Archive of Our Own

Chapter 1: Home Invasion
He heard the front door creek open from all the way at the peak of his tower, he was actually rather surprised by the noise not having heard it for many years. He had begun to lose count of the years since the last 'brave soul' came to his door seeking the famous monster's head for his 'crimes'. He wasn't exactly looking forward to an encounter with someone who was no doubt bedecked in shining armour and seeking justice, he had grown tired of that song and dance some time ago, but he was curious; since it had been at least a century or two since the last knock at the door. He worked his magic to make his way to the entrance hall and stand ominously atop the staircase wreathed in shadow, as was standard procedure for an unwanted invader. 
To his surprise, the invader was not a knight in shining armour but a young girl. Whilst this development caused him to somewhat lose his composure, it was for but a moment as he straightened his posture to cast an imposing silhouette before the stained-glass window and began to introduce himself. "Greetings traveller, you have entered the castle of Lord Vallentin Adolich. Turn back unless you wish for a gruesome death." He was very proud of that introduction, it was one of only a few where he had avoided any stuttering, not that this poor child would know that. Speaking of the child, they screamed loudly in response and hid very badly behind one of the pillars of the hallway. Vallentin was baffled, usually those who were too afraid to continue ran out of the door rather than behind something; he even told them fairly that they could avoid death by leaving. This is the first time he'd been in a situation like this, it was always either a swift retreat or a fight to the death before this time. He was far too awkward with the situation to even begin to consider his next course of action, he was starting to get sweaty palms and really wanted to go back up to his roost; this was no way for a vampire lord to behave in response to a home invasion. The situation got even worse when the child decided to poke their head around the pillar to look at the internally panicked vampire lord and saw his slouched posture and barely hidden despair. "Child you do know that I can see you, do you not?" Vallentin said in the most competent voice he could muster considering his ongoing internal monologue in which he was contemplating all of the mistakes in his life that had led to this very moment. Apparently, his tone was commanding enough, as it elicited a squeak of fright from the girl and she returned to her little safe place behind the pillar. This was getting even more unconceivably messy for Vallentin to deal with and his internal monologue was becoming even more dire in response, it was beginning to turn to existentialism and how he would be remembered as the pathetic vampire that couldn't even deal with a teenage girl who probably just came in here by accident. At that thought he actually began to speak aloud, "Wait did you just come in here by accident or did you plan on fighting me?" Vallentin was sure that he had stuttered, or his voice had broken whilst speaking and his monologue faded to internal screaming. His thousand-yard stare is broken by the small voice responding from behind the pillar "U-um, neither I guess?" By the gods this child hadn't really been sent in here as a form of psychological warfare, it's a miracle! Unless of course she's lying, that's a whole other argument that Vallentin decided to temporarily ignore in favour of believing that maybe his luck wasn't completely abysmal. At least for now Vallentin had found himself back in the driver's seat of the situation, he steadied himself and righted his posture in preparation to take back all control of this conversation and get this kid out of his house. 
With his posture righted and his voice steadied, Vallentin descended the staircase and began to speak, "Then why did you enter the home of a vampire lord, child. Surely even someone so young would know that I eat people." It was at this point that his polished boots silently reached the main floor of the hallway, and he began to step towards the pillar.  The girl seemed to pluck up a little more courage and poked her head from behind the pillar to speak once more, "W-well I heard that you've not had any visitors for o-over five hundred years. I thought you might be... lonely?"
"It's been five hundred years already has it, I was sure it was only two."
"Well that's just what the stories say... um, sir."
"And what else do the stories say about me, young one. Do they tell of the countless lives I feasted upon, and if they do why did you come?"
"The stories about you say that you've stayed locked in here for so long, I figured maybe you didn't really wanna kill any more people, but now I'm here you're really scary and I think you might eat me. A-are you going to eat me?"
"That's up in the air for the moment young one, first I want you to tell me your name. I already gave you mine so it would only be polite."
"Oh, um sorry sir, my name is Sophia Redgrave. Um it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance?"
"The pleasure's all mine Ms. Redgrave. Now that's out of the way, why don't you get comfortable."
Vallentin snapped his fingers before Sophia could question what that entailed, the candles flickered and when they returned to their dim light, the pair found themselves in a comfortable, plush seating area. Vallentin gestured for Sophia to sit, which she did immediately as if refusing would cost her life, because for all she knew it would. Vallentin turned on his heel before looking back over his shoulder towards his curious visitor "I will only be gone but a moment, I'll fetch some tea." With another snap and a flicker of candlelight Vallentin was gone, leaving Sophia alone in homely yet somehow ominous room.
Vallentin arrived in his kitchen feeling relieved to be out of the sitting room and exceedingly proud of his continuous performance throughout the whole conversation they'd had. The facade of the immortal and irreverent killer hadn't slipped since he stepped down the stairs, and now he had a few minutes to compose himself once more whilst he made the tea. As the kettle began to boil over the fire, Vallentin found his mind wandering a great deal, mostly looping back to the question, why the fuck did he let this random girl in his goddamn castle? It was possible in his mind that maybe he really was lonely, or maybe he was just so caught up in the persona that he just wanted to be imposing and creepy. Either way he was now stuck with this girl in his home and he knew at this point that he had to get her out as quickly as possible, but he still needs to be threatening so she never wants to come back. First things first he had to get through a conversation over tea with some teenage girl but in trying to focus on what comes next, he had the realisation that it had been over five hundred years since he'd seen anyone. How could he possibly hold a conversation, he doesn't even know what the norms of society are anymore, let alone how to speak to the enigmas known as 'teenagers'. Throughout this internal panic, Vallentin had been idly preparing the tea and was just about finished. He then spent at least a few minutes making sure the tea was perfectly prepared and presented on the tray, debating which tea set to use and the like, but in the end he changed nothing from his initial choice and then began to panic at how long he had left Sophia alone in the sitting room, and so with yet another flicker of candles he returned to his guest with his tray of tea.
Sophia jumped in her seat and let out a squeak of fright at the flicker which heralded Vallentin’s return to the room, looking as imposing as ever from poor Sophia’s perspective though internally he was still in as much of a panic as his guest, if not more. The tall and handsome vampire set down his tray of tea on the table and elegantly slid into the seat opposite Sophia, resting his chin on a hand and crossing his legs in an attempt to appear far more in control of the situation than he truly was. After a few moments of awkward staring, Vallentin poured the tea into the two cups he had brought and gestured for Sophia to take one, as he sipped from the other and returned to his relaxed position. Sophia of course picked up the tea and took a sip instantly, quite clearly still full of fear, and flinched away from the cup with a burnt tongue. Vallentin took this moment to get the conversation rolling, “You don’t have to drink it now Sophia, it should be cool enough in a few minutes.” Sophia nodded in response, still wincing, and returned the cup to the tray. Vallentin became slightly alarmed at the lack of verbal response since he was so bad at starting conversations and this attempt had fallen completely flat, he supposed that he’d better take another crack at it before the silence became any more uncomfortable; “Um, so Sophia what drove you to come into a vampires castle seeking friends? It hardly seems like a good idea to me.” This might have turned out worse than just an awkward silence, a vampire lord can’t be saying ‘um’ like a shy schoolboy! Fortunately, Sophia snapped him out of his stupor before his panic reached his face, “Well um, I guess I just wanted s-someone to talk to and I’ve just about run out of other people to talk to… I thought maybe you’d get it, being alone for so long,” Vallentin was speechless, his persona crumbled around him as he finally met Sophia’s gaze and her sad eyes stared into his own sunken sockets, for a brief moment he thought that looking into her eyes was like looking into a mirror. “I thought, j-just maybe you could show me how to not care about being lonely or at least maybe how to act more c-confident in front of people.” Vallentin finally slumped in his chair and tore his eyes away from Sophia’s pleading gaze, “Not even immortality can save you from loneliness, or from that pit in your stomach when you think about talking to someone, or even the voices in your head that tell you everything you’re doing is wrong. You should go and make some friends your own age before it’s far too late for you, and don’t even think about visiting this old fool again.” Now that the façade was gone, Vallentin, for all his wealthy clothing and opulent furniture, was a rather sorry sight; crumpled in his chair with dead eyes staring into the middle distance. “Mr Vallentin?” Sophia called out from her seat as she leaned forward towards the distraught vampire, “Your tea’s going to get cold.” Sophia then sipped from her own cup in an attempt to bring some normalcy to a situation which had thus far been completely bereft of it. “Are you not nervous, Sophia?” Vallentin mumbled as he continued to avoid her gaze and leant forward to pick up his tea. Sophia sipped from her cup daintily, in her best impression of the kind of fancy lady she imagined having tea with Vallentin many years ago, “Well yes, of course I am… but I guess I had just enough courage left for a leap of faith when I walked in here and now I’m kind of committed, if that make any sense at all.” Vallentin chuckled for a moment before finishing his tea, and finally meeting Sophia’s gaze again, “You’re telling me you stayed here on a whim even when I threatened your life?”
