CHAPTER 24

Two other girls sat on the couch next to Farian, playing with each other's hair, ignoring Nate who stood on the other side of the room. He had walked in to find Farian with his fangs deep inside the third girl's neck, he just stood and silently watched, knowing the vampire hated being interrupted during his feeding. 

Farian pulled himself from the girl and she fell back on the couch with the other two girls laughing and cushioning her fall. Farian wiped blood off the corners of his mouth and buttoned up his shirt and walked to Nate. 

"Nate Connor," he called, sounding a bit too enthusiastic for Nate's liking. "What brings you by?" 

Nate didn't answer immediately, his gaze was fixed on the girls on the couch and Farian could easily tell the boy was distracted by the blood running down the necks of two of the girls. He smiled more to himself and walked to the counter and fetched him a glass of blood.

"Here," he offered and Nate broke out of the trance taking the glass.

"What brings you by?" Farian asked for the second time as he walked back to the girls. He handed one of them a wipe towel and the girl gently wiped the blood from her neck.

"Why can't I feed like you?" Nate asked, his gaze on the girls, then to Farian.

"You're not ready young Nate. Feeding directly from a living, breathing person needs serious self control that you don't have yet." Farian told him as he sat on the rock chair next to the girls.

"I've been a vampire for months, I'm sure I can manage." He told him firmly.

"You think a few months of running around as a vampire is enough? It takes decades to learn a skill like that. You can easily kill someone if you drink too much." Farian explained. "That happens, and there will be a trail of dead bodies. The people of this town are smart, won't take them long to put two and two together. They follow that trail of bodies and it leads them straight to your door which leads them straight to me. We can't have that now, can we?" 

"So this is about protecting yourself?" Nate inquired, sounding astonished by the discovery. A smirk grew on Farian's face and it answered Nate's question. "Is there anyone else you care about besides yourself?"

Farian took a deep breath in then sighed. "I'm sure you didn't come all this way to talk about who I do or don't care about." 

Nate sat, took another sip of the blood and looked straight at him. "I want you to teach me that thing you do with your eyes and people do whatever you tell them to."

There was a gentle laugh from Farian. "You want me to teach you compulsion? I believe that's the word you're looking for."

"Yes, you just go around commanding people to do whatever you want them to. I am a vampire, I'd also like to be doing that."

Farian shifted on the rock chair and leaned forward, "Let me get this straight, you want to learn compulsion just so that you can go around commanding people to do whatever you want?"

"Yes!" Nate almost sounded excited as he spoke. "I mean, what's the point of being a vampire if you can't enjoy the perks that comes with it?" 

"Just because you have something doesn't mean you can do with it whatever you want Nate, that's the whole aspect of self control. You can't run around town making people do your biding just because you can."

Nate was silent for a while, thinking about what Farian had said. Then he said, "Fine, I'll not use it recklessly. You have my word." 

Farian leaned back with a grin," You've done nothing to make me trust your word young Nate." He informed him and the girls giggled. "But I'll teach you either way, just know that if you misuse it, I'll know one way or another, and I don't think I need to remind you what happens after."

"No, you don't need to." Nate agreed and emptied the contents of the glass in his mouth and swallowed.

"Ladies," Farian called and the three girls got to their feet. "What's your pick?" Farian asked looking at Nate.

"Huh?" 

"Who do you want to be your test bunny? Pick one, you need a subject to compel."

Nate looked at the three of them for a while before settling for the one in the middle. He had noticed that she was the only one that Farian was yet to feed on, and she was better dressed than the other two, having a light wrap dress, with the other two nothing more than their under garments. 

"Show us what you got," Farian instructed as the two girls sat back down and watched.

"What do you mean?" Nate asked looking at Farian. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You've seen me do it hundreds of times, show me what you've leaned so far and I'll know where to start." 

Unsure of himself, Nate stood and walked to the girl, stood in front of her and looked into her eyes, just as he had seen Farian do countless times. "What do I tell her?"

"Oh come on Nate, you're embarrassing me in front of the girlies." He teased and blurred to one of the glass cases mounted to the wall, got an old knife and threw it to Nate.

"Tell her to cut herself," he instructed and leaned on the wall to watch.

Nate looked at him for a while, unsure if he was being serious or not. Farian gave a nod as if giving Nate the final green light. He took a deep breath, and focused on the girl in front of him. Her eyes were clear and wide, and he had to remind himself to maintain his composure. With a steady voice, he said, "Cut yourself."

The girl blinked, seeming confused for a while, then she giggled. Nate turned to Farian who seemed to be enjoying the whole again. He turned back to the girl and repeated the same words but nothing happened.

"No, no, no!" Farian said as he walked towards the pair. "You're doing it all wrong, it's not just about saying the words. You need to have a deep desire to bend the person's will, you need to want to bend their will." He explained. "Here, I'll show you." 

Nate observed as Farian took one of the girls from the couch by the hand, gently lifting her to her feet. Farian then extended his hand towards Nate, who handed over the knife.

"Why don't you be a darling and cut yourself for me," Farian said to the girl. Without hesitation, the girl reached for the knife and drew it across her arm. A thin line of blood appeared, and she winced slightly and raised her eyes to him. 

With a grin, Farian took back the knife and handed it back to Nate, "See, walk in the park. Try again, don't overthink it." He advised and turned back to the bleeding girl, took up her arm and his eyes darkened as his fangs grew longer and he dug them into her.

Nate tried again and again and again but the girl just stared at him with a blank look. Farian pulled his fangs from the girl and turned to Nate, "Stop!"He instructed, "You're doing it all wrong."

"I don't know what exactly I'm supposed to do." Nate cried. 

"I think I know your problem young Nate, you're too rigid. Compulsion needs to come naturally to you as a vampire." He said, wiping the corners of his mouth. "You need to loosen up. When was the last time you got laid? Huh?"

Nate just looked at him with a blank look.

"Probably when you were still with Amanda, correct?" 

The boy gave a shy nod, feeling embarrassed in front the girls in the room.

"Goodness gracious! I know what you need." He walked to the girl standing in from of Nate, made her look at him in the eyes and spoke. " Get into one of the rooms and make sure he has the best sex he has had in his life."

The girl gave a nod with a cheeky smile and turned to Nate, took his hand and started walking away. Farian blurred away and came back with a fancy-looking bottle of wine. 

"This should help set the mood." He told them and handed it to Nate. "Careful with it, that bottle is older than both of you."