by P. Mattern
Makenna took another sip of her drink.”You guys are so impressive .I was thinking about going back to school myself. How many Phd’s does Lux have?”
Fress rolled her eyes again. At least three.English Lit,Theology and Environmental Economics. Cass has a PhD too-in Quantum Physics actually. He’s really as brilliant as Lux but you’d never know it. He’s been teaching a couple of classes at the University. He’s really popular with the students. You can see why. He’s the King of Showmanship.”
Makenna was staring at a young man that had come up to their table and was staring intently at Fress. Fress turned her head and recognized him instantly.
“Daniel!” she squealed, jumping up to give him a hug.”Makenna ,you remember Daniel from that night we did the Bollywood dances don’t you?”
Makenna smiled and greeted Daniel.
“I surely do! Nice to see you again .Please sit down!”
“Actually” ,Daniel replied, his gaze riveted on Fress again, ”I know you ladies are attached but I thought I’d ask you to dance anyway .How about it Fress? I’m sure Charley wouldn’t mind.”
Fress looked up at Daniel. Her drink was kicking in and it was hard to refuse his thickly lashed hopeful looking grey eyes.
“Sure “, she answered, rising up out of her chair and nearly stumbling over her evening bag that had slipped onto the floor. Daniel quickly reached out to steady her, and the protective arm he put around her shoulders as he guided her onto the dance floor felt somehow just right.
It was a slow dance, and the smokey voice of the female lead singer seemed to envelop them as they moved together on the dance floor. Daniel was nearly as tall as Charley, with straight hair as black as ravens wings cut in an edgy style. He looked different than the last time Fress had seen him.
“Your piercings!”she cried, looking up and laughing.”THAT”S what’s missing! You used to have a lot of piercings! I knew you looked different!”
“Hey, you noticed!”he replied, smiling.”Actually I kept the ones in my ears. AND there’s THIS…”sticking out his tongue she could see that he had a barbell through it, as he continued,” And one more that shall remain nameless.”
Fress giggled ”You shouldn’t say things like that. The imagination runs wild.”
“Let’s just say it’s very popular with the ladies.”
That made Fress giggle even more.”Deeper and deeper Daniel. What shall I do with you? Such a naughty boy.”
With vampire quickness Daniel pulled her even more closely against him, so close that she could feel his muscular legs and his manly interest in her through the thin material of her short silk dress. At the same time his lips brushed against her ear and he said in a deep resonant voice, ”Oh Fressenda, you have no idea how naughty I can be.”
Fress pulled back at once, her startled eyes searching Daniel’s warily.
“Daniel….you know I’m with Charley, right?”
The song ended at that moment, and Daniel gently took her elbow, turning her away from him and towards the direction of the table. Bending his head down he spoke against the back of her neck , causing tiny shivers to run up and down her spine. ”I’m not sure I know that. Charley’s only been ‘normal’ for a few months. And you’re not wearing a ring. If you ever get tired of being his nursemaid, give me a call. It’s that simple. Give me a call, day or night, and I will come to you.”
Fress felt herself blush hot and cold and hoped her face wouldn’t betray her as she joined her friends. Instead of joining the group, Daniel seemed to melt away into the crowd.
More dancing, laughing and drinking ensued. Willie kept asking questions about DeMarcus and reiterating how fine she thought he was. A very inebriated Merilee called De Marcus and handed Willie the phone. After a mutually flirtatious conversation the two made plans to see each other, much to the delight of both the group and Willie.
Fress tried to call Charley to see how things were going at Mitzi’s but couldn’t get an answer, so she left a text ’thinking of you xxo’ and decided to take a trip to the ladies room.
On her way there she looked around casually for Daniel, but he appeared to have left.
After peeing,(and peeing was so tiresome ,she vowed to go back on her ‘pure’ blood only diet for the next few days),and primping ,and reapplying lip gloss ,she felt like a new woman. She winked at herself in the brightly lit wall length restroom mirror and stepped outside of the restroom door.
