The utter blackness began to fade to an imposing grey.  Markus became aware of a very familiar drumbeat coming from another room, though he couldn’t remember leaving the radio on when he fell asleep. Then again, he also couldn’t remember making it to bed.  It certainly wouldn’t be the first time he’d come home so exhausted he was more or less asleep on his feet.

He began to slowly open his eyes, and as he did so, two things happened at once.  First, he fully recognized the song as being one of This Velvet Oblivion’s earliest attempts, and second, that he hadn’t actually made it home.

He tried to sit up, and instantly regretted it as an explosion of pain coursed through every nerve before he fell helplessly back into a pile of pillows.

Nate: “Did you sleep well?  I know you were damn near falling asleep after your shift last night.  You should be more careful about driving in that state; wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

Markus registered movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head as best he could toward it.

Nate: “I cannot tell you what a thrill it is to be able to have you at my house like this.  It’s not quite how I imagined it, but then I guess when you actually get around to doing something you’ve been dreaming about for so long, it hardly ever is.”

He continued to stare at the young man in front of him, still half-wondering if he were dreaming.

Nate: “You don’t remember me, do you?”

Markus: “Should I?”

Nate: “I’m Nathan Holt, we’ve met three times.  You even signed one of your records for me.  I suppose I shouldn’t be disappointed you don’t remember; after all, I’m sure you must have met hundreds of fans over the years.  I understand that I’m just another face in the crowd to you.”

Markus felt the barbed touch of fear begin to work its way up his spine as a flash of anger marred the young man’s otherwise passive face.  He tried once more to work himself into a sitting position, but his muscles felt not only weak, but downright unresponsive. 

Nate: “Oh, don’t bother trying to get up.  I gave you a little something to keep you relaxed while you’re here.”

Markus: “Just how long do you plan on keeping me paralyzed on your living room floor?”

Nate: “Not paralyzed, just relaxed.  And don’t worry; you won’t be here for more than a few hours, a day at the most.”

Markus: “Nathan—“

Nate: “Call me Nate.”

Markus: “Nate, then… If it’s money you want, you’ve got the wrong guy.  My take-home isn’t exactly impressive.”

Nate: “Nah, don’t need money.”

Markus: “What, then?”

Nate: “Isn’t it obvious?”

Markus took a long, slow look at the parts of the house he could see.  The entire structure seemed to be losing its battle with entropy.  Most of the surfaces he could see were covered in a thin layer of dust, broken here and there by piles of books and magazines.  The few pieces of furniture were worn and threadbare, matching the few rugs tossed on what looked (and to Markus’s aching back, felt) like old, oil stained concrete.  Posters of This Velvet Oblivion from a large number of shows going back over three years hung on every wall.  He let his gaze drop back on the magazines, and noticed they were also all related to the band.

The earlier fear dug its claws in a little deeper, trying to become full panic.  Markus fought it.  Though he still felt weighted down, he realized he was beginning to feel tingling at the tips of his fingers.

Markus: “I’m going to go out on a limb and assume it has something to do with the band.”

Nate: “You guys were the greatest thing that ever came into my life; I didn’t have any sort of purpose before I heard your music.  After I caught one of your shows back in oh-five, it was as if James was singing to me, about all these things I’d been dealing with in my own life, ya know?  And the music!  I can’t even begin to describe how deeply it moved me!”

Markus: “That’s really flattering, but I honestly don’t see what bringing me here against my will has to do with it.”

Nate moved with a liquid ease to kneel beside Markus.  In the dim light, his eyes seemed to reflect a deep instability which was echoed in odd half-smile, half-smirk.

Nate: “When I found out you guys were breaking up, it nearly destroyed me.  I thought, ‘How can I go on without the joy of This Velvet Oblivion?’  I must have wandered around in shock for days just trying to figure out why you’d decide to quit now when everything seemed to be going so well.”

Markus: “You’re kidding me, right?”

Nate: “Oh not at all.  At first I thought it had something to do with new girlfriends or something, you know, coming in and upsetting the balance and all that.  The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like that couldn’t quite be the complete picture.  Sure, Tristan’s starting a new relationship right now, but passion would be more of a driving force for his creativity rather than something that would get in the way.  James doesn’t do anything long-term, so there’s nothing on that front to worry about, and you’ve been with Serge for ages now.”

Markus felt his heart skip erratically as a rush of adrenaline coursed through his body.

Markus: “If you even think about touching a single hair on Serge’s body, I will hunt you down and make your life a living hell.”

Nate: “Calm down, Markus.  I wouldn’t dream of hurting him.  I realized that significant others clearly weren’t the reason for the break-up.  When I figured out what the real reason was, I actually couldn’t believe my luck!  Here was a situation I could do something about, something that would assure that the greatest band in history would stay together for a very long time to come.”

Markus: “What exactly do you think the reason is?”

Nate: “It’s really obvious.  James and Tristan are vampires, and so are for all intents and purposes immortal.  You’re the one dragging them down.  I don’t mean musically, of course, just in the sense that you’re going to start looking a little rough around the edges pretty soon, and it’d look mighty odd with them in the foreground being perpetually young and all.”

Markus choked out a nervous laugh.  The fact that this random stranger had nailed the exact reason behind the disbanding was more than slightly unnerving. His captor continued to look at him with the same half-adoring, half-crazed glaze in his eyes.

