XXX
“Do you have any books that aren't in braille?”
Cirpian, who had gone back to his reading, pointed to a box of books in the far right corner of the library.
Heading over in the direction, that he had indicated to, Brian ruffled through the books. “These are it?”
When he turned to look over at Cirpian..., he was gone – his unread book laid open upon his desk.
It always surprised Brian how agile Cirpian was. Even before he lost his sight, he had been as quick and silent as a cat.
Now, since losing his sight, those abilities had become unnaturally stealthy—not even a vampire could hear him.
Possibly that was why the vampire council had it out for him.
A vampire who had been alive as long as Cirpian, and whose abilities had gotten to being even stronger than the vampire who created him, was not suppose to exist.
He was an abomination of his kind – especially now that he didn't have his sight.
After swiftly scanning the library, Brian turned back to the box of books, and continued looking at the piddly ass selection that Cirpian had.
“Find what you were looking for?”
Dropping the book he was looking at, he surprisingly turned to look at Cirpian, who was standing practically nose to nose with him; which was a disconcerting feat, since Cirpian was a good two inches taller than him—Brian was six foot, Cirpian was six foot two.
Irritably frowning at him, he, taking a step back, said, “Don't do that.”
“Don't do what?”
“That...” noting the thoughtful look on Cirpian's face, he said, “The whole sneaking up on me.”
Stoically shaking his head, Cirpian went back over to his desk and plopped himself down in his chair.
After observing him for a few seconds more, Brian frowningly turned back to the box of books. Once he had sifted through the rest of Cirpian's selection, he went over to the sofa and irritably plopped himself down.
“You have nothing but crap.”
“Brian...,” not looking up from his book, Cirpian said, “have you ever thought, that maybe your taste has not developed since the Middle Ages.”
Noting the smirk on Cirpian's face, Brian said, “That's funny...you wouldn't be saying that if you knew that that crap...” he motioned to the box of books, that he had been looking in. “was about the Middle Ages.”
“Well then, it should be right up your alley...Now, shouldn't it?”
Snickering at him, Brian sat there for a few minutes more, before saying, “So, what's shaken tonight?”
“Beg your pardon?”
Sighing, he said, “What are your plans?”
“I have guests arriving in fifteen hours.”
“Guests...” Brian excitedly perked up at the mention of visitors. “Human guests...? Possibly female?”
It was the way Cirpian's grayish blue gaze stared right through him, that had Brian squirming uncomfortably on the sofa.
While he knew that Cirpian couldn't see him, it was eery how his senses were acute enough to know where Brian was.
Eventually pulling his gaze away from Brian, he said, “Yes, Brian, human guests.”
“For...?”
Sighing, Cirpian closed his book, and leaning back in his chair, he said, “For company.”
“Company...that's it?”
“Yes.”
Scoffing, Brian irritably got up from the couch. “Company...” looking over at Cirpian, he said, “You take all the fun out of being a vampire, you know...Trying to pretend to be human, when you're not.”
Shaking his head, Cirpian stood up from his chair, and, stepping from behind his desk, he said, “You forget Brian, that before either one of us was a vampire, we were human.”
Brushing past Brian, Cirpian went over to one of the unpacked boxes and after removing some books, he hastily made his way across the enormous library to the numerous shelved book case and started depositing his armful.
How he knew where each book went and in what order, Brian didn't know. Nor did he care to ask. For it was just another mystery, concerning the man in front of him.
It was Brian's confounded sigh, that had Cirpian stoically saying, as he put another book on the bookshelf that he stood in front of, “Brian..., once my company arrives, I would appreciate it, if you were either respectful or...” he looked over at Brian. “made yourself scarce.”
“What happened to common human hospitality?”
“That is human hospitality...” turning his back to Brian, he said, “I could tell you to get the hell out of my house before my company arrives.” turning, he looked over at Brian. “Would that be more hospitable for you?”
Irritably stuffing his fist in his jean pockets, Brain said, “Who is this company anyway?”
“The woman who sold me this house, a Mrs. Amelia Steleman, and her sisters are showing up for dinner tonight.”
“Dinner?!”
“Not that kind of dinner!” catching the vexation in Cirpian's voice, Brian smiled.
“So, you're having dinner with your real estate agent...Why?”
“Because...”
“Because, why?”
“Because I want to.”
For a few brief minutes, neither man said anything.
It was Brian that finally broke the silence, “Why are you unpacking?” when Cirpian didn't reply, Brian said, “I mean..., you're always on the move.”
Turning to look over at Brian, Cirpian stood there, not looking at anything, but just stoically staring at him. For that brief moment, Brain wished that he could read Cirpian's thoughts. Yet, since the man kept his thoughts under lock and key, there was really no way to.
When finally he spoke, his voice was sullen,“I have to stay...”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing...” shrugging, he turned back to the book case. “It doesn't concern you...” after depositing his second armful of books, he got some more out of the box. “Besides you wouldn't care anyway.”
“Damn straight...”
Cirpian had just been about to shelve the book he was holding, when he halted. He didn't turn to look at Brian, instead he fingered the binding of the book. After a few brief minutes of just perplexedly staring—yet not seeing—down at the book in his hands, he discarded it to the side and picked up another book.
