Sorry for the delay. I was hoping to have this posted before Halloween, but it's here now at least.

Chapter Four

Nerezza wiped away the blood that clung to the computer screen, and frowned when it smeared into multicolored pixels. But he was able to see the video of the skating performance that had quite literally enchanted the entire world.

"Victor Nikiforov," he murmured with a smile, licking at his blood-covered fingers as he watched the beautiful movements of the most famous figure skater in the world. The freshly turned Victor utilized all of his new vampire traits while on the ice. His vampire stamina allowed for him to perform three consecutive quads, and he glided across the ice as though his feet weren't touching it. And the power—the exotic and sinfully seductive power he exuded from his natural vampire charm. Nerezza saw from the crowd shots that every single person was under Victor's control.

Oh, he was so happy that he had chosen this facility to feed at (it was always so much easier finding a victim in public than trying to get an invitation into a residence), even though he'd at first felt he had made a mistake in coming here. His prey had been watching this video, and had been under Victor's enthrall, ready to donate money even though the charity skate had already long ended. But once Nerezza was upon the human, they snapped out of it and fought Nerezza off. The resulting fight left Nerezza very little blood to drink, as it splattered onto the computer console in front of him—and on the walls, on the ceiling, and on the floor where his prey finally fell to him—but if he hadn't come here he would not have seen the video that news reports were warning had dangerous effects on people.

He'd seen the performances of the other vampires he'd turned, but none of them had displayed the power or influence Victor Nikiforov had displayed. This was a man who could offer vampirism to a crowd of hundreds, and all of them would accept it. Victor brought people to their knees, and could make them be at his mercy. He was the perfect vampire, better than anything Nerezza had ever seen.

This is going to work. Nerezza's smile grew as Victor struck his finishing pose. He paused the video and leaned forward, caressing the screen where Victor's handsome face was frozen as he blew a kiss. "This is going to work," he repeated out loud. "I will finally be able to build a coven that will bring the world to its knees…and you're going to help me do it, Victor."

"A-CHOO!"

Sitting on the queen-sized bed in the bed of his new hotel room, Victor groaned quietly as he nursed his nose. With his free hand he tentatively checked his fangs and relaxed when he noted that they had not lengthened out unexpectedly. But he felt the familiar hunger forming on the edge of his senses, and he calmly opened his pint of blood to drink.

A ringtone from his cell phone filled the silence of the room as he finished, and he looked down at the screen. He tensed when he saw Yuuri's face on the screen, indicating that he was the one calling. After a moment he set down the empty bag and picked up the phone. "Yuuri?"

"Victor, how are you doing?" Yuuri sounded like he was out of breath, but Victor recognized the relief in his voice. He was probably relieved that Victor had picked up. "Are you comfortable in your room?"

"My new room meets my needs," Victor reassured him, but his chest ached. He didn't want to be in this room. He wanted to be back up in the suite with Yuuri. But he knew he had to separate himself from Yuuri if he wanted to keep his fiancé safe and not hurt him again. "How is your bottom lip?" he asked hesitantly. His throat burned slightly as he spoke the words. "Does it hurt?"

"What? No, not at all! I-I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned it!"

Liar, Victor thought, but Yuuri's poor attempt at making him feel better about accidentally biting him did take away some of the sting he was feeling. "I'm glad," he lied back to Yuuri. "I'm sorry about that, Yuuri. I never meant to hurt you."

"T-There's no need to apologize, Victor! I know that it was an accident! I should've been more careful!"

"They're my fangs and they had no business biting onto your lip," Victor said harshly. "Please don't excuse my hurting you."

"Victor, you didn't hurt me! My lip is fine! Honestly, the fact that you moved rooms hurts more than the bite!"

Yuuri hadn't meant to say that. Victor sensed it immediately, and he received confirmation of this when Yuuri choked, and began stammering embarrassedly. "I—uh—I didn't—"

"I'm not enjoying this either Yuuri," Victor said, but he used a calm tone to demonstrate to Yuuri that he wasn't upset by the comment. "I would have much preferred to stay with you. But it's better this way. Until I'm human again I'm a danger to humans. I'm a danger to you. As a vampire I don't currently have the self-control I did when I was human. I proved that tonight when I—" he shook his head. "But this isn't permanent. I'm going to be okay. Just…Just please use caution when you're around me from now on. And don't hesitate to call me if you need anything. I always want to hear your voice."

