Confronting Brent

Henry kissed Vicki before leaving on his assigned task asking, "You're sure this is the way you want to do it?"

Vicki nodded and said, "It's the best way. You search the house and I keep the scum bag busy. We'll meet up on the front porch after you make sure of the facts and call the police."

Dressed in dark clothes, Henry let himself out the back door and headed for the house on the next street.

Vicki opened the front door, walked out and sat on the two person swing. She looked at the cemetery as she settled back and kicked off with her heels. The swing reminded her of her grandfather's house. She had spent several summer nights on his swing listening to the insects and watching stars. Now she listened for one specific heartbeat and sniffed the air for a familiar scent. She knew he was out there somewhere watching her. She wanted to keep his attention on her while Henry gathered the evidence.

Brent watched as the front door opened and grinned to see the current woman of his dreams sit on the porch swing. The sound equipment hadn't worked as promised, therefore he wasn't able to hear what she said to her worthless husband, but that was okay with him as long as he could see her.

Henry walked with cat like precision to address provided by Mike and found that the locked door was easy to open with a little friendly persuasion. The house was similar to the one he and Vicki owned. This house was a well maintained Victorian with original woodwork and except for updated conveniences the layout of the rooms remained unchanged from the day the last peg was placed. Henry had spent many a night visiting houses like this over the past hundred and fifty years and knew his way around. One nice thing about these old houses, floor plans rarely varied and he easily found the servant's stairway that led to the upper floors. He didn't bother with the basement because experience told him the basement would be too damp for the kind of things Brent would have hidden. He stopped often to listen for sounds of life but other than a few mice moving in the walls, he heard nothing. Still, Henry was careful to remain unseen and unheard as he went from room to room. Eventually he found the door that would take him to the highest level of the house which was a small crowning room although not many of the old houses maintained a cupola because of leaks and weakened walls over time. Whoever owned this house over the years had taken good care of it, because like the rest of the house this was the original work. The little room at the very top was surrounded by wrought iron and had high glass windows that allowed a view in all four directions. He looked out and saw his own home with lights showing from the windows. With the proper equipment, much of the activity in their own rooms could be seen from here. He snarled and knew there would be more to find.

He started a second prowl of the house looking for Brent's room and equipment. He found Brent's room and what would have been a dressing chamber off the master suite. Old homes didn't have closets, but rather smaller rooms for clothes and a dressing area. As these houses were modernized, those dressing rooms became bathrooms. Henry remembered more than one night spent in dressing rooms similar to this, waiting for a husband to leave a lonely wife for a night with a mistress. He smiled to himself when the thought of one such adventure that led to a close call. He glanced around the bathroom and noticed the space was all wrong. There had to be more to this room than was obvious at first glance. He touched panels and turned knobs until he finally hit a trigger mechanism and a hidden room was revealed. It was there that Henry found what he was looking for. A locked chest and shelf with cameras, computer, monitor and surveillance equipment. He tugged at the padlock that yielded to his will and fell away from the hasp and opened the metal footlocker finding the albums. Each one was marked with a name and a year. One every other year for the last ten years. Each album had one last picture in it of a dead girl lying in an open grave with the most current album having Victoria N. printed neatly on the cover. Henry found pictures of Vicki going about her business of daily, make that nightly living, for the last six months. The first picture was taken the evening Henry showed Vicki the house next to the cemetery. The last picture was taken yesterday as far as he could tell from the clothes Vicki wore. Henry put the albums back in the footlocker and set the padlock so that it looked undisturbed. He then looked at the computer and monitor but left them undisturbed until he saw prints sticking out from under the keyboard. They were of him having sex and feeding from prey. Several of the series were of Henry with men in very compromising poses. Henry's eyes blackened and his fangs grew as the vampire anger grabbed him and if Brent were in the room he would have been dead between one heartbeat and the next. Henry had never thought about how what he did might look like in someone else's eyes. He was made to face it with these pictures. This is what his Vicki had to endure every time he left her side since the first time they met. Henry tapped on the computer keyboard, found the pictures of himself under a sub file and deleted everyone one of them. He then found the camera's USB card that has his pictures and pocketed it. He double, then triple checked the computer and other cards to make certain no pictures of him remained. He left the house the way he came after making sure all finger prints and traces of himself were removed.

Vicki sat swinging while keeping her senses locked on Brent. She nodded when she heard Henry's low whistle behind Brent signaling that she was ready for the next part.

Vicki gave the swing another push, composed her face and called out, "You might as well come up on the porch. I know you're watching me."

Brent's heart leaped in his chest. He didn't think she knew of his existence, but now she was calling to him. He knew he had finally found a woman to accept him. He ran forward shouting words of love and devotion reaching for her hands.

Vicki stood up and snarled, "Can it, you little twerp and keep your hands off me. I'd rather kiss a snake."

Brent panted as he tried to grab her again. Vicki twisted and had his throat trapped in one hand. Her voice dropped a tone as she said, "It'll be better if you tell the truth when the police get here."

Brent eyes opened in fear, "What truth? Why would you call the police on the one that loves you above all others?"

Vicki looked at him in disbelief and said, "What do you take me for? A naive girl?"

Henry stepped into the light and said, "We've known about you watching us for weeks. I've been through your house. I found your pictures including the ones of me. Vicki's a retired cop, and her best friend is a private detective, and I'm, well, I'm her husband and have a few connections of my own." Henry's eyes darkened and he reached out with vampire skills.

