“Good, you needn't fear another visit from the witch, the capping on the chimney has been fixed.” William declared as he closed the door behind us, guiding me back to the entry.
“Capping?”
“It's just a cover that stops the likes of her but still allows for the smoke to flow freely. Not sure on how it came free, I suspect the last storm might have knocked it around a bit. It's all good now though, all of them are checked and fixed.”
Placing my hand onto the end of the balustrade I looked up at him again, his face was still filled with pain. I could tell his thoughts still lingered with his wife. She wasn't coming back, surely he can see that? He spends his days waiting for her to return, if she loved him as much as he thinks she does, why didn't she return the next day or the next week? “How long have you waited for her return?”
“Please don't venture down that path Mary, neither of us can entertain the thoughts of it.”
“That's not answering the question. How long?”
William looked away as pain filled his face, his eyes looked to the door probably wishing he could escape through it. I know I did.
“You know what, it's fine, don't tell me.” I stepped up onto the first step, taking the lantern from him. “But I think it is tearing you apart, I think you linger from one day to the next waiting for her to return. She might never return, did you ever think of that? What if something happened beyond her control that stopped her. You would spend an eternity waiting for her and miss out on something that could be so wonderful.”
“And what if she returns and finds that I have taken another wife?” He snapped sneering with anger. “Would you step aside to allow for her return?” He laughed so callously. “I don't think you would. No one would.”
“This is not about me you fool. This is about the man that can not see past the death of his wife and child and the promise of her return. You could wallow in these morose thoughts for a thousand years, what would you say after all that time being this sad, would you truly be happy for her return or would you be angry that she didn't do it sooner? If she loved you, she would want you to be happy.”
“What would you know of love and happiness?” He snapped back yet again.
“Wow. That's just cruel. Strike the unloved orphan down with your words, that's great. I try to offer my support through words to bring you out of this life of sadness and all you do is stick the knife into my heart and twist it.” I snarled as I began to walk up the stairs. “Wallow in your life time of self pity and sadness, grow old alone, see if I care. Apparently I know nothing about love and happiness so it won't affect me at all.”
Chapter Thirteen
Life sucked. This was my new motto. Chapter two of my book will be called don't fight with a vampire about love, you won't win. Why? Because they are stubborn, pessimistic, narcissistic jack asses who'd rather live a life of pain and hatred than explore the possibility of something new. I laid on the bed after crying for hours, staring at the ceiling wishing that Porter would get his stupid puny backside here and take me away. With sore and puffed eyes, I found sleep. It was so deep and wonderful, I would have thought I would wake feeling incredibly refreshed. Except that I had another vision. Wonderful sleep? Yes, it was wonderful alright. It was god damned pornographic. Now I couldn't look the weirdo in the eye because I'd seen a vision of us having sex. Great. Perfect. Stupid mind.
“Everything okay?”
I stared at the kitchen cabinet ahead of me, the fork in my hand had just speared the piece of peach. Was that the most stupidest question he had ever asked? Yes William everything is hunky dory, oh don't worry about that ridiculous fight yesterday where you insulted me after I tried to be caring. It was nothing, I'm not upset at all.
“Fine.” I murmured and then stuffed the peach into my mouth before I could say anything else. And I desperately wanted to, I wanted to yell and punch and cry but most of all, I wanted to run away.
“I don't believe you.” His voice drew closer.
The tension radiated through me, could I not eat my fruit breakfast in peace? He moved closer, stupidly I looked up. As my eyes locked with his I had a memory of the vision flash through my mind. Oh it was nothing really, just the two of us totally in the middle of it, in the throes of some serious passion. Worse yet, I could feel his body as it burned against mine, searing heat. I had wondered if it would be like screwing an ice block but it wasn't, it was burning hot and incredibly amazing. His need for me was ravenous, like he wanted nothing more than for me to enjoy it.
“Mary?” His voice broke through the memory, the luscious thoughts caused my cheeks to sear with heat.
“I said it's fine.” I faltered. “I'm fine.” I dumped the empty tin in the bin, hoping to flee back to my room. Not going to happen.
“You look terrible.”
“Wow, the insults keep flowing. If I'm ever feeling great about myself, I'll know who to call to bring me down a notch.”
He sighed which I ignored and moved back to the bench, collecting the tins I had put there. “It wasn't meant to be an insult, it was just a stupid statement that... I was just thinking that I caused it, that's all.”
I nodded as I pursed my lips. Yes William, you did cause it.
“What are you doing with them?”
“Building a fort.”
“With five tins of fruit, a can opener and a fork?” He leaned on the bench to stop me from passing, blocking me from leaving the kitchen. “What's going on?”
“Nothing.” I might bash my head with one of the tins, because of my stupid mind I couldn't look at him without seeing him naked. Maybe not, the view was pretty good.
“Why do I have to suffer this every time Mary? Why do you insist on dragging it out? You do not need to hide in your room just because we had a disagreement.”
“I'm not.”
“Then why are you taking the tins to your room?”
