Embracing a new life

Chapter 9: A familiar stranger

River leaned back in his comfy armchair. It was late in the afternoon, and he massaged his right hand with his left. Hours of digital painting had left their traces in his muscles. Not only in his hand. He put the graphic tablet away and rose to stretch his limbs lazily.

Dim sunlight came in through the thick crème coloured curtains that covered the window. Since Andreji was not there, River had left the second, even heavier, dark blue curtains open. He looked about, smiling happily. It had been one week since he had moved in, but he still could not stop marvelling at the new apartment. In a way, it was his first own flat. So far, he had always shared a place with others. This was his place alone. Of course, Andreji could drop by any time, but the other man had not liked the idea of moving. He needed his smithy, after all.

When Andreji had suggested that River should rent something just for himself, the young man had been a little upset at the beginning. After all, he loved Andreji and wanted to be with him. Moving out felt like breaking up. However, after he had calmed down, he had remembered what Andreji had said – that he was not used to someone being around him twenty four seven. Perhaps it was good to give the man a little more space…

River grinned as his gaze landed on the futon bed whose linens were still rumpled from the previous night. Well, if things went on like that… The blond had neither seen nor been able to reach Andreji by phone for four days. In fact, he had been pretty upset and close to thinking he had done exactly the wrong thing. After all, Andreji usually at least told him in advance when he might not be available due to some business he had to take care of. He had not whispered a word this time. Yet, in the evening, Andreji had called him all of a sudden and had said that he was standing in front of a gallery that was advertising some late night event. After visiting the happening, Andreji had spent the night over. That was when River had discovered one flaw in living in a flat: he was not entirely sure his neighbours’ sleep had been undisturbed last night…

River put the sheets and the covers back in order and found a pin with which he stuck the entry ticket of their gallery visit to the wall. The room was mostly painted plain white, but River had painted one wall in a bright blue. That was the wall that was not plastered with all kinds of art prints – as the others were – but with photos and tickets of concerts and exhibitions and movies and whatever else he had been to or was going to visit. All he was still lacking was a picture of Andreji. The memory of that old, faded picture he had once found in a book in Andreji’s library came back to him. But he really did not want to hang up a picture of Andreji and Demyan together in bed. He was happy that Andreji was so obviously not attracted to the man who had turned him into a vampire that he really did not want to ponder if everything Andreji had told him – that he had never been romantically in love with Demyan – was true.

Well, in any case, a photo would have to wait. Andreji was busy tonight, and River was going to meet someone else, too. Talking of which – he checked the time.

Oh.

Shit.

He hurriedly stuffed his laptop into his bag, rushed into the bathroom to take a look in the mirror and see that sitting in front of the computer all day was really not making you look any healthier, pushed the sunglasses onto his nose to keep the blazing spring sun away from his eyes, slipped into his shoes, grabbed the key, and heard the apartment door crash noisily into the lock as he sprinted down the stairs.

“Sorry,” he puffed as he arrived fifteen minutes later at Barb’s.

Trish, a tall girl, a bit too thin in River’s opinion, with blond and pink dreads did not look put out. She shrugged. “No problem. But I fear we’re gonna have to look for another place.” She motioned towards the door of Barb’s where a large sign read ‘Closed for renovation’.

River hesitated for a moment. “We could go to the place of a friend of mine. It won’t be opened until later in the evening, but I’ve got a key and we can work undisturbed there.”

“Undisturbed, eh?” She grinned. “If I didn’t know that you’re in a gay relationship, I’d get strange ideas… Anyway, does your friend have some decent food? I’m starving.”

River shook his head. “It’s only a bar. Guess you’ll have to grab something on the way.”

It was close to ten o’clock in the evening when the house came to life. There were a couple of apartments above Griet’s bar, and all of them were inhabited by people of Demyan’s clan. Only about half of them still lived in the caves, the rest had immediately seized their new found freedom.

When Griet entered the bar, River looked up in surprise. “That late already?” Trish and he had spent the last hours in front of their laptops. They had ‘met’ in the internet, and she had offered to give him a few tips concerning the software he was using.

“Good evening,” Griet greeted the two of them while she pinned up her hair. “That’s how I like it – the guests already waiting when I open the bar.” She winked at them. “What can I do for you?”

Trish looked at the mess they had piled up on the table next to the one they sat at. She grinned sheepishly. “Gin Tonic?”

“Give me a minute,” Griet smiled and started to clear the table of tea and coffee cups and the box that had contained Trish’s sushi.

