Chapter Twenty Three
*
Madison caught her breath as the door opened and the hesitant figure of Alexandre walked into the lounge. They greeted each other with nervous smiles. Ben looked up briefly before turning his attention back to the TV.
‘Ben, could you pause that for a second. I want to introduce you to someone. Do you remember? The person I told you about.’
Ben sighed and stopped the film.
Maddy stood and motioned to her brother to get up too.
‘Ben, this is Alexandre. Alexandre, Ben.’
‘Pleased to make your acquaintance,’ said Alexandre, extending his hand.
‘Yeah, hi. You’re the vampire statue right?’
‘That is correct. But you do not need to think of me as such. I am also a person like you.’
‘Mads,’ Ben turned to her. ‘Do you really think dressing some bloke up in a posh suit and asking him to speak in a French accent is gonna make me fall for it?’ He looked up at Alexandre. ‘It’s a good try, mate, but I’m not stupid.’
‘You do not believe me?’ Alexandre smiled.
‘Uh, no-o.’
‘Very well, what can I do to convince you?’
‘Ben,’ Maddy said. ‘Look at him. Don’t you recognise him? He’s the statue from the cellar.’
Ben looked. ‘All I can see is a bloke who’s dressed in the same lame clothes as that statue, but he ain’t a statue. He’s a person. Can I watch the rest of the film now?’
‘No. And don’t be so rude. I’m going to prove to you that Alex is a vampire. Alex, help me out here.’
‘Very well,’ Alexandre said, smirking. He transformed his face into a snarl and his top lip curled back to reveal a set of very sharp fang-like incisors.
‘Wow! That’s seriously sick!’ Ben stood on tiptoe to try and get a closer look. ‘Are they real? I’ve seen guys like you on documentaries. When did you get it done?’
Maddy had been quite unnerved by Alexandre’s display of teeth and she couldn’t believe Ben still wasn’t convinced.
‘Ben, he didn’t ‘get them done’. Those are his real teeth.’
‘Show me some super-vampire strength and I might believe you.’ Ben crossed his arms and stared at him with a cynical look in his eyes.
‘Very well,’ Alexandre smirked. He put his forefinger under the arm of the sofa and raised it up on its side, balancing it on his finger.
‘Cool! You’re strong, I’ll give you that. But a sofa isn’t exactly the heaviest thing in the world. What about lifting up Maddy’s ride?’
Alexandre lowered the sofa gently back onto the floor.
‘Ride?’ he asked.
‘He wants you to lift my Land Rover up. My automobile.’
‘Aah, good.’ Alexandre smiled and clapped his hands together. Come then.’
Maddy turned off the TV and they went outside into the cold woodsmoke air. Madison hopped up into the Land Rover and backed it out of the garage onto the gravel drive where Ben and Alexandre waited. Alexandre walked over to the enormous vehicle as Maddy jumped out.
‘Be careful, Alex,’ she said. ‘Don’t tip it over. I love my wheels.’
Alexandre looked at Ben with a gleam in his eye as he lifted the front of the vehicle up with one hand and kept it there. ‘Do you believe me now?’
‘No way!’ Ben laughed and jumped up and down. ‘You are the strongest dude ever! Where did you get him, Mads? Awesome!’
‘Does this mean he believes me?’ Alexandre asked Madison. He lowered the vehicle back down onto the gravel without dropping it so much as a millimetre.
‘No,’ she scowled. ‘It just means he thinks you’re strong. You’re gonna have to do something more drastic.’
‘I am beginning to feel like a performing monkey. Very well. Ben, would you be so kind as to fetch me an axe.’
‘An axe? What you gonna do with that? Murder me and chop me up?’
‘You have an active imagination. No.’
‘Just get the axe, shortie.’
‘Okay I’m going, I’m going. In the shed, right?’
Maddy nodded. While he fetched it, she looked at Alexandre and shrugged her shoulders. ‘Well, I didn’t expect that reaction. I thought he’d freak out big time, as soon as he saw you. I mean, to me, you look kind of supernatural.’
‘I do not know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment.’
