Page 18 of Paying The Vampire
“I’m glad to hear it, but all I really want is for you to be honest with me Cassius, in all things, and I hope that you would expect and welcome the same from me.”
“Of course Willow,” I replied. She dropped her tone and dipped her head and I was drawn to her beauty. She wore a different outfit than before. This one did not reveal as much of her plunging cleavage, but it was still enough to draw my attention. In truth it was hard to take my gaze off her eyes, which sparkled with all the beauty of a jewel.
“Then I want you to know something Cassius. I don’t need these feasts or these grand gestures. I appreciate what you are doing here, but you have already made me feel welcome. I do not want illusions with you. I only want the truth. If you wanted me to join you on this courtyard then all you needed to do was ask.” She turned slowly and swayed her hips as she walked back to the wall, leaning out to gaze at the horizon. Somehow I felt as though I had made a misjudgment somewhere, but I was not sure where. In my years of solitude I had forgotten how confusing it could be to have a companion, especially one as intoxicating as Willow.
With a swipe of my finger I dispelled the illusion and the feast returned to its normal ingredients. I went again to stand with Willow.
“Tell me a story Cassius,” she said.
“What kind of story?”
“A story from your past. You have lived so many lives there must be something that you can tell me, something that perhaps few have heard. I would like to know a story about someone interesting, someone the rest of the world has forgotten.”
I nodded solemnly. And then I started speaking. She was right in that there were countless stories of countless people that were all locked in my mind. I was like a treasure chest filled with stories of the past, of people who were otherwise forgotten. In the end I was the key to their immortality, for these people only lived on in my mind. Even their graves would by now be covered in moss, the etchings eroded by the weather, their loved ones all dead so nobody visited their graves. I told her about a man who had given everything for his daughter, only to see her take her own life when another man did not return her love. I told her about a mother who survived the death of one child after another, eventually raising one healthy child after a dozen deaths, and giving all the love she had to that one child. I told her about a man who sacrificed everything for fame and fortune, and ended up dying alone when there was so much life left within him. I told her about people who were mourned for years after their deaths by strangers, and by those who were remembered by their families. I told her of triumphs and glories and failures, and all the people met the same fate in the end.
They were all dead.
And I bore witness to them all.
By the time I finished speaking Willow turned towards me. There was a sad expression in her eyes.
“You’ve seen so much Cassius. How do you cope with it all? How do you not let yourself fall into complete misery?” she asked.
I shrugged. “It is the way of the vampire. We are taught when we are given our new lives that this is a burden we must bear. In fact there are many burdens, perhaps too many. I’m sure there are the same kind of stories within your pack. Werewolves do have a longer lifespan than normal humans, do they not?”
Willow nodded. “Yes, but never as long as this.”
“Perhaps that is because werewolves seek combat,” I joked. She smiled, and this, I could tell, was genuine.
“Maybe, but nobody ever lives that long. I don’t think anyone ever would. We pride ourselves on the pack and I think the strength of wolves is that we can change our Alphas as they grow old and die. It helps keep things fresh. If we kept the same leader in charge for decades, perhaps even centuries, then there would be a lack of new ideas and the pack would grow stale. We need to reinvent ourselves and find new ideas, to have the pack flush with new energy and new attitudes. We are creatures of momentum. If we stay still, we die.”
“Unlike vampires then. We are frozen in time,” I admitted with a heavy sigh.
I had grown tired of talking. I regretted wanting to leave her company, but I had spent so much time alone that being with her took a lot out of me. I retreated to my chambers and left her alone for the night, although I would see her again tomorrow. Perhaps then she would not have so many questions.
Chapter Fourteen
Willow
I watched him leave. I remained on the edge of the courtyard, turning my gaze back to the world around me. The drop below me was sheer and the abyss pulled at me. It was all I could do to remain rooted to this spot. Cassius had spoken of this world being a place of beauty once, but I found it difficult to imagine there being lush forests and wet lakes when it was so skeletal and abandoned. Cassius had been abandoned too, at least he was acting that way. I had tried to coax the truth out of him, but perhaps it had been naïve of me to think that I could have trapped him like that. He had been around for far longer than me, and was no doubt aware of all the tricks people could employ to get to the truth. He had not given me anything about Clea or any indication to what she might have been referring when she said that he was lying.
If I was going to find out the truth then I was going to have to do it by myself, and somehow I was going to have to find her. But as much as I feared Cassius, I was still drawn to pity him. The stories he told me of all the different people he had known… it was so sad. He had stood there as a silent witness to it all, watching people live and die over and over again. I couldn’t imagine the kind of toll it would take upon a person. It was amazing how he could even rise to meet the day. I think I would just want to curl up and shut everything away if I was faced with all of that. I was still wary of him, but that didn’t mean I could not respect him.
He never asked to be a vampire after all. He was given a terrible choice and he wasn’t told what life would be like. It was strange to think that if he had not chosen a chance at infamy then I would not be here now. He would have shrugged off mortality and sloughed into the nether realm like all the other mortals. All it took was one decision to change the entire direction of a life. Perhaps mine would be the same, and that decision was to have come with Cassius. I was beginning to wonder what life would have been like had I stayed with my pack. Were they wondering where I had gone? Were they going to try and find me? Or did they celebrate my leaving?
I thought it was most likely to be the latter.
Oh Cassius… what are you hiding from me? Was he trying to protect me, or was there something he was keeping from me? I was his guest and I did not wish to be rude, but my very life could depend on it, and I was not about to ignore the warning that Clea had left for me. I knew little of her, but clearly she knew that Cassius would have another companion one day, and she had made the effort to hide a warning in this vast castle. The least I could do was listen.
*
I returned to my chamber where I had stored the books. I changed into my nightwear and lit a candle. The flames danced and flickered. I rubbed my eyes and blinked widely, not wishing to sleep yet. I had much reading to do. I pored through the tomes, straining to read the faded ink in the slalomed, styled writing that was so alien to what I was familiar with. Eventually I found what I was looking for. I wanted to find a way to locate someone and speak with them. I found a spell, which wasn’t useful as I did not have access to magic. I wasn’t sure if this was something that could be learned, or if it was just innate, but that wasn’t important because the author of this book had helpfully included some artefacts that could replicate the effects of a spell for those who did not possess the capability to conjure such arcane talents.
All I needed was a crystal orb, some magical ingredients, and the name of the person I wanted to contact. It seemed simpler than I thought it would be, but when I thought about it, it was just like having a recipe.
The problem was going to be gathering the resources I needed. I knew they would be in the castle for they seemed rudimentary, and this place was such a repository for artefacts, but I did not want Cassius to know what I was doing. If he found out then he might be angry, and although he had sworn to protect me I had to remember what vampires were capable of. He did not need sleep, or at least not the same kind of sleep that I did. He prowled the castle, his kingdom, and was ever watchful. What hope did I have of slipping past him?
Had Clea managed to do just that?