For Centuries - Season 1 [Completed]

Episode 10

"Ain't No Way", Aretha Franklin

I received another text message a few minutes later, from Aidan, asking if he could come to my apartment to talk. I agreed. I wanted to know what he had to say.

When he arrived, just in time, he passed his hand in his hair, which was wet because of the rain. He looked uneasy as if he did not know what to do. I took his black jacket and his grey scarf and showed him the living room.

He did not move for a minute and then suddenly looked around. Like at his place, there were bookshelves everywhere and some works of art. His eyes lingered on old books and finally stopped on a display of ancient swords and knives on one of the walls. "It's a beautiful collection," he said.

I smiled. "Thank you. These objects mean a lot to me."

I sat down on the sofa and waited until he finally faced me and sat down on an armchair.

"I wanted to come and see you because I was upset about the way I left yesterday," he said. "I'm very sorry that you're involved in this. I don't want to talk about what happened with James because it's a part of me that I don't want you to see."

"Listen, Aidan, you are a vampire. It does not come as a surprise to me that you may have done things that you regret. I understand that. The only question for me is: what kind of man do you want to be now?"

He sighed. "I don't really know. But you don't understand. I... I did things..."

"Do you still drink human blood?" I asked as gently as I could.

"Not anymore."

"That is something. You know, I have done things in my life too. 'I am not that innocent.'" He smiled with sadness and I continued: "Of course, you are allowed to have your secrets. However, in this situation, I just need to know what I am dealing with. And I hoped that you would trust me enough to tell me at least part of it."

"Trust is not something that comes easy to me."

I smiled. "I understand. Believe me."

He got up and paced the room and while he was turning his back at me, he told the whole story. "I killed James' family. All of them. His parents and his two sisters. I didn't know he existed. They were just my prey of the night and he was not in the house when it happened. It was a rough era for me. I was more than three hundred years old and some things had happened and I had lost control. When I met him years later, he had been turned into a vampire. We were together at first but not for long. It didn't work. Then we became friends. We helped each other to keep our thirst under control. I had no idea, but one day I finally understood who he was. I... I couldn't find it in me to tell him. A few months ago, completely by chance, he learned the truth. He did not take it well. He just lost it. I hadn't seen him like that in a very long time. But he has every reason to hate me."

As I stayed quiet, Aidan turned his head and finally looked at me. I knew that there was nothing I could say to him that would be appropriate. So I got up and took his head in my hands. He was surprised and took a step back, but then I opened my mind, for him to feel a part of what I felt and some of my memories, as old immortals can do.

While the images and the emotions I shared flowed in his mind, a tear rolled on his face. He rested his head on my shoulder and I held him tight. We stayed like this for a few seconds before he rushed out of the room and left. I stood alone, follow-ups of the feelings and the memories I had shared with him rushing chaotically in my mind. I knew this profound anguish that comes with the guilt of having hurt someone.