Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Heart Falls has been my family’s home place for as long as any of us can remember. We lived in the same house my grandparents, great grandparents, and many greats before that had. Our house was Victorian, painted a blackish color with intricate windows and iron wrought fences, perched up at the top of the falls. The rest of the town lay below it, sad and dreary. A constant fog draped all the trees and buildings, and the sun rarely shone. This part of New England was home. And I, a member of the Heart family, was destined to live and die here. My older brother Vincent and I had always heard the tales about the ghosts my great grandmother had seen, or about how the neighbor’s boy was stolen in the middle of the night, and all of it seemed to check out given the paranormal atmosphere the falls provided. Maybe it was the lack of real occurrences in the town, but people were particularly fixated on the possibility that something special was happening in our little town. To me, it just seemed silly. I’d wandered over every acre that Heart Falls had to provide, and, to me, there was nothing there except the people and their superstitions. Everyone always joked that I was the secret vampire, probably because I dressed differently than they did. I mainly wore black, and always put on eyeliner in the morning, not to mention I was quite pale and had permanent under-eye circles, which had garnered me the nickname “Eleanora-Undead.” I didn’t really mind, but it was annoying after the first few times, and now, it was practically my legal name.

One spring night, I really seemed to live up to my nickname. I put on a thick, off the shoulder black sweater and pair of dark wash low rise flare jeans. I wrapped a thin black scarf around my neck and put on my worn down pair of Docs. Because our house was so old, and heating was minimal, it didn’t take long for me to acclimate to the chilly darkness. I snuck down the stairs, though each one sung with a small creek, and crossed the foyer to quickly exit the door. I was safe using the front door because my parents had figured out that I needed my nocturnal excursions in order to maintain my sanity, and they knew I wasn’t the type of kid my older brother was. Vincent was known throughout town for being wild when he was my age. Now that I was 18, I never heard the end of Vincent’s escapades that lead to him getting him and others in serious trouble. Vincent, who now worked with the local electrician and was living in a smaller cottage downtown, still hadn’t totally calmed down. He was 23 now, but he still had a mischievous, boyish look to him. We shared the same big, brown eyes, and high cheekbones, but we shared nothing personality-wise. We maintained a balance, he was loud, I was quiet, he failed school, I succeeded. The wind pulled me out of my digression quickly with a strong wisp running across my face, tossling my hair and redding the point of my nose. I realized that I was probably underdressed for the weather, but usually the walk warmed me up a bit. 

I began my trek to my destination. I took the same route every night. I walked down our front path, and down the winding road along the falls. Then, I took a small path through a lightly wooded field, and walked into the old cemetery. The cemetery had stood in the same secluded spot since Archibald Heart died of tuberculosis in 1720. Though it was morbid, a kind of beautiful air loomed around the cemetery, making the fog and darkness seem more enchanting than menacing. As I walked, I kept my headphones on and shuffled through my usual playlist. The headphones were nice not only for the music, but also to keep my ears warm from the wind. The falls crashed down in frothy strikes of white, and the water, usually a dark blue, seemed almost black in the pure darkness. The light from the moon shone down onto the water, casting shadows that made me feel like, for once in my life, it was just me in the world. The sound of falling water lulled me like a baby, and pacified the usual anxiety and sadness that I couldn’t seem to free myself from. The falls were finally out of my line of sight,

and I came to the field. Blankets of fog coated the low bushes and separated as I stepped through them. Some trees stood solitarily throughout the meadow, their trunks spiraling in all sorts of shapes and patterns. 

“Aivan yksin?”A low voice crooned from behind me.

“Hm?” I responded, momentarily terrified.

“Ah right, sorry. I thought you were … someone else.” The voice continued. The way he spoke was unlike anything I’d ever heard before, almost like each sentence was a song and the little pauses and inflections were the melody. A chill crawled up my spine before I could respond.

“It’s alright, if anything it’s odd I’m out this late.” I tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear and continued forward. I couldn’t help but to feel his lingering presence, even as I moved away from him.

“Cemetery?” His voice asked in question, his voice baritone, his accent indistinguishable. I could tell he was no longer walking, but maybe the dark was playing tricks on me, as his voice felt near as ever. He sensed my hesitation and said, “oh, don’t worry. I’m heading there too. I just didn’t want to surprise you there again.” Though I had no clue who I was talking to, I somehow trust he wasn’t here to hurt me. 

“Yeah, cemetery.”

“Seeing someone there?”

“In a way.” He walked up to my side and we walked together to the graveyard clearing. He was tall, about 6”1,  and the darkness prevented me from seeing his face clearly. From what I could tell, he was pale, and had dark, wavy hair that was short but grown out to about hit ears. He was dressed in all black, much like myself, and his smell was a captivating tobacco vanilla that I’d never smelled before. Admittedly, I was flustered, the dating pool in Heart Falls was next to none and it almost seemed like he was the embodiment of what I wanted. We walked in silence, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. His presence seemed to wrap me in a cold embrace, and the silence didn’t bother me anymore. 

We came to the graveyard, and stopped for a second in front of the wrought iron gates. The dark metal twisted into elaborate spirals, and gargoyle statues guarded the entrance. 

“Oh, I almost forgot. I have a candle!” I quickly remembered, grabbing the candle and lighter from my bag. Honestly, I instigated saying something more for my own sake than his, because the longer we basked in silence, the closer I wanted to be to him. The candle was a traditional white wax candle, and the top was already partially melted. Before I had the opportunity to grab my lighter from my bag, the stranger stretched out his hand and offered his own lighter. It was silver, and ornately designed, unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

“I like to keep one on me. Useful for a few things.” He said with a slight chuckle, his voice still impeccably smooth and melodic. I gazed up in the darkness and muttered a thank you (something impressive given my state of awe), still unable to discern his features. I quickly grabbed the lighter from his hand and lit the wick. After the initial orange glow, I saw the stranger's illuminated face. Wow. My look of amazement was mirrored by his. His eyes were the most stunning shade of bluish green I’d ever imagined, and his facial structure resembled a Renaissance sculpture. I quickly realized how revealing my facial expression must be to my true thoughts, and I returned to an ambivalent expression. The stranger’s eyes scanned me up and down, and were almost yearning in their own beautiful way. He quickly registered that I had stopped my own fawning and he turned about face towards the graveyard entrance.

