The next day, Vivian scoured the entire estate for Kit, or at least the parts of the estate she was able to gain access to. Locked doors were just one deterrent for Vivian, the other being vampires. Every time she came across one roaming the halls, she turned around and went the opposite way. She knows she should be safe, that's what Kit told her, but she was still hesitant to meet any new vampires.

During her search of the estate, Vivian did find some interesting things. For one, she found a wall with dozens of portraits, one of which was Niccolo's. There was another portrait, one of a family with Niccolo mixed in. She stood in front of that one for a while, gazing upon the faces of what Vivian assumed was his parents and siblings. He looked to be the oldest child in the portrait, three young girls with the same burnett hair sitting on the ground with their dresses billowing out around them. It reminded her of those historical paintings from royalty.

Another interesting thing she found was a library, double doors opening to a ginormous space, bookshelves to the ceiling filled with all kinds of books. It was absolutely amazing in there, and Vivian definitely got a little distracted on her search for Kit once she found the library. She felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, absolutely stunned by the magnitude of it all. Vivian walked along the rows of books, reading the spines, finding a lot of the books were in different languages. She wondered how long it must have taken to gather such a collection, and then began to wonder how old Niccolo was. If Kit was around four hundred, then Niccolo had to be much older than that.

Leaving the library after spending a good amount of time there, she was back on with her search, going down winding hallways and spiral staircases. Vivian found herself deep in the estate suddenly, no windows to let any light in, the walls a gray stone that matched the exterior. Lit torches were hung on the wall every few feet, the only light in the hallway. She guessed she was in some sort of basement, finding a room full of barrels and what she assumed was a wine cellar. When she reached the end of the hall she was walking down, she found a single door. Vivian guessed it would be locked, as many of the doors she tried were, but when she grabbed the handle, the door surprisingly gave way.

Stepping beyond the door, she was met with another spiral staircase that led downward, lit torches on the walls being the only light source. Vivian hesitated for a second before she began to climb down the stairs. It was a long descent, and by the time she reached the bottom, the torches grew fewer and the area she stepped into was rather dark. She blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the darkness.

What she saw before her made her freeze. She stood in a large room, the walls the same gray brick and torches lining the walls, but what stopped her were the set of huge cages lined up on either wall. Most sat with their doors hung open, the room completely silent except for the sound of her breath and footsteps as she walked down the aisle the cages created.

When she reached the last one, the only one with the door closed, she stopped and peered inside. Sitting on a cot tucked into the corner of the cell was a figure, legs pulled up to their chest and head resting on their knees. A mop of messy blond curls sat atop their head, and for a moment Vivian swore she could recognize that head of hair.

Then the figure looked up, red eyes locking with hers. It scared her for only a moment, because she recognized that face. Rushing forward, she grabbed the bars of the cell. "Elias!"

The man sat on the cot, watching her, assessing. "Vivian?" He finally said, relaxing his body and dropping his legs. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Vivian asked, the one word ringing high pitched. "Why are you in a cell in the basement?"

Elias looked away when she spoke. "I've been told it's too dangerous to be around the human staff."

The human staff. Because Elias was no longer a human. He was a vampire. "Oh, Elias." She breathed out, feeling the pain in her chest. "This is all my fault."

"What?" Elias dropped his legs to the floor. "Your fault? Why would any of this be your fault?"

Vivian just looked at Elias for a moment, dumbfounded. "B-Because Elias, I was the one who asked them to turn you. I did this to you."

Her friend shook his head as he stood from the cot. "You were trying to save my life Vivian. I don't blame you for that. They... they told me what happened. How we were attacked by a rabid vampire."

"You don't remember, do you?" Vivian asked, knowing the effects of vampire venom.

The man shook his head. "No... I remember walking you home and hearing someone scream, but it all gets messed up after that. The next thing I knew, I woke up here with an insane... thirst." Elias' eyes divert from hers at the last word.

"Have you..." Vivian begins, but is unsure how to even ask the question. "You know... drank?"

