axel chuckles at the thought as his sire walks in with his ‘drink’ and plops down to the couch.

Ghost of Larch Twelve, Axel kind of likes that. He thinks it over a few times then shrugs his shoulders. “I guess you’re poking at how I’m always here?” The question is kind of rhetorical, because he assumes the answer is yes rather than knowing it. “I’m content here. There’s really no where else in the city that I would rather be.” Sure there are only so many beds, bunk beds aren’t really his thing, and the lack of privacy can sometimes be dangerous; but doesn’t mean he’s not happy here. There’s a forge down stairs, family here always. “I’ll accept that title, I guess.” His smile gleams at his sire for a second, then goes straight again.

Closing the book that he’s been reading from for the last ten to fifteen minutes before Jesse arrived. The straight face stays and he sits up straight as he looks at his sire. The look is one of inquiry, but not in a rude way. It’s honesty made manifest on his face. He doesn’t know where to start and there is a short pause between him sitting up and what follows. “I have some questions to ask about Victor”, probably not the first thing he should have brought up but he’s not done yet.” He puts another finger out on his lap to make sure that he counts out all the things, he remembers that there were three topics. “I’d like to talk to you about your expectations of me… without saying ‘do what you want’.” That last part is important to him, “I want structure and direction from you to me. I will explain why in detail when we get there”, he thinks again. “Also why you’ve been twitching like you’re having withdrawls here lately.”

[Jesse Fforde]

Jesse laughs.

It’s not really all too often that Jesse laughs, in the grand scheme of things, but he laughs now. The majority of the time, Axel is the silent type. He hardly says boo, and yet all Jesse has had to do is sit down and the guy is rattling off a dozen questions. As if he’d been storing them for years and has finally decided that the pressure is too much. Except, of course, it hasn’t bene years. These seem to be recent quandaries. Maybe Axel was just waiting to get Jesse alone. They aren’t topics that could be easily covered through text.

”I’m not twitchin’, man, I have no idea what the **** you’re talking about,” he says, bringing the glass jug to his lips to take another few healthy mouthfuls. He resists the moan of satisfaction as the blood hits the back of his throat. The lie comes easily, and there’s nothing in Jesse’s demeanour to suggest that it is a lie, or that he’s avoiding anything. Truth is, he knows that his own behaviour now is nothing compared to what it could be. Of what he’s afraid will come next. At least he can bottle it, for now. At least he’s strong enough for that. And he will ******* bottle it, because he’s ******* furious that Micah and Rion should that that he is weak.

Yes, they both denied it. But Jesse can read between the lines, well enough. They might say they’re not calling him weak, but it certainly looks it. He’s too proud to admit that he does have his weaknesses.

Once, Jesse might have also laughed at Axel’s request for expectations. Structure and direction, well—those should be personal things but to each their own. Now? Jesse knows that in order to be a leader of this bloodline he needs to stop letting people get away with ****. He needs to put his foot down. So yes, he does have expectations that he can give to Axel.

”One topic at a time, hm? Now what about Victor?” Jesse asks. His voice a little less husky, now—the blood doing him some good. His tone, however, speaks volumes. Almost as if he’s asking what drama has Victor caused now? Axel’s not long been back and he’s already asking about Victor. It can’t bode well.

[Axel Rosen]

That would be true, even in social settings, he is silent. Axel is often content with being quiet and the area around him being quiet, as it makes for a better reading environment. That’s one of his excuses anyway, the other would be that he doesn’t have anything of value to add. That one, on the other hand is a lie most of the time. There’s really about two handful of people that Axel would talk to at length. They’re all linked by Jesse’s blood, all Fforde. It’s nothing really against the outside world, Axel’s just had enough of it really. This word vomit is brought on by him coming back, hearing things, and not having had time to actually speak to his sire.

There was a feeling while he was away from his sire that has only been sated one of two ways. Either by sleeping and falling into a vampire coma, or being within grasps reach of his sire. The second one being the better way of making this sick feeling in his gut go away. Axel likens it, a few times to people, as how the demon in the movie Dogma explains being in hell. He changes the words a little bit, ’When we’re not around one another, I feel that loss at a spiritual level. It pains me. Like being at the ninth circle of hell.’ It starts off with light illness, turns into shivers and shakes, then an all consuming urge to sleep.

Jesse speaks after his bout of laughter, and it’s a retort to the last thing he said. Jesse doesn’t snap at him, which he knows what that’s like too. Luckily he’s not yelling at him. Axel smiles a little bit, all the same it’s a lie. The body language, tone, or anything don’t give it away. He’s just seen it since he’s been back. Twice now actually. Once with just Kaelyn and then another time with a group before he settled in. It’s like Jesse is cutting off cocaine at times the way he acts. Though, Jesse seems pretty serious that he’s not twitching and that nothing is going on. Axel decides to drop the topic.