“Shall I?” He gestured towards the gates. I nodded, as the gates were heavy and it usually took some exertion to get them open. Barely even touching the gates, he opened them with ease, and then extended a hand, motioning for me to follow him into the graveyard. I obliged without thinking, and followed him into the foggy darkness. “My name is Ville, by the way.” My stomach fluttered at the mention of his name. Ville. There was something that was drawing me nearer to him.

“Eleanora. Are you … from around here?” I asked softly, now very conscious of his gaze resting tenderly on my face. His eyes lingered on me a moment more, then he responded,

“No, quite far actually. Finland, in fact. I grew up and lived in Helsinki for a while.” He explained, each word like a new wave of calm over me.

“Wow. I’ve never been. In fact, I’ve never really been out of the area. How is Finland?” I asked him as we continued walking, I desperately wanted to hear him talk again.

“Well, obviously I’m biased towards it. I grew up there, so it is my home. I’ve been here for a few months, however, and I find it serves as a nice home too. The nature of Finland fits in with the mood of here very well. Dark, a bit sad, overall gothic.” Ville spoke to me as if I was the only thing in the world. I was listening, but a part of my mind was so fixated on his inexplicable beauty all the words blended into one song. 

“Yeah, I suppose it really is melancholy. It’s beautiful, though. The falls, and everything. Even the cemetery.” I responded, gesturing towards the tombstones around us. I finally realized that we’d stopped walking and were now standing in the middle of the crumbling stone path. 

“Yes, if anything, I find sadness leads to more beauty. There are beautiful things here too.” His eyes remained locked with mine. I blushed a bit, maybe a little selfishly, assuming he was talking about me. 

“That’s true, I believe that-” I was swiftly interrupted by a rustling in the trees around the perimeter of the mortuary clearing. A note of panic inhabited his eyes for a second.

“Oh no. That means it’s time for me to go. I’m deeply sorry. I hope to see you again.” He said rushed yet sincerely. We locked eyes once more, and for a second it seemed like he was about to kiss me. Just as my brain registered it, Ville was gone. Instantly, something in me longed for him to return. Deciding that this nightly adventure was enough for one night, I chose to skip my deathly visit, and sneak back home. Ville did not leave my mind.

Chapter Text

The next morning, I woke from a deeper sleep than usual. My hair was messy, and my dark circles were more pronounced than usual. As I was making my bed, the events of last night flashed through my mind. I went through a deliberation as to if what I was hearing could have been a dream. As far as I knew, it had really happened. My Docs that I wore into the graveyard were still laying by my bed, and my sweater from last night was still flung over my armoire. It really had happened. I remembered Ville’s intriguing scent, and the stunning look in his eyes and I got a shiver almost as if he was really here. He said he’d been in Heart Falls for a few months, yet I couldn’t remember anyone new moving into town; and I always knew when someone moved into town. Though he was a stranger to our town, he fit in with the scenery perfectly. Needing something else to occupy my mind, once I was dressed, I headed down to see my mom. 

My mom, Miranda, was the manager and owner of the only local club, The Bleeding Heart. It was small and very much lowkey, yet on the weekends it filled up well. I liked to go there sometimes and do mundane chores, things to take my mind off of everything else. Mom always offered me a job there, but I never took it. I liked the freedom of dropping in occasionally and leaving at my own disposal. The Bleeding Heart was tucked in a corner below the falls just out of the main line of sight in the town. The exterior walls were covered in black clapboard, retaining their colonial charm. It was around 1 pm when I popped in.

My head was still in the clouds when my mom first spoke to me.

“Hellooooooo … gonna help me unstack these chairs or not?” My moms lively voice came. She was dedicated to the club and got there every morning before the sun rose. 

“Oh, sorry mom. Yeah of course!” I chirped in, wondering if I could even take my mind off of Ville. After unstacking all the chairs, I went through the whole itinerary of chores. Sweeping, mopping, wiping off the bar, and so many more other little chores. Just as my mind had finally cleared from Ville, a similar melodic voice wafted through the nearly empty club. There was no way.

“Eleanora! I can’t believe I forgot to introduce you to our resident artist! His name is uh …” My mom began, pointing at a person whose every feature was imprinted in my mind.

“Ville?”

“How’d you know?!”

“Lucky guess.” I flatly stated. I gazed upwards towards the face of the man I’d only met very briefly. The same overwhelming magnetism rippled through me, as I remembered every detail of our encounter. His scent, his pale skin, his eyes. I adjusted myself quickly, trying to maintain my nonchalance.

“And … you?” The voice of Ville came, soothing and smooth as ever. His accent sent tingles through my spine in all the right ways. He then smiled smugly, knowing that between the two of us, he knew who I was.

“Eleanora.” I told him, giving back a similar smirk. I extended my hand, anticipating what his touch might feel like. When our hands touched, it all hit me at once. Somehow the sensation of contact with him was somehow both hot and cold, yet left me craving for even just another slight grazing of our fingers. I nearly jumped back at his touch, but composed myself enough to finish the handshake normally. I looked up once more into his eyes, mainly just curious, and saw that his were already examining mine. 

“Ville” my mom dreadfully mispronounced, “will be staying in the old Ellis Cottage, about half a mile from here. But, you know where that is, don’t you?”