“Y-yeah that’s exactly it but when you say it aloud it just sounds stupid.”
“Sometimes the stupidest things you do lead to the best moments in your life.”
“O-oh yeah? Like what?”
“I think that might have to be a story for when you’re older, or at least just when I’m more used to talking to people.”
“Whatever happened to me never coming back huh? And I’ll have you know I’m fifteen, that’s a perfectly acceptable age to hear about sex stories.”
“Apologies but I’ve decided I would like to speak to you again, but I’m not quite sure whether that’s made this situation better or worse, and I’m sure that if you pester me enough, I’ll tell you that story one day.”
Vallentin started staring into his empty cup as he finished speaking, with a faint smile on his face. He was still afraid of saying something else ridiculous, but he was realising that chatting to someone like this was… nice in a way, but somehow still nerve-wracking. His thought on this complex matter were interrupted by Sophia gently wiping away a tear he didn’t realise was about to drip from his face with her sleeve. This simple action caused Vallentin to be temporarily paralyzed and wondering if he was about to have a heart attack, though he realised about five seconds into this episode that his heart didn’t beat so that wouldn’t be physically possible. Oh god what if his heart started beating?! It didn’t, he just looked up at Sophia, who was significantly closer than he remembered, in mild panic (which was quickly becoming the theme of his day). Sophia was kneeling on the table and leaning towards him, but as he looked up, she seemed to realise what she was doing, scurry back to her own seat and hug her knees to her chest. Vallentin didn’t really know where this was going, but he was very sure that it made him uncomfortable, but not knowing how to bail out of the situation outside of teleporting (which he’d been told was quite rude) he simply sat there and watched his guest slowly bury her face in her knees, as if she’d decided that her kneecaps were the perfect tool to gauge her own eyes out. It was several minutes of awkward silence before Vallentin spoke again, “Well, whilst you’re here Sophia would you like a tour of my castle”. Sophia was relieved to be freed from the awkward silence she’d trapped herself in and hopped to her feet, “Yes, I’d love to have a tour!”. Vallentin suspected that the tour was far less important to her than getting out of this awkward mess of a conversation, but then again that was his primary objective too. The pair walked quickly to the door as if getting out of the room would somehow cure their chronic awkwardness and stepped through to begin the tour of the castle.

Chapter 2: Prelude
Most people in town that night only saw the end of a blood red coat disappear around corners, but those in the local pub got far more of a show. The man sauntered inside, he was unfamiliar to the locals in this little town's favourite drinking establishment, and the stares of rowdy regulars made that abundantly clear. He didn't seem to even notice the stares, he'd had worse looks thrown his way a million times. He simply stalked his way to the bar, sweeping his long coat out of the way to perch on a vacant bar stool. The barkeep cast a worried glance, between the rowdiest bunch in the room and his new guest before asking if he'd like to order a drink. The man thought for a moment, and sighed before ordering a bloody mary, which was quickly given to him.
The man was only partway through his drink before the loudest (and probably drunkest) of the group of regulars to this establishment, all past their prime, mostly overweight and balding, staggered his drunken way towards the man who he thought looked like a careless rich kid. "You ain't from round these parts are ya boy?" the drunken regular managed to slur out. The man in red stared into his cup for a moment with a resigned sigh before replying to this annoyance, "Well then, how can I help your delightful self this evening? Are you perhaps in search of a breath mint, since yourself and your lackeys seem bereft of them? Seriously I can smell all of their breath from over here, not to mention yours." The drunken man took a moment to process the insult he'd just recieced, before becoming instantaniously furious and reaching for the man in red's collar. Not even the sober people in the room saw the man in red's hand move, before anyone even noticed movement it was wrapped around the drunk's wrist firmly. The drunk tried to pry his hand away but the man in red didn't move an inch. The man in red finally moved his head to look in the direction of the drunk, with his free hand he adjusted his round shades to stare over them with eyes of crimson flame, "If you want to start a fight, start it fucking properly!" He snarled excitedly with a predatory smirk. As the drunk's hand was freed he snatched it back to his chest, he looked and felt a lot more sober than he had been a second ago, "W-what the hell are you talking about?" he snarled out in fury and fear, the stranger's eyes had unsettled him more than he cared to admit. The rest of the pub's patrons had begun to take notice, but for now were watching in anticipation of a good old bar fight. The man in red stood, "What I'm talking about," he growled with a grin "is taking that gun out of your waistband, putting it right here below my chin, pulling the trigger, and seeing what fucking happens!" The drunk had started reaching for his gun midway through this sentence, hesitating slightly, but he did eventually pull out his pistol as he stepped away, pointing it at the creature in red. The presence of this weapon immediately changed the air of the pub, people began hiding behind tables and chairs, but still watching in curiosity. The red cloaked figure didn't hesitate from the weapon pointed at him, he calmly stepped forward with his arms spread and a manic grin still on his face, "What's wrong gunslinger, losing your nerve? If you're carrying steel you must be ready to kill right? DO IT!" His speech escalated from arrogant predator to deranged maniac very quickly towards the end, and everyone quickly shifted their priorities from watching to hiding. The drunk with the gun was shaking and sweating as the creature in red stepped slowly forwards, not pulling the trigger. The red demon stopped right in his face, uncomfortably close, the drunk could smell iron on this creaure's breath as it spoke "Come on I'm making it so easy for you," he began to whisper manically as he clasped the drunks hands in his own, almost tenderly.
"If you carry a weapon you must be ready to kill," he began to pull the drunk's hands upward.
"If you're ready to kill then do it," he guided the drunks hands to shove the gun roughly against the underside of his chin.
"Set me free gunslinger, give it your best shot, set me free set me free SET ME FREE!"
The gunshot thundered through the small pub, everyone there covered their ears and averted their eyes on instinct.
All except the man in red who didn't even flinch, not from the noise, nor from the bullet passing through his skull. By the time the drunk looked up at him the wound was already gone, healed so fast that the beast didn't even lose a drop of blood. The drunk didn't hear the man in read sigh, nor did he hear him say "What a bastard shame that is, wishful thinking I know but still... oh well, no witnesses." 
By the time the pubs clientelle dared to peek from their hiding places at what they assumed would be a dead man in red, he had already torn the head from the drunk and was showering in the fountain of gore it created. Then all they saw was a flash of silver, and then they were gone.

Chapter 3: The Grand Tour
This wasn't exactly the fantasy Sophia had in mind when she walked into a supposedly vampire infested castle, and yet in retrospect it's surprising that this idiocy worked out as well as it did. By any rules of the world she should have been torn apart and eaten, but apparently her leap of faith was rewarded (though it wasn't  with the steamy vampire romance in her head). As Vallentin lead her out of this plush room she was very much in her own world, Vallentin's introduction to this tour going in one ear and out the other, she thought he called this room the greeting chamber or something? Either way she exited behind him, trying to put the idiotic stunt she'd just pulled out of her mind. As incredible that it was that vampires existed that didn't make the real world like her books, she thought that she'd better remember that or lose her new friend fast. Oh also she really hoped he didn't look in her bag because some of her books were in there and if he saw them she might cry. 
Sophia decided to direct her attention to the tour as best she could, her fantasys could wait (and maybe hopefully come true later). The greeting chamber opened into the landing atop the stairs Vallentin had been standing imposingly atop less than half an hour prior. Sophia hadn't had the chance to admire this entry hall on her way in before she was accosted by Vallentin's facade, but now with the afformentioned vampire's guidance she was shown the beautifully carved pillars, polished stone floor and rather opulent red carpet. Whilst Sophia could appreciate the beauty of this room, she was also able to appreciate how fundamentally inutile an entry hall was. She decided to simply nod along with Vallentin's tour as he was clearly proud of his home and she didn't want to be rude, as much as this room confused her.
