Chapter Fourteen

Sienna drove his Mercedes back to Raspberry Hall that night. He’d handed her the keys and kissed her good night. She left right after he confessed to being a vampire, and she took his car for a reason. She didn’t want him to think she was leaving him for good. Actually, the thought never entered her mind.

Before she went to bed, she sat in front of her small roll top desk and opened her laptop. It was an older laptop that she’d purchased at an online auction site, and it took forever to warm up. Latte jumped up on her lap and purred. She knew he didn’t like being alone, because whenever she was home he never left her side. When she was finally signed on to the Internet, she went to a search engine and typed in the word “vampire.”

Lists of Web sites popped up. She clicked through hundreds of them only to discover that they all had different explanations of vampires. There were so many tales and legends she wasn’t sure what to believe. All the sites had some things in common: Vampires are the walking dead, they shun the sunlight, they feed on blood, and they are immortal. But everything else varied. Some Web sites said that vampires could read minds, and others said they couldn’t. Some said they could turn into bats and fly, and some said that was just a myth. The lists went on, and the more she read the more confused she became.

When she was about to give up and go to bed, she finally found something that looked different from all the other Web sites. It was a simple, personal blog that was titled “A Vampire’s Life.” It was an anonymous blog, written by someone who claimed to be a real vampire. The blogger didn’t give many personal details, or even a real name. But he did write almost daily about living as a vampire. And as she read through his posts, she realized his blog was more of a personal catharsis than anything else. Evidently, the vampire was tired of all the myths and stories that had been written, and he wanted to set the world straight. Most people would have thought this blog was fiction and that it had been written by one of the many Internet loons in the world. But when she read that all vampires were allergic to seafood, she knew it had to be real.

She read every entry on the blog. She learned that while vampires do feed and survive on blood, not all are vicious killers stalking human beings. Some were capable of living normal quiet lives in the suburbs, without ever drawing attention to themselves. The vampire who was the author of the blog was actually a lawyer in Des Moines, Iowa, and he was married to a woman named Jane. He described her, endearingly, as “a plump little house frump who eats too many doughnuts and drinks too much wine, and I love every last inch of her adorable, chubby body.” They lived in the suburbs and his wife’s hobby was reading and reviewing mystery novels online. Her favorites were the cozies.

Before Sienna closed the laptop, she actually left a comment on the vampire’s blog. She wrote, “I’d like to thank you. I’ve learned more from this one blog than from hundreds of other Web sites I’ve seen about vampires.”

When she went to bed that night, she turned on her side so that Latte could curl up under her arm. She scratched the top of his head and said, “This isn’t going to be easy, but at least now, thanks to the blogging vampire in Des Moines, I know he’s not a freak.”

The next night, Avenir showed up at the bar and ordered a drink. He was wearing a pair of loose faded jeans that made his butt look really good, and the same short leather jacket he usually wore. He smiled and said, “Am I welcome here?”

She leaned over the bar and kissed him on the cheek. “Of course you are.”

Then Grace called her from the other side of the bar. Before she left, she smiled and said, “Don’t worry about ordering a drink. I know you don’t really want one.”

He tilted his head and said, “You do?”

She nodded. “I did a little research on the computer last night and I learned that you couldn’t care less about food or drink.” Then she leaned forward so no one else could hear her, and she whispered, “It’s called ‘A Vampire’s Life,’ and it’s all about this vampire living in the suburbs in the Midwest.”

He laughed. “I know the blog well,” he said. “I met the author once in New Orleans at a small gathering.”

Grace called her name again. “I have to get back to work,” she said. She turned to leave, then looked over her shoulder and said, “By the way, those loose jeans make your butt look really cute.”

His eyes opened wide and he smiled. “Ah well, then I’ll wear them all the time.”

A few hours later, Sienna found him waiting for her by his car. She’d parked it next to hers. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “I was afraid I might have scared you away when I told you I thought you had a cute butt.”

He laughed and scratched the back of his head. She could see he didn’t take compliments about his looks very well. “It’s not something I hear every day. And, to be honest, back in my day no woman would ever have said something like that out loud.”

She dropped her purse on the gravel and put her arms around his shoulders. “Welcome to the twenty-first century, baby,” she said. She placed her right palm on the back of his head. His hair was thick and soft; she ran her fingers through it and let out a soft moan. Then she pushed his head toward hers and kissed his lips. She inhaled through her nose. He had a unique aroma that reminded her of the incense you smell in churches.

A few minutes later, Avenir said, “Let’s go back to Oceanview. I don’t like kissing you this way in the parking lot of a bar. I want to kiss you in private, where there’s no one else but us.”

