Flesh
Chapter Nine
Real/Fake Love
Part 1
“What do you want to study in college?”
Éclair, who'd been staring out the darkened bus window for the past half hour, glanced to the small woman next to her. The question seemed out of place considering the last weeks' round-about turn of events. Also, she considered, shouldn't the question be asked in past tense?
“You think a college is going to accept a werewolf?” Even as she asked the question she knew she was being childish. Aside from the days of a full moon, she'd be just another a normal human being. There'd be no issue about her attending college if she really wanted. She turned back to the window and sighed. “Sorry, I'm just not good company right now.” She scanned the trees and dimly lit houses as they flew by. Though her body and mind told her it was night time, she could still observe everything as though it were a clear day.
A cool hand slid over her own which rested on the crevice the two seats made jammed up next to one another. Her eyes closed, savoring the way the fingers slid between her own. The smooth tips and soft skin recalled memories of the time spent in shower and on the bed. Éclair blushed and rested her cheek against the Plexiglas window. At the time she hadn't even considered what she and Lumière were doing. Was it right? Was it wrong? And if it was wrong, why did it feel so right? What would her parents say? Her throat constricted, remembering the vampire's exclamation of her parent's possible deaths. She clenched her jaw and tried not to cry.
“What are you thinking about?”
After a deep breath and a pause to make sure she wouldn't cry, Éclair turned back to this frail-looking vampire, who by the grace of some higher power had not aged for 30 years. Or perhaps, has lied about not aging. The redhead pushed the thoughts out of her head. Now wasn't the time. “Are you absolutely certain they're dead?”
She studied those ember-like eyes. They danced back and forth between her own eyes and the long pause gave no way to either possible answer. What had she been looking for in those eyes? Here was a woman she'd only known for several days and she thought she could already read her? Couples go there whole lives without acquiring such gifts. Why couldn't she be more surprised that she and Lumière belonged together? The teenager mumbled an apology and let her eyes drift back towards the window. She should be happy that she got Lumière away from the others. She'd been wanting to talk to the vampire one on one since they met, but too many things happened.
“Human, vampire, and werewolf minds all carry different signatures,” the vampire began quietly. Éclair bit her lip and turned back to face her. Lumière stared at the seat in front of her and her lips drooped into a frown. “It's difficult to explain. I suppose it's like knowing taste in foods. Which are bitter, sweet, and sour, for example. Hearing the thoughts of a person's mind gives a specific kind of taste. Granted, no two people are the same. Everyone has their own unique flavor. But all humans carry a base flavor. All vampires also carry a different base flavor. And same with werewolves. Does this make sense?”
No response could formulate on Éclair's lips, so she rested her free hand on top of Lumière's and pressed down gently. The vampire lifted sad eyes to her own. They flickered and returned to dull and lifeless—like the kind she'd seen when they told the twins they were leaving them to protect Caprice and Miss Cole. For a moment, she wasn't certain if she'd seen them correctly. What kind of sadness could Lumière be feeling? Could it be guilt or regret?
“When I heard your father's mind, I tasted vampire. Vampires are demons—not full blooded demons, but demons nevertheless. And I assumed, if he'd been turned, so probably has your mother.” Éclair watched the red eyes drift down and away.
“But then, my parents are just vampires. It's not like they're dead dead. They're like... you? And Tweedledee and Tweedledum?” When Lumière shook her head, Éclair felt her heart drop into her stomach.
The vampire pulled her hand out from between Éclair's and looked down at the floor as she talked. “Do you know how vampires are made?” A simple 'no' came as the teenager's response. Lumière nodded and continued. “The physical act is for a vampire to feed blood, which has circulated throughout the vampire, to a human. Usually this is done orally, but it can be injected, or sometimes through an injury of sorts. You might consider it like a virus, except there is no cure. The blood is a toxin inside the human body. It breaks down all vital organs and rebuilds. It attaches itself to all the cells inside the body and changes DNA. Many times, this restructuring brings out latent abilities...”
Éclair licked her lips and interrupted during the pause, “Like how you can read minds.”
Lumière nodded again. Her eyes never wavered from the floor. “Yes. I can read minds. I can also control people's actions and thoughts. And, like you witnessed with Tweedledee, I can move things with my mind.”
The werewolf stared hard at her partner. She did not know the last few about Lumière. Her blood froze at one in particular. “Control people's thoughts...” she whispered out loud. No, she wouldn't have... would she?
