Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
The parlor was busy and we were excited. Being home and in the parlor was a sweet, safe place to be after the last three weeks. I missed my Barrister who called me all the time to let me know he was safe and sound. I knew he was still doing things for Eric on the quiet. The werewolves of London had told him the King and Queen of Vampire Britain was holed up in their palace under the topside palace of Balmorals in Scotland, licking their wounds. There was talk among some of the Scottish Vampire nobles this might be an excellent opportunity to have a coup and take the throne back. If that happened, Liam explained, that might make things very different for relations between the Sheriff of Area Five and his European counterparts.
Whatever it was, I really didn’t want to know too much about. Vampire business is very dangerous, and after learning so many of the European Vampires were afflicted as a result of interbreeding before they were made and Hep D and Sino-AIDS later after they were made really made them unappealing to me. Thank God Eric had come to America relatively sooner. It probably saved his afterlife. Had he not, he might have ended up the world’s tallest q-tip.
Said Sheriff of Area Five was asleep on the couch. Pam was in the coffin. It would be a while before sundown, so I just covered him up with a blanket and went about my chores, namely dusting and watering the plants and fluffing up the pillows and setting out chicken to fry and potatoes to peel and beans to snap. Green beans, fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Westexan was bringing a chocolate on chocolate cake.
This was the last meeting Bill would attend for a while. The adventures started Sunday night and we were excited about that. What would we learn? Who was involved? How would everything come about? The tension was thick in the air, even as I worked alone. I gave the room one more sweep of the eye and sat down at the kitchen table to snap my beans.
Scarlett came in. She had just a trace of a black eye and she said her ribs didn’t ache when she took a deep breath. She’d gotten pretty bruised up when she fought alongside Bill to kill a fairy oracle on our latest adventure. She sat and snapped beans with me and smoked cigarettes and drank a Mountain Dew with me. I rubbed my shoulder. I had blood from Bill to help finish healing me, but sometimes if I overworked it felt tired. I set the beans to cook and I peeled and cubed my potatoes and set them in a pot with water to boil a little later when I fried my chicken.
“It is so funny to cook food with them here,” she said looking over at the couch where Eric was sleeping. “Do they like the smells do you think?”
“Bill seems to, but he probably remembers a little bit from his human days,” I said a little sadly. I fought tears when I thought about Bill and his coming absence.
“Have you been to Bill’s to look at those books?” asked Scarlett.
“Oh yeah, there is nearly five hundred years of Vampires registered in those books. I suppose some of them are dead, a lot of them are here and already in Bill’s database,” I said. “It will take time to enter them.”
“So, what do you think this meeting will be like?” asked Scarlett.
“Excited, a bit sad on account of Bill, but I wonder if this is the meeting we meet Alcide, or are we meeting him after the first night?” I said.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Well, I better go back to work.”
“Go, do, work,” I said. “Bring your appetite.”
“I will,” she said. She got up and leaned down and gave me a peck and bounded off back to the grind.
Chris was next to visit with me. She was a little fascinated with the sleeping Viking but she sat and worked on her stuff for Eric, asking me questions from time to time. She was taking this very seriously, which was good. Eric was paying her and putting some money aside for her for a rainy day. I knew she was bonded with the handsome Vampire lying there in his day sleep.
Renee joined us, then God Speed and Jen. Aolani and Body Guard came in with Vi and Westexan.
“You providing the protection over that cake Body Guard?” I asked.
“I am,” he said, hugging his wife.
Lina and Linzy came in, with Raki who brought us some cloud berry wine. Eric would go insane when he smelled that on our breaths. Butter and Fairy and Sweet and Wild and Minnie came in. Minnie brought in some fresh rolls and some brownies to add to the supper. Everyone by now had heard of our adventures and they were all talking about it. I mashed the potatoes and added milk and butter. Scarlett came back and she watched me as I fished the last bit of chicken out of the hot skillet and placed it on a heaping plate with a paper towel underneath it. I checked the chicken gravy and Scarlett licked her lips. Fairy came in and brought me a big glass of the cloud berry wine. I sipped it and loved the sweet citrus taste of it. I sat it down and got out the condiments to set on the table and everyone began lining up to fill up their plates.
