The Hunt

15


The night had grown even more wondrous. Andreji had handed River back his driver’s license and his credit card. In other words, River had become a fully-fledged person again. He had stared at his Master as if he were seeing him for the first time. The young man felt as if the vampire had laid his life back into his own hands. The elder man seemed to have said the truth: he had not made River his captive out of his own accord.

When Andreji had stood in the door, about to leave, River had held him back. He had seized his Master’s hand and looked into his grey-blue eyes with a totally different feeling settling in his stomach. “Thank you,” he had said, and a small cool shudder had run down his back.

Andreji had looked at him indifferently, as if he had not attached any importance to his actions and lacked understanding for River’s gratitude.

Now, River stepped out of the train in Bruxelles, a mobile phone number in his newly acquired wallet his only link to his Master. He was to meet Andreji in a week’s time in Vienna.

The station was noisy and crowded. French, German, and English voices mingled, doves were searching the ground for food that travellers might have thrown away, and a boy was chasing them. River just stood there in the middle of the turbulence, looking around. Finally, he followed an exit sign. A week was enough time to take the journey slowly; he would spend the day in this town.

Despite having been appreciated as a smart pupil at school, the blond had not developed any interest in sight seeing to polish up his general education. He had poured long enough over old, dusty tomes. All River wanted to do was enjoy the day. He bought a disc man and some of his favourite albums, assuming that he would never see his extensive record collection again, and went to the movies after securing a cheap but acceptable bed in a hotel.

At night, he stood at the window and looked out onto the city lights from his twelfth-storey-room. He was still going over everything that had happened in the past months. Lukas and the others were dead, and he had been forced to give up his life. Ray despised him. However, in some way, River was now close to the point that he had been steering towards, before he had stepped into Andreji’s trap. Acknowledging the gaps in his hunting training and impressed by Andreji’s whole appearance, River had wanted to be apprenticed to him. Now here he was.

Granted, this ‘apprenticeship’ comprised more than River had dreamed about, but being with Andreji felt so right… That had little to do with the sexual attraction Andreji exerted on him. True, it overwhelmed River when it happened. Yet there was something beyond this physical magnetism that drew River to Andreji. The man seemed so self confident, so calm. The blond thought nothing would ever be able to shake his Master. River had drifted through life after his mother had died, lacking a direction, lacking a goal. Andreji somehow promised guidance. He held his hand out for River without robbing him of his freedom, so it seemed now. He knew that was not exactly true, Andreji was leading him into a direction River would never have chosen out of his own volition, still something inside of him told River to go along.

He arrived at Vienna three days too early. Lucky that it was not the busy season, he got a hotel room easily. The first two days, he enjoyed the city, took long walks, and went out to a club once. However, he grew restless. His mind switched to Andreji constantly. River could not help but wonder whether this was truly an effect of ‘the process’ as he had neutrally labelled it in his mind - of having drunken Andreji’s blood - or if not Andreji might have told him a wild cock and bull story to keep him in line and he was now imagining everything.

To fight his restlessness, River started exercising again. During his time under ground, his desire to do that had been very limited. Now that his prospects were much better, it was time to take care of his body again. Andreji would surely not appreciate to fight alongside someone who was not in proper shape. River was probably hopelessly inferior to his Master anyway; he was at least bound to make an effort. The hotel luckily had a well equipped gym, and a park was nearby.

Andreji would be forced to alter his fledgling’s training now, would he not? After all, they were far away from his book collection. Well, River was; he had no idea where Andreji presently spent his time. He had sent Andreji a text message with the name of his hotel and awaited him each night, but the man took his time. On the eighth day, River tried to call him.

“The number you have called is temporarily unavailable.”

River hung up with a frown. What if he needed Andreji’s help? He slumped onto his bed, disappointedly. He could still feel the warm touch of the older man on his skin. Andreji’s scent… Where was he now? Had he perhaps used his vampire connections to gain knowledge about River’s actions, to check if he did what he had been told? In that case, his Master would know that he was okay and therefore had no reason to wait for his call. That made sense… Still, it did not cheer River up. That did not make Andreji come to him. Did his journey just take longer than the vampire had assumed? Or was he taking care of a job on the way?

It was the first hour of the eleventh day when a determined knock on the French window that led to the small balcony of River’s room called the young man out of his slumber. Drowsily he switched off the TV that was still running and wiped his eyes as he blinked towards the dark night outside. The knock was repeated. River started and hurried to open the window, adrenaline filling his veins.

He could not keep a smile off his face as Andreji entered. That was the man as he had first met him – hair untidy, clothes dirty. He even had a beard! River distantly wondered about that – in most tales, a vampire’s appearance was conserved the way it had been when he had died. Since he had never seen Andreji bearded, he had assumed that Andreji could not grow one… However, given that the transformation took a lot more time than the myths said, all this thinking did not make sense, did it?

