Possibly Sam

Chapter 5

No copyright infringement is intended by this story. No money will be made and highest respect is paid to characters I borrowed and the authors who created them.

Josef parked his rented Porsche in the visitors' section of the parking garage and we walked into Sam's building. It was a genteel Greenwich Village apartment, either classic chic or urban renewal chic - I couldn't tell the difference. The lobby was lit with golden with wall sconces against stonewall finishing. There was a fireplace and fancy upholstered chairs and couches. Since it was April, instead of flames, the fireplace held large Chinese-looking urns filled with bunches of lilacs. The place reminded me of a 1930s Hollywood movie set starring Frederick March and Veronica Lake, or maybe Jean Harlow, one of Josef's celebrity girlfriends. She was one of my favorite actresses when I was a sub-teen. Who knew she used to fool around with a vampire?

My memories of the 1930s were far different than Josef's. To me, everything was a little shabby, a little run down. Stores closed. People lost their houses. To those of us who lived through it, the Great Depression seemed like it never end. Kids like me who grew up then were in their 80s now. So was I, but I couldn't walk up to one of them to reminisce. They'd take me for one of their grandsons. My parents already owned a paid-for house and car by 1929. My friends and I just thought everyone was poor after Black Friday. Vacations didn't happen anymore and we amused ourselves with stickball and marbles. Kids of today can't imagine what that was like, but who knows. Bad times may be coming back.

This was the kind of building Josef might have lived in then, waiting in luxury for the Stock Market to correct itself. I didn't remember much from my first visit to Sam's. Like Josef said, I had been enthralled. I found Sam's music, his beauty and his voice irresistible. Before we buzzed him, I strolled around the lobby to get a feel for the place where he lived when he wasn't at the reservation. The urns and the furniture were either chained down or bolted. "I'll bet they didn't have to bolt things down when this building was new," I said.

"You'd lose the bet," Josef replied. "You think we didn't have thieves in the 1920s? The 30's were even worse with so many people out of work. Thievery became nearly a respected profession. Good thing the Second World War came along to end the Depression. The unemployed went off to war." That would have been me, but I didn't say so to Josef. He was just ranting because he was nervous.

"My mother said Roosevelt ended the Depression."

"That socialist?" I didn't want to encourage him. We had to see this through. Josef was looking procrastinating, peering into the fireplace and through the glass doors. "There used to be a doorman here, and an elevator operator, besides the super to shovel the coal, fix the plumbing and keep on eye on things. Now, it's a condo. There's no one to check up except the people who live here. If they notice anything out of place, they email a superintendent. At least the building still looks good."

I had to ask. "You've been here before?"

"In the 1920s, I lived a few blocks away. I used to come play poker here with a couple of buddies. By the '30s, I owned the house in Hollywood Hills. In 1953, I came back here to work on the New York Stock Exchange. I met Sarah two years later."

"I wondered where you'd gone or if I'd see you again. I didn't know about Sarah until January." His young-looking face turned solemn as it did whenever her name was said. He was probably upset that I ever learned about her, but if I hadn't, Josef would dead - not undead. The assassin Sarah's father hired to kill him for stealing away his daughter would have kept trying. Fire and a stake weren't enough. He would have to detach Josef's head from his body. Josef refused to defend himself and eventually, the assassin would have succeeded.

I found Sam's name on the Directory and pressed the intercom button. His voice came on so quickly; he must have been waiting. "Mick?" he asked.

"Yes. We're here."

"We'll come down and get you. Give me a minute."

"We?" Josef's voice was hardly a whisper.

I saw Sam step out of the elevator behind the glass doors. A dark, curly haired man was just behind him. Sam was about five feet, ten or eleven. This man was a good four inches shorter. If Francis were really as old as Sam indicated, he would have been taller than average then. He could have passed for 35. He was pleasant looking, not a man you'd pick out of a crowd, but for his dark penetrating eyes. "Francis," I whispered to Josef. "It must be him."

Josef did not change expressions, but I felt his anxiety. Although he claimed not to be my sire, at my request, he took my temporary human life and fed me his blood to bring me back. Our blood bond was stronger than most, compounded by our friendship. I sent him a wave of support. I did not think Francis would endanger a friend of Sam's. Sam knew that Josef was important to me. As far as I could tell, there was no reason for conflict between them, so why was Josef so scared?

Sam approached me with the open smile that won me over the first time we met. I'm not a touchy feely kind of person, but a moment later, we were hugging. "It is so good to see you again." We said it at the same time, and laughed.

"Sam. Meet my friend Josef," I said. Josef offered his hand and Sam took it. "Mick's told me a lot about you," Sam said. "I hope you don't mind."

"He's told me a lot about you too," Josef said. That left a lot unsaid but there would be time to sort it out later.

Sam gestured to the man beside him. "This is my friend Francis. Francis, meet Mick St. John and Josef."

"Kostan," Josef said, supplying his last name. He felt intimidated by Francis. I should have been more intimidated since I was the youngest, but I never considered myself to be more than a kid to an elder. Josef was used to deference and respect. His world was shaken by the fact that another immortal, ten times his own age, was standing a few feet away from him.

