The Soul of a Vampire #1

by Rachel E Rice

  “I envy you. Your husband is so handsome and young for a doctor.” She had a sparkle in her eyes as she described him which was a bit unsettling because she was in her twenties which worried me more.

  “Are you married?” I asked her.

  “I haven’t been as fortunate as you. In a town like this, all the young men leave to go to a city and all we’re left with are the middle age and elderly. We are fortunate to have Sebastian, I mean Dr. Sebastian here with us.” She shot me a wide closed smile.

  Then she remembered that she had a plate in her hand. It was filled with brownies. “Oh here. I almost forgot to give these to you.” She appeared nervous but delighted when she handed me the plate.

  Taking it from her hands, I was happy to get some fresh baked sweets. Clearly Sebastian hadn’t loaded the kitchen up with cookies and potato chips. Not good for me.

  Happy to get the gift, I asked her, “Do you want to come in and talk, maybe eat a few of the brownies with me?”

  “Sorry, but I can’t. I have to go. There’s something I need to take care of.” She gave me a wide smile with her beautiful white teeth, and looked at the brownies again as she walked to the door. I walked with her. She opened it and stood on the outside and said, “I hope you enjoy them and tell Sebastian that Samantha stopped by when you see him.”

  I watched as she walked down the steps and it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen a car. Maybe she parked it down the path instead of the driveway leading up to the house, but why would she do that? I wouldn’t be caught dead walking down that path if I didn’t have to.

  And I didn’t get any information from her. I think I was taken aback by her brazen nature and how she seem to salivate when asking about Sebastian. Just her very nature put me off. I could see her going to his office wanting him to examine her.

  Walking back to the kitchen to put the brownies in the fridge to eat later, I decided to dump the plate in the garbage pail. “There,” I said. “No one’s going to eat your stupid brownies. You probably brought them for Sebastian and not me. That was just an excuse to see him, bitch,” I murmured to myself.

  And I dumped them into the garbage with the Saran-wrap tightly covering them.

  Oh. I forgot. I needed a bath and I turned and headed for the stairs after locking the door behind Samantha. “What kind of name is that?” I mumbled.

  I wouldn’t be answering the door or letting in any nosy hot young women who really want to get a look at Sebastian, I thought. I passed Sebastian’s room and saw another door. Opening it I decided to peek in. There, I found one of the largest tubs in a bathroom that connected to my room.

  Stepping into the bath after turning on the cold water, I eased myself down and exhaled. Throwing my head back, I closed my eyes to think about what had just happened. A woman shows up at your door at eight at night looking for your husband with a plate of brownies in her hand. Her entire discussion is about how handsome my husband is.

  “He’s not my fucking husband and I doubt that will happen,” I murmur. When I open my eyes and reach for a towel, standing looking down at me is Sebastian.

  “What are you doing here? And how did you get in here without me seeing or hearing you.”

  “That’s not important. Did you eat any of Samantha’s brownies?”

  “What kind of question is that and how did you know her name is Samantha? And what the fuck are you doing looking at me naked. And no, I didn’t eat any of her fucking brownies. She probably brought them for you not me.”

  “Which question do you want me to answer first?” he said.

  “How about why are you looking at me naked in this tub.”

  “I have seen naked bodies before. Who do you think took you home and washed you and took care of you as you lay in a coma for all those months? It was me. I’ve seen and I know every freckle on your body. You have one between...”

  “Stop it. I don’t want to know if you did anything to me while I was unconscious. I don’t want to be confronted by a necromancer.”

  “I think you used the word wrong,” he said.

  “Never fucking mind. How do you know Samantha?” He didn’t say anything at first as if he was measuring how much he needed to tell me. He walked over to the linen closet and pulled out the largest towel I’d ever seen and held it to the side as he turned his back to me.

  Turning to face me, he placed a towel on my hair and wiped it. That was a memory I had when I was a child. Someone bathing me and then drying my hair. The touch of his hand was so light and loving that I thought it was my mother’s hand. But it wasn’t. His hands gave me the same feeling I received as a young child, and I became confused.

  Looking at him all the hostility I once felt faded with his touch. “What is this about, Sebastian? Why are you here and not at the clinic?”

  “Because I can’t leave you for two minutes without you putting yourself in harm’s way. Didn’t I tell you not to answer the door?”

  I walked away from him. Just when I warmed up to him he becomes aggressive. “No you didn’t. You just said I would be safe here and that I should make myself known to the people in this town. So I did.” I gritted my teeth at him.

  “She’s not from here,” he said standing in front of me.

  “How the fuck should I know.” I looked up at him and he appeared to smile and then he calmed.

  “No. I guess you wouldn’t know.” I walked away from him and walked into my bedroom and sat on the bed and crossed my arms in defiance. He sat near me with his mouth open and blowing out a large breath through his white teeth. His mouth distracted me. With him being near me distracted me to no end. His closeness made me warm as if we were in an embrace.

  “Do you drink coffee or tea?” I asked him. I didn’t know what to say to him. That was to distract me from craving his touch.

  “No.”

