Monster’s Blood

Chapter One

––––––––

JASPER WASN’T HUMAN.

That didn’t bother him as much as he’d thought it would.

He’d been shocked when he’d found out, but it had been three weeks, and he was slowly wrapping his head around it.

He still felt like he had before, which was probably why finding out that he wasn’t what he’d thought he was hadn’t changed much for him.

He still had the same friends. He still lived in the same apartment.

He still drank his coffee only if it had more sugar than coffee. He was still the same person.

Or maybe he wasn’t.

His heart raced as he opened his eyes. The room was dark around him, the blankets feeling suffocating.

He pushed them away and sucked in a breath, trying to shake off the nightmare, but it still felt like Kester was there, hovering over him, ready to hurt him.

Jasper could almost feel the monster’s breath on his skin, his hands on his arms. He wanted to scream, but he didn’t want to wake up Archie, so he pressed his lips together instead.

Kester was gone. He’d left town, and hopefully, he’d never return. He’d lost interest in his son, which was why he’d been here in the first place. There hadn’t been any more deaths, and things would stay that way. They had to because Jasper wasn’t up to dealing with Kester again.

Once again, he wished the monster had kept what he knew to himself.

Jasper couldn’t say he’d been happy before, although considering he’d met Archie in part thanks to Kester, he couldn’t entirely regret having to deal with the monster.

He wished he didn’t know what he knew now, though.

He might not care that he wasn’t human, but he did care about what it meant for his present and his past.

Who was Jasper? Was he even Jasper? He still hadn’t talked to his parents about all of this, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

He knew they’d lie to him. They never would’ve told him who he was if they’d been able to get away with it, and he was angry.

At the same time, he wanted to know how he’d ended up with them.

What about his biological family? What had happened to them?

They’d never looked for him, so they were probably dead, but he wished he knew for sure.

He wished a lot of things were different.

Archie made a sound and rolled toward Jasper. Jasper sucked in a breath, hoping he hadn’t woken up his boyfriend, but when an arm wrapped around his waist and Archie kissed his cheek, he knew he had.

He sighed. “Sorry about that.”

Archie groaned sleepily. “What are you sorry about?”

“I woke you up.”

“You didn’t do it on purpose.”

Jasper snorted. “Maybe not, but I still did it.”

Archie snuggled closer, the sensation of his warm breath on Jasper’s skin replacing the ghostly sensation of Kester’s. “It’s fine.”

“Is it?”

“You want me to turn on the light?”

“No, it’s only going to make things worse.”

Archie hummed and pulled Jasper closer against him.

Jasper liked having his space when he slept because he moved around a lot, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to fall asleep again, and he loved snuggling with Archie, so he went easily.

He settled into Archie’s arms and sighed.

His body relaxed, as if it knew that he was safe.

And he was. Archie wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt him. Jasper knew how to defend himself, but it was nice to know that if something happened, he wouldn’t be the only one doing that.

“Was it a nightmare?” Archie asked.

Jasper closed his eyes. “Yeah.”

“Kester again?”

“Always.”

“I wish I’d killed the dickhead.”

“I just wish I never had to think about him ever again.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Tell that to my subconscious.”

Archie was silent for a moment, but Jasper knew it wouldn’t last long. He smiled when Archie spoke, enjoying the fact that he knew his boyfriend well enough to know how he’d react to things, even though they hadn’t been together for long.

“It’s not only Kester, is it?” Archie asked.

“It’s this entire mess. Kester’s what woke me up, but then I started thinking about what he said, and I can’t stop.”

“You need sleep.”

“I need to know who I am.”

“If that’s what you want, we can investigate your past, but not right now.”

Considering it was the middle of the night, Jasper didn’t disagree. That didn’t mean it would stop him from overthinking. “I just want to know what happened.”

“Anyone would in your place. I’m not blaming you for that.”

“Are you blaming me for waking you up?”

Archie huffed. “Didn’t I just say that I didn’t? I want you to wake me up if you need me. I just hate that there’s nothing I can do to help you.”

“You’ve already done more than anyone else.”

“Maybe, but it’s not enough.”

