The vampire the vampire.., p.59
The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1), page 59
Saturday morning was more overcast, grayer than the morning before. There was no bright light to awaken Jason this morning, so he slept in later, finally stretching slowly and yawning. He was tired enough to sleep some more; the dim light, comfortably warm covers and soft pillow invited him back to sleep. It was so peaceful and quiet.
Too quiet. Hadn’t he fallen asleep with the TV on? It had been on low volume but still…he rolled over slowly and opened one eye for a quick look. The TV was off. And the coffee table’s surface was clean. All of the food containers and sundry from the night before, gone. Carrie must be up, he realized, as he closed his eyes and snuggled back into his pillow, pulling the blanket up to his neck to enjoy another fifteen minutes or so of drowsy comfort.
A moment later, he sat bolt upright. She’s up! Not again! He dashed to the bathroom, then to his bedroom. No sign of her. He returned to the bathroom and performed minimal hygiene, grabbed some fresh garments and quickly pulled them on. Then he went to look for her. The library doors were open so he checked there first. Empty. I hope he’s gone. Please, please let him be gone. He headed for the kitchen.
There was Carrie, sitting at the small kitchen table holding a coffee cup in both hands. And there was Augere, sitting opposite her, with a cup sitting in front of him. Carrie was gazing intently into his eyes and they appeared to be conversing quietly.
Jason was pretty sure, that although he had never fainted before in his life, he was certain it was about to happen. It was not a very manly thing to do, he realized, but in that moment it seemed like a really good way to escape what he was witnessing. So he was actually pretty disappointed when that did not happen. Now he was going to have to deal with both of them, and with the situation he was witnessing. Maybe I am still asleep and just having this…nightmare.
He had no idea how to handle this. He very quickly compared it to other scenarios: being in a raft in shark infested waters; ascending Mt. Everest just as the last O2 tank went empty; plane crashing in the Amazon jungle just as night was falling: these were more easily dealt with predicaments, it seemed to him, than the one facing him now.
Somehow, someway, Carrie really had to be the one more responsible for this. But of the two of them, she was the more innocent; she did not know what was going on and what was at stake. Augere knew. He bore much of the responsibility for this as well. Jason was so furious with Augere he could not look at him. But just how safe was it to become extremely angry with the vampire?
Augere was avoiding eye contact with him as well.
As he should, Jason fumed. After he had insisted, against Jason’s better judgment, that Carrie be brought to the house and Augere had all but promised she wouldn’t see him, would not even know he was present—how could he let this happen? Was this some kind of cruel game to him? Jason struggled with his anger. This really was not the time to explode: no telling what the consequences of that might be.
“Look who I found in the early hours of the morning, in that library room.” She beamed at Jason. “I made him come and have some coffee with me.”
Jason could not speak.
She had turned halfway in her chair, to be able to see Jason better. “He really likes my shirt and I had to write down the website for him so he can order one.” She was wearing the same Poe T-shirt he had seen before, a shirt he had admired also. “I just knew it was something he would like.”
“Carrie…” He tried to keep his voice even. “I have been trying to keep you safe…and myself—and even protect Mr. Augere—and I am just not getting any cooperation here.” Jason’s tone was tense, the words sharply enunciated and spoken through his clenched jaw, with an undercurrent of desperation probably evident in his voice.
An awkward silence lasted several moments.
“Safe…? Safe from what?”
“Why don’t you ask him?” There was a palpable tension in the room now.
“Oh, Jason, for heaven’s sake! You don’t have to protect anyone! He has been a perfect gentleman. And don’t be mad at him! I had to literally drag him in here by taking hold of his sleeve. He did say ‘Your brother will not approve of this; he will be quite upset. He will rest the blame on me’—those were his exact words. And I told him either he comes with me to the kitchen and has some coffee or I would just have to bother him in the library. His choice.”
Now Jason stole a quick glance at Augere though no eye contact was made between them. Augere managed to maintain an expression of childlike innocence.
With her back partly turned to Augere now, she did not see him rise then and move toward the door in one fluid motion with a barely audible, “I must leave,” before she could launch a protest. She turned quickly and got just a glimpse of his back as he left the room and then she turned an angry look toward her brother.
“Jason! I think you really upset him!”
Jason’s eyes grew wide. “If I upset him, it is because HE knows how much he has upset me!”
Carrie titled her head, and furrowed her brow, narrowing her eyes, almost squinting for a moment as she looked at Jason.
“What exactly is going on between you two?”
“Nothing. Only that he’s my boss. And I told you—he can be very difficult. You can’t just intrude on him, order him around like that! Maybe he was just being polite to you, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have some harsh words for me!…He made an arrangement with me, and then he totally ignored it.” Jason hadn’t meant for that last bit of information to slip out.
She nodded her head slowly. “He told me. He wasn’t supposed to interfere in our visit. And I told him—well, Jason will just have to be mad at me too then.” She shook her head. “I think you have him all wrong, Jason.”
Jason couldn’t reply. What had Augere told her, exactly? He didn’t want to be angry with either of them. But how could it be helped?
She got up and poured him some coffee and brought it to the table. He wearily sat down and stared into the cup, his mood as black as the contents.
