Chapter 31

After Antoine had settled in Kyoto to spend some time remembering his past, he realized he had a friend in town that he could check in on—an old friend from his early days as an immortal: Niyuki.

Niyuki had been an older vampire who had lived in Kyoto before Antoine had been turned. He had worked in the same area as Antoine had but had not been ‘known’ to him until after his mortal death. As he walked the unfamiliar streets in the direction of Niyuki’s home, he remembered what it had been like to be among the living in this same city as the human named Sanjiro.

TWO HUNDRED YEARS EARLIER.

Sanjiro was born and raised in Kyoto in the early 1700s. By the time he reached his sixteenth birthday, he knew he wanted to be an actor. He had spent countless nights sneaking out of the house to watch the street actors performing famous scenes from Kabuki as well as scenes from Noh theater. He loved watchi