by S. E. Lund
She shook her head. I relaxed a bit more. A boyfriend would be a complication I did not need to deal with. They'd often risk their lives to protect what they saw as their own.
“So there won’t be a boyfriend dropping by to visit you in the next few days.”
“No, but my family will be back soon.”
“Don’t worry, Calla. I won’t take you,” I said. “You’ll keep me company until my allies come to take me back to the City. I have a few friends on the Council, and will contact my brother and soon enough, I’ll leave you alone.”
“I start school soon. Will you be gone by then?”
“Doubtless,” I said, certain that it would take only a few days for someone to come for me. There would be trains they could take, and I might have to stay elsewhere for a week or two, waiting for rescue, but they would be coming for me. That was all I needed to know.
“So your allies will take you to wherever it is you need to go and then you’ll leave me home?”
I nodded. “Once my brother comes for me, I’ll go back to the City. Until then, I need a place to stay and you’re very sweet.”
She frowned. “So I have no other choice but to let you stay.”
“Something like that," I replied, for she had no real choice. "But you’re one of the lucky ones. Most humans would be dead by now. You might like to come with me to the City and see things very few get to see, but I understand that you’re young and need to stay home and go back to school. You’ll be none the worse for wear when I leave, except for a few bites here and there.”
She turned to him. “What do you mean by here and there?” she asked, touching her neck.
I smiled at that, but said nothing. She was innocent. I could tell that when I touched her, but it was hard for me not to let my mind wander there. Because of our powers, vampires had complete control over mortals. We could take what we wanted, when we wanted it. For the most part, it was limited to blood, but some of us preyed on humans for more.
For pleasure.
I wasn't one of them, but it had been over a century since I had been with a woman, mortal or vampire. I craved a woman's touch…
But Calla – I could tell she was a virgin and I was determined not to exploit my power over her for anything other than a bit of blood and some assistance contacting my family.
“Where’s the city you talk about?”
“There are several cities around the world where vampires live, but my city is Montreal,” I said, remembering the city in eastern Canada that reminded me the most of my home in Scotland. “It’s one of the oldest settlements in North America, and I find it retains the sensibility of Europe rather than North America. Many vampires live there. It’s the center for vampire culture in North America. I wonder how much it’s changed…”
“Are you from Montreal? You sound British.”
“I’m from Britain, originally, but I moved to Montreal in the 90s.”
“Which 90s?”
He smiled. “1890.”
“What were you doing in California?”
“On business.”
“What kind of businesses do vampires own?” she asked, a look of amazement in her eyes. Many humans found it surprising when they learned that vampires lived amongst them and engaged in daily life just as much as they did – only our business was conducted solely during the hours of darkness.
“Any business. My family was in the investment banking business. I was in San Francisco to review our investments after the fire.”
She sat quietly after that, her pretty brow furrowed.
“Your family? Are they vampires as well?”
I nodded, a surge of affection at the thought of my siblings and father. “A very old family. My father made us all when we reached adulthood so that we’d always be together. He couldn’t imagine eternity without a family and so the entire group of us were turned, each one of us once he felt we were ready.”
“So you have vampire brothers and sisters?”
“Seven, all told. Three sisters and four brothers. My father even turned my grandfather before he died so he’d always be at the head of the family but he’s now a figurehead. My father is the real power behind the throne, so to speak. I’m the eldest and so I stand in for him on business matters or when he rests.”
“What year where you turned?”
I sighed, not wanting to get into too many details. The more she knew, the more she'd have to forget when it came time for me to wipe her memories. “That’s enough of your questions about my family, Miss Calla. Suffice to say that I’ve been around for a while.”
She glanced at the clock on the wall, which read almost midnight.
“I guess I should be getting back,” she said in a soft voice.
I shook my head and held out my hand. “Not so fast. I want some company. I’ve been alone for a very long time after all. I need you to explain everything to me, so I have some questions of my own.”
“Like what?”
I pointed around the room at the devices whose purpose I was interested in learning. “There are so many things that rely on electricity. I’m at a loss for most of this.” I gestured to the device on the wall and then at another in the kitchen. “I understand about electric lights, but these other devices…”
“This,” she said and took a small device off the table, pointing it at a large black device on the wall, “is called television. It’s like a moving picture except the device receives the pictures from the Internet and—.”
“Internet?”
She sighed, a hint of exasperation in her tone. “I have a lot to explain.”
For the next three hours, we sat together and I peppered her with my own questions about her world – the world in which I must now exist. She explained to me all the developments since 1906 – a revolution in technology that I still could not quite grasp or appreciate. Suffice to say that mortals had succeeded in using electricity to make many devices that assisted them in daily living. The internal combustion engine, communications technology that surpassed the telegraph and telephone.
It was a lot to take in, but what surprised me the most was flight. Mortals had mastered the sky and had even developed machines that could leave earth completely, travelling to the moon, landing on it, and sending other rockets to the distant planets.
