The Hunt

Chapter 28



With a sigh, Andreji sank down on the bed and remained lying on it motionless, completely dressed.



River eyed him, a smile on his lips, while he kindled a fire in the stove. A shiver ran along his back. The drive had been unpleasantly cold. Fortunately the rain had stopped already during the feast, so the streets had been dried up and they had at least been able to go fast. River put some small chunks of wood on the growing fire. Then he went the few steps over to the bed and sat down next to Andreji. He grasped the other man’s hand. “God, you’re freezing cold.” River pulled a blanket over the tall body and snuggled up to it.



There was no response. Andreji turned into his usual sleeping position.



Although he was tired, River decided to stay up a little longer. There were still a few hours before sunrise. He jumped down to the ground floor and went into the library, where he heard Demyan play the piano. Sitting next to the fireplace and warming up slowly, he listened for a while.



“D’you like going to concerts?” he finally asked when the other man was looking for another piece to play.



Demyan paused skimming through the sheet music. “Is that an invitation?”



“If you want it to be.”



“I would love to.”



River stood up. “I’ll go and look if there’s information about what they play at the moment on the Internet.” He came back with his laptop.



Demyan moved over and watched what he was doing. “Could you show me how that works someday?”



“Sure. It’s quite simple.”



Demyan smiled in a way that said he was not so sure about that.



River eyed this man that had spent so much more time with Andreji than he had. “Has he always been so closed up?” He asked offhandedly and shifted on the chair. “I mean, Andreji’s told me that he’s rebuffed you for a long time before you could finally make him your fledgling and some other things that suggest that he has always been… -well, difficult to get along with. But… I mean, everyone needs to confide in someone every now and again, right? You can’t handle every problem all by yourself, can you?”



Demyan nodded silently to show River that he understood what the young man was asking. He sat down and folded his arms. “I fear that is what Andreji is doing. I am not sure that it is good for him, but as far as I know him – and I need to say that he has changed since I last met him – he would rather bite off his tongue than readily admit that he cannot find the solution to a problem on his own. He is his Master - and no one else. That has always been our problem, as you can imagine.” Demyan smirked.



“So you have no idea how to get closer to him, how to make him open up?” River asked on.



A low chuckle rose in the skinny man’s chest. “Psychoanalysing Andreji…” His eyes reflected the fire light. He remained silent for a moment. “Generally speaking, I would say, the closer you get to him nominally, the more likely he is to push you away. You see, one of his women, his little affairs with which he sates both his appetite for blood and his appetite for adoration, is more likely to see him perfectly at ease than someone who knows him for a longer period of time, someone that has a certain importance in his life. He hates depending on others, no matter if materially or emotionally.”



Demyan put the sheet music aside. “He has not told me much, but from what I have heard through gossip at the time when I took an interest in Andreji, he must have been let down by people close to him early in his life. I was told he was an illegitimate child, a bastard so to speak, and had only been taken in by his father, a smith, when his mother had died, because the man was not young anymore and had not been able to produce a legitimate son so far. That caused talking in the small town. I am sure people let him feel what he was worth in their eyes. Andreji stayed with his father long enough to learn the basics of the craft – then the long waited for born in wedlock son arrived. As far as I know, Andreji was not directly thrown out of the house, but… I talked to his father myself once.” Demyan shook his head and pressed his lips together. “I bet it was not pleasant, living with that man.”



He leaned back. “And then look at Andreji. He is even tall in comparison to men these days; imagine what a giant he must have seemed back then! Add to that his light blond hair and his sharp eyes… -he stood out without those additional troubles.” A warm smile appeared on the man’s face and a gleam settled in his eyes as if he were reminiscing about old times. “Of course, that was what caught my eye, the way he stood out. But most people seemed intimidated by him, and they loathe what they fear, do they not?”



River was excited to receive so much information at once. “So you think that he is so closed up because he has made negative experience.”



“In fact, I am surprised how he acts around you. He spends an unusually large amount of time with you, converses with you… shares his bed with you several days in a row… You seem to get along well. Believe me; he never was like that with me. I am still not sure what he feels for me. I know there must be or at least must have been something, jealous and affronted as he was when I took a second fledgling, but…” Demyan shrugged minutely and smiled.



