A Winter Story

As he drove, Henry watched the snow fall in heavy clumps all around the car. Without taking his eyes from the road, he tilted his chin slightly toward her and asked, "Tell me where we're going and why?"

Vicki mumbled, "We're heading north."

Henry sighed in exasperation, since agreeing drive Vicki, she'd been evasive in answering his questions. "I know that much, but I'm going to run out of road and night soon. It's time you gave me more information."

She squinted and said, "We're heading for a cabin that I co-op with a group friends from my college days."

"We should've gone somewhere else. I'm not fond of driving in the snow or being cold."

"Me neither, but we needed some place where we wouldn't be interrupted. Cell phones won't work out here and I checked with Emily, who keeps track of who's using the cabin and no one's scheduled to be there until spring."

They drove in silence for another half hour before reaching the cabin at the edge of the lake. By the time they arrived, the snow had stopped falling and the predawn sky was full of stars. Henry took a moment to look around at the trees glazed with ice and the dragon claw icicles hanging from the roof of the cabin before carrying in the supplies and saw the four bunk beds along two walls with a potbelly stove and rocking chair in between. Also, there was a sink with a hand pump for water and a table with four chairs. At the back of the cabin was a partition that led to the cabin's one luxury, an indoor toilet. Actually, it was a bowl with a toilet seat and a bucket that was used to cart water from the pump for flushing waste into the septic system. He gave her a half smile. "Vicki, you understand I'm going to be nothing but a lump in the corner for the day?"

"Yeah." She pointed to the stove and asked, "Do you have time to help me get the fire started?"

Henry turned toward the east and said, "I've got fifteen minutes." He built a fire, then hung one of the blankets she brought around the bottom of the upper bunk bed frame to make a curtain and crawled into the lower one.

Vicki came over to where he was lying, lifted the corner of the hanging blanket, she put another blanket over him saying, "Thanks for doing this."

"You're not going to do anything stupid are you? You stabbed me after the last time you tucked me in."

"I keep telling you, that was to save your life."

He couldn't help but frown as he said, "It still hurts." Then fell asleep. He didn't hear her as she placed her hand on his side and said, "I'll kiss it and make it better."

***

She stared into the warm glow coming from the grating and occasionally threw in a log to keep the cabin at a comfortable temperature as long as she remained wrapped in the comforter. She thought about Henry, Mike, her mother and what future might hold. So many changes had happened in the last few months that she hadn't time to sort out her life. She'd said 'no' when Henry asked her go with him to Vancouver without thinking it through and regretted it ever since. Determined to tell him what was in her heart before he left Toronto, she made arrangements to use the cabin and asked him to join her on a small adventure.

When the interior of the cabin darkened, she turned towards Henry and watched signs of him waking up before looking at her watch and noted that there was still over three hours until sunset. She stood, unwound the comforter and walked to the window to see the sky was black with snow filled clouds and the wind kicking up. Pressing her lips into a straight line, she realized that they were in for a big storm and Henry wasn't going to be a happy camper. All she could do was hope he wouldn't be too angry to listen to what she had to say.

She opened the door and went behind the cabin to carry in more wood. She saw another pile of larger logs waiting to be cut into smaller pieces and took the time to check that the heavy maul and ax were still in the the tool bin in case they needed to split more wood. Then she checked Henry's car for any emergency supplies he might have.

***

Henry lay still listening to the rattling of the doors and windows as the wind howled around the little cabin. When he was able to move, he pushed aside the blanket that acted as a curtain around the bunk and saw Vicki sitting in the rocking chair huddled near the stove, wrapped in her comforter. The fire had burned down while she dosed and she didn't hear the springs squeak as he shifted on the bunk and said, "This is not good."

Vicki stirred at his words and said, "Nope. I'm sorry, Henry. Honestly, I checked the weather reports before deciding to come up here."

Henry sat on the edge of the bunk and tried to extend his senses to get a 'feel' for the weather, then said "The snow's not likely to stop for hours or maybe days."

"That's what I thought from the color of the sky earlier. I've brought in most of the wood and checked your car for any emergency supplies you had, which wasn't much."

"As a rule, I don't drive in bad weather."

"I said I was sorry."

"You say that a lot."

"Actually, only to you. I usually don't make mistakes."

"And I can't afford to make any."

Vicki leaned down, grabbed a log from the small stack by her feet and threw it into the stove. "Can we start over?"

