Chapter 5

The date turned out to be a nice outing to the visiting fair. Months later, Nikola still remembered it fondly. Dimitri had won him a plush unicorn from a shooting competition, and they had ridden the Ferris wheel. Dimitri had kept his skin nice and warm the whole time and held his hand throughout their date. One could almost mistake them for a couple. Nikola had certainly allowed himself to be deluded by the act, even though he knew it was all faked.

November bled into December, and Nikola managed to get away from Dimitri for a family Christmas dinner. He had reasoned with the vampire that even if he introduced him as his lover to his parents, there was no explaining to them why Dimitri wouldn’t eat anything at the table. Or come during the day. And since they were getting along better, with Dimitri’s outburst becoming less and less the more he got his way, the vampire gave way just this once.

Christmas dinner was shadowed in Nikola’s mind only by the fact that someone will be hunted tonight. But as Nikola looked at the faces of his family, he couldn’t help but be thankful that they weren’t.

Once the dinner was done, and he had been forced to watch some stupid Christmas movie about romance by his mother, he accepted his present, a nice new scarf, and got in his car and started driving home.

His parents lived in the countryside, so the roads home were deserted. That is, until he noticed that a car was driving behind him. He reached an intersection, yet the car didn’t speed past him or take a turn. Just as he was about to start thinking about how weird that was, the car suddenly stopped.

They were in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn’t hard to spot the driver getting out and waving his hands in the air. Thinking the man had car problems, Nikola stopped himself and went back to him to ask what he could help the man with.

And then he was punched in the stomach as soon as he approached the man. A black hood covered his head as another man exited the car and put cuffs on his wrists, and before he knew it, he was forced in the car, his head banged on the car door on the way in, and he knew no more.

As he woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was lying in a bed. The second was that a man was holding him and humming to himself loudly as he rocked them back and forth. Nikola attempted to struggle when he saw that he wasn’t bond, but the man just shifted him to lay him between his outstretched legs and stopped humming.

“Stop elbowing me. I rescued you from one of my sister’s childes. Be grateful instead.”

At the term, childe Nikola stiffened. This was a vampire! And he knew about Dimitri. But the sister part? Who had Dimitri called his sire again? Arikel, the Toreador Antediluvian. If Arikel was the sister, then this was… But it couldn’t be! As far as he had read, Malkav was supposed to be in Petra, or Jerusalem. Sleeping, at any rate, not holding him.

From his experience with Dimitri, he knew better than to anger him, so he forced himself to relax in the ancient beings arms. That must have been the desired effect as the mad man began to hum and rock them back and forth again.

Then something coughed Nikola’s eye. It was one of his paintings! He moved his head around and took a better look. The walls were littered with him sitting with corpses. He recognized and remembered them all. Then, in a pedestal right across from the bed was the very first painting, the one in which he was smiling.

Malkav had been the one to collect his paintings. Not one was missing. But the first one had most disturbed him. The man looked at it as he hummed with practically a religious fervor.

“I want to go home. Will you let me go, please?”

“Your home is tainted with Arikel’s favorite spawn. I can’t purge him because of the Camarilla, but I can keep you here. I’ll be better to you than he ever was. Your love will cure my madness, you see. You are capable of compassion. I’ve seen how Dimitri couldn’t taint you with his blood. How he dims your light. You don’t want power, that’s why you are the cure. Once you fall in love with me, I will drink from your love and will be just as I was before Lilith cursed me. Hahahahahahaha.”

Malkav broke into a fit of uncontrolled laughter and gave Nikola a violent squeeze. Wanting to not be squeezed to death and deciding that at least Malkav didn’t seem to want to have his way with him against his will, he attempted to talk to the madman.

“And how were you like before, Malkav?”

“I was a shining Light! An Angel, a messenger of God! My sister isn’t my sister, you see. But I fell, and then I was turned, and then I fell even further. But you are going to fix me!”

Nikola was suddenly turned around to straddle the man and was hugged gently. Malkav was murmuring in a strange language and looking at him expectantly.     

