Elizabeth and the Vampire's Cabin (2 page)

Elizabeth
listened to all of this with some dismay. Yes, she was cold and masculine. Yes,
she was the kid sister to a narcissist. Yes, she was the product of an insane
mother and murdered father. But she wasn’t about to let that get her down. She
never had before, she thought defiantly. She stepped away from the window and
surveyed her surroundings. Her living room was brilliantly lit and had a ballroom
feel to it. People danced, joked, and laughed as a band played party music. An
electric chandelier hung down from the ceiling and underneath stood her brother
Austin.

Austin
and Elizabeth looked completely dissimilar from one another. Austin was almost
sickly looking. But there was a hunger in his eyes that added some vitality to
his lean figure. This was the only thing that allowed him to look youthful.
When he was depressed, and the vitality withdrawn from his gaze, he could
easily pass as Elizabeth's father. His appearance was anemic: tall, thin, and
deathly pale. This look was only exacerbated by his jet black hair. He lazily
gestured to his guests with weak movements, and appeared too worn out to even
keep his medium length hair from falling into his eyes. On the other hand,
Elizabeth was vivacious. She was a breath of fresh air. She was average height
for a woman and curvy. Her physique noticeably differed from Austin’s because
of how muscular she was. Where Austin had slightly curved shoulders and a
naturally slim build, Elizabeth was built like an Amazon. She always stood
erect and firm. Everything about her build and stance screamed Olympian. Her
penetrating brown eyes and shock of short black hair with red highlights made
her appear even more vibrant.

She
noticed that the two men who had been speaking outside had entered. She also
noticed that they were now admiring her. It didn't surprise her, because she
knew how she looked to men when they really took the time to notice her. She
was so much more than an angry man. But one might not even notice just how
striking she was unless peering at her undistracted. She really was a very
beautiful young woman. And she knew it.

It’s
too bad Kitty sidetracked them. It seems the ladies are all taken now, she
thought to herself. The only thing that dumb girl said to them that held any
truth is that Austin is a lazy ass older brother. If he really cared about me
then he would go with me.

The
band played on. Elizabeth was approached by many a good looking young man. She
politely smiled at all of them. But her demeanor still had a harshness to it,
and she seemed strangely aloof while also engaged at the same time. She really
didn’t care much for the affections of men. She had a brief thought that a lot
of the young men at this party wanted to get into her pants, especially the two
men who had been speaking with Kitty outside. She wondered if they wanted to
make a try. She smiled to herself. No, they would not. They may have found her
attractive, but they wouldn’t attempt to make a move. She intimidated them. She
could tell. Particularly Arthur. Ugh. Elizabeth was ashamed. Though people
considered her to be a very “into herself” kind of girl, she wasn’t nearly as
haughty as she used to be. Years ago, she had shot Arthur down. They were in
middle school together, and her bluntness had never been one of her charms. I
sting like a bee with my words, she reflected. She had told Arthur, at a middle
school dance, that she would not dance with him. She also told him he was a
horrible dancer and not good at sports (both true). He responded that he was
too busy with sci-fi club for sports and couldn’t help being an awful dancer.
She gave him a death stare and he slowly edged away from her. She entertained
the notion that he backed away in case her animal instincts took over and she
decided to lunge if he moved away too quickly. Perhaps he even imagined her
hair standing up like hackles. But no matter how hostile the interaction was at
that point, it could not compare to what happened next. She called him
worthless. Those were her last words to him. She thought he was worthless, and
she would rather hang out with her loser brother. At that point, it wouldn’t
have surprised her if Arthur would also have preferred to hang out with her
loser brother. Though Austin was egotistical and shallow, he was still a lot
nicer than her.

Elizabeth
watched as Jack moved off into the party to mingle with the other guests.
Arthur stayed put. She was no longer a thirteen year old girl rejecting him on
the dance floor. Maybe he would take a chance and try to get that dance with
her. If he still wanted it. Though he was eyeing her, she couldn’t imagine he
would still want anything to do with her after that awful exchange they had
years ago.

