Chapter 7

Nikola ended up making candy for the two vampires and receiving ice cream like treats made from the combined blood of the vampires most days. Then one day, the two brought blood from their hunts back and had Nikola make it into candy. He didn’t taste it, instead let Dimitri do that. Once they figured out that sugar and human blood didn’t make a vampire barf, Nikola made candy canes out of the mixture.

He didn’t ask why they needed so much candy or why they didn’t eat any of it but bagged it instead, yet he made them a separate batch with his blood that they did eat. This happened a few more times, and Nikola finally got curious.

As it turns out, the two were trading his human blood candy to vampires and weren’t telling them how it was made. Which made Nikola laugh, as it was quite normal candy, actually. Even if the one they were trading had no water in it. He felt strange that he wasn’t disturbed that the kilograms of candy were made entirely of human blood as the main agent. He would have been horrified just a couple of months ago, but now he didn’t care, as long as he got to do whatever he wanted with his days.

And he did whatever he wanted. He read. He went outside and had long strolls in the park, and he did go and have a pleasant day at the lake, just like he had planned so long ago. Then one day, out of the blue, Malkav told the two of them that they would be moving into his apartment now that his ghouls had sorted out the trash from the useful things and given the space a good cleaning.

Dimitri had attempted to argue. Nikola had attempted to plead. But eventually the two were vetoed. Nikola later that day found out that a mangled corpse was sent to his family to bury. He wondered if he had used the poor man’s blood in one of his candy batches. He tried not to think too hard on it.

As he packed everything, he saw ghouls coming into his apartment to take everything. His life was officially over now. His apartment was going to be a thing of the past, and he would never see his parents again. He never even got to say goodbye to them.

 He wanted to scream in frustration, but instead he retreated deep into himself as Dimitri fumed and grumbled how this was madness. He received a death glare for his remark from Malkav, and Nikola ended up on the receiving end of the bad treatment as the two other vampires fed from him in a rough fashion. He was once again glad that he could heal his neck faster.

The car ride was quiet. As Nikola was supposed to be dead and shouldn’t be seen, he was sat on the back seat between Malkav and Dimitri. The two vampires weren’t talking to each other, but they each had one of his hands in a death grip.

As he was being uprooted, the final straw was that his phone was left at the apartment. He had packed, true, but only his candy making materials. He wasn’t allowed to bring even his clothes with him. They were supposed to be left behind for his parents to find and to recover.

He closed his eyes and faked sleep in the car. He felt Malkav resting his head on his shoulders from his left, but Dimitri was still angrily snarling from his right. He wondered what the ghoul considered all this to be, the man drove them. Did he have enough of a free will to be bothered? Nikola hoped not.

When they entered Malkav’s apartment finally, there was a pale faced body lying on the table. Malkav griped his hand tighter and lead him to it. It was of a woman.

“I had Dimitri make you a sorbet with regular blood one day, and now for a fact, I know you can drink human blood without negative effects for me. You are long overdue for this lesson. It’s time you learn to kill.”

Nikola stared first at Malkav and then at Dimitri, who was grinning at him, his grip deceptively gentle on his hand.

“Niki, it won’t be so hard once you sunk your fangs. You see, you might have not been noticing, but you’ve been getting faster and stronger on your diet of vampire blood. I’ve been slipping you blood apart from mine in the sorbets. You can’t believe how many vampires would trade their blood for some of your candy! It is a novelty to them. And you already ate human blood, plenty of times, too. I broadened your diet even before Malkav asked to see what will happen, and you are fine. You both are. Don’t you want anything warm for once?”

Dimitri was pushing him towards the body, and his grin widened at the unease with which Nikola attempted to struggle and get away from the woman. He should have knifed the bastard. Then he stopped struggling all together.

What was the point? He was attempting to stand his ground against an Antediluvian and a Methuselah. It was hopeless. His hands were freed as he reached the woman, and he lowered his mouth to her neck. If he could only pretend that the woman was a vampire, but he heard her heartbeat clear as day.

He drank from her. He noticed how she didn’t have all that much blood to begin with. The two vampires must have fed from her beforehand, which would force him to kill her, as he felt gentle pressure on his head. He was being held down to drink every last drop of her. As he felt her heartbeat stop, the pressure went away, and he was allowed to stand up.

Without waiting for the two vampires to say anything, he walked out of the door. He felt them following him and didn’t make to run away. Dimitri hugged his arm, and Nikola didn’t brush him away. There was no point in resisting. He had been lulled into a false state of happiness ever since his attempt of running away.

But what do these two monsters even know of happiness? One could potentially have never been human to begin with, and the other must have forgotten what it was to be human from being a vampire for so long.

