She reached his hotel room and knocked. “William, it’s Marie,” she said loudly. She put her ear to the door and heard nothing. She knocked again, repeating her words. She smiled when she heard a muffled voice from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, give me a second,” he said, sounding like he had just woken up.
Marie couldn’t keep from smiling at the thought of having annoyed him.
William opened the door, the hotel sheets draped around his waist. Marie tried not to stare open-mouthed at his abs. He held the door open for Marie as she entered his room.
“Do all vampires have a body like that?” she asked. It couldn’t hurt to flirt just a little bit.
“Only the ones who were acrobats before they were turned. I thought I told you to come at night.”
Marie shrugged at turned to face him. “I wanted to catch you off guard. It’s the best way to get to know someone quickly.”
“Oh yeah?” He turned around, his back to her, as the sheet fell to the floor. He didn’t shy away as he put on a pair of pants over his naked body.
Marie smiled. His ass was as perfect as she had imagined. “You know, the first time I fell in love, it was with an acrobat,” she admitted.
William turned, throwing on a tight-fitted long-sleeved turtle neck on. Marie got one last look as his abs as he fit the turtleneck over his head and she was momentarily distracted.
“He must have been one lucky guy,” William said, bringing her out of her fantasy. He had noticed Marie staring at his stomach and smiled. It had been ages since he had been up close and personal with a woman like this. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed it.
Marie shrugged and took off her fedora, setting it on the desk. “He didn’t know I was in love with him. I was only a child at the time.”
“So, to what do I owe this pleasure?” William asked as he watched her take a large coffee-filled thermos out of her over-sized purse. “Have you agreed to help me?” he asked.
“I want to know your story,” she said, taking the plastic off of the cups provided in the hotel room. She poured coffee for each of them. “I made some coffee. It’s half-caffeinated and it’s spiked with a little bit of whiskey,” she said, offering him a cup. “Okay, a lot of whiskey. It’s Irish coffee.”
He sniffed it before taking a drink and closed his eyes as he took a sip. “This is really good, thank you,” he said.
She turned the chair backwards and sat on it, her long legs swung around the back. She was wearing the same boots William had seen her in before, but this time she was wearing a purple knit sweater and brown fuzzy vest.
“William, when was the last time you went shopping? Your clothes are so old-fashioned,” she smiled at him.
“What are you talking about? My clothes are timeless.”
“Well, I have to admit, they don’t look bad on you,” she admitted, blushing into her coffee. She doubted anything would look bad on him. “It’s just that I haven’t seen anyone dress like that for ages.”
He sat on the bed, facing the, the lights in the hotel room dim, curtains drawn. “Forget about my clothes. So, you want to know my story, you said?”
“From start to finish,” she said, growing serious. “And then, maybe I’ll decide to help you.”
He nodded. “Fair enough.” He took a deep breath, then took a look at her boots. “You might want to get comfortable. It’s a long story.”
“Taking them off would expose the knife I’m carrying. I like you, but I’m not sure I trust you just yet.”
“A knife wouldn’t kill me, but as long as you feel safe, feel free to.”
She looked at him now, knowing he was exactly what he said he was. A vampire. She decided then that she would do as he suggested. She took off her boots, set the knife next to the coffee, and got comfortable, ready to hear the story of his life.
Chapter Three
“I am going to start with my vampire life. Anything before that, from when I was human, is pretty trivial for the most part. As I mentioned before, I was an acrobat. I worked for a traveling circus in the 1920’s, The Amazing Show Circus,” he smiled at the name and the memory. “Wow, I haven’t said that name out-loud in years.”
He watched as Marie put her hand to her mouth. “I know that circus. New York City, 1922. I was five.” She nodded her head. “The Amazing Show Circus. You guys did six shows in one week, and I went to every single one.” She laughed. “One of your acrobats, the one I mentioned earlier, he was so dreamy. I watched as a little girl would and wished he would bring me up there and catch me. I can only imagine what it felt like.”
He shook his head, disbelieving. “You saw my show. I can’t believe it. You knew me in my mortal life.” His eyes were big, excited, and also vulnerable.
Marie wanted to correct him. “Well, I can’t say for sure if it was you, William.”
“I was the only male acrobat. The rest were all women, three to be exact. It was definitely me you saw. So, it turns out, I was your first love,” he said with a laugh.
Marie stared at him, her face frozen as she took him in. Really took him in. “Oh my God, it was you,” she said. Her eyes were big; she was in shock.
He dispelled her with his smile. “Incredible. What a small world we live in,” he said, and then continued with the rest of his story.
“I worked for that circus for four years. In my fourth year, we were performing in Chicago. A woman was in the audience, a vampire, though I didn’t know for some time. She wanted to meet me after the show and was intrigued by my performance. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. She was in her thirties and well dressed. You could tell she came from money. I was intrigued by her. She invited me back to her home that first night, promising me an adventure I would never forget. I was poor then, at the mercy of the circus owners. I wanted to settle down, start a family one day. I thought of her, possibly, as a way out. I spent that first night with her, and it was incredible. She gave me anything I wanted, which wasn’t much to be honest. Anyway, a night turned into a week. I left the circus and wasn’t allowed to come back. Everyone was furious. After a month, Arabella, that was her name, told me what she was, a vampire. I thought she was demented. I thought a lifetime of wealth led her to believe this fantasy. She told me she was immortal, and I, the idiot I was, well I went along with it to satisfy her whims. When she asked me if I wanted in, I agreed. I thought it was all just a game. I didn’t know then that these things, that vampires really existed. I was a simple-minded man, not educated or superstitious in the slightest.
When she actually turned me, I knew then that she wasn’t joking. I thought I was going to die. In my weakened state, she had me drink from her. I can’t describe to you my hunger then, what it felt like. It was horrifying, but it was the ecstasy that quickly took over. What I felt then, well, let’s just say I was a believer. I fed on her blood, and I became a vampire,” he said easily. Marie’s eyes were wide as she watched him.
“I never told her that I hadn’t taken her seriously. I was too embarrassed. I merely became what I became. She showed me how to take a life. It’s glorious in the beginning, so much easier in the early days. I had so much power. Arabella left me about four months later, having trained me as much as I needed to survive on my own. And that’s when she found a witch to take her life.”