“Ciro! You’re late,” whispered Cecilia as she opened the door to her incredibly large house. The warm dim light coming from raised candle chandeliers lit up the dark street outside, and momentarily blinding Ciro who was used to the low light.

“Slow sunset,” Ciro explained sheepishly, putting a hand behind his head as a small cloud appeared from his breath in the cold September air. Cecilia smirked and let him inside. The two walked through the long and golden halls, until they reached a small enclosed living room, complete with a sizable, beige sofa facing a large brick fireplace. The room was also decorated with several well watered potted plants, and a single wooden drawer with long stylized legs, where a thin roll of gauze was kept inside. This was the room where they always went when Ciro visited. Cecilia was one of the few people in Ciro’s many years that he trusted to know his secret, and since then, became good friends.

Cecilia casually threw a log of firewood into the flames then sighed as she plopped onto the leather couch, next to Ciro. “You’re probably hungry. I know it’s been a while. Sorry for that. Daddy’s just been checking on me all the time recently. He doesn’t think I’m responsible enough to keep a house like this in good condition. That’s why he’s been hiring so many maids I guess. That, or to keep an eye on me.” she chuckled lightly, “No offense, but I don’t think he would take well to you,”

“Most people don’t.” Ciro sighed in his usual melancholy tone.

Cecilia gave him a sad smile, then rolled up her sleeve, “Take what you need,” Ciro’s eyes flashed hungrily at the exposed flesh, and he greedily bit into her wrist. She let out a short, high cry at the sudden pain, but after several seconds of heavy breathing, she calmed down. As odd as it sounds, after the past year, the drinking of her blood was a common occurrence, and though it wasn’t by any means comfortable, it was somehow comforting. She laughed slightly and ruffled his shaggy black hair with her free hand, “What would you do without me?” Ciro lifted up his head, though before he had a chance to respond, he noticed that both her arm and his chin were covered in blood, and it was starting to drip. “Not on the couch!” she screamed, pushing him onto the floor, than following arm first. “Sorry,” she shrugged, “stains,”

No longer feeling a need to respond to her previous, and now that he thought on it, most likely rhetorical question, he sunk his long fangs back into the holes they had already created, and drank more of the sickening substance he was so pathetically dependent on. “Don’t drink too much,” Cecilia ordered, feeling the need to talk in order to alleviate the awkward silence, though she knew the conversation would be one sided, “Last time I felt weak for weeks after you visited,” she admitted, “Don’t take that the wrong way, I really don’t mind helping you out. You are my best friend after all. My life was so boring before… I can’t even imagine not knowing you. Vampires are real. It’s so nice to know. It’s so fun knowing a secret like that, it’s like area 51 in America, or something like that. Know what I mean?”

Ciro lifted his head again at the pause and stared up at her. He chuckled humorlessly, “ America wasn’t even a country when I found out that vampires exist,”

“That’s right,” Cecilia nodded, “I forgot you were turned. That’s even crazier. You used to be a human, just like me.” she looked at him thoughtfully, “How old were you?”

“I had just turned twenty,” he admitted honestly. Speaking of his past, even in such a vague way reminded him of his life before and he hated it. That day, the day he was turned, played over and over in his nightmares, and he tried to avoid the memory whenever possible.

She cocked her head to the side, “How old are you now?”

“That’s not impo-”

“I don’t care how relevant it is! I want to know! Honestly, Ciro, we’ve known each other for over a year now and you still won't even tell me silly stuff like your age! I’ve already told you I wouldn’t tell anyone! I can keep a secret, if that’s what you’re concerned about!” Ciro stared at her for a long time, and her confidence shied away after the long moment, “I-I’m sorry,”

“No,” Ciro said, clutching her wrist and stopping blood from leaking with his palm, “You want to know everything about me? You really do? Fine. My names not Ciro, it’s Anzolo Madonia originally. It’s been changed over 30 times over the past 4 centuries. Yes, you heard that right, four centuries. I’m 407 years old, 408 this October,”

Cecilia paused, taken back by the uncharacteristic burst. Tears filled her eyes, though she blinked them away quickly. “I-...” she paused again, unsure of what to say, “Y-you’re really that old?” Ciro nodded, not daring to meet her eye. There was no doubt he felt bad about the sudden bitterness, but they both knew he was too stubborn to apologize so quickly. Cecilia was far less concerned by his poor social skills, however, than the fact that she had merely been alive for less than five percent of his life time. “Why, I-I’m barely an infant compared to you, if even that! I’m like a bug to your lifetime…”

“I told you I didn’t want to say,” he sighed, and loosened his grip on her wrist slightly, as he realized it may have been hard.

