by Bree Wolf
After two quick phone calls, Quinn managed to track her sister down at Jo’s. No surprise there. And yes, she had lost her cell phone. Had no idea where it was.
***
Waking up, Quinn rubbed her eyes, a part of her still refusing to let go of the sweet oblivion of sleep. Blinking, she looked around and found herself in a room she didn’t recognize. But when she saw the antique furniture, the tall windows and the dark hardwood floor, she knew she was in Arnaud’s house. In Arnaud’s bedroom. More precisely in his bed.
Turning around, Quinn found the person in question, lying on his back beside her, eyes closed. But there was a faint curl of his mouth and she knew he wasn’t asleep.
“What am I doing here?” she demanded, sitting up.
An eye opened, then another and he frowned at her. “Sleeping,” he said.
“Why here?” Quinn asked, trying to recall what had happened after they had left the old lady’s house. “Why am I not at home?” Turning to the window, she saw that it was dark outside, the only light coming from a candle burning on the nightstand by Arnaud’s side. “My parents are going to be frantic.”
“They are not,” he said, pushing himself up on his elbows. “You called them and said you’d stay at Julia’s.”
“I did?” Quinn frowned. “I don’t remember that.”
“Well, you were pretty out of it last night.”
“What’s with the candle?” she asked. “You do have electricity, don’t you?”
Arnaud nodded. “Yes, but … well, it reminds me of …when I first lived here.”
“I see,” Quinn said, lying back down. “You still miss your family, don’t you?” His face darkened a little. “Even after all this time.”
A faint smile crossed his face. “The heart doesn’t forget.” There was a tinge of sadness to his eyes, but it quickly disappeared as he changed the topic. “I’m proud of you.”
Quinn laughed. “What? Why?”
“You killed a vampire last night,” he said, frowning. “Suffering from amnesia?”
Shaking her head, she said, “That was nothing. He charged me and … and all I did was hold a stake in my hand. He was the one who was dumb enough to run into it.”
“Okay, you may not have the physical strength to take on a supernatural of any kind, I guess,” Arnaud said, looking her in the eyes. “But what you had at your disposal you used well.” Again an appreciative smile crossed his face. “You’re very resourceful.”
Quinn shrugged. “All I did was buy some time until you came and … saved the day. Again.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Arnaud said earnestly. “They were playing with you. It’s in a predator’s nature. But you didn’t let them. You turned it around and in the end, you were the one holding the strings.” For a moment he looked at her, considering. “Before he charged you, did you know he would?”
Replaying the scene before her eyes, Quinn nodded.
“You were prepared,” Arnaud said. “You provoked him until he couldn’t control himself any more and without thinking rushed into a situation that gave you the chance to kill him. Granted, you probably didn’t plan this out consciously, but your intuition didn’t lead you astray. Your instincts are good. Very good actually.”
“Okay, yeah, that worked out fine for me. But in the end, Blondie would have killed me if you hadn’t shown up.”
Arnaud shook his head. “I’m not so sure. You had him pretty freaked out. He was doubting his own strength and your presumed weakness and vulnerability. I’m thinking he might actually have retreated.” He laughed. “You know, sometimes the truth doesn’t matter. What is real is nothing compared to what we believe to be real. Strength does not come from our flesh, but our minds. And if our minds are weakened, our bodies fail too.” He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You were his superior. Your mind overcame his. He lost control because you refused to give it up. Don’t for a second believe you are weak, just because your physical body might not withstand as much. That’s not all that matters.”
At his words a hint of embarrassment crossed her face. “You’ll make me blush,” she complained. “Could we change the subject?”
Arnaud laughed, lifting her chin so she would look at him. “With the way you rule your school, I didn’t think anything could embarrass you.”
Quinn shrugged. “These people don’t know me. They see what I let them see. That’s it. Isn’t that what you do too?”
“It’s safer,” he agreed. “Those who know you well pose the greatest threat. It’s advisable to always consider carefully whether to let someone see behind the mask.”
Quinn remembered the night, he had come to dinner. “You let me see behind your mask from the beginning, didn’t you? Why is that? You didn’t think I could be a threat?”
Again he laughed. “Well, you already proved you can be.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t expect it. You thought I was human and therefore you didn’t think I could hurt you. I mean that’s the only reason I managed to ...” She grinned. “… you know … because physically I’m no match for you.”
Arnaud shook his head. “That is undoubtedly true and yet it is not the real reason.”
Quinn frowned. “Then what is?”
“Your parents, your sister, Julia, you trust them, don’t you?” She nodded. “You believe that they would never hurt you, not intentionally. Not if they had a choice. Why is that?”
“They care about me.”
“And you about them?” Again she nodded. “And when you care about someone, you let your guard down. It’s as simple as that. The thought that someone you care about might not feel the same way about you, might even be willing to hurt you is something your mind refuses to even consider. Because it too would be painful.”
Quinn stared at him. “Are you saying that you trusted me even then? That you let your guard down because you cared about me? Why? You didn’t know me.”
Arnaud shrugged. “I may not have known you well but probably better than most people.” He grinned at her. “I’m not the only one to let the other see behind the mask from the start. You dropped yours too.”
