The Alexandru Chronicles: The Beginning

by Julienne Holmes

  Frowning, Cirpian, abruptly halting in his cooking, looked over at Brian. “AB-?”

  “Yep..., I found a pretty little lass, that is my favorite blood type.”

  “Like Angelina?”

  Irritably sighing, Brian replied, “I suppose this little chick, is a little like her.”

  “Right...” Cirpian went back to his cooking. Sensing the hostility in Brian's mood, he said, “Have fun.”

  “Do you mean it?”

  “Not a word.”

  He knew instantly when Brian had left the kitchen, because no sooner was that overwhelming hostility in the air; was it gone.

  Brian didn't like to talk about Angelina. Possibly it was because he knew, that he had behaved no better than the common ass. First courting her. Then tossing her to the side, once he had gotten what he wanted out of her.

  It was a shame, because Angelina had been such a pretty thing with desires of romantic love and marriage. Yet, from the moment she laid eyes upon Brian, she had lost her heart. Like so many of the women before her, she had thrown caution to the wind and let herself be swept up in Brian's empty promises.

  Once Brian had gotten what he wanted out of her, which was her blood type, he had dismissed her.

  The rejection alone had devastated the woman and destroyed whatever self-esteem she had had in herself.

  “Poor Angelina...”

  Cirpian disgruntledly shook his head. Yet, what could he do about this other woman.

  It was next to impossible to deter Brian away from his intended target. If he was motivated enough, he would successfully make this woman another one of his conquest.

  XXX

  Not only was the silence unbearable, but it settled upon the car like that of the thick dense fog from the night before. As Genevieve sat forward in her seat, trying to see through the dark murkiness in front of her, she again couldn't help kicking herself for forgetting her tunes. At least the drive to their destination would have been, at the most, somewhat bearable. Without music, though, it seemed never ending.

  She supposed that she could have a conversation with Amelia...

  Yet, the only problem with that, was that Amelia and her, never had had a decent conversation – they were constantly fighting. Since from the very beginning, when both of them could form a syllable, it was only to challenge one another. Just saying good morning to each other, had both of them at each others throats – their fights always involved both of them going for the jugular.

  Again, Genevieve was back to wondering, scornfully, on how she could have been so stupid, to have forgotten her music?

  Yet, it wasn't really as much as stupidity, as she couldn't focus.

  After what happened the night before, and then that morning, she was having a hard time processing anything – her brain was on overload.

  She tried reassuring herself, that that song, was just a coincidence. That the woman it was for, just by mere chance had her name.

  Possibly, she would have believed it, if not for two facts: One, she had heard that song, the night before, eerily playing from a dead man's apartment. And two, her dead stiff's name just so happened to have been the Sandman. With those two factors considered, she now was overwhelmed by that persisted nagging feeling that something was just not right.

  Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung.

  Surprisingly looking over at her radio, she noticed that Amelia was fiddling with the channel knob, trying to tune it into a station. Yet, it appeared that the only station that was coming in clearly, was the oldies station, which just so happened to be playing Mr. Sandman.

  Groaning, Genevieve hastily turned the radio off. While the silence was bad, that song was worse – she would spend the remainder of the night having nightmares, if she listened to that song again.

  “What did you do that for...? That's the only station that's coming in.”

  Not even sparing her sister a side way glance, she said, “I hate that song.”

  “Since when...you use to love it?”

  “Well, now I don't.”

  Before Amelia could reply, it was then that they both noticed a strange silhouette walking on the opposite side of the road. At first Genevieve didn't know how to react to this.

  What if it was one of those eery shadows from the night before?

  What then?

  Yet, once her headlights were able to let her distinguish that the silhouette was nothing more than a person, a man, to be more accurate, who was rapidly strolling along, she breathed a sigh of relief. While the man wasn't looking directly at her, Genevieve noticed how his eyes seemed to be contently staring off in the opposite direction.

