London Loves Ch. 03

He opened another bottle of wine and topped up Xavier's glass, then produced a rather magnificent looking chocolate-cake concoction from the chrome-fronted refrigerator and carried it through like a lure to the sun room, now shrouded in twilight.

"Bring a couple of forks and a pair of little plates through, darling," he chuckled, amused by the mesmerised expression on Xavier's face.

IN DARKNESS:

Rayne had to fight the urge not to slam the door behind him as he stalked out into the gardens. Only the thought of what Dominic might do to him if he broke the conservatory stayed his heavy hand. Lord Warren might look like an ancient club-bunny in his casuals but he was still a Vampire Slayer of considerable renown. Once outside, he slumped down on the bench in the terraced garden for a few minutes, composing his frustration until it became more manageable. It would not do to go out on the streets with the blood lust on him and a temper still percolating. The damage he could do under those circumstances did not bear thinking about.

His brief taste of Clint earlier today had taken the edge off his hunger but he had not fed properly since bleeding the guy on the train, two days ago, and even then he had been careful not to take too much. And the sex with Xavier, though it fed him emotionally, also pulled on him in other ways. He was physically tired, which was unusual since his Turning. They had been fucking almost constantly since returning home though, which probably had something to do with it.

Rayne almost smiled at that, but not quite. He would have some explaining to do when he got back, if Xavier was still around. And he could hardly blame the boy for being angry with him. His outburst had been harsh, and Xavier had a point, he hadn't been consulted about tonight. Rayne had just figured that it would be more fun for him to be with a friend than alone. He hadn't asked though. In truth he was not in the habit of asking.

Little wonder that so few of his lovers lasted no more than a handful of days with him.

He fished in a pocket of his jeans for his ciggies and lit up with a little sigh, blowing smoke into the pocket of quiet down here among the plane trees and poplars. There were so many of these little green squares tucked away off the London streets. They were tranquil places to come, if you had the fortune to be a key-holder or friendly with someone who was.

Rayne wondered how long his friendship with Dominic could last under pressures like tonight's. He was way past the stage of seeing Lord Warren as a genial old flake. They had been through too much for him to be so dismissive of the older man. But Dom was mortal when all was said and done. He had the bites of two different Ancients on him, which offered some protection, even though one of those Vampires was now dust. And he was a powerful white witch to boot, which Rayne had learned pretty quickly not to mock. Dominic Warren knew his way around spells that could literally curl your hair. The image of affable old bugger was a bushel he cultivated to hide his light under, because he knew as well as any vampire how dangerous it was to be different in a world where the paranormal was feared and bland, homogeneous traits were the acceptable norm. He'd had excellent teachers, a white witch called Constance Harper and her lover, the vampire Cameron Eldridge, who had been his mentors and then his peers for some forty years until Connie was killed in a road incident that Dom swore was no accident. Eldridge did not survive her passing by more than a few months. Vampire or not, his heart and spirit were broken and Dominic grieved for them more than for the passing of his own blood parents.

A lesser man would be dead many times over. Lord Warren had fought vampires and spirits, warlocks and weres in his sixty plus years, and amazingly he looked very well on it. Even more amazingly, none of it had ever graced the gossip columns or featured on the front of the tabloids, with the exception of a rather embarrassing incident generated to try and discredit him by an opposing Black Coven in London a few years ago. That had been just before he and Rayne first met, and Warren assured him that his own Coven had averted Armageddon by triumphing over their antagonists. Rayne knew better than to scoff by now, but he'd laughed his arse off at the time. It just seemed funny. Dominic was more like his granny than some kind of Terminator figure.

And he'd broken one of the glasses, the special set of thirteen, made in Venice with a twist of Cam and Connie's ashes in the delicate green stems. How insensitive was that? And how the hell could he make amends for it?

More so, how was he going to apologise to Xavier for treating him so shabbily? The one person who had brought light and warmth to his cold days, and he had talked Xav down like he was a child, or a servant. He rested his forehead against the heel of his free hand and closed his eyes for a moment.

Brian used to talk to him like that all the time; as if his thoughts and feelings were of no consequence. His uncle Brian always knew what was best for him. And usually what Brian thought was best for him was to shut his mouth and open his legs.

