by K. A. Poe
I then followed the ever-smiling Cassius through the large doors. There weren’t quite as many vampires sitting inside this time, at least not yet. My spot on the platform was vacant and the room was awkwardly silent, as though begging for my music to bring life to it. After escorting me to the bench, Cassius left my side and went up the spiral staircase.
My hands idly splayed across the piano keys and I played along to the music displayed in the book before me. My curiosity was getting the best of me as my eyes implored the stairway. What could possibly be hiding up there? Was this where they drained the poor victims of their lives, or perhaps they did that in the kitchen? I felt a rumble of anger flood through me as I envisioned a helpless child being drained of their blood as vampires hovered over them excitedly.
The guests somehow didn’t appear to notice my absence when I removed myself from the bench and slowly inched my way over to the stairs. I climbed upward, eying the vampires below me every few steps, and stopped when I heard hushed voices from above.
“He tells us that she is the one,” an unrecognized voice spoke. “How is this possible?”
Malik’s rich laughter filled the room. “Of course she is the one! Have you not seen her? The similarities are uncanny. She is her mother’s daughter, without a single doubt. He said that she would come, and she did.”
I gulped. They were undoubtedly talking about me.
“Do you think that she knows who you are?”
“That would be impossible.”
“What do you plan to do with her…”
Malik ignored the other voice and I heard footsteps creaking across the floorboards. “Dearest Alexis, why don’t you finish climbing up those stairs and make yourself comfortable up here?”
My mouth fell agape and I felt weak at the knees.
“Come along, we won’t bite.” I heard the other vampire laugh.
“If you desire to remain present, Ion, I would suggest that you keep your mouth shut!” Malik suddenly shouted. “Please, do come up, Alexis.”
Betraying me, my feet led me up the rest of the stairs and toward the voice that beckoned me.
The room was fairly empty, aside from a beautiful burgundy chaise with a matching armchair to the side. Malik lay across the chaise and I had to admit that he was a beautiful man, despite the evil lurking underneath. I assumed the person in the armchair was Ion. He sat with his legs curled underneath him and wore a fading black fedora over his long, wavy brown hair.
“Welcome, Alexis,” Malik said sweetly yet I could detect the poison at the end of his words. “Please, take a seat.”
He slid off of the chaise and gestured for me to sit down. I cautiously sat down and nearly leapt back up when he reseated himself beside me. I could almost feel the chill of his flesh through the mere inches that separated us. Velvet appeared to be his choice of style, as he yet again was wearing an overcoat made with soft velvet—this time in a soft gray tone. Despite what I knew about him, he had a falsely friendly demeanor—that was probably how he tricked the poor humans into trusting him.
“You’re a despicable man,” I uttered without thought.
Malik looked hurt but not surprised. “What is it that you think you know of me, Alexis, which would make me despicable?”
“I know what you did to my mother.”
He appeared completely stunned for a moment, quickly exchanging looks with Ion, before resuming looking at me. “Destiny made it all the way to you, did she?”
I nodded slowly, recalling the moment when I first met my birth mother. “You corrupted an innocent woman.”
“They all start out innocent, darling…it wasn’t I that changed her, her circumstances changed her—her unrelenting desire to find you changed her. She drove herself mad because of memories of you forcing their way to the surface.”
“And you fed her lies, saying that I didn’t exist. You could have released her before she became a monster!”
Malik shut his eyes tightly and exhaled slowly. “It is not easy releasing someone you love.”
“You don’t know the meaning of love,” I spat.
Before I had a second to react, Malik’s hands were grasping onto mine and I could feel myself being tugged into a memory. I was immediately immersed in the scene where he was whipping my mother for disobeying—yet there was something distinctly different this time. I could feel the remorse he felt each time he readied the whip for another lash. I could feel the pain and sickness inside him each time the leather tips bit deeply into my mother’s flesh. Suddenly I was enveloped in a new memory. He sat at a mahogany roll-top desk, fondling a silver ring in his hand and muttering to himself.
“She will never accept you…” his voice rang through my head. “She thinks you are a monster—and a monster you are, not intended to be with something so gentle and precious.” He tossed the ring onto the wooden floorboards and it bounced underneath the desk.
Their wedding day flashed before my eyes. My mother looked absolutely stunning in her long white ball gown, and even she seemed genuinely happy. I could feel his admiration and care for her as she walked down the aisle and met him at the end. The tenderness of their kiss, the way he smiled when they joined hands and exited the room…
I found myself staring blankly into his eyes and even now I could see the pain concealed behind them. “You really did love her…” I mouthed quietly and tried to wrap my mind around it. Even the most evil of creatures can feel love and compassion toward another.
“Yes, I did…and still do,” he said fondly and ran a cold hand along my cheek. “You remind me so much of her.”
I swallowed and fought back the urge to run. I had to gain this man’s trust somehow—I couldn’t escape now, no matter how badly I wanted to. “But I’m not her.”
“I need to know something, Alexis,” his expression turned grim. “Where is your mother now?”
My eyes darted toward the floor and I hesitated to answer. “She’s dead.”