Immediately, before she realized what was happening, she was lifted off her feet and carried at vamp speed to a space behind a potted tropical plant at the end of the hall. With a start she realized it was Daniel, holding her against the wall, forcing her lips apart with his pierced tongue and kissing her with a ferocity that made her stomach tilt as if she were on a rising elevator.
Though her mind shouted warnings at her, her lips and tongue instinctively moved in rhythm with his .Fress, her body already languid from the alcohol, felt as though she was melting against his male energy and heat. It was a heat that teased parts of her to vibrant life, made her hungry and promised her unspeakably intoxicating sensations. She found she could not pull away.
But Daniel did. As she slid to the floor from where he’d been holding her against the wall, his voice was husky and commanding.
“Remember what I said, Fressenda. I’ll be waiting for you.”
And vampire style, he vanished again down the hallway too quickly for her eyes to follow.
It was the fourth quarter with two minutes to go, and Charleys favorite team was down by a field goal, with plenty of time to make a touchdown and win the game as long as the quarterback’s throwing arm held out. Cass was on his third hoagie when he heard Charley gasp. Since one of the teams had taken a time out, Cass looked over curiously in Charley’s direction.
Charley was holding his head, his eyes were huge.
“Is this real? What’s happening? Is this real?”Cass heard him say.
Cass had promised Fress that he would keep a particular eye on Charley in case he had seizures. Relinquishing his half eaten hoagie to the paper plate it had been on he got up and moved over to the recliner Charley was sitting in. Sitting on the floor beside Charley he tugged at Charley’s pant leg.”Hey, Charley, you okay?” he asked quietly.
Charley looked at him with confused eyes.” I just got some really weird visuals, Cass, like a stop motion film playing in my brain.”
“Of what?” Cass wanted to know.”What did it look like?”
Charley grimaced.
“I swear it was Fress…kissing another dude. Am I going crazy?”
Cass was so surprised that he forgot to breathe for a moment. He knew that Fress had turned Charley originally and had also made him a permanent, or ‘twice bitten’ vampire, so it was possible that when separated they would get visuals of each other just like he and Lux did because of their twin connection. Cass was not known to ever be at a loss for words, but he had no idea what he should say to Charley. He thought downplaying the vision might help, though.
“Well, you and Fress are so connected that that might have happened-maybe someone got fresh with her in the club, dude. You can ask her when she gets back…”
Just then the favored team threw the winning touchdown with 5 seconds on the clock, causing pandemonium in the room. Much to Cass’s relief Charley snapped back into sports enthusiast role and started yelling and jumping around with the rest of the vampires.
Cass wasn’t jumping though. He was troubled by what Charley had seen. And he had a feeling that the assessment of the visuals he’d suggested to Charley was way off.
The victory of the NFL home team made all the guests hungry again. As they were discussing -and even sometimes reenacting key portions of the action the ladies, fresh from clubbing swept into the room.
As Fress was looking around for Charley he snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, asking, ”Did you have a good time?”
In spite of her best efforts Fress felt a pang of gui
lt and regret-followed by a tiny bit of resentment. She plastered a bright smile on her face before she whipped around to face him.
“We had a fantastic time! We were overdue for a ladies night. How were things here?”
Charley patted his stomach. “Mom and Buttercup cooked. We ALL overindulged, not just Cass this time. I predict many vampires going back to pure blood diet for the next week. Our punishment will be spending too much time in the bathroom getting the meat suit grub out of our delicate systems.”
“Charley!” Fress said in a mock scolding tone.”Don’t call humans “meat suits”-it’s sort of an insult! I bet you picked that up from Cass!
“After all,” she reminded him,”We all were human once.”
Charley bent to kiss her and she slipped away ,saying,”Speaking of meatsuit and meatsuit indignities ,i have to pee but i’ll be right back my love!”
Charley watched her duck into the bathroom, folded his arms and prepared to wait until she came out. His heart was racing.
Did she think he was stupid? Their proximity before he attempted to kiss her gave him a good whiff of what she’d been up to.
