The Vampire Pirate's Daughter (10 page)

He slides down the couch and sits down next
to me on the floor. He pulls his knees up and rests his arms
between his legs.

He laughs softly. “Really? You are going to
call yourself Simone?”

Smiling brightly, I turn toward him. “Yes,
and I think you should be Simon.”

We start the game as two individuals, we run
off to work, we return home, clean puddles and build our homes
filling it with furniture. The time passes quickly and somewhere in
between living virtual lives, Amanda came in and said
goodnight.

Later on I laugh. “Hey, keep your Sim away
from me. I am already married here.”

He guffaws. “Ya, but look how much Simon
loves Simone, he cannot stay away from her. Simone is breaking his
heart.”

He guides his Sim toward my Sim, and they
lock into an embrace and then the screen goes blurry.

He says softly, “Don’t you just hate when
that happens. Do they really have to hide the fun parts?”

I punch at him playfully, feeling
uncomfortable, and then he leans into me. He puts his arm around my
shoulders and he pulls me closer into him. Softly he brushes his
lips over mine and immediately I feel a warmness rush over me. He
brings his hand up and then he gently holds his hand against my
cheek, while kissing me with slow determination. It is the longest,
most breathtaking kiss, I have ever experienced - my first real
kiss. When he gently pulls away from me, he looks at me with a soft
smile. Tenderly he says, “I know how I feel about you and I am
really sorry for being jealous.”

We kiss again and soon after he says,
outwardly frustrated, “I better leave, the sun will be up soon and
I have to make sure I am home before Carmine’s dad wakes up.”

He stands up and I follow him up from the
floor. Together we walk to the door hand in hand, and then at the
end of the driveway, on the verge, he turns to me and takes me into
his arms. I reach up to him and he kisses me again.

He smiles. “Jeez, I cannot stop kissing you.
As soon as one kiss ends, I have this compulsion to reach in for
another.”

I laugh softly, embarrassed.

He sighs deeply. “I’ll see you again tomorrow
night?”

I smile shyly. “I’ll be here.”

“Is nine too early?”

“No, it’s perfect.” I hear the song of the
morning birds and then I laugh apologetically. “I better go inside
as well. You know the sun and all of that.”

He smiles and then still holding my hand, he
starts to walk away from me. He slowly, gently lets my hand go. My
hand falls back to my side and I watch him until I cannot see him
anymore. I go inside and walk straight to the basement.

I wait impatiently for night, and when it is
almost nine o’clock, I walk out into our driveway. I see him coming
down the road from up the hill and he is pushing his motorbike.

I walk onto the verge of the road and I ask
curiously, “And now?”

He laughs. “I sneaked out and I could not
exactly start my bike in front of the house.” He stops in front of
me and then he pushes the stand out from under the bike, letting it
lean onto the stand. He lets go of the handlebars and hands me a
helmet. He asks, “Suppose we went for a ride tonight?”

“I suppose that would be acceptable.”

He looks at me suddenly serious. “I don’t
have a white horse, but I have this horse, and I would like to
rescue you from the great treacherous villain, called Sir
Boredom.”

I laugh loudly. “No seducing me with your Sim
tonight?”

“Maybe later.”

I pull the elastic band from my hair and my
red hair tumbles down onto my shoulders. I put the helmet on over
my head and Andrew asks amused, “Aren’t you going to tell Amanda we
are leaving?”

“
Jeez. I was so excited, I completely
forgot. Don’t go away, I’ll be right back.”

I run up the small lawn toward the front
door, sidestepping the Koi pond gracefully. I run into the house
and call, “Amanda.”

I hear her voice coming from upstairs,
“Here.”

I run up the stairs two at a time and then I
rush into her room. I see the sadness on her face, but I am too
excited and it does not really register at that specific
moment.

I ask excitedly, “Can I please go with
Andrew?”

Amanda looks toward me absentmindedly. “Yes,
of course. Just be back before sunrise.”

Turning away from her, I run down the stairs
and call out, “Thanks.”