I got my plate last and sat at the bar with Scarlett. There was something satisfying about feeding people and I was satisfied beyond measure. I had been in the thick and the thin and I had gone from the blue into the black with them. They were my family. I could not wait until July when Barrister would be with us. That would help me somewhat with Bill’s absence.
I took a sip of wine and was a little startled at Eric’s presence behind me. He leaned forward and sniffed my mouth.
“What are you drinking?” he asked.
“Back up a bit Eric,” I said, pushing him back. “Raki brought us some cloud berry wine.” I offered him the glass and he sniffed it like I had seen vinophiles do at wine tastings.
“That is lovely,” he said. He went to Raki and sniffed at her and then kissed her, tasting the wine on her lips. He went to Fairy and repeated the process.
“Hey Eric, God Speed has been drinking a little of that wine, you gonna kiss him, too?” asked Body Guard. Eric gave him a loveless look and we all laughed.
Pam woke up and came out of the coffin and Scarlett went to heat her a bottle. Fairy had heated Eric’s and retrieved it. They chatted with us about nothing really, just passing the time of day. It was interesting to watch them. We were so casual and friendly with them, they seemed to relax. I wondered if this was a good thing for them. Would they be careless?
Bill and Jessica came in, bringing another person with them. He was not Vampire, but he was something else. Bill came up to me.
“Hungry Bill?” I asked.
“No, I had a bottle before I left,” he said.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“You will know in just a bit, when we get the meeting started,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
“Come and get some dessert,” said Westexan, slicing the cake into sizable chunks. After dessert, we cleaned up the kitchen and put the dishes in the dish washer to chug away quietly. We made our way to the sofas and chairs, refilled wine glasses in our hands.
“I would like you to meet someone,” said Eric. “This is Alcide Herveaux. I thought this would be a good time for everyone to meet him.”
“Hey, nice to meet you all,” said the handsome werewolf.
The parlor was busy and we were excited. Being home and in the parlor was a sweet, safe place to be after the last three weeks. I missed my Barrister who called me all the time to let me know he was safe and sound. I knew he was still doing things for Eric on the quiet. The werewolves of London had told him the King and Queen of Vampire Britain was holed up in their palace under the topside palace of Balmorals in Scotland, licking their wounds. There was talk among some of the Scottish Vampire nobles this might be an excellent opportunity to have a coup and take the throne back. If that happened, Liam explained, that might make things very different for relations between the Sheriff of Area Five and his European counterparts.
Whatever it was, I really didn’t want to know too much about. Vampire business is very dangerous, and after learning so many of the European Vampires were afflicted as a result of interbreeding before they were made and Hep D and Sino-AIDS later after they were made really made them unappealing to me. Thank God Eric had come to America relatively sooner. It probably saved his afterlife. Had he not, he might have ended up the world’s tallest q-tip.
Said Sheriff of Area Five was asleep on the couch. Pam was in the coffin. It would be a while before sundown, so I just covered him up with a blanket and went about my chores, namely dusting and watering the plants and fluffing up the pillows and setting out chicken to fry and potatoes to peel and beans to snap. Green beans, fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Westexan was bringing a chocolate on chocolate cake.
This was the last meeting Bill would attend for a while. The adventures started Sunday night and we were excited about that. What would we learn? Who was involved? How would everything come about? The tension was thick in the air, even as I worked alone. I gave the room one more sweep of the eye and sat down at the kitchen table to snap my beans.
Scarlett came in. She had just a trace of a black eye and she said her ribs didn’t ache when she took a deep breath. She’d gotten pretty bruised up when she fought alongside Bill to kill a fairy oracle on our latest adventure. She sat and snapped beans with me and smoked cigarettes and drank a Mountain Dew with me. I rubbed my shoulder. I had blood from Bill to help finish healing me, but sometimes if I overworked it felt tired. I set the beans to cook and I peeled and cubed my potatoes and set them in a pot with water to boil a little later when I fried my chicken.
