The Stirrings of a Cold Heart Ch. 17

When night fell again, all appeared to be right with the world. Both lovers were exhausted from their day of lustful exertions, but it was nothing that couldn't be cured with a meal of blood. Aidan was in high expectation as she sat having her hair done by her lady's maid. They were going to try and go to the British museum again. A night's delay would undoubtedly cost Erik twice as much in bribes, but money was nothing to him and if it made his lady happy then it was worth it. The vampire would have preferred to spend the night in bed engaging in carnal pursuits, but there would be time for that later.

'Le Coeur Noir' had dressed and was fastening the cuffs of his sleeves when there was a modest knock on the door. Erik called out for whomever it was to come in and the door opened. Mrs. Aimery stepped in apologizing for the interruption then held out an envelope to the vampire which he took and opened. The lady's maid smiled and curtsied to her mistress then exited the room. The young woman may have liked Aidan, but it was obvious that the housekeeper did not share her feelings. The older woman glanced in the direction of Aidan with a disapproving look, but said nothing. Since moving in, Aidan seldom saw the housekeeper but when she did it was clear that the older woman saw her as something less than a lady. Erik had seen her looks before and attributed them to the rigid beliefs of current society. He had assumed that she would get over it since he paid her so well, but she hadn't.

"If you have an issue with how I conduct my household, Mrs. Aimery, then you are free to seek employment elsewhere," he said, without looking up from the message he was reading. He knew that there were no households paying their servants what he paid and she would have to be a damned fool to throw it away. "I am sure I can find someone to replace you who will be just as efficient and will treat the lady of the house with as much respect as would be given to Her Majesty the Queen."

"Forgive me sir," the housekeeper hastily said. Her face immediately became contrite as she turned to Aidan. "Forgive me, my lady, I didn't mean to offend." With a quick bow and curtsy Mrs. Aimery left the room.

"You can't force someone to respect me," Aidan commented.

"No, but I pay her well enough to keep her opinions to herself. You are not some harlot bought off the street for a quick poke. You are the mistress of this house and she will treat you as such." He finished reading the message then held it to the lamplight allowing it to catch fire. He let it burn until he was certain whatever was on the message could no longer be read then extinguished the flame and tossed the paper into the dust bin. "It seems I have some unexpected business to take care of tonight, but it will be quick and then we can go to the museum." The red-headed beauty smiled at the idea as the vampire put on his dress coat.

Aidan may have moved on from their conversation the night before, but Erik still remembered it vividly. Rabon had already attempted to poison his lady against him using the truth and then there was Madriakshi's attempt at seduction. He didn't know what sort of game the two were playing, but he was certain it would be best if he and Aidan left the country. The question was whether she would want to go. London was all she had ever known and for someone as young as her it can be a frightening thing to step out into the world. Knowing they were going to the museum he thought that might be the best time to bring up the subject. Unfortunately Aidan had already sensed that something was up and didn't hesitate to question him.

"Something is on your mind. What is it?"

This was not the moment he would have chosen to discuss the matter, but it seemed their bond had already decided for him. With uncharacteristic timidity, he hesitated a moment, wanting to choose his words carefully. Finally he decided to simply lay it all out rather than beat about the bush and let his thoughts give it away.

"I was thinking about the two of us leaving London," he answered. "We can go wherever you want."

Aidan turned and looked at him in surprise, then to his relief, leaping to her feet she grinned and threw her arms around him. She knew exactly where she wanted to go and wasted no time telling him. She wanted to go to Greece and see where he came from. Erik could think of nothing particularly interesting about that place and even doubted that the town he had once lived in even existed. Still, if she wanted to go then he would take her. He would show her the remains of famous temples and tell her stories about his mortal youth, but for now it was time to feed.

After promising to meet at the museum in two hours the two lovers parted for their favorite feeding grounds. As was always the case Aidan chose a hospital, but finding no one close to death she chose to take only a little sustenance from a few patients and leave them in peace. Afterward she gave some bread and money to a poor prostitute desperate for food and shelter. Aidan started to turn in the direction of the museum when a woman's voice caught her attention.

