“What’s this for?”
“Oh you know congratulations on the baby, etcetera.” I frowned as I tossed the basket aside,
“Thanks.” He ran his hands over the dark red wall coverings,
“I think I liked the place when it was empty. Tell me the entire place isn’t covered in this terrible wallpaper.” I shook my head as he smiled.
“So I thought I would ask a favor of you.”
“The answer is no. I’m here to have dinner with you.” I was about to protest when the door opened and Matthieu entered along with his wife, Meredith. She was shorter than him with short hair and a smile that welcomed almost everyone. Her skin was a light caramel tone. She was still human, Matthieu never forced the issue with her. She wore a dark suit with a pattern scarf around her neck,
“Hey Rent,” she said as we embraced. I held her tight as I kissed her cheek, she smelled of roses as she backed away from me, “You look fantastic.”
“Thanks, you look amazing.” She touched my face as she said,
“I hear you have a young lady here.” I nodded slowly,
“What has Matthieu told you?” She sighed as she shook her head,
“That you’re in over your head. Where is she?” I nodded toward the stairs,
“More than likely she’s sleeping…or staring at the ceiling. Her husband was with her, he died.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.”
“What’s a shame was that he was thinking of someone else in his last fleeting moments,” interrupted Octavius. Meredith sighed,
“I’d like to talk to her.” I nodded as I led the way to the master bedroom. All was quiet as we climbed the stairs, I looked back at Meredith as we came to the door. I pushed open the door as I saw her lying under the covers. She was facing the window as Meredith walked over to the bed.
“Hey there, I’m Meredith. I’m a friend of Rent’s. I thought I’d come and sit with you.” I watched as she turned to look up into Meredith’s face. She managed a smile, no one could not return Meredith’s warmth. I left them as I headed back down the stairs to join Octavius and Matthieu.
Matthieu stood in the backyard staring at the lap pool,
“They cheapened out on the pool. I think you should rip it out and install a larger one. Maybe build your own grotto, my friend.” I laughed as I held up my glass of wine,
“Here, here.” Octavius groaned as he replied,
“Let’s get through the one upstairs before we start making plans about building a harem.” Matthieu laughed as he replied,
“I totally agree, plus it would mean I would have to be chaperoned when I came to visit you,” he winked just as Meredith came outside. I looked up as she wore a dark look. I felt my inner ego deflate as she stopped before me,
“This is not good, Rent. That poor girl has no idea who she is. She has very limited memory of her life. The only thing replaying in her head is the attack. She knows that she is married but that is all. Do you have anyone out searching for information?” I shook my head as I looked to Octavius,
“Not really. I brought her here before the clean up crew arrived. I didn’t stick around to look for a car parked near the cemetery.”
“What did she tell you?”
“She’s just confused and she wishes she could remember how she got here.” I looked up at the dark sky as I shrugged,
“I’ll get someone to find anything on her. I know this could all be remedied if I bit her. I’m just not sure that’s the answer right now.” She nodded as she patted my arm,
“I know you’ll do the right thing.”
“Yes, because he always does the right thing,” said Octavius with a smile. I inhaled as I took in the scent of the magnolias surrounding the backyard. I looked at Matthieu as I said,
“Do you know anyone that’s good at getting information?”
“I think I know some people,” he said as we headed into the house again.
I stepped into the room carrying another cup of tea. I had waited in the hall so long the mug was now cool. I knocked lightly as I said,
“You have to drink something.”
“I don’t want anything,” she replied in a low voice. I set the mug down on the nightstand, I saw the glass of water still full. I sat down on the edge of the bed watching her as she looked at me. Her eyes were irritated from the crying. I reached over as I pushed her hair from her face. She looked away from me,
“I just want to go to sleep. I don’t want to be bothered.”
“Ok,” I replied as I got up and left the room. I had been in her place many times before. I had lost people I loved. I sometimes wondered if maybe that was my motivation for sleeping so long. I couldn’t remember a time when Phillip was not in my life. I had him at my side when I lost someone.
“He is the greatest,” I recalled telling Octavius one night long ago.
“You have to say that because you’re my dad,” Phillip had said as we sat by the Mississippi. It had been a late summer night right before the attack.
“No, I’m saying that because it’s the truth. I have never known anyone in my lifetime that always works at being selfless. To be like this and still look out for others is a feat.”
“What? Am I some sort of undead crime fighter for the human race?” I had laughed as I recalled him fighting a would be thief in the Quarter.
“You could say that.” And he was gone now. I stood in the hallway and realised that I was still not over his death. I looked up to the ceiling as I said,
“Goddamn her.”
Why she continued to live in the city was beyond me. Her scent clung to the very air I inhaled. I walked through the streets Uptown as I followed her trail. I knew she was living in an apartment building near Camp. I didn’t know what her game was now. She had taken my son, my life. I thought about the girl lying in my house crying her eyes out for a worthless person that did not love her. I passed a house where people were standing on the porch laughing and drinking cocktails. It occurred to me that it was Christmas now. My thoughts were clouded by Phillip as a child; celebrating his first Christmas. I sighed as I realized that I could not formulate the memory. His birth had been a miracle as I had recalled. I stopped at the corner near her apartment building as I looked up toward her window. I could see the windows were dark, five years since I had last looked into her face. She had been enraged when she attacked me. Her hands around my neck,
“I want you to die!”
