Almost Lovers (12 page)

"Well," I let out a breath I had been
holding, "That's a new one,"

I ran my hands through my hair and sat
speechless for a moment. I wanted her to be joking.

"How does that help me with my babysitting?"
I asked with a touch more sarcasm than I had intended.

The Queen got up and pulled a book from a
safe behind a painting. The book was ancient, pages disintegrating
at the edges. She flipped open the book and showed me the front
page. Sure enough, there was her name in a ship log of some
kind.

"A ship?" I asked.

"Yes," said the Queen, "We spent 16 years in
space and I fell in love on that ship,"

"You never mentioned a husband," I said.

"That's because he wasn’t my husband. A
slave, he was human," said the Queen.

"Wait..." I said, "Where did you get
him?"

"From our home planet," said the Queen,
"Humans are not indigenous to Earth. And we are not indigenous
anywhere - we are the result of a man-made virus, the Vampyr virus
promising eternal youth and sold to the highest bidder,"

"This is insanity," I said, turning the
pages in the ship log and looking at the different entries, "It
can't be...this can't be a forgery. It's all true?"

I looked into the face of the Queen and
found a woman carrying a burden, a secret bigger than her and she
had kept it for thousands upon thousands of years.

"Every word of it," said the Queen, her
fingertips running across the top of the ship log pages, "And the
virus had unforeseen side-effects,"

"Are you sure we’re human?" I asked.

I couldn't imagine being a human, not
really. I had been born a vampire. I had hit puberty and had turned
as all born vampires did. It was the Halflings that turned later in
life, their 20's or so. And the pets, the humans that were bitten
and injected were the ones that were turned immediately. They
weren't on par with a born vampire and never would be. But they
still counted. They were still one of us. And here we had all
fooled ourselves into thinking we were superior - when we were the
result of what? A science experiment?

"We are human," the Queen said, "But we have
lost our humanity, all of us. It's going to result in our own
self-destruction and possibly the destruction of the entire human
population,"

I looked down at my hands and tried to list
the differences. The teeth that came down much like a snake when we
fed, the heightened senses, the strength, increased brain function,
the slowed aging almost to a standstill. We weren't immortal but we
were darn close.

"Why do we even need our humanity?" I asked,
"Perhaps we're better this way? These feel like features, not
side-effects,"

"It's all you've known since birth," said
the Queen, "You haven't really known love, known pain, known loss,
injustices, suffering - these are human things."

"You want us to suffer so that we can find
our humanity again?" I asked, "To feel compassion for our food and
what, starve? So that you can keep a human pet and we can kill off
our own kind with self imposed feeding restrictions?"

It didn't sit well with me. We were better
than the humans. We were more than the humans. They were food,
cattle, pets, and amusement wrapped in one.

"Prussia is the key," said the Queen, "I
don’t know how yet but she is. And if she dies, we all die,"

"How do you know that? Why her?" I
asked.

There was no way that a human could be so
important.

"I don't have all the answers yet. I need
you to focus on your task while I find those answers," said the
Queen.

She came around the desk and sat on the edge
of the desk in front of my chair.

"Prussia is much more than just a human,"
said the Queen, "She holds all the answers and right now I need
time,"

"Because she's human and has the life span
of a fruit fly compared to us?" I asked.

I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that
the fate of our species, superior and evolved, rested on a simple
human that worked in a grocery store, or at least used to.

"If you can't protect her, tell me now,"
said the Queen, her tone denoting that her tolerance for skepticism
was waning, "I can cut you loose. You can run wild with Lydia and
I'll find another way to keep her safe, against her will if need
be,"

"No need for dramatics," I said, "If our
fate rests on her, I will be there every moment of the day from now
on. I will be her unseen shadow,"

I wasn’t exactly leaping at the idea of
‘running wild with Lydia’ as it were. Besides, this sounded
interesting and it sounded like Victoria needed me. What
fascinating stories could my great grandmother tell me after
keeping this secret for so long – if it was all really true.

"I'd prefer if you were seen," said the
Queen, "It would make things a lot easier if you could make sure
she developed…an interest in you. I know you have that irresistible
charm when you really need it and right now, it would make things
easier,"

"I can take a hint," I said.

"And with Lydia out of the way it should be
smooth sailing," said the Queen, "When she comes for dinner tonight
be sure to mention that we had a consultation position just open
up,"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because," said the Queen, "I didn’t get her
fired from her job so she could work a string of fast food
positions next. I want her in this castle as often as possible.
Make it happen."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, "I
thought you said you would call?" reminding him of our less-than
conventional conversation about my guilt and his blackmail.

"I was in the area. I thought I would just
stop by your work but they said you don't work there anymore," said
Sebastian, "Everything okay?"

"Everything is great," I said, sarcasm
dripping from every word, "Except the part where I got fired for
being late, again."

"You've been fired for being late before?"
asked Sebastian.

"No, I was late again, not fired again," I
said, but it gave me an idea, "Do you think there is a chance I
could get my job back? Maybe give Tom a chance to calm down?"

"I guess you could try," said Sebastian,
"But isn't there anything else you would rather do? I can't imagine
you as a cashier the rest of your life..."

And that hurt. A lot. Mostly because I had
no idea what I wanted to do with my life. But to have him point it
out...It just hurt.

"Do you have any brilliant ideas on what I
might be qualified for," I asked, defensive, "you know, with all my
cashier experience and all of that?"

