Rules Are Meant to Be Broken

by N. J. Nielsen

  arm around Michael’s waist as he draped his around her

  neck. It soon evaporated when Michael winked at him over

  her head and mouthed “later.”

  It always amused Christian how people were so wil ing

  to be led around. These two women agreed to forgo the

  movie in favour for a few drinks with two men they had

  never met before tonight. Hadn’t anyone ever taught them

  about stranger danger? He couldn’t believe they had been

  so wil ing to take them back to their flat. The weird thing

  was his cock had absolutely no interest in them

  whatsoever; it stil lay limp and inactive behind his trousers.

  Sitting on one of the couches, Christian ran his hands up

  under the miniskirt of one girl. He preferred to think of her

  as the girl, and not as Rachel. Acknowledging her name

  would make what they were doing seem wrong. This feeling

  wasn’t helping his performance any.

  His gaze was riveted to Michael on the other couch

  across the room. Holy hel , he moved fast — he already had

  his girl’s shirt open as she was on his lap, her arms

  wrapped around him. Her eyes were closed in pleasure as

  Michael suckled her breasts. Christian wasn’t too sure he

  liked that, but the look on Michael’s face showed he wasn’t

  enjoying it at al , which almost made him burst out laughing.

  Chuckling softly, he wondered how the girl would react if

  she could see, but she was so caught up in everything she

  had her head thrown back and her eyes closed in what

  sounded a lot like lust. Now wouldn’t it just spoil the mood if

  she could see the frown Michael wore? Secretly he hoped

  that she caught Michael out.

  It was strange feeding together this way. They had to do

  things precisely at the same time so neither girl could warn

  the other. Christian kissed the inside of his girl’s thigh,

  staying wel and truly away from al her girlie bits—there

  was just no way in hel he was going anywhere near there.

  As it was she was already starting to pass out from having

  had too much to drink. It would certainly make things easier

  for him if she was drunk enough not to remember any of

  this. He watched as Michael moved his mouth to just below

  his girl’s breast. Their eyes locking for a second as they bit

  and drank deeply, both stopping as Michael’s girl went limp

  in his arms.

  Christian felt relieved when Michael final y pushed his girl

  onto the couch beside him. Shifting his girl onto the couch

  Christian crawled across the floor toward Michael and

  slowly slid up his gorgeous body. Leaning in, he licked the

  smal trail of blood which had smeared across Michael’s

  face. The intensity of the kiss they shared was purely each

  of them re-staking their claim upon the other. It lasted a ful

  ten minutes before either of them could move, and when

  they could they went home.

  § § § §

  Nothing had changed. Gypsy was stil tugging on a lock

  of Doyle’s hair when they returned. With his head lying back

  on her lap Doyle sat on the lounge room floor in front of

  where Gypsy was reading a book with Charm. Their dark

  heads together in deep discussion.

  Michael was alarmed when he realised it was the

  missing journal from the attic. Somehow he knew Charm

  wasn’t real y reading it—unless, of course, she knew how to

  read those little symbols. He wondered how she had gotten

  it. Michael leaned his back against the door frame, his

  arms loosely holding Christian to him as he watched. They

  stayed that way until Charm had dropped the book onto the

  coffee table and leaned back against the couch and stared

  at them.

  “Where did you get the book?” He asked calmly.

  “I took it from the attic,” she pointed toward the ceiling.

  “What? It never had your names on it.”

  “We have been searching the house for it,” Michael said

  his arms tightening slightly around Christian.

  Blowing him a raspberry, Charm shrugged. “You didn’t

  look too hard. I’ve had it for ages.”

  “You forgot my burger,” Gypsy said with a frown as she

  tugged gently on Doyle’s hair yet again.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  Her frown turned into a smile and Michael heard

  Christian gasp out loud. Michael knew it made her

  resemble him even more than she already did.

  “I’ve been waiting for you;” Charm said to Michael. “We

  need to talk. Our family is growing. The ‘pretend father,’”

  she made air quotes with her fingers, “is not happy with

  you.” Charm frowned slightly. “I’m getting sick of the damn

  dreams changing. You’re changing the way this family lives,

  making us more human, more like we used to be. And we

  al know he doesn’t want that. Had another dream last night

  that he’s going to retaliate against you and it wil hurt.”

  Charm held out her hand and touched the journal. “He

  doesn’t want you to have this. You have taken too much

  from him already.” Shaking her head she added, “I have no

  clue what it means, but it has to mean something.” Michael

  glared at her and Charm cringed when she realised what

  she had revealed in front of Gypsy.