“I’d like check on Latte first, if that’s okay,” she said.

He smiled and hugged her harder. “Why don’t we just get him and bring him with us?”

She stepped back and held his hand. “I think he’d like that,” she said. “And you’re going to be very surprised at how much he really is like a human being. He’s always amazing me with new things.”

At first Sienna was worried that Latte wouldn’t know how to behave in a car. It was only a five-minute drive, but she didn’t want him to freak out. She didn’t have a pet carrier either, so she placed him in a box on the small rear shelf of the Mercedes convertible and pointed her finger. “Now you be good,” she said. “We’re going for a short ride.”

Latte sat in the box with his head held high and meowed twice. She almost thought he was trying to say, “Just drive, and don’t insult my intelligence.” Because when Avenir started the car and took off down the driveway, Latte just went down inside the box and crossed his two front paws.

When they opened the doors and got out of the car at Oceanview, Latte jumped out of the box and stood at Avenir’s ankles. “Is he safe?” Avenir asked. “I don’t want him running off and getting lost.”

Sienna laughed and said, “He’s fine. You’ll see.”

The little white kitten walked beside Avenir all the way to the front door. It looked as if Avenir were walking him on an invisible leash. Mavis was waiting for them. She took one look at Latte and pressed her hands together. “What a darling. I love kittens.”

“His name is Latte,” Sienna said. “I found him under the hood of my car earlier this month. And he hasn’t left my side since.”

“Well,” Mavis said, “There’s nice bowl of fresh cream waiting for him in the kitchen if that’s okay with you.”

When Mavis mentioned fresh cream, Latte scampered to her ankle and rubbed the top of his head up and down on her skin. Then he looked up at Sienna and meowed three times, as if he were trying to tell her he wanted the cream.

“It’s fine,” Sienna said. “I feed him dry, bland food, and he deserves a treat once in a while.”

While Mavis and Latte were in the kitchen, Sienna and Avenir went into the drawing room. Avenir told her about the strange things that had been happening in Oceanview, and she listened quietly. He told her about the west wing, and what he’d seen and heard the night he’d gone there alone. Avenir believed there were ghosts in the house, and he also believed they were trying to tell him something.

When he was finished, Sienna lowered her eyebrows and said, “This is a lot to absorb all at once. First I find out about you, and now you’re telling me there are ghosts in the house. The next thing you’ll tell me is that there are fairies in the garden and leprechauns under the boxwoods.”

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “I’m not sure about fairies or leprechauns, but Mavis is a witch.”

She pressed her palm to her forehead and shook her head back and forth. “You’re joking.”

“Her powers aren’t very strong anymore,” he said, “But she’s been guarding me while I sleep for many years now.”

Sienna took a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay,” she said. “What do you think these ghosts are trying to tell you?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “But it has something to do with the hidden painting.” Then he crossed to a tall French armoire near the window and opened the double doors. He pulled a pile of papers off the shelf and brought it to the sofa where Sienna was sitting. He handed them to her and said, “Many years ago, I was in love with Adriana, your great-grandmother. But her family hated me. They thought I was too wild for her, because I was always getting into fights. And they wanted her to marry Ned Harrington.”

Sienna lifted the pages and read the title of the story. “Loving Daylight,” she said. “My mother used to tell me a story with the same title. I’d almost forgotten about it, I’ll bet it’s the same one. It wasn’t anything special; just a story about growing up on Mt. Desert Island, but it always put me to sleep.”

“Adriana wrote this story herself,” Avenir said. “She told me about it many years ago. It’s not about the story. She’s trying to let me know that she’s the one contacting me, and I believe it has something to do with the painting, the will, and your mother’s death.”

“Why can’t she just tell you?” Sienna said. “If it is Adriana’s ghost, then why doesn’t she just come right out and let you know.”

He smiled. “It doesn’t work that way. Ghosts can’t communicate with speech because they are on a different frequency than humans and other earthbound creatures like me. It was actually very difficult for her to even show me the short story.” He rubbed his jaw a few times and lowered his eyebrows. “How old were you when your mother died?”

She thought for a moment and said, “Four.”

“Where you in the room with her when she died?”

Sienna stood up and walked to the fireplace. “I don’t want to talk about that,” she said. She didn’t want to talk about it because she couldn’t remember anything about that day. She remembered everything else about her life, but that day was a complete blank.

“I know it’s painful, but you have to try to remember,” he said. “For your sake, and for your mother’s.”

Then Mavis bounded into the room with a tea tray. Latte loped by her side. When Latte saw the delicate, faded pages of Adriana’s story on the sofa, he jumped up on the cushion and rubbed his forehead on the first page.