A Family Check-Up

In the months following Stefan’s dramatic re-entry into my life, I retreated from the world. Evangeline called often, at first, but I answered only once. The conversation proved too emotionally and intellectually challenging, and after that I destroyed my phone altogether. It was this action that left me completely unprepared when Selena came to visit.

Selena did not knock as Demelza had; she simply appeared in my apartment, as if by magic. At least, it seemed that way to me because I was completely absorbed in my work. I sat at my desk, feverishly writing and sketching in my notebook (Pro-Tip: When I get despondent, I alternate between two states, one of intense apathy and one of frenzied action), planning the demise of my old family in order to save my new one. Accordingly, I did not notice her approach, her presence, or the danger she brought in with her.

You see, if Selena were to somehow discover my relationship with Evangeline, she would doubtless report me to Father, and Father would then put me under intense scrutiny. Such interrogation and investigation would likely bring to light my association, albeit forced, with Stefan. This would stop Stefan’s plan, and Stefan would then make a certain phone call thus destroying my last and greatest valuable.

When I finally registered the cool touch of the wind on my skin, the hairs of the back of my neck rose (Pro-Tip: Vampires have a keen sense of danger, and since there is very little on this earth that is dangerous to us, it is never a good idea to ignore this warning). I spoke without turning, “Yes? What do you want?” Her proud voice cracked like a whip across my back, “Is that any way at all to greet your sister?” I swiveled in my chair, and felt a chill that was not the wind.

“I beg your pardon Selena,” I said, standing, “It seems I’ve quite forgot my manners.”

“Indeed you have.” Her tone was as severe as the rest of her, all hard lines and sharp edges, like a shard of ice.

Selena is beautiful, but not in a way that inspires desire or love. Hers is a dangerous beauty, a weapon that she uses to create fear. Her black, shoulder-length  hair was swept to either side of her face, so as not to impede her vision, and her eyes gleamed, one gold and one silver, from between their dark frame. She wore a leather jerkin with no sleeves, and a long skirt that no doubt concealed a dagger strapped to her thigh. Though she was not tall, her presence was intimidating nonetheless. Everything about her was narrow and lithe, and above all fearsome.

I stammered out another apology, and offered her a chair, but she ignored me.

“I must confess, brother, I’m disappointed in you. I called ahead three days ago, but still you are unprepared when I arrive. Your flat is in disarray, and your own appearance, is decidedly shabby. What has happened to you?” The blasted thing was, she was right. I’d not cleaned my apartment in weeks, and there was now a new carpet of dust covering most everything. As for my personal appearance, something I usually maintain meticulously, a stranger might have tossed a few coins at me had I left the building.

“I’ve been…ill.” I lied, feebly. She ignored that too.

“And what are you so busy writing over there?” She pointed to my desk, which was surrounded by crumpled bits of paper, a to a succession of broken pens on the floor by the trashcan (which was also overflowing with paper).

“I’ve been drafting my report to Father.” I said, putting more effort into this lie than the previous one (Pro-Tip: Quite apart from the plans to topple my Father from his position, various drafts of these essays were on that desk, and it wouldn’t do to have them discovered). “Won’t you please have a seat?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, I think I will explore your abode a little more closely.” She stepped into the bedroom.

“I’d really rather you didn’t!” I shouted after her, “My place really is quite a mess right now!”

“I know,” she replied, “And that in and of itself is worth investigating.” She began rummaging around in my drawers, tossing things helter-skelter into the center of the room. I stood silently, as she finished the destruction of my room. “Nothing.” She huffed, red in the face. She seemed a little too disappointed not to have some evidence of wrong-doing.

“Of course.” I said, fixing my social armor in place with a smile. “Whatever where you looking for…” But just as I was speaking, I spotted a very incriminating item next to her left shoe. I looked away quickly, but too late. She swooped down like a bird of prey, and snatched it off the floor. It was utterly humiliating to be brought down by…

“A bobby pin!” She cried triumphantly. “You’ve been seeing a girl!” Well, there was no point in denying it.

“Yes.” I said, as bravely as I could, “What’s it to you?”

“Well, nothing.” She purred.

“Nothing?” I asked, suspicious.

“Nothing. It’s not my concern who you spend your time with.” We stared at each other for a few moments, me searching for deceit, and her smiling coldly.