‘Mhm,” I said wearily. I was still totally suspect of the fact that I had never heard any mention of Ville in the past month. Everything in Heart Falls circulated and this enchanting stranger had totally flown under the radar. I knew exactly where the Ellis Cottage was, it was the country home of some city people back from the 1800s. It was Victorian, and small enough to house Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, but there was really no more space than that. Given that there were only two of them, the house's architecture was impressive. Intricate stained glass windows and gorgeous carpentry on the front door decorated the little house like a jewel in the middle of Heart Falls. 

The questions of how on earth Ville had managed to sneak into the hardest place to sneak into occupied my mind until I realized I was in the car with my mom. We took bi-weekly trips into a bigger town about 40 minutes away to restock on essentials.

“You know, his name really is beautiful.” My mom began, sharing my same inquiry as to how he got here. “Ville Valo, just wow.” She said with amazement. His name really did have a gorgeous ring to it.

“So, do you know, like, anything else about him?” I asked, my gaze coming off the side of the road. I didn’t mean to sound as sarcastic as I probably did, but I couldn’t help my tone sometimes.

“Well for starters, he’s ridiculously talented. You know as well as I that we get talent at The Bleeding Heart, but Ville? He’s just out of this world. His voice is unlike anything I’ve ever heard.” My mom stammered, clearly a bit flustered. I could imagine what his singing voice might sound like, his voice was already a practical song. Throughout our trip into town my mind kept wandering, now hungry for what he might sound like in song. Now having made up my mind, I decided to venture out to the graveyard later that night.

The time came once everyone was asleep and it was pitch black outside, so I made my typical journal down the falls into the little cemetery. The stars gave the sky a purplish hue and sparkled like they never had before. I didn’t wear my usual headphones, wanting to be aware of the possibility of running into Ville again. With each step I became more aware of a presence, though I couldn’t quite discern what it was. The crashing of the falls served as a nice background for what I would say, even do, if I were to meet Ville once more.

I was about half way down the cliffs, when I heard a small crinkle beneath my left Doc. I quickly bent down to grab what appeared to be an aged piece of parchment folded neatly into a shape I couldn’t fully make out. The top half seemed like a heart, and the lower half was a star, it was an impressive display of origami. I thought back to Vincent’s affinity for stupid little things like ridiculously talented origami. I was so transfixed in thinking about what I’d tell him I almost forgot about reading it. A small hesitation stopped me for a second, as it was literally just a piece of paper, but I had a sense it was somehow correlated with the presence I felt on my way down. I carefully unfolded the paper, and saw that something had been written in a beautiful cursive. I scanned it quickly and it read:

“I had a sense that you’d come back to the holy ground of death tonight. A strange condition has befallen me, which seems to prevent me from joining you. While I may not be able to join you in the way a gentleman would, I’d like to invite you back to the Ellis Cottage. I don’t mean to come off as bold, and I have no intentions less than immaculacy. Out of all those in this town, you seem to carry some more intriguing qualities than others I’ve encountered. The choice is all yours my dear. - VV”  Almost as if I was under a spell, I instinctively reoriented myself towards the path leading to the Ellis Cottage. The mystery of Ville made me terribly nervous, and given how gorgeous he was it was likely that he could have left the note for some other girl he’d worked his effortless charm on, yet I felt that somehow, I needed to go. It was almost as if the cool night breeze chauffeured me as I made my way towards the cottage where the man who had (potentially) requested me resided.