“The moon?” I said when she told him about the Apollo missions.
“We’ve sent a rocket out beyond Pluto.”
I stood by the television and examined it up close, touching the surface gently. She held the 'controller' and moving images flashed on, people's faces, their voices. It was the most amazing spectacles I had seen since I escaped my prison.
I turned to her, unable to hide my awe. “It’s an amazing world.”
On her part, Calla yawned and tried to hide it behind her hand.
“Poor dear Calla,” I said and came to the sofa where she sat. I reached down to take her hand and lifted her up so that she stood before me. “Staying up past your bedtime to tell an old vampire all about the modern world.”
“What choice do I have?”
I nodded. “I know. It’s difficult to lose control. Haven’t I felt that for the past century? I promise I won’t detain you for very much longer. You should go back to the cottage and sleep. I have a few hours left before dawn and think I’ll go in search of someone to feed on.”
Her mouth opened in shock at that. “You’re going to kill someone? Someone from here?”
“Not kill. Just feed," I said quickly, not wanting her to think me a monster. "I’ll only take enough so that I won’t be too tempted to drain you dry.”
Then I led her to the door. When we reached it, I opened it for her and bowed low.
“Sleep well," I said and my gaze moved over her pretty face. "I’ll spend the day in the dark, waiting for nightfall. When the sun sets, I want you to return and spend some time with me again, after your friend goes to sleep. I need to know more about this modern world. I may need your help co
ntacting some of my associates.”
I bent down and kissed her knuckles and then I turned my hand around and pressed my lips against my bite mark affectionately. She was mine now, and even if I was honorable and wouldn’t kill her, that meant something special to me.
“Until tomorrow night.”
She stepped out of the guesthouse and went down the path to the cottage. Before she was inside, she glanced back and saw me standing in the shadows of the door.
I smiled, but I doubted she could see me in the darkness, for her eyes would not have adjusted yet. Mine, however, could see her in minute detail – her flushed cheeks, red from excitement and lingering fear. I could hear her heartbeat even from where I stood in the doorway, hear the blood pulsing through her veins. I could hear her breath in her lungs, and practically hear her hair rustling against her gown. At night I came alive, my senses enhanced. I would know where she was at all times when I was this near to her, now that I had claimed her and tasted her blood.
It was the vampire's curse – to need mortals and to desire them – sometimes even love them at the same time.
I intended not to hurt Calla. I wouldn't, if I could help it.
I'd contact my brother and leave as quickly as possible and Calla would be just a memory on my way to freedom.
Before I went to sleep for the day, I went to the house and stood outside Chelsea’s bedroom, intending to compel her obedience so neither she nor Calla could resist or go for help, in case Chelsea discovered me with Calla.
As luck would have it, she went out of the sliding door to the patio, standing and looking out at the night sky. I used that opportunity to compel her, coming up behind her using my stealth, touching her before she could resist or cry out in fear.
I took her face in my hands and stared into her eyes. “Chelsea. You are not going to mention anything about the bite marks you may see on Calla’s body. You won’t talk to her or anyone about me. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” she said in a soft monotone.
“Now,” I said and turned her around, walking her back into the house, my hand on her arm to maintain physical contact. “Go to bed and sleep until dawn. Leave the door unlocked. You don’t need to worry. Tomorrow night, you’ll go to sleep before midnight. You’ll sleep deeply until dawn. Do you understand?”
She nodded. “I understand.”
“Good girl. Now go.”
I watched as she went back inside. She left the door unlocked as I demanded. That way, I could go inside if I wished or needed and the next night, she would go to bed and leave Calla alone so I could spend time with her.
I went inside once she was in bed, her door closed, and checked on Calla. She lay on her side in her bed, the covers pulled up around her, sleeping soundly.
Satisfied that my two mortal charges were safely asleep, I went back to the guest house and spend the rest of the night reading everything I could find in the hopes of catching up with a century of news.
Calla
Hours later, I woke to the sound of my bedroom door creaking open.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Chelsea said, poking her head into my room. Sunlight streamed across the bedroom and fell warm on my bed. “I’ve been up for an hour, waiting for you to wake up.”
I yawned and stretched under the coverlet, then glanced at the clock radio on the bedside table. It was already nine thirty. I sat up and tried to smooth my hair back, braiding it once again to keep it out of my eyes.
“I had a hard time sleeping,” I said. “I needed to sleep in a bit.”
“Well, get up and come have some coffee. I just made a pot.”
I slipped out of bed and padded to the bathroom, where I took a pee and then splashed my face with water. It was while I was drying off that I saw my wrist and was shocked to remember the bite, the brief pain of it, and how quickly it stopped bleeding. I held it out and ran my fingers over it.
Chelsea popped her head in and watched as I touched the wound, but she said nothing about it.
“Here’s your coffee,” she said, handing me my favorite mug. I took it and frowned, surprised that she said nothing about the bite mark. I couldn’t believe she’d say nothing. She noticed when I had a larger than normal zit on my chin.