Was that how he was treating Xavier?

Matt had once told him that he didn't have a soul, even before Jabez bit him. That had been one hell of an argument. Matty didn't argue with him often, preferring to be subtler in his manipulations but they fought like wolves that night. They fought until Matt Greening was so badly hurt that Turning him was his only option. It was that or let the boy bleed to death in his arms and he could not. Angry to the point of blindness with Matt he still could not let him go. Even in that, Rayne had been deftly manipulated by his ex-lover.

He wanted to go back in and just take Xavier in his arms and hold him and tell him how sorry he was; sorry that he was useless; sorry that he could be cruel without even knowing it; and more sorry than anything that he did not know how to change the way he was. But again the time was past and he knew he would not be welcome in that warm and friendly house right now.

Snuffing out the cigarette, more calm and also a little sadder, he pushed himself to his feet and walked on through the gardens and out onto the darkening streets. Soon the night would shroud him and he could shrug off his conscience and hunt. That was some small comfort, but not much.

CONVIVIALITY:

Xavier brought the items he was told to fetch and followed Dominic readily into the little conservatory. "Keep them from reading me, yeah...but also keep me from picking up everybody else's shit. This morning when Rayne wasn't around, it was like the dimmer he put on me wasn't so strong. When I was walking around I couldn't get too close to anyone or I was feeling whatever they were feeling."

"Hmmm..." Dominic frowned slightly and cut his young guest a more than generous slice of cake, levering it onto the plate he was holding out. "That is a little disturbing. Maybe he is right to hold off biting you, and maybe that accounts for some of his behaviour tonight. Though not all of it, I think. There is a line of reason in Vampire Lore that suggests it is not wise to take blood from the same vein under the same moon, and this is not merely out of fear of weakening the Feeder. It is believed to actually weaken the vampire feeding from him. I'm not aware of any studies done on the Feeders themselves to show how it affects them but I've never heard of anyone becoming increasingly sensitive just because a vampire feeds from them more intensely."

He cut a second slice of cake for himself, adding; "I hope you like this, I haven't tried the recipe before but it looked absolutely delicious!"

Xavier's brows drew together slightly in a tiny frown. "Hey, Dom... can you not call me a Feeder?" he asked in a tone that suggested he was feeling a little insecure as it was without being referred to like a vampire flank steak.

"Sorry, darling," Lord Warren conceded with a little smile. "I get lost in the technicalities sometimes. Nothing personal!"

Xav took a bite of the cake then and his expression melted back to something more agreeable. "Oh, man..." he said as the buttery, chocolaty confection just about make him weak in the knees. "I think I might actually get fat hanging around you!" He grinned. Then he thought of something.

"Wait, they've done studies on vampires? Who's they? And what kind of studies?"

Dominic sat back with a little smile, still munching on a mouthful of cake with a look of bliss on his face. Amazingly, there was no way you could describe Lord Warren as fat, or even slightly rounded. He gestured towards Xavier with his fork as he swallowed the first mouthful.

"One of the earliest modern Institutes for the study of Parapsychology was in your own country, at the University of Virginia, no less," he said with a grin. "The practice has spread to us across the pond. UCL students are doing PHd research into blood abnormalities and the 'myth' of the werecreature and I believe that Birmingham have a fairly robust centre for the study of psychic phenomena. And Simons Harrington in Liverpool have been doing solid research into vampirism for about a year now."

He did not add that some of this Liverpool research was due to them having Rayne as a somewhat unwilling guest of the Institute for about six months, prior to his trip to America. It had taken all of Dominic's resources as a mediator to get Wylde freed. Right now he was wondering if it had been worth it.

Xavier chewed on that while he worked on the slice of cake. Interesting, actually; of course, he was finding more and more that there were things in the world he'd never even guessed at. With a sigh he set the plate aside and licked the sweetness from his lips. He was quiet for a few moments, thinking, and he admitted to himself that he was worried Rayne wasn't coming back. That was it, Rayne had already decided it wasn't going to work and if he came back at all it would only be to tell Xav he was putting him on a plane home or something. Trying not to think on it he made himself focus on the here and now.

