I am a man. I have dressed as them, lived amongst them, and hidden my ghastly nature. It is a lie. I do this to remind myself of what I am and that it cannot be forgotten or forgiven.”
“You do not wish for forgiveness? I thought…”
“I do not want forgiveness from you, Maxine. I ask to be loved as I am. I shall never ask to be absolved. Such a thing is impossible and would never come to pass.” The hand that rested over hers moved to wander through her hair, combing the strands through his sharp-nailed fingers.
Tragic creature.
“Save your pity for someone who deserves it.”
She swore under her breath and sighed. “I do hate that you can hear my thoughts.”
“Turnabout is fair play.”
“As you’ve said. I—” Her stomach growled, interrupting their conversation. They both laughed at the sound.
“You missed breakfast. I should not be surprised. You mortal creatures and your love of food.”
Suddenly, she realized she had been remiss in her manners. “Oh! The chocolates. Thank you for them.”
“Hm? Ah. Yes. I thought you might enjoy them.”
She smiled and placed a kiss against his bare chest. “No one has ever gifted me chocolates.”
“Truly? Is it not what mortal gentlemen are expected to provide? Flowers, dinner, and sweets?”
“And when do you suppose I have been courted by a mortal gentleman?”
He paused. “Touché.” He shifted, and she heard the creak of the coffin lid as he swung it up on its hinge. With it came the introduction of light into their small space. She was in her shift, and he was shirtless. A thick blanket was pulled up over them, and it was shockingly warm despite his lack of body heat. She pushed herself up to sit in the space between his hip and the wall of the coffin.
She traced her hand over his chest thoughtfully.
“What is it?”
“It is still a marvel to me that you exist. Vampires. Monsters.” She shook her head. “Demons. I never figured them to be real. Even with all I have seen, I know I have not begun to witness it all. I know there are horrors that live inside this nightmare of yours that you have yet to show me.”
He caught her fingers and lifted them to his lips. He sat up as he kissed them. “Are you afraid?”
“No…I only hope I am that which you wish me to be. But I do not know yet that I am.”
He smiled and gently urged her back down to him. She met his lips eagerly with her own. She had come to desire his touch. More than that, it had begun to bring her comfort and solace.
Her stomach growled again.
He pulled back from her. “Yes, yes. Let us feed the great beast before it consumes us all.” He climbed gracefully from the coffin and helped her step out of it.
Looking around the room curiously, she was shocked to see that she recognized some of it. Most notably, her wardrobe stood against one wall. And there, on a small table, was a music box. She walked up to it quickly, snatching it into her hands. She opened the lid. Sure enough…it was hers. The one her father had made before he had died and before she was born. “You…saved it.”
“I had Walter gather your things from your house the night I unleashed Hell upon this city.” Dracula replied nonchalantly. As if it were a trivial thing. “It thought perhaps you would wish it salvaged.”
“Very much so. I would lecture you that collecting my personal items and arranging them in your bedchambers is presumptuous at best, but I find myself incredibly grateful that you saw fit to save this. My cards?”
“Your tarot deck is in your wardrobe.”
She would have been sad to part with them. “Then I suppose I find myself doubly grateful and only once annoyed. So I shall say thank you, Vlad Dracula, for your kindness in rescuing my things.”
“You should say nothing at all, for while you are twice grateful, it is I who upended your life in the first place. Therefore, we are in balance.”
She smiled. “I suppose, yes.”
When she looked at him, he was dressed, finishing the knot of his cravat. “I will fetch Walter and inform him that you are in need of breakfast. I shall return shortly.” And with that, he seemed to vanish into his own shadow and slip underneath the door.
Strange man.
Stranger creature.
Yet she smiled at the thought of him. He was kind and cruel. Temperate and ruled by rage.