hero, (accidentally) hiding in vampire's (supposedly) abandoned castle
“Did you really think you were the only one here?”
Hero stopped, their body going perfectly still.
The room was overtaken with darkness, oddly heavy in that full-moon light. Through open windows the wind crept in like a warning whistle, sending chills down Hero’s spine. They must have imagined that voice. Heard too many local tales today. Could they forget to close the windows?
Shakily, Hero went up to figure out the mechanics of the centuries-old wooden frames. They tried to pull them down, but the damn thing would-
“Moving into someone’s home without their consent, that wasn’t very polite of you, was it?”
This time, the tense voice was coming from behind their back. Hero felt something heavy drop in their chest.
“Turn around.”
Hero did, their knees weakening from dizziness. Vampire stood inches away, all skin, and startling blue eyes. His face did not look old, like the tales said, perhaps only a few years older than Hero’s.
“Ah, what happened?” he asked, tracing the ragged scar on their left cheek, going all the way to the jaw.
Hero swallowed hard. “Nothing, really.”
“I don’t like being lied to.”
“Just a… bad day to pick up a fight.”
His fingers, pale and smooth, were pressing the skin around the nasty mark. The touch was burning their skin alive.
Hero pressed against the window ledge even more. Their breath hitched when the Vampire cupped their cheek with his palm, as if to see how much the mortal skin could take.
“Please, I’ll-” Hero groaned. “I’ll make it up. I wasn’t aware-”
“Why’d you stay in the only room with a cross then?”
“...What?”
“What did I say about being lied to?” Vampire tightened his grip.
“Fine! I- I was afraid in case the tales they say- about you- were true.”
Vampire chuckled and let them go. “Touché.”
Hero fell to their knees, breathing heavily. The moon was casting its light on their forehead, shining with sweat.
Vampire reached for their arms as if to embrace when the world swirled around them and Hero found themselves on the same floor, but in a different, grander room. Higher ceiling, fancy finishing touches, all that jazz. Inhabited, too.
Vampire saw them staring at the balcony doors and made a tsk sound.
“I’m afraid no one knows I’m still alive. And I don’t plan to change that.”
He circled Hero, taking his time.
Their memory shot back to the tales he kept hearing in town, of disappearing young people, of corpses with throats massacred. Everyone knew vampires were monsters.
Hero’s hands were shaking now, eyes on the ground.
“My, my,” he murmured, “What will I do with you now, dear?”
“I…” they broke off, their voices embarrassingly frail. “I promise, I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“You wouldn’t?”
He stopped now. His hand grasped their neck from behind. It was vulnerable, their throat on display. Hero could practically feel his eyes finding just the right spot to bite his teeth in. Vampire noticed and faintly smiled.
“This handsome face of yours might convince regular people, but you’d have to try harder for me.”
Hero felt their throat go dry. “Please.”
Vampire only raised his brews.
“I will leave town at once. Go far away. Change my name. Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Just please- let me go alive.”
“You are quite convincing. And distracting. Whatever I wanted, was it?”
They dared to nod. Vampire’s piercing gaze considered their profile, his palm holding their jaw with two fingers.
He titled his head. “I didn’t have entertainment for a century.”