Chapter Text

It had been a while since I’d walked to the Ellis cottage. The pathway was slightly grown over, and it cut through the mistiest part of the woods. Roots crossed into the path and moss lined the stone around the border of the path. The smell of rain added to the spring air and soothed me as I ascended towards Ville’s cottage. As I walked upwards, my calves aching, I saw the faint, warm glow of light in the distance. I recognized the shape of the little light blobs as the windows on the Ellis cottage, I knew I must be getting close. With each step, my sureness that the note was meant for me bended and wavered. After about three more minutes of the bending and wavering and several screeches of bats, the house came into full view. My stomach fluttered as the cottage, which had been highly mystified in my mind, became a present reality. Just as I absorbed the view of the ornate cottage in front of me, I felt the same familiar presence. My spine shuddered in all the ways it had before when I’d encountered Ville, and I knew he must be near.
With each step I took I felt a strange magnetism towards the ornate front door. I felt an additional wave of energy as I saw a figure through the glass pane of the door. I saw his side profile. His hair, though short, was just grown out enough so I could see the silhouette of the dark waves. His nose seemed almost sculpted, and especially perfect in the shadows. I paused as I saw his silhouette turn around to face forward towards me. The door opened suddenly, allowing a flush of light to escape the house. I paused in my steps towards the cottage as I saw his mysterious figure approach mine with steps as smooth as his voice. I was entranced.
“So, you found the letter?” His voice crooned towards me. A slight smile formed on his lips. He was now about three feet away from me, and I noticed just how tall he was. He was slender, but still larger than I, and he looked down to address me.
“Yes. I didn’t know if it was for me or not.” I replied to him, practically praying that it was.
“It was, my dear.” He began. My heart nearly thumped out of my chest. “We should go inside, it’s troublingly cold. If you want, of course.” He spoke, his accent softened his words in a way I couldn’t describe. I nodded, hoping he couldn’t sense my nerves. When we reached the door threshold he almost seemed to step in nervously. “Sorry, sometimes doors give me a bit of trouble.” He began, seeming to stop himself midway. My estrangement at his statement stopped once I gazed inside the Ellis Cottage. I was used to seeing the little cottage being barely decorated and filled with spider webs. The interior in front of me was anything but that. Ornate, dark curtains covered the windows and warm candles illuminated the space. All the furniture lay in perfect order, and the cushioning was done in the most exquisite velvet I’d ever seen.
“You know, all the time I’ve been in here it’s never been like … this.” I softly told him, still riding on my high of him wanting my presence.
“Well, I just chose to bring a few things from home. A few of these chairs were actually birth presents.” He explained while walking in towards the center of the main room, his right hand elegantly tracing the wood trim of a couch. His free hand gestured as he spoke, which somehow had that same entrancing quality which drew me in so much. I shut the door and stepped forward into the gothic space, allowing my posture to relax a bit. I looked at some of the chairs which he said were from around his birth. I assumed he must have been joking, as the chairs were clearly of a different era. Ville looked like he was about in his early, maybe mid twenties, and chairs as artisanal as these just weren’t produced anymore. I decided I must be reading in on it too much, and went back to listening to Ville speak.
“Coffee? Tea? I have far too much for just one person.” Ville offered, pausing by the kitchen nook. He looked out to me and I couldn’t help but to sink into his eyes a bit further.
“Some coffee would be great, thank you.” I responded, unsure of where I should be in his sacred space.
“Yes, of course. Please, have a seat.” He gestured once more to the seating area in the central part of the cottage. I walked over to a dark purple cushioned couch, and tried to take a seat as gingerly as possible.
“So, what was it you wanted to discuss?” I asked him, quickly realizing that I might have sounded annoyed or dismissive. I nervously crossed my knee over the other, and began to fidget with my fingers while Ville’s figure made precise movements around the kitchen. He was clearly too tall for the installed countertops, and had a certain kind of endearing quality in the way he had to bend a little bit to prepare the coffee.
“Well I had less of a specific topic in mind,” he turned towards me and said, all judgement I feared he might have was nowhere to be found in his tone. “More of just a general discussion I’d like to have.” His voice, the low song which I had such a fascination for, melted all of my worries. “I’ve been in Heart Falls for a bit of time now, and I’ve never seen another soul go to the cemetery.” He picked up the small coffee cup and made his way over to where I was sitting.
“Yeah. I’ve gotta say, I don’t think I’ve seen anybody go there either.” I replied, beginning to feel myself get more comfortable. He sat down in a chair right across from me.
“Out of all the things in Heart Falls, it was the graveyard I was most attracted to. It’s a quiet place. When I first came around here it seemed like the only location I could escape everyone else, even myself.” I began to explain as he carefully slid the coffee cup over the table towards me.
“I know what you mean.”
“I had a sense you would. Now, the reason why I ask is that I have some friends who also spend time there.” His eyes gazed at mine with a hint of intensity, like I was supposed to instantly understand what he was implying.
“Friends?”
“Wel, I don’t like them. But they’re really the wrong crowd.” He continued, eyes still fixed on mine.
“Wrong crowd? Do they live here? Cause I would probably know if-”
“Trust me. They are not good. I’ve been trying to evade them a bit but it seems they like to invade any space I think of as solitary.” He held the same composure he had at the start of our conversation. There was something so unique about his way of being that greatly attracted me. I was still hung up on who he could possibly be talking about. I knew everyone in Heart Falls and the surrounding towns. If anything, most tended to think of the wrong crowd as me. “That’s truly all I wanted to warn you of.” His eyes lingered on mine a bit before I could respond.
“I have so many questions …”
“It’s alright, I have time”
“First off, when did you get here?”
“Not long ago, but long enough”
“How specific wow.” I laughed, trying to ease the butterflies circling wildly in my stomach. Ville began with an explanation as to how his music had brought him all over the world, and how his tour had ended in New York. Apparently, there had been some mix up with the plane and he’d ended up staying for an extra two weeks, in which he found Heart Falls, and chose to stay. Even in his simple recounting he spoke with a poetry like I’d never heard before. Suddenly, a knock at the door came. Four knocks, and then two syncopated.
“It must be Bam. Ugh. He can come another time.” Ville calmly regarded, shooting a look like daggers towards the door.
“Ville! Whatever chick you have in there can wait, I gotta tell you something!” A nasaly voice shouted from outside the door, Bam, I assumed.
“Please ignore what Bam is saying. I love him to death but he has no idea about anything. I promise I’ll kill him whenever I get the chance.” Ville tenderly told me. I could tell his last remark was meant to be a joke, but he looked truly upset with Bam’s words. I grabbed my things and made my way towards the door, and as I passed Bam, I looked over my shoulder. Ville’s eyes were already locked with him. His mouth was ajar, as if we had some final longing thing to tell me. After noticing I saw him, he quickly shifted his focus to Bam, and just like that, I was on my way back home.