"W-Would you like me to come down and see you?" Yuuri asked hopefully. "What's your room number?"

"Yuuri, I can't see you right now. At least not until I'm confident that I won't hurt you again."

"Victor—"

"Yuuri," Victor said with finality. "It's getting late and you've had a long day. You should get ready for bed now."

"I…okay." Yuuri's tone had dipped. Victor could hear the tears in the whisper and he bit down on his knuckles. He didn't notice the blood that leaked down his hand. "But you call me too, okay? If you need anything call me or come up and see me. I'd do anything for you, Victor."

Victor's vision blurred as tears stung his eyes, and he closed them to prevent tears from leaking out. Strange how I can still cry, even while being a monster.

"Victor?" Yuuri called out hesitantly. Victor realized he'd been silent for a few moments and licked at the bite wounds he'd made on his hand. He ventured into the bathroom and washed the blood off his hand and arm. "I'm here," he replied. "And we'll both be okay, Yuuri. You're going to be okay. Understood?"

"I…"

"Tell me that you understand, Yuuri."

"I-I understand, Victor."

Victor nodded, even though he knew Yuuri couldn't see him. He dried his arm and leaned against the doorway. "Please be strong for the both of us, Yuuri. We're going to get through this." He pressed his lips together before continuing. "Aishiteimasu."

Yuuri sucked in a breath, and Victor smiled faintly at his reaction. The smile however became pained when Yuuri replied. "Ya lyublyu tebya."

"I love you."

The call ended shortly thereafter, and Victor felt a warmth in his chest at how they'd tried to make each other feel better—saying "I love you" in each's native language. Even though they spoke English to each other, Victor had been trying to learn Japanese and Yuuri had been trying to learn Russian. It was a slow process for the both of them but they were trying.

The warmth however quickly faded with the reminder that Yuuri wasn't there with him. Victor curled up onto his side on the bed, looking at his phone. The fear he'd tried to suppress over the last few hours began to surface again. What if I never get turned back into a human? What if I can never control my vampire powers, or urges? What if I hurt Yuuri—what if I kill Yuuri?!

Victor pressed his hands over his ears and began humming as a desperate attempt to drown out the thoughts. He was well aware of how dangerous he was, which is why he separated himself from Yuuri. He couldn't allow himself to dwell on this ugliness. He would have to worry about these things when they actually happen.

It's because I need Yuuri. Not as my prey, but I need him. I loved him and pined for him for nearly a year before I could finally claim him. No one has ever made me feel so good—or miserable, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Slowly the thoughts dissipated, and Victor reached for his phone again. He pulled up a photograph of Yuuri's drunken antics at the Grand Prix Banquet and smiled fondly. I'm going to get through this. I'm going to become human again. I have someone that means more to me than anything else in the world. I'm not going to sacrifice him or let him be hurt over this. Even if it means keeping my distance from him, I will keep him safe.

In the Presidential Suite, Yuuri was also lying on his bed in the darkness of the bedroom looking at his phone. He pulled up a picture of Victor and hugged the phone to his chest, curling his body around it. I have to be strong. I have to show Victor that he can rely on me. I can't fall to pieces at a time like this. He wants to keep his distance, but I know he needs me. I need to show him that he shouldn't be afraid to need me back.

Yuri Plisetsky woke up hungry. A quick glance at his phone showed that it was 4:47 in the morning, but he was quickly distracted by the fangs protruding out of his mouth. He covered his mouth with both hands, but he could feel the fangs like hot brands against his palms.

Food. I need to eat. He thought of the blood in the cooler underneath his bed and his stomach lurched. Shaking his head, he dove for his bag and found a custard pastry. He tore off the wrapper and took a generous bite—and promptly retched. What should've been a delicious snack tasted like borscht if someone had dumped a full ashtray into it. Clawing at his mouth he ran into his private bathroom and stuck his head under the faucet to rinse out his mouth. But he found himself gagging when the water rushed into his mouth. It tasted fouler than the pastry did.

