Chapter 10

After changing into something more appropriate for the city, Heidi drove to Steven's apartment. Having 'fished' him months prior, she knew well enough where he lived, his phone number, even his email address, all of which she collected when she had baited him into entering a travel contest—one in which he had already won.

In her rearview mirror, Heidi checked her hair, having taken the time to wash the 'woods' from her well-cared mahogany strands. Simply talking over the phone seemed to her to be a great waste of time since the man would most likely hang up. She would be professional—and polite per Jane's instructions. Mostly, Heidi had prepared herself for a night of cordial conversation, something that oddly left her nervous despite having been the Volturi's fisher for the past century.

The woman entered the apartment building with ease, bypassing the door security system when someone unquestioningly held the door open—common for folks in northern Minnesota. Walking down the stained carpet hallway, the stench of processed frozen food recently heated in an oven pierced Heidi's nose. Unable to ignore the smell, she sensed the odour's source to be Steven's apartment. She gently knocked on his door and waited. Her finely tuned hearing detected his bare feet walking across the linoleum tile. When his shadow appeared beneath the door, she smiled warmly at the peephole.

After several seconds, a muffled cursed preceded the sound of the door chain sliding free and the lock flipping. Steven opened the door wide, his face betraying his distrust. "What?"

"I was in the neighborhood," began Heidi as she brushed her hair back. She tried to smile like one of the human females she humouredly observed at night on their dinner mating rituals. "I thought we could talk. If you have any—"

The door closed with a soft thud, followed by the click of the lock.

"…questions." Heidi knocked again. Don't kill him, she thought to herself in a long forgotten language. Do not kill him!

Steven opened the door only to stare her without a word.

Heidi forced herself to smile once again. "I'm not your enemy."

"You're right," said Steven. "You're my killer."

With sharpening focus, Heidi listened intently, but not for what Steven might say; the woman listened for anyone on his floor who could be eavesdropping. When she sensed their isolation, she said softly, "Be careful."

The sincerity in her voice raised Steven's neck hairs. The man stepped away from the open door and returned to his couch where a half-eaten grocery store pizza awaited him.

Heidi stepped inside, gently shutting the door behind her. She surveyed the small studio apartment, her nose wrinkling repeatedly at the numerous offending scents that her vampire sensitivity could not ignore. "I've seen nicer dog kennels."

Steven ignored his unwanted guest's comment and bit into his next slice of pizza.

Remembering the need to be cordial, Heidi frowned. "Sorry. I'm not very good with light conversation. I just meant that this is a nice place for someone who lives alone."

This innocent comment triggered a brief glare. Nonetheless, Steven ignored her once more as he carried on with his dinner.

Mostly angry with herself, Heidi slowly stretched her fingers to release her clenched fists, the sound of the strained tendons rubbing against her hardened bones, only audible to her ears. She gently clasped her hands together and proceeded to the couch, taking a seat opposite to that of the young man. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean anything by my observation. I'm only visiting to make sure that you were okay and to answer any questions you may have."

"Why would I have questions?"

"Um," began Heidi with a raised brow. "You have just learned of some shocking news. I suspect you've been weighing your options, which often leads to questions."

"I only have two options: become like you or die." Steven focused ahead as he shoved the last of a pizza crust into his mouth.

Heidi rolled her eyes, sighing softly. She paused and said, "Believe it or not, I'm only trying to help you."

Steven reached for a can of soda before sitting back against the couch. After a couple quick sips, he let his hand rest atop his thigh, his finger nervously tapping the side of the can. Swallowing hard, he began, "Every day, I process the billing for medical records of people diagnosed with cancer. And each day, a few of those patients have been diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer. My heart always goes out to them as I wonder how hard it must be to receive such terrible news. Even though I've performed this job for years, I could never imagine what they go through...until now. I now have a better understanding. Meeting you has been akin to being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Beyond asking myself the traditional why me, I find myself in some sort of tragic…catastrophe." Steven glared at the woman at the other end of the couch. "I really don't have any questions for you. Right now, I feel as if I'm trapped in a tiger cage, but the tiger is simple sitting there, staring at me as it purrs from time to time. I know eventually that the tiger will have to eat."

Trying to understand the young man's thoughts, Heidi said in a soft, respectful tone. "This tiger has no interest in harming you."

Finished with his can of soda, Steven set the empty can onto the coffee table with a soft, distinct thud. "Okay. Since you want questions, after you kill me, are you going to consume my body? Or do you just take the blood?"

"We only need blood."

"Oh. Good. Well, I hope you enjoy mine." Clenching his jaw, Steven's eyes aimlessly drifted around his apartment. "So, does all blood taste the same? Do fat people taste...I don't know...surgery?"

Heide felt her emotions rise with the man's sarcasm. Keeping her voice low, she replied calmly to his flipped questions. "Blood can taste different between people, though the differences are minor."

"Do you sleep in coffins?"

"No. Some choose to live below ground in furnished dwellings in order to avoid the sun. As you saw with how the sunlight reflected off my skin, people would notice. I live in a nice apartment below ground, from which I can access the numerous underground dwellings of my coven."

"Okay," replied Steven, his snideness replaced with a hint of interest. Swallowing hard, his brow knitted as he subconsciously began rubbing his thighs—a nervous tick he picked up during childhood—and said, "I know what you are doing. It won't work."

Holding back her grin, Heidi too sensed that she had finally struck up a meaningful conversation. "What am I trying to do?"

Steven deflected his gaze to the wall. "You're trying to brainwash me."

"No," replied the woman coolly. "If I could do that, you would have never left that museum."

