“It’s going, I was just telling my dad about a place I saw on Harmony. It’s a nice looking place…some guys I know thought it would be cool to live in. My dad doesn’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Well its good to want your own place – but Phillip tried the roommate thing for awhile. He found he liked living alone. It’s totally up to you though. I mean as far as having girls over…” I looked to Octavius as he shook his head. I looked at him dumbfounded as Marc grinned,
“It’s ok, dad.”
“Oh, I had no idea…I really missed a lot.” Marc laughed as he nodded,
“Some of my friends still haven’t gotten used to it but it doesn’t bother me.”
“As long as you are happy,” I said as I headed for the fridge.
“Yeah, it was worse when I was lying to everyone about it. Anyway, I’m heading out, I’ll see you all later?”
“Sure, call me later,” called Octavius as Marc headed out the kitchen door. I watched him walk around to the front of the house as I looked to Octavius,
“He had me fooled, I thought he was dating the girl around the corner.”
“I thought so too, that is until I found out he was actually helping her walk in heels. I’m not shocked at all – I had a moment of androgyny back in the seventies.” I thought a moment to the gold lame boots and heavy makeup,
“Oh I couldn’t forget that in a million years.” I pulled a bottle of water from the fridge as I looked to the steaming mug sitting on the counter. He motioned to it as I reached for it,
“So what’s the plan for the day?”
“I thought I would get someone to look at the damage at the old place, maybe talk to a realtor.”
“Well, I’ll be in the confines of the house till dark, be safe.” I nodded as I recalled the windows being covered in a protective film to block the ultraviolet rays. I took the mug as I said,
“My car is in the garage, yes?” He nodded as he replied,
“And the keys are in the visor.”
I sat at a stoplight with the sun beating down on my head. I would have to have an ipod dock installed in my car. I had met with a woman that was willing to take the house on Second off my hands. The house had generated interest as it had sat in disrepair for so long.
“I was out of the country,” I said when asked about the damage to the second floor window. She nodded as she offered up a contractor that could do the repairs.
“Thank you and please let me know if anyone meets my offer – I’m ready to let it go for next to nothing.”
“Well, I will be sure to get you a good price, Mr. Tres.” I had left her office feeling like a hundred years had been taken off my chest.
“Could I get you another drink?” I looked up at the girl pointing to the empty glass before me, I nodded as she snatched it up and disappeared. I looked around Port O’ Call, it was still teaming with life since I had last been. The one thing I refused to change was my diet once I turned, I still dined on food and liquor. The only thing that separated me from the others was the fact that I had never died. When people asked of my origin it was hard for me to explain. The truth is that I had forgotten. The names and faces of my family had erased with time. It was bound to happen to anyone that lived as long as me. I knew Octavius was having a hard time with forgetting his origin at times. I had found him so long ago wandering in the rain sometime after the French Revolution. He spoke French and I was only interested in his blood. Unfortunately we both had the problem that we shared a common affliction. He couldn’t name the one that made him, it was understandable as she was female and recently staked.
“Ok, here’s your coke…anything else I can get you?” I looked up into her dark eyes as she smiled down at me. I shook my head as I replied,
“I think I’m good for now, thanks.” She flashed a smile as she spun around and headed for another table. I found it hard to think of falling for someone else again. I took a drink as I thought about the last time I had sat in this place. Samara sitting across from me with her arms crossed. She was aggravated by something at the time. Samara.
“Why do we come here?” I looked up at her as I took a bite out of my hamburger. I wiped my mouth as I chewed and shrugged,
“I like it – I’ve been coming here forever.” She narrowed her eyes as she said,
“Don’t you find it strange that no one else can have a meal? I mean I don’t even recall my last meal. It’s hard to sit here and wait for you to eat like a human.”
“Uh, last I checked, I still had a pulse.”
“You’re an anomaly.”
“Damn right,” I said as I sat back and stared at her. She had a way of making me feel dirty for the things I enjoyed.
“Can we go now?” I hadn’t returned after that night.
“Octavius?” I knocked on the door to his study as he looked up from the books on his desk; he was wearing his glasses. I found it interesting that a turned gambler could cure the vampires lurking in the dark.
“I was a terrible card player.”
“Yes I know…we lost many houses because of it.” He narrowed his eyes as he replied,
“Oh remember that pretty little English girl…Clara…she was beautiful…her house was even nicer.” I thought of the petite red head that had lived in the countryside and had land for as far as the eye could see. She had fallen for Octavius until she realised he had lost her home in a bad card game. I could recall her screaming at him from the road as we rode on horseback and never looked back.
“Until you lost it! God, she hated us both for that.” I laughed as I sank into the leather chair before him.
“So what’s the visit, I take it the house is on the market.”
“It’s as good as sold. She had a place on Chestnut that was available. I told her I would take a look at it, I think it’s the old Dumas place.”
“It had a ballroom…” I nodded to him as I smiled,
“That was a beautiful house.” I looked down at my clothes as I looked up to him,
“I also phoned someone to pick up a few things from one of the clothing stores – I felt like I was putting you out with the expense.” He shook his head,
“That was something that Marc was doing for you.” I thought to the boy lathered in sunscreen that headed out of the house earlier.
“So what are you working on?” He looked down at his books then shrugged,
“Nothing really, I was actually talking to someone back East earlier about the boy that we took care of last night.” In all the time I had known Octavius he never talked about his work in detail. He refused to talk ill of his patients – no matter the case.
“It seems he was turned by someone that was unfamiliar to this. I asked if this person had made others and sadly yes. This person has left many fledglings to fend for themselves and thus they have all been killed.” I shook my head at the idea.