‘Oh, I didn’t mean …’
‘Do not worry. I will convince him.’
‘What are you actually going to do with the axe? I don’t know if I’m comfortable with this.’
‘It will be fine.’
Ben reappeared. ‘Got it,’ he said. ‘What now?’
‘Follow me,’ replied Alexandre, leading them back into the warmth of the drawing room. Madison’s and Ben’s cheeks were flushed from the cold night air, but Alexandre’s face stayed marble-white. ‘Use the axe to chop this small log on the hearth,’ Alexandre said to Ben.
Ben took a breath and raised the sharpened axe. He brought it down heavily and split the log lengthways.
‘What now?’ he asked Alexandre.
Alexandre lay on his side next to the split log and rested his arm on the stone hearth. He used his eyes to show Ben what he wanted him to do.
‘You want me to chop your arm off?’ Ben asked. ‘What is it? A fake arm?’
‘You are a very cynical young man.’ Alexandre sat up, took off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeve. ‘Does that look real to you?’
Ben nodded at the pale muscled perfection of Alexandre’s arm. Both he and Madison were impressed. Alex lay back down on his side and put his bare arm in place.
‘This is a bit weird, Maddy,’ Ben said. ‘Sure you’re not just completely off your heads?’
‘Totally sure, mate. Just do what the nice vampire asks and we can all relax.’
‘Okay,’ Ben said. ‘I’m gonna do it. You sure about this?’ he asked Alexandre.
‘Not too hard, you might hurt yourself,’ the vampire replied with a wink.
Ben raised the gleaming axe and brought it down very softly, wincing. The axe made no mark.
Madison had a flashback to two days ago when she’d really tried to harm Alexandre. She recalled her wild anger as she’d hacked at his chest with the pick axe, failing to make even a graze on his skin.
She shivered, feeling uncomfortable and guilty for the hatred and blazing fury which had consumed her. She could not quite believe how she could have so completely changed her attitude towards him in such a short space of time. From terror to … something else.
‘You can try a little harder,’ Alexandre smiled encouragingly at Ben. He raised the axe again and brought the blade down with slightly more force this time. The axe clanged and bounced off Alexandre’s arm.
‘Wow!’ Ben said, dropping the axe and shaking his arm.
Alexandre smiled.
Ben looked from Madison to Alexandre. ‘What an awesome trick! Can you teach me that? How did you do it? Is that a David Blaine thing?’
‘Ben!’ Madison said. ‘It’s not a trick. It’s his arm and a real axe. He really is that strong. Try again.’
‘No, that really hurt my wrist,’ Ben rubbed it with his other hand. ‘It’s a good trick, but my arm’s pretty sore right now.’
‘I apologise,’ said Alexandre, standing up.
‘No worries, man. It was worth it to see such a cool stunt.’
‘Ben!’ Maddy said again. She turned to Alexandre. ‘Help me out. How do we convince him?’ She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
‘Watch me, Ben,’ said Alexandre, standing by the hearth, looking intently at the boy. Ben looked at him, and then, suddenly he just wasn’t there. Ben spun around. Alexandre had vanished from the room and there was a tapping on the window. Ben and Maddy looked out to see Alexandre smiling on the other side of the glass. Then, an instant later, they saw him standing in the middle of the front lawn, two hundred yards away. In
the time it took for Ben’s jaw to drop, Alexandre was back in the lounge, sitting composed on the sofa.
‘Whoa!’ Ben sat down heavily in an armchair. That was too spooky. How did you … I mean how is that even possible?’
‘Ben,’ Maddy crouched down in front of him and tried to get him to look at her. ‘It isn’t possible. That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to you. I swear to you on everything I love, he … is … a … vampire.’
‘Right,’ Ben said, looking worriedly at Alexandre. ‘So, do you … drink blood and stuff?’
‘Yes, but I will not harm you or your sister and I do not ever kill. I just take what I need to survive.’
‘Whoah! This is off the scale. Can you fly?’
‘I do not think you could really call it flying, but I can move very quickly, as you just witnessed.’
‘What about garlic?’
