These Are the Dark Days

"Gerard?" A very confused and slightly angry king questioned. "What the hell is going on here?"

"He's my mate." Gerard mumbled, barley audible. Frank squirmed slightly, pain evident in his face. "The glamour I was asking about, it was for Frank, he was under its spell."

The king and queen stepped forward to get a better look at the boy laying on their couch. Frank looked like a fertile vampire, there was not doubt, but he reeked of human. Human and something else. It was hard to place but there were almost wisps of vampire in Frank's sent, the work of the venom in his veins.

"He asked me to bite him, just like you told me needed to happen." Gerard stroked the hair out of Frank's face. "I just didn't know what to do next, he was in so much pain. I thought here would be the best place for him."

The queen bent down and lifted the blood soaked jacket from Frank's neck. The bite marks were no longer bleeding, in fact, they had already scared over, making it look like an old, healed wound. "We just need to wait until the venom takes over completely. I'll go get the doctor but I'm not sure there is much he can do."

After the queen left the room, the king and Mikey moved from the doorway they had been standing under and sat on the couch across from the two boys. They watched Gerard desperately trying to find a way to help his mate.

~***~

The doctor had come and gone, saying there was nothing he could do and the best thing would be to make Frank as comfortable as possible and while they waited for the transformation to be complete. Gerard had moved Frank to his room, laying him under the soft white comforter. He soon fell asleep laying next to Frank, cradling him in his arms.

What felt like minutes later, Gerard opened his eyes. The sun had gone down and the room was dark, he felt Frank move slightly under his grasp. He looked down to see Frank's eyes fluttering sightly.

"Frankie?" He stroked his face, willing his mate to open his eyes and look at him. "Come on little one, it's time to wake up." His voice was gentle, hoping to caress Frank from his sleep. Frank let out a deep breath and opened his eyes. He smiled weakly when he saw Gerard.

"Hi." He croaked, his voice raspy from sleep. Gerard smiled and kissed Frank's forehead.

"Good morning, love." Frank tried to sit up but Gerard held him down, wanting Frank to get all the rest he could.

"What happened Gee?" Gerard then explained everything to him. The glamour, why Frank had to ask to be bitten, the fact that Frank was now a full fledge fertile vampire. Frank listened intently, still not quite sure that he believe Gerard. He didn't feel any different, well, he felt weak. Vampire were supposed to be strong, able body creatures but Frank could barley hold up his head.

Almost as if he read Frank's mind, Gerard pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted Mikey, asking him to bring a couple of glasses of blood up for Frank. "It'll be okay, dear." He comforted Frank as they waited for Mikey.

There was a soft knock on the door as Mikey opened it carrying a silver tray. Frank panicked as he saw the context of the tray. Three glasses of blood. He looked up to gerard with wide eyes. How could he be expected to drink blood?

"Shhhh..." Gerard cooed. "You are thirsty Frank. Thats why you feel so weak, you need blood." Gerard grabbed one of the glasses from the tray Mikey had set on the nightstand before sitting on the end of the bed.

Gerard handed the glass to Frank who looked down skeptically at the red liquid before taking a small sip. Then another sip. Then another. Soon, Frank was halfway done with the second glass.

"I thought Mikey said Fertiles only need a glass every month or so. Why did you bring me three?" He had now almost finished the second glass, he couldn't stop himself from grabbing the third.

"We've never had a changed fertile before." Gerard answered. "Some time soon, you should get to the point were you only need to drink as much as Mikey but we don't really know what you need at the moment."

"Blood is like vitamins to us," Mikey voiced "If you don't have any, it's dangerous but if you have too much, you just pee out what your body doesn't need. We're just being careful."

Frank finished the last glass just as someone cleared their voice in the doorway. Frank looked up to see the king and queen. He had only ever seen them from the bus window, he sat up, feeling like an intruder being this close to them.

"Hello Frank," The queen's voice was soft and comforting.

"H-hello your majesties." Frank's voice was lost somewhere in his vocal cords.

"Please, you're our eldest son's mate" The king smiled slightly "It's Annabelle and Daniel to you."

Frank smiled at the familiarity. "Yes, sir... I mean Daniel, sir."

They all laughed, Frank more nervously than the rest.

"So Frank," The king asked, smiling "Who were the maggot humans that you lived with, we'll go teach them a lesson or two about keeping a glamoured vampire around."

Frank's eyes widened with fear. "No!" Everyone looked shocked by his outburst ."They had no idea about the glamour! I know they're humans and we are not meant to like them but they were nothing but good to me. They found me and treated me as their own son so they I would stay off the streets and stay safe."

The king sighed, obviously disappointed that he would not get to kill any humans today. "Well then, I suppose the best thing to do would be to figure out who glamoured you and hurt them. We will have to go ask your human family some questions, they'll be safe, I promise. Is that alright?"

Frank nodded, glad that he would not be responsible for his parent's death. "Can I come with? I'd like to explain myself what happened. To say goodbye."

"Of course, Frank! We'll go in the morning then." With that, the king, queen, and Mikey all left the room and Frank and Gerard soon fell asleep, wrapped in each others arms.