Henry rested his forearms on his thighs and clasped his hands between his knees giving her question serious thought before asking, "Why?"

"There should have been enough time for us. Somewhere along the line, we ran out of time."

Henry felt the weight of her words. She'd fought for his life and she fought for her friends lives but hadn't ask for anything in return. Now she was asking him for time. He owed her that much. He hadn't liked the fact she had said 'no' to him, but in the cold dark, after everyone left, he hoped that she would reconsider if given a chance. "It looks like we have the time, so let's make the best use of it."

Vicki's face brightened as she said, "Really?"

The wind rattled the windows and a down draft caused sparks to fly in the little stove as Henry stood up, walked over to where she continued to sit rocking slowly back and forth. He placed a hand on the armrest to stop the chair's movement, "Start talking."

"When I graduated from the academy I was so sure of everything. I'd become a detective with five years and hoped to be a captain within ten. I'd met Mike and we had the perfect partnership in and out of the squad room. I'd take the wild chances, he'd cover for me and together we cleared cases in record time. But somewhere along the line our goals changed, he want more of a commitment from me, we fought and broke up, but still we worked well together professionally until I started having trouble seeing. Finally instead of taking a desk job, I quit the force and went private. You know what happened next."

"That's not new information, Vicki."

"I guess it isn't. When Coreen came to my office asking for help, I had no clue that there were such things as demons, evil spirits, or vampires. I got caught up in all that and Mike got pulled in against his will and now because of me, his life's a mess. When you asked me to go with you and turn my back on him, I couldn't. How could I make a choice like that after what we all went through that night?"

Henry squatted down so that they were eye level and said, "Asking you to come with me at that moment wasn't the smartest thing I ever did. I've regretted it ever since. I knew for weeks that I had to leave the city and I hoped by the time I told you I was leaving, our relationship would have progressed to the point you'd want to come with me."

"Keeping you at a distance is a way of protecting myself against being hurt. I trust you with my life, but I'm afraid to trust you with my heart. Actually, it's not just you, I've never trusted my heart to Mike or anyone else either."

Henry held his hands out to his sides, looked directly into her eyes and asked, "What do you want from me?"

"I want to feel you around me and in me. I don't want to regret we didn't make the most of our time together."

Henry pulled her to her feet and pushed the comforter aside as he said, " There's always time to love."

Not bothering with any more words, Vicki kissed Henry the way she'd been dreaming of kissing him for weeks. Henry broke away long enough to throw another two pieces of wood on the fire before finding their way to the bunk.

***

Vicki ate her last peanut butter and jelly sandwich as Henry sat sipping on bottled water. He waved his hand at her sandwich and accused, "You didn't bring enough food."

Vicki jabbed at the air and said, "Two nights, one day, that's all I planned. I brought enough for that amount of time. Who knew the storm was coming?"

Henry just shook his head and said nothing more. His heart and soul were filled with love for this woman, but his body was beginning to feel hunger and with hunger came anger. If the storm lasted much longer, Henry would be hard pressed to keep the vampire under control. He should have known better than to go anywhere with Vicki without feeding first.

Vicki squinted and saw the look on his face that meant trouble. "You're getting hungry." Then tilted her head to the side and said, "Feed."

Henry shook his head 'no.'

Vicki repeated, "Feed." Then added, " I don't want you getting too hungry. You forget, I've been in the same room with a starving vampire. Trust me, it's not something I care to repeat."

Henry hated knowing that she'd seen him at his worst and understood her concern. He leaned in and used his vampire skills to open his own mind allowing her share, on a deeper level, the feelings he had for her.

Vicki hissed at initial pain of his bite then relaxed in his arms as she felt truly and completely loved. She knew when he finished feeding by the raspy touch of his tongue along the side of her neck and fell asleep.

Henry made sure she was wrapped tightly in the comforter and held her close to his chest as he sat in the rocker. Somewhere towards dawn Henry woke up his sleeping beauty. "Okay, love. It's back to the bunk for me."

"I'm going join you for a while. I've run out of things to think about."

"Have you come to any conclusions?"

"Quite a few and you won't like some of them."

"Thanks for the warning." Henry took a few minutes to check the wood supply, split some logs and stack the pieces by the wood stove as Vicki made use of the 'luxury'. Together they settled down on the bunk.

