TWO

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  When we got back from filming, Steven stuck to his promise. He made both of us breakfast. He still ate with me all the time, even though he didn't have to keep up the pretense. I think he just enjoyed food. Then we sat down at the table and he began his story, pausing to take the occasional bite of food or sip of coffee.

  “Let’s see. Where to begin… I guess I will start with my family. I grew up in Paris in the seventeenth century. For generations, my family had been members of the royal court. We were very successful and the children were taught to handle money wisely from a very young age, so no sudden heir would squander the family fortune on gambling and whores. As a result, we were one of the wealthiest families of the period. We didn't flaunt our wealth, however. We were kind and generous to our servants, followers, and friends, but not to the point of excessiveness. Everyone knew we were well off, but no one outside the family knew exactly how well off we were. Actually, the house I grew up in is now a museum. It is in La Marais. If you want, I can take you there sometime. It is really quite extraordinary. When they redid my bedroom after turning it into a museum centuries after I left, they managed to make it nearly perfect. I’d love to show you.”

  “Absolutely! I have never been to Paris. And I would love to see where you grew up. You could tell me stories not even the oldest tour guide would know!”

  “Indeed, I could. Once we're done filming, I will take you. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. So my family was wealthy, powerful, and very well loved by everyone.” Steven grinned as I rolled my eyes. “Royalty and peasants alike respected and adored nearly every member of my family. There were a couple bad seeds, but we tended to ostracize them or handle their disloyalty in other ways. I enjoyed every moment of my life. As a boy, I had full run of the house and surrounding lawns and forests. I raced with friends, hunted with my father, learned to read and write from my mother, and I even learned to sew from my sister. It was a huge secret. Boys were not supposed to learn to sew. That much still hasn’t changed, surprisingly. Very few boys can get away with being a seamstress nowadays, unless your name is Tommy Hilfiger, of course.

  “Anyway, as I grew older, my father started taking me to the palace on court business. It was fascinating stuff. You always hear about the intrigue and plots and whatnot, but it was so much more. Everything was so complex and thought was put in the minutest detail, right down to the shape of the wood screws in the king’s table. Meaning was read into the slightest movement and you had to be careful not to yawn at the wrong moment or you would lose your head faster than you could flinch.

  “My father taught me the ins and outs of the royal life and raised me to follow in his footsteps. He arranged a marriage for me to another noble family. They were not as well liked, but they were very powerful, and an alliance between our families would make anyone stand up and take notice. The woman I was to marry was attractive enough and, though not as kind and generous as my mother, she was tolerable. So we prepared for the wedding, which was to take place two years from the time the marriage was arranged. I continued learning from my father while we lived at court and the young woman moved into my family’s mansion in La Marais to learn from my mother.

  “A couple months before I was to be married, a stranger came to court. He was short and stout, but he was a barrel of laughs and everyone immediately fell in love with him. His name was Josef De Marq, or so he said. No one knew him or where he came from, but he enamored himself with everyone very quickly. My father and he became instant friends and my father invited Josef to our mansion for the wedding.

  “Josef arrived at my home about two weeks before the wedding, when the hustle and bustle of preparations was in full swing. He was put in the room next to mine, which has always been a guest room of the highest quality. Gold fibers are woven into every fabric, including the thick curtains, and there are solid gold leaves painted on the headboard, armoire, and even the wall. Josef made himself at home very quickly, often bringing one of the maids or cooks to his room late at night.

  “It was not until Josef actually lived with us that I noticed something was off about him. I never saw him out and about during the day. He only seemed to surface after the sun had gone down and retired to his room before it could shine its light on his rosy face. At first I attributed this behavior to his love for parties, as most parties lasted late into the evening, giving the exhausted partiers an excuse to sleep the days away. But eventually I became suspicious enough to want answers.

  “After he retired one morning with one of the maids, I followed him to his room and stood outside the door. I listened very carefully for what seemed like a very long time, but heard not a sound from inside. My curiosity got the best of me. I opened the door as quietly as possible and crept inside. There on the massive bed lay the maid, Josef positioned over her, one arm under her body, her head tilted back with her neck exposed. Josef looked as though he were biting her and blood was trickling down her throat. The maid was not fighting. I thought she was dead.

  “I nearly shouted, but something stopped me. I approached the bed and Josef looked up. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked.

  “He straightened himself, then replied, ‘Drinking.’

  “I waited for him to continue, but he did not, so I asked him to go on, less than politely. ‘Explain yourself.’

  “Josef got down from the bed, laying the maid down gently. As he did, I could see two perfect holes in her neck, and they were closing very quickly. Josef came to me and took my hand. ‘I want to show you something.’

  “He led me to the window and stood to one side of the crack between the curtains. Then he stuck out one hand and pulled the curtain closest to him back slightly. The sun streamed in, touching his skin. The hand immediately turned red as if sunburned, then the color started to deepen. I looked at his face and I could see the agony there. He kept his hand in the sunlight for a minute longer, until it looked as if someone had poured boiling oil over it. Then he cradled his scorched hand to his chest and dropped the curtain.