Meanwhile Vallentin was starting to get nervous, to finally have someone he could call a friend was exciting and he looked forward to showing off the lair he was so proud of. His fear came when his guest seemed unimpressed by his lovely entrance chamber, could he really lose his only friend like this? Boring them to death with a crappy tour? Through this internal strife he managed to keep up his exciteable ramblings about the craftsmanship of the room, but then he realised; she was probably just distracted! He knew now that Sophia was almost as socially inept and horrifically anxious as himself, she was probably still on that whole uncomfortably close exchange, wondering if Vallentin hated her now, et cetera, et cetera. Maybe talking about the exquisite brickwork, whilst vaguely interesting, wouldn't be enough to shake her fear, so he must do better to focus on the truly fantastical. 
"Well Sophia, as lovely as the brickwork in here is I'm sure you'd like to see the truly fantastic parts of my lair!" Vallentin began, holding his joyous tone for the moment.
"Um, yes please Mr Valentin." Sophia meekly responded, seeming suddenly very interested in the floor's brickwork.
"Well then follow my lead young one, and I shall show you the marvels I've collected over my long life!" Vallentin was no longer needing to try hard to remain peppy in his speech, it was coming naturally with how smoothly this was now going. He marched his way purposefully up the entry halls stairs, this time taking the second flight to the right, rather than left, through the oaken doors and into a dark hallway. With a snap of Vallentin's fingers, the candles in sconces throughout the length of the hallway lit to reveal a hallway appropriately matched to the previous rooms; with the right sides floor to ceiling windows covered by thick (and rather expensive looking) red curtains. Vallentin thought it might be best to skip over this hallway into the more interesting rooms first; not missing a beat and stepping into the first door, holding the door wide for his guest. 
Sophia entered this new room, sincerely hoping that whatever was inside would be marvelous enough to snap her out of her self-loathing. Her wish was granted, this room was like a miniature museum of, clearly ancient, but still resplendant and polished weapons and armour as well as some other knick nacks here and there. Her eyes went wide at this beautiful collection of history, before her gaze settled on Vallentin who was looking, not at his collection, but at her, seeming giddy at her reaction. An involuntary smile spread across Sophia's face and she began race-walking over to the closest item, a suit of silver plate amour so shiny that it was practically a mirror, fortunately the lighting in the room prevented her seeing her own reflection in it (as well as the nonexistent reflection of Vallentin behind her). "What's the story behind this one?" Sophia asked excitedly, turning her head to the equally elated vampire.
"This armour stands to welcome people to this chamber as I once did to it's wearer, the first of many so-called heroes that came here to kill me! This museum stands in their memory as a monument to their bravery and, on a slightly more sombre note, their lives which were lost needlessly. The warrior that wore this particular set, 800 years ago give or take a century, was actually a very noble soul and I'm sure a hero to his people. Whilst he was willing to engage in conversation, he did quickly dismiss my attempts to make peace." Vallentin replied, varying in tones between reverent and melancholic, all played up dramatically as if this were a performance.
"Why would they say no to peace so easy if they were so honourable?" Sophia continued to probe, being truly enraptured in this tale.
"Well Miss Redgrave, this is a question the man himself answered. He said that he had heard the tales of vampires with silver tongues and so he would fight his instincts of mercy. To this day I curse whatever vampire gave us such a reputation. To rely on deceit like that they must've been a true villain, and it has caused many of the unfortunate predicaments that this room commemorates."
"Wow!" Sophia whispered under her breath and continued to admire the armour. They continued around the room for almost an hour, Sophia interrogating Vallentin for every detail he knew about the various weapons and armours on display, but both of them retained the energy they'd had at the start, being inspired by a topic of interest and the company of a like-minded soul. The pair finally arrived on a medallion, placed atop a velvet cushion an a regal-looking pedestal; this was very quickly of interest to Sophia as it was the only item in this exhibit not designed to be taken into battle (at least to her knowledge). It was made of a kind of stone, which seemed to emit a faint white glow (Sophia had originally thought it to be a trick of the light) , shaped like a crescent moon with grooves near the tips which housed a leather thong which acted as the means by which it could be worn as a medallion.
After gazing at the medallion for some time, admiring it's transfixing glow, Sophia looked expectantly to her friend; anticipating a story about this funky necklace, but found him staring whistfully into the middle distance. After a brief moment of silence between the two, Vallentin looked into the expectant eyes of Sophia, smirked and began "You may want to take a seat for this one, we could be here a little while."  With no chairs in sight, Sophia flopped onto the floor without breaking eye contact, eyes wide and chin resting on her hands. Vallentin slowly sat on the floor in front of here, crossing his legs and ignoring the fact that he could teleport a chair in here. "Now, let's begin the most pleasant story in the room shall we: the tale of the silver wolf."

Chapter 4: The Tale of the Silver Wolf
This story begins on what was initially an average day, around 700 years ago. I was a young vampire of only 128 years since my turning, and I hadn't yet found myself just as empty as before; I was till lost in the throes of immortality, though it wouldn't be long before that ended. Regardless, I was perched in my usual spot atop the tallest tower of my home with a good book, though I don't remember exactly which book it was anymore, when there came a knock at my door. It was unusal for me to have a knock at my door, my only visitors were those who wished to slay me and they tended not to be so polite. With a snap I was at the door, and with another the door opened dramatically to let the moonlight illuminate me in a way I like to think was imposing. Standing at my door was a young woman in tattered clothes, the moonlight reflecting magnificantly from her wild silver hair. I opened to this visitor as I usually do to guests "You have approached the home of Vallentin Adolich, vampire lord of the Starfall Lake, state your business; though if it is battle you seek, I suggest you turn back." This woman didn't flinch at my introduction, simply cocked her head and narrowed her eyes as if curious rather than fearful or furious. "They said that whoever lived here had gazed deep into the supernatural, but I didn't think it would be a monster in the flesh." she began as she strode into my lair and began prowling in a circle around me, I didn't watch, I didn't need to, so I gazed at the crescent moon outside. Her voice came again from behind me, though I could here that she was continuing her circuit of me "You know you're the first other monster I've had the chance to talk to, I think we could both benefit from a detailed conversation if you're as much of a loner as the rumours say." Now I did turn to face her, I was beginning to panic, if she was a vampire too then her strength was a mystery; I'd need to be on guard, even with the advantage of being in my own lair. I summoned my sword to my hands and prepared for a potential battle, analysing her as she continued to circle me in a way which I suddenly became accutely aware was akin to a hunter circling their prey. She finished her circuit after a few more seconds of tension, and stood in the doorway in way which made it look like the crescent moon was her crown. "Fighting you wasn't my initial intention for coming here, but now I'm curious to test my skills against a different kind of beast" she said with a smirk. "Very well then," I responded, with a (fake) smirk of my own, "a friendly bout, one monster to another, tap out when you've had enough, I shall do the same." That's when things took a very strange turn, even moreso than a fellow monster at my door, this woman threw off her clothes right in front of me after I challenged her in combat. This made me baffled, cautious and embarassed all at once, I managed to keep my eyes above the shoulders and hide my embarassment for a few seconds before she began to hunch over, and her grin started becoming more sharp. Before I could even really process what I was seeing, this woman had transformed into a large silver wolf, but her emerald eyes still carried an unnerving quality of human intelligence. Until that moment I hadn't fathomed the possibility that other monsters from stories were real, but this was no vampire. A werewolf had come to visit my castle, and with this transformation our battle began.
