Ophelia let her hand drop and turned her back to the car leaving her driveway. Sometime during her long life she'd heard it was bad luck to watch a vehicle until it was out of sight and she needed all the luck she could get. Officer Vicki Nelson and her friend Henry Fitzroy were her only hope to find out what happened to her lover Andre' Renault. They'd sat at her table pretending to sip tea while they listened to her story and said they believed her and promised to help her find the answers she needed to be able to die in peace. After over a hundred and fifty years of life, her years were drawing to a close. Up until the last few she worked as a teacher moving from town to town whenever people began to notice she wasn't aging. Her last move found her living in an old farmhouse at the edge of a small town where the residents came to love their eccentric aging teacher. She taught history, home economics and English depending on the need of the school at any given time. The last few years of teaching she was a substitute and students loved to get her to talking. She'd tell them stories about the turn of the last century before cars, phones, planes, radio and television that fascinated their imaginations. For some, it may have seemed a waste of time for a teacher to wander away from the lesson plan but the youth caught up in her ramblings would argue otherwise and the school board kept her on long after she should have retired.
Ophelia picked up the tea cups and placed them in the sink intending to wash them later because she needed to lay down and rest. The one of the things about Vicki's visits was that she was very tired afterward and her dreams were about Andre' and the few years they had shared until the night he left and never back. She made ready for bed and as she put her head back against the pillow she rubbed her wrist over her lips feeling the almost invisible scars left by Andre's bites. The thoughts of her lips pressed against the open wound over his heart, the taste of salty metallic blood and the warm rush of lust for her vampire lulled her to sleep.
Vicki was on her way out the door when her cell vibrated and she checked for messages. 'BRIDGE' was the only new one.
She sent back: 1HR. She'd get a bite of dinner first so that the vampire within would let her enjoy seeing Henry.
Henry paced the length of the bridge several times before he finally heard Vicki's car in the distance. He moved back to his side and waited for her to meet him in the center.
Before she could come closer he held up his hand to stop and said, "There's not enough time."
Her eyes silvered as the vampire's anger rose. He moved closer, "Pull it back. Don't let it's anger waste what time we do have."
Vicki looked down for a moment and when she looked up he saw his beautiful Vicki and he explained, "It'll take at least five hours for the trip to Montreal and I'd like to get the driving and finding a convenient place to stay done in one night."
"Why the rush?"
"Ophelia's fading fast and I'd like to get her some answers before she's gone."
She started to turn away saying, "Okay. Call me when you get back."
"That's it?"
"What else is there to say? Good bye, take care of yourself, call when you can?"
"That's part of it."
She didn't like thinking about her childhood, but sometimes in came back with a vengeance, her father walking out of her life left a big hole in her heart. She tilted her head to the side, "Ophelia's not the only one to have a man walk out and never come back."
"Someday Vicki Nelson, you're going to learn to trust me." He growled deep in his throat moved to her side of the bridge and took her into his arms. "I'll be back within the week and I promise to call before dawn every day."
She nodded and gave him a kiss that promised a warm welcome when he got home then gently pushed him back. "If you don't leave this minute, you'll have to go tomorrow night and I'm going to miss work."
He whispered, "I love you Vicki. Don't do anything stupid." Turned and walked to his car.
She laughed at his retreating back, "Hey! I haven't done anything 'stupid' for months now."
He shook his head and lifted his hand but she'd already turned away so she wouldn't have to see him leave. Somewhere along the line she'd heard it was bad luck to watch someone until they were out of sight. Her luck finally changed for the better after Henry had given her his blood and she wasn't going to do anything to mess it up.
Her shift had ended hours ago and she'd been able to get in another nice meal before getting ready for bed. The doors and windows to her little house were locked and her inner room secured. She'd just pulled the comforter under her chin when her cell started playing "Greensleeves". She picked it up and said, "Hi Henry."
"Do I want to know the ring tone you use for me?"
"Nope. How was the drive and where are you staying?"
"Uneventful and near the Place Ville Marie." He gave her his room number and a general idea of where he'd be doing his research for the next few days. "It might change based on any leads I find, but I'll try and keep you up to date."
"You seem to have things under control."
"I've done lots of research for my writing and you've been a good teacher, Detective Nelson."
She smiled in the darkness pleased that he appreciated her skills. "Thanks Henry. Good luck with your hunting. Both food and information."
She could see his smile in her mind as he said, "Rest well." Then broke the connection and let dawn claim her body for the day.