Chapter Text

Vincent was such an asshole sometimes. He refused to clean his small house, and refused to accept any kind of help or advice from anyone. He was nicer with me, but, then again, I’d given up on trying to change his mind about anything a while ago. His dark shaggy hair poked out of the sides of his Yankees baseball cap, and his dark circles stood out from his pale face. He held a cigarette, more for effect than actual use, and reclined on a little loveseat in his living space. Due to the absence of any other seating, I sat, hugging my knees, on the floor.
“So, how are you and …” I said, trying to search for the right name. “Maggie?”
“Claire.” Vincent corrected me. I was so used to his bullshit I just laughed at my error. “Yeah, Maggie was totally crazy. No idea why I got with her.” It was the same thing he’d been saying about every ex girlfriend of his for the past several years.
“Oh, I’m sure. What’s different about her?” I absently asked him, half daydreaming about last night’s interactions with Ville, only half sure they were real.
“What’s with the questions? Since when have you cared?” Vincent chucked.
“I don’t, I’m just interested, that’s all.”
“Fine. Well, we met when I was doing that bouncer gig, remember?” Vincent lazily told me.
“Bouncer gig? You’ve done that every weekend for years!” I laughed at him.
“It’s whatever. Yeah, she was one of those chicks who read about the Bleeding Heart in some magazine. Let’s just say, she was really desperate to be let in.” He smirked in the same idiotic way he always had.
“Ugh shut up Vincent you’re so gross!” It was just like we were kids all over again.
“It’s a part of life Els. Besides, what’s up with you?” He shot me an accusatory look and grinned with confidence. My face instantly turned red and I scolded myself for my transparency.
“What do you mean what’s up with me?” I asked him, trying to conceal the jumps my stomach was doing.
“You know damn well …” He wasn’t going to let me leave without answering him.
“Well, I guess there’s no one.” I honestly answered him. Technically, it was true. I continued telling myself that I had no prospects with Ville. He must have been much older than me, not to mention, I was sure he showed his seductive side to any girl who saw him.
“Guessing there’s no one and knowing there’s no one are two different things.”
“Maybe there is someone. But it’s maybe. Nothing, has, is, or probably will happen.” I told him, trying to hint my voice with anger so he would fuck off. However, I knew my brother, and I knew he wouldn’t let me off the hook. Vincent adjusted his posture and attentively turned his head to listen to my grievances and/or prospects.
“I’m sure you know about the new resident singer at the Bleeding Heart,” I began, searching Vincent’s face for any reaction. He nodded slowly, the gears turning in his head. “Again, nothing has happened, and nothing is probably going to happen.” I sharply added, making sure he didn’t get any crazy ideas.
“Music guys are such a type. Don’t waste your time.”
“God, you’re so negative.”
“Me? Negative? Have you seen yourself?” He immaturely scoffed and then got up to go to the small kitchen space. As much as I knew he was full of BS, some part of me feared he was right. Every inkling I had that Ville might be interested in me was merely that, an inkling.
Frustrated, I decided to leave Vincent’s place and quickly drive back to my house. I dug the keys into the ignition and remembered exactly why I enjoyed the fact that Vincent had moved out. I was two minutes into my drive when I noticed something strange. Fog rapidly moved in the road in front of me at a speed I’d never seen before. A dark thing weaved in and out of the thickness, pulling my attention away from the road. I only saw flashes of green within it, and maybe a figure? If I was seeing it right, I saw long black hair, and possibly the shape of a giant man. As the fog rose higher, the man seemed to grow too. Soon, I could see his full body weaving through the columns of fog, and before I knew it I heard a loud crashing sound.

I woke up with foggy eyes and a pulsing hurt. Recounting the events prior, I tried to connect everything. The figure? The fog? I could only assume there had been a crash, and if there had been, I must have been in it. As my eyes cleared, I came to process my surroundings. The floor was cold, maybe tile? The room wasn’t incredibly bright, probably to my benefit as any intense light would worsen the throbbing in my head. The ceiling had ornate molding and the air smelled faintly of cigarettes. I quickly became aware of motion next to me. I softly turned my neck, softly wincing in pain, to see what the motion could be.
“Shh, shh my love.” The melodic, deep voice lulled me. My stomach tightened as his presence washed over me. Ville’s figure soon came into view above me, his curls framing his face perfectly. His eyes, magnetic and enchanting as ever, looked down on me with legitimate concern. I felt a pillow below my neck and head, and saw gauze carefully applied to a few spots on my leg.
“Ville? What - what happened?” I managed to get out, but my voice translated as more of a faint croak. I felt a finger, ice cold but somehow warm, trace along my jaw and Ville hushed me once more. He leaned over to grab a cotton swap and dab it in a small vial of isopropyl alcohol. “What time is it?” I asked, still incredibly disoriented.
“Nighttime.” How specific.
“What happened?” Ville’s face tightened and he clenched the cotton swab tighter as he brushed it over a small abrasion on my arm. I winced, but kept eye contact.
“There was an accident.” I was tempted to say something snarky, but I was in too much pain and Ville’s voice was too enchanting for me to think properly. His hands, sculpted and dexterous, reached for another gauze pad. Sensing my gaze still on him, he spoke again, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but strange things happen in this town. When I came to Heart Falls, it wasn’t just out of coincidence.” He sighed as he moved the gauze pad tenderly over my legs. “I came here to hide. It’s the perfect spot, away from everything, invisible under a thick layer of fog. I used to have a lover, far longer ago than I’d prefer to say. To say that the fight that broke us up was gigantic would be an understatement. I ran as far as I could, in hopes that my lover wouldn’t hurt me or anyone else I loved.” He paused and shifted his eyes back towards me, hoping I would piece everything together. As much as I was listening, I still couldn’t make total sense of what he was telling me.
“Wow, she sounds … dangerous?”
“He, actually.”
“Oh”
“My heart doesn’t only lie with men. Death is too long to worry about such things.”
“Death?!”
“That’s the thing that’s most difficult to explain.” Though his words were crazy, the lull of his voice made me believe every single one.
“Maybe I hit my head or something, but did you really just say death?” Even though I was gaining clarity with each second, everything seemed to make less sense.
“Yes my dear. My name is Ville Hermanni Valo, I come from Helsinki, Finland, and I died on February 14, 1666.” His eyes, so clear and green, welled up with tears as he spoke. I’d never seen him in such vulnerable pain as this, and I felt like, for a second, I could see a part of his soul. I looked up at him, still in, searching in his eyes for a meaning to all of this. Our eyes remained locked for a few minutes, could have been hours, as he finally made a motion. He delicately lifted up the side of his, inhaled, and then, in a split second, his canine tooth became slightly elongated and pointed at the end. It was then, I understood.
“Oh my …” I began. This must be some crazy hallucination I was having. Maybe I was dead? Maybe this was some sick twisted wet dream in my brain's attempt to ease the pain of death. “Can I touch you?” Why the fuck did I say that? Some deeper part of me longed to know if he was real, to reach out and touch the beautiful man in front of me. He nodded slightly, knowing words were not needed. In a quick and impossibly easy motion, he scooped me up into his arms and held me bridal style on his knees. The fact that we were on the bathroom floor seemed to hold no significance now. I extended my arm, sore and ringing in pain, towards his pale cheek. His curls, falling down to his ears, framed his face like they would an angel. With a small flinch of my fingers, the tips touched his soft cheek. He remained still, but I was somehow the one who let out a small gasp. I felt every sensation at once: hot, cold, tingling, stillness. I let my fingertips linger on his face as the sensation of touching him washed over me.
“Is it too much?” He asked, with a look of genuine concern. I slowly shook my head, feeling a pull between us. I lowered my hand onto his face, feeling a shudder throughout my body. He held me closer, as if I was something fragile. He released his right hand, while holding me securely with this left, and placed his fingers on my cheek as well. I had never once felt so deeply touched, connected to anything.
“So you’re … a vampire?” I asked, barely believing the words coming out of my mouth, but so entranced by Ville it all made sense.
“Yes my love. But for you, I am anything.”