“I’m sorry. I only know English and Bulgarian. Could you repeat what you said in either of these languages?”

“I asked you if you have fallen for Arikel’s childe. Do you love him? Am I doomed to remain unfixed because of it? You must forget him if you are in love with him! I must be cured!”

Malkav was crying tears of blood and without thinking Nikola moved to dry them with the edge of his sleeve.

“I hate him, actually. He is a horrible leech.”

At his words and gentle action, Malkav calmed down and giggled at him. He then brought their noses together. He happily nuzzled them and before Nikola knew it Malkav’s hands were tickling his sides.

Nikola broke up in giggles and pushed his head back. This must have been the only invitation Malkav must have needed as he moved his nose to nuzzle Nikola’s neck and tickle him with it.

“Stop, stop. I give! My stomach hurts from laughing. Malkav, please stop,” Nikola whined the last part, and then Malkav’s expression changed to a stormy one. Then with a sudden realization, Nikola remembered that the vampire was insane and insane people were unpredictable.

“Was I not good to you? Why can’t you take a little good pain from me, but you take bad pain from Dimitri every day? ANSWER ME!”

Nikola gulped and his smile fell. How was he going to talk to this crazy person? He didn’t want to die. If his time with Dimitri had taught him anything, it was that. How does one calm a deranged, supposedly top of the food chain vampire? Then he remembered something Dimitri had once said to him about why the Malkavian wanted the paintings. The patron liked the honesty in Nikola’s expressions. If honesty was what Malkav wanted, then honesty was what he was going to get.

“I just felt safe with you and didn’t expect you to continue to tickle me until it hurts. I’m sorry if you were hurt by my words.”

“Oh, its nothing! I’m sorry for yelling, love. You see I’m still sick, so I can’t control myself,” Malkav whispered the last part in his ear and then bit it gently. Then he laid down in the bed and brought Nikola down with him and began to play with Nikola’s hair.

Nikola didn’t know why, but something told him to just relax in the arms of the vampire. He stared at the man’s face and couldn’t help but admit the man was very good-looking. Why were all vampires he met good-looking? Why couldn’t he meet one of those that decomposed or those that were simply deformed? Then he could fear them properly.

Not resisting the urge, he reached out a hand and tangled it into Malkav’s black locks. He marveled at how soft the man’s hair was. Definitely better than Dimitri’s. If only he wasn’t unhinged, he would be the perfect vampire fantasy material.

Then a thought struck him and after some consideration he voiced it.

“Have you tried getting fixed by mortals before? Maybe going to a psychiatrist? Taking medication?”

“I’ve tried everything, and all mortals and kindred who failed are dead now. But you are capable of love, even for my kind. And it all will be for me. And when I taste of its sweet nectar I will be cured, and I will live with you forever. And we will be happy. Unless you can’t love me. But then I’ll keep you in my heart because you are sweet like the candy you make. I like eating candy. Even though I barf it out right afterwards.”

Nikola got the sudden urge not to be barfed out afterwards like the candy Malkav have had. Then an idea came to him. Malkav was insane, and so both easy and hard to be reasoned with. He was also third generation, and he had feasted on the blood of the second generation. That made him incredibly strong, but unlike Dimitri, his clouded mind wouldn’t catch up on being deceived.

 He was mad and had been immortal since before Noah’s time. He probably didn’t even remember what love was. And if he was indeed an angel, and Nikola couldn’t believe he was reasoning with himself that angels even existed, then he probably never knew about love anyway.

Deciding to put his plan in action, he began making small circles over Malkav’s heart. This didn’t escape the vampire’s notice, and he stopped his humming.

“What are you doing?”

“You make me feel safe. Your humming is very nice. I figured out how to fix you.”

At that, Malkav flipped them in bed and then pinned Nikola gently beneath him.

“How? Love, don’t give me false hopes!”

A thumb was brushing Nikola’s cheeks gently, and the mortal sunken further into the vampire’s embrace.