He just walked without any direction. With Dimitri latched on his arm and humming and Malkav walking slightly behind them. He didn’t speak to them. Morning came and he still walked the streets.

They only stopped before the breaking of dawn for Dimitri to feed from him, so he won’t get burned by the sun. Malkav didn’t take from him, and even Dimitri must have sensed the mood as he took the bare minimum, and he shut down the warmth in his limbs. Nikola missed it as soon as he sensed it was gone.

Somehow he found himself in the park that Malkav had taken him to as he had returned to sanity. He sat on one of the benches between his captors and began to think. He could hear heartbeats now. Human, animal. His senses were somewhat sharper now. Sure, he might have eaten human blood sorbets before, but it was watered-down drink at best. Now that he had had the real deal, he felt different. Somewhat empty.

He desperately wanted to fill the emptiness with something. An art gallery flayer was put on the tree right in front of him. He got up, the two men behind him didn’t follow him, and read it. Then he turned back towards Malkav.

“Can we go check this out?” He said as he pointed at the flyer.

“I don’t see why not. Come, I’ll take us there.”

Malkav took the lead and Dimitri was once again latched on his arm. He didn’t attempt to talk to him, he just happily hummed.

“Why are you so happy, Dimitri?”

“You are one of us now, Niki! And your blood tastes as good as it used to while you were still alive. I cooked the woman for you, you see. With special herbs and everything.”

“Who was she?” Nikola asked, genuinely curious. He looked at Dimitri and saw the look of confusion on the blonde’s face.

“You actually want to know?”

“I do, is it so strange?”

“For you, it is, Niki! But I’ll tell you. She was just a mortal I picked up for dinner, in the literal sense. To tell you the truth, I didn’t speak to her much apart from flirting with her all the time to get her to eat while I pretended to do the same. She is, in a sense, a blood feast I prepared for us.”

“And why did you pretend to be angry back at my apartment? Your games are tiring, Dimitri.”

The blonde squeezed his arm before huffing out a breath.

“Me, me, me! You always blame me for everything! The plan was devised by Malkav, yet I get your whining. So, I put up a little show, so you wouldn’t bolt again. Big deal.”

Nikola stopped and ran his free hand over soft blonde locks. Then he pressed a finger to Dimitri’s nose.

“I’m sorry for calling out your bullshit constantly. I’ll refrain from it in the future.”

Then he removed his finger and resumed walking after Malkav. Before Dimitri could speak, he began talking again.

“Will you teach me how to prepare meals like you do, Dimitri?”

Dimitri made a sound between a growl and a laugh deep in his throat before adjusting his grip on Nikola’s arm.

“Sure. I didn’t know you wanted to spend your immortal days over a toiled, but this is a great compliment to my cooking. Do you miss how I spoiled you?”

Nikola hummed and got a faraway look.

“Your cooking was better than my mother’s. And she is one of the best chefs in the state. If only you could replicate salty food using only blood, I would probably even agree to marry you.”

Dimitri gave a loud whistle at the last statement and kissed Nikola’s cheek.

“Man, if only you were as appreciative of my efforts back when you were alive. Just imagine the sex we would have had if you were happy with me. Instead, you let your morality cloud your mind. As for marriage, it already happened as far as I’m concerned. I gave you a ring, didn’t I? And you accepted it. So consider yourself mister Popescu.”

Nikola made a loud sigh at that and looked down towards said ring. It was a fine piece of jewelry. The finest he owned, especially now that all his things were left behind. Even his watch that he got for graduation from his father. That had been his main accessory for three years now. It was probably put on the mangled corpse’s wrist. If the poor sod sent in his place even had a wrist left.

“You’d even take away my name, won’t you? Thanks, but no, thanks, hubby. I’ll keep mine.”

Dimitri got a dreamy look on his face for a while before blurting out.

“Do you have anything against buying a white suit and posing for a painting with me? We can get Malkav to snap a photo, and then I can paint a full canvas from it. It won’t take long.”

“Sure. After we check out the gallery we can buy me a white suit, and you are a black one, and then we can get our wedding photo. Then I can complain to Freddie from next door how my husband is a lying bastard that doesn’t let me make my own choices. Maybe I’ll even put an extra pair of horns on you apart from the pair you already wear around because of Malkav.”

“You!” Began Dimitri in amazement. “You’re joking! You are making jokes in my presence! And what do you mean I’m wearing horns. It’s not horn wearing if you are in a relationship with the man your husband is fucking. And that is doubly so when you are fucking said husband with the lover at the same time. Perhaps I’ll put horns on you with Freddie from next door. To you and Malkav both!”

