Tryst with a Vampire (2 page)

              “Okay,” she said.

              “Okay?”

              She grabbed a mop and cleaned up the mess he made. Then they sat in the kitchen, talking. Trina demanded to know everything about his life as a vampire; how he got here, how long he had been living like this, how many of them were there. She wanted to know every detail of his existence. And so they talked, until the sun hit the horizon, and he walked off into the dark night.

**

              Trina spent the next day in work waiting for him. Every time the door opened, each time she heard footsteps of someone calling her name, her heart stopped for a fraction of a second.

              By ten o'clock she had given up hope, and resigned herself to believing that that one night of passion had been a one-time opportunity

              Her bland and dreary life seemed even less appealing than before. When the door opened at 10:45, her heart didn't stop and she didn't look behind herself to see who entered.

              Trina simply continued to pour water into the coffee filter but stopped when she felt his kisses drift down the nape of her neck.

              “Hello again,” his deep voice whispered.

              “I didn't think you would come back.”

              “I cannot come out until after dark. Just like the legends says.”

              “I'm closing up early tonight. Come home with me?”

              He nodded yes and sat in the corner at the same table as before.

              She wiped down last of the tables and turned the sign over to CLOSED. 

              “Come on,” she said as they exited the cafe and walked to her house.

**

              They began undressing each other as soon as they entered the home. Trina clawed at his shirt, desperate to have him inside her again as the night before.

              When they lovemaking session ended, they laid there exhausted. Trina tried to catch her breath while John laid back, completely spent.

              “I haven't been able to stop thinking about you,” he said. “I wanted you so badly today. I couldn't bear to wait. I almost stepped out into the sunlight.”

              “I felt the same way, John.”

              “Really?”

              “I jumped every time I heard the door open. Every time I heard a footstep.”

              “Your husband?”

              “He's a violent man, John. If he found out about this, he would kill me. Maybe you too.”

              “How did you end up with him? He doesn't seem to be your type.”

              “I was really in love with him once. He was older. Charming, kind, and gentle.  He was not the white haired, pot bellied, angry man that he is today- instead he was ripped and had abs. He had dark hair and beautifully tanned skin. I married him young, and gave up my life to him, working at his cafe while he traveled around in his truck. Now, he has begun drinking. He has become cruel, bitter and violent. I dread when he comes home. But he does. He always does and that is my life. My life in fear.”

              “Why not just leave?”

              “He'd find me. You don't know what kind of man he is. He'll kill us both. He finds out about this, he'll kill us both.”

              “Not if we kill him first.”

              “That's crazy. You don't know me. You're a stranger that walked into the cafe that eats raw meat.”

              “You're in denial,” he whispered, staring in to her eyes. “Can you deny the feeling that we have? This connection?”

              “I feel something for you that I have never felt for anyone. It is so irrational.”

              “Rational. Irrational. It doesn't matter. Even if we do not wind up together, even if this is the last time we make love to one another, you deserve to be happy. This isn't about me. It is about you. You deserve to be happy and as long as your husband is in your life you will never be happy. You cannot live in this life of fear any longer.”

              She kissed him after this rant, a wild and passionate kiss that lasted a minute. “Maybe you're right. Maybe this is more than just a passing attraction.”

              Trina gets out of bed and started pacing around the room.

              “Let's do it,” John said. “Let's kill him.”

              “He'll be home in two weeks. We have to think about what we are going to do, how we are going to do it and what we'll need to carry this out.”

              John got up out of the bed. He grabbed Trina and pressed her body against his. They kiss and make love again, more passionately than before as they are full of the adrenaline of danger.

              “Let's do it,” Trina said. “Let's kill him.”

              She squealed with delight as John entered her again and again.

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              John slept at Trina's house during the day, sleeping well into the evening. Trina worked twelve hour shifts and waited for John to pick her up at the cafe.

              John arrived at the cafe at midnight. Trina had food ready for him, a rare steak and a Cherry Coke.

              The other customers paid John no mind.

              She spent the waning hours chatting with him, touching his league or holdinghis hadn under teh table, desperate to be closer to one another.

              Every now and then a customer came in and Trina served them as she always did. When closing time came, John helped her close up the cafe and they walked out into the darkness together. They never went straight back to her house. 

              “I'm a creature of the night,” John said looking up at the moon. “I want to show you the night. Things are different in the darkness. I can show you. We can explore the forest. Discover teh landscape. Things are much more beautiful, much more alive at night. People just don't see it.”

              “I feel alive when I'm with you,” Trina said, taking his hand. “Which is ironic because you are one of the undead.”

              He gave her a cross look. “I don't like that word.”

              “I didn't mean that the way it sounded.”

              “I know,” he laughed.

              “What I meant was I finally give in to my most base desires with you. No one can see us except the forest and the blinking stars”

              “We should talk about specifics now,” he said. “How can we continue our romance and free your from this man to create a better life. A life with me.”