He had picked up the scent of another vampire on her breath. That didn’t happen with a modest peck on the lips or cheek. That only happened when DNA in the form of bodily fluids was exchanged.
Charley was patient. Eventually Fress emerged from the restroom . She seemed surprised that he was still waiting for her. he made sure he would continue to have her attention by grabbing her wrist and pulling her up the stairs to the second landing at vamp speed.
Once on the upstairs landing Fress gave him a shocked look.
“Charley Rabbit! What in the world?”
Charley made sure that he was between Fress and the staircase before he answered.
“Fress I just had some questions about a visual i got –oh, maybe 45 minutes ago. It was very odd. Some dude kissing you…i couldn’t see his face, but I sure as hell could see yours.” Charley had been trying to control his voice but the volume rose toward the end of his statement irregardless. his eyes were riveted on her face.
“Charley,i was going to tell you about it-later, when we were alone. something happened at the club…”
“Define’ happened’ ”Charley retorted.”I really would like to know how some guy’s tongue can ‘happen’ to end up in your mouth-for a while, from the smell of it. ”he finished, a look of disgust crossing his face.
Fress appeared flustered but stood firm,
“You know what ,Charley? we’re going to have to have this discussion later, I’m sorry .I can’t do this with you now.”
“Discuss WHAT later ?” Charley growled, catching her arm as she tried to move past him.”Explain how you can come home to me reeking of another male vampire? How convenient for you that you have nothing to say on the matter.”
Fress shook her head, “Not at this time. Not while you’re angry.”
Charley’s eyes were filled with reproach, a flush of anger creeping upwards from his neck.
“What’s the matter Fress? Haven’t had enough variety lately? Two thousand years of sleeping around didn’t ‘do it’ for you?”
Fress’s answer was a ringing slap across Charley’s face as she shouted, “How dare you! I refuse to dignify that remark with an answer, Charley Rabbit!”
Charley looked stunned and remained speechless, as his cheek instantly reddened with the force of the slap he’d received.
“What’s the matter, Charley?” Fress continued, “Nothing to say? You certainly weren’t at a loss for words a minute ago – and I know I didn’t hurt you – you’re twice bitten for God sakes! ”
Charley gasped suddenly as if finally taking in a breath. Simultaneously tears began to roll unbidden from his stricken eyes.
“Oh it hurt, Fress”, he answered in a tone of dismal resignation, “it hurt… more than you could ever know.”
With that, he vanished, vampire style, leaving Fress to stare at the empty space where his body had been.
******************************
Charley Rabbit on a Honda Goldwing motorcycle, angry, and wearing no helmet was not only not a good idea but verged on being a public menace. Yet when Charley stormed out of Mitzi’s house that was the first remedy for his emotional tumult that he could think of, so he was riding at 80 miles an hour down the highway, weaving in and out of traffic and taking terrible chances around the curves of the road. Twice he skidded on gravel and nearly wiped out recovering only in the nick of time. Once he thought of going down an embankment on purpose to load test his immortality. After awhile the tides of his outrage had subsided somewhat but still he rode on, wanting to put as much distance between himself and Fressenda’s violated mouth as possible.
The anger was the easy part-he could leave most of that on the highway. The pangs from his injured heart were another matter entirely, and far more excruciating than anything he ever remembered experiencing.
Finally he turned back toward Mitzi’s house. Even though most of his clothing and belongings were at the cottage with Fress he decided he’d sleep at his mom’s. He was exhausted and thoroughly confused at the turn of events and just couldn’t face Fress.
After parking the motorcycle in the garage ,he let himself into the house quietly, figuring that Cass and Mitzi must have retired due to the lateness of the hour. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Cass ,still up and waiting for him in the kitchen wearing his Hugh Hefner smoking jacket, took one look at him and motioned for him to take a seat, saying, ”Welcome back ‘not-so-easy rider’, glad to see you’re still in one piece.”
Charley, still in his leather jacket, slumped into a kitchen chair . When Cass looked into Charley’s eyes he saw the pain there. And he knew what he needed to say.
