Title: They Call It the Queen of the Night

Rating: T

Genre: Drama/Romance

Disclaimer: Tanz Der Vampire and its characters belong to Roman Polanski, Jim Steinman and Michael Kunze. This fanfic is written simply for entertainment and I gain no financial profit by writing this.

Summary: A hundred years after their ways parted, Alfred meets his great love again. A sequel to "A Deal with the Devil" and "Strangelove".

A/N: And here's the continuation I promised. You could say that things didn't really go the way any of the characters would have liked; what that means will be explained in the story. This will be just an oneshot, because I felt it'd work better like this rather than as a multichaptered story. Enjoy!

The pub was not the place you went to spend time or enjoy the refined environment. The furniture consisted of various unmatching pieces, some of which seemed so frail that a sneeze of particular force might knock them down. The upholstery of the benches looked also like the best days of this place had been briefly lived in a very distant past. Had Alfred been able to actually drink his wine, he wasn't sure he would have wanted to: the glass was dusty and he was fairly certain it hadn't been washed since the last time it had been in use. The clientele also looked like they represented various levels of shadiness.

Alfred, of course, was the shadiest of them all. But then, that wasn't really something one could guess by looking at him. In fact, with his scrawny build and youthful, boyish face, people actually thought the exact opposite.

He hadn't come here in a search of sophisticated atmosphere, though. Although he had already mastered drinking from his victims without killing them, he still preferred to only feed on people he thought more deserving of serving as a vampire's dinner.

In truth, he wasn't even that hungry tonight. He could have gone a couple of nights more before really feeling the pressing need to drink blood, but something had driven him out... Whether it was just wanting to hear human sounds around him or to find some solace by feeding and that one glorious moment when the blood would fill him, he wasn't sure.

Perhaps, in the end, it was just fate.

Be that as it may, he was fingering the base of his glass and considering one particularly nasty-looking man from the corner of his eye when the door of the bar was opened and a cold draft breathed in. However, it wasn't the icy air that made him freeze on the spot but rather the presence he had not felt in a hundred years.

Though so many decades had passed since they had last seen each other, Alfred was sure he would have known this one anywhere. Everything in him screamed to turn around, to leap from his seat and throw himself in the arms of the older vampire while sobbing barely intelligible love confessions. But he held himself in place and spent a long moment just trying to convince himself it was a pure accident that he had ventured into the same pub as him, and it was best if he didn't react in any way.

"I do not wish to see your face again." Those had been the exact words, and they had never quite stopped hurting. And he knew he would not be able to bear it if he turned now and saw only cold resentment on that face he had so much wanted to see for every night of past hundred years.

For a second, he expected to door be opened again and the familiar presence disappear again into the cold winter night, but instead the stool beside him was pulled back and a tall shape, dressed in dark, sat down. Had Alfred's heart still been beating, he was convinced it'd have stopped right then.

"Good evening, Alfred", came the quiet greeting. The sound of his voice sent a violent shiver down Alfred's spine. How had he longed to hear this voice again!

"Evening, Johannes", he whispered, finally turning to look at the Count von Krolock.

The older vampire hadn't changed one bit, but it wasn't like Alfred had expected that. The long, silky hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, and every line of his pale face, strangely elegant even in its gauntness, was as in Alfred's memory. Under his long wool coat, he was wearing a black three-pieced suit with a dark red shirt, and he looked every bit as threatening and sublime as the last time they had seen each other. Yet it was somehow odd to see the aristocrat dressed in such modern way – without his billowing cloak, he didn't appear as large as Alfred remembered. His old rings were in place though, and he still carried himself with the same flair and dignity.

For a while, all Alfred could do was stare. Over the course of past hundred years, he had never met anyone like this man.

"What brings you here, in this city?" he asked at last when he finally was able to use his voice again. If his wide-eyed staring bothered the Count, it didn't show, which was surprising because the older man had never particularly liked to be looked at so intently. But Alfred didn't sense any hostility, which confused and unnerved him, for the memory of their last parting was clear and painful as ever in his mind. How could Krolock stroll inside and greet him so casually when he had been so full of malice and hate the last time they had seen each other?

