The Vampire and the Goth Ch. 08

The Vampire and the Goth Ch 08

I woke up in Elizabeth's bed in the late afternoon. She was sitting up next to me with her cell phone in her hand, texting someone. Ben was sitting at her desk with her laptop open. He appeared to be searching for a video on YouTube. I heard two women's voices speaking with angry tones from somewhere in the house.

Elizabeth noticed I was awake and leaned over to kiss me.

"Hello, handsome. Did you have a nice nap?"

Outside the bedroom, the women's voices rose further in anger, nearly shouting now.

"Yeah, I did. What's going on?"

Ben spoke first. "Well, you needed to sleep and Laura had to go cut some cat's nuts off, so Elizabeth wanted to stay here."

Then Elizabeth broke in. "I didn't know if Michelle would be back, and I didn't want to leave you alone if she returned." Elizabeth was quiet for a moment, then, she added softly, "I was afraid she would hurt you while you slept." Elizabeth's voice quavered a little, and I took her hand.

It's true that we're vulnerable while we're sleeping, but at my age, I can quickly rise and defend myself if necessary. Still, I was grateful I didn't have to.

"Since it was my sister who freaked Elizabeth out and threatened you, I decided to stick around. We ordered a pizza and watched a couple of movies. Then, Laura came home from work, and Michelle showed up a little later. And we've been hiding out in Elizabeth's room ever since."

I absorbed this information for a moment, then I thanked Ben for staying.

"No problem," He said with a smile, as he passed gas loudly.

Elizabeth frowned and held her nose. "Jesus Christ Ben, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Ben gave a demented cackle.

"Sorry, Lizzie, but I warned you that dairy doesn't make up a large part of the werewolf diet."

"Well if you knew you couldn't eat cheese why did you eat the damn pizza?" she laughed, as she continued to hold her nose.

"It's your fault for ordering one with all the meats."

"Oh, fuck you, dude!"

"Oh my God," I said, as I stood up. "Does anybody mind if I let in some fresh air?"

Without waiting for an answer, I got up and slid the window open.

"Yay! My hero! Thank you for protecting me from his rancid ass!"

I sighed. "There is nothing so toxic as a werewolf fart."

Ben laughed as Elizabeth threw a pillow at him.

"You're a sick puppy, Ben. Is it any wonder why you're still single?"

"Hey, I just haven't met the right woman yet. By the way, do you have any sisters who like guys?"

Elizabeth snorted, and sat back on the bed next to me. I put my arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled into my chest.

"My friend Emily asked if we could meet tonight. She wants to show off her boyfriend."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I think he's like you."

I smiled and kissed her. "You've started a trend!"

Ben made a gagging noise. "Ugh. You guys have been watching too much Twilight. Well guess what, sister, real vampires don't sparkle and they like to bang!" Ben stood up and started making thrusting motions with his pelvis. "Bang! Bang! Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!"

"Do werewolves have off buttons?" Elizabeth asked.

I rolled my eyes. "If they do, I've never found it."

Just then, there was a soft knock on the door.

Elizabeth's shoulders immediately tightened. "Come in."

The door opened slowly and Laura poked her head in.

"Stosh? Would you mind coming out to the living room?"

"Sure."

"I'm coming with him," said Elizabeth.

"And I'm coming with her," said Ben.

Laura nodded. "Okay."

We walked to the living room. Michelle was sitting on the couch, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Elizabeth came over and took my hand. Ben walked over to my other side.

"You wanted to see me?"

Michelle blushed, and looked down. Elizabeth's grip on my hand tightened.

"Yes. I wanted to apologize to you. Well, to both of you. I shouldn't have interrupted you like that, and I shouldn't have thrown you out of the house."

I stood there in silence, while Michelle dropped her gaze.

"That's not all, is it, honey?" Laura said gently.

"No, that's not all. Elizabeth, I'm sorry I scared you so bad."

I heard Elizabeth sniffle. I turned to look at her, and I realized she was crying. I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my chest.

"You really freaked her out, Shelly," Ben said.

"I know."

We continued to stand there quietly, with Elizabeth gently crying into my chest.

Ben looked at me, then looked at Laura. "They're not going to say it, but I will. You made Elizabeth feel scared to be in her own home. I stayed with her because you frightened her so badly. That's not okay, Shell. Introducing someone to your wolf is supposed to be a gesture of trust. You didn't handle it right at all."

