"Thanks for stopping by, Bonnie. Have a lovely day!" Theo said, closing the cash register with a polite smile directed at the departing customer. He watched her leave, then turned his eyes toward the interior of the store. Sure enough, it was relatively empty, and he was somewhat thankful for the lull.
He'd had quite an intensive night, and his mind was still coming to terms with some of the recent changes and developments in his existence. For one, he now had a vampire girlfriend, which did something weird to his insides, reminding him of all the times he'd jokingly wished for a 'goth baddie' partner.
With the involvement of said girlfriend, he'd opened a metaphorical can of worms and was now a player in the greater supernatural world. However, there were no downsides without positives, and boy, were there some positives.
He'd tested his newfound 'enhancements' thanks to the Cold Ones' DNA and was pleasantly surprised to see that a knife against his skin no longer worked. Sure, even before the new addition to his DNA, knives hadn't done much damage, but now he could see his own skin dulling the steel blade. He was on a different level of durability while retaining the elasticity of human skin.
'I should really start working on those other DNA assimilations because I'm easily able to handle a vampire attack now. I don't even think they could breach my skin at this point unless I was blind, deaf, and dumb.'
The future vision hadn't triggered since he obtained it, and Theo was honestly quite fine with that. He didn't want to become reliant on such a finicky power, one that could shift due to almost any external factor.
Possibly the greatest acquisition of the night was his ability to share his powers, abilities, skills, or even his DNA with others. The power was essentially the vampire bite but attuned to the continuation of the Ancient Human line. Theo wondered once again if that was part of the grand scheme of his existence—the possibility to repopulate a variant of humanity that might not exist anymore.
'I'm going to give Alice the ability to block out Edward's powers. If she trains with it enough, I'm hoping she can selectively block certain memories or knowledge from prying Volturi leaders.'
He'd also contemplated granting Bella the ability of 'The Grey Scent', but he wasn't sure how to go about it. Removing one of the reasons Edward was invested in her before he truly fell in love with her... that could be problematic.
'Maybe before her birthday next year? It would stop the whole 'papercut' incident where Jasper essentially tries to tear her throat out on her eighteenth birthday.'
Theo snorted at the thought of how horrible that day would have been for the girl. Being invited to a surprise birthday party, only to be harmed, almost killed, and subsequently abandoned the following day.
Moving to the coffee machine, he turned it on and watched as the dark liquid dripped into his cup, the smell of rich coffee making him salivate.
"God, I don't even need the energy anymore; I'm just addicted," he muttered as the cup filled.
Business had slowed down as the initial hype faded, and even though he wasn't making as much money as he had in the first week or two, Theo was thankful for the quieter moments of solitude in which he could just... relax.
He wasn't sure why he felt the need to rush through and gain all the power as soon as possible, but in doing so, he'd built up a layer of stress from how much he'd accomplished in the weeks since arriving. It was possibly due to the sensation of feeling himself become something more, but it could also be due to the Ancient Human DNA inside of him, subconsciously pushing him to keep going.
With a light sigh, he moved to his normal chair behind the counter and plopped down. The silence of the storm outside brought a sense of peace that greatly alleviated his accumulated worries, and he was thankful for small mercies. Pulling out his laptop from underneath the counter, Theo quickly fired it up and opened a new web browser.
'I should look into finding ways to make more money. I can't truly rely on this place to make me richer, and the Gacha is quite... odd with its rewards. I'm sure I'd be up to my neck in random items, but fortunately, I decided to pool the pulls. The next combined draw should be in the coming days.'
With a swipe of his hand along the trackpad, Theo focused on his next task. Hours passed slowly as he thought of options for elevating his wealth. He considered following the standard route of isekai protagonists in the stories he'd read: writing books from his previous world that weren't present here, investing in stocks that seemed to follow trends he recognized, or even ghostwriting songs and selling them to production companies.
'There are too many options, and I need to make a choice based on the time I have available. Deadlines would be a pain, but I could realistically write a manuscript or draft of a book in a week. Stocks... I could invest... but I need more capital before I even think about it. Maybe the music option? Alice does know a lawyer, and the dude seems to have his hands in everything, especially the fabrication of identities for the family.'
So, as he had the previous week, Theo made a list of songs and artists that didn't exist in this world, along with books and authors who should have already released something but hadn't.
