Lengths For Love (7 page)

Alexis almost dropped her spoon. “Eating as in...”

“No, not people,” Jenny assured her. “I know you’re still human. And, as strange as it sounds, we can eat normal food, too. So we can rule out the myth that vampires only drink blood.”

That and the fact that you aren’t really vampires, I felt like saying. Out loud, I said, “Well, let’s try not to go too far. I mean, Alexis is a patient and...”

“It’s okay, Ian,” she said. “I won’t mind seeing the city. I might as well get used to this place. I need to know where everything is.”

So that was how our day began. The car came around and Jenny began pointing out all the big attractions. Opera houses, museums, cafes. Everywhere we went, Alexis took a ton of pictures. Jenny gave us all kinds of random facts about the places and told us what happened in every corner. I soon learned about where the prostitutes hung out, who got laid where, and the best places to get a drink and sex at the same time. I had to admit it was amusing. The weather was fantastic as well. For a winter day, we had some sun among all the cold breezes.

As for Alexis, she was okay while we were eating lunch. She went to the bathroom a few times, but that was nothing worrisome. Other than that, I was happy to see how well she was doing. She seemed to enjoy Jenny’s company and I did, too. I was glad it was her taking us around and not Vincent.

Before we went back to the house, Jenny dragged us to what looked like an old stone castle. It would be our last stop of the day. She pushed open the door and I saw the long flight of stairs that led to the top. Alexis turned white at the sight of them.

“There’s no elevator, is there?” she asked.

“This was probably built over four hundred years ago. I highly doubt that they were thinking of elevators back then,” I said, but I saw her concern. The stairs were going to exhaust the hell out of her. Before I could say anything though, Jenny was already moving inside and up those stairs.

“Come on, guys! I want to show you something!” she exclaimed, grabbing us by the hands and dragging us inside. Pretty soon, we were all bolting up the stairs.

“Whoa! Whoa, slow down!” I insisted. “She’s sick and I can’t keep up with vampires!”

“Shh! Don’t say the ‘v’ word out loud!”

“Whoops,” I covered my mouth. “I’ll be careful next time.”

“This is my favorite place in all of Vienna,” she explained, walking all the way to the top. “You can see the entire city.”

“Slow down, Jenny! Slow down!” I pleaded, helping Alexis walk up the stairs. “You forget that I’m with a patient.”

“It’s okay, Ian. I will make it,” Alexis promised as we got to the roof. “Besides, I have no one to blame but myself if anything happens.”

“Still, you know the doctor’s orders. You shouldn’t be climbing too many stairs while taking all this chemo,” I explained. “I wish Jenny had told us that her favorite place in Vienna was all the way up here.”

“Give her a break. She just wants to show us something she loves.” Alexis stood up and stared at what lay before us. The entire city could be seen from where we were, everything lit up like stars in the sky. Not only that, we could hear all the sounds from below. The children laughing, cars roaring, people shouting. Just being there made me feel like I belonged here.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Jenny asked.

“It’s amazing,” Alexis whispered, staring at all the lights in front of us. “I swear you can see everything here!”

“When you are turned, you will be able to see everything, too.” Jenny promised, walking over to the edge. “But you can see exactly what’s happening. Everyone won’t look like ants when you’re a vampire. You can even see the expressions on their faces.”

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy that!” Alexis agreed. “Will I be able to jump and run fast?”

“Yup! I only slowed down for you guys. Though sometimes I forgot and I went way ahead. But we’re all caught up now, so that’s good.” She stared down at the buildings and streets. “Isn’t it amazing?”

“Fantastic.”

“Yeah,” I breathed out. “Absolutely stunning and all that good stuff. I can barely feel my feet and my organs!”

Jenny laughed. “You’re so weird.”

“You would be too if you were about to die!” I moaned and quickly realized my mistake. Alexis was giving me the look. “Oh, babe, you know I don’t...”

“I know.” She said coolly. “I know you weren’t trying to make a dig at me. It’s just that... chemotherapy has made me sensitive to all this.”

I stood up straight and brushed the dirt off my pants. “And I should be sensitive as well. I’m going to try and not make any of those quips.”

“Thanks,” she patted my cheek and turned back to Jenny. “So do you come here often? What do you like to do?”