“Oh, please. Freddie is an intellectual. An open mind that searches for truth and knowledge. You can only offer him sex. Unless you know all about the mating calls of the kakapo. Because from what I noticed when I last saw him, he digs such things.”

“Kaka what now? Niki, I’ll have you know I can seduce any kindred I wish. I am a Toreador. It’s in my nature.”

“Kakapo. It’s a flightless parrot of New Zealand. Maybe if you spend less time in front of a mirror figuring out which pair of pants make your ass look the tightest, then you’d know such things. You, dear Toreador husband, just don’t satisfy my Malkavian side. If you weren’t good at making sorbets, I’d divorce you.”

 As he said that, Nikola smiled one of his rare smiles and freed his arm, only to sneak it to hold Dimitri’s waist. So, what if he had killed? He hadn’t hunted. And while he was sure even that would come to pass, he knew that he would actually pick his victims properly. He didn’t see himself eating any children or old people anytime soon. And he was so tired of blaming himself for his helplessness. As the saying goes: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

 He was in Rome, so to speak. An undead eternal Rome. There was no point in struggling. And while he thought of Rome, he wondered if the two would take him there someday. As he was a trophy wife who was refused the right of working and his debit card was left back in his apartment together with all his savings. Perhaps he should start hunting to take money from his victims? Food for thought.

Meanwhile, Dimitri was grinning at him like a loon and was obviously enjoying their exchange. While Nikola was lost in his musings, Dimitri had figured out a response.

“Well, I’ll have you know that now that you are attempting to test me I’m getting curious about this, Freddie. How does he look like again?”

“Oh, baby blue eyes. Bird’s nest black hair that looks kind of fluffy in a soft nerdy way. And he wears glasses and manages to pull the look you spend hours for in the mirror. The dirty innocence you are too much of a leech to fake.”

Malkav stopped and he punched a nearby tree. His feast left a dent in it.

“Neither of you are going to cheat on me with Freddie from next door.”

Then he huffed and stormed in the direction of the art gallery, which was now visible from the distance.

“What’s his problem? We were only joking around. It’s not like we were considering inviting Freddie to a threesome or fighting over him.”

“I don’t know, Dimitri. Why don’t you buy him a ring with a Romanian writing saying mine forever too? And as far as Freddie is concerned, you might not consider him, but I do. And not for a threesome, either. Or the orgy that is probably floating in your lust filled mind. You pervert.”

With that, Nikola continued walking as Dimitri complained how sharing was caring and to which Nikola complained back how he also needed his space. After they spend the day discussing the pros and cons of Freddie from next door, Malkav ended it all by stopping their outing to make them get back to the apartment.

On the way to the front door, Freddie showed his face to great them, but a snarl from Malkav and a dirty glare from Dimitri send him back into his apartment. Nikola pouted at said retreat and the lost opportunity of it. Freddie had an amazingly tight looking ass. A look at Dimitri showed that he too had given his competition a once over or two, which made his expression even more sour. Nikola had to remember to bring Freddie some freshly made candy as thanks for providing him with such a lovely image.

Predictably enough, the two vampires were on him like bloodhounds, but they were not forcing him and were taking their time with him. Yet another thing he had to thank Freddie for. Being fed up with this treatment, he exhaled loudly and spoke.

“How about this, the two of you fuck each other, and I’ll watch for a change. Or better, yet, I’ll go watch some National Geographic Wild with Freddie while you two fuck. He, at least, won’t demand sex for his company.”

Then Dimitri smiled a devious smile, and Nikola realized he had said something wrong.

“You’d really watch us if we make love in front of you? You want us to put a show up for you, Niki? Naughty, naughty. I’m game!”

To his horror, Dimitri began to undress Malkav in a way that had even the Antediluvian gaping, his eyes filled with confusion and desire. As Dimitri knelled down and began to play with Malkav’s member with his tongue, Nikola couldn’t take it anymore and fled the apartment, heading straight for Freddie’s.

    He knocked as the first loud moons reached his ears, and Freddie opened the door.

“Hello, Nikola. What brings you here to see me?”

Now, when Nikola referred to Freddie as “Freddie from next door” he meant it. In fact, their doors were so close that when a loud thud and the sound of bodies smacking into each other right next to the door was heard, it was so loud that Freddie looked at the closed door of his neighbor and raised an eyebrow.

“They are, um, they are very busy. How good is your apartment’s sound isolation?”

“Not very. I’m afraid we’ll be hearing their mating ritual for quite some time, even inside.”

A loud bang was heard, and a giggle followed by Dimitri’s voice as the Methuselah pleaded for Malkav to be gentle with him in the sluttiest voice Nikola had ever heard. Dimitri had never used this voice for him. Bastard.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll take muffled action to having to watch the action any day.”

