The Beginning

Ding ding!

"We would like to announce that one of our patients, Chiara Vargas, as just given birth to twin boys. Congratulations."

Signor Bianchi smiled to himself in his office. He enjoyed hearing this kind of news over the intercom. He would never tire of hearing about parents being blessed with children. Especially twins like these. Twin boys, they'll be a hand full. But still, hearing news of babies being born made him miss his kids as well. Although now his kids now have kids of their own and he only lacks a few years until the age of retirement. But, for now the medical field still needs him. He was very important to the hospital as well being the Chief of Medicine. Although, he was quite ready to relax, the working world had plenty of people including youth who would eventually fill his position. To say he had a peaceful life would be quite untrue. Everyday there were miracles and tragedies, unexplainable situations in medicine every once in a while as well. But, one would continue to confuse and haunt him for the rest of his life, the day he found out a secret…

"S-Signor?" came a small voice from his door. It was Cristina, one of the new additions to the staff of the secretaries. It was only her second day here so she would hopefully be comfortable enough to speak with more confidence soon.

"Si?"

"There's some one here to see you… a… Senor Carriedo?" she said while reading the clip board that the guest had filled out. Bianchi's blood ran cold. One of the many mysteries of life, a secret that he had found out about so long ago was because of this man. It was so many years ago, about 35 years ago. He was 40 years old, comfortable in his job. He had thought he had seen everything.

He had been wrong.

It was a rainy night, how fitting for a night like that. A night like a horror movie. They had brought in a man in his early twenties. He didn't look like a local. Pale, white hair. Although it was almost impossible to tell because of all the blood. He had collapsed right in front of the hospital and was still struggling when security ran to help him. He was taken to the ER immediately, which Bianchi had been working in that night. As soon as they laid the man on the table Bianchi checked for a pulse, some flutter of a heart beat, anything. But there was only silence.

"Clear!" The electricity shot into his body did nothing, neither did it work when they tried to pump oxygen into his lifeless form. They had finally given up after an hour. All the other doctors and nurses left the room. It was at that moment Bianchi realized that he had no sheet to cover the man up with. He wouldn't want visitors or patients walking by to see a dead, bloody man lying there. He left the room and went down the hall to the closet. Grabbing the sheet he hurried back to the room. He lifted the sheet up to cover the body and froze. The body was gone. Fear began to course through him. Dead bodies didn't just get up and leave. It was completely impossible.

Or was it?

Bianchi felt foolish as he checked under the table for the missing dead body.

"Shit man, I can't believe you electrocuted me. That actually hurt!" Bianchi jumped and hit his head. Groaning, he turned around. The dead man was standing there, or should he say leaning up against the wall, pouting at him, still covered in blood.

"Wh-Wha-?" Was all the Italian man could say. No normal human could lose that much blood and still be alive! They even check to see if it was his blood, it was. He had open wounds all over his body and he had no pulse for at least an hour. He was definitely dead the last time Bianchi had checked. The "dead" man, realizing Bianchi's confusion decided to speak up.

"Haha, yeah. The shocky machine-"

"Defibrillator."

"Yeah… that word… whatever it was, it wasn't necessary. I'm already dead!" The apparently dead man said with an odd laugh. Already dead? This man was clinically insane. And yet, the way he said it sent chills down Bianchi's spine.

"Impossible." Bianchi stated bluntly with obvious disbelief. This brought a scowled on the "dead" man's face for a moment but was then replaced with a smirk which strangely suited him.

"Whatever old man, I would waste my time explaining this to you, but you've seen too much already. I'm going to have to kill you." Kill him? What had Bianchi done besides trying- and succeeding- to save this man's life? Next thing the doctor knew, he was being backed into the wall. The dark look in the man's red eyes, the blood that dripped off of him, it was all so suiting to this murder scene. It all seemed to go in slow motion as the man reached a hand towards Bianchi-

"Gilbert."

The bloody albino froze and looked over towards the doorway. Bianchi looked as well and saw another man. He looked to be around his late teens or early twenties. His skin was slightly darker than the locals and is accent was not that of an Italian's.

"Antonio, he saw too much. I have to dispose of him." Bianchi cringed at the wording. Dispose of? He was a man of flesh just like them, although he was definitely questioning if they were human.

"I never gave you permission to do that, now did I?" If looks could kill, Gilbert would be dead. If he weren't already. Gilbert lowered his hand and took a step back.

"No, you didn't…" He said, disappointed, and began muttering about the other being a fun sucker. Antonio looked over with a huge grin, and bright green eyes that had all darkness dissipated in less than a second.

"Lo siento about my friend," he said with a smile. He was obviously Spanish, Bianchi figured. "He's not good around humans. He's been spending time with our kind for a bit too long." He said with a chuckle. Their kind? What did that mean? Bianchi felt stupid for not being able to figure out this riddle when it's answer seemed so obvious.

"You've lost him, Toni." A voice snapped the Italian man out of his thoughts.

