It was an eerie atmosphere to navigate alone that night.
All the lights on the studio lots were either off or they had been considerably dimmed, so there were vast patches of darkness I had to pass through in order to get to Sidney's place.
I heard a frustrated scuffle of feet, a fierce metal clang, a harsh thud and a muffled yelp coming from one of the vans that lined the studio sidewalk.
It was strange because there were very few vehicles that were actually parked within the studio grounds so this van was rather an oddity compared to the rest of the darkened studio sets.
The van looked like one used in construction but as I approached the vehicle I realized it was for something entirely different.
There was not much light to make out the letters and the emblems on the side of the van but there was a word that stood out that wasn't overcome by shadows.
"BLOOD"
I almost shuddered at this but then I remembered blood banks weren't uncommon on studio lots, they weren't really uncommon to be anywhere, so to have a blood bank van here wasn't really that unusual.
It still wasn't reassuring enough to calm my raw nerves.
I heard a crunching creak of a door open.
I wanted to freeze up but I fled around the corner, so I could crouch behind the front of the van.
I heard a sad but dramatic smack hit the crumbling pavement.
Then I smelled the scent of decaying bones and stale Dolce Gabbana.
Sidney.
I flew out from my crouched position and just stood there staring at him as he came around the corner from the back of the van with several packets of blood stacked in his arms.
I felt my stomach tighten, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to run or just let him explain himself.
"Well this is unfortunate."
His eyes were dull and almost lifeless at this point.
"Unfortunate how exactly?"
"You weren't supposed to be here...so early. I was expecting you to arrive at a much later time.
Oh blast it all! I wasn't even really prepared for you.
This is unexpected...an unexpected surprise of course.
I'm glad to have you...here but please don't mention this to anyone...ever. It would be much appreciated".
"I don't see what there is to mention.
It's a perfectly awkward situation and I have no desire to
embarrass myself over it especially in public".
"Yes it is, rather embarrassing however awkward doesn't top it for me.
You weren't supposed to see this, it's a private affair, it involves my private life and it reveals the truth of what I am.
You do know what I am don't you?"
"Oh I had my suspicions."
"Then you knew and you didn't tell anyone. Very interesting.
How long have you known?"
"Since I first saw you in the office".
"Am I really that obvious?What gave me away?"
"Oh it was easy, your sickly face, your old fashioned way of dressing, the smell of decaying bones that clung to your gothic wardrobe choices.
Face it, you look like you're from another era, you have the strangest accent I've ever heard , sort of a Mid Atlantic accent with a slight Italian inflexion.
Your speech is very out of place and almost as if it's from another time period.
Mansfield did mention that you sleep during the day and work at night. He said you worked like a demon, today he said you work like the undead.
He also mentioned there was this rumor going around the studio about how you were a vampire.
So yeah it was pretty obvious".
"You impress me yet again Miss Bently.
So you really won't tell anyone will you?"
He squeezed one of his eyes slightly in his uncertainty.
"No, I have no reason to, you are one of Mansfield's closest friends, so it wouldn't be right for me to betray him like that.
Mansfield knows about this doesn't he?"
"Oh yes of course. I know what this looks like but honestly I'm not stealing any of this.
Naturally he gave me permission. I'll have you know I have permission to be here.
This Van and all of its contents, is part of our agreement you know.
I'm not lurking about, I'm not a creeper, I'm just claiming what's rightfully mine.
You can ask Mansfield himself if you don't believe me".
"You don't have to defend yourself, I believe you.
So I don't have to ask him, I know you're telling the truth."
A sly side smirk formed on his face.
"You know you always act like such a tough little fireball when you're around me but now that I look at you, you're just scared aren't you?
Do I scare you that much?"
"It's not so much that I'm scared of you, I'm scared of what might happen. You told me to come here after everyone went home, it's dark, I'm all alone, you smell like death and now you're standing here holding packets of blood in your arms.
What part of this situation looks safe to you?"
"I see what you mean. Oh yes, how could I be so dense, you think I brought you here to drain you.
I hate to disappoint you but I'm not that kind of vampire.
I mean I do require blood as sustenance but I don't believe in harming people just to get it.
Despite the stories you've heard about vampires, I have complete control of myself, I'm not an animal, I don't give into all these weird beastly appetites people think I should have.