"I know," she said, looking directly at him. Then, she turned to the rest of us. "I'm really sorry, you guys. I'll try to make it up to you."

Ben looked at Laura and nodded. Then he turned to me and asked, "Does that work for you, Stosh?"

"I'm not sure I'm the one who matters here. Elizabeth, what do you think?"

Elizabeth looked up at me and squared her jaw. Then she turned toward her sister and Michelle.

"I'm willing to let you try. But make no mistake, Stosh is part of my life and that's not going to change."

"All right," Laura said. Then she turned to Michelle. "Okay?"

Michelle's jaw tightened, and she sighed heavily. Then she looked at me and said, "Okay."

We walked back to Elizabeth's room and Ben closed the door behind us. I sat on the bed and pulled Elizabeth onto my lap. Ben ran his hands through his hair.

"In defense of my sister, female wolves are fiercely protective."

"No shit," said Elizabeth.

Ben chuckled. "Fair enough. Look, Stosh is the first vampire I've seen that doesn't treat us like dirt or think of us as a meal. I know that's hard for you to understand, but he really is very different."

Elizabeth smiled. "He's special." Then she kissed me.

Ben laughed. "He really is."

I blushed. The compliments were nice, but I certainly didn't deserve them. So I changed the subject.

"Elizabeth, when are we meeting your friend?"

She looked at her phone. "She wants to meet us in midtown in a couple of hours."

"Plenty of time to freshen up and get over there. Ben, do you want a ride home?"

Ben seemed to think about it. "I always love a good run, but I have a major test on Monday, so I could use the extra study time."

"You're in school? That's great! What are you studying?" Elizabeth asked.

"Molecular Biology," he said with a smile, knowing she'd be impressed.

"Wow! And here I thought you were just an immature dumbass!"

He laughed. "Well, I AM a dumbass. But I'm also a geek, too!"

I smiled. "You have layers, Ben."

He winked at me. "Yes, I do."

The restaurant where we met Emily and her vampire was a nice place. It was in an older building that had once been a home. The restaurant had black wooden floors and large, plush booths that were covered in a deep wine-colored Naugahyde. The dining room was dimly lit with indirect light and lots of candles.

Elizabeth squeezed my hand as we walked in and caught sight of her purple-haired friend.

"There she is!" She smiled and gave a small wave as she steered us toward her table.

Emily was sitting with a male vampire. He had short, auburn hair and green eyes. His skin was completely smooth, other than a neatly trimmed beard. For some reason, he wore a pair of rimless glasses that a vampire wouldn't need. He stood up as we approached in order to let Emily out of the booth. Emily and Elizabeth hugged each other and almost immediately began talking over each other and laughing, both with big smiles.

Emily's vampire was not a tall man, a little under six feet, but he carried himself well, with a regal bearing. "Their voices sound beautiful together, don't they?" he said.

I nodded. Their happiness was infectious.

The vampire shook my hand. "You're Stanislav, right?"

I could feel the power emanating from him when I touched his hand. This vampire was older than anyone I'd ever met.

I nodded. "It's Stosh, here."

"There's nothing more American than changing your name," He said, with a wink. "I'm Alex. Here. But it's really Alaric." The smile he gave me exuded a quiet confidence, and I liked him instantly.

Emily suddenly realized she'd forgotten to introduce us. "Oh my gosh, where are my manners? Stosh, Elizabeth, this is Alex."

Alex smiled and put his arm around Emily's shoulders.

"We just introduced ourselves. You guys have a lot to talk about. Don't worry about us."

Emily gave a beautiful smile, and she and Elizabeth were talking again.

We listened to the women for a while. They spoke rapidly, frequently talking over each other and laughing. Alex watched Emily with a bemused smile on his face.

"I love listening to them talk. It feels like sitting near a quickly flowing creek."

I smiled. Their voices sounded beautiful together, and this was the happiest I'd seen Elizabeth since before Michelle had her meltdown.

"How did you meet her?" I asked

"We met at a bar not long after her friend left. I think she was lonely."

"And let me guess -- she knew immediately what you are."

He laughed. "Well, it was a Goth bar. Which is rather ironic."

I looked at him for a minute, then I put it together and started to laugh. "You're an actual Goth!"

He smiled at me. "We prefer the term 'old school'".