"Herbert thinks I need to get out more, so he dragged me out for a holiday. We have been touring the great cities of the continents for a few weeks now", the Count said. The bartender stopped to look at him with apathetic eyes and he smoothly ordered "whatever my friend here is having".

"Even so", the younger vampire said quietly, "this is the last place I would have thought to see you. I would rather have thought you'd leave the moment you looked inside."

"Why is that?" the Count said, watching Alfred from the corner of his eye.

"First of all, you and this place are so at odds with one another it's outrageous. And I... I didn't think you would want to see me", Alfred said slowly. Krolock regarded him quietly for a while and then sighed.

"Hmm. You truly did take my words to your heart, didn't you?" he commented. "I did not expect them to have such powerful impact."

"I don't understand", the younger vampire said with a frown. The Count made a sound between a snort and a chuckle.

"Isn't it obvious? I always thought it was, at least. I had to make sure you would leave... so I told you the exact thing I knew you feared the most – and would hurt you the most", the Count answered slowly and lowered his eyes to look down on his pale bony hands that were resting on the counter. "Or was it that I struck you? Then again, I suppose it hardly matters now..."

"You mean... you lied? You didn't do it because you had grown tired of me?" Alfred whispered.

"What else could it be than a lie? To be honest, I am good at making people think what I want them to think, but I was still amazed by how you didn't express even the slightest suspicion... especially after the last night we spent together", the Count said and turned his head so that at last their eyes met properly. The younger vampire had never really forgotten the vivid blue of those eyes - the shade that could be so brilliant or so cold.

"Why did you lie?" Alfred asked, his voice trembling. Had all that pain and longing been for nothing? "Why did you make me leave?"

He tried to feel anger and betrayal, but he realized he couldn't – not when the older vampire looked at him with such sadness... not when he was so glad to see Johannes once more. It had been a hundred years. What use would it be for either of them for him to get mad now?

"Because I thought you'd be better off without me. I wished to give you the life you dreamt of, and yet I knew I could not be a part of it. I could not live in the light with you, give you a family, or grow old with you. And so you needed to leave and never look back", Johannes said at length, with a slight frown, as if speaking those words was somehow difficult. "Believe me, I only did what I thought was the best for you."

"But... I don't understand. How would it have been any good for me?" Alfred asked. He frowned now, but didn't turn his gaze away. Somehow (and irrationally) he felt like the older man would disappear if he looked away from him, even if it was just for a moment.

"I did not want to watch you become a bitter old man while I remained unchanging. I would rather let you go than hold you back and waste your years with me", the Count said quietly and lowered his eyes.

"I wouldn't have thought of it as waste", Alfred argued hotly. "It wouldn't have mattered even if I didn't get a big family or anything like that – a life in the castle, with you, would have been enough."

"You really think that?" the older vampire asked, but he didn't sound too convinced.

"I do! I would have made that sacrifice for you, I would have lived with it, and I would have loved you all the more because of it! If you had just trusted me! Why couldn't you trust me?" Alfred very nearly exclaimed. Tears burned his eyes, and he had to fight to keep from crying: he was a messy crier and once he really got going, it was difficult to stop. Not to mention, it would just ruin this reunion completely.

"It wasn't about trust", the Count said with a sigh. The younger vampire would so very much have liked to be angry and give his beloved a proper scolding, but once again, what good would it do? This moment was too precious for him to waste it in ways that, in the end, changed nothing.

"Did you miss me, at least?" he asked, trying to swallow the lump from his throat.

"I did", Johannes answered in a serious tone. "And a few time I had to fight the urge of searching for you in Königsberg. But I thought you were living your life like you were meant to and did not wish to interfere. Even a glimpse of me would just have made you wonder how sincere I was when I ordered you to leave."

"Herbert never told you what he did", Alfred finally realized.

"He did, eventually. I was... very angry with him. Probably angrier than I've ever really been. But when the worst of my anger had passed, I understood he had just tried to help, no matter how misguided his attempt was... you were his friend and Herbert has never had many of those", Krolock said slowly. "Only, I see he didn't tell me the whole truth."

"What do you mean?" the other one asked.

