Chapter 52: A Child of the Night
"Not today either?" Valentine asks with frustration at the bartender's shaking head. He doesn't like the smirk the bartender has when he looks at him, and imagine he's having a lot of fun on his behalf. For a brief moment he considers feeding on him just to get even, but decides it will disrupt the lounge too much. No need to upset the other customers. He accepts the plasma drink the bartender offers, not so much because he likes it, but because it's what you do at a lounge.
It's the third night running that he's been here, often all night, without any sign of Helena - or for that matter of Vatore. He's less concerned about him, however, than her and has almost forgotten the weird encounter on Winterfest eve. He grumbles under his breath as he finds himself a seat and start scanning the room for someone to feed on tonight.
He's certain it's because he didn't show up that night. Here he was with a perfectly good date, and the count went and ruined it all. Just as he was heading for the door, perfumed, hair in perfect order, the count stopped him in his tracks.
"Good, you have awakened," he'd said. "We have an important endeavour to night. I am pleased I did not need to rouse you from your sleep."
"Tonight?" Valentine had asked, turning from the door. "What time? I was just-"
"I trust there is nothing faltering with your hearing. We are to visit with Louis and Lena and see the babe and will be departing shortly."
"And it has to be tonight? I was heading to the lounge. To feed?" He was not sure why he didn't just tell the truth, but something made him think twice about that. The count had made no effort what so ever to see the baby before, nor had he shown any interest in him. In fact in the interactions they've had he'd not even asked about the baby. And now tonight they were suddenly going.
The count looked impatient. "If it did not have to be to night, I would not have made arrangements for to night. The babe is now at an age where it should be possible to determine if it is indeed a child of the night or merely a human. If it is indeed a child of the night it is important to greet him as such, and if not... well let's not dwell on that unfortunate possibility."
Valentine couldn't help it, he was intrigued. "What do you mean a human? Louis and Lena are both vampires, surely-" He stepped back from the door, moving closer to the count.
"There are still a lot you need to learn about our physiology," the count answered, a small smile playing on his lips as Valentine's curiosity was roused. "Reproducing through childbirth is a very human method. Vampires are sired, not born. At least not commonly so. The older a vampire is, the less likely she is to be able to bear a child at all. The younger she is the more human her womb still is, and the more likely she is to produce a human child. At no point is it safe to assume that the child born will be a child of the night. They are extremely rare."
"And you need to wait to determine this?" Valentine asked.
"As I have already stated."
"But if the child is human it would have a human heartbeat, something you can hear quite easily."
"As I said, there is a lot you do not yet know. A vampire child is born with a heartbeat, a necessity for surviving in the womb. It takes time for it to still and quiet down. Only then do you know if the child is pure or unpure."
"Unpure?"
"Mortal, then, if you prefer," the count said dismissively.
"And if it is mortal?"
"Let us hope that it is not," was the only answer he received. Valentine shivered, without really realising why. This entire conversation was making him uncomfortable.
They left not long after and there had been no talk further of Valentine going to the lounge. From outside Louis and Lena's house he could see the entrance, the crypt that hid the lounge beneath, the mortals that came like tourists to this place, lured by either vampires or some sense of adventure, but the count did not stop and soon they were in Louis and Lena's living room, their hosts acting strangely cheerful in a way that was not natural for the pair at all. Valentine tried to lighten the mood, but there was no mistaking Lena's nervousness as the count brought up their child.
And yet, when asked, she led the way up to the room that had once been Valentine's but was now a nursery, and at first showed the child, then when the Count requested it, well demanded it really, she handed him the baby. Even if Valentine tried to convince himself that it was perfectly normal to be introduced to the child of a friend, he could not avoid seeing the worried look on her face, or the scowl on Louis' face as he sat tense and rigid in the chair next to the crib.
The Count, however, seemed to notice none of his, but examined the child in his own leisure, before announcing that this child was indeed a child of the night, without human traces. There was no mistaking the relief on Lena's face, and the first genuine smile came over her as the Count praised her on succeeding to bear a child of the undead.
That was three days ago, and when Valentine arrived at the lounge that evening he didn't see a trace of either Helen or Vatore. Nor has he since. As the selection of people at the lounge seems particularly poor this evening, he's just about to leave when suddenly he spots Vatore sitting in the corner. How could he not have noticed him coming in?