“Unlike you, I actually have gotten use to being a vampire.”
“I'm use to it...”
Brian scoffed. “No you aren't...You hate it more now, than you did in the beginning.”
“I don't technically hate it...” when Brian scoffed again, Cirpian said, “Over the years, I've found a use for my long existence.”
“Yea..., killing other vampires.” Brian mumbled this under his breathe.
“Can you think of a better way to past the time?”
Wickedly smiling, Brian said, “I could think of one...having loads of sex.”
Chuckling, Cirpian continued with going through his boxes. “Well, that's you.” sighing, he said, “I had one great love...I don't see myself ever finding anyone to replace the hole that she left in my heart.”
“Oh come on, Cirpian, vampires don't fall in love or grieve for close to two hundred years.”
“Who told you that?”
“Adrian.”
Cirpian angrily scoffed. “I suppose Adrian would know...” there was this abrasive, sarcasm, to his voice. “Since he's never felt love...Yet,...” he turned to look over at Brian. “even when he was human, he was loveless...So, it shows you how much he knows.”
“He's your cousin.”
“Yes...,” he paused, leaving Brian to think that that was the end of the discussion; he was slightly surprised, when Cirpian said, “and I thought that if I showed him compassion and love that it would help...” sighing, Cirpian said, “That was my mistake.”
For those few awkward moments, all Brian did was silently stare at Cirpian.
When eventually he spoke,
there was a slight hitch to his voice, “Don't worry..., I won't disrupt your dinner party.” turning to leave, he said, “Besides, you probably invited a bunch of old biddies.”
Chapter Nine
By the time Genevieve left her apartment to drive over to Amelia's, she was far from happy. Not only had she forgotten her tunes, but she also noticed that nice size dent in her car's front fender.
She hadn't a clue how she was going to explain that to her hawk eyed sister.
Maybe she could pretend, that it wasn't there. Or possibly Amelia wouldn't even notice.
Amelia was so wrapped up in her own life, that there were times, that she barely noticed what her sisters were up to; unless, that is, she could find a way to use either both or one of her sisters to further her career – mostly Genevieve, who she, a lot of the time, didn't have a problem setting up with potential douche bag clients.
Pulling into her sister's gated community, Genevieve stuck her tongue out at the security person when he asked her for ID. When finally she was ushered in, she parked next to her sister's black Mercedes and got out of her car.
As she walked past Amelia's Mercedes to the walk, leading up to her sister's front door, she distastefully muttered to herself, “What an ugly piece of shit.”
After unlocking the door, Genevieve got ready to enter the house, that her sister and worthless brother in-law shared together. From the moment that door came open, it didn't take Genevieve long to feel the tension oozing from the house. All she had to do was stand on the stoop, and she could feel it. It was so thick, that she literally felt like getting a knife and trying to cut through it.
Closing the door silently behind her, she headed toward the living room, and was instantly met by Amelia's irritated, nagging, voice; coming from upstairs. “I can't believe you would be so irresponsible!”
For those few brief minutes, that Genevieve stood there, a few inches away from the stairs and close to the living room, itself, she couldn't help wonderingly staring from the stairs to the living room and back to the stairs.
When she eventually pulled her gaze, for the third time, away from the stairs, to look over at her little sister, Jewel, who was sitting in the living room; slouched down on the couch, looking as if she would rather be anywhere than in Amelia's spacious house—shoveling up dog shit would most likely be preferable than Amelia's nagging.
Irritably sighing, Genevieve finally went over to the soft cushion couch, and plopping herself down next to Jewel, she said, “What is Queen Attila the Hun going on about?”
From the moment Genevieve had walked in and seen Jewel slumped on the couch, Genevieve had thought that her little sister had the appearance of someone, who had been run over, a few times, by a steam roller—she had nothing, but this, drained, disgruntled, frown on her face. Yet, it was after Genevieve had called Amelia that, that a small smile crept to Jewel's pretty full lips.
Shrugging, Jewel finally said, “I lost my job.”
“Over at that nasty diner...?”
“Yea...” Jewel smiled. “The food was kind of gross.”
“Gross..., that's the understatement of the year...I'm surprised that the people who eat over there, don't develop a serious case of food poisoning or worse...tape worms.”
Giggling, Jewel said, “Well, Amelia seems to think it's a big deal.”
“Amelia would think its a big deal if you were having sex...” Genevieve, quizzically looking at her, inquired, “Are you?”
“Na...there really are no guys at my college that I'm interested in...At least not in that way.”
Genevieve couldn't say why that little tid bit of information brought her so much relief. It wasn't like Jewel was sixteen or anything. She was in her early twenties and while most young women her age either had or were having sex by now, Jewel was different – she was more maturely choosey.
If there was one thing that Jewel was sure about, she didn't want some Joe Blow off the street; she was overly picky about who she would end up with. While there were some women, like Amelia, who just wanted a man, both Genevieve and Jewel were not that desperate enough to have one – if fate didn't throw a man, worth having, into their ball court, then that just meant that they were destined for something else.
