On a rainy night, James was getting back home with a gift for Isabella. He was walking quickly as he couldn't wait to give it to her. He had found this elegant silver bracelet that made him think of her. All his thoughts were focused on the smile he hoped she would have on her face. So when he suddenly realized that something was wrong, it was too late.

He could not make it a step further. He was stopped as by an invisible wall. He looked around and felt a presence in the darkness. When the man stepped closer to him, he could see strange dark designs inked into the skin of his neck. He had heard of the sorcerers but had never met one before. The man was tall and thin as if he were sucked dry by his own magic. He stayed quiet under the pouring rain.

"What do you want?" James said.

The man didn't say a word.

"Who are you? Answer me!"

The sorcerer kept his hand straight in front of him to maintain James in his trap while tilting his head with an ominous look and a faint smile.

James tried to move, to break the invisible wall, to find an exit. Nothing worked.

And then he felt another presence behind him.

"I had to see it to believe it. But it's true, it's you, James," a familiar voice said.

James turned around and saw a face he definitely knew.

"Christopher?" James said, in disbelief. He had not seen him in years. This man belonged to his former life, the one when he was hunting vampires, and when he was human. He had met him on his quest for information about supernatural creatures, and they had had their fair share of fights together. The scars on Christopher's face, partly hidden by his dark soaking hair, left no doubt about the fact he had continued his dangerous activities since then.

"You are one of them now," Christopher said with contempt in his voice and a coldness in his brown eyes.

James didn't know what to say. All his doubts, all his shame and guilt reappeared in an instant.

"Yes, I... I'm a vampire now. Some of them tried to kill me and then one saved me."

"You are not James anymore. You are a monster. You are nothing."

"I am still who I was before." He said it with conviction, but he didn't know if he really believed it.

"And you accepted this new life? James would have never done that. I know the hatred you had for bloodsuckers. I know the purpose you had. Revenge. For what they did to you, to your family. This pathetic shell is not the man I knew."

"I understand. I thought the same thing, and, hell, I still do sometimes. But it's more complicated than we thought, Christopher. Trust me."

Christopher laughed. "Trust you. Right."

"What do you want from me?"

His face closed, and there was no mercy or understanding in his eyes. "What do you think?"