The Progeny

by Shelley Crowley

  He was always so level-headed and… solid. But now he seemed like a ghost of himself just… drifting from night to night… from the bedroom, to the kitchen, to the sofa. Their life had never been too exciting but it had been better than this. Caius even had a job at a music shop that opens at night for the vampires. He knew a lot about music, had followed it religiously through the ages.

  “Maybe you should go round to your store tonight.”

  Caius’ eyes stayed on the screen. “Maybe you should go to the club.”

  Evie frowned. “I was actually thinking that myself. I’ll go in a bit. Even if I’ve lost my job, I’d better show my face to Eric. Will you go if I go?”

  He picked up his glass of blood and watched as he swirled the red liquid. “I’ll think about it.”

  Evie scooted closer to him on the sofa, resting her chin on his shoulder. She brushed his hair back to expose his neck and kissed it. “You can’t stay in here forever.”

  “Actually, I can.” He arched an eyebrow to her.

  She smiled and kissed his lips. “Don’t get sassy with me, I mean it.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “But seeing as you’re not going anywhere soon, how about we go to bed?”

  He brows fell. “I’ve only been up for like half an hour.”

  She looked to his thin lips then back to his eyes. “We won’t be sleeping.”

  “Ooooooh.” He grinned.

  She squeezed him. “Ooooh, indeed.”

  He laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, settling her on his lap and kissed her passionately. With her eyes closed, she felt herself shift and heard the air whoosh past her. They were standing up by the sofa one moment, then at the base of the stairs the next. He pushed her against the wall. Evie’s fingers mussed up his hair and his hands explored her body. They both started to pant, kissing more frivolously. Caius’ breathlessness was a result of passion rather than exertion.

  He spun her around and vampire-sprinted up the stairs before kicking their bedroom door open and settling himself down on the foot of the bed.

  Evie, straddling him, pushed off his dressing gown from his shoulders. Her heart was pounding with adrenaline, making her feel light headed and giddy as they continued kissing. He spun them both around so her back thudded against the mattress. He was over her. He trailed open-mouthed kisses over her chest. She writhed beneath him, her back arching upwards for more contact.

  Then he stopped. His ear hovered over her heart. Before she could ask him what’s wrong, his lips were on hers, as if to trap her unspoken concern.

  His hair fell over her, tickling her cheeks as they sighed and moaned together.

  Her hands roamed his chest and back, feeling the expanse of muscles she knew off by heart. Every bump, every ridge, every hollow.

  This was what she needed. To forget about everything other than the fact that Caius was here, with her and that he still loved her. Even after a hundred years, even after all this change; he still loved her.

  Two lovers enjoying each other’s company.

  Simple.

  Surely her humanity couldn’t take this away from her.

  Chapter 9

  Evie was in the kitchen, a cup of steaming tea nestled in her hands. The tea she had bought for Michael. The tea he refused to accept because she was a vampire. Her nerves were shot. She could feel herself shaking.

  Her insides cringed when she heard Caius’ bare footfalls coming down the stairs. He glided gracefully into the kitchen, swooping passed her with his open red and grey dressing gown floating behind him. He poured a glass of blood and sat in front of her at the circular table. Evie could feel him inspecting her but her eyes were distant and transfixed on a crack in the wall behind Caius’ head. He yanked his chair forward, closing the distance between them. Even the loud scraping of the chair against the laminate floor didn’t pull her out of her almost trance-like state.

  “Evie, Are you okay?”

  Finally, she moved with a wince. Her body felt stiff but she managed to shrug her dressing gown off her shoulder so it dropped and pooled around her waist. She couldn’t look at Caius. She heard him suck in a tortured gasp as he took in the bruises that covered the tops of her arms. Little did he know that most of the damage was still covered up.

  “I… did that?” asked Caius in a soft, broken voice.