"So, you don't know why this is going on with me?" he said. "What can I do though? The 'brick wall' thing isn't working."

"The 'brick wall' is a psychological exercise, pretty much like the flame technique that is used in meditation," Dominic explained, licking his fingers as he surveyed Xavier contemplatively. "It's effective because, done well, it can make people who are susceptible to energies and vibrations, such as vampires, for example, believe that there is nothing beyond the wall. To guard against a creature that can see through such trickery and sleight of mind, you need a proper spell."

Xav looked at him for a long moment or two, those big blue eyes blinking slowly once. "Dom, I've got no fuckin' idea what you're talking about," he finally admitted.

Dominic chewed on his lips throughfully for a moment. Whereas many people would probably have thrown up their hands in defeat he liked to view general ignorance as a bit of a challenge.

"Did you ever tell a white lie as a child to get out of doing something?" he asked at last.

"You mean like faking sick to stay home from school? Yeah, everybody does that."

Dominic nodded; "Mmm... sort of like that. The 'brick wall' is like that, it's something you put out there, like a smoke screen, to hide what you're really about. But it's not a real, tangible object. It's just a ruse. A serious Sensitive will see right through it. And when a vampire bites, they get memories with the blood that they take. Now a gifted person could actually create a barrier, a real psychic barrier that would keep thoughts in and also keep things out. There's a bit of a knack to it and it takes practice but it can be done." He paused to smile at Xavier. "Am I making any sense to you yet?"

"Can't you just tell me what I have to do?" Xavier asked. He was at heart a practical person, and the impatience of youth was not currently on his side. He didn't expect the solution to just be handed to him, he was willing to work and practice, whatever it took, but he wanted to be doing something now.

"Yes, I could, but no, I won't."

Xavier gave him a baleful glare but Dominic was unfazed. "If someone that's never danced before asked you to teach them, would you just rattle off where to put their feet without showing them or going through it at all? You've got to learn each of the steps first before you put the whole thing together."

Now that he was speaking a language Xavier could understand he settled down a bit. That was something he could relate to. "Okay...so how about showing me the first step then?"

"I will Xavier, I promise, but not tonight. For one thing you just ate enough to keep you grounded for a least a few hours, and for another Rayne was right about one thing, you are tired." He smiled to take any sting out of the words. "Get a good night's sleep, and then we can start when you're fresh."

Xav couldn't quite stifle the sigh of disappointment, but he nodded his head.

After talking a little while longer Dominic showed him up to one of the guest rooms on the second floor, which he was pleased to find also had a light, airy en-suite bathroom. Xav was also happy to find his luggage there since a change of clothes was a bit overdue... not that he'd really been wearing his clothes all that often! As much as he didn't want to admit it, both Rayne and Dominic were right, he was exhausted and not just in a physical way. It was still early by his standards but he decided he'd take a shower and head off to bed before he fell asleep on the sofa or something.

Just as he'd finished up in the bathroom and came out wrapped in a towel he heard Dominic tap lightly on the door and he came in holding a small china cup, like the kind used in Chinese restaurants only this one seemed thin and looked especially delicate. A curl of steam rose from the surface as Dominic held it out to him.

"Drink this, it will help you sleep."

Xavier took the cup and sniffed at it warily. "What's in it?"

"Nothing that will hurt you, I assure you. It's just herbal tea."

Xavier still looked dubious, but he didn't really think Dom would give him anything bad and it smelled okay, kind of like summer flowers. He drank the hot liquid in one, as if he was doing a shot, and handed the cup back to Dominic, who took that and his damp towel as he slid between the crisp white sheets on the bed.

"Sweet dreams, darling," Dominic whispered as he bent and kissed his forehead and Xavier murmured a sleepy good night as he watched Dom retreat and close the door behind him.

He did not sleep right away though. As soon as he was alone he thought of Rayne and again a small part of him wondered if he would even come back. He shouldn't have gotten so worked up, he shouldn't have snapped at him, Rayne hadn't meant anything bad, he was just trying to look out for him. It had just felt... it had felt like the way Josh used to treat him. Like the times they'd go out somewhere and when they got there Josh would tell him he had to fuck some guy and he didn't give Xav any choice about it. The situation wasn't the same at all, but it had just struck a nerve with him.

