Exsanguination Page 2
She pulled out a suit, hung it on the hook at the back of a chair and returned to get shoes and select a shirt and tie. Waving her hand at him, she smiled.
“Well, don’t stand on ceremony. Get out of those wet clothes and get dressed. I hope the shoes fit.”
Seeing him redden, she walked up to him with an understanding smile and rested a hand on his cheek. “You’re sweet. I’ll leave you to your privacy,” she inhaled deeply and her pulse began, again, to race. “Come downstairs to the drawing room when you’ve finished. It’ll be warm by the fire.” As she reached the door, she turned and looked him up and down. “You’ll find a brush and comb on the stand there,” she gestured to the other side of the room.
Phillip turned toward the bed as the door shut. He mimicked her pronunciation of privacy, chuckling. There was no ‘eye’ in it – just an ‘ih’. He decided that he’d have to start shopping around for British movies when he got home. Then he frowned. Why, he wondered, would she have all these men’s clothes in the closet? Shrugging, he dismissed the thought as being none of his business and went about changing clothes. He was, though, amazed that this woman seemed to have no pretence about her. Having prejudged her, he expected her to be the kind who would look down her nose at someone such as himself.
Outside the bedroom door, Vanessa leaned against the wall and shuddered. She looked up toward the ceiling and whispered. “God, if you exist, I know you’re likely not fond of my kind but, thank you.” Smiling widely and humming, she made her way down to the drawing room and poured two glasses of red wine. Setting one on a table, she swirled hers around and sipped as she stood close to the fire, enjoying the warmth.
“So many misconceptions,” she drank what she pleased and ate whatever she wanted. The thought that she might be fuelled by a couple of ounces of blood a day was absurd! “Silly Stoker,” she mumbled. Still, she thought, the book made a decent read.
She moved the small table, positioning it in front of the loveseat, facing the hearth. Sitting down, she stared into the fire, seemingly unable to remove the small smile from her lips. Moments later, she sensed Phillip entering the room and almost purred.
“I want to thank you, Countess. You really didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
She stood and turned, lifting the second glass of wine and holding it out to him. She shifted from her previous, sneering Balkan accent back into her normal one, and smiled at him. “Don’t give it a second thought. Come, sit by the fire and warm yourself,” she gestured toward the loveseat.
“Thank you,” he smiled slightly, still feeling a bit nervous.
Once he was seated, she sat down next to him and pulled her legs up under her, hiking her skirt and revealing her thigh almost to the top of the stocking.
The action was not lost on Phillip.
She turned to get his attention and looked directly into his eyes. “You’re American, are you not?” she seemed completely relaxed dealing with a stranger.
He nodded and returned her smile. “New York.”
“And what brings you to our fair isle?” her accent, he decided, was one that he had classified as ‘posh’.
“Well,” he found it difficult to look at anything in the room, even the fire. He kept staring at her face and eyes, “after I graduated from NYU, I couldn’t find a job and my parents suggested I take a break and spend some time in Europe.”
“And you came to England?”
He nodded. “They set the whole thing up for me. Tours here and there, including a tour of historic English estates. Frankly, I was cursing them for it while I was standing outside in the snow with nowhere to go,” he swallowed hard, trying to overcome his shyness. “I have to say, though, that this has turned out to be the best part of my trip,” he smiled sheepishly.
“Standing out in the cold?” she grinned teasingly, displaying gleaming white teeth and unusually long canines.
Distracted by them for an instant, he recovered and laughed, shaking his head. “Coming in from the cold.”
She frowned. “When did you eat last, Phillip?”
“It’s been a while,” he shrugged, “and everyone calls me Phil.”
“Would you mind awfully if I didn’t?” she shot him an inquiring look.
“No,” he shook his head quickly thinking she could call him whatever she’d like, “that’s fine.” He found that his bashfulness was slowly leaving him. He didn’t know how but she was making him feel very much at ease.
“How about fish and chips?” she patted his leg. “I know you Americans are notoriously fond of your cheeseburgers but I’m rather in the mood for the former.”
“That would be great! Do we need a cab?”
She shook her head with a smile. “Just give a tug on that relic of a bygone age,” Vanessa gestured to the bell pull next to the hearth.
Phillip stood and gave the tassel a gentle yank. He could barely make out, somewhere below them, the tinkling of a bell. Just like Downton Abbey, he thought, feeling as though he’d been transported to another world.
“So, how much longer do you expect to be in London?”
“Another week before I head back,” surprisingly, he felt disappointment at the prospect. It wasn’t but a half hour before that he was looking forward to going home.
“Would you like to spend it with me?” she smiled softly and sensed his pulse and respiration increasing dramatically. Completely confident, there was nothing shy or retiring in her manner. She had little use for such affectations. Her only concern at this point was keeping him comfortable and relaxed.
“You mean that? Really?” he felt slightly confused by her offer.
Vanessa nodded, her eyes gazing at the throbbing vein in his neck.
“There’s nothing in the world I’d love more,” he responded eagerly.
An elderly man tottered into the room and approached them. He was painfully thin with grey hair and cheekbones protruding into his paper-thin skin.
“Yes, My Lady?”
