Chapter 6 – Valtu #2
It seemed to soar right through the museum and hit me straight in the heart.
I immediately stiffened, the blood whooshing loudly through my veins like a drum.
It couldn’t be.
It was impossible.
And yet I knew it was her all the same.
“What is it?” Van Helsing asked, noting the strange expression on my face, the way I froze.
I could not even answer him. All the air from my lungs and words from my tongue were stolen when I laid eyes on her.
Across the exhibit, talking to a couple of other women, was Mina.
Mina, my true love. My long-lost love.
Mina, whom I have spent a century trying to forget, for remembering her brought too much pain.
And yet here she was. A proper lady, wearing a burgundy dress with velvet accents, her red hair curled and pinned up under a ruffled hat.
Though her waist was small, no doubt from the constraints of her corset, she looked like she had put on weight since I last saw her.
It looked ravishing on her—we were both too thin back in the early days—but that was the only difference between the Mina that I loved and the Mina who stood before me.
I found myself walking toward her, as if in a wonderful, strange dream, until I stopped in front of her. Behind me I heard Van Helsing’s footsteps, heard him asking what I was doing, but I paid him no mind.
Two of the ladies that Mina was talking to abruptly stopped when they saw me, their mouths snapping shut. They felt interrupted by my appearance and seemed ready to rebuke me, as if protective of their friend, but I merely glanced at them.
You want me here , I told them inside my mind, compelling them. You will give us privacy.
I watched carefully as their eyes dimmed, a change undetectable by an ordinary human, and they both nodded in unison, stepping away from Mina.
Mina was looking at them in confusion then her gaze was brought to mine.
I expected a look of recognition in her eyes, something that told her that she was looking upon the face of her old lover, from another life.
But there was no recognition there. No spark. There was bewilderment, then intrigue as she studied my face and decided she liked my face, but she didn’t know who I was.
Just a stranger.
“Can I help you?” she asked and there was no mistaking that voice, though her accent was refined British now, nor the directness in her gaze.
“I am sorry to interrupt,” I said to her, bowing slightly. “I had to come and say hello. Seems you look like someone I once knew.”
She frowned at that, discernment in her eyes. “Let me guess, some long-lost love?”
My, she still had all the fire.
This really was her. From the strong curve of her jaw, to her perfect pale skin, to the slight hump in the middle of her nose, to the constellation of freckles across both cheeks, and the starburst of blue and gold at the middle of her green eyes.
The color of unfurled spring leaves.
I gave her a hint of a smile. It was all I could do to keep from grinning with joy. “You could say that.” I paused, holding out my hand. “My name is Valtu. Valtu Aminoff.”
“ Count Valtu Aminoff,” Van Helsing said from behind me and I bristled at that.
Mina gave us both a dry look. “Oh, a count. That’s too bad. You were more interesting when you didn’t have prestige.” She took my hand in hers and even though she was wearing satin gloves, I could feel the pulse of her underneath. “Lucille Rollins.”
I brought her hand to my lips, kissing the back of it while never taking my eyes off her. Oh, how I wanted to compel her. I wanted her to see me for who I was. But I couldn’t do it, not to her.
“Pleasure to meet you, Lucille,” I told her, my lips lingering on her hand for too long.
She even smelled the same, just beneath the scent of her soap and flowery perfume.
My eyes fluttered closed for a moment while I remembered us together by the pond, that hit of pure happiness before her life came to an end and mine came to its beginning.
It’s been too long , I thought.
“I am Doctor Van Helsing,” the doctor said, butting in. He took Mina—sorry, Lucille’s—hand and shook it.
She seemed bemused by the both of us and I was frantically trying to figure how to keep her in my life. After this, she would not be rid of me. She would fall in love with me again, that much I knew.
“Do you come to the museum often?” she asked, looking from him to me and back, and I knew she was playing the game of niceties and politeness, not saying what she really wanted to say.
I could sense it, the way her heart was starting to beat rapidly, her pulse fluttering in her neck, the way her skin was growing warm, her natural scent which was growing stronger.
All of this pointed to signs that she was aroused by me, and the more I picked up on it, the more aroused I became, though it was hardly the place for it.
Easy there , the Doctor’s voice slipped into my head. No doubt he could sense what was going on between the both of us.
Did I ever tell you about Mina? I asked him back. A dumb question because I had told him a million times over.
Every vampire has a sad love story to tell.
He blinked at me, then looked back at Lucille, who was now frowning at us.
This is her? he said. How can it be?
Do you believe in fate, Doctor? What if humans have more lives than one?
Lucille looked over at her friends, perhaps for support as we continued to converse in our heads, but they were still compelled to ignore us.
“We do come to the museum often,” I said to her, clearing my throat and flashing her a smile I hoped would help put her at ease. “I came today so I could check out the Far East exhibit here. Have you managed to get close yet?”
She shook her head, giving me a smile of relief. “No, not yet. I don’t do well in crowds.”
“Ah,” I said. “Well, if you wish, I can accompany you. I have an uncanny ability to make most people stay away from me.”
She seemed to consider that for a moment, then gave me a shy smile. “All right,” she said, then scanned the crowd. “Appears my friends have gone off to see it on their own.”
“Then you shant miss out,” I said, putting my arm out.
She nodded and stepped into me so that my hand went to the small of her back.
I hope you know what you’re doing , Van Helsing said in my mind. You never knew her when you were a vampire. You must be careful.
I wanted to ignore that but he was right.
I had never been a vampire around Mina.
Her death coincided with my rebirth, the transition into a vampire.
I had never loved her when she could have been prey.
I’d never loved anyone while I was a predator.
And yet, I kept my hand at Lucille’s back, smiling down at her, and led her toward the paintings, determined to create a future with her once more, one without so much bloodshed.