"He said you were nothing like what you had been before. That you were a beast I wouldn't recognize, so he never brought you back to the castle... he thought it better for me if I believed you had gone your way and were living that happy little life I had meant for you to have. Truly, I've never seen that boy regret anything so much as he has regretted turning you. He was certain he hadn't succeeded in pulling you through", the Count said and looked at his companion with sharp eyes. "Which is the reason I'm quite surprised to find you so like your old self."

"Well, I was a beast for many years. But one night, I just... I suppose you could say I just woke up and realized what I'd become. I was me again", Alfred muttered quietly. "And... it probably doesn't matter now, but my first coherent thought was of you."

"You never thought of coming back?"

"I did think of it. I thought about it very much, actually. But I never managed to gather my courage to face you... I was convinced you wouldn't want to see me, and I didn't think I could stand another rejection", he said softly and looked at the man sitting beside him. The weight of wasted years was heavy and bitter. And to think of how differently everything could have gone...

The Count sighed and met Alfred's eyes again.

"I did not wish to send you away. I did not. But more than I did not want you gone, I was unable to live feeling like that", he said, sounding very serious and somehow a bit weary.

"Like what?" Alfred asked.

"Like... a human", the older vampire said, and there was a reluctant tone to his voice, like this was something he didn't really want to admit. "Believe it or not, but you did succeed in resurrecting some of the humanity which had been lost to me before you came along."

"So the monster was transformed", Alfred said quietly. It was difficult to believe, but he didn't think the Count would be telling him this if it wasn't true.

"I suppose you could say that, however briefly", Krolock commented with a grimace. "But I am not like you. As much I'd like to care like humans do, in the end I cannot do that."

A long silence fell between them, and Alfred desperately wanted to fill it. Yet he sat silent. He had imagined their reunion for thousand times – this exact thing where all had been just a terrible misunderstanding – but now that the dream he had deemed crazy and impossible had suddenly come true, all he could do was to stare at his great love, as if this precious moment was soon to end and all Alfred would be left with was the familiar ache in his unbeating heart.

After a while, the Count turned to look at him again.

"Are you very angry with me, Alfred?" Krolock asked.

"I'm not. Mostly, I'm just sad", the younger vampire said quietly.

"I am sorry", Johannes said in a soft voice and the words seemed so very strange coming from him, because during their affair, he had apologized for anything only once or twice. There was such honesty about him... honesty and warmth that he had always tried to hide.

He had truly wished for his lover's best.

"It's all right. I may very well disagree with your reasoning but I do see where you are coming from", Alfred said at length and glanced at the Count's hand, and a need to touch it quickly passed through him. But he wasn't sure they were on that level of intimacy they had shared when he had been alive.

Another long moment passed between them in silence until the older one spoke again.

"Have you been alone all this time?" Krolock asked.

"I've had my share of companions over the years", Alfred answered slowly. "And I suppose I wasn't always completely unhappy... but those relationships always ended sooner or later. I... I never really stopped searching for you from their faces, their voices. I never stopped looking for you. In the end, no one could compare."

"That is... I didn't expect that. I'd have thought you'd have moved on long ago", Johannes said, sounding a bit surprised.

"I tried. You don't know just how much I did... But no matter how hard I try, I cannot forget about you. Actually, the harder I strive to let you go, the more I yearn for you to be with me. It's cruel and unfair, both to me and anyone I might ever love, but I can't help it. I can't not love you... I can't not long for your presence", Alfred spoke softly, not daring to look at the man sitting beside him.

The older vampire sat quietly for a long while, and when he spoke again, there was thinly veiled amazement in his voice.

"A vampire with a human's heart. You truly are a wonder, Alfred. Then again, perhaps I should have known", he said, moving his hand on the wooden desk just slightly towards his companion. The younger one moved his hand too, until its side was brushing against the Count's – a real, physical proof that the one he had loved and lost and longed for so much was really here with him. It was all he could do from jumping the older man.

"I hate it too. I still wish I could be more like you and Herbert", he said softly. Yes, that would have made his life a lot easier.

"But then you wouldn't be Alfred", Krolock said, repeating the words he had spoken a very long time ago. "And if you weren't Alfred, I never would have..."

"You never would have what?" the younger vampire asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, though it was still eager. The Count's voice was plain as he spoke again.

