"Where are we going?" the youth asked as he struggled to keep up with Kain on the moonlit path.
"The family estate," Kain answered, testing Edwin's knowledge.
"And how far is that?" Edwin asked.
"Coorhagen," Kain admitted. Apparently, the boy had set out without even knowing where to start.
"I've been there," Edwin said. "The town was almost deserted, but the people I did meet chased me off in a hurry."
"There was a plague," Kain sighed. He had not looked for any other relatives that might have survived, but if Edwin had been searching there and only received a cold reception, then it was doubtful he had encountered family.
Kain had to admit to himself that he never would have accepted the boy if not for the current circumstances. His change in attitude was prompted by regret at never marrying and producing a legitimate heir. For Kain's relatives to let Edwin freely besmirch family honor with his search was almost as unlikely as them acknowledging the boy's place among them. Edwin was very fortunate that Kain no longer cared about his human reputation.
"Coorhagen is three days away," Edwin pointed out. "Can't we stop for the night?"
"We will rest at dawn," Kain insisted.
Edwin frowned at the cloaked shape in front of him. "Are you a fugitive?"
"Your questions are tiresome," Kain growled.
"You know so much about me, but I don't even know your name," Edwin angrily insisted.
Kain had let beguile disspell long ago, trusting his cloak and the darkness to hide his true nature. Now he turned and snarled. "All you need to know is that if I wanted you dead, I would have killed you already."
Edwin staggered back in shock at glimpsing Kain's features. He tripped over a rut in the road and fell solidly on his backside. Edwin tried to scramble away, but he relaxed when he saw Kain calmly watching him.
Edwin cautiously got to his feet. "You're a vampire. But why..."
"Your questions are tiresome," Kain repeated.
They hiked on in silence for a time. As the shadows lightened, Kain stepped off the path and into the shade of the trees. He wrapped his cloak more securely around himself and settled in a bundle of roots.
Edwin gratefully sunk down against a different tree and gave a weary sigh. "How did I get into this mess?"
"Your willingness to follow me indicates a certain resolve," Kain murmured from under his hood. "Why were you so desperate to find a man who had forsaken you? Why didn't you stay where you were?"
"I just feel so alone in this world," Edwin said. "My mother died a couple of months ago, and I realized that I didn't have anyone else. I wanted to find out where I came from."
"Try to get some sleep," Kain muttered, hunching further into his cloak.
So Liora was dead. The news didn't concern Kain that greatly. He never truly cared for the woman, not beyond his own young urges, and now he was so entrenched in death that any single one seemed insignificant.
A few days and many miles later, the two arrived in Coorhagen. It was shortly before dawn, and the sparsely populated town was completely silent. Though Kain had given Edwin small bits of information, he didn't introduce himself or give any clues about how he would know anything.
Kain's home was an unassuming manor towards the edge of town, one of several such buildings. When he had come to Coorhagen before, he hadn't wanted to linger among the corpse-ridden streets, so he left without visiting this area. Now Kain felt a hint of sorrow at ever leaving.
The abandoned manor was locked securely, and Kain didn't know where to find whoever held the keys, but he did know of a secret entrance for those that were exceedingly brave and agile. Kain scaled the brickwork of the chimney and swung out into empty space to catch the gutter. It creaked alarmingly under his weight, but Kain managed to clamber onto the roof. A moment later, he was squeezing through one of the vents into the attic.
Kain sniffed cautiously, afraid that he would be welcomed with the stench of death and decay. Instead, his refined senses were assaulted by smells familiar to his life, though tempered by copious amounts of dust. The bodies of the working class had rotted even in their homes, but living or dead, the occupants of this place were here no more.
Kain swiftly made his way through the manor, for the moment pretending that the last year had been nothing more than a bizarre dream. He opened the door from the inside and allowed Edwin to enter.
"This is where you come from," Kain murmured quietly.
Edwin stared in rapt attention at the lavish surroundings "Do you think that I'll find what I'm looking for?"
"Perhaps," Kain shrugged.
"I suppose you are going to spend the day here?" Edwin asked.
The boy had shown his distaste for Kain's nature, but also intense interest in what Kain knew. Kain didn't care what connotations this particular question held.
"I will stay as long as I please," Kain stated. "If this place were not abandoned, I doubt that either of us would be welcome."
Kain's old room was almost exactly the way he had left it. Some of the items on his dresser had wandered from their exact places, most likely the servants had moved them while dusting in the first year of his absence. Kain was grateful for the hangover-inspired drapes over the windows and around his bed. The room would grow no brighter than this predawn gloom.
Kain felt like he had just lain down when he groggily awoke to a banging on his door. He growled in irritation, as he was unhappy to be awake during the middle of the day. He angrily wrenched open the door to see his expression mirrored by his son.
"You! Why did you not say anything?" Edwin demanded. "There is a portrait in the library."
"Your father is dead," Kain sneered, displaying his fangs. Inwardly, he wondered why someone had taken that unflattering picture out of storage.
"You can still speak," Edwin insisted, "I'm sure that you also remember."
"I remember enough," Kain ceded.
They sat in one of the formal studies, the curtains drawn to blot out the daylight and candles providing a more comfortable illumination.
"What happened to you?" Edwin asked, referring to Kain's undeath.
"That is not your concern," Kain insisted. "Know only that I was attacked and given a thirst for the blood of humans." Kain was unsure how it happened with other vampires, but legends made it plausible that he did have those details in common with them.
"Tell me about your life, then," Edwin requested.
Kain spent the rest of the day relating various tales of his life, though none of them were as interesting as what had happened after he died. Still, Edwin listened with rapt attention.
As Kain felt the sun dipping towards the horizon, his tone changed. "Though I was a noble, there is very little wealth left. I will write a letter that should grant you some chance of claiming your birthright. You have the estate."
"You're not leaving, are you?" Edwin asked.
"Our differences would make it too difficult to coexist," Kain explained. "You were more fortunate in your quest than you should have been. Be thankful for that."
"I am," Edwin sighed. "What am I to do now?"
"Settle down, get married, live," Kain whispered.