“Ok, fine. Come and be my guest. I’m watching lectures of computer hardware. Were you aware that there is gold in each and every computer? And to think I was going to spend eternity cleaning and researching bleach!”

He ended up spending the night and day at Freddie’s. He only went back to the apartment to feed Malkav and was nearly dragged into the bed with the pair of still fucking vampires when Dimitri stopped Malkav with a kiss and a promise for another blowjob if he would let Nikola “scurry back to dirtily innocent Freddie from next door.”

Malkav good a look as if Christmas had come early at the promise and let go of Nikola’s hand as if burned. Which made Nikola wonder how good were the Toreador’s blowjobs, since he was never on the receiving end of one of them. Not that he wanted to be. He was just curious. Darn Bastard.

Fine Nikola could admit it, if Malkav had warmed so fast to Dimitri then the blonde was much more talented than he had led to believe. Which meant that Nikola had missed out on so much pleasure that it was mind-boggling. And judging by the smirk Dimitri send his way as he exited the room, the blonde knew it too. He retreated defeated back to Freddie, who offered to take him hunting.

Curious as to what sort of prey Freddie preferred, he agreed. They ended up in a café shop. Then, much to his amazement, Freddie teared up before sitting down on the most exposed table in the whole establishment.

“Here is the plan,” said Freddie between sniffs, “We will pretend that we are breaking up. I’ll cry my heart out at this girl who is staring at me like a piece of meat ever since she saw we walked in together. Now usually I pick up dudes with my glasses, but now that the opportunity to include you has presented itself, I am feeling like supping on a female. And if you act your part well, we’ll share her.”

“What?!”

“Oh, yelling that was a nice touch! Good job! You are so much better at this than my usual partners. Now stand up and leave and wait for me in the back alley. It will probably be fifteen minutes or so until dinner is served.”

Sputtering at seeing innocent looking Freddie pull something straight out of Dimitri’s book, he walked out and waited in the back alley as instructed. It took Freddie, who walked out of the shop leaning on the girl and crying as she cooed at him, only 12 minutes to do as promised. Once he entered the shade of the valley, he suddenly snapped the girl’s neck like a twig, and she fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Then he waved Nikola over.

“Man, you looked so shell shocked back there that she practically ran towards me. You are brilliant! Now hold her as I disinfect her neck, so we can both drink. You are taller than me, and it would be easier if you are the one holding her upright.”

Still shocked at how casual Freddie was sounding, the same Freddie who cooed at baby animals being delivered in one documentary about nature preservation, he did as asked and then as if in a haze he drank from the dead girl. Her blood didn’t taste as good as the blood of the woman from yesterday, but it was still better than a squirrel.

Then he was instructed to dump the corpse in a dumpster, and then Freddie took him back to his apartment. It wasn’t until later that night that a very satisfied Dimitri knocked on the door.

“Play date is over, morsel. Your lover wants someone to cuddle and I, your ever-loving husband, nominated you. But be gentle with him. I sure wasn’t.”

With a heavy blush, he bid Freddie goodbye and thanked him for his hospitality, to which Freddie responded that he was welcome to come and hunt with him any time.

Nikola slowly entered the apartment and saw that a woman was tidying up the thrown clothes. After she assured him, she was a ghoul and was commanded to do this task, he went to the bedroom.

In it, he found a near catatonic Malkav, just lying on the bed and looking exhausted. He approached the man and laid down next to him, and he was immediately cuddled, with Malkav’s leg hooking up with his own.

“I did such filthy things that it’s hard to put them in words. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to provoke the creativity of a Toreador.”

“Aha. Noted. Please spare me the details, Malkav.”

“I mean, the flexibility alone. And the way he moans. Dimitri is sin incarnate. Why haven’t I seen it before?”

“Yes, well. You two can ride each other from now on.”

“Childe, jealousy doesn’t suit you. You asked to be excluded, and we excluded you. It’s not like you came back, no matter how loud we were. But Dimitri should teach you some of the things that he can do. Or I can.”

“How about we just cuddle? Haven’t you had enough sex these past days?”

“My love, I was fucked these past days. Now I wish to make love. You are good at that, my soft and sweet candy maker. If only I can combine the two of you. Oh, the things I will do then.”

Malkav stared wistfully at Nikola, and the brunette sighed and kissed him.

“Fine, take me. But just once, and we cuddle afterwards.”

“Alright.”

Nikola stirred from his nap later to see that Dimitri had joined them in bed and was hugging his back. These naps of his were strange. They were almost like human sleep. But vampires didn’t sleep, did they?