Blood

28

I stood at a window looking out on a rainy street. The weather had the same mood as me and I thought about everything that had happened. Sam came up to me and he stood by my side.

"I know that the street isn't much to look at." he said kindly, and he smiled at me. "Harry said you came from this town?"

I nodded a little bit.

"My uncle owns a disco." I said almost dreamily and I explained where the disco was. Sam smiled a little bit and he hesitated.

"It was a long time ago there was disco there."

I reacted and I looked at him.

"How do you mean?"

He laughed a little bit.

"The disco went bankrupt, but I have no idea how. I heard that the owner moved and that he left the country, but it happened a long time ago."

I looked long at him, at Sam, before I dared to ask.

"How long time ago?"

He looked at me again. He sensed that I wasn't aware of the time anymore. I had no longer track over what day it was or what year. I had lived in isolation and I had almost forgotten my old life, although I sometimes thought about my parents.

"Let's just say that you don't need to worry." he whispered hoarsely. I frowned.

"But I have no idea about time and space. How long ago is it as the disco was there?"

He looked out on the street and he seemed to realize that there was no point in lying.

"Over twenty years ago."

----

It came as a shock. I had lived over twenty years as a vampire and I didn't even know that the time had passed by. Sam took a computer and I tried to locate my parents. I eventually found two obituaries and it was as if the air went out of me. I also found my uncle's ad and I just stared at them. Sam smiled uncertainly at me.

"How does it feel?" he asked. "I know it's hard to realize that you are alone, but you have the rest of us?"

I didn't know what I would feel. I was sorry that I hadn't been there for them and I was sorry that I didn't follow them during their final year. Sam took my hand and he looked at me closely.

"It's the course of life." he said kindly. "They will all die sooner or later."

I frowned and I pulled back my hand.

"I know, it's just that I wasn't aware of the time. I could have tried to meet them one last time?"

He shook his head.

"No, how could you explain it all? You're younger than you should be and you will never get old."

I knew. I quickly looked at him.

"How old are you?"

He laughed a little bit.

"I guess that even I don't have an eye on the time." he said kindly. "But I know I was born sometime during the sixteenth century."

I turned my head and I just stared at him. That was an eternity? He laughed a little bit and he seemed almost a bit embarrassed by his age.

"I can admit that the first five hundred years was fun and then I realized that it would go on forever." He smiled at me. "Times were different back then and people were quite blind."

I didn't know what to say.

"You're seen everything?" I got up "All wars and all the generations?"

He nodded a little bit.

"I was pretty impressed when I saw the first car, I must admit. The wars passed by fast and that gave us the opportunity to get food faster. At that time we took what we wanted and nobody noticed it."

I smiled a little bit.

"I understand that?"

He laughed a little bit.

"Yes, I've actually had periods as were interesting. I remember when Hitler was in power and he thought we were with him. But you know how it ended, we didn't wanted to help him and he lost the war." Sam smiled at me. "We were the ones who had the power and in some occasion we let those in power know about it. Hitler killed because he was stupid, so we chose to stop him."

I shut the computer down and I smiled at him.

"Have you been in the world?"

He nodded.

"I think I have visited all the places available. I tried to discover the world and now that's not so interesting anymore. I've been by the pyramids and I have seen the mountains. I have seen all the seas and I have dived int the deepest one. That attracts me not anymore and I'm an old man. "

I laughed a little.

"No you're not old." I got up. He laughed a little and then he stood up.

"Thirsty?"

I nodded. He left me and he went to fetch bottles of blood.

----

I was very awake in bed and I thought a lot about everything. I had all the time in the world to just ponder. One day, I started to hear it. It came as whispers and pretty soon I could make out voices. I was surprised and at first I thought I was going crazy.

"You hear people." Sam explained. "I haven't blocked the walls from them."

I sat on the sofa and it was as if I was crazy.

"How can I stop it?"

He smiled.

"Exactly as you did when you heard the sounds of nature for the very first time. You have to learn to block out certain sounds and aim the ears."

I closed my eyes and I practiced. Yes, it took time before I even managed to halve all the votes. It was as if everyone was talking to me and it was like the whole world just spinning around in my head.

"It will be fine!" said Sam, and he encouraged me. I learned to listen and finally I could decide who I wanted to hear. It was as if I sneaked into a strange houses, and I could follow people there during the day. It was so exciting and I actually liked it. It was like a film without end. I learned what the neighbors were doing, what they talked about. I heard people who were unfaithful and I knew the men who abused their women.

"You can't go between," said Sam. "Although you know that a man hurt the woman or the children, we can't go between and change that."

I frowned.

"Why not?"

He smiled a little bit.

"We aren't any heroes, and we can't make them understand that we are here. We can't put our noses in their life and we must let them live in uncertainty."

I swallowed.

"But we can just help them in need?"

He shook his head.

"No, the story takes its own course. For some, it's painful and the other it's happiness. We are just the spectators."

I understood what he meant, but at the same time I felt a need to stop those who did wrong.

"Learn to live with the knowledge," he said, "You still can't change the people who are idiots and there will always be those who are criminals. They are needed so that others know they are good. The world is full of all kinds people and we wont change that. We can't change that...."