Enlightenment

Part 37

              A couple of hours later I had an almost perfect image of my sister in front of me. Although, as a vampire I had made her skin paler and her features sharper than the image in my memory. Her white blonde hair curled around her face, framing her blue eyes. I quickly sprayed the image with the hairspray to stop it smudging before I stood up, Jamie came over to stand behind me;

“Whoa, Jade that’s amazing!”

I shrugged, “it will do… but thanks,” I had been thinking carefully, “we will have to be cautious of who we show it to… if- if word gets back to her that we are looking for her… she might flee.”

“Yes that’s probably a good idea; we don’t want her to run before we find her… if we find her.” He frowned, “but why would she run from you? You are her sister after all,”

I sighed, “I don’t know… but if she has been walking around all these years… well, I haven’t seen her yet.” There must be some reason why she would avoid me, if she had been around this long… and as time went on I was getting the sinking feeling in my stomach that told me she was…

              When we entered the bar a few minutes later a couple of the locals glanced in our direction before going back to their drinks. I knew the place would soon grow crowded as people came in for dinnertime, so I took the opportunity to saunter up to the bar near to where the bartender was standing. Experience told me that he was the most likely person to have seen her, having to spend most of his day interacting with the public. He greeted me warmly as I approached;

“Ah hello my dear, what can I get for you?”

              I ordered drinks to keep him happy and made small talk for a while until he set them down in front of me. When he asked me if there was anything else I shook my head and paid him, before pulling the picture from my pocket.

              His eyes widened as I laid it on the wooden surface in front of him,

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I was wondering if you have ever seen this girl before?” I put on my sweetest voice, hoping he would simply tell me anything he knew. Frowning he retrieved a pair a glasses from a pocket and examined it closer. Looking back and forth between me and the picture a crease formed between his eyebrows,

“Is this girl related to you?”

I hesitated before I nodded. I didn’t see any harm in letting him know the truth; it might make him more willing to help me find her. “Yes… she is my sister.”

He nodded his head, “yes, you have a very strong resemblance… apart from your hair of course.”

I was growing impatient but I didn’t let it show, “so have you seen her around here before? “

His eyes narrowed in thought, “yes… I think I have.”

If I had a heartbeat it would’ve stopped at that moment. I leaned forward, struggling to keep the desperation out of my voice; “really? Was it recently?”

One of the locals had wondered over to stand at my shoulder; “yeah I saw her a couple o’days ago.” 

The bartender shook his head, “it must have been at least three days ago she came in… maybe four. Had a few drinks with a young man and left again.”

That seemed strange, “Has she ever been in before? Apart from that?”

“Yes she has been coming down the last few years now, for Christmas you know?”

              Odd, unless she shared the same guilt that I did in abandoning everything and leaving. Maybe she came every year to pay her respects… although I hadn’t caught the scent of any vampire in the graveyard.