Chapter Text
A storm was quickly approaching, as the sky grew darker for night. You should’ve been at home, huddled by the fire with a warm blanket wrapped around you for warmth. Instead, you were navigating through a forest in ankle-deep snow that was only increasing continuously as you trudged to your destination. Your only protection from the harsh weather being a large brown coat that felt way too heavy.
Despite the horrible conditions, you were actually grateful for them. After all, this was all for your plan that preferably required a snow storm, and one was steadfast approaching.
While you continued your journey, a large building begins to come into view through the abundance of trees. As you got closer, the large building appeared to be a small, abandoned castle that was way too far from the closest town.
Perfect. This was your destination.
You rehearsed your false story of how you ended up here over and over again in your mind while trying to walk quicker (despite the snow). Pushing down any anxieties that made you want to completely forget about your carefully constructed plan and run away back home instead. Because now it was simply too late for you to do any of that. You had to go through with it.
Standing in front of two large wooden doors, you took a deep breath to ease your nerves, before pushing one of the heavy doors open and entering the building.
Majority of the people that lived in the closest towns actually didn’t know this place existed. And the few people that did know stayed as far away from it as possible. You, on the other hand, knew way too much about this building and the individual that occupied it for it to be healthy. A harmful obsession of some sorts, but you’d argue that it’s for a good reason.
For an abandoned building, it had bright lighting that made you wince for a second upon entering, before regaining your composure. Despite the good lighting, it was actually quite cold inside even with the harsh weather of mid-winter. You take in the interior, a large staircase occupied most of the room, with a few doors branching into other rooms on the sides that led down two relatively dark hallways past the grand staircase. It was a pretty nice interior. A real shame that after tonight nobody was going to be there to maintain it.
The sound of echoing footsteps that were accompanied by a repeating thud brought you back to your situation. You looked straight ahead at the top of the staircase, waiting for what was about to come.
A figure shrouded in an indigo blanket emerged from the side, standing at the top of the grand staircase with a cane in hand. Even though you couldn’t see the figure’s face properly, you were almost certain you knew what they looked like.
The man that resided in this abandoned castle—a vampire that has a dedicated following of both lower vampires and humans who were desperate to either study him or kill him
In your case, you were the latter.
“A visitor?” his voice booms, echoing throughout the room. Hearing him speak made your heart skip a beat, likely from the unfamiliarity of how you’d been expecting him to sound like. An accent that was unfamiliar to you, but almost fitting now that you thought about it.
“What brings you here?” he questioned, gripping the railing whilst slowly descending a few steps down the staircase.
“I…” you trailed off, your anxiety suddenly coming back now that you were about to execute your plan. There was no doubt that he could hear your heartbeat pounding in your chest.
You cleared your throat before speaking again. “I’m lost,” you answered. Your nails dug into the palm of your hand to try and ease yourself, not hard enough to break skin and cause bleeding, as that would be the worst thing to do right in a hungry vampires’ territory.
“You’re lost?” he repeated, sounding almost suspicious of you. Though you could have been overthinking it, given how nervous you felt.
You nodded your head. “A snow storm is approaching. So I came here to seek refuge for tonight.” you feigned a guilty expression, trying to act like you felt bad for intruding.
He remained quiet for a moment, considering your words. It almost felt like an eternity had passed by the time he decided to speak again.
“Very well then.” he turned to start walking back up the stairs. “You must be freezing. Come with me and I’ll light a fire for you,” he added, expecting you to follow him as he started walking off, to which you quickly complied.
You honestly couldn’t believe that he somehow didn’t doubt you already. Though you knew he wasn’t an idiot, so he was most definitely going to interrogate you more about you and your situation.
He led you through a dark hallway. Judging by the mild foul smell infiltrating your nose, none of the decor had likely been cleaned in decades. There were probably hundreds of different spider families residing and thriving in this environment, maybe even some extinct ones too.
You almost crashed into him when he suddenly stopped, before grabbing the handle to a door besides you both and opening it. Like a gentleman, he lets you enter the room first before going in himself.
Immediately you noticed a change within the temperature in this room. A fire has already been lit despite his words earlier, illuminating the room in a soft, orange glow. Large bookshelves filled a majority of the room, with some books scattered around on the floor. This was likely the library of the castle.
He stared at you, waiting for you to sit down next to the fire to warm up. You hesitantly went to sit down in one of the big red armchairs, watching him as he tossed more firewood into the fireplace. Once he was done with that he went to sit down in the identical armchair across from yours.
“My name is Viktor.” he stared at you, his golden eyes piercing and intimidating enough to send shivers down your spine.
“I-I’m (Y/N),” you squeaked out. He could definitely sense how nervous you were.
He straightened up in his seat, his gaze never wavering off of you.
“So, (Y/N). What exactly were you doing in the forest?” he asked, as if you were a criminal he was investigating.
“Oh, you know, winterberries!” you replied, forcing a smile.
“Winterberries?”
“Yes! I wanted to make some desserts that utilise winterberries, so I came looking for some!”
Another suspicious look crossed his face. “Winterberries don’t grow here.” He narrowed his eyes at you, clearly not believing your story.