"I had to." Elias breathed out, looking back to Vivian. "If I didn't, I would have turned into whatever attacked us that night."

"A rabid." Vivian said, eyes widening. Elias had a chance of turning into one of those? But how? "B-But you're not going to become one of those, right?"

"No." He replied, shaking his head again. "If I didn't drink any... if I didn't drink, then I would have become one of those." Again, the man looked away from her, as if he was ashamed. No matter what he said, Vivian would forever view this as her fault, her doing.

"Well that's good." Vivian said, looking around the room at all the open cells. "Why are they keeping you down here still?"

"Besides me being a danger, they think I'll run back to my family."

"Would you?"

Elias just looked at her when Vivian asked, his shoulders sagging. "I don't know, maybe."

Silence fell over the two friends. Vivian was glad to see Elias up and alive, compared to how she saw him last. But seeing him struggle with this, his new life, it pained her. "I wish there was something I could do."

"You did what you could." Elias replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're being way too nice about this."

The man laughed, a short one but still a laugh nonetheless. "Would you rather I be angry with you?"

"No, of course not."

"I'm not going to be angry with you for doing what you thought was right. I know you wouldn't have made this decision if you didn't think it was the right one." Elias said, reaching up and enclosing his hands around Vivian's ones on the bars. "If it wasn't for you, I would be dead."

Vivian didn't even notice the tears welling up in her eyes until she let out a harsh laugh, tears spilling. "I really didn't want you to be dead."

"Me neither." He said, a gentle smile on his face. But then it was washed away with realization. "Oh shit, what about Ophelia? Does she think I'm just missing?"

"Oh, Ophelia?" Vivian pulled her hands from underneath Elias', wiping at her tears. "She knows about you. She actually knows about all of this, since she's a witch."

Elias stared at her for a breath. "A witch?"

"Yup."

"Like, with magic and spells and potions?"

"Yeah."

Elias again just stared at her. "And she didn't tell us?"

"It wasn't like she could." Vivian defended her friend. "Humans aren't really supposed to know about all this stuff. Vampires and witches and magic."

The man tilted his head. "So why are you here?"

"Oh." Vivian's hand went to her necklace. She could tell Elias, right? Leaning close to the bars, Vivian motioned Elias to do the same. "I'm not a human either."

"You're not?" His voice rang out in the large space.

Vivian shook her head. "It's complicated, but I'm something called an aether reservoir. I have a lot of... magic inside of me." She wasn't sure she could explain it the way that Viktor and Kit did, but this was close enough. "It's super dangerous apparently so I'm not supposed to tell anyone here."

"Ah, a secret then." Elias quipped, a smirk on his face as he pulled away. "My lips are sealed."

Vivian just looks at her friend for a moment, a feeling of fondness taking over and causing her to smile. "I'm really happy you're still here, Elias."

Elias returned her smile "Me too, Vivian."

They talked for a little while longer, but Vivian reminded herself she was on a mission, she had to find Kit. So she promised she would speak to Niccolo about getting Elias out of the cell, and left.

Going back the way she came, she climbed up the spiral staircase, and pushed open the door that she came in from. Retracing her steps, Vivian worked her way out of the basement, finding a staircase that led back up to the ground floor. About halfway up the stairs though, a figure appeared at the top.

Vivian froze as she looked up into the red eyes of a random vampire. He stopped too, looking down at her with a questioning gaze before it hardened into something like glee. "It's you." He said, continuing down the stairs. It took everything in Vivian not to turn and run back down the way she came. "You're Kit's lover, aren't you?"

Vivian was silent for a moment, just looking up at the vampire. The lie was supposed to keep her safe, and right now it was the only protection she had. "Yes." She finally said, her voice a little wobbly.

"Never thought I'd see the day." He said, closing in on Vivian. He stood only a few steps above her, making Vivian crane her neck up to look at him. "Kit isn't really one to take on a human lover, so when I heard that he did, well, you could say I was shocked."

