Blake, for lack of a better word, was incredibly confused. the gears in his head kept turning as he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for this human -Chase, evidently- and his inexplicable ability to look a vampire as old as him straight in the eyes and not have his memory wiped. As far as Blake knew, that wasn't even possible. It had been six-hundred and some odd years since someone had been capable of fighting his memory altering abilities, and Chase didn't seem like a witch.
"Uh," Chase said, interrupting his thought process. "Hello? Earth to creepy stranger?" He said, waving a hand at him. Blake bit his lip in quiet contemplation. He had to be human, right? There wasn't anything particularly off about him, not really. Nothing indicative of him being another species. Though the scent of his blood wasn't one Blake was familiar with, it smelled human enough.
But the underlying, powerful sweetness wasn't something Blake expected, and it made him salivate. He swallowed carefully, keeping his fangs in check. Now was not the time for that. He had to figure him out first, even though the thought was dangerously tempting and the magnetic scent from the boy was even more so. He had more self control than that. He wasn't a newborn.
"I take it you're the one who moved into that house?" He asked, keeping his eyes trained on Chase as he considered him carefully, trying to make out any discrepancies in his features. Usually there were indicators if it was another being in disguise. A too-wide smile, eyes just a little too far apart for the face. By all accounts, he looked human enough. Chase's eyes followed him wherever he went, and he had the feeling Chase wasn't very good at standing still. That was fair, considering Blake was easily one of humanity's most dangerous predators, though he seemed more apprehensively curious than actually scared. Which was also fair, because most of humanity was convinced vampires didn't exist.
"Which house do you mean? There's a lot of them in Maine." He said, slight sarcasm in his tone. Blake stifled a smile at that. So, this one seemed a little feisty. He decided with a sort of certainty that he liked that about him. It wasn't every day that a human got mouthy with him.
"The one just East of here." He answered, enjoying the banter a little too much for what it was. A vampire's existence wasn't one full of conversation, not exactly. Allies were few and far between. "If I'm not mistaken, the treeline breaks right into your backyard, right?"
They continued to circle each other, staring and observing each other's movements carefully. Though Blake usually didn't do so, he was curious. Chase displayed no indication of what was on his mind in his face, his expression very carefully guarded. Blake wanted to know if he was feeling flighty. Telepathy came in handy in these situations.
Or it usually did, he should say, because as he reached out and tried to slip into his mind he found it was completely impossible. Which had never happened before. Not even with other vampires, because it was one of his most well honed gifts. Telepathy was one of the first things he'd developed when he turned. And yet, curiously, he couldn't even catch a sliver of a thought, nor a hint of an emotion. There was nothing. It was equivalent to trying to get through a titanium wall, or read a book through the cover.
"A bit restless, aren't you?" He asked when Chase kept fidgeting. Chase seemed to realize what he was doing and stopped, dropping his arms to rest at his sides.
"Not very good at standing still." He said shortly, shoving his hands in his pockets. Blake looked him up and down, lingering on every infinitesimal detail he normally wouldn't think about. He noted that Chase was quite fit, thin but muscular. His strength showed slightly, even through his sweater. He had a slightly pale, honey colored complexion, and Blake bet that with reasonable time in the sun he'd probably tan a lot darker. His eyes were a vivid sort of blue, not unlike that of a precious gem. It reminded him of sapphires. The ones they found in India, previously thought to be some of the rarest sort. It was a pretty sort of color that Blake couldn't help but like, being the kind of artist he was. Then again, most people would like that color, artist or not.
They almost seemed to glow with the moonlight, which Blake found strange but brushed off. Vivid hues tended to do that in lighting that complimented them.
"Where do you live, then? Chase asked. He assumed if he was out in the woods, he probably lived nearby as well. Maybe he was a neighbor he just hadn't seen before. He fidgeted with the knife in his pocket, a movement Blake noticed but didn't mention. He sighed and sat criss-crossed on the ground, attempting with limited success to make himself seem less threatening.
"Currently or before?" He asked, if just to be confusing. He wanted to see if Chase would slip and mention something only a non-human would know.