"I would never have loved you."

Alfred let out a long, shaky breath. Long ago, he had dreamed of this confession and wished to hear it so much that it had made him ache. Now it was uttered in retrospect, and nothing hinted whether it was still true. But even so, Alfred felt a mixture of joy and pain so great he thought his heart would simply burst with it.

"I love you too", he said in a small, weak voice. "Always have. Always will."

"You two. I really don't like the look of you", came a low, slightly threatening voice from behind them after some time – they could have been sitting here for hours or years as far as Alfred knew, as he had been too preoccupied by just trying to grasp this moment. He had barely time to look over his shoulder and see the burly, shady-looking man whose entire being promised nothing good before the older vampire beside him already acted. Still as intolerant of others trying to overpower him as ever, the Count grabbed the stranger's hand with one quick, cat-like motion. If anything could be deduced of the snapping sound, he was attempting to crush the man's fingers.

The burly stranger yowled in pain and tried to pull back his hand, but Krolock's iron grip didn't falter. If anything, a cold glitter of cruel amusement flashed in his blue eyes.

"Did you hear something, Alfred? I think there was this whining sound but am not certain", he said, cool and indifferent.

"Johannes!" the younger vampire exclaimed in shock. "Stop that!"

He didn't expect his words to have any effect, because the older man never did anything he was told to do, but then the Count's eyes became softer and he let the man's hand go.

"Fine. I believe it's the time we left anyway", he said and stood up, easily towering over the man who had so disturbed them. The human was grimacing but he did back off to his own company – all of whom had risen up too. A brief smile, kind of wolfish actually, flashed across the Count's face and then he headed for the door. Alfred considered offering some sort of apology, but then decided to hurry after the older vampire: he didn't Krolock disappear before... well, he wasn't certain exactly before what, but he did know he didn't want their ways to part yet.

Once outside, Alfred looked at his companion with a disapproving face.

"That was unnecessary", he informed His Excellency. The Count smirked.

"Perhaps. But it was still entertaining", he said smugly. "And hopefully, it secured a meal for us tonight."

"You often go and get yourself in arguments in the hopes of getting a snack?" Alfred asked, his voice sharper than he had intended.

"Sometimes, if I am in the mood. Do spare me from that moralizing tone, though. It's ridiculous coming from a vampire", Krolock snorted and began striding for the alley beside the pub.

"Hmph. I had forgotten how annoying you can be", the younger one muttered. He had to half run to keep up with the Count.

"Don't walk so fast! Or weren't you talking something about meal? Are you maybe hoping it'll chase us down the street?" he said then. Johannes stopped and looked at Alfred.

"Truly, you don't have to follow me if you find me so irritating", he said sharply, which made Alfred wince. This reunion wasn't going at all like he'd have hoped.

"Or you could stop acting like that!" he retorted. "One could think you aren't happy at all to see me!"

Johannes was going to comment something to that, but never got an opportunity. Three men from the pub – amongst them one whose hand Krolock had nearly broken – stepped into the alley.

"It wasn't such a good idea to do that. Do you have any idea of who we are?" the man asked, staring quite hatefully at the Count. The vampire merely lifted his eyebrows and then glanced at Alfred.

"It looks like our supper has arrived", he said lightly as a slow and unsettling half-smile appeared on his face. Well, it would have been unsettling had Alfred actually been a living man.

"I suppose there's no chance they can be left alive?" he asked with a sigh.

"I'm afraid not. I believe neither of us would want them running about, telling stories about our eating habits", Krolock said smoothly. Then his eyes focused on the man who had just spoken. "I have absolutely no idea as to who you are and why I should even care, but I have a feeling you're about to educate me on that matter..."

Alfred had never taken particular pleasure in hunting – not after he had regained his self-control. True, even he wasn't immune to the incredible feeling that drinking blood always brought, but everything leading to and after it seemed disgusting to him. So when he attacked, he kind of just shut himself out and stopped thinking... allowing the monster take over. Yet when he laid his victim down on the ground and closed the eyes that would see no more, he still felt the pangs of guilt. Like his habit was, he whispered a quiet "I'm so sorry", although he knew it counted for nothing.