  “What the fuck, Charm?” Michael shook his head at her

  as he felt Christian tremble within his arms, pressing

  himself closer than he had been. Trying to comfort his lover

  Michael tightened his embrace. His gaze locked on his

  sister. She didn’t seem to be alarmed by what Charm was

  saying and he had to wonder why. It worried him slightly,

  because he knew if he was in her shoes he would be

  crapping his dacks at this conversation. His attention

  moved as Doyle sat up and stared at him. Was that fear in

  his eyes?

  Michael’s gaze drifted back to Gypsy and she winked at

  him. “Do you even know who the father is? Whose father

  are you talking about anyway?”

  “I know who the father is.” As he said the words, he

  thought maybe it was the truth. Somehow deep inside, he

  had always believed it, ever since he first saw the

  photograph. Somehow Sebastian was very much involved

  in their siring.

  “I’l get Kerr,” Christian said quietly.

  Getting up, Doyle added, “I’l help you.”

  § § § §

  It took almost an hour for them to track Kerr down. They

  al knew Kerr hated getting phone cal s when he hunted, so

  Christian and Doyle had to track him by foot. Seriously, the

  guy needed to learn to put his phone on silent or something.

  Wasting time like this was ridiculous.

  After awhile, Charm and Michael fel into silence while

  they waited for the others to arrive. Both were locked deep

  in their own thoughts. And by the expression on Kerr’s face,

  Christian and Doyle had already fil ed him in on the topic of

  conversation.

  Gypsy now lay on the couch with her head in Charm’s

  lap. She had drifted off to sleep while Charm caressed her

 
temple, her breathing deep, even and content. As they al

  gathered in the lounge room he just hoped she didn’t wake

  while they talked about al of this.

  When everyone had settled Michael began by tel ing

  them the story his mother had told Christian and him in the

  car. Then he explained how he first found the journal and

  the photograph it had contained. He waited as the journal

  was passed from hand to hand.

  When Gypsy stirred in her sleep Charm caressed her

  arm while Doyle moved until he was once again sitting on

  the floor in front of where she slept. His head resting on her

  shins, her hand against his throat. And again, Michael had

  the urge to growl at them both and pul them apart.

  Getting his thoughts back under control Michael went on.

  No one spoke as Michael explained his theory to them

  about Christian being the key to the whole business. Taking

  a deep breath, he confessed how he hadn’t real y worked it

  al out, though he did go into details as he told them al

  about his very vivid dreams and what he thought they

  meant.

  Somewhere during the tel ing Christian had claimed his

  hand and was refusing to let it go. And though he didn’t

  want to upset Charm, Michael told them everything she had

  ever told him.

  Everyone took their turns at tel ing their stories, and

  when it was done the house on Ambrose Street was silent

  and Gypsy had slept through it al . Thank God.

  § § § §

  A couple of days later, Michael came to realise Christian

  had claimed the journal because he was the only one that

  kind of knew some of the runic symbols. In his own way

  Christian had taken it upon himself to try and decipher it,

  not that he had ended up spending much time on it as they

  seemed to always be distracted by each other.

  Only yesterday the whole family had discussed and

  agreed that from now on they would need go out as a

  group. The whole “safety in numbers” thing had now

  become a necessity. The only time it would change would

  be when Gypsy was staying at the house.

  Everyone wondered about who the next would be to join

  them, as they had yet to dream of anyone new. It was

  harder than it seemed because his sister was a bloody

  snoop when she thought she was missing out on something

  important.

  The dreams were now the most important things in their

  lives and everything they dreamt was now reported to the

  group no matter how crazy it sounded. And Michael stil

  couldn’t get over just how crazy some of the dreams had

  gotten, especial y the ones about the guy who was

  supposed to be the spitting image of him. Those dreams

  were the ones that freaked him out the most.

  It was almost a relief when his parents came for Gypsy

  on the fol owing Monday. Charm made his parents promise

  they would come and visit again soon, tel ing Gypsy to

  come back whenever she wanted to.

  In the hour before his family was going to leave, Gypsy

  was free with her hugs and kisses. She gave them out

  impartial y to whoever seemed to be near her. By the time

  they left, Doyle and Christian had gotten more than a few,

  which didn’t impress Michael one bit. What the hel was his

  sister playing at?

  Laughter tumbled out of Michael and Gypsy as their dad

  fel in love with Drack, which he had told them wasn’t a baby

  owl at al but was a frog mouth, commonly known as the

  mopoke, and was related to the nightjar species. How the

  hel did he even know that? With a huge sigh of relief from

  Kerr, his dad wil ingly accepted responsibility for the bundle

  of feathers while his mother rol ed her eyes in dismay.