***

Vicki woke up to the sound of pounding on the door and a man's voice yelling. Getting up, she made sure the curtain was closed around Henry and opened the door to see a man in heavy coverall, parka, scarf, and gloves. "Who...?"

"It's been a while Ms. Nelson, I'm Will, the sometime caretaker for the cabin. After the storm stared, Emily called to say you and a friend were up here for the week-end. She made me promise to plow you out as soon as it stopped snowing."

Vicki gave him some money she found in Henry's wallet, making a mental promise to pay him back as soon as she got home.

For the rest of afternoon she packed up the car and made sure the cabin was clean and ready for the next visitor. Then she got the logbook out to make an entry about the condition of the cabin when she came and how she left it. Seeing the maul and ax resting by the door, where Henry had placed them after the last round of wood splitting, she picked them up and carried them around back to the tool bin. Not paying attention to the ice than hung from the eaves, she let the lid of the bin drop back causing the snow and ice on the roof to shift. As she reached the door, the the dragon claw shaped icicles broke free and fell on Vicki's head and shoulders. Pinned under the weight of the heavy ice she slipped into unconsciousness.

***

Henry was aware of the fact that the cabin was cold and empty long before he could move. Furious with himself, he tried to fight his waking lethargy. Finally free of the day's curse, he yanked the blanket down and quickly scanned the cabin to see it was picked up and everything but the blankets he was using were gone. He called out to Vicki and listened for her heart. He heard the answering beat coming from outside and opened the door too find her lying in a heap with the dragon claw shaped icicles holding her down.

He picked up the fifty pound chunks of ice and threw them aside as he called to her. She opened her eyes as his hand stroked her cheek and he asked, "Are you all right?"

She mouthed, "No." And closed her eyes.

Henry checked her for injuries and noted that the side of her head had been hit along with her left shoulder, chest and arm. Looking at her pupils, the right one was twice the size of the left, and the left side of her chest wasn't moving as she tried to breathe. He hesitated before taking her back into the cabin, placing her on the bunk and commanding, "Open your eyes."

She whispered, "No."

"Keep'm closed, but listen to me. You're badly hurt. If I try to drive you back to town, the trip will kill you. If I leave to get help, you'll be dead by the time I get back and if we stay here you're still going to die."

"Great."

"There's another choice."

Vicki tried to take a deep breath and stopped when the urge to cough started. She felt her head being squeezed by a vice, her heart being squeezed by a fist, and she could only get air by breathing shallowly. Slipping into unconsciousness, she didn't have time to ask what choice.

***

Henry drove until he was able to make a cell phone call. Mike met caught up with him about seventy miles north of Toronto at a motel.

Henry opened the door and stood watching as Mike walked toward the room. "She's in here."

Mike saw the deathly pale Vicki lying on top of the bed and turned back to Henry, "You bastard, what happened?"

"We were up at her cabin. She was hit by falling ice and snow. The injuries were fatal."

Mike went closer and saw her chest moving slightly. "She's breathing. Call an ambulance."

Henry put his hand on the room phone stopping Mike from making the call. "It's not that easy. I started something but you have to make the final choice for her."

"Oh crap. I'm not going to like this."

"No, you're not. But I'm not to going to make a choice like this alone."

"She's going to be royally pissed at both of us."

"Yes, she is."

Mike paced back and forth thinking and arguing to himself. With his back to Henry and his hand stroking Vicki's right arm he said, "Do it Henry. I'd rather be in a world with a pissed Vicki than in one without her."

Henry moved forward, "That's what I was hoping you'd say. I need to take some of your blood then feed her."

Mike rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm, "You've wanted another taste for a long time."

Henry gave a provocative smile and said, "Would you care for some pleasure while I dine?"

Mike looked shocked then said, "You're a sick bastard. Take what's needed. And no funny business."

Henry's fangs dropped down as he said, "Bastard, yes. Sick, no."

***

Vicki sat up, looking around the unfamiliar motel room wondering how she got there when she heard the voices of the two most important men in her life. Calling out, "Mike! Henry!" She asked, "Where are we and what's happening?"

They both came to the bedside and Mike looked at Henry then pointed and said, "He did it."

Henry pointed right back at him and said, "He said to do it."

Vicki studied both of their faces and began to realize just how much she loved both of them, how well she could see them, how good they smelled, and how much she wanted to bite them.

***