I was on my home from a class when I met him for the first time.
It was dark, gloomy, and raining. The perfect weather conditions to meet a dangerous foe. And an equally dangerous friend.
He had seemed like a drunk, red flush to his cheeks, a glossy ween to his eyes. He was in a trench coat of all things, like one of those detectives in those old black and white movies.
He had called out to me, and I was a gullible barely-adult, who simply saw a drunk (and handsome) middle-aged man.
"Oi, kid, come here would ya?" A loud, booming voice said, from across the way.
He was looking right at me, hunched over on a bench underneath a tree. As though the tree would protect him from the rain. His hands were on his knees, loosely locked together, and despite the obvious signs of intoxication, his eyes were clear and sharp.
I looked around me to see if there was anyone else in my vicinity and then pointed to myself. He nodded and motioned for me to come to him, again, seemingly intoxicated. I was...hesitant, but this urge in my gut leads me to cross the street to where the man sat on a bench in the dark and gloomy park.
I sat down next to him after shuffling awkwardly and watched as the man turned to me and cleared his throat. "Now, then. What's a fledgling like you doing out and about, kiddo?" He asked me.
I was confused.
Fledgling? What's that?
"What is a...fledgling?" I asked him, after mulling over the word. It was foreign on my tongue.
"...You don't know? Circe, how long have you been turned? Days? Weeks? Where's your sire?" The man spouted out question after question, slowly making my barely beating heart race.
Turned?
He couldn't be like...No...surely not.
I made to get up, wanting to run home, but he grabbed my arm and held me fast. His grip was surprisingly strong, but I couldn't see his physique to gauge whether if it was a supernatural strength or a male one. He looked thin from far away, but it's way too dark to tell, even up close.
"Sir? I'm sorry I think you have me confused with someone else." I told him, the word 'something' was on the tip of my tongue, but I held back, deciding to focus on my confusion.
"Heh, if you think you can fool me, fledgling, you've got another thing coming. I am an Elder, fledgling. I can smell the change on you. Who's your sire, Fledgling? Quickly now, there isn't much time," The man said, his voice suddenly rough and...growling?
I wasn't scared exactly, but I was rightfully wary, and so, the truth spilled out of my seemingly loose lips.
"...Her name was Ivory Shade. She was a professor I work with at the Caldera University, in the next town over, until she...disappeared after doing something to me," I said and he cursed.
"So you have no one? No one to guide you, no to aide you, to teach you the ways?" He asked and I suddenly noticed his sharp teeth and the way his eyes seemed to glow slightly. I shook my head fiercely.
"Of all the things to do...Leaving a fledgling in your wake...Circe! If the Goddess Dmani could see me now...Alright, laddie, I'll teach you." The man said, shocking me.
"...What?" I asked, disbelief coloring my tone.
"I said I'd teach you. The job of an Elder anyways...My name is Boris Ivanov." He said and then paused for a long time, looking expectantly at me.
He sighs and prompted, "And your name, laddie?"
"My name is, uh, Asmodeus Klyde. People just call me Klyde."
"Asmodeus Klyde? ...strange name. Alright, Asmodeus, it's nice to meet you." He said and made me shake his hand.
I didn't return the sentiment.