“Mama!” Charles yelled.
He heard his brothers mumbling as they woke and he looked back at them.
“You two stay here, hide in the corner there.” Charles pointed.
“But-” Oliver started.
“No, now.”
The boys could tell by the tone of his voice that something had happened. He hoped they did not think he was angry with them. The way Oliver nodded and shoved Henri into the corner, he did not think so.
He looked back down to the kitchen. De Savage still had hold of their mother, but he was bent over her neck and she looked unconscious. The man did not appear to have noticed – or perhaps he did not care – that the boys were awake and had seen him.
Charles barrelled down the ladder, looking for something with which to attack de Savage. He grabbed the poker from the fireplace and swung it at the stranger’s back. De Savage threw his mother to the floor and readied himself for Charles’ attack. He ducked under the swing and struck out at Charles. Charles flew backwards, smacking his head against something on the far wall. His vision swam and he fought off unconsciousness as he watched de Savage jump from the floor to the loft.
Charles thought he must be delusional, or dreaming; no man could jump up that high. He heard his brothers’ high-pitched screams as de Savage stalked out of Charles’ view. He struggled to get up, falling twice before he managed only to get to his hands and knees. He crawled over to his mother, trying to ignore the sound of his brothers’ cries when he could do nothing about it.
Her face was ashen and she did not look like she was breathing. He nudged her as hard as he could, which was not very hard at all. She made no response. He knew she was dead. There was a great, bloody wound on her neck and blood was soaked into her tunic. He looked up towards the loft.
There were only the sobs of one boy now; they were so hysterical that Charles could not tell who it was, but he suspected it was Henri. Then, all too soon, even those sobs were silenced. Charles put his head to the floor, feeling the hot tears leak slowly from the corners of his eyes.
There was a thud behind him and he craned his neck around as best he could.
“You have fight in you boy,” de Savage said as he walked towards him, wiping the blood from his face with a scrap of cloth. Though there was so much, Charles briefly wondered why the man bothered.
“Go on then, get it over with!” Charles yelled hoarsely.
“I shall do no such thing, Charlie.” De Savage pulled the chair to its feet and sat down. “I think you would be a perfect candidate to join me.”
“I would rather die.”
“I do not doubt that,” de Savage laughed. “But, I shall give you no such satisfaction.”
De Savage pulled Charles to his feet. He sunk his teeth deep into Charles’ neck, and Charles cried out at the pain. Charles tried to claw de Savage’s hands away from him, but the man had a grip like steel. Charles’ head throbbed where he had hit it. He grew weak and his arms dropped to his sides. His legs buckled beneath him but de Savage did not let go. Finally, when Charles no longer felt his heartbeat inside his chest, de Savage pushed him away, bit his own wrist and thrust it into Charles’ mouth. Charles tried to pull away but de Savage was too strong and Charles could not help but swallow some of the man’s blood. It was hot and salty and disgusting. When Charles thought he must choke, de Savage pulled away and threw Charles to the floor.
“Find me when you wake up.”
Charles watched as de Savage put on his hat, took up his cane and case and left, leaving Charles to die. Charles waited to join his father, his wife, their youngest child, and now his mother and brothers with the dead. Finally, he was released from the pain. Only he did not stay dead.
****
Charles came back to his senses with tears on his face. He had no idea whether he would actually have been able to show her his memories in the same way he was able to as a vampire. Part way through he had felt the memory falter and had drawn on her magic a little, but she appeared not to notice.
He’d suspected that memory was coming after the first two dream-memories he’d had, but that had in no way prepared him for it. Charles had forgotten all about his first life as a human during his many years as a vampire. Repressed it, more like. But, since that first dream, the memories were returning. He realised he was glad he had forgotten all that pain and suffering.
To show Pet his memory, all he had to do was remember where the last dream had ended and let the rest flow.
He opened his eyes and saw her staring at him, mouth agape and tears coursing down her face. His heart jumped, seeing her that way, and he regretted now showing her the memory.
“I’m sorry…” Pet began, sniffing.
“No, I am sorry. I should not have shown you…I did not think you could feel what I felt.” Charles reached forward and wiped a tear from her cheek.
“No…no. I appreciate it.” She sniffed once more and the tears stopped flowing quite so freely. “Thank you. I’m sorry you lost your family in such a way.”
Charles shrugged and wiped his face with his sleeve. “I know it brought you pain, but perhaps knowing a bit about me will go some ways to making amends for what I did to you? I don’t know.” He looked down.
It felt silly, him even saying it, and he regretted it instantly. How could he possibly make amends for what he’d done to her?
“I’d never really thought of that as an application for magic. I suppose there are some good sides…”
“Magic has a lot of good sides, Pet,” Charles said. “Why do you not like being a witch?” he asked before he could stop himself.
Pet looked taken aback for a moment, before her face softened.
“I just want to be normal, Charlie,” she said in a small voice. “I feel separated from my human friends by this…gaping void that can never be breached…”
Charles let her sit in silence for a moment, mulling over what she had divulged to him. He was about to say something when she spoke again.