Playfully hitting her little sister's leg, Genevieve said, “Don't worry..., QB will get over it.”
Just then Amelia came into the living room; she was putting her earrings on. “Oh..., you're here.”
“Yea, I'm here...” sticking her tongue out at Amelia, Genevieve said, “You ready?”
“Give me twenty minutes.”
As Amelia headed out of the living room, Genevieve yelled after her, “You know what I find, to be very interesting...? You tell me to be here at seven on the dot, and your ass can't be ready by the time I get here...”
Heading back into the living room, Amelia said, “Gen, face it, you cannot rush perfection...If you took better care of yourself, like me, you would be married too.”
“To a gaywad...like you.”
Putting her hands on her hips, Amelia said sternly, “Gen, my husband is not gay...”
“Denial is the first sign of acceptance.”
When Jewel laughed, Amelia irritably looked over at her. “Shut-up...” looking back over at Genevieve, she said, “Shut-up...and I'll be ready after I put on my eyeshadow.”
“And your big red nose...So, that that client of yours can honk it.”
XXX
Genevieve couldn't figure out how one person could bitch so much, without even taking a breathe. All the way out of town, up into the mountains, Amelia had bitch about everything – mostly her ramping and raving was aimed at Jewel.
The problem with Amelia's pointless lecturing, though, was that it was totally lost on Jewel. For, Jewel was smart enough to bring her MP-3 Player.
As Jewel sat in the back, listening to her music, and staring contently out the window, Genevieve stared silently ahead, kicking herself for not bring her tunes.
It was when the dwindling lights of Tucson started to fade in her rear-view mirror, that Genevieve's patience's finally reached their limit.
No more.
“Shut-up!”
Amelia instantly stopped talking.
For that brief moment, there was nothing but wonderful silence. Yet, this was short lived, because no sooner had Amelia ceased her pointless nagging at Jewel, did she turn her wrath on Genevieve.
“I beg your pardon!”
Well, it was nice while it lasted.
“Please, shut-up.”
“Gen...” Amelia tapped her fingers irritably on the armrest. “This is very important.”
Scoffing, Genevieve replied sarcastically, “Amelia, you think what the weather forecasters say on the news is important...and you throw dramatic temper tantrums if their wrong about it raining or not.”
For a few minutes they both sat there, Genevieve enjoying that brief silence that she knew wouldn't last; so long as Amelia was in the car, that wonderful silence would always be brief.
It took Amelia sighing, for her to know that her sister was about to open her big stupid mouth and say something.
Sure enough, she did. “What is she going to do about next semester's tuition?”
“Well..., that's easy...you give her the money.” pulling her eyes away from the road to look at her sister, Genevieve said, “It was, after all, your big idea for her to do this.”
“We both agreed...”
Genevieve quickly cut Amelia off. “No...It was your idea and that dick wad of a husband of yours...I basically told her to take writing and art courses over at the community college, because it would be cheaper and, if she wanted to attend the university, then she could.”
“Gen, all I want is for Jewel to have a good education...Is that too much to ask?”
“Amelia, Jewel wants to go into a profession that really doesn't require a college degree.”
“Gen, writing books, doesn't make money.”
As sh
e went around another curve, Genevieve sarcastically said, “Really...That's interesting...So, those books I see in the store, what are they...? A figment of my imagination?” she sarcastically smiled at her sister.
For that brief moment, they both didn't say anything. It was the awkward silence forming around them, that finally had Amelia saying, as she looked out her window, at the dark trees around them, “Gen, she needs something realistic...”
“Ah...” doing a raspberry at her sister, Genevieve said, “Your stupid, fool, husband is now talking to me...and I'm not going to allow his mouth in my car.”
“Gen, this is what I believe.”
“Oh come on Amelia..., you had dreams once.” chancing a glance at her sister, she said, “You wanted to be a ballet dancer...Well, that fool husband, of yours, talked you out of your dream...” she paused as she drove around another bend. “I don't think its fair that he's now trying to ruin another person's dreams.”
For that brief moment, they didn't speak. All both of them did, was stare out at the foreboding blackness in front of them. It was kind of spooky, without Tucson's glowing lights, it seemed like a different world – a more ominous world.
It was the sudden of Amelia's voice that finally broke the tension between them. “Marriage requires compromises.”
“Well, maybe that's why I'll never get married...I'm too selfish of a person to really want someone, who I would have to put my whole life on hold to appease.”
XXX
Cirpian was so busy in the kitchen cooking, that he hadn't even noticed that Brian had entered. Showed how wrong Brian was about his alertness. If Cirpian became too comfortable in his surroundings, he let his guard down. He supposed that was typical animal nature; nobody, be them human or otherwise, could keep their guard up all the time – sometimes it was just nice to relax.
“Well..., I'm off.” when Cirpian looked up from what he was doing, Brian thought he saw a hint of surprise on his face, which was quickly replaced with his typical stoic expression. Shrugging, he said, “So, when are your guests showing up?”
“They should be here in a few more hours.” stirring the Alfredo sauce on the stove, Cirpian said, “So, where you off to?”
“I found a juicy AB-, that I want to hunt down.”
The Alexandru Chronicles: The Beginning Page 7