I followed her out of the bathroom and down the hall to the kitchen where her own cup sat waiting. I took a stool at the island and watched as she flipped some bacon in a frying pan and pushed a couple of slices of toast down in the toaster.
“Bacon and eggs sound okay with you?”
I nodded, my stomach growling. I really wanted to hold out my wrist and show her the bite mark but I didn’t. I didn’t try to hide it either. In fact, I purposely let my arm fall on the counter so that she couldn’t help but notice.
She never said a word. I was certain she saw it but why wouldn’t she say anything? Then I wondered if Kier had already compelled her not to talk about vampires and anything to do with them.
“Are you okay, Chelsea?” I asked. “Is there anything wrong? Anything you want to talk about?” I peered at her, trying to see her reaction. If a vampire—if Kier—had compelled her, she wouldn’t be able to tell me anyway, but I wanted to give it a try.
She made a face and took a carton of eggs out of the refrigerator. “Why would anything be wrong? I’m fine.”
“You seem a little preoccupied this morning,” I said. “Is there anything you want to talk to me about? Anything at all?”
I waited for her reply but she merely shrugged and cracked an egg into the pan beside the rashers of bacon.
“What would I want to talk to you about?” she said as she threw the eggshells into the trash bin beneath the sink. She turned and looked in my eyes in a very pointed way. “I mean, if I wanted to talk to you about something, I’d just come out and say it, right? There’d be no reason for me not to talk to you. Nothing’s keeping me from talking to you or you to me.”
I nodded. Was she trying to tell me she knew? “Of course. It’s not like there’s anything keeping us from talking about anything we want to talk about.”
“Nothing at all.”
She stood at the island facing me, a smile on her face. Just like the big fake smile plastered on my face.
Okay. This was definitely weirding me out. This was definitely not a conversation two best friends had on a sunny morning while cooking breakfast.
Kier had obviously been in to visit her as well. I glanced at her wrists but saw no bite mark there or on her neck. Had he visited her and compelled her to prevent us from talking to each other while he had his little vacation away from his enemies?
My back stiffened at the thought. I didn’t like to be lied to or to be deceived.
What the hell would we do?
I couldn’t say anything outright about Kier and vampires. If Chelsea had been compelled not to talk, neither could she. We’d have to wait it out until Kier had gone. Would we ever be able to talk about it?
Then, I had an idea. I’d see if I could, in a roundabout manner, reveal something.
“Hey, do you feel like watching a movie tonight?”
She placed the eggs on a plate with bacon and buttered toast and handed it to me.
“Sounds great. What did you have in mind?”
I shrugged. “You’re a big horror fan. I saw that Dracula Untold is on iTunes. We could rent it using my mom’s account.”
She smiled. “You know, I loved that movie. It was so sad when his wife died at the end. Guess it was a hazard of whom she was married to. Stick around long enough with the Impaler and you’re eventually food for the worms.”
“Yeah. Definitely food.”
Okay… so we could talk about vampires, but not directly. And not about Kier, obviously. I tried to think of what else we could do.
I thought I’d give something a try.
“Do you have much room on your credit card? I feel like a road trip.”
She shook her head. “I’m at the limit. All I have is cash. Not enough for a hotel
room or anything. Do you have any friends where we could stay, if we wanted to?”
I shook my head. “No. They’re all friends of my mom.” I ate my breakfast, but my appetite was gone.
I sighed. “Maybe we could get into the car and drive. We could go to your place.”
“We could try.”
We ate in silence, but I wondered if, when the time came, whether I’d be able to get in the car and leave. It was worth a try.
When we were finished, we left the plates in the sink and went to our rooms to pack. Wordlessly, we knew what to do.
I packed my knapsack, putting in some underwear, my nightgown and a change of clothes. I took out a pen and piece of paper on the desk in my bedroom and tried to write something down.
Dear Mom and Dad,
Chelsea and I have gone on a road trip. Will be at her place in SF.
Love,
Calla
I went to the living room where Chelsea stood with her overnight bag.
“Are we going to do this?”
“Let’s do it.”
We left the cottage and I locked the door behind me. When I turned around, Chelsea was already in her tiny car, starting the engine, her bag thrown on the back seat. I went to the car and stood there like a statue.
I couldn’t get in.
Then I remembered that Kier had said I wasn’t able to leave without his permission while he was staying at the guesthouse.
“Get in,” she said, peering at me from the driver’s side.
“I can’t.”
We sat there at an impasse for a while. I tried to reach out to open the door, but I couldn’t.
“I can,” Chelsea said finally. She sat in the driver’s seat, her hands on the wheel. “But if you can’t come, I won’t go either.”
I shook my head. “You go. If you can, you should.”
“I couldn’t leave you.” She got out of the car and retrieved her bag. “We’ll stay together. Keep each other company.”
I smiled sadly and shrugged my shoulders, hating the helpless feeling that enveloped me. “I’m sorry about all this.”