Xav closed his eyes and reached out tentatively along the psychic thread between them. Coolness and a hint of satisfaction came back and he tried something he hadn't really consciously tried before, he sent a feeling of comfort, like a soft caress down the thread. He didn't know if Rayne would feel anything or not, but he didn't have any more time to wonder. Sleep was pulling him down and he couldn't seem to struggle against it. He drifted off at last, still thinking of Rayne.

WALKING IT OFF:

As a boy, Rayne's favoured method for dealing with a problem was to walk it off. He had always been a fairly healthy child and lack of finances meant that generally if he wanted to get from A to B he would have to walk there, or cadge a lift. As he got older he also learned to jump trains and hitchhike, but on the whole, if the distance was reasonable he still liked to walk. A steady hike of nine or ten miles was nothing to him if he had a tune working itself out in his head or a thorny situation to resolve. And in London that was easy enough to do.

Having set out from Dominic's place with no clear destination in his mind he followed his feet whilst the problem of what to do about Xavier nagged at him unremittingly. Many people considered the city at night to be a no go zone, and there were areas of the city that could be. Rayne had no such considerations to worry him. The vampire could be your best friend or your worst nightmare. He had been the target for unsuspecting muggers who certainly never raised a hand to anyone again. On a couple of occasions he had been bundled into alleyways by would-be assailants who did not live to regret doing so. Rayne had no qualms about his ruthless approach towards those who violated his personal space. He didn't always kill them, it wasn't generally necessary. But he was capable of putting the fear, if not of God, then at least of the Unknown, into much larger and less disciplined attackers, without resorting to cold-blooded murder.

So his feet carried him north at first under the Westway and up towards the edge of Kensal Town. When he had been mortal and only marginally famous, one of his Dealer friends had lived up here, in a flat that cowered in the shadow of the Trellick Tower. Rayne often walked up and met him in Meanwhile Gardens on the bank of the Grand Union Canal. It was far from the most salubrious area of London but he felt comfortable here nonetheless. Most of West London's narcotics dealers knew Rayne Wylde by sight, even though he was no longer a regular customer. Generally he was still viewed as one of their own.

His cousin Lewis still lived in Kilburn to the north but they had not spoken in years, not since Rayne fucked Lewis's boyfriend whilst living with the couple when he first came to London as a teenager. It was all water under the metaphorical bridge to him now. He had done things that he felt bad about but he could no more change the past than he could predict the future. Rayne swung west tonight, crossing the upper end of Ladbroke Grove and heading for the cemetery at Kensal Green.

In the early years of the new century he had disappeared for nearly three years, lost in a mess of drugs and psychological chaos that he still preferred to shut away behind closed doors. A body was found in Spitalfields and identified as 'Rayne Wylde'. He had actually been 'cremated' at Kensal Green, or someone that fitted his general description had been anyway, and the Faithful and the Press came out in their hundreds to gawk. Of course things were a little hard to explain when he turned up again just a few years later but hardly anyone remembered the furore these days.

Rayne had denied all knowledge of the funeral and declared theatrically that rumours of his death must have been greatly exaggerated. The body of the man presumed to be Rayne Wylde was long since reduced to dust and ashes so an autopsy could hardly be called now. Since no one could actually establish that Rayne had anything to do with the mix up he walked away from the incident with little more than a rap on the knuckles for wasting police time. His sister still had not forgiven him though for letting the family believe he was dead. He regretted that some days.

There were a lot of things to regret; looking back. A lot of water gone under the bridge, never to return.

He stood on the bank of the canal near to the gas risers at Kensal Green and stared into the dark water below, lost in thought. It would serve him right if he lost Xavier over this. In truth he had never deserved the beautiful dancer. Maybe nature was just setting things back on their path again. Bringing him here had been the wrong thing to do. In America or even Europe he could hide behind an image but this was home, in so much as he had a home these days. Here his past would gradually creep out of the woodwork like so many maggots wriggling out of a corpse. And there was nothing he could do to protect Xavier from it.