“I’ve been thinking. Your madness is the result of a curse and is carried to the others of your clan. Therefore, it is part of your power. What if you passed your power to someone else? Pass the vampire curse and revert to being an angel. It’s not as if you can be killed. You were ripped to shred once and didn’t have a Final Death. And so, its entirely possible…”

Malkav was suddenly kissing him and Nikola was quick to respond, least he angered him. When he was finished, the immortal murmured over his lips.

“You’ll take my madness away and end the Malkavians? I was right to call you love! You must love me already to offer to take my burden from me!”

The kisses resumed and Nikola was beginning to like them. Malkav was sick in the brain and Dimitri was supposed to be normal from a diplomatic clan. And yet, it was sick Malkav that had shown him kindness.

Now if only it wouldn’t kill him to “pass” his powers to Nikola. He was almost sorry for feeding the man’s delusions about angels. As if an angel would suffer being turned into a vampire like Malkav did. No, in a way if this worked either Nikola would die or Malkav will and in a way he would finally be cured.

In an almost practiced fashion, Nikola exposed his already marked neck to the ancient vampire, and he mooned loudly as the man sunken his fangs into his flesh. Meanwhile, Nikola began to run his hands through the soft locks and pepper Malkav’s exposed neck with kisses. He then did something he had never done with Dimitri and bitt down hard. He needed the power and frenzy of ghouling to preserve his senses as the immortal was sucking him dry.

He only took a couple of drops of the vitae offered to him, and he then continued to pepper the man’s neck with kisses. Nikola felt faint, but he also felt invigorated. The blood had tasted like nothing he had had before, and he felt the sudden urge for more, but he suppressed it. Let Malkav think it was merely a love bite and suck him dry.

Then, just as his vision was getting dark, he faintly heard Malkav command him to drink from him, and so he did. Before Malkav could get up and leave him in bed to his frenzy, Nikola used his still strong limbs from the ghouling and pushed the immortal back down.

“Won’t you let me show you my love for you, sire?”

“That type of love is not supposed to happen between sire and childe. It’s twisted,” Malkav attempted to gently distance himself from Nikola, but the newly made vampire kissed him softly on the neck and went to lick it. Let the fool stay with him and get sucked dry, just like he had sucked dry Nikola. He wanted some revenge for all that he had endured with Dimitri, and maybe it was the new madness in his veins talking, but he was strangely unafraid at this moment.

“Who says it’s twisted? You are an angel, sire. Surely, you are above Caine’s rules. Do you feel cured? I don’t think so. Let me suck the madness from your veins and be burdened with it as you get to return to grace. It’s the least I can do after you’ve already pledged your love to me.”

Nikola bit down on Malkav’s neck gently and began to drink. The first time a vampire was made he was the hungriest. So if he ever hoped to be able to cure Malkav out of existence it was now.

The “angel” petted his hair as he drank in the nectar but didn’t show any signs of becoming pained or of blood loss.  Nikola drank until he couldn’t drink anymore, and then he gave up his original plan to suck his new captor dry, and he let go of him but not before placing a final kiss on the two puncture marks.

Malkav was like a well that was fed with an underground spring. There was nothing to be done about it. But now that he was a vampire, Nikola felt like the former almost unbearable squeezing of his waist was now lessened. That was not to imply that Malkav’s arm wasn’t still squeezing him, but Nikola simply didn’t feel the pain.

He didn’t experience any signs of madness either. He didn’t feel like giggling uncontrollably or the urge to do anything rash. And now that Malkav was gripping his short hair in an almost painful way, which would have made him scream had he still been a human, with complete clarity he smirked right into the face of the deranged maniac.

“Let me tell you something, Malkav. I don’t feel mad. But I feel powerful. Thank you for my first feeding. I actually planned to suck you dry, but you are like a bottomless pit filled to the brim with water. I can’t do it. I can’t kill you. But you remain strong, and so I can’t decapitate you or tear out your heart. So, I tell you what: If you really want to be cured, why don’t you go sit in a wood chopper? Because that is the only way someone like you can ever be fixed.”

