A thin pale man wearing a silk white robe comes gliding down the stairs and shakes my hand firmly in his long delicate hands. His fingers linger a little longer than they should have or maybe I'm just jumpy. He smiles. "My name is Nikolas Handelman. What is yours?"
"Joe DiAntonio. Joseph." He smiles. "Well Joseph welcome to our little sanctuary. May I say it is so refreshing to have another gentleman join us here. It seems every other year, we fill up with more and more of the fairer sex." His voice hits every syllable so lightly its almost hard to tell- "Forgive me, Nikolas. But your accent, is it German?"
"Why yes it is. My family lived there while I was a boy. My father was a baker and my mother was a schoolteacher in my home town. Sadly they have both passed on since the days of the war."
"The war?" The last time there was a war in Germany was... nah. He doesn't mean.
"Ah forgive me, I meant World War II. So much time has passed I forget not everyone is old enough to remember."
His green eyes do not leave mine for a second. Like Arlene's red eyes, they're pretty unnerving. But his long white hair is a stark contrast to her black. "So are you a vampire like Arlene?"
His leans back in his chair, his posture giving never alleviating. "No dear Joseph. I'm an elf. Creature of eternal grace. I have lived here since I left Germany after the Reich started to come for my village. Nazis did not take kindly to my kind." My mouth is hanging open. WWII? That's amazing! And he escaped? That's incredible. "But enough about me. You must have so many questions about what you are. And you, may I say, are quite an impressive werewolf. I've lived here for decades and I've made quite a few observations on your kind over the years. Feel free to come up to my room anytime. I'll be glad to answer any queries you might have." He leans forward and squeezes my leg and suddenly things start to click in my mind. The eye contact, the handshake, the way he got excited about another guy moving in. I think I know why he left Germany.
"I'm going back upstairs to grab one of my journals before breakfast. Feel free to join me." His hand slides an inch up my thigh before he stands up and walks backs up the stairs to his room.