"I bet." Vivian replied, not wanting to have a full blown conversation with this vampire. Something just felt... off about it.

"I mean, I don't know him very well, but I do know his aversion towards humans." The vampire leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "So it's surprising he would suddenly claim he has a human lover."

"It happened fast." Vivian lied, feeling the need to take a step back, but still resisting. She felt like showing any sign of weakness would do her very dirty at this moment.

"It seems that way." The vampire lifted a hand to his chin, stroking it with his fingers. "Tell me, how did you manage to win Kit over?"

Vivian shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't do anything special."

"Hmm." The vampire was very still for a moment, and then within a blink of an eye, he surrounded Vivian, pinning her against the wall with hands on either side of her. "You know, I have to say you're very bad at lying."

"What?" Vivians back hit the wall hard, hands coming up to protect the necklace she wore. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you're not Kit's lover."

Dread filled Vivian. "I-I am!"

"Oh really?" The vampire leaned forward then, sticking his face in Vivians neck and inhaling deeply. "Why don't I smell him on you then?"

Vivian tried to squirm away from the vampire, but it was useless, he overpowered her. "S-Stop!"

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"I bet he hasn't even drank from you." The vampire said against her skin, sending a chill down her spine. "And you smell so good too."

Using her hands, she tried to shove the vampire off of her, but he was a solid wall. Panic arose in her chest and flared out from there, filling her every sense. Her skin buzzed, heart racing underneath her chest as this vampire overcrowded her.

"One bite couldn't hurt."

"No!" Vivian shoved again, but it was useless.

"Enzo." A new voice spoke from above them, causing the vampire holding her in place to go rigid. "What are you doing?"

Pulling his face from Vivians neck, the vampire looked up the staircase to whoever just interrupted him. "Just having a little fun."

Vivian spared a look up the stairs and saw it was yet another vampire, oh what a lucky day she was having.

The vampire at the top of the stairs looked at her, assessing. "That's Kit's lover, isn't it?"

Pushing off with his hands, the vampire, Enzo she assumed, took a step back. "Oh, is it? I thought she was just human staff."

"They're off limits too, Enzo." The vampire said, beginning to walk down the steps. "You should go before someone else sees you harassing her."

"We were just having a nice conversation, weren't we?" Enzo looked at her for a response. Vivian only shook her head. "Awh, don't be like that."

"Enzo." The vampire's voice was firm. "Go."

"Yeah, yeah." Enzo waved his hand at the other vampire dismissively before turning and walking down the stairs. "I'll be seeing you around!" He called out.

Vivian stood against the wall, breathless. Her fingers trembled at her sides, stomach churning with the panic that still coursed through her system.

"Vivian." The vampire said, pulling her attention. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, pushing off of the wall. "Yes, thank you."

"No one here really likes him." The vampire said, gesturing his head in the direction Enzo just went. "But he's Niccolo's distant cousin or something so we're stuck with him here."

"Oh, I see." Vivian replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Are you lost?" He asked, tone friendly. Still, he was a vampire, so she couldn't trust him off the bat. Yet there was something familiar about this one. Had she seen him before?

"No." Vivian said at the same time she realized that yes, she was actually lost. From here, she wasn't sure how to get back to her room. "I was looking for Kit."

"Even you don't know where he is?" The vampire asked with surprise. "Well, isn't that something?"

Vivian didn't know how to respond to that, so she didn't. She just looked down at her shoes as if they were much more interesting than the vampire standing besides her.

"Oh, how rude of me." The vampire spoke, grabbing Vivian's attention. "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Sebastian. I go out on patrols with Kit a lot. I wouldn't call us close per se, but closer than most are to Kit. I have to say, I'm surprised too that he took on a lover. But knowing it's you... well a little less surprising."

"What? Why?" Vivian couldn't help but be intrigued.

"You are the one he's saved multiple times, right?" Sebastian asked, the woman thinking about it for a moment before nodding. That's right, this vampire was there the night Elias was attacked. He was the one that took Elias away. "It's not unusual for vampires to form bonds with those humans they have saved."

