Page 11

T he hours of celebration ran long and loud.

Sebastian watched from a seat in the corner, nursing one final goblet of blood.

Remus had finally stopped hanging about and was currently on the other end of the room waltzing with a stunning blonde beauty.

She must have been recently Turned, because Sebastian had never seen her before.

Not that it mattered. Victor and his coven choosing to expand their ranks was none of Sebastian’s business. Not anymore. His lip lifted at the corner, exposing one fang, and he emptied his goblet in one gulp.

At this point, nobody would notice if he slipped out for a while.

Sebastian placed his goblet on the nearby table and exited the room through a door on the southern wall.

Once the heavy oak door swung shut, his muscles relaxed.

He followed the pitch-black hallway by muscle memory alone.

His footsteps echoed across the flagstone floors like rocks skipping on the surface of a still lake.

Deep in the labyrinth of connecting passageways, he stopped in front of another door and pulled a brass key from his pocket.

Yes, he didn’t bother carrying a key to the keep.

But the key to his private quarters? That never left his person.

He slid the key into the lock and turned, having to wiggle it a bit to get the rusty mechanism to function.

The hinges creaked from decades of disuse as he pushed the door open.

He felt the shelf near the door for matches, cursing when he remembered using the last one the last time he’d been in here.

Fumbling in his pocket, a smile crossed his face when his fingers brushed the plastic of a lighter he’d picked up the other day.

“I knew I’d need you for something,” he murmured and flicked it into life.

In the small firelight, Sebastian could see the inside was just as he had left it.

A soft coating of dust lay on the brushes, the bed, and the half-finished painting on the easel.

He lit the torch on the wall and avoided looking at the canvas as he sat on the edge of the bed.

It was time. He pulled the letter from his pocket and began to read like a man finding water in the desert.

7 October, 2006

Dear Sebastian,

I’m sorry this letter is coming late, but I ended up in the hospital for a little while. At first I thought my leukemia was coming back. But don’t worry, I’m not dying or anything this time.

“No!” Sebastian shouted. His grip tightened and crumpled the side of the letter, which he both desperately wanted and couldn’t bring himself to read.

“I just found you! We haven’t had a chance this time!

And I’m out of damn paint! You’re too young.

Too young…” He relaxed his hand and began smoothing the paper, his face full of pain.

How long could they keep doing this? Every life got shorter. What would happen when she started dying in childhood? Or as an infant? Would she eventually stop being reincarnated at all? The thought made his heart a black hole in his chest, dragging him into its depths until nothing remained.

He took a deep breath, forcing his racing thoughts to slow.

She said she was fine. Leukemia sounded far from ideal, but medicine had made great strides in the centuries he had lived.

Perhaps this ‘Google’ thing could tell him how much he actually had to worry?

Sebastian closed his eyes and raised his chin to the sky.

Everything would be fine. Letters were supposed to bring him joy, not terror.

I was halfway through a different letter when it happened, but it felt weird to tack my updates on that one once I got out. The doctor wasn’t quite sure what happened, but I’m fine now. Which means I can get back to work and resume saving for my grand tour of Italy!

Speaking of, I would love some suggestions on where I should stay.

Are there any nice places in Vernazza? I figure you would know better than reviews on the internet.

Those aren’t very reliable on a good day, honestly.

Also, I have no idea how people planned trips like this before the internet.

Did they just…show up and see where they could find a room?

That would make me so anxious! Or I guess travel agents have been a thing for a while, I don’t know.

Anyway. I figure I should be able to save up enough for my trip by June or so. Maybe sooner if I get birthday and Christmas money. I’ll keep you updated so you can keep your ‘renovations’ on track.

Speaking of, do you REALLY live in that castle?

It’s so hard to tell sometimes when you’re joking.

If you do and it’s in as bad of a condition as you described, why do you stay there?

Surely you could find somewhere nicer in town.

I get ‘ancestral land’ and all that, but you can own it without having to live in it.

Also, are cobblers even a thing anymore? Seems weird that your family would want you to take up a profession that they abandoned like 400 years ago. And no, I just ended up with this job right after college and haven’t found anything better yet.

Definitely interested in hearing more about this ‘vampire hunting properly’ thing.

Do you mean the person wouldn’t ever know because they’re dead?

I mean, I suppose they’d technically be dead if they got bitten and turned into a vampire too.

Are you a writer as well as an artist? The bit about humans getting high from a vampire bite is one I haven’t heard before.