It's the third night running that he's been here, often all night, without any sign of Helena - or for that matter of Vatore. He's less concerned about him, however, than her and has almost forgotten the weird encounter on Winterfest eve. He grumbles under his breath as he finds himself a seat and start scanning the room for someone to feed on tonight.
He's certain it's because he didn't show up that night. Here he was with a perfectly good date, and the count went and ruined it all. Just as he was heading for the door, perfumed, hair in perfect order, the count stopped him in his tracks.
"Good, you have awakened," he'd said. "We have an important endeavour to night. I am pleased I did not need to rouse you from your sleep."
"Tonight?" Valentine had asked, turning from the door. "What time? I was just-"
"I trust there is nothing faltering with your hearing. We are to visit with Louis and Lena and see the babe and will be departing shortly."
"And it has to be tonight? I was heading to the lounge. To feed?" He was not sure why he didn't just tell the truth, but something made him think twice about that. The count had made no effort what so ever to see the baby before, nor had he shown any interest in him. In fact in the interactions they've had he'd not even asked about the baby. And now tonight they were suddenly going.
The count looked impatient. "If it did not have to be to night, I would not have made arrangements for to night. The babe is now at an age where it should be possible to determine if it is indeed a child of the night or merely a human. If it is indeed a child of the night it is important to greet him as such, and if not... well let's not dwell on that unfortunate possibility."
Valentine couldn't help it, he was intrigued. "What do you mean a human? Louis and Lena are both vampires, surely-" He stepped back from the door, moving closer to the count.
"There are still a lot you need to learn about our physiology," the count answered, a small smile playing on his lips as Valentine's curiosity was roused. "Reproducing through childbirth is a very human method. Vampires are sired, not born. At least not commonly so. The older a vampire is, the less likely she is to be able to bear a child at all. The younger she is the more human her womb still is, and the more likely she is to produce a human child. At no point is it safe to assume that the child born will be a child of the night. They are extremely rare."
"And you need to wait to determine this?" Valentine asked.
"As I have already stated."
"But if the child is human it would have a human heartbeat, something you can hear quite easily."
"As I said, there is a lot you do not yet know. A vampire child is born with a heartbeat, a necessity for surviving in the womb. It takes time for it to still and quiet down. Only then do you know if the child is pure or unpure."
"Unpure?"
"Mortal, then, if you prefer," the count said dismissively.
"And if it is mortal?"
"Let us hope that it is not," was the only answer he received. Valentine shivered, without really realising why. This entire conversation was making him uncomfortable.
They left not long after and there had been no talk further of Valentine going to the lounge. From outside Louis and Lena's house he could see the entrance, the crypt that hid the lounge beneath, the mortals that came like tourists to this place, lured by either vampires or some sense of adventure, but the count did not stop and soon they were in Louis and Lena's living room, their hosts acting strangely cheerful in a way that was not natural for the pair at all. Valentine tried to lighten the mood, but there was no mistaking Lena's nervousness as the count brought up their child.
And yet, when asked, she led the way up to the room that had once been Valentine's but was now a nursery, and at first showed the child, then when the Count requested it, well demanded it really, she handed him the baby. Even if Valentine tried to convince himself that it was perfectly normal to be introduced to the child of a friend, he could not avoid seeing the worried look on her face, or the scowl on Louis' face as he sat tense and rigid in the chair next to the crib.
The Count, however, seemed to notice none of his, but examined the child in his own leisure, before announcing that this child was indeed a child of the night, without human traces. There was no mistaking the relief on Lena's face, and the first genuine smile came over her as the Count praised her on succeeding to bear a child of the undead.
That was three days ago, and when Valentine arrived at the lounge that evening he didn't see a trace of either Helen or Vatore. Nor has he since. As the selection of people at the lounge seems particularly poor this evening, he's just about to leave when suddenly he spots Vatore sitting in the corner. How could he not have noticed him coming in?
Getting up, he walks over. It's not Helena, but at least he knows him, and he's still curious about what he has to say that he felt he could not say at the house.
Vatore seems to almost hold court in his corner, surrounded by the mortals that flock to this place like flies to a candle, but as Valentine approaches he leaves them and guides Valentine over to a table where they can be alone.
"Took you long enough to come," he says.
"I couldn't- the Count he-"
"I already know," Vatore interrupts him, looking amused, as if this is just a big game. "Word travels fast around here and the most loyal of followers still react when their child is threatened."
