Like Father, Like Son
-Dedicated to aliciachu. This was her idea. I just put it to paper.
No moon hung in the sky that night. The heavens were empty, their solitude shared with the noble sentinel who stood beneath them on the castle battlements. Count von Krolock's face was pale and a pair of fangs dipped beneath dark lips.
"Come out of the shadows, my son," he said. "You've nothing to fear."
After a moment, Herbert von Krolock walked slowly to his father's side. His hands were clasped delicately behind his back, but his eyes spoke that he was indeed fearful. He stared at his father's elongate canines for several seconds before wrenching his gaze away. He did not look at them again.
"You have something to say?" said Count von Krolock. Herbert's eyes remained fastened on the stone floor.
"Father," the Count's son began carefully, "you need not face eternity alone."
The Vampire looked over the landscape for many moments before he responded. "Lonely eternity is all that is left for me, my son."
"Nevertheless, the road would seem less lonely with a companion."
"What are you talking about?" Count von Krolock said sharply.
"Please, Father, do not resign yourself to eternal solitude. Make me as you are, and we may walk that path together."
Count von Krolock strode forward and seized his son by the shoulders. "Absolutely not! I have set myself on this inexorable path, but I will not take you with me."
"If you will not turn me, Father, I will find someone who will."
"You would defy me, boy?" said Count von Krolock, tightening his grip on Herbert's arms. Herbert blanched underneath his father's piercing gaze.
"To save you from yourself...yes," he said. The Vampire Count turned away and stared over the wall of mountains forming his vast fortress.
"No one can save me now," he said quietly.
"From your curse, no I cannot. But from an eternity of loneliness, Father please!"
Count von Krolock looked into his son's earnest face and sighed.
"This is truly what you want? Unrelenting hunger, never satisfied, not even the ignorance of death, to walk amongst mankind for all ages, forever! That is what you want?"
Now Herbert looked straight at his father, not even turning away from the granite wall of his stare. The boy's face pleaded resolutely, though his lips did not. Count von Krolock closed his eyes, knowing there would be a hundred thousand times until the end of days that he would regret what he was about to say.
"Very well then, as you wish. But if anyone is to do it, then it will be me and no one else."
"Yes, Father, of course. Thank you."
"Do not thank me. You will live to regret this choice. Forever."
***
"You are certain about this? Once it's done, there is no cure, save a stake through the heart."
Father and son now stood within the castle walls. Count von Krolock gripped Herbert's arms, shaking them slightly. The Count's fangs flickered by the light of the torches and his dark eyes glistened intently.
"I am certain, Father," Herbert said.
The Vampire sighed. He stood behind his only son, his hands on the boy's shoulders. Count von Krolock tilted Herbert's head and swept the soft blonde hair from his neck. His lips brushed the skin momentarily before his fangs sank into the tender flesh. Herbert cried out in pain and jerked in his father's arms, but with every convulsion Count von Krolock held him tighter and would not allow him to escape. The vampire savored the taste as blood flooded his mouth and throat, and a tear slid down his face.
The aftertaste was bitter, and another tear came unbidden. Von Krolock drained the boy dry quickly, and when Herbert lay still in his arms, eyes closed and skin cold, Count von Krolock gently lowered him to the ground. His son's face was now free of all color and the Count kissed his brow. He stood, wiping all residual tears away and left the room.
***
Several minutes and a lifetime later, Count von Krolock gazed out at the blank horizon. The shadows moved, and Herbert stood beside him, running a tongue over his fangs.
"You will grow accustomed to them, my son," Count von Krolock said. He put a long-fingered hand on Herbert's shoulder, and with still hearts and undead eyes, the Count and his son looked upon their unlit realm. And the next night, they joined each other there, as a sliver of the moon rose above the crooked mountainous horizon.
