“Look at me, Jonathan”, the vampire said.

“How do you know my name?”, he said quietly, unable to refuse the commanding voice of his.

“I am so sorry for your loss. I loved Marissa just as much as you do.”

“You’re disgusting for telling such lies. Vampires can’t love anyone.”

“Don’t they teach hunters anything these days? Have you heard of the second lord’s bride?”

“No. And I don’t want to.”

“Jonathan, has your mother kept any photos of your father after he left?”

“Stop rummaging through my memories!”, Jonathan screamed furiously, seemingly breaking the commanding spell of the vampire, and managed to scurry away a few feet.

“Don’t you know that a vampire needs to touch the victim to do that?”

Jonathans breathing was getting heavier, his head was spinning and his body aching. He was going to die here, without ever getting to see the artifact.

“I wish I could’ve saved your mother”, the vampire said, genuinely sounding sad, “But the only thing I can do know is to help you.”

“Why? Why help me? Do you have pity on me?”

The vampire moved towards him, roughly grabbing his chin to force him to make eye contact. “I am not going to let my kin die in here. I am going to give you the artifact and you need to bring it back to the Council.”

“Kin?”, Jonathan spat out. “Never in a thousand years!”

“Look into my eyes, you fool”, this wasn’t a command. It was a plea.

Images of a distant past rushed through Jonathan, so fast that he wasn’t fully able to grasp them. He saw his mother when she was young, before she had gotten pregnant and he saw a man with her, with short black hair and red eyes. He saw his early childhood, before the visions abruptly ended.

“What kind of cursed magic is this?”, Jonathan said, still dizzy. “Implanting false memories into another person.”