  While Genevieve was relieved that the silhouette wasn't an eery shadow, she couldn't help feeling this cold shiver run down her spine at how eery the man seemed. When first coming upon him, it had seemed like he had appeared out of thin air.

  Yet instead of dwelling on this little disconcerting piece of information, Genevieve decided to lighten the mood with a joke, “Hey look, Jewel, your future husband.”

  Jewel, who had already taken off her headphones, was staring, perplexedly, out the back window, and when she suddenly yelled out, “Stop!” Genevieve was so surprised, that she almost did.

  As the car slowed almost to a complete stop, Genevieve, who was now looking in her rear-view mirror at her sister, noticed how Jewel was contently staring out the back window.

  “What?”

  “Stop the car!”

  “Are you kidding me...?” chuckling, she said, “I was just joking...We're not stopping the car, to pick up a hitch hiker...Besides, he's going the wrong way.”

  As she sped away, Genevieve continued to briefly look in her rear-view mirror at the disappearing man in back of her. If the night sky hadn't been so lacking of a moon, possibly, she would have been able to make out how the man was watching her car disappear from sight; a lot more interested in her car than she had been in him.

  XXX

  The moment he sensed the alluring aroma of her blood, he abruptly halted in his tracks. He had been hurrying along so fast, that the suddenness of her blood, had somewhat taken him off guard.

  As he peered through the darkness, for where it was coming from, that was when he saw the car. Long before it drove upon him, he had seen it just miles up the road, and, as he watched it come toward him, it's headlights trained on him, he got an even more intense whiff of his AB-.

  As he continued watching the car, it eventually drove past him, only slowing slightly, but quickly speeding up. It was in that briefness, though, that he noticed the perplexedly of his little AB-'s face; her owl shaped eyes made more intense by the red taillights.

  Was it possible that she could remember him?

  He had thought that he had done a fair job at erasing her memory.

  Yet, apparently, she remembered more than she should have.

  How much?

  He wasn't entirely sure.

  Swiftly turning back around and heading in the exact same direction as the disappearing car, he found himself hoping that his AB- didn't remember anything about that strange night – especially Mister Strange.

  XXX

  When they finally pulled up to Amelia's client's house, Genevieve was so impressed by the mansion that she couldn't help whistling.

  “What a house.”

  Looking over at her sister, Amelia noticed the green envy on her sister's face. “You could have bought it.”

  “With what money?” Genevieve smiled sarcastically at Amelia. “I'm a cop..., we don't make that much... unless we have a side a job or some sort of inheritance.”

  “What about that cop you work with, Jeffrey something another...He has money.”

  “Detective Malcolm...? Well, that's easy, he's on the take.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Unbuckling her seat belt and opening the door, Genevieve said, “He's dirty.”

  After they had all gotten out of the car, and started making their way up the walkway
, Amelia suddenly grabbed her sister by the arm. She couldn't help being curious and, at the same time, worried on why Genevieve would say that. It hadn't been, but a few nights ago that her husband had invited Detective Jeffrey Malcolm and his wife over to their house for dinner.

  “How do you know that?”

  Shrugging, Genevieve replies, “He has a large sum of money, that can't be explained away.”

  “Didn't he inherit something from his father?”

  “Yea, but because of his gambling and over spending, he went through it in about a year.”

  Once they had reached the house, Genevieve rang the door bell.

  While Amelia was still curiously wanting to ask more questions, she hadn't the time to do so, before the door flung open and there stood their host.

  The surprise of that door opening, hadn't just taken Amelia off guard, but Genevieve had been surprisingly stunned by it. She had just as curiously been wondering why Amelia was so interested in Detective Malcolm. Yet, like Amelia, she didn't have the time to ask, before she was distracted by that first glance of their host.

  That first glance of their host, had Genevieve automatically doing a double take.

  It was surprising how quick her present thoughts evaporated. Just the sight of this seductive man in front of her, had her literally blown away.