Henry's vampire was close to tearing Brent to pieces as he said, "You dared to take pictures of me?"

Brent started trembling and whispered, "You were hurting her. She needed to know what you did."

The next thing Brent knew, he was on his knees telling Vicki all about the women he tried to make love him and when that failed, where he buried them. He talked until the police pulled into the driveway. Brent then had a sudden urge to explain everything again to the kind detective named Dave that smiled and took notes. He gave Dave the names of the women he planned on visiting after Vicki. Brent eagerly led them to his house and showed them his collection of albums. The bodies, he said, were buried in the cemetery next to Vicki's house so that he could visit his loves on a regular basis. He talked about his women being placed in newly dug graves because no one would think to look in a cemetery for bodies.

Eventually things quieted down and everyone left. Henry stood beside Vicki in the kitchen watching out the window. Vicki sighed as the last car pulled out of the driveway and said, "I'm glad that's done. Let's go to bed Henry, dawn will be here before long and I need to love you."

"Not yet, I have to show you something." Henry handed her the pictures one by one as he said, "I kept some of Brent's pictures. I destroyed the USB card they were on and made sure I erased every one of them from the computer. But you need to to see these."

Vicki listened to his words then took her time to study each picture before she lay them face down on the kitchen counter. When he had handed her the last one she tore it in quarters and stacked the quartered pieces neatly. The process was repeated with each picture while never looking at them again. When the task was complete she picked up the stack, placed it in the palm of Henry's hand and closed his fingers over them. She put her cheek next to his and let it rest there.

Henry spoke softly, "Are you going to ask me questions?"

"Nope."

"Don't you want details?"

"Nope."

"Don't you want to know when these things happened?"

"Nope." She turned and walked from the room saying, "I'm going to get ready for bed."

Henry stood with his fist closed and listened to her go to their room. He went into the living room and started a small fire in the fireplace where a short time before, they had stood and exchanged vows. When the flames crackled to life and the heat was felt, Henry sat down in front of the grate. Vampires were afraid of little, but fire was at the top of the list. Fire was one of the things that could kill a vampire. Henry had always been very careful around a live fire and tonight it was no different, but this little fire had an important job to do. It was going to burn away his past that caused Vicki pain. He took each quarter picture, studied it carefully then placed it in the heart of the flames. Each time, the little flare of bright color burned his hand. The last quarter was part of his face with his lips on the man's most private part. That too went up in flames as he watched. He doubted that he would ever feel the same about sex while feeding. He looked at his blistered hand and saw that the burns were slow to heal. He closed the fireplace doors, locked up the house and went to their room to find Vicki was in bed lying on her side facing away from the door. He got ready for his rest and slipped in beside her putting his burned hand on her hip.

Vicki felt him slip into bed and felt his hand. She glanced down at it and said, "Take some blood – you'll heal faster."

"Aren't you going to talk to me and ask questions?"

"I am talking to you and I have no questions."

He moved as close to her as he could and bit her neck as she gently wrapped her fingers around the hand with the burns and brought it up to her heart.

With evening came awareness of one's self. Henry's senses told him Vicki still held his hand to her heart. He opened his eyes and saw the dried blood on her neck and for a moment he feared that he had taken too much.

He kissed the back of her head and asked, "Are you awake?"

Vicki shifted to face him and said, "I'm always awake before you. Tonight's no different."

"It's different."

Vicki stroked the cheek of the man she had committed her life to, "I've taken those same kind of pictures as a cop, then later as a private investigator. I've shown them to young wives while they nursed their babies and older women that were planning anniversary parties. I've seen their faces and known their lives would never be the same. Their faith and trust in their partner had been broken. I felt sorry for them, but I kept digging at the truth until I got the answers I wanted while they begged me to stop." She turned her back on Henry and got out of bed. "You know, now I understand what they felt and why they begged me to stop showing them one picture after the other." She ran her hands through her hair and continued talking. "I wish I had never seen them. I close my eyes and I see... you, and it hurts."

Henry got out of bed and stood beside her, "I've never lied to you about what I am, what I do to live."

"No, you've never lied. I tried to keep you at a distance for as long as I could because I knew." She stepped back from him, "It's one thing to think you know, and quite another to see the evidence and have no doubt." She turned with eyes silver and fangs visible, "I don't want to talk of those pictures again. Ever. I want you alive, beside me and us working together to make a future. I live as vampire and do what I must to live. Do what you must to live, but it's up to you how you love and with whom." She walked into the bathroom and started filling the tub.

Henry stood looking down at his hand that still showed the scars of a severe burn. It might never look the same as it did before this evening. He came through the door she left open and said, "These old claw footed tubs are big enough for two. Scoot over, I'm joining you."

Vicki handed him a sponge and a bottle of liquid soap, "Not until you scrub my back." The water fight started as he dunked her under. She grabbed his arm and pulled him in on top of her. Laughing, sputtering and spitting out soap they got each other clean and happy.

While dressing for the evening Henry said, "We're good then?"

She studied her Henry and answered, "We're getting there."

I write the stories because I love the characters. I'm never sure at the beginning of a story where it will take me or how it will end. This is not the end of their story, not now – not yet. There's a cemetery to explore and H / V need to work on their relationship. Also whatever happened to Elemental?

Until the next time, RealTears.