So you're safe, I won't harm you, I'm not interested in you that way."
"Well I wasn't really afraid you'd bring me here just to drain me yet when I saw you come towards me just now, I had this cold overwhelming feeling of dread come over me and I feared you might have to do away with me, you know to silence me, so I wouldn't tell anyone."
"Fortunately for you I can't afford to harm you in any way.
I'd be out of a job if I even tried doing away with you.
I'd not only be out of a job, I'd be without a home.
This studio is my home, it's my livelihood, it's my only purpose and frankly it's my only source of food right now.
I don't know if you're aware of this but not very many employers out there provide free blood as a bonus.
It's a very unusual commodity, it's not your average perk when you're given a job to do.
Very few employers have much acceptance for creatures like myself, he accepts me for what I am, he doesn't judge me like other people do, so I owe him a lot, he's given me everything I have here, that's why...I'm... so loyal to him.
So yes now you know."
"I didn't realize he'd given you so much but I think I understand now why you are so protective over him.
Before, I didn't understand why you cared so much for him but I can see it now, he means a lot to you. So how did you two meet?"
I smiled knowing how suggestive that sounded and he caught onto the little joke and he smiled back in recognition.
"Well it starts off very strangely, It was dark, well past midnight, I'm roaming the streets, I'm very weak, far too weak to even feed myself properly.
I had decided I'd rather die than have to feed off others in order to survive so I used what little strength I have left to drag myself out of sight, so I could die with dignity behind a dumpster.
That wasn't a very dignified place to die I must admit but that dumpster was down an abandoned alley way so at least I'd be out of sight, dying in peace and in complete silence.
However I forgot in my darkest hours in that alleyway, is that I could never really die. I couldn't die because I was already dead.
The long and short of it, is I wasn't actually dying, my blood count was just very low, in human terms it would be known as issues with low blood sugar.
Anyhow, I was pretty delirious, I was just about to pass out and I heard this voice,then I saw his face beaming like the sun, his face stood out like a beacon in the darkness.
He asked me if I had a place to stay, he helped me up, he steadied me and then he guided me back to his apartment.
I couldn't figure out why he was being so kind to me all I knew was that all that kindness was completely genuine.
I thought for sure he'd throw me out once he found out what I truly was but he never even flinched, he just listened, he'd smile, laugh occasionally, there was no fear, no worry, no concern, there was only pure, raw and unadulterated compassion for me and my sad situation."
"What was your sad situation?"
"Besides being a homeless bum, I had lost a child, shortly afterwards I had lost my wife.
I had nothing to live for because my wife and my child had given me my purpose, real purpose but with them gone I didn't want to exist anymore but the tragic thing I didn't have a choice.
I couldn't stop living and I couldn't stop existing, no matter how hungry or heartbroken I was.
I am eternal, my life is infinite yet there is a price for cheating death, the price is that the scars and wounds that are inflicted by this world never fade and never heal.
Yes there's eternal knowledge, eternal happiness, eternal energy, eternal motivation and eternal love even but what they don't tell you in the books is that you will have eternal depression, eternal sadness, eternal trauma and an eternal memory which means you'll have an eternity to look back at every single thing you've done both the good and the bad.
When you're alone things like that are absolutely unbearable."
We were walking along the darkened lots, that faded as smoke as we passed them.
He opened the door to a quaint blue trailer and ushered me the come inside.
"I hope it's not too personal but how did you lose your wife and child exactly?"
"Well, we had a big house back then much like the house you're living in now, we'd shut all windows, latched them up tightly, I doubled checked to see if all the doors were secure, then we tucked the baby in and we retired for the day.
I awoke to my wife screaming, a empty crib and a partially open window.
It was a long way up to the nursery but not impossible if one had acquired a ladder at any time.
The strangest thing is I remembered closing that window, I remember not only closing it but I remember locking it but she never believed me.
She did at first but in her grief she began to doubt me eventually as time went by she blamed me for it, she told me it was something I could have prevented, she came to this point of madness that she started to accuse me of actually taking my own child from her.
I don't blame her, I'm a very powerful individual, I was the only one around, so who else could it have been?
If I was such a strong supernatural creature why didn't I just stop it from happening?
