Back inside the kitchen, the mother-witch searched her daughters’ eyes. Marie didn’t try to hide it.
“You have feelings for this vampire.” It was a statement, not a question.
Marie held up her left hand, showing her the rings. A detail her mom had missed.
The mother-witch gasped and took Marie’s hand. “Marie, how could you be so naive? A century of living and still you make these terrible decisions,” she gently dropped her daughter’s hand, but her frustration was clear to see.
Marie stood her ground. “He’s the first man I’ve ever loved like this. I can’t explain how or why, but I do.”
“He’s a man with a death wish, Marie!” She shook her head at her daughter.
“I know, Mom. And I plan on going through with whatever that entails. But I love him.”
“Marie, why marry him? You want to be a widow? Does that sound like some kind of game to you? Think of all the psychological mess you signed up for. You’re going to be responsible for assisting your husband in his own death.”
Marie nodded, wiping the tears that started to fall from her eyes. “I know. But I can do it, Mom. And I will. Just tell me what I have to do.”
Her mom set her tea cup down. “What’s his reason for marrying you, may I ask?” Yes, she was a witch, but she was a mother, too. And right then, she needed to know more about the man in her daughter’s life.
Marie shrugged. “He doesn’t know how I feel. He thinks I did it so that I could inherit his estate and wealth.”
Her mom tapped her foot loudly on the floor. “Marie, you’re a witch for crying out loud. You’re better than this. You have to tell him! Since when do we hide behind such masks?”
“I don’t want to complicate his life more than it needs to be! But I love him, and I wanted to marry him for this short period of time.”
“That’s not love. You’re being absolutely ridiculous.”
“Doesn’t love make you do ridiculous things? I would never, in a thousand years, think I’d go through with something like this, either. But here I am. And I’m not sorry.”
“Well, that makes two of us. I didn’t think you’d be capable of such tomfoolery, either,” her mother replied, giving her a stern look.
“Just tell me what I need to do now.”
“The information we need is in the library,” she said. They took their tea with them and Marie followed her mom out to the living room, where they briefly checked in on William.
“We’re going to be in library. Should you need anything, just tap on this wall right here. We’ll hear you from the other side.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine. I have a great book to keep me company.” He held up the title so that Marie could see it and shared a look with her. She smiled and blushed more than she wanted to, feeling like a school girl once again.
The library was cool and dry, the lights dim. The mother-witch glided towards the book she knew she wanted. It was a diary from 1924, labeled as such.
“This was the year she came to me, the vampire he speaks of.”
“William’s maker. Mom, do you remember referring her to that traveling circus I was obsessed with as a child?”
Her mom closed her eyes, trying to remember. She shook her head and opened the book to the date in question. She took a moment to read her entry in silence. After a moment, she nodded. “It says here that she was from Chicago, and I knew the circus would be there when she returned. We chatted casually about it, and yes, I think I remember telling her how blown away I was by that young man.”
“Well, she was blown away by him, too. Mom, that acrobat is William. He was the one I was so mesmerized by.”
“You’re kidding?” her mom said as she turned to her daughter.
Marie shook her head. “He’s had a very sad life ever since then. She left him not too long after she turned him.”
“Then I am at fault,” her mother said, setting the book upside down. For a moment, she was lost in thought, thinking back to the past.
Marie gave her a moment before speaking softly. “It doesn’t matter now. You know, he didn’t believe she was a real vampire when she told him, can you believe that? He thought he would just be going along with her fantasy. He didn’t know any of it was real.”
Esme put her hand to her cheek. “Oh, dear. His whole vampire life has been one huge mistake then?”
Marie nodded. “Apparently.”
Esme thought back to that time, recalling the acrobat from the circus her daughter dragged her to when it had come to New York. They had seen every show. Marie, a child of five, had wanted to meet the acrobat, she remembered. They waited around after each show, but they never found him. She couldn’t believe the same man was in her living room now. She also hadn’t realized how much of a romantic her daughter was. She flipped the book open and read some more of her entry, which included everything needed to end a vampire’s life.
She set the book down and turned to her daughter. “Marie, tell me about every myth you’ve ever heard about hunting vampires.”
Marie gave her mom a nervous smile. “What do you mean? Like holy water and stakes at the heart?”
“Yeah, how many can you remember?”
“Well, decapitation, but he said he tried that one.”
“He needs garlic stuffed into his mouth if he were to be decapitated. Do you know if he did that?”
“All I know is that he wasn’t fully decapitated,” Marie said quietly.
“Why didn’t he come to you sooner if he knew about us?”
“He thought you were in New York and tried there. Later, he heard of a vampire coming to me for the dispel potion, which I am going to need by the way.”
“We can brew some before you leave. What else do you know about vampires?”
“They’re not supposed to see themselves in a mirror? But William can. Let’s see, they’re afraid to go into a church. They don’t like crucifixes? And you can deter them with garlic.”
“Okay, good. You’re mostly there. It’s accurate except the church and crucifixes, which were just thrown in back in the old days. Here’s what you need to do,” her mother said in a serious tone, her words careful and clear. “You’re going to have to decapitate him. When you can’t see his reflection in the mirror, it means that his soul has left his body. That’s when you stuff garlic in his mouth. He won’t return to his body for fear of the garlic. Like us, they don’t like it. But it’s ten times worse for their kind. They think it’s because of the taste, but it’s actually quite more serious than that.”
Marie made a face. She didn’t like the idea of having to decapitate William.
“You’ll need to find a mirror. A floor to length mirror would be best. Get him to lie on the ground, while you get on your knees. Swing hard. When you can’t see his reflection in the mirror, stuff his mouth with garlic. You see, garlic acts like a border between our bodies and our souls. It’s why the dispel potion works, it masks us in small amounts. But we’re talking ten times the garlic. Ten times pushes his soul out, but it can come back. Now, it can’t come back if it’s decapitated and if garlic is blocking the entry way in. When you do that after the soul is removed from the body, he’ll no longer be able to re-enter, and his body will turn into a pile of dust.”