The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (68 page)

She stroked his hair. “I love this dark, soft sexy hair of yours! It was one of the things that drew me to you.”

“Really.” He propped himself up on his elbow.

“Yes! I love when it is spiked a little but mostly I love the tousled layers. Well, that and your dark blue eyes, your pale look…your choice of clothes…that whole gothic vibe you have. It is totally exciting to me.” She leaned in to kiss him. “And you are one of the sweetest guys…”

He stroked her arm, gazing into her beautiful eyes. He felt lucky to have her in his life. No one had ever appraised or appreciated him for the things he also liked in himself. This was a unique experience for him. She validated the uniqueness he valued. And that still wasn’t even the best thing about her…

“I was always attracted to the gothy types I’d see in London, but most of them seemed distant and unapproachable to me; haughty even. They would barely give me a glance…probably because I don’t look particularly goth myself though I love that aesthetic so much. But you were so nice to me, right from the beginning…”

“Hey—I’m not just your gateway to all those other goth guys am I?” he asked with mock indignation.

She laughed then and pushed at his chest playfully. “Not if I have finally captured my own proper goth boy… Have I?” she asked then with a solemn expression. He laughed and then kissed her gently, and then again, with growing passion. He moved on top of her as she eased onto her back. He cupped one of her breasts in his hand and caressed and fondled the softness of her nipples as he looked into her eyes and kissed her again.

She looked so beautiful. Moonlight shone into the bedroom window and illuminated her dark hair making it look blue black as it splayed across her pillow. Her skin seemed even more pale in the moonlight as he bent his head to kiss her deeply again, her eyes looking up at him, intense and luminously blue, almost violet colored in the dim moonlit room—

Another image came quickly to mind and he paused suddenly. It startled him and he pulled back just a little. She noticed.

“Jason? What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He laughed a little nervously, shaking his head slightly and then kissing her full on the mouth, lingering over her lips. “Just pacing myself.” She arched her back then and nuzzled against him, kissing his neck and chest. She reached around and grabbed a handful of hair at the back of his head, pulling his mouth to hers again, kissing him deeply.

Her naked breasts pressed against his bare chest and her nipples hardened as he became more aroused also. She groped him and guided him into her, eagerly meeting his intensity with her own.

It was after midnight when he finally left her apartment and took a taxi home. Once in his bed the faint scent of her perfume on his skin briefly made him feel a little aroused again as he slowly drifted off to sleep, pleasantly exhausted.

He was awake by 9 a.m. the next morning. He hardly needed an alarm clock anymore. He showered and had breakfast, and when he checked the library he was disappointed: no Augere.

Well, why should he be here? It is only Tuesday. And it is early in the day. If I do see him it is usually later in the afternoon…
He was finding it difficult to keep busy enough. Harder than actually putting in a full day’s work, he thought, or at least as he remembered it. He looked into the Christmas tree idea for the foyer. It could be done; not cheaply, but worth doing. He held off making the decision just yet. Too many uncertainties at present.

He decided to go shopping, browsing for gifts for his family.
Should I get a gift for Augere too?
What on earth could he possibly get him?

He wondered if maybe he
should
go home for the holidays. Maybe attempt to erase that horrible week from his memory; replace it now with good, happy times with his family. Then again, he had just seen all of them. It was not like he was missing them right now. But if he stayed here with Augere in Boston— what then? Zavi would be out of town. He knew no one else here. Did Augere even celebrate the holidays? What if Christmas was just another day to him? And if this wasn’t a good time of year for him, it could be pretty dismal here. In fact, he probably would not even see Augere at all. He might still be all alone. It wouldn’t even feel like the holidays.
I could have the large decorated tree here for myself at least; that would be cheerful,
he thought, feeling a sudden wave of sadness.
Well, it might be something to cheer both of us maybe
.

Then again, if he did go home to his family, he would be leaving Augere by himself. He had no family and possibly no friends here either. He could be spending the holidays all alone… Yes, but then again, he had been dealing with this for a very long time. Maybe for more than two hundred years…
I really don’t know what I should do. Maybe he would prefer to be alone
.

