The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (25 page)

Then the elderly woman behind him dutifully came forward with her card. “You can use mine, dearie,” she said, handing the card to the cashier, and smiling radiantly at Augere.

“Do you want to donate $1 to the store sponsored little league?” the checking girl asked him now scanning the shoppers card. He had no idea what she was talking about. More trouble.
Why is this so complicated?

“Is it necessary?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, with a hesitant shrug. “Are you playing our Wishes to Win game? Do you need a game card? You earned three game pieces today.”

He stared at her for several moments before hesitantly nodding his head.

Finally he could give her the required amount of cash. She handed him his change and his receipt along with three small squares of brightly colored paper. “Here are your prize tickets. Good luck! And you only need 280 more points to qualify for your free holiday turkey,” she said brightly, momentarily forgetting it was not his shoppers card, nor his earned points.

“Must I…do so—right now?” he asked.
Why may I not just be allowed to leave?

She looked surprised. “No…I mean…you have until November 15th …to earn those.”

“And you are stating I must return at that time?”

He received her intent stare. “If you want,” she said with a hesitant shrug.

Finally, though he was still not quite certain, it seemed he was allowed to leave with the items. The game prizes she had insisted he have turned out to be several rather disappointing pieces of paper that held images of various food items.
Of what possible use are these?
It seemed like a worthless prize. He shook his head as he stood in front of the store looking in the direction where he had last seen the taxi.
I am glad I do not really live in their world
.

He saw no sign of the taxi at first and he was becoming furious. Augere cursed to himself. “No more assistants,” he thought. “I am done with this human nonsense.” As he stood there, the elderly woman who had been behind him in the line exited the store. She paused to look at him with a wondering expression and then gave him a small smile. Impulsively he handed her the useless prize tickets. Perhaps she would enjoy the prize pictures. She seemed quite surprised when he handed them to her.

Then he spotted his taxi driving up to meet him and as he began to climb into the back seat with his bag of purchases the elderly woman called out to him “Oh! Young man! Young man! Wait—are you sure you don’t want these?” He did not look at her, but gave her a dismissive wave. “But— you have an instant win here! $500 in free groceries!” she called out. The cab was already pulling away.

****

James Genier called his younger brother Allen in London. They had not spoken in nearly a week’s time, unusual for the two brothers to go so long without contact. He was needing to touch base with the European branch of the family business.

“How are things going there?” Allen asked him.

“I’m feeling nervous at the moment. I don’t know what I was thinking—I just sent Augere to the store to make groceries.”

“Oh—I have got to hear this. Why on earth—how did that come about?”

“Well, the new assistant collapsed to the floor—”

“Oh, no— it wasn’t the energy field was it?“

“No. Not that. At least not entirely, I believe—although it might have played a small part maybe. Augere says this assistant is more susceptible to the energy than others have been. But it appears from his symptoms, according to Lisette’s assessment and Jason himself, from what he told me, that he has the flu. Augere called me, quite upset, and wanted me to call an ambulance and send him to the hospital. He had me thinking the assistant was dying. He just did not want to be the one to do take care of this.”

“Did he go to the hospital—?”

“No, not that serious. He told me the assistant was unconscious—which he might have been briefly, but then Augere put him on the phone. We agreed if he did have the flu it would be torture to send him to emergency. He seemed to know what was wrong with him, and we decided he is better off being treated at home. But of course, Augere was worried. I assured him the assistant will be okay. And that he can provide his basic needs until he gets better.”

“So—everything is okay, then?”

“Well, except Augere got really upset with me. He was claiming helplessness, insisting he can’t take care of an invalid. I had to remind him about his medical training. He just wouldn’t listen. So I was getting exasperated and reminded him he triaged wounded soldiers in battle and for him to just stop it. ‘You can certainly heat soup and water for tea. It’s not that hard.’ He was furious and threw the phone down. He can get like that sometimes. But then I talked to him later once he calmed down a little and I gave him a list of things to get at the store. He had just gotten me so annoyed with him. I said to him, James paused, laughing, “look—you said you were ready for a human assistant again; yes, they
are
messy and inconvenient. But now you are just going to have to take care of him and deal with it!”