When he was done, the Count was just finishing the second man. It was odd watching him feed on the violently convulsing human: from so many years ago, Alfred remembered how tender and intimate it could be... how many times had he rested in those arms while the Count had slowly and carefully drank his blood? But then, feeding was first and foremost a way for vampire to sustain themselves, and what Alfred had experienced then was very rare.

Having already had his fill, Krolock snapped his victim's neck in order not to leave any loose mouths talking about what had happened here. There was blood on his mouth and chin, and his expression was something one could only describe as primal. However, the beast was quickly hid behind sophistication again as he straightened his clothes and smoothed down his hair that had come loose during feeding. It appeared he was just as good as ever in hiding his true nature.

"Well, that was refreshing, don't you think?" he commented lightly.

"It was... nothing special", Alfred said quietly. The older vampire regarded silently for a moment.

"A vampire with human heart. I see", the Count said, repeating his words from earlier. Quietly, he approached Alfred. Catching the younger man's chin in his hand, he looked down with a curious expression. "How do you live like this?"

"I don't know. I just do", Alfred answered. Suddenly, he felt very small and weak and all he could think of was how much he just wanted the older vampire to take him in his arms.

"Poor, brave Alfred..." the Count sighed quietly, and then – finally – he lowered his face and kissed the younger one. And dear heavens above, it was as if Alfred was immediately taken back hundred years ago, to that time he considered the happiest of his life... The kiss was everything he remembered and had longed for, everything he had tried to find after their story had ended, and the blood on the older vampire's lips and mouth only made it better... The old fire was still there and Alfred welcomed it's sweet burning. He jumped against Johannes and was grabbed into a tight embrace, and he never wanted to let go. In fact, he was certain he'd die on the spot if he had to.

After some time, the older vampire pulled back.

"We should move. Someone is bound to notice this mess and I have no desire to try and explain it", he said, and his voice came out huskier than usual.

"My apartment isn't far from here", Alfred mumbled, his voice equally breathless. The older vampire mutely nodded and followed him down the alley and away from the site of their kill.

The way back to his quarters seemed to take forever even if the distance wasn't that long. Every now and then, he'd throw glances at his companion, who followed him silently. Once more the expression on that pale face was inscrutable. Alfred considered reading the Count's mind but then decided against it; that might send the wrong message. He only wanted to make his companion feel like he was glad to be with him.

At the door of his current lodgings, Alfred stopped and hesitated for a moment. His two bedroom apartment was very meagre when compared to the Castle von Krolock. For a moment, he was even a little scared the older vampire would laugh at his living conditions, but he managed to shake off that silly thought and he unlocked the door, letting his guest in.

True, it was meagre. He didn't have much furniture since it'd only be a hindrance when he'd move out (which was bound to happen sooner or later), and considering that, the place was much too big. Then again, he liked the sense of space about him. He didn't have many possessions that he held dear and took along whenever he moved, but his sketchbooks and the modern recordings of some of the songs Krolock had liked to play on violin when he had still lived in the castle were one of those few things. Sometimes, when he listened to those recordings and closed his eyes, he could almost imagine he was back in the castle.

The older vampire wandered in quietly, regarding his surroundings with an expression that didn't betray what he thought of it. In the living room, he passed the old sofa and the stereo by it, briefly studying the lone orchid sitting on the window board, until his eyes fell on drawings Alfred had used to decorate the walls. There were a few landscapes and one composition of a girl he had loved. Incidentally, Johannes soon enough moved to the one that was also Alfred's favourite. It was a drawing of the castle, picturing the dark silhouette of the large, ancient building. A crescent moon hovered over the lands and a narrow path, almost luminous, lead up to towards the great gate. If you only looked it fleetingly, you wouldn't see it: a pale-faced, dark shape on the front of the castle, beckoning to follow...

"That is... very good actually", the older vampire commented after examining the drawing for some time.

"I've had lot of time to practice", Alfred answered and also looked at the picture. It was one of the few images of his heart's yearning that he could actually look upon without feeling depressed. And Krolock really didn't need to know of the numberless of drawings of himself... he was vaguely aware it was hardly healthy or helpful in moving on, but none of the healthy ways had worked either and as a blood-drinking monster he was so far removed from natural that it couldn't matter how many times he drew his beloved.

