Lengths For Love (15 page)

Not when you’ll be there with us. I thought. Out loud, I replied, “I’m kind of tired from looking after the horses. You can give my ticket to someone else.”

Vince looked a little upset at this. “Well, I’m sorry you don’t want to go. I guess I should have asked before buying them.” Then he smiled again, brushed off the dust on his plaid vest, and helped Alexis stand up. “All right, I guess I can take someone else. Perhaps Hedwig. She’s been wanting to go to the opera for a while.”

“Yeah, go take Hedwig,” I said, not having a clue who Hedwig was. I had already spent quite a few months in this place and I still didn’t know all the vampires.

No sooner had I said that, I wished someone would have yanked the foot out of my mouth. What was I thinking? I was going to leave my girlfriend with a guy that I could not stand. It was like I had given them my blessing to cheat on me. Groaning, I made my way back to my room and hated myself for being stupid. Along the way, I kept staring at all the paintings on the walls. They had to be members of the Augustin family as I saw a lot of similarities between them and Vince. Some had his nose, some his jaw, some squinted the way he did when he got angry. It was scary to see them here. These were the vampire hunters that Kristine had talked about and they were intimidating me in paintings.

I also noticed the women on this wall. My eyes went to one in particular. Her lips were curled up like a little red bow and she had that pink tint in her cheeks. Her hair was dark and she had those almond-shaped eyes that Vince had inherited. Unlike him and his ancestors, she didn’t seem to intimidate me. If anything, she reminded me a bit of my own mother. I hadn’t realized how much I missed her until I saw this woman.

“That’s my mother.”

I turned around to find Vince staring back at me. “What, now you’re stalking me?”

“No. I just was going to my room to change for dinner, but I saw you staring at the painting of my mother and wanted to know what was up. Especially because you said you were going to your room.”

Oh, right. “Yeah, I got a little side-tracked. So she’s your mother? Where she is now?”

“Dead.”

Damn, I was saying all the wrong things today. “I’m sorry to hear that. My mother passed away when I was young, too.”

“Mine was killed by vampires when I was two.” He explained, looking up at her. “Not that she was in better shape before then.”

Now this was getting interesting. “She was ill?”

“After I was born, she became sick. It was almost to the point where she could not walk anymore. I guess the vampires did do us a favor. They kept her from suffering any longer. Unfortunately, they didn’t turn her.” I heard the bitterness dripping from his voice and I began to panic. What if something went wrong with Alexis? What if she ended up dying instead of being turned?

“Trust me, I will not let anything happen to Alexis. I don’t want her to end up like my mother.” He replied as if he had heard my thoughts. “I know you don’t think highly of me and I don’t feel anything for you, but we both care for her. If something goes wrong in this, I’ll take care of it.”

“Why does this matter to you?” I asked.

“I care for my guests.” He said sharply. “Is that a crime?”

“No, but everything else you’ve done could be one.” I narrowed my gaze. “I’m watching you too, pal. Don’t try to mess with me.”

He clicked his tongue. “I wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole. If I could, I wouldn’t breathe the same air as you do. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do about that. You’re not worth messing with anymore.”

He turned his heels and walked away while I stood in place, fuming and ready to rip his heart out. This was the charming, funny guy that my girlfriend was talking to? It was hard to believe.

“Babe, we need to talk.” I started. “It’s about Vince.”

“What about him?”

“Has he... has he seemed kinda different to you? I mean, does he seem nicer?”

Alexis frowned. “Well, he’s had a rough month. His birthday just passed, more vampires have come in, and he’s had to tame them. You can’t blame him for being a little stressed.”

“No, I can’t, but his stress isn’t on my mind. It’s something else.”

“What?”

“Have you noticed how he gets around you?”

She shook her head. “Never really noticed.”

“You don’t see the signs?” I asked.

She shook her head. “He’s just good to me. He never forces himself onto me or has tried to hurt me. I don’t know why you keep saying he’s evil. He hasn’t done anything evil.”

“You don’t remember the fight?”

“He told me that the girl came in late and he was punishing her for it. Nothing big. She’s a vampire, she’s not going to get hurt.”

