I never told you what I do for a living.

Hayley POV.

(4 months after Frank’s death.)

I knew he wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. I had to see it for myself to even believe it he was gone forever.

It had been a few months since Frank’s death and I was determined to find out. I had to see if his body was decayed or bloated from the heat. As gruesome as it sounds, I had to know. I didn’t care if it would traumatize me, I just needed answers.

The night Gerard walked in on us he told me his secret after knowing me for many years. I had been asking a few questions because I started noticing there were a few… differences between me and him. He didn’t age, he didn’t eat and most importantly, whenever I cut my hand during bar shifts, what happened from time to time when a glass broke in my hands, he got uncomfortable and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

I’m not really a believer when it comes to mythical creatures. I would mostly laugh in your face if you told me you believe in fairies or that sort of things. But after knowing Gerard for so long and meeting Frank after that, it all suddenly made sense. The differences between us became explainable and I somehow understood what was going on all this time.

The sun started to go down and the cooling air from today surrounded me. The skies were turning to a soft orange surrounded with red streaks. It had been a hot day in Italy.

I wasn’t here for only making fun and having a vacation though. I had a mission that I just couldn’t leave alone. I had to know what was going on and I needed to see this for myself. I needed answers for the questions that came up and I just couldn’t let go.

When I arrived at the airport in Rome, I went straight to the archives to get to find out where Frank was buried. When he came at the bar, he always spoke fondly about his Italian heritage and even more proudly of his family. Even though his parents had abandoned him a long time ago, he still treasured the memory of them. Yes, it was hard for him to talk about, I could see the pain in his eyes, but he was a proud man and he tried his best to hide his suffering.

Eventually, when I arrived at the archives in the city hall, I quickly found out where Frank was buried. Thankfully, he was buried in his family grave.

I could guess that it was a hard one to get him buried there, because the funeral society couldn’t find the link from Frank to his parents. Thankfully, Gerard made them do it. I have no clue how he did it, but knowing Gerard it didn’t went smoothly for the people from the funeral society.

When Frank and I spoke about his family, he told me that he wanted to be buried in his family grave.

So here I was. Wandering around a graveyard. I couldn’t speak a word Italian, so I just looked around for the surname Iero.

A lot of tombstones were lonesome and old. You could see that no one had visited them in a long time.

Somehow I wondered who was laying beneath it. Those people once had a family, maybe even children, a husband or a wife. It was very sad to see them in a state like this.

The sun started to go down and the cold autumn air swept around me. When I walked a bit further, suddenly my feet froze to the ground.

“Iero.”

Frank. That is Frank’s name.

I stood in front of a huge marble tomb. The grave looked like one of a royal family. The marble angels on top of the arch were looking down on me with a piercing look. I suddenly became very cold.

The door to the tomb was slightly ajar. When I went to touch the doorknob, the door was feeling very heavy and made a screeching sound when I pushed it open.

I stepped into the tomb and felt chills running down my spine. The atmosphere wasn’t peacefully, it felt more like death was watching my every move. At the same time, it didn’t made me stop looking for the answers I wanted. I flicked on my flashlight and let my eyes explore the tomb.

There were 5 mausoleums, two with his parents name on it and the other three were grandparents or other children, I assumed. I never realized how old Frank was until now.

His parents were both born in the 80’s of the 1300’s. His mother died in 1316 and his father in 1350. I just couldn’t understand the pain Frank had to live with. The knowing that his parents were dead for so long…

That means frank had to be over 700 years old. The realization hit me but I had to get out of it very soon. I was here for a solid purpose and I had to find out.

Even after everything that has been said and done, it looked like his parents had seen the mistake that they’ve made in the past. In the tomb there was a mausoleum made with Frank’s name on it.

The mausoleum with Frank’s name on it was made out of beautiful white marble. The black streaks through the marble seemed to accentuate Frank’s name even more and made me more determined to get the cover from the mausoleum off.

Getting off the cover was harder than it looked. The top was heavy, but I could feel they didn’t secure it properly so I was determined to get it off. Eventually, my hands and arms started to hurt from all the pushing and pulling. I was about to give up until I suddenly heard a cracking sound. Finally, I got the damned thing moving.