Chapter Text

Ville’s hand ran over my face, tracing each detail as if I were a piece of art. Though I lay limp in his arms, my pain seemed to slowly drain out of my body.
“Darling, I can’t stand to see you in pain.” Ville’s words came out as smooth as his touch.
“You don’t have to worry about me, I don’t want you to be worried.” I half meant what I said.
“Shhh. I know how I can help.” He softly said to me. Ville bit his lip with his sharp tooth and a small spot of red emerged. He then leaned his head down near mine as his eyes moved from my own eyes to my lips. “May I?” He asked, gesturing his eyes towards my lips, which were practically begging for him to do something. He slowly lowered himself so that his lips made contact with mine. Our lips blended into each other, pressing in with each breath. He kissed me like he physically needed more, like I was the only thing he had ever wanted. Soon, he pulled away from me, though kept his face near mine. The spot of blood from his lip was gone. I looked down at myself and I saw the cuts and bruises on my body begin to fade. The pain seemed to vanish as well.
“Is it true?” I asked, looking back up at the beautiful man above me. He tilted his head, almost amused. “That vampire blood can heal?” I asked. He laughed for a second and then nodded. He smiled into a kiss once more and with each bit of contact I felt each injury and spot of pain diminishing. Soon, the kiss became more than a way to transfer blood, but overwhelming and all consuming. Ville wrapped his arms around me, kindly but securely, and deepened the kiss. All the feelings I had from our first touch were magnified and burned like sparklers across every inch of my skin. As we breathed each other in with each kiss, his hands moved across my back and neck. Villa began to make slight moaning sounds as our lips met deeper and deeper, which I began to release as well. The whole thing felt just like following the natural pull of gravity, like a beautiful, kind of spiritual experience. As holy as it felt, I couldn’t deny the burning all across my body, and frankly, the arousal he provoked. As we continued and his hands roamed further, he moved me onto my back and laid me down on the floor. We paused a second and almost giggled at our predicament. The bathroom floor? One time I had mocked a girl in school because apparently she had hooked up with a guy on the floor of her dad’s RV. Who was I to judge? I looked up at Ville above me and smiled, and he returned a similar smile. I took a second to appreciate how his eyes seemed to flow and radiate the same happiness that his smile did. His two pointed canines were slightly visible through his smile, and I felt weird to think about it in the moment, but boy oh boy, it was hot.
“Darling, what do you think?” Ville said to me, looking down to me as if I were his whole world. He propped himself up on his hand and ran his other over my body, provoking small sharp inhales. He knew what he was doing and almost giggled to himself when my body flinched slightly as his fingers passed over each sensitive part.
“Well I’m thinking a lot of things right now,” I said, my thoughts being frayed by the feeling of Ville’s hands on my body.
“This floor is so cold. I’m good at dealing with the cold, but it’s impressively drafty in this cottage, isn’t it?” He almost seemed to have a hint of mockery in the last part of his sentence because he knew what he was doing to me. His accent, low, songlike, almost British, made each word strike deeper into my soul. “All those years of cold made me somewhat indifferent to it, but I’ve never experienced a beautiful kind of cold like you.” He said, eyes still fixed on me beneath him. He curled his forefinger and raised my chin slightly, and softly said “let me see your pretty face.”
“Yeah, the floor is a chilly place to be.” I told him softly, savoring the feeling of his finger beneath my chin.
“Let’s do something about that, shall we?” Ville said in his cheeky way. Effortlessly, he picked me up and held me so we were facing with my legs wrapped around his torso. I was at his eye level and realized just how tall he was. Seeing his face close to mine at eye level made the burning grow deeper and let me absorb each one of his features. His eyes, green as they had ever been, flashed down towards my neck. He softly grazed his teeth across my neck, sending shivers throughout me. I knew he was conscious of his fangs, because he made sure not to pierce my skin. He soon buried his face in my neck and was soon kissing it with more force and pressure. I knew he was going to leave a hickey, but I truly did not care. The feeling of him burying himself in me that way was unlike anything I’d ever felt. He moved us into the main space of the cottage, the one where an exquisite bed lay. I threw my head back because of the sensation on my neck, praying there was more to come. Without flinching at all, he pushed aside the bed curtains and sat down with me on his lap, not yet coming off of my neck. After a final suck on the side of my neck Ville came back up and met my eyes. I felt a warm drop of blood running down my neck and looked down at it covering the small spot where it leaked from with my hand. Ville, sensing my panic, quickly grabbed my hand and inspected the small wound closely.
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry.” He said quietly, running his fingers over the wound.
“No, it’s okay, I don’t mind honestly.” I told him, finding his eyes and trying to reassure him.
“I truly hope so, because I need you to know that I would never do anything to hurt you.” He cupped the side of my face with a hand and rubbed his thumb across my cheek.
“I promise you you’re not hurting me. If anything …” I said, hoping he knew what I was implying. He grinned, and I knew it clicked. “I do have a question though. How did you stay there for so long?” He used the hand cupping my face to begin to twirl my hair affectionately. “I’m impressed.” I continued.