Markus: “Vampires?  You’ve got to be kidding me.  I think you’d better see about getting your medications increased because that’s one crazy-ass idea.”

Nate: “You may be one hell of a drummer, but you can’t act to save your life.  Let’s just move on from the feigned ignorance.”

The tingling in Markus’s fingertips had been working steadily upward toward his wrists.  He was fairly certain that if he could just keep Nate occupied for a little longer, he’d regain the use of at least his arms.  While he was in no shape to take him on in a one-on-one situation, he at least hoped the element of surprise would work in his favor.  He just needed him to leave the room, and he could probably even make a run for it and be gone well before he was even missed.

Markus: “OK, then.  Just for the sake of argument, let’s say that you’re right.  Mind me asking how you came to such an insane conclusion?”

Markus felt a sinking in his gut as a flash of red played across the eyes of the man in front of him, just visible in the dirty light of the room.

Nate: “I may not be lucky enough to be gifted with the ability to sense others of my kind, but it doesn’t take a genius to put things together.  I mean, yeah, a lot of musicians sort of do the nocturnal thing, but this was more than your typical pattern.  I knew you were still human because of your day job, but the other two… well, let’s just say they seemed to be taking the whole ‘goth’ thing a little far.”

Markus: “So you think anyone who happens to stay out of the sun is instantly a vampire?”

Nate: “Not really, that was just the first clue.  After I got into you guys, I decided I’d do a little background research; it’s crazy what you can find on the internet these days.  It didn’t take long to find a pretty lengthy history on those two.  Did you know James has been in this country since the thirties?”

Markus: “Ever think that maybe it was his grandfather?”

Nate’s smile vanished, replaced by mask of anger.  Markus shrunk back against the pillows.

Nate: “I applaud your attempt to cover for your friends, but there’s just no point continuing this line of discussion.  I know what they are, and I find your insistence otherwise to be downright insulting.”

Markus: “OK, man.  OK.  Take it easy.  I wasn’t trying to insult you.”

The anger lifted from Nate’s face, though at a much slower rate than it had appeared.

Nate: “No, of course not.   If I were going to be in the spotlight, I wouldn’t want anyone finding out either.”

Markus: “So how does that relate to me?”

There was an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the even ticking of a clock and the loud buzz of a refrigerator that had seen better days.  Markus tried to remain calm as Nate’s gaze dropped and clouded over in thought.  He could feel strength returning to his arms and legs in swimming bursts that felt like an incoming tide.

Finally, after what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, Nate rocked back on his heels and stood up.

Nate: “I’ve been thinking a lot in the past couple days, what I could give back to the band that gave me so much.  It was mostly just a matter of actually being able to find you, and now that I’ve done that, well… I suppose I should stop beating around the bush and just get to it.”

Markus: “Get right to what?”

Markus tensed as Nate paced in front of him.  He had a very good idea what he intended to do, and the very thought was turning his muscles to liquid.  It didn’t seem he’d get a chance to sneak out, but he was certainly going to do his damnedest to fight the bastard off.

Nate: “If you’re like them, there’s no reason for TVO to be apart!  You three can keep making music forever if you want!”

Markus: “Listen, Nate, all three of us agreed it was the best thing.  Turning me isn’t going to change that.  If you just let me go, I’ll be willing to forget the whole thing.  I won’t even mention it to the guys.”

Nate: “I’m afraid I can’t do that, not at this point.”

Nate stopped pacing and looked down at Markus, turning his blood to ice.

Nate: “This won’t hurt.  Well, it will, but only for a second.  After that, it’s quite an amazing experience.”

Markus: “I’m telling you, doing this won’t change anything!”

Nate: “Don’t be afraid, Markus.  You’ll be young and strong forever!  You won’t have to worry about getting sick and feeble in your old age.”

Markus: “Death is a natural part of life.  I’m not into defying the natural order of things.”

Nate: “Just try to relax.  It’ll be over before you know it.”

Markus tensed as Nate smiled widely, his fully-lengthened canines clearly visible.  He’d wasted as much time as he could, and only hoped he’d have enough strength to put up a good fight.  He quickly glanced at a nearby chair, gauging its distance from him.

As Nate knelt down, he took a deep breath and moved as quickly as he could to grab hold of the chair.  He completely caught his captor off guard as he flung his makeshift weapon into his legs, knocking him down.  Markus scrambled to his feet, desperate to get away before it was too late, but his legs didn’t feel like cooperating.  He fell into a heap on the floor only inches away from where he’d initially lain. 

Nate was quick to recover from the shock of the attack, and was soon once again standing over him.

Nate: “That was good, but not quite good enough.  I can’t risk having you try that again, not with dawn so close now.  I was ready to let you go tonight, but now I’m afraid I’m going to have to keep you here a bit longer than I planned.  Sadly, that means I’m going to have to make it so you don’t try crawling out of here during the day.”

Markus: “What are you going to do, break my legs?”

Nate laughed as he turned to the large table and began messing around with something Markus couldn’t quite see.

Nate: “Not quite.  That’d just be mean!  I’m going to give you a little something to help you sleep again.”

Markus: “You’re insane!”

Nate turned back to Markus and was once again kneeling before him, this time holding a syringe in one hand.

Nate: “Get some rest, Markus.”

Markus used the last of his energy to try fighting off the approaching needle, but was quickly and easily overpowered.  There was a flood of warmth up his arm before darkness once again swallowed him.