PRESENT CHAPTER 7: THE NOTEBOOK “Look at me. Deep breaths, okay? You recognized me, right? Everything in my training said something about a vampire recognizing their familiar right at first sight,” Anastasia told Gualtiero, still trying to calm him down from his episode at Oliver’s party. He was obviously raging, and feeling the bloodlust very strongly. He had an otherworldly handsomeness in his face, Anastasia couldn’t help but marvel. It was hard to focus on the task at hand when every fiber of her being wanted to touch him. His perfection left her breathless. Even with the blood smeared all over his face, he still looked like someone who only existed in her wildest imagination. “I do not care who you are. I need blood, more blood. I need more blood,” Gualtiero snapped. The urge to drink more blood was too overwhelming. He had never wanted anything that badly. He forced himself to look at Anastasia. He knew he had to learn to control the bloodlust if he didn’t want to scare Diana away. He was aware how doomed vampires and human relationships are, and it crossed his mind, but he brushed the thought aside. He took a deep breath and silently muttered. “Blood.” He wasn’t expecting Anastasia to oblige, but she did. She reached out her hand for him to feed on. “I hope it would suffice for now until we find you more sources,” she said. Gualtiero hesitated, but eventually gave in. He was very careful not to touch the veins that could be fatal to Anastasia’s life. “I thought I would meet you somewhere remote. I don’t know, maybe a forest or something,” Anastasia kept talking. “Ow!” She winced in pain, but didn’t really take her hand away. She liked the way he was touching it. It was almost intimate. Anastasia knew there might be something between Gualtiero and her best friend Diana but she didn’t want to think about it at the moment. Gualtiero was her business. She was his familiar, not Diana. “I had a… dream? I do not know how to call it, but it was disturbing. Someone like me should not be having a dream,” Gualtiero started explaining. “I went a lot farther hunting than I am used to because my mind was troubled, and saw Diana tending a cat so tenderly. Why would a human do that to an animal?” “Hm. Diana,” Anastasia said, as matter-of-factly as she could muster. She didn’t want to talk about Diana. “Humans are complicated, for starters. That should not be your problem, though. You should be staying away from humans or blending in.” Gualtiero tried to argue but decided not to, knowing she had a point. But he did not want to stay away, at least not from Diana. “You look so much like Althaia,” he commented, changing the subject. “My parents told me so,” Anastasia informed him. “Did you… did you ever fall in love with her?” He gave her a smirk before answering. “You think I am capable of that? ‘Love’ is not even real.” Of course, it isn’t, Anastasia thought bitterly to herself. You have like, no heart, literally. She rolled her eyes at him. “Nice punch, by the way. It was very humanlike. Your temper? Very humanlike. Your speed, however… Good thing everyone was so drunk to even notice. Please Gualtiero, you need to behave yourself. The hunters are still around. They would find a way to destroy your kind if they knew you still exist.” “Can I ask you something?” Gualtiero said, only half-listening to her lecture. “Who is Oliver’s familiar? Or Roman’s? Because they are horrible humans. They need someone like you to keep them in line.” Gualtiero was fully aware only vampires had their familiars, but he was still genuinely curious who were the unfortunate humans tasked to make the horrible ones behave favorably. Anastasia chuckled, thinking he was making a joke. He swatted her hand away after feeding. He could use some manners, Anastasia thought to herself, annoyed that he couldn’t even be a gentleman to say thanks after she fed him her blood. He continued to speak, oblivious to her annoyance. “Roman manhandled Diana to try to get her to dance with him. That is not right. He deserves every drop of his blood to be sucked out of him.” “And Oliver?” “Oliver has feelings of lust for Diana. Lust is a capital sin. It is not right,” Gualtiero explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Gualtiero, if you want to fit in, it wouldn’t help if you keep speaking like you’re a priest from a hundred years ago,” Anastasia told him, amused. “I was a monk 73 years ago,” Gualtiero pointed out. “Ew, TMI,” Anastasia groaned, chuckling. “I don’t want to imagine you that old.” “I am not old. I am ancient,” he replied. “Could you help me… fit in?” Still laughing, Anastasia looked at him straight in the face and said, “Of course. First of all, don’t always say “My name is Gualtiero” in every situation. ‘Hey’ will do.” He was really so perfect, so cute and adorable, but he was also possibly in love with her best friend. Anastasia frowned, remembering how he seemed so smitten by Diana, as if no one was in the party but the two of them. “Hey,” he said, sounding so uncomfortable as if he just uttered a swear word. “Not so bad,” Anastasia smiled, keeping her real thoughts to herself. They talked a bit more about Althaia and the rest of the generations of familiars among her ancestors who had once served Gualtiero and other vampires he knew. She wished the moment would never end, but suddenly, Gualtiero stood from where he was seated. He walked away without even telling her where he would go. She knew it was simply because the conversation that meant the world to her probably meant nothing to him. She sighed in disappointment. Maybe Gualtiero thought he didn’t believe in love, but she would make it a mission to change his mind. He wasn’t Diana’s property. She would tell Diana she was not interested in him to keep his secret, as