Never wake a Dragon (on hold)

9. part IV - a vampire's nest

It was impossible to say what time it was. The window was barred shut to prevent even the smallest trickle of sunlight to escape inside. Vampires needed to recharge in absolute darkness, and they struggled when the sun stood too high, but light wasn't lethal to them. That would have made it next to impossible to stay in Sweden during the summer months when the sun barely set. It helped that it danced along the horizon for hours on end.

Nev snored against his shoulder. The vampire deserved to sleep for a few more hours, so he carefully extracted his arm trapped beneath Nev's neck and sat up, his feet on the cold floor. He smelled like he'd slept in his clothes.

Inside the tiny bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face and made an attempt to freshen up without a shower. His body resisted every move, all tense muscles and stiff joints. He felt old. The mirror revealed a sad image of a demon who still feared his parents and spent nights in terrors of the past. And future. He hoped that wasn't the case. His eyes revealed that he wasn't sure. They were glazed, tired. He splashed his face again, soaking his hands until they burned from the cold.

Nev hadn't so much as stirred when he returned, and the vampire kept still while he changed his clothes. The air smelled of fear, a lingering trace of what had happened earlier. When he could no longer the quiet darkness, he aimed for the door before he had time to chicken out. The corridor was brighter, illuminated by the tall window at the far end. It was the light of a receding sun. He had slept longer than he'd thought. Afraid that stillness would bring memories, he began to walk aimlessly, studying details in the ceiling, on the walls, along the stairs. There was not a speck of dust in sight.

The vampires had a kitchen. An odd detail in a castle built to house those who ate nothing else than blood. He found it on the first floor, tucked away in a building that connected to the main castle via a narrow walkway with small windows well above his head. The large refrigerator was the first item that struck him as something modern. It buzzed with more life than he'd sensed since he'd stepped out of Nev's room.

Bags of blood cluttered the shelves beneath fluorescent light. Useless. He closed the fridge and sat on one of the tall chairs around the kitchen island. Reaching for his phone only to remember that he'd deliberately left it in the room to avoid the call he expected in one form or the other. Kyung wouldn't stay silent forever.

"Who are you?"

He looked over his shoulder. The girl, dressed in clothes that made her look more human than vampire, tucked a strand of blue hair behind her ear while she shifted subtly from one foot to the other.

"I'm Adeem."

"You're not a vampire." She sounded young. He guessed she had been turned recently.

"I'm a demon." He had no reason to hide his identity, besides, she seemed harmless.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, as if that was an easy question to answer.

"I was invited."

She frowned. "I don't believe you."

He blinked, and she was gone. The only proof that she hadn't been a figment of his imagination was the faint sound of hurried footsteps. She would get someone else, hopefully someone who could arrange food. He usually hated hunger, but his growling stomach worked as a strange reminder that he was very much alive.

She came back with a tall vampire decked in more leather than a biker-if that was even possible. He had a feeling the guy had been turned for the sole purpose of scaring others into submission. The guy had more muscles than he'd seen on any other vampire. They couldn't bulk up once they'd been changed, trapped in a single form until they died. He had a feeling that was one of the reasons they kept changing their hair color all the time. Nev had been through both a purple and a red phase last year.