  He had platinum blonde hair, grayish blue eyes, and was wearing a midnight black suit.

  He was, so...so..so...hmmm... There were no words to describe him and her thoughts had totally deserted her. The only emotion she could comprehend, was how royally pissed she was with Amelia, for not setting her up with the gorgeous specimen that now stood in front of her.

  Na, her sister had to set her up with douche bags—like Keith.

  It hurt to look at this man. Yet, it would have been more painful not to.

  “Hello, I'm Cirpian Alexandru.” the Romanian accent was a nice touch.

  “Mr. Alexandru...,” it was Amelia's voice that had her hypnotic trance slightly broken. “these are my sisters, Genevieve and Jewel Freemen.”

  “It's nice to meet you both.” his gaze lingered on Genevieve's, and leaning out he ushered them in.

  While Cirpian couldn't see Genevieve, there was something distracting about her presence. Her blood gave off this strong, familiar, authoritative aroma. He so itched to touch her face and see if she had that same strong bone structure as the woman he had known centuries ago. Yet, it was when Jewel walked past him, that he was ultimately distracted away from Genevieve; when he caught a whiff of her blood—his senses instantly tingled.

  AB-.

  He wondered if this woman was possibly Brian's AB-.

  Was it possible that Jewel Freemen was the delectable AB-, that Brian had been so persistently wanting?

  What were the chances that a woman, who Brian was set out to ruin, would show up on his door step?

  It had to be either a fortunate coincidence or a fluke.

  Before closing the door, he stepped out on to the porch. When he breathed in the fresh mountain air, he caught Brian's recognizable scent.

  “Idiot.”

  “I beg your pardon.” he turned at the sound of Genevieve's voice.

  The moment he heard it, he felt this familiar yet strange sensation. It had been such a long time since he had heard such a voice. There was this unbelievable strength to it, this authoritative quality that he had never thought he would ever hear again in another woman's voice. Yet, here it was.

  “Nothing.” hastily walking back into the house, he closed the door behind him.

  As he walked past his three guests, he said, “Please follow me, dinner is already on the table.”

  Chapter Ten

  “You are really going to enjoy living here, Mr. Alexandru, the sunrises are breathe taking up here in the Arizona mountains...” Jewel dished up some of the mouth watering chicken Alfredo.

  “Maybe you could tell me what they look like...Jewel...” he smiled over at her. “So, that I can imagine them.”

  Genevieve who had been ready to dish up some of the pasta, herself, abruptly stopped. “What do you mean..., by imagine?”

  Looking over at her, Cirpian replied, “I'm blind.”

  XXX

  He could smell her, she was in Cirpian's house.

  That bastard...He tricked him!

  There was that slim chance, that Cirpian hadn't even known that the luscious, doe, eyed, AB- was in fact his, but then again, knowing Cirpian, like he did, he probably had already figured it out and wouldn't let him any where near her.

  The man had too much of a chivalrous conscience—another unnatural quality for a vampire.

  Regardless of that, he was going to get his little AB-. If he had to, he would go right through both the chivalrous ass and those two other humans.

  If worse came to worse, he would just kill Cirpian – the bastard had been alive too long anyway.

  “I have to have her.” as he muttered this all the way to the back of the house, he could feel himself becoming even more blood thirsty.

  XXX

  Genevieve, bring a fork full of pasta to her mouth, inquired curiously, “So..., what reason did you have for wanting to live here in Arizona, Mr. Alexandru?”

  “I drove through Tucson awhile back...and while I wasn't too fond of Tucson, itself, I did enjoy being up in the mountains.”

  “I think that it just depends on where you live, in Tucson...My husband and I...”

  Cutting Amelia off, Genevieve said, “You know, if you love the mountains so much, you should try living up in New Mexico.”

  “Really?”

