We go to the same room as before. Harvey seems to understand, and she sets him up on the table. She doesn’t even need my help to get him to hold still. Why does he already trust her? He’s met her once. Humans can never be trusted, Harvey, you should know this by now, old man.
She leads me back to the observation room as Harvey waits patiently on the medical table, staring at us through the window. He may only be staring at Mia. After all, she is “pretty.” “How is he?” I ask.
“Give me a minute,” she replies, chuckling at my impatience. “How’ve you been doing? Seems he’s a lot more talkative than the last time I saw him. He keeping you up?”
“Not really,” I reply, leaving off all of the various events of the last couple weeks. “He has been more energetic, though. He’ll hardly shut up and keeps demanding treats.”
“That’s parrots for you.” She clicks a button, staring at a screen before clicking it again. “But his breathing seems to be normal now?”
“Yeah. That medication was a miracle.”
“Well, I guess I’m a saint.” Great, sacrilege, that ought to be a turn-off. “The X-rays look clean. The infection should be gone. Bring him back again soon. I want to make sure he’s still doing better, but I’m glad we caught it in time. That could’ve been bad.”
“I don’t even want to think about it.” What would I have done if I’d lost Harvey? Other than die of loneliness. I’ve put up with it a lot in the past centuries, but it’s never been something I handled that well. Between family and my service, I never had to until I died. “You saved him.” Don’t say it. You know exactly where this will lead. “Harvey’s everything to me. He’s the only family I have left. How can I ever thank you?” This is what I get for having a proper upbringing.
She leans against the table, a playful smile on her normally languid face as she meets my eyes. I try to keep them predatory since it makes dealing with humans much easier, but I know my gaze softens when I meet hers. Maybe it’s just been too long since someone looked at me like that. “What did you have in mind?”
I will myself not to blush. I don’t know if it works. I’m not even certain if I have enough blood in me to do it. “Nothing in particular. You saved the day, and it would feel wrong not to do something for you.”
“Can you eat?”
“What?” My eyebrows raise. What exactly does she mean? She’s another vampire hunter after all. “I didn’t expect you to be the type—”
“Not blood. Please, I’m barely even into biting.”
This time, I’m quite certain I blush.
“Most people are rather boring and unpleasant. Surprisingly, I’ve enjoyed spending time with you on the few occasions I’ve had the chance. You make existing seem less tiresome. If you want to thank me, let me take you out for dinner. I assume you don’t need to eat, but if you can, it can be fun sometimes.”
“I can eat.”
“Cool. How about Saturday night? I’ll close up early. It’d be nice to have something fun to do. There’s a nice place not too far from here. Let me treat you.”
“I’m not sure how that’s me thanking you.”
“Fine, you can treat me.”
Did she trick me? I’m a little impressed. “All right, fine. Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
“I would love that.”
This is a terrible idea. I’ve managed to ignore every single time I’ve started to grow fond of someone in the past five centuries. How the hell do I end up with a crush on a human and one who won’t let me ignore it at that? I thought that girl from the club would help, but it only seems to have made me worse, if anything. “All right. It could be fun.” I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?
“I’ll give you my number. You have a phone?” Reluctantly, I hand it over. She types in her number and name and saves it, her phone buzzing in her pocket before she hands it back. “I promise, it won’t be half as bad as you fear.”
“I didn’t—”
“You think because you’re, what, a couple hundred years older than me that I’m just gonna be a boring human?”
“I wasn’t thinking that at all. You don’t bore me, Mia. To be honest, you rather intrigue me. I apologize if I seemed to suggest otherwise.” I’m too used to my privacy. My poker face has completely failed me. I almost wish that she’d read it correctly. If she knew that both love and humans terrify me, maybe she’d reconsider.
“Well, you intrigue me too. You might be the first monster I’ve ever met who didn’t look like they wanted to eat me. Well, in a bad way…you looked like you wouldn’t have minded the other night.”
A million responses battle for my tongue. She is, of course, completely correct. I hadn’t even noticed it, but I hadn’t once considered her as food. What is wrong with me? Instead of acknowledging any of those points, I decide to sidestep the issue. “It’s ‘fiends.’”
“Fine. I suppose there’s a few terms I’d rather you not call me. Can’t complain about you hating that word.”
“I don’t mind it that much, but I’d rather you not risk being eaten for upsetting someone else. We are a significant portion of your clientele, after all.”
“It’s sweet that you already worry about me.” Her smile grows more flirtatious. I hate to admit that it’s having an effect on me. Harvey’s right—she is pretty. “Speaking of inappropriate words, how old are you?”
“I suppose that is inappropriate.”
“Tell me.”
“I’m five hundred and forty-eight, if you must know.”
She lets out a low whistle. “You don’t look a day over two hundred. But, no, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant if you’re, well, as old as you are, I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t end up saying you had a date with a nice Oriental or something. That’d put a damper on the night.”
I swallow. “A date? So it…” I knew it was, what am I even thinking? “Right. And that wasn’t what we called you when I was growing up, but I know better either way. My most recent degree was in sociology. There was a lot of new information to take in.”
