One

January 03, 2051- 388 Auxiliary Rd.; Millhaven, Pleasantview



Alexei braced his defenses for the coming onslaught. If he were honest with himself, he would note that he had been washing the same dish for the past twenty minutes, running his pruned fingers over the beveled edge and listening for the door. In eighty years he had never made a decision by himself that affected all three of them. And while he knew that he was doing the right thing, he still felt guilty. Very much so. The dish in his hands was getting no cleaner but he continued to rub.

When the door finally opened, he did not turn. To turn would be to acknowledge that he knew what was coming and that he was not quite prepared. Antoine swept into the kitchen, an angry blur of black and beige in the corner of Alexei’s eye.



“Incidentally, what is Kvornan Tricou doing on our couch?” Antoine’s whisper was nearly drowned out by the sound of the sink draining as Alexei pulled the plug.

“Sleeping, last I checked.” Alexei opened the cabinet below the sink and stowed the dish there, forgetting that dishes did not belong beneath the sink.

“You brought him back here?” Alexei dried his hands on his sweater and turned to face his brother. Antoine was seething in a way that he rarely did. Ordinarily, this would be proof positive that Alexei had overstepped a boundary but these were extraordinary circumstances. Today, his brother would just have to forgive him.



“What else was I supposed to do? The faes can’t seem to keep him bunged up in a little fishbowl like they said they would. He’s been running around for years taking victims and not sweeping up his footprints. The way he operates puts us all in danger. As long as no one teaches him any better, he’s just going to keep running around and pulling the same sloppy shit. If he were any other vampire, he would have been compromised ages ago. And I know what you’re going to say but he’s completely harmless, even a bit vegetative most of the time. I don’t know what he’s seen or done or whatever but—“

“He’s homicidal, Alec.” Alexei’s hands, which had been dancing in a complicated series of gestures, fell to his sides. Antoine’s tone had been gentle, bringing to light the fact that he understood Alexei’s reasons both spoken and unspoken. Alexei squeezed his eyes shut to stop himself from grimacing.



“Well, we wouldn’t have many allies amongst our kind if we started making those sorts of distinctions,” he said. Antoine frowned.

“Emilia is coming home today.”

“I know it.”

“You want that monster to stay in the same house where your sister sleeps?” Alexei bit his lip and looked to the floor while his stomach clenched. He leaned against the counter, fighting back thoughts that blossomed formlessly, more emotion than reason. His sense of conviction told him that what he had set into motion would not be undone. But the off-chance that he might be putting his family in danger was unsettling in the extreme.



“No one knows for certain what happened that night,” he said softly.

“You said yourself just now that he’s damaged. Something must have happened to make him that way. Do you really want to risk it?”

“He lost his son, Antoine.”

“That was fifty years ago. More than fifty.”

“Emilia still paces the floor at night over Sean after seventy years and she had us to help her get by. He has no one. It is unfair to suggest that he should be over his loss by now and that if he is still suffering then it must be because he killed those people.” Antoine was unmoved. He folded his arms over his chest. “Two weeks,” Alexei said. “That’s all I ask. After that, I’ll release him back into the wild.” Antoine’s eyebrows rose.



“He’s the Sheut, Alec. This isn’t like that orphaned raccoon you thought would make a decent house pet.” Alexei smiled uneasily.

“Maybe not but I was right then, wasn’t I? You liked Bandit. You let her sleep in your shoes.” Antoine pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly having reached the summit of his patience. Alexei stepped forward and placed his hand on Antoine’s shoulder. “He can’t just be allowed to go around hurting people,” Alexei pressed. Antoine lowered his hand and peered straight through his brother. He spoke slowly, placing a hard emphasis on each word.

“I agree with you one hundred percent but wouldn’t this be a project more suited to Cade or Nephtys?” Alexei snorted derisively.

“We stay in Cade’s good graces because we don’t go running to him with every little thing.”

“You call this a little thing?”

“Two weeks. That’s all I need.”

“And if Emilia says no?” Alexei moistened his lips, attempting to hide the smile that threatened to break through. Asking what would happen if Emilia said no was as good as consent.



“Ten simoleons says that she’ll call him her poor little angel within fifteen minutes of meeting him,” Alexei joked. Antoine soured further. “I’ve known him for weeks now. I trust him.”

“It isn’t a matter of trust. He's not a person. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“Whatever he is, he needs help and I want to help him.” Antoine winced painfully, sympathetically. He braced the back of Alexei’s head, pulling him into a hug.



“The only reason why I’m saying yes to this is because I know that you can’t be dissuaded. If he left, you would go with him and I would rather be present to catch you when you fall.” Alexei pulled away.

“It’s going to be fine, Antoine. In fact, it’s going to be more than fine.” Alexei patted Antoine’s cheek playfully. “You may even let him sleep in your shoes before the end."