Possibly Sam

Chapter 6

No infringement intended, nor profit sought. Respect and thanks to the creators of Moonlight. This is still a novel in progress. If you have comments to help me make it better, please take the time. If you just like it the way it is, please tell me.

Francis walked before me into Sam's bedroom. The double bed was covered with a spread. Beside it on the floor was the freezer I had slept in, the freezer Francis used during his visit. I was a little surprised when he opened it and beckoned me over. "What?" I asked. Don't think for a minute I wasn't scared of him myself, although his kindness to Josef had ameliorated that fear a little.

"Which way did you get in?"

"Huh?"

"Sam told me you panicked when you couldn't find the release latch. He heard your thoughts and it's a very good thing he did. If you had harmed Sam, I would have had to kill you. That's why he spoke to you before he opened the lid. So, tell me. Which way did you get in?" I told him my head was facing in the same direction as Sam on the bed, my feet closer to the door.

"No wonder." He chuckled. "I like to sleep facing Sam so when I wake up so I can see him without turning around. You were facing the wrong direction. The latch would have been by your feet; that's why you couldn't find it. Just so you'll know for next time, you were not locked in."

I shook my head and said, with half a smile, "I'm very glad you won't have to kill me." Most of my fear of him was gone by now, but not all of it. "If you don't mind my asking, why are we all so attracted to Sam?"

"Not all of us are, Mick. Just the special ones." Francis sat on the edge of Sam's bed. He propped up pillows behind him, backed up until he was reclining, and patted the place beside him. I didn't know if Francis could read minds like Sam, but I felt really weird about this. What did he want to do to me? It wasn't as though I could refuse him.

"Come on. We might as well be comfortable while we talk," he said. I moved onto the bed and leaned up on the pillow so I could sit. "I don't mind your asking at all. Sam is one of my favorite subjects. He's lived many lives, and if he doesn't remember them, he's gained something from each one. He has a very old soul. In almost every one of his lives, we were lovers. Sometimes, he was a man and sometimes a woman, but I always know him when I see him. I keep track of him. Whenever he dies, I wait about 20 years and begin my search again. I found him here in NY nearly two years ago."

I nodded to show I was following. I remember telling Beth that I don't categorize things into strange and not, but this was foreign to my thinking -- Hindu reincarnation, or the New Age stuff. I always scoffed at it, and here it was staring me in the face. "You don't know what he'll look like, or if he'll be a man or a woman?" I asked. I felt like I was having a conversation with a king who had kicked off his shoes and told me to be comfortable with him. Actually, Francis had kicked off his shoes, and so had I. We both wore the same kind of socks. It felt surreal.

"No. That's what makes searching for Sam so interesting. He's always loved music. I spend a lot of my nights in concert halls. This time I found him in a jazz club in Greenwich Village. Some century it might be a bar on Mars. I don't interfere with his lives, but when we find each other, we know it. As to why you were attracted to him, you needed each other. Besides, Sam is beautiful in every way a man can be beautiful, body and soul. We're attracted to beauty. Sam was put on this earth to do good things. He's a Mohawk shaman in this life. Someday, I think he'll embrace his roots and go back to his reservation. He'll probably marry and have children. I'll still visit him and he'll always welcome me. He thinks he might enjoy being one of us, but I doubt it. I believe he's going to live a long and happy life, this time."

He paused, but he didn't share his thoughts. I gathered there must have been short, unhappy lives as well. "Sam's music called to you because your soul was yearning for acceptance and peace. He felt that. You found what you needed with him and learned something about yourself. You helped his family as well." There was no hint of jealousy. I supposed after the first thousand years, you matured past such foolish emotions.

"I'd like to ask another question else, if it's all right," I said. When he nodded permission for me to go on, I said, "I don't understand why what Josef did was wrong. I mean I know it didn't work, but that was a failure, not a crime. Why was Josef so afraid you were going to punish him?"

"There have been laws in the past about making new vampires. Permission must be requested and granted from the head of the family. Those laws aren't enforced much any more, but he knew I was old and I might be a stickler about them." He shook his head and smiled. "The rules are much more recent than I am."

"My wife got in trouble with her family for turning me so I guess the rules are still enforced sometimes. Less than a year ago, I fell in love with a human. I might want to turn her someday, but only if she agrees. Do I need permission?"

Francis jerked his head toward the living room. "Do you think Josef would say no?"

He wasn't expecting an answer, but I had to smile. Not if Josef knew what was good for him if Beth said yes. I wondered aloud what Sam was doing with Josef in there. I heard a guitar playing for a short while. "They're talking. Music always helps, doesn't it?" He didn't wait for my reply. "Since we're going to leave them alone a while longer, we have something else to discuss. I know everything that happened between you. Sam told you that on the phone." I nodded. "He told me you were turned without warning and were given no choice in the matter."

"That's right." I didn't like to talk about it. "By my wife on our wedding night."

"That may be why you have trouble controlling the bloodlust when you feed. Sam said you were afraid to let him give you blood; you feared that you might kill him. He had to judge for you when you'd taken enough."

I inhaled and blew out a long breath, unnecessarily I know, but I was trying to collect myself. It was very uncomfortable for me to discuss my weakness, but I had no choice. Sorry, your majesty, that's private, wasn't going to cut it with Francis.

"I think my wife had the same kind of weakness. When she was caught up in the passion of taking blood, she'd forget to stop. Most times, it didn't matter to her, but that was why she killed me so fast that night. It must have been the bloodlust. I hate having to kill to survive. It's wrong. We aren't together anymore."

Francis put a consoling hand on my arm. I felt the waves of power that flowed from him, but his hand was gentle. So was his voice. "She isn't your sire now either; she's been replaced in your mind and your heart, but most especially, in your blood. You're connected to Josef." I supposed he must have sensed that, because I hadn't had a chance to tell Sam about my week on the sunny side of life, or how Josef brought me back. "Your first sire's weakness no longer affects you. Josef has great control; doesn't he?"

"He does." I thought of the plane and the numerous other times I'd seen him feed.

"Because he does, you do. You don't have to be afraid any more."

"Really?" I covered my mouth with my hands wishing I could take back the word. I hadn't meant to be rude.

"Really. We'll prove it tonight. I think they're done in there." He rose gracefully from the bed and I followed him into the living room. I found the guitar on the floor. Josef and Sam were both on their knees facing each other. They were leaning towards each other, taking support from each other. Their cheeks were touching, and their arms were resting on each other's backs. They might have been in a trance or doing some kind of religious thing. Sam's face looked peaceful and so did Josef's. In fact, he was smiling.

"Wake up, kids," Francis said. "We're going clubbing." They pulled apart to look at us. For the first time since I can remember, Josef looked truly guilt-free and happy.