The Grateful Boys

by Françoise DuMaurier

  “On the ninth day she said to me, ‘I’m afraid there’s not much more I can do for you.’ I remember asking her why she saved me when she should have left me for dead. I remember the mournfulness in her eyes and how awful she must have felt. My respiration was giving out. It became difficult for me to breathe.

  “She said, ‘There is only one other thing I can do for you.’ I told her she could not save me. That I wish I’d just been left to die because the pain of living was too unbearable. That night soldiers surrounded the cabin. A half dozen of them.”

  Hailey gasped. “Did they kill her?”

  “No, on the contrary. I remember hearing their footsteps. Carmilla placed a single finger up to her mouth, gesturing for me to not make a sound.

  “She used her fingers to put out the oil lamp. When it was dark the six soldiers stormed into the house. Immediately Carmilla killed every last one of them. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I watched her single handedly slaughter six male soldiers as if she were cutting butter. She tore them apart like warm butter.

  “As their blood-soaked bodies lied around the cabin, she lit the oil lamp again. She approached me. I was horrified of what she would do to me. But in the most sorrowful tone you could ever imagine, she said, ‘I will grant you eternal life.’

  “She took a blade and sliced her arm. She reached her arm over my lips and instructed me to open my mouth. I did as I was told as her blood dripped into my mouth. I remember the sweet, bitter, dark taste of her blood. It healed my respiration but I remained still in pain from the bandaged wounds of the gunshots.

  “Then she removed her dress and laid atop me. She made love to me that night and simultaneously bit me. I awoke the next morning and felt… different. I was able to move. I could stand and walk. It felt as if I’d never been injured. My dexterity and senses were all heightened. I unwrapped the bandages around my chest and stomach to discover that my wounds were completely healed, as if they never existed.

  “I said to her ‘I don’t know how you have done it but you have given me a new life.’ And she said to me ‘You have been reborn.’

  “I asked her what she meant by that and she told me, ‘I have given you the blessing… and the curse… of being a vampire.’

  “I wanted immediately to see my family but Carmilla forbade it. To be reborn as a vampire meant I had to live a new life – away from my loved ones. I was never to interact with them again. My father, Klaus, and sister, Maja, were informed that I died in the battle.”

  “So you never got to see them again?” Hailey asked, with sadness in her voice.

  “Once a year I would go back to their village and watch them from afar. Yearly, I watched as my father grew into an old man. Until one year I returned and heard that Klaus had passed away from old age. I was sad to hear of his death but I was pleased to know that he was able to grow old, unlike my mother and other siblings.

  “My sister Maja married and had three children. No matter where I was in the world, I would fly to her village around Christmas to watch from afar. I did it for over sixty winters. Sixty consecutive years. Until she too passed away of old age. Her children had children but once Maja passed away, I stopped coming back to our old Swedish village. And that was the last I knew of my old family.

  “I traveled the world with Carmilla for the next hundred years. Back in the Balkan Peninsula she initiated me into the Order of Lilith. It was there that I met the Chancellor, along with Alobard, Gregorious, and Gabriel. Carmilla left one day for Romania. A week later, a member of the Order conferred to me that she had been killed by a vampire hunter. I greatly mourned the woman who granted me this blessing, and this curse.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Hailey whispered. “But what could be a curse about it?”

  “To live immortally while those around you grow old and perish? It doesn’t matter how many centuries I live, that will never takes any amount of getting used to. It is why so many vampires prefer only their own company, and not the friendship of humans.”

  “I’m so sorry, that must be so difficult.”

  “And can you imagine what it is like to truly never, ever see yourself?” he asked her.

  “What do you mean?” Hailey wondered.

  “I cast no reflection. I have not seen my reflection in over 300 years, since the time before I went to war. It has been that long. In a way, it feels like not knowing oneself. It is something that humans take for granted. And it is truly a terrible thing to lose. To be unable to see your own self. To be unable to look at yourself. It is, I think, the greatest loss. Imagine going centuries being blind to what you look like. I have only the knowledge of what I looked like over 300 years ago. I do my best to recall my reflection from that time in my life.”

