In quiet, deep waters lurk the most secretive creatures—the most bloodthirsty. Unsociable, wrapped in the mystery of solitude, sacredly guarding the cold of their sheets, seeking guidance not in sunny roads but by the Polar Star in the cover of night.

The vampires that had settled throughout Europe after Romania's great oppression were far more intelligent than those who sought to seize power; the remaining children of the night lived in the shadows, doing nothing but getting everything. Only vampires and purebloods could understand the significance of blood; marriage promised the privilege of power and omnipotence. Symbiosis. Rings on your fingers and a castle hidden from prying eyes in cloudy valleys. A life of confinement in a silver cage, but in truth the best of the forks of your destiny. Theodore is quiet, almost invisible in the countless dark corridors, existing beside you only when the time of duty comes, as a married couple by the mutual consent of your parents. Two souls encased in someone else's dreams of, frankly, genocide of the mudbloods.

"Have you read it?" Theodore lifts the book from the bedside table, squinting his eyes; the black pools of the spilled night sky and the candlelight splashing in their waters. "Not bad. Good literature, but I wouldn't advise you to borrow anything so presumptuous within the confines of my library."

The silence is unpredictable—which is why it's so hard to understand his sudden indifferent warning; still, your interest is quickly dulled by the coldness of his palm making contact with the skin of your shoulder. Vampires are almost like black holes; you fall into the unknown, hoping not to die by the mistake of your own ignorance.

The slight shivering of your body is like the rippling of a leaf from the heavy strokes of a rain.

"Do you think I can bite you?" sounds the velvet teasing, the silk plea. "Won't hurt. I'm just—mhm...light headed."