Eve left the bedroom a while ago, and yet here I am, still sitting on a chair and staring at Jordan's peaceful face. In my position, I can also see his chest moving up and down ever-so-slightly.
…Is he having pleasant dreams? I hope so, after what he has seen through his third eye. Eve hadn't answered my question, but her smile spoke volumes, and I can only imagine the horrors he has witnessed, in a future that is now bygone—a future that he has tweaked for my sake.
But whether it has happened or not, Jordan must have seen how fate should have unfolded in more detail than I care to admit.
I don't want to think about the possibility of him glimpsing at the kids' expressions after learning about my death, if they can even comprehend that notion.
It's a terrifying thought.
Tic, toc.
Time passes by, as always. Now that I'm alone, the silence has grown heavy, and the room seems shrouded in darkness.
Maybe I should open the curtains.
Or maybe not. There's no need.
I've got to leave Jordan's bedside at some point, if only to make sure James hasn't been driven mad by the kids' antics.
One thing for sure: it's not Eve who's going to help him out.
To start with, she's not in the house anymore. She has to catch up on some work, lest she wants to lose her job. Three days off is all she can afford right now, so she's left for her office earlier.
Of course, before leaving, she just had to remind me that she'd come later to check on us. And by us, I mean Jordan, James, and me. Even though I'm not hurt, I've been relegated to a patient in need of care. Somehow.
A long sigh escapes me as I pinch the bridge of my nose. If I stay in this room for too long, I fear I'll start to drown in dark thoughts.
"Just… Get better already."
In the end, that's all I can say.
***
My feet falter after entering the living room as I look at the couch, trying not to laugh.
James looks half-dead, lying on the couch on his back with an arm falling on the side. He's staring at the ceiling, seemingly not seeing it, thinking about who knows what.
Not to sound pessimistic, but he appears to be in the middle of a life crisis.
Maybe because the kids have decided he'd make a good mattress and are sprawled atop him, drooling on his shirt, which is actually mine, by the way.
I've lent some of my clothes to James, since we're about the same build. I mean, we can't exactly have him run around the house butt-naked, and the kids are having fun playing doll with him. I don't know why they love to choose people's clothing so much, but it could be worse, so I'll refrain from commenting on that habit of theirs.
"…Are you alright?"
The answer is pretty obvious, but I ask anyway as I make my way to the couch.
"Do you want an honest answer," James asks back with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, "or a white lie?"
"That was a stupid question, sorry."
"If you feel bad, how about taking the next babysitting turn?"
No, thank you.
Pretending I haven't heard him, I sit on the armrest, and my gaze falls on the sleeping children. There's a strange feeling stirring up in my chest at the sight—I'm not too sure what it is, and I'm not sure I want to know, either.
"They're quite infatuated with you, aren't they?"
"No shit, Sherlock!"
James whines, and a chortle escapes me. Apparently, he's not good with children, just like me.
His fate isn't all that much better than mine, either, as the kids have decided that he's their uncle now. His opinion doesn't matter; they've made up their mind, so he'd better get used to it soon.
"Oh, don't laugh!"
At my quirked eyebrow, the vampire makes an offended grimace, which is borderline theatrical, almost managing to snatch a scoff out of me. I've come to learn that playing the clown is his way to vent or break the tension.
"Scott, seriously, you should have seen them this morning; they've started to snarl and growl at the staff members. Whenever one of them gets a little too close to me, at least to their taste, it's like all hell breaks loose. And let's not talk about when a maid dared to speak to me."
Sorry, pal, these kids tend to get jealous easily. The staff members avoid me as I'm their Lord's husband, but you're just a guest, so you'll have to deal with it.
"No, but why the heck are they so overly possessive of me?!" he cries out. "Your husband's kids are wei—unique."
He was about to say "weird", wasn't he? Well, I can't blame him. I felt the same way at first.
"Are they, now?"
"Don't pretend to be dumb, will you? Ellena almost jumped at the maid's face earlier. Todd had to help me calm her down, and it took us forever. And it was for such a stupid reason! Do you know what the maid did?"
"…No?"
"She asked if I wanted some tea! That's all…!"
A frown creases my brow, and I feel a cold sweat run down my spine. I'm not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice, especially when the signs are this glaring. I refuse to end up with another corpse on my hands.
"If a staff member offers you a cup of tea, don't drink it."
"Why?"
"Just don't."
James looks at me weirdly, as if I've lost a few screws, and I shrug. I can't exactly tell him the reason, just as I can't explain to him why the kids have become overly attached to him in the span of a mere three days.
—I'm not sure how well he'd received the news that, to them, he has truly become their uncle, thanks to a future where he's perceived as such.
No, I'm not going to think about how it'll happen. I don't need a proverbial headache right now.
At the very least, the message has come across, and James doesn't probe, only nodding to let me know he understands. He's been less prone to poking around since the abduction incident, most likely because his brain works and he can tell he shouldn't.
There are skeletons better left in the closet, after all.
I'm fairly certain he has a pretty good idea as to why he should avoid that cup of tea, too. There aren't that many reasons why I would tell him to refuse it, to begin with.
"By the way," James clicks his tongue, "I got a call from the government earlier. I'll need to pay them a visit tomorrow…"
"I can give you a ride, if need be. We'll need to bring the kids with us, though."
"…Can we leave them behind?"
"I'd love to, but are you ready to handle their tantrum? The only one who can somehow subdue them is currently asleep."
The answer I get is a drawn-out grunt, which sounds like a whine to my ears, but James accepts his fate without too much complaint. He knows he can't escape it, anyway.
"I've got something to check with Todd. Try to sleep a bit before the kids wake up and raise hell again. I think it'd do you good."
The vampire waves my concerns away, and I stand up, my face growing colder as I leave the living room. Jordan has told me to go to Todd if something were to happen, and that's what I'll do.
They say the mice dance when the cat sleeps, but I've got no intention of letting them dance.
No wonder Jordan added me to the family tree the same night I arrived at his house and updated the blood pact as quickly. Some of his staff members are rotten to the core, enough to get bribed into doing someone's dirty work in their own master's house.
I guess greed is a sin common to all, and traitors will be traitors, whether they're humans or otherworldly beings.
In the end, they will always exist, wherever I go.