              “He usually comes home around midday. I always take the day off work when he is coming back, get my shift covered by one of the other girls. So that I can be there for him when he gets home, whatever time that is.”

              “You do all that for him?”

              “Yes, it was a tradtition we had when we had first married. When he was still a decent, kind man. When he was the man who I had fallen in love with. The first time, it was a surprise for him, he came home, expecting to be alone and I was there, throwing my arms around him and telling him how much I missed him. I saw how much it meant to him that I cared for him, so it became a tradition. He tells me what day he is coming home, I take the day off work and prepare a nice, big dinner, ready to put in the oven when I hear his truck pulling up. Then, I sit at the table with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, waiting for him to walk through the door. We used to stay up all night talking about his latest trip. Now there are no glasses. He comes in, I put the food in the oven, then go into my room while he drinks the bottle of whiskey himself.”

              “You must have really loved him.”

              “I did once.”

              “We'll use this tradition to hatch our plan. You'll be at home, as usual, cooking his favorite meal. When he comes home, he goes to sit down and starts to drink. Then you'll go upstairs and try to distract yourself. Just read a book or watch TV. Second thought, yeah, just watch TV. Turn up the volume so it would drown out the sounds of struggle.”
              “What are you going to do?”

              “When he is all alone,” John continued, “I'll wait until he drinks to the bottom of the bottle. Then I'll attack. I'll approach him from behind and strangle him. Quick, clean and hopefully easy. A drunk man cannot put up much of a fight. Just seems like the most efficient way.”

              “I want you to drink his blood.”

              “What?”

              “You said that you have been struggling. That you need the taste of human blood but you do not like to take human life. You can make an exception for my husband. He is a bad person. You'll feel not guilt in killing him. So you shoud not feel any guilt in drinking his blood. After it is done, after he is dead, drain the blood from his body in the bathtub. You can bottle the blood and drink it over the next few weeks.”

              “Are you sure?”

              “I insist.”

**

              The night before Trina's husband had been expected home, she received a phone call at the cafe.

              “Starlight Cafe, this is Trina.”

              “Nice to hear your voice again, darling.”

              She felt her heart pound as she recognized the voice as belonging to Roy, her husband.

              “Hi,” Trina managed to say.

              “Don't sound so happy to hear from me.”

              “Of course, I'm happy. Just surprised.”

              “I missed ya. I wanted to hear your voice.”

              “I've missed you too, Roy.”

              “Good. I'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait to see your beautiful face again.”

              “Okay.”

              Trina hung up the phone, her hands trembling. Roy sounded excited to see her but she had to remove any thoughts of gult from her mind. Roy beat her and ignored her. She could not feel guilt even when he reverted back to putting on the facade of a caring husband.

              The clock struck midnight and John walked into the cafe.

              Trina followed their routine as before, walking overto his table with a plate of raw steaks. Blood dripped from the plate and down her arm, creating a thin river of red.

              She placed the plate down in front of him and John grabbed her by the wrist, licking the blood off her arm. A shiver ran down her spine until he looked up at her in lust.

              “You know I want nothing more than to make love to you again. Right here on the table like our first night. But just remember, that soon, soon we will be together. By this time tomorrow, we will not have to sneak around. You will not have to work in this cafe if you do not want to. Tomorrow we will belong to each other.”

**

              Trina woke up early that morning and moved downstars to begin Roy's meal. She left John sleeping and knew that the longer he slept, the stronger he would be.

              She threw a new table cloth over the old wood and placed the bottle of whiskey there. She thought maybe she should put two glasses there to get his guard down but decided against it. She remembered she would have to make some excuse to not sit with him. She would say she had a headache. Or that she felt dizzy. Both of which were true.

              Trina began chopping up some vegetables and seasoning the meat. She felt proud of herself for being so calm. Her hands were not shaking as they were when Roy first called. She felt focused as if it were an ordinary day. Not a day where her life would be changed forever. She thought about John and their future life together. Then she felt excited.

              With the food prepared, she heated the oven and set the table. Sitting down, she waited and waited for her the arrival of her husband. He never gave her a time.

              Trina looked in the mirror. She wore her most expensive dress.

              Then she heard the door open.

              “Good afternoon, darlin'”

              “Roy! How good to see you back! I'll just put your dinner in the oven.”

              “Thank you, baby. You're always so good to me. Always.”

              “Well, you deserve it.”

              Roy sauntered to the table and drank heavy from the bottle. Trina watched him from the kitchen and he returned her stare.

              She felt something different about his body language. Something about his facial expression that made her feel uneasy.

              “I'll be down in an hour to serve up the dinner,” Trina said, making her way upstairs. “Just sit back and relax.”

              She reached her bedroom and locked it shut. Turning on the TV with the volume pushed up full-blast, she shook John awake.

              “Hey,” she said. “Wake up. He's here!”