“Oh…really?” you asked, your voice uncertain. You had made a big mistake, and he definitely didn’t trust you now. At least you were being genuine about not knowing something that apparently seemed like common knowledge to him.
“I was told that they did grow here though…” you lied. Nobody told you anything, you had just assumed that winterberries would grow in a place like this.
Viktor sighed, leaning back in chair and watching the snow fall outside through the window.
“You picked the worst day to get lost in a forest,” he said, turning his head back to you. “Especially with that snow storm you mentioned earlier.”
You awkwardly chuckled at his observation, figuring that since he likely assumed you’re a reckless traveller, you may as well play into it as best as you can.
He sighed again, before standing up from his chair and grabbing his cane.
“You may as well stay the night.” He slowly starts to walk away. “Come. I’ll take you to your room.”
You eagerly stand up from your seat and follow him back into the hallway. Eventually you both came to a stop as he opened another door into a guest room. It was a relatively average sized room with a large, white canopy bed taking up more than half the space. Dark dressers lined up the wall opposite the bed, leaving enough space to walk around in the middle.
“Is it to your liking? Do not hesitate to let me know if there’s anything you need,” Viktor said, leaning against the doorframe.
You turned around to face him, another fake smile plastered onto your face. “It’s perfect, thank you.”
He visibly relaxes at your words, a small smile appearing on his face. “Alright, sleep well then.”
“Goodnight.”
Viktor gets off the doorframe, grabbing the knob to close the door behind him as he leaves. You waited until you couldn’t hear his cane thudding against the floor before relaxing, but not completely.
You took your coat and boots off, placing them beside the bed. You made sure to grab your weapon out from one of the pockets of your coat before setting it down. A wooden stake, designed specifically for killing vampires.
You were going to kill Viktor tonight. To seek revenge, even if it wasn’t him who had wronged you all those years ago.
Untucking the white bedsheets, you slipped under them and laid down on the surprisingly comfortable mattress, slipping your weapon under the pillow. You settled in, wedging your dominant hand underneath your pillow for easy access. Now, all you had to do was play the waiting game.
Despite how cozy the bed was, you refused to even get a wink of sleep. Every creak of the castle or odd sound the wind outside makes sent your heart racing for a moment. Even though your body screamed at you to change positions every once in a while, you refused and remained the same.
It almost felt like an eternity had passed by the time you heard a sound that’s similar to his cane thumping onto the floor as he walked. It puts you on edge, making you take deep breaths to calm down enough so that he wouldn’t immediately notice that you weren’t asleep yet. This time, you really knew it was him with how continuous the thumping was.
And before you knew it, he was standing outside your door.
You heard it slowly squeak open, squeezing your eyes shut in response. He’s trying to keep quiet as he slowly crept to your bedside, his cane barely creating any noise as he carefully moved around.
He stopped when he’s standing right beside you, close to where you’re resting your head. Your grip on the wooden stake tightens when you felt his presence leaning in closer to your face.
You didn’t feel his breath on you at all, until he finally opened his mouth to get ready to bite you. You were about to strike before he could lay a single tooth on your skin, but his voice made you freeze.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
His words made your heart drop and your eyes shoot open. But before he could do anything to you, you pulled your stake out from under the pillow and swung backwards, striking his shoulder.
He yelled in pain, staggering backwards with a hand clasping his injured shoulder, his cane falling to the floor from where it was resting. You threw the thin bed sheets off of your body, standing up with the now-bloodied stake in your trembling hands.
While he’s caught off-guard and in pain, you took the opportunity to charge at him and strike again, adrenaline rushing through your veins. However, he’s a lot more alert than you assumed. Viktor dodged your attack by throwing himself against the wall, the harsh contact with his injury makes him bite back a yelp, as his eyes settled on your figure. Just from his gaze, you could tell that he’s furious with you, and that he won’t hold back.
Before you could even consider attacking him again, he charged at you powerfully. You only narrowly dodged him, but your good-luck streak ends there as your ankle gave way from the sudden and awkward movement you dodged with.
Your knees hit the wooden flooring, and you tried to scramble back up quickly enough. But you were too late.
Viktor’s hand grabbed your hair from the scalp, throwing you onto the floor in front of him, causing you to drop your weapon beside you.
The force of him tossing you onto the floor and the way you landed caused you to become winded. You gasped and coughed for a moment, desperately trying to recollect yourself and catch your breath.
Before you even realise that you had accidentally let go of your weapon, Viktor picked it up, examining it briefly before tossing it to the other side of the room. He then leaned down, pinning both of your wrists down and kneeling on your stomach with his bad leg. His now-red eyes were even more intense compared to just a few hours earlier.
The knee pushing down on your stomach constricted your breathing more, as you gasped and sputtered helplessly. If he didn’t kill you anytime soon, you’d probably end up eventually suffocating to death.
“Th-This—“ you cough “—isn’t fair…”
A confused look crossed his face. Even through his anger, you can tell he wants to know more.
He lessened the pressure on your stomach by lifting his knee. You took the opportunity to curse him out in what’s about to be your dying moments.