Allen laughed too. “So otherwise the new assistant is working out okay then? Does he have any clue yet?”

“He is doing fine. And no, we think he does not suspect yet. You know, it usually does take some time. I really think he is going to be okay with it though.”

“So, now all you have to worry about is Augere at the grocery store.”

“Yeah,” James sighed. “I’m going to call him right now. I’m hoping he has not already created some kind of international incident or is already on the national news.”

****

Jason awoke slowly. He was lying on his side, and he opened one eye. The room was dark and he could not tell if it was day or night. Without moving he glanced toward the bedside table expecting to see the illumination from his clock . It seemed to be gone. His eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness. He saw the faint outline of a chair near his bed, a chair that was not usually there. Then the image of Augere sitting there. Jason was surprised.
He doesn’t need to watch over me
. But the kind gesture touched him.

As he gazed he realized Augere was holding something—a book? He was turning the pages at intervals, as if he were actually reading; no way could he see to read in this darkness. Jason lay quietly watching him. He began to recall an evening at the beach…it was so dark, and yet Augere had still appeared to be trying to read then… Jason drifted back to sleep.

When he awoke again the room was brighter. He had no idea how much time had passed, what day it was. He later learned it had been thirty-six hours since he had fallen ill.

He tried to sit up. The room started spinning. He sank back onto his pillows. He glanced to his right and saw Augere sitting there watching him. “You weren’t here all night, were you? What day is it?” Jason asked.

Augere replied by asking if Jason felt better.

“I don’t feel any worse, at least.” Jason smiled weakly.

“Do you require beverages now? Food?”

Jason shook his head with slow effort. “I couldn’t eat. I could drink though. And take more medication.”

Augere abruptly left the room. Jason didn’t even see him go, it was so sudden.
My reaction time must be slowed. I feel like I’m still in a fog
.

He tried to sit up on the edge of the bed, weak and unsteady.
Wow, I don’t think I have ever been this ill
. He paused.
But I do need to get up. Change my clothes. Shower. But more immediately, bathroom
.

He slowly and unsteadily got to his feet and immediately had to sit down again. He waited until the combination of dizziness, nausea and weakness passed. Then he tried it again. With a little more success. The bathroom was not that far, but it seemed to take forever to get there. He got to the toilet and felt as if he might pass out. A strong pair of arms caught him and held him up. Augere. This was awkward.

“I’ll…be okay. You really don’t—I’ll be fine.” Augere left him to some privacy. But once Jason had the shower running, he knocked on the door.

“You should not be doing that. You should remain in bed.”

The water continued to run in the shower for a while.

After a few moments, Jason called out: “I forgot to get clean clothes—could you—do you mind—please?”

He wasn’t sure if Augere had heard him or not but a few moments later Augere knocked on the door. He opened it and the clean clothes were passed inside.

Jason emerged from the shower feeling human again. He hadn’t shaved, but he felt clean and refreshed. And ready to fall back into bed.

He found Augere waiting for him next to the bed. He had brought a tray with steaming hot chicken noodle soup; a cup of hot tea with honey on the side, and a large glass of orange juice. All of his medications were waiting for him on his bedside table. He felt a little overwhelmed at all of the attentiveness Augere was showing to him. It was awkward and he was a little embarrassed by it. But also very grateful. Augere sat in the chair by the bed, with his leather-bound journal beneath and propping open a novel he was reading. Jason thanked him as he finished his meal and then sank back into the pillows and the welcome warmth of his comforter again.

He awoke sometime later to a darkened room. Augere was right there and switched on the bedside lamp, which hurt Jason’s eyes momentarily. He was provided him with the same meal as before, and Jason gratefully accepted all of it. He was starting to feel a little better, but he still couldn’t seem to get enough sleep.

