Upon exploring an abandoned manor deep in the woods, you find that truth is sometimes just as strange as fiction.
CHAPTER 2
Vampire!Sam Kiszka x Reader
Warnings: Standard warnings for a vampire fic, along with 18+ themes in future chapters.
Daniel looked just as concerned to see you as he did the first time. Sam assured you that’s just how Danny always looks, and that he’s “just a nervous fellow sometimes,” and it made you feel a little better about surprising him like this. He was nice, though, and after he relaxed, the two of you got along well.
He told you more about his life before this. How he grew up alongside the Kiszka family, and was pretty much one of the family. Like a brother, is how Sam had put it. Just like Sam, he was vague on why or how they were turned, but spoke of it in the same negative way as Sam had.
“Sometimes I wish our family had been turned with us, but other times I’m glad they don’t have to live like us,” He said, his gaze lowered, “I, uh, had a sister. Sam and the twins did too.”
They left it at that, not wanting to drag out old memories they’d spent years burying. The topic soon switched to yourself, your family, and what was going on in the world. They hadn’t had a proper visitor in at least 10 years or so, and always made sure to stay away from the city that wasn’t far from them, so they were quite curious about the world.
About an hour into your conversation, there was a light knock on the door, and another young man stepped into the room. He was just as pretty as the others, but his hair was short and curly, reminding you of a dandelion before it gets blown away by the wind. He had the same amber-brown eyes as his brothers, a well groomed mustache and goatee, and a wide smile with too-sharp teeth. What caught your attention most was his outfit, though.
He wore a soft looking, red crushed velvet jumpsuit. It dipped down into a V at the front, ending at about the middle of his chest. The edges of the neckline were embroidered with beautiful stones that glimmered in the light. It was sleeveless and skin-tight, with a bishop cuff at the ankles that all gave it a flattering look on him.
“Why hello, you must be the guest I’ve heard so much about! It’s lovely to meet you, dear. My name is Joshua, but please, call me Josh,” His voice was similar to Jake’s, just a bit smoother and softer. You recalled Sam and Danny saying “the twins”, putting two and two together to assume they meant him and Jake. Josh held out his hand, and you took it.
Josh smiled and brought your hand up to press a kiss to the back of it as you introduced yourself, “What a lovely name, dear. I hope we’ve been sufficient enough hosts for you. We don’t normally get visitors anymore…”
Josh was the oldest of all the boys, and thus became their leader of sorts after being turned. He seemed far less wary around you, going as far as telling you he hopes you’ll stick around longer than their previous guests all had. After a while, you decide to ask about Jake.
“Jake is… he’s had a lot of bad things happen because of him interacting with the ah… normal population. It’s left him with a bit of a distrust of others that he hasn’t been able to work through. I hope you understand. He’s a kind man, he just needs time,” Josh explains, while the others nod. They all assure you that Jake is no threat, but you’re still hesitant to believe that fully after he threatened to gut you.
The three of you talked for what felt like hours, until the sun was beginning to set. They stood, turning to you.
“Ah, it’s probably about time for you to leave. You can’t hang around here come nighttime,” Josh said, leading you out of the room. Danny stayed behind, waving, while Sam followed you both.
“Why not?” You asked, and Sam responded.
“It’s when we go out to feed. Having a human around might be… tempting. It’s best to avoid any temptation at all than to risk it,” He smiled and opened the door for you, slowly reaching out to hold your hand and press a kiss to it like Josh had done, “I do hope to see you soon, though. Will I?”
You thought about it. You should leave and never come back. If not for your safety, then for your sanity. They were supposedly real life vampires, who could kill you if they wanted to. But… something about them kept you wanting to come back. So, you nodded and smiled back.
“Of course you will.”
You only got a short distance away from the manor before something dropped down from a tree, landing in front of you. It was Jake, who stood there and stared you down. You felt fear bubble up in your chest, unsure of why he followed you out here.