"REALLY old school!"

Emily and Elizabeth noticed us laughing.

"Guys? What's so funny?" Emily asked.

Alex said, "It's just vampire humor."

"It's kind of an inside joke" I volunteered.

Alex put his arm around her shoulders. "You'll understand it soon enough." He looked deeply into her eyes with adoration and kissed her.

Elizabeth's eyes got big.

"Oh my God are you going to make her like you?"

Emily blushed and nodded. Alex grinned. "Absolutely. I've waited a very long time to find someone like her and I am not going to let her go."

Elizabeth turned to me, and I felt my stomach drop. Of course, she would want the same dark gift her friend was getting, because she didn't know any better.

I smiled at Elizabeth and kissed her gently while pulled her into an embrace. Emily beamed at us, and Elizabeth sighed with content. But when I looked at Alex, I could tell that he noticed my reluctance.

We continued to speak through the meal. Well, Emily and Elizabeth continued to chat happily to each other while Alex and I mostly listened. Towards the end of the meal, the women got up and went to the bathroom together, giving Alex and I a chance to speak freely.

"So how did you meet Elizabeth?" he asked.

"We met at the Cooper Museum of Art downtown."

Alex smiled at me.

"She's a beautiful lady, and you know, Emily thinks the world of her."

I nodded. "She really cares for Emily, too."

Alex smiled, and was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "I noticed that you looked... surprised when I mentioned that I'm going to sire Emily."

"I was surprised," I said. "Are you actually going to make her a vampire?" I asked.

Alex smiled. "Yes, of course. It's what she wants. And it's what I want."

I ran my hands through my hair, but I held my tongue.

"You don't think I should sire her."

I sighed deeply. "She is so young and innocent. If she wants to be sired, it's probably because she doesn't really know what it means."

I was talking about Emily, but I was thinking of my sister, Maria.

I woke up nearly screaming from a nightmare as the wagon moved slowly on. Vadoma immediately wrapped her arms around me like I was a baby.

"Sshhh... sshhh... it's okay, Stanislav. We're safe. You haven't hurt anyone."

Within hours after becoming a vampire, I had gone home, unaware that my bloodlust would overwhelm me. I slaughtered my parents and nearly destroyed my sister, Maria. It was only another vampire siring Maria that had saved her life.

It had been fifty years since that night, and I still had the same nightmare. It started with the sickening sound my father's neck made as I broke it and ended with the horrified look on the face of my baby brother as he realized I was going to kill them all.

I clung to Vadoma, my sire, and cried as she rocked me back and forth. I was consumed by guilt after I attacked my family. Vadoma, did her best to help me. She traveled with her family as a gypsy, though she was a vampire. Her people accepted her unconditionally, and they accepted me, too.

"Uncle Stosh? Are you all right?" the little voice behind me asked.

I tuned around and saw tiny Sabina, six years old, asking about me.

"I'm okay, baby. I just had a bad dream," I said, as she crawled into my lap. Vadoma smiled at her and hugged me with her between us.

When I first met Vadoma, I had protected her young cousin from getting beaten up by my fellow villagers. Sabina was his granddaughter.

"Hugs make me feel better. Do they make you feel better?"

"They make me feel better. Let's give Uncle Stosh another hug, okay?" Vadoma said, winking at me.

After I became a vampire, the world opened up for me. I'd spent my entire life, nearly twenty years, on my family's farm. The farthest I'd ever been was the village of Zgierz, and barely ten miles away. But after I met Vadoma, I traveled with her gypsy band to Hamburg, and from there, along the Baltic coast. We stopped at every town and village along the way and entertained people for money and food, never spending more than two or three days. The constant movement and new scenery were exhilarating, but I realize now that what I was really doing was running away from the ghosts of my past.

One day, more than fifty years since I slaughtered my family, the past caught up to me.

I braced myself for Alex's anger, but it wasn't there. Instead, he looked at me with deep compassion in his eyes.

"When I was sired, it was an act of revenge against my family. It was a violent and hateful act. I think it was like that for a lot of us. Maybe it was like that for you, too. But siring someone doesn't have to be like that."

I remained quiet while I considered this.

"I'm siring Emily as an act of love. She wants this, and I'm not going to hold her youth and inexperience against her."

Was I doing that? Maybe. But what could Elizabeth know about being a monster?