Might be pretty popular if you had a decent storyline to go with it.

I put some photos of Melody’s latest art piece in here for you, like you asked.

She wasn’t willing to let me send any of her originals to you.

Stingy brat. Another thing I wasn’t sure if you were joking about…

are you REALLY the Sebastian who painted those paintings?

Because the lady in them looks crazy similar to me, and I want to know where you got your inspiration. Do I have a doppelganger out there?!

I might have been avoiding one of your questions because I didn’t quite know the answer.

I guess I hadn’t really considered that you might actually want to be in a long distance relationship with me for real.

But…I wouldn’t mind being your American girlfriend, if you’re really asking.

Because an attractive Italian boyfriend is better than anything I have going on on this side of the ocean.

And yes, I’m proud of you for figuring out Google. It sounds like I’ve got lots to teach you about the internet, my sheltered Italian cave hermit.

Hope to see you soon,

Isabel

Sebastian’s racing thoughts had settled to a purr by the end of the letter. He clutched it to his chest and again closed his eyes, this time with a smile. How he had missed this woman and her sass! A reply was already writing itself in his mind as he pulled out the photographs to examine them.

Melody was no Michelangelo, but Sebastian was still impressed.

He tucked the photos back into the envelope with the letter and put it back in his pocket.

The warm effects of the blood he consumed mingled with the joy of (most of) the letter, and the vampire found himself quite drowsy.

He snapped the blanket a few times to remove the layer of dust and climbed into his bed for a nap.

He woke hours later, momentarily confused as to where he had woken up.

But it all came rushing back and he jumped out of bed to return to the celebration.

While he was almost positive Victor wouldn’t allow him to just not show up to the final ceremony, he still didn’t want to push his luck.

Not with Remus running around, happy for any excuse to inflict pain on his ex-best friend before the power wore off.

As he rounded the final corner before the ballroom, the sound of music and laughter filled his ears. Ah, he was back in plenty of time. He slipped back inside and glanced at the massive clock which occupied the wall above Victor’s throne.

‘Plenty of time’ turned out to be only about fifteen minutes. Rather than settling back into the corner, he headed for the dais where Remus had already settled into his seat on Victor’s left. Sebastian did his best to mask the disgust on his face as he took his place to Victor’s right.

Remus glared at Sebastian and even opened his mouth, but seemed to think better of making any snide comments with the master vampire sitting between the two of them. Sebastian pointedly ignored him.

As the clock above began to strike 11, Victor stood with his hands raised and the hall fell silent.

“My children, the time has come to renew our bonds. As we have a few new family members among the ranks, I will be speaking to each of you individually in the order you joined us. We will exchange blood, and then you will enter the chamber to my right. Bathe yourselves, put on a new robe, and enjoy your evening amongst the humans.”

Cheers filled the hall. Sebastian rose and dropped to one knee in front of Victor, pulled his sleeve up, and offered his wrist to the master vampire.

Victor’s fangs sank into Sebastian’s flesh for a moment, then retracted.

The bite felt like fire racing through the veins of his arm as Victor’s venom made its way to Sebastian’s heart.

His tongue brushed the wound and it immediately sealed.

Sebastian breathed heavily as the burning reached his chest. He took Victor’s offered arm and returned the bite, the master vampire’s cold blood filling Sebastian’s fangs and extinguishing the fire in his body. “It is done, Father,” he murmured and rose to his feet.

He felt unsteady as he walked across the dais with cheering ringing in his ears. Remus had already taken his place in front of Victor, but Sebastian barely spared him a backward glance on his way through the door to the bathing pool.

This chamber was a quarter the size of the ballroom and entirely made of stone.

Most of it was taken up by the natural hot spring bath which the coven had carved out of the earth when they first built the keep.

Sebastian peeled off his bloodstained clothes and lowered himself into the water, sighing as the heat pulled the stress from his body and soul.

He quickly washed; despite his desire to spend time in the glorious spring, he did not want to deal with Remus alone.

Nor did he want to spend any more time in the keep than was necessary.

As soon as he had removed all the blood from his skin and hair, he hoisted his dripping body from the water.

Torchlight glistened in the droplets that lined his pronounced muscles until he wicked them away with a rough towel.

Rather than put on one of the coven’s black cloaks and join the second half of the festivities, Sebastian forced himself to put his dirty clothes back on.

The only thing he wanted was to be back in his own castle, away from the rules and politics that came with spending time with the coven.

It would be a long run home, but at least he’d been able to sleep earlier.