When I get back to Andrew, he smiles. “That
was fast.”

I reply jokingly, “I am fast - remember.”

A shadow crosses his face, but then he leans
down and pulls the footrests out of the space it is nestled into.
He puts his helmet on while I pull mine over my head and then
lifting his leg, he straddles the motorbike. While he inches
forward, I climb on behind him awkwardly. I put my feet on the
footrests and then I hold onto the bar behind me.

I hear him say, “You can hold onto me, you
know.”

“I know. I am not dense - you know.”

He starts the motorbike and the thunderous
vibration under me makes me feel nervously excited. I have been on
a motorbike before, but it has been such a long time, and now being
on one with Andrew excites me more than I thought possible.

He pulls away suddenly and I automatically
lean into him. The crash helmet makes it awkward and I cannot hold
my head against his back, but I wrap my arms around his waist.

We drive out of the estate slowly and then
through the streets, but when we get to the old Johannesburg Road,
he throttles the gears and suddenly the motorbike speeds up
dramatically. We lean with the bike as we go around the corners and
for a short moment, very briefly, I imagine being mortal.

Later, when Andrew drops me off at home, I
feel invigorated and he gets down from his bike as well. He laughs
softly. “Now I am going to have to push this heavy thing up the
hill.”

“Leave it here. I promise I won’t use it and
it would be safe in the garage.”

“
I would love to, but when Mr. van Heerden
does not see it tomorrow in his garage, he will be asking a million
questions. He is already not impressed with me.” He smiles amused.
“Besides, it’s four in the morning and I do not want to discuss
anything other than you.”

He takes my hand and he pulls me closer to
him. I go willingly. He wraps his arms around my waist. His legs
are apart as he leans back against the motorbike and I stand in the
space between his legs, his face is level with mine.

With a small smile playing on his lips, he
moves his head closer to mine and then I feel his lips on mine. He
kisses me gently and then I slowly part my lips. His hand around my
waist moves up to the back of my head and then holding my head
close to his, he kisses me single-mindedly. I close my eyes and I
get lost in him.

Much later, he clears his throat and he
says softly, “I better go. It is almost time for you to go
in.”

I say hurriedly, “I never told you, but I
like you too.” I feel mortified, but it is burning inside of me and
I need to say it.

He laughs softly. “Susie, I have moved on
from like already.”

I look down and softly he takes my chin in
his hand and he lifts my face to look up at him. He looks into my
eyes and his deep, dark eyes look pensively into mine. He smiles
slowly. “Susie, I love you.”

I lean toward him and wrapping my arms
tightly around his neck, I kiss him until I hear Amanda call my
name.

Pulling
away from him reluctantly, I see that the clouds
in the sky have an orange tint. I say hurriedly, smiling coyly, “As
much as I enjoy kissing you, I have to go now.”

“Good night, Susie.” He smiles forlornly.

I watch him as he pushes the heavy bike up
the hill and then I hear Amanda’s urgent calls.

When I rush into the house, she reprimands
me, walking behind me, while I rush to the basement.

The next night I wait for Andrew impatiently
and when the doorbell rings, I walk toward the front door
hurriedly.

I open the door with a smile on my face and I
cannot help it when the smile fades. Carmine looks apologetic, when
she steps forward and explains, “Andrew can’t come tonight. He fell
asleep in class today, so he is in serious trouble.”

I am disappointed, because I had organized
with Amanda to get movies, crisps and chocolates, but now
resignedly I enjoy the evening I planned with Andrew, with
Carmine.

When my two-week ‘sentence’ is complete
and I tentatively walk out into the breaking day. I feel the warmth
of the sun on my skin and I can feel the faint, euphoric harmony in
my body. Thankfully, I do not burst into flames.

Standing behind me, Amanda asks nervously,
“Are you okay?”

