After spending the previous two nights having an inordinate and surprising amount of fun with Stephan and my new car, I'd decided to take a lazy day. I'd been up until dawn several nights on the trot now, finding myself with the complete inability to say no to Stephan as he took me out to see movies and we played ten pin bowling into the wee hours of the night.
My lazy day morning had therefore inadvertently stretched far into the afternoon. I was still in my PJ's and I stood half asleep staring at the toaster on the kitchen side, patiently waiting for the arrival of my toasted slice of granary loaf. As if announcing the appearance of the slice of toast as it popped from the toaster, a massive gush of air whooshed past me as the front door blew open, the suction moving the bathroom door opposite. A scent filled the air of a charred burnt aroma. I strode over, pushed the front door to and returned in confusion to my toast, which was not over toasted at all.
"Evelyn," said a deep voice from the bathroom, startling me though I immediately recognised it.
I scuttled over to the bathroom door, "Bill? What the hell?" I turned the handle and gently pushed ajar the door, Bill slammed it in my face.
"Evelyn, close the drapes," he directed. I reprimanded myself and as quickly as I could, ran around closing the heavy curtains in the living room and turning the cord on the blinds in the kitchen and pulling the bedroom door shut before I returned. The bathroom has two small windows, both of which I have, conveniently for a vampire, always covered with blinds. Bill had noted this the first time he had visited, stating that such a place could be converted into a good little hidey hole should I wish to. I'd only ever gotten around to installing the blinds.
"Bill, it's the middle of the afternoon! I know I said call on me but this is a little extreme," I said and he opened the door slightly, grabbed my wrist and pulled me quickly inside. I was aghast for words as I saw him. His face was barely recognisable, through the charred skin and flesh his eyes shone bright. "Oh my god Bill, what happened? Why aren't you a pile of goo?" Tactful to the last Evie, I scalded myself.
"I I drank Soo " he trailed off and turned away from me, eyes downcast, unable to speak. I watched him for a little while, unsure of what to say. As I watched his face seemed to get darker and darker. Concern for him overcame me; I shrugged off my robe and pulled down the neck of my t-shirt.
Noticing my movement, he shook his head, "Evelyn, I "
I cut him off, "Bill, I can barely recognise you. You need to drink. How long have you been out there anyway?"
He stepped forward towards me, "Evelyn, please know I am sorry." He was referring to the fact he'd gained my trust, at the orders of the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, only to use me as a test subject for a petty game.
"We'll talk about it later," I said, this being the first time we'd met since I'd found out what had been going on, that talk could wait for now. I still wasn't entirely sure how I felt about it all anyway. He slid out his fangs with a hiss and I swallowed hard. He swept my hair to the side and cradled my head in his hand. I looked deep into his dark brown eyes before he inhaled a scent below my earlobe and urgently sunk his teeth into my flesh. The moment seemed to last an eternity and I gasped and moaned uncontrollably as he drank. In an attempt to quieten me he pulled my body inappropriately to him, bending me so the contour of our bodies matched one another. It was his way of telling me thank you and sorry all in one. He tore himself away before I was sure if he'd had enough of my blood to heal, but as I looked on, his face miraculously regained itself and the Bill I knew, reappeared before me. Bill moved a hand to my cheek, pricking a finger on his fang and sealing the puncture wounds. As he stroked my skin, my heart began violently thumping in my chest and my breathing quickened. We leaned slowly toward one another and our lips brushed for a brief second before we both reared backward, unsure of the moment we had just shared.
"So " I said, completely ignoring what had just happened, "Daytime?"
Bill smiled awkwardly and began to explain how he had happened to come to my door in the middle of the afternoon. He told me that he'd been taken hostage by the King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington, some days ago and that Sookie had rescued him from the torturous hand of his vampire maker, Lorena, who had orders to kill him. I was particularly shocked at this, as the only vampire parenting relationships I'd really been privy to, were those revolving around Eric, neither of which I perceived to be anything but loving in the vampire sense of the word at least. The little voice in my head reminded me that I'd still not met Jessica; another conversation for another time. Bill continued to add that after Sookie rescued him, she gave him some of her blood when he was starving and weak and half crazed, which had awakened within him his very essence of vampire and he'd drank her and drank some more. He'd been unable to stop, and because of this, he feared he'd killed her. Sookie's friend had kicked him out into the sunlight and Bill recalled that the light had only stung his eyes and he had been amazed himself that he had not met the true death.
He went on to tell me that he had not been sure of where he was but that he had been able to hone in on the nearest place that he had been invited into, and he told me he could still sense my whereabouts. When I'd blindly asked how that was possible, he told me that when he had glamoured me to be unsusceptible to Eric's influence, he had also given me some of his blood, not to mention the numerous times he had used his blood to heal the bite marks he had given me which meant that he could sense me and my emotions.
"I'm sorry Evelyn."
I ignored his apology, choosing humour over the poignant nature of our conversation, "At least I know why you were ignoring my calls." He smiled and seemed at a loss for words. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll go get dressed. I presume you're staying till nightfall?" I grinned.
He nodded, "If that is agreeable with you?" he replied and I could almost hear the hopefulness in his voice.
I laughed, "Of course it is. All the drapes are closed, but it's not completely light tight, so it's up to you if you want to come out."