Francis gave us both a small bow, very continental. Josef returned it. I just nodded. The only continent I knew was North America, not counting my introduction to Europe in World War II, one I wished I could forget. "Mr. Josef Kostan and Mr. Mick Saint John," Francis said. His voice was as musical as Sam's. He met Sam at the Vanguard too. Sam is a vampire magnet, but he knew how to hold his own with us. Most guys would have run screaming into the night rather than exchange pleasantries with three vampires, one nearly as old as Noah.

"We know your first name," said Josef boldly, "but not your family name."

Francis looked around. It was 1:30 in the morning. No one was there but us. "It hardly matters since I change it every few decades," he said. "It's Radu at the present time. Shall we go upstairs?" Josef nodded and we headed for the elevator. We knew each other's age by scent. The vampire hierarchy for respect was based on the power that comes with age. Sam was right. Francis Radu was very old. I was prepared to believe he walked with the pharaohs.

"We won't stand on ceremony, Josef," Francis said when Josef stood aside to let Francis enter the apartment first.

"As you wish." Josef said, but he waited for Francis to precede him inside. They were being as formal as possible. I didn't know how Josef was going to tell Sam why we had come with Francis there. I began to suspect if Francis deemed Josef's failure with Sarah a crime against the Vampire Nation, he could punish my friend and sire severely. It came down to a test as to how much Josef wanted to do what was right for Sarah. I never knew Josef to be a coward, but I never knew him to be this frightened.

Sam led us into his living room. There were drums and guitars on stands. I remembered this room crowded with Sam's musician friends, and playing until dawn. Sam and Francis took chairs opposite the couch, leaving us to sit side by side.

We looked at each other, not speaking. Since I instigated this visit, I wondered if I should explain. I looked at Josef and raised one brow in question. Francis was elder to all vampires as far as I could tell, but Josef was my direct elder and my sire. Josef shook his head slightly. It was for him to speak.

"I'll explain why we came," Josef said. We gave him our attention. I knew what it cost him to put himself forward, frightened of Francis as he was.

"Sam, thank you for letting us come and offering to do all you can, even though you didn't know what we would ask of you. I know it's because of Mick that you said you would try to help. I understand your affection for him. You did him a lot of good when he visited you. If you're ever in Los Angeles, under any circumstances, alive or undead, if I'll still living there, you'll be welcome and under my protection."

"Thanks," Sam said looking to me quickly and then back. "What's this about?"

"Mick couldn't say over the phone. He knows our secrecy must be maintained. I'm the one requesting this favor, not Mick." Francis's eyes never left Josef's face.

Josef directed his next words to Francis. "You're my elder. You're probably an elder to all of us. When I tell you what I did, you may decide I'm not worthy. You may chose to kill or punish me for my failure and that's your right." For the first time, I understood why Josef was so frightened. "Whatever you decide, I will accept it. If there was a chance Sam might have helped my Sarah, and I don't ask, I won't be able to live with myself anyway." Francis sat so still, he might have been a statue, but for his intense gaze. He motioned with one hand for Josef to continue.

"I fell in love with a human. She wanted me to turn her. I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted. She wouldn't give up and, like I said, I loved her. I tried to bring her over. I did everything that worked in the past, but she didn't come out of her death sleep. She got stuck in between. She hasn't aged, but she's been in a coma since 1955." Silent tears poured down his cheeks and he ignored them. "If there's any chance Sam can reach her soul, to get her to tell me what she wants me to do, I ask, no, I plead with him to try it. No matter what the cost to me, money or anything else, I have to ask. Mick told me what he did with him on the reservation with the exchange of blood – how both Sam's shaman senses and Mick's powers increased. I hoped he would do that for me, so I could talk to Sarah's soul and hear her. If what I did is worthy of death, I'm ready, but don't punish Sarah for what I did. It's my fault and my fault alone. Don't punish her."

I felt my friend's agony. Josef bit his lip until the blood came. He licked it way and turned his pained eyes to the wall for a long moment. When he had collected himself, he looked to Francis, not Sam. He waited like a supplicant before a king, for his verdict. In the old days, he might have knelt.

Except for a quick look to Sam, I couldn't take my eyes off the elder vampire. Although Sam and I were no longer linked, I felt his sympathy and his warmth. It's part of what drew me to him. I turned again to Francis, waiting like Josef, for what he would say to my friend.

"It happens sometimes," Francis said softly, "that a human can't be brought over. I don't blame you." Although we don't have to breathe, I heard Josef's sigh of relief. "Maybe, if we approach this together, we'll be able to do something for her."

Josef lowered his head. "Thank you," he said.

"Everyone knows age gives power," Francis said, speaking to all of us. "I would hope it gives us a little wisdom as well and maybe some compassion. I would never blame Sarah." Now he spoke directly to Josef. "It wasn't your failure; it was a failure of Sarah's blood to be able to change completely. It was fate and none of us can escape that. If you blamed anyone but yourself, you didn't love her enough. You were man enough to confess your wrongs and take responsibility. If you hadn't, I don't know if I'd want to help you, but I do. You've suffered for a long time." He rose. "Mick, come with me. Sam, do what you can to comfort Josef while we think what to do next."