Amaranthine Special Edition Vol II

by Naylor, Joleene

  “It didn’t get on my nerves. It just took a while to get used to. Perhaps you could practice quiet thinking?” He laughed and stroked her cheek absently. “Seriously, Katelina, the choice is yours. If you want it back, all right. If not, I won’t be offended.”

  She leaned against his chest and sighed. “You know how lousy I am at commitment.”

  “I think you’ve improved.”

  “Have I?” It was a rhetorical question, so she let it go. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “You do that. In the meantime it will be dawn soon. I think it best if I retire before the sun comes up. Since there’s no bathtub, it’s going to be the floor. If you don’t mind, could you wait until tomorrow to shower?”

  “Oh, I suppose,” she said with false martyrdom. “If you insist.”

  He caught her chin in his hands and gazed into her eyes. “I do,” he murmured, but his words had little to do with what he was really saying. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She nodded, her attempted humor swept away by the intense something in his gaze. “All right. Have a good night.” A wry smile twisted her lips. “I mean day.”

  “You too, little one.” He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply, then released her and headed to the bathroom.

  Alone, she changed into her new pajamas; a pair of pink flowered pants and a white tank top emblazoned with butterflies and more flowers. Though it was too college girl cutesy for her taste, it had been the best of a bad lot. She hoped to scrape past her mother without having to stay the night, but she was prepared if she couldn’t.

  She flipped out the light and threw herself into bed. She stared longingly through the darkness to the bathroom door and wondered if there was room for both of them on the floor. Even if there was, she knew he’d insist she stay in the bed anyway. That was so classic Jorick, “stay there and be comfortable, never mind if it means we’re apart.” Didn’t he understand she was willing to be uncomfortable to be with him?

  She supposed he did. He knew the sacrifices she made and he made his own too. The trip was a huge sacrifice on his part. Her stomach knotted as she thought about the impending visit. What if her mother didn’t like him? Though, it was beyond Katelina’s comprehension how she couldn’t. He was tall, dark and sexy, not to mention he had a very reassuring presence.

  She closed her eyes and tried to imagine tall, dark, sexy, reassuring Jorick standing in her mother’s living room, surrounded by an explosion of kitsch. She pictured her mother’s stern appraisal as she demanded, “Why did you run away? Why couldn’t you stay here and date him? Where did you meet him? Why didn’t you ever mention him? Have you seen Sarah?”

  The last imaginary question made her insides lurch. She squeezed her eyes tight to force the tears back. She didn’t know what she could have done differently to save her friend. As Jorick had once commented, Sarah wouldn’t have believed a warning, even if it had been given. Who would? Besides, she’d never imagined that Claudius’ goons would grab the wrong woman; taking Sarah instead of her. It was one of those horrific tragedies that no one saw coming and no one could prevent. Or at least that’s what she told herself.

  Despite her nerves, Katelina eventually drifted into a fitful sleep, complete with nightmares. Sarah glared at her accusingly, and reminded her that she’d never get to bring a new guy home to meet her parents. It could so easily have been the other way around.

  The next evening, Katelina climbed from bed in the heavy pre twilight, her eyes puffy and sore. She caught up her clothes and toiletries, and headed to the bathroom to take her delayed shower. The door wouldn’t open all the way because Jorick still blocked it, so she had to slide through. Once inside, there was barely room for her because he was sprawled over most of the available floor, not that there was very much of it. She could stand against the door and reach all the bathroom fixtures at once.

  She prodded his cold, rigid form with a toe. He didn’t move. He normally woke just as the sun was disappearing, though he could wake at any time. She prodded him again. When she was sure he was really asleep, she slipped out of her clothes and stacked them on the toilet, then dodged neatly into the tiny shower. Though they were living together, they hadn’t made it to the shower-buddy stage yet, so she tried to be quiet. The shampoo fell over, she dropped the conditioner twice, and her razor tried to commit suicide. It was as though the harder she tried, the noisier everything was.

