Vysarion, 1

'So, is it recording now?' The figure sitting at one end of the table asked, pointing towards a tape recorder that was placed on it.
'Yes, i just inserted the new tape. Tell me about yourself.. Who you are, what you do, that kind of thing.' The other one replied, making a gesture towards the first figure.
'My name is Vysarion. I was born in Greece. I died in England, and now I'm back here.' He replied, a little smile forming on his lips. He was awaiting the next question with impatience. Some asked him how he was there if he was dead. Some asked him if he was a vampire, doing so with a grin of foolish disbelief. Some didn't ask at all, merely stated that he was crazy. They were, one way or another, persuaded in the end. That didn't mean that they had liked it in the end.
'You.. uh... Died? You said?'
At this, Vysarion's smile widened and he placed his palms together on the table, seemingly giving the other man more of his precious attention.
'Does it strike you so queer, that a person may return from the dead?'
'Well.. Yes, since no one has really done it before, except maybe this one man who's part myth, really.. But, you didn't answer me, how can you have.. Uh.. Passed on? I mean you are-
'Right here standing before you, yes. Your powers of observation are truly remarkable.' At this he nearly laughed.
The other man waited. Vysarion's smile faded somewhat, as he felt that he should continue.
'There are curses, my boy, that don't end when someone dies. In fact, they merely start just then: In the precious few seconds between life, death, and what is beyond. Such as the dark gift that was passed on to me from my sire, and to him from his own.'
The man seemed thoughtful of this.
'Are you maybe implying that you are a...'
Vysarion straightened up.
'I make no implications. I will state to you that I am beyond death. I am a creature of the night, a kindred, or a vampire, as you have come to call us. I have lived many nights on this world and I am no longer going to imply anything to anyone. I do not fear stating such things as my existence to anyone. I simply chose to reveal my nature -in lack of a better word- to you.'
The man laughed in disbelief.
'A vampire.'
Vysarion smiled. It was a smile of some cold calm, something that made you fear if you looked at it for long. The man's smile faded somewhat.
'There are no such things are vampires. Everyone knows this. They have been an urban legend since time imemoriam.'
Vysarion's smile seemed to sweeten a bit, becoming kinder, warmer.
'I have many ways to prove my nature to you. Good ways, bad ways and even worse ways. All of which would waste precious time that I could be using to tell you my story. I only ask you for you faith and belief. In my words. I wouldn't lie to you, would I?' At this he smirked.
The man's jaw dropped, and he seemed to speak without saying anything, moving his lips about, shaping unsaid words, because there were so many things he wanted to say at the same time, all about how the man in front of him could not be what he claimed.
Vysarion sighed.
'Let's start with the basics. I thought you were a brighter man than the ones before you but it seems as if I have to prove myself to you as well.'
'..Others, before me?'
Vysarion smirked again.
'There have been others. I was willing to share my secrets. My story. My experience. They had their chances, and they wasted them in the worst fashion. I trust that you do not do the same. For both our sakes. Now pay attention. First to my neck and chest, then your watch. I want you to feel for a pulse. Go ahead.'
The man hesitantly raised his index and middle fingers and touched the Vysarion's neck. He waited. He looked at his watch. Twenty seconds have passed and the he hadn't had a single heart beat. As if he was truly dead!
His eyes widened in shock and mild terror.
'And now I want you to be silent and pay close attention to how my chest does not move, as breathing is no longer a required act for me. For the sake of not being called a cheater, I will also hold my nostrils closed.'
The man nodded in awe.
Vysarion brought his fingers to his mouth, and now the man noticed for the fist time how unusually long they were, and how sharp they seemed. Not the nails but the whole fingers. They seemed as if they could cut through glass. They were also very thin and delicate though, and he could only guess how dexterous Vysarion was.
With a smooth, liquid-like movement, Vysarion slid his index finger over his lips, and then over his nostrils.
What the man saw next was definitely the most paranoid, frightening and strange thing he had ever seen in his life:
Vysarions lips started merging as if the skin surrounding them had been turned into soft clay, until his mouth was closed and seemingly nonexistent, making even the memory of there being lips and a mouth there obscene. And then the same thing happened to his nostrils. They simply closed, flesh had covered what was once two holes that were there on every human being for the essential function of breathing.
His reaction was to stand up in terror, letting his chair fall, plainly looking at the man in front of him, jaw dropped, unable to utter even the simplest of words. And somehow it seemed that Vysarion had actually smiled with his shock. Somehow, the lips that weren't there were smiling. And then he heard his voice in his head, clear as crystal. He thought he was going mad, there was no way he talked, not with a mouth like that, not without having a mouth. And yet he did speak, if only in his mind.
'I was going to come to the part about my.. abilities, but I thought that there is no time like the present. You may look at your watch if you want, and count how long I can stay like that. I promise you will either find me of great skill in holding my breath, or you will come to leave your disbelief aside and listen to my story.'
The man nodded, eyes still staring at the other one's mouth, and he finally found the strength of saying a simple, weak 'ok. I believe you'.
Vysarion passed his finger over his nose and mouth again, and this time his flesh started melting again, reversing the effects of his previous act. The man watched as slowly Vysarion's mouth and lips were formed again, how his nostrils changed in shape and size until they were both equal, and how his lips seemed to have a little extra skin in them, which was later absorbed by the area around the lips, forming his mouth perfectly as it was before he did anything.
And now he smiled again.
'Please' he said 'be seated.'
The man did so.
'Now do you believe me? Or do I have to show you more of my power, which I can assure you, can be using in a much more cruel and ill-mannered way?'
The man nodded.
'I believe you. I believe you. I do.'
'Good.'
There was a short pause.
'How long is one of those things?' he then said, pointing again towards the tape-recorder.
The man was a bit confused at that, still looking at Vysarion's mouth and bringing back the queer scene in his memory, but very soon he checked the machine, and saw that most of the tape was done.
'I think this one has another ten minutes or so in it.'
'And have you brought many tapes?'
'I usually bring around twenty, in case I get a long story out of someone.'
'And that is good. Now change the tape.'
The man cocked an eyebrow, and opened his mouth to ask why but Vysarion stopped him with a wave of his thin hand.
'If I am to finally start my story, I want it to be on a new tape. Just so it can be.. Easier accessible.'
The man considered this. He nodded, fetched another tape from his bag, pushed the Stop button on the tape-recorder, and changed the tapes.
Vysarion laid back to his chair and merged his hands again and placing them on the table in a relaxed manner.
'Good. Very Good. Now let us begin with my early years, when I still drew breath.'
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