"uh- currently." He said. "What does before even mean?" He whispered under his breath, as if asking himself. Blake stared at him. If he wasn't human, he was going through a great deal of effort trying to hide it.
Blake shrugged and picked at the grass absently. It was a calculated move. If he looked away from him, it meant he didn't view Chase as a threat, and maybe Chase would view him as less of one in return.
"I live in the forest." He said simply, gesturing around them. He didn't really see the need to own a bed when he didn't have to sleep, let alone an entire house. It was easier to hide that way, too. Chase gave him a confused expression, head tilted slightly.
"So you, what? Have a house out here?" It had to be something along those lines, surely.
"Nothing like that." Blake said, waving it away and immediately dismissing the thought. "I just live here. Wander." He clarified, though that did nothing in the way of alleviating Chase's confusion. Chase stood apprehensively for a few more minutes before hesitantly settling into the grass next to Blake. He could still gain the upper hand in the position, if he needed to.
"Where are your parents?" He asked, eyes still trained entirely on Blake. He tensed, then sighed. Of course. He still looked young enough to live with his parents. He still wasn't used to people asking him questions.
"They're dead." He said simply, shrugging. It happened so many centuries ago it didn't really affect him anymore. As the years went by, the ache subsided. Chase looked taken aback, though, a strange sort of empathy on his face.
"I'm sorry." He said, reaching to touch Blake's shoulder before hesitating and withdrawing his hand to his lap. It was strange, the urge to comfort someone. Usually Chase couldn't care less. But this seemed so personal it was his go-to reaction.
"It's alright." Blake said, glancing briefly into the forest and then looking back at Chase. "It happened such a long time ago it doesn't really bother me anyways." He tried to dismiss it, but Chase didn't seem to want to drop the subject, which was strange for both of them. Chase didn't really do empathy a lot of the time, and Blake had long since learned not to expect it from his peers. Chase seemed genuinely curious, though it was admittedly a little hard for him to read humans when he couldn't catch their thoughts.
"A couple centuries ago." He said with another shrug. "I lost count somewhere around the four-hundreds."
Chase looked at him like he'd grown a second head, a twinge of shock hitting his system. Surely he'd misheard him, right?
"What in the honey covered hell does that mean?" He asked, his tone once again incredibly cautious as he observed the other's expression. He seemed entirely serious, which was admittedly a little jarring. Blake realized his mistake and smiled at the phrase. He was definitely using that.
He sighed and stood, brushing imaginary dirt off his jeans. Chase immediately stood with him, keeping them at eye level.
"So much for a new mortal friend." He mumbled. He shook his head, cursing himself for saying something so careless.
"Okay, enough. Why do you keep saying that? 'Mortal.' We're all mortal, aren't we?" Not even stars were immortal. Nothing was immortal. Blake figured he might as well be honest before he killed him. he owed him that much.
"I didn't want to scare you around at first because I was going to have you for lunch, but you intrigue me." He said. What was the harm in telling him? He was going to end up having to kill him anyways. Even still, a slight anxiety crept into the peripheral of Blake's mind. he wasn't used to openly admitting what he was. "I'm a vampire."
Chase blinked at him owlishly for a moment, processing the information.
Then he chuckled and crossed his arms.
"Right, okay, so you're probably schizophrenic or something." He said. It was the most logical conclusion. Who thinks they're a vampire if they're not having some kind of mental break? Vampires don't exist! "What psych ward did you escape from, I'll take you back." Blake stared at him. He didn't expect him to believe him, not at all, but this kind of reaction was kind of unorthodox even for the situation. This had only happened a handful of times, and Chase was the only person to outright suspect he had some kind of disorder. Aren't you not supposed to tell delusional people they're delusional?
Blake rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, letting his fangs slip from his gums, finding their way into the spaces his canines had just vacated.
Chase's jaw dropped, and when Blake let himself go weightless and hover for a few moments, he could've sworn his eyes bugged out of his head. He couldn't help but chuckle at the reaction, theatrical as it was.