“I felt like you already knew me,” Quinn said, trying to put into words how she had felt, how he had made her feel from the beginning. “But how is that possible? I mean you didn’t. You didn’t know me, and I didn’t know you.”
“Well, maybe we recognized each other. Maybe—”
Lifting a hand to stop him, Quinn said, “Please, don’t tell me you believe in soul mates and that romantic crap!”
Arnaud laughed. “No, that’s not where I was going. But I’m sure you know the saying ‘Great minds think alike’, don’t you?” Quinn nodded. “All I’m saying is that we are the same. We guard who we are from others. We have a strong will and are determined to shape the world to fit us, not the other way around. We are stubborn and easily irritated.” Quinn laughed knowingly. “We fight without regard for right and wrong, simply because it makes us feel alive. Sometimes we want to claw each other’s eyes out and sometimes we just want to be in each other’s arms. But we always feel drawn to each other because we know that no one else understands.”
“So, you’re saying we’re seriously disturbed people?” Quinn asked, laughing.
Amusement on his face, Arnaud shrugged. “If you want to put it like that, I don’t care. I just know that even fighting with you is exhilarating. You don’t back down, but neither do you take things too seriously. And you don’t hold a grudge.”
“You actually enjoy that?”
“Don’t you?”
“Not so much. Because usually I’m the one being teased and you’re the one irritating me. Not the other way around. Why is that?”
One of those highly annoying grins again spread over his face that Quinn could feel her anger rise. “Well, I’ve had more practice than you,” Arnaud said. “Give it a couple of decades and you’ll be up to speed.”
And just as quickly as it had seized her, Q
uinn felt her anger evaporate. Laughing, she lay back against the pillows. “That sounds like a lot of work. And I’m not sure I’d want you around for the next couple of decades. I won’t have a moment of peace.”
Pulling her to him, his head bent over hers, blocking the light from the candle, Arnaud said, “We don’t thrive on peace. Not me. And not you.”
“You may be right about that,” Quinn whispered, her finger tracing the line of his jaw as his head slowly closed the space between them and his lips found hers.
In that moment the door flew open and Soo-Ji came rushing in, her face flushed, eyes agitated.
“Now, that’s perfect timing,” Arnaud complained, sitting up.
“Didn’t you hear her coming down the stairs?” Quinn asked, feeling just as annoyed with the sudden interruption.
He shrugged. “I was distracted.” There was a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at her.
“Sorry about this,” Soo-Ji said, not stopping at the bed but actually climbing onto it.
“What’s going on?” Arnaud asked, looking at her with a frown on his forehead.
But instead of answering, Soo-Ji clambered between them, shoving against Arnaud that he had to move a little to the right. Then she grabbed his hand with her right and turning to Quinn took her hand as well. “Now tell them what you told me,” she said, her head turned to the door.
“What the—?” Quinn started, but stopped short as her eyes followed Soo-Ji’s and found the spirit of Martin’s father stand only a few feet from them. “Oh.”
He looked a little embarrassed at the scene before him, but quickly the same agitation, that had been plain on Soo-Ji’s face, seized his and he came forward with wringing hands. He could barely contain the news he was bringing. “Martin has returned. He is at the cemetery right now.”
Quinn and Arnaud’s eyes flew open. Neither one of them had expected this.
“Why?” Quinn stammered. “How did you find him?”
The spirit shook his head. “We didn’t. He came to us. He stood there, speaking to our headstones and … we heard his call and came, but …”
“Isn’t it a bit strange that he would show up now?” Quinn asked, seeing contradicting emotions pass over Arnaud’s face as he was trying to digest this information. “I mean you said the odds were slim that we would ever find him,” she said, looking at the woman holding her hand.
“I did,” Soo-Ji confirmed. “But that’s not what’s weird.” Looking at Martin’s father, she nodded encouragingly. “Tell them.”
“He cannot see us,” the spirit said. “At first we were confused, but then we realized that he is not like us. He is not a spirit.”
Staring at her ancestor, Quinn heard herself say, “Are you saying he is still alive?”
The spirit nodded, his eyes pleading. “You have to come and talk to him.” His gaze shifted to Soo-Ji. “Before he leaves again.”
Chapter 37 – Blast from the Past
Once again Quinn found herself in Arnaud’s car in the middle of the night, heading to the ruins of her family’s old manor house and the adjacent cemetery where many of her ancestors rested. Only that night they didn’t seem to be resting. From what Martin’s father had told them, other members of his family had come to the cemetery to greet their lost son.
Heading down Main Street, Quinn saw the tight grip of Arnaud’s hands around the wheel. This time she sat in the passenger seat and Soo-Ji was in the back. By now there was no rivalry between them any more. They both had found their respective places in Arnaud’s life and neither one of them had the intention to challenge the other’s position.
“How can he be alive?” Quinn asked into the dark. “How is that possible?” Craning her head, she looked at Soo-Ji.
“You’re seriously asking me this?” she asked, her eyes darting to Arnaud.
Surprise showed on Quinn’s face. “What? You think he’s a vampire?”
Soo-Ji shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s an option. Come to think of it, it’s probably the most likely option.”
