This is why [Jamie]

[Deleted]

Aleksandr sighed slightly on this night as he waited and waited for his lover to show up, for once having finished his patrol before Jamie came to meet him, working hard and ensuring that it was done quickly so he would have time to think. The townspeople were walking about, at peace as they normally were and had the vampire not been under the amount of stress that he currently was under, he probably would have smiled. The town was so peaceful and tranquil that he was happy he had come here. It had taken to healing him from the damage that his past, the damage that Russia had caused him and now he would have to go back to face that place, not for himself but for the one that he loved more than anything else, for his beloved Jamie.

He may have had a great hatred for that place and for the ones that had once inhabited that place but the strength of his hatred did not match the strength of the love that he had for Jamie. It did not come even close and while this love made him hesitate, worried about how Jamie would handle the truth about just who his parents were and the hell he had once been forced to endure, he could not keep him in the dark anymore. He just could not do it and while his heart ached, ached at what he knew was about to come, he would endure it.

For him.

As if sensing that he needed some sort of relief from that painful aching, that familiar scent drifted through the air, filling his senses and providing some sort of relief to his hurting heart. How was it that he loved that boy so much that even just the scent of him was enough to dull his pain? It took a few moments before he was able to collect himself and when Jamie had finally come into his line of vision, he had managed to properly hide his distress and his pain as he moved to embrace and kiss him as usual.

" Lyubvi, it is nice to see you again. I have a bit of a surprise for you but I need you to clear your veekend for me." He gave his lover a small smile before pressing a gentle kiss to his head. " I know that you've asked me about my parents and vhere it is that I come from. I've decided to take you to Russia so you can see and experience it for yourself. Vould you like that?" Since he couldn't bear to answer his questions, to sate his curiosity on his own, this was the absolute best that he could do for him. Hopefully it would be enough for Jamie to understand why he could not speak of them to this day without feeling that stinging and nearly unbearable pain inside of his heart.

Hopefully.

[Jamie Rosenthal]

As it were, Jamie was in a pleasant mood as he entered the village. Both of the students that were studying beneath him were doing excellently. They both had come a long way from where they started and they both seemed to be excelling in all areas that he was teaching them.

Besides that, he was able to see his beloved Aleksandr! Every thought that was spent on him was one that made him happy. Never had he felt so in love with any being before. It was...wonderful. When he took in a breath, he could feel the light in him well up and bubble inside him.

When he could see him finally, he smiled brilliantly, "Liebe, I hope I find you well." He was told that Aleksandr meant to take him to Russia, to see why he didn't like discussing his parents or where he came from. "Of course I vill clear up my veekend for you, liebe. I vould like to see your homeland, very much. If...you're alright to do so." He worried about his love, there was nothing more he wanted than to be sure his love were happy.

He was happy to meet him on that Friday evening with a small bag on his shoulder. "Are you sure you are alright to do this, darling?"

[Deleted]

He smiled at Jamie, taking his hand and pressing his lips to the back of it in a normal and sweet gesture that was reserved only for him before speaking softly to his beloved, assuring him that he would be fine as long as he had Jamie to keep him company because honestly it was the truth. While the was going to be painful, he could endure anything as long as he had Jamie by his side. When the rest of the week came and went and Jamie showed up at his house, asking if he was sure that he was okay to do this, he smiled weakly and nodded before grasping his own bag and taking a firm grasp on Jamie, the loud sound of apparation filling the air. It took a long moment before the rushing and spinning stopped and when it did, they would find themselves standing directly at the entrance of a beautiful looking manor something that had Aleksandr looking mildly disturbed as he looked at it, muttering quietly to himself, in mild disbelief. " I cannot believe that there is someone who vould villingly keep this manor in such good condition." He was slightly annoyed that his childhood prison was being taken care of so well, but such thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as he grabbed Jamie's hand and led him toward the house, pushing the front door open with little to no effort as the door seemed to give way beneath the smallest bit of pressure, opening with a creak that suggested that perhaps, it wasn't being kept up after all.

Good. 

He led Jamie inside, drawing his wand and muttering a quiet spell that had the entire home immediately lit up with the faint dull light of romantic candlelight, the only sort of light that had been allowed in almost everywhere in his home, except for one place but that was a story for later. As the light shone, there were greeted with the sight of a beautiful and yet bare hallway, the only thing hanging was a portrait of two beautiful creatures who posed together in a beautiful image and yet it looked as though they were just statues, creatures that had not a single ounce of love or warmth in their bodies, something that had Aleksandr's face looking somber as he looked at them with an unreadable expression on his face and in his eyes. " Jamie, meet Ivan Kazmir and Tsukiko Meiah Dombrovski. These are my parents."