  She nodded and pulled her dressing gown back up, her expression tightening with pain. She flicked her long red hair behind her back as she shrugged it back on. Caius practically lunged across the table, his vampire speed sending Evie’s heart crashing against her ribs. He swiped a fallen strand of hair behind her ear and gasped. Two puncture wounds marked her throat. “Oh my God.” He sank back down on his chair.

  A lump swelled in her throat as she watched Caius coming to terms with the truth before her.

  “I know we used to bite, Caius,” said Evie, her voice was strained from the sob trapped in her throat. “I know that was just what we did…to feel connected. To feel closer. But things are different now.”

  “I fed from you,” he said hollowly, as if to himself. “I--I didn’t even think. I didn’t even know I did it… I just thought-”

  “You didn’t think because you never needed to. Just like you didn’t think you needed to be gentle with me. You never needed to. I could withstand your heavy hands. But I can’t now, Caius. I’m weak. I’m fragile. I’m human.”

  He ran his tongue over his top teeth. “We went too fast. Rushed into this blindfolded. But I’ve been here before, Evie, I can learn to control myself. I just need time to adjust.”

  Ah, yes, Caius had been here before… with Catherine. And how did that end? She died. She was brutally murdered. By vampires.

  Evie grinded her teeth at the memory of Caius’ former lover as she stared down at her cup of tea. She jumped at the sound of Caius’ chair scraping across the floor. He was by an open drawer in a millisecond with a knife in his hand. He held his other hand flat, palm to the ceiling, and placed the tip of the knife against it.

  “Caius, what are you doing?”

  He drilled the sharp point into the centre of his palm. Leaving the bloody knife on the counter, he crossed back to the table, curled his injured hand into a fist and hovered it over Evie’s mug. Blood oozes from his wound like red string and dripped into her tea. She watched with confusion as Caius squeezed his fist tighter to release more blood. Finally satisfied with ruining her brew, he withdrew his hand and dropped back down onto his chair.

  Evie inspected the contents of her mug. The blood swirled around on the surface before dissipating.

  “To heal you,” he said.

  Evie’s gut twisted but she held the mug to her lips under Caius’ watchful stare, and gulped down the mixture of tea and blood. She wanted to avoid this. This sordid transaction of bodily fluid. But what’s the point? There’s no escaping the truth. Evie’s blood fed Caius’ hunger. Caius’ blood healed Evie’s cuts and scrapes.

  They had gone from being on the same side to polar opposites.

  She could feel her aching muscles beginning to sooth as if a trained masseuse was stroking her bruises, coaxing them back to health. The wound on her neck sealed shut and so did the scabbed-up slice across her forearm. By the time she drained the mug, she was completely healed. Caius’ palm was also healed by the time she set the mug back on the table.

  They both sat in the dead silence, watching each other for a moment. Jaws flexing. Eyes flickering. Skin itching. Finally, Caius spoke up in a soft, tentative voice. “Do you forgive me?”

  The hope in his voice made Evie’s heart swell. She tried to reply but her throat was dry. She cleared it and managed to rasp, “Yes.”

  She didn’t smile. Nor did Caius. They just sat there around the table, the silence sweeping over them once again. She took her empty mug to the sink. Expelling a heavy breath, she turned on the hot tap and began scrubbing. She didn’t turn back until he left.

  Days passed and this new normal was starting
to grate at Evie. Spending the day alone trying to figure out how to be human to then come home at night to a lost vampire who’s supposed to be her lover yet too afraid to touch her. It was not a way to live. Caius wasn’t any better. In fact, she feared he was getting worse. He still hadn’t left the house and even when Evie simply kissed his forehead he flinched at her touch. Like they’re too close. Like their contact was dangerous.

  She felt so alone and she knew Caius felt the same. They sat beside each other on the sofa and made small talk to hide the fact that they were hurting, to avoid the real conversations they should be having.

  Caius had even resorted to passive aggression. One night she found her tupperware of chicken risotto she slaved over that day, in the bin. He said he dropped it by accident when he was getting a blood bag and he thought it had been spoiled so he threw it away. She hadn’t argued.