"Well, if it's not the current mistress of 'Le Coeur Noir'." Standing a short way off was Madirakshi, a half smile playing on her pretty lips. Aidan turned and started to walk the other way. This woman was trouble and she wanted nothing to do with her. The exotic beauty was not about to be ignored and in the flash of an instant was standing in front her. "My my, aren't you in a hurry tonight."

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to get to know you," she explained, feigning interest. "There are not many females of our species, so I think it would be in our best interest if we were friends. Don't you agree?" Aidan didn't answer. She didn't trust this woman and had no interest in being friends with her. "Besides, we have a lot in common. We're both beautiful and we've both had our way with 'Le Coeur Noir'."

"Don't call him that. That's not who he is," Aidan snapped, annoyed by this woman's presumption. Madirakshi burst out laughing at the sheer naivety of this woman. Of course that was who he was and everyone knew it.

"Far be it for me to correct you, dear, but your lover is probably one of the most lethal creatures to ever walk the face of the earth. He earned that name and wears it as a badge of honor."

"I don't believe you," the red-haired beauty responded defiantly.

"Come with me and I will prove it to you," the vampiress suggested. "Unless you're afraid."

"Of course I'm not afraid."

"Good."

Madirakshi led Aidan down a number of streets until they reached the edge of the river Thames. The former soprano began to sense that her lover was nearby and quickly blocked him from her mind and emotions. If he knew she was there then he might act differently and she wanted to prove that Erik was not the creature this woman claimed he was. The vampiress led her rival to a warehouse and together they hid in the shadows. After a few moments 'Le Coeur Noir' appeared as well as another man. The vampire had already closed off their link as he did every night when he was conducting his 'business' making Aidan all the more doubtful of her previous assertions. The stranger was a human and very well dressed sporting an ebony and silver walking stick and clicked against the cobblestones. He approached the vampire then looked about to make sure they were not being observed.

"I received your message," Erik said, his whispered voice almost blending in with the sound of the river.

"You came highly recommended, but I still have my doubts."

"If you believe I am not capable of satisfying your requests then you are welcome to seek out someone else." Erik started to turn and leave, but the man quickly called him back.

"'Le Coeur Noir' is a name with a reputation I cannot ignore. Are you certain you have the stomach to kill an eight-year-old?" At these words, Aidan sucked in a breath. Of course he couldn't, he wouldn't, she thought to herself. This child was not much older than she had been when she first met him.

"More importantly, do you?" The vampire sniffed. He had murdered children before and another made no difference to him.

"It has to happen. If he dies then my son will inherit the family estate and fortune."

"The question is how much are you willing to pay?" Erik answered. The man reached into his coat pocket and took out a leather satchel and handed it to the vampire. 'Le Coeur Noir' opened it and took out a handful of gold coins. He reached in again and pulled out a ring and a few other costly pieces of jewelry. "Consider it done. How soon do you want it to happen?"

"Tonight. He already has a fever so if he were to die in the night, no one would suspect a thing." the man answered. He then handed Erik a scrap of paper with the address and explaining that the child's window was on the Northwest corner of the second story. His final request was that the paper should be burned once it had all been carried out. This, or course, the vampire would do anyway.

Erik nodded then told the man he would be there. The man tipped his hat then hastily made his way back to the carriage. He didn't see that Erik was following him in the guise of smoke, nor that he remained behind him all the way back to his home. The vampire made note of it just in case things did not go as planned then immediately flew to the address on the paper. Aidan and Madirakshi followed as well, careful to stay hidden. The two vampiresses had traveled as vapor as well, rematerializing in a nearby alley when they saw Erik rematerialize before an elegant home in the most fashionable part of London then move around to the backside of the building. Aidan's heart was pounding and she kept telling herself that he wouldn't do it, that he couldn't do it.