“Charley” ,he began, I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I really don’t know the entire story-Lux said he’d try to talk to Fressenda, she was extremely upset after you left, inconsolable really. Mitzi made her some chamomile tea and she cried on Mitzi’s shoulder for awhile.
“But something occurred to me that I think we’ve all overlooked ,given your transformation from intellectually disabled human to superabled vampire, and that is the fact that you went straight from a clueless 6 year old mentality to a sexually active vampire stud in too short a period of time. AND with no counsel ,instruction or input from any of us. That has to be confusing, and I don’t think that you’ve had time to catch up with yourself yet.
“You know we all love Fressenda, and want the best for you and her both. Charley, what I’m trying to say is that I think the problems you both are having are due to the relationship moving too fast, and the fact that you went from being a celibate Spongbob Squarepants fan to a committed marriage-type relationship without a pause. That’s pretty screwed up dude, and all the rest of us feel somewhat responsible for you and Fress ‘hitting the wall ,so to speak. What do you think, Charley?”
Charley chewed on his lower lip.”I think you have a point. Cass I don’t understand my own feelings. The idea that Fress kissed someone enraged me to the point of insanity.” He learned over toward Cass,”She’s my everything. All I’ve ever known. I-I’ve never even kissed anyone else.”
Cass’s face lit up as he shook his long hair away from his face and he punctuated the air with an upraised index finger.”That’s EXACTLY what I’m talking about. No one ever gave you the talk about the birds and the bees. You haven’t even gone through a normal adolescence. Your immaturity in regard to relationships is showing. Your being ’turned’ flipped your world upside down, and Mitzi’s world too. She is happy now but still dealing with issues of her own.”
“I’m still not sorry Fress made me into a vampire.”Charley said. “I’ll always be grateful to her. Even as painful as the last few hours have been, I would never want to be left where she found me. I will always love her for that, always.”
Cass nodded knowingly.”I know man, and Charley ,I am privileged to know
you. Buds forever-I’ll have your back! But Mitzi, Lux and I all think you and Fress should take some time apart to explore your options. Right now you’re like a six year old in a man’s body trying to husband someone.”
Charley’s eyes narrowed, ”Well there are some parts of the ‘husbanding’ I do rather well-or so I’m told.”
Cass chuckled.”I’m sure you do. But what about all the rest of it? A little overwhelming, non?”
Charley looked sad but resigned.”I guess. It’s going to kill me to be apart from her though Cass. All I want to do right now is go to her and make it right somehow. I still don’t know why she did what she did.”
“Maybe she doesn’t either. You should talk, the both of you. But still give each other some space. Because, Charley, you may have some proverbial ’wild oats’ to sow. You’re kind of in a post adolescent phase, as I see it. Not that I’m proud of it ,but Lux and I were wild men at one time .Just saying.”
“Well, thanks for the input.”Charley said.”Lots to think about.”
Just before he was about to turn the corner and go upstairs to sleep, Charley paused in the kitchen doorway.
“One last question, Cass. Why does Fress need time away from ‘us’? I would think that in centuries of existence she would have explored the dating pool from the shallow end to the deep end by now, you know? Why does SHE need space?”
Cass’s eyebrows lifted as he gave Charley his ‘oh no you didn’t’ face.
“Dude, I will let that remark go this time strictly because you are so upset. Next time I will kick your ass for casting aspersions on my sister. You got me?”
Somewhat taken aback by Cass’s reaction Charley said in a placating tone,” Sorry man. But I was serious, even though I should have edited my phrasing. Why does she have to see other guys?”
“Apology accepted” ,Cass said graciously, calming down.”Maybe she does and maybe she doesn’t need to see other guys. That will be up to her. But she does need a break, just like you do. In fact…”Cass’s ire seemed to return momentarily.”If what you just said to me is any indication of the hurtful, snide, smartass comments you have lined up to spew at HER, you probably should stay away from her completely. Charley ,bro’, I love you man but I won’t allow you to hurt my sister-not even with words. In which case I would have to kick your ass and tell your mom that you fell off your motorcycle-capice?”