The news had hit Mircea hard, and Maarten wasn't sure if he should drag him back inside or let him sit outside and gather his thoughts some more.
It looked like a storm was raging across his face, Mircea's brows were furrowed and his gaze was hard.
Despite this, Maarten had to reach over and wipe a few tears away from his face several times.
"It's not fair," Mircea finally said, "It's not fair at all..."
Maarten didn't dare say anything, he just nodded slowly, even if he knew Mircea wasn't looking at him.
"My fault... again," Mircea whispered and leant his head against Maarten's shoulder.
"We'll fix it," Maarten muttered softly in return, letting Mircea rest his head.
"It was nice while it lasted," Mircea mumbled quietly.
"Suppose so," Maarten sighed.
Sooner or later they would have to go inside and tell the others.
No need for secrets any more – the bat was out of the bag.
"Hey..." Mircea whispered, "I'm not really sorry I turned you... I'd much rather have you live forever then watch you fade away to dust like everyone else,"
"Uh..." Maarten tried to clear his throat, unsure what to reply with.
"I know you hate it. But it's nice knowing for once that it won't just be me in some house on my own,"
"Are you suggesting we all just live together for eternity?" Maarten cracked a small smile at the suggestion before he realised Mircea was serious.
"Yes, why not? It's nice here..." Mircea shrugged.
"It's Erik and Cecilé's home... not ours,"
"You think Cecilé will let Erik die? Do you think Halldór will sit by and watch his brother fade to dust?" Mircea snorted, "There's more people in that house that want him alive than there are people who want me dead."
"Well... when you put it like that," Maarten shook his head gently. "But still, eternity is a long time."
"Yeah I know, I've already lived far beyond comprehension," Mircea sighed. "But eternity doesn't sound so bad when there are others there with you... Alone it's pretty daunting."
"I can imagine..."
"The first century or two it's all fine. But after about ten of them you start to talk to yourself a lot more than what is deemed normal or even acceptable."
"Let me guess, you're the only sane voice when you're that old?"
"Nah, I'm the only one willing to listen to myself," Mircea laughed, but Maarten couldn't even muster a smile.
Living forever sounded so incomprehensible, yet he was sure it was possible.
Eternal life was a burden and a gift all tangled into one mess of emotions.
Mircea had lived for one thing only; bring his brother back.
Maarten didn't know what he was going to live for.
Hunting vampires only got him so far he supposed.
"What's the worst thing about immortality?" Maarten asked, glancing upwards to the night sky.
"The worst?" Mircea repeated softly.
"Yeah. Is it seeing your loved ones die or...?" he trailed off.
"I only watched one loved one die," Mircea replied. "But it's hard making friends knowing their life is over in the blink of an eye in what is our lifetime."
"Mhm..." Maarten hummed. He didn't doubt Erik would soon join their ranks. Not that he really liked the idea.
"Turning everyone you love isn't really an option..." he mumbled out loud.
"No," Mircea shook his head, rubbing his hair against Maarten's shoulder in the process.
"It has to stop somewhere. We can't make all humans vampires. Imagine how much serum we'd need just to keep one city from turning into monsters."
"There would be chaos," Maarten sighed and leant his head against Mircea's.
"A few of us will do," Mircea hummed.
"With the addition of another two maybe..." Maarten added.
"Four," Mircea corrected.
"Four?" Maarten glanced back at the mansion.
"Arthur is still human."
"Oh, we're including him?" Maarten frowned.
"He's still important to your sister, although I'm not sure they're married any more."
"I never did ask if she filed the divorce papers..." Maarten mumbled, "But fine, that's three people. Who's the fourth?"
"Ciprian," Mircea said softly.
"What?" Maarten tried to hide his surprise.
"He's not a vampire... yet..." Mircea muttered. "Or at least I'm not sure he's fully one any more. It's complicated and confusing. Has he been given a serum or asked for anything yet?"
"No," Maarten said after pondering the question. "Not that I know off. Minus some small fangs I thought he was human. But if he's got your magic that might explain the fangs..." Maarten grumbled.
"We were the same long ago. Not quite human but not what vampires are today," Ciprian explained.
"Oh... suppose that means him having your magic is even worse."
"Yes. It is..." Mircea sighed. "I assumed he turned into what I am, but after dying and being brought back, I'm no longer sure."
"No, components used to bring him back was calculated out of a human body. Not a vampire. There are some minor differences..." Maarten thought it over. If the magic was so hard to deal with, it was certainly not right for one person alone to bear it.
