Bride of Blood:: First Kiss (11 page)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I tell you, Johnny-boy,” said the old black gentleman, “I was beginning to wonder when I was going to see you again.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I know what you mean, Scotty,” Johnny-boy said.
 
Obviously they were close friends.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anton was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of Scotty’s voice, “You know something, Johnny-boy, I will be coming back here now and again to see when my sweet girl will be joining me.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Be patient, Scotty,” said the man in the shadows. “You have work to occupy your time until she comes.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I don’t suppose you can tell me when she’s coming,” Scotty asked with a crooked smile.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“No, it doesn’t work that way,” said the young man as he seemed to fade into the shadows.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“What kind of work do you do, sir?” asked Anton looking down at his cup of coffee and in the blink of an eye, JR refilled it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“You know me, Anton,” said Scotty smiling at him, “we met many years ago when I was a Pullman Porter, remember?
 
I thought you told me that you never forgot a name or a face.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Oh yes,” said Anton as he took a quick sip of coffee.
 
“It’s been a long time, Scotty.”
 
He shook the man’s hand heartily.
 
“How are your beautiful wife and daughters?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Oh, fine.
 
I check on them all the time.
 
They are alright, although I have to say that they still miss me.
 
I wish there was some way that I could let them know I am alright.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“It is sad, isn’t it,” said Vercie, who spoke for the first time.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“What’s sad, Vercie?” asked Scotty looking up at her.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“That we can’t talk to the living,” she said with a sigh.
 
She had the most beautiful voice Anton had ever heard.
 
Her voice was very sing-song almost like Velara’s.
 
It was strange how many of Velara’s qualities had been passed down to this woman, and probably would be passed on to her children, that were still alive.
 
Vercie would talk about them now and again when Anton saw her here. She had tried several times to get them to hear her when she visited, even going so far as to try to get into their dreams.
 
Vercie winked at Anton and lit another cigarette.
 
Anton had been drawn to her since he’d seen her a few years ago right here.
 
Beautiful as she was, she was very intelligent and independent.
 
She gave herself the title of her family’s historian and knew the birth dates and death dates of everyone in her family dating back to her distant relatives in West Africa, and even to ancient Egypt.
 
No, she was no mindless bimbo, she was almost like a reborn Velara.
 
He had a feeling that all the women in her bloodline were like that:
 
beautiful, but with a working brain in their heads.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Wouldn’t it be nice if life were like the movies?” the young woman asked as she winked at Anton.
 
He took in her fragrant scent.
 
She smelled really sweet.
 
He tried to read her thoughts, but it was impossible to do with the dead.
 
Vercie shook her head at the young lady.
 
She didn’t like such behavior and felt that it was undignified for the woman to act in such a way.
 
 
He wanted to take in all of her.
 
Slowly he reached over and touched her hand.
 
It was cold but somehow still felt alive.
 
No blood seemed to run through her veins.
 
Even though she felt alive, it was an illusion.
 
Even in that plane of existence, there was no fooling reality.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I cannot die,” Anton said, suddenly.
 
He didn’t know why he said it, but it just came out.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I know, son,” said Johnny-boy.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Vercie got up from her seat and came over to Anton.
 
The young lady got up from the seat and Vercie sat down next to Anton.
 
She put Anton’s right hand in hers and kissed it softly in a maternal, loving sort of way.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Lately I’ve felt so much loss and pain,” Anton said to Vercie.
 
“It’s strange how an old, long-ago romance can come back and the heartache feels like new.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Haven’t we all,” said the young man returning from the shadows.
 
“And don’t tell me no one has ever caused you pain?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“And still is,” said Vercie, “Am I right?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anton didn’t say anything.
 
He wondered how they knew about the dreams and visions that were haunting him lately.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“There are no secrets, here, sugar,” said Vercie.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“He’s letting her destroy him,” said Scotty.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Maybe she is justified in destroying me.
 
I did give her a life of damnation.
 
She and Alexander.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Think for a moment before you beat yourself up,” said the young man, “what would have happened to them if you hadn’t been there?
 
You know that Alexander would have faced starvation and death.
 
Plus you know that Velara would have been better off dead if she remained a slave.
 
Meeting you saved them.
 
Believe me, I know.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Yep, he kind of saved them from you didn’t he?” asked Vercie with a smile.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“More or less,” said the young man.
 
“There are some who are destined to never taste death…” he glanced over at JR, “and there are those who are stuck between worlds, aren’t there?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Sometimes I feel as if I’ve failed them both,” said Anton with a sigh.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“How quick you are to judge what you don’t understand, vampire,” said the young man.
 
Anton thought about what he said.
 
He blamed himself for Velara’s leaving for many years.
 
There were no parting words but he still thought that she resented him for making her into a vampire.
 
What was going through her mind at that exact moment?
 
What was going on in Alexander’s mind?
 
“How quick you are to judge another’s destiny.
 
You aren’t even exactly sure of your own destiny.”