Now
standing alone, Elizabeth began people watching. She was radiant with the light
from the chandelier shifting down on her. Arthur’s gaze, still in her
direction, became undeniably hungry.
 
She
then saw him purposefully move forward, as if he had just screwed up enough
courage to do so. Keep coming, Arthur, Elizabeth mentally coaxed. I’m not gonna
cut your balls off. He moved through the dancers and mingling guests.
 
He apologized here and there for accidentally
bumping into someone, but he tried to make a beeline for Elizabeth. He would
not be a wallflower. All he wanted was to be exactly what she wanted. She
needed a man who could match her stubborn confidence.

“Elizabeth,”
he called to her as he approached. “May I have this dance?”

Arthur
looked like he was anticipating a “no”. She felt an annoyed look cross her face
for his cowardice, but she forced it away and it vanished in a heartbeat. She
smiled warmly and held his gaze for a long moment.

“I
promised myself that I wouldn't dance with a partner tonight.”

"I
promise, once you start dancing with me, every man in this room who wants to be
dancing will have someone to dance with. I’m the last one who needs a dance
partner. Don't leave me hanging. You don’t want to miss this song do you? It’s
a classic.” It was Come Sail Away by Styx.

“I
have turned down every guy who has approached me…until now.” She laughed and
took his hand. “I have the worst manners,” she said sincerely.

Since
their middle school mishap, Arthur had actually developed into a fairly good
dancer. He swung her around the room, but he was so nervous that she said “ow”
quite a few times as he stepped on her toes. He apologized profusely until they
suddenly stopped near the door to the backyard. The backyard was a beautiful
Japanese garden and tiki torches were lit throughout to lend some ambience. The
garden was empty as all the guests had decided to enjoy the warmth of the
inside of the home.

“You
were perfect,” he said breathlessly.

“Let’s
go outside,” she suggested.

Arthur
nodded his head vaguely. He was speechless. He looked like he couldn’t believe
what was happening. She was finally opening herself up to him. After all these
years, this was his chance.
 

Elizabeth
led Arthur to a small bench in the garden. She glowed under the tiki torches.
Nearby, he could hear the rustle of the coy pond where there was a small
waterfall. The music from inside drifted out to them. They were playing
Wonderwall by Oasis. Conditions seemed perfect for him to finally make a real
connection with Elizabeth. Then he looked down and saw her bloodied big toe.
The nail looked broken. She had on beautiful golden slippers cradling her
otherwise pristine feet. He couldn’t believe he had so badly marred those
delicate feet. Arthur leaned towards her with trepidation. In the background,
they heard the song lyrics, “Today was gonna be the day but they'll never throw
it back to you/By now you shoulda somehow realized what you're not to do/I
don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now.”



“You
were perfect on the dance floor,” he said reverently.

Elizabeth
gazed at him with total comfort. She was unafraid and felt no shame in his
forward behavior towards her.

“I
have a good ear for music. Also, my body has been trained since childhood to be
well coordinated. Austin made sure of that. He needed me to be able to go
hiking, hunting, and fishing with him. Sometimes, the terrain would get pretty
rough. You don’t want to lose your footing on a cliff for example.”

Arthur
was shocked into silence. He had never before seen her volunteer so much
personal information. She also never spoke about herself or other people.
Instead, she generally chose to speak about her hobbies and other things
unrelated to humanity. She had left him nonplussed.

“It’s
nice out here in the garden,” he said dully. He was coming off as more bored
and disinterested than he wanted to, but that was just because he was exerting
so much energy in staying calm. He could feel his heart pounding.

“Does
that mean you’d rather stay out here with me instead of going back inside?”
Elizabeth asked. Arthur paused.

“Yes,”
he managed meekly. “Are you really going on this trip? Or are you just
pretending to rebel against Austin?”

