Elizabeta had never really marveled at St. Augustine before. She had been to the city before, but whenever she had been here, she had been in a rush to get somewhere else. But now that she had time to really study the old, stone buildings, her breath was taken away. The palm trees and red tiled roofs made her feel like she was transported to another time.

Elizabeta sat on a little stone bench in front of the restaurant where she was going to meet Gilbert. She unlocked her phone and checked her messages while she had a few minutes. There was one from Gil stating that he would be here in 5 minutes. Eli waited on the bench, taking in more of the scenery. The city had an old world feel and she found it to be charming. She didn't have to wait too long until she saw Gilbert rounding the corner of the street. He waved when he saw her and she returned the gesture. He walked closer and finally reached her.

"How's it goin' Frau?" He asked once they broke apart.

"It's good. You know, same old, same old." She replied, a smile on her face.

Even though she knew that she shouldn't consider this a traditional "date" she was still looking forward to spending time with Gil.

"That's good." He walked over to the door and held it open for her. She thanked him and entered the restaurant.

If Eli thought that the outside of the building was beautiful, it was nothing compared to the interior of the building. It was spacious and decorated with potted palms and columns. It was elegant, but also welcoming. Elizabeta loved the atmosphere. Gil told the hostess of their reservation and she let them to their table. They sat down and looked over the menu before they both decided on seafood, as that was the restaurant's specialty. The waitress took their menus and promised that their food would be out soon.

"So, how was work today?" Eli asked, stirring her iced tea. "Just another day of cleaning up wrappers and sweeping stuff. It was meh."

Gil shrugged. "How's your brother?"

Eli smiled. "He's in college in Miami. Sometimes he'll make the treck to come see me. I hear that his classes are going well."

"Did you beat any digital soldiers up today?" Gil asked.

"It's getting harder and harder to find time to play lately."

"I didn't beat up any digital guys today, no. But, I almost beat up my creepy landlord."

Gil just raised an eyebrow. "Whenever he comes over for inspection he makes all these creepy comments. I might have just threatened him with my frying pan."

"Dang girl, are you always this feisty? I thought it was a ploy."

"I act pretty much exactly as I do in the game."

"Good to know."

"You see, I've actually tempered it down a little. A couple weeks ago, I had a kill rate of three people per day. Now, I'm lucky if I manage one."

"Your thirst for blood is dissipating?" Gilbert asked.

Elizabeta took a quick sip of the iced tea. "I think so. And I'm pretty sure is your fault. If it wasn't for you dragging me out here, I could have caught up tonight."

"Your killing sprees are on on Friday nights?" Gilbert asked.

"Well, I'm not a vampire. I suck the blood of my enemies in the day, too. Ive tried to spare my landlord, but it might just be time."

"Save some blood for me."

"You're a vampire, too?" Elizabeta asked in mock shock.

Gilbert nodded. "You don't look like me and not be a vampire. The eyes should have been the first clue."

"I was this close to snapping on you. Consider yourself lucky."

"So wait? How come your allowed to be attracted to my eyes, but I'm not?"

Elizabeta choked on her tea. Sputtering, she wiped her mouth. "Your crazy. Your eyes aren't special. They're an average red."

"An average red?"

"Right. Their not a crimson or a sunset or even a tomato red. They're just boring old red."

"Well sorry my eyes are a lame red and not an awesome red."

"Apology accepted. Next time your born, maybe you should try to have a unique eye color."

"Like sewage green?"

Elizabeta took out an ice cube and flung it at Gilbert, bouncing it off his shoulder. "My eyes are fine, thank you."

"I wasn't talking about your awesome eyes. I was thinking about this Spanish guy I know."

"I bet you we-. Did you just call my eyes awesome?"

"Sorry. I don't give compliments out often. That's as far as my vocabulary stretches."

"I told you to not mention my eyes."

"I'm so sorry that I did that. It's not like I call everybody awesome. I promise to never say anything good about you again."

"Good. Now, we can get married."

Their small talk was interrupted by the arrival of the food. Elizabeta thought it smelled delicious, the yellow rice, vegetables and chatted idly as they ate, but concentrated on enjoying the food. It really was amazing. Once finished with their meal, they decided against desert, paid and head out of the restaurant. Gil had mentioned that he had something else planned and Elizabeta was trying to figure out what that could possibly be.


The narrow cobblestone streets disappeared into the layer of fog covering Elizabeta's vision. She breathed in the heavy moist air hugging the historic district of Saint Augustine. The few street lamps were fading underneath the mist lifted from the sea. The section of the town was isolated from the main downtown area, secluded from the tired tourists and large hotels hidden by the humble skyline. Looking up and down the empty street, she turned back to a man hunched over a large wooden door. She walked over and leaned her head down towards him.

"We're all clear. I still do't think we should do this."