“Isn’t that a little weird?” Quinn mused. “Another person from Crescent Rock turned into a vampire around the same time? And if he didn’t die in the war, why did he never go home? Why did he let everyone believe he was dead? And even more important, what is he doing here now?”
“There are always reasons,” came Arnaud’s voice, sounding distant as though he was not speaking about his friend.
As they drove through the old iron gate, Arnaud’s hands seemed to tighten even more on the wheel. Again they parked the car to the side of the house and, walking around, the little cemetery soon came into sight. With the moon shining brightly that night, even from a distance they saw that it didn’t lie empty nor vacant.
A tall man with light brown hair, grown long and tied in the back, stood facing the headstones of his family. His head was bent and he seemed completely oblivious to their presence.
Seeing him, Arnaud stopped, needing a moment to collect himself. Then he strode forward. Quinn and Soo-Ji tagged along after him.
“Martin.” Arnaud’s voice was barely a whisper and yet the young man suddenly spun around. His face held the same surprise and disbelief they’d seen on his father’s face only a night before.
“Arnaud?” he whispered, shaking his head. “What …?”
“It’s been a long time,” Arnaud said, slowly walking up to his friend. “I thought you were dead.”
Martin swallowed. “So did I.” He took a step forward. “Is it really you?”
Arnaud nodded and they stood for a while, not saying a word, battling with a reality they’d never thought possible.
“Give me your hand,” Soo-Ji suddenly whispered and from one second to another Quinn found the cemetery filled with people she had never seen before. Those of her family who had lived and died before her time.
Martin’s father stood hand in hand with a small, gray-haired woman who had tears streaming down her face. Right behind them, a tall woman waited, a hand resting on each of their shoulders, now and then looking up at a man standing protectively beside her. There was something about her that stirred a sense of recognition in Quinn. At first, she couldn’t tell what it was, but then she heard the voice of Martin’s father as he had told her, You have my daughter’s eyes.
There were others too, some old, some young, and although Quinn had never seen them before, she recognized them as her family.
“Will you forgive me?” Martin suddenly said, his eyes almost pleading. “I spoke in anger and not soon after you had gone, I saw my mistake. But by then it had been too late. I was back with my regiment when I heard you had fallen.” He swallowed. “It broke my heart. You were like a brother to me.”
Arnaud took a deep breath. “And you were mine,” he said. “There is nothing to forgive.” Hesitating only a second, he embraced Martin, both of them holding on to each other as though for dear life.
Quinn felt tears roll down her own cheeks and realized that she didn’t know what had happened between Arnaud and his friend. He had never told her. It had been too painful a memory for him.
“I’m sorry I blamed you,” Martin said as they stood looking at each other again. “I should never have said that.”
Arnaud’s head sank. “You weren’t all that wrong.”
“Yes, I was,” Martin insisted. “You didn’t know. If you had …” He stopped, inhaling deeply. “You would’ve done everything to save her. I know that. I even knew it then but …” Putting his hands on his friend’s shoulders, he looked at him. “Losing her broke my heart. I couldn’t stand it and it was easier to blame you than to deal with the pain. It was my anger that kept me going. I guess I needed it to survive.”
Arnaud nodded. “It broke mine as well.”
“I know that,” Martin said. “I know that you lost her too. I just couldn’t see it then. But I can now, and I never thought I’d get the chance to tell you that.”
“Neither did I. I thought you were dead,” Arnau
d said for the second time that night. “How are you not? What … what are you?”
“Do you really need to ask?” Martin said. “How is it that you still live?”
Arnaud nodded knowingly. “I wish I had known.”
“Same here.”
“Arnaud,” Soo-Ji called and as he turned to look at her, she smiled at him. “They’re all here.”
Again he nodded.
“Who is here?” Martin asked. For the first time his gaze shifted to the two women, standing not ten feet from them. As his eyes met hers, Quinn thought she saw a hint of recognition in them, and something else too. Something she couldn’t quite grasp.
“Your family is,” Arnaud said. As Martin’s eyes flew open at his words, he added, “Their spirits are.”
Looking around himself, Martin asked, astonishment clear in his voice, “How do you know? How’s …how’s this possible?”
Arnaud smiled. “I guess that’s one of the many things we might never understand.” He pointed at Soo-Ji, beckoning her forward. As soon as her hand left Quinn’s, her family disappeared from view. The cemetery was empty again.
“She’s a friend,” Arnaud said as Soo-Ji stood with them. “She can help you speak to them. They’ve missed you just like I have.”
Giving them room, Arnaud walked over to Quinn, his face holding pure joy with a hint of sadness running down his cheeks. He took her hand and led her back to the ruins of the house.
“You alright?” she asked, as they stood by the charred remnants of the old manor house. “It’s been quite a night,” she said, reaching up to touch his face.
“It has,” he said, emotions almost choking his voice. But he was smiling. “I can’t believe he’s alive. Has been all this time. And I didn’t know.” He shook his head. “I just didn’t know.”
“But you know now,” Quinn said encouragingly. “And with your kind, what is time?” She grinned at him. “What are two centuries compared to the eternity you still have ahead of you?”