“I know you want to solve this for me, but you can’t.” Jasper kissed Archie’s naked chest. “The only thing you can do is be there for me, and you are.” Which was more than Jasper could have hoped for.

He’d been lucky when he’d met Archie. He wasn’t sure where he’d be now if it wasn’t for his boyfriend.

He did know that he’d be much more of a mess without him, though.

He loved his best friends, but they had their own lives and their own problems. Before, Jasper would’ve had to deal with this on his own.

But he didn’t have to. He had Archie, and even though they hadn’t been together for long, Archie already knew more about Jasper than Jasper probably knew about himself since he knew what being a monster was like.

He knew enough to send anyone running, but he was still there, supporting Jasper.

Jasper’s life was a mess, but Archie didn’t seem to care.

Jasper had never realized how much he needed someone like that in his life.

He’d never really cared whether or not he had a partner, even though, like everyone, he’d wanted one.

It hadn’t been an imperative, though, and he could’ve lived without finding a partner.

He was glad he’d found Archie, though. Having someone to support him when he didn’t feel like he was strong enough to face things on his own helped.

He knew that whatever happened, he’d have someone on his side, someone who would help him, whatever he needed.

“Why don’t we talk about this tomorrow morning?” Archie said as he kissed the top of Jasper’s head. “We both need to sleep. We’ll be able to think better once we have.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jasper said as he snuggled closer.

He could feel his eyelids growing heavy, and he yawned.

Normally, he’d have gotten up after a nightmare, but he liked that he didn’t have to.

He liked that he knew Archie would hold him through the rest of the night, making sure he slept well and that he felt protected.

He liked that no matter what happened, tomorrow morning, Archie would still be here, and they’d face all of this together.

* * * *

ARCHIE WASN’T SURPRISED to see that Jasper was already awake when he woke up in the morning.

He also wasn’t surprised that instead of wanting to talk about his nightmare and what they’d talked about earlier, Jasper had gotten out of bed.

Jasper had been avoiding thinking about what had been revealed to him a few weeks ago, and while Archie understood why, he could see that it wasn’t good for his boyfriend.

He sighed and rubbed his face with both of his hands.

He needed to get up, too, but he also needed to find a solution to what was happening.

He wanted to help Jasper, but he didn’t know how when Jasper wouldn’t even talk to him.

Archie had been trying to give him space to deal with the revelation that he wasn’t human and that his parents weren’t related to him, but he didn’t know how much space that should be.

If he waited too long and let Jasper do his thing, Jasper would probably ignore it for the rest of his life unless he was forced to acknowledge it.

That might happen in the worst circumstances, which was why Archie thought that maybe gently pushing his boyfriend would be a good idea.

He didn’t want to fight, and he certainly didn’t want to push Jasper away, but Jasper wasn’t doing well, even though he didn’t want to admit it. Something needed to change.

Archie’s phone vibrated on the nightstand. He reached for it, not surprised to see that Braith was calling him.

“I haven’t even had breakfast yet,” he said when he answered.

“You’re not the only one.”

“I hate when you call before breakfast.” But he also knew that Braith only did it when something important happened. Archie wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that something was, but he also suspected he wouldn’t have a choice.

“Your voice isn’t one of the first things I want to hear in the morning, trust me,” Braith complained. “But we have a case.”

And if Braith was calling, it meant it couldn’t wait. “What case?”

“A missing kid.”

The bathroom door opened, and Jasper stepped through. He frowned when he saw that Archie was on the phone, so Archie put it down and put Braith on speaker. “What kid?” he asked.

“I don’t have all the details yet, but Finn is fifteen and missing. His parents have been looking for him for days, and no one’s willing to help.”

Archie wasn’t surprised. “So they want us to look into it?”

“Yeah. They’ll meet us at the office as soon as possible.”

Archie glanced at Jasper. They were supposed to talk about what was happening to Jasper and find a way forward, but Archie wouldn’t be able to do that if he had to go to work.

He wasn’t surprised when Jasper gestured at him to go, though.

He’d be eager to avoid the conversation, but more than that, he’d want Archie to help these parents recover their child.

Archie sighed. “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

“Bring breakfast, will you? I haven’t had time to eat anything.”

“You could bring breakfast,” Archie complained, but Braith had already hung up.