was her duty. But she would do everything in her power for Diana to choose to stay away from him. Gualtiero was hers. --- Gualtiero felt so much better after his bloodlust was satisfied. He felt invigorated and ready to see Diana again. He knew it was possible Diana was upset with him but they wouldn’t be speaking at this hour anyway. She would probably have already gone to sleep. He climbed up her room easily and stayed right outside the window, content on watching her beautiful face. She must be having a disturbing dream because her face didn’t look too peaceful in her slumber. It was satisfying to watch her do human things. Humans never really interested him, but Diana was different. He decided to stay there and just wait until the sun comes up before he leaves. But she suddenly opened her eyes as if awakened by a nightmare. It took a few minutes before she finally noticed him pacing back and forth at the window. Gualtiero was restless, not knowing how to let her know he was just there if she needed someone to calm her down and hold her until she was not scared anymore. “Oh my God, Gualtiero! What are you doing here?” Diana asked, looking so shocked to see him there, but letting him in anyway. “I don’t sleep,” he said. “And I saw y-” Gualtiero began to explain but she interrupted. “You mean you can’t sleep?” “Yes. I cannot sleep,” Gualtiero corrected himself, cursing himself for not being careful with his answers. Diana was still staring at him, as if deciding whether to believe him or not. “I’m sorry you can’t sleep. Do you want to talk to Anastasia?’ Gualtiero wondered why she seemed so annoyed. Maybe it was so unhumanlike to be watching someone by their window, after all. “I do not want to speak with Anastasia. I came to see you.” Some unreadable emotion registered in Diana’s face but she did not comment further. “Are you having trouble sleeping?” he asked in a concerned tone. “I’m… fine. How long have you been watching me?” “Not long. I just saw you seem so troubled in your sleep and wanted to help,” he explained. She motioned for him to sit on her bed upon noticing he was still standing in front of her minutes after she already let him in. Gualtiero sat next to her, smelling her sweet blood, but feeling something more potent than the lure of blood itself. It was a feeling that felt foreign to him. “Let’s just… you know, change the subject,” Diana suggested uncomfortably. “What is the film that you fancy the most?” Gualtiero blurted out the first random question he could think of. Her face lit up upon the change of subject and she thought carefully before answering. “It has to be ‘The Notebook’,” she said. “You know it, right?” She had an embarrassed look on her face, as if regretting her choice of a movie. “I just like how they died together in the end. I just think it’s sweet that he never stopped loving her through the hardships, even when she was sick and lost memories of him.” He watched Diana intently as she explained further. She was the most mesmerizing thing in the whole world, he realized. “Thoughts?” Diana asked, frowning upon noticing Gualtiero didn’t really second her sentiments about the movie. “You. I am always thinking about you. You are the most fascinating creature in this world,” Gualtiero responded truthfully. She smiled but hit him playfully. “I mean thoughts about the movie I just talked about.” He carefully considered the question. He had watched many movies in his life because that was how he observed human behavior without worrying about having feelings of bloodlust. Fortunately, one of those movies he had watched was ‘The Notebook’. “Thinking about the film, I am curious to know how the man felt laying close to the woman in the bed, side by side with her.” Diana looked disappointed and confused with his answer but didn’t say anything more. “May I lay down in your bed side by side with you?” Gualtiero asked after a moment of silence passed between them. “What do you mean? To do what?” Diana asked defensively, suddenly looking apprehensive. “To reenact the scene from the film you fancy the most. I do not mean the dying part but just laying side by side, because I like listening to your heartbeat.” She shrugged at him, blushing, but lay down in bed anyway. He followed her shortly. “How about you, Gualtiero? What is “the film that you fancy the most’?” Diana asked unable to help her amusement. “I do not fancy a film. I fancy real moments, such as dancing with you, and… this moment right now. This is so much better than any film.” She smiled at him, overwhelmed by the proclamation. Surely, he liked her right? There could not be any other explanation to what he was saying to her. Sure, she had crushes before but Gualtiero was way above all of them combined. She closed her eyes hoping he would take it as a hint to kiss her, but the kiss did not come. She opened them once more to see him just staring at her face. What was wrong with him? Why wouldn’t he initiate a kiss? Or more importantly, what was wrong with her? Maybe he just didn’t like her as much as she thought. Maybe he was playing mind games with her using all those lines he probably just got from ancient movies even she had never heard of. Whatever, she thought frustratedly. Before either of them could say more, suddenly there was a clank that seemed to have come from outside. Gualtiero stood immediately, on high alert. “It was probably just Lucky, knocking over the bin outside,” Diana said reassuringly, noticing the worry written all over his face. Gualtiero nodded, but left as hurriedly as he could. He was certain heard a hissing sound. He knew all too well it was not Lucky. It was not just another cat. He recognized the hissing sound and it made him queasy. There was definitely another vampire in town.