Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction which will included m/m relationships, and probably some sex too. If it is illegal in your area to read this, or if you are not old enough to read this (you know who you are), stop here. Otherwise, please enjoy.
Note: This story is from the recess of my mind, but a few elements of this world have been borrowed from another story with permission from the author. His work has been an inspiration to me and I would recommend it to anyone. please visit jaygordonstories.com for his stories, its free to join and there are chapters and stories only available to members.
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Edited with help from Jason Gordon and MommaB and Guy Cornelius, Thanks guys :-)
Angel in Black, Chapter 14
Settling In
Monday was a new day for everyone staying at Consul Larson's home; some were a little more relaxed then others. James was concerned. He hadn't heard back from Pedro yet regarding Matthew, and he didn't think it would take so long to get the consuls to reinstate Matthew. Taking his cell off his desk, James went for a walk.
Just as James was about to open the front door, he heard Tommy ask, "Where are you going, sir?"
"I need to clear my head Tommy, so I was just going for a walk. Would you like to come with me?" James asked as he turned to look at Tommy, who was looking down at him from the second floor.
Tommy thought a moment about the consul's invitation then answered, "Sure, just wait a sec while I put a shirt on." Tommy quickly ran off to Calvin's room to put on a plain white singlet to go with his shorts. Calvin was sleeping, still recovering from his injury the previous day, so Tommy left him a note which read:
Gone for a walk with the consul, be back soon. Love Tommy ;-)
Tommy was so excited he didn't even bother to use the stairs; he jumped over the railing on the second floor, flipped a couple times then landed gracefully a few feet away from James. "Well done, Tommy, but please use the stairs next time. That IS why they're there," James laughed as he opened the front door and led Tommy outside.
Marie and Bill woke sometime later and realised that they were late for work. Marie found Bill's cell and called her work. "Yes, this is Marie Davies. I'm calling to let you know I won't be in today," she said. "Oh, alright, thank you," Marie said as she ended the call. "Seems someone called in for me; I am now on paid leave," Marie told Bill, slightly shocked.
Taking his phone from Marie, Bill too called his work, getting a shocking response. "I've been transferred," Bill said in disbelief.
"Where to?" Marie asked.
"Some place called the Martial Corporation," Bill said.
"What's that?" Marie asked.
"I have no idea, but I think I might ask James about it," Bill said as he got up to get dressed.
Jack woke up alone in the large bed, after crying himself to sleep over the loss of his son. He wondered what to do now; not knowing, he just lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a while.
Jack heard a gentle knocking at his door. "Come in," he said in a gruff voice.
Opening the door slowly, Tyson asked, "Jack, are you alright?"
Turning his head to look in Tyson's direction, Jack simply said, "No." Then he started crying again.
Walking into the room and sitting on the bed next to Jack, Tyson gently placed his hand on Jacks shoulder, rubbing it softly and saying, "You can't change the past, no matter how much you might want to. Trust me... I know."
Jack moved closer to Tyson and rested his head on Tyson's shoulder. "I just don't know what to do. It feels like I just lost my son and found out that I've been killing innocent people for the last ninety years. I feel guilty for things that I can't even remember, and I don't even have anyone to talk to about it all," Jack said, sobbing.
Putting his arm around Jack's muscled back, Tyson pulled him into a warm hug saying, "I'm here for you Jack, if you want me."
Jack responded with an almost whispered, "Thank you," as he cried.
Matthew woke to see Alex staring at him, his eyes sparkling in the morning sunlight. "Good morning beautiful," Alex smiled.
"Good morning to you too," Matthew said returning Alex's smile.
"Do you have anything planned for us today?" Alex asked as he lay on his side, naked in the morning sun.
"I was thinking we could lock ourselves in here all day," Matthew said with a lustful grin.
As the smile faded from his face, Alex said, "Matthew, I want to go see him."
"Today?" Matthew asked, and Alex nodded slowly.
