The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (26 page)

He had cabin fever suddenly and wanted to get out and enjoy the cool crisp fall weather. This was his favorite time of year, when he felt the most alive. And October was the best time to be in Boston. He decided he would ask to take the car for a while. He would drive out to Salem. It would be so perfect right now with dramatic views of the changing leaves. Halloween was coming up, and Salem and the surrounding area would be getting ready with decorations and activities for the ultimate Halloween experience throughout the entire month. He was loving his life right now; grateful for all he had, and for all the joys he hoped to come to him still. His future looked brighter than ever. He enjoyed a sense of elation he hadn’t had in longer than he could remember.

But at the moment he felt so tired again he thought about crawling back into bed for a while.
Maybe I’m not as well yet as I thought
. He lay on the couch instead, and watched TV, with a bottle of root beer at hand.
I better rest up for class tomorrow; shouldn’t push myself too much. By the weekend I’ll be ready for Salem
.

He didn’t see Augere that day, which was odd, again considering how attentive Augere had been the past few days.
Yeah, well he’s probably tired of you, Jason
. He managed to motivate himself to do laundry. Then he checked the library. No sign of Augere.

After class the next morning he enjoyed a coffee with Zavi in the student union. She had a project she was working on for one of her classes and she wanted input from him. He agreed to meet her later in the week to work on it. He loved having another excuse to see her. He brought class notes home to share with Augere.

They were looking at recurring themes in Hitchcock’s work. He and Augere might get a good discussion going, but he was still not to be seen. Jason stayed close to home that evening. He was still feeling weak, but putting on a brave front, if for no one except himself. The few activities of the day had left him worn out.

The next day was Thursday and since the usually scheduled meeting had not been canceled, Jason showed up promptly at eleven.

He found Augere at his desk, a stack of mail sitting in front of him but he was staring vacantly toward the fireplace.

“Mr. Augere?” Jason asked hesitantly, as he entered.

Augere turned his head to look at him and seemed surprised to see him.

“You have recovered.”

“Yes. And I want to thank you for all you did. It is much appreciated. I went to class yesterday; I have some new class stuff to share, all pretty interesting—”

“Another time perhaps. No meeting today.” He glanced away, dismissively.

“Okay,” Jason stated, hiding his disappointment. He turned to leave. There had been an abruptness in the words and manner.
Is he annoyed with me?
Jason wondered.

Jason went back to his room. He found himself needing distraction suddenly. This uncharacteristic insecurity was still something new to him but it rose and plagued him again so often it seemed to be his new steady companion.

Later that evening, Genier called him. It was a little unusual to get a call from him outside of daytime hours.

“Just checking in to see how you’re doing, Jason. Are you feeling better?”

“Oh, yes,” Jason replied, more to convince himself. “I’m back to my routine again.”

“Glad to hear that. I haven’t talked to Mr. Augere in the past two days, which is rather unusual. He hasn’t been answering his phone. Is everything okay there?”

Jason wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“I think so. I saw him just briefly today. He cancelled our meeting.”

“How did he seem to you?”

“I don’t know. A little distracted maybe.”

“Hmm. Yes, the last time I talked to him he was distracted and impatient with me. I’m not sure what’s going on.”

“I was pretty out of it for the past few days. I think I slept more than I ever have in such a short time. I’m not sure how he was dealing with all of that. Except he did really laugh at something I said. I feel guilty he had to occupy himself with me so much. He shouldn’t have had to do that.”

“But generally, he seemed—about the same to you?”

“I really couldn’t say for sure. Lately he has seemed very quiet and distracted; he was very quiet and he acted a little distant on the trip too…”
Uh, oh. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to say anything about that
.

“You mean—when he was in Montreal?”

“No, the other—” Jason paused. He wondered if it was okay if he mentioned the Savannah trip. Augere had said it was not necessary to tell Genier the details. Did that mean—none of it? Not even to mention they had gone there? Suddenly he wasn’t sure.

