He set the magazine down on the table with a slap and raked both hands through his hair as he leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. A door opened off the lobby and a young woman said, “Mr. Larsen?” Since he was the only one in the lobby, it didn’t really seem appropriate for it to be a question, but he supposed after doing that a few thousand times a day, it just was what it was.
Dominic nodded to her as he got up from his seat and she held the door wide for him. She was a tiny little thing compared to his six-foot-three stature, but she didn’t seem intimidated by him in the least. He followed her down a long hall of doors to a room he could only conclude was for a therapist. There were two chairs facing another and a tiny coffee table between them with a box of tissues sitting in the middle of it. Dominic felt they must have tried to make it look more like a family room to make the patient feel more at ease.
She asked Dominic to be seated in the solitary seat across from the other two and told him that the doctor and patient would join him momentarily.
Dominic noticed that his clasped hands in his lap were tense and he made an effort to try and relax only to find a few minutes later his hands tensely gripping one another again. It seemed like forever before he heard footsteps near the door. Dr. Thompson opened the door for his patient and in walked Katarina.
Dominic swallowed hard as he stood upon her entering. He took in every detail about her in that one tiny moment. The moment of truth had arrived as if teetering on the cusp of falling into pure love, or falling into a dark pit of her hate. When Katarina finally made eye contact with Dominic, and he could see her connecting the dots in her mind as to who he was, she smiled and Dominic let out a sigh of relief.
“Dr. Thompson, you didn’t tell me it would be Dominic,” Katarina exclaimed.
“Well, I wanted it to be a surprise,” the doctor relayed.
“It is. A happy surprise,” she said as she moved to within a foot of the well-groomed, handsome man standing there smiling at her.
Dominic reached out both of his hands to hold both of hers then leaned in and kissed each cheek.
“I can’t tell you, Katarina, how good it is to see you,” Dominic said in relief.
“And you…you look well,” Katarina admitted.
“You too, thankfully,” Dominic said and she rolled her eyes a bit and smiled demurely.
“Come…sit, both of you. You two have a lot of catching up to do,” the doctor instructed.
“Indeed,” Dominic said as he took his seat, but only after making sure Katarina had taken hers.
Dr. Thompson started, “Now, Katarina, as I have said before, a lot of things have happened since you were in that clinic and I have brought Dominic here to help reveal some things that need to be brought to light so that you can adapt and move closer to entering back into the world and making a life for yourself.”
“But I thought we had already made that assessment, Doctor? You said I have made great progress,” Katarina said.
“And so you have, but there are a few details I have left out about your life, that I thought it best to have a friend here to help you cope,” the doctor admitted.
“Why…how bad can it be? And why not a family member? Not that I’m not thrilled to see you, Dominic.”
Dominic smiled.
“Well, as you remember, much of your family thought you were insane and well, in those years you were institutionalized, much of your family has passed. Those who haven’t wouldn’t come, when asked,” the doctor said.
“So I’ve been disowned, so to speak,” Katarina said sadly.
“I wouldn’t put it that way, just misunderstood,” the doctor corrected.
Dominic could see in her eyes that she knew they had disowned her and the doctor was simply being nice about it.
“Okay…then…throw it at me!” Katarina insisted.
Dominic chuckled quietly to himself. She hadn’t changed a bit.
“Right then. Do you remember why your family had you institutionalized?”
She stared into the distance for a while as if somewhere in her brain she was flipping through some photo album or diary for the answer she was looking for; then after a moment, she shook her head no. Dominic could see the disappointment in her face when she came to this conclusion.
“What then, is the last thing you remember vividly?” the doctor asked.
She suddenly blushed bright red and turned to Dominic, who knew instantly what she was remembering.
“Aw, yes. Your time with Dominic. Good. That’s probably a good place to start,” the doctor stated. “Do you remember the last time you saw Dominic?”
Dominic saw a mixed bunch of emotions come over her. First he thought he saw a bit of anger, but it was quickly pushed away with sadness and her eyes welled up with tears. Dominic’s heart ripped at seeing this once again.
“When we said our goodbyes,” Katarina remembered.
“Right. And how do you feel about that?” the doctor asked.
“Sad and confused,” Katarina answered.
“Why confused?” the doctor asked.
“Because as I told Dominic that night, I didn’t understand. It was like a light switch had been flipped and all the feelings he had for me were stripped away. We had been so happy and so connected and then he just up and left,” Katarina explained.
“Good. This is very good. Now, Dominic, what would you like to tell Katarina?” the doctor asked.
Dominic squirmed in his seat. Was he supposed to tell her he was a vampire? Was he supposed to tell her he thought it was for the best? He wasn’t sure what to do and panic seemed to paint his face with grimness. Doctor Thompson sensed this panic and spoke to him telepathically.
Now is the time, Dominic. You hired me because I am a vampire and you knew that other doctors would not be able to explain her extremely long pregnancy. She has to know about her baby and therefore she has to know about you.
Now wait a minute. You didn’t say we’d be doing this.
How else can we explain what’s happened to her? She needs to know it all so she can move on with her life.
