9. Chapter Nine #2
I loosen my shoulders. “Rules,” I repeat. “Vampire rules?”
“Yes.” Beau replies.
“Written or unwritten?” I ask.
“For the council, mostly unwritten. For me, you should know that I like to write everything down,” he admits.
I flop onto my back in total dramatic despair. “I knew something was off. No one has jawline symmetry like that without supernatural involvement. Curse this universe!”
He gives a very shy, very tiny smile. “You’ve been here over a year. It was inevitable that you would find out sooner or later. Although, I was hoping you wouldn’t notice and we could just keep up the facade that I’m just a normal guy.”
“Impossible,” I mutter. “You look like someone with deep emotional issues carved you out of a fucking marble slab.”
He actually laughs. His laughter is soft, surprised, and a little sad, to be honest. I sit up and my breathing starts to slow, not all the way, but enough so I’m not on the verge of passing out any more.
“Okay,” I say. “Fine. You’re a vampire. You’re not killing me right now, at least. You aren’t going to drink from me. You have rules. But what now? What should I do? Can I tell anyone? Will you burst into mist and haunt the plumbing system?”
“No, Kai. There will be no haunting,” he says with a shake of his head. “And please don’t tell anyone. I trust that you can keep this information to yourself. Another unwritten rule, but we aren’t supposed to just go out telling mortals we exist.”
I let that sit in the air. It feels heavier than anything else he has said, considering this feels like a friend/friend conversation now rather than a boss/employee conversation. “Alright,” I finally say carefully. “I can do that. I can keep your secret.”
He looks relieved. Shoulders lowering, posture softening, expression easing. Then he clears his throat. “Should we close for the night?”
“Yes,” I say. “Before I combust.”
We lock up together silently. Not awkward. More… cautious. Like we are learning each other in a brand new way. Inside the tiny office behind the register, Beau hesitates near the filing cabinet. “Do you still want a drink?”
“A drink drink or a vampire drink?” I raise my eyebrow at him.
“A normal drink.” He places his hand on his forehead.
“Yes,” I say instantly. “I’ll take anything that contains alcohol right about now.
” He nods and pulls out a bottle of Van Winkle from the bottom drawer of the desk holding the register.
My eyebrows shoot up. “You have good taste and I didn’t know that the cabinet where I stand all day had alcohol this whole time. ”
“I was born in the seventeen hundreds. I know good whiskey, or bourbon in this case. This is a true bourbon straight from Kentucky.”
I blink at him. “Beau.”
“Yes?”
“That is a lot to unpack, dude. I’m just a boy. I could care less what kind of alcohol you are giving me. I’d take Everclear at this point.”
He rolls his eyes and pours two glasses, “Fine. I was trying to steer the conversation, but fine.” We sit across from each other in silence. The lamp glows warm. The bookstore hums quietly beyond the door. For a moment it almost feels normal.
I raise my glass. “To not killing me?”
He clinks his glass against mine. “To not killing you.”
We sip. The bourbon is smooth, rich, and warm going down, allowing my pulse to settle. I stare at him over the rim of my glass. “I have more questions.”
I glance down at the ground and back up to him. “I’ll answer whatever questions you have.”
The lights above flicker for a moment, but continue to glow their usual yellow tint. I think for a moment about everything he’s told me thus far. “So, how much do we know about this council?”
“Honestly, not much. They have a lot of authority and have their hands in a lot of things, especially economically in this country. The man who changed me told me that pretty early on. Now whether or not the citizens here are aware who’s dabbling in their affairs, unclear.
I know they had some stock in oil. When I was traveling here, I came across a cop who ended up being a vampire.
You just never know. If you’re aware of the council’s presence, I don’t think you live to tell about it. Or you’re in big trouble.”
I slouch again and try to slow my thinking. “Okay. Do you have a…girlfriend? Vampire wife? A mistress of the night?”
“Um. Negative. I don’t have a love life. I have a sex life. Very different. Another thing I don’t need stirred up. Relationships or the process of ever being succumbed to just that: a mate.”
“Well. Explain. Why can’t you date? What’s the harm in that?” I question Beau.
“I guess I should start by saying…” Beau drones on about how the guy who raised him was a recluse too and always wanted to stay ultra undercover.
His wife was the sweetheart, so he sort of clung to her after his transition.
It seemed like a major inconvenience for Matteo to have to “train” Beau in the first place.
He also mentions how fangs deposit venom once you’re bitten and it was the most painful and excruciating experience.
You drink the vampire’s blood who’s changing you, you get bitten, you have to die, ba-da-bang-ba-da-boom! You’re a vampire, congratulations.
“So…What do we do now?” I trace the crack in the concrete to occupy my mind.
He exhales long and slow. “We figure it out. Together. If you want to?”
I lean back and let a shaky grin pull across my face. “Well I can’t exactly quit. You owe me at least one more immortality lesson.”
He laughs again. This time, less shy. “Fair enough. Let’s talk about an idea I’ve been brewing up. It’s been a long time coming and since I have the help now…”
And just like that, the night shifts into something new.
Something terrifying, yet bizarrely calm.
I’m sitting in a dark bookstore drinking expensive bourbon with a vampire.
For the first time since I saw his pointed teeth glimmer in the light, I think this might be my best friend for my whole life.
I’ll never forget the night that I inadvertently saved Beau’s non-life. He doesn’t need to know that I found his suicide note in that drawer with the bourbon prior to my realization. He also doesn’t need to know that I’m a fantastic actor. The universe works in odd ways.