CHAPTER 204

Tristan stood on the shore of a river bank while absentmindedly skipping stones along its surface to pass time, his mind at a crossroad of a very important decision.

Boyd.

He had thought of it before, hell Boyd had even made an awkward mention of it sometime ago, but he never seriously considered it – adamantly refusing it even – but he couldn't put it off anymore.

The Nogitsune had purposely left Boyd alive just to taunt him, which wasn't complicated to understand when it left Malia relatively fine. He didn't know why exactly it did that but he could guess that it wasn't for any good reason.

He cursed under his breath and put too much force in his swing that the rock only skipped once before embedding itself into a tree on the other side of the river.

"I hate this." He muttered. The complications of emotional attachments were things he never had to deal with when it was just him and Malia. Those were simpler times, and neither of them had to speak out before the other understood.

And speaking of emotional attachments, there was also Allison.

And wasn't that an emotional train wreck?

He wasn't angry at Allison, far from it, he just didn't know how to react to how she felt so he did the only thing he was best at; he acted cold to it.

He heard a twig snapping behind him and turned to see Boyd limping out of the thicket with a slightly pained expression on his face.

"You shouldn't be out here." He said plainly.

Boyd snorted dismissively and came to stand beside him. "Honestly, neither should you. You were so lost in whatever it was you were thinking about that he didn't notice me until I was practically behind you."

They stood beside each other in silence, one skipping rocks across the river while the other watched.

Soon Boyd asked. "So? What are you thinking about? I mean, I have a good idea, but let's hear your thoughts."

"Am I that obvious now?" Tristan asked.

Boyd shrugged. "On a normal day? No. When you're moody? Definitely." He casually pointed out. "It doesn't take a genius to know that you aren't the most sentimental guy around. So what got you in the dumps? I've got three guesses but two don't count."

He playfully nudged Tristan, prompting the boy to return the action with a pale smile.

"Allison."

"Called it in one."

"— and you."

"Uh? Oh… right." Boyd was at first confused, but a mental reminder of why he was still limping made it abundantly clear why Tristan mentioned him.

And if he was being honest… Boyd was absolutely scared out of his mind. He couldn't even take a nap because he was afraid of going through that again in his dreams.

"Right."

Tristan nodded. He threw the last rock in his hand and watched it make eight arches before sinking into the river just before it made the other shore.

"Do you want to become a vampire, Boyd?"

….

"Huh?"

Tristan regarded Boyd's shocked expression with a serious nod of his own and asked again. "Do you want to become a vampire?"

Taking a deep breath, Boyd schooled his face to a calm cast. "I know it's dumb to ask why, but it is because of what just happened that you're considering it, right?"

"Yeah," Tristan scratched his head, not knowing exactly what other way to put it. "Truthfully speaking, I'd say it's better to remain a human than becoming a vampire. I'd even advise you to become a werewolf or a werecoyote than to become a vampire. It's… not as easy as I make it seem."

There was an offer there and Boyd could see it. He could become a werewolf by receiving Satomi's bite, or become a werecoyote from Malia's bite as she had somewhat stabilized her Alpha state after Tristan killed the possessed-resurrected twins.

Blood… was a very tempting substance. Tristan knew. Had it not been because of Malia, he honestly had not idea how he would have curbed his blood lust. In fact, he hardly curbed it at all and just used Malia as a suitable blood bank for years which worked because she was his anchor.

"Yeah, I mean, I can't say I fully understand your concerns but I know some of the dangers it comes with."

"Being the supernatural world public enemy #1?"

Boyd winced before chuckling. "Yeah, that gotta suck big time."

"So?" Tristan curiously inquired to which Boyd replied with a challenging smirk. "As if! It's not like many people like me in school anyway. I had no friends before you and Malia came along. Being a vampire? Fucking count me in man."

Tristan sighed.

Seeing Tristan sigh so forlornly made Boyd's face twitch in mild irritation that he shoved him a bit forcefully and pushed him into the river.

"At least show some excited reaction, you bastard. You're finally creating your pack, clan, whatever, so what's up with the defeated sigh?"

Tristan clicked his tongue in annoyance as he wet pants out of the water. "I don't give two shits about forming a clan, Boyd. That's a responsibility that I don't see myself having in any near future."

Boyd frowned confusedly at that. "Don't you want to bring back the vampires?"

Tristan looked at him with a sarcastic eye raise. "I didn't kill them off, Boyd. Why would I care about bringing them back."

"Right." Of course, who did he think he was talking to? Tristan might have been curious about the history of vampires and why they became virtually extinct, but he wasn't so patriotic as to try and revive the dead race.

Shifting the topic to something else, Boyd asked with leaking excitement in his eyes. "So, how are we going to do it?"

Tristan looked at him a bit surprised. "You want to do it now?"

Boyd was taken about by the stupid question that he unknowingly shouted back in exasperation. "Obviously! No need to make a spectacle out of it by inviting the whole group."

Tristan immediately agreed. There was no need for any exaggerated fanfare and publicity. With those thoughts he stepped up to Boyd who suddenly looked a bit uncertain as he saw the slow morphing of Tristan's face.

"Do you even know how to do it? This is not exactly a 'trial and error' situation, you know right?"

The now eager Primearch snorted dismissively at Boyd's concerns.

"Don't worry. Noshiko told me how to go about it." He replied confidently which seemed to fill Boyd with relief as he regained his confident look. Of course Tristan didn't tell him that what Noshiko told him was basically for him to follow his instincts.

Boyd swallowed nervously but said nothing as he saw Tristan's fang covered mouth that was slowly approaching his exposed neck.

Tristan on the other hand was suddenly overwhelmed by a compelling instinct the moment he brought out his fangs with the intent to turn Boyd. It was like a natural directive imprinted into his biological code, automatically drawing him to Boyd's jugular vein in a daze.

He felt something leaving his body, flowing through his fangs into Boyd's body, as he bit into Boyd's neck. Venom – not his paralytic one, but his Primearch vampire one – flowed into Boyd's body, making him spasm in a seizure, and that should have been it, his instincts told him so, but something else prodded him forward.

A slit opened on his left wrist and a sizable drop of blood floated up from it, one he absentmindedly sent into Boyd's open mouth.

Yes, that felt more right.

At the same time that the blood flowed down Boyd's throat to mix with his internal organs, Tristan felt the phantom feeling of something, like that of a restraint or shackle, being lifted from his body.

An unknown thrill came over him as his blood rejoiced and bubbled in excitement as he felt a slowly growing connection with Boyd who had already passed out.

"Hahhh!" He sighed, feeling a sense of satisfaction rush over him.

He sat beside Boyd's body on the shore with the intention to watch his full transition.

"This is one headache taken care of." He wiped his bloodied lips with his sleeves as his mind briefly wandered to Allison. He and Malia were visiting them today, especially now that Deaton was back and had bought them time with some special plant he brought back from wherever he went to. Apparently it kept the Nogitsune at bay for a few days so hopefully they've found a way to take it out and kill it before their safe window closes.

As for Allison… "It's probably wise to let her deal with this on her own. She was just as hurt as Kira, Malia and Boyd in this entire ordeal."

The mental trauma she is currently plagued with was definitely great and it wouldn't do on their part as her friends to just leave her alone, complicated or not.

They did promise, he and Malia both, that they'd be there anytime she needed them.

Tristan wasn't so immature – slightly hurt and confused, yes – to leave her alone just because of something she said in spite, especially after whatever she must have lived through in that illusion.

Boyd might be out for the next few hours to an entire day but that didn't bother Tristan as he silently sat there, watching the emergence of what was essentially his bloodline, in a manner of speaking.

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