He looked at me and for once I knew an
expression of his, because it was obvious. His face looked as if he
thought he had just stepped on and triggered a land-mine. Keep
walking on the off chance that it's not lethal or tread carefully
to avoid explosion? He picked up a piece of fruit from the fruit
basket on the kitchen counter and began tossing it as one would
absentmindedly toss a baseball, a gentle toss and catch.

"Now that you mention it, I think you're
great with Victoria," he said, taking a cautious side-ways peek at
me as he continued playing catch with the fruit.

"But friendship isn't paying rent this week,
now, is it?" I asked.

I laughed at the absurd suggestion that
listening to an old woman was a skill set of some sort in the
workplace.

"Actually," Sebastian stopped tossing the
piece of fruit and looked at me with a bit of surprise on his face,
"This week it is."

It was my turn to look as though I had
stepped on a possible land mine.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever
heard you say," I said.

"We just had a consultation position for
Victoria open up," said Sebastian, who started tossing the piece of
fruit again, "She put me in charge of finding someone for her just
this morning. I think my work is already done. I like it," He
smiled at me then.

"Consultation?" I asked, "What does that
even mean? And how is it that it just happened to
open up
all of a sudden?"

For a moment I wondered if he planned to
actually eat the apple he kept tossing around or just continue to
bruise it. I could hear a resounding thwack every time his giant
hands caught it and flung it back up overhead.

He gave a sigh and stopped tossing the fruit
to give me a look that said he didn't understand how I didn't
understand.

"It's a fancy way of saying friend," said
Sebastian, "Elizabeth had been her
consultant
but she left
for a much better place and Victoria has been lost without her
company,"

"A much better place?" I asked, "Is she some
kind of a hard-assed dragon lady of a boss or something?"

Sebastian burst out in laughter.

"Dragon lady?" asked Sebastian, "Oh my
goodness, Victoria will think that's a hoot! I don't think she's
ever been called a dragon lady,"

I felt bad for referring to a kind-hearted
woman like Victoria as a dragon lady and regretted that she would
know that I had called her that. She really was a sweet old woman.
A bit pushy as old women can be and kind of meddlesome but
sweet.

"I didn't mean it like that. You just made
it sound like-" I said, Sebastian cutting me off.

"Like she’s a slave driver?" Sebastian
continued to smile, "No, she's reasonable to work for and she likes
you. I think the only thing that would make me more of a favorite
than you at the moment is if I manage to persuade you to consider
this job. I would be in her good graces for a long time," he
continued to smile at me, looking pleased with himself.

"I think I'll stick with trying to get my
job back first," I said, feeling that maybe I needed to be more
cautious.

Something just felt too good to be true
about the whole situation. It bordered between unexpected lottery
and charity. I didn't trust it.

"Well now you're just being stubborn," he
said, "I’m not going to catch you running in the park at 1 a.m.
again, am I?"

That had me raise my chin up higher. It felt
like an insult in every way possible. I could tell that he knew I
was offended.

"I'm sorry," he said, "Look, just give it a
try until you find out if your old boss gives you your job back,"
he shrugged, "Worst case scenario, Victoria asks your advice on
random old lady things and pays you a neat six figures,"

"Six figures?" I blurted out, "You've got to
be kidding."

Now his face matched mine with surprise.

"No..." he said, he looked at me and stopped
moving around, apparently not sure why I had been so surprised at
how much Victoria paid for consulting.

"That's what Elizabeth was paid. I'm sure
Victoria would just assume pay you the same," he said, "Not high
six figures, but with perks , benefits and other boring stuff,"

It didn't take me long to figure out that
Victoria, bless her heart, was kind and generous. And if she wanted
to talk my ear off about her days in the 40s while I tried to get
my old job back then I was all for that...as long as it pays, I'll
sit all day and listen.

"I'll take it," I blurted out as he bit into
the apple, "I'll do it. When do I start?"

He was mid-bite when I said it and he froze
when he realized I wanted the job after all. He didn't finish
taking the bite. He took his mouth off of the apple and pointed at
me with it.

"You won't consider the position because you
pretty much say you don't have any skills but I say it pays more
than your cashier wage and now you're all over it?" he asked,
confused.

"Money talks," I said, feeling stupid the
moment I said it, "But I'm still going to try to get my old job
back. This is just..."

I couldn't think of what this was. Last time
I couldn't think of what something was, it ended up being called
cheating. What did that make this?

"A trial," offered Sebastian, "Well that's
fantastic. It saves me time sorting through finding someone and
Victoria is going to be thrilled, really."

"When do I start?" I asked, ringing my
hands, still feeling awkward as if taking advantage of a kind old
woman's heart, "Tomorrow?"

"Tonight," he said, picking up my keys next
to the front door and holding them out to me.

I took a step back, not understanding what
he meant. What in the world could be so important that I was needed
the moment I was hired unless it was some sort of trick? He must
have sensed my hesitation.

"It's perfect. Victoria wanted you to join
us for dinner anyway," said Sebastian, trying to coax me out the
door, "She's expecting us,"

"I'm actually waiting for Robert," I said in
a quiet voice with a bit of a wince.

I knew that Sebastian still sought my
affection but he also knew that I still wanted to try to win Robert
back. I felt bad because I had put us both in this situation and
even after everything Sebastian had said, the blackmail, everything
- I still felt guilty.