  “But surely you can take a photograph?” Hailey asked.

  “We do not show up in photographs. What are photos but reflections captured from a lens. And a lens is merely a mirror. The closest we may get is a painting of ourselves. We have one here in the house. The five of us, plus the Chancellor. You see, after Carmilla died, I was placed with the Chancellor.”

  “Where is he?” Hailey asked.

  “On official business of the Order. He is rarely here. But he is a great vampire, to be sure.”

  “Thank you, Percy. For sharing so much. For opening up your life to me.”

  “And thank you, Hailey. For listening.”

  “Percy… what is your full name? Throughout that whole story, I didn’t catch it.”

  “Percivell Bartholomew Clementwell III. I was named after my grandfather, and his father before that.”

  “To have lived through so much and seen so much horror in your life,” Hailey said, holding back tears.

  “Do not cry for me, Hailey. For everything I have been through has strengthened me and served as a learning experience. You don’t go 300 years without gaining some degree of knowledge and wisdom.”

  “Vampirism is the ultimate form of knowledge, isn’t it?”

  “It is,” he nodded.

  “This has been the most interesting night of my life. And now I can no longer imagine it without you.”

  “I love you, Hailey. And there is… Well, there is…”

  “Something you want from me?”

  “Yes, there is.”

  “You want my blood?”

  He nodded. Hailey softly placed her palm to his face. As they sat on his bed, she reached in and kissed him. “I want you to have it,” she whispered.

  “First, you should again have mine,” he said to her. Then he took a single sharp fingernail and made a small slit to the lower part of his neck.

  “Now drink,” he told her. Hailey leaned in, placing her hands on his head and dipping her face to his neck. She drank of him as a warm bliss poured over her. It was the greatest euphoria she’d never known. The ultimate exaltation.

  She pulled back, smiled, and took a deep breath. Suddenly his neck healed, leaving behind only a small trickle of blood. Immediately Hailey reached in and licked it.

  “That never gets old,” she breathed.

  “And unlike last time, now you get to truly enjoy it,” he smirked.

  He grabbed her and laid her onto the bed. She heaved and tilted her head to him. He reached his hands to her inner thighs and spread her legs.

  “What are you doing? You said I wasn’t ready for sex,” she said.

  “This… is not sex.”

  “What?”

  “The neck is typically more readily available. But the best artery for a vampire to take blood from is the femoral artery.”

  Hailey laid her head back. She stared at the fresco on the wall – of the coronation of the vampire queen, as she felt his cold hands grab her upper legs.

  Percy’s fangs appeared. He reached his head down and immediately sank his teeth into her right inner thigh. Her breathing quickened. She squeezed her pillow as the pain rose through her body and quickly subsided.

  For the first time, he sucked her blood – his lips pr
essed to her thigh. She moaned, feeling a mixture of pain and pleasure. The blood she’d consumed made it feel like a sacred experience. Bliss poured over her again as her breathing rose and fell tumultuously. Her face flushed. She gasped as her respiration tightened. His lips remained on her thigh for only minutes, but in her euphoric sense of time it felt like an hour.

  He drew his mouth away from her thigh. Hailey remained in the same position. Her grip on the pillow loosened. Her breathing relaxed. He used the back of his forearm to wipe his mouth as he pulled back.

  “That was…” he said, “… the best I’ve ever had.”

  ***

  At a quarter ’til nine, Sebastian was on his bike racing several miles past the school. He’d heard Gregory’s voice within him and he knew he had to answer. It was perhaps the fastest he’d ever gone on his bike. He was struck by exhilaration as the wind whooshed by him and over him.

