Gohen: Redemption

Beta: Ilye, Fimbrethiel

chapter seventeen

Erestor parked the car and looked up at the apartment building. "I don't think this is a good idea."

Maglor rested a hand on Erestor's thigh. "He needs clothing and necessities, Erestor."

"Yes," David said, stepping out of the car. "I also need to get my mail and check my messages." It had seemed like a lifetime since he had been here, his life before Erestor and Maglor. "Come on. If we hurry, we can still make it to Melindor at a reasonable time!"

The vampires exited the car, chuckling at the child-like enthusiasm David exhibited. Erestor followed the human up the flights of stairs toward his apartment. It had been a week since he had share his blood with the Man, and the effects had worn off a few days ago. It had given the mortal some perspective, and Erestor found that they were all much happier, much more at ease with one another.

Even Maglor had been enjoyable company when in David's presence.

The trio entered the apartment. "Have a seat," David said as he flipped through the bundle of mail waiting for him. "I'll be right back."

Erestor watched David disappear into the bedroom where they had first taken him. He smirked at the memory and turned his sparkling eyes to Maglor.

"You seem happy, melethen," Maglor said, his lips in a grim line.

"Yes, I am," Erestor said. "Why do you not like that?"

Maglor shrugged. "Perhaps I am jealous that he could bring you happiness when I could not."

Erestor leaned in and kissed Maglor softly. "If I had not been happy with you, Maglor, I would have died long ago." He smiled up at Maglor until the elder vampire's lips curved up as well.

"What a lovely sight."

The two vampires parted, their heads turning to the front door. Four men stood, all of varying ages, height and weight. But, just looking at them, Erestor knew who they were. Or rather, he knew who David's father was, and could guess at the rest. In person, the man looked even more imposingly like Elessar. Or maybe it was just the longsword he held at his side.

Erestor sighed. "I told you this was a bad idea."

"No one likes a know-it-all, Vincent," Maglor said, rolling his eyes.

Erestor addressed the group. "You must be Graham. So nice to meet you; we've heard so much about you. And you must be Terry. The resemblance is unmistakable. But I am afraid I haven't had the pleasure of being introduced to you two gentlemen."

David stepped out from the bedroom. "That is Michael, and the young one is Eric."

"Ah, yes," Erestor replied. "Of course."

"And we know who you are, demon," Michael said. "You with your vile, contemptible appetites corrupting and perverting our children!"

"I didn't realize that drinking blood had become such a fad among teens," Maglor said blankly.

"I think he means the homosexuality, Marcus," Erestor muttered.

"Oh, but of course. Because before we came along, same-sex relations did not exist, and would never have come into being without us."

"Besides," David said, half to himself, "in your child's case, you've done quite a good job of corruption and perversion yourself without any help from them."

Maglor looked at David over his shoulder. "Well, you would know better than I, I supp--" He broke off in mid-sentence. David's eyes were enormous and staring at something behind him. Maglor turned his head back and saw Eric standing just in front of him. The boy's arms were outstretched toward Maglor. Looking down, the vampire saw why. At the other end of the arms was a sizable wooden stake, the point of which was currently embedded in Maglor's chest.

"This shirt," he said very slowly, "cost me three hundred dollars." Maglor's hands flew up, grabbing Eric by the chin and hair, and twisted sharply. The crack of the young boy's neck breaking echoed through the room. Eric's lifeless body fell to the floor, the glassy eyes staring at nothing.

The ancient vampire stared coldly at the remaining three faces. "I have survived war, famine, plague, burning, hanging, and only very narrowly avoided crucifixion. I have survived death such as you cannot imagine. And you think I can be harmed by a little piece of wood?"

"Perhaps not," Graham said, narrowing his eyes. "But I'll just bet that taking your head off will do the trick." He raised the sword as Terry drew a pair of daggers and Michael pulled a rapier from the head of his cane. Maglor stared at the cold steel blades and had second thoughts about removing the stake. It was doing far less damage than those could.

David rushed forward, between Erestor and Maglor. "All right, that's enough! What happened to 'observation without interference', Dad?"

"They have interfered, David!" Graham hissed.

"No, they have not! I went to them, remember? I am no longer part of your little coterie, thanks to you, so you cannot even say that they have affected any of you. And had Eric had the sense God gave little green frogs, he'd still be alive, too! Now, dammit, I am your son and these are my lovers. They are good people who just want to be left alone!"

"They are not people!" barked Terry. "They are vampires! They have killed hundreds of people to feed their demonic lusts!"

"Actually," Erestor interrupted casually, "I expect it's more like thousands. I have to say I've lost count, though."

Maglor nodded, the stake still jammed in his chest. "I'd go along with that, yeah."