Well no shit this all tastes terrible. I'm a vampire, and vampires drink blood. But drinking blood is fucking disgusting! Those two times they forced me to drink it, I thought I was going to drown in my own vomit! It's unsanitary and fucking SICK!

Groaning quietly in anguish, Yuri pressed the heels of his hands against his forehead as he stumbled back into the bedroom. His fangs were protruding so prominently out of his mouth that they were cutting his bottom lip without his even trying. He sucked on his lip to heal it and spied his phone. In the moment he felt vulnerable and helpless—but he knew that if he spoke to Yakov, Yakov would tell him to drink the blood he'd hidden away.

And he didn't want to drink the blood.

Yuri snatched up his phone and quickly dialed. He didn't know what time it was in St. Petersburg compared to Vienna, but he had to try anyway. He ended up calling four times in a row before someone picked up. With each passing moment his hunger and panic grew, and he clenched his teeth. He needed to know what to do!

Finally, the call picked up on the fourth try. "Yurochka, is that you?"

"Dedushka!" Yuri panted with relief. "Did I wake you?"

"Yes, but never mind. Are you all right? I heard on the news that there was a measles outbreak, but I was unable to get ahold of either Yakov or you!"

"I-I'm fine," Yuri initially started. Then he shook his head. "No, I'm not okay."

"Don't worry about a thing, Yurochka. I'll book the first flight to Austria as soon as—"

"No!" Yuri nearly shouted, sitting up in bed. He shook his head. "No, please don't come to Vienna! It's not safe for you to be here!"

"Is that supposed to deter me, Yurochka?" Nikolai Plisetsky responded, though his tone was still gentle. "If you need me, I'm going to be there with you."

"Dedushka, please stay home. I'm just…having a rough time of it. I-I need help focusing my mind, and to get rid of bad thoughts. Can you help me?"

"Get rid of bad thoughts? What's really going on there?"

Yuri didn't know if Nikolai really didn't know about the vampires, but he couldn't bring himself to tell his grandfather that he was infected. "I need help," he admitted quietly. "But can you help me over the phone? I-I need help…dealing."

"…Do you really not want me to come there, Yurochka?"

"Yes, please stay in St. Petersburg. I'll be home as soon as this quarantine lifts, but can you give me advice on how to cope with this?" I don't want to drink anymore blood, but I want it desperately. I need to ignore this urge until they can cure our vampirism. There's a team of vampire hunters here, I'm sure they'll find the vampire responsible quickly. Until then, I need a safe way to ignore this thirst.

"Well…" Yuri could sense Nikolai pondering on the other line. "Have you tried meditation?"

Yuri made a face. "Meditation? That's lame, Dedushka."

"Actually, meditation is a good stress-reliever and helps you to empty your mind. Here, I'll assist you over the phone. We'll start off small since this will be your first time doing it. Are you in a quiet spot?"

"I'm in my hotel room, and I don't believe Yakov has woken up yet."

"Okay, good. Are you able to lie down on your back?"

"Dedushka, I don't see how meditation will help me."

"You won't know unless you try, Yurochka."

Yuri sighed heavily and reluctantly stretched out on his back in the bed. "There, I'm lying down. Now what?"

"Put me on speaker phone, set your phone down, and close your eyes."

Yuri complied. The ache in his body was growing, and with it his fear was also growing. "Now what, Dedushka?"

"I want you to breathe in deeply, and then exhale. Focus your attention completely on your breathing. Do this a few times to get comfortable with the routine."

Yuri did so, but he could feel the fangs rubbing against his bottom lip. "Dedushka—"

"Yurochka, this will work better for you if you don't speak. If you think about how much this isn't going to work, or how foolish this is, then the meditation won't work for you."

Yuri grumbled to himself, but tried to do as was told and focus on his breathing and not the discomfort of his fangs or his hunger. It was very gradual, but after a minute or so the sound of his own breathing filled his senses. He wasn't aware of anything else.

"Now Yurochka." Nikolai's voice startled him, and Yuri cursed as he became acutely aware of his vampire fangs once more. "I want you to continue breathing, but when you exhale I want you to start counting. I want you to focus on the counting until you reach ten. Then start the counting all over again. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Yuri tried to focus on his breathing once more and exhaled sharply. Odin.