  “Thought so. No one with perfect white teeth like yours ever ate or drank things that weren’t good for them. Do you at least drink wine or beer?” I was trying to relax him and myself where he could tell me about Samantha.

  “I know what you’re doing.” I’m glad he knew because I didn’t.

  “I have to tell you about Samantha. Things I think you shouldn’t know I won’t tell you,” he said his voice low as if he expected someone to hear him.

  I shifted to face him, “But why?” I asked in a small whining voice. “Why won’t you tell me everything?”

  “Because you can be harmed by knowing these things.” His look trailed off. He no longer looked me in the eyes, but he was somewhere I couldn’t follow.

  “And I can be harmed by not knowing, too,” I said trying to get his attention.

  “That’s true, but there are things your mind can’t grasp or understand.”

  “How about telling me and let me decide.” He leaned over and kissed my lips. I felt my heart beating wildly. I wasn’t aware he would affect me the way he was doing. His kiss warm and gentle. He grabbed my shoulders and brought me to him. I heard his breath. I heard a moan. I heard the silence in the room, and I heard the loud beat of one heart.

  That heart was mine.

  Chapter Nine-Zoey

  The coldness of his body suddenly heated up as if someone had built a fire in dead embers.

  Breathless from his kiss, and trying to get answers before he would do something else to make me forget, or make me angry, I said, “Tell me now. I want to know all about you and Samantha,” I said my mouth open and on his. We were comfortably exchanging breaths.

  My lips close, with me breathing into his mouth and him holding me in his arms, not wanting to let me go, and I’m not wanting to go, pleading with him to tell me what I had to be fearful about.

  In his arms and with his mouth on mine there was nothing I would fear now, but what about later?

  Looking into his eyes, I noticed a change of color. The once hard stone green became a warm blue with only flecks of green color remained. I moved away from his arms. I moved away from his lips. And I put a
barrier between us. I didn’t want to fall in love with this beautiful man because somewhere deep inside I knew that it wouldn’t last.

  “Tell me now. Tell me about Samantha.”

  “She’s a witch.” I broke into a loud laughter.

  “A witch. How stupid do you think I am?” He didn’t answer and that furrowed brow and sour look returned to his handsome face. And he shook his head.

  “It’s impossible to tell you anything if you go on like this. How can I tell you about me or my family if you think the way you do?”

  “It’s only because I never believed I would hear such nonsense from someone like you. Aren’t you a doctor? Then how could you believe such a piece of garbage.” I stood and walked to find something to cover my body. I opened the closet as if searching for a robe and there was one. Surprised at how he had attended to detail, I tied the belt and slipped into a pair of slippers and then pulled the towel from my body and let it drop.

  “I guess you thought about undergarments,” I said as if I was certain that he couldn’t have bought them. I pulled open the drawer and there lay panties and bras of every color scheme. Black, white, brown, green. I turned to him. “How did you know...?”

  “You wore that size. That’s not hard. You are a size six. Not quite as small as I had pictured you, but close enough.” When I left the room to put on my panties, I returned to find Sebastian still sitting in the same place as if he was a statue.

  I sat on the side of him. “Now tell me about that witch. Are you sure she isn’t after you?”

  “She is after me.”

  “I didn’t expect you to be so revealing and up front. I thought at least you would try to hide your girlfriend from me. Why would you take me away from my father and to this wilderness and have your girlfriend come here to size me up.”

  “She isn’t a girlfriend. You’re right about one thing she does want to possess me, but she can’t. I won’t let her.” He placed his hand over mine. I calmed. I wanted to believe him but it was hard.

  “She’s a real witch, I said, now what is her real name?” I was being playful.

  “The kind that puts spells on people and kill them,” he said.

  “I suppose she came to kill me.”

  “Yes. She did. If you had eaten those brownies you would have died.” He finally got my attention, but I wasn’t convinced yet.

  “Why are people trying to kill me?”

  “These are entities that aren’t human. They are beyond anything human. There are things humans don’t understand. Like you. You have refused to recognize what I’m trying to tell you. There are witches, males and females that walk among humans and cast spells that can destroy humans or their love ones. There are powerful sorcerers and werewolves and even vampires.”

  “Now you’re worrying me.”

  “You should be worried. She’s a witch of the highest order. She can cast spells over you and me. She can disappear and return. There are good witches but she isn’t one.”

  “It seems she has already cast a spell over you.”

  “Can’t you take what I’m saying seriously? It may save your life,” he said.

  He stood. “This is impossible. I knew you were too young to discuss this and that you haven’t seen enough in this world to expose you to this. It may be too late for both of us now that Samantha is bent on killing you. If she does that, then I won’t have any choice but to track her down where ever she hides and kill her.”

  “Where are you going? I was just enjoying your fairytales about witches and werewolves.” I snickered and his face turned pale once more.

  “Back to the hospital. I have patients to care for.”

  “This time of night? Everyone should be asleep in this town.”

  “We have hunters coming in who have been bitten by werewolves.” I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Did you say werewolves, you must have meant dogs?”

  “Yes. Dogs. That’s what they want to hear. They don’t want to know that they were attacked by a werewolf just like you didn’t want to hear about Samantha being a witch.”