"The arrogance before God!" Graham cried out. "You are not my son! You are one of them now. My son is dead!"

Erestor took a small step forward. "Then it's done. Just walk away. This city was getting boring anyway. We will leave; you will stay, and there's an end. I know more about your family than you think I do, more than you probably know yourself, and believe me when I say that I do not want to harm you."

Graham swung his sword high, bearing down on Erestor. The vampire brought both his hands up and clapped them on either side of the flat of the blade, trapping it and stopping the strike. Erestor sighed again -- why were mortals always so depressingly stupid? -- and lashed out with a vicious kick to Graham's chest. The force of the blow sent the Man sprawling back, ripping the sword from his grasp. Graham collided against the wall with a hollow thud and slumped to the floor, wounded, but still breathing.

"I said I didn't want to, not that I wouldn't," Erestor said to the unconscious form.

The absurdity of the situation finally overwhelmed David. Maglor stood with a sharpened stick in his chest, Erestor was holding a sword by the blade, and Terry and Michael were stupid enough to advance on them. Fully aware of the vampires' ability to take care of themselves, David obligingly dropped back into the room and continued to sort through his belongings.

Michael brandished the rapier in front of him as he closed with Erestor, while Terry clanged his daggers together and scowled at Maglor. "I will send you back to Hell, demon spawn," Terry spat.

"You know nothing of Hell," Maglor countered. "I once sat through an entire dress rehearsal of Cats."

Michael thrust forward with the rapier. Erestor shifted his hands against the blade he held, swinging the hilt to the side and parrying the blow. Then, while Michael's body was unblocked, Erestor dropped the sword. The hilt fell heavily onto Michael's foot, causing him to yelp. He took his eyes off of Erestor for an instant, and Erestor struck. He grabbed Michael's wrist with one hand and clasped his other hand around the older man's throat. Lifting him easily, Erestor walked forward and slammed Michael against the wall.

"You," Erestor said as he squeezed off Michael's air supply, "mean nothing to me, though. You should never have involved yourself in matters that do not concern you. Now it is too late for you, meldir." Michael's struggles slowly ebbed, and then stopped completely. Erestor released the body, and it crumpled to the ground.

Maglor, meanwhile, was still dealing with Terry. The mortal had managed to open several cuts on the vampire's arms. Being made by a weapon of cold steel, they were painful and would be slow to heal. Maglor had struck out several times, but the Man had been quick enough to evade. Terry was of the same bloodline as David and Graham, of course, and even the tiniest trickle of Númenorean heritage gave him speed and agility in battle to surpass almost any other human. Had Maglor's heart been exposed, Terry surely would have struck it by now.

Erestor leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "Looks like you've got your hands full there, Marcus. Need any help?"

"Does it look like I need help?" Maglor shouted back as he blocked another strike with his forearm and felt the blade cut again into his skin. "No, it does not! I am fine, thank you very much. When I need your help, I'll ask for it!"

"Okay, then. Just let me know." Erestor yawned and began to clean under his nails.

Maglor turned his full attention back to the fight at hand. "Come on, Terry. What do you say we call it a draw and go get a beer? I'm buying."

"Go to Hell, faggot," Terry spat.

"See, now that's just uncalled for. And it makes no sense. I mean, why would you call a homosexual a bundle of sticks?"

David looked up from his packing. "One theory is that it comes from the burning of gays during the Holocaust. It was said that when they went onto the fire, they lit up just like a dry faggot."

"I didn't know that," Maglor said. "Did you know that, Terry? That's really interesting. Let's go have a pint and we can talk about it."

Terry grunted and feinted to the left. Maglor raised his arm to block, but Terry shifted quickly and drove one of the daggers deep into the vampire's stomach.

The pain screamed through Maglor's body like fire. He staggered backward against a chair, leaning against it for support. "Shit," he gasped. "That one's going to leave a mark." Then he slipped from the chair and fell onto his back.

Erestor jumped up, but Maglor weakly held up a hand. "Don't you touch him, Vincent. I have the situation completely under control."

Terry stood over Maglor's prone form, sneering. "I see. That one hurt you, did it? I wonder what one of these would do in your black heart?" He reached down to pull out the stake, but it held fast in the wound. He stepped one foot onto Maglor's chest to brace, and pulled with both hands.

Maglor shook his head. Idiot. He grabbed the handle of the knife in his stomach and, in one smooth motion, tore it from his skin and thrust it brutally upwards into the inside of the exposed thigh. By the time Terry started to scream, Maglor had twisted the knife and pulled it downward, ripping the femoral artery open all the way to the knee. Terry lurched away unsteadily, tripping over Eric's body and collapsing in a bleeding heap.

"Should have just had a pint with me," were the last words he heard.

