Chapter Text
The next evening Red went straight into William’s hotel room with a new sense of purpose. William was normally in bed, reading the paper. Red had always imagined him eating breakfast before he arrived: maybe some toast and coffee, that was cleaned up without a trace.
But it occurred to him that he had scarcely seen William eat a morsel of food. An odd moment from the previous week came back to him: Red had forced William to try a few bites of his dinner one evening, putting the spoonful of pasta into his mouth despite his protests. He recalled William swallowing, giving a coy smile as though all was well. But Red could sense an uneasiness in him and, for the only time he could recall, William had later excused himself to visit the lavatory. Despite everything, Red couldn’t help but worry that he’d hurt William. He hadn’t meant to; how could he have known?
This morning, William was standing beside the bed, which had two of his trunks open on top of the richly patterned fabric of the bedspread. He was arranging the items inside them, with the same care he put into everything. Clearly, Red’s assistance in moving them had never been necessary.
“Good evening,” William said, taking a few steps towards Red. “Are you well rested?”
Red hesitated. He didn’t know how to answer. “Actually, I didn’t sleep at all. But I feel fine.”
“You probably won’t feel the need to sleep for a few weeks.”
Red frowned. “Because of…” He trailed off, not knowing how to say it.
William nodded. “Yes.”
“Oh.” Red wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He liked sleeping, curling up in warm bed on a cold night. He looked inside William’s trunks: one was full of clothing, neatly folded and arranged by colour, that he was carefully adding the clothes from the room’s wardrobe to. The other was filled with smaller boxes, and Red could see amongst them the box of William’s letter-writing supplies, the one that had been on the writing desk until now. “You’re packing?”
“Yes. I hear the Americans reached Rome today. And you have led me to believe that you have certain…” he paused for a minute, apparently searching for the word. “…responsibilities that you may not wish to face just yet.”
“Yeah. I don’t think the army will be happy if they find me here,” Red muttered, knowing those words were not strong enough to convey the consequences he expected.
“I won’t allow them to. We are heading to Corsica as soon as you are ready.”
“Corsica?”
“It is a large island between here and France. It was liberated back in October, and the Americans left shortly afterwards. It will be quite safe.” He said smoothly, confidently, as though he’d had this planned for weeks.
“I don’t want you to have to go out of your way. I’m sure I’ll be able to manage here, if I keep my head down.”
“It is no inconvenience. A friend of mine has a house there that will be suitable.”
“Okay, but…” Red bit his lower lip. “You can’t just… put all that… stuff… on me. And not expect me to have questions.”
“There will be time for all of that, my dear.” William took a step forward, to take Red’s hands. Red frowned, looking at William’s long, smooth fingers. They were warm. He wouldn’t have expected a vampire’s fingers to be warm.
“No, I need to know. I need to know now, not...” Red felt his shoulders tighten. “I—I like being with you. I care about you. But I need to understand. I need you to be honest. No more lies.”
William sighed. “What do you need to know?”
Red cleared his throat. He tried not to think about how ridiculous his questions would be. He felt like a child. “How long have you been…”
“No,” William cut him off before he finished the question. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”
“What? Why?”
“This is why I said we should wait. This is a long conversation.”
“It really isn’t. I was born in 1920, so that makes me twenty-four. What year were you born?”
He sighed. “You must understand, there are things that I cannot tell you, not because I don’t want you to know, but because they would ruin me if they were found out. There are some secrets I may yet keep.” He let go of Red’s hands. “How old do you think I am?”
Red hesitated. He wasn’t good at guessing people’s ages, even when they weren’t monsters from scary stories. “I couldn’t know. A hundred? More?”
William smiled. “More like a thousand.”
“A thousand,” Red repeated. He had to sit. He sat down, his back against the cold wood of the trunks. “A thousand,” he repeated again.
“Older, but I hope that answers your question well enough.”
“How can you… how can you… a thousand?” Red tried to put the words together: William was so nice. So human. But how could he be human and… He rubbed his face, pushing against his skin and feeling the bone underneath. “You’re older than most countries,” he said finally.