At second glance, Trish grew a bit anxious. She leaned in to River. “Do we have to pay for all this stuff, now? I thought… since she’s a friend of yours… you know, I’m a bit hard-up at the mo’…”

Griet, having overheard what she had whispered, laughed. “Don’t worry. I never charge River for what he’s drinking here during the day. That bit of tea and coffee doesn’t hurt me. And that first gin tonic’s on the house. Does that sound good?”

“Thanks.”

Griet put on some mellow music and unlocked the front door.

At a few minutes past eleven p.m., Trish yawned and rose to stretch herself. “I’d better get home, now. I’ve got some lectures tomorrow morning. But thanks for the lovely evening. I’ll show you those other pictures next time.”

River rose as well to bid her good bye. “Of course. Thank you for filling me in. Some things are just too hard to learn on one’s own.”

“No big deal.” Trish slipped into her jacket and seized her battered laptop that was covered with a wide variety of stickers. She waved at River. “See you.”

When Trish was gone, River switched off his own notebook as well. He had stared long enough onto the screen for the day. His eyes teared already. He shifted to the bar and chatted with Griet while she served the first real guests. The place surely did not make enough profit to be run independently, but no one seemed to mind as long as it fulfilled its purpose.

It was half past midnight when River yawned, slipped from the bar stool, and massaged the sore back of his neck. “I think I’ll be going home, now,” he announced.

“Still not gotten used to being a ‘creature of the night’?” Griet asked mockingly, painting big quotation marks with her fingers in the air.

River shrugged. “I usually manage to balance the remainders of my daytime-life and the night time activities alright, but I woke a bit early today and stared too long onto the screen and now I’m beat.” River grabbed his notebook and waved Griet good-bye.

Just when he reached out for the doorknob, the door swung open, and a hooded man entered the bar. River slipped past him. In passing, though, he noticed how the man turned around and stared at him. River could not make out much of his face, only the eyes that reflected the light of a candle like that of a cat. He could hear how the other one sucked in his scent. A cold shudder ran down his back, but then the door fell shut, and he stood outside while the other man disappeared behind it.

River hesitated, but eventually he thought it was better not to risk anything. Better ask a stupid question than risk your neck. He withdrew into a nearby alley so that the guy would not spot him immediately should he decide to follow him, and dialled Andreji’s number.

It took a while for Andreji to answer the call, but River knew that as long as the phone was not switched off, he eventually would.

“Is it important?” the dark voice asked without much ado. “I am occupied.”

“I was just leaving Griet’s bar when a man entered,” River explained quickly to justify the interruption. “Couldn’t see much of him, but he was definitely not human; I’d guess he’s not a young vamp either. The point is, he sniffed at me and gave me a very strange look. Kinda made my alarms go off. It was you, after all, who said to be careful with others of our kind, so I wanted to tell you, just in case…”

“What did he look like? Height, hair colour, dressing style…?” Andreji immediately demanded to know.

“Told you – I didn’t see much of him. I’d say he was about my height-“

A single, heavy footfall reverberated from the pavement behind River. With dread flooding his mind, he spun around. He held tightly onto his mobile, his connection to Andreji, his guardian.

As he had already feared, the hooded figure stood barely about five feet behind him. Without saying a word, it held out its hand.

It took River a moment to process what it wanted. It demanded to be given his mobile. River was sure his last hour had struck. The figure wanted to get rid of any witnesses before it… -did whatever sick things it had in mind for him. He thought back to the gathering at New Year’s Eve. People had been talking about an ancestor, his Great-Grandmaster so to speak. He was remembered as a cruel person; even Andreji had called him a sadist. Perhaps some people grew like that, crooked and cruel, over the years…

River took an involuntary step backwards.

“River?” Andreji’s smooth voice that was tinged with concern flowed out of the speaker and pulled River out of his stupor.

“He’s here,” he managed to croak, certain this was going to provoke the figure further.

Yet it did not sweep upon him to violently dispose of his mobile as River expected. It remained static, only the arm reaching out a little further.

“Do not fear me, little one,” it suddenly spoke up with a heavy accent, “I was merely seeking a way to contact Andreji, and it seems to me that I have succeeded. Hand me this device.” The voice was not kind, but neither was it threatening. Was that man trying to trick him? Did it matter? Andreji knew now where River was anyway.

Yet… - River had not mentioned Andreji’s name, had he? How did the stranger know? Through his scent? He had taken a shower after last night…

“River, give it to him,” Andreji suddenly ordered him, apparently having heard what the stranger had said.