She lunged forward with inhuman or even inlupine speed, my own monstrous speed fortunately allowed me to evade harm by briefly transforming to mist in order to move to the bottom of the entry hall stairs, before reverting to my usual form. I guessed that taking the stairs as high ground wouldn't be such a bad idea, I figured that even when fighting a wolf the principles of combat still apply and so I took a few steps up the stairs and turned to face the wolf which was much closer than I was expecting. She almost caught me off guard with a nip at the leg but I was able to evade it and push her back down the stairs thanks to my high ground advantage. After this clash there was a moment of stillness, I could feel her eyes piercing through me, analysing my every move for an opening, as I was doing the same to her. She stalked the carpet in front of the stairs whilst I stood motionless, sword arm extended toward her. So far our exchanges had been short, safe attacks; whilst relatively riskless it didn't progress the fight very far, however I was still in the stage of analysing her movements and from the looks of it so was she, so I was content to continue these small interactions for some time. As she paced back to the centre of the stairs I noticed her hind legs slowly tense as our mutual stare continued. I brought my blade back and swung low to counter the safe, low strike I was anticipating and so was completely thrown when she leapt clean over the four steps between us directly at my thoat. My read of the situation was very much off, that stalking was the last bit of analysis the werewolf needed and now she was going for the kill. She cleared the swinging arc of my sword and barrelled into me, slamming me against the stairs and holding me down as she closed her jaws on my neck. Her teeth were incredibly sharp and her jaw exceedingly powerful, I was immobilsed by her strength as she ripped into me, however a vampire in his lair is not limited to his body to defeat his enemies. The stairs we were atop creaked as they began to move, and suddenly they flicked like the crack of a whip; throwing the werewolf from me whilst I remained in place on the stairs. They quickly settled back into position and as I saw the werewolf land, staggering from the impact. By the time she looked up I was gone, having passed throught the floor and emerged behind her, though in my panic I'd left my sword on the stairs by mistake. I was sure this wolf form had far greater sense than a human so I had to act first before she either smelled or heard me. Now that my ability to control my lair had been revealed, I had no qualms commanding the long, heavy curtains of the room to wrap the beast from behind, at least whilst my tenderised neck made it's recovery. The curtains bound the massive creature for now, though she struggled violently and a nice as those curtains were I doubted they could resist her strength long; as such I elected to step through the floor once again to retrieve my sword before rushing back over to take advantage of her vulnerable position. When I turned back to her from picking up my weapon she was part way through shredding my curtains with her teeth and claws, by the time I reached her she was free of them, and my neck still wasn't fully repaired. Not only that but such extensive use of my lair was quickly draining me, I was in no shape to call more assistance from the lair, nor step through its floor, or even transform into mist (which in that moment I realised I could've done whilst pinned by her). From this point forward I had to rely on my strength, skill and regeneration, all of which were traits she also seemed to have. I would have to make a big gamble. Her hind legs tensed to approach me again, this time I brought my blade in a wide overhead swing, throwing all my weight into one strike. My gamble was rewarded, her approach was another agressive pounce for the throat. I suspect that she was too busy considering how obvious her own injuries were to notice my own, and so anticipated that I'd expect her to return to a safer technique, therefore opting for the opposite. Regardless of her thoughts, her pounce was caught by my blade, or rather the opposite, she avoided grievous injury by catching it in her teeth; however my gamble in throwing everything into this strike caused the side-effect of us both tumbling to the ground. I found myself pinning her to the ground, my sword lengthways in her snout, so I began pushing to force the blade into her head as it was still clenched in her teeth. I cocked an eyebrow when I felt something move below me, I was feeling her bones bend themselves to new form as she reverted to human. When I realised this I stopped pushing, but soon enough I was placed in the awkward position of straddling a tussled, naked woman, though it didn't quite hit me at first. I'm sure you can imagine this only going poorly with my disposition. I was snapped from my 'combat mode' by her hand tapping the stone floor below, and raising an eyebrow "I've tapped out, would you like to get off me?" That was the moment I realised my position, I stood and turned away inhumanly quickly, busying myself adjusting my collar and straightening my cravat whilst my cheeks burned. 
From behind me I heard her stand, followed by some light clicking and the sigh of someone stretching, though at the time that may not have been my first thought. Then I heard her begin to speak "Well you have my respect, from one monster to another. Your control of your home is very interesting, and a royal pain I might add, but outside of your home I think I could take you... Um hello? Would you mind looking at my whilst I'm talking to you?" I was baffled by this, and responded as such "Madam do you recall that you're currently nude, I'm turned away for the sake of your decency!"
"O-oh right, I forget that point of etiquette alarmingly freqently." she responded with a chuckle.
"Well when you've clothed yourself go up the stairs and to the right , we can have that conversation you wanted." I babbled out as quickly as possible before snapping my fingers and vanishing in a candle flicker. 
Five minutes later she found me in the greeting room, with some tea prepared, sitting in my favourite arm chair, across from the sofa. I gestured to the sofa as I sipped my tea but recieved a dirty look in return. "I'm not an expert on politeness but I'm quite sure that teleporting away from your guest is rather rude!" she scolded.
"I think our exchanges thus far have been distinctly lacking in politeness already, at this point I fail to see the point in keeping up appearances. I mean you haven't even told me your name!" I rebuked.
"Hi I'm Lucia" she smiled in faux sweetness as she sat on the sofa across from me and picked up her tea cup. She had been correct with her proposition on my doorstep, the conversation that ensued taught us both a lot about the types of monsters eachother were. It turns out that werewolves can transform at will but are forced to on a full moon, at which point they have no control of their bestial form. Lucia had been travelling the land in search of a way to prevent this forced transformation and her pursuit of the mythical had lead her to my door, and whilst I didn't have the knowledge she needed, I did have an extensive library. The conversation went in some... interesting directions, as did our activities on that sofa, but I shall leave that to your imagination. 
The next few days we spent trawling through the library in search of something that could help Lucia. I'll admit that I wasn't too much help, I got caught up in the books far too easily, but eventually Lucia found legends about something that could help her: a Crescent Amulet. So Lucia had concluded her business in my lair, though she stayed with me that day. When dusk came I decided that I would go with her to find a Crescent Amulet, according to the legends a witch in the forest to the North of the Starfall Lake had the knowledge to create them. We travelled for two days before we reached the witch's hut, Lucia asked to go in alone and so I guarded the entrance in the meantime. To this day I have no idea what happened inside, but not long later Lucia emerged with not one but two Crescent amulets. This is where this pleasant story comes to a sudden close. Lucia handed me one of the amulets and told me that she had people that she needed to return to, a home that needed her, and that she couldn't return with me. She kissed me goodbye whilst I stood in a trance, doing my best to memorise her face as best I could in these final moments. And like that she disappeared into the woods. I returned to my lair, but I could swear that every night on my way home I heard a mournful howl.

Chapter 5: A Million Questions
"And that, Sophia, is the end of the story you were so insistent about earlier." Vallentin concluded his tale. Sophia broke her wide eyed silence, speaking at never before seen speeds, "Ok Vallentin I have like a million questions but that was a really nice story but so sad are you ok?"
"I'm quite alright Sophia, though your concern is appreciated. Ask your questions." Vallentin replied after a moment of stunned silence at her enthusiasm.
"What other supernatural spooky stuff is there?"
"To my knowledge: vampires, werewolves, magicians and demons. There could be more, I don't get out much."
"Does this mean there's a God?"
"I hope not."
"What did you mean when you said you were 'in the throes of immortality'?"
"When you become a vampire there's a sort of mental high that lasts around a hundred and fifty years... ish."
"What's with that lair stuff? What can you do and how and what?"
"Ah right, I should've known that would be confusing. A vampire can bind their soul to a structure and thus control it as they please with their magic. What I can do with my lair is only limited by my own energy."
"Ok cool, last one: was that the sofa that I sat on?"
Vallentin's eyes went a little wide and he looked away from Sophia, silent for several seconds. This is where it ends, she'll never want to talk to him again, everything was for naught, though he supposed it was fun whilst it lasted. He began contemplaating how he'd spend the rest of his eternity, returning to a life with no friends; truly a tragic end to his tale. "Ewww I totally sat on that sofa! Gross gross gross gross!" Sophia exclaimed, snapping Vallentin back to reality, though not exactly in a way which helped his current line of thought. But like a light in the darkness, something reached Vallentin's dark mind: Sophia was giggling! She giggled at this revelation that she sat on the sofa where certain implied events happened, truly this was yet another miracle for Vallentin on this day. 
"Oh wait I've got one more question!" Sophia began "have you ever used this amulet for anything?" Vallentin was quiet for a moment, in thought, before responding "I tried it once to see if it would end my vampirism, I figured if it worked on werewolves it might work on me but had no such luck; so it just sits here to remind me of Lucia." He took one last mournful glance back at the amulet before standing and turning to the door, extending a hand to help Sophia up, "Now then, lets get back to this tour shall we?" Vallentin didn't look back, but if he did he would've seen the expression of worry and empathy on his new friends face as he lead her by the hand back into the corridor. 