The way Jesse answers with a question, the manner in which it’s said leads Axel to believe that a lot of what has been told to him is true. “Just things that I’ve heard from Kaelyn”, the girl really does know how to talk makes him wonder if he should filter himself around her sometimes. “A human living with him, biker gang, kicking her out, attitude”, Axel lists. None of this stuff seems like it’s a big deal, other than the human living with him bit. “Really, just curious as to what all he’s done, your feelings on him”, Axel wants to judge Victor harshly for what he’s heard, but wants to get Jesse’s opinion and thoughts first. He struggles, “I don’t recall everything I’ve been told though… I apologize.”

[Jesse Fforde]

Jesse takes the enquiry with a grain of salt.

For a while he sits in silence, wondering how best to answer. Once upon a time he might have spat venomously, but now he feels like he ought to be diplomatic. There’s no reason why he should ostracise Victor more by speaking badly of him. Victor’s own actions seem to have done that for him, and Jesse doesn’t need to help him along any. It is a question that Jesse struggles with, and it mainly has to do with the twitch that Axel had previously mentioned.

Victor is family. He is Fforde blood. And as much as Jesse feels like the guy never ******* listens, and just does whatever the **** he pleases, he still doesn’t want to cut him off completely. And he hasn’t. For all intents and purposes, Victor is still Fforde, as are all his progeny. The latest of which is Esperanza—who seems, to Jesse, to be a mirror image of Kaelyn. The two will get along, at least, in how little their sire seems to have taught them.

Jesse takes a deep breath that he does not need, before he releases it.

”Victor is a wild card,” Jesse says, finally. ”You don’t need to know all the sordid details. Honestly, I get completely different stories from him than I do from Kaelyn and it’s hard to know who to believe. They’re both very convincing. Kaelyn, however, has never broken the Masquerade. If I tell her not to do something, she doesn’t do it. She generally seems very contrite if she ever feels like she’s done something to anger me,” Jesse says slowly, explaining the reasons why he’s taken Kaelyn under his wing, and perhaps why Victor doesn’t come around so often.

”Victor, on the other hand, doesn’t realise that he’d be dead several times over if it weren’t for me. Where do I stand? He’s still family. But the next time he fucks up I’m not standing in the way of the consequences,” he says. And he nods. That’s about the short and thick of it, without going into the tedious detail.

[Axel Rosen]

Sitting quietly, he listens to every little word that Jesse has to say after the silence that had fell over the room. After that breath that usually comes before something that is either bad news or something that’s being sugarcoated. He is almost positive that it’s the second instance as to why that breath is being exhaled.

Wildcard is sort of a wishy-washy way to describe someone and it sort of strengthens this idea that he has that the words that are coming out are more sugarcoated for him; not only him but the masses. Jesse is right, Axel doesn’t need to know all the details, and he’s not sure if he really wants to. As his sire describes the young one that he spends most of his time with - Kaelyn. Everything that Jesse says about Kaelyn is true as far as he says. She’s eager to learn, upset when she upsets. These are things that he’s seen from her in the times that he’s spent time with her.

The statements that follow those about Kaelyn make him look at his sire with a bit of understanding. The wildcard thing isn’t really sugarcoated but sort of a forewarning, in his mind. He’s one to watch out for. Still family, but having crossed that line one too many times that Jesse is starting to lose faith. He can hear it in the tone of his sire’s voice. His head nods up and down quietly, understanding where Jesse stands. Knowing where Jesse stands, means that Axel now knows where he stands.

When Victor is being talked ‘bad’ about, or rather talked about from another person’s point of view. Axel will remind them that Victor is family, he may not like the things that he’s heard but he can do that for Jesse. He can play that role if it’s needed of him. Even if it’s not ‘needed’ per se he can tell that it’s something that he should do for the good of the family. Axel doesn’t say anything else about Victor. All he says is one word: “Understood.”

“Expectations?” That’s the next and last topic, he’s sure. He looks to his sire, eager to hear what is in store for him. This could be bad or good, but either way it’s something that he wants to hear. His fingers drum once on his legs before going flat and silent.

[Jesse Fforde]

Axel asks no more questions about Victor. It doesn’t surprise Jesse, really. Axel has always been a quiet guy; never was he the type to yabber on while in the tattoo parlour. He would sit quietly as if relishing the pain, or as if concocting stories in his mind that Jesse was never privy to. Jesse had not wanted to be privy to them, just as he had never wanted to be privy to the private lives of others, but was forced to listen regardless. Just because he was silent, people would see it as permission to spill their stories. To share their secrets, as if they believed Jesse would never spread them, or could never tell another soul. Primitives. So many people are entirely primitive.

Axel, on the other hand, kept himself to himself, and that hasn’t changed. If he has any thoughts on what Jesse has told him, he does not share. He does not ask any other questions because he does not gossip. Jesse has never known Axel to gossip. But in the end, he realises he doesn’t know the guy at all. Not really. He’d never have thought that this childe of his would go and engage himself to a woman who had fucked Jesse over. But he had. Jesse tries not to dwell on it too often.

Jesse arches a brow at the next question. One he might once have scoffed at, but now realises he actually has some.

