Chapter 203 - The Curse Of Fame

Dmitriy did cut on Dracula questions after all, and when this topic passed, JJ really shone. Attention—of cameras or not—was his sea, and he was the fish. He didn't even need to act—he just stayed himself, and even when he showed off his fangs, I doubted anyone thought about people from whom he bit with them.

And if they did, they probably hoped to be one of these people.

It was a fight for me to focus on our host and not moon over JJ as he talked, and when we all watched the results of the shooting afterwards, I could she that I didn't entirely succeed.

But I saw JJ didn't either. It was our agreement that we kept our personal life off camera, but apparently, it was just impossible to do. But as I looked from a perspective of a camera operator, the way JJ watched me with his cat-like eyes, I couldn't find a gram of unhappiness in myself.

Dmitriy seemed pleased with the results, too. "You two didn't tell me you were together… We will play with cuts to clear this from the end result. It's tempting, of course, to add a love story here, but my channel really isn't about it. I have to think about the reputation of my show long term. Speaking of which, would you be open to another show about supernatural? We only covered vampires and witches yet, while other kinds of you stayed a mention."

"Maybe. Why not we see how this one goes first?" I offered. I thought it would be good to enlighten people more, but there was a question of how this will affect me, too, and whether it would be a physical way of someone's attack.

JJ nodded in support. "Yes. You know our contact information, if something pops up."

⠀⠀

Dmitriy and whoever cut his videos did an outstanding job with the editing. The colours, the lights, and the fact that you couldn't even tell that I and JJ were anyone else but, as we told in the interview, acquaintances.

And the next day, as soon as the show was aired, my phone exploded with calls and messages from people I knew and don't. This what meant to have your number on your store's page… I ended up shutting it off entirely and using JJ's phone to call back my grandparents, friends and acquaintances about the shot.

Witches from Orion Coven, my first one, were proud of the public statement I did and reasonably shocked to see me in a company of a vampire—and not just anyone. Boy, they didn't hear all of that.

Nightingale Coven was another story. Elena, specifically. Ghost didn't even hear about the TV until I told him; Elena, though… When I talked with her, the desire to chew my head off and a desire to stay on my better side warred on her face so clearly you could draw a line between them. But just like Prom Queen predicted, Elena didn't do more than give me a few words about youth and power and responsibility.

Then, to Prom Queen's delight, she lifted her previous ban on going public from the coven. To save face before her subordinates, I imagined. For the outside world, it was still unclear on which side of that closet conflict Elena and Nightingale Coven were, and I believed it was for the best for now.

There was little more for me and JJ left afterwards than watch the results unfurl and deal with consequences. After the show ran, and then ran on repeat, there were many people who came by my store hoping to steal a glimpse of me or buying a magic amulet.

It was such a mess. A small blessing was the fact that no one recognised JJ under his glamour as the vampire from TV. That only let me hide from any customers and reporters with a clear conscience. I, together with Panda, who actually had to tell all these people that there are no magic items on sale and that I won't talk with them, really hoped that this influx of fame would die out soon, as fame tended to.

Only Kirill, my appraiser, was relatively unaffected by all that, as he rarely worked with the clients. I wasn't even sure if he believed the stuff about magic and me at all, even after I explained it all to him…

Meanwhile, I watched over my shoulder for a sign of any supernatural followers—with good or bad intentions. Even my sleep became lighter, threaded with nervous anticipation of an attack.

Maybe this was all that woke me up that night, but some sixth sense told me otherwise.

It was one of the rare nights when JJ went to sleep with his death-like vampire sleep together with me. I liked to use him as a pillow then, because I could arrange his limbs whichever way I liked and he wouldn't be inconvenienced at all. You had to work to wake him up before sunrise—he sensed that, somehow. A scent of blood worked as the best alarm call.

But even more I liked the feeling of safety of having JJ with me as I slept, even though he probably was a better line of defence awake than asleep. That night, as I woke up, I was glad to have him near as I tried to understand what woke me.

My eyes saw nothing but dark, with hints of the light from outside coming through the curtains on the window. But when I opened my well, it was impossible to notice. It seeped into my room through the crack under my door—cold, dead and fuelled by appropriated blood and life of others. The only thing that stopped me from immediately making this aura as belonging to a vampire was the fact that all material aspects were askew.

From material side—and from what I'd see if the lights were on, I knew—this thing wasn't a vampire.. It was just mist.