“You mean Sage?”



Demyan looked up. “You know of her? Surely Andreji has not told you…?”



River chuckled. “No. I think she’s his least favourite topic. We met her, and he gave me his opinion on her – which was peppered with some pretty rude words.”



Demyan smirked. “I can imagine.” He looked around in the room. “So she is well?”



“She seemed to be.”



The chair scraped on the floor when Demyan rose and – with a side glance towards the window – made for the door. To River’s eyes, the night was still pitch black. However, the other man seemed to have a different view on that. “As to Andreji,” he turned around once more, “be patient. Something must be different between the two of you, or else he would not ‘bear’ with you so long. From the few pieces of conversation we have had recently, it seemed to me that he is willing to change. Perhaps he needs a little assistance there, but do not try to will him, I warn you. He has got quite a temper that you would do well not to arouse.” With that, he wished River a healthy sleep and withdrew.



Since he did not want to disturb Andreji, River resorted to his own bed. However, all the new information circled in his mind and deprived him of his sleep. Why could not Andreji tell him about his past? What would he not give to hear some details out of this mouth that was often so quick to give smart, sharp-tongued answers. After all, River could not be sure if Demyan had told him the truth – he had admitted himself that a part of his ‘knowledge’ was derived from mere rumours. Nonetheless, the young man’s mind produced a series of pictures to illustrate what Demyan had told him about Andreji’s youth.







He awoke the next morning in blazing sunlight. After a quick visit to the bathroom, he sat down for breakfast in the kitchen. He had brought a magazine along. Just as River was taking the first bite of his bread roll with cheese and looked at an advert with a young couple - she gazing up at him adoringly - something Demyan had said that night flashed back into his consciousness. “One of his women, his little affairs with which he sates both his appetite for blood and his appetite for adoration…” A vague picture of this transsexual to which Andreji had taken him after his recapture a year ago appeared before his inner eye. She had said that she had been intimate with Andreji. They had met regularly and not just for a ‘drink’. Andreji had cooked for her. River guessed they might even have had a bit of pleasant conversation. Pleasant conversation. With Andreji. He had probably flirted with her the way he had flirted with River when they had first met, the way he had flirted with some of the female guests at the wedding before he had faced his fledgling.



River let the roll drop onto the plate. Was Andreji still engaging in such affairs? Was that why he did not want sex as often as River thought common? Because he was sating his appetite elsewhere? God, he had been so blind, so blissfully ignorant! All this talking about ‘friendship with benefits’ – Andreji had virtually told River that he was going to have other lovers beside him! Had he not been aware of that? Of course he had realised it on some level… but he had pushed it out of his consciousness. Some small part in him wished it had stayed there, far away. Now, the idea of Andreji having several others beside him burned like a fever in the young man.



He jumped up and paced the kitchen. Could he even confront Andreji about this? Surely not in his present state. Oh, he could already hear Andreji say “I told you I’m not interested in a serious relationship.”



Fool. Stupid idiot. River slumped down on the chair again and wrought his hands. Against his will, Andreji’s face filled his mind. His pronounced cheekbones, the lines around his mouth, the way the light was caught in his cold, sharp eyes when he smiled. This strange contrast of mildness and awareness, of kindness and cold calculation that characterised his Master. River drew in his breath sharply. It hurt. He did not want to question Andreji; that was the problem. He had subconsciously decided to close his eyes and hope that their loose arrangement would grow more serious.



In a way, it had, had it not? Demyan was right, Andreji truly showed signs of change. He had told River he was not interested in anything serious, yes, and still they spent a huge amount of time together. More noticeably, Andreji had made a point of showing River that Demyan was no competition for him. Why would he do that if he did not take River serious, if he did not care about him? They had been together almost twenty-four-seven since Demyan had arrived...



What had the other man said? That Andreji had openly admitted that he needed a change. Andreji had said something similar in River’s presence as well. Demyan had said that Andreji might need some assistance from River. Perhaps there was a chance. A chance of having the man whose face haunted him all to himself…