  “He looked at me intently for a moment before saying, ‘Do you know what I am?’

  “I nodded. 'A vampire.'”

  “He confirmed, ‘Yes. Despite common belief, vampires do not harm their victims, usually. You will see, she is asleep and perfectly content. When she wakes up, the marks will be gone and she will be none the wiser. I do not drink from the same girl every night, as I do not want to weaken them and have anyone become suspicious. Will you help me keep my secret?’

  “How could I not? He was one of the kindest, most enjoyable men I had ever met. I promised to keep my lips sealed and then returned to my own bed chamber to get some sleep. My father was taking me hunting that day as one of our last father-son trips before I became a married man.

  “I woke a few hours later and readied myself for the hunt. I met my father at the stables and we rode to the forest as fast as our white steeds would take us. For hours, we tracked the wild boar, but it kept evading us. I was becoming weak and careless with fatigue, having spent the entire night partying with Josef and some of the maids. We finally succeeded in cornering the boar near a rocky outcrop and my father and I jumped off our horses. Despite his warnings, I proceeded recklessly and got too close to the boar. In its fury and fear, it saw me only as a predator and it charged, its powerful legs churning as fast as they would go. I was too tired to react as quickly as I otherwise might have and the boar speared me with its tusks, repeatedly.

  “My father brought the boar down as quickly as possible, but the damage was done. We both knew I was finished. The medical advancements of the day were not as they are now. Stomach wounds of that sort were nearly always fatal during that time. The problem was that death from a stomach wound took longer than if you were stabbed, say, in the throat or heart. And stomach wounds are extremely painful.

  “So though we knew I was a goner, my father still had plenty of time to get me back home to my mother, with me writhing and screaming with pain every step of the way. They lay me in my bed, where my blood immediately began to soak the sheets. My mother and her lady in waiting did what they could for me, but the pain was immense and the wounds would not stop bleeding. I would be dead before the morning for sure.

  “Josef, upon hearing my blood curdling screams, entered my room, careful to stay out of any stray ray of sunlight. He stood off to the side, pain and concern on his face. Everyone who saw him assumed it was due to his great love for me, but it was something far greater than that. Josef was trying to decide if he should offer a service only he could provide.

  “As the sun set, I became weaker and my pulse started to fade. The doctor, who had been summoned immediately, said that I would not make it through the night, maybe not even the next hour. My father stood over me, holding my sobbing mother in his arms, trying to comfort her, but having no success. After the doctor and everyone else had left, Josef approached them.

  “He explained everything to them—who he was, what he did, and how he could help them. He could save me, their son, but I would have to leave with him immediately and I could not be married. Josef explained the process of turning someone into a vampire to both me and my parents, refusing to let us make a commitment until we had the full details.

  “To turn a human into a vampire, the human cannot truly die. There had to be complete blood loss, usually at the hands of the vampire himself, but the heart can never completely stop or all is lost. It was quicker and safer if the vampire stepped in and aided in draining the blood because if it was left to chance, some bad blood might be left behind, causing problems when the time came to turn. Once the human’s blood is drained and the human is on the verge of death, the vampire must open a large wound on the human’s throat. Over that wound, the vampire then slits his own wrist, causing blood to spill into the body. The heart continues to pump, causing the vampire’s blood to course through the now empty veins of the human. It requires a lot of the vampire’s blood to turn the human, which is another reason they typically drink from the human before turning them. A well-hydrated vampire is a strong vampire, and they need all their strength to survive that much blood loss.

  “Once the human has enough blood, the wound will begin to close and the vampire can stop draining their own blood. The human must be stored someplace cool and dark until the next sun sets. As turnings happen at night, the main reason for this is to keep the human from burning to a crisp during the day while their body sleeps and rejuvenates. Once the sun disappears below the horizon, they will wake up and go about their new vampire routine.

  “When Josef finished explaining the process, my mother was nearly in fits. We all knew what had to be done for me to have any chance of living, but it was still extremely hard for her. I would have to leave them forever. Even if the world wasn’t terrified of vampires, if I changed into one myself, there would be no way for me to carry on the duties I had as a human. First, I was expected to get married in less than a week. The family of my bride to be would most likely not be accepting of such an arrangement once they knew the truth. Everything was set to go forward during the day. We couldn’t suddenly change everything around to happen at night just to accommodate my new allergy to the big golden orb in the sky. Second, the king simply would refuse to have a known vampire in his court. It would undermine everything he said or did. The world would be laughing at him behind his back and plotting his downfall. Third, my family’s reputation would be ruined. With a vampire as a son, no one would respect them, they would lose any position of power they ever had, and they would be cast out from society.

  “Still, my mother could not bear the thought of losing me forever, so she agreed. Both she and my father stayed in my bed chambers during the procedure, after which Josef was almost too weak to stand. From what he told me afterward, once it was all done, he retreated to his quarters, and then my father called the servants. They all saw me and thought I was dead, which was the plan. With witnesses, especially those that had been sent along with my bride-to-be from her home and were loyal to her, there would be no inquiry and no accusations of fakery. The wedding would be called off and my family would be free from their obligation to the bride’s family.