By the time the school bell sounded throughout the town, Theo had written up a comprehensive list of possible angles he could pursue. It was surprising that the Eragon series wasn't listed anywhere, and that the author himself was a well-known tennis player in this reality.
'This... could work,' Theo thought. 'It was one of my favorite books growing up, and I remember every word thanks to my enhanced mind.'
With a tentative confirmation to himself, Theo closed the laptop and looked up at the front door as the bell chimed, signaling someone had entered. Standing up, he was quickly greeted by Alice latching herself onto him and pecking him on the lips.
"Hiya Theo!" she said with a bright smile. "I missed you."
With a gentle smile back, Theo held her comfortably against his body. "Missed you too. How was school today?"
Quickly finding a seat on the counter, Alice swung her legs idly as she spoke. "Pretty good, but it's been a bit frosty between Edward and Bella ever since last night. For some asinine reason, he's decided it was best to completely ignore her existence after telling her about himself."
"Your brother is an idiot sometimes, you know that, right?" Theo said, furrowing his brows. Some of the peculiarities of the world he found himself in made him question if it was truly the same as canon. For one, the prom dress shopping should have happened almost a month later than it did, and in that month, Edward and Bella essentially had a Cold War.
In this world, it had happened much earlier, and Theo wondered if his influence—having Bella and Angela working with him, creating a strong and quicker friendship—had shifted things.
"Did something happen in the family meeting yesterday that made him act this way?" he asked.
"Nope, and that's why it's so weird. Rose was obviously against his actions, but everyone else was hopeful for him, whilst being cautious about the situation. It's like he flipped a switch and regretted telling her."
"Maybe he's realizing he spoke too soon?" Theo pondered aloud. "Like, maybe he wanted to connect with her, but she wasn't having any of his excuses, and he clutched onto anything to make her stay?"
Alice hummed at his words but then shrugged. "Doesn't matter really; she'll eventually find out. She's young, but not stupid."
"Speaking of, there she is now. Hey, would you come with me upstairs in a second? We need to have a talk," he said, but quickly noticed her face turn somber. Realizing she might have misinterpreted his words, he spoke fast. "No, nothing bad. Probably something really helpful for us. Okay?"
Narrowing her eyes, Alice nodded before hopping off the counter. "Okay, Mister. But you worried me for a second there."
He watched as she moved through the store and up the stairs to his apartment. Turning back to Bella, Theo smiled.
"Yo," he said. "How are we doing today?"
He watched as Bella's eyes flickered toward the location Alice was previously occupying before moving back to him.
"Good, just a bit tired. Didn't get much sleep last night. How are you? Seems like you and Alice are getting along since the date."
"Well, I'd say so," he said with a smirk. "Not every day you get a bombshell like her to be your girlfriend, is it?"
Bella's eyes widened momentarily at his words, and Theo instantly knew she was concerned. She bit her lip slightly, directing a somewhat pensive stare toward him.
"That's good," she said slowly. "Did she... did she talk about her past with you at all?"
"Yeah," Theo said with a nod. "About how they moved around a lot. Must suck having to move towns when their dad takes a new job somewhere."
Theo knew she was fishing for information, but it wasn't his to give, and he truly hoped she would realize the facts quickly instead of enduring sleepless nights of bad dreams and research.
"Anyway, I got some stuff to do. You're okay until Angela comes along, right?"
With a subdued nod from Bella, Theo bade her farewell and moved to his apartment. What welcomed Theo as he opened the door to his living room was Alice, humming along to some tune as she danced around the space.
He knew she'd heard him, but she continued her movements as he leaned against the wall and watched. For someone essentially made of diamond and stone, she moved so fluidly, reminiscent of a professional dancer. Theo couldn't help but be impressed—and incredibly attracted to her in that moment.
With a gentle cough, he closed the door and moved closer.
"As much as I could watch that for hours—which I hope to do at a later date—I need to speak to you," he said, taking her hand and leading her to the couch. The duo sat beside one another, facing each other, as Theo continued.
"So, you said Edward can read minds, and you vampires have powers, right?" he asked.
"Yeah. I can see glimpses of the future, Edward can read minds, Jasper can influence emotions... but not every vampire has a power," she said, her face thoughtful. "Like, we all assume Carlisle's power is self-control, but seeing as it can't be seen or felt, we don't know for sure."
Theo thought about that and could see the validity of Carlisle's possible power. The man worked as a doctor, surrounded by blood and humans daily, and worked with a smile on his face.