"You believe me now?" He asked, arms crossed as he settled back on solid ground. Chase gawked at him for all of five more minutes before finally speaking, shaking his head in utter disbelief.
"You're a what?!" He asked, confused and alarmed at the same time. Blake made a face, gesturing vaguely to the air in front of him.
"Y'know. Dracula? Twilight? Bloodsucking monster? Ringing any bells?" He listed off comparisons, trying to get his point across as clearly as he could.
"No, yeah, I know- What?" Blake let out an exasperated sigh.
"I. Am. A. Vampire, Chase. How many more times do you need me to say it before the shock wears off?" Apparently only once, because Chase finally seemed to register this information. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again and repeated the motion twice. He was starting to resemble a fish. Blake rolled his eyes and reached out to close Chase's mouth for him, since apparently he couldn't do it himself.
Chase let out a slight gasp and tensed at the touch, reaching for his knife out of instinct. Blake brushed his fingers over his skin. The thing about humans, they were warm. They still had blood coursing through them, hearts beating away in their fragile chests. And it wasn't that vampires didn't have a functioning circulatory system, not exactly, but their hearts beat so slowly that it was rare for them to ever circulate reliably. Their physiology changed when they got turned. If there was one thing Blake missed about being human, it was the warmth, and the heat radiating off Chase's face as he blushed slightly felt nice against his fingers as he trailed them down his jaw. He noted how soft his skin was and wondered what kind of moisturizer he used or if his skin was just like that.
He also noted how Chase leaned into the touch almost imperceptibly, eyelids fluttering like he wanted to close them but was still too wary of the person in front of him to do so. He began reaching out slightly, as if to touch him in the same way, and the movement seemed to cause both of them to realize what they were doing and separate at the same time, both stepping back in a mutual moment of clarity. Blake shook his head, questioning why he'd just done that.
Chase felt the heat creeping onto his face as he wondered what the fuck just happened. Why did he do that? Why did he let him do that? He hadn't meant to, but Chase came across gentle contact so rarely it had caught him by surprise, and Blake was cold, which felt nice in a strange sort of way.
He looked back over at the vampire, who stumbled backward a few steps and then slowly started to hover. And then he took off, leaving Chase in the middle of the forest by himself.
And then Chase realized he was, y'know, in the middle of the forest by himself.
"Hey wait! How do I- And he's gone." He sighed. "Great." He'd been paying so much attention to Blake that he'd forgotten which direction his house was in. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He hadn't done something this childish since he was nine.
He looked around, trying to find some kind of landmark. An odd rock formation, a weirdly bent tree, anything that seemed even remotely unusual. But all he saw were nearly identical trees, and he groaned in frustration. That meant climbing, and after moving all those boxes today he was really not looking forward to it.
It ended up being worth it, though, otherwise he probably would've been screwed, because looking out onto the landscape he found that his house was nearly two miles off. He wasn't exactly sure how he got out that far into the forest in fifteen minutes, though maybe he'd just been walking a lot faster than he thought. He shrugged it off and made his way back down the large tree, starting on his way home.
As he walked in near silence, he contemplated the night in utter disbelief. A vampire. He'd just met a vampire.
And he'd lived.
He didn't know which was more shocking, the fact that Blake had let him go or that he'd actually sat and had a conversation with him. Or the fact that he actually kind of liked his company.
He brought his hand up to his jaw where Blake's hand had lingered, his face going warm again at the recollection. What the hell was up with that? Suddenly feeling too hot in his sweater, he paused to peel it off, and the sound of footsteps behind him put him on high alert instantly.
Where the hell was that reaction when he met the literal vampire?
Not particularly wanting to interact with any more random strangers, given that those footsteps were very obviously human, he turned and ran towards his house.
...
He was a little relieved to see he'd gone the right way. He'd been walking a lot longer than he remembered going into it, and he was starting to question whether he was just getting himself lost.
He kicked his back door shut behind him and made sure it was securely locked, then went up to his room and kicked off his boots. He collapsed onto his bed and let the events of the day play over again in his mind as he got lost in thought. As he drifted to sleep, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd see the vampire again.
And whether he'd survive their next encounter.