She watched him climb the building like a spider then slip inside. Immediately she flew up there and peered in herself just in time to see Erik pull back the blankets on the sleeping child. Normally there would be no thought, no hesitation of any kind, but for a moment Erik found himself wondering why he was doing this. He didn't need the money and the desire for blood and to hurt humanity had softened over the last year. Even so, he still could not feel any sense of compassion towards mortals and of course blood was blood and a deal was a deal. He could not break it.

Aidan wanted desperately to know what he was thinking but she couldn't feel him and there was no emotion on his face. This boy had the brightest of futures to look forward to and all of it was about to be taken away and her lover didn't even seem to care about what he was doing. He felt nothing, no pity, no compassion for the life he was about to take. His eyes changed to a hungry green then his fangs began to lengthen. Suddenly she could remember Rabon's story about the two little princes in the tower and Aidan screamed a loud NO, shattering the stillness of the quiet house and rousing everyone.

Instantly Erik caught hold of her and the two quickly landed on the street outside of the dwelling then ducked into an alley nearby. Aidan could only stare at her lover in disbelief. The vampire stared back at her unsure of what to say after what she had just witnessed. She was never supposed to see that side of him. 'The Dark Heart' had been who he was for countless ages before this woman had ever been born. He had never cared about humanity and he still really didn't. The only thing that had changed in him was that since knowing her, he no longer felt a driving force to actively destroy as many lives as possible. His insatiable bloodlust was stilled in her presence and if she turned away from him now and hated him, what would happen?

Desperately Erik looked into her eyes hoping for a sign that she still loved him, that nothing between them had changed, but all he saw was pain and disappointment. Even worse, he could see tears of blood starting to well up in her eyes and roll down her face. It was clear that the Erik Ambrose she had known never existed and this 'Le Coeur Noir' was a complete stranger to her and she didn't like what she was seeing. He started to reach for her, hoping that he could explain, but she stepped back and shook her head before vanishing into smoke and disappearing into the night. It was then that Madirakshi stepped out from her hiding place.

"Oh dear, I guess she didn't know the real you at all." she said, feigning concern and doing a poor job at it. "I wonder if she will get over it and accept 'The Dark Heart'?" she approached Erik, her hands reaching out to embrace him. "Let her go. She is a waste of your time." His eyes turned red as he realized who had set up this entire situation. With a low threatening growl he took hold of the vampiress, everything in his screaming to rip out her throat. Ignoring his impulse he pushed her aside then vanished into smoke himself. He would take care of Madirakshi, make no mistake about that, but he had to find Aidan and try to make amends first. The vampiress just smiled as Rabon suddenly landed on the street and walked over to her.

"Looks like our plan is working," he laughed.

"Yes it is."

Aidan rematerialized and looked about her surroundings. She was positioned on the street between Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster. This was a part of London she had never traveled through before. She really didn't know where to go or what to do. She longed to talk to someone, but there was no one in the world who could possibly understand what she was feeling or going through. Perhaps it was because she was desperate or because she knew Erik would never step foot in such a holy place, but Aidan found herself walking up the Abbey steps then through the giant heavy wood doors. She was no longer blocking her thoughts or emotions, she didn't have the energy to try.

She started to walk down the nave, but stopped realizing that she no longer belonged in such a holy place either. Her bright amethyst eyes looked about her at the beautiful gothic architecture. The tall carved stone pillars that held up the elegant high arched ceiling and dwarfed the wooden chairs stationed below. She marveled at the polished floor beneath her feet that reflected every color and detail of its surroundings except for her. She remembered her mother telling her that all God's creatures were welcome in his house, but she was not God's creature anymore. Every column and flying buttress seemed to whisper 'the damned have no place within these walls. Humbled, she fell to her knees and began to pray.

"Confiteor Beatae Mariae semper Virgini et tibi Pater Deo Quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opera. Non confundar in aeternum. Libeta me Domine de morte aeterna. [ I confess to the blessed Mary ever virgin and to you father God that I have sinned in thought, in word and deed. Let me not be damned for eternity. Free me, Lord, from everlasting death.]" Her words were honest and heart-felt, yet even as she spoke she knew the answer. "There is no salvation for me." She sighed.