So my wife wasn't really mad, she was just heartbroken, she was twisted by loss and grief, she couldn't help looking at me with contempt, I was the father, I was supposed to protect the child and I failed, so she had every right to be angry and resentful towards me.
I was angry at myself so why shouldn't she be?
I was the ultimate disappointment when Mansfield met me but he didn't care about my past, he said he saw my past as being unfortunate events that I had no control over.
It wasn't my fault he claimed still the damage was already done, both my wife and child were gone and there was nothing that was going to bring that back."
"Your child is still alive".
Sidney eyed me accusingly, almost as if I had said something highly questionable.
"Was that question or a statement?"
His voice was cold and nippy.
"It was a statement. I don't know how know, but I know for certain that she is alive".
"Good to know. It doesn't bring much comfort to my heart at the moment because she isn't here.
She disappeared 20 years ago anyway, so she's a full grown woman by now, living on her own, she could be married, heck she could have children of her own by now but I'll never know.
Believe me I searched for her, I asked around, I traveled to distant countries just in hopes to find her.
I went to all the orphanages, all the hospitals, even to all the shelters. I checked medical records, police logs, amber alerts, I went through obituaries and death certificates yet no matter where I went my research always lead me to a dead end.
Eventually I had to stop searching and I had to accept that I would never find her.
However a curious thing happened about 2 years back, I found an article about a young girl that was being sent to the Morningside.
It was a tragic story, funnily enough there was a picture of you there, the article claimed you were peculiarly strong, apparently 10 attendants had to be called just to calm you down.
The medication was ineffective no doubt but what's crazy is the stuff you were on should have sent you into a coma.
I've seen the drugs they give their patients , it's usually very strong, high dosage stuff, it's so potent that it usually leaves most of them in a somewhat vegetative state, it's temporary of course but still it's curious that you still had the strength and the brain power to overthrow 10 men and a ridiculous amount of heavy anti psychotics.
Anyway my point is: that the name is what stood out.
Splendor is not a common name especially around here, so of course the article caught my interest."
"I don't understand the significance of that name. Was it someone that you knew like your wife perhaps?"
"My Wife's name was Gala, also a very uncommon name but my daughter had the most unusual name of all, her name was Splendor, Splendor Salazar."
"Wow, that must have been quite a shock when I showed up with that name."
"It was a shock to see the name before but to see someone in person with that name was a entirely new experience. When I heard Mansfield speak the name I felt as if I had involuntarily joined an ice bucket challenge.
I'm over it now but I suppose it would explain why I've wanted to protect you so badly.
It's pathetic I know but I think maybe I succeed in protecting you, I won't feel such a failure like I did back then."
"That's not pathetic. You're just looking for closure. You're looking for the ultimate fulfilment in life and most importantly you want to be able to heal from all that.
You lost everything, you had nothing when you came here and now you just to want to feel whole again."
"Why is that you know everything?
How do you know everything?
Are you some sort of angel or something?
There's something very other worldly about you, like you're almost too perfect but I don't think you are perfect, you're pretending to be but I think you hide a lot behind that smile.
You have a lot of secrets don't you, Splendor?
Dark secrets, you speak the ancient tongue of demons, you have strength that can't be subdued it seems, you don't even run when you encounter a real life vampire and now you apparently have a demon companion."
"I don't have a demon companion. I'm just demon whisperer, I speak to demons and they listen to me."
"Yes and then you make friends with them. I get it, humans aren't exactly the best for companionship at times."
"Why do you keep using the word companionship?
He's a friend not a companion."
"Why does that word irritate you so much? There's nothing wrong with a little companionship."
"You want to know why it irritates me so much?
It's because that particular word means to have a close relationship with someone."
"No it means to have a friendship or a fellowship with someone. Stop over reacting, it doesn't suit you".
"So I suppose I could describe this heartfelt exchange between us a companionship right?"
"Yes to a point it is.
Oh how clever you're trying to trap me with my own words, that's not going to happen unlike you I actually understand the words I speak".
"Well I take it back,we don't a have a companionship, we have a working relationship, so I'll keep this as professional as possible".
I had to laugh inwardly at my own stubbornness and I think he was aware that I knew how ridiculous I was being.
"Whatever you say, Splendor".
He smiled faintly and then we began our first lesson.