Vallentin continued his tour guide mannerisms and enthusiasm as though his sombre tale were never told as he lead Sophia to the next door in the hall, "Next up is the library, I think we'll skip through this one quickly since there's not much to see if you don't wish to spend all day reading." With that he flung open the door and lead Sophia through into an enormous chamber full of rows and rows of old dusty books, stacked high on floor to ceiling shelves. This was the only room Sophia had entered so far that looked as though it hadn't been touched for a long time, it seemed Vallentin kept all but this room spotless. At this point of stopping their motion, Sophia had the sudden realisation that Vallenin had been holding her hand for a good thirty seconds and immediately turned a million shades of red. Desperately needing a distraction she scanned the room. She spotted a reading desk near the door, a book on it's surface, and gently slipped from Vallentin's grip to investigate. She gently eased the creaking book open and scanned the yellowed pages and their hand-written scripture, as she did she asked "What's this book about Vallentin?" Vallentin looked at her quizzically, having been too busy lost in thought to have even noticed her move. Not completely snapped back to reality, he replied "Ah, yes, right.. it's been a long while since I've been in here I don't seem to remember." Sophia flicked through a few more pages, the calligraphy making the writings go completely over her head, before she noticed a little slip of paper in one of the pages, presumably a bookmark, and skipped to there. The paper she found, whilst accompanied by a fancy leather bookmark, wasn't a bookmark but a note. The handwriting was very scratchy but at the very least clear, and so Sophia began to read.
"Vallentin,
I left this note since I know how you love your books. These few days I've spent with you have been some of the best of my life, you look at me in a way that only a fellow monster could, understand me as only an unwilling killer could another. Like it or not it looks like we're kindred spirits! When this journey ends I'm sad to say that I need to leave you, I've travelled far to get here but I must return home to my family from before my turning, I can only imagine how worried they've been. I truly wish I could be with both you and them at once but that's impossible, but I know that you're strong, even if you don't realise it yourself. Obviously I'm not talking about magic strength or whatever, your spirit is strong too, but I know you don't think it is. I believe that in time you'll heal and find someone you can love as you did me, but my family aren't so strong, they need me. My heart is yours for as long as your immortality lets you live, even if that sounds really corny.
Love, your silver wolf,
Lucia"
Sophia was stunned to silence, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Before she even realised, she was wiping tears from her eyes. It was now that Vallentin found himself fully in reality, breaking away from the memories of Lucia that had kept him out of the library for over seven hundred years, and walked over to Sophia to take up his role as her friend and tour guide. When he turned he immediately noticed that Sophia was holding a slip of paper and was wiping at her eyes, he rushed over, concerned for the girl, "Sophia are you alright! What is that note you've found?" He looked over her shoulder at the note, and with each line his tears flowed faster. When he finished reading, he dropped to his knees and wept more than he had in hundreds of years. 
Sophia looked at Vallentin's hunched form on the ground in shock and sadness, even if she hadn't known this man for long he was the only person she currently considered a friend (and she did have at least a bit of a crush on him), it broke her heart to see him like this. She genty placed the note back on the desk and crouched down to his level, after several moments of audible hesitation and almost-hugging arm movements she finally wrapped her arms around the weeping vampire. For the duration of this embrace Sophia was in disbelief that a handsome vampire was ugly-crying into her shoulder and had just been holding her hand and had been opening up about his past trauma and oh my god was this the vampire romance story she wanted the whole time? If it is then she didn't realise it would be this sad, but maybe eventually this would blossom into a beautiful relationship. Vallentin's sobbing into Sophia's shoulder slowly stuttered to a close, "It's been seven hundred years I should really get over her..." he mumbled as he began to ease out of Sophia's embrace. He picked himself up, bringing Sophia with him by the hand, "I'm really not such a great tour guide am I?" he mused to himself with a chuckle. Sophia gazed up at him with a compassionate smile and spoke softly, "I think you're doing a great job. Let's get out of this dusty old library, yeah?" She gently lead him by the hand out of the library. As they went, Vallentin wiped his eyes and began walking in step with Sophia; steadily regaining his composure. He shut the door behind them, "I think I can go another 700 years before I step in there again." 
"That's ok, there's no rush." Sophia said softly, "Shall we distract ourselves by continuing the tour?"
"Yes. Quite right, let's get going." Vallentin replied, now sounding steady, as he began to take the lead once again; Sophia trailing slightly behind with her hand still in his.

Chapter 6: Prelude II
The man in red had been travelling for a long time now, he'd forgotten how long it had been but then again time hadn't mattered to him in the first place. The massacre at the pub had been a few weeks ago (at least he thought the days were in the double digits), there was a whole country between him and the scene of the crime and so he meandered without an ounce of worry. He hadn't had direction for a long time, this was nothing new, there was nothing new to him anymore. 
As the thought crossed his mind a kid on this moonlit street caught his eye. He couldn't be older than 19, scruffy but clean shaven, silver hair cropped close on the sides and with a half-smoked cigarrette in one hand as they leaned against the bus stop, alone. It wasn't anything physical that caught the man in red's attention, but an aura, something in the air around this teenager...
The man in red had paused, staring, and this, of course, caught the kid's attention, "The fuck are you staring at huh? Like what you see or somethin'?" the kid spat with vitriol towards the stranger. The man in red cocked his head and approached, it had been some time since he felt something like this and he couldn't quite put his finger on where he'd felt it before. Another vampire? It could be but he wasn't sure. He took off his shades as he approached and locked eyes with the teenager, emerald eyes stared back. "I see... not like me after all. It's a strange place to find a wolf indeed, but then again the full moon up there doesn't seem to be causing you too much trouble." The kid crushed his cigarette and stood up straight, his muscles were clearly tensed and ready for whatever was next, "What's your game Dracula? If you wanna go back to whatever demon's asshole you crawled out of then keep talkin', if not fuck off." The man in red smirked at this, "My 'game' is getting a little dull, but you're the perfect one to shake things up, dog." he spoke as he approached the wolf, getting uncomfortably close by his final word. The wolf growled, "Whatever you say you reject succubus, but I think giving overly enthusiastic hickeys to everyone in sight has seriously destroyed your sense of personal space." The wolf threw a heavy punch that connected solidly with the vampires jaw, forcing him to stumble back a few steps. After a few seconds of shock the vampire chuckled and righted himself fully. "Well shit, I actually felt that! But I'm afraid if you want to achieve more than the catharsis you clearly need, you'll need to go full mutt," he bowed his head and extended a hand, "go ahead, let's see what you've got!" The wolf threw off his shirt and began to change, "Fine then, I'll indulge your death wish!" 
Before long a great silver wolf stood where the boy once did, an amulet shaped like a cresent moon around his neck. The vampire opened his coat to reveal rows and rows of knives, they gently eased themselves out of their pockets and began to circle the vampire slowly. "C'mon little puppy! I'll give you a free shot!" the vampire said condescendingly to the furious wolf, having the knives float behind him, out of the way whilst he stood with his arms wide. Unlike the 'gunslinger' from the pub the wolf didn't hesitate, launching himself at the vampire, tearing into his throat with his razor sharp fangs and clawing at his chest. Unfortunately, after several seconds of mauling the vampires wounds were healing faster than the wolf could make them; he didn't release screams of pain, only the laughter of a maniac. The wolf didn't relent and the vampire began to get bored, after the laughter died down there was a sigh, "Not the one either it seems... a monster even among monsters." With that, the floating knives surrounded the wolf. One by one they plunged into the wolf, first his limbs, getting closer to vitals with each blade. The wolf tried to defend himself, but the blades where everywhere at once; there was no escape from the onslaught of silver as the vampire casually stood and watched the funeral procession. The wolf yelped and whined with every new wound and eventually ran out of strength to even try to fight, collapsing to the ground with a whimper. The vampire crouched beside the dying wolf and rested a hand on his bloodied snout, "It's ok little pup, better now than never," he whispered softly as the final knife struck.

Chapter 7: Roost
Vallentin sighed with relief at being out of the library and turned to a still slightly concerned Sophia, "It's getting late for you, there's just one more place I want to show you before you go home for the night."
"Awww come on Vallentin I wanna see the whole castle!"
"Firstly, I very much value my privacy and secondly, you need to be up bright and early for school tomorrow."
"...I-It's Saturday tomorrow..."
"I see... well you should still get to bed soon, you're a growing Lady."
"Fiiiine, show me this last place then."