"Oh." Vivian said, and that was it, because once again, she didn't know how to respond.

Silence sat for a moment before Sebastian broke it. "You look hungry. How about we stop by the kitchen for some food?"

"The kitchen?"

"Yeah! Come on." Sebastian turned and began walking up the stairs, Vivian thinking about it for only a moment before following. He seemed like he was good natured, he did stop that asshole Enzo from biting her, so he already won a few brownie points with her.

Sebastian didn't say anything to her as he led her to the kitchen, and Vivian didn't either. She walked slightly behind him, and everytime they passed someone, Sebastian would always say a quick hello before they continued walking. It made her feel a little more at ease. Something she noticed while heading to the kitchen was that mixed in with all the vampires she saw, there were some humans too. Vivian was a little surprised at this, as she thought this place was only filled with vampires. They were always dressed in some kind of uniform, and acted in a very sheepish manner compared to the vampires.

Turning a corner, Vivian could smell the kitchen they were coming upon. When Sebastian opened one door of a set, they walked into the biggest kitchen Vivan had ever seen. There was a huge circular indoor cooking fireplace along the back wall, a wide flame coming from it and breathing life into the large room. It was something out of one of those fantasy drawings, huge cast iron pots and pans snuggled close to the fire, cooking who knows what. The top of the fireplace came down like a giant hand over the flames, small windows giving access to the flames. There were a few figures in the kitchen moving about, working on whatever dish they were cooking or baking.

Vivian froze at being in a room with so many vampires, but as she stood there, she noticed no red eyes among them. They were all humans.

"Oh, hello Sebastian!" A woman called out, setting down a tray of bread rolls. She was cute, short blond hair brushing her shoulders and blue eyes wide. "I see you have someone new!"

"I do." The vampire said, gesturing towards Vivian. "This is Vivian, she is Kit's lover."

The woman took in a gasp as she neared them, still wearing the oven mitts on her hands. They were also cute, with little sunflowers scattered about a blue background. "Kit's lover? Well, welcome to Alvera estate Miss Vivian."

Vivian didn't know that being Kit's lover would garner so much wonder. "Thank you, Miss-?"

"Oh, no Miss, just Lucy." She said, waving away Vivians words. "It's so lovely to meet you!"

Vivian nodded, trying to return the smile that was on Lucy's face. "You too. Do you work here at the estate?"

"Yes, Miss."

"Fascinating. But you're a human?"

"Yes! There's many humans that work at the estate, Miss."

Being called Miss made her feel like she was living in some 1800's estate, and she supposed it could be by the outfit that the woman wore, similar to those that they passed earlier on their way here. "I see." She said, looking around at the kitchen. There were others dressed the same way that Lucy was dressed.

"So I see Sebastian has returned." Someone said behind Lucy, causing her to turn away from them. It was an older woman, another human she guessed if those were deep brown eyes she was looking into. "With someone new, too."

"Wow, you guys can tell that quickly?" Vivian said, feeling like she was so exposed. Of course gossip would have traveled around the estate about Kit and his lover.

"Not many new people come here." The older woman said, emphasizing on people. Her eyes flashed to Sebastian for a moment before going back to Vivian. "So it's exciting when there is someone new."

"Ah, I see." Vivian responded, nodding her head. "That would make sense."

"I brought Vivian here in hopes of getting her some food." Sebastian said before anyone else could speak.

"Oh, are you hungry?" The older woman looked concerned suddenly, taking a step closer to Vivian. "We can make you something real quick if you are."

Vivian wanted to say no, but the sudden hunger she felt in her stomach made her stop. It wasn't like she hadn't been eating food these past couple of days, so it wouldn't be any different. "If that's okay."

"Of course! Come on." The older woman grabbed Vivian by the arm and pulled her deeper into the kitchen. "I'm Jas by the way, I didn't catch your name?"