“Any ideas?” He shook his head as he replied,
“They’ve been staked before anyone could gather a blood sample. These guys have no scent to them…they hunt alone which means they have no clan.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said as I tried to think back to a time when I was alone. It was hard to imagine a time when I had no affiliations. Only someone hiding from the world above would do such a thing.
“I just had a funny thought.” He smirked at the idea,
“It’s not far from what I was thinking as well.” The very thought that she would attempt the feat of turning others made me angry.
“She must have learned from others,” I said as I crossed my arms.
“Or the very least it was by accident.”
We were back at Jean Lafitte’s again and sharing a bottle of absinthe. He refused the cube of sugar as he drank his straight,
“Of all the rotten things she has done.”
“Nearly draining me was the worst,” I said as I looked around the bar. Already it was crawling with tourists, I had forgotten it was the weekend.
“This place is like amateur hour – is that house on Chestnut vacant?” I shrugged as I picked up the bottle and nodded to the bartender. We headed for the exit as we made our way back to my car.
“Wait,” he said holding out his hand. I stopped in my tracks as I realised her scent was everywhere around us. I turned until I saw her standing across the street watching us. She wore a white suit her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders. She looked away as a car stopped before her. The valet stepped out as she handed him a tip and got in. I looked to Octavius as he cursed,
“What the hell is she doing back here?”
“She knew I didn’t die that day.” He shook his head as he looked to my car,
“Well if she’s sniffing around your old place, you don’t live there anymore.”
“I think she knew a day would come that I would wake up. She doesn’t look like anyone that is suffering…” I had long imagined that she was sitting in a room locked up cursing the day we met. To think I was the one lying in my own lie. I cursed under my breath as I got into the drivers seat.
“Rent, we made a truce in the first days after your attack.” I looked to him as I sped off down the street and headed back toward the freeway.
“The truce was with her?”
“Yeah, all of us agreed that she could go her way and we would not attack as long as she stayed out of the city. She broke that tonight.”
“So what was the punishment?” He looked out the window at the lights moving quickly now as we sped along. He shrugged,
“An equal punishment…”
“We’re not the only ones that saw her tonight.” He shook his head,
“She didn’t look like she was hiding. I should call Klaus.” I put out my hand as I said,
“Wait, maybe we should see what she wants.”
“What? You’ve got to be kidding me…see what she wants? She wants to put you in your coffin for good this time.” I pulled off the freeway as I shook my head,
“No, she looked shocked to see us both. Samara wasn’t good about hiding her feelings.”
“Oh I know what this is about…you want to figure out why she attacked you. You cheated on her and she went insane, how’s that for closure.” I looked at him as a car pulled up beside us teaming with drunk girls hanging out the car windows,
“Woo! Hey guys where’s the party?” Octavius smiled as he yelled out the window,
“If you can make it to First and Chestnut…” I sped off before he could finish, “Hey I was trying to get us a meal for later tonight!”
“Not tonight, Octavius.”
“You know anyone that didn’t think we were vampires would think we were a couple of old life partners.” I drove down St. Charles as I turned onto First,
“Octavius, we are life partners.”
“Not in the eternal way, my friend.” I thought a moment then gagged,
“If I was to look at a man, it certainly would not be you.”
“I’m hurt,” he said with a laugh then followed with, “but I agree you aren’t for me.”
The house sat on the corner looming before us. It was dark save for the porch light. I pushed open the gate as I headed up the walk. I wandered around the side of the house to the backyard. I stopped before the lap pool it had been drained by the previous owner. I looked back at the house to notice the backdoor was ajar. I nodded to Octavius as we headed indoors. He followed me into the service entrance. I saw the laundry room was bare save for a box of detergent. Through another door and we were standing in the kitchen. It had been remodeled for the sort of person that loved to cook. I remembered the mention of a ballroom as I said,
“I’d imagine they needed a massive kitchen.”
“Yes, I was here for a Halloween party a few years back. The ballroom was amazing.” He moved ahead of me as he headed down the long dark hallways, I followed as I took in a small library as well as a parlor room and a formal sitting room. I felt a bit of guilt knowing this house would not hold the sort of person meant to enjoy it. I heard the groan of a door deep in the house as I followed the sound. I found Octavius standing in the ballroom he turned to look at me as he smiled,
“This is nice.”
“I agree I cannot believe I was living in that slum of a place.”
“How many millions did you squeeze out of it?”
“Not many with the repairs it needed. Apparently the carriage house had a small termite problem.” He wrinkled his nose as he stared up at the chandeliers above us,
“Imported crystal…this is lovely.”
“Yeah, here’s the best part – two bedrooms upstairs.”
“Is that so? Well someone was feeling selfish.” I nodded as I replied,
“I was told the wife didn’t want her husbands children to feel too comfortable when they visited. The carriage house out back was turned into storage.”
“Yikes, paging Wicked Stepmother! So I take it they divorced?”
“Nope, they bought a house back East.” He nodded as he headed for the door I followed him as he said,
“Well, good thing you don’t have anyone annoying like that around.” I nodded as I looked back at the ballroom and shut the doors.
The sun was rising when we returned to his place. I waved him off as he headed for his room,
“I haven’t stayed out that late in ages. I don’t know how Marc does it.”
“He has the whole age thing on us,” I said as I headed for my room. Shutting the door behind me I collapsed on the bed fully clothed. She was still on my mind but I knew I had to rest if I wanted to think clearly. My head was still swimming from the absinthe I had drank and I realised I had not fed entirely enough. I felt weak from the day and promised to visit the blood bank when I awoke. Pulling the covers over my head I was fast asleep without any thoughts.