  Despite the racket, when she finished her shower, Jorick still lay on the floor, perfectly still. She opened the door and made a grab for the towels, splashing a trail of water across him.

  “Hey!” He jerked into a sitting position. “Would you mind not drowning me?”

  Katelina let out a gasp and clutched the towels against herself. Her face turned deep red and her eyes narrowed. “I thought you were asleep!”

  “Asleep?” He wiped his face with his shirt. “How could anyone sleep through all the noise? Not even the undead have a chance!” He grinned as his eyes roamed up and down her shimmering, wet body. “I thought it better not to disturb you.”

  “You pervert!” She pressed the towel tighter. “What were you doing? Laying there watching me?”

  “Old habits die hard,” he quipped unrepentantly as he climbed to his feet. She frowned and he shrugged. “You were thinking it, so I might as well say it.”

  “You make it sound... I don’t know, wrong.” Patrick, her ex-boyfriend, had asked Jorick to keep an eye on her for her own protection. It was no one’s fault that, after three months, he’d come to enjoy it. Though she probably shouldn’t, she’d forgiven him. “Get out so I can get dressed.”

  He snickered and bowed low. “As you command.” She flung the shampoo bottle at him, but he dodged neatly out the door, leaving only his laughter.

  She dressed quickly, fighting the butterflies in her stomach. Though they’d get into town that night, they couldn’t very well show up at her mother’s house at one a.m. Her mother was going to be fierce enough without being dragged out of bed, so they’d agreed to wait until tomorrow evening. She wasn’t sure the delay would make anything better.

  When she emerged from the bathroom, Jorick had changed into another black shirt and was still in an unusually good mood. She took advantage of his cheer and talked him into eating at a truck stop. He ordered a cup of coffee and played with it while she ate her ham steak and fries. She should have enjoyed being in a restaurant, surrounded by normal people. Instead, she was all nerves. She kept waiting for someone to recognize them. She even feared that someone would know Jorick for what he was, and there’d be a mass panic.

  Of course, no one did, though Jorick did draw a good deal of attention. They were probably the best served customers in the establishment. Every waitress stopped by more than once to make sure they didn't need anything. Though they spoke to Katelina too, their eyes never left Jorick, and he gave them all tightlipped smiles for their efforts, which only annoyed her further.

  When they left, Jorick dropped a five dollar tip on the table. As Katelina climbed in the car, she muttered something about encouraging slutty waitresses to throw themselves at him, but didn’t broach the subject conversationally. Still, as if to make sure he was aware of her annoyance, she slammed the door extra hard.

  “Yes?” he asked as he started the car. “Something on your mind, precious?”

  “Precious? That’s a new one.”

  He deftly backed the car from the stall and feigned hurt. “You don’t like it?”

  She snorted loudly, but refused to answer. Jorick parked next to the gas pumps. After he’d filled the car and returned, she was still aggravated. They pulled back onto the road and he sighed. “All right, I give up. I thought you wanted to go out to eat?”

  She glowered at him. “You know what I’m mad about. Was that really necessary?”

  “I think they earned the five dollars.” When she didn’t look amused he rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Katelina, you can’t be jealous? I will never see those
women again, let alone abandon you for one of them. You’re just worried about the visit and taking it out on me. I refuse to be drawn into an argument simply to relieve your tension. If this is upsetting you so badly then perhaps we should have stayed home.”

  “Perhaps we should have.” She turned on the radio to end his infuriatingly calm comments. Why couldn’t he just be normal and get angry?

  The closer they drew to their destination, the more worried she got. It was midnight when they pulled into Dunwick, a small town only twenty minutes from her old home. Jorick slowed the car and asked casually, “Would you like to stay here or should we get a room closer to your mom? If we do, we could use it as an excuse when she invites us to stay with her. Though from what you’ve said, I doubt even a prepaid motel room will discourage her. On the other hand, I thought it might be,” he paused, “fun to stay here.”

