Bloody Ice

Drudge Struggles

Jack’s P.o.V.

I was pacing again, uncomfortable and stressed. I missed Vlad fiercely, had to resist the urge to go see him when the snow began to fall heavily in Bathory. Instead, I went to visit Jamie instead. Maybe he would understand my actions. I knew he wouldn’t glare at me the way North was, wouldn’t yell at me like Tooth, or refuse to acknowledge me like Sandy. They were more than upset with me when they found out I had ‘abandoned’ Vlad when he ‘needed me the most’. But I had checked on him secretly before I stopped visiting him, he looked completely fine as he played video games with a human boy. Perhaps he had replaced me, but he didn’t seem all too beaten up by my absence. It was if I had never even existed in his life.

I called upon the wind and let it take me to Burgess. It ruffled my hair playfully, like an old friend, holding me in it’s gusts as it carried me to the small town and set me down on a fence post outside Jamie’s house. I flew up to his window and knocked on the glass when I saw him at his desk, working on his homework like a good kid. He jumped and turned toward me before a smile lit his features as he got up and came to the window, opening. 

“Hey, Jack! Long time no see!” He exclaimed, hugging me as soon as I was in the window. I hugged him back tightly, really needing it. More so than I’d originally thought, because I couldn’t hold in my tears any longer and instantly began to sob. “Jack? Jack, what’s wrong?” Jamie gasped, pulling out of my tight grasp to look at my face. I could feel the tears freeze as they slid down my cheeks. 

“Jaimie...I loved him...That’s why I had to send him away.” I cried and buried my face in his shoulder. 

“What are you talking about, Jack? I can’t help you if I don’t know.” Jamie asked, rubbing my back as I sobbed ice droplets onto his shirt. I told him, then, everything. From meeting Vlad, to the bite and the relationship that followed. I told him of Pitch’s treachery without going into details about the r**e, and finally about sending Vlad home and how he seemed to be taking my absence. Jamie listened to the whole thing in silence, rubbing my back. Then once I had finished, I drew back to look at him, sniffling softly as I tried to decipher what the child was thinking. I wasn’t expecting him to smack me in the back of the head and glare at me. 

“You i***t. Vlad sounds like he loves you more than anything. You don’t just leave them because you think things are too dangerous. Especially after getting kidnapped by Pitch. That’s something you work through together because that’s what you’re supposed to do in a relationship. It probably hurt him dearly that you never came back, that you just sent him home with no explanation, no apologies, discussions, or even a goodbye kiss. He’s probably spending time with friends so the painful loneliness of you leaving him doesn’t swallow him whole.” Jamie scolded, frowning at me in the cute, childlike way. 

“How do you know? It’s not like you’re an expert.” I muttered, swallowing thickly at his words. What if he was right? What if I’d just hurt Vlad more, what if he was hurting worse than anything Pitch could do to him?

“Mhmm! I am. I watch Dr. Phil.” He replied. I didn’t know who this Dr. Phil was but he sounded important and smart to know that kind of stuff about relationships. 

“Well maybe it's better for him to hurt this way? Better than getting caught in the crossfire of my problems.” I asked stubbornly, feeling tears in my eyes as I pictured my beloved Vlad, sobbing and calling out for me.

“Nothing is better than being in the arms of those who love you. You have to find him and make up with him. That’s the only advice I have for you. Besides, from what I know about vampires, you’re like his renfield or something. He’s probably having trouble going back on the bag stuff after having a steady fresh source from someone he loves.” Jamie added and I felt a twang in my heart.

“R-Really?” I asked, shocked as I remembered Vlad calling me his drudge. Jamie nodded rapidly and went to his desk, rooting through the stack of lore books he had there. 

“Yeah. He might even be unable to drink any other type without you, depending on what legends are true.” He said, returning with three different books. 

“So he could be...could be starving right now?” I asked shakily, sitting heavily on the bed as Jamie pushed the books into my arms. 

“He might be. You need to read through these, and make up with him. Also, I’d love to meet him sometime.” Jamie said, shoving me toward the window. 

“But what if he doesn’t accept my apology? What if he tells me he hates me?” I asked, swallowing as he tried shoving me out the open window. 

“I don’t know. But you better find a way to make up with him or I’ll pretend I don’t believe in you anymore.” He threatened and I let him shove me out the window, easily caught by the wind. 

“You wouldn’t!” I squeaked in surprise at his threat. He nodded sternly. 

“I will. Don’t make me have to, Jack. Go make up with Vlad.” Jamie replied and slammed the window shut in my face. I looked down at the three books in my arms and decided to read first. I called on the wind, letting it carry me home to the North Pole.