Chasing Shadows(28)
*****
Because he had come so early, I suggested that we go see an afternoon showing of Zombieland instead of waiting three or four hours. His Escalade had third row seating in case he needed to sleep, which I doubted given how much blood he’d just ingested. Still, I offered to be the one to drive, but knowing my brother I didn’t think he’d go for being a passenger in his own car and I was right—he insisted on driving himself, pointing out that he had made it to my house just fine. He even surprised me by suggesting we invite Mark and Juliette along.
“You really don’t mind sharing our brother-sister date with other people?” I asked.
Lochlan shrugged. “The boy is your partner for life—and I am happy for you that you have finally found him. I’m actually quite envious, seeing as I’ve been around longer than you and I haven’t found mine yet. No doubt Father will be as well, considering how long he’s been looking for his bondmate.”
I paused as I was about to walk out the door to go ask Mark and Juliette if they wanted to join us. Turning back with what I knew to be a stunned expression, I said to Loch, “Are you serious? All this time, all these centuries he’s been alive, and that is the reason he goes through women like tissue paper? That’s the reason he let my mother die?”
After a moment of staring, in which Lochlan seemed to consider that he may have just said the wrong thing, he gave me a resigned nod. “Aye,” he said softly. “I regret to say that Clare Percy was hardly more than a distraction for him, same as all the others. Obviously I did not see his memories of her, given it happened fifty years after my Coming of Age, but from what I saw of the days which passed before her, and the string of women he’s gone through since, it is not such a far conclusion to leap to.”
I straightened my shoulders and stiffened my back. “Well, then. Just goes to prove I’m right about him—the bastard doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”
With that, I turned and stalked out the door. When I was met by Mark at the door to the apartment, he asked me what was wrong. I shrugged and told him that it was nothing, just a confirmation of something I had already known. Then I changed the subject and passed along Lochlan’s invitation for him and Juliette to join us in seeing the movie. Mark agreed readily, saying he’d also been wanting to see it even though he wasn’t particularly a Woody Harrelson fan. Juliette hedged for a bit, saying she should probably stay home and get the apartment set up. I suspected her hesitation was due to the fact that she had taken an instant dislike to Lochlan, and tried not to smile when I recalled just what he thought of her.
Eventually she agreed to go along, citing her “duty as Mark’s guardian.” The two men sat up front when we piled into the Escalade ten minutes later; although Lochlan had suggested that Mark and I might want to sit in the back to “snog like teenagers,” Juliette had refused to share the front with him. So I spent much of the ride to the theater watching her stare at the back of my brother’s head out of the corner of my eye.
When we arrived, Lochlan paid for the tickets while I purchased soda and popcorn for Mark, Juliette, and myself, and then we went to find seats. I ended up sandwiched between Lochlan and Mark, with Juliette choosing the other side of her brother. We got comfortable and waited for the movie to start, and as the theater filled up, every few minutes Loch would lean close and remark on the scents he picked up from the people around us. I grinned, enjoying the game that had become something of a ritual when we went out together.
Just as the lights were going down, the three of us who had a heightened sense of smell sat straighter in our seats. We leaned forward and glanced at one another in the dark, acknowledging silently that we had each caught the same scent on the air: there was another vampire in the theater. Mark asked what was going on and I whispered in his ear what we had all detected as Juliette none too subtly scanned the people around us. Whoever it was, they were close by, and though I was determined to enjoy myself in spite of this development, I nonetheless paid attention every time someone in my field of vision got up from their seat.
“Aren’t you worrying for nothing?” Mark leaned over and whispered as the movie began.
“Remember how Lochlan reacted to your scent?” I whispered back. “Whoever it is may not have my brother’s discipline, Mark. He could try to attack someone else here or he could try to come after you.”
Juliette leaned across him, saying, “Maybe we should leave. We can all come see this movie some other time.”
Lochlan leaned forward and shook his head at her. “No, I don’t think so. While I agree that caution is warranted, my lady, you cannot necessarily run every time one of my people comes near, or you’ll be running for the rest of your life.”
“I’m not going to turn tail and run,” Mark said firmly. “A Marine doesn’t back down from a fight or cower in fear. We stay. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the zombies.”
*****
Zombieland wasn’t a particularly intelligent movie, but then it wasn’t really supposed to be. It was, however, campy and hilarious—although I thought Bill Murray’s death was just plain wrong. I mean, it just sucked that he’d managed to survive the zombie outbreak that long only to get shot in the midst of playing a prank.
I was pleased to see that, despite the proximity of another vampire, our entire group managed to enjoy themselves. As a safety measure, though, we decided to sit through to the end of the credits (“You never know, there may be a bonus scene,” Lochlan quipped), and Juliette was visibly relieved to discover that the unknown vamp had apparently left the theater with the other moviegoers—we were the last ones in the room when the film reel was stopped and the clean-up crew came in to get it ready for the next showing. This did not, of course, stop three of the four of us from sniffing to try and locate the vampire’s scent trail as we were leaving.
Mark peeled off as we were passing the restrooms on the way out of the building. “A guy can only hold a thirty-two ounce soda for so long,” he said, pushing the door open. I gestured to Lochlan to follow him, and although he rolled his eyes he nevertheless complied. Juliette mentioned a need to use the ladies’ room, so I went in with her, realizing that I also needed to relieve myself.
As women are wont to do, even those of us—like me—who are not all that “girly,” when we had finished our necessary business, Juliette and I stood at the sinks and checked our appearances in the mirror after we’d washed our hands. “Juliette, can I tell you something?” I said carefully, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence.
“Sure, what is it?” she asked.
I turned to her, and since by smell I knew we were alone in the restroom, I didn’t bother to lower my voice. “I don’t want you to worry about Lochlan. He is a good man, I promise you. I admit that he was tempted by Mark, and his thirst was so strongly stirred that he actually had to feed on one of the pigs. But he didn’t even know why he was so tempted until I told him Mark is a dhunphyr, and he’s promised to make sure he is well fed before he visits again so that he is less tempted.”
Juliette sighed. “The problem is he will always be tempted by just the smell of him. Other vampires will be tempted by the smell of him. I suppose Lochlan can’t help it; it’s the nature of a vampire to be tempted by blood. At the same time—and if you tell him I said this I will have to hurt you—he’s right. Mark can’t be expected to hide forever, nor should he have to. He also shouldn’t have to be looking over his shoulder and worrying that he’s in danger every moment of the day.”
I nodded my agreement. “I have to say that it’s something of a surprise he’s managed to remain hidden from our world for as long as he has, though I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that he spent one third of his life as a Marine,” I told her as we exited the ladies’ room, and I looked around for Mark and Lochlan. I didn’t see them, so I turned back to Juliette.
“I also don’t want to have to hide him from the world,” I went on. “We’re lucky in that so few vampires travel in daylight, so the only time there’d really be any reason for concern would be at night. And I really do have little to do with vampires myself other than my brother, and a small number of vampires who have forsaken human blood, the latter of whom I see rarely. Truth is, Lochlan is the biggest vampire presence in my life, and he’s only around once a week, sometimes less.”
“You have to admit, though, that there is a chance that even if you don’t visit the vampire social circles that often, they may come looking for you once they learn there’s a dhunphyr on your farm,” my companion pointed out.
“But why worry about something like that when you cannot be certain it will happen?” I countered. “Remember what I told you the other night: a life spent looking over your shoulder is no life at all. The thing to do is live our lives as we normally would, and deal with the obstacles if and when they arise. You’ll enjoy your life so much more that way.”