Chapter Text
When he had found the mansion he was expecting to find it empty, having plants growing up and down the front threatening to collapse at any moment. He slowly walked in through the large wooden door and looked around the dark entrance, seeing nothing around he walked further finding nothing but overgrown weeds coming in through the broken windows, broken furniture covered in thick layers of dust. He cautiously walked up the stairs leading to the second floor before he heard something in one of the rooms, he looked around hoping to see what had made the sound before feeling hands holding him. He looked at them and saw a pale face staring back at him with red eyes and sharp teeth, "What are you doing here?"
He looked at them with fear in his eyes, "I'm sorry, I had to leave I have nowhere to go."
The man holding him looked at his shoes covered in a thick layer of mud going up to his knees, "Who are you?"
"Everyone calls me Mountain."
The man let go of him, "Mountain, I'll forgive you. You can stay here as long as you need."
"Thank you, I'm so sorry I came in," he felt a sharp pain in his neck and screamed, warm liquid ran down his neck and chest forming a small puddle on the floor before he started to lose consciousness.
When he woke up he was on the floor covered in his own blood, the man from before was sitting close by reading a book. Mountain sat up and looked at him, "What happened?"
He looked at him, "Good you're awake, how are you feeling?"
"I, what?"
He stood from the chair and walked to him offering his hand to help him stand, "It's alright, I can explain everything."
Mountain looked at his hand then to him before taking it, once he was standing he looked at the blood on the floor then to the man in front of him, "Is that? Did you kill me?"
He smiled, "Only for a moment, I haven't had anyone come near this mansion in years. I was starting to think I would have to leave and find somewhere else, but here you are."
"What do you mean?" He felt the pain still in his neck and backed away from him, "What did you do to me?"
He held his hands up, "I helped you, with you here, with both of us here this place could be what it once was. I made you a vampire to help you."
"Who are you?"
"My family called me Nihil, they've all been killed or have passed by now."
"What, what do I do?"
"Make yourself comfortable, once you are feeling better we can work on fixing this place."
Once he had shown Mountain to a bedroom that was mostly still intact he lied down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling covered in plants, he rolled onto his side finally realizing the pain in his neck had gone away. He touched where he head been bit not feeling anything in the spot, he stood from the bed walked around the room not knowing what to do. He heard a knock on the door then heard Nihil say, "I found you a change of clothes if you want them."
He opened the door and looked at the neatly folded clothes in his arms, "Thank you."
Nihil nodded, "Let me know if you need anything."
"Thank you, I will."
When he woke up the next night he heard Nihil moving something in one of the other rooms, he sat up listening closer then heard something fall. He walked out of the room and down the stairs to see him moving a table, "What are you doing?"
Nihil looked at him, "Getting everything set back where it should be, I move everything to keep people away."
"Right, let me help you."
Nihil nodded, "Thank you, I was thinking about starting on outside soon."
"I can do that before I got here I worked on the gardens at home."
"That would be great, I can help if you need me to."
"I'll let you know if I need any."
After a few weeks of working on the house Mountain was out in the garden and found a small cemetery, he crouched by one of the graves and read the name Saltarion on the back. He heard Nihil's voice behind him say, "You found them."
He quickly turned to look at him, "What?"
"This was a friend of mine, and that one was my wife. And those are my three sons."
Mountain looked at the graves and read each name, "What happened to them?"
"My friend was just old age, my wife was killed along with my son's when someone broke in. They didn't find me, my youngest almost got away and I almost turned him in time but."
He looked at him, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I at least can come and see them now."
Mountain nodded, "I'll get them cleaned up for you."
"Thank you."
A few months had gone by and Mountain had finally gotten the house cleaned up and fixed the things that needed to be fixed, Nihil walked down the stairs late one night after hearing something. He saw someone in one of the rooms and walked closer, "You need to leave."
They looked at him, "Go."
Nihil looked at his hand and saw the knife, "What?"
He came closer, "I said go, if you do no one gets hurt."
Mountain woke up to the sound of Nihil yelling, he quickly got out of bed and ran down the stairs to see Nihil on the floor with blood all around him, he looked at the man standing over him, "What did you do?"
He looked up at Mountain and dropped the knife, "I'll leave, I'll go."
"Good choice now get out."
He watched him leave then looked at Nihil, he knelt beside him, "Nihil?" He didn't respond, "Nihil come on wake up."
He looked at all the blood on the floor and at the wounds on his body, "Fuck."
The man had left and Mountain stood from the floor, he looked at Nihil then walked to the door to see someone coming to the gates. The man looked at him, "I saw someone running down the road do you need help?"
Mountain nodded, "He broke in, I think he killed my father."
"Let me take a look."
After he had checked on Nihil he looked at Mountain and said, "I'll go find some help to get him taken care of for you."
He shook his head, "It's okay we, there's a family cemetery in the back there's a spot beside my mom."
He nodded, "I'll find someone to help bury him then."
"Thank you." He left and Mountain looked down at Nihil, "Thank you, I'm sorry I couldn't help you."
He heard an unfamiliar voice say, "He'll be okay."
Mountain looked around the room, "Who was that?"
The voice said, "Terzo, I'm his youngest son."
He finally saw a short figure standing in front of him, "You?"
"It's alright, it might take him a bit but you'll probably see him again."
"Do the others? Do they walk around in here too?"
He nodded, "Sometimes, my oldest brother Primo loves the garden. I told him he should thank you sometime."
They heard the man coming back and Terzo said, "I'll come back another time."
After the small funeral held by Mountain and the three men that helped him get Nihil buried had ended and they had left, Mountain sat down on the ground beside the freshly dug grave and said, "I'm sorry, I hope I can see you again soon."