Anger of a magnitude I had never witnessed radiated from him as he stood up and roared into the air. Even Ion who had been smirking the entire meeting so far looked terrified, nearly ripping holes into the chair arms he clutched.
“You…you are the one that slayed her...are you not?” his expression seemed to change from fury to gentleness within a second.
I nodded slowly. “I didn’t…I didn’t want to. You have to believe me. I wanted nothing more than to have my mother back in my life…”
“I know,” he whispered and sat back down, still holding back his anguish. “She at least got her wish, to see you again.”
“If only it could have ended differently.”
“We all must do things we will grow to regret.”
I couldn’t understand how he seemed so calm at the fact that I had killed the woman he loved. Aside from his initial outburst it was as though nothing had ever happened.
“You will return to your duties below,” he said after a few moments of silence. “But, please, do not hesitate to accompany me again.”
Malik seemed to have acquired a soft spot for me, possibly because I was the child of the woman he had loved for so long. It gave me a sense of comfort, knowing that he didn’t seem to have any desire to harm me, and that I could use this to my advantage.
“Thank you,” I bowed my head respectively and started towards the stairs.
“And Alexis.”
“Yes?” I said, turning back around.
“Don’t think about running again. Okay?”
My voice caught in my throat. I wasn’t sure if he had read my thoughts or only noted my expression, I hoped for the latter. Unable to speak I simply nodded, turned, and then walked back down stairs as fast as I could.
The room was more occupied now than when I had left and I quickly made my way back onto the platform. The crowd appreciated the music and to my surprise, some couples even got up to dance along to the melodies. It was moments like this that made me wonder if all vampires were really as bad as I
thought they were. Then a faint noise caught my attention. It was no more than a gurgle at first, but steadily grew louder.
The fountain I once thought to be beautiful had been turned on and a steady stream of thick red liquid flowed from holes in the stone woman’s neck. As I turned my eyes away from the site I once again saw a room full of hundreds of bright, blood red eyes and I knew I had been mistaken. There was no goodness in a place like this.
11. HUMANS AND ANIMALS
Two weeks of work had passed by before I knew it. Malik insisted that I meet with him on a daily basis, even if we only sat in silence in the upstairs room—it provided him with some form of comfort. Salem was completely against the idea of me ever returning to the restaurant, but I wouldn’t hear it—it had to be done. I had only met with the Vanatori once since my first full day of work. They were incredibly intrigued by Malik’s gentle nature towards me, and were quite clear in stating that I should continue using it to my advantage.
Today, there would be no talk of vampiric activity if I could help it. Salem was beyond stressed, to the point that he barely communicated with me anymore.
“Oh come on, Salem, put on something casual. Something not so…fancy,” I insisted. “Something you don’t care about getting dirty or ripped.”
“Are your…friends…having us join them on a hunt or something?” he asked with obvious distaste.
“No. We’re going to the park.”
“And I cannot dress comfortably to go to the park?”
“You would be more comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts for what I have in mind.”
He gave me a look of uncertainty. “Must I?”
I shrugged. “You don’t have to, but it’ll be a little weird if you don’t.”
He retreated to the restroom and I stifled a laugh when he emerged. I had never seen Salem dressed in anything less formal than a button-up shirt and slacks. Seeing him in ordinary clothing was enough to make me giggle uncontrollably. He looked no less handsome than usual; it just wasn’t Salem.
“I look amusing?” he asked.
I stopped shaking with laughter and shook my head. “No, no! You look fine…it’s just weird seeing you in ‘normal’ clothing.”
“I should change back…” he began to turn back towards the restroom.
“No. Salem, it’s fine, really. No one else is going to care, but believe me, you’ll be much happier wearing that.”
“What do you have in mind for today, Alex?” he sounded uncertain.
“You’ll see!” I said with a grin and took his hand, leading him away to the car.
Before starting the ignition, I leaned over and kissed him tenderly. “I promise you’ll have fun today.”
He smiled warmly and held my face in his hands. “I would have fun doing anything with you, Alex.”
The park was nearly empty, save for a few people on the opposite end from where we were. It was the perfect location for what I had in mind. There was a bike trail around the edges of the park and I led Salem over to it.
“Alex…what are you doing?”
“Summon us two bikes!” I said with a grin.
He looked apprehensive. “You do realize I have never ridden a bicycle before, right?”
“I never thought about that,” I said in shock. “But…it’s not hard. I can help!”
“And what if someone sees me summon them?”
“No one is going to see. The closest people are wayyyy over there.”
“A bicycle is too complicated to summon, Alex, I don’t know if I-”
I cut him off before he could finish. “Oh, don’t give me that. You’re not getting out of this one. Now go on. Do it.”
“If you are certain…” he stared at the bike trail nervously and two bikes appeared out of nowhere.
“Climb on, I’ll keep you balanced.”
Salem approached one of the bikes and looked it over, touched the seat, squeezed the handlebars, eyed the tires and shook his head. He carefully raised a leg over the side and sat down, shifting until he was comfortable and I held onto the back of the seat after instructing him to move the kickstand into a folded position.