Keep focus, Yuri. You want to fight this hunger. You know you can do it until you're cured of this vampirism. Just focus on your breathing and the counting.

Dva.

You can do this. You know you can do this.

Tri.

Everything seemed to melt away. If Nikolai was talking Yuri didn't hear him. He didn't even feel the mattress underneath his body. He didn't feel his fangs or the hunger. He felt like he was floating into nothingness. The only thing he was aware of was his breathing, and the counting he was doing inside his head.

When he counted to ten six times, he allowed himself to come back to awareness. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his fingers against his mouth. The fangs had retreated, and while he still felt the ache of hunger, it was a manageable ache that he could ignore. Elated, Yuri grabbed his phone. "Dedushka, it worked! I feel much better than I felt before! Thank you so much!"

"I'm happy that I could help you, Yurochka. But do you really not want me to come to Vienna? I don't care that there's a measles outbreak, I'll support you."

"N-No, please don't come. Don't put yourself in danger. I'll be okay, really. Yakov and Lilia are here with me." Please don't put yourself at risk around me, Yuri added silently.

"…All right," Nikolai said reluctantly. "But let me know if you change your mind. I'm glad I was able to help you feel better."

Yuri nodded to this. "I can always count on you, Dedushka."

"I'm glad. And Yurochka?"

"What is it?"

"I'm glad you're not sick."

Yuri's stomach twisted with discomfort. "…Me, too." He felt terrible about lying to his grandfather about his condition, but he knew that if Nikolai knew he'd been turned into a vampire he would fly to Vienna regardless. And Yuri didn't want to risk hurting Nikolai if he did come.

But I'll be okay for right now. Dedushka showed me how to meditate, and while I thought it was lame it helped me focus my mind so that I forgot about the hunger. With any luck the vampires will find the asshole that did this to us, but for now I can get by without drinking blood again.

Yuri was able to get some more sleep and woke up around 8 o'clock. Even with the extra sleep his body felt exhausted but he knew it was because it was daytime, and he knew that vampires were at their weakest in the daytime.

Yakov was awake and watching television when Yuri came out of his room. "Where are you going?"

"For a walk," Yuri said curtly, sliding a pair of sunglasses on. "They're arriving with the blood, right? I'll go down and get ours."

"If you're going down, turn this in." Yakov snatched up the cardkey Lilia had left and handed it to Yuri. He looked Yuri over with narrowed eyes. "Yuri, you don't look well. Are you all right?"

Yuri scoffed and quickly shook his head. "We're vampires, Yakov. Neither of us look well."

Yakov actually pondered this and slowly nodded. "Fair point. Come straight back up though after you get our blood."

"Yeah, whatever." Yuri gave a half-hearted wave over his shoulder as he left the suite. He ducked his head as he headed for the elevators. Just keep your mind focused and keep meditating. You'll be able to hold off the hunger until you're cured.

The elevator at the end of the hall opened, and Yuri glanced up. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Otabek casually walk out, and he clenched his teeth together. Focus! Focus, Yuri!

"Oh, you're awake," Otabek greeted him. Yuri saw that he was wearing a sweater and scarf around his neck and relaxed considerably. Otabek reached behind himself to hold the elevator door in place before it could close. "Good morning."

"Morning," Yuri said slowly, not allowing his mouth to open too wide to risk his fangs coming out. "What are you doing up here?"

"I came to check up on you," Otabek responded bluntly. "Are you all right?"

It was the second time in less than five minutes that Yuri was asked that, and he quickly grew irritated. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm going down to get Yakov and mine's blood." He regretted saying that though as soon as he finished the sentence.

"I'll walk down with you then, keep you company," Otabek offered.

"…All right," Yuri said reluctantly. "Spasibo."

"Pozhaluysta," Otabek responded, giving Yuri room to enter the hit for the lobby and they started going down.

Yuri glanced at him briefly, but then looked away. "So you came up to my room to check on me? Both Yakov and I are vampires. Don't you think that's unsafe?"

"Not really, no," Otabek said. "You wouldn't hurt me, Yuri."

We don't know that, Yuri thought grimly, but he kept that thought to himself. "I appreciate the gesture, but try to be more careful."