Steven stopped rubbing his thighs as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end for a second time that night. "Okay, your persuasion, whatever you call it, your magic doesn't work on me, but you are still trying to trick me."

"No tricks. I'm hiding nothing. We want you to join our coven. And with all honesty, we don't know what, or if, you'll have a special gift once you ascend into vampire form."

After a brief moment of gnawing his lip, Steven asked, "What if I become like you but don't have a gift? Will you then kill me?"

Finally, she thought as she sat back into the couch. With a quick lick of her lips, she said, "You will still be part of our family. Not all of us have gifts; nonetheless, we are very loyal to one another." Heidi slowly crossed her legs. "You are one of the few who know of our existence. Don't you have countless questions? Don't you want to know the mythology from fact? If humans have any good traits, it is that you are always curious. Ask me anything; I will never lie to you."

"Never lie?"

"Never," repeated Heidi as she straightened a wrinkle from her dress.

A smirk spread across Steven's face. "Everybody lies."

"If you ever catch me lying, I'll..."

"Leave me alone," injected the young man, "and let me live out the rest of my life in peace?"

Ignoring his suggestion, the cautious woman folded her hands in her lap.

"I didn't think so." Steven rose from the couch, collecting his pizza plate and empty soda can. He turned to the woman and said, "I'm going to make some tea. Would you like a cup?"

This time, Heidi could not hide her bewilderment.

"I'm my mother's son," the man said. "She would be upset if I wasn't polite."

"Even to a vampire?"

"I don't know." Steven stepped away towards the kitchen counter. "She said to always keep an open mind. And she taught me that most things are never what you expect, like vampires who sparkle in the sun."

Heidi turned sideways on the couch and said, "Your mother sounds very wise. If you give me just a little of your time, you might be surprised at what you learn."

Shyly, Steven turned away and proceeded to make tea. When he reached for his tea mug, he held up the cup as an invitation. "You never said."

"No thank you."

"Water?"

"We don't drink water."

Steven turned towards her with an inquisitive look.

"We get our needed fluids from..." Wrinkling her nose, Heidi searched for a way out.

"Blood," said Steven. "Like you mentioned before, just say the truth."

Heidi gave a thankful nod before repositioning herself on the couch, rationalizing that withholding the blood to venom conversion was not actually lying. I will tell him...later, she thought.

Minutes later, Steven returned to the couch and set his mug of tea on the coffee table. A white string from a tea bag hung over the side of the cup as the bag floated on the surface.

Heidi stared at the drink with a perplexed expression. "What is that?

"Tea...with two teaspoons of honey. Did you change your mind?"

"God no." Rolling her eyes, Heidi resolutely said, "That's not tea."

In a defensive tone, Steven retorted, "Yes it is."

Heidi shook her head. "No. No it is not. I've lived in England off and on as I floated about Europe over the centuries. That's not tea."

"You don't drink tea," countered Steven. "I suppose you haven't drunk tea over those centuries; you cannot weigh in as an export. Besides, this is just a little different; that's all."

"For your information, we can drink for the pleasure of taste. We can even drink alcoholic beverages, the alcohol toxin having no effect since on us. I simply don't feel the need to consume frivolous drinks. If I did, I wouldn't drink that."

Steven fell back against the couch, crossing his arms in frustration.

Similarly, Heidi sat back, crossing her legs, her foot twisting in the air with agitation.

Steven began watching the perturbed movements of the woman's dangling foot when a legitimate question popped into his head. "Back in the woods, why were you barefoot?"

Heidi became still, her eyes shifting slowly between the young man at the far end of the couch and her foot. "Isn't it obvious?"

"You shoes fall off when you run fast?"

"No," replied the woman with a perturbed look, thinking the answer more than obvious. She gestured at her foot.

"It hurts less to run barefoot?"

Heidi eyes widened in dismay. "Men!"

"What?" Steven scooted forward to the edge of his seat to look closer at her foot. "I'm sorry, but I not getting it."

"The shoes I was wearing are similar to these."

Wanting the mystery to end, Steven looked at her with an almost pleading look in his eyes.

The woman sighed heavily and said in a heightened tone, "I was wearing Ferragamos, similar to these, but with kitten heels, oh and burgundy in color."

Glancing at her current shoes, white in color, Steven shrugged. "So."

"So? So! I wasn't about to tread through a forest in Ferragamos."

"What's so special about them?"

Heidi's eyes widened. "They cost $800 dollars."

"So?" Steven slid back into his chair.

"So? Don't you know anything about shoes?"

"Apparently not. They look like $100 shoes to me."

Hide rose to her feet. "Are you trying to piss me off?"

"No. What's so special about them?"

"They are handmade in Italy."

Leaning forward to glance at her feet once more, Steven said as delicate as he could, "And...?"

"What don't you understand? They are hand made in Italy and cost a lot of money."

"That's not interesting."

Heidi froze where she stood, her arms rising slowly as her hands slowly clenched into fists. Dropping to her sides, she said, "Okay, I'm done here. You've gone too far." Struggling to stay calm, the woman stepped around the couch and headed for the door.

Steven could feel his heart pound nervously in his chest as she walked away. When the woman opened the door, he felt a sense of relief come over him despite flinching when the door slammed shut behind her.

Heidi stepped lively down the apartment corridor, planting her high heels firmly into the worn hallway carpet, mumbling subconsciously in old Latin, "How could he? They're Ferragamos for crying out loud!" Arrg!

As she stormed out of the apartment building, she cursed into the night air, "Expensibilis ubique monetae, Jane!"