"Ah, did I? I seem to do that a lot to people…" The Spaniard was now facing the albino. They began whispering things to each other. Choosing to keep secrets from the mere human. Wanting to choose their words carefully when they explained what they really were.

"Um, pardon me, but what the hell is going on?!" Bianchi snapped, causing the two to jump and face the man.

"I guess there's no choice but to be blunt…" Antonio said, as Gilbert nodded in agreement.

"Blunt? About what?" Bianchi questioned.

"We're vampires."

It took much convincing and explaining until Bianchi finally believed them and that they weren't going to hurt him. They had finally left, agreeing that they wouldn't bother Bianchi. They had broken that agreement two years later with a surprise visit. And then they settled on a visit once every five years. Had it been that long already? No. Bianchi still had one more year of peace before they popped in to check on him, stay in his house for the night, comment on his old age, and have his wife question who these people were. Although by the sound of it Gilbert wasn't with him, or Cristina would have mentioned it. Maybe it was important? Maybe something bad happened to Gilbert? Because Bianchi learned later on, that Gilbert liked to get in trouble, and being covered in blood was not out of the ordinary for the albino. So maybe he really was in trouble and needed Bianchi's help?

"Si, send him in."

…

"Bianchi~!" The Spaniard ran in like an excited child. Hard to believe he was a centuries old vampire. Apparently time did nothing to his maturity level. Although he was forever a young adult so that must have something to do with it.

"Ciao, Antonio. How are you? Where's Gilbert?"

"I'm well. Gilbert is a little busy with other matters." Antonio muttered the last part.

"I see, so why are you here?" Bianchi asked.

"Ah~! I was actually on my way to Romania and decided to take a detour~!" He said happily.

"Romania? This is quite a detour you made!" Bianchi said amazed and slightly confused. The hospital was in Naples! It was completely out of the way. Did he want to see Bianchi that badly? "Why did you decide now to visit?"

There was a pause as Antonio contemplated this. Bianchi continued to stare at him. He really had to think about it? This surely couldn't be out of leisure, not that Bianchi wasn't happy to see him. It was always interesting when he was visited by his vampire friends. But really, he still had another year before he was due for a visit and Naples was far off the trail to Romania. Maybe he should be more excited to see his friend. Maybe he should ask him why he's going to Romania instead of questioning a friend on why they chose to visit. It was pretty rude now that he thought about it. A friend went out of their way and took time out of their day to visit and he questions that.

"I… don't know… I just… felt this… need to come here. Like I'm suppose to…" Antonio muttered.

"I see…" Well Bianchi couldn't really question a gut feeling. But since his friend had taken time to visit, he decided to be more hospitable. "Would you like to take a walk with me and catch up?"

"Sure~!" Antonio's face immediately lit up. Bianchi stood from his desk and lead them out of his office.

XxXxX

There wasn't much Bianchi could show Antonio in a hospital since he was merely a guest. The only room they could go in was the cafeteria, and Antonio didn't eat anyways. Not that he'd want to. The hospital's food wasn't that great. However, the hospital did have a nursery. Even though Antonio couldn't go in there either, there was still a huge window he could look through. Bianchi knew Antonio would love it. He had learned over the years that Antonio adored children and found babies to be the most precious things in the world. Bianchi had been right, of course. As soon as they got there, the Spaniards face had been smooshed up against the glass, cooing on how cute the babies were. He was beginning to freak some of the nurses in the nursery out so Bianchi pulled him away from the glass. He tried talking to him to distract him from doing that again, but even then he would steal glances towards the babies. It was kind of odd how intensely he was looking at them, as if he were searching for something. Bianchi noticed something shine in the light and looked down to see Antonio's cross necklace. Weird. He had seen from many vampire movies that crosses harmed and deflected vampires…

"Antonio?"

"Hmm?"

"I thought vampires hated crosses…"

"Huh?" Antonio looked over confused. But, then looked down at his necklace and laughed. "No! Crosses don't do anything to vampires. In fact, a lot of vampires are quite religious. We've been around long enough to see plenty of miracles, one of course being that we're alive after death. Most of us see it that way anyways. Besides, this is my enchanted jewelry. It protects me."

"Protects you? From what?"

"From burning in the sun. With out it I-" Antonio froze, looking over into the nursery. Bianchi looked over as well. They were bringing in those twins that that woman had given birth to earlier. They had a little bit of hair on their heads and curls sticking out on opposite directions. The mother must be sleeping. Exhaustion is probably an understatement after giving birth to twins. Antonio slowly walked up to the glass and pressed his hand against it, mesmerized. The nurse was just putting blue hats on them both, lied them down on their sides, and walked away.

"Bianchi… I need to go in there…" Antonio suddenly said.