"Alrighty then, only problem is that it's quite a walk from here so hold on to your dinner." With that the candles flickered and the pair found themselves in a new room. Sophia was astonished that there were somehow more books on shelves in this circular chamber, the library already contained more books than she'd ever seen at once. The rest of the room was filled with plush furniture for some good old fashioned lounging with a good book, a balcony with a fantastic view of the crecent moon was situated on the far side, revealing that this room was at the very pek of the castle's tallest tower. A hammock swayed gently in the breeze on the balcony
Vallentin broke the few moments of silence he'd left for Sophia to take it all in, "Welcome to my roost atop the tallest tower, I have spent hundreds of years curled up reading or sketching in all this wonderful furniture. The hammock is a new addition and is quickly becoming my favourite." Sophia looked at the hammock closely, there was a fair amount of wear and tear on this supposedly new hammock, "When exactly did you get this hammock?" Vallentin went into deep thought for far longer than he reasonably should have, "...Somewhere between 15... and 60... years ago... I think..." he trailed off. Sophia blinked in momentary confusion, "Vallentin this hammock is older than me." The old vampires eyes widened, "Weeelllll enough of that you should get going."
"Yep, I guess I should..." the two stood in uncomfortable silnce for several seconds "... teleport us Vallentin."
"O-oh right, yes that is a thing I do."
With a click and a flicker they were back in the entrance hall. They said their awkward goodbyes, both considering a hug but ultimately deciding not to, unbeknownst to each other. Sophia quietly strolled home, her parents not really questioning where she'd been, and headed to bed early. Vallentin returned to his hammock with a book he'd read before until sunrise forced him inside.

Chapter 8: Prelude III
Throughout all the man in red's years he'd only encountered a few vampires, all of them young, inexperienced and travelling alone; easy pickings for the likes of him. Even the one who turned him was a pushover after a massacre or fives's worh of blood. So when his travels lead him to rumours of a coven of vampires his curiosity was piqued more than it had been in a long time, especially since vampires were usually very territorial. It didn't take long to quite literally sniff them out, he just followed the stench of blood until he found the overwhelming presence emanating from that many vampires in one place.
When he found the night club they'd taken posession of the moon was high in the sky, it would be a crecent soon to match his new amulet (it was interesting that it contained the wolf but couldn't do the same for a vampire). He sauntered to the front door of the club, getting uncomfortably close to the 6 foot lump of muscle at the door, there was a vampiric presence too which explained the sunglasses at night. The man in red examined the bouncer's face closely for a few seconds before the meathead pushed him back, "Don't think you're on the list, get lost." The man in red lowered his round shades to reveal his crimson irises, "That change your mind?"
"'Fraid not, get goin'" the bouncer replied stoically.
"Aww but I thought we were shades at night buddies!" The man in red teased.
"Whatever you say buddy." The bouncer was thoroughly disinterested.
"Well in that case I'm almost sorry about this, but trust me I'm saving you a lot of trouble in the long run."
Rose surveyed the dance floor full of her loving subjects from the upper bar balcony, seemed like almost everyone was here tonight. She sipped her blood cocktail and watched in satisfaction as her subjects indulged themselves with blood, drink and drugs. Then the front door exploded inwards. The door bludgeoned a few vampires on it's way in, and was followed by bloody chunks of what Rose assumed was the bouncer. Moments later the man in red strode down his newly-made red carpet into the, now silent, club and looked around, "Oh please, you all look like a bunch of spooked animals! Pull yourselves together!" Rose threw her head back, swallowing the last of her cocktail, "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" she screamed at the intruder as she dropped gracefully from the balcony, her stilettos clicking against the hard floor. The man in red's eyes settled on Rose and he lowered his glasses to look her properly in the eye, "Ah good, the Queen of this little court. That saves me the trouble of slaughtering weaklings until you showed yourself." Rose hissed back at this challenger "If you think you can kill my subject then talk to me like that you've got another-" the man in red cut her off, "The time for blustering is over thank you very much. Now, my name is Quillan and I challenge you to a fight to the death."
"Good, now I know what to put on your tombstone. Stand back my pretties, mommy'll take care of this upstart!"
"Oh you misunderstand, as part of your coven the power of these gathered vampires is part of your own. I challenge ALL of you. Right now! ALL AT ONCE!" 
Rose couldn't help but laugh, "Do you honestly think you can take on over 50 vampires at once?! You're insane!"
"Maybe, either way it's not like a wannabe vampire Queen all on her lonesome is even worth my time."
Rose bit her lip and snarled, "Fine! I guess I can share!" 
And with that, countless fangs descended upon Quillan.
After that kerfuffle Quillan ended up coated in even more red than normal as he exited the club into the now silent streets of the city. 'Mommy' was the only one who even approached a level that could be considered a threat, the rest were practically babies. Lambs brought to the slaughter. Very disappointing indeed, though they did have a few interesting drinks he hadn't tried before so maybe not a total waste of time (not that he didn't have an abundance of time to waste as he pleased). Now there was one more rumour to investigate, supposedly some kind of old mystical individual who lived in a castle. Just outside of a town only a few days from this city. Quillan continued his 100 year stroll.

Chapter 9: Daybreak
Sophia woke up bright and early, excited to spend the day with her new friend. She rushed through her monring routine faster than ever before, then began stuffing her backpack full of books. She'd planned exactly what to bring during her walk home the previous night, Vallentin had a whole lot of books but they all looked ancient; he must be running out of things to read by now. By the time she was done, the weight of her bag threatened to make her overbalance. She managed to avoid falling on her journey back to the castle, despite her brisk pace. 
This time she decided to knock politely on the brass knocker instead of just kinda walking in like she foolishly did before. In only a few seconds the double doors swung wide, revealing Vallentin standing all the way at the back of the hall. It took Sophia a moment of confusion to remember that being much closer would get him burned by the sun, so she hurried inside and closed the doors behind her. Vallentin raced dwn the stairs to meet her now that the sun was out of the way,"Sophia! You're back so soon!" he beamed. Sophia replied excitedly, "Well it's not like I have other friends to spend my Saturday with. Anyway, not important! I have some things with me today!"
"Let's get comfy in the roost then, I've already got a pot of tea up there." Vallentin clicked his fingers the two were transported to the plush room of the tallest tower in an instant.
The two flopped onto a pair of enormous, soft armchairs opposite eachother. Sophia immediately hauled her heavy bag onto her lap and began rooting through the contents. Vallentin raised a curious eyebrow but simply let the girl do whatever it was she was up to. She triumphantly lifted a stack of 3 thick books toward Vallentin, who squinted to make out the title, "The Lord of the Rings..." he read aloud. Sophia was practically bouncing in her seat at this point, "Yep! I figured you'd probably gotten through at least most of your books by now, so I brought some new ones for you to borrow." Vallentin almost shed a tear as he gently took the books from Sophia's tiny hands "I'd actually finished them all quite a while ago now... you have no idea how much this means to me."
"Aww no problem! Once you finish those I've got plenty more you can borrow, but i figured you should read some classics first." She hauled the remaining books out of her bag and placed them on the nearby coffee table with a loud thud. Vallentin had been debating for several seconds whether to hug the young girl, he decided that he absolutely must and squeezed her tightly, "Thank you so much. Now, what shall we do today." Sophia returned his embrace gently, "I was thinking we could just... read and talk or something..." She'd been totally taken aback by just how thankful Vallentin was for this small gesture, but also exceedingly proud of herself. "Well I have some nice new books to read, so that sounds like an incredible idea my friend."
And so the two of them talked and read, for so long that they didn't even notice the setting sun. Sophia read a couple of books from Vallentin's collection that he'd recommended, and Vallentin made it just over halfway through the Lord of the Rings trilogy before the two couldn't keep up with a book and a converstion at once.
"...but how did Bilbo even end up with that ring in the first place?" Vallentin mused. Sophia tapped the book on top of Vallentin's unread stack, "read this one after and you'll find out." Sophia replied, restraining herself from explaining.
"Then shouldn't I have read that one first?"
"...Nah it's fine! Just read that one next and you'll get it."
"I'm beginning to think you made a mistake, Miss Redgrave."
"Trust me! I totally know what I'm talking about!"