“You took your time.” The tall man dropped the slim, elongate bag that he had carried on his back onto the floor.

“Me?” River said in mock indignation. “Well, I’m sorry that I’ve not stayed awake the past… -what’s it been? Seventy-two hours? No, I think it’s been longer. You wanted to be here three and a half days ago…!”

Andreji smirked. “Well, I fear I am not used to someone checking the clock for when I am coming home… -You could have slept during the days in any case.”

“I had better things in mind,” River retorted, knowing that Andreji had not meant the suggestion serious but keeping up their mock conversation.

“So did I,” Andreji answered back smugly and turned to look for the bathroom. “You would not have some shaving equipment for an old, indigent man, would you?”

River snorted and led the way. “Where have you been, anyway?”

Andreji shrugged, binding his hair back. Seen in the light of the bathroom lamp, he actually looked pretty good with a beard. It made him look rougher, more masculine, and somehow brought out his eyes even better. “I have made a little detour to see a few old friends and attend to a few things.” He eyed the razor River had handed him, turning it in his hand, and then put it aside to apply some shaving foam first.

“And it was necessary to switch off your mobile for that?” River enquired sceptically.

His Master’s eyes gleamed as he answered, “Not all vampires are domesticated.”

River frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Andreji drew cleanly shaved lines into the white foam. “The Scottish clan differs from others in its lifestyle, in its principles. It regards the other vampires as inferior, looks down upon their animalistic way of life – in short, it disapproves of the speed with which they breed, of the way in which they feed. Continental vampires and also some English and Welsh specimen listen much more to their natural instincts. They have no need for mobile phones and would find it strange for me to use one.”

River nodded as a sign that he accepted the explanation.

He watched Andreji move the razor over his throat, strangely fascinated by it. Offhandedly, he embraced his Master from behind, giving into the desire to be close to him.

He felt a warm hand on his, caressing it. “Missed me so much?”

“I admit, I have spent a few thoughts on you, but I can’t say that I went through the extremes you have mentioned,” River denied what was obvious.

“Naturally.” Andreji smiled. “I have not been away long enough for it to have any severe effects on you. It would, believe me; I know what I am talking about…” There was a strange seriousness in the man’s voice.

“You still miss him, don’t you? Your Master, I mean,” River asked silently, sensing that there was something stirring in the man that he held on to so tightly. “Is that why you were so loath to take a fledgling, because deep inside you still mourn for him?”

Andreji did not reply. Yet sometimes silence spoke louder than words. After a while, Andreji turned around and pressed a soft kiss on River’s temple. “Let me take a shower; I am filthy.”

“I’ve got a nose,” River informed him to lighten up his mood.

Andreji smiled benignly and closed the bathroom door after River had stepped out.

A quarter of an hour later, Andreji left the bathroom, clean and good smelling again, and slumped down on the bed next to his fledgling. Lying on his back, with his hands resting folded on his stomach, he turned his head to look at River. “So, what now?” His facial expression and his voice held something playful.

River looked at him in surprise. “Why do you ask me? I thought you were the ‘Master’.”

Andreji lifted an eyebrow, a smile touching his lips. “Am I?” His eyes moved to the side as if he were thinking, than returned to look at River. “Well, in that case…”

Before River knew what was happening, Andreji had pinned him down on the bed, swift as a cat.

The vampire eyed the smaller man intently. “Badam, badam, badam…,” he imitated River’s fast heartbeat. “Does this irritate you?” he asked, an unfathomable expression upon his face.

“You can hear my heart?” River asked back instead of answering his Master’s question to distract both himself and the man that pinned him down. He breathed heavily. What was the man up to all of a sudden?

Andreji smirked meaningfully, licked his lower lip, and captured River’s mouth. Relieved that Andreji had chosen that option, River gladly joined in the kiss. Soon however, his Master let his lips and his tongue wander over River’s cheek to the side of his neck. The blond stiffened. The elder man chuckled, his warm breath flowing over River’s skin. He moved on, playfully biting his fledgling’s nipples.

“Turn around…,” he murmured against the half-Japanese’s chest.

Something in River was stubborn – and cautious. “You wish.”

A mischievous smirk spread over the full width of Andreji’s face. River noticed that Andreji hardly ever showed his teeth on such occasions; he had not caught sight of his fangs so far. His Master pulled him into another sensual kiss. “Turn around…”

The room was dark. Andreji had switched off the beside-lamp. His body covered River’s; his breathing was the only sound audible. The blond was exhausted, sleepy, and deeply content. Absentmindedly, he twirled a strand of Andreji’s hair between his fingers.