  “Yea...” ignoring Amelia's hostile glare, from across the table, Genevieve said, “My mom left me and Jewel...” she gently patted Jewel's, who was sitting in the seat next to her, hand. “a house up there in Bluewater.” after saying this, Genevieve then looked across the table at Amelia, who was staring daggers at her. If looks could kill, Genevieve had a feeling that she would have, just from that glare that Amelia was giving her, succumbed and possibly died right then. As it was, Amelia's glares didn't have that ability.

  The one resentment that Amelia and her husband had toward their deceased mother, was that Genevieve and Jewel had both inherited their mother's house. Their mom had felt, that since Amelia and her husband's plans had consisted on selling the house and property, once she was dead, that she should leave it to the two individuals who actually wanted it. And both Jewel and Genevieve were those two individuals. It wasn't that Amelia hadn't inherited anything, she had been left a small amount of money, plus her mother's car, a few priceless pieces of jewelry, some furniture, and the majority of the items in their mother's safety deposit box. Yet, Amelia had still felt like she had been gipped.

  While Cirpian couldn't see either woman, nor the glares that both Amelia and Genevieve were exchanging, he could sense both Genevieve's and Amelia's utter hostility toward each other. The only one who wasn't exchanging hostile glares with her sisters, was Jewel. Yet, Jewel was nervous, he could sense that, in not just her scent, but the noises she was making as she fidgeted with her silverware.

  The way both were treating each other, at that moment, had him wondering if both sisters were possibly enemies or, at the least, rivals. They seemed to love each other. Yet, they also appeared to have this utter contempt for one another. There had been times during the course of the meal, where they did actually exchange decent conversation with one another. It was during those short intervals, that Cirpian had felt that it was possible for both women to have the same loving companionship that they had with their little sister. Yet, no sooner had he thought and felt this, was that hostility back in the air between the two women and they were back to wanting to rip each others throats out.

  It was just as the hostility was becoming somewhat more pungent and Jewel's fidgeting was starting to get on his nerves, that he decided to try and steer the conversation to something a little safer than talking about where one should or should not live or v
isit. Yet, just as he was about to do this, he suddenly felt this overwhelming blood lust. He wasn't as much surprised by who was feeling it, as the suddenness of the emotion – it left him feeling drained.

  The disadvantage of being the master of another vampire, and there were many, yet this was one of the major draw backs, was the emotional and physical link he had with that vampire.

  He had turned Brian, and two others, but the link between Brian and himself was a whole lot stronger than the one he had with the other two vampires.

  He couldn't really say why this was.

  One theory he had, was that before turning Brian, they had developed a pretty strong emotional bond – something close to a brotherhood. Yet, now that friendship, was, if anything, close to being over. Both men had either changed too much or one, in particular, hadn't changed all.

  When he abruptly stood up from his chair, he could sense how startled his guests became over his suddenness; that hostility in the air, was replaced with this slight curiosity.

  Yet, he didn't just sense this emotion from Genevieve, but he also sensed her alertness – her survival instincts were kicking in. She wasn't sure what his intentions were, and she was prepared to react if her instincts told her to do so.

  “I have to go get some more champagne from the kitchen.”

  “Do you need some help?” when Cirpian sensed the change in Genevieve's alertness – her mood became more accommodating—he couldn't help the slight smile that pulled at his lips.

  While he would have liked nothing more than to have a few minutes alone with Genevieve, he knew that at this time it wasn't wise; really he couldn't afford to draw too much suspicion to himself. He wasn't entirely sure what Genevieve's reaction would be at finding out, that he was vampire – her rational mentality, could very well lead to her viewing him as a mental case.

  At the sound of both hers and Jewel's chairs scraping across the hard wood floor, Cirpian was swiftly yanked out of his wandering thoughts. When he realized both women's intentions, he sternly said, “No..., don't worry about it; I know where it is.”

  Not giving either one time to object or say anything, he hastily headed out of the dinning room.