A quick grunt, and Gilbert yanked aside the handle on the door, creaking it open. He grinned when he turned back to Elizabeta. "I thought you acted like you played in the game."

"I haven't kiled anybody nor have i fougt in world War Two. I haven't been arrested for breaking and entering, either."

"It's not breaking and entering. Its trespassing. Nobody lives here, right?" Gilbert said with a quick wink.

He stepped into the black backdrop of the wooden schoolhouse. Elizabeta hurried behind him, careful as her flat shoes dug into the thin film of dirt in the monument. The stench of moist wood and extinguished candles smoldered throughout the cramped hut. Elizabeta stepped through the schoolhouse, clawing her way over the ground like the green caterpillar on the fingerprinted windowsill.

When Gilbert said he had something special in mind, Elizabeta thought it was something simple like ice-cream or one of the funnel cakes at the pier. If Gilbert told her they were going to commit a federal offense considering this was a historic landmark, Elizabeta would have considered a normal alternative like a movie. Then again, a movie was a little too much of an isolated and intimate setting. At least with the schoolhouses, they could get wrapped up in not being caught by any police officers.

Adjusting her purse and pushing her small frying pan further into it, she put her hand on a rough oak table. The moonlight from outside snuck through the window, raining down on the table and part of her.

"You know that part is roped off, right?"

Elizabeta looked down and saw that, between her and the desk, was a velvet rope. She snapped her hand back and spun around. Stumbling slightly, she bounced back off the desk and caught her hands on broad shoulders. Gilbert was standing right in front of her, a deck of cards shaking in his hand. Elizabeta barked an apology, and backed up. Gilbert reached out and gave her a deck of cards.

"I heard there's an old card table the Spanish used to play for slaves. Apparently, one of the slaves snuck in, and he was a big voodoo guy. So, he cursed all of the people at the table. It sounded like a pretty awesome story, so I figured we would play on it."

Elizabeta walked across the room to a table that was roped off. Gilbert went to the side, where the clasp for the rope was located. He clicked it off, and it collapsed to the ground. She stepped over it and lowered herself onto the ancient chairs like feather in the wind. Gilbert sat down in front of her, and took out the card deck. The table was located next to the window. The moonlight lit the cards Gilbert flung onto the table, and accentuated his ruby eyes piercing at Elizabeta.

"You know blackjack?"

"Did I tell you about the card tables at my high school." She asked.

"Gambling's illegal in school."

"We said it was Go-Fish. When they turned around, the chips came out."

"Did you bring the chips."

"No, but I left with most of them."

Gilbert chuckled and laid out two cards in front of her; one was face down and the other was face up. Gilbert did the same for him, letting a four of spades grace his side. Elizabeta had a four of hearts.

"Hit." Elizabeta said. Gilbert laid out a card face down at her. She glanced at it, before sighing.

"Another hit?" He asked.

She nodded. Gilbert gave her another card. Elizabeta raised an eyebrow at the cards, then she knocked on the table. Gilbert fed himself a card, before grunting at his hand. He drew another one, and another one. After one more pull, he threw his cards onto the table.

"Bust. You had twenty, right?"

Elizabeta smirked and flipped her cards over. A two of spades and a two of diamonds stared up at Gilbert, who smacked the table.

"You tricked me. How could you stay at a eight?" He barked out.

Elizabeta giggled. "I knew you I would get you. You really thought I had a twenty after two more cards on a four?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I thought."

"Deal again, Gil."

Gilbert reshuffled the cards and laid them out again. He handed Elizabeta her cards, and she got two more before staying.

"I learned Blackjack from my dad. He taught me when I was six."

"I learned when I was twelve. We have a tradition in the family that the first real card game is the first botte of beer you drink."

"Oh no. You mean you waited the whole first twelve years of your life for beer?" Elizabeta asked.

Gilbert chuckled as he laid down another card for him. "It wasn't as bad as it sounds. The land of Prussia had a lot of fun to offer me. Much more than any other place around there."

Elizabeta scoffed. "Are you serious? Hungary is much more exciting and interesting than that wasteland called East Germany."

"Take that back, frau." Gilbert said, putting his cards down.

"How about this, if you win this hand, I'll admit Prussia is amazing and all that shit. If you win, you have to admit that it doesn't exist."

"It does too exist."

Elizabeta smirked. Tapping her finger on her cards, she flipped them over. Gilbert did the same, and the leaned over and saw the cards on opposite sides of the table.

"Wait. You busted, and you didn't tell me?" Gilbert asked, fuming.

"I wanted to see if you would, too."

Gilbert stood up and walked over to her. He snatched up her cards and gathered up the deck. Elizabeta rose to her feet, and tried to tug the cards away.

"I'm sorry. I want to keep playing." Elizabeta grunted out.

"Sorry, frau.