‘Garlic? I used to like garlic in my food, but I do not require that type of sustenance any more.’
‘Garlic’s no good,’ Maddy said. ‘No effect whatsoever.’
‘What can kill you then?’
‘Ben!’ Madison exclaimed. ‘You can’t ask questions like that. That’s so rude.’
‘It is quite alright,’ Alexandre laughed. ‘Daylight. Daylight would probably kill me.’
‘What about a stake through the heart?’
‘Ben! No. Don’t ask any more of those kinds of questions. That’s horrible.’
‘I’m only asking. He’s a vampire. You’ve got to ask a vampire those kinds of things, right?’
He turned to Alexandre who shrugged and smiled.
‘Those are basic vampire questions,’ Ben continued. ‘You’re a girl, Mads, so you wouldn’t know.’
‘Please don’t be afraid to tell him to shut up and mind his own business,’ she said to Alexandre. ‘I thought he’d be scared and we’d have to reassure him. I didn’t realise he’d just be rude and obnoxious.’
‘You are forgetting,’ Alexandre said to her. ‘I have a younger brother, so I am very used to this. And I like his frankness. He can ask me what he likes.’
‘Um, excuse me,’ Ben interrupted. ‘I am still in the room you know.’
‘I apologise,’ Alexandre said. ‘You know, you and my brother would get on like a house on fire.’ He turned to Madison. ‘When Jacques and Freddie wake up, I fear we will not get a moment’s peace.’
‘Do you eat?’
‘No. I do not require food.’
Ben accepted Alexandre’s existence with eagerness and an endless stream of questions. How fast can you run? Can you feel pain? How long will you live for? Do you bleed? What sort of stuff did you do in the nineteenth century? Was it really boring? He asked absolutely everything that came into his head and he, Maddy and Alexandre spent the whole evening talking, laughing and being amazed by the bizarre circumstances which had brought them all together.
*
The following day, Madison decided that if Alexandre was serious about embracing the twenty first century, he would have to look the part. So, as soon as the sun had set, she ventured down into the cellar and knocked on the door to his room.
‘Welcome to my beautiful home,’ Alexandre said.
‘Ooh, twenty first century sarcasm,’ said Madison. ‘You’re learning. But I agree,’ she said looking around her. ‘It’s pretty gross down here. We’ll have to bling it up a bit ... um, I mean make it a bit more comfortable.’
‘I would be very grateful. I may be a vampire, but it is not the cheeriest place to spend the day.’
‘We’ll get to it. But right now we’ve got something much more important to do. Follow me.’ She walked up the stairs into the kitchen, put on her coat and picked up her bag. ‘You haven’t been in a car yet have you?’
‘No.’
‘I found these in the shed. I think they belong to Morris and I’m really sorry but you’ll have to put them on.’ She handed him some old gardening clothes. ‘It’s just … I can’t take you out in that suit you’re wearing. People will think you’re in fancy dress and you don’t want to draw any more attention to yourself.’
Alexandre held out the scruffy cords and faded blue sweatshirt she’d given him. He wrinkled his nose in distaste. ‘Now, Madison. I know you do not expect me to put on these ... these revolting garments.’
‘I’m feeling your pain, but yes, Alex, I’m afraid I do expect you to put them on. But only so we don’t get stared at, which we will if you go out wearing your nineteenth century stuff. Because, Alex, my friend, the sales are on and we are going late night shopping.’
A car horn sounded outside.
‘And that’s our taxi. Quick, I won’t look. Put them on and we can go.’
Alexandre sighed and got changed. Maddy looked him up and down, liking what she saw.
‘Nice. Let’s go.’ He followed her out into the icy night and then into the dieselly warmth of the yellow taxi. Maddy stole a glance at him. Even with Morris’ hideous work clothes on, he still looked like something out of a film set.
‘You going into Bath then?’ the taxi driver asked.
‘Yeah, please,’ Maddy replied.
‘Nice house you got.’
‘Thanks.’
The driver started talking into his radio and Alexandre looked at Madison for an explanation.
‘I’ll tell you later,’ she mouthed at him.
