Page 12 of Paying The Vampire
“Really?” I gasped.
He nodded slowly. “Indeed. I used to practice for hours on end in the hope of one day performing before the biggest audiences in the world. I wanted to sit on that stage and look out to the audience and know that they had traveled all this way just to come and see me play,” he let out a wistful sigh, “but now I just play for myself. The acoustics in this castle are remarkable, but the lack of audience does mar the performance somewhat.”
“You can play for me,” I said, hoping that my voice did not waver too much. I had never been in the presence of a musician before. In fact, such talents were absent from the pack, as people preferred to express their emotion in duels or other feats of strength. There was little room for creativity in the world of wolves. But here Cassius was, a renaissance man with interests in so many areas of study and it was clear he was a class above the people I had been with my entire life. Perhaps if I stayed here with him then I could cultivate these talents as well.
“It would be my honor,” he said.
“Then what are we waiting for? Which way is it to the music room?”
“You wish me to play now?”
“Why not?”
“I thought you wanted me to help you look through tomes in the library.”
“The library can wait until tomorrow. I’m still feeling a little tired from everything and I don’t really want to pore through books at the moment. Besides, it’s not every day that I meet a pianist so I want to see what you’re capable of. And I hope that it is really going to be you playing and not some spell.”
Cassius placed his hand on his heart. “I promise you that the tune will be entirely my own.”
With that we set off to the music room.
Chapter Nine
Cassius
I had not expected to show this side of myself to Willow this quickly after meeting, but I was not opposed to it. I was, however, a little apprehensive. Bringing Willow to my castle and breaking my solitude in the process had brought many new sensations to my mind, sensations that I had not felt for what seemed like an eternity. Some of these had been expected, while others took me by surprise. One such feeling was nervousness. It had been a long time since I had performed in front of anyone else and it took me back to when I was a young man still trying to make a name for myself, carrying my sheafs of sheet music with me and trying to stop them from blowing away in the wind, shuffling on stage in the hope that this time the performance would be good enough to engender some amount of desire on the part of the conductor. Disappointment followed disappointment, however. This did help to inure me against the nerves, but that was when I was a young man, a different man.
Now I did not have a conductor to impress, only Willow. I did want to make a good impression on her, however, because I wanted to show her that my soul had rich depths to it and that she was not wasting her time by being with me. I had promised to teach her and guide her and show her the rich complexities of the world, and if this performance fell flat then she might indeed see me as a dishonorable liar and would have no reason to stay.
We reached the music room, which was one of my favorite rooms in the entire castle. There were other instruments arranged around the room, such as a drum set, a guitar, a harp, a flute, an oboe and other such things. There was a time when the song of vampires would burst through the walls of this castle and soar into the air outside, giving a free concert to nature. Now there was just the lonely tinkling of the last one left.
I gestured for Willow to take a seat as I approached the piano. I swept my cloak out and descended to the stool, before opening the lid of the piano. I rested my fingers on the keys, feeling the gentle pressure it took to bring forth the sweet sounds of music. I wasn’t sure what to play for her, so I played the song that was in my heart. It was a song I had carried with me through the darkest and loneliest times, a song that had been there from the very beginning, before all this, before…
I gathered my emotions and prepared to pour them into the song. My fingers began to dance upon the keys and the doleful, dreamy melody burst forth into the air, swirling around us. I had always thought it was a kind of magic. Even before I had learned the simplest conjuration spell this was something I could forge from nothing and create a swirl of emotions in a person, moving a whole audience of people to tears. As always, I became lost in the song, my fingers moving as though carried by the tune that wanted to be played. The song was something alive, something bursting with sweet energy that needed to be released into the wild, and it was all pouring forth from my weary, wretched soul. My body lunged from one end of the piano to the other. My fingers crashed down on the keys as I lost myself to the rhythm of the ages. Memories that had nearly been forgotten were bubbling to the surface and they clutched my sallow heart, forcing me to remember all the sorrows that I had buried deep within me. So much of my soul had been sacrificed over the years, but there was still plenty left, and even now it tortured me.
I played the song to the final note. It lingered in the air and the rest was silent until it faded. I kept my eyes closed, feeling watery tears aching to slip down my cheeks. I bowed my head and surreptitiously wiped them away. When I looked up I saw that Willow was weeping as well.
“That was beautiful. Sad, but beautiful,” she said.
“Thank you.”
She rose from her seated position and walked towards a desk upon which stood sheet music. She began to flick through it.
“Is that song about anyone?”
“The original composer wrote it about a woman he loved who was taken away from him. I prefer to think of it as loss in general. You can love more things than a woman, but a lot of time things are taken away before you’re ready and this song is about that.”
“I can tell that it’s deeply personal to you. I admire your skill, but I have to admit that I would prefer something a little happier. I think it’s too easy to be sad in a place like this. Everywhere I look there’s a reminder of the way it used to be, or the people who are missing. I find it amazing how you’ve managed to keep a hold of your sanity through it all.”
“Perhaps that’s another reason why I have been looking for a companion; because I can feel that it is only a matter of time before I lose it completely,” I smiled weakly. I had intended the comment to be a joke, but it didn’t sound like one when it came out. I worried that I had made things awkward between myself and Willow. I did not want her to think of me as some eccentric old fool.
“Can you play this one? It sounds happy,” she said, drawing out a piece of music. She handed it to me and I placed it in the stand above the keys. I remembered it being the favorite of another vampire. I had not played it myself though, although it seemed a simple tune.
“I suppose I can try,” I said, and then scanned the music. I got my fingers into position and then began playing. The tune was bouncy and jolly. It was not as rich in its depth or emotion as the one I had played before, but it was certainly happier. It made me wonder if happiness was not as deep an emotion as sorrow, and whether that was a benefit or not. These thoughts were soon taken from my mind though as I was soon distracted by Willow singing along with the tune. It had taken her a few bars to get used to the tempo, but then her voice joined the piano and it gave the melody a new life. Her voice was light and soft, the words she sung were gifts to the air and once they left her mouth they fluttered like butterflies. She matched the tone of the song perfectly, and I soon found that my fingers were moving of their own accord as my eyes were drawn to her face. I watched the delight dance upon her face and I was in awe of her talent. It also made me realize how empty my piano playing had been without someone singing along, and if my heart had not already been empty it would have broken at the sight and the sound of her singing.
I had to force myself to stop playing because a part of me did not want the song to end. The more she sung the more enchanted I became, and thought that perhaps she was capable of magic after all. I became lost to her, and I did not want the spell to be broken. But like everything else this song had to come to an end, although this time the last note did not have to fade by itself, for her lilting voice also remained hanging in the air, enriching the desolate castle, reminding me what true beauty was truly like.
“What’s wrong? I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt your playing like that. I must have ruined it,” Willow chuckled nervously and backed away from the piano. I wondered if anyone had ever told her how good she had sounded.