Chapter 1 #3
As he said it, the calmness that had washed over me just drained away, and I could move again. I took a step back. “What… what…”
He still held my face, and his other hand was on my back now. He could pull me close and gorge himself on my blood in a heartbeat, just like he had the others’.
“I am very sorry that you had to see this. I do think I owe you a conversation, but not in this place of death. Hand me your car keys.”
When I didn’t move at all, his hands brushed over me, feeling through my pants. It was the lightest touch, but when he also smiled down at me, I think I might have blushed.
I chalked that up to…something else. Anything, because nothing about what had happened here was blush-worthy. He was beautiful, yes, and I might have fantasized about him if he’d been a model, but…not in this situation.
He pulled the keys from my jeans, and my phone as well.
Then he turned me around, his hand still on my back.
He opened the church door and walked me outside, to where the moon still shone and the gravestones still stood silent.
The night had noticed nothing, and nothing that had happened had changed the darkness.
“You parked down the path, did you not? I heard you and thought it was them coming back with their exorcist.” He brushed the remnants of dried blood off his face, and under it, the skin was completely unmarked by the violence that had dyed it back on the cross.
“Exorcist?”
“Silly superstition, really. It’s not the words or the signs that do damage, but cuts will bleed and bones will break. Do let’s go. You are a photographer, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Why come here?”
“I… Abandoned places. I’m taking pictures of abandoned places.” I walked alongside him as if I were in a daze, past the tombstones and down the path. The insects sang all around us. Shock. That was it. I was in shock. I clutched my camera, wishing it could take me back to three pictures ago.
“At night?”
“That’s… I was late. I stopped at a café.”
I felt his eyes on me.
We reached the car, and it beeped to life when he used the fob. He opened the passenger side for me, and I looked over his shoulder, considering running as soon as he got to the driver’s side. He noticed.
He locked me in his gaze. “You can try to run, but I am faster. You must have realized I’m a vampire.”
My lips trembled. “Vampire,” I echoed in a small voice. He heard.
“Yes. Put your seat belt on and relax. I was being earnest when I told you you did not have to fear me.”
He opened the door, reached for the camera bag I’d left on the passenger seat, and handed it to me. He waited patiently, and I…I trembled. I didn’t want to run only to get caught. If I got in the car, then maybe…
Instead of speculating further on that maybe, I got in and put my camera in its bag, zipping it up properly. I wasn’t really sure why, but fear did strange things to a person.
I pulled the seat belt across my chest. He got into the driver’s seat, adjusting it for his height before he started the car.
He was taller than my five-nine, then. Yes, he had seemed taller.
I squinted. His black shirt no longer looked wet and filthy, and when he shifted forward in the seat, I didn’t see any tears at all in the back.
“It’s an illusion,” he said.
“What?”
“The clothing. You’re looking at my collar. The clothes are still ruined, but you find it difficult to notice, that’s all. There is no reason to doubt your sanity.”
That was hilarious, because there definitely was, but I wouldn’t disagree with the vampire who had taken me hostage.
The vampire. The creature that shouldn’t exist.
He started the car and turned neatly on the narrow road. He seemed extremely comfortable behind the wheel, driving with a crisp dexterity I’d never seen before. It was just like that display of speed and strength in the church: unnatural.
On the way to the main road, I noticed another car, parked off to the side. He slowed and took a close look, and it wasn’t until much later that I realized he wanted to make sure there was no one else in there.
For several minutes, I didn’t speak, and he seemed comfortable with the silence. Finally, I said, “Where are we going?”
He looked over at me, his face illuminated by the dashboard light. “Cromere. I’m Auris, by the way. What’s your name?”
“I won’t tell anyone what happened. Will you let me go when we get to the city? Keep the car, just let me go. You can drop me here, and I’ll walk.”
“I’m not going to leave you by the side of the road in the middle of the night, and I have no intention of stealing your car.
Again, you’re safe with me. You can tell everyone what happened, if you really want to.
Perhaps you’ll even find someone who believes you.
But I do insist that you wait until we have had a chance to talk.
Your bag is right over there, so should I dig out your ID, or will you tell me your name? ”
He was right, I’d left my bag and wallet on the floor of the passenger side, and all he had to do was reach over.
“Ethan.”
“A pleasure, Ethan. If only the circumstances had been different. I had hoped they would be, but fate will not be changed.”
“I freed you. They…they put you on that cross, and I freed you. Please. It’s not like I want a reward, but let me go, okay?”
He turned his black eyes to me again. “I will not keep you against your will, and I won’t ever hurt you, but we must talk. You did free me, but they saw you.”
“Those… But they’re…they’re…”
“Yes, they are.”
He spoke with distinct finality, and even if he hadn’t, I wasn’t sure how to respond. I was silent for the rest of the drive.