"Vivian." She said, having no choice but to follow the woman. When she looked behind her, she saw that Lucy and Sebastian had gotten into their own conversation. "Thank you for cooking for me."

"Oh it's no problem sweetie." Jas set Vivian down on a seat that was situated near the countertops. "I'll whip you up something real quick, don't you worry."

Vivian wasn't sure what it was that Jas made her, but she did know that it was absolutely delicious. Whoever had been cooking Vivians food wasn't Jas, and honestly, she wished it was. After she had eaten her food, Vivian told them about why she was lurking around the estate, looking for Kit. Lucy had mentioned that there might be someplace he could be hiding that no one would look for him. A storage building out on the northeastern edge of the property. No one goes there anymore apparently after the ceiling collapsed a few years ago and Niccolo hasn't bothered fixing it.

Determined to find Kit once again, Vivian left the group in search of the storage building. Sebastian had offered to walk her there, but she refused. She wanted to do this alone.

Finding the building took no time, as she could see it when she stepped out the back doors. She hadn't noticed it before, the roof peeking out behind a row of trees that obstructed the building from direct view. It took her a little bit of a walk to get there, trudging through thick snow. When she finally did get to the building, she was surprised to see what kind of shape it was in. Vines grew up the walls in batches, windows were busted and the door was hanging on just barely by its hinges. She could see where the roof had collapsed, a part of the second floor also collapsed along with it.

When she stepped inside the building, the door almost falling off as she moved it, she was greeted with the same amount of ruin. The wallpaper peeled off the walls and fell to the floor in clumps, the wooden floor scattered with green and plants grew through the cracks and sprouted just above the floor boards. It looked like the forest was slowly taking back the house.

"Kit?" She called out, walking around the house. She found a staircase that led to the next floor and slowly climbed it, being careful of where she put her feet. The second floor was even worse than the first, vines crawling up the walls and glass from the windows scattered around the hallways, crunching under her feet. "Kit?"

Only silence met her call. Vivian couldn't help but feel disappointed. This was the last place she could think to look for him, the last place she was able to freely enter and search. Had the vampire left the property entirely? Did he return to his apartment in Lake Ashton? Had he left her alone here? Panic coursed through Vivian as the thoughts rattled her. Kit wouldn't have left her behind. He knew how she felt about being stuck in an estate with a bunch of vampires, why would he leave her here alone?

"Kit, if you're in here, I would really love a response." Vivian called out again, moving carefully through the hallway as she spotted holes in the floor. A fall from this height would hurt, but it wouldn't kill her. "You can't keep hiding forever!"

A sound from behind her made her turn on her heel. There, standing behind her, was Kit. He stood with hands in his pockets, face downturned as if he couldn't look at her. "You should not have come looking for me, Vivian."

Vivian ignored the vampire's words, quickly moving towards him. But he held a hand up, stopping her from coming any closer. She could see the tense set of his shoulders, the way his hair was unkempt like he had been hiding in here for the past couple days. "What are you doing out here?" She asked, voice soft.

The vampire shook his head. "I... I cannot face you after what I did."

Vivian's brain worked on his words, trying to decipher the meaning. It hit her. "You mean almost killing me." The vampire flinched at that. "Kit, that wasn't your fault."

He moved his head to look up at her. There was this intensity in her eyes, Vivian almost took a step back. "I lost control Vivian. I-I could have killed you."

"But you didn't."

"Only because Viktor pried you away from me." The shame was clear in his words, the guilt etched across his expression. "If it was not for them, I... you would be dead because of me."

Vivian shook her head. "No, no Kit. I was the one who forced you." Taking a step forward she raised her hands.

Kit took a step back, making Vivian freeze. "You did not force me to do anything. I should have been able to resist, but I did not."

"Kit!" Vivian wanted to grab him and shake this nonsense out of him. She fisted her hands and brought them back to her side. "If I didn't cut myself in front of you, it wouldn't have even happened. I... I thought you were going to die. I thought I had to do something, but I didn't. I should have listened to you."