"We're not monsters. At least, we aren't anymore. There are options now. There are blood banks and willing donors, and we don't have to be psycho killers. We can manage our gift, if we have someone to teach us."

"I wasn't aware I was talking out loud," I said.

Alex laughed. "You don't exactly have a poker face, my friend."

I smiled. "Fair enough."

"From everything you've said, I take it that Elizabeth hasn't asked to be sired."

"No," I said. "She hasn't asked me. I've never even thought about it before tonight."

"She's thought about it, though," Alex said.

I knew he was right, but I didn't want to respond.

"What are you going to say when she asks you for the change?"

"I don't know what I'll say."

Alex gave me a grin.

"It's her decision to make, you know."

"I know."

"And she'll make it without you. If she has to."

I sighed. Certainly Elizabeth was strong-willed enough to find her own path if I refused to sire her. But did that make it okay to kill this beautiful woman?

Or would I be giving her a new life?

I found myself feeling deeply confused about something I had thought was long settled.

Alex lowered his voice and asked, "Do you love her?"

I sat in silence, not answering. Really, I was afraid of my own answer.

"It's a simple question, Stosh. Do you love her?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I do."

Alex gave me a weak, crooked half-smile. "Then you know what you have to do."

Emily and Elizabeth came back from the restroom.

"Hello boys. Did you miss us?" Emily asked, sliding into the booth next to Alex.

Alex kissed her. "Always, beautiful."

Elizabeth sat down next to me and kissed me on the cheek.

I looked at Alex and he winked at me.

Emily looked at her phone for the time. "Hey, we're going to go to the Redrum Room to see that new band, 'Death Rattle'. Do you guys want to come with us?"

Elizabeth looked at me and I smiled. "I'm a night owl, and I like music. So if you want to go, I'm up for it."

Elizabeth practically squealed. "Oh, that would be so awesome!"

The Redrum Room was an interesting place. It managed to combine the ambiance of a dive bar with the setting of a horror movie. Really, it was just awful. The door to the bar was a giant mouth with bright red lips. It made me think of the opening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The walls were black with red streaks of paint that mimicked bleeding. The floor had faux chalk outlines of bodies in various positions. We walked past one and there were some girls lying on the ground, posing as bodies.

"Stacee, don't laugh, you're trying to look dead!"

Stacee kept laughing anyway, which was probably a good thing, because it meant she wasn't aware she was lying on cigarette butts, spilled beer, and some kind of human stain that, judging from the color, could have been spit, semen or puke.

"Jesus Christ that's gross!" Elizabeth remarked.

One of the girls laughed at her. "It's okay, we don't really like her!"

Alex looked at me and said, "And you think we're monsters."

I rolled my eyes at him and laughed. After all, he was right -- being a monster is a matter of perspective.

The bar was crawling with Goth kids, many of whom looked more like vampires than Alex and I, although there were a few actual vampires there. They were easy to pick out because they were dressed rather conservatively. Other than that, the bar was pretty much like every other one that I've been to over the last 600 years - the drinks were overpriced, the atmosphere was loud, and most of the patrons were very horny.

Alex was attracting a lot of attention from the patrons, both male and female. People kept trying to talk to him despite the fact that he was sitting with people, and he would politely refuse them. One woman, who was dressed like Morticia Adams, came over to our table and stood between Elizabeth and Alex.

"Hello, gorgeous," she said.

"Hi," Alex said, looking amused.

"Haven't I seen you here before?" she said, slurring her words.

"Probably. I met my girlfriend here."

Morticia ignored what he said.

"I knew it! I never miss a good-looking man."

Emily was getting angrier by the second as Elizabeth and I tried not to laugh.

"Well, if you think I'm good looking you should meet my girlfriend."

"Who? Do you mean that kid with the purple hair? I thought she was your baby-sitting job for the night."

"Back off, bitch, he's mine!"

Suddenly, she was waving a bottle at Morticia, who looked too out-of-her mind drunk to realize what was going on. Out of nowhere, two giant security guards hustled her out the door. Emily complained mightily as Alex, Elizabeth, and I followed, still trying not to laugh.

“Well, I guess it’s time to call it a night,” Alex said, with a big grin.

Once Emily was safely out the door, the security guards abandoned her.

“Imagine that bitch trying to flirt with you right in front of me!” Emily said, indignantly.