“Tell cook I want fish and chips for two and we’ll take our supper here,” she spoke loudly.
“Yes, My Lady,” the man turned and wobbled from the room.
“God! How old is he?” and then he caught himself. “Sorry, that was nowhere near appropriate.”
“It’s fine. Robert?” her eyebrows went up. “He’s as old as dirt but I haven’t the heart to retire him. The poor fellow is deaf as a post. If you’d knocked on the door, he wouldn’t have heard you.”
“How many people live here?”
She chuckled. “Just me, my butler, cook, and maid.”
Phillip shook his head. “That’s amazing! This place is huge!”
“I think of it more as a gothic monstrosity,” she rolled her eyes.
“It doesn’t do you justice, you know.”
“What? The house?” she laughed, her eyes twinkling.
He inclined his gaze upward above the hearth. “Your painting. It doesn’t hold a candle to you.”
“Oh, Phillip, you are ever so sweet to say so!”
He looked at her large eyes and arched eyebrows, marvelling at her perfectly straight nose and wine red lips. He was sure he’d never met a woman this beautiful.
“So, when did you cut your hair?”
“What?” her eyes narrowed and then she relaxed and grabbed the wig, pulling it off. “I didn’t,” she unpinned her hair and shook her head, black waves cascading down over her back and shoulders.
He smiled. “You’re beautiful either way.”
“Flatterer,” she chuckled and gestured toward his left hand.
“So, Phillip, not married,” she tilted her head. “Girlfriend?”
He shook his head. “Mmm mmm. I get uptight when I think of approaching a woman,” he winced. “I tend to be overly bashful and sometimes even stutter. It kind of shuts down my love life.” He felt surprised at being so open with her.
Vanessa smiled at him. “You’re a very good looking man and quite charming. I suspect you don
’t see it that way, though.”
“Never have. I’ve had a good number of rejections and I guess it’s made me gun shy,” he frowned.
“Well, you shouldn’t be. Have some more wine. It will relax you. You’ll feel more at ease.”
He nodded and sipped. On his empty stomach, he had already begun to feel its effects.
“If I may pry, how old are you?”
“You’re not prying,” he smiled. “I’m twenty-five.”
She was pleased that he didn’t return the question. Well mannered, she thought, and there was time enough for that conversation.
Supper came and they ate, indulging in light chat about the house, the surrounding area, and London.
“So how do I get a cab out here?”
“Have you changed your mind about staying? You want to go out into the cold and back to an overpriced, poorly furnished hotel room? I won’t hear of it. You’ll stay here,” she held up her hand and shook her head, “and I will brook no argument. As you said, the house is quite large and besides, there are wolves out there at night now and again.”
“You’re joking,” he eyed her with suspicion.
Vanessa laughed. “Of course I am.”
He stared at her for a moment. “Well, wolves or not, I’m not going to turn down the offer. I just didn’t know if you were entirely serious.”
“Good! Then it’s settled.”
“I’d be happy to spend the week just sitting here, looking at you and speaking with you.”
Coming from most anyone, she would have seen this as a line – an attempt to over-flatter. With Phillip, she was certain he was genuinely speaking his mind.
“You are delightfully sweet to say so but I suspect you’d get bored after a fashion.”
Looking into her eyes, he shook his head. “Impossible.”
Robert returned to pick up their tray and, as he did so, he came close to Phillip’s ear and whispered softly. “Go from this place while you can.”
Phillip’s brow furrowed as he tried to make out the words.
“That will be all, Robert,” Vanessa said rather sharply.
After the butler left the room, she looked at Phillip. “What did he say to you?”
“I don’t know. He kind of mumbled something I couldn’t make out.”
Vanessa nodded. “He gets that way sometimes. I think it’s his advanced age, poor fellow.”
“Mmm,” Phillip shrugged. “So what do you do?”
“You mean as in a job?”
“Sure.”
She laughed. “I don’t work. I depend on the income from tours along with a trust to help keep this place afloat and patch the leaking roof. That said, I’ve been thinking of removing the house from the tour list.”
“That must be a nuisance. All those strangers coming through your house at all hours.”
“It’s not so bad. There are certain parts of the home that are off limits and I usually hide when a tour comes through.”
“Ah, well, let’s see. Part of the second floor was cordoned off and the basement was closed.”
“Exactly,” she thought for a moment, her mind drifting back to something she’d heard many times during her life. ‘Never play with the food.’ To hell with it, she thought. I’ll play if I wish.
“May I ask you something?”
“Anything,” Phillip smiled.
“What do you think of . . . vampires?”
II
Phillip looked at her in amazement. “That’s a bizarre question. You mean evil, undead, bloodsuckers?” he laughed. “No such thing.”
“Really? How do you know?” her smile was playful as she leaned forward toward him.
“Well, I’ve certainly never seen one.”
“What if I told you that you’re looking at one right now,” she responded with a trace of the amused grin flickering on her lips. Holding up her hand, she added: “It’s something I don’t normally disclose but you seem kind of special and, the weather being what it is, I suspect you’re not leaving anytime soon.”
Phillip remembered hearing someone say that the better looking they were, referring to women, the crazier they were. He stared at her.