”The biggest branch of Fforde descends from you,” he says, finally, his ice-blue eyes scalding as they watch Axel, as his head cants idly to the side. He licks his lips. ”Your own progeny are the ones who were around most, when no one else was. Except now? Now they seem to be the ones who aren’t here. Renee, Ursula, Paige… where are they? You left them in the lurch. You keep leaving them in the lurch. My expectations? Find them, mend bridges. Bring them back into the fold. Get to know those they’ve sired—take an interest. Take some of the weight off my shoulders by being ******* responsible for the things you’ve created,” Jesse says. His temper is a spontaneous beast, and it gnashes its teeth now. Jesse had never complained about the responsibilities he’d taken upon his own shoulders, as he had picked up on Axel’s slack. But some of the irritation shone through now.

He had to deal with Victor not doing his job as far as Kaelyn and Esperanza were concerned, and he had taken it upon himself to treat them—Kaelyn more than Esperanza at this point—as his own progeny. Much as he had done for Axel’s progeny. And more recently, in Renee’s absence, as he had also done for Tara. Sometimes, it proved to be a bit too much, and only just now does he realise how much a little help might have been appreciated.

[Axel Rosen]

The statement that Jesse says next is true and he knows it. Axel knows that the numbers of Fforde lie primarily with himself and Jesse. Jesse being the progenitor, his childer being many by their own measure. Then there’s Axels branch of the line that has it’s own weight. The tone has changed from the topic about Victor to that of himself. It seems irritated but not entirely angry. Sure, the childe is taking this all to heart, listening and nodding his head; however, he can’t fail to notice how the tone doesn’t feel as heated as other times. There have really only been two times when Jesse has been this forward with him in the past. One was involving a Paladin, which was handled, the other was when he was involved with Nix. This doesn’t seem nearly as angry as those two times.

Since returning, Axel has questioned the same thing. He’s seen Ursa around, proud of her growth and development as a vampire and as an individual, but he’s not seen Renee or Paige. No, that’s a lie, but not intentionally. He saw Paige once, then she was gone. He has no idea where she has gone to, but he’ll make good to make sure that the two of them are found. He doesn’t interupt but he does nod his head to agree and repeat, “Mend bridges, understood.” A sort of joyous feeling is washing over him, being scalded by his sire. This is what he’s needed, direction from the man that created him. His savior. God, in Axel’s mind.

Axel can gets a feeling, maybe wrongly so, that this is brought on by stress of Jesse doing this all on his own. He shouldn’t have had to and that’s Axel’s fault. He’ll remedy it and he’ll start with Ursa, as she’s around and easiest to talk to at the moment. Next will come Renee and Paige. “I’ll contact all those that are within my branch, reach out to them.” He’s taking initiative, and he should have all along. The direction from Jesse doesn’t change that, what Axel feels has changed. Like he has a purpose again, even if it had been there from the beginning.

“Anything else?” The question isn’t that of if there is any other thing that he’d like to say about Axel’s negligence to those that he’s brought into darkness. It’s more an inquiry about whether or not there is more instructions for Axel. Something that he should know or do while else he’s doing this. He’s grinning, an eager grin, in a way he’s seen it before. But not in the same context, it’s the grin of someone that is willing to do anything to please the person before them.

[Jesse Fforde]

Even as Axel is replying, Jesse stands. He doesn’t have to go far to find some paper and a pen. Being the prolific artist that he is, there’s always some sketch pad or other lying around, and any number of different ink pens. Jesse tears a page from the back of a pad as he drops back down into his seat. Resting the pad on his lap, he leans over and writes down a number.

”Renee went out of town for a bit. Before she did, she sired Tara – she didn’t teach her much, but asked if I would look after her while I was gone,” he says. ”Not only have I acted as sire to those you left behind, but also to those that they’ve sired. Generally, frankly,” he mumbles as he writes down another name and another number, ”I’m getting quite pissed off at how slack everyone is. No one, no one should even think of bringing another soul into this life without being capable of teaching them and caring for them,” he says. Yeah, he’s a little pissed off at Renee for just skipping down. But at lease she had the initiative to find someone to care for the fledgling rather than just letting her wander off and figure things out for herself.

”In Renee’s absence, Tara herself became a sire. Far too ******* soon, though I have to say in the brief conversation I had with Stormy, she seems to be getting along just fine,” he says. Axel had been there with Jesse when they’d tried to go after Mortll for her cowardly acts. Jesse doesn’t have to expand too much, except that he’d taken on responsibility for Stormy in a way, too. All the way down that branch of the bloodline there seem to be discrepancies that need fixing, and it’s a hell of a lot for Jesse to take care of on his own. After he’s handed Axel both Tara and Stormy’s numbers—just in case he doesn’t have them already—he shrugs and settled back into the couch.

”Other than that? Just stick around, yeah? We’ve got Esperanza and Kaelyn who need more people to look up to and come to for advice, failing their own sire. Just a little help, even if just a little, would be greatly appreciated,” he says. And he sounds tired, too, the tone of his voice coloured by the sudden weariness, as if just realised how exhausted he ought to be.