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
“Thanks.”
Smirking, she turns away from me, gesturing toward the door. “Now, let’s go tell Harvey he’s all right before he bores a hole through this window watching us.”
When we enter the other room, Harvey looks way too pleased with himself and begins hopping about the table. The little bastard.
“It’s not nice to spy on people,” Mia says.
He tilts his head. “Not nice.”
“Oh, don’t give me that.” She places her hands on her hips, staring, looking surprisingly imposing for someone who couldn’t possibly be over five-six. “You little perv.”
Perching on my shoulder, he ducks behind my head. “Good bird,” he calls back. I suppose he’s not wrong.
I scratch his head and find myself smiling. “I think he likes you.” I’ve never really let anyone else meet him, so I don’t know if he has good taste in people. He likes me, but I’m not certain what that says either.
“Of course he does. All animals love me. I’m amazing.”
“Harvey, is Mia amazing?”
He peeks around my head, peering at her before he ducks back again. “Pretty.”
She and I both laugh, the disturbance causing him to flap in annoyance. “I’m going to take him home. I’ll see you on Saturday.”
“Can’t wait,” she replies, and despite the snide tone, I think she may be telling the truth. I’m somewhat excited as well. Perhaps it is time to put myself out there again. Maybe five centuries of penance is enough.
As I turn my key in the ignition, he croons happily from his cage in the back seat. “Saturday,” he repeats.
“Yeah,” I sigh, pulling onto the road and heading home. I try to focus on the drive, but my mind seems rather set on the coming weekend. It’s really happening. I feel as if I’m on a roller coaster, going down from the peaks of ecstasy to the troughs of terror
and back up again. It’s been a long time since I let myself care like this, and it’s all happening so quickly. I barely know the first thing about the woman. Well, I suppose I’ll have the chance to learn.
Back home, I try to take my mind off things by playing with Harvey. He seems to enjoy his latest puzzle box. I never had the chance to open it while I was in that near-catatonic state, so I figure it is the perfect way to celebrate his recovery. He pulls on a knob, striking the toy repeatedly with his beak. I even manage to mostly pay attention.
* * *
The grounds are serene today. A few birds fly by, and the breeze is likely a bit too cold for human comfort, but it looks beautiful out, and there are enough clouds that I only have a faint headache from the sun. A wild rabbit hops along through the grass, pausing here and there to sniff the air. It leaps off into a bush as the door behind me opens. Heavy footsteps crunch the gravel, and the bench groans as someone sits next to me. “Hello, Father,” I say without turning around. There’s no one else it could be, but I recognize his scent and his heartbeat.
“Hello, Olivia. How are you doing today?”
I sigh, watching the bush where the rabbit vanished. I’m not even sure where to begin. “Maybe great, maybe terrible. At the very least, I’m terrified.” It’s easy to be honest with him. I often wonder if it’s the priesthood or how much he reminds me of my father.
“What seems to be troubling you?”
I start to tap my foot, but I place my hand on my knee to still it. I’ve never been one for letting my anxieties show. “I’ve been having more of those dreams of late, but I think I’m dealing with it.” Those pills are still sitting beside my bed. Maybe I should give them another chance. The dreams have not been letting up at all.
“Has that therapist been helping?”
“I think she has. There’s still a long way to go, but I’m done putting it off. I’m sick of being afraid all the time.”
“You shouldn’t have to be.”
I tap again. I grit my teeth, trying to appear as placid as I can.
“Is there something else bothering you?”
I finally turn to him, and I’m surprised to find him blurring. Am I crying? “I have a date on Saturday.”
He grasps my hands, his broad grin made oddly comical by his beard. “That’s wonderful. I’m really happy for you. You deserve this.”
Looking away, I shake my head. “How can you say that? You know what I’ve done. What if it all happens again?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” His strikingly calm blue eyes stare into mine. “It’s been centuries, you’ve atoned, and you know you couldn’t control yourself. You didn’t deserve any of the things that happened to you, but you absolutely do deserve a new chance at happiness.”
“How can I take that risk?”
“Just because I’ve taken a vow of chastity doesn’t mean you have to. How long has it been since you let yourself live? Stop hiding away from the world. I know how hard it is, how scary, but let yourself be happy.”
“She’s a human.”
His smile grows softer. “Are you scared of her?”
I don’t know how to answer that. I should be. I think I am. She still might hurt me if things go badly. It would take almost no effort for her to gather a mob to attempt to exterminate my kind. She’s had plenty of chances, though, hasn’t she? After three years of working with the fiend community, she hasn’t tried to hurt any of us. Even the ones who deserve it. I finally shake my head. “I’m afraid of what I might do to her.”
“Clearly, she’s willing to take that risk.”
Choking back a sob, I wipe a tear from my eye. I still feel like I should call things off before they grow serious, but he’s right. This is something she wants. She’s the one who asked me out. “I feel like I’m betraying her memory. How can I move on like this? I pledged my undying love to her.”
His hand rests heavily on my shoulder. “You said ‘till death do us part.’”
“Just because I’m dead, that means I have the right to move on?”