“Maybe not physically, but her emotions get hurt. And what about what happened to Jenny? Those aren’t things that nice people do. He humiliated her, Alex! If you had seen it, you’d know.”

“But I didn’t see that. I didn’t see anything you’re talking about. He admits that he can be rough ,but that doesn’t make him evil. And yes, I know that he comes from vampire slayers. But did you ever see him turn me down? Did you see him get angry with me? No, you never have.”

“That’s because he likes you,” I said. “He likes you and he hates that I’m with you. He doesn’t lose his temper around you. That’s why he is willing to do anything to drive me away from here.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“It’s not. I know what he feels and I have seen it. He claims not to have a soul, but it’s there.”

“Well, of course he has a soul. Everyone has a soul,” Alexis said.

“Who can tell with him though? He doesn’t like to show off that fact.”

“Ian...”

“I mean it.” I closed my eyes and thought about him. “He’s so proud of himself and of what he does. If he shows the slightest bit of emotion, I bet he’d crumble and die.”

“Or maybe he’s just afraid of how others would see him,” she suggested. “Maybe because of that, you haven’t been able to get along. But I bet if you confronted him gently and told him how you felt, he would soften up. You should try it.”

“I’m not sure about that...”

“It’s worth a try, Ian. Try it for me at least.”

She had said them. She had said the words that I couldn’t refuse. She knew I would do anything for her, no matter how much I hated it. I would go rock climbing for her despite hating heights. I’d try eel for her even though I had no desire to eat it. I’d go running through a snowstorm for a movie she wanted even though it could have cost me my life. So if I had to confront Vincent, then I would do it.

“Well?” She asked me. “What do you say?”

“I’ll give it a shot.” I promised. “I can’t say that he’ll be happy with what I say though. But for you, I’ll do anything.”

“Like you always have.”

“Like I always have.” I kissed her forehead. “You have that way with me.”

“I know.” She winked. “But there will be a time where I may not be able to tell you anything anymore.”

“I’ll make sure that time never comes.” I stroked her head, feeling the very few bits of hair that were growing. They would be gone soon like everything else. It was amazing how quickly she had aged from the treatment. The bags under her eyes and how dry her mouth looked made her appear almost sixty. This was not a college student anymore. This was a woman who had dealt with the worst thing in her life. All her beautiful black hair and thick lashes were gone. She had lost a good deal of weight and, despite eating, didn’t seem to be gaining anything back. I hated it. I hated how weak she had turned out.

Holding in the tears, I added. “When this is over, we should go home.”

“We will go home. But in the meantime, I cannot thank you enough for coming here. Going through this with me. You were right. This isn’t something I can do alone. At first, I wasn’t thrilled when you said you wanted to come along. I thought you were giving up too much for me. But now I know better; you came because you want me to be happy.”

“I came here because I love you,” stray tear left my eye but I ignored it. “I would give up everything I had if it meant you’d get better. Heck, I’d even take the cancer from you. It’s just... it’s just not fair.”

“No one said it was going to be.” She leaned into my chest. “I know you’d do anything for me, Ian. I appreciate it. Not very many boyfriends would give up their lives and put their dreams on hold for the girl they love. You coming here and supporting me through this means so much. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Well, if that’s it... why won’t you believe me about Vince?”

“I can’t.” She held up her hands. “I’m sorry. I know you see him as everything evil in this world, but I don’t. He has never been evil to me. Until it happens in front of me, I won’t believe it.”

I gave up trying to convince her. If my words weren’t going to do anything, then I had to catch Vince in action and make sure she did, too. He couldn’t hide his true colors forever. I’d expose him and she’d know.

She’d know the man that he was and his downfall would come. It was just a matter of time.

Despite how scared I was, I decided to confront Vince. Enough was enough. I didn’t know what it was he had for my girlfriend, but it was going to end. Not only that, I was going to put an end to this vampire hoopla. I had been woken up in the middle of the night too many times from noises. Said noises turned out to be everyone else.