With that, he sunk his new nails painfully into the hand that was gripping his hair until it let him lose. He made to get up, but Malkav was on him, tugging at him and attempting to drag him down.

“Wait, where are you going? I can teach you much about truth and the way of the vampire. Let me keep you as a lover, and I’ll let you drink from my vitae to your heart’s content. I really am an angel. My complete immortality is a proof of that! Don’t you want me as a lover, love? I embraced you! I showed you my love! You owe me your devotion.”

Nikola considered the hopeful look of the vampire, and something in his eyes seemed a bit…off. While before they were musty now they were clear as day. He let himself be gently guided back to the bed. Malkav’s emotions didn’t do a backflip.

“Your eyes are clearer…” Began Nikola in disbelief. Then a logical expression crossed Malkav’s face, confusion.

“Of course they are. Will you let me be your sire if not your lover, at least? I didn’t make you lose your compassion, did I? It’s your most beautiful trait, and it was what grabbed my attention in all the paintings. To tell you the truth, I don’t want you. I don’t even desire you. I just want you by my side. I want to be filled with compassion again. I want more of your blood too. I know it’s wrong, and I know it will pain you, but I feel better from it. I need more of it. Give me more, childe.”

Nikola was pinned to the bed by the superiorly strong Malkav, and his blood was being sucked out again. Or was Malkav drinking his blood through Nikola’s veins? Feeling lightheaded, he craned his neck to bite down on Malkav’s neck. He kept drinking for as long as the other vampire was drinking.

Then he remembered how it would take three times of drinking from someone to make them fall in love. And he had drank three times from Malkav. Suddenly, he wanted the vampire inside him. He had whored himself for Dimitri many times, why not be with someone he loved? But he wanted Malkav to love him back now. He needed for the vampire to stop drinking from him and then to start drinking again.

With a gentle tug on the man’s hair he got his attention and captured his lips with his own in a kiss. The man gently kissed back and then returned to sucking from his blood. As soon as the first two gulps passed through Malkav’s mouth he groaned and his hands begun to roam over Nikola’s body.

He slowly began to undress him, and Nikola was tugging at Malkav’s own clothes in return. For once, Nikola made love instead of being fucked. It was a pleasant feeling. And Malkav’s gentleness made him want to spend his days with the man.

Nikola knew it was the blood talking, but he now loved Malkav. He felt horrified at his previous thoughts and actions. He couldn’t even think about harming Malkav from now on. He shouldn’t have thought it from the start! And judging by how gentle the vampire was with him, Malkav wouldn’t be so much as tugging his hair anytime soon.

When Nikola came to from his nap, light shimmered past the curtains. He extended his fingers, and it didn’t harm him. Odd, he should have been burned at least. He gently untangled himself from Malkav and went to the window. He extended his hand and waved it in front of the window, but nothing happened.

Then he checked his fangs and noticed that they were still there. Without noticing, Malkav had gotten up and snuck behind him. He was also waving his hand into the light.

“I can feel the lord’s light on me again,” said Malkav in amazement. He then scoped up Nikola and opened the curtains fully. Nikola relaxed into the sun’s warmth as Malkav giggled good naturally behind him. The curtains remained opened as Malkav lead him back into bed.

“I should burn some of these paintings,” the Antediluvian said. “All but the first one are a mockery of who you are. I’ll just keep it and then burn all these abominations. And I will punish the Toreador who played with you to make them. I can’t kill him because Arikel will declare war, but I will at least bash his pretty head a couple of times.”

“I’d rather bash his head in myself, but thank you for offering. Do you feel better?”

“Much. I feel love for you from the blood, but with how clear you made my mind, true love will follow soon enough. It’s not as if it’s impossible, seeing as you haven’t killed any humans yet, or anyone for that matter. I forbid you to kill. It will feed your beast, and you might end up mad, and then if your madness takes root in your blood I will be sick again. I refuse to suffer a curse any longer.”

“So you really were an angel before you became a vampire?” Asked Nikola curiously.