Reluctantly, River let the mobile sink from his ear and held it out to the other man. It was snatched unceremoniously from his hand.

The stranger spoke rashly in a low voice into the speaker, using one of those Nordic tongues that Andreji had used during their New Year’s trip. From the rhythm of the talks, River derived the impression that the two men were agreeing on something.

Then the phone was thrown back at him so that he had to quickly react to keep it from shattering on the floor. “Show me to your flat,” the stranger demanded. “Andreji will join us there.”

The two men walked in silence through the night. It took about fifteen minutes to get to River’s flat from Griet’s bar, and the young man had had more pleasant company on walks than the stranger who accompanied him this night. Always being half a step behind River, the guy made him nervous. ‘Show me to your flat; Andreji will join us there’. Anyone could say that. River would rather have heard that from Andreji himself. It could just as well be a disguise for ‘Show me to your flat so I can kill you without being disturbed’ – but perhaps River’s imagination was getting the better of him. Still, he could not shake off the feeling that something about this man was fishy, although he could not explicate it.

Eventually, they arrived at the apartment block where River lived. It took about three quarters of an hour to get out of the clan’s lair and from it to River’s flat, he thought while he turned the key in the lock to let them into the corridor. He would have to at least accommodate the stranger for another half an hour before Andreji would arrive.

River went ahead, up the stairs and into his apartment. For a moment, he eyed the elder vampire warily, unsure what to do with him while he slipped out of his shoes and jacket. “May I take your coat?” he asked eventually, thinking that some courtesy might be in order.

The other man had walked up to the window and was gazing out of it. He turned his head minutely as if he contemplated the matter; then he slid out of his coat and held it out to River without looking at him.

The blond raised an eyebrow but said nothing and hung up the coat. He leaned against the wall in the corridor and stared at the back of the other man. His hair was visible, now. It shimmered in a dark brown colour; its tips curled beneath the tie that held it loosely together. His clothes were cut wide, not in a typical western style.

“Can I offer you anything?” River made another attempt at politeness. “Tea perhaps?”

The man turned slowly around, a mocking smirk on his lips that were surrounded by a goatee that ended in a thin braid. It looked very neat as if it was trimmed very carefully. “The only way I have ever known tea was as heavily sweetened brew in a tent that sheltered people from the midday sun – and that was a long time ago, long before any European even knew the drink existed.” He walked up to one of River’s two rattan armchairs and gracefully sank into it.

“It’s never too late to try something new,” River countered, but his heart was not in the argument. He was just saying something so the time would pass by quicker.

He was just going to make tea anyway, just to have something to do when he was startled by the sound of a key turning in the lock of the apartment door behind him. He checked his watch – the very same that Andreji had given him shortly after River had been captured in the caves and had been appointed Andreji’s fledgling – and thought it could not be Andreji yet. It was barely twenty minutes since they had talked on the phone, and River had been sure he had heard the fire of the smithy crackle through the speaker.

Nevertheless, it was Andreji who stepped through the door and pushed a hood off his head that had evidently kept some rain away from him. His face and some strands of hair that framed it were soaked, though. Andreji hurried to get out of the wet garments.

“How did you get here this fast?” River enquired dumbfounded while he slowly moved to his sideboard to fetch a towel and one of the tops that Andreji had deposited there.

His lover took the towel and smirked while he rubbed his exposed upper body dry. “I told you I had my means of travelling.”

True, Andreji had dropped such hints a year ago when they had travelled through Europe and River had had to make much of the journey on his own (he had not yet been susceptible to sunlight back then) because trains and flights rarely went at night. When River had asked how Andreji was travelling instead, the other man had merely answered that he had ‘his means’. He loved keeping things to himself. However, eventually, Andreji had used a motorbike and River had thought the mysterious ‘means’ turned out to be a very mundane vehicle after all. Yet a motorbike or a rented car would not have taken Andreji here this fast. Neither would either of them have left him soaked. River mentally shook his head.

Still, there were more important things.

Andreji turned to face their visitor after he had dressed in dry clothes, and he put up a warm, welcoming smile and walked forwards with wide spread arms to greet him.

River was puzzled all the more. That was nothing like the Andreji he knew. Even when Andreji had been reunited with his master after fifty years, he had not been this open and welcoming.

Moreover, the other man seemed just as delighted, in harsh contrast to the dismissive treatment he had shown to River. They did not embrace as Andreji’s gesture had suggested but they put their hands on each other’s shoulders and kissed their cheeks. They exchanged a few words in a language that River did not understand, and then Andreji motioned for them to sit down.