“She’s been dead for over five hundred years. You’ve mourned her long enough. I’m not saying marry this girl, though if it happens, I’d be more than happy to perform the ceremony—”
“I don’t think you can do that.”
“I’d like to see them try to stop me.” From what I’ve heard, he’s had more than a few confrontations with some of the higher-ups in the church. I’ve never been too certain of how to cope with all that. I’ve lived through enough of these issues that one would think I’d have an answer by now, but the closest I’ve come is that my faith is in the church, not the people in it. It’s actually what attracted me to his church in the first place. After that scandal in Boston, he made quite an uproar. He seems an honorable man, when I’d thought they had all died out. “But let yourself have fun. Maybe it’ll help you move past the other issues too.”
“Maybe,” I agree, leaning back as I blink away the last of the tears. A lone leaf floats by on the breeze, passing in front of…that same face. Bianca? I blink again, and she’s gone. I don’t think I’m having a flashback. Nothing seems to have caused one. I turn back to face Father Gregory. “Did you see her?” I ask. I’m almost certainly being crazy—I have the credentials for it—but I need to know.
“See whom?”
“Never mind.” I rise, shaking my head to try to clear it. “Must’ve been seeing things. Maybe a tear obscured my vision.”
“Olivia—”
“It’s fine.” I gesture for him to sit down. I don’t want to worry him. It’s likely nothing. “I’m going to go home. Thank you, Father.”
“I’m surprised you don’t want to do confession.”
“Oh, right.” Groaning, I sit back down. If that was her, I’d rather have as clean a soul as possible when I die. I know there’s no chance I can make it into heaven, but I’d like to have as little burden to carry as I can. “Are you ready?”
“Of course, my child. What do you have to confess?”
“It’s been a week and a half since my last confession. I hurt two people, but I didn’t kill either of them. I did, however, have a one-night stand with one of them and run off without even giving her my number. That’s not exactly great of me, is it?”
His playful smile returns, and I try not to roll my eyes. I wish I could use a confessional booth. I can see how badly he wants to tease me about it, but he takes his role as seriously as the station deserves. “Did she know that it was a one-night stand?”
“I don’t know.” Staring at my feet, I shrug. Clarifying it would have been best. I wasn’t thinking at the time.
“You may have hurt her. I hate to say it. I know how much pain it causes you, but just do one Hail Mary.”
I deserve that. I do as instructed, the pain clearing away some of the guilt. Maybe if I keep doing them until Saturday night, I won’t feel like I’m betraying both my wife and Mia by going on this date. “Thank you, Father,” I say again, heading back to my car.
“Oliva.”
I turn back, seeing that grin returning with a twinkle in his blue eyes. I’ll never get over how strange those are. “Do tell me how the date goes, all right? I’m happy for you.”
Unable to hold back my own smile, I turn away from him. “I will. I’ll try to be by on Sunday.” He stays on the bench as I walk off. He seems to always avoid doing anything that might startle me. It’s not necessary, but I appreciate it. I’d like to be able to pay him back. Maybe I’ll have good news to give him after my date.
Chapter Seven
The First Date
It’s taken over three hours, as I’ve had to look up almost every single term due to my outdated knowledge, but this article looks promising. If they had more funding, I think they could accomplish some impressive feats. They’ve managed to clone perfectly functioning organs that allow for transplants with a near-zero chance of rejection. The head researcher seems beyond reproach, and she’s been working on this her entire
life. If she’d be amenable, I’d like to be a silent partner in the study, funding the research and possibly even buying the lab if need be. This may have some fairly substantial financial returns if it’s successful, but until then, I’m far more interested in what it could teach us and, perhaps, what she could teach me. I send her an email, doing my best to convince her that I’m serious, and say that I’m happy to provide an investment before we even talk.
As I type, Harvey is flying around the room, searching for the various treats I left out for him. They’re supposed to keep him entertained while I’m on my date, but he’s never been one for patience. I’m already dressed. I may have been a little overexcited. I tried on five outfits before settling on this simple seafoam-green dress that shows off a little more skin than I’d typically prefer. I think this is standard these days, though I may be overdressed. All I know about modern dating I’ve learned from fiction, and I’m not sure how helpful that really is.
It’s been decades since I’ve worn heels. I’m glad I have superhuman grace or else I may have trouble with them. As I read over a study on gene editing, I’m surprised to hear a ping from my email.
Apparently, she likes the offer. If you’re serious, then yeah, I’d appreciate the hell out of that. I’d be happy to try to keep you up to date and teach you whatever I can as long as it doesn’t cut in on my research. We can Skype sometime and go over everything. I’ll include more later, just wanted to make sure I got back to you before you found something new to fund.
I reply, aware of how soon I need to leave, but confirm that I’m serious and even send enough to make sure she can keep doing her work until we have the chance to talk more. The internet has made this all so easy. As much work as it has been to keep up with advancing technology, it’s been incredibly worth it. I’m not sure how else I’d have found such a cute outfit. I still haven’t worn the clothes I bought at that store. They seem tainted by the trauma. They’re lying in a bag on the floor in my bedroom. I’ve barely even been in there since.
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