"I know. You be more careful too." Yuri looked at him again and Otabek shrugged. "I know you hate drinking the blood but it's necessary. You don't want to lose your human soul, right? That will happen if you kill someone while feeding. We both know this isn't forever, so hang in there. I'll be here with you."

"Spasibo," Yuri said again, though he was genuinely touched by his friend's concern. He looked down at the keycard for his room and held it out to Otabek. "Here. Lilia turned this over to us when she moved rooms. I was going to give it to the front desk, but you hang onto it. If you feel comfortable enough entering a hotel room with two vampires, stop by anytime."

Otabek looked down at the keycard for several long moments of silence before looking back at Yuri. "Yakov will disapprove."

"I don't give a fuck," Yuri said firmly. He shook the keycard insistently. "Just take it. I wouldn't mind having your company."

After a few moments, Otabek accepted the card. He tucked it into his wallet as the doors opened to the lobby. "Where do they keep the blood?"

"In one of the back offices," Yuri said, leading the way out of the elevator. He was glad that Otabek was with him, but he felt anxious. I can't let Otabek know what I'm doing. He wants me to keep drinking blood and I can't do that. I'll have to be careful with the blood that I hide so nobody finds out about it.

"Yuuri Katsuki."

The authoritative voice cut through Yuuri's sleep and he was awake in an instant. He quickly sat up. "W-What?!"

"La sua bocca è danneggiata," a male voice said with alarm. "Era attaccato?"

"Dubbioso," another voice chimed in. "È probabilmente un morso d'amore."

"Here." His glasses were shoved into his hands. Yuuri slipped them on and gaped with confusion at Stregoni Benefici, who was standing beside his bed. Yuuri sputtered. "W-W-How did you get into my room?!"

"I used the keycard Victor Nikiforov had handed in," Benefici told him. "More efficient than kicking the door down again, don't you think?"

"I…" Yuuri shook his head slowly and looked around the bedroom. The men and women who served under Benefici were standing around the room as well. "I don't get it. What's going on? You already made Victor leave this room."

"I know he's gone," Benefici said. "We're here for you, Yuuri Katsuki."

"M-Me?!" Yuuri gaped at him again. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"

"I want you to listen to this." Benefici pulled a CD player out of his coat pocket and handed it to Yuuri. "Listen to the entirety of track number 1."

Yuuri wanted to ask why, but he knew they would probably just reiterate that he needed to listen to the CD. Shaking his head, he inserted the ear buds and pressed play.

"You can hear me, can't you?" a male voice spoke in heavily accented English. Yuuri didn't recognize the voice. "I know you can. I can use my words to do many different things, just as you believe that you can do many different things to me. But you don't stand a chance. You can hurt me and break my body, but I am eternal. I will be youthful and beautiful for all time. Your body will give out, you will die, and it will decay into rot. Death is very frightening, isn't it? But you will die, and you will be nothing. And eventually, no one will even remember your name. In the grand scope of time, you will always mean nothing.

"That scares you, doesn't it? The gradual process of your fragile body breaking down. Your youth fading and fading until you are undesirable. Then you will die, and when you die you just stop existing. You stop existing, and you fade into being a forgotten memory. Do you want that to happen to you?"

Yuuri frowned with confusion. Despite being told to listen to the entire track he hit pause and looked at Benefici. "What's the purpose of this recording?"

"Do you feel anything when you listen to that recording?" Benefici asked.

"Not really," Yuuri answered honestly. "Just annoyance. The speaker uses emotionally manipulative language."

"Do you feel swayed by his words or tone of voice?"

"Swayed into doing what?"

"Then it's true." Benefici held out his hand and Yuuri handed over the CD player. "You're immune."

"Immune to what?"

"Immune to a vampire's charm."

Yuuri stiffened, and he gasped shortly. "W-What?!"

"The recording you just listened to was of a vampire in our custody. We were able to record him using his vampire compulsion to try to sway us into releasing him. His tone and his influence are transmittable even through an audio file."

Yuuri blinked once, and then twice. "…Why would you have me listen to such a thing?"