I stood inside her door now. I could see her lying on the sofa in front of the television. I walked over to stand in front of her. She was sleeping. The apartment was smaller than my guest bedroom. It was filled with boxes that were largely still packed. I could see her clothing strewn about on the floor. I kneeled before her, staring into her face. She would be thirty now but you would never know. She had drank from me in a weak moment. I imagined she still was asked for identification when she purchased alcohol. I reached out to touch her as her eyes fluttered open. She jerked back and sat up quickly until she was scrambling over the sofa to her feet.
“What are you doing here?” I stood up as I placed my hands on my hips,
“I should ask you the same question.”
“I thought you were dead!” I shook my head as I replied,
“Impossible, you see I have this minor affliction. There is no cure for it.”
“That’s a lie…you were as good as dead that night. Do you know how long I have been in hiding? I made a truce with Klaus but they still come after me.”
“You tried to kill me, Samara.” Watching her standing against the wall I could see the anger building in her. She was looking around the room; she was without a weapon.
“Why are you here?”
“I asked you first.”
“This is my home, Rent. I couldn’t keep running for the rest of my life.”
“You made that choice long ago. Why didn’t you walk away?”
“Why didn’t you just leave me alone? You were cheating on me! Do you know what it was like being made into a fool? Everyone knew you were seeing that girl. Everyone! It made me so angry. I didn’t understand how you could tell me you loved me and then go to her…it was wrong!” I frowned as I shook my head,
“That’s a lie. It was all over with us. Everything had ended, you just didn’t want to move on. You killed my son. You took the one thing in my life that was good. He didn’t have a thing against you.”
“He would have come after me.” I cursed as I moved across the room and slammed her against the wall.
“Are you going to kill me?” Her voice was shaking as I stared into her face. I pushed away from her as I backed away. I headed for the door as I looked back at her standing in the middle of the room.
“You can’t do it because you know I was right. You know what you did, Rent.” I shut the door behind me as I climbed down the flight of stairs and headed back into the cold night. I could hear her bounding behind me now. I was already crossing the street as I heard the snap of her crossbow. I ducked as I felt the arrow shoot past and shatter a car window. I looked back as she reloaded. I watched as she was knocked over by a shadowy figure. She struggled against her attacker as I made out the pale face of a boy. She was calling out his name,
“Trevor, stop! Stop it!” I watched their violent battle on the lawn before me. I looked back as I saw Marc rushing to my side. I held up my hand as he stopped.
“I said stop!” I backed away as the boy with the pale face looked up at us. His dark eyes were like orbs shining in the dark. I looked at Marc as he whispered,
“He’s so loaded on Styce.” I nodded as he looked down at Samara, his mouth already wide open. He jerked down and clamped on her throat. She let out a scream as his teeth tore at her throat.
“Shit, should we do something?” I stepped forward as the boy sat up and opened his mouth filled with her blood. He hissed at us as I stared down at her,
“I don’t know.” Her eyes were wide as she opened her mouth to form words. She reached out as she grabbed her attacker. Her hair had come loose and was now spread out all around her. Her blood was pooled around her body now as he leaned over her and returned to drinking from her. I turned away as I grabbed Marc,
“Let’s go.”
We sat in the middle of Café du Monde now. I shook the excess sugar from my beignet into the café au lait. Marc sat quietly as a saxophone player sat nearby playing a mournful tune. The café was empty for the holiday. I looked around as I said,
“He must have been her boyfriend.”
“She called him by his name. How could she get wrapped up in a loser like that?” I shrugged, I couldn’t recall her talking about previous relationships. As far as I was concerned when I met her I was the first.
“Didn’t you meet her when she was really young?”
“Yeah, she was sixteen, her uncle had been tracking us for as long as I can remember. Octavius promised that we would play nice. That was until I met her. Things soured after her uncle’s death. She was sent packing and I followed.”
“No wonder she went ape shit when you were fooling around on her.” I shook my head,
“Things had ended. I wanted to marry her but she didn’t know what she wanted. I moved on but she never left. I’d come home and she was still there.”
“Did you tell her it was over?”
“Yeah, she didn’t take it well. Samara liked to be in control all the time. It made her angry when things didn’t go her way.” We grew silent as we drank our coffee, the saxophone player was talking to a couple of college girls. I thought about Ava and Nina now. I wondered if they had spilled what they had done with me. Or if they had bottled up what had occurred and chalked it up to a random encounter.
“Who’s at your house now?” I cursed as I reached into my pocket and produced a few bills. Marc laughed as he said,
“Did you forget about the girl?” I nodded as I headed for his car,
“Would you mind giving me a ride home?”
“Oh, I take it you forgot how to fly?” I laughed as I opened the door and got in. I didn’t know anyone knew that I could fly. It was a strange rumor that had started long ago.
“Flapping your wings does not make you fly, Rent.” I glared at Marc as we headed Uptown. I could see the sun rising now,
“You’ll have to stay at my house today.” He nodded as he sped up, without his sunscreen I would have to explain his burns to Octavius.
I offered him my bedroom as he headed for the darkened room. Because he was still new to it all, when dawn came, he was exceptionally tired like a newborn. It would be impossible to wake him. I understood why fledglings never made it past the first century. Having been around so long it was easy to spot the newer ones. They could sit and fall into a deep sleep almost immediately.
“Goodnight Marc.” I headed for her room as I pushed open the door. She was sitting on the edge of the bed now. She held a cup of hot tea as she looked up,
“I heard you come in.”
“It was a late night.” She nodded as she pushed her hair behind her ear,
“I have tried to figure out why you were in the cemetery that night and the only thing I can guess is that you rob graves.” I burst out laughing as I shook my head,
“It’s far from that.”
“So tell me, why were you out there? I mean you don’t seem like the caped crusader type.” I looked down at the jeans and gray hoodie I wore now.