A man was coming home from a hard day working in a candy factory. He was an immigrant, but that wasn't anything noteworthy in the states.
His parents had fled their country, Bulgaria, as soon as they had been able to. And now, Nikola was just another person in this small, sleepy city who neither belonged nor was out of place.
He thought about the disappearances which had happened in his area recently. He thought about the children who had gone missing. About the old lady who had also gone missing.
He shook his head.
The world was dark. It seemed as if the world had gone mad as of late. So, as if, he simply couldn't think about anything but the fact that there was a new gang in the area. Or, worse yet, in the town.
Phillips, Wisconsin was not a town which was notorious for its nightly activity. If there was someone who had managed to break into their town, then this someone was going to be searched all over.
Nikola opened his door, noting that he had left it unlocked. He walked inside his living room, only to see that there was someone on his couch.
The person had a pamphlet on pastries in their hands, seemingly reading it in the dim light of the night lamp next to them on the bedside table.
Nikola froze. He had seen this man before.
He had seen him in the café last night, when he had felt a craving for a milkshake. He had seen him in the supermarket a couple of days before that, when he had walked in late at night to get himself some chips.
Nikola didn't make a noise. He tried to edge away and out of the door.
To try to call for help.
Only to see the blonde man behind him, smiling from ear to ear. Closing the door behind them.
"Good evening," the man said, as he smiled even wider. "I would very much like it if you don't scream."
Nikola gulped. He didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit.
"And one more thing," the man's canines were unnaturally long. His eyes were red like wine. Red like blood. "I would very much like it if you and I spoke. I know a lot about you already, but I would like to know more."
Nikola nodded. He knew that there were vampires in the area, for the disappearances were not explained in any other way, but he simply wanted to run to safety.
Just as he thought that the vampire took him by the hand and gently led him to the couch.
"You see," the man said, as he led Nikola to the couch. "I think that you are the perfect blood donor for me. I can't drink anything but fresh blood. And you don't have a demanding job."
The man sat Nikola on the couch, who was looking around his apartment so, as if he were searching for an escape route.
The windows were shut. The door was too far away.
"And before you ask, I am doing you a favor. After all, I am trying to keep you safe. And no, I am not the one snacking on children."
The blonde sat by him, nuzzling his nose into Nikola's nape.
"You smell like sugar. I like it," the vampire continued so, as if they were old friends. "I made you dinner. But before that, I would like my own."
"What will happen if I don't let you charm me?" The candy maker asked. He knew that once a vampire began to drink your blood, there was no going back.
You were his. Until the end of days.
"Well, it is less about charm, my dear," the vampire ran his fangs over Nikola's neck. Letting out a low moan when he grazed the man's pale skin. "And more about what your survival instincts are going to tell you to do."
The candy maker's breath hitched. This man could kill him. He could do it as easily as breathing.
But this creature didn't need to breathe. And Nikola could not survive without blood.
"And do you know who is killing the children?" Nikola asked. He wanted to get as much information from this creature as possible.
"Oh, yes," the vampire said, pulling Nikola into his lap. "And I am ready to rat her out. If you only agree to let me live with you. To paint you. To make you mine."
"Why?" That was the thing Nikola could not understand. Why did this strange creature want him? Why did this man offer so much?
"You are my soulmate. I have been searching for you for the past hundred years," the vampire said, as he kissed Nikola's nape. "And if I can't have you, dearest, then no one can."
"You will kill me, then?" Nikola asked, as he tried to relax in the vampire's embrace. As he tried to brace himself for the pain that was to come.
"No. I will kill all those you let into your life. And if you are willing to live your life as a hermit, then go ahead, spurn me."
This was a typical vampire, Nikola realized. A creature of the night. A creature who was not going to take no for an answer.
"Drink, then," just the thought that his mother or father could end up getting killed made Nikola pledge himself to this man.
Not with words, but with his very lifeblood.
He waited, felt the sting of the fangs in his neck, and then tried to relax.
To be a vampire's soulmate meant many things. But the most important thing was that if a vampire didn't kill you, they fell in love with you.
And, Nikola thought, as he grew heavy in the man's arms, if he got to know just who was killing the poor children, then it was all going to be worth it.
When the vampire finally released him, the man captured his lips next.
Nikola tasted his blood on those lips; he tasted the desire of a creature long since dead. A creature who could not love.
Or so he thought.