“Dr. Stojanov, your appointment is here,” the woman informed him. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the desk. I hope you enjoy your visit to the archives,” she said, mostly to Antun. Without another glance – and perhaps a little quickly with that blush she had – she left our group in Sava’s unprepared hands.
He stood there, a little baffled by our group’s appearance at his door. “I recognize you,” he said after a moment, looking at Antun. “You were the one Davor accidentally turned. I was gone by then, but I kept an eye on him and his progeny from afar. What was your name again? It started with an ‘An’ at the beginning, right? Andrej, no… Antun?” he asked as he peered at Antun.
“Impressive memory, especially on the spot. You must have a great mind, Doctor,” Antun complimented, acting not-at-all creeped out. Or maybe after knowing Stojan had been keeping tabs on us, what was one more vampire doing the same.
Sava shook his head and then said, “Why don’t you come in so we can talk more freely?” as he pulled his office door further open and stepped aside. “My guests, please come in.”
We all stepped through the door under his vampiric host’s invitation. The space was quite full of boxes and binders on shelves, and a lit artificial window hung on the wall, giving the space the sense of being closer to the outdoors than it really was, being in the center of the building. There were only two chairs in the space, and he invited Syla and I to take the seats as he, Antun, and Michael remained standing.
So, he’s a gentleman. As long as that’s not just an act…
Dr. Stojanov was of an average build and height, his posture relaxed but attentive. He leaned against the corner of one of the shelves as he looked at each of us. His stare was analytical, as if trying to categorize us before knowing exactly who we all were. “From the lack of heartbeats in this room, I’d say that everyone present is a vampire?” He’d made it a question, as if he wanted one of us to verify it.
Michael answered, “Yes. And we’ve come because of something that happened recently.”
Sava nodded, “I think I know what you speak of – Nikola Sokoli and his apotheosis. He was always difficult to keep track of with how little digital footprint he left behind, but it seems that he finally figured out how to achieve what Davor could not.”
His brows were straight and slightly knit, giving him a focused, analytical look. Deep-set brown eyes scanned each of us as if trying to determine where we’d each fit in this archive. Dark brown hair, worn slightly long and a bit tousled, was parted loosely to one side.
He wore muted, functional layers: a dusky olive jacket with a heather grey hoodie underneath, the chest pocket of his jacket full of pens and a lanyard ID with the name Dr. S. Stojanov around his neck. Surrounded by these boxes and files, he looked like any other archivist or researcher, not a centuries-old vampire.
You know what? If you squint at him, he kinda… no, really looks like a better-groomed Martin Starr. Heh, I wonder if he ever gets asked for autographs…
Of all the vampires we’d met so far, none of them had been able to put me immediately at ease just by standing there. Now though, I found myself relaxing into the seat unintentionally. Clearing my throat, I sat back up, wanting to show Sava that we were serious about our visit. And, Slouching does not look serious, or so I’d been told before.
Sava continued, “I always wondered when one of them would show up at my door. Might I say, I’m glad it was you.” At Antun’s tilting head and questioning brow, he went on, “Of all his progeny, you favor him – the confidence, not the cruelty. You were one of his later ones.”
“I was, number eight out of eleven if you’re counting chronologically,” Antun added.
Sava nodded as if interested by the fact, “And your current career choice, bold I dare say.” Then, he glanced at Syla and I, his face turning grave. “Which one of you was it? That he took energy from?”
Syla and I glanced at each other, each silently asking the other if we trusted this man enough to tell him outright. No words passed between us, but I could read it in her eyes. With a steadying breath, I looked back at him and stated, “It was me. He hypnotized and kidnapped me, then decided I had the, quote: ‘right energy’ for ascension, and ended up fixating on me until he got what he wanted.”
Sava looked weary and disheartened. “I am so sorry that happened to you, miss…”
“Please, call me Drew,” I insisted, not wanting to hear Ms. Nelson out of anyone’s mouth – even one as kind as his – for a very, very long time. I wondered when it would finally stop bothering me. Oh, I really hope that it doesn’t take decades… or centuries, that would be awful.
“I’m sorry, Drew. What he did was cruel and I wish there was some way to help get your energy back. I know what not having it anymore means, in the long run. Again, I’m sorry.” He bowed his head, his face full of remorse he shouldn’t have had.
“Dr. Stojanov… Sava,” I started, sitting forward. “None of what Nikola did was your fault. Please don’t feel the need to be so sorry.”
He looked up, eyes locking on mine. “You, Drew, are what one would call a tough nut – you can make it through anything. I hope you realize how truly special that is; not everyone could continue on like you are now. That takes gumption, and not just a little of it.”
Sava turned back to Antun. “But back to why you all are here. What does Nikola have to do with me?”
Antun must’ve also decided that Sava was trustworthy because he didn’t hesitate to answer. “After the events at the Sirens of Spring, we decided we needed to check on all of Davor’s progeny. We have reason to believe that one of them may be in connection with a murder that happened recently in Seattle after Nikola’s death. Actually, do you have a spare piece of paper? And a pen?”
Sava nodded and grabbed a small notepad from his desk, retrieving a pen from his jacket’s chest pocket. Antun took a moment at the desk, and I widened my eyes when I saw what he drew – the sigil that was at the crime scene.
“Have you ever seen this symbol before?” Antun asked. “It was at the scene of the murder.”