He sighed then, and not having it in himself to resist any longer, he wrapped his arms carefully around the Count's midsection. Burying his face against Johannes' back, he let himself be lost in this moment for a while... he could almost feel parts of him that had been dead for so long waking up once more. He felt like he once had, young and a little nervous and deeply in love. His memory summoned back the sights and sounds and smells of a long time ago; the crackling of fire, the smell of wood and candles, the faint sound of the violin, and how it felt like to fall asleep in the master bedchamber of the castle...

It had been a strange love – strange enough to survive the distance of time and space.

After the longest moment, Johannes turned around and lifted up Alfred's chin so that their eyes met.

"Really, why do you love me? We could not be more different – there should be nothing in me that you could hold dear. And you're so human, even after all this time. Alfred, why do you love me so?" he asked. This seemed to genuinely confuse him.

"I... I don't know. It never really made much sense... but I suppose it has something to do how... how you were so many things I wanted to be. Confident, smart, fearless, strong, and always so in control of yourself and others... and yet you didn't make me feel inferior. When I was with you, I felt so alive. And you made me feel like I was enough, even if I was clumsy and silly and didn't always know what to do with myself. You made me feel brave. And you wanted me", the younger vampire said quietly. It was not painful to admit that, although it wasn't something he'd have been able to put into words before this moment. But he felt it was true and it made the pain of their separation ache inside his chest when he thought of what he had lost.

For no one had ever wanted him and cared about him the way Johannes had.

A sad smile appeared on the Count's face, and perhaps he felt the same as the younger vampire did.

"Dear Alfred... after all these years, you still haven't recognized your own worth! Do you not see how precious you are? How your warmth keeps others around you warm, too?" Krolock asked, frowning slightly. He looked like he was offended at Alfred's lack of self-awareness.

But the younger vampire felt breathless. If that was what Johannes thought about him... these were the words that could even make up for the past hundred years.

Alfred placed his hand on the Count's own, searching for his eyes.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" he asked quietly. He tried to keep the pleading tone from his voice, but it was hard. It was strange, how he was still so attached in many ways, and how he would probably always be...

Stay, and never leave.

Johannes' eyes became softer as he gazed silently at Alfred. Then, slowly, he wrapped one arm around his smaller form, while his other hand gently gripped his hair.

His kiss was all the answer Alfred needed. When he pulled back, holding his companion by the back of his neck, he looked at Alfred.

"I never asked... How does it feel, to have the Devil love you?" he asked softly.

"Like... I was the most damned of them all, yet still the most blessed... like I will fall, and fall again, and it'll never be enough", Alfred whispered, clinging tight to the taller man's frame.

"Then we will fall together once more, Alfred..."

Alfred woke up some time after sunset. Years had made him used to the gradual return from death, how he just drifted from darkness again... but he remembered how scary it had been when he had been younger.

At first, he thought the older vampire would be there, beside him but not quite touching. So without opening his eyes, he searched for a hand or a limb or something from that place where the Count should have been, but instead found nothing. The bed was empty except for Alfred himself.

Slowly, he sat up and looked around. He expected to hear the sound of shower or the quiet moving in the sitting room, but his apartment was as silent as ever. The only clothes scattered on the floor were his own.

Finally, his mind and senses started working again and his eyes fell on a piece of paper that had been placed on the pillow by his own. With trembling hands, Alfred picked up the folded paper and opened it.

Some years ago, he had remembered something Johannes had said on that night when Alfred had first shown him the garden. The older vampire had spoken of a special flower...

When Alfred had remembered those words, he had gone to the local library. After some searching among the endless corridors, he had found a book on exotic flowers. He couldn't remember the exact page any more, but he had stood staring at the picture of the flower for a long time. He had memorized the sight and that was why he immediately recognized the drawing.

There was no message, but words were not needed. Krolock had known he'd understand – that he'd remember the words uttered so long ago. With the picture of Queen of the Night, Johannes had left all the words and explanations Alfred needed to know.

"Do you know that there is a flower that only blooms for one night? It's said to be quite beautiful... They call it the Queen of the Night."

FIN.