After Nicholas had wiped the blood from his lips, he let out a relieved, shaky sigh. Slowly, his features began to soften and turn back to normal. The red faded from his eyes, and his fangs retreated back under his red lips. He looked at Victor and then looked away, blushing. 

“Thank you,” he said shyly. “A-And I’m sorry for what I did…all of it. I must have scared you so badly–” his voice began to break. Victor touched Nicholas’s trembling hands and squeezed the fingers. 

“I don’t scare easily, remember?” Victor said. “Now that you’re back to normal, why don’t we go somewhere to talk? Preferably, somewhere without blood stains and paperwork,” he added.

He helped Nicholas to his feet and walked him to the library, where the fire was crackling loudly. They sat in the armchairs beside the fire, facing each other. Victor sat with his hands folded between his knees, leaning forward in attention. Meanwhile, Nicholas sat with his legs crossed, one hand laid over the arm of the chair and the other resting under his chin. 

“You were right. I had it all. I had been born into a wealthy family, and there wasn’t ever a desire I had ever had that hadn’t been fulfilled.” Nicholas began. “One such desire was a manor to call my own. I chose to have it built here, in Still Water, where I knew the people would appreciate my grand gestures. And boy, how they did. I was beloved. I had many suitors. Many, many suitors–”

“I think I get the idea.” Victor interrupted. 

“Ahem,” Nicholas cleared his throat to continue. “But like all great and powerful people, eventually I grew bored. I had everything I could ever want. My life suddenly felt meaningless, even amongst all of my wealth. Then, during a trip to town, I came across a book. It was like no book I had ever seen before, engraved with strange runes. As I began to read it, I realized that all the folklore, all of the stories of magic and monsters from every inch of this globe–they were all true. Finally, I discovered something new! Something I didn’t have. I began to teach myself magic, performing simple spells for my own amusement. But then, even that grew dull.” Nicholas’s eyes became lidded, and his lips thinned. “At the end of the book, on the very last page, was a spell I had yet to have tried. It was the one thing I did not have that became all I longed for: immortality. One night, I performed the ritual, expecting to live as an immortal king, forever indulging myself until the end of time. I couldn’t have known the price I would pay. The spell turned me into a monster and contorted my face and body into that of a beast. I was granted immortality, but in return, every night, I turn into a beast and am cursed with an insatiable, disgusting hunger.”

“Is there a way to undo it? The curse?” Victor asked. 

“Not that I know of,” Nicholas answered, shaking his head. “I have searched far and wide for a cure but have found nothing. Not even vampires, born or bitten, can tell me a way to rid myself of this hunger.”

“D-did you hire me because the curse had weakened you?” Victor asked.

“No, though this hex is unsightly and more than inconvenient, I was plagued by a different kind of curse that drew me to you.”

“And what was that?” Victor asked. 

“Loneliness.” 

At this, Victor raised his head and widened his eyes with surprise. 

“For years, my only company has been the skeletons and John, the farmer down the hill. Though they are good company, I have known them for so long that we have no new stories to tell or mysteries to uncover about each other,” Nicholas explained. “The townspeople are afraid of this place…and of me. I have been outcasted from society and sentenced to solitude. So when you stumbled into my library, unafraid of both myself and my home, I felt…what I can only describe as overwhelming joy.”

“...All my life, I have felt terribly alone,” Victor said, and Nicholas’s heart ached a little when he saw no twinge of emotion in his expression. “If I meant anything to anyone, it was because I could give them something. When I was a gymnast, I would put on an act, hide my misery, and listen to the applause. But perhaps the two of us can give each other more than just a performance. Let us be honest. Let us confide in one another. One strange creature…to another.”

Nicholas nodded, unable to hold back a smile. 

“The night we met, you made me an offer. But now it is my turn to give one to you.” Victor said.

“Anything, my friend,” Nicholas said. 

“If you help me figure out what the impossible is, then I shall help you cure your curse,”

“But I already told you, finding a cure, it’s–” Nicholas began. 

“Impossible?” Victor raised an eyebrow. “I have come to learn that many unbelievable things are possible.” 