The pain was clear in his expression. "You did what you thought you had to do, Vivian. I do not blame you."

"Don't blame yourself either!" This time when Vivian stepped forward, she made sure Kit didn't escape her grasp, and she grabbed a fistful of his shirt. "Can't you see this is my fault? I forced you to drink from me, I-I should have known better!"

"But you did not." Kit's voice was soft and weary compared to the harshness of Vivians tone. He lifted his hands to Vivians, covering her fists. "How could you have known? We never talked about any of it."

"Still." Vivian felt like she was losing this fight, that she wasn't going to be able to convince him. "I don't blame you, Kit."

"You should." He said, and pulled her hands from his shirt. "I'm only a monster after all."

"Shut up, Kit!" Vivian yelled, letting her anger get the better of her. "You're not a monster! You never have been! Why do you insist on seeing yourself in such a dark light when everyone around you sees you the opposite way? You're a good person Kit, all I've ever seen you do is good things! You're not a monster! Even if you almost killed me, it was my fault for forcing myself onto you! I should have known better, and now you're hurting yourself because of me!"

"Vivian..." Kit's voice was soft around her name, hands still holding her fists. "I am not a good person. I am a vampire."

"Then you're a good vampire, okay? Just because you're a vampire doesn't cancel out the fact that you are good."

Kit just looked at her, eyes searching hers. "How can I make you understand? I am not good." Dropping her hands, the man took a step back. "You should return to the estate. It's late."

"No." She said, firmly. "I'm not leaving unless it's with you in tow."

"Vivian, please."

"No!" She yelled this time. "You have yet to show me any evidence of you being anything but good! If you weren't, you wouldn't care about the fact you almost killed me. You wouldn't go into hiding because you were ashamed of what you've done! If you weren't good you wouldn't care Kit, but I know you do."

"I have killed people before, Vivian."

The woman stood frozen, processing his words. "Why?"

"What?"

"Why did you kill them?" Vivian asked, crossing arms over her chest. "There had to be a reason."

"The reason does not matter-."

"Yes it does!" Vivian cut him off, uncrossing her arms to wave them. "Did you kill them just for fun? Were you defending yourself? Why did you kill them, Kit?"

The vampire seemed to hold his breath, looking down at her with wide eyes. But then he released his breath and looked away. "Ezra would... he would put me in a fighting pit and force me to fight to the death with others. Mostly humans. I... As you can see, I always won."

Vivian could almost see it in her head. "Oh, Kit." She breathed out, hands coming to cover her mouth. "That must have been horrible."

The vampire didn't say anything at first, just continued to look down at the floor besides Vivian. But then he lifted his gaze and looked back at her, guilt heavy within his eyes. "I killed them, Vivian. All of them. Their blood is on my hands for the rest of my life."

"And are you happy about that?"

"What? No, of course not-."

"Do you regret it?"

Kit stood still for a moment, as if understanding the point that Vivian was trying to make. "Of course I do."

Vivian held her hands out in an exaggerated fashion. "Someone who is a monster wouldn't feel guilty for the blood on their hands. They would revel in it, they would want to keep doing it. But you didn't, did you?"

The vampire shook his head. "No."

The woman left out a breath. "Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Yes, but still-."

"No, no I won't hear of it." Vivian waved the vampire's words away. "You are not a monster, got that? Not a monster!"

Kit looked at her silently. She could tell he wanted to continue fighting her on this, but she was firm in her stance that Kit was definitely not a monster. "Fine." He said, shoulders sagging.

"Fine, what?"

"Fine, I will return to the estate with you."

Vivian beamed. "Really?"

Kit just looked sad as he nodded. "Yes, we should head back before it gets too late."

The woman nearly jumped with joy when the vampire turned around and started to go the way she came from, but she resisted. For now, she was just happy that she was able to convince him to return to the estate with her. Vivian knew that the vampire still thought himself a monster, but she would change that eventually. No matter how long it took, she would convince him he was nothing close to a monster.