When I got it as far as to move the top, it became easier and easier. The lid fell off with a loud bang from which I prayed to whoever was up there, that bystanders didn’t hear me.

There he was. Laying peacefully. His hands were folded over his chest and he was wearing a beautiful fancy suit. His cheeks were still sunken and he was even paler then the last time I had seen him. The thing that really broke my heart, was an envelope that was put in his hands. It wasn’t just a normal envelope that the bereaved left in a coffin for their deceased loved ones. No, this was different. The writing on the envelope was Gerard’s handwriting.

Gerard was taking the news very bad. The last time I spoke to him was just before he flew off to Italy to arrange the burial and after that I hadn’t seen him again. It has been a few months and I was worried.

Gerard had always been a bit self-destructive. I knew he was a vampire too, but he still wasn’t ready to talk about his past. When I asked about it, I could see the hurt in his eyes and I didn’t dare to ask any further questions. He was such a sweet and caring guy, I wish he didn’t had to go through this all.

When I looked at Frank, something was off. He wasn’t decayed. He wasn’t bloated. He just still looked like... Frank. It was still the Frank I knew.

“To whoever is up there, if you are fucking with me; this isn’t funny.” I whispered.

I knew it! He wasn’t dead. He was just unconscious!

I tried to shake him but there was no reaction. I made as much sound as I could with yelling and stomping on the ground, not caring if anyone would hear me. I followed my instinct but he didn’t react to anything.

Suddenly, another idea hit me. I stood still and looked at my wrists. The veins were perfectly visible under my skin, even in the dark. I looked at Frank again and then back at my wrist.

The outcome of this could go extremely well of extremely wrong. I was willing to take the risk.

Maybe this would work. If he still was alive, he hadn’t drunk in a really, really long time. The only thing that could wake him up right now would be blood.

I hurriedly looked in my bag to find something that was sharp enough to cut myself. Within a few moments, I found my old, trusty pocket knife.

Slowly, I stood up and put the knife to my wrist. As much as I hated this, I knew I just had to. The blade felt cool and sharp against my skin, but I needed to do this.

I swiftly sliced my wrist open and as soon as I did that, the blood gushed out. At first I started to panic, the amount of blood that was coming out of me wasn’t healthy, I knew that for sure. Soon the blood started to fall on the ground and the silent tomb was filled with the dripping-sounds of the warm, red liquid.

This was the moment, I had to bring my wrist to his mouth to see if he would react to it. I tried not to stain his clothes but that soon failed miserably. It already looked gruesome when nothing really happened at this point.

I put my bleeding wrist against his mouth and I thought I could see some sort reaction. I still decided to wait for a moment because it could just be my mind playing tricks on me. I soon found out it wasn’t.

Frank was reacting on my blood. His mouth started to open slightly and I could see his eyes were moving under his closed eyelids. The frantic moving of his eyes soon started to become heavier and next to that, his breathing started to get going.

I felt the blood streaming into his mouth and I prayed he wouldn’t attack me.

Suddenly, his breathing started to become heavier and his eyes flung open. His hands grabbed hold of my wrist and his eyes flung open. He intensely gazed at me.

His eyes were red as blood and I had to say I started to panic at this point. How could I be so stupid? I should’ve know Frank was extremely confused right now and the only thing he wanted right now was to feed.

He looked me straight in the eye with a look that could see right through me. Chills ran down my spine. His grip was tight and firm as I started to escape from it. The only problem was that we wouldn’t let go. I felt a sharp sting and his teeth sank into my wrist and I knew that was bad news eventually.

His face wasn’t the Frank I knew anymore. As he sucked up my blood, his face became evil and his aura became dark.

I felt myself becoming light in my head and I knew that I lost a lot of blood. I would fall to the floor eventually and that meant my death.

Let’s be honest, what could I, a normal and human girl, do against a vampire who had more powers than a human being could ever have? Exactly, nothing. I could do nothing except surrender to whatever was coming to get me. It may be death, it may be unconsciousness if Frank came to his senses on time. Either way; it was worth it. I trust him.

My eyelids started to become heavy and my legs turned into a wobbly mess. I let myself fall on the ground. Besides, what could I do?

Notes