But…I’m not ready.
This isn’t about you, Dominic. This is about Katarina.
By now Katarina was confused. The pause had been extensive and it seemed with the facial expressions she could see on both men’s faces that a conversation or something was going on that she was not privy to.
“Please, Dominic. Why did you leave? I’ve never understood. I was in love with you and it broke my heart when you left,” Katarina admitted.
“Oh, Katarina. I’m so sorry. I loved you too and that is why I left,” Dominic tried to explain.
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Katarina said.
“I know. I’m sorry. I…” He looked at Dr. Thompson once more and he nodded as if to tell him tell her.
“This is going to sound bizarre, my sweet Kat. I thought it would be better for you if I left so that you could have a normal life, but when I left, I didn’t know that you were….” Once again he looked at Dr. Thompson for assurance. “That you were pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” Katarina exclaimed. Dominic could see the wheels in her head turning. Suddenly seeming to realize, she said, “Yes. Pregnant. I was pregnant. I remember telling my family something like that, but I…didn’t know who the father was.”
Then another realization hit her. “No. You couldn’t be the father, Dominic. It was two years after I had last seen you. I hadn’t been with anyone since you, Dominic. Nobody believed me. I remember trying to explain to people that I didn’t know who the father was. They said such hateful things to me. Called me things that no one should ever have to hear. I don’t understand. How did you know I was pregnant?”
“I didn’t at the time. In fact, I didn’t up until just very recently,” Dominic explained.
“What? I’m lost,” Katarina admitted.
“You are confusing her, Dominic,” reprimanded Dr. Thompson.
“I’m getting to i
t,” he said sharply, then softened as he looked back at Katarina. “As fate would have it, our son stumbled into my life just a few weeks back. Of course, at first I didn’t know he was my son, but he had such extraordinary gifts.”
“A son?” Her eyes welled up as more memories came back to her. “Gifts? What kind of gifts?” she asked.
“I will get to that, but often these gifts are inherited from a parent. He relayed to me that he had been adopted and didn’t know his birth parents. I told him that I would be willing to help him with that search if he wanted to know and that is when he told me his birthdate, his birth place, and his birth mother’s name,” Dominic explained.
“And?” she said, still confused.
“It was you. Katarina Jansson. He had been born in Minnesota, the father unknown to a Katarina Jansson. It took only a second for me to put the pieces in the right place and figure out he was our son,” Dominic said.
“Did I miss something? I thought I told you it couldn’t have been your baby. It had been far too long,” Katarina said, still puzzling over the details.
“That’s where we get to the ‘gifted’ part,” Dominic said and then took a deep breath and continued. ”I’m not….normal….I don’t know how to say this delicately, but ….well, I’m a vampire, Kat.”
Shock flooded her face as she looked to the doctor and then back to Dominic, then back again. “Are you joking? Is this funny? You’re going to let him just say that, Doctor? Or are you in on this joke too? Let’s mess with the mind of the feeble, how nice.”
The doctor spoke. “Katarina. He speaks the truth. He is indeed a vampire.”
“Is this some kind of futuristic therapy, because it is not working; you’re scaring me.”
“Please, Katarina, let him explain,” the doctor pleaded.
“You’re going to let him tell me more? What’s wrong with you?” Katarina yelled.
“Calm down. Katarina…just listen and we’ll talk about it later, just you and me,” the doctor said.
“This is insane…I thought you were trying to make me better, not send me back to the institution,” Katarina argued.
“I am, Katarina. WE are. Just hear him out, okay?” the doctor insisted.
“Fine,” she said as she crossed her arms across her chest and stared at Dominic.
Dominic wished he could crawl away like a dog with its tail between its legs, but he knew he had opened the can of worms. Might as well dump them out on the ground for all to see.
“That’s why I left, Kat. I wanted you to have a normal life, a normal husband, and kids - the whole shebang. If I had known that you were pregnant, I could have helped you. I could have explained why your pregnancy was so long. Why you didn’t know who the father was. When a mother conceives with a vampire the pregnancy tends to be much longer than a normal pregnancy. When two vampires conceive, a pregnancy can be as much as 36 months - four times as much as a human pregnancy. It has something to do with the difference in how vampires age. For every four years of a human life, vampires age one year. So when a human mother and a vampire father conceive, the pregnancy is usually twice as long as a normal human pregnancy. Hence our son.”
“So you want me to believe that you are a vampire? Are you going to bite me now to prove it?” Katarina said sarcastically.
“No. There are numerous misconceptions about vampires, especially born vampires,” Dominic said.
“Oh? Enlighten me,” Katarina said tersely.
“Due to Hollywood and Bram Stoker, vampires have been portrayed as killing machines who live in graveyards, turn into bats, are scared of garlic, crosses, and church and especially the sun; however, those portrayals are grossly overhyped. A born vampire can eat food (including garlic and holy water), can attend church in the daytime, and can function very much like anyone else, with the minor difference of an occasional drink of blood. I personally take my blood in a wine glass maybe once a month without hurting anyone. On the other hand, made vampires have made it exceedingly hard on the born vampires, as they have a ravenous appetite for blood and must feed at least once a day. Made vampires are supposed to be trained by their makers, but these days they seldom are.
