Marie shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why’d she turn you if she was just going to leave?”
“She confessed of wanting one last adventure before she parted from her immortal life. And she wanted to pass the torch to someone who was worthy. She told me of a witch she knew who was settling down in New York. She had met with her prior to meeting me.” Suddenly, William remembered something. “That witch actually recommended she come see the circus.”
Marie’s eyes widened. “My mom?”
“Your mom?” William asked, confused.
“I remember my mom helped a woman vampire end her life when I was but a child. And we resided in New York then, so yeah, it adds up.”
“Marie, it’s because of your mom that I have this cursed life.”
Marie disagreed. “My mom wasn’t the vampire. Arabella was.”
“You know what I mean. She told Arabella to come see my show in Chicago before she died.”
Marie took a deep breath. There was no denying now that he was telling the truth.
“Anyway, long story short, I took over Arabella’s estate. I traveled a little bit. But I was lonely, and I didn’t know how to handle my hunger or how to even deal with being a vampire. Any attempt at love or courting ended in disaster. I stopped trying. During the Great Depression, I just kept to myself. I read a lot, survived on animals nearby and did little of anything else.”
“What did you do during the World Wars?”
William shook his head, a flash of anger on his face. “I couldn’t do much of anything. I stayed at the estate and read about everything that was going on. I became a hermit, really. It was awful. Everything happening around the world was just so terrible, and I was trapped in this massive but beautiful cage of a house, powerless to do anything.” He looked at her with puppy eyes. “What about you? You must have been of age then. What did you do during the war?”
Marie cleared her throat. “Yeah, I was of age to help out. My specific gift is that I am a healer, so I snuck in at night where I could and helped the wounded soldiers who returned.”
“You have healing powers? How so?” he asked.
Marie thought about it before answering. “I have a limited ability. I can distract the patient from the pain and can help them heal quicker, but I can’t cure someone or heal them completely.”
He nodded, understanding a little bit.
She motioned for him to go on. He took a sip of his coffee before he continued.
“The war took an emotional toll on me, for a long time. I didn’t start to feel better until about the mid 1950’s. Life was starting to get interesting again. The music coming out was absolutely great. I started to travel a little more, spent some time in Europe. Things started to turn when I went to a Beatles concert in Italy in the early 60’s. And then, Italy was the beginning of the end for me. I went from zero to sixty and ruined what life I could have had. The cops were on to me in no time. I fled. You see, Italy was the last time I took a human life. It’s been nothing but remorse since then. I spent the 70’s in guilt and shame of everything I had become. I became paranoid and didn’t go out. The 80’s were where it got really dark. The world had changed so much. I was sure I didn’t belong in this world anymore. I tried to kill myself countless ways during the 80’s and 90’s, nothing worked. I traveled to New York in search of the witch, your mom, the one Arabella had gone to, but she was no longer there.”
Marie nodded. “My mom had moved to Vegas in the 60’s. And that’s when I went to Salem and opened up my shop.”
William continued. “When I couldn’t find your mom, I tried convincing other mortals to help me. I spent a large sum of money, only to no avail.” He slowed down. “I’ve been healing from those debacles for the rest of the time. The last forty years have not been kind to me. It wasn’t until about a year ago that I started to look passable as a human again. You see, we vampires are immortal, but healing from wounds still takes time, years even, depending on the wounds or damages done to the body. I was in a living hell for most of my life.”
“Jesus, William, I am so sorry.”
“It’s no one’s fault but my own. But you see now why I need for all this to end? I’m tired, Marie. I’m sick of it all. Of myself, of this life. If your mother helped Arabella, can’t you find it in your heart to help me? I am prepared to give you everything I have. Millions, Marie. Just say the word.”
Marie looked at him, wide-eyed. She hadn’t been expecting money from him, not millions anyway. She poured herself another cup of spiked coffee. She turned the chair around and sat facing him, her legs crossed.
“How will I know you won’t hurt me?” she asked.
William gave her a reassuring look. “I have my hunger under control now. You can trust me. And I won’t wait to get hungry to drink. I’ll stay fed. There are no cravings when you feed regularly. And besides, I’m not the vampire I once was.”
“I think I can help you, I don’t know how, but I can find out. But I can’t take your money. We don’t work for profit. Not in the way you think. Witches can make an honest living, but making any real money is forbidden. All I can ask is that you take care of all the expenses along the way. Food, lodging, transportation. And things like my bills while I’m gone. I’m not exactly wealthy.”
“Money is nothing to me. So, it sounds like we’re taking a trip somewhere. What did you have in mind?”
“I’m not going to lie. I don’t have what I need to help you with immortality. But my mother is in Vegas. She is a keeper of the books I need.”
“Who will run your shop while you’re gone?”
“My only job there is to keep it stocked. And right now, it’s at its max. It’s been a slow quarter, to be honest. I have a great crew, though. They can manage while I’m away. I’m not worried about the shop.”
“How do you do it? How do you keep up with the pretense of your mortal life?”
“I don’t always stay in Salem. I leave for ten to fifteen years. When I come back, I change my hair, say I’m a daughter or sister, depending.”
“And they fall for it?”
“No one suspects anything. But then again, I just re-opened the shop a year ago.”
“Where were you before then?”
“Spent some time in Vegas with my mom, a couple of years in Egypt collecting. Nothing terribly fancy. My financial means are slightly more limited than yours.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Are you up to date with your IDs? Driver’s license?”
William shook his head. “No. My license has been expired for some time. I’ve been lucky enough not to have gotten pulled over.”
“Luck isn’t going to cut it. And we’ll need to fly to Vegas, so you’ll need an I.D. I have a guy in New York who could help us with that, though.”
They talked a little bit more about his past, and when he was done, Marie had a really good understanding of who this vampire was and why he wanted a way out. And it broke her heart.
“When do we start?” he asked, when she finished off the last of the coffee.
“Tomorrow night.” She put the empty thermos back in her bag and placed the fedora on her head. “Try and wake up early tomorrow. I’ll come over around the same time.”