Chance was rubbing Emily’s back, trying to soothe her into sleep as he walked around the room. Normally she wasn’t very fussy, but for whatever reason that night she was, and she would only settle if she were being held. When he tired of pacing, he sat in the rocking chair in Emily’s room, waiting for her to fall asleep, then waiting a little while longer until she was in deep enough sleep to be laid in the crib.
Quietly, he left her room, closed the door and headed downstairs, to be greeted by a thankful Trish with a kiss. The two of them sat on the couch together, and watched some Netflix, though didn’t really pay attention to it’s content.
“I’ve been thinking.” Chance said after a little while.
“Okay?”
He kissed her forehead. “I’m thinking it’s time to take that ambrosia.”
“Are you sure?” she ask him.
“Yes.” he replied.
Trish smiled. “I’ll go get it.” she went upstairs to collect the piece of ambrosia from the safe. When she got downstairs, she handed the piece, large enough for two, maybe three bites, to Chance. He looked at it a moment, then took a bite. Shortly after swallowing that bite he ran to the kitchen, and began bring in it back up – along with dinner.
“What’s wrong?” Trish asked out of concern.
Chance wiped his mouth before standing up. “I think something’s wrong.” he put the rest of the ambrosia on the counter. “Maybe your Grandpa should come check.”
“Yea, ok.” she said, heading over to where she left her phone. The phone went to voicemail after a bit, so she left a message and a text, asking him to come over, and that it was important.
It was fifteen minutes later, well after they’d cleaned up in the kitchen and thrown out the trash, that a slightly damp Greg appeared in the living room.
“Sorry sweetheart, I was in the shower.”
“It’s okay, Grandpa.”
“Now, what did you need me for?”
Trish collected the leftover ambrosia from the kitchen counter. “It’s this. We think something is wrong. Chance took a bite, and then, like, no sooner did it hit his stomach he needed to vomit.”
Greg took the piece from her, and examined it before taking a bite himself. Almost immediately, he spit it out and clenched his fist around the piece while his fist heated up, ultimately evaporating the leftover ambrosia.
“You destroyed it?” she asked, sounding confused. Chance was still occasionally coughing, though he tried to be quiet so Trish could hear Greg.
“It wasn’t ambrosia. I had thought there was some left, but apparently, there was not. I’m truly sorry sweetheart.”
“It’s not you fault.” she replied. “But if it wasn’t ambrosia, what was it then?”
“I couldn’t say for certain, but my guess is that whomever put the false ambrosia there, they meant for it to be deadly.”
Trish looked at Chance fearfully. “Will he be okay?”
“Hard to say. He didn’t ingest all of it, which is good, and it came back up, meaning his body rejected it. Still…it’s possible his lifespan is shorter. If you want my guess?” Trish nodded. “My guess is that the only thing saving him right now is the vitae in his system. If he loses that…” Greg trailed off, but everyone got the implication.
“Can’t Jasper or Samuel do something about it? At least see if it’s still in his system, something?” she asked, sounding worried and desperate.
“I’ll ask Samuel to.” Greg said. No sooner the words were out of his mouth than Samuel appeared, and gave a slight bow.
“I’ll look into it right away.” he expressed, and moved over to Chance, laying a hand on him. There was a tense silence for several minutes before he spoke again. “It’s still in his system, and the vitae didn’t stop it completely. I can’t extract it – whatever made it is more powerful than myself.” he said, looking saddened.
“Don’t tell me that!” Trish said, sounding desperate. “Grandpa, can’t you do anything?”
Greg shook his head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. The best I can do is try to find out who replaced it and way.”
Trish bit her lip to refrain from crying. Chance put an arm around her and pulled her close, trying to calm her down.
“Wait.” she said after a few minutes. “You said the vitae is helping?”
“Yes.” Greg and Samuel said, at nearly the exact same time.
“What if we got somebody to change him? Change him and maybe….maybe Samuel could do like what he did for Jakob, or Jasper for Jett and let him be active 24/7. Would that work?” she said, wiping tears from her face.
“It just might.” Greg said. He looked at Samuel. “You will do the other, right?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Then find someone.” he said, turning his attention to Trish. “Who do you want to call?”
“He’s Charles’ ghoul.” she said, as another coughing fit began. “Charles should be the one to decide that.” she looked at Chance. “Assuming, of course, you’re all okay with this?”
“I’m fine with it. I want to be here for you and Em.”
“Okay then.” she said, picking up her phone, hands a little shaky. “I’ll call Charles….”