This was hell, now I knew why I lived on my own rather than in a share accommodation. I didn't have to answer to anyone but myself. No stupid questions, no insults, just me. Maybe I was better off alone. I looked up at him, across the firm jaw remembering that I kissed it in the vision, slowly slipping down his neck. Total and utter hell. I tried to side step him but he moved to block me.
“I might be patient but you are pushing me to my limit, would you just tell me, please?”
“Five tins for five breakfasts, figure it out for yourself. Get out of my way before I stab you with the fork.”
Reluctantly he stepped aside allowing me to pass. “You don't need to hide, I am not a monster Mary.”
“That's your opinion, not mine.”
I was so caught up in the hatred I was feeling, I turned right when I left the kitchen. When I realised I turned back, he was leaning on the wall, watching me with that stupid smug grin.
“One day you might remember.”
“Why bother? Apparently I'm not good enough for a life here, the visions I have are a lie so it doesn't matter.”
“Visions? You've had another one?”
Crud balls. Oh stupid mouth, you've done it again.
“Nope.” I said simply and walked past him quickly which was pointless. This was a vampire that had his hokey vampire tricks and a house filled with illusions, there was no way I could out run him.
“Liar. What was this one about? And please don't drag this one out, I don't want another headache.”
“Baby making.” I said smugly and walked away.
As I climbed the staircase I thought about how I wanted my existence in this house to play out. To walk away from a jaw dropping moment like that and not have it carry out further? Yes, that would be ideal. To lift my head haughtily and walk away as the supreme one. I got that for all of about a minute, he stopped me half way up the stairs.
“We were... you know?”
“That is how babies are made, unless they've done some kind of upgrade that I wasn't told about. Maybe we could shake hands and I'd be pregnant. But only
do it once okay, we might end up with twins.” I continued up the stairs, hoping to lengthen my superiority. As always it was wishful thinking.
“Don't be a smart mouth Mary, I am trying to grasp the meaning of these visions.”
“You don't get it, do you?” I snapped as I turned back to him. “If these are real and you said they were, then this is our future. Dead wife or not, you and I have sex and make a child. At some point in the future you love me. I could feel the love and adoration you felt toward me in that first vision. In the second one I could feel how much you wanted me to enjoy our love before you did. In these visions you put me up on a pedestal and worship me but in real life all you do is cut me down. I wouldn't have cared if they were just a dream, I would have passed it off and not thought of it again but you said it was real. For a brief shining moment, I thought that there was someone out there that thought I was worthy of their love but it's a lie. Five days, can you not leave me alone for five stinking days? At least let me wallow in my own misery without constantly hounding me for bits of useless information.” I let out a pained laugh as I stepped up to the next tread. “Because that's all it is, isn't it William? Useless information. It's not real, is it?”
I thumped up the stairs and slammed the door behind me. I wished for a phone so that I could ring Porter and tell him to hurry up. I wished for something other than the books that had appeared when I was in the shower. They were right beside dinner and a bag of I'm sorry for being a jackass treats. On the table in front of the love seat under the window was my own little world of happiness. Pain relief, a lot of chocolate, magazines, chocolate covered biscuits and batteries for my headphones. Beside the table was a box that had wine bottles and a glass and there was another box made of Styrofoam. It was filled with ice and nestled in the ice was a tub of chocolate ice cream. At the centre of the table was a glass vase that looked like a ball, round and plump. In it sat a bunch of roses that were exquisite. The petals were full and had the most interesting shading, at the edge of the petal it was a dark red trailing to the centre where it was a dark pink. Strips of a pale pink flecked through the petals and the scent was heavenly. As I sniffed one of the blooms I caught sight of a card nestled into the centre of the bunch. I pulled it out, a note from the forgiven jackass. One day you will be loved.
“But not by you.” I whispered, tossing the card onto the table.
Chapter Fourteen
Five days of a vampire free existence was interesting. I didn't think that I could have grown accustomed to this life so quickly but the monotony had set in and made it seem normal. So after five days, I actually missed him. Bastard. He's managed to weasel his way into my mind and won't let go. It would be alright if he actually wanted me, then it would be good that he had made such an impression on me. But this was wrong. He said that I had lit a fire in his soul, what did that mean? If I were take it for what I believed it meant, it would mean that he felt something for me. But he was so caught up in his days of waiting for his dead wife to return, I was nothing but a speck in his long life. I stood no chance of competing against the love for his wife, but did I want to? No, I wanted to be free. I didn't want to be tied down any more, I wanted to travel, to see the country and meet lots of people. Free as the birds.
He had kept his distance as I had requested. It was only when I was using the bathroom or changing my clothes that things changed in the room. Dinner would appear after I had a shower, always something different, always an amazing meal. The Styrofoam box would be replaced with a new one, always with fresh ice and a tub of ice cream. A new bag of treats would be sitting on the table waiting for me, I was beginning to like this hotel. Except that I was about to go crazy. I couldn't leave the house. I couldn't even walk in the garden. It was too risky, I could be seen, I could be sniffed out. Here I was safe, here I could live and survive for another crazy day. I had lost count of the days I had been here, I estimated it to be around the two week mark but I couldn't be sure. Asking William was an option I suppose but I was hesitant to speak to him. The visions had continued, each morning that I had fallen asleep I was subjected to the same scene. It varied between the nights, showing different pieces from the time together. But it was always the same, always leaving me in a good mood and feeling loved even though he didn't love me.
