I’m reading “No such thing as a vampire” by Richard Matheson (Link - Caution: There's a large scary skull picture on this website). In the paragraph below (bold emphasis added), I don’t understand what the main character (Dr. Gheria) was trying to say:
He made no resistance as the younger man undid his collar and examined his neck.
‘You, too,’ said Vares, sickened.
‘What does that matter?’ Gheria clutched at the younger man’s hand. ‘My friend, my dearest friend,’ he said, ‘tell me that it is not I! Do I do this hideous thing to her?’
Vares looked confounded. ‘You?’ he said. ‘But -‘
‘I know, I know,’ said Gheria, ‘I, myself, have been attacked. Yet nothing follows, Michael! What breed of horror is this which cannot be impeded? From what unholy place does it emerge? I’ve had the countryside examined foot by foot, every graveyard ransacked, every crypt inspected! There is no house within the village that has not yet been subjected to my search. I tell you, Michael, there is nothing! Yet, there is something - something which assaults us nightly, draining us of life. The village is engulfed by terror – and I as well! I never see this creature, never hear it! Yet, every morning, I find my beloved wife -‘
The bold part is so confusing. The young doctor (Vares) found out Gheria also got bitten. Then Gheria said "Do I do this hideous thing to her?" - he thought that he was the one who had bitten his wife. But later, he said: "Yet, there is something - something which assaults us nightly, draining us of life. The village is engulfed by terror – and I as well". If he suspected himself, then why did he consider himself a victim too?