  “Fun?”

  His offence wasn’t feigned, though it faded quickly from his eyes. “You don’t remember, do you?” When she shook her head he made a noise of disgust. “I thought that women remembered everything important.”

  She looked at him skeptically. “What’s important about Dunwick?”

  He pulled into the parking lot of a pink ranch style motel and parked the car, then he stared at her accusingly. She stared back and desperately wracked her brain for what she was supposed to remember. Dunwick. They had a high school that caught fire a few years ago and the year before last the police had discovered thirty or forty stolen lawn flamingoes chained to trees in the city park. Other than that, nothing of any interest had ever happened there. In fact, the last time she’d seen the place she’d been in no hurry to ever return, considering there had been two dead vampires in the trunk and the room they left behind was full of blood and broken glass.

  “We got attacked? Oren had to come get us and I was really freaked out.”

  He cleared his throat and explained icily, “It was the first place we spent the night together.”

  “Oh, well, yes,” she hedged. “Of course. I thought you meant something more monumental than your sleeping in a bathtub.” She offered him a smile that was meant as an apology.

  He studied her and then said pointedly, “I might be willing to forget your lapse of memory, provided I’m done hearing about the waitresses.”

  “You! You did that on purpose! That’s not fair!”

  “No, I didn’t.” His eyes danced with unvoiced laughter. “I’ll go check in while you think it over.”

  She called him a cheat, but he was already long gone, so she turned her attention to the motel. It looked the same as it had two months ago. The realization of how little time had passed staggered her. It hadn’t even been a full two months, and yet so much had changed. She didn’t even feel like the same person. Back then she’d been someone weak and cringing and terrified of feeling anything for anyone, someone haunted by dark shadows and dreams of a blonde ghost. Of course, she still had her ghosts, but they were new ones, and she liked to think that after all she’d endured she was stronger.

  Jorick returned and they headed for their room. The salted pavement crunched beneath their feet, and the low hum of the outdoor lights created a heavy atmosphere. With much less ceremony than she expected, Jorick opened the door to reveal the ugly orange décor that she remembered. She’d never forget the hideous bedspread if she lived to be a hundred.

  She threw the suitcase on one of the chairs and eyed the room speculatively. “Sleeping in the bathtub again?”

  “I thought I might try the bed this time.” He grinned. “Unless you object? I suppose you might want to relive the last time we were here. Though, since you’ve forgotten, it might be more of a new experience than a repeat.”

  “I get it, I get it. Fine, no more remarks about the waitresses, all right?”

  “Deal.” He turned suddenly, caught her with one arm and pulled her to him roughly. His lips nuzzled her neck and he murmured against her skin, “Since it’s early how about some sightseeing?”

  She jerked away and stared at him as if he’d gone insane. “Sightseeing around here? You must be joking.”

  “Not at all.” He offered her a mysterious smile. “There are a few places I’d like to check out. Besides, I’m hungry.” He released her and walked towards the door, pulling his long black coat closed. “Come, bundle up. It’s cold outside and I know how delicate you are.”

  “I haven’t gotten unbundled yet.”

  He opened the door wide and gave her a satisfied smile. “So much the better.”

  Twenty minutes later, they drove along a gravel road. Naked trees slipped past, their branches like interwoven webs left behind by an evil black spider. The only clear radio station was classical music, and with no lyrics to distract her, her thoughts turned to the impending visit.

  Jorick tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “You should listen to this more often, it’s a much closer approximation to music.” When she didn't reply he added, “For wanting to come on this lovely holiday, you’re very sulky.”

  “I’m not sulking. I’m panicking.”

  His tone was serious and concerned, “You’re really that worried? Why? It’s only your mother, and I’ll be right there with you. Just stick to the stories we rehearsed and there won’t be any problems. It’s not as if she’s one to focus. Just keep her distracted.”

  Katelina started to agree, then comprehended the words. “You sound like you’ve run into her before.”