Jenny turned red. “Me? Oh, I really like to go to lots of places. I like music so I like to go to the opera once in a while. Maybe a concert if someone I like is coming. I like to read sometimes and go skiing.”

“Skiing? As in going down slopes and all?” I interrupted. Gothic Barbie did not look like the type who skied. I also didn’t see Vince letting her out into the mountains to frolic in the snow, let alone ski. “You actually have time to ski?”

“Yes, I have time,” Jenny chuckled. “I know what you’re thinking. The girl in black likes to ski? I thought white stuff scared her. But no, I do enjoy skiing and playing in the snow. I also like to read.”

“Really?” Alexis looked up. “What kind of books?”

“Well, I like the occasional trashy romance novel and I read some of the vampire stuff out there. Nobody really gets us, to be honest.”

Alexis laughed at that. “You know, I always wondered what vampires really thought about vampire literature.”

“Some of the authors come close and almost nail us. But then they miss it,” she pointed out. Alexis dropped her smile and I began to notice the doubtful look in her eye. “It’s slightly amusing what people have come up with. The coffin talk is fake. So is the unable to walk in sunlight deal.”

“Oh,” Alexis murmured. “I liked those novels.”

Jenny looked uncomfortable and tried to ease the tension. “I like Jane Eyre, too. And ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Quite a lot of good literature.”

“I love them as well. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy my vampire lit.”

“Oh yeah, she enjoys it,” I chimed in, remembering all the nights Alexis made me read her vampire novels. “And now they’re all stuck in my head, too.”

“You poor thing.” Jenny sympathized. “But I have nothing against anyone liking this as long as you don’t think it’s real. We’re not all romantics and we’re not always brooding. Our lives are actually boring.”

“Boring,” I repeated.

“Yeah. But I’ve got things to do. Like I try to keep up my family collection.”

“That sounds interesting,” Alexis said.

“It’s not a whole lot, just a lot of family pictures and albums and heirlooms. As long as I’m alive, I promised to keep them safe.” She explained. “They were given to me by my mother. She told me on her deathbed and I agreed to it. I only wish I was able to turn her before she died.”

“So you were a vampire before she died.” Jenny nodded. “Wow. Did you ever regret being turned into a vampire?”

She looked at us, but spent more of her focus on Alexis. I got behind my girlfriend in case Jenny tried any funny business. She had the hungry look that I had seen some of these “vampires” get.

“You smell good. Both of you,” she told us.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“What, the regrets? I don’t regret being turned. I just regret where I am.”

“Here?” I looked at the city view below. “But this is amazing.”

“Yeah, the view is amazing. But I’m talking about the Augustin mansion. The Vamporium. I’m surrounded by others like me yet I don’t have much to do in there. Vincent’s afraid of letting me out in public because he thinks I might attack someone. So I try not to wander too much. I don’t attack people ever when I go out. Of course, I leave when he’s not around.”

“You break curfew? Why can’t you just ask permission to go out?” I wondered out loud. It did seem strange. I got Vince’s concerns about letting vampires run loose in the city, but to keep them from everything? That did not settle well with me. It also made me wonder why he’d let Jenny go skiing, but never outside for a walk around the city save for now.

“Trust me. Trying to ask Vince for permission is like asking him to yank out your teeth. Which he would do, by the way.” She chuckled to make it seem like a joke, but I saw through it. The laugh was forced.

“Whose teeth did he yank out?” I asked.

Jenny stopped smiling. “It was a joke, Ian. I wasn’t serious.”

“But you are serious about him not letting you out.”

“For my own safety. Vampire hunters exist out there. They’d do anything to take me down. And while it seemed weird to me at first, it made a lot of sense. I don’t want to get hurt. As long as I follow his rules, things are going to be fine.”

His rules. Vince’s rules. Why did I have a bad feeling that they were not as flexible as she made them sound? She could fake this all she wanted, but I was worried. If Alexis insisted on doing chemo in Vienna, maybe she needed a better place to stay. I didn’t want her to be bogged down by his rules, too.

Alexis, however, didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. “I think we should get back. But I’d love to come back here again when I feel better or when I’m a vampire. This is an amazing spot. Don’t you agree?”