Henry met Claude at Place Jacques-Cartier the second night it Montreal confirming his intent to do research into Ophelia's problem and then leave as soon as possible. Claude offered his assistance but was turned down. Henry's vampire was more irritable than usual and the close proximity of another of his kind was intolerable but Claude, for his part didn't appear distressed by Henry's presence.
Henry sat in the darkest corner of the library behind a stack of old books the librarian's assistant continued to carry over. Hoping to have Henry come back, the assistant said, "The microfiche machine is in use. You'll have to sign up to use it tomorrow."
Henry looked up from the pages he was scanning, "Thank you. I'll do that before I leave." He returned to his books. The young assistant appreciated Henry's college student appearance kept finding excuses to come back. He was aware of her interest and decided before he 'left' when the doors closed for the night, she'd make a nice snack.
He'd found diaries and family records from the period that Ophelia lived and taught outside Montreal and hoped there might be some news paper articles about her teaching years. From Vicki he'd learned to follow threads of information and connect dots where there didn't appear to be any relationships. He lived history, she studied history and together they knew how to dig out long buried facts.
Licking the last drop of blood from the assistant's long white neck Henry reinforced her memory of a stolen kiss, a quick groping and a rush of romantic heat that left the assistant wanting to find her current boyfriend.
As Henry faded into the darkest corner of the library the assistant straightened her closes and placed the romance novel back on the shelf whispering, "That writer knows how to create a hot love scene. I'm going to have to read more of her books." Henry had to keep from laughing out loud when he saw the title of book from one of his earlier incarnations as a romance writer.
Soon the library was empty and all the lights but emergency exit signs were turned off. Henry went to the microfiche and found the news papers for the period of time he was interested. His eyes scanned the information as it flew by. Suddenly he hit stop when he found a reference to the odd and unusual. Further on he found similar stories written as an assignment given to high school students and published in the paper. Henry's eye caught a story that had him thinking outside the box. He jotted down the name of the characters the dates and where the true story was supposed to have happened.
Henry put everything away and made sure that there was nothing left to indicate that he'd ever been there and made his way out of the building. Because there wasn't enough time to check out the site of the alleged incident before dawn, he headed back to his room to plan his next course of action.
Vicki mumbled under her breath as she cleaned out the back seat of the squad car. Since Henry left, the vampire was in a continuous vile temper. It took all of her considerable power to keep it under control but when she shoved the suspect into the back of the cruiser the vampire took over long enough to scare the crap out of the whiny wimp.
The oncoming officer yelled out, "Hey Nelson do you clean houses too?"
Pulling her head out from the back of the car she snarled, "I could accidentally miss a few spots if you keep it up."
He held up his hands in peace, "Sorry. I'm not sure which is worse a suspect hurling, pissing, or crapping in the back. I've tried making them clean up the mess, but their lawyers climbed up my ass for cruel and unusual punishment."
Vicki ducked back into the car and scrubbed vigorously, "It's so much fun when they start puking all over the crap they've left behind. I've found it's easier just to clean it myself and get it over with."
He came up to the cruiser , looked in and sniffed, "Honestly though, you do clean it better than anyone else here. Thanks."
Her vampire smelled the young officer's blood, gave her a twinge of angry hunger and she clamped down hard on the urge to bite and said, "Your welcome. Try not to get it dirty."
"Sure and why don't you try to quit intimidating our poor underprivileged criminal element."
Vicki's eyes silvered and her lips pulled back into a wicked grin, "I like intimidating slime."
Suddenly uncomfortable he ran his finger around his too tight collar. "Yeah. You're going to have to teach me that look."
Vicki relaxed, laughed, picked up the rags and cleaning solution, "Sorry, it's a natural talent that can't be taught." Then she used her power to wipe the memory of her grin from his mind.
The vampire struggled trying to get free from Vicki's rigid control as she clamped down even harder and walked into the station, signed out and headed to the locker room. Mumbling to herself about the wisdom of being a cop she didn't here Bennett's footsteps as he came up behind her. Fortunately before he could touch her he bumped his shin on a bench giving her enough warning to keep from ripping his throat.
"Hey Bennett, have you been walking long?"
"Very funny Nelson. Now I've lost the bet."
"What bet?"
"We're are trying to see if one of us can sneak up on you. I bet I could."
"Don't you think it's rather stupid to try and sneak up on any police officer let alone me?"
He looked away, "I guess so."
"Take my advice and quit with the pranks. I've been through the academy and I've worked in big cities. I know all the games you boys play."
"Can't you yelp just a little and give my reputation a boost?"