"My people have observed you," Benefici told him. "And they've observed your interactions with the vampires. The vampires are freshly turned and have no control over their powers. They emit influence and charm without realizing it, and it hypnotizes the people around them. Everyone…except you, Yuuri Katsuki."

"W-Wait, that's not true!" Yuuri protested. "I'm not the only one who's not been influenced by a vampire's charm! Otabek Altin was not influenced by Yurio's performance!"

"I have no explanation for that, but he's not entirely immune," Benefici said. "He was observed during Victor Nikiforov's performance falling under his influence."

"…Really?"

"Sí. Furthermore, he wasn't even watching Victor Nikiforov's performance and still fell under his influence. Truth be told, the power he emitted during his skating routine was so profound that there were very few people within the arena who did not fall under the spell. You had the closest proximity to him, and yet he did not influence you. Not one of the vampires has influenced you."

"So…" Yuuri was still shocked, and he gestured with his hand as he tried to formulate a thought. "So what you're saying is that I can't be influenced by vampires? How is that possible?"

Benefici shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Haa?!"

"But it doesn't matter how you're immune to a vampire's influence. What matters is that you are, and you can make our lives much easier."

"I-I don't understand."

"Just a little while ago we had some trouble with the Russian punk downstairs. His foul language and attitude is wearing my people thin, and we already have too much to do keeping the vampires under quarantine whilst also trying to find the vampire who turned all of you."

Russian punk? Yuuri rubbed at his forehead. "Do you mean Yurio? What did he do?"

"He went downstairs to pick up blood with the skater from Kazakhstan, but seemed completely incapable of speaking a single sentence without using swearwords," Benefici said grimly. "So, I've come to the decision that we're not going to waste any more time dealing with the vampires and their foolish antics."

"W-What?!" Yuuri cried out. He started to stand from the bed but Benefici blocked him and he sat back down. "You're abandoning the vampires just because Yurio ran his mouth?! You can't do that! I thought you were going to help them!"

"I am helping them," Benefici told him. "But the vampires are annoying and dealing with them is a waste of time and resources for my people and I. That is where you come in, Yuuri Katsuki."

"Huh?" Yuuri blinked with confusion.

"I want you to act as the liaison between us and the vampires. You'll bring the blood to them and you'll filter requests and complaints from them to us. Since it appears that you cannot be influenced by any vampire—including your fiancé—I think you would fit into this job well."

"L…Liaison?"

"I want you to deal with the vampires so that we can focus our efforts on locating the vampire who caused this mess," Benefici clarified. "Since you seem to be completely immune to a vampire's charm, they will not be able to manipulate you into doing your bidding. Not even Victor Nikiforov, unless you're a weak man."

"Hey, don't talk to me like that!" Yuuri snapped, standing straight up. "I'll do anything to help, but how exactly am I supposed to help when I don't know where everyone is?!"

"We would tell you, of course," Benefici said. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Yuuri. "Here are the room numbers for all the vampires."

"I—"

"Including Nikiforov."

Yuuri's protest immediately died and he quickly looked down at the piece of paper. Victor's name and room number was listed on top. He gasped shortly as he traced the room number. Victor was three floors below him.

Now I can go and see him. But Victor deliberately withheld this information from me. How will he react to seeing me at his door?

"Now that you know, you're now obliged to help us," Benefici said. "The blood is on the first floor and we've told the vampires to stay in their rooms for now, so it would be wise for you to go down and make the deliveries."

Yuuri looked up at him. "I—"

"You don't have to worry about these two." Benefici pointed to Yakov and Yurio's names. "As they already have their blood for the day. But none of the other vampires do and they're probably hungry, so you should hurry."

"Quante volte Benefici devono ripetersi prima che capisca?!"one of the women said in exasperation.

"Abbastanza," Benefici said curtly, though he didn't take his eyes off Yuuri. Yuuri bristled slightly though, because he had a feeling they were talking about him. "You have your marching orders. It's best you move quickly, Yuuri Katsuki."

Before Yuuri could respond again, Benefici departed with his associates. Yuuri was left standing alone in the bedroom still holding the paper in his hand. He looked up and rubbed at his head in confusion. Wait…did I even agree to this?