“It is so funny to cook food with them here,” she said looking over at the couch where Eric was sleeping. “Do they like the smells do you think?”
“Bill seems to, but he probably remembers a little bit from his human days,” I said a little sadly. I fought tears when I thought about Bill and his coming absence.
“Have you been to Bill’s to look at those books?” asked Scarlett.
“Oh yeah, there is nearly five hundred years of Vampires registered in those books. I suppose some of them are dead, a lot of them are here and already in Bill’s database,” I said. “It will take time to enter them.”
“So, what do you think this meeting will be like?” asked Scarlett.
“Excited, a bit sad on account of Bill, but I wonder if this is the meeting we meet Alcide, or are we meeting him after the first night?” I said.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Well, I better go back to work.”
“Go, do, work,” I said. “Bring your appetite.”
“I will,” she said. She got up and leaned down and gave me a peck and bounded off back to the grind.
Chris was next to visit with me. She was a little fascinated with the sleeping Viking but she sat and worked on her stuff for Eric, asking me questions from time to time. She was taking this very seriously, which was good. Eric was paying her and putting some money aside for her for a rainy day. I knew she was bonded with the handsome Vampire lying there in his day sleep.
Renee joined us, then God Speed and Jen. Aolani and Body Guard came in with Vi and Westexan.
“You providing the protection over that cake Body Guard?” I asked.
“I am,” he said, hugging his wife.
Lina and Linzy came in, with Raki who brought us some cloud berry wine. Eric would go insane when he smelled that on our breaths. Butter and Fairy and Sweet and Wild and Minnie came in. Minnie brought in some fresh rolls and some brownies to add to the supper. Everyone by now had heard of our adventures and they were all talking about it. I mashed the potatoes and added milk and butter. Scarlett came back and she watched me as I fished the last bit of chicken out of the hot skillet and placed it on a heaping plate with a paper towel underneath it. I checked the chicken gravy and Scarlett licked her lips. Fairy came in and brought me a big glass of the cloud berry wine. I sipped it and loved the sweet citrus taste of it. I sat it down and got out the condiments to set on the table and everyone began lining up to fill up their plates.
I got my plate last and sat at the bar with Scarlett. There was something satisfying about feeding people and I was satisfied beyond measure. I had been in the thick and the thin and I had gone from the blue into the black with them. They were my family. I could not wait until July when Barrister would be with us. That would help me somewhat with Bill’s absence.
I took a sip of wine and was a little startled at Eric’s presence behind me. He leaned forward and sniffed my mouth.
“What are you drinking?” he asked.
“Back up a bit Eric,” I said, pushing him back. “Raki brought us some cloud berry wine.” I offered him the glass and he sniffed it like I had seen vinophiles do at wine tastings.
“That is lovely,” he said. He went to Raki and sniffed at her and then kissed her, tasting the wine on her lips. He went to Fairy and repeated the process.
“Hey Eric, God Speed has been drinking a little of that wine, you gonna kiss him, too?” asked Body Guard. Eric gave him a loveless look and we all laughed.
Pam woke up and came out of the coffin and Scarlett went to heat her a bottle. Fairy had heated Eric’s and retrieved it. They chatted with us about nothing really, just passing the time of day. It was interesting to watch them. We were so casual and friendly with them, they seemed to relax. I wondered if this was a good thing for them. Would they be careless?
Bill and Jessica came in, bringing another person with them. He was not Vampire, but he was something else. Bill came up to me.
“Hungry Bill?” I asked.
“No, I had a bottle before I left,” he said.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“You will know in just a bit, when we get the meeting started,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
“Come and get some dessert,” said Westexan, slicing the cake into sizable chunks. After dessert, we cleaned up the kitchen and put the dishes in the dish washer to chug away quietly. We made our way to the sofas and chairs, refilled wine glasses in our hands.
“I would like you to meet someone,” said Eric. “This is Alcide Herveaux. I thought this would be a good time for everyone to meet him.”
“Hey, nice to meet you all,” said the handsome werewolf.
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