Some expert advice was called for.

He decided to call Terrance again. He checked the time in London, once he was well away from the house. The calling arrangements still seemed so clandestine, and he mentioned that concern once the required message had been delivered and Terrance was on the line.

“I understand your concern. But don’t worry. Seriously. How are things going in the realm?”

“Not brilliant.”

Terrance laughed. “Are you picking up some of his phrases, or mine?”

Jason laughed also. “I think your accent brings that out in me. Either that or maybe it’s all the Harry Potter I’ve been exposed to.”

“Brilliant. By the way, he told me he wants to watch all of the Harry Potter films now. He would probably enjoy them and maybe you can watch them together! I’ve watched all of them with my family.” Terrance laughed and then became serious again. “Has there been trouble, seriously?”

“I just want to feel comfortable around him, and to have him feel comfortable around me. I don’t quite know how to achieve that. I don’t really know how to approach him now. He seems to have no real desire to talk to me. Usually if someone has a sense of humor I find I can almost always feel more comfortable and engage with them; I was sure he appreciates humor, but now I wonder if maybe he has just been laughing at me all along—”

“This IS Augere we’re speaking of, right? I have found him to be extremely funny, a lot of the time. Well…you know, maybe not so much at first. I think it did take some time now that I think of it, for him to feel comfortable with me, so I guess I know what you mean. But he’s not one to be laughing at other people. He is capable of cruelty, to be certain, but I have not known him to cruelly laugh at or mock others. He has a very dry, wicked sense of humor.

“Actually just the other day I was remembering something funny to do with the Geniers, and a prank he pulled at one of their meetings in New Orleans. I wasn’t there, but I heard the details from someone who was. Whenever there is a meeting, refreshments are always provided, usually a lavish selection of pastries, beverages, etc. Augere usually hates to be present when people are eating. It is uncomfortable for him. So that time he brought a large clear goblet of what appeared to be blood to one of the meetings. It was actually some concoction of tomato, cranberry and something else and red food coloring to make fake blood , something he saw on the TV. Anyway, he casually sipped at it now and then, though he really can’t handle drinking such things, which made it seem all the more real I suppose. Everyone was trying to appear casual and not show any abhorrence for his choice of beverage. No one wanted to anger or to offend him, but they were becoming more and more ill at ease, and literally ill, it seems, as the meeting went on. I can just picture that scenario and it makes me laugh every time. If I had been present, I told him I would have casually reached over and picked up his glass and taken a sip for myself—someone would definitely have dropped to the floor then, I can assure you. We both fall out laughing when we talk about that story. Knowing him as I do, he would never bring blood to a meeting like that. Not ever. But it was damn funny.”

Jason enjoyed Terrance’s hearty laugh as he joined him in laughter.

“And if I ever need to diffuse a tense situation or just totally break him up, I have only to utter two words: Jogging clothing.” Terrance laughed again. “I’ll have to tell you that story someday. He is able to get back at me by uttering one of two phrases and I will try to share that weakness with you, but I warn you I can hardly say the words myself without breaking up totally; I have been known to lose all sense of self control at the mere mention of…” Terrance struggled with laughter as he managed with difficulty to express, “The
Remains of the Day
lunchbox,” followed by a long hearty laugh and sounds of a struggle to catch his breath before he could utter, “The
Glengarry Glen Ross Go-To-Lunch Box
. Sometimes all he has to say to me is ‘Shall I fetch your lunchbox?’ Then I’m done for.”

Jason readily joined in the lengthy laughter and told Terrance he immediately recognized those exact movie references and that he loved that kind of humor.

“Wait—are you the person he said he has a bet with—about the Queen’s purse? I thought maybe he was just joking with me about that to mess with my mind—”

Terrance’s uproarious laughter told Jason he was right. “I can’t believe he told you that!” Terrance fairly sputtered. “And this is the person you believe is lacking in humor? His obsession with the Queen alone!—wait that reminds me: I have to call and tell him I believe she carries a small folding pen knife to stand in for a sword in case she has to knight someone on the spot.” They both enjoyed a long laugh again. Jason’s mood had already improved considerably.