Jason was silent, trying to think his way out of this.

“What other—are you saying he went somewhere else?”

“I don’t want to get into any trouble with him. I don’t know if I am supposed to say. He said I did not need to bother you with any of the details.”

Genier was silent for a few moments.

“Did he specifically tell you not to tell me?”

Great. See what you’ve done now, Jason?

“Not in those words. He just said I didn’t need to bother you with the travel details.”

“Do you know where he went?”

“Do I have to say? I have a feeling he might be angry with me if I say too much.”

There was a longish pause.

“I can rarely say this and be certain of it, but this time I can assure you—I will not let him take it out on you if you tell me.”

Could this get me fired…?
“Would he fire me though?”

“As bad as that? No, I can’t see why he would. Unless he had said ‘I do not want you to tell Genier, no matter what,’ and even then—I would stand up for you.”

Jason sighed heavily. “There was a trip to Savannah.”

There was a longer silence.

“He went—to Savannah?”

“We were coming back from there, had just gotten in the door in fact when I apparently fainted. I hadn’t been feeling well for most of the trip.”

“He took
you
with him?” Obvious surprise colored Genier’s tone. “So—what day-days—are we talking here?”

“We left on the 30th and returned on October 3…wait—that’s it…! That’s what I was trying to remember! There was an old passport, just a piece of rolled up parchment really, and the month and day of birth on it was the same as Mr. Augere’s. I heard him tell this person not too long ago what his birthdate is… I didn’t put it together until just now. I guess I was already feeling a little ill I think, at that point.”

“Where was this—paper? Where did you see it?”

“In the house. I guess it had belonged to his family. He never did say.”

“He took you—to the house—you went inside it?”

Genier’s tone of disbelief and surprise suggested to Jason this was a bigger deal than he had thought. Now he really wished he had said nothing.

“Yes.”

“Did something happen that precipitated his going there? Did he tell you why he went? Did it seem like a sudden decision? Was there any kind of urgency about going—”

The rush of questions took Jason by surprise. He could not respond for a few moments.

“What is up with that house?” Jason asked then. Now he would like some answers if possible.

“It belonged to—it has been in—the family for a long time. He has been reluctant to even consider selling it.”

“I’d be willing to bet no one has set foot in there in a century. It would be a hard sell.”

“Is it in bad shape?”

“Not that you would know from the outside. Do you know the house I’m talking about?”

“I have never seen it.”

“It is in a great neighborhood. The historic district, on a beautiful street. That house looks just as great as the surrounding ones, from the outside. But the inside…it’s hard to describe it.”

“What did he do there? Did you get any idea of why he went? Did he say anything to you about his purpose? Do you remember anything unusual?”

Everything about the whole trip was unusual
. “His behavior was a little strange. He seemed to be looking around and listening, inside the house. It freaked me out a little. I thought maybe he was listening for mice or rats…maybe he heard plumbing noises…or maybe it was just me. We were there less than an hour. He told me to wait downstairs; to gather up anything that looked to be of value from the drawers. Then he came downstairs with a bag full of stuff, and then we left. That was it. We went back to the hotel. I really wasn’t feeling well then. I didn’t see him again until we got on the train the next morning—”

“You took the train? To Savannah? That must have taken an entire day!”

“Yeah. The train, there and back. It took at least twenty-two hours each way.”

There was a long pause from Genier. “No wonder you were ill when you got back. Out of seventy-two hours you must have spent more than forty of those on the train. That would have made anyone weary. And you returned on the 3
^rd
, you said—”

“Oh, damn! I just realized—that was on his birthday! He spent his birthday taking care of me. Now I really feel guilty about this—I have to do something to make this up to him. Get him a cake or something, at least. Damn!…What kind of cake does he like?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. He does not celebrate birthdays, particularly his own. He doesn’t expect anything.” Genier paused. “So, he never discussed any of this with you? Never said why or what or—”

“No. Nothing. You’re not going to tell him I told you, are you? I really don’t feel comfortable about this.”

