Stars glittered in the winter sky, all the colder with only the wispiest clouds to block the cold radiating from outer space. Imagine, Theodore thought, People can go there now. Perhaps it would be a fine place to live once the grim task was complete, if he survived. No worse than the bottom of the ocean, and less likely to hurt anyone but passing space aliens.

Far away, car tires hit gravel, and he sat up, rocking the boat against the dock’s moldering posts. There was no mystery, no worry an enemy was about to strike. Even at this distance he could sense his friend. Jack strolled up to the dock, jingling his keys nervously.

   “You could have flown,” Theodore said with a friendly wave. “It must be dreadfully slow to travel by land.”

Jack approached the rowboat warily. “I know, I just like having... feet.”

“Ah, you don’t gotta talk about it,” Jack said. “If it’s weird for you. You never said anything about me being into dudes so I just thought--”

Theodore let out a mild chuckle with his next row, bringing them further to the center of the lake. “I suppose you may think me as old-fashioned as those stodgy old vampires. I might not be on-trend but I’ve got so many libertines in my mind I can’t be scandalized by much.”

Jack grimaced at the thought; he had his own pool of strange memories and opinions not his own. He still refused to think of trenchcoats as the height of fashion, despite some secret inclination.

   “But continue,” Theodore said. “Romance... Is it with a vampire?”

   “No!” Jack cried. “God no...”

Theodore’s powerful rowing took them to the dead center of the lake in just a few strokes. Perhaps it helped for the contents of the boat to be so weightless.

   “A human,” Theodore said with a small smile. “That is what the romantic stories prefer. I’m glad for you, and won’t weigh you down with an immortal’s concerns. Life is short, even for our kind.”

   “Thanks,” Jack said. “It’s new. It’s been to crazy to think about consequences much. Guess I should worry about surviving another week before I worry about forever.”

Theodore set aside the oars, the boat drifting gently in the frigid water. He wondered briefly whether lakes froze solid in Glenland. He couldn’t remember. Maybe the water would freeze around them and they’d never have to leave.

   “I’m happy for you to to be happy,” he said. “I want nothing more.”

   “Man, I wish I was happy,” Jack splashed a finger over the side. “Maybe my mood will improve if I don’t get mangled for a few days.”

   “What do you mean?”

Theodore tucked up his knees, looking ever smaller as he lost himself in a roaring static of thoughts.

   “C’mon,” Jack said. “I didn’t mean anything. You just surprised me...”

   “Am I really so different from them?” Theodore asked. “I’m sure they imagine their motivations are as pure as mine.
How would I discern my own thoughts from theirs? My friendly touches corrupted by their perverse desires--”

   “No! Man!” Jack covered his face.

   “You have every right to be disgusted by me,” Theodore said. “I’ve more than earned it.”

   “Stop it!” Jack’s shout reverberated over the rippling waters, answered by the miffed chatter of a distant nightbird.

Theodore said nothing, his quiet sobs gently rocking the boat.  

Theodore’s wispy body felt like a boy-sized doll, nearly weightless. Just a musty sweater filled with bird bones. His sobs became ever lighter, until the pair were left in silence, only broken by the lapping water and the creak of the boat’s old wood. Something about it washed a nostalgia over Jack. Maybe it was Theodore’s boyish voice, reminiscent of a long-ago evening with a young Karl. Comforting him after a vicious bout of angst, tears wetting the shoulder of his sweater.

But he wasn’t with his teenaged boyfriend, he was holding the body of a lethal, alien predator. Who knew what dreadful powers Theodore could unleash at any moment. He could tear Jack apart on a whim, he could probably turn the lake to blood and flatten the trees around them if he were in a worse mood. But that thought didn’t seem real, didn’t seem possible when you were floating along on the quiet waters, embracing a teary-eyed boy who maybe only got a hug every few decades. Unreal as it was, Jack couldn’t make himself forget it completely. 

***