For Love of a Vampire

Chapter 2

I came to my senses by evening and called Duncan's cell phone. No answer. So, I tried his house phone. Again, no answer. This went on for days. Thinking me disgusted and frightened by his true identity, he'd gone into hiding. It took almost two weeks for him to resurface.

I used this time of separation from my lover to study and research as much as I could about vampires. I ran across a statement that stuck in my head and just kept playing over and over. God makes and loves all things and all creatures. It's man who decides what's evil and what's not. It was so true. Sure, the vampires that attacked me and my group of muggers were bad, but so were the muggers. There are good and bad in all species. I knew in my heart of hearts that Duncan was good. If the truth was to be known; even if he was bad, it was too late. I'd already fallen in love with him.

I felt Duncan standing in the hall before he gathered the courage up to tap quietly on my door. He'd expected me to scream and refuse to open the door. Instead I'd surprised him with my wild abandoned welcome. I swung the door open and flew into his arms; kissing him wildly. In turn, he surprised me by trembling from the sheer joy of my acceptance of him. It was a powerful reunion.

We spent the next few days making love and baring the deepest secrets about ourselves. I learned Duncan was turned just days before his wedding was to take place in the year seventeen-forty-five. He'd never encountered supernatural creatures such as vampires, so he never thought to take heed of the stories or precautions while traveling certain roads alone at night. There were rumors that Lady Vivian Everhoust -the season's most eligible debutant who was madly in love with Lord Duncan and made no secret of it- dabbled in witchcraft. When she realized Lord Duncan planned on going through with the union with another woman, she assured him that his black heart would be devoured by one even blacker and he would live eternity in darkness and remorse. Duncan considered her words the idle threat of a thwarted woman and paid it very little mind.

He never saw it coming.

After his change, he faked his death and moved away. He confessed that, although he spent his time traveling and experiencing the world, the sadness of leaving that he carried with him over the centuries had, little by little, chiseled away at his heart. Lady Vivian had gotten her revenge.

He and his future bride were sweethearts since childhood. The marriage bands were read early in their life and were to be fulfilled when she turned eighteen and Duncan was twenty-five. He told me the sadness only began to lift when he met me. He couldn't or wouldn't tell me why; just that when he met me, he found hope for his future. What type of hope? He didn't say. Just hope.

I believed him.

I shared my own secrets. I told how I'd kept my abilities close to my chest for fear of being ostracized by my fellow man. Even though times were progressing, I still found myself uncomfortable admitting my true nature. Look what happened on the street with those punks simply because I'd made a purchase at an occult shop. Surely that was sufficient evidence to support my hesitancy.

Duncan agreed.

Intrigued by my abilities and skills, Duncan pressed as much information from me as he could. He'd met plenty of people with my "talents" over the centuries and was certain he could find someone to help me perfect them. It was such a twist to have support for my skills and actual encouragement to use and enhance them. I hadn't really thought about working with them -nor was it really important to me to do so- but, if learning more about the arts of alchemy was part of the being with Duncan package, then I was willing to give it a shot.

He introduced me to an ancient witch named Isabelle. When I say ancient, I really do mean ancient. Isabelle was almost as old as Duncan; yet, she looked not a day over forty. How did she accomplish this? That was part of my lesson plan.