"He never actually threatened the child-"
"Not all threats need to be spoken, or what do you think would have happened to the child if he had determined it was not a pure vampire?"
"I- I don't know."
"Ignorance is a choice. You can't hide behind it."
"That's what he would say."
"I know, who do you think I heard it from? I am the first to admit that a lot of the things he says are valid, we just draw different conclusions from it. I lived for a long time in willful ignorance in the comfort of his shadow. I choose not to now. What you choose is up to you."
"What is it that you think I need to know," Valentine asks, but Vatore just shakes his head.
"That's not for me to tell you," he answers. "If I tell you everything, then you will choose to trust me, or him - and neither leads you to find answers for yourself. If you want to know, you will need to make an effort. I can, however, point you in the right direction."
"And which is that."
"The library at the museum in Tartosa has a lot of interesting volumes on the history of Forgotten Hollow, and the Count, though they believe him to be several individuals. His basement is another place, as is the many tombstones around this town."
"He's told me not to go into his basement."
"Of course he has. And sometime you hear strange noises from there, and you cannot help but to wonder what they are."
"He says it's the wind."
"Do you believe him?" Valentine hadn't really thought about it, but when he did, he realised he didn't, and that he never had.
Vatore smiled. "When you are ready, if you choose to be ready, come visit me and my sister sometime. Know that the Count will not be pleased that you do, but there is little that he can do to stop you. I am your sire, and as such have a right to know you that even the Count cannot deny though he tries his best."
Vatore seems to almost hold court in his corner, surrounded by the mortals that flock to this place like flies to a candle, but as Valentine approaches he leaves them and guides Valentine over to a table where they can be alone.
"Took you long enough to come," he says.
"I couldn't- the Count he-"
"I already know," Vatore interrupts him, looking amused, as if this is just a big game. "Word travels fast around here and the most loyal of followers still react when their child is threatened."
"He never actually threatened the child-"
"Not all threats need to be spoken, or what do you think would have happened to the child if he had determined it was not a pure vampire?"
"I- I don't know."
"Ignorance is a choice. You can't hide behind it."
"That's what he would say."
"I know, who do you think I heard it from? I am the first to admit that a lot of the things he says are valid, we just draw different conclusions from it. I lived for a long time in willful ignorance in the comfort of his shadow. I choose not to now. What you choose is up to you."
"What is it that you think I need to know," Valentine asks, but Vatore just shakes his head.
"That's not for me to tell you," he answers. "If I tell you everything, then you will choose to trust me, or him - and neither leads you to find answers for yourself. If you want to know, you will need to make an effort. I can, however, point you in the right direction."
"And which is that."
"The library at the museum in Tartosa has a lot of interesting volumes on the history of Forgotten Hollow, and the Count, though they believe him to be several individuals. His basement is another place, as is the many tombstones around this town."
"He's told me not to go into his basement."
"Of course he has. And sometime you hear strange noises from there, and you cannot help but to wonder what they are."
"He says it's the wind."
"Do you believe him?" Valentine hadn't really thought about it, but when he did, he realised he didn't, and that he never had.
Vatore smiled. "When you are ready, if you choose to be ready, come visit me and my sister sometime. Know that the Count will not be pleased that you do, but there is little that he can do to stop you. I am your sire, and as such have a right to know you that even the Count cannot deny though he tries his best."
"He has tried to stop you?"
"He put you up with Louis and Lena, did he not? How many times have you seen me since? Decorum and tradition, and he holds strongly to both, demanded that he invited me on your anniversary party, which is the only reason he did. But while I am not welcome in his house, you are welcome to call on mine." He got up.
"He put you up with Louis and Lena, did he not? How many times have you seen me since? Decorum and tradition, and he holds strongly to both, demanded that he invited me on your anniversary party, which is the only reason he did. But while I am not welcome in his house, you are welcome to call on mine." He got up.
"You're leaving?"
"I need to figure out which one will be my willing donor tonight," Vatore said with a almost wolfish grin, indicating the humans in the lounge.
"Willing donor?"
"You never thought to ask permission, did you? I'm not surprised, neither the Count nor his followers believe in doing so. But if you did, you'd be surprised at how many will say yes, if you just ease them into it first." He turned to leave, but just as he was about to, he turned back. "Speaking of yes, Helena just might, but she's insulted, and you have some grovelling to do. I would suggest flowers as a start, she likes flowers."
"I don't know where to find her."
"Easy, it's the house next to mine." And with that he walks away.
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