"Alright, but I think after last night we should shower before we leave," Matthew said, then headed for the shower, Alex following him.
James and Tommy walked down the drive and out two gates, following the outer boundary fence along a well-worn dirt trail. "Where are we going sir?" Tommy asked as they walked.
"Somewhere I go when I need to think, and bring things into perspective," James said keeping his eyes on the trail.
They continued to walk along the trail, surrounded by eucalypts and bush scrub. When they came to a large and fairly flat rock, Tommy stood in awe of their surroundings. "Where are we?" He asked.
"That right there is the Jamison Valley, and over there are the Blue Mountains." James said looking out over the valley they were on the edge of then moved his arm and pointed towards the mountains.
"Are we near Sydney?" Tommy asked.
"About an hour and a half drive, yes," James replied.
"Why so far away? I would have thought a consul would want to be closer to the city, not farther from it?" Tommy asked somewhat confused.
"You're right of course Tommy, but I like my privacy, and I have operatives that work for me in the city. If I want something checked out I can call on them. And this place is well protected. See that road back there," James said as he pointed back where they came from.
"Yeah," Tommy answered as he tried to see the narrow dirt road leading into the main gate of the compound.
"Well that is the only road in or out of here. It doesn't even have a name, and as you can see we are on the edge of a cliff, surrounded by dense bush scrub. There are also perimeter sensors hidden amongst the scrub outside the boundary fence, so if anyone tried to sneak up on us we would know. They can't come within a kilometre along that road without me knowing. So we are quite secure here," James explained as he sat down on the rock looking out over the valley.
"Sir," Tommy hesitated, somewhat anxious about what he wanted to ask.
"What's on your mind, Tommy? And please don't call me sir. James will be fine," James said giving Tommy a warm smile.
"Okay sir, I mean... James," Tommy smiled then continued. "I was curious, are you Matthew's, umm... is the word sire? I mean did you make Matthew a vampire?" Tommy asked, trying to find the right words.
"Yes Tommy, but how did you know? Did Matthew tell you?" James asked, somewhat surprised by the question.
"No sir, Matthew didn't tell me; I was curious as I noticed his scent has a hint of the way you smell, just as Alex's scent is now similar to Matthew's," Tommy explained, trying not to confuse James.
"That makes some sense; I would imagine that when we give our blood to those we turn it would leave something to identify them as our fledglings. I'm just a little amazed that you were able to pick up on it; I've not heard anyone ask such a question before with an explanation like that. And you deduced this all by your self?" James asked, raising an eyebrow at Tommy.
"I did, but I couldn't figure it out until I saw you again after my... awakening I guess you could say. When my senses were heightened, then I was able to piece it together," Tommy explained.
"Smart young man you are, you and that brother of yours. I want to tell you something Tommy, but for now I want you to keep it between us. Can you do that?" James asked, seriously.
"Is it about you watching my family for all these years, sir?" Tommy asked.
"HOW IN THE HELL did YOU know THAT?" James asked shocked.
"I overheard Calvin telling Matthew that someone was watching our family since he was turned, Calvin said it was someone on the council. Knowing that it was you who turned Matthew, I realised it must have been you who had been keeping tabs on our family," Tommy explained.
"Nothing gets past you does it," James said.
"No sir, not now," Tommy said with a smirk then asked softly, "James, if you knew what my father was doing to me, why didn't you do something to stop him?"
"Well Tommy," James started, feeling slightly ashamed for what he was about to say. "We try our best to stay out of normal human problems. They often end badly or drag in everyone around them, and we are trying to remain fairly hidden from the normal branches of government. So I'm afraid that your father wasn't very high up on the list of 'asshole's to make disappear'... no matter how much I wanted to," James explained giving Tommy a half smile.
"I guess I can understand that, but you could have contacted family services!" Tommy exclaimed.