“Let me guess. You want me to prove it to you?”
He set his wine down and folded his arms and looked at her sceptically. “Please do.”
She smiled, this time clearly exposing her canines.
Phillip moved his head closer. They were long, unnaturally so. “That must have cost you quite a bit – that kind of dental work. It doesn’t prove anything beyond the fact that you know a dentist who is willing to do such things,” he frowned. “They do look pretty sharp though.”
“Feel free to touch one,” she maintained her grin.
“Oh, I don’t think . . .”
“Really,” she nodded, “go ahead.”
Feeling uneasy, Phillip extended his hand and, with his forefinger, touched the tip of one of her canines. It felt as sharp as the tip of a knife.
“God! How do you not tear up your mouth with those things?”
She shrugged, letting her upper lip slide down to meet its lower mate. “It just doesn’t happen. Convinced?”
He laughed softly and shook his head. “I think it’ll take a bit more than that. What else do you have up your sleeve?” he was starting to have fun with this.
She continued to smile at him and, in not more than a second, the two teeth extended into slender but wicked looking fangs.
Phillip jumped to his feet, his eyes wide with shock. He knocked over a small table as he took off at a full run toward the foyer. When he reached it, he turned to see her still sitting on the loveseat, fangs retracted, smiling at him. He spun to make his exit.
“Uhhh,” he grunted as he stopped as if paralyzed. She was now standing right in front of him, blocking his way.
“Oh God,” he said softly as he began to back away, terrified. The fact that her fangs had retracted didn’t seem to help much. He glanced at the fireplace and quickly ran to it. Grabbing a poker, he turned to see her walking leisurely toward him, still smiling. She spread her hands.
“Are you planning on braining me with that?”
“I just want to leave . . . get out of here!” he waved the implement back and forth.
It happened so quickly, it didn’t even register in his mind until it was over. She was pressed against him, her right arm around his waist and her left hand gripping his wrist tightly. She squeezed slightly and the poker fell from his grip. Vanessa gave him a light kiss on his lips.
“Phillip, I’m not going to hurt you,” she tilted her head. Inside, Vanessa was thoroughly enjoying this cat and mouse game.
“You want to drain all my blood! You want to kill me!”
She shook her head. “I want to do no such thing. I don’t kill anymore – I haven’t for quite some time. I wouldn’t even consider it unless . . . do you want me to kill you?” her brow furrowed.
“No! No!”
“I’m glad to hear it,” the smile teased the corners of her mouth.
“Well, what do you want from me?” he stared at her in shocked amazement and fear.
She shrugged, her expression soft. “A little companionship? Conversation? Mutual pleasure? It’s lonely in this old house,” she looked at him with a crafty smile. “Tell the truth, wouldn’t you love sitting on a sofa with me in front of the fire? Hand in mine? Conversing about things you can’t begin to imagine?”
“Why me?” his voice shook slightly.
She pursed her lips. “Serendipity? Something brought you here. The point is that I like you, Phillip. You seem incredibly sweet and charming. I think you’re smart and entertaining. I’d like to have the ongoing pleasure of your company.”
“You mean you want to turn me into a vampire?”
“No, not at all,” Vanessa shook her head.
He tried to twist out of her grip but it seemed hopeless. The woman was unimaginably strong.
“I’d really like to leave.
”
She released him and let out a long sigh, her expression going sad. “Now I know how you feel, being rejected. It’s not very nice.”
Taken off balance, he furrowed his brow, momentarily confused.
“I . . . I . . .”
She sat on the loveseat and looked at her hands.
“It’s alright, Phillip, I understand,” she nodded slowly, shifting gears in her mind. “I’m a monster . . . shunned by people and deservedly so. I just hoped, for a moment . . .”
Struck by her sadness, he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. She looked at him.
“You’re not a monster; you’re just different, that’s all.”
What the hell was he doing, he thought. She was a vampire and he was feeling sorry for her!
“Can I show you something?” she gave him a half smile and he nodded hesitantly in response.
She stood and extended her hand. “Come to the library.”
As he followed her, his hand in hers, he shook his head. Such slender fingers on such a delicate hand and yet capable of such strength.
“You said you went to university?”
“Yes,” he responded.
They walked through a couple of hallways and arrived at a large room lined with books, wall to wall and floor to ceiling.
“My library. Are you familiar with Thomas Paine, the author?”
“Sure,” he nodded, “I read some of his stuff in college.”
Vanessa drew a book from one of the shelves and handed it to him. It was ‘The Age of Reason’.
“This is old! A first edition?”
She nodded, thinking it would be better to start with her more recent history. “Open it.”
Phillip flipped the cover open. He read the inscription aloud in complete disbelief.
“To my darling, Vanessa. A woman of wondrous beauty and incredibly irritating intellect.” It was signed ‘Thomas’.
His jaw worked a few times as he shook his head. “Thomas Paine?”
A faraway look came over her eyes for a moment.
“Oh, how we used to argue,” she said dreamily. “Yelling was often the result. We didn’t see eye to eye on a number of topics.”
Phillip was completely stunned. The book had been published in 1794!