  “What day is it?” she asked. They’re sat at the table, Caius reading the paper while she nursed a cup of tea.

  “Sunday,” replied Caius.

  “I’m going to go to the club and quit… if they haven’t fired me already.”

  Caius shifted, making the chair jerk noisily. “You’re quitting, why?”

  “My nights are precious now and I don’t want to spend them… not with you.”

  “Does that mean you want me to quit, too?”

  “No. You work part-time anyway so it’s no big deal and plus-” She got up and ran her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes at her massaging fingers. “-you need a reason to put some trousers on.”

  He laughed lightly and looked down at his bare legs. She kissed the top of his head. “I’m going getting dressed,” she said before heading up the stairs.

  When she returned in her winter coat, woolly hat and thick tread boots, Caius was still sat in his chair.

  She sighed. “Caius, please, try to go outside. Even if it’s just in the back garden. You’re going to develop agoraphobia.”

  “Don’t fret. I’m fine.”

  She paused for a moment, watching him as he read. Worry made her chest constrict. She shook off the feeling. “See you later!”

  Evie took the car, now extremely conscious about what lurked in the shadows. Part of her understood why some humans acted the way they did as fear sprouted inside her, making her scope every street she drove down. She passed a vampire bar on her way being vandalised, as usual. Men and women with masks threw eggs at the walls and spray painting ‘Vampire scum’ and ‘The Devil’s children’ across it in blood red letters.

  The door burst open and three vampires stormed out, fangs extended. The humans stopped but stood their ground, a little fearfully. It’s general knowledge that all vampire owned businesses were watched throughout the night by the local authorities armed with guns and silver bullets. If the vandals didn’t know this, they would have run a mile at the sight of those gleaming canines.

  Evie shook herself and continued on her travels to the vampire owned shopping centre, the only one that has shops open at night. She never really took much interest in the local authorities but now she was very thankful to see them parked up outside, ready and waiting. She parked only a few spaces away from the officers, even though the car park was almost empty.

  She wandered past the music store Caius worked at and noticed his human colleague playing with his phone behind the counter. Some humans worked in these stores because they enjoyed doing the nightshift for whatever reasons, and that was how Caius was able to stay under the radar like Evie.

  No one was in the phone shop so she was in and out in a heartbeat- a heartbeat that the man behind the counter was very aware of. She bought two mobile phones, one pink and one silver. Cheap and second-hand, but they did the job. Now that they no longer shared their Maker-progeny telepathy, it was a good idea to give Caius an alternative way to contact her, if he ever did leave the house.

  Hopping back into the car, she made her way to Sourz.

  It just passed midnight when she reached the city centre. Eric did a double take from the door as she weaved through the excitable drunks.

  “Evie. Oh my God!” His eyes widened. “Where’ve you been? You’ve missed work. You haven’t returned my calls. I thought you were dead,” he laughed but there’s actual concern underlying it.

  “Hey, Eric.” She smiled, walking up the step. “I’m sorry I went AWOL. Lost my phone and things have been pretty intense with Caius lately.”

  Eric’s eyebrows rose. She hardly ever talked to him about Caius. She hadn’t even mentioned to him that he’d been missing, mainly because talking about it just made it feel more real. But she didn’t share stories about her relationship with Caius in fear of saying too much. Eric had seen him from time to time and they acknowledged each other, but Caius had decided long ago to hide his vampirism so he knew making human friends was risky. He used to lecture Evie about her relationship with Eric being too close until she grew tired of it and stopped listening all together.

  “Really, what’s wrong?” asked Eric after checking a young woman’s ID and sending her through.

  Evie shook her head. “Nothing to bother you about. But anyway, I’ve just come here to quit… if I haven’t been fired already.”

  Eric’s face slackened. “You’re quitting?”

  “Yeah. I need to spend more time with Caius and try and sort stuff out. Sorry.”