"And let them take you away to another family? Further away from your cousin? I'm sorry Tommy, for not doing more, but I needed Matthew to find you on his own. I knew he wouldn't hurt you once he saw what you were going through. Remember when he stopped you from beating Alex?" James asked.
"Yes, I remember. Matthew told me not to end up like my parents, and that scared me more than seeing him as a vampire. But I'm glad he said that; I was turning into my dad, becoming a bully. I ran home after that and packed my bags. I was going to wait for the right time, then run away," Tommy said sadly, thinking about his past.
"You are so like Matthew, Tommy. You know he ran away after his family were murdered? They wanted to put him in an orphanage. Ironically, if he had gone to the orphanage he would have been able to live with his uncle, your great, great grandfather. He and his family came to Australia after he received a telegram telling him his brother and his family were dead; just think Tommy, if you had run away you would never have known that Matthew was your cousin, and you would not have been with such a loving family," James said.
"I do think about that, everyday, and I think about how lucky I am, and have been, to know them, and now you and Calvin. I couldn't imagine my life any other way. But James," Tommy said hesitantly. "If you were watching my family for so long, I'm curious. Did you ever meet my mother?" he asked.
"Only once, when she was very young," James said.
"What was she like?" Tommy asked softly.
Thinking back to the young lady he had met so many years ago, James said, "She was an extremely bright and very beautiful young lady; I was posing as a professor just so I could meet her, same as I had with her mother. While she was studying at university, I was supposed to be a guest lecturer in one of her classes. I believe she was studying military history, and I was the expert on the First World War. She had so many questions for me about the soldiers, the kind of uniforms they wore, food they ate, where and how they slept. She was just so exuberant and her questions were so well thought out that I had to actually think about my answers."
"Really?" Tommy asked, misty eyed at hearing about his mother.
"Oh yes, but the thing that I remember most Tommy was the way her eyes would flicker from the amazing shade of silver they were to an almost iridescent blue as she spoke. Much like yours when you're concentrating really hard or feeling protective of your loved ones," James explained, smiling at the happy memories.
"Thank you James. My father never told me anything about her; he always blamed me for her death... I was nothing to him," Tommy said sadly.
"Tommy, your father is gone. He's never going to be able to hurt you or the memory of your mother ever again... When we are back at the house I have some thing to show you," James said as he sat, staring across the valley once again.
Waking up sometime after Tommy had, Calvin panicked slightly at the lack of Tommy's presence in the bed, then he found Tommy's note as he looked around. He was relieved when he read it, and he thought the little face Tommy had drawn was cute.
Getting up and out of bed, Calvin took a shower then dressed and decided to go check in on their guest in the cells. Leaving his room and walking along the corridor towards the stairs he was stopped by Marie. "Calvin dear, can you tell me where the kitchen is in this place? I've been wandering around aimlessly trying to find it," Marie asked, sounding slightly frustrated.
Calvin laughed softly then said, "Sure, it's down on the ground floor. All that's up here are bedrooms and Tyson's office."
"Well then what else is on the ground floor?" Marie asked.
"There's a living room with a large television, a games room with pool table and a few other games, a formal dining room, a study with full library, a standard laundry just off the kitchen and another small bathroom. Oh and the Consul's and his assistants' personal offices," Calvin said as he led Marie down stairs and along another corridor towards the kitchen.
"Ah," Marie said attempting to take in the size of the building.
"And that's only what you can see above ground, the dungeon is much bigger," Calvin laughed.
"Dungeon? I thought you said it was a basement?" Marie asked, again becoming confused.
"Oh it is a basement, but it's usually so dark and gloomy down there that most of us started calling it the dungeon and the nickname stuck. Even the consul calls it the dungeon at times," Calvin explained.
"Ah, well that makes sense, and it does look like a dungeon," Marie laughed.
"Well here you are, the kitchen," Calvin announced as he and Marie reached the end of the corridor, and he opened the door.