She let out a loud gasp and yelled, "Crap Bennett! Don't sneak up on me again," and winked at him.
"Thanks Vicki. I owe you."
"Tell your buddy boys to leave me alone. I'm kind of touchy these days and I won't be responsible if someone gets hurt."
"Yeah. We've got a bunch of crybabies in lock up begging us to keep you away from them. What are you doing to them?"
"You didn't see any marks on them did you?" He shook his head 'no' and she added, "I'm in a bitchy mood and snapped at them."
He held his hands up and agreed to pass the word to leave her alone.
Vicki stopped herself from slamming the locker door shut seeing that it couldn't withstand much more abuse. Her strength was increasing in proportion to her temper and she knew if Henry didn't get back soon she'd end up killing someone in a vampire rage.
She heard 'Greensleeves' coming from her pocket and felt the anger calm. "I was just thinking about you."
"Good thoughts I hope."
"The best. How's the investigation going?"
"I've found a lead in the strangest of places."
"Where's that?"
"A story written by a student and published in a local paper as a filler article."
"How did you manage that?"
"Skimming through microfiche and my eye caught a story about spontaneous combustion. From there I did some cross referencing and ended up reading more. One story led to another until I found one that might mean something. I'm going out into the back country tomorrow night and do some digging."
"How much longer do you think you'll be?"
"If it pans out, I should be one the road home by midnight. Why?"
"I'm having trouble controlling it."
"Mine's not behaving well either. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Don't you do anything stupid trying to get back."
"I won't."
"Henry I..."
"Me too. Be careful love." They broke the connection before the conversation turned maudlin.
Ophelia pulled out a box from the bottom of her closet that held some of her favorite students work. She decided it was time to clean the place up and throw out stuff that wouldn't mean anything to the next owners of her little house. Earlier in the week she'd written a will and called a taxi to take her into town at the end of the day to file it with the clerk of courts and while she was there she met with some of her former students to talk about the past. When she was ready to leave, the sheriff insisted on driving her home.
As he turned into her drive he asked, "So how's officer Nelson treating you?"
"Tommy, she's the best person I've met in years. I don't know what I'd do without her weekly visits. You did a good job when you hired her."
"What's so good about her? I know she's doing an outstanding job on nights keeping the peace, but what's she doing for you besides stopping in and dropping off supplies?"
"She listens. She doesn't make me feel like I'm a pest taking her time away from her job. She understands what it's like to want to spend time alone. Unlike the others you've sent out, we can talk about woman things. I like her Tommy and I trust her."
"That's good enough I guess."
"Tommy, when I die please don't question my will. It's what I want."
"What are you talking about? You're going to live forever."
"It certainly feels like it. But Tommy, I'm old and I feel the years catching up with me. Just remember what I asked."
He walked her up to her side door and said, "Yes Miss Drew."
She patted his cheek and he went in behind her making sure everything was secure before driving away.
Henry walked around the abandoned farm house and tried to picture how it looked in 1910 and with the eye of an artist and the imagination of a writer, he could. He stepped back and saw the attic window and turned so that he was facing in the same direction someone would see when looking out. There on a slight rise was what he hoped to find, an old barn and he walked toward it carrying a shovel. He went to side that faced east and studied the ground carefully. The hunk of gray granite sat where the story said it would and he leaned over to pick it up and found it was more than half embedded. He used the shovel to work it loose and then dug in the soft earth until the shovel hit something metallic. He pulled out the old tin that was described in the story. He put the rock back and left.
Before leaving Montreal he contacted Claude to let him know that he'd finished his research and planned to start the drive home. Claude asked about the success of his search and Henry said, "That remains to be seen. There's nothing more I can find here." Silently he prayed that he found the answer to Ophelia's question.
Towards morning he was driven by the sun to pull into a motel. He filled out the night register and left money for the rental fee. He took a key off the peg for a room, glanced at the number. The room was clean with door solid and would suit his needs. He took care locking the door, adding a bit of hardware he always carried when traveling, place a chair under the door knob and pulled the drapes shut. He then took the blankets and pillows from the bed to pad the bathtub. The vampire within insisted that he take as many precautions as possible when staying anywhere other than home. More than one vampire perished over the years simply because they were careless in their arrangements for the day. Settled into the tight space he pushed speed dial for the first number listed on his cell.
"Did you do anything stupid?"
"Scared the crap out of a suspect. Literally."
"Why's that stupid?"
"I had to clean the squad car."
Henry couldn't help but laugh and she sputtered, "Keep laughing, Fitzroy," before laughing herself. "They confess to everything just to get away from me and be locked up safe and sound."
