Kurt was so startled he didn't know what to say at first. His mouth and eyes were wide, and he found himself leaning against the back of the chair, his breath heavy. He had seen many grotesque crime scenes in his day, but there was something about what you expect to see being changed so intensely and strangely that made him just that uncomfortable. "Ma... Magnus... What..." Magnus' eyes looked sad, and finally he angled his head down again.

"I never wanted to have to show you," He breathed. "I didn't want to have to tell you."

Kurt was so startled he barely took notice of what Magnus had said.

"I thought I could keep it from you all... I'm sorry."

Kurt swallowed. He had to say something, but nothing was coming to mind, his eyes too focused on making sense of what he saw to form a real sentence. "Wha... Why?"

Magnus looked up at him. "You won't believe me if I tell you."

Kurt looked at him, trying to hold the gaze, though he was so shocked he wanted to look away. He remembered Magnus words, and tried to use them to advance the conversation, his words rough. "I told you I would listen." He had to understand, he was a detective. Getting information was what he did for a living.

The small, uneven smile Magnus always seemed to have was back on his face for a moment. "You're a good man, Kurt." The smile disappeared as he looked down. "I wish I didn't have to pull you into this."

Kurt swallowed. "Tell me what happened."

Magnus shifted his hands in the handcuffs. "The crimes look impossible, unsolvable. But that's because they are."

Kurt narrowed his eyes at the cadet. "Unsolvable?"

"Impossible." Martinsson shifted in his chair, coughing. "A person shouldn't be able to drain a body with barely any struggling or any blood spilled. It's impossible. But," He tilted his head a bit. "For someone whose existence isn't considered possible, and isn't technically called a 'person'... it is possible."

Kurt's voice was full of confusion. "An impossible... creature? I don't understand."

"Well neither did I," The blonde shrugged. "Until about four months ago."

For a moment silence passed between them as Kurt considered how to proceed. He knew he had to learn more about the killer first. "What is the killer Magnus? How can their existence be impossible?"

Magnus didn't look at Kurt. He took in a deep breath, then mumbled, "A vampire."

Suddenly thoughts bombarded Kurt's mind, most of which were along the lines of 'that's impossible.' But he had to pause and think. Here in front of him was a case in which two people were drained completely of blood without spilling a drop and barely any struggling. And Magnus, the technological wizard among them, couldn't find a single method which would really work. If he wasn't just sabotaging them after all. At this point Kurt didn't know what to think. But he saw Magnus' eyes and knew something was going on. Then something occurred to him. "You wear contacts."

Magnus let out a breath. "Yes, under normal circumstances. I started months ago."

"But... they're clear."

"No," Magnus said. "When I'm around you all I wear blue contacts to match the color they used to be. I wasn't very keen on the looks I'd get when you saw that my eyes had changed color, nor did I want to lie and say I was wearing colored ones. So I got contacts to make it look like my eyes didn't change, and are still blue. But... when I'm alone..." He tried to gesture to his face, but the handcuffs made it look more like a hand spasm.

Kurt rubbed a hand on his face. "I don't understand. A few months ago something happened that made you understand this, and made your eyes are red." He wasn't sure he wanted to, but he knew he had to ask. "What happened?"

Magnus took a long breath. "I was coming back from work. It was late, later than usual, since we had a complicated case. I decided to take a shortcut through the woods," He made a pained smile. "I was being stupid." The smile faded. He looked to Kurt, who seemed to be listening, so he continued. "I heard someone coming so I tried to pull my gun, but it was only a moment until he had me." Magnus was looking down, and a shiver passed over him. "He forced me to my knees, then face down into the ground. Then I could feel his teeth... fangs..." Magnus took in a breath, which came out shaking. "Forgive me. I've never had to recount this before." He couldn't meet Kurt's eyes.

"Go on," Kurt said quietly.