As soon as Calvin opened the door he had to grab Marie to stop her from falling to the floor from shock. The kitchen was huge, the table was large enough to seat eight easily and there was a breakfast bar with four stools, the cupboards were a polished dark wood and the counter tops were black marble and matched the blacked tiled floor, the walls were a deep crimson colour and gave the large room a warm and welcoming feel.
"Are you alright, Marie?" Calvin asked as he helped steady Marie on her feet.
"Yes dear, just overwhelmed slightly. I've never been in a kitchen this big. It's beautiful," Marie said as she stepped forward into the cooking area.
"Well if you are going to be fine, I need to go check on someone," Calvin said as he turned to leave the room.
"Yes dear, I'll be fine," Marie said, waving Calvin off as she looked around for the pantry to get breakfast started for her family.
Calvin walked out of the kitchen and towards the door to the basement; just as he opened the door he heard a loud shriek. "She found the pantry," Calvin laughed to himself as he walked down the stairs to the dungeon.
Leon sat on the floor of his cell with his back against the wall, his knees at his chest as he stared across the floor. Leon's mood was far beyond that of a condemned man on death row; in fact death would be a comfort to him at this point. Suddenly the door into the cell block opened and Leon heard footsteps as someone walked into the room outside his cell. He heard someone pressing buttons on the pedestal that controlled the individual cell doors, then the locks securing the door to his cell released and the door slowly opened.
"Good morning Leon. I trust you had a good night?" Calvin asked with a straight face.
Leon continued to stare at the floor, ignoring Calvin.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Calvin asked, hypothetically.
Leon slowly lifted his head; looking at Calvin he said harshly, "Fuck you."
"Oh what foul language, and after all you've done. You should be begging for forgiveness," Calvin said with a sly grin.
"What's the point? Marcos is HIS and I tried to have him killed! I'm as good as dead," Leon said lowering his head, again staring at the floor.
"Well I guess there is that... You know, if you tell us where you put that file he MIGHT go easy on you," Calvin smirked.
"Get out," Leon whispered as he started to weep.
"Alright, then. I'll see you again soon," Calvin said as he turned and left Leon's cell.
Leon leaned back against the wall and again pulled his legs to his chest and quietly cried as he listened to Calvin secure his cell and leave the holding area.
Meanwhile at the Davies home, Giles was looking around the hallway. Now that it was clean, he could assess the damage. "Hmm, front door needs replacing, that wall needs to be repaired, the opposite wall needs to be rebuilt and several windows in the living room and front of the house have been either damaged or completely broken and need to be replaced," he said as he walked through the house, writing down a damage report for the Consul.
"Giles, clean up is complete. We also found a few other small maintenance issues. I have listed them for you," said Mary, one of the other people on Giles's team.
"Thanks Mary," Giles said as he took the list from the woman. "Hmm, nothing too bad; it's just general wear-and-tear with a house this old. It's still structurally sound and in good condition. I think James will be happy with this," he said, walking off to finish his inspection.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN JACKSON IS GONE?" Screamed the lead chair of the Thylacine Council, a very intimidating woman by the name of Victoria.
"He went missing last night and all attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful. Even his personal aide has vanished," said the trembling man.
Standing up from her chair behind the large polished wooden desk, Victoria said, "Come here." The scared man cautiously walked over and stood across the desk from her.
Victoria leaned forward and grabbed the man by his collar, almost pulling him across the desk. "I want you to try HARDER to find Jackson or the next person to go missing will be YOU!" She yelled in the man's face as she pushed him back across the desk; he landed on his backside then quickly scurried off out of the office.
"Where the hell are you, Jackson?" Victoria asked an empty room as she tried to figure out where Jackson could have gone.
After being totally overwhelmed by the size of the kitchen in this house, Marie got started on cooking a big breakfast for everyone. She realised that none of them had eaten since lunch the day before and they were all going to be hungry.