A chill had set in, the fire was always going now. By late afternoon I had formed the habit of sitting by the window and watching the world go by. The trees had lost their leaves, now the land was dotted with bare branches and grass that was coloured with a soft frost. Yesterday, I saw a cat. It was the highlight of my day. The little ginger cat strolled past the fence with it's tail in the air. It had an air of supremacy with it's attitude, much like William did. Halfway along the path it must have found something that smelled good, stopping to rub all over the grass. I grinned as I watched it, the little paws were up in the air as it rubbed it's back. When it was done it stopped and rolled to it's side, then proceeded to spend a fair amount of time cleaning itself. The life of a cat was just as carefree as the birds, I was envious.
Today was day six and I knew that it was open season on his return. Annoying me and generally making my life a misery by just being around. It wasn't his fault nor was it mine, this house was playing tricks on me and feeding me false visions. That was the only conclusion that I could come to, it was a lie. I had to ignore them and continue my days here as best I could. Keep my mouth shut about the visions, stop harassing him with the thought that it should be real and be as pleasant as I could be all the while praying for Porter to hurry up. Clearly Cameron was in hiding or had fled which was frustrating. Sure he probably didn't want to die but this wasn't fair. Then again, nothing about my life was fair. The door slowly opened, breaking me out of my melancholy thoughts. He was here. He was braving the nightmare that was me. Be nice Mary, all is good again. A week apart could do wonders for the two of you. Create a friendship and nothing more. Chapter three of my book could be called Friends with vampires, a brave new world. No love, no visions, no marriage or a child. Just a vampire protecting a human, nothing more. His head peeked around the corner, wary of the mood I might be in.
“It's ok, the bitch is gone.”
He chuckled and opened the door further. “I had forgotten about the life of a woman, forgive me. It's been far too long for this old fool.”
I shrugged as he walked over, settling onto the lounge near me. Close but not too close. It was still complete hell.
“I wasn't exactly the nicest of people to be around so I guess there isn't anything to forgive. Thanks for the stuff.”
“My pleasure.” His smile was amused but it seemed forced. He didn't seem too comfortable sitting on the lounge beside me, it was making the whole moment rather awkward. My mind sighed as it reluctantly suggested to broach the subject.
“About the visions, don't worry about them. I don't believe they are real.”
There was no conviction to my word, I said the words but it was his benefit only. I knew the visions were real. Regardless of how much I tried to pretend they weren't, I knew I was only lying to myself. So I would give him what he clearly wants, agreement. I would give him the words he wanted to hear, I didn't believe the visions were the truth. It didn't matter that it was breaking my heart, to have the feelings of pure love, to know that I would be a part of a family. To him it didn't matter, all that he could see was his wife waiting for him. I don't know what hurt more though, the fact that he thought waiting for his wife was a better life or that he didn't want the vision and our love to be real. I'd say the latter. I was not worthy of him. Stick a knife into my heart, it's ok, I don't need it.
William nodded quietly, frowning like he wanted to say something. I had to get away from this, otherwise we would keep going around in circles for days. I couldn't relive this over and over again, rehashing the same argument like we had some morbid need to make ourselves miserable. Change of topic time, my mind seemed to wrangle with it's thoughts, what to ask or talk about. He wouldn
't care for anything that I had read in the magazines. Keep it generic, but what? This was painful.
“How many vampires are there?” There, that's generic. Not stupid, a simple question.
“Unknown though there are five families across the world that can be traced back for a number of generations, their current numbers are around the hundred mark in total. The rest have just popped up out of nowhere. I suspect that there is a few of the minor families that are turning humans in order to create a family dynasty worthy of recognition. They seem to think the more they have in their group, the better their chances of being of some influence on the council of elders. But that is not how it works, only the five families could ever sit on the council of the elders and only the head of the families can be an elder.”
“So which one are you?”
He grinned darkly as he leaned back on the chair. “I am an elder. The last of my family.”
So I guess the presence of a child would be welcomed. An open door for Mary? No, absolutely not, it was out of the question. Only the wife, singular in our vision was this vampire. Turn that knife, dig it in a little deeper. But the dark smile was curious, why would he be so happy about not having any family?
“Curious, is it not? We are both without a family, both alone in this world. Your arrival into my life is unexpected but interesting. My parents were attacked by the same family line that your attacker is from. It was a feeble attempt to bring down my family, all it did was make me stronger. They understand this now, attacking an elder is a stupid move. My fathers death caused a shift in the vampire world, his power and strength was passed to me. As death gripped him, he willingly gave his skills to his only child and created this.”
William gestured to himself. He was far too assertive, it was going to be his undoing for sure.
“So how come the vampires protect the humans from the lycans?”
Deadly Beasts (The Curse of the Rose Book 1) Page 9