The Beast in Man (Vampires in Berlin: Book One)

The Beast in Man Part 10

Richard slowly slipped from the sleep of the dead into full consciousness, grogginess lasting for only a few seconds, before his mind cleared and he stared up at the ceiling, eyes blinking rapidly against the darkness in the room. Beside him, he felt the comforting presence of Paul, motionless, while he read a book. The room was dark and no light shone was seen anywhere.

"How are you even reading, Paulchen?" he asked, with a yawn, that revealed sharp fangs to the light.

"Well, you know those weird black blobs you see in books? They're called words, and I've learnt to read them," Paul said, but his voice was warm with teasing amusement.

"Fuck you, Landers, you knew what I meant," Richard said, as he reached up to pinch one of Paul's nipples.

Paul's laughter was broken by his sudden sharp yelp of surprised pain.

"Okay, I knew. Stop it, Reesh. No more twisted nipples, please. To answer your question, brand new and improved eyesight helps. Everything's changed since I became one with the night," Paul said, as he rubbed at his twisted nipple with one hand. "Seriously, I can count the whiskers of a cat a half mile away on a moonless night. Don't tell me you haven't noticed?"

"I have, but I haven't tried actually reading in the bloody dark," Richard said, with a laugh. "What the hell has happened to my face, anyway? It bloody hurts."

"That was Schneider," Paul said and Richard could clearly see the other man's guilty expression in the darkness.

"What the hell did he to me? Feels like I had my face ironed or something," Richard said, as he pressed gently exploratory fingers against his face.

"He opened the bedroom curtains before I could stop him," Paul explained. "Seemed to think the whole vampirism thing was a joke, and it was only when your face started burning that he realised it wasn't."

"Jesus," Richard said. "I could report him for G.B.H. or something, couldn't I?"

"Bloody G.B.H.," Paul said, with a laugh. "Trust me, your burn was much worse earlier in the afternoon. It's healed quite a lot since then."

"Does it look very bad? It does, doesn't it?" Richard asked, as he probed at his cheek again. "Fuck."

"Relax, Reesh; it's fine," Paul insisted, with a frown. "Like I said, it's looking much better than it did earlier in the day and by the morning, it won't even be there, anymore. If it makes you feel better, I think it makes you look quite sexy, being all scarred and whatnot."

"I don't wanna be scarred, Paul," Richard moaned. "Especially not on my damned face, where everyone can see it."

"They won't," Paul said, with a long suffering sigh. "You'll be fine; you'll see."

Richard grumbled, but otherwise said nothing. Paul returned his attention to his book and continued to read; his fingers rustled against the page when he turned it, before Richard spoke again.

"Paulchen?" he asked.

"Hmmm?" Paul asked, as he turned another page in his book.

"How did the others take it?" Richard asked. "The vampire thing, I mean."

"Okay, I suppose," Paul replied, with a shrug. "They all thought I was joking at first, until they saw first my near-non-existent reflection and the fact that you were burnt."

"Yeah?" Richard prompted, sensing that there was more that Paul had to say.

"And Flake was worried about the band ending and then being bitten," he laughed.

"And?" Richard asked, insistently.

"Well, we're gonna play it by ear for now; both of us are going to record at night whilst everyone else is gonna keep to the daytime, then we'll take it from there," Paul said, before he continued filling Richard in with all that he himself had proposed to the band some hours before.