  “My father ordered my body carried to the family crypt before sunrise, stating my mother’s fragile mental state as the reason for such haste in burying the body. Once my body was safely inside the crypt, hidden from any stray ray of sunlight, my mother and father began to prepare a funeral. They would not include my body in their preparations, again as a precaution against pushing my mother further over the edge. She played the part of totally distraught grieving mother very well, according to Josef. I don’t think she was playing at all.

  “After sunset, Josef came into the crypt just as I was waking up. When I first looked around, I was completely and utterly baffled. I was lying inside a tomb with my grandfathers and great grandfathers. How on earth had I gotten there? Then it started coming back to me. I was quite thirsty, but we couldn’t drink here, not where everyone could see that I was not really dead. Josef had brought me some of my more important things, such as my journal, a good amount of money, and several changes of clothes. I changed quickly out of the burial shroud and we made our way out into the night.

  “Josef had had the foresight to bring horses and we rode as far as we could before dawn. As the first hints of sun peeked over the horizon, we stopped at a rundown tavern and rented a room with two beds. The maid brought up breakfast, and Josef sweet talked her into staying. After some fooling around, he managed to hypnotize her—I realized this was how he was able to drink when people were still awake and not be caught. It comes in quite handy—then he let me drink. I was full before long and lay the maid on the bed. She woke up confused about fifteen minutes later, after we had polished off the breakfast, and we sent her on her way.

  “We jumped from town to town, spending more time in each as we got further away from the places where I would be recognized. I changed my name several times. Eventually I left Josef’s side and went on my own way, traveling the world, as I had so longed to do the entire time I was growing up. I have a lot of fun doing just that, but it does get lonely. You see, after four hundred years, I have never found anyone I wanted to share my entire life with, until now.”

  With that, Steven leaned over and kissed me. Then he got up and went to the bedroom with out saying anything else. When he returned, he got down on one knee, holding out an ancient ring as he gazed up into my eyes.

  “Let’s make this official. Jane, will you marry me?”

  I grinned and said, “Of course I will, you douf.” Then I threw my arms around him and kissed him until our lips grew numb.

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  THREE

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  It took quite a few late night/early morning sessions for him to summarize the last four hundred years of his life, but eventually he finished up with the day he met me. By this time, we had already decided that we would head to Las Vegas at the first possible chance. Neither of us wanted a wedding. We didn't have anyone we really wanted to invite, and I so did not want to be stuck wearing some stupid wedding dress for hours on end. It just wasn't worth the hassle of pleasing others when neither of us would be pleased with the whole shebang.

  So during the next week we had off, we drove through the night to Las Vegas. Flying for a vampire tends to be an unnecessary danger. It's hard to find flights that don't involve daylight either at the beginning or the end, and good luck convincing every single passenger on the plane to close their window screen simply because you'd burn to a crisp if they didn't. Most people wouldn’t buy that story until you've roasted like a marshmallow in front of them. And at that point, well, it would be too late. So we drove.

  We arrived at the hotel just in time and went to the room. He had booked a villa at the Bellagio—it pays to marry a man with money, I’m telling you. Those things are gorgeous, and there was more than enough space for just the two of us. I've never stayed in a nicer hotel before or since. That one villa was more luxurious than most of the world’s housing. It was completely private and we didn't have to worry that someone would come in unexpectedly when we didn't want them to. We had a butler at our command, day or night, and we could wander the private courtyard without fear of being seen by the outside world. Top that all off with automatic, extremely effective black-out curtains, and you have yourself the perfect vampire holiday spot. We definitely took full advantage of the amenities that place had to offer, when we weren’t out enjoying the Vegas night life.

  On the second night we were in Las Vegas, we made our way downtown to find some quick and easy, all-night chapel. We found a really frou-frouy lover’s lane drive-through and got hitched quick as quick can be. Then we headed back to the strip to spend more of Steven’s money. While most of our time was wasted gambling and exploring the many wonders of the Las Vegas Strip (after 400 years, Steven was an excellent card player and tour guide) we did manage to catch several absolutely fabulous shows, including David Copperfield (the best magic that man has ever performed is hiding his age).

  Sadly, our honeymoon weekend came to a close and we headed back to Los Angeles to finish filming. Once the final scene wrapped, we decided it was time to move on. Even though Steven had been all over the world, I had not, so we packed up and stored most of our collective junk and he chartered a private jet for the next year. We went everywhere I had ever dreamed of going, and we went many places I had never even heard of. At one point, we stowed the jet for a couple weeks and hiked through the Andes. It was incredible. Steven bought a tent that was practically perfect for vampires. It was solidly built and did not let a smidge of daylight in when it was fully zipped up.

  That may have been the best couple weeks of my life. For the most part, it was just us. We would stop at small villages along our planned route to purchase food, water, other essentials, and small local treasures. Steven always tipped way more than was the norm for the area when we ate at family-owned restaurants, and the locals began to love us both. When we returned to most of those towns on the way back to our jet, we were greeted as friends and invited into homes for supper. I still go back to those places on occasion and I send money to its inhabitants that I've grown close to.