“I’m not very good at magic.” She would not meet his gaze. “I’ve always felt like…it didn’t belong to me. Or…maybe, I didn’t belong to it.” She suddenly looked him in the eyes; tears still running down her cheeks. “Do you know what I mean?”
“I… I cannot say that I do, Pet,” he replied, stuttering a little. Then, he smiled. “Actually. Yes, I do. My humanity is strange and foreign to me and I do not quite feel…whole.”
“Exactly…whole,” Pet said. “I feel, all at once, not entirely whole and like I have too many parts that don’t fit…” She paused. “I just want to be normal… I just want things to go back to normal, before all this curse business and I showed ‘so much potential’!” Pet snarled, wiping her nose.
Charles had a sudden thought and opened his mouth without really thinking. “Would you take the curse off, Pet?”
Pet looked at him, obviously stunned, all traces of her tears gone now. “Is your life really that bad, Charlie?” He was surprised by her calling him Charlie. He had hated anyone calling him that since his family died, but he found he did not mind so much when Pet said it.
“Pet… I just… I have lived so long as one thing. It is all I know. I do not think I can adjust to this life.” He hung his head in shame.
He had been lying to himself about how badly he missed his old life, he knew. Now it was all out in the open and came flooding into him. The exhilaration of the hunt, of feeding, of the power he had wielded. As he had told Pet, he knew where he stood as a vampire, did not answer to anyone and, likewise, had no one depending on him; he could be a free spirit, come and go as he pleased.
He looked up at her. “I cannot live this way any longer.”
“Charlie, you know I can’t-”
“Why?”
“I could kill myself!”
“You do not know that, you could be fine. You would not be already close to death. It would probably be easy for you and your power.”
Pet looked furious and Charles regretted saying anything.
“I am not going to risk my life for you again, Charles Dumphrey! I thought we were making progress with your fluctuations!”
“Progress is slow and tedious. I am no closer to regaining a sense of my vampire self!” Charles let his anger at himself loose, and he stood up angrily.
“Well, Mum and I have been doing all we can to help you. Who says you’ll settle on your vampire senses?” Pet stood up and poked him in the chest, hair and eyes blazing.
“Releasing me from the curse would be doing all you can!” Charles threw his arms up in the air and paced. “You are obviously not doing all you can! Why do you not just remove the curse?”
“You’re an ungrateful, horrid boy to ask such a thing!” Her hair stood on end, sparks sizzling.
“Boy? I will give you ‘boy’! I died years before your parents were even thought of! As for ungrateful! I have been slaving myself out to those people,” he waved his arm in the direction of Arthur and Mary’s, “for months! I would crush you…” he stopped, realising what he was about to say.
“You would what?” she asked, sparks flew from her whole body.
Charles realised that he’d gone too far. However, he also blamed her for letting it get that far. Stupid hormonal teenage girls and their stupid emotions!
“I think you’d better leave,” Pet said slowly.
“With pleasure.” Charles grabbed his bag and stormed out of the house.
He was incredibly grateful Mary and Arthur were not home to see him arrive back in such a distasteful manner. Again, the word ‘grounded’ swirled into his mind unbidden.
He stormed up to his room, threw his bag on the floor, and flung himself onto the bed.
Charles had spent the last few days wondering what on Earth had happened when he and Pet first touched. Now, he supposed he had let himself believe they had some connection, one that would lead her to take pity on him and…risk her life to turn him back to his old self.
He saw how ridiculous he had let himself be.
What had come over him? Of course, he could not ask her to risk her life after he almost killed her. They barely knew each other. How did one touch – amazing as it might have been – make him think they knew each other? Then, of course there was Mike. Nothing appeared to have changed between Pet and him, even though Charles knew Pet had felt whatever he had when they touched. He growled and waved his arms and legs in the air in frustration.
He flopped back on the bed, giving up. In seven hundred years, he had only felt this mixed up and confused once. Even then, that did not really compare. Nor had he ever failed to be suave and sophisticated, and had a petty fight like a teenager.
Although, isn’t that what I am now? he thought to himself, knowing it was true; he had no more control over the teenage hormones and emotions than he did his fluctuations.
Well, if he was going behave like a petty teenager, he would do it properly. He had heard Mike say he was taking Pet out on Friday to the movies. As far as Charles saw, that was a normal past time for young people. So, he would find a girl at school and ask her to the movies also. All he had to do now was work out who it would be. Not that repulsive Ashleigh, that was for sure!
He wondered about it all night; all through dinner with Mary and Arthur, all through trying to do his confounded homework. He also wondered for the millionth time why he was bothering with all this nonsense. All through his shower, and up until the time he managed to fall asleep, visions of Pet in the purple dress still playing in his mind.
Chapter Fifteen
H
e grumbled his way down the stairs and to breakfast the next morning, startling Mary and Arthur.
“What is the matter with you, son?” Arthur asked him as he flicked his morning paper.