With his newfound assignment, Yuuri spent an hour pushing a heavy cart overloaded with freezer containers across Meliá Vienna, locating the hotel rooms of the poor skaters, coaches, and others who had been turned into vampires. He was glad he was allowed access to the freight elevator, because he felt awkward by the strange glances he was getting from guests who hadn't been turned. Luckily most of the vampires were in good moods—Phichit was thrilled to see him and wanted to come with him while he filmed on Periscope (but Yuuri declined), and JJ and Isabella even looked happy to see him. When he stopped by Michele's room he found Sara there, which left one less room for him to visit. Sara was also happy to see him, but Michele…

"What time is it in Saskatchewan?" Michele asked over his shoulder. "I need to find out if this is really Emil's blood!"

"Mickey, just call him and find out," Sara said with exasperation. "Or better yet, just accept his nice gesture and drink the blood he donated to you?"

"I'm not drinking blood that I don't where it came from!"

"Mickey, that's ridiculous! That's Emil's handwriting on the note, so it's most likely Emil's blood that he volunteered for you! Besides, we don't know where this donated blood they keep giving us came from!"

"But I don't know why he gave me the blood and not you!"

Sara rolled her eyes and smiled at Yuuri. "Grazie, Yuuri. If you wouldn't mind asking Mr. Benefici if Emil did in fact donate his blood to Mickey, we would greatly appreciate."

Yuuri nodded. "I'll ask when I go back down."

Of course, there were plenty of vampires who were not in good moods. Plenty of them took their container of blood and slammed the door in Yuuri's face without so much as a thank you. He didn't even see Seung-Gil, as the other skater refused to come out of his room or answer the door. Ms. Park thankfully arrived however to accept Seung-Gil's blood, but she gave him a short and dismissive "thank you".

Everyone's really having a rough time of it, huh? Yuuri thought. I feel like this has been rough on Victor and me, but a lot of the other people who were turned don't have anyone with them.

He deliberately saved Victor's visit for last, but he felt his heart pounding in his throat as he approached the door. Victor had told him just last night that he didn't want Yuuri to stop by, but here he was.

But I'm not being deliberately sneaky. Benefici-san forced this on me. I wanted to be useful and help Victor…and now I can be.

Yuuri brought the cart to a stop beside the door and stood in front of it. He did breathing exercises to keep himself calm, and raised his hand to knock. Before he could however, the door swung open startling him. Victor's startled face greeted him. "Y-Yuuri?"

"A-Ah…" Yuuri fidgeted violently. He was so happy to see Victor that he wanted to grab him and pull him into a hug. But he saw that Victor was quickly becoming upset so he refrained from doing so. "I—"

"Who gave you my room number?!" Victor interrupted him, closing his hotel room door behind him and emerging into the hallway fully. "Was it Chris?!"

"N-No!" Yuuri said quickly, not wanting Victor blame Chris for this. He pulled out Benefici's list and showed it to Victor. "I-I was made liaison for the vampires! The vampire hunters said I'm somehow immune to vampire influence, so they want me to give out blood to everyone, and gather feedback!"

Victor visibly relaxed at hearing this, but he still looked surprised. "Wait…you're immune to vampire control? That's incredible, Yuuri! How did you manage that?"

"I honestly don't know, and they have no idea how I'm immune. But they said nobody can influence me. Not even you, Victor."

"Yuuri—"

"Which is why," Yuuri pressed forward. "We don't need to keep separated any longer. You can't hurt me with your powers because you can't control me. When you skated yesterday, you were able to bring people under your influence who weren't even watching your performance. But I was unaffected." Yuuri turned to the cart. "You don't need to be afraid of hurting me Victor, because you can't hurt me."

"But I can hurt you," Victor said forcefully. "Even if I can't influence you, I still lack proper control. I'm a danger to you, Yuuri."

"Victor—"

"Iie!" Victor cut him off in Japanese. Yuuri looked at him in shock. "I won't change my mind, Yuuri! Until I'm human again, I'm going to keep myself separate from you!"

The hope that had built up in Yuuri quickly vanished. He felt tears sting his eyes but he forced them back and grabbed the last container. He held it out to Victor. "Here's your blood, Victor."

Victor's features softened at Yuuri's quiet tone of voice. He accepted the container but set it down. Then he pulled Yuuri into a tight hug.