Her partner must have sensed what she was thinking because she felt the cool hand on her own again. It gripped tightly and when Éclair raised her eyes she could feel the brazen intensity coming from the other woman.
“No. Éclair. No. I would never do such a thing.”
The hand gripped tighter—so tight that for a moment the redhead worried her fingers would break under the pressure. She lifted the hand with Lumière's hand and pressed it against her chest. Her heart beat smoothly under the intensity. That had to be a sign, she thought, that has to mean something. She felt her lips draw into a small smile and she dipped her head at her partner.
“I know. Go on.”
Lumière's shoulders fell with a sigh of relief and her the grip lessened, but still held tightly. “Another example, a woman I met in Liverpool, was an ability to change her physical body. She could become anyone she met. And a man I met through an acquaintance could charm you through the tone of his singing voice. However, most vampires simply become enhanced humans with a thirst for blood.”
“So powers like yours are rare?”
“Very rare.” The vampire's brows furrowed together. She seemed to want to add to that, but shook her head and continued. “That is the physical aspect. There is also another aspect, a spiritual one, if you will. We all have souls. They are what drive us to be who we are and give us insights into a world beyond this physical one.” Éclair must have looked confused, because Lumière smiled slightly and turned to better face her. “If our bodies can be considered like a machine, then the soul is the electricity which powers it. Sure, the machine can break down and appear not to work, but the soul is still there until it is time for it to go.”
The redhead looked up. “So there is a God?”
With a chuckle her partner responded, “No. And yes. The belief is that there are higher beings, but they are not kind and benevolent—like the Christian god is thought to be. There are demons, who are considered to be god like. Above them, we are not sure. The demons do not say and so no one knows for certain. What we do know is that there is a resting place for souls. And the soul is just as fragile as the human body. It can be damaged, or worse, killed.”
Éclair looked back to the vampire. Her ears felt like when the pressure changes inside a car or on a plane. “What happens to the soul if it's killed?”
“Well,” Lumière said hesitantly, “When a body dies and it is time for the soul to rest, it will go to a place to do so. Not like heaven, more like purgatory. No one really knows what it's like because the changes are so drastic on the soul, that—mind you this is all theory—that a memory erase is required for it to enter back into the world of the living. But when a soul dies... a soul that is killed is burned out of existence. They can never be brought back.”
The words chilled the teenager. Erased from existence sounded more horrible than any of the other options she grew up studying. Even if you were damned to hell, you'd still retain who you were. Suffering, as her mother once explained, only proves that you're more alive than ever. A tear dropped from the corner of her eye before she could stop it.
“I'm sure your parents' souls are fine, Éclair,” Lumière said in a rush. The woman reached up and brushed the tear away. She followed with a small kiss against Éclair's cheek causing the teenager to smile.
“It's not that. I'm just... I just thought about something my mother said once. I guess I'm more worried about them than I'm aware of.” She took a deep breath and pressed her cheek against Lumière's hand which remained where the tear had been. “But what do you mean their souls are fine?”
The vampire studied Éclair for several moments. So much felt left unsaid or, perhaps, there was so much to be said that neither knew where to start. “When a vampire is created, the human soul is forcibly pushed out. It returns to purgatory, while the vampiric soul, the demon soul, enters the body and takes over. Éclair, if we find your parents, they will not be your parents. You have to understand that.”
Somewhere in the young woman's heart, she already knew this. She had supposed, if her parents were vampires, they would not be the same parents she grew up loving and adoring. She imagined the empty body shells filled with something that didn't belong—something that she knew she couldn't love. But she still had to go, she had to see for herself. Her parents are still alive and happy until she proved otherwise. Then she'd deal with whatever feelings came about in response to that. However, if demon souls replaced humans souls, then Lumière...
Lumière smiled a hollow smile, one that seemed to never know happiness. “I am a vampiric soul. A damned soul, if you will. For the first 15 years of this body's life, it belonged to another. A soul I unwittingly pushed out. I have her memories, but I am not her.”
What does that mean? Éclair wanted to ask, but the bus came to a halt. They were in Crandon now. The lights came on in the bus and all four passengers including herself and Lumière made their way off. Lumière arranged it so that they'd hop straight on a flight to Grand Rapids, in Michigan. From there they'd stay in a hotel until hopping a train to Chicago the following evening and taking a flight to Ukraine from there. The teenager sighed as she entered the cab taking them to the airport. She had plenty of time to talk to Lumière about this. At least 400 years worth to talk to her about anything.