  “When will you be back?”

  “Before the sun rises.”

  He walked to the door leading to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Nothing rang a bell with me. I waited until I heard him open and close the front door and heard the car motor turn over, and I watched out the window as the car drove away.

  This was a great time to see what he was hiding in his room. I tiptoed to the door as if I thought someone was watching or I might get caught. But how could I, when there was no way for him to get back without me hearing him.

  Biting my fingernails, I opened the door to his room. A big empty room with only a piano. But there must be more. I wondered, where does he sleep. No bed. “What the fuck is this?” And then I let my mind construct an excuse. “He likes to rough it. He sleeps on the floor. He looks the type,” I said as I crept to the large double door closet. “I wish my closet was that large,” I murmured carelessly as I opened it up.

  “There isn’t anything inside,” I said with a careless look. Nothing but one black suit, black pants, and black shirts. I let my fingers trail over them. “I need to go shopping and buy him something with color. He’s taking this a little too far. “Look at this. This wardrobe looks like something from the eighteenth century,” I murmured as if I would know what they wore. I almost failed history if it wasn’t for a tutor.

  “Well he wants me to act like a doctor’s wife then I’ll show him.” I turned with a smile and that’s when something caught my eye. There were several drawers built inside the closet, next to it shelves, with his shoes and boots lined up neatly.

  Standing in front of the drawers, “While I’m here why not?” I shrugged. Pulling open the top one, it was filled with newspaper clippings. I took a hand full and sat on the floor. The newspaper started in April of eighteen sixty one. The clipping were yellow and stained as if someone read them over and over them while drinking tea or coffee.

  I had taken a class in American History and I didn’t want to relive the US Civil War again so I thumbed through that paper only taking a look at the ones that mattered. There was a headline of a dentist who had discovered anesthesia for soldiers during that war.

  He was on the front page of the New York Times. The picture looked eerily like Sebastian. “Probably his great grandfather,” I mumbled. I couldn’t help thinking about that picture or the black suit and white shirt with a black tie.

  What a handsome man. His hair a little longer than Sebastian, he’s smiling and has a sexy smile. There’s those Sebastian teeth. Had to be some relative. At that moment I wished I’d lived during that time and could have met his great grandfather. He appeared more likeable than Sebastian who enjoyed cultivating a dry stubborn look.

  After dreaming about the great grandfather for a moment, I threw those papers aside for something closer to my time. I fingered through the papers and found one for year two thousand. I was five years old then. That thought came racing through me like a hot poker had been placed on my skin, searing it leaving only the bone.

  The headlines read: There have been a rash of children who have disappeared in Seattle on their way to school. All have been found except one child, Zoey Miller, five years old, dark hair and blue eyes who was taken by someone in a van only a few feet from the school door. She disappeared into a sea of children unloading from a bus.

  A classmate called out to Zoey but she didn’t turn around. The classmate said Zoey had been holding a man’s hand she thought was Zoey’s father. Apparently it wasn’t.

  Ryan Cole, a young first year graduate of the police academy in his interview with us, stated that he would not rest until he brought Zoey home.

  I couldn’t read any more. There were mountains of clippings of me. I forced myself to read the rest though, and then I found one recent article. I remembered that picture. I was fifteen years old when it was taken.

  A young girl standing on Fleet Street nea
r St. Bride’s Church in London, England looking frail and scared, said she hadn’t eaten in days when she asked a stranger for food. When the woman asked her name, she said Zoey Miller. The woman who didn’t want to be identified said she recognized the name if not the face because it was the name of a child believed to be taken years before and presumed dead.

  This was me and why did he have all those clippings and what connection did he have to these papers, I wondered.

  It took all night for me to read the rest of the papers and still I couldn’t figure out what was going on and how and why did he feel the need to help me. Sebastian’s answers were weird to say the least, and there would be no way I would believe there were werewolves, witches, and vampires.

  Even the one about Samantha being a witch was laughable. I can see a disgruntled woman trying to get rid of her rival, but poisoning me was a little over the top. If she wants that handsome bitter cold man then she can have him, I thought. I’ll gladly turn him over to her, as if I’ve ever had him.

  But I couldn’t deny what I saw with my own eyes. My best friend Terry mauled and torn apart by something. Before I could see or know what he was, I had been knocked unconscious by the fight between Sebastian and his brother. Even that was a little unbelievable. Brothers fighting like two animals intent on killing each other.

  Then I heard someone enter the house. My heart fell to the floor. We’re going to need an alarm system. With all the talk about witches, werewolves and vampires, how does Sebastian expect me to function? I’m a fucking nervous wreck.

  Looking around I found something I could use to defend myself. It was a small statue, but what could that do? I tiptoed out of the room and made my way to the kitchen without seeing anyone. When I opened the kitchen door there stood Sebastian looking tired. He still wore his white doctor’s coat.

  “You look like you could be a real doctor.” His eyes caught the statue of an old man in my hand.

  “What are you going to do with that?” He said breaking into a small smile.

  “I was going to defend myself.”