"Fuck, Maglor, you think you could have made a bigger mess?" Erestor said angrily. In truth, he was relieved, but furious at Maglor for making him worry.

"Yeah, Maglor. This is my home, after all," David said. "Now I'm never going to get my security deposit back. Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of carpet?"

"Well, he pissed me off!" Maglor said in a huff. "That fucking hurt!"

Erestor rolled his eyes. "I could have helped."

"I told you, I had it under control! I was just letting him wear himself down. It was the old rope-a-dope, dumbass."

"Which one of you was the dope, I wonder?"

Maglor was about to retort when the sound of movement caught everyone's attention. Graham was beginning to stir.

"At least I killed my two, Erestor!" Maglor taunted.

"Yes, but at least I'm not covered in blood."

"Most of this isn't mine! Valar!" the elder Noldo scoffed, grunting as he finally yanked the stake out of his chest. The sucking wound closed quickly once the makeshift weapon was removed, but some blood still seeped onto his shirt. "Dammit, I'll never get this shirt clean."

Erestor snorted. "I think the blood is the least of your problems."

"Maybe I can just return it?" Maglor said hopefully.

"You monsters!" cried Graham as he pulled himself to his feet and surveyed the damage.

Erestor held up a hand to Maglor. "Hold that thought." He then turned and stalked toward Graham. "Let me get this straight. You barge in to someone else's home, uninvited. You draw lethal weapons and threaten to kill two people who have never done anything to you or anyone you care about. You disown your own son because he had the unmitigated balls to stand up to you. And we are the monsters, simply because we had the gall to not die? I think your last few seconds should be spent trying to think up a reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"Because he's my father, Vincent, and I am asking you not to." David ran to Erestor and put a hand on his shoulder. "No matter what else is true, no matter how big an asshole he's been, he's still my father. Just let him go. We'll go back to his house and destroy all the notes and the histories. He won't be able to follow you without Michael's money funding him anymore. Just let it be over, Vincent. Please."

Maglor limped across the room. "Don't listen to him, Erestor. Right now, he is weak. Destroy him now, or he'll only return stronger. He's a leader of Men, Erestor; don't forget. He'll bring others to his cause, others to fund him and to move against us. He was only curious before, but now he has too much reason to hate. We'll never be safe as long as he lives."

Graham coughed and turned wild eyes to David. "David, don't let them kill me. David, my son, please, help me," he pleaded.

"Now I'm your son again?" David said acidly. "I have asked for your life, which is more than I am convinced you deserve. But I owed you that much. Now it is no longer my choice."

The fear in Graham's eyes shifted instantly to hatred. "You ungrateful son of a bitch!"

Maglor sensed more than saw the motion. His senses were still acute from the fight with Terry, which was more taxing than he would ever admit, to the point where he was almost psychic. There was a minute shift of Graham's hand, and a barely audible click followed by a rustle of something against his sleeve. The vampire was already in motion before the wrist-loaded dagger had emerged from the sheath. He shoved his way between Erestor and David and grabbed David by the shoulders, pushing him back out of the way as Graham thrust the blade forward. He could not get clear in time, though, and the point pierced Maglor's back, near his kidney, until it was buried to the hilt.

"Goddammit, that's twice!" Maglor screamed. "What do I look like to you people, a fucking pincushion?"

Erestor grabbed the outstretched arm and punched into the elbow, shattering the joint without a second thought. Graham clutched at the destroyed bone with his other arm and slid down the wall, whimpering in pain.

"Don't kill him, please!" David yelled over Maglor's shoulder.

"Oh, I won't kill him," Erestor said in a sinister voice. "I just don't think he'll be able to follow us as easily once he's a quadruple amputee."

Maglor gingerly touched the dagger in his back and winced again, his face twisted into a pained snarl. "Wait, Erestor," he managed to say. "I have a better idea. If you only break the body, he will still be who he is, and even if he cannot come himself, he will send others for us. But if we break the mind..."

Erestor looked to David. "What do you say, David? He will be barely recognizable as your father, but he will live."

David sighed heavily and chose his words carefully. "Considering some of the things he has done, said, and believed, it is hard to believe that anything you would do would be anything but an improvement."

"Very well. Maglor, are you strong enough to do this? I may be able to read better than you, but you were always more capable at manipulation."

"I may not be good for much once I'm done, but I can take care of this, yes," Maglor replied. He drew the blade out of his back and dropped it on the floor. He limped over to Graham and knelt down beside him, holding him by the chin and staring into his eyes.

"I know how to do this painlessly," he explained to the fearful, red-rimmed eyes, "but in your case, I think I'll forget that little detail." Maglor focused his power and plunged into the mortal's mind.

Graham screamed once, and then never spoke again.