“Hello… um…”
“What do you want with my family? Why do you keep hanging around?” He asked, his jaw set in an unreadable expression.
“I just… I don’t know. I guess curiosity? I enjoyed talking to your brothers, and we have a surprising amount of things in common-“
He growled and stepped close, his hand on your wrist, “We have NOTHING in common. We are nothing like you, and you are nothing like us. The sooner you understand that and leave us alone, the better off you’ll be, and the less likely it’ll be that I leave your body in a ditch somewhere.”
He let go of your wrist and you stepped back, your heart pounding and the sound of blood rushing in your ears blocking everything else. You took a deep breath and kept your voice as steady as possible as you spoke.
“I promise I mean no harm to any of you… and despite how you feel, it was nice to meet you.”
He didn’t say anything as you walked past him to get to your car and head home.
————
You couldn’t come back for a few days, work and other life responsibilities getting in the way, so instead you did some researching into the Kiszka and Wagner families that lived there. Not much was recorded in history, especially once it got to the time they were alive for, but you did find the names of their families. They did both have sisters, one named Veronica and the other named Josie, plus their parents and some extended family. The only records that exist of them are birth and death records, stating they all died of an illness around the same time.
As you know, though, four of them didn’t technically die. Or did they? Are vampires technically still alive or are they dead? Are they something in between? You shook your head. It didn’t matter.
When you finally were able to go back, about a week had passed. You pulled your car up early in the morning and made your way down the path you had taken the last two times, the manor eventually coming into view. It was a nice summer day today, a nice breeze blowing through without it being too chilly out. You wore a loose T-shirt and jeans, with your regular hiking shoes on to help when heading back and forth through the wooded area.
You raised your hand to knock, just as you had the last two times you had been here, but jumped when the door swung open instead.
“Darling! I knew you’d be back!” Sam grinned, his pointed teeth glinting in the light as he pulled you inside, “I was worried we had scared you off for good…” He was smiling, but you could hear the genuine worry in his voice.
“I just had work and other life stuff to take care of, Sam. You haven’t chased me away yet,” You say with a chuckle. You caught sight of Jake on the second floor landing, frowning down at you. He turned and stalked away, towards the music room.
Sam turns to lead you up the stairs, presumably to where Danny was, but you stopped him, “Hey, um… maybe I should stay down here for today. Jake still seems pretty upset about me hanging around…”
His smile faltered, but he quickly fixed it, turning to face you, “He won’t do anything to you, I promise. But… if you wish to stay down here, then that’s alright.”
“I’d like that,” You say, “Plus, there are some things I’d like to ask you about.”
The both of you head into the sitting room with the large fireplace, Sam offering you a seat before sitting on the couch opposite to you.
“Well… Ask away I suppose!”
“So… does sunlight kill you? Do stakes and garlic? Holy water and crosses? Just how accurate are all the legends?”
Sam was a bit surprised by your question, chuckling a bit, “Well, um… sunlight doesn’t kill us, but it does burn like hell. As far as I know garlic, crosses, and holy water don’t do anything to us. And I assume anyone would die if you staked them, so… I guess that one still applies?”
“When you feed, do you have to drink all of the blood? And how long do you have between feeding?”
“It depends. We go out about every night to feed. If we fed on, ahem… larger things, it would last longer. And no, we don’t HAVE to completely drink all of it, but it’s hard to stop sometimes.”
Suddenly, a thought popped into your head. Sam said he’d never fed from a human, none of them have. What would it feel like to be bitten, to have your blood drank? Would it hurt? Would it feel numb? You know you shouldn’t ask, but…
“If I offered you some of my blood, would you drink it?”
At this question, Sam jumped up, stepping back, “Woah, what? What on Earth would you do that for!?”
You shrugged, “I’m curious. How many other people would be able to say they know what it feels like for a vampire to bite them?”
“That’s not a good reason, Darling! Did you not just hear me say that sometimes it’s hard to stop ourselves when feeding? What if I weren’t able to stop and drained you completely?” He asked, throwing his arms up, concerned by your words.