“Fuck you…” you spat, gritting your teeth in anger. “Your kind can kill my family, but I can’t kill you?”
Viktor’s confusion turned back into anger at your words, his grip on your wrists tightening painfully.
“My kind?” he spat back at you, distaste clear in his eyes. “You’re blaming me for things others have done?”
You felt a rage inside of you quickly building up, one that had probably been buried deep down for years and years and only now revealing itself.
“Shut up!” you attempted to shout at him, but your voice falters. “I know everything about you, about how they practically worship you!”
Viktor opened his mouth to speak, but you quickly cut him off.
“If your people can kill my parents, then why can’t I kill you?!”
You’re beyond furious, anger probably rivaling his own at this point. The pain in your wrist felt like nothing, so did the tears that fell down your face and landed on the floor. It felt like scorching hot lava is what’s coursing through your veins instead of blood to keep you alive.
He’s silent for a moment, considering your words. He didn’t even look as angry at you anymore.
“What do you get out of this? You’ll be no better than the ones who killed your family,” he asked, bluntly.
“Revenge,” you answered. “Then, I can die happily.”
Viktor looked shocked at your answer, guilty too,
“You’ll kill yourself?”
You nodded your head. The look on his face didn’t go away, making you feel angrier.
You didn’t need his pity.
He sighed, fully taking his knee off your stomach. But he didn’t let your wrists go, as if he was worried you’ll try something.
It took him a while to come up with a response, conflicted looks crossing over his pale face.
Eventually, after much consideration, he took his hands off you too and struggled to get up for a moment before using the bed for support. He grabbed his cane and walked over to where he’d tossed your weapon earlier. Though he didn’t give it back to you.
You sat up, watching his every move. Viktor turned back to look at you.
“You’re still young,” he said, mindlessly fiddling with the stake in his hand, as if it wasn’t a deadly weapon that was now partially stained with his blood.
“Living your whole life out of revenge isn’t worth it.” He slowly walked over to you. His gaze has softened, his eyes returning to the golden colour they were before.
“At some point, you have to move on.”
You wanted to protest at his words, give him your reasons for why you choose to live like this, but he shuts you down immediately by continuing his speech.
“I know it’s not easy,” he said, as if he were reading your mind. “I’ve lived for centuries. I know what you’re feeling.”
You grit your teeth again. “You and I are nothing alike.”
Viktor shook his head. “You and I are more alike than you realise,” he stated simply. “I’ve felt what you’re feeling for many years. The grief, anger, self-hatred.”
“You forget that I am immortal. I’ve lost many people over the years, and I can never just end my suffering.”
Somehow, you felt a pang of guilt. Perhaps you two were really more alike than you realised.
He reached a hand out in front of you. “Your life is finite, you shouldn’t have to live it like this.”
His monologue hits you hard. You gave up at him for a moment, processing everything he just said. It made your heart hurt. Why would he go out of his way to say all that to you, even though you just tried to kill him? It made you want to cry again.
After much thinking, you took his hand and let him help you up from your position on the floor. However, him pulling on your hand caused you to wince as pain shoots up from your wrist.
Viktor noticed it immediately, before you could even consider hiding it from him. A guilty expression crossed his face, knowing that he was the reason for the pain.
He ushered you to sit down on the bed, which you complied without a complaint. He thought for a moment, before remembering that your weapon was still on his person.
Viktor grabbed the wooden stake, holding it in one hand with the other laid palm-up in front of him. He used the stake to cut a line into his palm, biting his bottom lip to prevent any cries of pain from escaping his mouth.
He held his now-injured hand out to you. “Drink my blood,” he orders, as if it were the most normal thing to be drinking. You stared at his hand, a bewildered look on your face.
“My blood will heal your injuries,” he quickly clarifies, to ease your mind.
Somehow, that’s familiar to you. You must’ve read it in a book about vampires somewhere down the years of obsessive research. But you’re too mentally t exhausted to dwell on it any further.
Despite how the idea of drinking someone else’s blood disgusted you, you took his cut hand in hours and brought it to your lips, suckling the blood oozing from it at an odd angle. You’re unsure when to stop sucking, feeling more awkward as the minutes pass by.
Eventually, Viktor tugs his hand gently out of your weak grasp. “That should be enough,” he said, examining the cut on his hand. “You should be healed by the time you awake.”
You wipe any excess blood off your face, looking down at your feet to avoid his gaze.
You didn’t know what to say to him. Do you thank him? Apologise for trying to kill him? Do both? You felt conflicted about expressing anything to him.
“…If you want, we can talk once you wake up,” he suggested, likely noticing your discomfort.
You considered his offer, before deciding to nod as a response to him. Though you couldn’t see it, a small smile appeared on his face.
“Alright, rest up then.”
You heard Viktor walk away, closing the door behind him as he leaves your room. It took you a minute before you got up from where you’re sitting, moving to tuck yourself back into the bed, this time without your weapon.
You stared up at the ceiling, quickly drifting off to sleep from how much this took a toll on your body.
You didn’t know what the future holds for you now.
But somehow, it felt like you were going to be okay.