“So you won’t tell father?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Heaven’s no. You think you’re the first to have a lover hidden away from dear daddy? Even Scott’s had one.”

“Oh.” I was a little disgruntled I’ll admit. I thought I’d been breaking new ground.

“Well, if this is all that’s bothering you, then no matter. But if you don’t pull yourself together—and fast, Father will be the least of your problems.” She tossed the bobby pin at me feet, and when I looked up, she was gone.

“It used to be me who vanished into the night.” I muttered to myself. Maybe I was losing my touch. I turned back to my desk, and took up my pen again.

The Return of Stefan

            Life is a funny thing. One moment, everything is golden and sunny; and the next painted in shades of grey. My life was going along splendidly. All the food I could eat, a lovely apartment to live in, and of course, Evangeline. She was busy most of the time, of course, but being the premier assassin of The Widows means you can take a little time off now and then. Who would want to stop you, after all? All was as it should be.

            Life is a funny thing indeed, a creature with a keen sense of irony. Because it was at that point when Stefan prowled back into my life. Or maybe he never left, just slipped out of sight, skulking in the shadows. I wish I could say I’d been keeping tabs on him, but the fact of the matter was that he had vanished. Not a single rumor of his presence could be heard, no dark whispers of trouble. That meant one of two things: either Stefan had died, or he had succeeded were many others had failed; raising an army in complete secrecy. The story begins with a knock at my door.

            It was a rather obnoxious and loud knock, not a coordinated series of taps but more of a staggered rabble of raps, like a bad drum solo. I had just gotten back from a trip to Seattle, and had hardly settled back into my apartment, when I was disturbed by the knock. Irritated, I gathered my strength and went to the door, flinging it wide.

            “What’s the idea here?” I snapped. The woman at my step flung herself at me, and pressed her lips to mine. “It’s been too long, lover.” She whispered into my ear. I was having none of it. I tossed her backwards into the room, rubbing aggressively at my mouth, where her lips had been. I’m avoiding the word ‘kiss’ here, because it was an entirely one-sided affair, and was more like an assault than an embrace. For this reason, I didn’t believe the woman in my room to be Evangeline, who sometimes visited like this. Her surprise visits had class and style, and you could tell she’d put some effort into planning it. This act had none of those qualities, and was more like a desperate hooker going door to door with her…wares.

Filled with wrath, I turned on the woman. Her garb was in fitting with her lack of taste: a tank-top adorned with cartoony pink skulls, and a black skirt that puffed out a great deal, and seemed to encircle her waist in a cloud of fabric. Her hair was ragged and dark, traces of different dyes stuck out on the ends in little tufts. From the spider-web on her neck to a black heart over her actual one, she had covered herself in ink. I knew her at once, though I wished I hadn’t.

“Demelza.” I spat, giving the harlot her name. She purred in response, rising from the floor to her full height, and her violet eyes flashed. Maintaining eye contact with me, Demelza walked to a nearby bookshelf, licked a finger, and ran it across the spines of my books. Before I could fully process this atrocity, she popped the finger back in her mouth. “I didn’t know you’d just got back.” She slurred at me, “Or I’d have waited a day or two.” That was Demelza: uncultured, disgusting, brazen, and cunning.

“Demelza,” I said, more evenly than before, “before I break your neck and throw you from the roof, why are you here?” She pursed her lips and rocked back and forth on her heels. “Why you always gotta be like that?” She pouted, “Al’ays straight t’business. Don’t you wanna have a little fun first?” I said nothing, but bared my teeth. She sighed dramatically, “Fine then.” And pulled from the depths of her shirt a folded piece of paper.

I knew better than to touch something Demelza had possessed, not directly at least (Pro-Tip: I’d been burned that way before. I really hate that woman). I reached for my handkerchief, but couldn’t find it right away. Then I spotted a flash of white on Demelza…she must have taken it when she “kissed” me and put it…suffice it to say that the handkerchief was irretrievable.  With as much speed as I could muster, I reached out and snatched the folded note. Demelza’s sniggers overdubbed the note’s contents:

“Follow Demelza. We have some important business to discuss.”

It wasn’t signed, but it was easy to tell it was from Stefan. I looked up at Demelza. “It says to follow you.”

“I know what it says.” She sniffed, “I can read y’know.” I raised a wry eyebrow. “Most words.” She amended.