“I trust you,” You said plainly.
“You’ve known me for about 3 days. You can’t trust someone you’ve just met!”
You sighed and dropped the issue, knowing he was right, “Sorry, you’re right Sam.”
He relaxed, and you listened as he began telling you something about the house. Maybe he was right, but that didn’t mean you weren’t still curious. You’ll continue this line of questioning another day, you figured.
For now, you sat back and enjoyed your friend’s company.
————
When you left, Jake was waiting for you again, this time peeking into your car.
“Is this what automobiles look like now? The last time I saw one, they were more like a motorized carriage, not a weird, boxy hunk of metal. Why are the wheels so big?” He asked, causing you to chuckle. He frowned at you, “Don’t laugh at me, I’ll bite you.”
“I’m not laughing at you, Jake. I just forget sometimes that you all haven’t seen a lot of modern things,” You reassured him.
“And I’m fine with that. Most of your modern things aren’t any good. Minus some of your music, though I haven’t really heard modern music past… what do they call it…? The 90s?”
An idea popped into your head of how to get Jake to warm up to you quicker.
“Hey, how about i go ahead and bring some music here next time? Modern stuff, so you can find what you like?”
He’s quiet for a moment before shrugging and mumbling out a, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” before turning and heading back up to the manor.
Well, it’s the first conversation you’ve had with him that didn’t end in a threat, so you took it as a step forward. When you got back home, you created a playlist with as many songs as you could think of to show Jake the next time you came over, hoping this would finally be what got him to relax around you.
————
Jake really liked music, you learned. He was fascinated with the intricate solos and heavy beats of rock and metal, the deep and rhythmic sounds of blues, and even nodded his head to a couple pop songs. Really, all four of them were drawn to the music, all having their own tastes yet all being fairly similar when it came to certain genres.
And of course, they were interested in your phone. They’d had seen phones before, from people who’d come poking around in the past, but never had much of a chance to play around with one. You decided to bring things by for them to learn about with each visit, quickly looking forward to talking with them a few times a week. Even Jake warmed up to you quite a bit, far less hostile than he had been the first few meetings.
Josh enjoyed your company, not being as wary as Jake, but not quite as open as Sam was. The eldest Kiszka was quite the charmer, though he assured you his interests were completely platonic. He was the most knowledgeable of modern things, having slipped into the city nearby on occasion on a whim. He mentioned seeing a man in a fabulous jumpsuit once in the 70s, and he was obsessed with them, to the point he began making his own. In your opinion, he was quite talented at sewing, his own clothes being well-made and fitting him perfectly.
Danny was much less nervous having you around than at first, quickly enjoying talking with you about different topics. In particular, he seemed to like sports, golf specifically. He reminded you of your friend Dave, and the thought made you laugh. They’d get along great if they ever met.
And then there was Sam. Sam was different than the others, being desperate for interaction. In his own words, he’d been trapped in this house with no one else for far too long, and the days had begun running together a good hundred years ago. He loved piano, you had noticed, and was highly skilled. He’d play for you every time, his eyes shut as he just felt the music through his whole body.
Weeks passed by as you learned more and more about the four of them. The end of fall grew near, winter closing in with each day that passed. It was around this time that you began seeing things in shops around the city that reminded you of them, and an idea popped into your head. What better to signify your new friendships, than heartfelt gifts?
under the weather, in the doldrums, long shot, toe the line, groggy, aloof, overhaul, mainstay, pooped, keel over, in the offing, give a wide berth, footloose, flying colors, press into service, shake a leg
Chock-a-block. Scuttlebutt. By and large. Above board. Slush fund. Batten down the hatches. Shot across the bow. At loggerheads. Squared away. Dead reckoning. Down in the doldrums. Touch and go. Fathom/plumb. Leading light. Overwhelm, overreach. Skyscraper (originally a sail at the very tip top of a mast!). The bitter end.
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tangentwithtanner
kianamaiart
turnnoffyourmind