“Put your feet on the pedals,” I said and he gave me a horrified look. “C’mon, Salem…it’s not that bad.”
“If you had spent as long as I have on this planet, without so much as touching a bicycle, you would be cautious, too!” he said and slowly placed one foot on the left pedal.
“There you go,” I grinned and watched him put his other foot onto the right pedal. “I won’t worry about telling you about gears right now…just hold onto the handlebars and if you need to stop, grip onto the brakes there.” I pointed out the brakes and explained that if that was too complicated, he could scoot his feet along the ground to come to a stop.
He tried to convince me again that this was a mistake—that we should just walk around the park to soak in the surroundings—but I wasn’t taking no for an answer. We were going to have a fun, normal ‘human’ afternoon whether he liked it or not. I held the bike steady as he tried to maintain balance and before long he was laughing and enjoying the ride.
“See, I told you it wouldn’t be that bad,” I shouted and laughed.
“Perhaps not yet, but once you let go, that will be a whole different story.”
“But Salem…I already let go!” I replied and slowly released him.
“Alex-wait!” he yelled and I watched the bike swerve and topple over into the grass.
I ran over to him and helped him up. “I should’ve given you a better warning, I guess.”
He pushed the bike off of him and pulled me down into the grass. Giggling, I fell into his arms and laid against his chest.
“I am not sure bicycling is something I will ever get the hang of, but I will admit that I had fun…however, I do think I would like a break from it.”
“A break? Already?” I laughed.
“Yes…is this not far more enjoyable?”
“It is,” I admitted and relaxed as he ran his fingers through my hair. It was nice to hear him being happy again.
Above us was a vast display of branches with bright green leaves hanging off of them, shielding us from the warm rays of sunlight. There was subtle movement on the tree limbs, which at first I thought was just the breeze pushing against them, until Salem pointed out two brown furry shapes.
“Squirrels!” I said with a gasp and watched one of them leap across from one tree to the next. The other rodent followed and soon they were sitting together on a single branch, nuzzling against each other. My observation of the animals was quickly over when I heard Salem sigh heavily.
“What’s wrong?” I asked and stared up at him.
“They are scarcely any different than us…and other human beings.”
I shrugged. “There’s a lot of things different between us and animals, Salem.”
“Yet, in the end, we all have lives and loved ones…they may not be as intelligent as we are, they may not live as long or as extravagantly, but they build families and lives just the same.”
I was pretty sure I knew what he was getting at. “Most people probably don’t think about it like that.”
“No…they do not. Just as I had not until recently,” he said softly as he continued to watch the squirrels. “Killing them for blood is scarcely any different from killing a human.”
“You know that’s not true, Salem! A human is far different from an animal.”
“I realize there is a big difference between the two, but how am I to know if I killed a rabbit’s life mate or child and they spent the rest of their short life searching for them…or they died over the loss of them…or…”
I pressed my lips against Salem’s and quickly shut him up. He shut his eyes and tenderly returned the gesture. As I pulled away, I smiled at him.
“You’re thinking way too much about it, Salem. But I know what you’re saying,” I said gently and resumed kissing him.
Salem ran his warm hand across the middl
e of my back and his kisses grew more passionate. I didn’t object to him pulling me on top of him until I heard a gasp that didn’t come from either of us. I rolled back onto the grass when I spotted a little girl staring at us in shock.
“Oh, geez…” I mumbled and glanced around the park. There were children swarming around the entire park now. “We should go home, Salem.”
He sighed but agreed. “Shall we resume where we left off?”
“We’ll see,” I laughed and we got up from our spot after apologizing to the girl and her mother, who gave us a very stern and disgusted look, saying something in Romanian under her breath.
12. PHOTOGRAPHS
I woke up the following morning to the sound of Salem talking vividly over the phone to someone. His voice was quiet yet I could make out a few words here and there—‘please, we need you’, ‘get over the past’, ‘she is in trouble and I need you to prove it to her’. Once the last words registered in my head, I sat up and looked for him. He was in the tiny kitchen, looking through the window over the sink. There was only one person I could think of that he’d be begging to come here.
“Salem?” I asked as I stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing my groggy eyes. “Who’s on the phone?”
He hung up quickly and looked at me, startled. “Someone who can help…if only I can convince them we truly need their help.”
“Hannah,” I said without a doubt in my mind. “You think she’ll see something in her visions that’ll prevent me from continuing my job at Varias, right? Just like her visions made me decide to stay a vampire, right? Oh wait! That didn’t happen.”
“It isn’t only that, Alex. She can help the Vanatori, she is a vampire…she can easily get into the restaurant and acquire further information for us.”
The latter was difficult to believe—I knew he wanted as little to do with the hunters as possible. Hannah and I didn’t part on good terms…but hopefully she can put her crazy ideas behind her enough to be helpful. I quickly gathered my phone and sent a text to Hannah asking her to come, regardless of what happened between us in Florida—Salem missed her, and truthfully…so did I.