As if on queue Bill wandered into the kitchen with a look on his face that said, 'If I don't get coffee soon someone's gonna get it!' Marie pointed to the steaming mug on the table and Bill went and sat down, nursing the hot drink as he slowly sipped it.
Shortly after, Tyson walked in followed closely by a very subdued Jack. Marie could easily see the big man had been crying. "Poor dear, take a seat let me get you a cup of coffee or would you prefer tea?" Marie asked as he sat in a seat close to Tyson. The connection the two of them had made was obvious to her, but she didn't say anything.
"Tea, thank you," Jack said, managing a weak smile.
"Alright then... Tyson coffee or tea?" Marie asked.
"Coffee thanks," Tyson replied.
Meanwhile, James and Tommy made their way back to the house. "Thank you for coming along with me Tommy," James said.
"No, thank you for asking me; it was nice to hear about my mother and to clarify a few things," Tommy replied.
"Tommy, Matthew and Calvin are family to me, and you and the rest of your adopted family are quickly becoming the same. If you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask," James said as the two of them reached the doors to the house.
"Thank you James, and I won't. I promise," Tommy said.
"Good man. Now come to my office a moment," James said, and the two of them walked to the office.
"What did you want to show me?" Tommy asked as they entered the room.
"This," James said, leading Tommy to a picture hanging on the wall.
"It's... my mother?" Tommy asked, staring at the photo of his mother standing with James, her black hair cut to shoulder height and her silver eyes twinkling as she smiled for the picture next to her professor.
Nodding, James said, "That's the day I met her; I insisted that she stand for a photograph and another student took it. She was a remarkable woman; I was very glad to have met her."
"Thank you," Tommy said as tears rolled down his cheeks. Tommy turned to James hugging him tightly, "thank you for showing me this."
Marie made Jack and Tyson their drinks and put them on the table, as she walked back towards the pantry she asked, "What would you like for breakfast? There's steak, bacon, eggs, toast, cereal or fruit. This pantry is as well stocked as a high priced hotel's!"
"Better stocked, actually," James said as he and Tommy walked into the room.
"Where have you two been?" Marie asked, noticing the slight redness on Tommy's eyes.
"I needed to take a walk to clear my head; Tommy was up so I invited him to come along. We walked around the property and sat talking for a while; Tommy was starting to feel a little hungry so we headed back," James explained.
"You should see the size of this place mum, and where we are! It's amazing!" Tommy exclaimed.
"Well I might get to... Seems I'm on paid leave for the foreseeable future," Marie said.
"And I have been transferred to some place called the Martial Corporation," Bill added.
"Ah, I can explain that. I thought you both could use some time off, especially after the events of recent days, so I called into your work, Marie and told them that you were taking some time off and that it would be paid for. Once I told them who I am, there weren't any problems. And Bill, I was impressed by your performance against those vampires yesterday. I want you to work for me at the branch of the Martial Corporation here in Australia; you could use some more training, but I think you would be a valuable asset," James explained.
Both Bill and Marie were speechless; so Tommy spoke for them, "Thanks James, from all of us. Thank you also for inviting us to stay in your home."
"Please, don't mention it. So what's for breakfast?" James asked smiling.
A short time later; Matthew and Alex left their room to join the rest of the family; on the way to the kitchen, following the scent of food, Matthew decided to stop by James's office. "Why are we going in here, Matthew?" Alex asked.
"I need to check something," Matthew said as he sat at James's desk and used the computer to find what he was looking for. "Parklea... So he was moved," Matthew said.
"Yes Matthew, I wanted Jordan somewhere I could keep an eye on him," James said, startling the pair.
"Sir! I'm sorry. Alex wanted to see him today, and I wanted to make sure I knew where we needed to go. Please don't get angry with Alex," Matthew pleaded.
"It's alright Matthew, I'm not upset. But next time just ask me," James said in a fatherly tone.
"Yes sir," Matthew said.
The screen on the office wall lit up and James said to Matthew and Alex, "Please stay a moment. This concerns you, Matthew."
