These Are the Dark Days

Gerard put on his large, black sunglasses before walking into the office. Last thing he needed was to be recognized.

Jessica looked up as he entered the room, her eyebrows furrowed. “You are the man who has bought little Alice, right? You pay up front, customers are not normally aloud in the back. If you want her glammored, you have to talk to Jake up front.”

Gerard ignored the obvious attempt to get him out of her office. He walked up and took a seat in the chair in front of her desk. “Thirteen years ago, a boy came through here. He was glammored and sold to a dom and his mate. I need all the information you have on him.”

Gerard new he was going to kill the female dom who sat before him (it was his right under vampire law, she had harmed his mate) but he needed to know where Frank came from. This could be his only chance at somehow finding Frank’s vampire family.

“You expect me to remember some snot nose kid who passed through over a decade ago?” Gerard bared his teeth at her mention of Frank, he would make her pay for her lack of respect.

“You must keep files,” Gerard was quickly losing his patience, “Get me the files for every glammored, five year old, male fertile who was here thirteen years ago.” Jessica sighed and stood up, making her way to a row of filing cabinets.

She rifled through the files, picking out a folder every so often. Once she had finished the drawer from that year, she turned around, with handful of files and handed them to Gerard.

“Sit.” He commanded as he took the files. She complied with his command, more out of curiosity than fear. Who was this man and why the hell did he care about some kid she sold years ago?

Gerard opened the first file to see the picture of a tall, lanky, blonde boy. Not Frank. He opened file after file, his heart breaking each time he saw a new face, these poor fertiles would probably never know they were vampires, he knew there was a good chance most of them were dead.

Seven or eight files in, Gerard saw a face that he would recognize anywhere. It was five year old Frank. He looked up at the camera with his big brown eyes ringed red and full of tears. A long black bruise extended from his right ear to the opposite collar bone. Gerard felt his heart lurch forward in his chest. He was skilled in the art of torture, he would recognize that bruise anywhere. Someone had whipped his Frankie.

After composing himself, Gerard looked up at Jessica who was looking at Gerard with intrigue. Gerard placed Frank’s file under one arm and grabbed Jessica by the arm. “You are coming with me.” He sneered, inches away from her face.

Jessica tried to fight back, she stood up and pulled trying to hit Gerard with her free hand but he dodged it and pushed her up against the wall. He took the file and held it in front of her face.

“This boy you sold, he is my mate. You will regret the day you ever got into this slimy business. Do you understand?” He shook her slightly against the wall.

“What? You’re going to kill me? I’m just as strong as you are, you’ll need an army to get me out of here.” In that moment, the door swung open and Bob and Ray strode in. The bastards must have been listening, Gerard thought.

“The army is here, bro.” Ray clasped a hand on Gerard’s shoulder before grabbing Jessica by the shoulders and pulling her to the ground. Bob then helped him tie Jessica up as Gerard watched.

“Bob, carry her out to one of the trucks and take her back to the palace, bring some of the guys with you. Take her to my office, make her squirm, hand her upside down until I get there.” Bob nodded and threw Jessica, who was now unconscious, over his shoulder. “Ray, you go find the little girl, Alice, and we will take the other truck and go pick up the fertiles.”

~***~

Frank was sitting with his mother, father, and the queen when Gerard walked in. Mikey had passed out an hour earlier, complaining that the cleaning up he helped with must have tired him out.

Standing up and walking to his mate, Frank was so relieved to see him safe. He wrapped his arms around Gerard’s neck, forcing the dom to crouch awkwardly. Gerard was soon followed by the king and a man Frank had never met before.

“Frankie, this is Ray.” Gerard explained, placing a small kiss on his mate’s temple.

“Oh! Mikey’s mate! He talks about you a lot.” Ray smiled at Frank’s comment, promising they would get to know each other soon. He then walked over to Mikey who had sprawled himself out on the couch and picked him up bridal style, telling Gerard that they would be in the car.

“Come along little one, it’s been a long day for everyone, hell, yesterday you were human. You need some sleep.” Frank nodded and let go of Gerard. He walked over to his mother and father and gave them each a long hug, telling them how much he loved them. “It’s not forever, Frankie, we’ll be back tomorrow to get all your stuff.”

~***~

It felt strange for Frank when they pulled into the long palace driveway. He had gone by on a bus countless times but he never imagined himself in this position. The doors soon opened and he was helped out of his car by Gerard.

He watched as the queen held the very scared little girl’s hand. Gerard had explained who she was and Frank’s heart swelled at his mate’s caring demeanor and generosity. The fact that he was trying to save a girl from the fate Frank was to have made him want to cry happy tears.

She was quickly ushered inside by the king and queen and the doctor was called for. Annabelle began to make plans for finding her family, and it was not a good family (in most cases like the young girl’s, the family was who sold her in the first place), she played with the idea of adoption.

As he was led upstairs Frank thought about the little girl, Alice. She could not understand what was going on, she would not feel safe for a long time. Frank knew that he would have to be the one to go and talk to her, he was the only one that understood what she was going through. But that could wait until morning.

Once inside Gerard’s bedroom, Frank quickly stripped down to his boxers and crawled into the oversized bed. He was followed by Gerard who pulled Frank close and began to kiss along his neck while running his hand up Frank’s thigh.

“Prince Way!” Frank feigned surprise, “We have not even had our mating ceremony yet! What if we are not paired together?!” He worked hard to hold back a giggle.

Gerard sighed at Frank’s fun and rested his head on Frank’s pillow, “I am going to rule one day. If I say you’re my mate, then you are my fucking mate.”

Frank was about to poke fun at Gerard’s choice of words and his stance on being a ‘fucking mate’ until he heard soft snoring coming from Gerard. He giggled quietly before turning on his side and curling up next to his mate.