"I shall stay in here, until nightfall," he replied, in that sumptuously silky voice that wrapped around every word. I could see why Sookie had fallen in love with him; imagine that voice caressing your name when your legs wer wrapped around .
"Evelyn," Bill interrupted. I flushed a bright crimson, assuming he knew what I'd been thinking about.
"I was just thinking," I spoke quickly, "There's blackout blinds and curtains in the bedroom, that would probably be better than in here." Bill nodded in assent at me and I disappeared from the bathroom, wondering what stupid thing my completely messed up brain was going to think of next.
I zipped into my bedroom, quickly pulled on yesterdays' jeans and shirt and dropped the blinds and pulled the curtains, tucking them close to the walls. Satisfied that Bill would not fry in here, I grabbed the duvet from the bed and trailed back to the bathroom with it slung over my shoulder, dragging it along the floor.
"Here," I said handing him the duvet, "The bed will be comfier and it's better than in here."
He looked at me with his brow furrowed, "Thank-you Evelyn." He heaved the cover around him and vampire speeded into the bedroom. I followed, at human speed. Closing the heavy door behind me, I perched on the mattress next to him.
"Can I ask you something?" I said. Bill looked at me a little while, tracing my face with his eyes, before nodding slowly. "Why didn't you go to ground?"
His face was awash with shame and remorse, "I owed you an apology," he answered eventually. I smiled warmly at him and his entire body visibly relaxed, his lips forming a smile.
"Forget about it," I replied, "Seriously, my life's too short to worry about the little things."
Bill scoffed, "It's not exactly a little thing."
I shrugged my shoulders, "In a way, I'm grateful to you." Bill looked confused, "I just mean that I got to have a normal-ish relationship with him."
"It was unforgivable Evelyn," he said darkly, his tongue practically licking my name, "I put you in danger."
"It was at the order of your Queen," I replied simply, I put on a voice to imitate Eric's, "To glamour a human not to be glamoured." Bill smiled. "It's quite innovative actually," I added thoughtfully.
"I have done many things at the behest of my Queen," Bill replied disdainfully, "Several I regret deeply."
"Well shall we put this one under the bridge and forget about it?"
"Evelyn, I " I interrupted him before he could speak.
"Whether you realise it or not you actually protected me," I stood and gave him a peck on the cheek, "Now rest, your ear is bleeding."
I stood and went to leave. As I reached the door, Bill spoke quietly, "Evelyn." I paused and turned my gaze to him, "Thank you." I smiled at him and left him be, ensuring the door was shut to properly behind me.
I sighed and plonked myself down in my desk chair. At least that conversation was done with, it had been niggling away at the back of my brain ever since Eric had given me the salacious news over a week ago now, and with Bill not returning my calls too I let out a heavy breath in relief. Done! Forget about it!
With all that nonsense pushed to the furthermost reaches of my brain, I reached forward, clicked on the desk lamp and opened up my laptop, resolving that I couldn't leave the house with a sleeping vampire in the middle of the afternoon. Wait, no, scratch that, I looked at the clock on the wall, the late afternoon.
I loaded up my email and was dismayed to find only junk. I sent a new message to my editor regarding the imminent arrival of the first instalment of the Vamp Bio's, or whatever catchy name they decided to put on it. I added, as an after thought, that I'd like to write these under a pseudonym, which I would decide at a later date. I don't know why the notion occurred to me at that moment, but I figured it might be the safer option.
I fired up Word and dove into writing the biography for Stephan, or Louis, as he'd chosen. I'd reiterated several times over the past couple of nights that Louis wasn't the most inventive of aliases. Stephan had said he was happy with that one, 'It sounded like a vampire name' and had remained stoic in his choice. In the end I had to admit, it was a good vampire name. Though I had neglected to point out to him that Louis had already been immortalised (again) in film and was actually a vampire portrayed by Brad Pitt in an 'Interview with a Vampire'. I'd spent an hour or so early this morning researching that, the thought occurring to me that the film may have actually been an interview with a vampire, but I discovered nothing earth-shattering.
A few hours later, I'd penned a huge chunk of literature and was yawning and stretching idly at the desk when Bill walked in. He looked much better for a rest, though he refused to let me wash his clothes or to take a shower, instead saying that he must leave to see Sookie.
"You can still sense her then?" I asked, quizzically. In reality I couldn't see that his presence would help her in any way, he'd nearly killed her, his own words.
He nodded, "Barely."
He seemed so down heartened and tragic that I stood and flung myself at him in a hug. He was taken aback by my friendliness but embraced me in return. I stepped back, fetching my new car keys from the desk. "Then go," I said, handing him the keys.
He turned them over in his palm. "Oh Evelyn, I couldn't." He knew he could.
"Go," I ordered and ushered him over to the front door, "Just don't be a stranger."
Bill nodded morosely but took his leave. I stood and watched him drive away from the porch steps, admiring the blue bodywork of the Dodge.
Mrs Wilson's face appeared suddenly over the fence, "Evelyn dear, was that Mr Compton?" she asked, highly interested.
I smirked, "Yes it was, Mrs Wilson. He said to tell you he was sorry he couldn't stay and chat, but that he had errands to run."
"At this time of night?" She looked a tad confused.
I smiled at her, "Yes you remember, he is a vampire."
It took a minute to absorb, but she chuckled, "Ah yes, of course he is," she replied shaking her head, "Goodnight Evelyn."
"Goodnight Mrs Wilson."