"Fine, if you insi-" Vallentin's expression dropped in an instant as he felt something he hadn't in a very long time. He vaguely heard Sophia's voice through his shock, but not what she said. A presence had appeared, just on the periphery of his sense for the supernatural, the presence of a vampire. A powerful one. Not just that but they were broadcasting their power, as though they wanted to be sensed. When Vallentin once again became aware of the material, Sophia had walked up to him and was looking at him with concern, she seemed to notice his return to lucidity, "Valletin? Are you ok?." Vallntin found himself continually impressed by how calm and comforting she always was when he was distressed. He took a deep breath, "Yes, quite alright. I just felt the presence of a vampire, several miles away, nothing to worry about. They just took me by surprise is all." Sophia smiled softly, and returned to her seat, "Good. If anythings wrong you better tell me!"
"I'm sure we'll work our way through all the trauma eventually," Vallentin laughed.
"Only if we can get through mine too!" Sophia teased.
The pair chuckled before settling into comfortable silence with their fresh cups of tea. The presence was still sitting uncomfortably at the back of Vallentin's head. There was no way whoever it was would bother with a random castle, Vallentin thought, but he decided to focus back on the presence to put his paranoia at ease. He achieved the opposite. The presence was approaching.

Chapter 10: Old Blood
Quillan looked up at the castle, he saw candlelight coming from the top of the tallest tower. That's also where he felt the vampiric presence he'd just about noticed a few minutes ago, they were either weaker than that wannabe queen or exceptionally good at hiding their presence. The lovely fellow in town who'd given him to directions to the place had said that the rumoured mystic had supposedly lived here for hundreds of years, that made him at least as old as Quillan; so he held onto hope. It was a nice place, nice door too. It was a shame what was about to happen to it. 
Vallentin felt the front door shatter. With a click and a flicker of candles he appeared at the top of the stairs of the entry hall and took in the scene. His lovely hardwood door had turned to splinters that littered the hall, and a man in a red coat and round shades was striding arrogantly through the wreckage. Vallentin's everpresent anxiety was ground to dust by his fury. "BEGONE WRETCH!" he bellowed with a hate more intense than he'd felt in centuries.
Quillan was stopped dead by the booming voice of this vampire, it was loud as thunder and spat with an intense viscera that reminded him of his younger years. But it wasn't just the sound. This vampire's power was also laid to bare. It was vast, all-consuming and filled even Quillan with a primal fear; so intense that it created a physical pressure that even a mortal could feel acutely. Quillan became glad for his shades, hiding the millisecond of fear before he remembered who he was, and that his hunch about their power was right. He had no idea if this man would be a match for him, it had been a long time since that happened. After another beat to compose himself, Quillan spoke;  "Good evening to you too my friend. I think introductions are in order for this beautiful new friendship, my name is Quillan," he performed an extravagant bow.
"I am Lord Vallentin Adolich," Vallentin spat back, "and if you want to be friends then I'm going to need a new door; and for you to stop killing humans, I can smell the blood on your breath from here."
"A guy's gotta eat!" Quillan shrugged.
"I can feel your power, you're well beyond self sufficient by now. You do not."
"Ya caught me red handed!"
"This friendship is off to a poor start."
"Then I'll cut to the chase. We've both been around a few centuries and I'm starting to think that's a bit too long. I have a hunch that you agree. So how about we have a bit of bloody fun and put one thing or another to an end."
"You've underestimated a lot about me, worm. For starters I'm quickly approaching a millenium on this Earth, secondly my value for this world and the life upon it is drastically higher than yours. I have found meaning in an immortal life, think on it another century or two and you can do the same. Now get out." 
Vallentin had quelled his anger and spoke in a calm but stern tone. He realised quickly during Quillan's nihilistic ramblings that he was very close to slipping onto a similar path some time ago; one of the rooms of this castle that he dare not venture into still housed a wooden stake stained with his blood. He could only hope that this beast could save himself as he did. Unfortunately he seemed unmoved from his arrogance.
"A new meaning huh?" Quillan grinned confidently, "Would that be the fresh blood I can smell upstairs?"
Vallentin lunged toward him.

Chapter 11: Danse Macabre
Vallentin's thoughts burned to ash at Quillan's words. Before he even knew what he was doing he had summoned his sword to his hand and was halfway across the hall. Quillan reacted fast; 13 knives flew from inside his coat to intercept Vallentin. All 13 of them were parried with flawless efficiency, not a stride was missed and just like that Vallentin was in striking distance of his opponent. One swing for the neck, ducked by the man in red. A second swing that he couldn't see because of his dipped head, the strike bisected him at the waist. The blade flicked into reverse grip and stabbed through Quillan's forehead and was quickly torn free. His waist had already reattached and he grabbed Vallentin's hand as it approached for a fourth attack. He was halted just long enough for the first knife to fly through the back of his head and out the other side, the rest which trailed behind didn't arrive until the wound was healed and Vallentin had broken free from Quillan's grapple. 4 knives were dodged, the others sliced Vallentin's limbs to ribbons. Another wild slice of his sword was deflected by the first knife. Both had healed all of their wounds.
One second had passed. The blood from Quillan's first wound hit the ground.
Sophia hid in the roost under a blanket, earphones in with her hands clamped over them. Vallentin had only been gone for about a minute but her head was so full of what-ifs that she hadn't sat still for a single second. She had to do something, but what could she do if two vampires were fighting? She had no idea, but she couldn't bare to sit around doing nothing.
By the time she'd ran down the entire tower and into the entrance hall, the room was awash with gore. She didn't see Vallentin or his assailant, but she could feel the overwhelming pressure from their raw power, hear a cacaphony of clashing blades, and see the violent splashes made in the pool of blood by the imperceptable movements of the two monsters. Human eyes couldn't possibly comprehend the frenzied blur of motion, striking with such speed that the clangs of metal sounded like two armies clashing. Sophia stood atop the staircase in awe, frozen in fear and confusion. She was shaken from her stupour within seconds by a clashing sound and barely pereived blur alarmingly close to her face, then the candles flickered and the sensory overload of a battle ceased. Vallentin stood in front of her, "Sophia you have to go now!" Then he was gone again.
Vallentin got lost in his battle against Quillan. His entry hall was drenched in blood, the two of them had recieved no less than a thousand mortal wounds each and neither showed signs of their healing slowing down. All of his thoughts of the combat vanished when a small presence entered his periphery. Quillan noticed it too, smirking like a demon and sending one of his blades toward it. Vallentin was in front of the blade at lightning speed, deflecting it to one side. Lightning speed was barely fast enough. Vallentin sent his intruder into his armour exibit to get him away from Sophia and quickly told her to run before once again giving chase.
Quillan didn't really care that he'd been denied the chance to kill that girl. All he was really after was drawing out all the strength of the Vallentin fellow, surely if he was this powerful then he'd figured out how to infuse his soul into something; like Quillan's own knives. He didn't have to wait long in this room full of armour for his new friend to reappear. "There you are my friend!" he strolled the room inspecting the various suits of armour, "I hope I didn't touch a nerve just then."
"I think that's exactly what you were hoping for. What do you hope to gain from antagonising me?"
"I know you've put your soul into something," Quillan grinned, "You can go ahead and show me, if you keep messing around then i don't know how you expect to win."
Vallentin smirked, "Your knife trick is cute. This castle and everything in it is part of me!" 
Vallentin snapped his fingers and the suits of armour began to move, lifting the weapons on display around them and levelling them towards the man in red. Quillan cackled, "Now we're talking! I've gotta say you're even more incredible than I imagined.!"
Vallentin took a deep breath, "I'm giving you one last chance out of courtesy. I know that right now you feel that life has given you all it has to offer, but there's so much more you can do. You can give back to life. I thought of this many years ago and just in the last day I feel I've done more good than I have in centuries. I beg you to get out and find your meaning."
Quillan rolled his eyes in disgust, "This crap again? How's this, if I kill you then my purpose will be to be God."
His knives spiralled him, ready to start the duel anew. Vallentin spoke no more, the animated armours began to do battle with Quillan.
Eight suits of armour against thirteen knives, whilst the vampires simply watched. The armour immediately took the advantage, they matched the speed of the blades and overpowered them drastically. With the knives occupied, Vallentin lunged for his cackling foe. Quillan couldn't hope to keep up anymore, his knives were being kept from him by the animated armours and without them he couldn't match Vallentin's speed, nor the range of his sword. The entire contents of this room were all but destroyed in the ensuing combat, knocked from their pedestals and drenched in Quillan's blood. He was shredded, over and over, laughing all the while, fighting as hard as he could to no avail. Until the final time his head was sliced from his neck and his lifeless eyes looked up from the pool of blood, a grin still plastered on his face. 