  He sighed. “Well, it’s your choice, I guess. I’m going to miss you, though.”

  She smiled. “You’d better. I’ll miss you, too. I’ve enjoyed our nights together.”

  “Whoa, don’t let your boyfriend catch you saying that.”

  She laughed and hugged him, pressing the side of her head into his black bubble coat like it’s a pillow. He held her close and squeezed her tightly before letting her go.

  She readjusted her hat and looked warily to the door. “Wish me luck?”

  He chuckled. “Good luck.”

  Apparently, she had already been fired. Her boss was just as shocked as Eric was when she came into his office after a tentative knock. He too had thought that she just vanished off the face of the earth.

  After a stern talking to, she shouldered her way from his office back through the gyrating bodies and squeezed herself back out of the door, coughing up the stench of sweat and booze.

  “How’d it go?” asked Eric.

  “Not bad. He was more upset than angry.”

  “No wonder, it won’t be the same without you.”

  “Oh, stop.” She slapped him playfully on the arm. “You’re going to make me cry.”

  He chuckled, his large belly jiggling. “We’ll keep in touch though, right?”

  “Of course! Hey, still seeing that Clarissa girl?”

  He shrugged. “We’re making it work.”

  “Really?” The elation in Evie’s voice surprised the both of them. She showed him an embarrassed smile.

  “Yeah. I thought I wouldn’t be able to deal with the vamp thing but she’s a nice girl. She says she doesn’t even go to those clubs to get bitten, there’s just better vibes there.”

  “Is that a dig at our club?” Evie said, mock appalled.

  Eric laughed. “Maybe. She does look good in leather though. I’ll give her that.”

  “Well, before you start telling me too many details that will scar me for life, I’m gonna go. Oh!” She opened her plastic bag and fished out her pink phone. She took his number.

  She successfully saved her first contact. “I’ll give you a call sometime.”

  “I hope you do.” His eyes narrowed, studying her.

  “What?”

  “You look different.”

  Her heartbeat quickened. “Really?” Her voice rises a few octaves. She clears her throat, silently admonishing herself. “How exactly?”

  “I don’t know… you just do.”

  She rolled her eyes and let out a hopefully convincing laugh. “Okay then. Anyway, I’d better go. See you around.”

  Evie headed back ho
me, still very wary of the dark side streets. But vampires living outside the law and daring enough to grab a fresh snack weren’t her main worry like other humans. She was more concerned about Nico and his men sending her back to that mansion and locking her up. Maybe Nico had enough of her blood though. Maybe she was being paranoid for no reason. But she escaped and brought Caius with her. He might just want her back so he could punish her for outsmarting him and taking one of his precious ancients.

  She got home safely and tries to shook off the unnerving feeling of being watched as she rolled the crappy Cavalier up the driveway. Everything’s fine. Everything’s fine. Everything’s fine.

  There’re lights on in the living room meaning Caius still hadn’t left the house.

  She sucked in a breath and opened the door, ready to kick his arse into gear. She stormed into the hallway to the living room. She paused. Her mind taking a while to slot everything into place. Her heart plummeted to her feet. It felt like the floor was ripped from underneath her. She stumbled back on unsteady legs until her back collided with the wall. The thrumming of her pulse was so violent that her head was throbbing.

  Everything’s not fine.

  Caius looked to her. The girl sitting on the sofa looked down at Caius puzzled as he retracted his fangs and got to his feet from his kneeling position before her. He just stood there a moment, staring at Evie. His demon-like black eyes watched her like a stranger as the tip of his tongue captured a droplet of blood from the corner of his mouth. His chin was caked in it.

  He came back to her. The black reducing to just the pupils, revealing the pale blue hidden underneath. His expression changed. The muscles in his face slackened with fear and guilt. The girl glanced between the couple before grabbing a tissue from her pocket and wiping up the blood that was dripping down her inner thigh and onto the sofa. She ruffled her dress, smoothing it down over her thighs to cover Caius’ bite mark.