Driving with Demelza to Stefan’s meeting was infinitely more unpleasant than the prospect of speaking to Stefan again. At every red light, she would make faces at the other drivers, alternately swearing and flirting with the pedestrians. She refused to wear a seat belt; and, most annoying of all, she insisted on pressing every button in the car, with the result that the last twenty minutes were spent in oppressive heat. It was a relief to arrive at Stefan’s hideout: an abandoned docking station on the water’s edge.

I stalked into the building, casting my eyes around. Stefan stood in the middle, with two chairs and an industrial torch. But he was not the most concerning feature of the room, though he is both ugly and formidable. I was more disturbed by the shadows around the edges of the room. I can see in the dark, but into those places I could not perceive. That meant that something was veiling my sight, and that was bad news.

Stefan waved and shouted, “Brother! How have you been, well I hope?” And just like that, Stefan became more formidable to me than the shadows in the corners. Something was wrong with him.

“What do you want, Stefan?” I asked, wary. Stefan had the gall to look wounded.

“Want? Why should I want anything? Isn’t it enough to want to see one’s relatives?” I rolled my eyes. “Fine.” Stefan moaned, “Right to business.”

“He’s been like this all evening.” Demelza stage-whispered.

“Well, brother, as you so quickly surmised, I need something from you. Why don’t you take a seat, and we can talk about it.”

I circled to the chair opposite the door, and sat. Stefan sat as well, and Demelza lounged in his lap.

“As you know, or at least guess, I am back.” Stefan began, “And of course, I have more than a few debts to pay back. Thanks to some new…ends of mine, I have the power to do so. Unfortunately, I lack the essential strategic mind needed to successfully orchestrate a plan as massive as I intend. This is where you come in. I’ve been watching you, and you have just the right amount of viciousness tempered with patience to plan out my operation. And the rewards will be great…”

He stood up and Demelza was unceremoniously spilled onto the floor. She attempted to crawl into my lap, but I evaded her by also standing.

“Picture it to yourself!” Stefan said, a flame in his eyes, “All the prey we could want, the whole world to roam as we please, and a bed never empty.” I recognized what had happened to Stefan, and it scared me. He was becoming a fanatic. It is perilous indeed to consume yourself with a single idea; you risk more than your life. Stefan was a man consumed, and I wanted no part in it.

“It’s a nice picture.” I admitted, choosing every word carefully before speaking. “But I already have those things. Why should I risk my position to join with you?” Stefan paused his speech.

“Ah. I’d forgotten that you’d need some convincing.” He turned to me, and for a moment, a shadow of the old Stefan could be seen on his face. “You’ve been more than a little naughty of late. If news of your…affair were to reach certain ears…” He grinned wickedly. I shrugged.

“Father will forgive me, as I haven’t raised an army against him like you have. Tell him what you like. Now if you’ll excuse me I—”

“I wasn’t talking about Father’s ears.”

It is difficult to be paler than a vampire actually is, but at that moment, I must have been paler still. If Stefan even hinted to The Widows of my relationship with Evangeline, she would be dead within hours. My beautiful star, extinguished.

At that moment, my phone rang. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in, and threw a questioning glance at Stefan. He raised his hands magnanimously, and I answered it.

“Hello?”

“Lover, why aren’t you at home?” Evangeline’s husky voice broke whatever resolve I had left. I couldn’t think straight, and the darkness seemed to be getting darker.

“I’m…out.”

“I know that you’re out my question is why? Don’t be coy.” I cast about for a convincing lie.

“I had to leave for a business meeting. For work.”

“Liar…” Her tone was playful, but I could sense her getting tense. But the key to a good lie is perseverance: tell it often enough and it sounds almost like the truth, even to yourself.

“Yes, a business meeting. Another company is interested in a possible merger.” She saw through it in a heartbeat, she always could.

“Something is wrong but still you are lying to me. I cannot help you if you don’t tell me anything!” She was getting agitated, so I resorted to the only code I could use safely.

“Everything is fine.”

The line was deathly quiet.

“I see.” She said at last. “Be careful.” The line went dead.

Stefan looked at me expectantly. “Do we have a deal?” I nodded. Stefan laughed, clapped and then vanished into the shadows with Demelza. I was left alone with the flickering torch.

Everything is fine: everything is not fine.