I turn toward her, and as the heavens turn
blue, and vanilla clouds are scattered in the sky above me, I
decide to tell her, “Amanda, I think I love Andrew.” I see her take
a step backward shocked and her mouth opens to speak, but I say
hurriedly, “Do not say anything, because I know how stupid it is. I
will live far longer than he ever will, but I feel helpless though.
I want to know everything about him. I want to know all the little
things nobody else knows. I need love and I have this strong desire
to be loved by someone unreservedly.”

She steps closer to me and I see the pity in
her eyes.

I step away and I continue, “They say there
is someone for everyone and all these years I have never found it
until I saw Andrew. Why would that be? I know you are going to say
that it is a harmless crush and it will go away, but I do not think
it will, though. You told him about us, and he said he accepted
it.”

Softly Amanda says, “Come inside.”

“
No, I don’t want to. I want to stay out
here for a while.” I know she is going to try to convince me not to
love Andrew. She is going to tell me if I am looking for hope and
love, I will not find it in Andrew. I did not want to hear the
truth. I just want to imagine for a little while that there could
be a chance.

Silently she turns around slowly, away from
me, and then she walks toward the house.

I sit down onto the lawn and I let the first
rays of sun dance over my skin. Looking up at the sky, my eyes
follow a pair of birds swooping through the air.

Much later, I walk into the house and I find
her sitting in the lounge, paging through a magazine.

“Where is Shayne?” I ask casually as I sit
down in a chair opposite hers. “I haven’t seen him in ages.”

She closes her eyes for a moment and then
I see the deep sadness in her eyes when she looks up at me again.
She clears her throat and she says barely above a whisper, “Shayne
went to fetch you a few days after Ethan took you. Ethan phoned and
said that Shayne must come alone and bring the money he wanted. I
told Shayne not to go alone, but he insisted and told me we have
known Ethan so long and he would be able to talk to him reasonably.
Shayne thought he could convince him that what he was doing was
wrong. Ethan killed Shayne that day and then the day I rescued you,
I killed Ethan.”

I have been so selfish, wrapped in myself,
I did not notice the pain and sadness in Amanda’s eyes when I saw
her each morning and during the night when I was allowed out of the
basement. I never even noticed that Shayne was not around. Always
assuming he was upstairs in his room or at the
University.

I stand up from my chair and I sink down
next to her. I fold my arms around her and pull her into me. She
holds onto me desperately for hours. Now and again, she will say
something, reminiscing Shayne. How she met him, the first time she
saw him, how silly he could be at times, how much she loved him and
I sit next to her silently, letting her talk. I could not possibly
tell her that I know how it feels, because I cannot imagine her
pain, I can only guess.

We sit like this until it is dark and neither
one of us have the inclination or a need to switch on the
lights.

I say, feeling responsible for her loss, “I
am so sorry. You have been together for so long, and now because of
me, you have lost him.”

She replies despondently, “No, Susie. It was
never your fault. We lived too perfectly, integrated with those
around us so flawlessly. We imagined ourselves as normal and we
never realized that there was a prize to pay for all of this.”
Hesitantly, she continues, “I want to ask you something.”

I reply without a second thought, “Anything.”
I felt so sorry for her and I would genuinely do anything she asked
for right now.

“I want to go and live at your château in
France, if that is okay with you. I want to surround myself with
old-world charm and magic. I cannot stay here, because everywhere I
look I am reminded of Shayne.”

“
Of course, we could go there. You do not
even have to ask. It must be falling apart though. We have not been
there for decades.”

“
No, I did not mean that we should go.
Earlier I thought I would convince you to go with me. However, when
you told me how much you care for Andrew, I decided to go on my
own.”

I feel remorse rush through me. I would want
to stay with Andrew, obviously, but I could not let Amanda go by
herself either. I say adamantly, “Where you go, I go.”

“
You can really stay here, if you wanted
to. We can employ a housekeeper and then people will not get
suspicious when they see you are living on your own.”

I admit to myself that I am so in love with
Andrew, it is scary. It would be better to go to France, before I
fall in love with him any further, because honestly where could it
lead.