"I wish that were possible." said a familiar voice. Aidan turned and saw Alex standing in the doorway watching her sadly. Oh why did he have to show up here, she thought to herself. She felt lost enough without this man staring at her in judgment. "Are you troubled?" he asked, noticing the red tear streaks down her face.

"It is possible," she responded, rising and walking over to him. "You said you were a hunter."

"Yes," he answered, hesitantly.

"Then you can kill me. You have the power to save my soul." Her eyes were wild at the suggestion and she clutched his arm pleadingly.

"No I don't. I have the power to kill you, but no control over the condition of your soul and where it will spend eternity." Her face dropped in disappointment and she turned away walking further up the nave. Alex couldn't imagine what could have happened to make her so unhappy. Normally if he met a vampire who wanted death he would gladly supply it, but for some reason, thought of harming even a hair on this woman's head seemed a terrible sin. "If you wish to talk, I will be glad to listen."

"What is there to talk about? I learned tonight that everything I ever thought or believed was a lie.

"Does this have anything to do with your master?" he asked. When they had spoken before she had protected his identity, but now he wondered if she hadn't discovered the truth. This would be a hard blow for any woman of her moral character. It would be doubly so if her master was who Alex believed he was.

"He has certainly made me question some of the things I thought I knew," Aidan sat down in one of the chairs and stared off in the distance towards the altar. "We've talked before but you have never really told me anything about yourself."

"Not much to tell."

"Of course there is." She glanced back at him as he took up a seat right behind her. "How did you become a hunter?"

I was traveling to Jerusalem with goods to sell. As I slept along the road one night a vampire attacked me. I was saved because a holy man happened to be passing by and taking up some water he blessed it and gave it to me to drink. If he had not done that then I would have crossed over just like you."

"You were fortunate then."

"I don't know about that. I had to watch everyone I ever cared about grow old and die while I continued to live. Aging at an impossibly slow pace."

"Have you ever been happy?"

"I haven't exactly been unhappy, but I wouldn't say I have had a fulfilling life." He leaned forward and looked at the red streaks of blood trailing from her eyes. "When was the last time you were happy?"

"I thought I was when I awoke this evening, but now . . ." her voice trailed off. The truth was that now she was anything but happy. The man she had loved and shared a bed with seemed a stranger in so many ways and worse it had left her unsure of who she was. Once she had been Aidan Cathal, a young hopeful singer with dreams of marriage and children. That woman had died almost a year ago. For a while she had been content to be Aidan Ambrose, but now she realized that that person had never really existed. All this time she had been a mere shadow following her master and learning the ways of the vampire while being his lover during the day. "I'm not sure I know how to be happy anymore."

"If any of your kind can be, then it's you. I have found you to have more heart and more grounding than any vampire I have ever met. That you should know what you are about so soon after crossing over amazes me."

"Do I?" she asked, fresh red tears filling her eyes. "Because I have no idea what I'm about. There are some who claim to know me. To them I am la belle dame sans merci, Leanan-Sidhe, nosferatu and they call to me from their sick-beds, 'Death . . . come and end my pain.' Every night I hear them call and every night I answer and satisfy my hunger." Her words were bitter as she spoke. "Now I wonder, am I death? am I still Aidan Cathal . . . or am I just another 'dark heart' feeling nothing as I take a life." Looking down at the floor she noticed a set of rosary beads lying on the floor that had a silver crucifix hanging from it. No doubt someone had dropped it as they were leaving. Perhaps she was trying to prove to herself which side of heaven she was on, but she reached down and picked up the holy string of beads. As soon as she clasped it in her hand the object seared itself into her flesh causing her to hiss and toss it to the hunter. .

"You haven't asked for my advice, but I am going to give it to you anyway. I think you need to figure out who you are. Decide for yourself how you want to live and what you want to believe. You have always followed someone else's lead and now it is time for you to choose your path. Don't worry about the rules of society and don't give a thought to what anyone else thinks. You are immortal and times change very quickly and so will the beliefs of humanity." Aidan knew he was right and a peaceful feeling washed over her at the idea.