"What if we found a way to share the magic?" he asked.
"With who?" Mircea snorted. "No one would want it if they knew what it did," he rolled his eyes.
"Well..." Maarten cleared his throat. "I could... maybe, uh, share the burden. If it's possible..."
Mircea sat up straight and turned to Maarten with eyes wide in shock.
"You would?" the disbelief was clear in his voice.
"Well, I currently have nothing, so what harm could getting a little do me?"
"But... you'd actually do it? For me?"
"You did mention I had trust issues..." Maarten averted his gaze. "So yeah, a peace offering from my side if you want to call it that," he shrugged.
"You're still doing it willingly!" Mircea smiled widely as he placed his hands on Maarten's shoulders.
"Yes... I decided it's the best and safest outcome for us all, I think you would agree-"
Maarten was cut of by Mircea's lips on his.
He was frozen in place, too shocked and surprised to even utter a protest until Mircea pulled away with a smile so full of happiness Maarten was certain he had to be dreaming.
"Come on, we need to find Ciprian," he said and offered his hand to Maarten.
"Yes... of course," Maarten blinked and got up from the ground.
He accepted Mircea's hand with a little more ease than he would have liked to admit, and didn't even bother trying to get out of it as Mircea dragged him back inside.
Maarten still felt dazed and a little confused.
He wanted to replay the kiss. Make sure it actually had happened.
Find out what Mircea had actually meant by it too.
Stupid, stupid thoughts, Maarten decided as he pushed the whole scene away from his memory.
They had more important things to do.
"Where's Ciprian?" Mircea asked as they entered the kitchen, somewhat surprised to only find Erik, Cecilé, Gilbert and Francis there.
"Upstairs with Annelise, Basch and Anika," Francis replied and pointed to the ceiling.
"Veronique, Halldór and Arthur are in the library," he added and gave Maarten a concerned look.
"Are they looking for a way to return my magic from Cirpian?" Mircea asked.
No one replied.
Maarten watched their eyes grow wide, exchanging worried glances back and forth between themselves.
"It's okay, I'm not mad," Mircea said, offering a faint smile. "But I want my magic back as soon as possible. For Ciprian's sake and safety," he added softly.
"Oh," Francis let out a sigh of relief, everyone visibly relaxing in their seats.
"Saves us keeping more secrets then," Gilbert grinned.
"Yes, yes. Whatever. I need to speak to him," Mircea grumbled and left, Maarten shrugged and followed suit.
He wasn't sure what to say, but he figured he should stick close by for a little while longer.
Annelise waved at them both as they entered the room, although Anika and Basch seemed to sense something was wrong.
"I need to speak to Ciprian," Mircea said calmly. "Alone," he added a little sternly, giving the rest of the them a cold stare till they nodded and left. Maarten lingered for a moment longer, giving Mircea a concerned glance before he too disappeared – closing the door behind him.
He had half a mind to stay and listen, but he didn't.
This was something the brothers had to figure out themselves.
Maarten had no place here right now.
"Something wrong?" Ciprian asked once they were alone, his hands tugging at his own clothes in worry.
"Yes," Mircea said as he took a seat next to him.
"How much do you know?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Ciprian swallowed nervously and looked at up at his big brother worriedly.
"About me. About everyone here. About yourself?" Mircea replied.
Ciprian stared at the floor and sniffled, visibly shaking.
"Ciprian..." Mircea sighed and knelt down. "I'm not angry. I'm worried. This wasn't what I wanted,"
"But," Ciprian began, biting his lip and trying very hard not to burst into tears.
"No," Mircea cut him off. "You don't get to keep such secrets from me when it hurts you like I know it does."
"I just wanted you to be happy," Ciprian mumbled.
"Silly little brother of mine," Mircea shook his head and laughed, pulling Ciprian into a tight hug. "I am happy. You make me happy," he whispered softly. "But I can't be happy when I know you're struggling," he added.
"I'm learning to control it," Ciprian whispered in return. "The voices aren't so loud any more," he added as he pulled gently on Mircea's shirt.
"The voices never stop, they just come and go at best," Mircea said, threading his fingers gently through his brothers hair. "You're too young for that much energy to be contained within you."
"But it made you happy..." Ciprian whispered, hiding his face in the crook of Mircea's neck.
"I'll still be happy after all of this. I promise," Mircea smiled and gave his brother a playful jab to his sides. "If I'm not you can shave my hair and dress me in whatever you want."
"Well you would look good in a green dress," Ciprian giggled.