“I will not mention it to him. I’m hoping he will say something to me about it. I appreciate you telling me. I think this does provide some clue as to why he has been so preoccupied lately. I am going to try to call him tonight. I will leave you out of the discussion.”

As their call ended, Jason still felt uneasy. He did not like being caught in the middle like this.

He began to reflect on all the things he had seen in Savannah. He had already written down the details of the dream he had had in a journal he had been keeping for a while, mostly related to his paranormal investigations. Now he added any other details he could remember from the house and the whole experience of being there.

It was such a coincidence: that portrait of Augere’s ancestor looking so much like him that it was startling; but even more amazing: that old passport showing that his ancestor had the exact same birthday as his, except for the year. How incredible was that?

On Friday morning Jason was running a little late to class; he threw his journal and class notebook into his messenger bag and then scooped all of the pens and assorted small items left on his bedside table into the bag. He had to rush to the subway to get to class on time. After class he met with Zavi and they had lunch at the student union.

The project she was working on was for her cultural anthropology class. She explained the assignment was to find, or to create/invent, an ancient culture and creatively describe how these beings might have survived to the present day, by illustrating in what ways they would have had to change and adapt over time, or would have failed to adapt and why; what trials and obstacles they might have had to overcome and if they survived how they might now be perceived by today’s society.

“So—I got this idea,” she explained, “after we saw those films in cinema class, you know—the outcasts, and how they were portrayed?” Jason nodded. “And I decided to choose something already recognizable in today’s society and work backward from there: what might the origins have been? While researching online I came across this condition that intrigued me. It is not factual, and has become more of an urban mythology really, presumably invented by someone’s imagination, but I liked the basic idea and I saw its potential here. It is largely plausible, given the other types of mutations that do exist. Tell me what you think: I thought I would call them Gypatians. It is an actual word basically meaning in a manner that is strange, unusual and ‘gypsy’ like. Because I liked the idea of them being a definable subculture like gypsies. First appearing in ancient Egypt, but also found in Mediterranean regions: people with this condition are born with blue grey eyes that change to a deep violet, an almost purple looking hue. They all have very pale, white skin that resists the effects of the sun.” She paused. “I know—weird, right? Since they come from Egypt.

“They have smooth, well-proportioned but thin bodies—scant body hair, but all of them have either very dark brown or black hair on their heads. Their bodies experience a very, very slow aging and the normal life span can be more than 170 years. They have very strong immune systems, and can resist all diseases presently known to affect mankind. Their senses are quite enhanced and highly developed, especially eyesight.” She paused and looked up at him. “Well, what do you think so far?”

He nodded slowly. He had been intent on her every word. In fact the subject had totally captured his attention. He found he could not voice an opinion for several moments. He was feeling a little queasy suddenly and blamed it on his recent illness.

“Well—it is very intriguing, I have to say.” He was being honest. “Where are you going with this, exactly?”

“Well, I thought, what if this genetic variation, or mutation, this subculture actually, were to survive to modern times—and why wouldn’t they?—how might they be regarded now? So I jotted down some notes and ideas. Let’s say, in Egyptian times they were regarded reverently, because they were so different from the rest of the populace. They stood out but in good ways. Life was good for them. They thrived and prospered and held a high place in society. And this continues for some time; for many generations.

“By the time they get to the Middle Ages, they are regarded with suspicion, however, because they were not like everyone else. They had to go into hiding, in order to adapt and to survive all the fears of the times. In the eyes of the rest of the world, they were non-human, unnatural, and evil perhaps. Their physical characteristics and attributes made them stand out as too unusual. They would have been something to be feared.

“One of their traits would be secrecy, especially as related to their way of life; they would dislike keeping any records or writing and recording anything about themselves.