Chapter 154 - Interlude part 6

He returned, just as he said he would. I could hear him waiting for me in the corridor. His footfalls, padding restlessly up and down the hallway. He paced like a wild animal in a cage.

Let him wait, I thought petulantly.

I bathed, put on some fresh clothes, watched the last light of day bleed out of the sky. The heavens had cleared while I slept through the daylight hours. The snowstorm had dumped its freight of ice upon the city and moved on. The wind, when I stepped out on my balcony, was as cold and sharp as the razor of a back alley killer.

In the corridor, Lukas paced.

Finally, lazily, I went and let him in. I was afraid he would accost some passing neighbor if I put him off much longer.

"I told you I'd come back," he said, grinning his shark-like grin.

"Enter freely, and of your own will," I said gravely. I did not ask him to leave something of the happiness he brought.

If he took note of my jest, he gave no sign of it.

"It's colder than a witch's tit outside," he said, edging around me into the apartment. "At least it stopped snowing."

I was somewhat taken aback that he could enter my lair with such seeming lack of concern. Perhaps he intended to put me off balance with a show of braggadocio. I half expected him to hand me his jacket as if I were some common diener.

"I have been debating whether I should renege on our agreement," I said, closing the door behind him. "Your lack of respect for these proceedings does not argue in your favor."

His eyes flashed toward me. His grin withered. "We had an deal!" he protested.

I shrugged.

"I am not sure you grasp the gravitas of our contract," I replied. "If I do not feel confident that you will uphold your side of our bargain, I will dispose of you and look for someone more trustworthy. This is not a game. There are no rules for you to bend. If you do not take this serious, I will kill you in the most terrible and painful fashion you can imagine."

And then I grinned, making sure he saw my fangs.

I stepped toward him.

He shuffled back involuntarily, visibly alarmed. I smelled his sudden fear. His heart skipped a beat and then began to race.

"Nein! Nein!" he stammered, holding up a hand. "Have no misgivings. I am very serious about the bargain we have struck!"

"I hope so," I said. "For your sake."

He fell into step behind me as I started across the apartment. "So… what's next, Drac?" he asked.

"We talk," I answered. "As we did before."

We passed into the dining area. I sat at the table and he eased into a chair across from me, folding his hands in front of him. I could see out the window just past his right shoulder. Liege, surrounded by her forested hills. The Belgian city does not have the most impressive skyline. There are few truly tall buildings. Still, I enjoyed the twinkling of her lights, the way the hills enfolded them, like giant hands cupping something delicate and pretty. The intimacy of the city appealed to my reclusive nature.

"Do you mind if I smoke?" he asked, reaching into his jacket. He slid a pack of Gauloises Blondes from his shirt pocket as I gestured my acquiescence. "I quit smoking for my health several years ago," he explained with a grin, "but I figure it doesn't really matter now. Our arrangement can only have two outcomes."

"True," I agreed.

He lit a cigarette and breathed out a cloud of redolent gray smoke.

"Ashtray?" he inquired.

"In the kitchen cabinet above the oven."

"Danke."

When he had returned to the table, he tapped his ash and said, "So I suppose we continue with your story."

"Yes."

"You followed the escaped slaves to their homeland," he summarized. "During the journey, you discovered that your adopted son had gotten one of the slave women pregnant. Most importantly, you realized that the Tanti were descendants of your original tribe… your grandchildren to the nth degree."

"Yes, yes, and yes," I replied, oddly impressed with him.

Criminals are usually stupid. I am always surprised when they display some cleverness.

But his mind is broken in other ways, I reminded myself. He is bereft of empathy, not intellect. Do not forget.

I tried to decide how I should resume my narrative, but it was difficult. My present concerns overshadowed those ancient memories, made them seem less consequential.

"I would like to linger on the days I spent among the Tanti," I finally said. "It was a happy time for me. For the first time in several thousand years, I felt as though I belonged to a community again. I felt whole. We are social creatures, after all. It is our nature to seek out the society of those who are like ourselves. Though I am a vampire, a cold white mutant monster, my soul has always been the soul of a mortal man, and I was happy among the Tanti. So indulge me if I linger on the season that I spent among them longer perhaps than its import to this tale deserves."