The Monster Inside: The First Vampire 115 An Offer

Rassa had unhelpfully brought up the fact that as long as the two of them were well-fed, he did have a steady supply. It had effectively unsettled them, and they'd decided to head to a heavily populated area next to give Rassa plenty of choice.

Sure, they were fine with the fact that Rassa needed blood to survive. But when the point was reinforced that to him, they were food...there was just something about it that made their skin prick. Like they were the prey instead of the predator, indeed a strange feeling for humans.

When the dawn arrived the next morning, Aegin and Ebony had only settled on going south. They figured that for Rassa to truly feel comfortable - and to stop having to call him Phil - it was best to leave Eldovia altogether.

Who would have thought that without their knowledge, the opportunity to do so would fall right into their lap, and set them on the course of the rest of their VERY long lives...

***

Jeremiah had been unable to sleep the night before. With the combined stressors of the attack, Ewan's death, Aaron's severe injury and the revelation that the boy Phil had saved his life, he was well and truly ready to leave Port Lovolon, but Aaron's injury complicated things.

Through the night, the doctor had been unsure whether or not the boy would pull through, but when his fever broke just after dawn and he awakened a couple of hours later, the doctor turned optimistic.

"He'll live, but he'll be bedridden for a couple of weeks and very weak for at least a month after that. A wound such as his, its honestly a miracle he survived," the Doctor admitted.

Jeremiah sighed, realising what the Doctor was implying but needing to hear it said, "So to move him to the ship-"

"Absolutely not," the Doctor frowned, "Not unless you want him to contract all manner of diseases there. I have faith in your Captaincy, Token, but a ship is a ship, not a recovery ward".

Jeremiah sighed. He couldn't wait for Aaron to get better before they left. He needed to be on Rouke soon.

Looking at the Doctor's hard and urging stare, Jeremiah nodded, "Very well, I hope you can take good care of him".

"Of course," the Doctor nodded before taking his leave, "I'll be back this evening to change his bandages".

Jeremiah nodded, watching as the Doctor left down the hallway of the second storey and registering Midas's approach. His First Mate had been looking after the ship in his absence, and needless to say was peeved he'd missed all the action.

"How is he?" asked Midas as he arrived.

"He'll live, but he can't travel for a while," Jeremiah replied.

Midas's head dropped, as if he'd expected that, "Hargreeve is arranging for the Miranda to be loaded, we should be able to sail in the afternoon. We'll pick up some more sailors on Rouke".

Jeremiah paused for a moment, looking to the room Aaron was currently sleeping in before he turned back to Midas.

"No need, we'll leave with the tide tomorrow morning, I've got one last thing I need to do here," Jeremiah said.

"Thought you were eager to leave, what could have cropped up last minute?" asked Midas, crossing his arms over his chest as he raised an eyebrow at Jeremiah.

Jeremiah paused, looking back at Midas with a small smile, "I owe someone a favour, best I offer now as he seems like the kind that disappears without a trace".

Midas nodded, accepting his Captain's wishes, "I'll inform the crew to be ready to sail at dawn".

Jeremiah waved him off.

***

They were working at the Peony Docks today. It'd taken Jeremiah until the mid-afternoon to find them. In truth, Jeremiah was only interested in getting even with Phil, but from the way the boy interacted with the two others, he knew they were a package deal. After spotting them, Jeremiah approached, taking a load from the hooded young man who looked at Jeremiah in surprise.

He didn't ask the expected 'what are you doing here', instead, he seemed to have a epiphany moment in his darkened eyes, one that was gone as soon as it arrived. He watched as Jeremiah put the load down into the cart for transport and turned to face him.

"Have a moment?"

Phil crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.

"I'm not going to ask about yesterday, if you wanted to talk about it you would, but I do owe you my life so-"

"That life was paid already," Phil interrupted, "I'm sorry for your loss".

Jeremiah frowned, then realised that Phil thought Aaron had died, "Aaron's not dead".

The retreating Phil paused, as if surprised, and looked over his shoulder, "...He's not?"

"No, he'll be bedridden for a while, but he's not dead," Jeremiah confirmed.

Phil's head dropped in thought, but there was a sense of relief around him, and Jeremiah couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. He really was a troubled one. Granted, being responsible for taking a life wasn't exactly an unheard of thing, it happened frequently. Even as a merchant Jeremiah had often taken lives he hadn't intended to. Eventually though, one found the line, the one they wouldn't cross. From the way Phil acted, Jeremiah was sure that his line was still blurred, as if he'd already crossed it and was trying to find his way back to no avail.

"Look, seeing as I'm down a few crewman and I owe you my life, I figured it was only fair for me to offer you a job," Jeremiah said, "I can only guarantee meals and a pay that's better than working on these docks, but if that's enough you're welcome to join. You and your two companions".

Phil looked up in surprise, his hood doing nothing to hide the innocence of his face. Indeed, those eyes had seen a lot, but he was still young. Jeremiah pushed away from the cart and turned to walk back to the Token district.

"If you want the job, be at the Token Docks an hour before dawn tomorrow. We're sailing with the tide," Jeremiah said, disappearing into the crowd and leaving Phil alone with a decision to make.

Chapter end