Whoa, he really trusted Sava. That would’ve been nearly enough for me if I hadn’t already trusted him too.
Sava looked at the symbol, tilting his head, then rotated the notepad a few different directions while staring at it. The way he was holding the pad with both hands, he looked like he was holding a steering wheel and turning it.
“It seems familiar, though I wouldn’t be able to tell exactly where I’d seen it before nor what it means. Balkan origin, 14th-20th century, if I had to wager based off my knowledge. Circles though do tend to symbolize eternity, and crosses of this variety are a very Christian symbol. It might be of Orthodox-Christian origin.”
We all looked at him with differing emotions: interest at what little new information we maybe had, thoughtful about it, hopeful that we were on the right track, but having a sinking suspicion that we were missing something vital.
“I wish I could be of more help on that. I’ll keep an eye out for similar symbols, there are all kinds of things in the Archives,” he said with a sort of reverence.
After a moment, he nodded, as if confirming something to himself. “I think I might have something that could help you all. If not, it’ll make for interesting information at the least,” Sava said as he walked past Syla’s chair to the desk behind it. Using a key on his lanyard, he unlocked the drawers on the right ride, opening the bottom one and pulling a file out from the very bottom of the stack before closing and locking the drawers again.
Holding the file in his hands, he said, “If you don’t mind, I usually take a walk around this time. Do you mind walking and talking with me? I find the office gets too stifling after a while and I need to stretch my legs. I know of a bench where we can continue to talk privately.”
I frowned. “Is it really okay for you to take stuff out of the Archives?”
“This is a personal file, just one that I’d rather not let get into just anyone’s hands. But there might be information of help to you, and that makes it worth unlocking.”
We followed him out of the office, waiting for him to lock it behind him. He must have been a serious archivist for how securely he kept everything. We followed him back to the elevators, past the desk with the once more blushing receptionist, and out the doors.
We headed east towards a sparsely populated walking trail. At the end of the sidewalk, it split left and right; instead of picking either, Sava continued walking onto the neatly manicured lawn. We continued behind him, and he went around a group of trees where there was a bench out of sight from the walking trail.
It had a brass placard that read Donation Curtesy of the Stojanov Family Foundation. I looked at Sava, pointing at the placard, but before I could voice my question, he gave a humored chuckle.
“I wanted a private bench, but in order for it to be on the grounds it needed to be part of a monetary donation to the Archives. I requested that part of the donation be used to install a bench. They told me that I could pick the spot; I wanted privacy, so I picked someplace off the beaten path, if you’ll pardon the pun.”
He motioned for Syla and I to take the bench again, but Syla remained standing. “You’ll need the seat more than I in order to comfortably hold that file when its open. Please, Doctor,” she insisted with a smile.
“How could I ever say no to a smile as bright as that?” he asked with a grin, sitting beside me. “Thank you, miss…”
“I’m Syla.”
“Thank you, Syla. You hail from nearby, I take it? Your accent,” he said as way of explanation for his question.
“Nearby, though not recently. Nikola turned me back in the early 1700s. It’s a long story though…” she trailed off.
“No need to explain. I understand why you’re all here.” He looked down at the folder in his lap for a moment, then back up at us. “This file is what I have left of Davor’s notes. Like you’ve all surmised, I was the first one that he turned in his experiments. Three others were turned while I was still with him – Zdravka, Rastko, and Razvan.”
“What can you tell us about them? We haven’t had a chance to meet any of them yet,” I explained. “Any information you have would be much appreciated.”
His smile deepened for a moment before it faltered and he sighed. “They all were so different from each other. Of them all, Zdravka was the kind one. She’d ask if I had slept, if I’d fed – small courtesies that Davor forewent. After a time, those courtesies died out. She became nearly as obsessed with the study of the body as Davor was with the study of apotheosis. And it seems to have held on, seeing as she’s now one of the world’s leading reconstructive surgeons.”
Clearing his throat, he said, “Rastko, on the other hand, started out vain and stayed that way. It was never in any of Davor’s notes, but Rastko had paid Davor for the opportunity to become a vampire. All for the opportunity to expand his own wealth. He’s still a financier, making money whichever way is most profitable to him at any given time. I don’t know how much he’s changed in the last 500 years, but he hasn’t seemed to have broken pattern yet.”
He shook his head, a disapproving look crossing onto his face. “Out of all of them however, Razvan is the one who always unnerved me the most. He called the culling that he wrought purity, though even then I thought he mistook his own shadow for God. I learned quickly not to let him look too long in my direction. He killed so many people, for what reason I still can’t figure out to this day.”
There was a lull in the conversation as we all took in that information. “You knew those three, and you said something about keeping tabs on the others even though you were gone. Why did you leave in the first place though?” Michael asked. “If that’s not a rude question, that is.”
“Not at all… goodness, I really have lost my head today. I don’t know your name, lad,” Sava began to apologize.
“I’m Michael; it’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Stojanov.” Michael’s smile brightened my mood, even if the topic at hand wasn’t really one to smile at.
“The pleasure is all mine, Michael. Forgive me for my rudeness, I was caught off guard. I’ve never had visitors before, at least none that weren’t here on a professional capacity. How did you manage to get Maya to take you to my floor though? It’s restricted without an appointment,” Sava asked, seeming to only just now come to the realization that we shouldn’t have gotten where we had.