Part 2
Un-ou dropped to the basement floor exhausted. His partner lay on a moldy mattress several feet away clutching the bastard werewolf's arm. He smiled. Even if they almost died, it was still much more fun than hunting aborigines in the outback. As the sun made it's ascent, Un-ou drifted off into slumber. That asshole wouldn't be happy that one got away, but seeing as those two were partners, the little pink haired bitch would surely die.
He awoke to a loud thud. The setting sun peeked through the covered basement windows and when a flash of it caught his eye he cursed and stumbled up from the floor. Above him, he could hear foot steps moving throughout the house. A-ou stayed asleep on the mattress and the arm lay on the floor just beside him. Un-ou closed his eyes and listened carefully. Three people: two adults and a child. Just his like, he thought with a smirk. At least that hadn't come downstairs while he was still asleep. Not that it would have mattered.
The green haired vampire knelt down next to his partner and pushed on the muscled shoulder. “Yo, wake up.”
A-ou stirred a little and then opened his eyes.
“Time for some brekkie eh? What you say?”
After they had eaten and piled the bodies in the basement, they used the time to contact their employer. A-ou bagged the arm and put it in a backpack which he slung onto himself. The night came quickly and they could cover a lot of ground if they got an early start.
“He better make good on his promise. Although if you ask me, I highly doubt he can do it. Between you and me, I only came out here because I was bored.”
The bigger man stood behind the computer chair his smaller friend sat in. He stared on in silence as the browser popped up and Un-ou typed in several things. If Un-ou had waited any longer to re-enter, that werewolf would have torn him apart. The two felt rather lucky things turned out the way they did.
“There, sent. Now we just gotta wait.”
“I don't believe he can do it, either.”
The green haired man sighed and leaned back in his chair. “You remember when we headed to England, trying to escape all the wars in Mongolia? It was that year that they wrote that thing about Dante and his Inferno.” He tilted his head towards his taller partner and then continued. “You do, I know you do. We met those two women, those vampires. They were working some magics well beyond our own knowledge. Then, after a few months, they told us they were going to call on the demon who created us. I never laughed so hard in my life.”
A-ou lowered himself to the floor and leaned in his knees. He stared in contemplation at a shelf of encyclopedias. Even on the floor he managed to take up as much space as an ox. The green haired man always felt lucky to have that ox by his side.
Un-ou sighed and propped his feet up on the desk. “But she did it, didn't she? She called for something powerful. Blew 'em to shreds, us too if you hadn't pulled me out at the last second. Do you think, if the spell hadn't backfired, they would've succeeded? What if we succeed? Do we really want to become the gods we should have been destined to become? Damn, we finally get a chance at something great, and I'm getting cold feet.”
The house sat in utter silence aside from the ticking of nearby wall clock. Seconds meant nothing in this world. Humans always talk about making it count, making something of themselves in the short time they're given. The vampire couldn't understand why they drove themselves to survive in a bleak and dreary universe. Life began on a whim and so it would end on a whim. Many times over he and A-ou should have died, but here they still lived, still kept on. Were they good or evil? Most days he wasn't sure. It wasn't there fault they had to feed on humans to survive. No one asked him if he wanted to become an immortal demon.
His darkened thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. He hopped up from the chair and grabbed the receiver.
“Dominoes Pizza, can I take your order?”
A silence greeted him. On the floor, he could see the lips of his large friend turn upward. After a few seconds he said, “So you want a large pizza topped with the arm of a dead werewolf? I can deliver that to you in a few days if you just give me the address.”
Finally a voice responded. “They're both dead?”
The green haired man plopped down onto the chair again. “One is dead. The other will soon follow.”
“That's not what we agreed to.”
“There were some complications. The brat ran off. She won't live long without her partner. You of all people should know that.” Out of the corner of his eye, Un-ou watched A-ou rise to his feet and move to the window. The vampire was likely looking for a fast means of travel. “Where would you like to meet up at?”
“Change of plans.”
Un-ou shook his head and let loose another smirk. “There always is.”
“You're to head to Canada. Two vampires, a wolf, and a human will be traveling somewhere north of the state of Michigan. They shouldn't be too difficult to find. Kill them all.”