“No, I’m glad. It gives me more perspective. I can see why you never…” she stopped talking, not finishing her train of thought. “It was silly of me to think that, well, a normal, average human, could mean as much to you as you mean to me,”

“You do,” Ciro breathed, scooting closer to her, and gently holding her hand in his lap. This was not entirely true, as much like she pointed out, she was such a small part of his life. She was truly a young, naïve creature, who knew nothing of the ways of the world. Though, she did have her positive attributes. Ciro couldn’t deny that originally, she was just a delicious food source, that was far better than animals, over time he did grow an attachment to her. For one, her knowledge of his kind was a sweet relief from the constant stress of secrecy. Then, her naïvety did have a certain charm to it, one that was positive and reminded him of better times. She was growing on him, whether he liked it or not, and she was his closest friend, “You mean a lot to me, you really do,” he admitted. Even with his own words he wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but regardless, it did feel right.

Cecilia quickly snapped her head in the other direction. Her cheeks were a bright, rosy red with the attention. Ciro, looking at her, grew hungry at the sight of blood rushing to her cheeks, and finally lifted his palm to take more from her wrist. She offered no resistance, though after a moment, turned to look at him. “Turn me into a vampire,” she ordered forcefully.

Ciro dropped her wrist, his dark brown eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as he looked at her, “Huh?”

“Could you, I mean?” she asked desperately, “I- I want to be one. Like you. This… what we do now, it wouldn’t be temporary anymore. You wouldn’t outlive me. We could, well, we could stay like this, together, I mean, forever…”

“I won’t.” Ciro wiped off his mouth and stood up, “You don’t understand what it’s like. Don’t romanticize the idea. This, I don’t show it to you, but it’s a curse. It’s a burden I pray to be undone every single day. You’re so unbelievably lucky to be the way you are, believe me.” Ciro warned. He was well aware that morally, he was probably not the greatest, but despite that, there was an evil deed he could never commit, not purposely, and that was giving the curse to someone else. Everyday of his long existence was torture, and he couldn’t bear to transmit that same pain onto someone else. At that point, he would truly be, a horrible, evil monster.

“I-I don’t believe you! I won’t. I accept, all that, whatever, but I know I want to be a vampire. I want to be with you,” she whined, leaning towards him.

“You don’t know what you want,” he claimed calmly. He pulled out the gauze and carefully wrapped her arm in it, as he always did, then rushed towards the door. Had he gone too far with her? He always knew it was a bad idea to make friends, or even acquaintances for that matter. He was meant to be alone, where he could save others from himself. Though, as he stood, leaning on the door frame, contemplating his next move, the thought of being alone seemed so unbearably depressing. He had once again felt the joy of companionship, and not only that but the sweetness of human blood, and now, he could not go back. Not easily. He turned his head around, “I’ll see you next time,”

“You’re coming back?” Cecilia cried with excitement, standing herself up, her left hand clutching the bandaged right.

“Of course. I meant what I said. You mean a lot to me, that means I couldn’t just leave you, and… it also means I can’t turn you. I’m sorry, Cecilia, goodbye,” he said shortly.

Cecilia nodded, she was sad, though was beginning to understand, “Until next time, Anzolo,” Ciro gave a small, acknowledging nod, with the slightest hint of a smile, then left into the dark, cold, night air.

“He was quite the cutie,” a maid said to Cecilia, walking into the room after Ciro was gone. Unlike most of the serving staff, quiet and polite, this particular woman had a malicious smile on her face, and did not look reserved in the slightest towards her boss. Her father’s maids, she assumed, the ones who were only there to babysit his twenty year old.

Cecilia quickly hid her bandaged arm behind her back, “Glad you think so,” she said calmly, lifting her chin up high, “In fact you can tell my father you said that,”

“Oh no, I don’t have to tell your father anything anymore. I quit. I found something else worth a fortune,” the maid said.

“And what might that be?” Cecilia asked, she was concerned, and frankly quite threatened by the tone of the conversation, though she was also genuinely curious.

“Your boyfriend,” she said simply, Cecilia did not correct her. Not only did she like the sound of it, but she was wondering where this was going. “Wow, is he cute. He could probably make it as a model... It’s just such a shame he doesn’t show up on camera. Isn’t it?” she paused and her malicious smile returned, “What do you think people would pay to see a real life vampire?”