These Are the Dark Days

It was not long after James had explained the situation that Gerard and his father left to take care of the auction house. The elder Way son had left the room temporarily and returned, telling his father that it was time to go, he had called other doms and they were going to meet them on the street James had described.

Before leaving, Gerard walked into Frank’s bedroom with Frank in tow. Once they had some privacy, the two men wrapped their arms around each other and held on tightly.

“I will be okay, little one,” Gerard attempted to calm a worried looking Frank, “I will return as soon as I can and when I do, you will come to live with me.” Gerard looked around the room, “Have Mikey help you pack up a little, pack whatever you want to take with you.”

They left Frank’s room and Gerard motioned to his father that it was time to leave, they had business to take care of.The queen and Mikey stayed in the apartment, leading to an awkward dinner of the lasagna Eve had prepared. They sat around quietly and ate until Annabelle broke the silence.

“I know it must be excruciatingly hard to have Frank leave to live with us,” The queen addressed James and Eve, “I hope you know that we will do everything in our power to take care of him. And you two must not be strangers, Frank is not under house arrest, he can come visit and you may visit him.

Being the mate of the prince does come with some dangers, people will try to harm him in order to get to the family. It is safer for everyone, including you, if he lives in our protection. If I know my son, Gerard, nothing will ever harm a hair on Frank’s head.”

This prompted Eve to break into tears, she apologized profusely for crying and thanked the queen for her kindness.

“No need to thank me, Eve, I can’t imagine what you must be feeling, I am only trying to ease your pain.” It was then that Frank stood up and walked to where his mother was sitting. He got on his knees and placed an arm around his mother, who turned to burry her head in the crook of Frank’s neck.

“It’s okay, mama, you know that cheesy thing they always say at weddings, you’re not losing a son, but gaining another. I promise that Gerard and I will come to visit so often you’ll be sick of us. I don’t care how many cooks the palace has, nothing beats your spaghetti.”

Eve let go of her son, wiped her eyes, and smiled sadly at Frank. Smiling back, Frank took this opportunity to clear the dishes from the table. He was then joined in the kitchen by Mikey who began to blather on about what there was to do at the palace while he attempted to help Frank clear up (Frank decided not to tell the young prince, who probably had never cleaned anything in his life, that sitting on the counter with a dry dishrag talking about shopping did not constitute as helping).

~***~

Gerard walked up to the door of the auction house, followed by his father and the six or seven doms who he had called upon for help. Their plan was to enter and pretend to be there for the auction to find out who was in charge. Gerard assumed this would be the same person who had sold Frank.

As they entered, the stench of human was so strong that Gerard’s head began to spin. He took a deep breath and got back on task, he had his Frankie to think about. He would rather be with him right now, watching another corny vampire film on the couch in Frank’s tiny apartment.

Instead, he and his clan made their way to one of the tables in the back of the large room and waited for the show to start. Gerard looked around him and saw the worst of the vampire community, the ones who harmed fertiles or had so much rage that even Gerard was disgusted.

Ten minutes later, the heavy, dusty curtains on the stage opened up and a thin woman in high heels walked out on stage.

“Welcome gentlemen, to the auction house, I am Jessica, owner of this fine establishment.” Gerard looked at his father, motioning that this was the lady they were to go after.

After Jessica finished her greeting, the first person was brought on stage. She was a thin, pasty girl, about nine years old. Her long hair covered her face as she did not dare to look up at the men bidding on her. Jessica began her auction, “Here we have a strong nine year old girl, not yet glammored but can be at your command. We start the bidding at $100.”

Gerard raised his hand, earning a warm smile form Jessica and a harsh look from his father. No one bid against Gerard, the girl was his.

Gerard turned to his father, “This way I have an excuse to get into Jessica’s office. I’m sure there will be forms to fill out. Plus, this girl has not been glamoured yet, we could help her find her family. Save her from what happened to Frank.”

The king, still not ecstatic about the idea nodded, his son was right. The auction continued for another hour. The men at Gerard’s table could not bare to look up at the suffering fertiles, they could not help them without breaking their cover.

After the curtains closed again, Gerard stood up, motioning for this companions to stay in place until he needed them. He then made his way to the door in the corner marked “Manager”.