“Well, vampires don’t have to breathe. Makes some things much easier.” Ville grinned as he twisted my hair into little curls. Wow. He sank into another kiss holding my head stable with his hand. Ville gradually flipped me so that my back laid on the soft comforter of his bed, and he leaned exquisitely above me. When he was fully situated on top of me, Ville began planting his kisses on my cheeks and jaw. He worked his way down, travelling at a good pace but consistently intentional and slow enough to make my breath shaky and my skin tingle. He took my right arm and stretched it out on the comforter, holding my hand down to the bed. He seemed to know every sensitive spot on my body, provoking little gasps and soft whimpers. He flashed his eyes up at me when he’d made his way to the bottom of my stomach. The sight of him so close to me in ways I’d only imagined would have made me collapse if I was standing. Ville’s eyes communicated it all, and I nodded, ready to feel him deeper. I had an ex, Jerome, and we’d done some stuff but it wasn’t that great. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to do things with him, it just wasn’t fantastic and I had to intentionally make noises and pretend to ‘arrive.’ I could sense this was going to be very different. Ville’s body on mine didn’t feel like a normal encounter, but like we were connecting and experiencing pleasure on a different plane of existence.
“Mmm, so pretty kulta …” Ville said, eyeing me where he had pulled off my skirt. The second I felt contact from his mouth, my head fell back in pleasure. There was no period where he had to ‘find’ anything, it instantly melted into the deepest gratification I’d ever felt. While he worked with his mouth, he ran his hands over my thighs and held on securely to the fleshy parts as if I were a dream that would disappear if he didn’t hold on. “You’re such a beautiful sight,” he paused and spoke the words to me, not lifting his head up much knowing very well what he was doing to me.
“It’s all your fault,” I retorted, but the words came out meek and shaky, and my sentence ended with another gasp as he lowered his lips once more. The sounds I made were second nature, like a reflex that felt just as good as it did natural. I looked down to Ville’s curls and ran my hand through them, wanting him closer and closer with each second. I felt a warmth swell up inside of me, and inflate with each heavenly motion Ville took. “Ville, I’m gonna-” I began as Ville was already nodding his head.
“Good, for me darling.” He didn’t say it as a question, but almost as a command. With one final tongueing motion, the swell inside of me released and my vision clouded and went black for a few seconds. The relief felt like a wave of renewal. My muscles, which I hadn’t realized had been so engaged, relaxed back onto the bed as Ville quickly moved to hold me next to him. He turned me to face him, stroking my face with his thumb once more. “To feel you, it was … unlike anything else.” Ville softly said to me, in a tone that contrasted his soft dominance when he was going down on me. Ville carefully placed his hand on my chest as it moved up and down.
“What are you doing?” I softly laughed at his action.
“Feeling you breathe.” He said it like it was the most normal thing ever. His accent was as gorgeous as ever, slightly British and deep as night. “It’s been forever since I’ve heard a real breath, much less felt one so closely. I forgot how enchanting it is.” Ville said, his two sharp teeth had retracted and the green in his eyes seemed to hold every human emotion he’d been bottling up for the last hundreds of years. I tilted my head to the side, wanting to hear him finish whatever poetic words were bound to fall off his lips. “To be alive.” He said, and I just about melted. Ville planted a kiss on the top of my hair and swiftly cleaned off his face and rinsed his mouth. He then carefully brought the towel between my thighs and gently cleaned up remnants of our love. He came back up for a kiss, gently pressing his lips against mine. Suddenly, my vision blurred and a small sheen of tears covered my eyes.
“Baby what’s wrong?” Ville’s voice sweetened as his eyes darted across my face, searching for what could be wrong.
“Nothing is wrong.” I began, not really understanding why I was crying. Ville pulled me up onto his lap so I was straddling him and he could make direct eye contact with me.
“Tell me what I can do.” He continued, hands firm on my waist holding me onto his lap.
“This all happened so quickly. I mean, we’d barely spoken prior and I don’t know if our rough month of knowing each other is significant to you. You’ve lived and been dead for so long I’m scared this is just another moment to you. I don’t want you to leave.” My words prompted more tears, now hot and streaming down my cheeks. The connection I’d felt to Ville was something I’d never experienced before and something I desired to experience every next day of my life, but I wasn’t stupid. Ville was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen or experienced, and the way he’d just taken me to heaven made it clear that he wasn’t a novice lover.
“Oh, my love, I need you to know that I’m not going to leave. I don’t mean to scare you, but I’ve known you before you knew me. Each night when I would lie awake I had this sense, this magnetism that pulled me towards the cliffs. I’d see you walk down to the graveyard each night, with your skin white in contrast to the sky. When you live through so much life, it all seems to blur together, like a film roll moving so quickly you can’t even make out the shapes; but when I saw you, I was pulled back into life. Each second of each day suddenly had meaning, something I barely had when I was alive. To leave you would kill me once more.” Each word seeped deep into my skin and struck a chord with me. He wiped a tear off of my waterline and pulled me in so he could kiss my forehead twice.
“I don’t want to wake up from all of this just for it to be a dream.” Tears creeped into my voice as I leaned my forehead against Ville’s.
“No dream could taste as sweet as you do.” Ville whisked me into another kiss as he lowered himself on top of me and we continued in our night of love.

