30 Day Challenge: Day 29 - Describe/illustrate an important thematic element.

[ibonekoen]

Joseph tends not to see the bad in himself. Alessandro calls him out on it. Co-written with likesthesilence

Alessandro scowled, his eyes narrowing. "It was you! Why you little-" He swung into a full-on cursing rant in Italian as Joseph looked on, the most innocent of expressions on his face. Alessandro continued to curse, brandishing his fangs.

Zander's eyes widened and he gulped, throwing a cautious look in Alessandro's direction. "Uhhhh, Joseph, I don't think pissing him off was a good idea."

"It took me seven years to get to that damned hole in the earth they called a village!" Alessandro shouted.

Zander's eyebrows lifted. "Seven years? So, wait, the blood really does have magical qualities?"

Joseph snorted and rolled his eyes. "Of course not, that's just an old wives' tale. The crony who told him that was off her rocker."

Alessandro growled, his eyes narrowing. "Of course it does. Do you really think I would waste my time on anything less?"

Zander licked his lips and nodded. "Okay, fair enough. I know where he has it stashed." He took a step toward the stairs leading down to the basement.

Joseph's mouth dropped open, his eyes widening. "Zander!"

Just like that, the anger was gone from Alessandro's face, replaced by a slightly surprised yet pleased expression directed at Zander. "I knew there was something I liked about you. You have a brain, unlike my dear little creation here." He cast a withering glare at Joseph.

Zander grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "I just don't you want to, like, rip his limbs off or something."

"No!" Joseph exclaimed. "No, no, no, no and uh, no?" He waved his hands around, flailing. "Zander! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to steal all of those bottles in the first place? Especially since I had to keep them frozen!"

"Just for the record, they would grow back," Alessandro said to Zander before cutting a side-eyed look toward Joseph. "Painfully." He scowled. "And do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to bleed those shamans when they can control a very unpleasant element for us?"

Joseph grimaced and glared at Zander before huffing and glancing at Alessandro. "What are you talking about? And you've bewitched him! Undo it! Whatever you've done to make him loyal to you, undo it! Reverse it! Now!"

Alessandro hissed. "Do you have any idea why I want that blood, child? Did you do any research at all, or were you too busy playing house and plotting to steal it out from under me just to make me angry?" Oh, how smug he looked at that last part of Joseph's rant. "I've done absolutely nothing to him, thank you."

A guilty look played across Joseph's face. Honestly, he'd just assumed it was some hokey folklore that Alessandro had been duped into believing. "No, I didn't do any research." His face fell into a hurt expression at the knowledge that Alessandro didn't do anything to Zander.

"Then perhaps you should have actually taken the time to read even the slightest bit about the shamans of the Ngawi." Alessandro shook his head, still looking smug.

Joseph gave his maker a blank look. "Okay? So, are you telling me or is this another one of those 'find out on your own' deals? You're very fond of those."

Alessandro snorted. "Why should I tell you, hm? You've done little more than try and steal it from me without even knowing why. Why should I trust you with information like this?"

"Ha! I didn't try to steal it from you, I did!" Joseph felt pretty smug about that too, at least, until he saw Zander shaking his head. He frowned and sighed. "It's downstairs in a chest freezer. They're all there."

Alessandro turned to walk away and then paused, glancing back over his shoulder at Joseph. "Nyambi. The shamans were said to commune with Nyambi, the sun god."

Joseph's eyes widened as it all clicked into place. "So, wait, you're saying... That their blood..."

"They had the ability to bring the sun and to extinguish it," Alessandro said. "Among their people, they were thought to cause eclipses as a time for the god to visit his wife, the moon." He paused, letting his words hang in the air. "Their blood contains the key to immunity from sunlight."

Even Zander was awestruck by this fact, and his mouth gaped open for a moment. "Whooooooa. Seriously? So, that's why you have all that blood. Wow."

Alessandro nodded. "That is why I bled them dry, at the risk of being burned to death." His face hardened as he glanced at Joseph. "And then you took that from me."

"Wow, that's pretty badass, Alessandro," Zander said. "I mean, risking life and limb like that?"

Joseph did a double take and narrowed his eyes at Zander. "Are you listening to yourself? He killed those shamans to get their blood! He murdered them for fairy tales!"

Alessandro gave Joseph a scathing look. "And you've done just as badly as I, for less than that. Don't think I don't know about your little escapades, just to spite me. Don't think I don't know about the people you've hurt in the process." He paused and shook his head. "For all the evil you accuse me of, Joseph, you sell yourself quite short in that aspect."


Stunned, Joseph actually took a physical step back under the weight of Alessandro's scathing look. He was reluctant to admit it, but he knew that Alessandro was right, and he dropped his gaze, looking away

Zander blinked, looking from one vampire to the other. "Aaaand this is the part where I get confused. Escapades? What? Joseph wouldn't hurt anybody. Okay, so he stole some mystical blood from you, but I mean, I'm gonna give it back to you."

Alessandro pursed his lips a little at Zander's comment, glancing between the boy and the vampire in front of him. "Perhaps not since he met you, but he has."

Zander's eyebrows lifted in surprise, and then he shot a confused look at Joseph, who wouldn't meet his eyes. "Oh." His Adam's apple bobbed up and down hard. "I'll...go get that blood for you."

Alessandro nodded. "I would greatly appreciate that, Zander."

Zander nodded a little and then headed downstairs to Joseph's basement


Joseph's gaze was still cast downward at the floor, trying to bore a hole in the carpet with the power of his stare alone.

Alessandro waited unitl Zander had left the room before speaking again, to Joseph. "You never told him."

Joseph shook his head. "Call it vanity, I guess. I saved his sister and him from becoming vampire food when they were younger and he looked up to me. I'd even go so far as to say he idolized me. Why would I want to ruin that?"

"Because you owe him the truth, do you not? If you truly care about the boy."

Joseph snorted. "So, what, I tell him that I've hurt people just to spite you? That I killed just on a whim?" He shook his head, frowning. "I've spent the last twelve years convincing him that I'm not like other vampires, that I'm not a monster, and you want me to what?"

Alessandro pursed his lips and then spoke quietly, "To let him know exactly what it is he's let into his life, Joseph. Try as you might, you are not a saint. It does not suit you to pretend."

Joseph didn't look the least bit happy, and he closed his eyes. "I guess I have no choice now. The damage has been done."

Alessandro nodded. "You know as well as I that he deserves the truth. He isn't a child. You cannot continue to coddle him like one."

Joseph grimaced and then sighed, opening his eyes and glaring at Alessandro. "Fine."

Onto Day 30