"Okay, well, after you left last night, I thought about the words you said, and I'm not exactly sure how I know, but I gained an understanding of myself slightly. It's like I had information in my head telling me what I could do."
Alice tilted her head as she stared into his eyes. He hated not being able to talk about the System, but for now, Theo needed to be secretive. If—and that was a wild if—he gained powers or abilities that were too unfit for this world, he would think about telling her.
"And you're sure this... power inside of you isn't harming you? Like, it's not taking away your health or something when you use it?" she questioned.
"Nothing of the sort. If anything... I have you to thank for whatever happened last night."
"What do you mean?"
With a simple thought, Theo began to use his power of Active Camouflage and let it flow through his body. He could feel his physiology replicating biological similarities to Alice: his body temperature dropping, the sound and smell of his blood disappearing, and his eyes taking on a golden hue.
Opening his eyes, he stifled a chuckle at Alice's reaction, which was understandable. She stood up and moved a couple of feet back, her eyes wide and mouth open.
"Theo, what the hell? How are you a vampire?!" she practically shrieked, though quietly. "One second I can hear your heart, the next you're the same as me. I need answers right now, Mister, or you'll have one annoyed girlfriend!"
Raising his hands in mock surrender, Theo patted the couch once, gesturing for her to sit down. After she cautiously took her seat, he began speaking.
"You remember our make-out session? The deep kisses?" he asked. "Well, somehow my body decided that the saliva we shared was something useful to it and... merged it with my own. I took on some of your vampiric traits. I can shift between human and a facade—or illusion—of being a vampire."
"How is that possible?" she asked, gently touching his skin and feeling the temperature surrounding him. Instead of the normal warmth, he was cool, just like her. It was an odd feeling.
"Genetics, God looking down at me in favor, random sheer dumb luck. Take your pick, because even I don't know why I was granted this ability. But it's not the end of my discovery," he said sheepishly.
"God, what else? If I were human, I'd be lying on the floor dead from a heart attack."
"Well... you know how you can bite people and share your vampirism with them? I can do the same... but differently. I can share my... powers, I guess? Like, I'm pretty much 100% certain Edward can't read my mind, right?"
Alice looked at him blankly but simply nodded.
"I could give you that same ability, Alice. To shroud your mind, protect it from people who can see inside. I think if you trained with it, you could even control what was hidden or not."
It was a stretch, but Theo needed her to be onboard. He trusted her, truly, but there was too much at stake to fall to the whims of simple trust.
"Really?" she said, eyes sparkling as if the earth-shattering information Theo had given her was just a fleeting comment about the weather. He did wonder sometimes where her priorities lay, but he was happy to move past the awkward stage of the conversation.
"Yeah. There are options on how you want me to give it to you. Either I can let you drink some blood, bite you myself and share the venom, or a simple kiss would do the same."
Just as he finished the sentence, he watched as Alice launched herself towards him, her lips latching onto his as her tongue swiftly entered his mouth. Eyes wide, he quickly composed himself and deepened the kiss, their shared 'saliva' mixing together as he mentally commanded the particular power to be shared.
After a couple of minutes of heated kissing, Theo pulled back and smiled at the somewhat dazed-looking vampire.
"Again, kiss me like that and I'll spill anything to you," he joked. "Now, I don't know the technicalities, but my own DNA should be merging with yours and bringing out that power. You'll need to mentally think about hiding your mind for it to work, and with enough time, you can shroud selected memories. It's somewhat passive, so if you want to open your mind, you need to think about turning it off, okay?"
Slowly coming back to the present, Alice nodded happily as she furrowed her brows in concentration.
"I think I feel it? It's like my mind has a cocoon around it or something. It's weird, but I can ignore the feeling until I get used to it."
Before he could respond, Alice launched herself once more at him, a happy squeal sounding from her throat as she latched onto him again.
Content with following her ever-enthusiastic show of affection, Theo leaned back and pushed an idle thought away.
'I wish I could donate some draws to getting some type of character sheet system panel; it would make my life so much easier.'
Ding
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Yahallo! Here's a new chapter for all of your lovely people! I appreciate all the kind words everyone has shared, and I would like to thank some of the people giving me helpful comments about certain things I missed, or messed up on! I read every single comment, and I appreciate them all.
Continue to comment, review and donate powerstones! I might drop another two chapters later ;)
PS - Thoughts about me making an axillary chapter for the MC's status?