I blinked, realizing she was referring to me. “Huh? Oh yeah! Awesome view!”

We stayed there a few more minutes before heading back home. Yet Jenny wasn’t through with us. She decided to show us her favorite things from her family. It wasn’t huge collection or anything, but there were a lot of pictures, embroidery, and other things that had been passed down for generations. Alexis admired a piece of cloth with bluebirds stitched on it.

“My grandmother made that,” Jenny said, looking at the cloth. “It’s one of the few things of hers. She died before I was born.”

“I’m sorry.” I said.

“Don’t be. I still have some reminders of her.” She put the cloth back and closed the box of her memories. “I guess you guys are free now. Did I make you tired?”

“A little,” Alexis said. “But I’ll get used to it.”

“And your treatments are going well?”

“Better than I thought they would.”

“I’m glad to know that.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “I should go now. Get ready for dinner. I’ll see you downstairs, then?”

“Yeah, downstairs.” I waved at her and she left. “She’s a nice girl.”

“Very nice,” Alexis agreed. “I feel sorry for her, though. This isn’t the life she deserves. It’s not fair, huh?”

Considering what she had just told me, it definitely wasn’t.

Even though I had a good time that day, my mind went back to Kristine. Now that I knew Jenny’s story, I wanted to know hers as well. Was she some servant that Vince had hired? Every time I found her, she was always cleaning or folding laundry. I wondered what else she did in her spare time. Did she have any interests? Did she have time to spend on those interests? I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling that she didn’t care for them anymore. Or if she did, she just couldn’t waste time on them. I wondered why Vince didn’t let her do anything outside of housework. If he did, I rarely saw it.

“Hey!” I said, getting into the room she was in. Kristine didn’t look up, but I knew she was aware I was here. “Haven’t seen you for a long time.”

“You’re back, She greeted me.

“Yeah, I can barely feel my feet anymore,” I grumbled, kicking off my shoes and sitting down on the couch. The fire felt so good, I just basked in the light coming from the flames. “I think I’m going to be crashing here for the rest of the night.”

“Jenny showed you the town?” Kristine asked with a smirk.

“Yeah. Took us to her favorite place.”

“Oh.” She rolled her eyes. “No wonder you’re so tired. Someone needs to remind that girl that Alexis is not a vampire yet and you are human. She can’t go walking up steps whenever she feels and she has to remember that.”

“It’s not that big of a problem. Alex is fine. A little tired, but that’s expected. She’s gone to bed already.” I looked at the towels she was folding. All of them were white or beige. Wow, Vince needed some color in his bathroom.

Feeling a little better, I decided to get bold. “Can I ask you something?”

“Ask away. I don’t have very much to hide.”

“I’m a human being here and I’m surrounded by vampires. Clearly, I am not as strong or fast as they are. I should be turned into vampire chow by now. So how come no one has tried to kill me?”

She chuckled. “That’s easy to answer. Mr. Augustin would kill us if any harm came to you. We don’t leave this place much, only to hunt at night. Even still, we’re only allowed to hunt the animals, no people.”

“Have you ever wanted to drink a person’s blood?”

“I have in the past.” She put the towels in the bathroom. “But Mr. Augustin is strict about these rules. I suppose it could be worse. He could have staked me, but let me live instead. Animal blood isn’t as strong as human blood, but at least it keeps me alive. Plus all the bags of blood are helpful. It keeps me sane around people. I don’t have the urge to kill them when I’ve drunk some blood. That’s the only reason you’re able to talk to me.”

“So that’s true about everyone here?”

“Yes. Some of the newer members have a hard time adjusting in the beginning, but they manage. Mr. Augustin and his family make sure they get used to it,” she said. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I rarely leave this place except to hunt bunnies at night. I can’t remember the last time I strolled into town and had fun.”

The moment she said that, I felt terrible. She hadn’t been able to leave. I had no idea what rules this guy laid, out but I didn’t want Alexis as a part of it. “Not even Jenny is able to leave?”

“Not even Jenny can go anywhere she pleases. She’s home schooled and will be until she’s able to go to college. Even still, we don’t know if she will go to college. It’s rare to have a vampire as young as her in here. I feel bad that she got turned at such a young age.” She shrugged. “But once you’re turned, you can’t go back.”