They didn't speak for a long time. They clung to each other tightly, as though they were trying to burrow into each other's bodies. Yuuri closed his eyes and absorbed Victor's warmth, and the scent of his body. He still felt like Victor—it was still Victor. He was just a man trapped with a vampire curse.

But it's not forever. We'll have to work hard to make sure it's not forever.

Victor's mouth found Yuuri's ear, and he hesitantly kissed the lobe. "I thought I was angry that you found my room. But really…I'm really glad to see you. I'm glad that they gave you this task. But we have to keep a distance, Yuuri."

Yuuri pulled back to look at him. "Victor—"

Victor silenced him by leaning down and licking his mouth. He ran his tongue along Yuuri's torn bottom lip, and Yuuri felt the sting immediately go away. He leaned up, trying to kiss Victor, but Victor pulled away from him and released him. He looked away and wiped at his mouth. Yuuri felt his heart lurch at the dismissive gesture, but then he noticed that Victor's hand was trembling. "V—"

"I won't object to you bringing me my blood every day," Victor said in a low voice. He wasn't looking at Yuuri now. "But from now on don't touch me in any way. And keep a meter's distance away from me."

"A meter?!" Yuuri exclaimed. "But Victor—"

"It's not a request, Yuuri." Victor quickly snatched up his container and unlocked the door to his hotel. "I imagine you'll need to report downstairs. You can call me later."

"Victor, wait—!" Yuuri rushed after him, but Victor closed the door behind him. Yuuri pulled on the door handle, but it predictably didn't budge. Yuuri stood there stunned, staring at the closed door with his mouth hanging open.

W…What just happened? He just uncompromisingly rejected me. But doesn't he trust me at all to look out for him?

The noises coming from his own mouth didn't sound human. It frightened Victor tremendously.

But I'm not human right now.

It had been a mistake, licking Yuuri's wounded lip. But Victor had wanted to heal the damage he'd inadvertently done to Yuuri's wonderful mouth. So he licked the bottom lip, not with the intention of kissing but with the intention of healing.

But he foolishly didn't consider that Yuuri's wound was still open. He'd licked the torn skin, and tasted Yuuri's blood again—

Yuuri's blood.

Yuuri's blood.

Victor's knees turned to butter and he collapsed onto the floor. The flavor of Yuuri's blood, as minuscule as it'd been, still lingered on his tongue and inside his mouth. He could smell it in his nostrils. His vampire fangs were out and ached so terribly that he wanted to scream in pain. He raked his fingernails against the carpet, and it scratched the fabric almost straight through to the floor.

Hungry, hungry, I need to feed—

The container with his blood had spilled out onto the floor when he fell, and all three packets sat on the floor above his head. Victor snatched one up and tore into it from its side, gulping down the blood. A red line dripped from his mouth and down his neck, but he didn't notice. He squeezed the bag between his fists, sucking every drop out.

But…

Victor gasped as he finished, the packet falling out of his hands. He could feel blood on his chin and used his tongue and fingers to lap it onto his mouth. As he did though, he realized that his fangs were still extended.

Yuuri's blood…Victor only had a little of it, both yesterday when he accidentally nipped Yuuri and just now when he healed his lip. But Yuuri's blood…it was the most intoxicating thing Victor had ever tasted in his whole life. The small sample both times sent electricity to his toes and made his insides melt. Victor could not recall ever experiencing anything that tasted and smelled so good.

He'd wanted more…and it was frightening, so frightening because of the fact that Yuuri's blood invoked this reaction inside him. Yuuri—his fiancé, and the most important person in his life.

Victor touched his extended fangs. They didn't ache as badly as they had moments ago, but they hadn't retreated with his sated hunger. He looked down at the empty packet before him, his breathing coming in and out in short spurts. "It…It isn't enough?"

It had come out as a question, but he knew the truth.

This blood isn't enough. I…I'm craving Yuuri's blood.

Just as a minor disclaimer, I'm no expert on meditation. I meditate from time to time and I've been taught and read about numerous meditation methods. Everyone has a different method that works for them.

Nerezza is Italian for "darkness". I know, hardly an original name for a vampire.