  Several miles down, beyond the school, he saw a long fleet of cars. Sebastian was unaware that there was any sort of party going on but he recalled Gregory telling him about a ‘gathering’ with his brothers. Still riding down the road, he was sure he saw the silver Cadillac that belonged to the girl who Hailey hung out with. Madison, he recalled her name was. He remembered seeing her car several times while he was at Mason’s house.

  What’s her car doing here? He thought to himself. Followed quickly by – Forget about that. Focus, Sebastian.

  He rode past the cars and zoomed his bike through the woods. It was a bumpy ride but he didn’t stop until he made it through the other side of the woods. He approached the iron gates and could see lights emanating from the back of the manor. The place seemed like it was alive.

  Sebastian floored the bike pedals, and rushed off of it as he came to the iron gates separating him from Vampyr Manor. The gates were too tall for him to climb over. He jumped – it was no use. He couldn’t make it to the other side. At least not that way. There had to be another way inside. Then he heard–

  “Hello Sebastian. How are you, young friend?”

  He turned around and was face to face with Gregory. Well – almost. Gregory was much taller than he.

  “Gregory!” Sebastian exclaimed.

  “Need a lift, do you?” Gregory smirked.

  “Right on time!”

  “Always happy to oblige,” Gregory slowly bowed his head.

  He stood next to Sebastian. They were touching side-by-side. The vampire placed an arm around him and the two slowly lifted off the ground. They flew gracefully over the iron gates and landed on the other side.

  “Now,” Gregory said. “Let’s walk toward the manor. I have a few questions for you.”

  “And I have one for you too,” Sebastian said cheerfully as they strolled across the lawn toward Vampyr Manor in the dark of night.

  “Me first,” Gregory told him. “Have you been telling your so-called friends about me?”

  “No,” Sebastian told him. His smile dropped. “I promise I haven’t mentioned anything else to them. That’s actually where I just came from. We were looking through this encyclopedia about vampires. I told them it all sounded really stupid, which it did. Then I said I had to leave–”

  “Good,” Gregory said curtly. “I’m pleased to know the human-vampire bond means something to you. I was slightly afraid you might let all of our secrets out. Thousands of years of secrecy – all spilled to a group of fourteen-year-olds in Corpus, Georgia. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

  “You told me that I had to trust you entirely,” Sebastian said.

  “I did.”

  “And I do.”

  “There is hope for you yet,” Gregory looked at him and smirked.

  “You doubted me?” Sebastian asked.

  “I sense great things about you, Sebastian. And that counts for a lot. But you are young, as well. And what is youth but a series of wonderful mistakes? Admittedly, ’tis age that treats most unfairly in lack of grace.”

  “What are you referring to?” Sebastian questioned him, confused.

  “I mean to say, I still hold great favor with you.”

  They approached the steps leading to the main doorway and made their way up to the gilded doors.

  As they entered the house, Sebastian could hear the music from the back. “What’s going on in the backyard?” he asked his vampire friend.

  “Oh, just a small gathering. There’s this little ritual we call the Surrender. But worry not, it doesn’t concern you. I’m not taking part. Not when I have you to entertain me.”

  Sebastian smiled. He enjoyed the thought of both being so appealing – and important, to a vampire.

  “Are we going to head to your room?” Sebastian asked as they stood in the foyer.

  “My, my,” Gregory laughed. “It sounds like you just want another taste of my blood.”

  “No, not at all,” Sebastian said quickly.

  “So you don’t like it?” Gregory asked with disappointment in his voice.

  “No, it’s not that. I just didn’t want you to think that I only want to be friends for that reason alone.”

  “It’s fine, Sebastian. I told you, you can always feel comfortable in my presence.”

  “You did. And I am.”

  “Then why do I smell apprehension on you?”

  “I just don’t want to mess anything up I guess,” he said, noticing the lack of a mirror that was no longer in the foyer. “Where did your mirror go?”