They stood there for a moment before Aleksandr could not stand to stare at them any longer and he led Jamie away, down a series of bare hallways and to a room that still after all of these years, did not have a door, something that made Aleksandr snort in slight disgust before he led Jamie inside. Inside the room, there was nothing more than a large window that was completely bare and a bed, that was it. For a moment, Aleksandr's face registered with pain before he quickly managed to mask it again, just as always. " The first thing that you should know, is that my parents vere not like yours vere Jamie. Mine vere...barely parents at all. Vhen I vas first born, it vas not my mother that cared for me but a maid. I did not know who my true parents vere until I vas three..maybe four. Vhen I vas first given to my mother I cried and screamed because I did not know who she vas and she and my father did not like that. I vas thrown in this room and kept here, only let out to use the restroom and to bathe and change clothing. That vas it. I vas forced to even take my meals in here...but that vas not the vorst part"

He smiled wryly and walked over to the window, placing a cool hand on the glass surface. " This vindow, vas alvays bare. My parents could not be bothered to get a curtain for this room despite knowing that I lived here. My father told the servants that if I vas not smart enough to hide then I did not deserve to live in the first place. The thing vas, I vas smart enough. I used to hide underneath the bed and curl up trembling like a frightened animal vhen the sun vas up, scared that the light vould find me and I vould die until one day, I grew too big to fit underneath the bed and I panicked. In my frantic state, I pounded on the door until I knocked it off of it's hinges and ran out of that room. I remember I latched onto the first person I saw, I believe it vas another maid and sobbed into her dress..."

[Jamie Rosenthal]

The home was beautiful, but held the feel of a museum. Cold, dark. Unwelcoming. He admired the architecture more than anything. He gazed at the portrait of Aleksandr's parents and almost frowned. They were so beautiful and so cold. Were all older vampires like that? He decided not, Aleksandr wasn't like that.

However, when he was told the horrors that he endured growing up here, his eyes widened and his very heart shattered for his love. He could almost see the memories playing out and a tear threatened to fall for him as he spoke finally. "Oh...my Alek...zhat is so awful. You nefer...you should not haf had to endure such..." He couldn't even make a full sentence to demonstrate how horrified he was to hear this.

His arms gingerly wrapped around him and he looked upward at him with an aching expression. "If...if you and I efer haf a family together...I promise you zhat nosink like zhat vould efer happen. I vould spend my life tryink to prove to you how vonderful you are."

[Deleted]

There was no doubt about the pain that was there in the vampire's eyes as he saw the look of pain that came over the features of his Jamie when he had told him what his parents had done to him and as he moved to embrace his love, he found that Jamie had already beaten him to the point and nearly tensed in shock as those arms wrapped around him so tightly. For a moment, he stood there before he wrapped his arms around Jamie in return, holding him tightly to his form as he nearly trembled. It was hard for him to be here, so hard. It was even harder to face the memories that he knew lay beneath the walls of his home and yet as he held that boy, listening to his gentle words of reassurance that if they should ever have a family together, that such a thing would never happen, that he would spend his life proving to him how wonderful that he was to Jamie and such a promise was enough to make him feel as though the ache was fading, at least for now. A weak smile was given to his Jamie as he finally spoke again.

" You need not promise me anything, Lyubvi for I already know this vithout you having to say it to me." He knew that Jamie loved him and that he would love any child that they would bring into the world just as much and that was all he could ever ask of him. While the idea of himself being a father was one that scared him, for he was scared that he would repeat the same mistakes his own parents did with him, he knew that his lover would be a wonderful parent. The thought was nearly enough to make his own weak one grow for a moment before he would take his hand again. " Come, there is more to see and much more to tell."

From that room, Jamie was led down the hallway again and back to the main hall before being led to the other side and into what appeared to be another bedroom, though this was much more appropriately furnished than the first one had been. " This...vas the bedroom I earned vhen I proved to them that I deserved to live, though this door here is infused vith protective magic so that I could not break it down vhen I vished to escape vhatever punishment I vas being given at the time."

Oh and what they had punished him for.

" I vas locked in here for days at a time and because I had a bathroom in this room, I vas not allowed to leave. They used to lock me in here for being too loud. For messing up something by accident though their absolute favorite reason vas because I did not vant to kill mortals. Even as a child. Your kind vas so beautiful to me and I did not vant to hurt the thing that vas beautiful. They did not like that and vould lock me up in here. They vould not feed me and vould tell me that the only food I vas allowed to eat vould come from vhat I killed myself. Vhen I vas allowed out of my room, I vould be so veak that I vould eat only rodents that I could catch outdoors in the night."

Rabbits. Rats. Raccoons. Cats and dogs. Whatever was not fast enough, he had eaten at some point.

" Most of my childhood vas spent inside of this room. Locked avay from the vorld."