Page 6 of Paying The Vampire

Cassius

“You look beautiful. The outfit certainly suits you,” I said as I turned back to my own chair, having to wrench my gaze away from her. The image of her left me agape as she descended the stairs, like an angel from heaven. Such a being would never deign to visit my castle, of course, but she was a bursting ray of light to push back against the dreary surroundings. Her hair was soft and lustrous, spilling over her shoulders and her back now that it was dry. Her shoulders were bare, the top of her chest rising in a steep slope as the dress hugged her bosom. The choker around her neck was intimate and I felt jealous of the fabric for it was caressing her soft skin. Her lips were full and pink, her eyes brightly shining with all the hope of youth. A flicker of a memory flared within my mind of a time when I was that young. That was so many years ago, however, and I was a different person then. A person who had… well… there was no point drifting away to those melancholy thoughts that night, not when I had a guest!

I took my seat again and stared at her, cursing the extravagant length of this table because I longed to be close to her and smell her sweet scent instead of it mingling with the food on the table. My words carried through the empty space of the room as she took her napkin and placed it on her lap.

“Thank you,” she said.

“I am glad you joined me. I take it you are well rested?” I asked.

“I am, yes. I didn’t know traveling would take it out of me. Does that always happen?”

I flashed her an apologetic look. “I am sorry about that. It can be disorienting for new people and I’m afraid that I forgot to take that into account. If you take as many trips as I have then you end up getting used to it. Whether that’s a good thing or not I don’t know. Anyway, I would like to propose a toast to you Willow, to thank you for joining me here,” I raised my glass and she mirrored my action. We sipped the wine. She allowed it to settle in her mouth for a few moments before she picked up her knife and fork.

“I have to admit that there are so many thoughts running through my mind at the moment I don’t quite know where to begin.”

“Well, there is plenty of time for you to ask me anything you wish. I will answer all your questions.”

“Honestly?” she asked, looking up. I chuckled.

“The wolves taught you that vampires are liars, I assume?”

“They taught me many things. I’m just trying to figure out which ones are true and which ones aren’t.”

I leaned back in my chair and allowed my fingers to dance through the air. “I prefer to think of us as a creative race. Another word for a lie is a story, after all.”

“I think that’s being rather generous,” she replied, before taking a bite. I looked at her earnestly, eager to see her reaction to the food. She cut a thick slice of meat for herself and then took a bite. After a few moments of chewing a strange look came over her face, but she brushed it away.

“So Cassius,” she said once she swallowed, “what exactly is it that keeps you here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you clearly have the ability to go anywhere you want, so why stay here? Why not find some other world that has a bit more life to it? You spoke of loneliness as if it’s something that you regret, so why do you stay here?”

I sighed and leaned forward, wiping my fingers on a napkin. I did not need to eat this food of course, but I took part in the meal to make her feel more welcome. “Because this is my home. I’m sure you can understand that, can’t you?”

She smirked. It was such a delightful way that she expressed herself. Her face was like a symphony, her features rising and falling with every word she spoke, the emotions plain and clear. I didn’t get any sense that she had a deceitful bone in her body. She was far too pure for that.

“You’re talking to a girl who just decided to leave her home and join a stranger in his castle. I don’t think I’m quite the person to understand loyalty to a place.”

“I suppose not, but then again that place never showed loyalty to you, did it?”

A shadow passed across her face. I was intrigued to know what kind of attitudes she had been subjected to, so I pressed on. “What exactly did they do to you? Why did they not make you feel welcome?”

She took another sip of wine. “They did when I was a kid, but when it came time for my wolf to reveal itself it just… didn’t. Nobody could understand why. I had to watch as my friends discovered their wolves. The last holdout was my friend Naomi, and for a time I thought that perhaps we were going to share the same affliction, but then she howled and I was left alone. I thought it might have been a matter of time, but it seems as though the moon did not bless me with an inner wolf. After that I was seen as an outcast, told that there was something wrong with me. The people I thought had been friends did not take pity on me. They went on hunts and enjoyed bonding as wolves, and since that aspect wasn’t something that I could join in with I was left behind and felt more and more ostracized by the pack.”

“And the wolf you were speaking with?” A sour look appeared on her face. She stabbed a piece of meat with a fork.

“Brandon. Yeah. Well, growing up we were close. People always assumed that we were going to end up as mates. I thought that too. He’s the son of the Alpha, so of course he would never be able to marry someone who can’t turn into a wolf. His children have to be strong and pure, and I think he wanted to prove to people that there was nothing between us so he insulted me and teased me and never failed to remind me that I did not have a wolf inside. But then again he still wants me to be his concubine. I suppose there must still be a part of him that loves me.”

“If he loved you he would never have treated you like that. He is a selfish charlatan who cannot appreciate the depth of your character.”

Willow leveled her gaze with mine. “You speak as though you know me well, but what do you know of my character?”

“I like to think I am an insightful person. I can tell that your young heart has been tortured with sorrow that it should never have felt. I know you have been searching for the elusive answers to a mystery, and that you have known loneliness. You have been robbed of the life you should have had because people were cruel to you and shunned you, and now you are trying to make sense of what is left. I can understand how you feel.”

“Did the same thing happen to you?” she asked.

I looked down at my plate of food, unsure if she had truly meant to get me to open up in this manner or if it had just been a coincidence. I took a moment to collect my thoughts, pushing away the swelling memory that wanted to flood through my mind and sweep everything before it. It was always there, no matter how many years passed, no matter how much distance I put between myself and it, and the emotions were always so fervent. If I could have ripped it out of my mind then I would have a long time ago, but it was not yet time to share it with her.