"I'm sure I would," Mircea laughed. "So trust me okay? We've got each other. That all we needed to be happy before, and it's all we'll ever need now."
"What about Maarten?" Ciprian whispered.
"Uh," Mircea cleared his throat. "He's a good ally. A Good friend too."
"I like him," Ciprian mumbled softly. "He looks scary at first, but he's nice. I think he's just very scared too..."
"Yeah," Mircea nodded. "I think you're right."
They sat on the floor for a while. No more words, just silence and the comfortable presence of one another.
"It was really dark and cold," Ciprian said quietly. "After the fire I mean..."
Mircea held his breath, not sure he wanted to hear this.
He wasn't sure he was ready either.
"Do you remember what we were?" Mircea asked carefully.
"Human. Maybe. Or something close to it. We looked like them, and I remember playing outside in the sunshine," Ciprian frowned.
"So we did..." Mircea mumbled in agreement.
"Then you came back one night, very angry and a little strange. After that you never went outside in sunlight..."
"Yes..." Mircea nodded, he had forgotten details along the lines of his long life, but Ciprian was slowly helping him remember.
"After that people in the town didn't really like either of us. You never really told me why..."
"I didn't?" Mircea lied. He'd deliberately not done so at the time to protect him, but now there was little point of hiding anything any more.
"I traded some things away for more power. It wasn't easy. And that's why I'm now known as the 'first' vampire," he explained slowly. "There were others like you and I before, but after my deal with a daemon the others either changed too or died..." Mircea sighed.
"Why did you make a deal?"
"To protect you, why else?" Mircea replied, although he could feel the heavens above him whispering to him that he'd failed that spectacularly.
"From who or what?" Ciprian looked confused.
"Humans. They started to catch on that we weren't like them. But I suppose I just made it worse..." Mircea hung his head low in shame.
"But no one is going to hurt us now, are they?"
"No," Mircea sighed and smiled. "They're not," he gave his brother a tight hug once more, scared that letting go would mean he'd disappear again.
"But you need to let me take my magic back, it was never meant to grow so powerful within me alone, thus I can't let you bear the burden alone at all."
"It's fine, it's just for a little while longer right?" Ciprian smiled.
"Yes. Just a little longer," Mircea swallowed nervously.
Maarten's words echoed in his mind.
Sharing the burden.
It was perhaps possible.
"I think I like it better here than our old house," Ciprian whispered after a while, "Everyone feels like family. I like them."
"I like them too," Mircea admitted. He'd jumped back and forth a lot recently, he knew that. The past few days he had really managed to sort his thoughts out, although he still felt the need to apologise to everyone somehow.
He'd been so focused on getting Ciprian back that any sliver of humanity had left him so long ago he no longer remembered when he stopped caring about others.
Those memories now haunted him.
"Annelise is really sweet," Ciprian said cheerfully. "And she's not scared of me at all! Not even when I showed her my fangs!"
"Yeah, she's a brave little lady," Mircea chuckled.
"Do you think we can just stay here forever then? Be one big family?"
"That would be nice..." Mircea smiled, unsure if it was possible but unable to ruin his little brother's hopes and dreams.
"Once you get your magic back you can help others turn normal and then humans won't fear us any more either. It will be nice! It will be like before. We can go outside and not hide," Ciprian sounded so excited it was making Mircea's heart sink.
They couldn't go back to how it was before.
He had ruined that long ago.
However, he could at least right some wrongs.
Or several.
"Yeah," Mircea nodded slowly. "We can at least try," he smiled and ruffled his brothers hair.
"So Maarten's not angry any more at you?"
"I think he's always going to be a little bitter," Mircea laughed. "But I don't think he hates me any more," he winked and Ciprian giggled happily at his words.
"That's good," Ciprian said thoughtfully. "I like him too when he's not being scary."
"Heh, he can be a little intimidating," Mircea smiled. "But just grin back at him and he'll stop."
"I did that and then he just became scarier," Ciprian frowned.
"Was this when everyone thought something else was out there to get us?"
"Uh. Yes. I think so..."
"Then don't worry. He probably now considers you mostly harmless."
"Am I?" Ciprian looked at his own hands.
"Not in the slightest," Mircea sighed. "But soon you will be."
"Oh good. It tingles in my veins, I don't like it. It's like burning all over again. But from the inside this time."
"Yeah," Mircea swallowed nervously. "It won't be for much longer."
He certainly hoped so at least.
But if they had brought him back to life, surely they could take the magic out of him.
Mircea had never been a praying man, even less so when he made a deal with a daemon.
However; right now he'd try anything.