I kept looking over at Alexis who barely had time to do anything. Anytime she tried reading or writing or even walking over to the window, she gave up and crawled back into bed. By now, most of her hair was gone and she had chosen to shave off the remains. She wore wigs and scarves, but I knew she missed her hair. I caught her on more than one occasion staring sadly at the mirror. I would watch her touch her head and face, tracing where her eyebrows used to be. Then she’d close the bathroom door and that’s all I would know. When she came out, I would ask how she felt and she would only shrug. That meant it was the same, no improvement.

But her interactions with Vince were growing. Every time I went to find her, he was right there. Like a parasite, he had stuck to her and I saw them. Laughing, talking, eating, just staying together. It drove me crazy that she laughed around him now. I barely got smiles. Every day, they had something going on. And it wasn’t like he was being cold or awful to her. He helped her to the car for chemo and was waiting for her when we came back.

“I’m not cheating on you,” She assured me. “You have nothing to worry about, Ian. I would never do that to you.”

“I don’t know.” I mumbled. “He’s fond of you.”

“Maybe so, but we’re not doing anything.”

I could never get more than that out of her. But perhaps I could get it from the man who was getting in the middle. Vince was the one who had the answer. If he got pissed, I knew that he was doing something with her. Either way, I had to be ready to fight him.

I found him sitting in his office, doing a whole lot of paperwork. It was the first time I saw him wearing glasses and looking serious at something other than tormenting vampires. He had on an ugly paisley vest that looked good on him. If I didn’t think he was a dick, I might have found him to be a good looking man. I would have switched sides for him. But no, his personality was too gross for me to think of him as anything but a monster.

“I thought I told Kristine not to let anyone disrupt me,” He said, peering down at his books. “I guess I’ll have to have another talk with her again.”

“Kristine told me, actually. But I still need to talk to you,” I began. “It’s about Alexis.”

He looked up. “What about her?”

“She’s not feeling well,” I went on. “The chemotherapy helps, but I don’t think it’s killing the cancer. I think it might be best if we left Vienna and went back home.”

His mouth fell open at that. “You’re joking, right?”

“No. Unfortunately, she has taken a turn for the worse and we should expect that she dies any day now. The doctors have said there’s not very much more they can do. We have to say our goodbyes.”

“Goodbyes?” He put his pen down. “I’m not going to have that.”

“Why not?”

“Alexis is a beautiful young woman fighting hard. You want her to roll over and accept that she won’t live anymore? You came here for a reason and I will make sure she is turned before she dies! I’m not letting you leave this house until that happens!”

“And why?” I demanded. “Why is it such a big deal that Alexis get turned? You weren’t for this in the beginning. Don’t you remember? You kept warning me about what could happen.”

His face went blotchy and red at that. “Yeah, well, that was...”

“That was before you fell in love with her,” I finished off for him.

He was still blotchy and red but the look of worry was now replaced with anger. He knew I had nailed him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on. I see the way you look at her. You would slaughter anyone else if they shoved your face into a cake. You were threatening me right before that party, but you laughed when Alexis nailed you. You always straighten up when you see her. Admit it. You like her.”

I saw his nostrils flaring and he looked ready to charge at me. “I admit that I like her, but I don’t want her. I know she is your girlfriend.”

“Which is exactly why you hate me. You can’t stand the fact that she’s not yours. So you’re trying to hurt me to get to her. Am I wrong?”

He put his pen down. “If I wanted her, why would I just hurt you? I would kill you, wouldn’t I? That way you wouldn’t be an obstacle.”

“Killing me kinda spoils your fun, doesn’t it? I mean, you can’t torture me once I’m dead,” I taunted. This was starting to get fun. I loved watching him crumble before me, knowing I had what he could never get. I knew it was pissing him off, but I didn’t care. I wanted him angry. He was unraveling and I was loving every minute of it.

“I’m warning you...” he began, getting up from his desk.

“Oh, what are you going to do? Kick me? Punch me? Threaten to rip my heart out? I’ve heard and felt all that, pal. You want what you can’t have and that’s why you think you’re so tough.”

He walked around his desk and toward me. “Is that what you believe? You think I weaken every time someone says her name? You think I can be beaten just because I like someone?”