‘Very well,’ he replied.
Maddy wore a short denim skirt and she caught him looking down at her legs. He looked away quickly into the darkness outside his window. Maddy smiled.
*
‘We’ll keep it simple. I wouldn’t normally shop here because it’s a bit vanilla for my taste, but I’m pretty sure you’ll look amazing in everything.’
They walked down the crowded high street with all the other late night shoppers until they reached the white painted façade of Gap. She held his arm and steered him into the brightly lit store. He winced under the hot lights.
‘You okay?’ she asked.
‘I am well. It is merely that these lights are insufferably bright.’
She looked at Alexandre, trying to work out if he blended in with the other shoppers. The answer to that question was most definitely, ‘no’. But not because he was a vampire. It was because he was the most stunning being she had ever laid eyes on.
Well over six feet tall and broad shouldered, Alexandre was a study in beauty. He gave off an aura that drew all eyes his way. The female shop staff were already making a beeline for him and she pulled him over to a quiet corner.
‘I think we need to get this done as quickly as possible or you’re gonna get mobbed.’
Alexandre looked at her with incomprehension.
‘Right,’ she continued. ‘Jeans.’ She grabbed a pair and held them out in front of him. ‘Too short.’ She flicked through the denim stack and found a longer length. ‘Take those, and those.’ She grabbed a couple of inoffensive hoodies, a cable knit jumper, some long-sleeved and short-sleeved t-shirts and bundled them into his arms.
He followed her to the changing rooms, where one of the female sales staff pointed him to a free cubicle, her jaw almost hanging off its hinges in admiration. She narrowed her eyes at Madison who made to follow him in.
‘How many items have you got?’ she asked.
‘None,’ replied Maddy. ‘I’m with him.’
‘You can’t go in unless you’ve got something to try on.’
Maddy grabbed a pair of men’s jeans off the rack in front of her.
‘One item,’ she said to the girl.
Maddy stood outside Alexandre’s cubicle.
‘How’s it going? Do they fit okay?’
He pulled back the curtain and stood there looking as miserable as it was possible to look.
‘I loathe these clothes. They are labourers’ clothes. Am I going to work in the fields?’
‘Alex, take my word for it. You look good.’
‘I fear you are mocking me again, Mademoise
lle.’
‘You don’t need to fear anything. You look hot.’ The dark blue jeans and grey hoodie were perfection. His black tousled hair and nineteenth century sideburns suddenly looked bang up to date. ‘Don’t bother trying on the rest. They’ll fit you no problem. Let’s just grab some underwear and socks. Keep that stuff on.’
She picked out a navy military style coat in wool and a couple of beanies, just because she liked them. She knew he didn’t feel the cold, but he had to look the part.
He stood morosely by the till while she paid.
‘Trainers next and I think you’d look cool in a pair of biker boots.’ He trailed round with her while she made him try on Converse baseball boots, a pair of Vans and some grungy black biker boots.
‘Oh this is tedious,’ he groaned. ‘Can we please do something more interesting? Everybody looks as though they are in a trance, going in and out of these over-illuminated buildings, trying on hideous garments.’
Madison stared at him and laughed. ‘Oh, you are so the typical bloke. What a surprise. Who would have thought it? ‘Alex hates shopping’. Well join the rest of the male population. Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know, we’re almost done.’
‘Almost! But we have bought up the entire street. What could possibly be left for us to purchase?’
‘Just a couple more things.’
He followed her into a crowded bookshop.
‘Wait here,’ she said, pointing to a faded blue sofa. He sat down - an island in an ocean of shopping bags. Madison went straight to the History section. She picked out several hardbacks detailing European history over the past couple of centuries, including one of purely French history and one of English history.
‘You might find these interesting,’ she said.
He took them from her and examined the covers. ‘You are a very thoughtful person,’ he said. ‘I am sorry I have been such a ...’
‘… such a moody git,’ she finished.
‘Yes, a ‘moody git’. Do you forgive me?’
‘Nothing to forgive. Come on, let’s pay for these and go home.’
Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) Page 28