Journeys - Chapter 4

While Henry headed home, Renelle did some thinking of her own as she walked away from Queen's Park, smiling to herself. Henry was kind of cute even if he was short. When Augustus firmed up the deal for the purchase of this territory, he had told her a little about the previous owner. Her parent had also told her about the arrogant prince. Renelle thought that he had a right to be a little arrogant given he was a 'real' prince. At the time of her turning, princes were held in awe for who they were and not for how much money or the contacts they had. Renelle took a moment to remember the time of her parent's death and Henry's part in it:

By the time her parent Simon, died, she had already been driven away by his vampire territorialism. Simon had been cruel without reason, beating her continuously even while turning her, feeding and killing others without discretion all because he could get away with it. One of the ones he had killed was a friend of Henry's. When confronted by Henry, Simon lunged with fatal blows planned. Henry side stepped and Simon turned for another attack. While he tried to talk reason, Simon kept shouting obscenities and doing everything possible to kill him. Tired of trying to reason with an idiot, Henry waited for the next rush and as Simon grabbed his throat, he plunged a wooden stake into Simon's back. Renelle had heard about Henry's part in Simon's death and was relieved to know Simon's cruelty had been stopped.

A century had passed since Simon's death, and she made up her mind to work on being a friend to Henry and his lover. Times were changing and vampires could learn to tolerate each other.

Looking around she saw that she was just outside the pricey private club where she worked and set aside her thoughts so that she would be ready to earn tonight's dinner and tomorrow's rent.

Henry rolled from under Vicki's bed looked up to see her hand reaching forward. Wary of her tendency to punch first and talk second, he made ready to block her move.

She frowned as she said, "I'm not going to hit you." She followed through with her movement and plucked fuzz from Henry's hair, "See." She held up the huge gray mass, "I just saved you from a killer dust bunny."

"Why don't you clean under there?"

"If I can't see it, I don't have to clean it. Besides, cleaning is a big waste of time. The dust always comes back no matter what you do so the dust and I have come to an agreement, I don't disturb it and it doesn't bury me."

"From the look of things under the bed, you got the short end of the stick. Another year or so and you'll be buried."

"Hey Henry, you know how they say from dust to dust and ashes to ashes at funerals?"

"I'm going to regret this, but go ahead."

"I really do have someone coming and going under my bed."

Henry stood up and picked off more dust, "I'm not laughing." Then he looked at her face and broke out a huge grin, "Yeah, that was kind a funny in a sick sort of way."

He headed for the shower and Vicki stopped at the door to watch him through the frosted glass of the shower doors and said, "Tell me more about Renelle."

"She's not what I expected. She's funny, intelligent, and has a body that any man between birth and death would drool over."

"Fitzroy, you better not be drooling."

"I'm not now, but for a while there it was tough not to." He rinsed his hair and stepped out of the shower and got an evil gleam in his eye as he said, "Vicki, I'm going to introduce her to Mike. Now that's a match made in heaven."

Vicki's eyes opened wide as she got a visual, "That's just wrong." Then she smiled and said, "Ohmygod, go for it."

"The timing going to have to be just right." He stared out the window making a mental note of the idea then said, "I need to feed."

"Okay, where are we going."

Henry said while getting dressed, "We aren't going anywhere. I'm going out alone to feed."

Vicki walked out of the bedroom and turned on the TV in the living room flopped down on the couch to channel surf.

Henry came out her, kissed the top of her head and said, "I'll be back soon."

"Fine. Have a great time. Don't bother waking me up when you get back."

"Are you going to get mad every time I leave you alone?"

She hit the remote and changed channels, "Nope."

He shrugged and walked on out to his car, got behind the wheel then stared straight ahead before driving toward the part of town Renelle had allowed for him.

When Vicki heard his car leave she called a friend and sometime lover. "Are you interested in a night out and a little play time?" She waited for the answer and added, " Works for me. No commitments. Pick me up in fifteen minutes."