Nicholas surrendered to the offer, holding out his hand, which Victor took tenderly and shook. 

. . .

As the evening dragged on, they remained in the library, reading books by the fireside. It felt a little strange to read after such intense revelations, but it helped ease whatever tension remained. 

“Is it true? Everything they say about vampires?” Victor finally asked, closing his book for the night. 

“Most of it, yes,” Nicholas said, putting his own book back on the shelf. “I can’t eat garlic, but that’s just because I can’t eat anything. The only food I seem to be able to digest is blood and raw meat. I’m sensitive to silver, and I’m sure a wooden stake through the heart wouldn’t do me any good, but besides that, I am nearly invincible.”

“But what about sunlight? I’ve seen you out in the daylight plenty of times before.” Victor said. 

“I won’t burn and shrivel up in a little sunlight. But it is only in the day that I can keep this form,” he said, gesturing to himself. “At night, I turn quite hideous. I suppose most vampires simply don’t want to be seen that way, so they retreat once the sky darkens.”

“I didn’t think you were so hideous,” Victor said.

“Perhaps you can find beauty in anything if you look hard enough.” Nicholas chuckled bitter-sweetly. 

“Does this mean that now I can wander the manor at night?” Victor asked. 

“I wouldn’t advise it…” Nicholas said unsurely. “My bloodlust seems to worsen after sunset, which is why I made the rule in the first place.” Suddenly, his eyes widened with an idea. He grabbed Victor’s hand and led him down the hall. 

“Where are we going?” Victor asked. 

“I want to give you something.” Nicholas hurriedly explained, thundering up a staircase to the third floor.

Victor found himself in a room he had never seen before.  It had four Roman pillars holding up the ceiling and heavy satin curtains that covered the windows. A wide bed covered with furs was pushed against the far wall, and a writing desk and vanity were opposite it. Nicholas dove into the vanity, rummaging through its many drawers. With an “ah-ha!” he pulled a silver necklace from one of the drawers, pinching it with a polishing cloth. Nicholas was careful not to let the silver touch him as he walked the necklace over to Victor. 

“Would you mind–?” Nicholas began to ask, making a spinning motion with his finger. 

Victor, realizing what he meant, turned around so that his back was facing Nicholas. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he felt Nicholas wrap the necklace around his throat, clipping it into place. 

“There. Now you may go wherever you like, whenever you like.” Nicholas sighed happily. “If ever I lose myself, this necklace shall protect you.”

Victor lifted his hand and rubbed the cold metal pendant between his fingers. As strange as the circumstances were, a gift still felt like a gift. Once again, his pale cheeks flushed with an unfamiliar warmth. His eyes turned toward the window, which was darkening with dusk. The sun was nearly gone, leaving behind only a few streaks of sunlight. 

“Well, the manor is yours to explore. I am not as concerned now that you have a bit more silver on you.” Nicholas said. 

“The ironic thing is that after such a long day, I have no energy to explore.” Victor yawned. He turned back around and grasped one of Nicholas’s hands into his own. 

“Please, do not be ashamed of your ailment. I know how it pains you, but don’t let the thought of my judgment cause you even more pain. You are still a good host and the makings of a good friend. No fact will change that. And perhaps, when I am less tired, I can keep you company on lonely dark nights.”

“I would like that very much,” Nicholas said. 

He felt a twinge of melancholy as Victor’s hand slipped away from his own, watching as he slipped out the door. He felt the familiar sensation of his facial features shifting, turning his face into the mask of a monster.  Nicholas turned and looked at himself in the ornament mirror hung on the wall. It wasn’t true that vampires couldn’t see themselves in mirrors. Nicholas assumed the rumor had started simply because vampires didn’t like to look at themselves. If a vampire’s residence had ever been uncovered, he could guarantee any mirror in the vicinity would be smashed. But as he stared at his reflection, the shock of his appearance was less startling than it usually was. He strained his eyes, trying to find what little humanity was still there. And he thought that perhaps he wasn’t so hideous after all.