“Of
course I’m going,” she said indignantly. “It’s all paid for. The arrangements
have been made for a long time. I can’t just cancel now at the eleventh hour.”

“I
can’t believe he will actually let you go by yourself. I know it’s not my
business, but I have to say something.”

“It
finally happened. I rebelled against him and said I wanted us to do what I want
to do for a change. He wanted to go to Texas to be with his fiancé, and I
wanted to go camping on a deserted island. We argued for about a week before we
finally came up with a compromise. He’s going to see me off. He’ll give me his
full blessing, make sure I’m all packed with everything I need, and instruct my
wilderness guide to regularly check in on me on the island. Then he will leave
for Texas. At the end of about three months, I will join him just in time for
his wedding. This is actually the first time that we’ve ever wanted to do two
completely different things. But, I’m eighteen now, so I can do whatever I
want.”

“I
just don’t understand why Austin won’t go with you! He always takes these kinds
of extravagant trips. It doesn’t make any difference to him if he spends a
summer camping on a beautiful island. He could even take his fiancé with him.”

Elizabeth
had never met Austin’s fiancé: a wealthy heiress from Texas named Alex. Heiress
to what, Elizabeth couldn’t remember. Elizabeth didn’t think much of the woman,
despite her many good qualities. Alex sounded tough. She had her own horse
ranch, loved sports, hunting, and camping. And yet, this successful, powerful
woman was willing to marry…Austin? That right there made her lose all
credibility with Elizabeth, who had almost felt sorry for Alex. Almost. But she
decided any woman willing to tie herself to her brother for life was
undeserving of pity.

“He’s
too selfish to do what somebody else wants to do for a change. For eighteen
years, I have done whatever someone else had wanted to do. And now it’s my turn
to do as I please.”

“This
isn’t safe,” Arthur admonished with a head shake.

Elizabeth
grimaced. “I disagree. I can’t understand why people are freaking out about
this. Aren’t there plenty of hermits who have lived in secluded log cabins?
What about Henry David Thoreau? He did this for two years! Is this really that
extreme?

Arthur
was silent. The young lady was fearless. He would have been too afraid to go on
an expedition like this. What if something were to happen? There wasn’t even
phone service on the island. How could she call for help? She couldn’t. But he
knew she didn’t care about risks, so he simply said, “The island isn’t really
anything special. You should go camping in Hawaii. It’s gorgeous. I also heard
that the island is haunted.”

“I’ve
heard that rumor too. That the island is “spooky”. But I don’t believe in
things like that. Also, I’ve been to Hawaii. It’s beautiful. And I love camping
in the most beautiful places. But I want somewhere really remote. I want a
place that no one goes to. Somewhere really out of the way. A place that is
like a secret. A place that I can make my secret.”

It
was painful to look at her. She was on fire. She literally took his breath
away. He had to have her before he lost her. He took her small, cold hands in
his, and leaned forward to kiss her.

Elizabeth
immediately pulled away from him.
 
“I’m
sorry. I really am. I know it’s cliché, but it’s not you it’s me. I don’t know how
to do this. I’m heartless. I should have never been born a woman. I’m not soft
and tender. I’m hard and firm. And I’m too cold to know how to be with a man.”

“Are
you a lesbian?” Arthur asked suspiciously.

“No,”
Elizabeth laughed. “I guess I’m not soft or tender enough to be with anyone. I
think that’s what I’m getting at. I’m really sorry if I led you on.” Elizabeth
looked down for a moment with a look of consternation on her face. “You know,
I’ve never really loved anyone. Not even Austin. And he certainly never loved
me. I don’t blame him. Can you imagine being only nineteen years old and you’re
suddenly saddled with raising your little sister. And not only that, both his
parents and his grandfather were dead. I can’t imagine the resentment he must have
felt. But it’s okay, because I’m just as cold as he is. I don’t know what that
means to get emotional about another person or to show affection. I don’t think
I’m capable of having a romantic relationship with another person. I’m too
independent for that. Can we just be friends?”