  Michael snuggled against Christian’s side as mother also

  talked with Kerr about coming around to inspect the attic in

  about a month’s time, depending on her work

  commitments, and promised to tel them any stories about

  the house she could remember. Love fil ed him as Michael

  hugged his parents tightly as they final y made a move to

  leave, and he promised them both this time he would stay

  in touch and not just drop out of their lives.

  Earlier, Michael had taken Gypsy aside to make sure

  she understood not to tel their parents too much of what

  she had seen and heard in case they worried. She had

  hugged him and told him they were al bloody strange, but

  she loved them al anyway. Punching his arm she told him

  she would come to stay again soon and he didn’t complain

  as she smothered his face in kisses. It was times like this

  he almost forgot that they were twenty-two. Somehow the

  more affectionate she was, the faster he tumbled back into

  their teen years, when she had ruled their worlds.

  “I love you Mikey, so no more being a dumbarse,” she

  said as they hugged one last time. “I can’t lose you again.”

  “I promise,” he mumbled into her hair.

  Standing at the front window Michael watched his family

  drive away. They hadn’t even turned the corner and already

  he missed them but was glad they would not be there for

  the next part of the discussion.

  As Michael walked back over and col apsed on the

  couch beside Christian, their talk turned to what was

  coming next. They were just deciding to test the theories

  surrounding the myth of the vampire world and picking

  which theories they should test first. Since Michael and

  Christian had already discovered they could walk about

  during daytime in the rain without bursting into flames, this

  would make them seem more human and give them al a

  greater sense of freedom. Funnily, Michael got the feeling

  that their discovery kind of shocked them more than excited

  them.

  They listened as Kerr talked about how Michael and

  Christian had also discovered they could interact social y

  with humans without wanting to rip their throats out.

  Michael’s family was testimony to that. Even though it had

  caused some controversy in the beginning they had also

  found out they didn’t need to kil their prey to feed, even

  though for some it was accidental. Sometimes it was hard

  to satiate the thirst. It stunned Michael beyond belief when

  Kerr had held out his hand and apologised for the way he

  had treated Michael.

  § § § §

  Later, as Christian and Michael lay in bed holding each

  other, they discussed the dying premonition, or whatever

  the hel the dreams had suggested was going to happen. It

  tore at Christian’s heart as he begged Michael not to do it,

  while Michael comforted him and said he would have to. It

  was a discussion which lasted most of the day and by the

  end of it al he stil hadn’t convinced Michael to change his

  mind.

  “Please! Can’t you see this is what he wants? He wants

  you to die. He wants to destroy you himself.”

  “You’re wrong,” Michael kissed him lightly on the

  forehead and it frustrated Christian to
no end. “Sebastian

  can’t kil me himself. He needs you to do it,” Michael said

  as the thought seemed to click into place in the puzzle his

  mind had become.

  “That’s it!” Michael sat up quickly. “Sebastian said he

  made you what you are and he would destroy you for

  making me.” He turned to face Christian, placed the palms

  of his hands on either side of Christian’s face, and stared

  into his eyes. “He can’t kil me. That’s why he needs you to

  do it. This is why he has given me the choice — either he

  kil s you or I save you by al owing you to kil me.”

  Christian’s thoughts raced through his head as he

  wondered if the creators could only kil their own creations

  and not anyone else’s. Was this what Michael was trying to

  say?

  “I don’t understand.” Christian felt his tears starting to

  overflow. “If we can only kil our own creations then how wil

  we defeat him? How wil we win?” Nothing was making

  sense.

  “We already have.” Michael crowed in delight, kissing

  Christian hungrily, before he could continue. “You’re mine! ”

  He kissed him again. “We gave ourselves to each other

  completely. Body, heart and soul, we belong to each other.”

  This time his kiss was gentle, loving. “Charm was right

  about one thing: you’l do anything for the ones you love, al

  but one thing. If you love me anywhere near as much as I

  love you,” Michael’s next kiss was lingering, “then you’l

  never be able to kil me.”

  “Never!” Christian said throatily. “Charm asked if I would

  tel him no?” Christian stiffened. “Wil I be one of the ones

  who die?”

  “You’re mine. I won’t let you die.” Michael brought

  Christian into his embrace, “I’l find a way to stop him. He

  can never have you back. You gave yourself to me.”

  Christian held tight to Michael and prayed Michael was

  right.

  “I’m yours,” Christian agreed. “I’l always be yours.” He

  snuggled deeper into Michael’s arms. Right now he

  needed only Michael.

  Gently caressing his lover’s back, Michael pul ed him

  closer. He never wanted this moment to end, but he knew

  they would have to tel the others about what they had

  discovered. His thoughts drifted to what the others must

  think of them as a couple. “Christian, do you think the others