“We’ve just been sitting here for more than an hour, talking.”
Jason groaned silently. This was a disaster.
“There’s something…so…unusual…so different…about him.”
“No. No there really isn’t.” So it seemed she really didn’t know. Yet.
She looked at him in surprise. “Yes—there is. There just…is…” She seemed to be trying to find the words. “Something—”
“Nope. Not really.”
“—a kind of—sweet innocence…about him, for one thing.”
“What?—how do you mean?” Sweet innocence sounded comfortably far from vampire. But if she didn’t know already, the more she thought and talked about him, the closer she would get to the truth. He feared for her safety, and his own, if that were to happen. He was shaking at the thought. Had Augere mislead her somehow, into believing something else about him, far from the truth?
“Well—” she paused, laughing a little, “when we came into the kitchen, he just stopped and stared. Like everything was a surprise to him. He walked around, looking at the table and chairs, at all the appliances, touching different things, like it was all unfamiliar to him. I mean, I know most of the stuff in the fridge seems to be yours, so maybe he doesn’t use the kitchen that much, but still… He liked all your refrigerator magnets by the way—and I must say what a weird and impressive collection you have there. I had meant to tell you that too. And then he noticed all the little white cartons on the counter, from the Chinese food—and he asked what those were for. And when I told him he asked, ‘Why are you eating the Chinese people’s food?’ Which totally surprised me. So I told him how good it is and then I said, ‘Haven’t you ever tasted Chinese?’ And he got this strange expression for a moment and then he said with a kind of shrug, ‘In a manner of speaking, I suppose I have.’ Come on now—you have to admit—that’s a little weird!”
Jason took too big a sip of his hot coffee as he could feel himself becoming more anxious. Was Augere being deliberately…no…probably not. They sat quietly for a few moments, both lost in their own thoughts.
“Uh…Jason…you’re about to put salt into your coffee—is that what you really intended?”
He glanced at the salt shaker in his hand, poised over his coffee cup. He shook his head.
“I can’t brain right now. I have dumb.”
Carrie laughed and then got up and brought him sugar and creamer. She refilled his coffee cup and prepared it the way he liked it. He took a few sips.
His initial anger had left him, but an uneasiness and growing fear held on, along with his own curiosity and fascination. He felt like he was sitting in the eye of the storm; a temporary reprieve.
Jason wanted to keep her off the subject of Augere. He needed to. But he was really curious about their lengthy conversation. He had rarely ever spoken to Augere for very long at one time himself. He felt somewhat envious. It was dangerous to keep her talking about him now, but maybe more dangerous not to know what had been said. Should he risk it? She made the decision for him.
“I asked him if he was being decent to you. I mean, I said I knew he took you to Paris and all those great places, but you know—was he being nice to you. Because he better be.”
“What? Why would you ask him that…?” He was surprised and a little embarrassed.
She shrugged. “I told him that besides being my brother, you’re someone who is very important to me. And that you have been going through a rough time lately and you were dealing with a lot of stuff right now.”
Jason winced but she seemed not to notice.
“He looked a little worried and he asked me, ‘What has your brother said?’
“I really wasn’t sure what he meant, so I said you really don’t like to talk about your problems or your personal stuff much. And you won’t even discuss him or even talk about your job hardly at all.”
They were both silent for several moments. Well, good so far, Jason thought. Though embarrassed at what she had said to Augere he was also touched that Carrie took advantage of her stolen time with Augere to advocate for him.
“Please tell me you didn’t just knock on his door though, did you? In the middle of the night?”
Carrie frowned. “Of course not. I woke up feeling hungry; I ate some more of the cheesecake and then I wanted a root beer. Then I decided to take another look at that beautiful library and see if maybe I could find some more books about the Salem witches so I went in—and he really scared the hell out of me!”
“Why? What happened?” His body tensed again.
“It was really dark in there. I stood in the doorway, where there was just a little light from the hall, and I didn’t know where the light switch was, so I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I thought I noticed some quick movement across the room—it really scared me for a second. I almost turned and got out of there. But I waited a few more moments and then I decided to go in—it was still so dark I almost tripped over a chair or something, and then all of a sudden, someone had hold of my arm. I almost screamed…!” She seemed to be reflecting on that now. “He caught me!” The quizzical look on her face made him nervous. “And it was so quick! How he just happened to be right next to me!
“I said, ‘Damn, you really startled me! Where is the light?’ He was—gone for a second—and then he lit a candle, which seemed a little odd, instead of turning on the light. And I said, ‘I thought you were supposed to be away this weekend…I didn’t mean to bother you—what are you doing in here in the dark?’”
Her bluntness, so typical of Carrie, made him wince again. He tried to picture the scenario: and he got it—Augere must have lit the candle to keep the light dim so she would not get such a good look at him…
“He said he was checking on something. He had a book open on that desk. I think maybe he was trying to read in the dark!…or maybe he just wanted to make me think he was…which is kind of odd and doesn’t make sense either. So I said what are you reading, and then I went and looked at the cover: It was some book about the history of blood disorders and diseases I think. And I said, ‘Oh, you’re not sick are you?’ and he said, ‘No.’ And then I said, ‘Are you trying to bore yourself to sleep then?’ and he laughed and said ‘Something like that.’ So then I convinced him to come to the kitchen with me. It was 6:00 a.m. by then, and I knew I would not be able to get back to sleep. I sensed he didn’t really want to come with me, but I just had to talk to him.”