All in all, River had the impression that Andreji showed respect to this man in a way that River had only ever seen him act during the council gathering in the presence of the other council members. Was this one of them? -River did not recognise his face.

“I would care for something warm if you do not mind,” Andreji addressed his fledgling.

River was confused for a second; then he realised what Andreji was talking about and shuffled into the kitchen area that – due to its limited use for meal preparation – was actually more of a bedroom. While he put the electric kettle to work and prepared two cups, the older men continued their conversation – still in that northern language that he did not understand.

“So you have finally heeded my advice,” Jawid stated calmly as he watched his young ‘host’ work in the kitchen area.

Andreji did not comment the obvious.

“He reeks of you. The whole apartment is filled with the scent of your sex.”

Andreji smirked amusedly. “So?”

“I was not aware that you liked boys as well…” There was a smug, teasing undertone in the comment.

“Be assured that our tastes differ very much. He is a young man, not a boy.”

“Yet he has something young, innocent about him. He is not masculine.”

“Said scent would not lie in the air if he was.”

“So, if we agree that you are much more drawn to female traits, why him? Why not a nice lady?” Jawid enquired.

A dark shadow flew over Andreji’s face, accompanied by the flicker of a cynical smirk. “Because my loins are lousy counsellors and I usually tire of female ‘friends’ quickly. Especially if they cling to me like a fledgling is supposed to.”

“Is that why he is allowed his own apartment? Why he is not as deferent as is custom?”

“You mean why I did not break him, turn him into the mindless fool that fledglings are supposed to be?” Andreji shrugged indifferently. “You know me well enough to know I am not the baby-sitting type of person. He is a decent lad. I have to give him a nudge in the right direction once in a while but all in all, he finds his way on his own, and I am glad of it. I always dreaded the task of educating a fledgling.”

Jawid chuckled amusedly which prompted the boy to throw him a suspicious glance since he could not understand their Danish conversation while he approached the sitting area and handed Andreji his drink. Consuming tea was a strange whim that Jawid had never understood. “It can be elating to have someone completely at you mercy,” he reasoned, continuing their exchange.

“It might be elating for you, but I find the prospect of having someone glued to me because I broke his will and he dares not do anything without my approval not appealing at all. I told you – our tastes differ. You like them naïve, old enough to enjoy your sexual plays – at least theoretically – yet young enough to yield to your will. I like them to have a mind of their own, although I admit that I enjoy the fact that he aspires to please me.” He said all that while looking at his fledgling. “What about you?” he changed the topic, then. “From your appearance I assume you are not travelling alone? The well cared for state of your hair is telling… Where are you staying these days?”

“I have a house in Northern Lapland. That buys me some time in winter.”

“…yet it steals it during summertime,” Andreji supplied the reason for the sudden visit.

“Exactly. So I seized the young lady that keeps me company these days and came here to see my old home again.”

“Where is she, now? Do you have lodgings already?”

River crouched on a pillow on the floor because he lacked a third chair and stared up at the two men. They talked quite animatedly and seemed comfortable with each other, even though their eyes rarely met. Andreji’s gaze was mostly fixed on him, while their visitor took in the small flat and watched Andreji.

For a time, it was quite fascinating to listen to this other language, the different melody of it, but he also found it a little rude that they did not revert to a tongue that he could understand as well. Where they talking about something he was not supposed to hear? River still did not even know who the stranger was. Sometimes he thought he understood bits, as if the language was related to English, but in the end, catching a word here and there was even more upsetting than not understanding anything.

Usually, he would simply have interrupted Andreji and told him to speak English, but since he knew nothing about the other guy… Perhaps he would feel insulted if a mere fledgling interrupted his conversation? He had not been very polite to him from the start…

“…er hun nu? Har I allerede et logi?”

“Ja. Jeg har stadigvæk et hus i nærheden.”

Andreji nodded.

River tried to give him a silent sign that he would like to understand what was said as well by tapping with a finger on his ear.

Andreji smiled amusedly. He turned towards their guest for the first time since they had sat down. “Would you mind switching to English?”

“Hvis du har ikke noget at hemmeligholde…”

Andreji shook his head minutely.

The bearded man eyed River appraisingly.

Andreji sighed wearily. “Jawid, this is River, my fledgling for about two years, now; River, this is Jawid, an old friend and tutor of mine.”

River nodded in silent greeting, feeling a little awkward that the introduction took place ages after their initial meeting.

“Does he have the gift?” Jawid asked coolly.

River looked at him bemusedly.