By the next morning he was feeling well enough to shave and shower, though the body aches and weakness lingered. The medication was helping.

“I really think I could eat now,” Jason stated, propped up on his pillows, reading a novel.

He detected a faint sigh from Augere, who rose from the chair. “I will prepare it.”

“No—I can’t have you waiting on me all the time.” Jason shook his head. “I mean, we could order something to be delivered…a pizza with sausage and mushrooms…and wings maybe…or a sub, an assorted, with everything on—”

Augere was shaking his head. “I will call Genier,” he stated.

Why would he need to call Genier, just because I’m hungry?
Jason wondered. “Genier is 1700 miles away. What is he going to do?”

Then Jason heard Augere speaking in French, presumably to Genier, on his cell phone.

“Genier says you should not eat a heavy meal. You should continue with liquids.”

He’s probably right. Except I’m really hungry now
.

“No, I need real food. Something substantial. I don’t even care what it is, and I want you to order something with me. Just this once, please, for me. You choose— and I will have whatever you’re having.”

Augare’s eyes were fixed on him, and they widened slightly at the last sentence. He bit at his lower lip when he could no longer suppress a smile, and then a laugh burst out of him.

He crossed the room and laughed again, a genuine laugh, full of mirth. Some private joke or thought he would not share, it seemed. Jason didn’t care; he was feeling good finally and hearing Augere laugh only made him feel better. Augere was always so serious all of the time.

“Okay, I don’t know what is so funny… just get me the menus from the drawer in the kitchen so I can order something for both of us. I am starving.”

“Yes, of course,” Augere said, as he exited the room. He had regained his composure, but as he reached the end of the hallway leading out of Jason’s quarters, Jason heard a fresh burst of laughter.

He shrugged and then laughed too.
Someday he’ll have to tell me why he found that so funny
.

Chapter 13

Salem

The turkey sub he ordered had seemed like a harmless, healthy choice. But Augere and Genier were right: his stomach wasn’t ready for solid food yet. He barely ate half, and wasn’t at all sure he could keep that down. Later he went back to the chicken soup, tea, and juice. And then he slept some more.

When he awoke again after almost five days of mostly bed rest, he felt he finally had to get up. The chair beside his bed was empty. Augere must have realized he was better now. Still, it felt a little odd not to see him there. He had been so attentive, day and night practically.
Well,
Jason reasoned,
Augere shouldn’t have had to do this at all. How embarrassing
.

Jason would have only missed one class, if he made it in tomorrow, which he was determined to do. He showered and shaved, and then headed to the kitchen to fix breakfast. A general feeling of weakness lingered.

He had scrambled eggs and toast, orange juice and tea. When he cleared away the eggshells and tea bag, he opened the trash can and was startled to see several cans of soup in the trash, with some of the contents splashed on the sides of the plastic liner. He carefully lifted one of the cans to examine it. It didn’t look dented so much as…mangled. He doubted it could have exploded…it looked more like it had been…squeezed. What on earth had happened to these? He pondered. Several more intact cans were stacked in the pantry than he remembered having had before. Then he vaguely remembered something about Augere going to get groceries. Another thing to feel guilty about: It seemed Augere didn’t even buy his own groceries, but he had had to go shopping for him. This whole episode was bound to put a crimp in their relationship, just when things had been getting better. But then he hadn’t expected to get so ill.

He wondered about that. The long trip, the eventual discomfort of the whole journey and the oppressive heat probably contributed to doing him in. And he couldn’t help wondering if breathing in all that dust and whatever else was in that house hadn’t been good for him either. But it was no one’s fault really. He got the flu; that was that.

Jason called Zavi, and left a message on her machine. His excuse for calling was asking her about the class he had missed, wanting her notes. In fact, he just missed her.

He checked his emails; his sister Carrie was hinting about an invitation to come to Boston for a visit. Great, he would love that. Uh, yeah. Later, after he got more settled into the job. Really not a good idea right now. Definitely not now.