“That's a big order. And you still owe on the last order. What makes you think we're going to trust you when you haven't even paid us yet?”
“Because what I'm offering is something you cannot get anywhere else.”
“You keep saying that. But I have yet to see any proof that it even works. What about a test? Try it out on one of us and then take it away as you see fit. If we know it's possible, we'll do whatever you like.” The small vampire spun around in the computer chair and stared at the ceiling. He wondered why he didn't think of this earlier. Better late than never, he supposed.
“...If that is what you wish. But I want to see that arm. I need proof the wolf is dead.”
“Done and done. Where should we meet up?”
“There is a town called Oxbow. It is far north of you and near the Canadian border. You call me when you're there.”
“Oxbow huh? Alright. We'll be there before the night is out.” He pulled the receiver away and clicked it off. “That asshole is cooped up somewhere in Italy. Bet he's having the time of his life while we're out here doing his dirty work.”
A-ou made for the door and raised an eyebrow at his smaller partner. “Oxbow? I've never heard of it.”
The green haired man shrugged. “Me either. Gotta be on a map somewhere. Let's get going while the night is still young. Let's find a fast car, though, I haven't driven an American P.O.S. yet and I'd like to see what's so great about these things.”
Un-ou walked past the basement and then snapped his fingers. “Ah yeah, right. Forgot.” He grabbed a bottle of lighter fluid from the kitchen and a box of matches. In moments the bodies were ablaze, with the house soon the follow. The two men ran quietly through the residential neighborhood and none could be the wiser.
Part 3
When she first moved into the apartment, it seemed just what Liquide was looking for. The simple one bedroom, one living room, and kitchenette succeeded in fulfilling all of the woman's desires. After everything which happened back home, running away to this tiny living space in Wisconsin just made absolute sense. Now, after not even eight months, the teacher found herself running away from the sanctuary she'd come to call home.
“Nice stuff,” mumbled the voice behind her. Liquide turned and smiled sheepishly. Teaching never brought in much money, but her parents were loaded and made certain to set up a trust fund the blonde could dip into once she graduated college. It had increased to a high six figure number and so she took out a decent sized chunk and originally invested the rest. Then her father mentioned to her the economy was taking a downward spiral and that she ought to take out what she had invested and place it in something much more secure. She did. He always knew best.
“Most of it was stuff I had before the move. The only things I bought new were the bed and refrigerator.”
Caprice whistled long and loud. She ran her hand over a leather sofa which ran around two grand, new. “I used to see stuff like this. Through windows of houses outside of Los Angeles. I didn't think teachers made this much.”
“We don't. My parents are well off.” She tried to say it nonchalantly enough, but no matter how you looked at it, Liquide was a spoiled brat. Dropping two thousand on a couch was something most people could never comprehend. And since her parents sent her to a high school where everyone who attended came from money, she didn't learn this lesson until she entered college. “Listen, my parents made the money, I just happened to be born into it.”
The brunette quirked a brow and then smiled. “No worries. I'm not judging. Just admiring.”
The two women said nothing for several moments. Liquide suddenly felt very self conscious. She believed Caprice would not judge her, but the memories of college still crept up. The looks other students gave her and how they treated her after they found out how much money she came from. Until then, she'd never known what being ostracized was like. Perhaps that's why she became drawn to Raoul. He represented to her everything society did not accept or like.
“Well,” Liquide began slowly, “I should get packing.”
Caprice followed her quietly through the living room. The expensive furniture crowded the tiny space and many times the teacher bumped into tables and furniture. Perhaps the self consciousness fueled her through this time, but she didn't hit a thing. She ignored the original paintings on the wall and hoped her guest wouldn't ask any questions about their price.
“You don't have to go with us,” stated the brunette.
Liquide continued walking into her room. She pulled a large suitcase from the closet and opened it on the water bed. It jostled a moment before settling into place. From the doorway she could feel those emerald eyes on her like a hawk. Every move she made she knew was being studied. When he did this, it made her apprehensive and she always tried to be as deliberate as possible so not to bring about questions. But this time around she felt something different—a sense of comfort, perhaps. Stubborn and willful though she may be, Caprice didn't seem like the type who would make assumptions about others.
The blonde cleared her throat. “I am going. And I'll give you two good reasons: One, those werewolves said they'd kill me. If you left me behind, you'd be leaving them a chance to attack. I don't think you want that on your conscience. And two, I can help. I've got money and lord knows you three will need it if you want to travel long distances in a short amount of time. Now I'd like to see you try to put a hole in those reasons.” She carefully placed folded clothes in the suitcase and dared not look at the other woman.
“Hmm,” started the brunette, “Solid reasons you got, I'll give you that. But you know this is going to be beyond dangerous. Even with those vampires helping us, we're still open for any attacks.” Liquide tried to reply but Caprice cut her off. “No, see, I'm thinking that you hop a plane back home and stay there until we contact you. They can't track you in a plane.”
What was this woman playing at? Liquide paused a little in her movements, but continued to pack away clothes. She played like she was choosing stuff for the trip and slowly went through the clothes in the closet. Her mind ventured far away from the task at hand. Neither had said anything about the conversation before the fight. Had Caprice forgotten or was she simply playing dumb? And when the two awoke on the bed with the blonde literally wrapped around the taller, stronger woman, neither said a word to each other until Éclair came in to check on them.
Didn't Caprice want her as a partner? What had the attempted kiss meant? He had done the same thing the first time they met. She had just moved back to Boston and found an apartment near the school she'd been hired at. He approached her at a club she went to on a whim and pulled her into a kiss. She slapped him hard enough that her hand hurt for three days after. On the third day she found a bouquet of flowers on her doorstep and his phone number. The next day, the same thing. And everyday after until she relented and called. That's how their relationship started. Wouldn't Caprice be just as enamored?
“It'll be better this way, trust me. We won't leave unti—”
“Didn't you want to kiss me?” Liquide stared into her closet. Her shoulders felt tight and the hanger she grasped dug into the skin of her hands.
“What?” She knew the brunette had to have great hearing. Nothing ever got by Raoul.
Liquide took a breath and tried to relax. She replaced the hanger back on the bar and went to the suitcase with the wrinkled shirt in hand. “I asked if you wanted to kiss me. Back at the school, you tried to kiss me. Or is your memory selective like your hearing?”
Caprice let out a breath that might have been a growl. The blonde ignored it and continued putting clothes from the closet into her suitcase as she talked. “I'm not into playing games. I'm too old to screw around, so I will say this only once. I'm going with you and the others whether you like it or not. Do you think I'm just a child who up and does whatever she wants without a second thought? I've given this plenty of thought and even before Éclair announced her departure I knew I wanted stay by your side, if only for a little while.”
“Damnit woman! Do you hear yourself speak? I'm a werewolf. Those two back at the house are vampires. We are being chased by two very angry and very strong werewolves who want nothing more than to kill the both of us. I wouldn't put it past them to get more of the pack. Do you think we can hold off five, six, maybe ten werewolves? You'd be ripped to shreds before you could blink! You've got to be a child if you think this is just some excursion and your money will protect us!”
As Caprice finished yelling Liquide took up a sculpture made of glass and threw it at her. The wolf easily dodged it and stared wide-eyed at the teacher. Her shock alone almost made the action worth the eight hundred dollars that lay in pieces on the floor.
“What the hell is your problem!?”
The blonde felt her nostrils flare. She stomped towards Caprice, who much to her surprise, backed up into the door like a frightened doe. For a woman so strong, the sight made her want to laugh. Her anger, however, impressed upon her actions much more than the humor of the moment.
“What the hell is your problem? Do you think I don't know what I'm getting myself into? Do you think I wanted to give myself a concussion just because I thought it'd help? I'm well aware of the dangers here. I lived with it for three years.” Liquide's hands hurt from clenching her fists tightly against her sides. She wanted to slap the brunette or break something. Both choices proved great temptation. “I've made my choice. I'm coming along whether you like it or not. But if you really, REALLY want to be sure, then shut up and kiss me!”
The reverberation of the last two words bounced off the room like a timpani drum. Caprice's wide emerald eyes danced between fear and titillation. Her lips quivered and tightened. It looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't formulate the words. This reminded her of certain kids in her classroom who wanted desperately to reply, but couldn't because their mouths couldn't catch up with their brains. Liquide felt flushed and winded. She couldn't stand the waiting and wished the other woman would do something anything. Push me, yell at me, tell me I'm stupid, just do something.
All of the courage and bravery this werewolf showed up until now came to a culminating disappointment for the teacher. Liquide closed her eyes and trembled. She opened them still finding Caprice having not moved.
“Fine!” screamed the blonde. In an action which surprised both women, she threw her arms around the taller woman's neck and mashed their lips together. This wasn't a kiss. Kisses were supposed to be sweet and tender and full of passion. She had enough passion, but none of the other things. Nothing fell into place. Caprice's stiff body and the way she kept inching back. Liquide snarled against the other woman's lips and gave up. Nothing was going to come of this.
She pulled back with a sigh and as she opened her eyes she found the brunette coming for her. Their lips reconnected and this time it was softer and full of gentle intention. Liquide felt her head tilt back and her eyes closed. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her and kept her from falling back. She hadn't kissed another woman since her high school days. It couldn't compare. His couldn't compare. Nothing compared. Caprice nibbled lightly on her upper lip and slowly pulled away.
They stayed pressed together and she soon felt a forehead pressed against hers. This was what he meant. He wanted this connection she could never give him. “Caprice,” she said breathlessly, “That was... wow.” The other woman's cheek pressed up against her and she felt the tightened muscles of a grin.
“Yeah,” whispered the brunette. “But you still shouldn't go.”
Liquide pushed back from her. Caprice stared at the ground. “Like hell you're going to keep me away.”
“I'm not,” said the werewolf. The emerald eyes lifted and the teacher felt her heart flutter at the innocence inside them. “I'm just saying, when shit goes bad, that you can't get mad when I say I told you so.”
The blonde let out a breath and smirked. She swatted Caprice's shoulder and then leaned against her, snuggling her head into the woman's shoulder. “I guess then you'll just have to work extra hard to protect us both.”
“You really are spoiled.”
Liquide smiled and hugged tightly. She pulled away to return to her packing. A part of her felt sorry for him now. If this was what he desired from her, she was sad she couldn't return it. She hoped he could forgive her, wherever he was.
Part 4
The temperature in Grand Rapids read at around 50 but Éclair didn't feel the cold. They weren't too long outside—with the sun coming up in less than an hour the cab driver got them quickly to a hotel where she triple checked the curtains for Lumière. The vampire busied herself with checking her luggage. In one black bag held a couple changes of clothes and booklets full of passports. In the other bag was a laptop with back-up parts should something happen. Éclair sat on the bed next to her partner and watched quietly as Lumière made certain nothing got damaged.
For herself, Éclair packed light. She might not have packed at all, such the daze she was in before leaving, except Lumière made her. They didn't have much of a chance to talk. Boarding the plane took an hour and they were constantly surrounded by people. The teenager didn't want to draw attention to themselves and concentrated on the in flight film. Once they arrived it took another hour to find their luggage and get a cab. But now they were in the hotel room. The privacy and quiet gave her plenty of opportunity to start, but where should she start?
She didn't want to bother Lumière, either. The woman looked very busy as she flitted through sites filled with numbers and text. Éclair's mind felt too tired to try to sort it all out. She picked up the remote and flipped the TV on. The morning news played on most of the channels. She turned and saw the clock reading five.
“You should get some food. You haven't eaten for a couple days.”
Éclair turned off the TV and fell back onto the bed. “I'm not really hungry.” Her stomach betrayed her with a growl. “Okay, so maybe I am. But I don't think room service has raw hamburger and I doubt they'll serve it if they do.”
“Perhaps there's a shop open. Or you could hunt something. There's a field and forest nearby. Rabbits should be easy to catch—even in your human form.” Lumière typed away at her laptop while she talked. She hadn't bothered to look back at the redhead. The thought of hunting turned Éclair away from any thought of food. She turned onto her side and faced the wall. For several moments she considered getting up and going to the other bed.
The tapping of keys continued while she contemplated what to do. Her thoughts were still a jumbled mess. So much was happening; she couldn't keep track. She failed to notice the slowing of the typing and further did not notice that Lumière had now turned and was staring at her.
“What are you thinking?”
The teenager sat up and kicked off her shoes. “I'm thinking that I don't think I can do this.”
Lumière closed her laptop and turned her body fully to face her partner's back. Éclair glanced back out of the corner of her eye and then stood up. She went to her own bag and opened it. The clothes inside were stuffed in haphazardly. A mildly annoyed groan escaped her lips.
“What can't you do?” The vampire asked her words carefully. Her gaze felt steady on Éclair's back. “Éclair, please talk to me. I don't know what you're thinking.”
“Because I'm the first one whose thoughts you couldn't read,” added the teenager. She bit her lower lip. She had not meant to say that thought out loud. “I'm sorry. I'm just tired and maybe a little grumpy from all the travel. Considering that we're going to confirm my parent's death, I just can't be in a good mood.”
“That's okay. I wouldn't expect you to be.”
Éclair took out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She held them against her body and turned to face her partner. “Then what do you expect? Because I don't know. How do I know what you say is true?” Lumière opened her mouth to speak, but Éclair didn't stop. “Any of it? What you told me about the demon souls replacing the human ones, how do I know you're not a demon? How do I know that I'm actually going to find my parents? Maybe you're just luring me somewhere.” The teenager looked down and hugged her arms around herself. Even as she was saying what she was, she knew she believed her partner one hundred percent. Why did she doubt her now?
On the bed, Lumière shifted and brought her knees up to her chest. She looked sullen while staring down at the mattress. “You're right. I can't convince you. You have every right to not believe me. It is true, Éclair, I am a demon. But, I think you carry the word demon with a negative connotation. The truth is, that not all demons are evil. Many are simply mischievous. The word aptly describes us because compared to humans, we have no regrets for our actions. We do not feel sorry for our victims. Our souls, as you might hear them described, are soulless.”
The vampire paused and closed her eyes. Éclair watched her. She watched the way her lips open and closed ever so slightly, and how her eyelids fluttered. She watched the strands of Lumière's hair and how they seemed to have perfect sheen and bounce and held that faint color of blue. Her eyes traveled down to the woman's neck and then her chest. A chest that held no beating heart—something the teenager verified up close and personal the other night. But still, she wondered, how could this woman be soulless. How could Lumière be evil? The vampire cared deeply for her. And if this was all a facade, then perhaps it was okay to be strung along, because Éclair had never felt so happy and whole in her entire life.
“You may do whatever you like. I'll understand if you cannot be with me. I think I've grown rather used to seeing the ends of things.” The words strung out over a sad violin and struck the redhead with a deep sadness. Lies or not, Lumière was unhappy. Éclair suddenly felt ashamed and looked away. Across from her the bed shifted and she heard a zipper being closed. She lifted her head to see Lumière packing things away.
Éclair crossed the distance and pulled the vampire against her. “Don't. I don't care, just don't go. God, it hurts so much to even think of you leaving. So just don't.”
In her arms she felt the small woman turn and press her head against her chest. Thin arms wrapped around her body and held back just as tight. Éclair kissed the top of her partner's head. She loved the way the woman smelled and how she fit into her arms. If she was a demon, she was the most wonderful demon imaginable. They stayed together until a beep came from Lumière's laptop. The vampire made no move to check it and the teenager loved that she didn't.
“Is it a message?” she whispered.
Lumière shrugged.
“You should check it.”
Slowly and painfully the vampire pulled away. The redhead grinned and followed her onto the bed. They had plenty of time to hold each other. A whole day in fact. One little message wouldn't change anything.
As Éclair rested her cheek on Lumière's shoulder she asked what it was.
“It's from a very good friend of mine. She needs my help.”
The teenager lifted her head and peered at the computer screen. The sender was a person named Viola and the message read that she and someone named Cesario had been attacked. She wanted Lumière to come and help her find Cesario. The address was a place in New York City.
“Who is Viola?”
Lumière lowered her head. “I met them ten years ago in Italy. A werewolf and his daughter. They saved me from a collapsed building from an earthquake. The sun would have baked me alive. The girl took an instant liking to me and wanted me to become her father's mate.” She smiled and licked her lips. “Clearly he was not suited for me. I did not want to break her heart, so I left. But I gave them my information and told them to never hesitate to contact me for help.”
Éclair nodded. “And she needs your help.”
The vampire looked torn. She turned those ember eyes on Éclair and then back to the computer screen. “Yes, but we are going to Europe for your parents.”
“I can't help but notice that New York is on the way to Europe,” teased the werewolf.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I want to help you help your friend. We're partners, right?”
A sigh of relief escaped Lumière's mouth. She quickly typed a reply and then turned to give Éclair a long kiss. “We are partners. I would never hurt you, Éclair.”
The teen began to cry again, only she smiled as she did. She pulled the smaller woman against her and kissed her. Éclair had fallen in love with a vampire, a demon.