"What? Antonio, I can't-"

"Please!" Antonio begged. Bianchi sighed. What could it hurt? Bianchi would go with him and make sure he didn't do anything. It was impossible for Antonio to carry air-born diseases and he wouldn't touch anything with Bianchi around."Fine. But only for a little bit." He gave in. Antonio ran to the door excitedly and waited for Bianchi to unlock it. Once he did, Antonio ran to the twins. This piqued Bianchi's curiosity. Why was he so interested in them? Sure, twins weren't a normal thing to have. But it wasn't like it was that rare. Once Bianchi got over to Antonio he realized that the vampire was only looking at one of the twins. The darker haired one. The other had it's eyes closed and was probably asleep. But Antonio had his eyes locked with the golden hazel eyes of the child.

"Beautiful…" Antonio murmured. Before Bianchi could react, the baby was in Antonio's arms and he was walking away with him.

"H-Hey…!" Bianchi said, trying to be quiet as to not wake any of the babies. Because if one cried, it would become a domino effect with the others until chaos ensued. Antonio sat down in a chair in the corner of the room and held the baby in his arms.

"What's his name?" Antonio asked Bianchi. The Italian looked at the name tag on the cradle the baby was just in.

"Lovino Romano Vargas." He answered.

"Lovino… such a beautiful name…" Antonio whispered. "Hi there Lovi~, my name's Antonio." He said with a smile. "So… this is why Fate brought me here…"

"What are you talking about?" Bianchi asked, walking up to him. Antonio smiled up at him. Ever since Bianchi had met Antonio, the Spaniard was always smiling. But he had never seen him so joyful before now.

"I finally found my mate." He said happily.

Silence.

"Antonio… Please leave."

…

Antonio looked shocked. Bianchi had never told him to leave before. Until he finally understood what he had just said.

"No, No, you misunderstand. I apologize, I didn't mean it the way it sounded." Antonio said laughing. "I will, of course, wait until Lovino is older. I'm not going to take him as my mate when he's a baby."

"But… you realize what you just said, right? Lovino is a boy. You can't reproduce with him. So why is he your mate?" Bianchi asked, confused.

"Vampire's can't reproduce, even if my mate were a girl. Really a mate is just a life partner for us." Antonio said, eyes never leaving Lovino, who was falling asleep in his arms.

"I see…" Bianchi said. He suddenly heard a click of a door opening. Fear swept through him. If someone saw Antonio in here with him, he would have a hard time explaining. Especially when Antonio was holding some mother's child.

"Mon ami? Are you in here?" An obviously French voice asked.

"Si, Francis, come in." Antonio said without looking up. His French friend walked in. He looked intrigued by Antonio's unbroken concentration on the child. The Frenchman noticed Bianchi and smiled walking over to him.

"Bonjour, I am Francis, one of Antonio's friends." he said holding out his hand. Bianchi smiled back and took his hand to shake it.

"Ciao, I'm Bianchi."

"Francis, this is him." Antonio said. Francis looked over surprised.

"What? You mean-?"

"Si." Antonio said with a smile. He looked like he was about to cry in joy. Francis felt like doing the same. Antonio had been alive since the 1500's. Francis and Gilbert were born in the 1850's. Antonio had been a pirate when they met. Although the Spaniard would never admit it, he had been pretty lonely before Gilbert and Francis had been turned and they became the Bad Friends Trio. Gilbert had found his mate, kind of. Francis had been turned with his wife Joan. But Antonio had never found a mate in all that time. Not saying he wasn't experienced… but a mate was different. Gilbert and Francis were beginning to worry that he wouldn't have a mate, or worse his mate had died before they could ever meet. Which were both impossible. But the fear had crossed their minds many times.

"I'm so happy for you, Antonio." Francis said with a smile. "And I hate to ruin this for you as well, but we must leave now. They're expecting us in Romania tomorrow…"

Antonio's face dropped. He looked like he was going to cry for a different reason now. He had finally found his mate, and how he had to leave. "But… Francis…"

"I know, and I am sorry mon ami. It hurts to pull you away when you have finally found him. But we have to leave. You can find him again when our business is done in Romania." Francis said trying to reason with him. Antonio opened his mouth like he was about to argue but closed it. He looked down at Lovino, his eyes going over the child's face, trying to memorize every detail. Before he leaned down and kissed his forehead. He stood up and handed the baby to Bianchi. Lovino began to rouse from his sleep.

"I'll be back, mi amor." Antonio whispered. The baby began to grumble like it was about to cry. Antonio looked tempted to take the baby into his arms again, but Francis grabbed Antonio, pulling him away telling him they had to go.

"I'll be back, Lovino. I'll be back." He promised, leaving the hospital.

XxXxX

I'm back! :D

I survived finals, writers block, and the end of the world! Again! I hope you guys had a fun Armageddon. I know I did.

I've been thinking about this idea for a while (This chapter, not Armageddon.). I was finally able to finish the chapter. I began it and I knew what I wanted to happen, but for some reason I didn't have the motivation to write it… but then for some reason watching Ouran High School Host Club cured it of all things. So now I'm back! With of course a vampire story. :P And I can't wait to continue with this story, and start others :)

Happy Holidays everybody!

-Bay