Vicki stood in front of her building as a late model gray car pulled up and she got in.

Henry came back first and was annoyed to see she wasn't there and he could tell from sniffing the air she had used some perfume before going out. He looked around for a note and didn't find one, so he sat in a chair facing the door planning on letting her know how angry he was that she hadn't kept him informed.

He heard the car pull up and Vicki's voice thanking the driver for the dinner and happy ending.

He heard the driver laugh back, "Any time Vicki. You're always good."

Vicki unlocked the front door and was greeted with black eyes, and a hand around her throat. "Back off Fitz-Fang."

Henry snarled through clenched teeth, "I could kill you."

"Go ahead. You think I care one way or the other? I'm not afraid of dying, and I'm not afraid of you." She pushed on by him, "Get out of my way. I want a shower and a good night's sleep."

Henry stomped behind her, "You had sex with him!"

Vicki stopped in her tracks turned and said, "Excuse me? I believe you went out to dinner and played with your food. I went out to dinner and played with my dining companion. What's the difference?"

Henry said, "You're mine."

She stepped forward, stabbing his chest with her finger, "No! I'm not yours unless you're mine. Exclusive is on both sides or neither side. It can't and won't be one way. Mr. Fitzroy, I may love you, but you don't own me unless I own you too."

Henry was being challenged and he wasn't happy. "You're going to stand there and tell me what I can and can't do?"

Vicki nodded her head, "Yes I am. Take it or leave it." This time she went into her bedroom, stripped, walked into the bathroom and slammed the door in his face. She looked in the sink placing hands on either side to keep from falling. When she was steady on her feet she turned on the shower and stepped in, washing away the smell of someone else on he body.

Henry stared at the door that had slammed in his face and he didn't like the sound of the door closing or the feel of his lover shutting him out. It hit him then, how Vicki must have felt that last night in his condo.

He shouted through the door, "Be reasonable. I need blood to live. Human emotion makes feeding more pleasurable."

Vicki shouted back, "Nowhere in those sentences was there anything about needing sex to live. So make a choice. I'll live with it. Whatever's good for you, is good for me."

"So that's it then, your way or the highway?"

"That's not what I said and you know it. Exclusive, monogamous, or open ended, hopping in and out of any bed." Vicki came out of the shower and again pushed Henry aside reaching for a sleep tee. "You get to call the shots on this relationship. However you want it. Good night. Lock up before crawling under the bed." She got into bed and closed her eyes. Her heart was pounding and her head was spinning.

Henry went around checking locks, took a quick shower and slipped into bed beside her. "You're a hardheaded woman."

"I'm an independent woman that will not ever let any man tell her what she can or can't do. If it's good for the man in my life, it's good for me. Equal in every way or get out. It's all up to you."

Henry thought of a life without Vicki in it and shook his head no. She irritated and challenged him at every turn. She also made him feel alive and he loved her. He whispered into her hair, "I want exclusive and monogamous. I have to feed from others, no choice in that, but you're right about the sex. I never want to smell another's sex on you ever again."

Vicki turned in his arms, " All right, as long as I don't smell it on you either."

"You're a hardheaded woman."

"You're a pain in the ass vampire prince."

They held on tight as the minutes ticked by. Shortly before dawn Henry said, "You haven't slept."

"I was afraid you'd sneak out."

With black eyes and lips pulled back from his fangs the vampire said, "I'm not going to sneak out. Our lives are linked and I don't turn my back on what's mine."

Vicki felt more than saw the vampire as she answered back, "I want to be vampire. You said our lives are linked and I'm joining you of my own free will, but it will be on equal footing. Henry, I love you, but I'll never be subservient to you."

"Equal in all ways, Vicki."

She looked at the over sized clock, kissed his lips and gave him a little shove toward the side of the bed, "And you can forget the territorial crap. Now get under the bed and be safe for the day."

He worked his way under the bed and pushed up on the box springs, "You take good care of yourself today and try to get some sleep. It's going to be a long night and you're going to be with me every minute."