The two friends sat across each other on the comfortable chairs by the fireplace, the situation was as impossible as it had been only a few hours ago, with the exception that now everything was completely different.
Ivan held a glass of very old wine, he remembered where he had obtained it, or rather, he remembered the dying hands from which he had pried it.
His outward calm was a practiced stance. Before, he would use it to hide his excitement and anticipation. This time it was masquerading his sheer terror.
Ivan knew that Jacob could smell the fear in him regardless of his composure, he also knew each and every thing passing through his friend’s mind. It was exactly what would be passing through his own brain had the events of the night prior never happened.
Ivan knew that right now Jacob was debating whether to kill him or not.
Opposite the now extinct fire, Jacob looked at Ivan with hunger on his face. “So, my old friend, what shall we do now?”
Ivan frowned in concentration, his own heartbeats were terribly distracting and yet so pleasurable, he had not felt them in a long time. Everything was new for him yet again.
“I was hoping that you would allow me to walk out of here untouched”, he finally said.
“Well, of course” Jacob answered, “you have certainly gained that right”
Jacob moved suddenly, with such a speed that Ivan never really saw the actual motion, to his eyes, Jacob was sitting on the chair in one moment and standing by the bar in the next.
Jacob seemed to have enjoyed the discovery of his speed, after all, everything was new for him as well. He opened a small cabinet in the bar and extracted a bottle from the ice. He then proceeded to pour the red liquid into a glass. The drink, Ivan knew, was blood.
“How did you do it” asked Ivan suddenly.
“Oh well, I spent many years researching your old condition, I went to far places and spoke with sacred people. The answer I kept finding everywhere was that it could not be done. That your condition was permanent and eternal. They all recommended the same thing: to finish you and end your sufferings.
I was not about to give up though. I went further than any man has ever gone. Finally, in a place of which I cannot speak, I found the root of the solution: an ancient herb that grows in darkness. I tested many preparations until I found the right mix that, once drank, could rid you of your curse.”
“But I never drank any potion” asked Ivan.
“You were not meant to”, answered Jacob.
Comprehension dawned on Ivan. “You drank it” he said slowly.
“I did.”
“So your plan all along was to let me bite you”
“That was the plan”
Ivan felt sick, the implications of what had happened were almost too complex for him to grasp.
Jacob seemed to know what was happening through his friend’s head. “Do you remember when we were kids and we used to play ‘rescue’?”
“I never forgot” answered Ivan.
“We always pretended that I was on some sort of terrible danger, like hanging off a cliff, and you had to risk your own life to come and save me… And by the end you always succeeded”
Ivan smiled slightly, “I don’t think that either of us wanted you to die, even if it was just a game”
“The point is, you always saved me, that was the memory I had every time I remembered those years. In my heart, I felt that I owed you as much as my life. So, for once, I risked mine to save yours.”
“But you didn’t risk your life, you gave it up. I expect you knew full well what would happen to you.”
“Yes, I expected to die. I saw no other way to do it. I guess I hadn’t considered all the possibilities”. Jacob smiled malevolently as he walked slowly back to his armchair. “I would have never guessed that you would choose not to kill me.” he finished.
“You are my old friend” said Ivan. “There was no way I could ever do such thing to you”
“And I’m glad!” said Jacob, “by sowing me your mercy you have given me a great gift”
“I don’t see it that way anymore”
“Naturally, you don’t”
“But I do remember what it was like. If you had asked me yesterday whether I wanted my humanity back I would have said…”
“not for all eternity” interrupted Jacob.
Ivan nodded.
“What do you think now?” asked Jacob with true curiosity. “would you like your immortality back?”
“I’m afraid not” answered Ivan calmly. “I trust you remember as well what would you have answered yesterday.”
“ah, yes”, sighed Jacob, “yesterday I was like a child that has never opened his eyes, like an ignorant insect that goes through life following the motions and the rules and the expectations of all others but myself. I am free my friend, thanks to you I am no longer a slave. Once again, you have saved me.”
“No my brother” said Ivan, as his eyes showed small tears forming, “it is you who has saved me. You don’t feel it yet, but one day you’ll miss your heart beating, you will yearn for your own warm blood to flow through your veins, you will wonder what has become of your soul.”
“small things compared with this freedom” answered Jacob dismissively. “What about you, one day you’ll whither and die. Does that not concern you?”
“I’ll die happy knowing my soul has been saved”
“You would not think this way if you hadn’t changed” sentenced Jacob through gritted teeth.
“Neither would you” answered Ivan.
Jacob thought about this for a moment, and then a smile came to his face once again.
“I presume” he said, looking around, “that you will not be requiring this mansion anymore”
Ivan had been expecting this, and he had his answer ready. “You can have it. A few years ago I murdered the owners and moved in with a set of servants and slaves that died over time. I’ll have to carry their deaths with me to my own grave.”
Jacob laughed, he truly had considered that a joke. “Well, I might have to get me a few servants of my own”
“I’m sure you will”, said Ivan, with a tone of finality. “and now, If you will excuse me my dear friend, it is time for me to go”.
“But of course” answered Jacob in his most official voice. “I have only one request for you”.
“Anything!”
“Don’t you ever try to come and rescue me again, our business is finished here and now.”
Ivan looked at Jacob hard and long. “Agreed”, he finally said, and then he added. “Jacob, I have one request for you as well.”
“You only need to ask”.
“If you and I ever come face to face again, and you must taste of my blood, as I’m sure you will, do not make the mistake I made. Do not show mercy, just kill me.”
Jacob looked dumbfounded for a moment but recovered quickly, and with a quick nod he agreed.
And with this, Ivan turned around and walked out of the room and down the stairs that would take him away from this dreadful place. His heart ached as the weight of all his crimes started to fill him and the faces of those sacrificed for his pleasure came back to haunt him. Including the face of his best friend in the whole world.
As he walked down the path that lead to the road he felt the blood coursing through his veins, and the pain in the side of his stomach, and the air rushing in and out of his lungs. He was alive once again. He found himself humming a dislocated tune.
He was happy for the first time in a long time. His friend had risked his life and had rescued him. There was hope for his soul, after all.
Johan Vesnic 