“Who knows? There is much I don’t remember and that even Arikel had forgotten. Maybe I just drank my sire all by myself and got all his power, since Arikel didn’t attack with us. If I hadn’t been mad with Lilith’s curse, I wouldn’t have attacked myself.”

Malkav moved them both, so he was laying on top of Nikola, so he could start kissing his again.

“There are so many things that don’t make sense to me now. Why neither I nor my followers soughed further academic knowledge? I could have easily hired the best tutors to lecture me in all the mysteries of the world, and yet I still trade money for it with the Ventrue. And they feed me half-backed nonsense as a joke. One told me once that chicken blood can cure a Samedi’s condition, and so I captured one and poured buckets of the stuff on her until the poor woman told me she was too deteriorated to be saved. She must have lied to me to get away, but I…my sickness got the better of me and I slit her throat and ate her heart, only to barf it out afterwards. Do you think its possible to eat human food again?”

  “I don’t know. But I don’t feel the sudden urge to breathe, so my internal organs must have died. You might be luckier, though. Do you feel normal hunger?”

“No, love, I do not. It’s just a pang. And I’m done barfing from my madness induced stupidity. My clan is supposed to be made from scholars. It’s time we acted this way.”

With this Malkav got up and as he moved towards the door his long hair gently slayed in his wake. He stopped at the door’s threshold and looked at Nikola expectantly.

  “Are you coming for a shower, love?”

Nikola smiled and nodded, and he got up and followed Malkav. If the man was bothered by their nakedness as he led them through his very cramped apartment, he didn’t show it.

After they were both clean and Nikola was dressed up in some of Malkav’s clothes, which were a bit big on him as the elder vampire was broader in the shoulders and taller than him, Malkav lead Nikola to show off his library room full of lore. Then the man realized that most of the books were written by himself, and he blushed in embarrassment as he watched Nikola read a heavy tome.

“So, you have a theory about how Caine is sustaining himself on ghouled rabbit blood? Interesting.”

“Don’t laugh at me, childe. It’s cruel to laugh at the sick. Let’s go somewhere else. This whole building is full of Malkavians. Let’s go see if they are experiencing any changes.”

They exited the room and Malkav lead him to an apartment that housed a certain Malkavian whose madness manifested in compulsive cleaning and researching cleaning products.

Once Malkav helped himself in, he saw that the apartment was bathed in light and the Malkavian was watching National Geographic Wild while basking in the light.

After they spoke with Freddie, who swore he was never touching a broom again, they figured out that many of the Malkavians were also basking in the light and were actually doing intellectual pursuits. It seemed that their madness had really had come from Malkav himself.

This new development made the clan the only one to potentially bypass the worst effect of the vampire curse. After Freddie apologized to Nikola for kidnapping him last night, as he had been the one to punch him, Malkav lead Nikola out of the apartment and into the crisp winter day outside.

Then he led his new childe to the park, talking excitedly all the while.

“There are so many things I need to teach you and so many that are redundant now! I no longer need to explain to you how to survive as a creature of the night. You’ve brought the day to me, my love. And with it my sanity, but I have a theory that I will need to keep feeding from you. But you don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not. Anything for you, Malkav.”

“Anything?” Said Malkav slowly as he raised his eyebrow at Nikola.

“Don’t make me regret my devotion to you now. You’ve been nothing but kind to me, even when you were sick. Please remain so, sire.”

“I will, my dear. And I will feed you myself. Me and that useless Toreador Methuselah. You will never need to hunt until the Final Death claims me. I will hunt for you. Drink for you, and then you will drink from me. I promised you forever when I was sick, and I will keep my promise.”

At that, Malkav moved closer and reached out to hold Nikola’s hand. The newly made vampire smiled and squeezed Malkav’s hand in return. They spend the whole day just basking in the sun and Malkav continued their walk even during the night.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment complex Freddie had spread the word that they were cured, and the vampires had naturally started calling other Malkavians to assure them that no, the sudden clarity of mind was not a coincidence or another manifestation of madness.