Jason shakily took a sip of his coffee.
“I asked him if he had a girlfriend.”
Jason choked a little. “Carrie…” He groaned as he shook his head.
“And he said no, that his ‘lifestyle did not leave him that option.’ He has this different way of speaking… anyway I wasn’t sure just what he meant by that—”
Jason attempted another sip.
“—so then I asked if he was gay.” She had to pause while Jason finished choking again.
“Carrie…you didn’t!” His voice came out as a croaking sound.
“He looked a little confused.” She nodded. “And after a few moments, he said, ‘Happy?’ And then I was confused so I said, well, I mean do you like boys more than girls? He seemed to think it over for a few moments, and then he said with a shrug ‘It is all the same.’ So the jury is still out on that,” she said, raising an eyebrow, “but it sounds like there is at least a 50/50 chance for me.”
He picked up meanings in Augere’s responses she could not have, and then some, both of which chilled him, but then he almost wanted to laugh too. He dwelled on her last comment. Oh, great. That’s where her thoughts are going. Perfect. Just when I thought things could not get worse or more complicated.
“He really seemed to like the way I look.” She began talking in that rapid way she had when she got excited about something. She smiled, looking pleased, as she rambled on. “He complimented my hair and jewelry. And he liked the Poe shirt, like I said. He was looking at me so intently, as he kind of leaned toward me, and he was so gentle when he reached out and touched—” She paused to take a breath and a quick sip of her coffee, as Jason tensely waited. “—my bracelets—almost like he was afraid they would break just from handling them.” She got a faraway look in her eyes. “That’s what I mean—he is just so—different somehow… and I can’t quite define it…” She reflected some more. “So tentative, like there is a shyness there almost. It is really very sweet and touching. Charming.”
She got up and poured them both more coffee.
“I told him the moment I saw him I thought he had a really gothic vibe to him. But then I had to explain what I meant—I mean, about goth aesthetics, all of it. Like he just didn’t know! But how weird is that? How could someone be gothicly inclined and not know it?” She laughed. “He seemed really interested in everything I told him—about the scene: the clothing, the music, magazines, all of it. I asked him: didn’t you notice Jason and I have that in common too?”
Jason was really curious to know the answer to that.
“He just kind of shrugged. And, well, I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean.”
Jason didn’t know either.
“Then I said to him, ‘What is up with that pitch black room you came out of? It’s like you were in a dark cave or something!’ And he laughed. He just has the nicest laugh! The sound of it… there’s something so unique about it… But then he didn’t say anything about why it was so dark.”
Jason just let her go on. He was too fascinated and surprised to do otherwise.
“He said to me, ‘You are very close to your brother. You share a lot with him.’ And I raved about the great time we were having in Boston; I told him all the places we went and the things we did and saw and what you bought me. And I thought maybe it was boring to him, but his expression—he just seemed so interested. He was looking into my eyes so deeply that I truly felt it really mattered to him and he really wanted to hear all I had to say. But then this look came into his eyes…” Carrie paused, and her own eyes suddenly began tearing up. “I’ve never seen—or rather felt—such a sadness. And there was this strange feeling suddenly—like he could just fade from my sight! Isn’t that totally weird? I know it sounds crazy.” She practically whispered this and suddenly seemed a little distant, as if recalling the strange sensation. “I felt like I wanted to take hold of his hand and make him stay…I did reach for his hand!—I remember. And he seemed to withdraw a little…like he did not want to be touched. And that sadness just made me want to cry. He kept looking deeply into my eyes and I just felt this aura of despair around him, coming from him.
“I said to him, “Please tell me what you are feeling.’ He hesitated. I felt like he did not want to tell me. But then, he did.
“He said he had lost all of his family. That was just how he said it: lost them. I wondered how, but I was hesitant to ask. And I started to think: what if I lost everyone I really cared about? What if I lost you, Jason? I just couldn’t bear it. And this was the first time I had ever thought anything like that in my life. He looked at me then, and he nodded. Like he just knew exactly what I was feeling, what I was thinking. That’s when my tears started.
“And then I thought about the two of us last night, all the fun we were having. Laughing so hard; I know we got pretty loud. And I started to think that he had to have heard us. He was here, in the house. We had more than enough food. And yet we didn’t even think to invite him; we didn’t include him. And we should have.” Carrie’s cheeks were damp with tears now. She wasn’t looking at Jason; she was recalling their time together last night.
Jason thought about that. She had a point. Augere probably could have heard them. And maybe he had even had felt left out, somewhat. There was really no way of knowing. He is always so withdrawn and distant…and anyway he was supposed to have been gone…
“Carrie, he was supposed to have left. And anyway, I don’t think he would have felt comfortable with—”
She was shaking her head. “No. We should have at least invited him. Why didn’t we? Why didn’t we even think to see if he might be here? We didn’t even check…”
