3. Nectar

A/N: Again, sorry for the lack of screenshots in this one. Chapters 4 and on should contain some more! Apparently the only thing I considered worthy of screenshots in my early days, were vampire bites. 😂 Also, in case you were wondering: this will NOT be turning into another Caleb fanfic. 😊

After Remi told Caleb and Lilith the whole story (though wisely omitting the part where he killed three people… he knew somehow that Caleb wouldn’t like him any more for that), Lilith looked at him as if he were crazy. Okay, so he wasn’t far from it. But he hadn’t made this up, swear. “You telling me you’ve never seen him? Now that’s something I don’t believe,” he said, struggling to contain his anger.

“You might wanna start seeing a therapist, pal. You’re crazy,” was Lilith’s response.

Remi got into her face, eyes blazing with fury. “I’m not crazy!”

Caleb, in an attempt to appease the situation, came between them again and told Remi they’d “think about it.”

Immediately, his eyes turned hopeful. “Yeah?”

“Sure. But right now… you gotta go.”

“Soon as I’m gone, you’ll never talk to me again,” Remi said surly. But Caleb promised he wouldn’t, and ultimately managed to get Remi to leave.

Surprisingly, Caleb did stay true to his promise. The latter promise, that is. He obediently hung out with Remi once, twice, even three times. He showed him around Forgotten Hollow, purposely showing him the worst parts. He listened to his never-ending stories with genuine fascination. There was something about this guy, Caleb thought. The way he sought Death with such fervent passion. It was tragic. Ultimately, Caleb felt sorry for him. But still there was more. He had so much zeal. So much spirit, even if for the wrong cause. In a way, it made Caleb feel more alive than he’d felt in decades.

But after the fourth time, Remi turned to him and said, with soberness he’d never before heard or seen in him, “You’re not gonna turn me, are you?”

Caleb looked at him in earnest. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not what you want.”

“I want it, Caleb. I really do.”

The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable. Still, Caleb wasn’t swayed. “No, you don’t. This is not gonna bring you any closer to death, Remi. In fact, it’s only gonna bring you that much further away. I have lived on this earth for almost four centuries. Four centuries spent in a state as far removed from death as it is from life. There’s nothing to this. I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone.”

“No, you don’t understand. Grim, he told me that…”

“…Grim’s role is to collect the souls of the living. That’s all he does. He doesn’t concern himself with anything more or less than that.”

“Look, you don’t–”

“–I will never turn you, Remi. Never. If you still want this fate I won’t stop you from seeking it, but I hope you gained enough respect for me to at least consider my words. You don’t want this.”

When Remi left, he was lost in thought.

After his talk with Caleb, Remi didn’t set foot in Forgotten Hollow for a while. In fact, he didn’t set foot anywhere. He thought and thought and thought, as he tried to figure out how he and Grim could still end up together. The vampire idea not yet discarded as it still seemed like his best option, he tried to think how else he could not be a living body. There was another way. But, no. It was too final.

When Caleb suddenly showed up on his doorstep one night, it surprised Remi. He looked pale, even paler than usual, and weak and tired and altogether ill. Remi let him in, features screwed up in a frown, and watched as Caleb rambled frantically. His gaze glued to Remi’s neck, Caleb started asking strange questions and Remi’s frown deepened, until at last he caved and all but begged for him to have a taste.

“A taste?”

“I can’t do it anymore, Remi. I have to drink. I tried, but… I have to. I need… a drink.”

Remi pondered, then extended his arm and turned his wrist to Caleb. Caleb looked at him, shocked.

“Have at it then,” Remi smirked.

“Are you… are you sure?” “Why not? It’s just blood, after all.”

“Yeah, just blood,” Caleb mumbled, gaze fixed on his wrist, and then he grabbed it and bit.

He didn’t know whether it was the fact that he had gone so long without, but Caleb had never tasted anything like this before. This wasn’t just ‘a drink.’ It was a nectar. It was by far the best blood he had ever tasted. He got so lost to its sweet taste that he didn’t notice Remi’s voice and it was only when he pulled him away as roughly as he could manage, given the blood loss, that Caleb was forced back into reality. Remi grabbed his bloody wrist and, his skin pale, staggered to the couch and plopped into it. Caleb stood there awkwardly. Wiped his mouth, then apologized sheepishly. Remi laid down on the couch and, looking at the spinning ceiling, said groggily that “no problem. Just lemme sleep this off real quick.”

Caleb tried to resist asking for more, but at some point he decided he couldn’t: he had to have something. Remi was okay with it, after all, so he didn’t feel as impossibly guilty about it as he perhaps should have. He asked for permission a few more times, and he always got it. The more he drank, the more attached he got to the guy. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t let Remi choose his own fate anymore. Or, well, he would have to, but really, he couldn’t. Remi had to be alive.

He tried not to have Remi show up at his home in Forgotten Hollow out of fear that Vlad might see them, but still, he had already been there quite a few times. Caleb’s long-standing feud with Vlad was far from over, and he feared more than anything that the Grand Master Vampire would use this against him were he to find out.

And of course, Vlad did. He wasn’t stupid, after all. He’d seen the guy step in and out of the Vatore manor quite a few times, and before long, an idea formed into his head. One night after Remi left the Vatores, he was stopped by Vlad. His smirk unnerved Remi more than he’d like to admit. The kindness he showed him unnerved him even more. “I’ve considered your request, Remi,” he said. “I made a mistake turning you away. You are worthy.”

Remi looked at him, surprised. “I am?”

“Yes. You will prove a good servant of Death.”

“I will?”

Vlad had to hide the exasperation in his voice. “Yes.”

“Okay… well, I, eh… I maybe, I… I’ll just think about it one day?”

“Of course. You get one day.”

Finally, Remi would get what he’d wished for. But for some reason it didn’t make him feel as good as he had thought. Caleb’s words still lingered in his mind. You don’t want this. And did he, really? But oh, how he wanted to see Grim again. It had been so long. And he missed him so much. But at least he had something resembling a friend on this world now in Caleb, right? Caleb cared about him, right? At least he didn’t want him to die. Yeah, Remi decided. He cared. And for Caleb’s sake, maybe it’d be better to just wait a little longer. That night, Remi heard it was single’s night at one of the bars and he decided to ask Caleb to go with him. Single’s night. That’d prove a nice distraction for them both. Caleb went with him, and for the most part, they were having fun. Caleb bought everyone all the expensive drinks they couldn’t afford and after a few hours, Remi didn’t think there was anyone who wasn’t mind-bogglingly drunk.

At some point he went to the toilet and when he got out, Caleb stood there waiting for him. Remi would lie if he said he wasn’t startled. “Huh. No reflection. Nice,” he uttered, but Caleb didn’t seem to hear him. He just looked at him, a strange expression on his face. “You alright?” Remi asked. His skin tingled a bit. And then, before any of them really knew what was happening, Caleb lunged at him.

When Remi woke up, Caleb was gone. He felt at his neck, saw the blood on his fingers and struggled not to throw up. God, he felt shitty. He tried to get up, but his throbbing head wouldn’t allow him to. It took him hours to get from that toilet in Oasis Springs to his apartment. Hours. And Caleb was nowhere to be found. When he was finally home, Remi understood. Caleb didn’t care about him. All he cared about was his blood. The betrayal stabbed through him like a knife. No, Caleb didn’t care. No one here in this world did. No matter how hard he tried, nobody cared about good ol’ Remi Greene.

The following night he strode through Forgotten Hollow, passing the Vatore manor as he walked straight to the big mansion looming over the town. He knocked on the door and waited.

Vlad opened the door with a grin.