“Yes.” He nodded.
“And you’ve killed people.”
William pushed the trunk further up the bed, to give Red more room to sit, so his back wasn’t pressed against the trunk, and sat down beside him. “You said no more lying, so I must admit I have.”
Red pushed his fingers against his eyelids. “Hell’s bells.”
“I’ve done many things I’m not proud of.” He placed a hand on Red’s back, gently, ready to take it back if Red didn’t like it. Red didn’t flinch away but didn’t take his hands off his eyes. After Red made no response, William continued. “When you were a child, did you pull the wings off of flies?”
That got his attention. Red pulled his hands away to look at him. “What?”
“Did you catch flies, and pull their wings off?”
“That’s not…” He trailed off, looking for an argument he couldn’t quite form. “I didn’t…” He sighed a little. “I pulled the tail off a lizard once,” he said finally.
William smiled, and took Red’s hand. “Why did you do that?”
Red entwined his fingers with William’s. “I don’t know,” Red murmured. “I suppose… I didn’t think. Curiosity, maybe?” William’s hand was so warm. If he was a vampire—was he dead? Could a dead man be so warm?
“Some of us hold power we don't know how to wield responsibly,” William replied softly.
“Yeah,” Red agreed. He didn’t let go on William’s hand. His other hand went to his mouth. After a long silence, he spoke again. “I thought… I knew you were… odd.”
William smiled, and gave Red’s hand a squeeze.
“I thought you were just rich. ‘That’s how rich people are! They’re weird!’” He gestured outwards with his open hand. “And everyone at the hotel was, so it didn’t even seem that strange. You were strange but there were other people who were…” Red’s eyes went wide. A little colour drained from his face. “Are there… other vampires? At the hotel?”
“Yes. In fact, it is specifically for our kind.”
“Oh. Oh wow. Ooooooh wow.” Red rubbed his temples. He could feel an uncomfortable warmth rising from his chest, but it wasn’t pleasant in the way it had been sometimes. It felt uncomfortable, like water starting to boil in his lungs. He didn’t want to think about this. Any of this.
But he couldn’t leave it either.
He was grateful, suddenly, of how William never interrupted him or rushed him when they were talking. He never had to fill silences. He always waited. All other things considered, that helped.
“Okay.” Red took a deep breath, calculating his words. “Are there… other people? Like me? Who you…” He gestured vaguely at his neck, not wanting to say the word. It felt… gross, somehow.
“To be sustainable, we rotate between ten people.” William paused. “Volunteers.”
“Volunteers…” It had felt good. And he could see how people would like not needing to sleep. “Because they like it? Because they want to?”
“Yes.”
Red swallowed. He became painfully aware of how sweaty his hands were, especially the one entwined with William’s. “And do you… do you have… do you have what we have? With them?”
“No, nothing like us. Not at all.” William paused. “For most, it’s a transaction. I have a meal. They are more alert and focused, like you were last night.”
Red rubbed the spot on his neck, thinking. He enjoyed it. He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to ruin it by analysing it. “What happens to me? In the long run?”
“What would you like to happen to you?”
“Do I… change? Will it kill me?”
“No. It doesn’t work that way.” William placed his hand on Red’s knee. “I have a lot of experience. I wouldn’t do anything that would hurt you.”
“Okay.” Red took his hand back to hastily run them over his face. Everything was… too much, right now. “I will take your word for it. Last night was… I… I enjoyed it. I did. But this is a lot to process.”
“I know.” He took his hand off Red’s knee, and pulled it around his waist, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know when to tell you. I didn’t want to lose you.”
Red leaned into him, just a little. “I don’t want to lose you either.”
“But, in light of all of this, I would understand if you reconsider our relationship. I will take you to Corsica regardless.”
Red considered it; he’d been thinking about it all day, but still wasn’t sure. The conversation had made him more unsure if anything.
But…
“I want to go with you.” Red said, finally. He knew he would regret it if he didn’t.
“Then gather your things. Our driver is waiting.”