“Was not too bad, was it?” Andreji murmured.

River chuckled. “No, it wasn’t.” After a moment, he added, “I only wish I knew what you’re up to in advance. You really scared me for a moment with that gleam in your eyes.”

“Ah, but then it would not be exciting anymore…!”

River refused to give an answer to the man’s playful comment. Andreji outmatched him in those wordplays anyway.

“I’ve been wondering for a while,” he picked up a different topic instead, “your…” River stopped himself and rephrased the sentence, sensing it might not be intelligent to still call the man Andreji had just duelled with his ‘Master’. “The leader said something about me reacting to you in a certain way and you marking me. What was that about?”

Andreji spoke close to River’s ear. “I wondered when you would come up with that question.” He rolled off River’s back with a sigh.

River shrugged, his hands placed under his chin. “Perhaps your absence has cleared off the fog in my mind. I mean, your saliva has a tranquilising effect on most humans, yet it does not have that on me. But that doesn’t mean it has no effect on me, right?”

Andreji’s face was turned towards his; that was all that River could determine in the dark. “And what effect do you think I have on you?”

River sat up, switching from post orgasmic chill to talking mode. “Well, it’s pretty strange how quickly the two of us got intimate, right? I’m not exactly the type for that. I mean, I’m not the one to hold hands for months before taking the next step either, but I usually prefer to at least get to know a few basic facts about the other person before sinking onto my knees to… you know.”

River was certain that Andreji smirked at this. He went on. “I guess that I’m attracted to you like any other human, or more precisely, that this lies within your vampiric nature – attracting people – but instead of being a willing victim, I’ve reacted to you in a more responsive, more sexual way and that’s how you knew I was a potential fledgling. Is that about right?”

“You are close, yes,” Andreji said with a soft voice into the darkness. “It was, however, not the way you acted towards me that let me know you were special in that sense. Nature has it that my presence, my scent, immediately set your body in a state in which it changed its own scent. In other words, it is not only I who attracts you, but your body has means of drawing me to you as well. It responds.”

“So you are a mere slave of your hormones?” River asked mockingly.

Andreji erupted in a pearly laughter. “No. Neither are you.”

“I did make the decision to be your fledgling myself, then? I’m here out of my own accord, not because of your influence on me?” River enquired sceptically.

Andreji sighed. “Yes and no. The longer you stay around your potential Master, the stronger the attraction will grow. Still, it is fightable. I did so for years when I was in your position. Most vampires do not invest that much time, so had my Master not been so determined that I am the one he wanted, I would have remained human. In your case, however, I guess it was only a matter of time. You have had too much physical contact with me to fight off the pull towards me forever.”

River had to stomach that. He sat in silence for a while.

“Hey,” Andreji said soothingly. River felt him brush over his chest. He tolerated the touch. “Am I so despicable that this is such a shock to you?”

“I’m hardly in the state to give you an objective opinion about that, am I?” River replied cynically.

Andreji’s hand settled on the nape of his neck and pulled him into a kiss. River felt the impulse to fight it off, yet he did not. Instead, he felt how it rendered his mind at ease. A small moan escaped him as he felt his body collide with Andreji’s. “You’re a bastard,” he mumbled when he finally sank against Andreji’s chest.

“Thank you; I have been made aware of that from an early age on, you do not need to tell me. However, at this point I have to disagree. There is no sense in trying to fight your feelings, River. Once they have been planted in you, you have to accept them or else you will go down. I was just trying to make the decision easier for you.”

River snorted. “Easier…” He moved even closer to his Master. “If you managed to hold your Master off for ages, how come you are a vampire, now?” He longed to know.

Andreji sighed, apparently loath to discuss this topic. “Demyan waited until I was weakest and could not fight him; then he forced me to my luck, more or less. It was not that I found him repelling; I was just stubborn. I thought he was mad courting a man, despite feeling the pull myself.”

“That sounds romantic,” River commented ironically.

“…And still he was one of the best things that have ever happened to me,” his Master stated. “Not all turns out to be what it seems.”

River pondered this for a while. After some time, he raised his voice again. “What about the marking?”

“The sex,” Andreji answered curtly. “The contact with either my saliva or my semen. It leaves a certain trace in your scent that lets any other vampire know that you are taken. Of course, it also strengthens our connection in the already discussed way.”

“So I’m bound to you forever, now?” River asked thoughtfully.

“Not necessarily. Between most fledglings and Masters, the connection loses intensity after a few decades, so that the fledglings can become Masters themselves.”

“Right.” River had known that, of course. He lay awake for another while, unable to fathom how his life had changed in the past months. His arms were wrapped tightly around his Master’s torso.

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