Nicolae was greeted with the smiling face of a strange creature when he first opened his eyes. Knowledge rushed to his head, and he stared blankly at the creature as he processed the information.

  “Finally! Success!”

  The creature shouted, taking a step back.

  “You look just like what I envisioned! Hold on, hold on.”

  The creature’s form became contorted and twisted, morphing into something different. A strange energy emanated from the being, and shadows engulfed the creature, flowing along its body until a new form emerged.

  “Here, I've made myself look exactly like you! Here, I’ll show you in this mirror.”

  The creature stuck a mirror in the face of Nicolae, eagerly awaiting a response.

  Nicolae continued to stare at the creature, then glanced at the mirror. There’s nothing there? he thought.

  The creature frowned, glancing back and forth from Nicolae to the mirror. “Oh, well that shouldn’t happen. Well, I don’t want to try again! We’ll just have to deal with the error.”

  It paused for a moment, before clapping, the creature’s usual smile returning to its face. “Also, my name is Tenebris. And, your name will be Nicolae Fondator Tenebrarum Varnemir! It can be a mouthful, but I liked it!”

  Nicolae took a step backwards, looking around the room. Did you… hear me? What’s going on?

  Tenebris disappeared for a moment, and then reappeared in a chair farther back in the room. “Well, of course it’s to be expected that you’d need some time to come to terms with this. Afterall, you did just start existing!”

  After a hearty laugh, Tenebris continued. “Yes, I can hear your thoughts. You can’t hide from me! Hahaha! Well, anyway, to put it simply you are a vampire! A new creature I’ve just created—isn’t that great?”

  He paused, waiting for some answer from Nicolae, who had now gained some composure. A vampire? That’s right… I remember something like that? Or, I know of it, atleast.

  Tenebris laughed again, a great, booming laugh. “It’s great conversing with another intelligent, speaking species! This is a first for me! This must be how they felt when they succeeded! Yes, yes a vampire. And it wouldn’t make much sense to remember something when you were just created, would it? Haha!”

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  Nicolae took another step back before suddenly being transported to a seat next to Tenebris, losing his breath momentarily. What the hell just happened? How did I—what?

  Tenebris looked at him disappointingly, sighing. “Come on, Nicolae. Let’s be a bit faster on the uptake! Look, let's skip the boring bits, you can think about what’s happening here later.”

  A small piece of chalk appeared in Tenebris’ hand, and he offered it to Nicolae. “Take this, I’m going to show you something interesting!”

  Reluctantly, Nicolae accepted the chalk. What’s this for?

  Tenebris teleported across the room, appearing in front of a small altar with some kind of parchment sitting on top of it. “I just told you I was going to show you. Wait and see, Nicolae!”

  Just then, Nicolae was transported next to Tenebris. His hand held another piece of chalk, and he began to draw an intricate circular design on the parchment. As he completed the design, the circle began to glow a purplish-red hue.

  The chalk disappeared, and Tenebris clapped his hands. “That’s Jul for you! What great work!”

  He placed his arm around Nicolae’s shoulder, still staring at the parchment. “Now, it’s your turn. This is how you’ll be able to get into contact with me if you need to.”

  With that, Tenebris disappeared, leaving no trace of having ever been there. Without much else to do, Nicolae did his best to emulate the circle that Tenebris had drawn. However, while the symbol was fresh in his mind, his hands were not able to draw it the same way.

  If I ever want to understand what is going on right now, I need him to come back. I can’t give up this easily…

  With some frustration, Nicolae continued drawing the symbols, ripping another piece of parchment off the top of the stack each time he failed.

  Damn it! I’ve got to get this right! he thought, his hands starting to tremble. I’ve got to calm down and focus!

  The sound of the chalk and the setting sun were Nicolae’s only companions as time passed, his hands and fingers aching from gripping the chalk…

  “Finally!” Nicolae shouted as the parchment’s purplish-red hue illuminated his face against the dark room, the shadows behind him grasping at his figure. After taking a deep breath, his moment of rest was quickly interrupted.

  “You sure took your time! Haha! You’ve got some serious work to do, child…” boomed a voice behind Nicolae.

  Nicolae quickly turned around, facing the voice, which revealed itself to be Tenebris. “I must have said that out loud, right?”

  Tenebris smiled, walking closer. “Yes, you did, you did! Great job, I’m sure you’ll be able to use that ability eventually. Anyways, feel free to explore, find something to do! This castle is great, I made it myself! Hahaha!”

  The eccentric man disappeared, leaving the sound of his laugh as the last remnant of his presence. Nicolae, yet again confused, looked around the dark room.

  After a few moments of silence, the disembodied voice of Tenebris abruptly interrupted the peaceful room. “Oops, I forgot to turn the lights on! Good luck!”

  The room was suddenly illuminated by the many candles around the room, a soft yellow hue covering every surface. Nicolae stared at the table where Tenebris and him were sitting a few hours prior. I guess I’m alone now. I’ll have to find something to do…