  “I suppose I saw her a good deal. Just because you weren’t at home didn't mean I wasn’t keeping an eye out.”

  “You followed me to other places?”

  Though he looked uncomfortable, he answered her anyway. “Only a few. Just to your mother’s and to Patrick’s. Oh, and to the brunette woman’s house.”

  “So just everywhere I went?”

  “No, I didn't hang around at the bars.” He cleared his throat again. “Not most of them anyway.”

  “I’d have noticed you.”

  “Apparently not. No offense, but you’re not the most observant.”

  “Gee, thanks.” She crossed her arms over her chest and continued to stare through the windshield. She still couldn’t believe that she’d have missed someone who looked like him, not in a small town bar. There was no point in arguing, though. “So where are we going?”

  “First I want to see if anything survived of Oren’s house, and then I have another stop or two. It won’t be that horrible.”

  “Oren’s house? But that’s in Virginia.”

  “No, not that one. The small one, where Michael was.”

  “You mean that house on Farm Mill Road?” She was sure she’d never forget the small dusty house, or his speech about the unimportance of possessions as it burned. “I thought that was yours!”

  “Mine?” He laughed. “Hardly. It was Oren’s. He purchased it some years ago to keep an eye on Claudius’ ‘Summer Home’.”

  She couldn’t help but chortle. “No wonder you were so calm about burning it down! How many fires does that make for him? Three?”

  “Yes, he does seem to have bad luck lately.”

  He stopped the car along a lonely patch of road and peered through the window. Then, he got out and disappeared through the weeds. He returned shortly, shaking his head. “They’ve filled it in,” he explained as he climbed back inside. “I could go through the tunnel entrance, but I doubt it would lead far. If Oren wants to salvage anything from the catacombs underneath he’s going to have to drill down.”

  “Did he have much there?” She tried to recall the house. She remembered sad, empty rooms and a basement lined in mysterious doors.

  “Not a lot, but he did have a store of weapons off the main room. Oh well, at least it wasn’t a wasted stop.” He gave her a fanged smile. “I managed to find a snack.”

  Katelina didn’t bother to ask what animal he’d fed on; she preferred not to know. When she didn’t take the bait, he started the car and pulled back onto the road. Th
ey made a U-turn and drove back the way they’d come for a few miles, then turned down a maze of gravel and dirt roads until they reached a large metal gate that stood open. Jorick studied it for a moment and then drove through it. They followed a snowy driveway that curved towards an ornate fountain. He stopped the car in front of it and nodded to Katelina, as if to signal they’d arrived. Then he turned to the backseat, and rummaged for something.

  She hesitated, but curiosity got the better of her, so she climbed out into the cold. “Where are we?”

  Jorick mumbled a reply that she couldn’t catch. She glanced back at him then moved cautiously to examine the dry, snowy fountain. Stone cherubs danced around the basin in the usual poses, holding silent jugs. As she drew closer, she realized that instead of angel wings they had bat wings and vampire fangs. She shivered at their faces; childlike and innocent, but marred by the demonic additions. The severe lighting of the bright headlights didn’t help the illusion of evil; the deep shadows were a significant contrast against the light stone.

  The headlights went out, and she drew back as if the fountain might come to life in the blackness. Jorick joined her and handed her a flashlight. He pointed his beam of light at a dark house that sat back from the driveway. Katelina caught her breath as he moved the light around to reveal little pieces of a stone mansion. It was larger than the house Oren had shared with his wife and probably much more expensive. Beautiful stone angels with bat wings, completely out of place in rural America, decorated the house at intervals, and heavy, leaded windows reflected back the flashlight’s beam. The front door was atop a large, sweeping porch that was trimmed in wrought iron and two side doors were trapped behind scrollwork fences.

  “Shall we?” Jorick asked and offered his arm.

  With a mute nod, she took it and let him lead her across the yard and on to the large front porch. “Who lives here?” she whispered, afraid that anything louder would wake the sleeping monsters in the corners of her dark imagination.