Chapter Text

I woke up to a note next to me. Initially panicked, I reached for the small piece of paper to read it: ‘Before last night I’d never experienced having an angel sleep next to me. I’ve gone out to get a present, I hope I’ll be quick enough so you won’t even have to read this note. In 666 ways I love you - VV.’ I let out a sigh of relief and was more than glad to have my faith in Ville reaffirmed. It was early out, just before the sunrise. If I had the whole vampire thing figured out, Ville must be back soon. When I thought about it, it made total sense that Ville was as pale as he was considering the only subject to the light of the moon. I glanced around the bed, taking moments to process what had happened the night prior. The car crash, my injuries, the bathroom floor, Ville Valo was a vampire, I was hopelessly in love with him. I pulled the dark comforter over my chest as I remembered I was still completely naked from the night before. Just as I looked for my phone to text my mom about where I was (because it wasn’t like me to not come home at night) the latch of the door unlocked and a tall, slim figure came in. Ville’s eyes, so green I could see the exquisite color from across the cottage, instantly met mine.
“I missed you, my love. I brought you something though!” The gothic, macabre vampire Ville Valo seemed like the cutest man on the face of the Earth. He took off his black beanie and approached the bed with a large brown paper bag. He plopped down next to me and opened the bag, revealing several hot bagels. Ville pulled me in and gave me a peck on the lips, but seemed drawn in to give me another soft three before I had to pull away.
“Bagels! I love those, oh and they’re hot!” I exclaimed, only now realizing how hungry I was.
“I don’t keep food in here for … obvious reasons. It would be such a shame if you died of hunger and bagels are universally liked.” Ville smirked in delight as I peered in the bag, surveying my options. Ville moved his hand out so that it lightly held mine on the bed and playfully tapped his fingers on mine.
“You have a bruise. It should go away soon, but are you feeling better after the wreck yesterday?” Ville asked, eyeing a black and blue spot on my forearm.
“I feel totally fine, barely even sore.” I responded in between bites of a warm whole wheat bagel.
“You were barely breathing when I found you, rakas. It nearly killed me seeing you like that.” A sudden melancholy overcame him, though his beauty was even more visible under the veil of sorrow.
“Tell me, tell me what happened.” I asked, motioning for him to sit nearer to me. He obliged, and sat next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and letting me rest against him.
“There was a crash.”
“Well, clearly. What really happened? I remember almost none of it.” Ville paused and thought over his words before beginning his explanation.
“Remember the lover I told you about? The one I ran from?” He asked, causing a knot to form in my chest. Ville instantly sensed my small panic, and held my hand securely as he rubbed his thumb over my knuckles to try and soothe my nerves. “He found me. I think he found me around two months ago. He’s not like me, he’s cruel. I survive off of the recently deceased, though their blood isn’t as sweet or satiating. I can't bring myself to feed off living beings, animals too. He knows no control, no mercy.” I sensed some fear in the way Ville described him, like even recounting the memory brought him pain. “He was the one who drove me to my death, who promised me that we could be together eternally. He told me that the pain I experienced, my crushing sensitivities and empathies would be cured once I was turned. He was wrong. He begged for me to join him, to feast together on the last person in our who he hadn’t fed from, my brother. I said no, and then began our conflict which led to fleeing him across the world.” Ville’s tone was shockingly sober given how unbelievable the whole situation seemed. I planted a slow kiss on his cheek to try and ease his sadness. Ville pulled me closer so that I was laying on his chest as he slowly stroked the bare skin of my arm up to my shoulder.
“That’s terrible. How did he find you?” I murmured, remembering how soothing the feeling of his skin on mine was.
“When you’re alive for as long as we’ve been you develop a sense of your relation to things around you. The better you know something, the more you feel for it, the more you feel it around you.” He responded, though it didn’t fully make sense to me.
“I would tell you I totally understand you, but I need to be honest, I don’t really.” I let the words slip out of my mouth before I had a real chance to think them over. Ville stroked my hair as he answered,
“I figured it wouldn’t. The important thing I wanted to tell you is that I believe he was the cause of your accident.” I sharply inhaled as I recalled the pain I’d been in the night before. “I’m almost certain it was him, can you remember anything specific you saw?” Ville softly asked, sensing my flinch.
“It was late; foggy too. There was this shape, now that I think about it, probably a person. Really tall, long hair maybe…” My voice drifted off, trying to search my memory for more details.
“That’s what I feared.” He said, holding me a bit closer. “I don’t want you to worry, but we’ve passed the threshold of me holding back information from you. Tell me, darling, do you follow music?” I laughed for a second before I responded.
“Well of course …” I tried to find any bit of humor in his expression, but I was still met with his sincere beauty.
“So I take it, you know of Type O Negative?”
“Oh my gosh? Yes of course I know them!”
“Peter Ratajczyk. You probably know him as Peter Steele.”
“That’s … that’s him?” And I had thought the whole vampirism thing was unbelievable. Feeling a small draft, I reached to grab one of Ville’s large shirts laying around the bed (though his taste was impeccable, his organization was not), momentarily letting the comforter drop from my body. My skin was still ringing and a bit sensitive, and even the knowledge of where his gaze was on me was enough to make me shiver. In the few seconds it took me to put on the large Field of Nephilim t-shirt I felt his hand creep onto my lower back as the green of his eyes met mine in a clash of divine pain and pure heaven.
“Being with you like this is enough to make me forget, but yes.” The baritone of his voice wrapped me into a slow kiss. After a minute or a century, I truly couldn’t tell, I broke from the kiss and said,
“Wait, so Black No. 1 guy?!” A smile, though inappropriate to the context, creeped onto my face as I imagined an eternal, evil vampire chanting “Black black black black number one!” Ville, though listening, gazed at me with an expression that said ‘Though I’ve been alive for hundreds of years, if I can’t have more of you then that will be the thing that kills me.’ Suppressing his thought, a smirk overcame his rosy lips. With the joy of a little kid, something it had been a long time since Ville had been, he pulled me into his arms and began planting coltish kisses along my neck, mumbling “black black black black number oneeeeee …”
Even though the terrifying future lay ahead, in this moment, nothing else mattered.