When morning came and Malkav finally brought them back to the apartment, a horde of confused Malkavians were waiting at the door, asking their sire questions about what they were going to do next.

What Malkav told them was simple. Gather information, but only true information. Go and see the light of day. Enroll in a university, maybe. As far as Malkav was concern, only benefits were left of the vampirism of the Malkavian clan.

They would all need to keep it under wraps that Malkav had not only awakened but was cured as well. But then again, who would believe them? They were the crazy clan that saw images of Caine in puddles every Wednesday. Let the other clans marvel at them being able to walk in the daylight.

Nikola wasn’t tired when he entered the apartment again, but he was hungry. Malkav took him back to the bed and offered his neck to him. Once Nikola was done feeding, Malkav fed from his childe but didn’t suck him dry as he had done the previous night. They spend the day just watching documentaries, which were strangely more interesting to Nikola that they had been before, about planets on YouTube.

 As relaxed as he was, Nikola was suddenly brought out of his musings by his phone, which was returned to him with the rest of his stuff, which showed a caller ID he didn’t particularly want to see. It was Dimitri.

After he spoke to him and told him the truth of what happened, accompanied by his additions that he could still walk into the light, he was called insane and an angry Dimitri demanded that he return to their apartment now. But not during the day if he was a vampire. And that he shouldn’t listen to the nonsense of his Malkavian sire, whoever it was.

 Then with a sudden gentleness in his voice, Dimitri promised he would help secure Nikola’s grip on reality, if he was indeed a Malkavian now. That he would teach Nikola everything he needed to know to survive and that Dimitri would still consider him his dear morsel.

Nikola hanged up after that. His frustration must have shown on his face because Malkav, whose superior to human hearing had allowed him to listen in, spoke.

“Dimitri, as much as it pains me to admit, is a powerful Methuselah and a fourth generation vampire. While technically in rang you are the same, your pursuits will lean more in the academic field rather than towards fighting. It would be best if you appeal to his diplomatic side. But from what I’ve seen of your memories while I held you as you slept last night, his Beast might be close to taking over. Toreadors were always obsessed with love and beauty.”

“So nothing changes, and he still gets to push me around. Wonderful.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I will come to live with you for a time, my love. But I have a clan to manage. Unless you are ready to give up your past life and stay here with me? We can enroll in university together. This town has one, even!”

Nikola shook his head no, and then an idea hit him.

“What if we find some vampire willing to give up their more fighting-related vitae for me to drink? Wouldn’t that make me more of a fighter? Then Dimitri wouldn’t be able to push me around anymore! And don’t tell me he won’t throw me into a wood chopper as soon as you return here out of spite. Spite is practically his middle name.”

Malkav started playing with Nikola’s hair again and leaned in to kiss his forehead in a friendly manner.

“His blood would be the best bet for that. Toreadors have agility, if not raw strength. That makes him a surprisingly good fighter. And his diplomacy that will slip into you the more you drink from him will help you deal with me when the novelty of my sanity wears off. Love, I hate to disappoint you, but even though you are practically my medicine, I have a mean streak a mile long. I did kill my sire, after all. You are probably the only vampire existing who doesn’t have a beast, and that is all thanks to you not feeding on any humans. I once again forbid you to change your diet. And don’t drink from ghouls, either. I’ll know and probably lose my mind again. And if I do, I’ll kill you, love bond or not. If Caine can kill a Crone who did what you did, then I can kill you.”

Nikola gulped and moved slightly away from Malkav, whose fingers were still tracing circles in his hair. So gentle that they might have been speaking about something else entirely.

“No humans, no ghouls. Just you and Dimitri, if he lets me drink from him. I understand, sire.”

“Good sweetheart. Now let me make it up to you for scaring you. How would you like to visit the local library, so we can find something good to read for the reminder of the day?”

“That sounds good.” Said Nikola, and he honestly surprised himself. He liked libraries normally, but he was practically considering them a treat now. He guessed that Malkav’s blood was really changing him. It was almost like he had a soulmate. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside.