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As they walked through the club, Selina wondered if she could ever really trust someone who killed others like herself. Even if she was not the threat to humanity that they were.
Seeming to read her mind, Damian reached over and took her hand. “Killing vampires is what I do,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean I would ever hurt you. Selina, you...”
She pulled her hand away and walked over to the bar. “Do you want some coffee?” she asked. “Or something stronger?”
“Coffee is fine,” Damian replied. “Best to keep a clear head tonight.”
Selina nodded and brought two mugs over and set them on one of the tables. “Damian, I know this is what you do, but let me ask you something. Do you think you could ever trust me either?”
“I already do,” he said, picking up her hand again. “You are unlike anyone that I have ever met, vampire or human.” He lifted her hand and brought it to his lips. “You are my Vampira Bella,” he said, looking into her eyes and kissing her hand.
“Your beautiful vampire,” she said, softly. “Damian, I....” she stopped as he brushed his lips against hers.
He pulled back slightly and smiled. “Next time, you will kiss me first,” he said, walking over to the bar.
As he poured two glasses of whiskey, Selina joined him, sitting down on one of the barstools. “You said we needed to keep a clear head tonight,” she reminded him.
“One drink will not matter,” he replied, “and you will tell me what has made you so afraid.” He sat down on the barstool next to her. “If it was not Angelo, then what? Or whom?”
Selina took a deep breath. “Very well, but it is not what you think,” she replied. “I am not afraid of anyone but myself.”
Damian looked over at her and waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, he put his hand over hers. “Tell me,” he said.
“I told you Apollonia saved my life,” she said, “and that is true. It was very difficult at first, but eventually I was able to leave the place where we were staying. We would go out at night and pretend to be normal.”
“Finally, we got to the point where I could interact with humans and not be afraid that I would hurt anyone.” She glanced over at Damian. “It took months, but Apollonia said she was very pleased with my progress. As I got better, we decided to try to help others like ourselves.”
Selina picked up the whiskey and took a drink. “One night, we were walking around the city and we saw Angelo. I was so scared, but Apollonia told me to face my fear. To watch him and see that he was not the devil, but just a man so corrupted by his desires that he had become a monster preying upon others. She said it was our calling to try to save as many of his victims as we could.”
“We followed him and watched him walk down a side street. Apollonia wanted to continue after him, but I was afraid. I grabbed her arm and pleaded with her to wait. What if he saw us? What if he attacked us? She shook her head and said he could do no more to hurt us, but if we could save another, we had to try.”
“As we got closer, I saw him feeding on this young woman. It must have been the same as when he bit me. Except this woman seemed to be enjoying it! I was shocked and turned to Apollonia, who shook her head and indicated that we should go back. When we reached the main street, she told me we could do little to help her. The woman had asked for the bite of life. A cruel joke in her opinion since what we did was not really living, but many wanted the seemingly immortal existence of a vampire.”
“A short while later, we went back down the side street to see if the woman had changed her mind. We found her dead, leaning against a pile of rags. Apollonia took my hand and said it was time to leave. There was nothing else we could do for her. She had put her trust in the wrong vampire and had lost her life, rather than gaining what seemed like immortality.”
“When we got home, I asked Apollonia how she knew the woman had asked to be bitten. She told me if I had been more worldly, I would have seen that what he was doing to her was not just biting her. And that she was enjoying all the sensations he was giving her. Not being a beautiful woman, Angelo had probably decided not to keep her and rather than turn her, he’d simply killed her.”
Selina stood up and took her drink with her as she began to pace. “I was terrified that we would see Angelo again and told Apollonia that while I appreciated everything she had done for me, I could no longer live in Florence. She said she understood and that I must be careful. The call of blood would stay with me for as long as I walked the earth. If I ever wanted to find her, I should come back to Florence. If she was not at the apartment, she would leave word for me as to where to find her. She gave me a large sum of money to get me started, she said. Her family had been very wealthy, and she had finally managed to access those funds a few months earlier.”
Taking another drink, Selina continued, “I thanked her and told her I had to go back to Paris as I had no idea what had happened to my mother after my father’s death. That was true, but it was also a good reason to hopefully never see Angelo again.”
“So, it was Angelo, who scared you?” Damian asked as she stopped.
“Oh yes, but that’s not why I’m afraid to....” Selina paused. “I’ll have to tell you what happened in Paris.”
Damian nodded. “Then please continue,” he said.
Selina started pacing again. “My mother had remarried, and she was now the wife of one of my father’s business associates. I was shocked as it had been less than a year since my father’s death. I saw her once as she came out of her new apartment. She was dressed in silk and hanging on Louis De Vieux’s arm. I saw her kiss his cheek and laugh when all I could think about was my poor father, lying in the garden after what Angelo had done to him. I walked away and never looked back.”
After taking a big sip of whiskey, Selina sat down on the barstool. “Yet, even with all the tragedy I had experienced, I was still young. Eventually, I met a man who said he found me beautiful. Phillipe Lejeune was handsome, charming and seemed to be the man of my dreams. He believed me when I said I had a sick aunt to take care of during the day and that I could only see him in the evening. We went all over Paris together and had a wonderful time. And for a while, I thought maybe I could be loved.”
“Of course, eventually he wanted to meet my family or see me during the daytime. It was all right if it was cloudy, but the sun gave me such terrible headaches. I made excuses for as long as I could until one night, he didn’t come to call on me. After three nights and no word from him, I realized he must have found someone else.”
“There were a few others who found me interesting at first, but nothing serious. Then, I met Guy Fontaine, and I thought I had fallen in love.” She picked up her whiskey and realized it was empty. Damian smiled and swapped glasses with her. Having another sip, she continued. “Guy was wonderful. He didn’t care if I could accompany him during the day or if he met my family. He was a wealthy aristocrat, whose father had died and left him everything. He had a sister, who he cared for, and a mother he didn’t like very much. So, he was more than happy to go out at night and spend time doing whatever I wanted to do.”
“It sounds foolish, looking back, but I had never known anyone like him. And he said he loved me exactly as I was.” She took the last sip of whiskey. “Of course, he didn’t know exactly what I was, but I told myself maybe he would love me anyway. After three months of asking me to marry him, I finally told him I would agree if he still wanted me after I told him the truth. I’m sure he thought I was already married or worse a Protestant.” She smiled slightly. “But at the end of April 1789, I told him to meet me at my apartment, and I would tell him everything.”
Selina stood up and started pacing again. “He listened as I told him what had happened to me and the way my life had been cursed. When I finished, he smiled and took my hands, then he kissed me. He told me he was happy to marry me if I would just do one thing for him. Bite him, so that he could become a vampire, too.”
She sat down and looked at Damian with such sadness he wanted to hold her. Instead, he waited for her to finish the story. “I asked Guy if he had listened to anything I had just told him. That this was a curse, something I would never have chosen to have happen to me. That I would give anything to be normal and live like a real person again. He told me I was not seeing the larger picture. I had found a way to live much longer than normal people and if I loved him, I would want him to live just as long.”
She shook her head. “He didn’t understand. I told him I would stay with him, no matter how much he aged. I was only happy that he loved me. Nothing else mattered. He grew very angry and said if I didn’t love him enough to share my gift with him, he would find others who would. He turned around and walked away from me, and I never saw him again.”
When Selina said nothing more, Damian asked, “So, this man broke your heart? I can understand that pain, but why keep yourself from loving again?”
Selina shook her head. “Guy’s sister and I remained friends but only through letters. She wrote me a few months later to let me know his body had been found in Vienna. He’d told her he had business there but not what it might be. The police believed Guy had been attacked and robbed, probably beaten, then his body dumped in the alley.”
She looked down at the floor, then back up at Damian as her eyes filled with tears. “Don’t you see? He was looking for vampires to change him into one of them. He lost his life, and it’s my fault. I should never have told him about myself or that vampires even existed!”
She got up and started walking towards the office when Damian caught her and gently turned her around. “Selina, this was not your fault. You are not responsible for his death.” A tear ran down her cheek and he hugged her to him. He hadn’t realized vampires could cry, he thought. She was a constant surprise.
“Selina, look at me,” Damian said, softly. When she finally looked up, he said, “What happened to him was not your doing, Carina. He was a foolish man with too much money, who did not realize how lucky he was. He had you and he walked away. He does not deserve your tears.”
Selina liked the feeling of Damian’s arms around her more than she cared to admit. “Maybe you’re right,” she said into his chest. “Maybe part of me used what happened as an excuse to keep myself from getting hurt again. I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve been afraid to tell any other man the truth.” She paused, then added, “Until I met you.”
Damian kissed the top of her head and smiled. “Enough tears. Why don’t we go out to dinner? Get away from all this for a few hours and enjoy a good meal.”
Selina looked up. “Are you asking me out on a date?” she asked, smiling. “I thought we were going to stake out the club?”
“And we will,” Daman replied. “But first, I think we should have some pasta and maybe a Caesar salad. What do you say?”
“All right,” Selina said, drying her eyes. “Give me a few minutes to get ready. There’s a very good restaurant only a few blocks away.”
She walked through the office and into the townhouse while Damian poured another cup of coffee. After dinner, he reminded himself, they would need to come back and get a few things out of his car. If they were going to stake out a blues club looking for a rogue vampire, it might be a good idea to actually bring along a couple of wooden stakes.
The dinner had been very good, and Damian was glad to see Selina seemed more relaxed. As they walked back to the club, he took her hand and kissed it. “Are you ready to help me track a murderer?” he asked, looking into her eyes.
“Yes,” Selina replied. “I don’t want to see any other women lose their lives.”
“Then, we need to stop by my car and pick up a few items,” Damian said, holding her hand as they walked down the street. It was only a block to the club, but suddenly he got the feeling they were being watched. “Let’s have another cup of coffee,” he said, looking at his watch. “It’s still too early to go to the blues club.”
As they reached the back door of her club, Damian glanced over one shoulder. He sensed, more than saw, the movement at the end of the alley. “I will be right back,” he said, smiling. “I want to get those items out of my car.”
Selina nodded. “I’ll start the coffee,” she said as she went into the club.
Damian walked over to the Maserati, casually glancing down the alley. There it was again, that hint of movement. He opened the trunk and took out a black duffel bag. Swinging it over one shoulder, he closed the trunk and thought about heading down the alley. But Selina was alone in the club, he reminded himself, with the back door unlocked.
Looking over his shoulder, he walked back to the entrance and closed the door behind him, locking it. As he did, someone moved out of the shadows at the end of the alley, waited a few moments, then walked back down the street and around the corner.
Damian tossed the duffel bag onto one of the tables, then turned and smiled at Selina. “Everything a vampire hunter needs,” he said as she handed him a cup of coffee.
“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Selina replied, “but what do you have in there?”
“The essentials,” Damian said, unzipping the bag. “Seeds to count, consecrated earth, garlic...” he stopped at Selina’s look.
“You know that none of those actually work, don’t you?” she asked, shaking her head. “Those are all myths perpetuated by books and movies.”
Damian smiled. “I was just having a little fun with you, Carina,” he said, calling her darling again.
Selina liked the way he said it and walked over to the table to look into the bag. There were wooden stakes, some nasty looking sharp knives, other assorted weapons and a gun. “A gun may or may not slow down a vampire,” she said, pointing to the .38.
“That’s more for the human killer than a vampire,” Damian replied, pulling out a bundle of wooden stakes tied with string. “We’ll take a few of these and the gun since we’re not sure what sort of killer we’ll be tracking tonight.”
“I’d say the dangerous kind,” Selina said. “Whoever killed those women has no conscious and that can make someone very dangerous.”
“True,” Damian agreed, “which is why I want you to be careful tonight. If anything happens, you are to get away and call the police. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he added, thinking of the presence he had sensed in the alley earlier. He looked into her eyes. “Promise me, Selina.”
She nodded. “I will be careful if you promise me that you’ll call the police if we find anything suspicious.”
Damian sipped his coffee. “I promise you that I will call them if I think the police will be able to deal with our killer,” he said, then smiled. “It’s the best I can do in this type of situation.
“How many vampires have you killed?” Selina asked.
Damian hesitated. “The number is not important. Let’s just say I’m very good at what I do.”
Selina looked at him for a long moment. “Then, I will follow your lead in this stake out tonight,” she said, turning back to the bar. And try not to think about the rest, she told herself.
Damian watched her pour more coffee. “It’s not something I enjoy,” he said, walking over to her. “It was my duty for many years, then it became my specialty. I also think it became a way to make up for what happened to Beatrice and Alberto.”
Selina nodded. “I can understand that,” she said quietly. “I just wonder if we find this killer...what are your plans then?”
Damian smiled. “Are you asking me if I plan to stay in Seattle?”
“I’m asking you if there is anything you can see yourself doing besides killing vampires? If there is any chance that we could have...” she paused. “If we could be on the same side when all this is over?”
“I don’t know,” Damian replied, looking into her eyes. “All I know is that I’d like to try.”
“Then, that’s enough for now,” she said.