"He bit me. His teeth grew into fangs and he sunk them into the back of my neck." Magnus breathed slowly again, taking a moment. My arms were pinned behind my back, and I tried to cry out but... I couldn't..." Wallander thought he saw the edges of his red eyes watering. "It was snowing, I remember that. My face was on the ground and I thought I was going to stop breathing. I could feel the blood leaving my body." His words were shaking again, a tear falling from his eye.

Kurt swallowed. He suddenly felt like he was losing the ability to handle his anger and discomfort what was in front of him. His officer, his friend, chained up and unable to even dry his own tears. It was so wrong, and he knew it was. He let out a grunt and stood up.

"Kurt...?"

Kurt grabbed the tissues and the key off of the ledge in front of the mirror that would normally have an officer sitting behind it. But there was nothing normal about this case. He moved the tissues in front of Magnus then began unlocking his wrists from the table. They felt oddly cold.

"Kurt, you can't..."

"Shut up."

"You'll get in trouble."

"Shut up, okay?" He gave him a hard glance.

Magnus didn't speak again until his hands were released from the table. They were still handcuffed, but he reached out and took a tissue rubbing the bottoms of his red eyes. "Thank you."

Kurt didn't look at him. "This case, this whole thing is insane. I've been trying to tell myself not to trust you." He let out a breath. "But I just can't. You aren't a killer, I know you aren't. I still trust you."

That broken smile showed up again.

"Tell me the rest."

Magnus swallowed. "Do you believe me?"

"Just tell me the rest." He sighed. "Let me decide after."

Magnus set down the used tissue and rested his hands in his lap. "He wasn't just draining my blood, he was drinking it. I could hear it." A grimace across his face that Kurt couldn't help but mirror. "It was terrifying, and horrifying." His eyes locked onto Kurt's then. "The books make it out to be sensual, but when something terrifying and painful is being done to you and you can't stop it, and you think you might die... There's nothing pleasurable about it." He grabbed another tissue, and Kurt stared down at the table, unable to meet his eyes as he considered what was being said. "I thought I was going to die. My vision was blurring, I found myself thinking of my parents, and you guys... Then suddenly he stopped. He ripped his fangs out, which was..." He searched for wording. "Incredibly painful." Magnus took a breath. "He was breathing slowly, and I was crying, and I begged him... I gathered up the energy and begged him to let me live." Magnus looked up, not at Kurt, just staring at the wall as he dug up the memories that were probably painfully fresh on his mind. "He told me... He said that he couldn't, saying something about having to share prey. Then he waited a moment, and he seemed to reconsider what he'd said." The cadet narrowed his eyes as if remembering something puzzling. "He said... having another one around would be interesting. Muttered something about me 'finding prey' for him. I had no idea what he meant then. But the next thing I knew he was off of me, and he grabbed me by my hair and pulled me onto my knees." Magnus shook his head, cringing again. "He told me he'd be seeing me again. And I saw his face." Magnus met Kurt's eyes. "His eyes were blood red, his skin was pale. He was tall, gaunt, and had long brown hair. And he... He smiled. He said again that he wanted another one around. And just left me there."

Kurt realized his breathing was heavy, just imagining something like that happening to someone, much less Magnus. He wasn't even sure if he believed it, but it was hard to imagine Magnus making up a story like that. Magnus had always seemed so simple to him, a natural with electronics who was brave and a hard worker, two traits he hid behind biting sarcasm and an air of laziness. Kurt took in another breath, asking the first thing that came to mind. "Another one... another what?"

He swallowed. "I didn't know then." Magnus didn't meet his eyes. "But I found out quickly."

Kurt had the word on the tip of his tongue, but looking at the young cadet, thinking of everything they'd gone through together, even in the last few months... he couldn't believe it was true. He needed to hear the truth. "Wh-what did he mean, Magnus?"

Magnus gave him a pained look with his red eyes. "Another vampire." Kurt's heart pounded. "He made me what I am..." Kurt tried to look away from him. "Kurt." Magnus called his attention, and he had to look up into those sad and yet terrifying red eyes.

"I'm a vampire."