The image on the screen changed to that of a man sitting in a high backed leather arm chair. "James, good to see you again," Pedro said with a smile.
"Sire, I thought you would have contacted me earlier?" James asked.
"James, it was a long discussion. A few of the consuls needed convincing that Matthew wasn't just another crazy vampire. I explained that he was under orders when he killed the thylacines all those years ago, and that since that time Matthew has done nothing to endanger or expose us to the humans. They finally agreed to reinstate him as Matthew Jameson and not Marcos a few minutes ago," Pedro explained.
"Oh thank you Pedro, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me," James said gratefully.
"There was a condition," Pedro added.
"And what's that sir?" Matthew asked, stepping into view.
"Ah Matthew, good! The only condition was that you don't work for Consul Larson," Pedro said, receiving a cold stare from James.
"Then who do I work for?" Matthew asked.
"Us, the Shadow Council, and not just James here... Of course I did leave out quite a lot of information about your training history, so most of the consuls think you're nothing more than a well trained assassin, which they all have in droves. Besides James and myself, only two or three other consuls know of your full training," Pedro explained, now receiving a warm smile and a nod from James.
"That is indeed good news Pedro. Matthew and Alex were just about to head off to pay someone a visit, so I won't keep them any longer. Guys I'll talk to you later; I want to discuss the particulars of this with Pedro. I will inform you when you get back," James said as he motioned for the pair to be on their way.
"How are we going to get there?" Alex asked as he and Matthew walked into the kitchen.
"Get where?" Marie asked.
"Alex and I are going on a little drive today," Matthew replied.
"Where are you going?" Tommy asked as he scarfed down a mouthful of bacon and egg.
"I need to see someone and Matthew is going to take me," Alex said.
"Who could you possibly need to see?" Marie asked.
"Think dear," Bill said as he put his hand on Marie's and gently squeezed.
"Oh!" Marie exclaimed as realization dawned on her. "Matthew, you look after Alex," she said sternly.
"I will," Matthew promised.
"Mum, can I have some cereal for breakfast?" Alex asked earning an odd look from his mother. "What? I'm not allowed to be hungry?" Alex asked.
"I just wasn't expecting you to want any normal food," Marie said.
"I'm not a blood thirsty monster mum! And you know how much I like breakfast," Alex laughed.
A short time later, Matthew and Alex were standing in the garage about ready to head off, when they were suddenly confronted with another problem. "Which one should we take?" Matthew asked.
"Does it matter? They're all beautiful," Alex said, salivating at the sight before him.
Matthew smiled; he couldn't help but agree with his boyfriend. "You're going to have to choose one for me; I know nothing about any of them," he said grinning.
For Alex the term kid in a candy store would be an understatement; before them sat some of the most beautiful cars ever made, at least to him. "James really has some nice taste in cars," Alex said as he looked over the offerings before them.
First was a red 1965 Ford Mustang fastback, followed by a gold 1969 Pontiac GTO convertible, then a white 1977 Pontiac Trans Am, and next to that a black 1973 Ford Falcon coupe. 'I recommend the black one Alex,' Alex heard James say in his mind.
"This one," Alex said as he walked up to the black Falcon coupe.
Taking the keys off of the hook near the door and opening the garage door, Matthew then got in the drivers seat and turned the key, bringing the big V8 to life. "Lets go... We have a long drive ahead of us," he said as Alex got into the passenger seat and put on his seatbelt.
"I don't know what's going to happen when I see him, but I'm glad you're going to be there with me Matthew," Alex said as he put his hand on Matthew's thigh and squeezed gently.
Matthew smiled at Alex then rolled out of the garage and out through the main gate along the unnamed road. In a little over an hour they would arrive at their destination.
Thanks for reading Angel in black chapter 14, be sure to stop by my site where you will find a blog with some interesting insight into the chapters and also the story closet where i also post my work. thanks again, Mikey.
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