"I'll text you when I'm an half hour from the Bridge."
"I'm off for the rest of the week so do you want to go and see Ophelia tonight?"
"That's probably the best. How many nights off do you have?"
She could hear the longing in his voice and felt the need for him rise to a fever pitch. "I've got three in a row and I plan on spending every minute of them with you."
"Good plan."
Vicki and Henry sat across from Ophelia who sat with her hands folded resting on the round oak table covered with a crochet doily. Her head was bowed as Henry said, "Andre' loved you Ophelia and he didn't leave you by his own choice."
She looked up, "How can you be certain?"
Henry reached out a hand and placed it on both of hers, "I'm not certain, but I've been able to piece together a chain of events that make sense and I found something that may well be all the prof you need."
The tea things on the counter were forgotten as she waited for Henry to start speaking.
"My research led to me to reading a series of 'Believe it or Not' stories written by school kids. One was a family tale. The writer talked about how his grandfather watched a man burst into flames after his father hit him in the back of the head with a rock.
Grandpa was watching from his attic window. His father was coming up from the barn when he saw man coming out of his big sister's bedroom window and hit him with a rock. His father then dragged the man to the east side of the barn and went back into the barn for a shovel. While father was gone the sun rose and there was a flash of light and a fire. When father reached the side of the barn the fire was out and there was nothing left to bury. The boy watched his father pick up stuff place it in a tin and bury it under a hunk of granite. The sister never acted as though she missed someone and the boy forgot about seeing what his father had buried until years later when he told the story to his grandson.
"I looked at the dates and name of the writer and back tracked those names until I found records of property ownership near the town where you and Andre' lived. I drove out into the country and found an abandoned farmhouse that fit the description and did some digging. If I didn't know better, I'd say something or someone helped guide me in that direction."
Henry reached down and opened the duffel bag sitting between his and Vicki's feet. He pulled out an old tobacco tin and handed it to Ophelia. "I haven't opened this. What ever is in here should be seen by you first."
She tried to pry open the lid and handed back to Henry. "You're going to have to help me."
He placed his fingernail under the rim and pushed up. The lid moved and Henry pried it the rest of the way off and handed it back to her without looking.
She slowly poured the contents onto the lace doily not worried about the dirt hurting the antique handy work. A few buttons, pocket watch, pen knife, coins and a oddly shaped item fell out. Ophelia picked up the last bit and held it close to her eyes before handing it over to Vicki. "Wash this. There's soap and a nail brush under the sink."
Vicki reached out, took it, stood and went to the sink. While she was working Ophelia took a chain from around her neck and placed a beautiful jade pendant on the table and waited for Vicki to give the piece back to her.
Vicki watched as the dirt and grime of a hundred years rinsed off the lovely green jade. She turned to see a similar piece laying in front of Ophelia. Vicki placed hers by the other one and sat down. Ophelia took both pieces turning them like puzzle until they fit together forming a disk of intricately carved jade.
Ophelia spoke so softly that both Henry and Vicki had to lean forward to hear her words. "We were walking in Montreal when an old china-man came up to us and as Andre' went to wave him off the old man held this up and said in broken French, "As long as the pieces fit together you'll be one. Then he broke them apart and handed one to each of us. The old man said something more in Chinese, laughed and ran down the street. Andre' placed his in his pocket and I put mine in my purse. It was a few nights later I had my first and only taste of his blood."
She took the disk, broke it apart and handed a piece first to Vicki and then to Henry. Vicki took the piece Henry held, put them back together, looked into his eyes and watched him nod in agreement. Vicki put the jade back into Ophelia's open hand, "Keep this. You and Andre' need to be together."
Ophelia thread the chain through the bails and put it back around her neck. "You'll both come to visit again, won't you, please?"
Henry stood came over to Ophelia leaned down and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and accepted his comfort as he said, "Of course we will."
Vicki came over to them and added, "I'm assigned to visit you weekly and Henry and I are a package deal. You get one and you've automatically got the other." Vicki stepped back pulled a card from her pocket and laid it down next to the contents of the tin. "It's time for us to leave. I've got a few night off work, but if you need us, call on either of our private lines."
Ophelia nodded and Henry kissed her cheek while whispering a compulsion for sleep and pleasant dreams. He held the side door open for Vicki as they said their good byes.
Driving back to town he said, "It's as good an ending as any I could have written."
Vicki agreed and said, "Come back to my place and stay with me. No more under the bridge."
(Dear reader: Don't worry this isn't the end just yet. RT)