“So—tell me more of your concern—is he giving you a real hard time? Just being difficult?”

“Well, I have tried to ask him some questions, and I didn’t get very far. He did tell me his real age…”

“Quite remarkable, isn’t it? This was stuff I grew up with as a kid, you know from movies and TV, all that fascination with vampires—never dreaming it could possibly be real.“

“My childhood too, yes! And just to look at him—it is still very hard to believe.”

“You will be more convinced when he starts to tell you things. He is truly fascinating.”

“This is such an amazing experience—to know someone like him. I want to know everything. I’m finding it hard to draw him out though. I want to know all about him; I just can’t seem to learn anything new—”

“HA! You are still on the honeymoon. You will come to look back on these days with longing, I can assure you. Enjoy his silence and distance for now. Trust me. Meanwhile, does he simply refuse to answer you?”

“Well, I guess…at one point, I asked if I could ask another question and he just looked at me, silently.”

“That means proceed.”

“You see, now how would I know that? It is not like he comes with a manual.”

Terrance laughed. “You could tell him that! He would appreciate that comment! Seriously though, I know how difficult he can be. Sometimes he has to be in the mood to talk about himself. That could be infrequent. And—he has a way of seeming to answer your questions without actually answering them at all. You will see. He has mastered that.”

“Great.” Jason sighed. “He asked me a question about a beverage I drink, which I wasn’t even drinking at the time—it seemed rather odd…“

“He notices everything. Every minute detail. He is intensely curious about us. Not humans in general; only specifically those whom he has allowed into his life. He wants to know all about us.”

“Why not just ask me? I would tell him whatever he wanted to know.”

“When he asks you questions, often he already knows the answers. It seems he would rather find out things secretively, on his own. He snoops around. And he told me he hates that he does that. He said it is very out of character for him to be so suspicious and curious.”

“You mean—snooping—in my private quarters…? Should I leave the door unlocked…?” Jason would have preferred his privacy. He didn’t much like hearing of this.

“He expects us to respect his privacy, but it doesn’t always go both ways. Be careful of what you leave unguarded, as far as information. And locked doors don’t mean anything to him. Besides, he gave you the keys to your door, right? You can be certain he has made his own copies.”

Jason hadn’t thought of that. “He was curious about carbonated beverages. I guess he had never had them before. He asked if he could try one—”

“Carbonation has been around for a very long time. He knows this and he absolutely has had carbonated beverages before because I have personally provided him with some. We have definitely had this discussion in the past.”

Jason was surprised to hear this. “Then why would he act as if he hadn’t? Why not just say what he wanted, if he just wanted to taste the flavor? Or, just go and get one for himself?”

“Because
you
were drinking it. You have probably noticed the way he intensely studies you. It used to freak me out that he did that. He wants to learn all about you, and all that you do; all that you think about. Though he is usually quite direct and straightforward in most things, when it comes to his personal curiosity, he seems indirect and surreptitious. Also, and I am not sure why, but he pretends to be ignorant about a great many things. He knows much more than he ever lets on. It appears to be a little game that he is fond of.

“Sometimes I think he hesitates to ask us because he doesn’t know how to ask what he wants to know. And I think part of the reason for his reticence is that he has been laughed at and mocked before when he has attempted to learn what he is curious about. So now he hates to ask us questions directly. No subtlety escapes him though. And he can bluff expertly. He will get you to give up all the verbal and non-verbal cues he needs in order to know you better than you know yourself. Sometimes he will suddenly become intensely curious, and try to learn as much as he can quickly, even asking a barrage of questions all at once, before the opportunity is lost.”

“But, why would he think the opportunity would be lost?”

“Because if you leave, for example, he won’t get to know all the things he wanted to know.”