  “When we have a great deal of human guests, such as tonight, we take our only mirror down. We don’t wish to… startle.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” Sebastian said. He looked around and the rest of the place looked exactly like he remembered. The sprawling staircase, the marble floors, the humongous chandelier. “So, what room will we explore tonight?”

  “How about the Moroccan room?” Gregory suggested in a manner that was more of a statement. “Its sights are… nice.”

  They walked through a hall on the first floor as the music from the backyard continued in the background. They passed various paintings upon the wall and the marbled busts that lined the hallway. Two boys in black quickly passed by. Gregory introduced them as Gabriel and Alobard. Unable to stay, they swiftly returned outside after smirking to Sebastian and wishing him well.

  “Nevermind them. They’re focused on the little gathering outside right now. But they know I appreciate you – right through here,” Gregory said as he opened a door with another golden doorknob.

  Sebastian followed him in. They entered a massive sprawling room with ornate sofas and cushions and throw pillows abound. The floor was carpeted in ancient oriental designs. There was a large sprawling sofa spread across most of the room. Golden oil lamps were everywhere. Toward the front of the room was a fireplace. As soon as Sebastian looked at it, it lit ablaze.

  “It’s beautiful,” Sebastian awed.

  He noticed a large cabinet filled with forms of jewelry. There were crowns, scepters, necklaces, armored chest plates, golden headpieces, and royal capes among others. There were also swords that looked very similar to the ones that Sebastian recalled from Gregory’s bedroom.

  “Don’t you have a few swords just like this in your room?” Sebastian asked.

  “I do. I’d love to tell you the stories behind a few pieces.”

  “That would be amazing.”

  “But first I was wondering if you’re hungry.”

  “No, I ate before I got here,” Sebastian admitted.

  “Pity. It’s not often that we have food for humans here. I’d have loved it if you tried the desert.”

  “Okay then. If you want me to, I’ll try something.”

  “That’s the spirit, my wonderful boy.”

  Gregory walked to the doorway and yelled “Sheridan!” Immediately the old butler appeared, rushing down the hall and into the doorway of the Moroccan room.

  “How may I be of service, Master Gregorious?” Sheridan asked.

  “I’d like you to bring us a tray of the best de
sserts for our young guest. Whatever the humans appear to be enjoying the most.”

  Sheridan did a light bow. “Immediately, Master Gregorious.”

  “I’m not sure if I say it enough. But thank you, Sheridan.”

  The butler presented a light smile and left as Gregory returned his attention to Sebastian.

  “How long has Sheridan served you?” Sebastian asked. “And is he a vampire?”

  “He is, in fact, not a vampire,” Gregory answered him as they stood walking around the room.

  “Is he a human?” Sebastian inquired.

  “He is what is known as a dhampir. The product of a human and vampire.”

  “So he is half vampire?”

  “Yes, he is half-vampire,” Gregory confirmed. “But there are major differences. The dhampir cannot shapeshift. They cannot fly. They may not be fully fledged members of a vampire order.”

  “So they are considered inferior?”

  “They’re considered just what they are… half vampire. Not fully vampire.”

  “So how are they like vampires?”

  “The dhampir inherit two traits of the vampire. They must drink blood to survive. And, like us, they may live forever. Well make that three traits. They, too, do not have reflections.”

  “Your requests are here, Master Gregorious.”

  They turned around and found Sheridan at the door. He rolled with him a golden covered tray atop a golden cart. He removed the top of the tray, bowed, and left; closing the door behind him.

  Upon the tray were decadent chocolate truffle cake squares, incredible vanilla covered strawberries, and squares of tart pie with mousse cream on top. Gregory placed a few pieces on a napkin, and handed them to Sebastian.

  “Please, sit. Let’s continue,” he told Sebastian. They took a seat on the large sprawling sofa. Sebastian crossed his legs and faced Gregory as he took a bite of the chocolate cake. The fireplace blazed in front of them.

  “Furthermore, regarding the dhampir,” Gregory continued. “There is something that separates them significantly from us. Something quite logical.”