Victor continued his nervous rambling about how important and mysterious his grandfather's guest supposedly was, growing more flustered by the second as Aisha politely questioned him about these supposed details.
"That's because," Victor said suddenly, trying to regain some composure, "the name Nosferatu isn't actually... well..." He paused awkwardly. "It's not really a person's name at all! It's like... a codename? For security purposes?"
I chuckled softly at his pathetic attempt at an explanation. Beside me, Aisha fought back her own smile.
"And what does this 'codename' refer to?" Aisha asked innocently.
Victor looked like he'd swallowed something bitter. "Uh... it refers to... an extremely valuable artifact!" he declared triumphantly, as if this explained everything perfectly.
"I see." She turned her gaze towards me and then back on him before adding: "An artifact named after a character from an old vampire movie."
The silence that followed felt deafening.
