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.