Vallentin looked down with a blank expression, he took no joy in killing this broken man; nor did he feel any sorrow. He had to die, that's all there was to it. For a moment he thought about his lack of feeling about ending a life before realising that he probably shouldn't trust any conclusions he made to emotional dilemmas when he was on his third or fourth one of the day. So he simply turned for the door whilst the animated armours started clearing up the mess, only for the door to burst open in his face. Sophia stood, panting, in the doorway. Vallentin gave her a reassuring smile, "You know you definitely shouldn't have followed me again."
Sophia caught her breath, "I know but adrenaline! And there's no way I was gonna leave you to maybe die!"
Vallentin pulled her into a hug, "Whilst I appreciate the sentiment, there's nothing you could have done. But there's no need to worry; I'm not going anywhere."

Epilogue: Beasts of the Night
I snuck out of the window in the dead of night, if everything went to plan then I should be back before anyone noticed (hopefully with enough time to spare for some sleep). I pulled the hood of my oversized sweater over my head; I'd rather avoid getting into any shit on my way out of town. I only passed by a few groups of people, even fewer that paid me any mind. A sharp glance from under my hood was enough to keep things from escalating in those cases. I'd gotten lucky. 
Buildings quickly thinned after the town's edge. That made my destination very obvious; even luckier, no chance of getting lost on my way to somewhere I'd never actually been. It was an old castle. Not a massive one, relatively speaking, but still a castle. Only one tower but it was at least ten stories. The moon was cresting just next to the peak of the tower, damn was I cutting this close. I couldn't remember the exact name of the type of moon, almost full was a good enough description for me. Maybe considering my situation I should've brushed up on my moon knowledge.
It was only a fifteen minute brisk walk the rest of the way. Now that I was on the doorstep I realised I didn't really know what to expect, but at that point there was no going back. I raised the giant brass knocker and struck it against the door as confidently as I could muster. It was a big place, I figured I'd give it five minutes before I gave up, a couple more knocks in the meantime. It almost took the full five minutes before the massive double doors creaked open slowly. Standing in the doorway was a tall, dark-haired gentleman dressed in fine, very old school clothes. I was taken completely off guard by this guy, I heard an old mystic lived here not an eccentric goth dude in his early twenties. We both stood there in silence for a few seconds before he spoke. "Can I help you?" his voice sounded perplexed at my arrival, but still calm and regal. I was still a little shocked but I figured I may as well ask this guy anyway, old mystic or not, "Uh... yeah I was hoping so. I heard an old mystic lived here and I was hoping for some help with... well y'know... mystical shit." The stranger smiled in relief, tension I hadn't even realised was in his posture dissipated completely. "I might be able to help you," he replied softly "it really depends what it is you need, but I know a lot of... 'mystical shit' as you put it. Come in, we'll have some tea and talk things over." His soft tone and openness put me immediately at ease. I smiled faintly and nodded, following him inside.
The heavy door slammed behind me. In that instant every instinct screamed danger towards me. I tensed as I followed. My instincts were rarely wrong, even less so recently. That's when I smelled it, something new that I couldn't possibly describe pouring off this man. It was the source of my anxiety for sure, but I had no idea what it meant. I wanted to bolt back out of the door as quickly as possible but I restrained myself. If this guy really was dangerous then acting rashly would be as big a death sentence as carelessness, so I decided to play along for now. He lead me to a room with plush furniture and a burning hearth. He smiled warmly towards me again, "Make yourself comfortable, I'll fetch some tea." I struggled to return the smile and took a seat near the hearth. I caught a scent from the chair as I sat; faint, from a couple of hours ago maybe. A combination of cheap perfume and something like a bookshop. There was another person in this chair not long ago.  He strolled quietly out of the room.As soon as the door closed behind him I bolted up from my seat to the door, I placed my ear against it and waited until the sound of his footsteps vanished. I quickly and quietly slipped out of the room the instants the footsteps vanished and sniffed for the scent I'd caught from the chair. There was a trail, not leading out of the door. They were still here. Whoever they were they were in the same danger from this weird guy as I was. I followed my nose through the castle as quickly and quietly as I could, the scent lead me up the main tower. My rush up the spiral staircase felt like an eternity as I pondered the state of whoever was here, I was waiting to smell blood any second. But the smell never came. I reached the final door at the top of the tower and took a deep breath. I burst into the room.
I expected either a locked door or a prison on the other side of it. That is not even close to what I found. I found what can only be described as a reading nook, stacked bookshelves and comfortable furniture pakced the room to the point that this rather large room was actually quite snug. Reclined on a futon with a book was the source of the smell I'd followed, a girl probably a couple of years younger than me. It seemed like her only source of discomfort was my sudden entrance, her eyes went wide and her book hit the floor. Her tone was clearly panicked as she spoke, "Uhh.. Hi?" As confused as I was by this, the disturbing smell was all over this room, so I was still very much in survival mode. I started striding towards her, "Sorry to interrupt but we need to go, right now." She looked puzzled, "What do you mean? You were the person at the door right? Where's Vallentin?" I was getting antsy at this point but didn't want to just grab the girl, "Yeah that was me, and if Vallentin is the creepy guy who lives here I don't know and that's why I'm in such a rush." Undertanding flashed over the girl's face, "Right, sorry but there's just been a big misunderstanding here. Sit down, let me explain."
"A misunderstanding?", I contained how much I wanted to shout, "What I understand is that guy's bad news, I know you've just met this tall, dark and handsome guy but trust me this can only end badly."
"I didn't just meet him, we've been friends for three years." she explained calmly.
At that I faltered, "Wait, what?"
"I guess if you've come here there's something mystical with you, people like that always pick up bad vibes from him but I promise you he is actually as sweet as he presents himself."
Before I could get my next words out the candles flickered and the disturbing smell appeared behind me in an instant. I spun around and swung a fist towards it. My hand was caught effortlessly by the man I'd been told was Vallentin. "There you are!" he exclaimed, somehow sounding relieved. He let go of my hand, "Sorry if I made you jump with that, I was just worried you'd gotten lost." At this point I was managing to keep my fight or flight in check, "Sorry for running off I suppose, it's just... you smell like danger so I thought the worst." I'd realised that if this guy really was evil his actions weren't really adding up, the obvious assumption of vampire was ridiculous considering that this girl had supposedly not been eaten in the last three years. Vallentin smiled warmly again, "Well let's sit, we can have our chat up here instead. But first: introductions. My name is Vallentin and it seems you've met my friend Sophia," she waved shyly from her futon. I sat in a nearby beanbag, "Right, well I'm Luca and i'm here because three weeks ago I was bitten by a werewolf I guess? I don't know if you keep an eye on the moon but it's only a couple of days from full and I want to know if it'll be safe for me to be around anyone."
Vallentin nodded "I've dealt with a similar problem before. Put simply, no. On a full moon you will transform against your will and be in a bloodthirsty rage for the moon's duration."
My spirit dropped immediately, I was hoping all this time that my worries were for nothing.
Sofia piped up from across the room, "Well Vally, he could use the amulet."
"Out of the question." he shot back quickly. Sophia rolled her eyes, " Come on, she was a practical lady she wouldn't want it collecting dust forever. And besides we've talked about this... extensively."
"We have... I suppose you are right as usual."
Vallentin snapped his fingers and a crescent moon amulet appeared in his previously empty hand. He gave it a long look before handing it to me and giving me the hardest look he had since I'd arrived, "This amulet will stop you from transforming or losing control. But if anything happens to it then you'll find out what that bad feeling you got was all about, are we clear." The smell he'd emmitted all along was joined by a physical pressure in the room as his crimson eyes stared deep into mine, it took a stunning amount of will not to flee there and then. "Y-yes sir! Clear!" The pressure disappeared in an instant and he reverted to his kind, reserved self, "Good, then I'm happy to help. Stay a while and we can chat, I have a few things I can teach you about your abilities if you like."
I stayed with the unusual pair for an hour longer, I learned a lot about keeping the wolf in check over some tea. But I did need to get home soon, so I had to leave the duo to their reading sooner than I would've liked. Fortunately I was invited back by Sophia any time, I figured I'd make sure to stop by every now and then.