“Nothing. I’m just…behind on an assignment. Mr Coleman has offered to help me with it as well as my…extra credit project.” Charles chewed his toast, trying not to spit out the distinct cardboard taste.
“Oh, how nice.” Mary smiled around at everyone as she poured her husband coffee. “Are you working with him again this afternoon?”
“Yes, hopefully I won’t be late.”
“That’s fine, dear, do what you need. Grades are important. Got to think about university next year.” She smiled at Charles but was looking at Arthur, who made an uncertain gesture towards her.
It was the first time they had said anything about university to him. He supposed that if he was stuck in this life by then he would have to do something about applying and attending. He sighed inwardly. He had been to university many times over the centuries and he had no wish to go back again right now. Maybe later, but he had no wish to go when someone else told him to.
“Yes, yes. I shall think about it.” Charles said, distracted enough to forget to talk with his usual vernacular. He realised his mistake and cursed silently.
“Oh…well, all right then, dear. No rush yet.” Mary sounded surprised.
He drained his coffee and stood up, taking his plate and cup to the sink. “I’d better get going. I’ll do these when I get home.” He gestured to the sink.
“Thanks, Charlie,” Mary replied, hugging him. He winced at the pet form of his name but made sure it did not show.
“See you two tonight.” Charles nodded to Arthur.
“Bye, dear,” Mary called.
Charles hurried out the door before they could ask any questions as to why he was leaving so early. He rushed past Pet’s, doing his best to not look at Pet and that blasted Morganna at their front gate.
“Lover’s tiff?” he heard Morganna say as he walked past.
“Shut it, Morg,” he heard Pet reply and a distinct thump then an “ow”.
As soon as he got through the front gates, he looked around for a likely candidate for a date for the next evening. He squared his shoulders and turned his mind back to his old life. The life where he could seduce any girl in a night club and take her outside for a quick snack, if he chose, or back to his apartment for other pleasures.
Over the course of the last few weeks, he had learned the human Charles had had many young female admirers. As he looked around the courtyard, his mind on seduction and sophistication, he found a few of them smiling coyly at him. He smiled back at each of them in turn, ensuring he paid each enough attention to make them feel special. He locked eyes with a pretty young thing he thought was called Courtney. He wracked his brain making sure he had the right name. Yes, it was Courtney. He remembered having such an aversion to her friends calling her ‘Court’ as though she was some sporting field or Royal residence.
She was sitting with a couple of her friends. He checked his watch and saw that the bell would not ring for at least another fifteen minutes. He strode up to her, holding the strap of his backpack as he had seen most of the other young men do. He felt a little bit ridiculous, but the girls appeared to fawn over young men who carried themselves in such a way. He was not used to playing the part of a younger man; usually, he would play the part of an older, more sophisticated man. If only the young women he prayed upon really knew how old he was!
“Courtney, how are you?”
She giggled and he was suddenly aware that he might have started off in the wrong manner.
“I’m fine, Charlie, thanks. How are you?” She looked around at her friends as though to make sure they were watching the interchange. He sighed mentally and hoped he had not picked some air headed, flighty harlot.
He hurriedly searched for the right words. “Great. I’m great.” He began sweating and thought it better to just get to the point quickly. “Are you free tomorrow night?”
She looked around at her friends again, doing a terrible job at concealing her pleasure, if that was what she thought she was doing. “Yes, I’m totally free. Why?”
Oh, as if you do not know! Charles thought exasperatedly. He wished dating was less difficult, but it was
not like it had become any easier in all his many years. “I was wondering if you’d like to go to a movie with me?”
“Which one?” she replied a little too quickly for Charles.
He faltered, he had no idea what was showing. He had not been to the movie theatre in years. “I don’t mind. Anything you want,” he said, and instantly regretted it.
“Really? Wow, that would be lovely.” She blushed and he thought that maybe there was some chance of the date going well.
“Wonderful, I’ll…meet you at the cinema at seven?” He was not a hundred percent sure on the protocol of dating, but, as he did not have a car, he could not pick her up.
“That sounds great. I’ll see you there.” She blushed again, quickly kissed him on the cheek, and hurried away with her friends.
Charles was aware of a very familiar heartbeat pounding and he turned around to see Pet flounce past on Mike’s arm. Mike winked at him and pointed to Courtney’s retreating back. Charles felt a stab of anger on seeing Pet, but he could not be sure whether that was because of what happened to them earlier in the week – and then those dreams – or because of their argument the day before. He watched them walk past and once again regretted mentioning anything to Pet, but he also still blamed her for reacting the way she did. He tried to tell himself that it was a reasonable response on her part, but he also reasoned that she could have thought about it from his point of view.
Since the dreams with Pet, where he felt his fangs and the power coursing through him, blood and memories of what he once was plagued him. He wanted more than ever to go back to being a vampire. To once again stalk the night, taking whomever he pleased whenever he pleased. He even missed Red and the boys, to a degree, but they had obviously been avoiding him; he had not been able to find them since he had tried drinking that girl’s blood.
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