“I know this is a lot to swallow, but you have to admit it does make sense of your pregnancy,” Dominic explained.
“Maybe. So you said you’ve met our son?” Katarina asked.
“I have. In fact he’s staying at my home right now,” Dominic admitted.
“Is he a vampire too?” Katarina asked.
“No, but he has a telepathic ability like I’ve seen in no other,” Dominic said.
“What’s he like?” Katarina said.
“He’s tall, like me, but has your good looks,” he smiled. “He’s got blonde curly hair, your blue eyes, and your smile.”
She smiled. “So this telepathic ability, you said it’s inherited?”
“Yes. A child from a coupling like ours, can either show vampiric tendencies, or be more human. Josh has his telepathic gift from his vampiric genes. He’s also recently acquired an ability for extraordinary strength. We think too, that has been heightened by his vampiric genetics,” Dominic said.
“Josh? That’s his name? I like that. Josh. Hmmm. Does he drink blood like you do?” she asked.
“No. Not at all,” Dominic answered.
“So you don’t bite people?” Katarina asked.
“Hardly ever,” Dominic said with a smile.
She too smiled.
“I think that is probably a good place to call it a day, don’t you?” the doctor said as he looked for affirmation from Katarina and then from Dominic. They both nodded in agreement without saying a word. The doctor stood up and waved a hand towards the door for Katarina to follow. As he lead Katarina out of the room and left Dominic standing there feeling a little lost, he turned back and telepathically said to Dominic, We’ll talk later.
At this slight pause, Katarina gazed back, meeting Dominic’s eyes, and gave him a much needed smile and then they were gone. Dominic headed home feeling somewhat relieved by having the ‘cat out of the bag’ but also as if maybe he had just lost all hope of having Katarina in his life. Could she possibly accept all the vampire stuff and be all right with it after all she had been through? He knew only time would tell. He hoped that there was still some love deep within her, for he didn’t know how he could survive, knowing they had been so close to something great and he had messed it up.
*****
After mulling over the slim possibility that Katarina would be able to accept all the information she had been given and fall in love with him again, a saddened Dominic entered the house to find Josh in the library. When Dominic entered looking rather solemn, Josh immediately asked, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Oh, Josh…you startled me. Wasn’t expecting anyone in here,” Dominic said.
“Well you seemed to be gone and I do love it in here, so I took the vacancy as an opportunity to look at all the books you have. It’s quite a collection,” Josh admitted.
“Yes. When you’ve lived as long as I have, you tend to accumulate a lot, especially if you were a professor and love books, among other ancient things,” Dominic said.
“Well they are impressive, but you didn’t answer my question. Are you okay? You seem sad.”
“Hmmm. I suppose I am. I might as well tell you since it involves you. Why don’t you take a seat?” Dominic suggested.
“It’s not bad news is it?” Josh asked.
“No. Not for you. Maybe for me, but it’s rather good news all in all. I was informed by the doctor I hired to help Katarina, that she was progressing much faster than they had anticipated and they thought it might be time for her to be introduced to old friends. I hadn’t realized that they wanted me to explain the whole vampire thing and re-introduce her to her lost memories. Seems she pretty much has no recollection of the years she spent in the institution. The doctor felt it was necessary to explain the complications of a human-vampire conception and wh
y the pregnancy was longer than normal,” Dominic explained.
“I take it that explanation did not go well?” Josh asked.
“Well, I suppose that’s a matter of opinion. She thought I was joking at first and then the doctor confirmed my vampirism and she thought we were trying some backhanded treatment on her. I can’t say I blame her. Poor thing doesn’t remember much. Her family thought she was insane because she didn’t know who the father of her own baby was and then to have it all explained away with a vampire story. It’s a lot to take in.
“I guess I had just hoped for a more...positive reunion between us,” Dominic said.
“Given your feelings for her, I can imagine you did,” Josh said.
“Yes, well. The way things went today, I think any hope of reconciliation has be squashed,” Dominic admitted sadly.
“So this doctor…he obviously knows your secret…?” Josh asked.
“Indeed. Which is why I hired him. He too is a vampire. I thought it best given the situation that it be someone who understood all the intricacies, or she’d just end up back where she was,” Dominic explained.
“Right.”
“But other than my part, she seems as she did almost thirty years ago. Smart, lovely, and full of fire. I told her that you were staying here and how much you reminded me of her.”
“You did? What did she say to that?” Josh wondered.
“She liked your name and she smiled and started to cry when I told her about you,” Dominic said.
“Huh…”
“I don’t think you realize, Josh, that she had no choice in the matter of adoption. She was never even allowed to hold you or see you. They thought she was insane and could be a threat to her child. If I had just known about the pregnancy…If I had checked in on her, I would have known what was going and on ….I could have made both your lives so different…but that is my cross to bear. I brought this on both of you…” Dominic said full of remorse.
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