Yet Andreji obviously understood the question. “Yes. I have not tested to which extent yet, but he carries it. Furthermore, it seems to be a family trait.”

“A family trait?” Jawid dug deeper with sudden interest in his voice.

“What are you talking about?” River interrupted their merry exchange impatiently. Had no one ever taught them how impolite it was to speak about a person that sat with them as if it were not in the room? What ‘gift’ was that supposed to be?

Andreji motioned for him to calm down. “We met when I was called to an old manor that was supposedly haunted by a blood wraith,” he continued his conversation with Jawid. “River was an upcoming hunter at the time and had been sent to assist me. When we finally encountered the culprit, I let him use the nagal sword he had brought to fight the wraith while I kept it in check through my means. I pointed at the place where it appeared to me, but there was no need for that.” He turned to River. “You saw it yourself did you not?”

River shrugged. “Not really. I just noticed that something stirred in the air. Why? Is that so unusual?”

“And you heard it,” Andreji pressed on without answering.

“Sure. I’d have had to be deaf not to. What about it?” River demanded with more vehemence.

“Most people cannot,” Andreji answered curtly before he turned to Jawid again. “What caught my attention most, was that River had been given a special tattoo as a present for his sixteenth birthday by his uncle; a Japanese sign against bad spirits. I have asked him to remove it, which he has done, but I cannot help but think that it was not a mere coincidence that a person who can interact with spirits is asked to carry a sign that will drive spirits away. I think your uncle could tell you an interesting story or two,” he said to River.

“Let me get this straight,” River tried to make sense of what Andreji said, ignoring that he was interrupting Andreji’s and his guest’s conversation; it was about him after all. “Usual people can neither see nor hear wraiths or spirits or whatever you call them. That sounds plausible; otherwise they’d believe in them. Although… -they don’t believe in werewolves and the like either. Does that apply to them as well?”

Andreji shook his head indulgently. “Of course not. Most so called ‘supernatural’ creatures – those that humans do not believe in – either avoid human presence or are so similar to known animals that they are mistaken for them – humans rather doubt their own perception than accept that there are things they cannot understand. Naturally, there are exceptions.”

“Okay. So most people cannot see or hear spectres but I can. Why is that important?”

“It enables you to speak with them,” was the simple answer.

“Like you did with that blood wraith before it got pissed off by my tattoo? What use is that? I mean, I know you said something about solving that problem without fighting back then, but what were you trying to do? Ask that wraith to be a bit nicer and stop killing people?”

River’s tone seemed to astound Andreji’s friend, but Andreji chuckled. “Spirits of any kind like to communicate with us… physical beings. It is not easy to do that. It takes a smart mind and instinct to please the spirit as well as to assess what is really behind the spirit’s words and actions. They can try to fool you, but if you manage to control them, then you hold a lot of power in your hand, depending on the spirit. When given attention, spirits can accomplish things that a simple person could not. Usually, they are remainders of the deceased and long for the contact with, the respect of other people that they have been deprived of when they died. They grow lethargic and are not aware of the power they hold, and some grow aggressive and put their power to bad uses…”

“…And by giving them attention,” River concluded, “you divert them from such activities.”

Andreji nodded.

River placed his chin on his hand and contemplated. “Did you choose me as your fledgling because I had this ‘gift’?”

“It made the decision easier.”

River knew already that Andreji had not picked him because he had fallen head over heels in love with the young half-Japanese, but to grow aware of Andreji’s reasoning, to realise how rationally his decision had been founded, still felt strange. Other questions lay on his tongue, but he swallowed them, thinking it was inappropriate to discuss private matters in the presence of a third.

“How do you intend to develop his skills?” Jawid asked Andreji.

Andreji raised his eyebrows slightly and leaned back. “In fact, I have been a little reluctant so far to start the training. That is why I have not yet told him about it.” He looked at River as he said that, even though he spoke to Jawid. Then he turned his head. “We both know the dangers involved. A person has to be self-confident and experienced; I felt that he needed more of both, even though he carries a sensitivity for other people’s feelings that could come in handy.”

Jawid looked thoughtful. “Why not combine both? Why not let him gain experience by interacting with small spirits under observation of one of us? That is, if you would accept my assistance, of course. Jeg vil gerne se det næste slægtled.”

“Of course. It would be an honour.”

Jawid rose suddenly, and Andreji followed suit. The smaller man took Andreji’s hands into his. “I need to look after my girl, now. I will contact you in the following days after I have explored the country a little better.”

Andreji smiled at him and inclined his head.

To River’s surprise, Jawid nodded curtly at him, then he took his leave.